September 14, 2023 edition of the Bay Area Reporter

Pelosi to run again

CA lawmakers send pro-LGBTQ school bills to governor

by Matthew S. Bajko

California lawmakers have sent a number of proLGBTQ school bills to Governor Gavin Newsom to sign amid an assault on the rights of queer and transgender students waged by conservative-led school boards this year. Among the legislation is a bill aimed at prohibiting school districts from banning LGBTQ-themed books and curriculum.

Assembly Bill 1078, authored by gay Assemblymember Corey A. Jackson, Ph.D., (D-Perris), prohibits the censorship or removal of books, instructional materials, or curriculum resources that state law requires be reflected in instructional materials from classrooms and school libraries. The contributions of the LGBTQ community are among the social studies lessons schools in California are required to teach.

“We’re taking a firm stand against book banning in California’s schools, ensuring that our students have access to a broad range of educational materials that accurately represent the rich cultural and racial diversity of our society,” stated Jackson.

Due to the bill having been amended, AB 1078 passed out of the state Senate on a 31-9 vote September 7. That same Thursday the Assembly adopted the revised bill by 61-17 vote with two abstentions.

As Jackson had worked with the governor’s office on the legislation, Newsom is expected to sign it into law. Earlier this year the governor threatened a $1.5 million fine against the Temecula Valley Unified School District in Riverside County after its board rejected instructional materials due to their inclusion of the late gay San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk. Faced with such a stiff penalty, the board members later reversed course.

Newsom rarely comments on bills before they reach his desk. But he praised the Legislature’s passage of AB 1078 in a statement released by Jackson’s office last week.

“California is the true freedom state: a place where families – not political fanatics – have the freedom to decide what’s right for them,” stated Newsom, a former San Francisco supervisor and mayor. “With the passage of this legislation that bans book bans and ensures all students have textbooks, our state’s Family Agenda is now even stronger. All students deserve the freedom to read and learn about the truth, the world, and themselves.”

See page 12 >>

Oakland shows its Pride

The contingent from Pixar Animation Studios was one of nearly 90 that participated in the Oakland Pride parade Sunday, September 10. The parade featured groups from schools, community organizations, health care companies, and political leaders. Organizers said the weekend of activities was a success as Pridefest Oakland and Oakland Pride came together for a unified event.

Oakland Pride breakfast highlights queer youth

by Cynthia Laird

Charley, a 15-year-old high school student in Hayward, doesn’t think highly of the attacks on trans and nonbinary students that have been sweeping the country, even in liberal states like California.

“I think it’s stupid,” Charley, who identifies as nonbinary and asked that their last name not be used, told the Bay Area Reporter during an interview at the East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club’s 10th annual Pride Breakfast in downtown Oakland September 10.

“There’s something going on with their brain in passing bills to stop me from existing,” Charley, who’s in 10th grade, added. “Why would I change my gender just to please yourself?”

Charley attended the breakfast with their mom, high school art teacher Carrie King; and Rochelle Collins and Robert Lopez from Project Eden’s Lambda Youth Project. All were there to see the project receive the club’s Frontline Changemaker Award for its service to LGBTQ youth. Project Eden started in the 1960s, Collins said, and the program remains as relevant today.

It has provided LGBTQ services for over 26 years. One of those is the Pride Prom. Formerly known as the Gay Prom, it first took place in Hayward back in the 1990s. Lopez explained the

Civil trial underway in SFFD bias case

by John Ferrannini

The lesbian San Francisco Fire Department assistant chief suing the city in civil court claiming whistleblower retaliation and discrimination wept on the stand during dramatic testimony at the trial’s opening day. The jury trial in San Francisco Superior Court is before Judge Suzanne Ramos Bolanos.

See page 12 >>

queer students and feels that the internet, particularly TikTok, has a lot to do with the hurtful comments.

“So much hatred is engraved on our minds,” Charley said. “It affects us all extremely negatively. I feel a lot of people don’t understand the internet and online is different from the real world.”

King also had thoughts on the increase in antiLGBTQ legislation. In many states, governors have signed laws banning gender-affirming care for trans youth, and limiting sports teams that trans girls can participate in to the sex listed on their official school records.

High school teacher Carrie King, left, and her child, Charley, joined in accepting an award for Project Eden’s Lambda Youth Project at the East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club’s Pride Breakfast September 10 in Oakland.

name was changed so that it’s more inclusive of today’s LGBTQ youth.

In the interview, Charley said that their experiences at school this year have been “OK.”

“Not much horrible happened,” they said.

Last year, however, was more problematic, particularly with antisemitism that broke out on campus, which they asked not be identified. “My dad is Jewish,” they explained.

But Charley has heard other students mocking

In California, several conservative school boards have passed forced outing policies that require district staff to notify parents without the student’s consent when a student requests names or pronouns be used other than those listed on their official records. Attorney General Rob Bonta has already sued one district, Chino Valley, and last week won an initial victory when a San Bernardino Superior Court judge issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the district from enforcing the policy.

Even in the East Bay city of Hayward, where King teaches, the school board has one member who is anti-LGBTQ. As the B.A.R. noted in an editorial in June, Trustee Joe Ramos protested

See page 12 >>

Assemblymember Corey A. Jackson, Ph.D.

Jane Philomen Cleland

Jackson’s Facebook page

Jane Philomen Cleland

San Francisco Assistant Fire Chief Nicol Juratovac is suing the city claiming whistleblower retaliation and discrimination.

Courtesy Cannata O’Toole and Olson

Newsom to decide on ending CA travel ban <<

by Matthew S. Bajko

Ending California’s ban on publicly funded travel to states with antiLGBTQ laws is now in the hands of Governor Gavin Newsom after lawmakers this week sent him a bill to do away with the policy. The state would be following San Francisco in doing so, as city leaders this spring ended their similar travel restriction.

Legislators first enacted the statewide travel ban policy in 2016 with the hope of seeing their counterparts in other states think twice about adopting LGBTQ discriminatory laws. Under the ban, no taxpayer money is to be used to cover non-emergency travel by state employees, as well as faculty, students, and sports teams at state colleges, to those states that have enacted anti-LGBTQ laws since 2015.

Yet, since its implementation, the travel ban has grown to cover 26 states. The restriction on traveling to Nebraska, added to the list this sum-

mer, is set to take effect on October 1.

Citing the lack of impact the travel ban has had in halting other legislatures from passing anti-LGBTQ laws, lesbian outgoing Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) introduced this year Senate Bill

447 called the BRIDGE Act, which stands for Building and Reinforcing Inclusive, Diverse, Gender-Supportive Equality. It aims to replace the so-called no-fly list with a privately funded pro-LGBTQ marketing effort in the states on it.

San Francisco officials similarly cited continued passage of anti-LGBTQ laws by other states for ending their local travel ban policy, which also covered states that restricted abortion and voting access. They also cited the policy having a negative fiscal impact on the city in higher contracting costs since the policy prohibited city agencies from doing business with companies headquartered in the states covered by the ban.

To press the case for rescinding the state’s travel ban, Atkins created a dedicated website at sd39.senate.ca.gov/ sb447 for her SB 447. A broad coalition of LGBTQ groups and leaders had expressed support for doing away with the travel ban, arguing the policy

also hampered the ability of LGBTQ advocates to be on the ground in the covered states arguing on behalf of LGBTQ rights.

“As attacks on the LGBTQ+ Community across the country grow, building bridges to change hearts and minds in these communities is now more important than ever,” wrote gay Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur (DSanta Monica/West Hollywood) on X (formerly Twitter), who had advocated for implementation of the travel ban in his former capacity as executive director of statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization Equality California.

Meanwhile, gay Assemblymember Evan Low (D-Cupertino), who wrote the initial legislation establishing the state’s travel ban, had expressed misgivings about ending it. He was one of four members of his chamber who abstained Monday from voting on SB 447, when the bill passed out of the Assembly by a 64-12 vote.

Because Atkins had amended it

to include an urgency clause so SB 447 would take effect immediately if signed into law by Newsom, the Senate had to vote on it again Tuesday. It passed out of the chamber 31-6 with three abstentions.

“I remember what it was like to grow up in a time and place where conversations about someone being gay or lesbian only happened in whispers,” stated Atkins. “While years have passed since then, there are still areas of our country where the LGBTQ+ community – and especially our LGBTQ+ youth – feel isolated and fearful for their safety. The BRIDGE Project would be a conduit of hope and compassion, and encourage others to open their hearts and minds to be more accepting and inclusive. It’s within all of us to be that light.”

Newsom, who has faced criticism in the past for making personal trips to states on the banned list, has until October 14 to either sign SB 447 into law or veto it.t

Haney unveils CA trans history month resolution

by John Ferrannini

The California State Assembly voted September 6 to proclaim August as Transgender History Month –

making the Golden State the first state in the nation to do so.

House Resolution 57 was authored by straight ally Assemblymember Matt Haney (D), who represents San

Francisco’s eastside, including the Transgender District, the first cultural district of its kind in the world. (Haney used to directly represent the district when he represented District 6 on

49 One-Bedroom $732-$2,306 per month

41 Two-Bedroom $802-$3,175 per month

the San Francisco Board of Supervisors; the trans district has since been moved to District 5.)

The legislation, which was voted on last week, does not need Senate approval. The resolution passed 58-0, Haney communications director Nate Allbee stated. GOP members opted not to vote on the matter.

Haney told the Bay Area Reporter

it had been the goal to do it before this year’s Transgender History Month, “but legislatively we were not able to, as the Legislature is not in session for much of August.”

Now that it’s been approved, the first official recognition will be next year. San Francisco has declared August See page 8 >>

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Correction

The September 7 issue article “Pansy tattoo effort blooms a song” misspelled Vicki Randle’s first name. The online version has been corrected and updated.

9/8/23 12:26 PM

Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins

Courtesy Sen. Atkins’ office

Assemblymember Matt Haney, center, spoke at a news conference in Sacramento September 6 about his resolution to designate August as Transgender History Month in California.

Screengrab

Lesbians bring ‘Overlooked Latinas’ to SF stage

by J.L. Odom

It all started 18 years ago, when director Mary Guzmán took in one of Tina D’Elia’s onstage performances and decided she wanted to work with her.

“I went and saw a little bit onstage, and I listened and watched it. I thought, ‘I could direct her better than him [D’Elia’s director at the time].’ So I was like, ‘I need to bother her.’ So I would just keep showing up for something else, and I’d show up for something else and then show up for something else,” said Guzmán, who sat next to D’Elia in a video interview with Bay Area Reporter.

And the rest was herstory. They began working together on iterations of one of D’Elia’s solo shows (“Groucho”); D’Elia later starred in award-winning filmmaker Guzmán’s “Worst Case Scenario: Femme Edition.” They also joined forces for various stage readings and performances in San Francisco venues such as Artists’ Television Access, Galería de la Raza, and The Marsh.

“Mary has the versatility of directing film and narrative [and also] directing solo performance, which to me is so important because it’s so specific and there’s a lot of space/object work,” said D’Elia, who identifies as a lesbian and queer.

Now, many collaborations later, the long-standing D’Elia-Guzmán team is bringing “Overlooked Latinas” to the Castro’s Theatre Rhinoceros. The show, a sequel to D’Elia’s “The Rita Hayworth of This Generation,” premieres Thursday, September 21, and runs through October 1.

Written and performed by D’Elia and directed by Guzmán, “Overlooked Latinas” is a one-woman show, with that one woman – D’Elia – as the cast of many LGBTQ+ Latine characters.

The show’s protagonist is Angel Torres, a Puerto Rican-Italian butch dyke

who heads to New York City with her queer Latine best friend Carla Garcia to pitch a TV pilot to a network. The casting of a femme fatale “old flame” stirs things up as Angel directs her first television series on the not-so-light topic of McCarthyism’s (i.e., the second Red Scare’s) impact on mid-20th century Latine actors.

“I crafted ‘Overlooked Latinas’ as a telenovela queer farce – I wanted to write a comedy because comedy is really healing. But their show is very serious,” said D’Elia.

After working on “Rita” in 2011, D’Elia conducted research that further illuminated the effects of the McCarthy era on Latine LGBTQ+ cinema stars.

“I feel like the stories haven’t been told of queer Latinx folks of the past, like Ramon Novarro and Dolores del Río being bisexual and them all having a very strong sense of politics as far as wanting to have full-bodied characters with a lot of pride in their heritage onscreen,” she explained.

“Overlooked Latinas” is minimalistic as far as prop use goes, featuring only chairs and a bottle of water placed onstage. A great deal of consideration goes into the different characters D’Elia plays, including where each of them is standing as she performs.

“I play multiple characters, so I can never act as though somebody just suddenly moved. I can’t walk into people. I can’t walk through desks –unless I’m a ghost,” joked D’Elia.

She added, “That kind of specificity is really special and fun. For some people, it’s just inherent, and for other people it kind of takes something. You have to be able to see people that are not there, as the solo performer and the director. Mary has that touch and knows where everybody is on the stage.”

Guzmán, who identifies as a lesbian, keeps track of D’Elia’s characters’ placement in her directorial role, offering guidance and reminders when needed.

She noted, “I always say that directing Tina is like fine-tuning a Maserati – the Maserati’s already perfect, and I’m just doing this [made sounds of fine tuning/ tweaking], telling her, ‘Well, your hand can’t go here because remember that’s so-and-so standing there.’”

Audiences will have numerous opportunities to witness D’Elia perform her cast of characters at the queercentering Theatre Rhinoceros, also known as “the Rhino.”

Founded in 1977, the theater has continually focused on ensuring the queer community has a stage on which to perform and convey their LGBTQ+ stories. “Overlooked Latinas” is the first show in the theater’s 2023-2024 season lineup.

Fittingly, D’Elia’s show is scheduled at the Rhino during National Hispanic Heritage Month, also known as Latinx Heritage Month. The annual celebration and recognition of Hispanic American culture, history and contributions starts September 15 and ends October 15.

D’Elia said, “I feel particularly lucky and grateful that in celebration and honor of Latinx Heritage Month, here we are.”

She conveyed that it’s important to center the Latine community within artistic spaces, as discrimination persists outside of them.

“The backlash kind of continues in waves, so it’s much more than just ‘visibility matters.’ It’s queer Latinas and queer Latinx stories that [are a] constant, whether it’s blacklisting, throwing people in jail, or deporting people,” she said. “So that was my hope when I first started writing the show – to keep showing the parallels and keep using film and theater as a tool and art as a tool.”

Throughout the 75 minutes of D’Elia’s carefully crafted show, the audience can expect not only to be entertained but to also attain a better understanding of Latine history and cultures, the women said.

“It’s interesting; it’s funny. … And there’s so much depth,” said Guzmán, who described the director role of a show like “Overlooked Latinas” as a gift that keeps on giving and as a fond reminder of her Latine community and parents.

For both of them, National Hispanic Heritage Month is also a means to recognize the strength of and celebrate their enduring work partnership. Explained D’Elia, “I also feel like this has been about our Latina lesbian team. Eighteen years collaborating together – not everybody can say that in the Bay Area. Mary and I, when we work together, we’re always laughing, and I feel like the power of facing hate with love, humor, passion, and healing is so important.”t

Theatre Rhinoceros is located at 4229 18th Street in San Francisco. The “Overlooked Latinas” premier is Thursday, September 21, at 8 p.m. The show then runs from September 22 to October 1, with Friday and Saturday shows starting at 8 p.m. and Sunday shows starting at 3 p.m. Tickets are $35 and $17.50 for students, seniors, and veterans. For tickets call 415-552-4100 or go to https:// tinyurl.com/eudawatx.

This resource is supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library in partnership with the California Department of Social Services and the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs as part of the Stop the Hate program. To report a hate incident or hate crime and get support, go to https://www.cavshate.org/.

Mary Guzmán, left, will direct actor Tina D’Elia in “Overlooked Latinas,” which opens at Theatre Rhinoceros next week.

Tina D’Elia

Pelosi announces she will seek reelection

by Cynthia Laird

Congressmember Nancy Pelosi on September 8 announced that she will seek reelection next year, dashing plans for gay state Senator Scott Wiener to run for her seat in 2024. The news puts on hold a legislative scramble that would have happened had Pelosi decided to retire.

The announcement was not a complete surprise. Pelosi, the longtime San Francisco Democrat and former House speaker, gave up her leadership role in Congress earlier this year after Republicans took control, ushering in the next generation of Democratic standardbearers. However, Pelosi has been raising campaign cash, with the San Francisco Chronicle reporting July 18 that she brought in nearly $2.1 million during the first six months of the year.

Pelosi made the announcement at a gathering of volunteers and was first reported by Politico.

“Now more than ever our City needs us to advance San Francisco values and further our recovery,” Pelosi wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Our country needs America to show the world that our flag is still there, with liberty and justice for ALL. That is why I am running for reelection – and respectfully ask for your vote.”

Wiener (D), a former San Francisco supervisor who was elected to the state Senate in 2016 and reelected in 2020, in March formed an exploratory committee for the 11th Congressional District that Pelosi has held since she

defeated the late gay supervisor Harry Britt in 1987. (The district’s number has changed over the years due to redistricting.)

Wiener has always said that he would not seek the seat unless Pelosi decided to step down.

“Speaker Emerita Pelosi is one of the most talented and transformational leaders of our lifetime, and it’s a good thing for San Francisco and the nation that she will continue to serve our community,” Wiener wrote in a text message to the Bay Area Reporter following Pelosi’s announcement.

Wiener added, “Right now, I’m focused like a laser on the end of our legislative session in Sacramento. Yesterday, the Assembly passed two major housing bills I’m authoring, and the day before it passed our psychedelics decriminalization bill.”

He noted that he’s “locked in a battle with climate deniers to pass our corporate carbon transparency bill.”

Pelosi’s daughter, Christine, had also been mentioned as a potential candidate. She recently attended a volunteer workday at the National AIDS Memorial Grove with her mother.

Wiener announced July 18 that he had raised $820,000 since opening his exploratory committee. A news release stated that 70% of donors to the exploratory committee are from San Francisco and 94.5% are from California. The majority of donations are from people contributing $500 or less, he noted.

“I’m grateful to everyone who

helped us reach this important milestone,” Wiener stated at the time. “The enthusiasm I’ve received for a potential congressional run has been an amazing honor.”

Wiener stated that next year, his top priority will be to secure stable funding for Bay Area public transportation systems “in order to avoid major service cuts.”

And he said he would seek reelection next year to his state Senate seat.

At the Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club’s annual Pride breakfast June 25 in San Francisco, Pelosi and Wiener both complemented each other.

Wiener thanked her for helping to turn around the fight for federal funds for AIDS when she went to Con-

gress. During her remarks later, Pelosi acknowledged Wiener’s comment thanking straight Democratic state legislators who support LGBTQ-related bills even though they come from more conservative parts of California. She made a similar comment about House members who come from more conservative districts and states.

At the breakfast, Pelosi also offered a list of accomplishments during her two stints as House speaker (20072011 and 2019-2023). Those included passing the Affordable Care Act, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act, repeal of the military’s anti-gay “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, and passing the Respect for Marriage Act.

In 1996, legislation by Pelosi was signed into law by then-President Bill Clinton, elevating “the Grove” as the nation’s sole federally-designated National AIDS Memorial.

She also told attendees at the breakfast that President Joe Biden was the first “at his level” to come out in support of same-sex marriage when he served as President Barack Obama’s vice president in 2012. Last December, Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House.

The Respect for Marriage Act repealed the discriminatory “Defense of Marriage Act” that was passed in 1996 but had key provisions struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 (Section 3, U.S. v. Windsor) and 2015 (Section 2, Obergefell v. Hodges). Not

only does it require federal recognition of same-sex and interracial marriages nationwide but also mandates states must recognize such unions performed in other states. The act includes protections for religious liberty.

Wiener was targeted with online harassment by QAnon conspiracy theorists and anti-Semites over Senate Bill 145, as the B.A.R. previously reported. The bill which was signed into law, changed who qualifies for the California Sex Offender Registry. He has received death threats in recent years.

Wiener recently told the B.A.R. that the city’s LGBTQ political strength has ebbed and flowed over the years.

“Our community has had a lot of ups and downs politically in San Francisco,” he said in a recent brief phone interview earlier this summer. For example, from the time Rafael Mandelman joined the Board of Supervisors in July 2018 until last May, he was the only out member of it. He was then joined by gay District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey, whom Breed appointed to fill the seat of former supervisor Matt Haney, a straight ally who won election to the state Assembly. Dorsey went on to win a full four-year term last November, as did gay District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio, who defeated former supervisor Gordon Mar, a straight ally.

Wiener said the LGBTQ community, like others in the city, has been divided at times over the years.

“When we are united, or at least less divided, we are very, very strong,” Wiener added.t

2 CA LGBTQ health bills hit roadblocks

by Matthew S. Bajko

Two out California lawmakers saw bills relating to LGBTQ health concerns run into legislative hurdles this month. Both hope they can be revived and passed during next year’s legislative session.

Gay state Senator Scott Wiener (DSan Francisco) announced September 8 that he would revisit his Senate Bill 339 after the Assembly Appropriations Committee inserted language into it he considered to be a “poison pill amendment” counter to his legislative aim of expanding access to the HIV prevention medication known as PrEP. The bill sought to increase the amount of PrEP that pharmacists are authorized to provide without a doctor’s prescription.

It also would have required health plans to reimburse pharmacists for PrEP services. It built on Wiener’s first-in-the-nation legislation passed in 2019 that authorized people to acquire PrEP from a pharmacist without a doctor’s prescription.

Yet the amendments made to his bill allowing insurance companies to impose prior authorization and steptherapy for PrEP and PEP, which are significantly limited under existing law and regulations, would result in reducing patient protections, contended Wiener. Unless there is a legislative path forward to remove the amendments so SB 339 can be taken up again next year by state lawmakers, Wiener said he would abandon the bill.

“It’s heartbreaking to see a straightforward, critically important HIV

prevention bill stall this way,” stated Wiener. “Thousands of Californians contract HIV each year, and we need common sense measures like SB 339 to improve access to PrEP.”

San Francisco AIDS Foundation

CEO Tyler TerMeer, Ph.D., expressed shock at the committee’s action, which he argued would result in rolling back essential protections for people at risk of acquiring HIV.

“For decades California has been at the forefront of HIV prevention, ensuring that people had access to PrEP, our most effective form of HIV prevention, without delays caused by insurance red tape and greed. The language changes added by the Appropriations Committee would undo that work and leave people at the highest risk of HIV vulnerable to pointless bureaucratic delays and denials, increasing HIV transmission and undoing our work to get to zero new HIV infections in California,” stated TerMeer, a gay man living with HIV.

Fertility bill stumbles

Lesbian state Senator Caroline Menjivar (D-San Fernando Valley) last week saw her SB 729 aimed at easing access to fertility care, especially for LGBTQ people, be turned into a two-year bill by the powerful Assembly Appropriations Committee. It means the chamber will take up the legislation in the new legislative session next year, as early as January.

The bill aims to require health plans to provide coverage for fertility care, including treatment for infertility and in vitro fertilization. It would also ensure that LGBTQ+ people are not excluded from such coverage.

“A two-year bill is not the outcome we hoped for, but it does allow us to continue our fight,” stated Menjivar.

“SB 729 progressed further in the legislative process than any similar bills attempting to decrease inequities in fertility care coverage, which is why I am optimistic and will not give up. Californians who wish to build a family deserve equity and justice, not the current discriminatory law that withholds the safest and most reliable methods of fertility care from many of

them. Soon, we will make California the true leader in reproductive justice.” Among those co-sponsoring SB 729 is gay state Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. Fourteen states have passed similar IVF insurance laws.

“Infertility affects people of all socioeconomic levels, racial identities, ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientations, gender identities, and religious beliefs,” stated Lara, a former legislator. “As someone who has fought for af-

fordable and more equitable access to health care services during my time in the California State Legislature and as Insurance Commissioner, I am proud to co-sponsor SB 729 to ensure fair and equal access to fertility treatments.”t

for

State Senator Scott Wiener’s bill to expand PrEP access hit a legislative roadblock.

Courtesy Sen. Wiener’s office

Congressmember Nancy Pelosi, left, rode with U.S. Senate candidate and Congressmember Adam Schiff in the June San Francisco Pride parade.

Jane Philomen Cleland

Volume 53, Number 37

September 14-20, 2023

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Oakland NAACP should cut ties with Scott

The Oakland branch of the NAACP should sever its relationship with Seneca Scott, a failed mayoral candidate whose forays into homophobia and transphobia have only escalated in recent weeks. The NAACP, a long-standing and respected civil rights organization, is a critically important voice, and the Oakland branch has been active in debates over the public safety crisis in The Town.

But Scott, who’s listed as an executive board member on the branch’s’s website and helps lead its get-out-the-vote effort, is not the type of person the chapter should want in any leadership capacity. Other organizations, such as the Alameda County Democratic Party and the East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club, have recently condemned Scott’s homophobic social media posts, some of which were directed at Brandon Harami, a gay man who’s Mayor Sheng Thao’s director of community resilience and her de facto LGBTQ liaison. In his posts, Scott has used an old trope that equates gay men with pedophiles, which is vicious and totally uncalled for.

“Former Oakland mayor and District 3 Council candidate and current Oakland political operative Seneca Scott continues to spread false and dangerous narratives about LGBTQ+ individuals, even falsely accusing former CADEM Progressive Caucus Vice Chair and current mayoral staffer Brandon Harami of homophobic tropes,” the county Democratic Party’s September 6 resolution stated. “The Alameda County Democratic Party condemns the comments made by Seneca Scott to the fullest extent and asks that all Democrats in Alameda County refuse to organize with him or participate in his events.”

Late last month, the East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club issued its statement condemning “the hateful anti-LGBTQ statements from former candidate Seneca Scott. This hate is inflammatory and has no place in political debate. We urge community leaders to stand against hate and avoid giving a platform to those who spread such messages.”

But Scott’s anti-LGBTQ comments aren’t directed solely at Harami. On June 1, the start of Pride Month, he wrote on X (formerly Twitter), with photos of Pride flags, “Of course you want a bunch

of flags for pedophiles. Groom a kid today?”

In June 2022, Scott was photographed at an Oakland First Friday event wearing an anti-trans sandwich board that read, “Dad, noun. A human male who protects kids from gender ideology.” Scott was standing next to well-known transphobe Chris Elston. “He’s an independent candidate who knows we shouldn’t be blocking puberty in children,” Elston wrote in the post that accompanied the photo. (Scott told us last year that he’s not transphobic.)

During the mayor’s race last year Scott also exhibited antisemitism when he issued a “Protest?” comment after another minor candidate sent out an antisemitic diatribe and was not invited to a forum hosted by the Jewish Community Relations Council, as we reported. While Scott denied he was antisemitic, a gay man who’s executive director of JCRC said he felt Scott was attempting to instigate a protest for declining to include the candidate.

Scott is the founder of Neighbors Together Oakland, which last weekend held a public safety rally in East Oakland, near a church where the mayor, Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, and other officials were holding a community safety forum. The dueling programs drew a crowd to East Oakland, a hotspot for crime in the city. Loren Taylor, a former city councilmember who narrowly lost to Thao in last year’s mayoral race, was a featured speaker at the rally. And while a video posted by Oaklandside news editor Darwin BondGraham shows Taylor speaking about the importance of the city’s diversity, he

does not explicitly condemn Scott’s blatant homophobia. Instead, Taylor blamed detractors for painting Neighbors Together Oakland as antiLGBTQ and anti-trans. Um, no, Scott, the group’s founder, did that all by himself. Taylor did say, “We’re here because we love our neighbors … the great diversity that makes our town incredible.”

At the Stonewall Democratic club’s Pride breakfast September 10, Thao spoke out against the hate speech, though she didn’t mention Scott by name. “We need to say to these folks, ‘get out of our town,” Thao said.

It’s no surprise that Scott isn’t a fan of Thao, and he’s posted plenty of comments ranting at her and calling her names. It’s petty and uncalled for. There are plenty of legitimate concerns facing Oakland: property crimes are up, and there are still way too many homicides. Thao has been stymied by the dysfunctional police commission from moving ahead with hiring a new leader for the department.

Scott is doing a grave disservice to the city and its residents by espousing homophobia in an apparent effort to garner attention. It certainly isn’t bringing neighbors together, as his group purports to do.

All of this is to say that Oakland civic and political leaders, like the NAACP branch and Taylor, need to stop working with Scott and forcefully condemn his hate speech. It’s divisive and does not advance community conversations in any way, except to bring out the haters. LGBTQ people are under attack in conservative states across the country, especially trans and gender-nonconforming youth. The Bay Area, particularly cities such as Oakland with its long history of inclusiveness, needs to be a place where people thrive, not where they’re subjected to false accusations because one man doesn’t like their political or policy views.

We are aware that by writing this, we’re giving Scott the attention he so craves. But we must call out bullying and hate speech when it hits close to home like this. Scott needs to grow up, and organizations that give him a platform need to stop and consider the negative effect his words are having on a city that’s trying to solve some difficult problems. There can’t be Neighbors Together Oakland if the leader is the one trying to divide people with homophobia.t

Let’s create more indie bookstores

by Ken White

WhenI worked at A Different Light Bookstore on Castro Street in the 1990s, it was the cultural hub of the LGBTQ neighborhood. You could feel the energy. Whether you were meeting someone before dinner or visiting from out of town to experience the gay mecca, everyone (even Cher!) came through those doors.

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It wasn’t just because we hosted famous figures like Gore Vidal, Dorothy Allison, and RuPaul, or because we sometimes stored protest signs for ACT UP, or because we provided a safe space for the queer community. And, no, it wasn’t because we had a restroom people could use. It was because, before TV and mainstream movies, books were almost the only way to find healthy representations of LGBTQ people. Books and their writers were the first to create realistic and complex portrayals of our communities.

But then, independent bookstores have always been at the forefront of championing free expression. Just look at City Lights Booksellers & Publishers in North Beach, when it published Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl.” Or remember the now closed location of Books, Inc. on Market Street, where in 2013

I helped create the first Drag Queen Story Time ever in a bookstore. (I really should have trademarked that!)

Even today, indie bookstores continue to fight for freedom of expression. In Texas, for example, BookPeople in Austin and Blue Willow in Houston are suing the state over a homophobic and transphobic “book rating” law that would limit access to LGBTQ and gender-nonconforming content in schools and libraries. This would harm teenagers who rely on these kinds of books for their well-being.

The outlook of that lawsuit is looking positive for free speech, thankfully. People watching the case are finding out that, no matter how bad the new law sounded at first, it’s actually worse.

The suppression of ideas by fearful authority is not just an LGBTQ issue. In certain parts of

this country, schools are prohibited from teaching kids about representation, race, and Black history. People are finally beginning to realize that Black lives matter, but how much has really changed since the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd if you can’t say their names?

I have worked in an industry that promotes ideas and thoughts but still does not have a broad representation of Black Indigenous people of color professionals. This is one reason I’m involved in the creation of BincTank. BincTank’s mission supports the creation of new bookstores owned by BIPOC individuals in underserved areas nationwide. Every community deserves their bookstore.

BincTank is a new pilot program of the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc), which will provide access to capital, education, mentoring, networking, and ongoing resources to support Black and Brown bookstore owners. Research shows that all these five components, and not capital alone, make a successful foundation on which to build a sustainable business. And Binc is the perfect place to create this kind of incubator, as it’s the only 501(c)(3) in the country that is dedicated exclusively to supporting the people who own or work at book and comic stores.

Established in 1996, the core program provides assistance to bookstore employees who have a demonstrated financial need arising from severe hardship and/or emergency circumstances. Since its inception, the organization has provided over $11 million in financial assistance and scholarships to more than 10,000 families. It is our vision to be a caring community of book and comic people.

Bookstores are more than places to buy books. We hope that the new BIPOC-owned stores we support have the chance to be the next A Different Light for the people they serve, by becoming centers of culture, politics, and a gathering spot for their communities.

For those of us who already have a bookstore in our neighborhood, I want to remind you of their vulnerability, as well as the value that these stores bring. When you’re deciding where to buy, why not choose the people who support and understand you?

Instead of shopping online every time, maybe meet up with your friends at these stores before heading out to dinner. Get to know the staff and let them give you personalized recommendations. Sign up for their mailing lists to stay informed about their events and activities. It may not seem like much, but diverting just 10% of our online spending toward local and indie stores can really make a difference in their continued success.t

Ken White, BincTank’s program manager, has been a member of Binc’s board of directors; and was on the boards of the American Booksellers Association, and of the Castro Community Benefit District. He has managed bookstores large and small; specialty (LGBTQ) and general; for-profit and nonprofit. White has lived experience as a queer person of color-identified bookseller. The opinions expressed above are his own.

To learn more about BincTank, go to www. bincfoundation.org/binctank. Those interested in supporting Binc and its programs can donate securely at www.bincfoundation.org/donate.

Ken White

Courtesy Ken White

Oakland NAACP member Seneca Scott

From Scott’s Facebook page

CA US Senate candidate Reese makes her pitch to LGBTQ voters

by Matthew S. Bajko

During her 20s in the late 1990s while briefly living in San Francisco before enrolling in graduate school, Lexi Reese thought she had found the man she would spend the rest of her life with and marry. Yet, it turned out, he was living a closeted life.

“This was a man I thought I was going to go a long, long time with but he turned out to be cheating on me and also gay,” recalled Reese, adding that “what was sad to me was not that he was gay, it was the lying.”

Not only was the revelation a personal jolt, said Reese, it made her realize that even in the liberal Bay Area someone could still struggle with their sexual orientation.

“I think that in particular gave me empathy of how unwelcoming the world was. Even though 1999 was better than the early 1990s when I was going to college, it was still so scary for him to be truthful about his identity,” said Reese. “I think for me that, and one of my best friends going through an experience like it, probably just brought it home as a lived experience. These are amazing people who are literally not unleashed to be their best selves because society has created a world where you have to subscribe to something that doesn’t even make sense.”

Even though the dissolution of her relationship was upsetting, Reese said it didn’t deter her from being a supporter of the LGBTQ community.

“After getting over the personal shock and hurt of it, it made me more determined to be an ally,” Reese told the Bay Area Reporter during a recent video interview.

The B.A.R. caught up with Reese, formerly an executive at Google and the HR platform Gusto, shortly after she had marched in the Silicon Valley Pride parade last month. The Woodside resident is courting LGBTQ voters as she vies to succeed retiring U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (DCalifornia) next year.

“I am a straight ally or an accomplice depending on what you are saying,” responded Reese, 49, when asked about her own sexual orientation.

The relatively unknown first-time candidate for elected office faces a steep hurdle if she wants to survive the March primary, where the top two vote-getters will advance to the November ballot. She is running against a trio of other Democrats who are far more well known, Congressmembers Barbara Lee of Oakland, Adam Schiff of Burbank, and Katie Porter of Irvine.

All three have garnered support from LGBTQ leaders throughout the state, while Lee is particularly banking on the support of LGBTQ voters in the Bay Area and Northern California, as the Political Notebook reported last week. She received a boost in her effort to reach LGBTQ voters over the weekend with Oakland Pride organizers selecting Lee as a grand marshal of their parade last Sunday.

It came as a new poll (https://escholarship.org/uc/item/78p1042g)

released last Thursday, September 7, found Schiff and Porter continuing to hold a lead in the contest. Schiff stood at 20% with likely voters and Porter at 17%, according to the Berkeley IGS Poll of voters conducted online in late August. Lee was at 7%, while Reese garnered just 1%.

“But in contrast to Schiff, Porter polls much better among younger voters while lagging among older

“For me, I am seeing my kids have less rights than I have enjoyed my entire life. Roe v. Wade being rolled back one example,” said Reese. “Everybody in this country is less safe than I was growing up due to the inability to get anywhere with gun safety. The rights of trans people and anyone not a cisgender, white male are being trampled on by the decisions of the Supreme Court. All that flips back to the Senate; they put the judges on there.”

voters and leads Schiff nearly three to one among voters who identify as LGBTQ,” noted Mark DiCamillo, director of the poll. “Lee’s support is strongest among strong liberals, Black voters, LGBTQ voters, and those living in the nine-county San Francisco Bay, where her congressional district is located.”

(The poll included responses from 6,030 California registered voters, of whom a weighted subsample of 3,113 were considered likely to vote in the March 2024 primary election. It found that one in three likely voters remain undecided about the race.)

Reasons for serving Reese, who launched her bid in June, acknowledged to the B.A.R. that she has her work cut out for her in terms of educating voters about herself and her reasons for wanting to serve in the Senate.

“There is a real marketing challenge in getting out your message to 20 million voters in California. We are just getting started,” said Reese, who has two daughters with her husband, Corby. “Because I am not a politician, I don’t have the same name ID. I have to effectively land and expand both funders and voters powered by an organic movement. My message is we can do better than we are doing today.”

The biggest concerns for most people in California, from earning a living wage and being able to afford housing, are issues Reese argues she is more than qualified to help address in Congress.

“What Californians want in their next senator is not someone who in theory understands the economy and jobs but has actually in practice created real jobs for real people,” said Reese, “and understands a paycheck is about more than money; it is about dignity.”

Born in Philadelphia, Reese moved around the East Coast and Midwest with her family due to her father working for Sears as a manager of its department stores. After graduating from the University of Virginia with a history degree, she worked as a documentary filmmaker and spent some time living in Nicaragua.

In 2002, Reese earned an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Since 2011, she has called the South Bay home.

A main reason she decided to seek the Senate seat was the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court last year to end a federal right to abortion. Alarmed that it could portend a rollback of other rights, Reese noted it is the senators who decide who serves on the nation’s federal courts.

Currently, her campaign site is lacking specifics in terms of her stances on LGBTQ issues, something Reese told the B.A.R. she and her team are working to add to it. She noted that her policy positions on income inequality and access to health care both encompass the needs of LGBTQ individuals, in particular the need for transgender people to have access to gender-affirming care.

“Something I would enshrine in the form of health care is care that supports and affirms everyone, not just some people,” said Reese, adding she would fight for various nondiscrimination laws and stronger family medical leave policies. “Everything that keeps people, especially women, people of color and LGBTQ-plus, out of the workforce by allowing discriminatory policies are things I would stand against. And I would stand for a thriving families bill that enables people to participate fully from whatever intersections they are coming from.”

Reese said she would push for passage of the Equality Act, the omnibus LGBTQ rights federal law that has been stalled in one or both congressional chambers for years. She also told the B.A.R. she would push back against the conservative right’s latest slogan of “parental rights” in attacking pro-LGBTQ policies.

“All anti-equality measures hold families back, hold the economy back, and are actually destabilizing democracy,” said Reese.

In discussing her support for the LGBTQ community, Reese recounted how just days after giving birth in 2009, she and her husband marched with their newborn in the New York City Pride parade.

“I feel like why don’t people march? Why wouldn’t you march to support those who are not being represented,” responded Reese when asked why the couple decided to join the parade so soon after she had given birth.

Over the years Reese told the B.A.R. that she has routinely participated in Pride parades. Should she be elected to the Senate, she pledged to be a vocal supporter for the LGBTQ community.

“It is against everything in my being to think by oppressing others we are somehow going to make a better world,” said Reese. “It is a vocal, well-funded minority with oppressive ideas about race, gender and sexual orientation that has to be disrupted. These dangerous ideas are literally killing people.”

Reese will take part in a talk Tuesday, September 19, about the impact of artificial intelligence on the jobs market at the gay-owned Manny’s in San Francisco’s Mission district. For tickets to the event that runs from 6 to 8 p.m. visit https://tinyurl.com/bdea7mct.

To learn more about Reese and her platform, visit her campaign website at lexireese.comt

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 the pending change in leadership of the California state Senate.

Planning Ahead is Simple

Planning Ahead is Simple

The benefits are immense.

Planning Ahead is Simple

The benefits are immense.

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

The benefits are immense.

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

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

U.S. Senate candidate Lexi Reese

Courtesy the campaign

Queer owner’s garage fermentation trials produce thriving cider business

by Matthew S. Bajko

While working at various San Francisco restaurants in the late 1990s and 2000s, Bex Pezzullo was studying to earn her certification as a sommelier. It led the queer California native to an Italian winery where she helped make wine during the 2009 grape harvest.

Several years later, after moving into an Oakland apartment with a spacious garage, Pezzullo began to experiment with making her own wines. Alas, her ability to pair wines with complimentary entrees was far superior to her winemaking skills.

“As is true with many people who have a refined taste in certain things, my wine palate is very high and my winemaking talent is very low. I made probably the worst wine I ever tasted,” recalled Pezzullo, 46, who also discovered her beer-making skills were wanting. “I started fermenting beer, but it was too beery. I then stumbled across apples and went down a rabbit hole of research and refinement.”

Turns out, Pezzullo has a deftness for taking apples and turning them into alcoholic ciders. After refining her recipes, Pezzullo opted to take a risk in launching her own brand Sincere Cider in March 2020. Her timing couldn’t have been worse, as she did so a week prior to bars and restaurants being forced to close because of the COVID pandemic.

Rather than give up on the business, Pezzullo gave up her lease, packed up her belongings into a 1993 Dodge Pleasureway Van, and hit the byways of California. The self-described Johnny Appleseed of ciders joked she can

now recommend the best place to find a burger along any backroad in the Golden State.

“After living in the Bay Area and being tied to rent-controlled apartments for most of my life, it was extremely liberating to just sleep where I parked and not pay rent,” said Pezzullo, who noted she can “speak country” having grown up in Susanville in rural Lassen County and felt at ease traveling to more conservative parts of the state. “I didn’t feel threatened or in danger or worried at any point, after all it is California.”

For the next three years she crisscrossed the state promoting Sincere Cider to business owners she met along the way. Most of the time Pezzullo would pull into a town, cold-call small groceries and other businesses, and offer the owners or managers samples of her cider.

“I would give them a cold can, share

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DISPLAY OBITUARIES & IN MEMORIAMS

it with them, and tell my story. Usually, they would buy it,” recalled Pezzullo in a recent interview with the Bay Area Reporter. “I spent the last three years building a brand through sheer will power with no marketing, with no budget, with no nothing.” Her tenacity and determination paid off, as Sincere Cider can now be found at locations spanning California from Eureka in the north to San Diego in the south. Multiple Nevadan businesses carry her product in the Lake Tahoe and Reno areas.

“I think people are health conscious and value alcoholic beverages that are made cleaner and more simplistically. People definitely are conscious of the provenance and origin of their beverages,” said Pezzullo when asked about the growing embrace of cider by drinkers.

One sign of how popular the alcoholic beverages have become is Sincere Cider can be found at Whole Foods stores around the Bay Area. In San Francisco, the brand is also on the shelves at BevMo Safeway and Mollie Stone’s locations, as well as carried by local grocers like Bi-Rite Market and Denhard’s Market

With nightlife venues beginning to rebound last year, as COVID became a more manageable disease due to people being vaccinated for it, more LGBTQ bar owners began stocking Sincere Cider. It is now available at numerous bars in San Francisco’s LGBTQ Castro district, while audiences at the city’s LGBTQ film festival Frameline could find it on offer at screenings held at the Castro Theatre

<< Trans month

From page 2

as Transgender History Month for the past several years.

“We were on recess July 15-August 15,” Haney explained. “We submitted language the week we returned in August during trans history month, it required amendments, and today was the day it was ready to be presented on the floor with trans leaders able to attend. … And it gives us time to plan a big event and celebration for next year.”

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“It is not a heavy drink. You can drink a 16-ounce can and not feel full,” noted Pezzullo.

She makes a mainstay dry apple cider with culinary apples sourced from Washington’s Yakima Valley and blended with French wine yeast. Throughout the year Pezzullo will release seasonal flavors, such as the pineapple flavored cider that debuted in June during Pride Month.

She also that month rolled out two new core flavors, one made with ginger juice and agave and another made with pomegranate juice with Seville orange zest. On Thursday, September 14, she is rolling out a blood orange cider with rosemary as her seasonal flavor for the fall and upcoming holiday season.

“The color is beautiful and it is a winter fruit. I wanted to play with ingredients from my Italian heritage,” explained Pezzullo when asked how she had landed on using blood oranges.

Initially, she was renting out a Napa winery during its offseason to make her ciders. As the business has taken off, Pezzullo now uses shared facilities in Napa, Lodi, and San Jose to produce her product.

“I am incredibly proud with where I have grown the company. Last year sales outpaced production. This year, with the three facilities and partnerships forged, I can keep up with the new core flavors and seasonal ciders,” said Pezzullo, who would only divulge that she has already produced twice the amount of cider that she did in 2022.

Customers can order directly from

Sincere Cider via its website, where the ciders come in quantities of 16 ($56) packaged in 16 ounce aluminum cans. Pezzullo chose the material due to its sustainability, since it can be recycled into something else.

“It is nearly a closed loop,” noted Pezzullo, who is a member of The Good Food Guild (https://goodfoodfdn. org/guild/) and 1% for the Planet, (https://www.onepercentfortheplanet.org/) as she has pledged to donate at least 1% of Sincere Cider sales directly to environmental causes.

Last month, Pezzullo moved back to Oakland in the Longfellow neighborhood adjacent to the city of Emeryville. She told the B.A.R. she is interested in opening a tasting room for Sincere Cider at some point in the future.

“Either the East Bay or San Francisco would be fine,” Pezzullo said as for a location. “How soon? That is a question for city planning. I have no timeline, literally I am just exploring it.”

Asked about selling her cider brand to a larger beverage company, Pezzullo told the B.A.R. it isn’t something she is currently considering.

“I built this company so I could live and I could spend my days doing things I am passionate about. I am all in on Sincere,” said Pezzullo.

To learn more about Sincere Cider, or to order its ciders online, visit its website at sincerecider.comt

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

Indeed, trans leaders were able to expound upon the importance of Haney’s resolution at a downtown Sacramento news conference before the vote.

Haney’s district director, Honey Mahogany, is a Black queer trans person who said she was attending the news conference as both a Haney staffer and in her capacity as chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party.

Mahogany framed the resolution as part of the fight against transphobia in the state; just earlier in the day, a judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking implementation of a forced outing policy for trans and nonbinary students in a Southern California school district, as the B.A.R. reported.

“All across this country we have been seeing attacks on the trans community, but it’s not just in other states,” Mahogany said. “Even here in Califor-

nia, where we have a sanctuary state, overwhelmingly Democrats representing us in the Capitol, we are still seeing acts of violence and attempts to legislate against our community.”

Mahogany said hopefully state recognition of trans history month will help “educate people about who we are and what we need.”

Haney followed, saying, “As long as there’s been a California there have been transgender people here.” He said the first record of trans people in California comes from 1775, when Pedro Fages, a Spanish soldier, wrote about people who he encountered near San Diego whom he described as “those Indian men who, both here and farther inland, observed in the dress, clothing, and character of women. … They are called joyas, and they are held in great esteem.”

Haney also discussed Charley Parkhurst, a trans stagecoach driver “whose life story was celebrated in the popular television show ‘Death Valley Days,’ hosted by former Governor Ronald Reagan.”

Haney said that the state was following the lead of San Francisco, which in 2021 became the first city to declare August as Transgender History Month because the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot – an uprising against police harassment of drag performers, trans and gender-nonconforming people –

took place there in 1966, three years before the more famous Stonewall riots in New York City that are viewed as the birth of the modern LGBTQ rights movement. The exact date in August of that year when the riot occurred has yet to be determined.

San Francisco trans activist Jupiter Peraza had pushed for the city designation. Peraza said during the news conference that “history will be made today.”

“Transgender history is not exclusive to San Francisco; it is everywhere, it is certainly throughout the entire state,” Peraza said. “It is history that dates back to the Gold Rush era and it is history that has played a monumental role shaping the state of California into what it is today.”

Carlo Gomez Arteaga, a trans man and co-executive director of San Francisco’s Transgender District, which is largely in the Tenderloin, said about Haney that “it’s great to have an ally here in Sacramento that we can count on.”

“The roots that we have in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco go back years, years, but we want folks to know that the history in the Tenderloin neighborhood is San Francisco’s history and San Francisco’s history is California’s history and so we thank today those who will vote to acknowledge this,” he said.t

Bex Pezzullo has hit her stride with her Sincere Cider products.

Cynthia Laird

Sincere Cider comes in three core flavors, as well as seasonal offerings.

Matthew S. Bajko

SF Leather Week kickoff starts with walk

humanitarian organization based in San Francisco, is raising funds to help LGBTQs affected by the earthquake in Morocco. On September 8, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck the Marrakesh-Safi region of the country in north Africa. The earthquake’s epicenter was located southwest of Marrakesh. RWF noted in an email to supporters that over 2,122 people have been killed and 2,400 were injured, with at least 1,400 of the injured being critically hurt.

“In older parts of Marrakesh and portions of the city walls collapsed, leaving families trapped beneath debris,” RWF stated. “Many of the buildings are centuries old and very, very unstable. Thousands have lost their homes.”

Cotter noted that same-sex sexual activity is illegal in Morocco, for men and women. “The LGBTQ+ community faces many hardships in this country, as it has limited legal rights. Police disproportionately target LGBTQ+ people. Public opinion toward the LGBTQ+ community is generally negative, in alignment with attitudes about LGBTQ+ rights in much of the Muslim world,” he noted.

The country has a male-dominated culture and a patriarchal society with traditional gender roles, RWF’s email explained. Same-sex activity can be punished with anything from three to five years’ imprisonment and fines.

compiled by Cynthia Laird LeatherWalk, which kicks off Leather Week in San Francisco ahead of the Folsom Street Fair, will take place Sunday, September 17, beginning at 11 a.m. outside City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place.

The San Francisco Leather & LGBTQ Cultural District in the South of Market neighborhood is overseeing the walk for the third year. It took over the event in 2021 after it had been on hiatus for a few years, as the Bay Area Reporter previously reported.

“Join this 31-year tradition, show your leather/ kinky/queer Pride in the streets, and have some day time SOMA fun at fav spots,” leather district officials stated in an announcement.

For those unable to walk all or parts of the route, a vehicle will be available courtesy of Fogcutter Tours to take people from stop to stop. Seating is limited and people should contact district manager Cal Callahan at manager@sflcd.org as soon as possible to be placed on the list.

Participants can fundraise or not, the announcement stated. Donations benefit the work of the cultural district, including its entrepreneur training program, activations for artists and performers, and legislative advocacy for more kinky/queer venues. The Kinky Boot Award goes to the top fundraiser. To sign up or view who is fundraising, go to sfleatherdistrict.org/lw/.

The 40th annual Folsom Street Fair takes place Sunday, September 24, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The main gate is located at Folsom and Eighth streets. There will be stages and activities catering to all manner of kink as the fair marks four decades of sexual liberation. For more information, go to www.folsomstreet.org.

Pride Night at Great America

Project MORE has announced that Pride Night will be held at California’s Great America Friday, September 15, from 6 p.m. to midnight at the theme

Obituaries >>

Ronald Charles Agnew

May 3, 1943 – April 4, 2023

There’s a goodhumored smile and hello missing from our lives. A phone call just to make sure we are OK. Our friend Charles passed away April 4 in San Francisco.

Ronald Charles Agnew was born May 3, 1943 in Cleveland, Ohio, to

park in Santa Clara. The event is presented by Splash, an LGBTQ video dance bar in San Jose.

Tickets, which include general admission and parking, are $50 for Great America season passholders and $75 for non-passholders. There is a VIP package available for $150 for season passholders and $175 for non-passholders. Additionally, there is a $125 package that includes a meet and greet with the RuGirls.

The all-inclusive celebration is for those 18 years and older. It will feature rides, drag performances, live music, party zones, and food and drink specials.

A portion of ticket sales supports Project MORE, a nonprofit that advocates and aids underserved queer individuals.

Project MORE is also the steward of the Qmunity LGBTQ space in downtown San Jose.

For more information about Pride Night and to purchase tickets, go to https://tinyurl.com/bdhwc8dy.

SF L/G Freedom Band concert

The San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band will hold a concert, “Passions and Pastimes,” Saturday, September 30, from 3 to 5 p.m. at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, 1111 O’Farrell Street (between Franklin and Gough) in the city.

The concert will include the West Coast premiere of “The MirageCaster,” a piece composed by Mattea Williams, a bi Black woman who is the band’s new composer in residence, as the B.A.R. previously reported. Williams composed “The MirageCaster” prior to her appointment with the band.

A news release from the band, which is the official band of San Francisco, noted that the concert would feature music that explores everything from bicycle riding to baseball to magic to dancing, singing, hiking, and more. It’s the second installment of the band’s 2023 community concert series.

Under the baton of artistic director Pete Nowlen, attendees will learn more about band members’ passion-

Henry Agnew and Rosanna Logan

Agnew, the fourth of eight children. During his youth, Charles worked at the Central Market. He graduated from Glenville High School in Cleveland in 1963. He joined the U.S. Navy and served in Vietnam. The San Francisco VA Hospital provided excellent care in recent years.

Part of his work history involved the federal courts in San Francisco and for Jim Lucas Associates during his time in New York City in the 1980s. Charles treasured

ate pastimes as they enjoy a collection of music. In addition to Williams’ piece, the band will perform works by composers Gustav Holst, Robert Russell Bennett, David Maslanka, Jack Stamp, Lee Jinjun, Erika Svanoe, and John Philip Sousa. General admission tickets for the concert are $20 or $15 for seniors and students. To purchase tickets, go to https://tinyurl.com/2yc8t9ba

SFGMC shares renditions of new home

The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus has shared renditions of its new home, the Pansy L. Chan and Terrence D. Chan National Queer Arts Center, as it invites people to join its Conductor’s Society and prepares for its upcoming Season 46, which will be announced soon.

As the B.A.R. previously reported, the chorus purchased the building at 170 Valencia Street in 2019. It will house a cutting-edge media center, provide a creative space for LGBTQ artists, serve as a meeting location for community groups, and host trainings and internship programs. It will also be the permanent home for the chorus.

According to an email to supporters, the chorus expects to soon open the center. Chris Verdugo, executive director of the chorus, wrote that the need for such a center has never been greater.

“With all the hateful state-level legislation in recent years and growing attacks on our rights and our community ... I don’t need to tell you how acute the need is right now for a safe place to serve as a beacon of inspiration and empowerment for queer individuals nationwide who are confronting oppression,” wrote Verdugo.

Meanwhile, the chorus’ Conductor’s Society starts at $150 per year and provides first access to the best seats at its live concerts.

For more information on the Conductor’s Society, go to www.sfgmc.org/ conductors-society. For other information on the chorus, go to sfgmc.org.

Morocco quake relief effort

Rainbow World Fund, the LGBTQ

memories of the everyday mix of people, bodegas, and Manhattan street life.

One aspect of his life involved the Grand Ducal Council, where he was known as Charlemagne. A memorial celebration was held at Aunt Charlie’s bar in April.

Survivors include siblings Rosann Marbly and Robert of Euclid, Ohio; Richard of Lakewood, Ohio; and Charles of Chicago.

Special thanks to friends Michael Lonergan and Lynn Chen (with him at the end).

RWF Executive Director Jeff Cotter, a gay man, added that the organization is “focusing our aid to help members of the LGBTQ+ community that have been impacted by the earthquake. The LGBTQ+ community is heavily discriminated against leaving it particularly vulnerable when an emergency occurs.”

When one is arrested in Morocco for a suspected homosexual act, their name is publicized, thus outing the individual before a trial takes place.

To donate, go to https://tinyurl. com/3w9jw47j and select “Morocco Earthquake – Helping LGBTQ Survivors” from the drop-down menu. Checks can be sent to Rainbow World Fund, 4111 18th Street, San Francisco, CA 94114. Write Morocco Earthquake in the memo line.t

Timothy

Timothy Sean McElreavy, 53, formerly of Guilford, CT died unexpectedly September 4, 2023, in Minneapolis, MN. He called San Francisco home and had deep roots and close-knit community there. Tim leaves behind his best friend and sister, Kristin McElreavy Mills along with her husband, Mert. Also, his niece, Kayla Mills, and nephews, Ethan Mills and Dylan Mills. He is survived by his loving partner, Brent Roelofs and father, Larry McElreavy. He was devastated to be predeceased by his aunt, Jackie Rice and his mother, Karen Stevens Boucher.

Tim graduated from high school in Guilford, CT and continued his education in Boston, Mass at Tufts University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in art history and French. He studied abroad at La Sorbonne in Paris, France and then at Stanford University in California where he worked towards earning his doctorate degree (PhD-ABD). He is a published author; A skilled and distinguished writer. He worked for large and small businesses, art galleries, was vice president of the start-up Free Range Content, and forever a loyal employee to the beloved Mickey’s Monkey in San Francisco.

Tim traveled worldwide and was deeply affected by inequity while also seeing beauty where others did not. Because of this, he was a staunch advocate for Human Rights. He worked with volunteer organizations and contributed to various fundraising events. His affinity for language was prodigious and Tim could neatly and confidently eviscerate anyone who spoke out against the exploited or persecuted and especially the communities he called his own. His sharp tongue had a reputation that preceded him and he could be a harsh critic- which meant you could always trust his honest thoughts. He had friends- who became family- across the globe and showed unending loyalty and grace to them even when others would not grant such things.

As someone who was unendingly curious and a life-long study of the world and culture, Tim saw art in everything. Not just in famous paintings or sculpture, but in culture, music, cities, poetry, film, fashion, a good meal, the person asleep on the sidewalk. He spent his life searching for the light and depth he saw so clearly in these things. He was perpetually seeking that feeling - that sparkand it frustrated him that it was so hard to come by as the years passed. Without knowing it, Tim created that light and depth for all of us. It was blinding at times and warm and inviting at others. He never knew. Tim was loved deeply for his brilliance, his soul, his dark, dry, searing humor. We will carry a piece of him with us so that we may look upon the rest of our lives in awe and with an ever-critical eye in his honor.

Instead of a funeral or service of some kind, Tim would have preferred that those that knew him celebrate with much joie de vivre. In lieu of flowers, we ask that donations be made in Tim’s name to AIDS Lifecycle; An organization that was dear to him.

Timothy-Sean-McElreavy-Obituary-2x7.625_091423.indd

Sean McElreavy

The Leather & LGBTQ Cultural District marched in last year’s LeatherWalk.

Fire Dragon Photography

An artist’s rendition shows the gallery of the new Pansy L. Chan and Terrence D. Chan National Queer Arts Center.

Courtesy SFGMC

the board’s decision to adopt a resolution declaring support for LGBTQIA+ youth, staff, and families. Ramos, who’s clerk of the board, complained at a May meeting about how the district was trying to “indoctrinate” students and staff because of its proLGBTQ curriculum and policies, a video of the meeting showed.

“If you’re homosexual, that’s your business,” he said. “Don’t bring it to the school house.”

King, who identifies as pansexual, disagrees.

“As a high school teacher, I’ve seen firsthand the effects of anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation, regardless of whether these proposals pass,” King wrote in a follow-up email. “LGBTQIA+ youth are quite aware that state/local legislators nationwide are openly debating what they can/cannot do and challenging their very existence. This has severe consequences for our most vulnerable population.

“When my students saw the viral video of Hayward Unified School board clerk Ramos accusing HUSD of ‘indoctrinating’ students with the ‘homosexual agenda’ last spring, they had many questions,” King added. “They wondered how this man, who hates them for simply being who they are, could be in charge of making decisions for them. They’re scared, confused and no longer feel like school is the ‘safe space’ it once was.”

Ramos is now facing a resolution from the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee for his actions.

<< LGBTQ bills

From page 1

Another closely watched LGBTQ school bill is AB 5, the Safe and Supportive Schools Act, authored by gay Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur (D-Santa Monica/West Hollywood). It would mandate that teachers and credentialed staff who serve public school pupils in grades 7 to 12 annually take at least one hour of online training in LGBTQ cultural competency beginning with the 2025-2026 academic year. The bill would sunset on July 31, 2031 and officially be repealed as of 2032.

A bill adopted in 2019 had called for such training but the necessary funding to create it wasn’t allocated until 2021. The California Department of Education now expects to roll it out by June 30, 2025.

Initially, Zbur’s bill called for school employees to have four hours of such training every three years but was amended earlier this year. Also removed from the bill was a requirement that school districts post online the training records of their personnel; the bill still requires such information be kept but only made available via a public records request.

The Assembly passed the amended version September 11 by a 65-0 vote with 15 abstentions. AB 5 had passed out of the Senate September 7 by a 32-3 vote with five abstentions.

“This bill will give teachers the training they need – and WANT –to provide a safe & welcoming space

SFFD bias case

From page 1

Nicol Juratovac recalled signing a declaration on behalf of Larry Jacobs, a Black recruit who was allegedly being bullied by Assistant Chief Tom Siragusa. Jacobs had filed his own suit against the city back in 2013.

“It was hard,” Juratovac said. “I signed it because it was the right thing to do.”

Juratovac’s attorney, Therese Y. Cannata, of Cannata O’Toole and Olson, asked why it’d been hard.

Juratovac answered: “It was about Chief Siragusa. He did something I knew was wrong, and it was —”

At this point, Juratovac cried. Regaining composure she said, “You’re

Protecting trans kids

Lambda Youth Project’s award was in keeping with the “Protect Trans Kids” theme of the Pride breakfast. Many speakers and award recipients committed to supporting candidates for public office who committed to protecting trans, gender-nonconforming, and nonbinary youth.

Tiffany Woods, a trans woman and mom of three who is a past co-chair of the California Democratic Party’s LGBTQ Caucus and now is trans state health manager for the California Department of Public Health, received the Trailblazer Award. Woods is a former Bay Area resident who now lives outside of Sacramento.

“We’re the canary in the coal mine,” Woods said of the attacks on trans people and referring to right-wing political leaders. “They went after us after marriage-equality was settled.”

She said people need to call out conservative talking points about “protecting children.”

“They’re not protecting anyone. It’s a trans scare and modern McCarthyism,” she said. “As a mom of three high school teens I’m outraged – their parental rights? What about our parental rights? I want an inclusive curriculum.

“If they really wanted to protect kids they’d stop mass shootings,” she added to applause from the packed crowd at Fluid 510, the new LGBTQ nightclub where the breakfast was held.

Woods encouraged attendees to pay attention as the new Protect Kids California group moves ahead with trying to place three measures targeting trans youth rights on the November 2024 ballot, as the B.A.R. recently

for LGBTQ+ & ALL students,” Zbur wrote on X (formerly Twitter) after it passed out of the Senate last week.

In another potential win for LGBTQ school advocates, the Senate on September 11 adopted by a 32-7 vote with one abstention Senate Bill 760 by state Senator Josh Newman (DFullerton), which would require all K-12 schools in California to provide at least one accessible all-gender restroom for students “to use safely and comfortably during school hours.”

It is believed to be “first-of-its-kind” legislation, according to LGBTQ advocates, and comes as lawmakers in other states restrict people’s usage of public bathrooms to those that align with the sex they were given at birth. The Assembly had passed it September 7 by a 65-6 vote with nine abstentions.

Other bills protect

LGBTQ youth

Several other bills protective of LGBTQ youth are also pending before Newsom to sign into law or veto by October 14. One of the more closely watched is AB 957 by Assemblymember Lori D. Wilson (D-Suisun City), dubbed the TGI (Transgender, Gender-Diverse, and Intersex) Youth Empowerment Act. It would allow courts to consider a parent’s affirmation of their child’s gender identity when making decisions about visitation and custody.

The bill would also require courts to strongly consider that affirming a child’s gender identity is in the best interest of the child when one parent

not supposed to do this stuff, but I realize it was the right thing to do.”

Jacobs had been forced to eat meals alone in his car and scrub the floor of the fire station with a toothbrush, Cannata said. He was also called a “house boy,” SF Gate reported in a 2013 article about the case settling for $175,000.

Cannata said ever since then, Juratovac was a marked woman in the eyes of some in the fire department, stuck in the past.

“They look back to the days when decisions were made based on who you knew,” Cannata said during her opening statement. “Those persons could not, would not, embrace change, and there were points Juratovac took significant stands – stands she knew

reported. And she reminded people that marriage equality will be on the Golden State’s ballot next November as people decide to repeal the “zombie” language of Proposition 8 that remains in the state constitution. The same-sex marriage ban was ruled unconstitutional in 2013 when same-sex marriage became legal in the state.

Congressmember Barbara Lee (DOakland) said she was proud to represent the city. Now in the midst of a competitive campaign to replace retiring U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (DCalifornia), Lee criticized the MAGA legislators who are introducing antiLGBTQ bills.

In a recent interview with the B.A.R. Lee also called out the trio of anti-trans youth propositions and pledged to be a vocal opponent of any that make it to the fall ballot next year. The conservative groups behind them plan to begin collecting signatures for them in November.

“It is such a disgrace that California has to deal with it. I know going around the state we have these pockets of hate,” said Lee, adding that “believe you me, I will do everything I can to help defeat these measures.”

Lee served as a grand marshal during the Oakland Pride parade that followed the breakfast.

She walked the route wearing a bright pink sequined baseball cap and was trailed by two security vehicles. A poll out last week had Lee trailing her two main Democratic rivals, Congressmembers Adam Schiff of Burbank and Katie Porter of Irvine.

The congressmember introduced state Superintendent of Public Instruc-

does not consent to a minor’s legal name change to conform with the minor’s gender identity. It passed out of the Senate 30-9 with one abstention September 6 and two days later sailed through the Assembly on a 61-16 vote with three abstentions.

Another bill aims to protect the privacy of transgender youth in California. AB 223 by gay Assemblymember Chris Ward (D-San Diego) would require the courts to seal any petition for a change of gender or sex identifier filed by a minor. It passed out of the Senate September 6 on a 32-6 vote with two abstentions, and the Assembly adopted the amended bill the next day on a 64-8 vote with eight abstentions.

Gender-nonconforming youth and adults could soon find some relief should Newsom sign AB 783 by Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), as it would require cities and counties to notify all business license applicants that single-user restrooms in any business, place of public accommodation, or government agency must be identified as all-gender restrooms. Under a previous bill that took effect in 2017, the state has required establishments with singleoccupancy restrooms to mark them as being gender-neutral.

It passed out of the Senate 31-7 with two abstentions September 5 and was adopted by the Assembly September 7 on a 67-10 vote with three abstentions.

Bills tackling LGBTQ health care issues

Legislators also have adopted sev-

would not be popular.”

The plaintiff alleges eight causes of action against the city: unlawful retaliation in violation of the labor code; unlawful retaliation in violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act; discrimination based on sexual orientation; discrimination based on race; discrimination based on gender; unlawful harassment; failure to investigate and prevent discrimination, harassment and retaliation; and violation of the California Public Records Act.

In her opening statement September 7 Cannata laid out seven disciplinary investigations that’d been undertaken against Juratovac, which the plaintiff claims were part of a pattern of retaliation and discrimination against her just for doing her job – all

tion Tony Thurmond, who received the club’s Ally Award. Thurmond has been traveling the state and attending meetings in the wake of school boards adopting anti-LGBTQ policies on curriculum as well as forced outing. He was removed from a school board meeting in Chino Valley after he spoke against its forced outing policy.

“If I have to get kicked out for standing up for students, kick me out every time,” he said, referring to the Chino Hills incident.

But Thurmond delivered a simple message during his remarks: “We have to elect more progressive school board members.” And he emphasized that “this is a political attack, it’s not about parental rights.”

Pacific Center honored

The Pacific Center for Human Growth, the third oldest LGBTQ community center in the U.S., received the Community Champion Award.

Executive Director Lasara Firefox Allen accepted the award and noted that the center recently moved into its new location on Center Street in Berkeley.

The B.A.R. reported last year that the center was forced to move after the building it’s been located in for decades was sold.

Allen, who identifies as pansexual and nonbinary, said that an open house is scheduled for next month. The center offers a number of support groups and other programs that Allen said help queer clients.

“Each time that a youth has a dedicated community their self-value goes up,” they said. “To today’s theme, nearly half [of people seeking services]

eral bills supportive of LGBTQ health care services. For example, SB 487 by outgoing lesbian Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) would ensure that a health insurer, or health care service plan, doesn’t penalize a licensed California health care provider who performs genderaffirming care services.

It also protects abortion providers and prohibits insurers from discriminating or refusing to contract with a provider sanctioned in another state for providing care that is legal in California but illegal in another state. The bill was sent to Newsom to sign after the Senate adopted it September 11 on a 31-8 vote with one abstention following the Assembly amending it and approving it September 7 by a 64-15 vote with one abstention.

“As states continue to put restrictions and bans on women’s reproductive rights and gender-affirming care, providers in California continue to step forward, helping an increased number of patients coming here for care and traveling out of state to help those in need,” stated Atkins. “This bill would ensure there is no disruption in a provider’s ability to perform abortion care in California, where it is legal and enshrined in our state constitution. Even if a provider is penalized in another state, they will still be able to provide both of these critically needed services here.”

In a similar vein, AB 1432 by Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo (DLos Angeles) would close loopholes in existing law to ensure that health

after she stuck up for Jacobs.

These were, in chronological order, 1) about an argument ostensibly about a mask at a 2014 fire; 2) her order that a firefighter who’d been arrested for driving under the influence stop driving on duty in 2015; 3 and 4) two separate incidents at San Francisco International Airport in 2016; 5) a dispute over proper reporting of secondary employment in 2019; 6) a dispute about a ladder drill in 2019; 7) and a dispute over a lost document in 2020.

Cannata claimed Juratovac would be facing further discipline had she not sued back in 2021, as the Bay Area Reporter covered at the time.

Deputy City Attorney Amy Frenzen, opening on behalf of the city and county, characterized Juratovac’s alle-

identify as trans or gender-nonconforming.”

Other speakers

A bevy of elected officials attended this year’s breakfast. They included Bonta, who said, “we are facing an unprecedented national attack on the LGBTQ community” and said he was working with Thurmond and Governor Gavin Newsom to “push back against these school districts.”

Assemblymember Alex Lee (DSan Jose), whose sprawling district includes part of Southern Alameda County, warned, “a lot of people can’t accept our progress and are on a mission to push us back in the shadows.”

Fluid 510 co-owner Sean Sullivan, a gay man, introduced Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, who took the stage with District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife. Both straight allies, they said there is no place in Oakland for hate, even though recent anti-LGBTQ attacks have been made against Brandon Harami, a gay man who’s Thao’s director of community resilience and her de facto LGBTQ liaison. Though his name wasn’t mentioned, Thao was referring to Seneca Scott, a former Oakland mayoral candidate who threatened the Jewish community during his mayoral campaign last year and a photo appeared showing him wearing an anti-trans sandwich board. Scott, who is a member of the Oakland NAACP, was denounced for his anti-LGBTQ comments by the Alameda County Democratic Party, as The Oaklandside recently reported. Scott did not respond to a request for comment.t

insurance policies provided to Californians by out-of-state employers with out-of-state insurance contracts include coverage for abortion and gender-affirming care. The Senate adopted it September 6 by a 32-8 vote and the next day the Assembly approved it 64-15 with one abstention.

SB 372 by lesbian state Senator Caroline Menjivar (D-San Fernando Valley) would ensure that the public records kept by the state’s Department of Consumer Affairs don’t use the deadnames or disclose the home addresses of licensed mental health professionals. By a 36-4 vote the Senate sent the bill to Newsom a day after the Assembly had adopted it September 5 by a 63-5 vote with 12 abstentions.

Also now before the governor is AB 1487 by Assemblymember Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles). It aims to establish the Transgender, Gender Variant, and Intersex Wellness Reentry Fund to provide grants for reentry programming “specifically to support transgender, gender variant, and intersex people who have experienced carceral systems.”

It includes no funding, though the bill’s backers would like to secure at least $5 million for it. It mirrors the state fund Santiago pushed to create that pays for trans health care services several years ago, which Newsom appropriated $13 million for in 2021.

The Senate passed AB 1487 September 6 by a 32-1 vote with seven abstentions. On Monday, the Assembly adopted it 65-4 with 11 abstentions.t

gations as “a story.”

“Chief Juratovac wants you to believe she has not been selected for discretionary command positions because she is a victim of discrimination,” she said. “Set aside and ignore her behavior, relationship with her colleagues, and how that’s affected her prospects.”

Frenzen said that Juratovac hasn’t advanced because she’s “quick to take offense to criticism” and because “she does not use her power fairly. She uses it to the detriment of people she does not like. Her reports and complaints have more to do with herself and promoting her own reputation.”

by Michael Flanagan

“The phone rang four times before it was picked up. A man’s soft voice on the other end answered. ‘Hello?’

‘Hello,’ I sang out, hoping this could be the one. ‘Is this Daphne?’ I held my breath. My fingers were crossed so tightly they could snap.

He replied, ‘Well, that’s a name I haven’t heard in a while….’”

In 2014, Craig Olsen and his partner Richard Konigsberg were wrapping up the estate of their late friend of more than two decades, Hollywood superagent Ed Limato. Olsen was going through boxes of Limato’s personal effects when he stumbled upon a series of letters addressed to someone named Reno Martin from a writer using the name Daphne talking about drag in New York in the 1950s.

In total there was a cache more than 200 letters. Olsen discovered a tape of Limato as the disc jockey Reno Martin, and then found a letter with the name and address in Queens of one Michael Algona in handwriting that matched Daphne’s. In follow-up research that seems straight from the pages of a mystery novel, Olsen found Daphne/ Michael and through Daphne went on to find other letter writers from the cache.

The letters were the genesis of the award-winning 2020 documentary, “P.S. Burn This Letter Please,” which can be accessed online through public libraries using the streaming service Kanopy. If you haven’t seen it, you should treat yourself.

Olsen has now followed up the film with a book of the same title released this August. It is both an essential history and a riveting tale of both the discovery of these lives and the details

of a world only glimpsed before. The letters in the book date from March 1955 to 1965, with the majority being from 1957 and 1958. It’s a welcome addition to the information provided in the film.

The book and film both tell a riveting story. History from before Stonewall is filled with tales of lives ruined by discovered homosexuality or the closeted lives of famous people hidden from the public eye. This book is definitely neither of those things. The people in these letters are living fully formed working class gay –and one transgender– lives in 1950s New York.

The letter writers were part of the House of Boomatzas (Italian ’50s slang for sex workers) and included Roberto “Josephine Baker” Perez and Claudio “Claudia” Diaz, who ran away from their families. As a result Diaz spent time on a chain gang in Alabama and was held in the Bellevue psychiatric ward when he was returned to New York.

Film forum

by Brian Bromberger

It now appears certain that both the Hollywood writer’s and actor’s strikes are going to last a while. Films scheduled to open in the fall and early winter have been postponed and/or pushed back to 2024. Since one can only watch so many reruns, queer audiences might reconsider discovering movies from last year that have recently been reissued on DVD and Blu-ray.

All Man: The International Male Story (Giant Pictures, $24.95)

A popular offering at Frameline46, this made my list of the Top LGBTQ films of 2022. This documentary charts the history of the International Male catalog, which began in 1976, that not only featured provocative men’s fashion (especially underwear) but gorgeous models who set the standard for gay male physiques for decades, even though most of them were heterosexual.

The catalog allowed gay males to indulge their sexual fantasies, inside and outside the bedroom, but also provided a safe bridge for them to come out and not feel so rejected.

Narrated by out actor Matt Bomer, this lighthearted film with its breezy tone gives the catalog the credit it deserves for redefining images of masculinity in popular culture, changing the way men looked at themselves and each other.

Bare (TLA Releasing, $24.99)

This voyeuristic, behind-the-scenes documentary from Belgium gives a bird’s eye view as a choreographer (Thierry Smits) and his team audition, rehearse, and eventually premiere the

‘P.S.

Burn This Letter Please’

Fascinating ’50s New York drag scene told in new book

dance piece, “Anima Ardens,” in which all the men will dance nude. The film reveals the internal artistic conflicts between the dancers and their personal challenges of creating the performance, showing how vulnerable they can be, as they strip away their defenses, all in pursuit of artistic freedom. It’s not as exciting as it could have been and you get used to all the nudity.

In From The Side (Strand Releasing, $24.99)

This gay British rugby film, a favorite at Frameline46, concerns two team squads, whose boundary is not to be crossed, until Mark (Alexander Lincoln) and Warren (Alexander King) have a fling after a drunken soiree. They are both in unhappy committed partnerships, so no one can learn about their full-blown affair, since it could destroy the club they love. Lincoln and King have an undeniable frisson, especially as they writhe in grimy mud. Sexy and homoerotic, with an almost inevitable end that can border on melodrama, it’s a guilty pleasure that is absorbing and hot, despite their sweaty encounters resulting in collateral damage.

Like Me (Breaking Glass Pictures, $24.99)

This coming-of-age film from Israel focuses on confident Tel Aviv high school senior Tom (Yoav Keren) who discovers his sexuality in a threesome with a gay couple, and is evicted by his distant widower dad when he finds some incriminating photos on his phone. Tom finds himself smitten with an older fashion photographer twice his age, but he’s also secretly in love with his straight friend Gilad (Mendi Barsheshet), despite his beginning a relationship with his Instagram-influencer girlfriend Noa (Roni Adler). The plot can seem abrupt but our

But again, this is not a recounting of the sad lives of unfortunates; far from it. The resilient letter writers spend time performing in bars like Club 82 and socializing in bars like the Cork Club and the Wagon Wheel, and attending events like Phil Black’s balls in Harlem.

Among the fascinating stories in the book is the support (both financial and emotional) that Anna Genovese, the proprietor and hostess of Club 82 (and member of the Genovese crime family), gave to Terry “Teri” Noel when she sought gender reassignment care in the 1950s.

Other fascinating tales include a story about Salvador Dali doing drawings of a performer at Club 82 and the story of a massive wig heist from the Metropolitan Opera. I spoke with Craig Olsen about the stories told in his book, which has just been published.

Michael Flanagan: I’m fascinated that Ed Limato left the letters in storage and that he knew that you would be involved with sorting through his effects. Do you think he hoped you would find them and find the source of the letters? Would he have been happy to have them chronicled in the documentary and the film?

Craig Olsen: You’ve nailed it. Ed Limato was far more than just witty. His cleverness was an art form. After sharing more than twenty years with Ed, it became evident that every move he made was deliberate. My partner in crime, Richard Konigsberg, who helms The Edward F. Limato Foundation, held the deepest connection with Ed. Thus, when the time came, Richard shouldered the significant responsibility of being Ed’s estate executor.

See page 16 >>

free-spirited gay hero, assisted by striking visual imagery and some sultry dancing, does win our hearts as he sorts out his sexual identity.

Lonesome (Dark Star Pictures, $24.99)

Another crowd pleaser at Frameline46, this is a sexy drama from Australia in which country boy Casey (Josh Lavery) fleeing a small-town scandal, escapes to Sydney to start a new life. Through a threesome he located on Grindr, he meets Tibi (Daniel Gabriel) and after a successful hookup, winds up staying at his apartment. They work together for cash in a series of odd jobs. An effective team, they grow closer as both are alone in the world.

Both men have withstood physical and emotional abuse. Can the couple overcome their scars and build a life together? Josh Lavery, with his James Dean-like looks and vulnerability, gives a star-making performance, putting his bid in as the next Heath Ledger. He’s nude for at least half the movie, but we promise you won’t mind.

Minyan (Strand Home Video, $24.99)

This period piece brilliantly recreates 1987 Brighton Beach Brooklyn during the AIDS era, revolving around 17-year-old David (Samuel H. Levine, in a breakout role). Son of Russian immigrant parents and a yeshiva student, he’s sorting out his sexuality (with a gay bartender, in hot scenes) and his attachment to Judaism’s culture and tradition. Ron Rifkin radiates as his beloved elderly recently widowed grandfather as they live together and befriend a closeted elderly holocaust surviving male couple in their building. They help David sort through his competing identities. Evocative and powerful, this small jewel can be appreciated even if you’re not Jewish.

Passing Strangers/Forbidden Letters (Altered Innocence, $29.99)

These two films were made in the early 1970s by Arthur Bressan, a true pioneer of gay motion pictures, who died of AIDS in 1987, best known for “Buddies” (the first film to ever deal with AIDS) and “GayUSA” (the first documentary about Gay Pride). These films blurred the boundaries between the artistic and the erotic. They are classy porn movies among the first to have a narrative plot with real characters.

In “Passing Strangers,” a closeted gay teenager finds love, community, and a political awakening when he answers a personal ad from an older, jaded man. “Forbidden Letters” concerns Larry, who waits for his older lover (early porn star Richard Locke) to be released from prison. These films are considered landmarks of early queer cinema, restored in 2K with a host of new bonus features.

See page 19 >>

Michael Algona as Daphne in a drag runway show.

The tale of one afternoon when Richie and I embarked on the task of sorting Ed’s vast safe at his Beverly Hills abode is a testament to the intrigue that surrounded Ed. Among the myriad treasures within, my gaze was captured by a seemingly inconspicuous clear plastic sheet. Tucked within was a precisely typed letter addressed to an individual named Reno, capped with the casual, “As Always, Daphne.”

Accompanying the letter was a petite vintage photograph featuring a woman poised coyly before a midcentury modern credenza, her gaze drifting over her left shoulder. Cursive script on the photo’s back unveiled the name “Josephine.” Reading the letter, I sensed a certain uniqueness, though I placed it into a box in haste, without much further consideration.

Years later, that very letter resurfaced in my thoughts after stumbling upon a cache of Ed’s final possessions. It became apparent that Ed had deliberately seeded this subtle hint within his secure vault, confident in my eventual discovery. He knew me well enough to be certain.

As for your query regarding Ed’s response to my meticulous documentation of these relics, I believe his sentiment would likely be positive. However, these letters are exceptionally personal, prompting a contemplation period with Richie. We mulled over whether sharing them was the right move.

These unfiltered letters, encapsulating ephemeral moments, offer a glimpse into the lives of a tight-knit group known as the Boomatzas, navigating New York in the 1950s. They embraced drag, staking their claim in the underground mafia nightclub scene and the city streets. The writers divulge secrets, desires, and yearnings.

Safeguarding my friend’s reputation was paramount. I don’t believe Ed foresaw my extensive exploration. He probably thought I’d simply enjoy reading the letters. He did, however, want me to know about this facet of his life. But what he likely didn’t foresee was the unlocking of a hidden segment of LGBTQ history, a realm largely uncharted. My curiosity to unveil our queer past spurred the realization that this discovery demanded to be shared.

Through intensive research, I discovered a stark absence of information about LGBTQ history prior to the Stonewall era and the AIDS crisis. Accounts from real individuals, particularly drag queens, who openly shared their experiences, were virtually nonexistent. In fact, the only records that historians can access from that time are arrest and hospital records. It’s lamentable that the government overlooked preserving the history of marginalized communities.

Were you surprised by the number of outlets that the Boomatzas had to socialize and show off their outfits? I knew about Club 82 from Esther Newton’s book, “Mother Camp,” but I didn’t know about the Cork Club or the Wagon Wheel, and I had no idea about Regent’s Row or the

Waldorf. Given the repression in the ’50s, does it surprise you that there was such a big scene?

Absolutely; the sheer number of outlets where the Boomatzas could gather and flaunt their attire is quite remarkable. The landscape was diverse, ranging from Club 82 to the Cork Club, the Wagon Wheel, Regent’s Row, 415 and the Waldorf. Given the constraints of the ’50s, the breadth of this scene might seem surprising.

However, it’s important to understand that the queer community, particularly drag queens, lived on the fringe of society, necessitating clever and creative ways to meet and socialize. The “Bird Circuit,” with bars adopting avian names, was a covert signal for catering to a gay crowd.

Word-of-mouth communication was vital for learning about these spaces, as queer individuals shared information among themselves. The underground Ball scene also attracted crowds when promoters could rent halls for costume events. But if such events weren’t sanctioned, they often ended in police raids and arrests.

The slang glossary in the front of the book is essential. How did you find out what this slang meant? Do you have any idea as to how long this slang had been in existence and what subculture it came from? Any idea when terms like “mopping” died out from common use?

Delving into the unique slang within the letters was a charming discovery, revealing a fascinating world of coded communication. The research process was a mix of deciphering foreign words and tapping into the insight of individuals like Daphne, who played a crucial role in defining these

terms. Much of the slang was bespoke, invented to describe moments, feelings, or actions.

As for the origins of the slang, it’s intriguing. Some words may have been influenced by existing jargon, while others were likely a product of this subculture’s creativity. The decline of certain terms like “mopping” can vary, with some words seeing sporadic use even in recent years.

The story about Salvador Dali doing drawings of Baby Ella-Funt at Club 82 is fascinating. Do you know whether any of these were saved by other savvy performers or if Dali did this for other performers in other drag bars?

The anecdote about Salvador Dali creating drawings of Baby Ella-Funt is an incredible tidbit. It’s a blend of surrealism and drag queen audacity – quintessentially delightful. Unfortunately, I don’t have information about whether any of these drawings were preserved by more savvy performers or if Dali created similar works for other drag performers or venues.

A number of people in the book wound up in jail on various charges. Do you think that part of the culture of “mopping” (i.e. theft) could be put down to this relationship with the criminal world; that is, they were already seen as being criminals, why not make some profit from it. The story about the wig theft from the opera is epic, by the way.

The intersection between the queer world and criminal culture during that time was complex. The queens of the Boomatzas, street-smart and resourceful, embraced the concept of “mopping” as a way to seize opportunities that arose. Considering the environment of the 1950s, where LGBTQ individuals were often considered criminals simply for their identity, it’s not surprising that they would find ways to earn money even through unconventional means. The tale of the wig theft from the opera is indeed epic – a testament to their audacity and ingenuity.

The book has explanatory passages in in on things like racism in the LGBTQ world in the ’50s and general information about our shared history. Do you see the book as being an educational tool?

The book, in many ways, serves as an educational tool, shedding light on LGBTQ history that often remains hidden. It’s important to note that many queer individuals lack awareness of their own history, simply because it isn’t a subject often discussed or taught. Seeking out this history is often a personal endeavor. The aim is to help straight and queer individuals understand LGBTQ history and build a stronger base for acceptance. As queer anthropologist Esther Newton aptly put it, “This is our history, this is where we came from.”

How was this rich history lost before you found the letters? I was surprised that none of the letters from Ed/Reno in response were

saved. Do you think that is because the people receiving the letters didn’t think that they were of any historical value, or were their lives were lived so close to the edge that they weren’t concerned about it? Or was it that they considered written documentation to be dangerous and discarded it?

The lost history before the discovery of the letters is a poignant aspect. The absence of responses to Ed/Reno’s letters could be attributed to multiple factors. Those receiving the letters might not have deemed them historically significant, or their precarious lives might have led them to prioritize survival over preservation. The title, “The Queen’s Letters,” reflects the potential dangers of written documentation during that era, suggesting that these letters might have been discarded due to the perceived risks.

The relationship between Terry Noel and Anna Genovese (of the Genovese family) and how much help Anna gave Terry in transitioning is fascinating. Do you know how long they kept in touch

with one another? Did Terry continue to hear from Anna up until Anna’s death in 1982?

The relationship between Terry Noel and Anna Genovese, from the Genovese family, is indeed a remarkable testament to understanding and support. While I don’t have precise details about the duration of their contact, Anna’s role in assisting Terry during his transition at a time when such journeys were arduous is truly heartening.

I was also fascinated by the interaction between Michael Algona and his father, when he called Michael a “Suzie” (a slang term indicating homosexuality) and told him not to wear makeup. Do you know whether the ItalianAmerican performers at places like Club 82 were disparaged by Italian crime syndicate members for doing drag?

The interaction between Michael Algona and his father, with the use of the term “Suzie,” reflects the complexities of those times. While Italian-American performers might have faced disparagement from some quarters, it’s important to remember that the LGBTQ community, including drag queens, often had to navigate prejudices not just from society at large but also from within their own marginalized subgroups.

There are still several mysteries surrounding what happened to members of the Boomatzas including Charlie and Gigi. Did you hear anything more about their lives after the film was released and do you have any hopes that you will find out more after the book gets into circulation?

The mysteries surrounding the lives of individuals like Charlie and Gigi continue to captivate. As the book gains traction, it’s my hope that more information surfaces, shedding light on their stories. The book introduces new queens not featured in the film. In fact, I met Robin Tyler after the film was finished. Her connection to the story resonated with me. It would have been a shame not to have shared her experience.

The culture in San Francisco at the time you write about was very different. There were bars that were owned by gays and lesbians, for instance and attempts to fight police harassment in the early ’60s. Do you know if the letter writers in your book knew this and if they ever considered moving here?

All photos:‘P.S. Burn This Letter Please’

The contrast in culture between San Francisco and the events chronicled in the book is striking. Bars owned by LGBTQ individuals, attempts to counter police harassment – these aspects showcase a different approach to societal challenges. It’s uncertain whether the letter writers knew of this alternative landscape, given that their focus might have primarily been on immediate concerns.t

‘P.S. Burn This Letter Please’ by Craig Olsen www.psburnthisletterplease.com

Left: Gigi, Charlie, Daphne and a dancer from a drag show Center: Photo of a Philadelphia Mummers parade Right: Paired queens

All photos:‘P.S. Burn This Letter Please’ collection

Author Craig Olsen

Top: Daphne as Marilyn Monroe

Middle: Daphne’s butch look

Bottom: Daphne in a showgirl costume

t Theater & Music>>

‘Cruel Intentions’

Ray of Light Theatre’s dark ’90s jukebox bop

standards has helped it attract some of the Bay Area’s best theater talent, both on stage and backstage. “Cruel Intentions” offers a lavish fashion show of ’90s styles, with more than 200 pieces created by costume designer Sara Altier.

Anne Norland and the ‘Cruel Intentions’ ensemble Jon Bauer

by Jim Gladstone

“Vile, vacuous!” exclaimed the Detroit Free Press.

“A 90210 rerun on Viagra,” hissed the San Jose Mercury News.

“Great glittering gobs of cheap,” hocked the New York Post.

There’s a delicious, wicked alchemy that can turn condemnation to catnip.

That’s certainly what happened to the panties-in-a-knot pans film that critics spewed at 1999’s “Cruel Intentions.”

The horndog teen riff on “Dangerous Liaisons” not only earned back seven times its production budget in its original release, but spawned two screen sequels and a jukebox musical now making its Bay Area debut in a Ray of Light production at the Victoria Theatre.

“We’ve had great luck with musicals adapted from cult films,” said Ray of Light’s namesake and artistic director, Shane Ray, pointing to the likes of “Heathers,” “Carrie” and “American Psycho.”

(Not to mention the stage-tofilm-and-back “Rocky Horror Show,” which has become a company staple, the latest, immersive version of which

will open at Oasis just five days after “Cruel Intentions” closes.)

Many theaters in the Bay Area and nationwide have been struggling to fill seats since the pandemic, but Ray of Light roared back to life last year with a crowd-pleasing production of “Kinky Boots.”

Unlike most local companies, which rely on charitable patrons, Ray said that “Our shows are about 90 percent funded by ticket sales.”

While the company’s past offerings have included more cerebral works, like “Assassins” and a stunning “Caroline, or Change,” Ray feels that right now “people are still hungry for big, fun entertainment. Look at the Eras tour. Obviously, a lot of that has to do with Taylor Swift in particular, but I think there’s also a desire to have this upbeat, energetic group experience.”

At the same time, one of Ray of Light’s hallmarks is productions that lean a bit to the dark side, and, in retrospect, “Kinky Boots” may have swayed a bit too far toward the sunny.”

Ray hopes that “Cruel Intentions” will strike an ideal balance between the Swift and the sinister.

“The story is dark,” he said. “The

characters are manipulative and conniving. Honestly, they’re assholes. But it’s fun and cheeky and full of ’90s hits.”

The score includes songs made famous by No Doubt, Backstreet Boys, TLC, and Christina Aguilera among others.

“It’s a head bobbing kind of show,” said Ray.

True community theater

“Something that’s always stood out about Ray of Light is that our shows appeal to more than just theater people,” noted Leslie Waggoner, director of “Cruel Intentions” and choreographer for several past company productions.

While this can partly be attributed to shrewd programming that’s often tied to familiar media properties, the Victoria Theater’s location in the heart of the Mission District is no doubt a factor as well.

Before and after shows, and during intermission, Ray of Light audiences crowd the 16th Street sidewalk, exuding rock show enthusiasm and piquing curiosity in a neighborhood where passersby are not the graying crowd associated with most local theaters.

“I think we’ve got a lot of people

in our audiences who don’t think of themselves as theatergoers,” said Ray. “For them, going to Ray of Light is going out to have a good time.”

At the same time, the company’s commitment to high production

The company has served as a stepping stone in the careers of several nationally known talents: Ray of Light alumni include James Monroe Iglehart, who won a Tony as the Genie in “Aladdin”; Beth Behrs of television’s “2 Broke Girls”; and Taylor Iman Jones, a Bay Area native who later moved to New York where she’s had roles in “Groundhog Day,” “Head Over Heels” and “Six” on Broadway.

“We try to provide a really fun playground for actors and artists to work in,” said Ray. “And I think our audiences sense that feeling and share in the fun.”t

‘Cruel Intentions,’ through Oct. 1. $20-$70. Victoria Theater, 2961 16th St. rayoflighttheatre.com

Professional

Some LGBTQ folks of a certain age are sure to remember the UK sextet General Public, and its 1984 IRS

Records debut album “All The Rage” (BMG), newly reissued on vinyl for the first time since it was first released. Gay men, especially, will probably recall the band’s hot front-men Dave Wakeling (who came out as bi in the 1980s) and the late Ranking Roger (who passed in 2019). The pair had previously been founding members of the groundbreaking ska band The English Beat before departing and forming General Public.

“All The Rage” incorporates both the ska influence of early English Beat songs, as well as the more pop and dance-oriented material of the English Beat’s final recording “Special Beat Service” (from 1982). The most popular hits from “All The Rage,” including “Tenderness,” “Never You Done That,” and “Hot You’re Cool” leaned towards the pop and dance aspect. General Public’s second album, “Hand To Mouth” (BMG) from 1984, also reissued on vinyl, didn’t fare as well as its predecessor.

www.mm-group.org/talent/ general-public

Nora Kelly Band is easily the coolest, queer, Canadian, country band since k.d. lang and the Reclines first appeared on the scene almost 40 years ago. “Rodeo Clown” (Mint Records), on tasty brown vinyl, honors the country tradition over the course of 10 original tunes. Talk about torch and twang! The all-queer band knows its way around pedal steel, fiddles, banjos, guitars, and keyboards. Kelly’s strong vocals give songs such as “Lay Down Girl,” “MMM Delicious,” “Purgatory Motel,” “Catch A Bone,” “Roswell,” and the title cut the country kick they need, boots and all.

www.mintrecs.com/artist/

nora-kelly-band

On her new eponymous black vinyl Mack Avenue album, queer vocalist (and songwriter) Veronica Swift who clearly has talent to burn, goes where few other artists in the jazz vocals genre would dare to tread. By performing daring jazz-influenced covers of songs by Nine Inch Nails (“Closer”) and Queen (“The Show Must Go On” and “Keep Yourself Alive”), she sets out to broaden listeners’ horizons, and she succeeds.

Cage

Aux

I Am” swings as it never has before. She also has a flair for the dramatic that comes through on her rendition of the lovely standard “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows” and her nearoperatic take on Jobim’s “Chega de Saudade.” Originals such as “Severed Heads” (adapted from a Puccini opera) and “In the Moonlight” (adapted from a Beethoven piano sonata) further demonstrate what Swift is capable of as a lyricist and performer.

www.veronicaswift.com

Worriers’ queer lead vocalist Lauren Denitzio uses they/them pronouns, but that’s not the only reason to listen to the band’s new studio album “Trust Your Gut” (Ernest Jenning Record Co.). Arriving just a few months after the intimate “Warm Blanket” (on red vinyl), “Trust Your Gut” (on black vinyl) has a fuller sound with Denitzio being backed by a band. Worriers covers a full range of emotions on the songs “Hold My Breath,” “I’m Not Mad,” “Waste of Space,” “Backyard Garden,” “Anything Else,” and “Losing the Thread.” The rocking title cut has hit single written all over it and deserves to be heard by everyone.

www.worriersmusic.com

Sammy Prince and Doug Greer in ‘Cruel Intentions’

Jon Bauer

by Jim Piechota

With the third and final installment of our fall 2023 books roundup, while we couldn’t capture all the amazing queer books publishing this season, here are even more of the novels, memoirs, and picture book titles you will certainly want to seek out in the coming months.

FICTION Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror,”

Edited by Jordan Peele, $30 (Random House) October

From the Oscar and Emmy-winning creative mind that brought us such brilliant films as “Get Out,” “Us,” and “Nope” comes a Halloween anthology of Black horror short stories certain to chill your spine. Though not a queer collection per se, several contributors are known for incorporating queer and trans characters into their books, like award-winning sci-fi writer Cadwell Turnbull (“No Gods, No Monsters,” “We Are the Crisis”) and Tananarive Due (“The Good House,” “The Reformatory”), a Black horror writer since the 1990s.

There are nineteen established and a few newer authors included and among the plots explored are a vigilante daughter searching for the demon who killed her parents,

a bus ride through Alabama with an unfortunate drop off point, and N.K. Jemisin’s contribution “Reckless Eyeballing,” which details what happens when a mid-thirties Black female driving a Tesla is pulled over, told from the harrowing perspective of Carl, a cop hungry to “find something.” Things are never quite as they seem in this Jordan Peele-curated world of horror. This one is required reading late at night after you light your pumpkin.

Make the Dark Night Shine” by Alan Lessik, $19.95 (Rebel Satori Press) October

Berlin-based former San Fransiscan queer author Lessik’s ambitious follow-up to his debut (“The Troubleseeker”) is set in post-war Paris and follows the exploits of gay couple Kenzo and Mitsu, who arrive in Constantinople in the early twentieth century to open a Japanese Consulate. Soon, they meet a gritty Ukrainian woman named Elisa in a nightclub, and she becomes Kenzo’s “beard” to shield his homosexual relationship from scrutiny.

Epic in scope and wildly imaginative, the novel expands outward to include themes of Buddhist monasticism and spirituality, gay liberation, and a family reunion with Kenzo’s own child that takes him across treacher-

ous terrain and critical cultures to America where he may finally achieve peace for himself and his chosen family. Or will he?

Inspired by his own family’s history, this is a wonderful dramatic new work from Lessik.

GRAPHIC FICTION

“

F*ck It, I’m Buying a Cabin” by Jesse Regis, Illus. by Stephanie Sosa, $12.99 (Row House) September

This colorfully illustrated, entertaining, poetically rhythmic graphic novel chronicles the life of Sarah, a hopeful young lesbian with hopes of becoming a teacher, or a detective, or a scholar. But debt and the stresses of shared-apartment life and a deadend tech job eventually take their toll and overwhelm her. She begins relishing the bliss of solitude in a country cabin all her own. From her disillusionment emerges the liberation of country life, clean air, and co-existing within the beauty of nature. Embellished by the artistic talents of Sosa, Regis has written a simple yet memorable story-in-verse awash in the illustrator’s sepia tones and effective line drawings. This impressive story sends a message that the stresses of city life don’t have to last forever.

Blackward” by Lawrence Lindell, $22.95 (Drawn & Quarterly)

September

Cartoonist Lawrence Lindell’s wonderful, culturally significant graphic fiction showcases four Black queer outcasts who search for belonging. Meeting resistance at every turn, the quartet (Amor, Tony, Lika, and Lala) struggle to create a safe space to fully embrace and embody their collective weirdness. Lika’s genius idea to create “The Section for All Black folks” and

its newest Zine Fest event are again facing ire from detractors, but the fight is as real as their unified response.

The title is a combination word signifying two human qualities (Black and Awkward) that are heavily criticized, scorned, and readily debased by others. Lindell’s animated brilliance puts the frolic and fight back into this unapologetically weird, queer demographic while recognizing Blackness for all its uniqueness and uncompromised beauty.

GRAPHIC REFERENCE

Dragtails” by Greg Bailey and Alice Wood, $15.99 (White Lion

September

Readers who imbibe cocktails on the regular (particularly while watching “RuPaul’s Drag Race”) will find Bailey and Wood’s fabulous cocktail collection from a collective of drag stars and divas. Raja Gemini provides the vivid introduction followed by a parade of well-known queens offering up their favorite elixirs.

Jinkx Monsoon’s Vaudevillian combines ginger beer, bitters, and dark rum into an intoxicating brew from this beloved Pagan witch; Delta Work, “the queen of autumn and winter” offers up a Halloween-inspired pumpkin spice, bourbon, and coffee concoction; The Boulet Brothers follow suit with their Blood Sacrifice drink made with cranberry juice and crème de cassis; Coco Peru offers up an intoxicating Tension Tamer made with gin, tequila, lemon vodka, rum, and triple sec; and, of course, a sludgy, brown Baltimore Mud Pie cocktail inspired by the one and only Divine. Artistically illustrated and creatively produced, this coffee table book is entertaining, practical, and a spicy fan-favorite conversation starter.

MEMOIR

Sacred Spells: Collected Works by Assotto Saint,” $19.95 (Nightboat)

Haitian-born multifaceted artist Saint’s (1957-1994) creative life is on vibrant display in this anthology of his fiction, poetry, literary essays, song lyrics, and plays. Born Yves Francois Lubin, he lived in New York City with his partner until his death from AIDS years later. His fiery politically-laced poetry leaps off the page alongside short stories about young men contending with the fallout of the AIDS crisis. There are photographs of Saint in many incarnations throughout the book, which, for fans, will be a haunting reminder of his presence and impact within the artistic community.

This essential retrospective pays tribute to how Saint delivered the essence of Black queer life to his reading audiences through the trailblazing artistic prose of a master literary craftsman. Readers and collectors of LGBTQ history will savor this collection.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

“My Name is Barbra” by Barbra Streisand, $47 (Viking) November

One of our favorite and imminently iconic EGOT winners brings forth this whopping 1000-page doorstopper on her six-decade performance life. Also included are insider details and stories from childhood in Brooklyn, struggles to become an actress, her breakout hits in music, movies, and theatrical direction, her political advocacy, her whirlwind love life, and, literally, everything in between. This is pure unadulterated Barbra, in her own words this time. Save your pennies for this autobiography of the year.t

Fluid510’s tasty drag brunch t Drag Brunch>>

the show is never the same each week.

The two-and-a-half-hour show is possibly one the best drag shows I’ve seen in a long time. The queens were top-notch, from the costumes to their makeup to their performances, and the cocktails and food were excellent. I sipped Fluid510’s Mandarin 75 cocktail, a slightly sweet and refreshing concoction of Grey Goose orange vodka, St. Germain, lemon juice, and Campo Viejo Cava. My friend enjoyed the Gin Refresher. The cocktails paired perfectly with the Mediterranean pizza, arancini balls, and meatballs.

Brunch bunch

Fluid510 offers a variety of menus (snacks, pizza, and lunch) depending on the event and time of day and vegan options too. They don’t only serve afternoon and nighttime fare. Last month, the bar and venue launched its weekend brunch service with bottomless mimosas on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

by Heather Cassell

Fluid510 is the hottest place to be in the East Bay. The LGBTQ bar and event space spent the summer establishing itself as the coolest place to hang out with friends. A space for everyone, people can dance, watch a drag show, or grab a drink and bite to eat any time of the day.

Opened in downtown Oakland in May, last month it launched its bottomless mimosas brunch, Jush Sunday, a drag cabaret hosted by “RuPaul’s Drag Race” contestant Jasmine Masters (Season 7). Masters brings the best of the best drag competition show contestants along with local performers to the stage for the weekly nighttime event.

Sean Sullivan, who co-owns Fluid510 and The Port Bar with his business and life partner Richard “Ritchie” Fuentes, said they banked on Masters

and Jush Sunday. The two men believed Masters and other “Drag Race” stars would bring people to Fluid510 on Sunday nights, “because it just doesn’t happen in San Francisco.”

There was no weekly drag show that featured stars seen on TV on either side of the bay, Sullivan said. Jush Sunday changed that. Since the June 4 launch, it’s brought in crowds on a night that in the past would be sleepy.

“Monday is going to be such a breeze because you had a good time on Sunday night,” Masters told me before the show. “And you can tell your co-workers about what happened Sunday night.”

My friend and I enjoyed local talents with out-of-towners from Florida and Texas who came to the show that night. Masters, LuLu Ramirez, Delilah BeFierce, and Melissa BeFierce of Dragula were on fire putting a little Spanish, twang, and R&B into their

lip-synched performances. Masters flirted and played with the crowd throughout the night.

Sullivan said Jasmine Masters “has a great way of connecting with the audience.”

“It’s always fresh, new, and just a lot of fun,” Jasmine Masters added, saying

My friend and I indulged in the truffle benedict, which featured two eggs poached to your liking over focaccia bread dressed in a truffle hollandaise sauce with an arugula salad. I also added prosciutto. My friend chose the vegan French toast, brioche dipped in oat milk with coconut cream frosting

dressed in seasonal berries. Cheering with our mimosas, we dove into the dishes sampling each item.

If you are a truffle lover, you will love the truffle benedict for breakfast. I could smell the truffle as the dish neared our seat at the bar. That alone told me I was going to have a good breakfast. The bread held up as a perfect spongy platform for the creamy eggs dressed in the truffle hollandaise sauce.

My friend’s French toast was amazing. The bread was lightly crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside and it wasn’t too sweet even with the powdered sugar sprinkled on top with a pile of berries and fruit.

We topped off brunch with the beignets in a swirl of chocolate and dusted with powdered sugar. They were incredibly light and fluffy with a smooth cream filling. They’ll melt in your mouth.

Fluid510 is nailing it in Oakland.

There is something for everyone whether it’s a club night, brunch, a drag show, or casually dropping in for lunch or happy hour.t

Tickets for Jush Sunday start at $10 for general entry to $250 for full bottle service. 1544 Broadway, Oakland. www.fluid510.com

From page 15

The Power Of The Dog (Criterion Collection, $39.95)

One of the top films of 2021, “Dog” was produced by Netflix, which like most streaming platforms ordinarily doesn’t release its movies on DVD (because they want you to subscribe to its channel). But because it received so much critical praise and 12 Academy Award nominations (it won one for Jane Campion as Best Director), it licensed Criterion to create one.

Based on Thomas Savage’s 1967 novel, it’s a master study of closeted behavior and repressed desires. In the desolate plains of 1920s Montana, a brother marries a widow and with her son, they come to live at his ranch along with his brutish brother who’s both repelled and attracted to the enigmatic son.

The films awakens in his loutish behavior a capacity for tenderness that may lead to redemption or destruction. Brilliant performances include Benedict Cumberbatch as the tormented brother and Kodi SmitMcPhee as his conniving victim.

Epstein and Friedman are perhaps the foremost gay documentarians. This collection features three of their most essential works long out of print, in new restorations.

“Common Threads: Stories From the Quilt” (1989) uses the Names Project Memorial Quilt to explore the crosssection of identities affected by HIV/ AIDS. It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

“Where Are We? Our Trip Through America” (1992) follows Epstein and Friedman as they chronicle an 18-day road trip through red states from coast to coast, in an early attempt to build a bridge with conservatives, as they interview a large variety of people, asking about their hopes and regrets.

“Paragraph 175” (2000) reveals the history and lasting consequences of the Nazi persecution of homosexuals prior to and during World War II, which continued after the conflict by keeping this anti-queer law on the books. There are lots of extras for all three docs including interviews with the late activist Vito Russo as well as gay Holocaust survivors. t

Read more film reviews on www.ebar.com.

Rob Epstein And Jeffrey Friedman Collection (Kino Lorber, $24.99)

Jush Sunday’s recent performers (left to right) Tila Pia, Honey Davenport, Margo, and hostess Jasmine Masters.

Joseph Victoriano

Vegan brioche French toast, truffle eggs benedict with prosciutto, and a zesty cocktail at Fluid510’s Jush Sunday

All photos: Heather Cassell

‘The Power Of The Dog’