February 21, 2019 Edition of the Bay Area Reporter by Bay Area Reporter

Guerneville dodges major flood

New dispensary, pot czar

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'Monet' opens

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Serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities since 1971

Vol. 49 • No. 8 • February 21-27, 2019

Illustration: Ernesto Sopprani

Dr. Susan Philip

Rick Gerharter

As STDs continue to rise, SF clinic gets a refresh by Matthew S. Bajko

s sexually transmitted diseases continue to rise in San Francisco, albeit at a slower rate than seen in past years, the health department is remodeling its City Clinic facility South of Market. The public health center has been at its location at 356 Seventh Street since 1982, but other than a refresh to its reception area, it had not upgraded its exam rooms over the last 37 years. To allow for the construction, the clinic closed Friday, February 15, and plans to reopen Friday, February 22. But it will not be able to perform physical exams of patients and is only offering limited services through Wednesday, February 27. The clinic expects to return to a normal operating schedule in early March. Once complete, the new clinical spaces will benefit the clinic’s employees, as they have been designed to improve the ergonomics of the exam rooms. And they are also being fitted with new equipment, such as larger monitors, that the clinic needs in order to transition this summer to a new electronic records system that the health department will be rolling out. The disruption to its operations, while a hindrance, “will be a benefit to our patients,” said City Clinic medical director Dr. Stephanie Cohen. “Our exam rooms have not been modernized and need to be given a facelift.” Deputy Health Officer Dr. Susan Philip, the director of the disease prevention and control branch in the health department’s Population Health Division, said the decision to close briefly was made so the disruption in the clinic’s ability to see patients was as short as possible. “We know City Clinic is hugely important as a resource for sexual health,” said Philip. “Therefore, we wanted to do this massive work in a short timeframe.”

STD rates continue to rise

A vanity plate reading “LTHR DDY” was rejected by the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

It comes as the STD branch strives to stem a rising tide in cases of syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlaSee page 9 >>

SF health chief’s on the job Rick Gerharter

n his first day as health director, Dr. Grant Colfax, second from left, joined San Francisco Mayor London Breed, center, on a tour of a health fair set up Tuesday, February 19, outside the city’s main public library. Joining them was Doniece Sandoval, right, from Lava Mae. Put on by the city’s health department and community agencies, including Lava Mae, it aimed to bring services, such as HIV testing and substance use treatment,

to homeless people on the streets. Breed and Colfax, a gay man who previously oversaw the city’s HIV prevention efforts, both voiced support for delivering services in such a manner. “We want a healthy city,” said Breed. “To do that we need to ensure people get the resources they need and that we are meeting them where they are.” A main focus of his, said Colfax, will be determining “how do we implement those systems for the people most in need.”

CA DMV rejects leather vanity plate by Matthew S. Bajko

he leather lifestyle is apparently too sexual for officials with the state Department of Motor Vehicles. In rejecting a San Francisco resident’s request for a vanity license plate that would have been shorthand for “leather daddy,” the DMV noted the phrase’s “sexual connotation” and how it can be read “as a term of lust or depravity” in the letter it sent to Robert Haynes in January explaining its decision. Haynes, shocked by the agency’s reasoning, contacted the office of gay state Senator Scott See page 12 >>

South Bay’s first gender center officially opens in San Jose

by Heather Cassell

ilicon Valley’s new Gender Health Center is now open in San Jose and providing services to transgender, nonbinary, and gender-diverse patients. The opening last week followed a soft opening late last year. It is the first and only such facility in the South Bay, officials pointed out during a recent tour. The gender center’s goal is to provide safe comprehensive care to the South Bay’s estimated 16,000 gender-variant residents. County officials based that estimate on national data, and included all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. Previously, transgender patients had to create their own word-of-mouth network of service providers in Santa Clara County or travel to Planned Parenthood in Santa Cruz, TransVision at the TriCity Health Center in Fremont, or Lyon-Martin Health Services and other transgender-welcoming providers in San Francisco. “It just feels nice that there is a place close in my home area that I can actually go to for just simple care,” said Nekyua Valotea, a 24-year-old transgender man who has been receiving services at the health center where the clinic is located for about two years.

Jo-Lynn Otto

Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg, left, joined trans patient Nekyua Valotea and former supervisor Ken Yeager at the official opening of Santa Clara Valley Medical Center’s Gender Health Center in San Jose.

Santa Clara County officials toured the facility last week. It was the first time that Ken Yeager, the gay former Santa Clara County supervisor, saw the center, he told the Bay Area Reporter. “I’ve been working on this particular issue for quite a while,” said Yeager during the February 11

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tour. “To finally come to the day that we can open it to the public is tremendously gratifying.” County-supported services for the South Bay’s LGBT community are Yeager’s legacy. During his tenure on the board he advocated for the clinic and other LGBT services following the first See page 12 >>

<< Community News

2 • Bay Area Reporter • February 21-27, 2019

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defense attorney painted a different picture of gay stylist Steven “Eriq” Escalon, saying he was a partier, when she began to call witnesses in the murder trial of James Rickleffs, which entered its fourth week in San Francisco Superior Court. Escalon, 28, was found dead in his Diamond Heights apartment June 12, 2012. He was gagged and bound at his feet and hands. Escalon allegedly met the defendant, James Rickleffs, 52, the night before Escalon’s death at a Castro bar, 440 Castro. According to the medical examiner’s office, Escalon died of an overdose of amyl nitrates, commonly known as poppers, and gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, or GHB. It was noted in the medical examiner’s report that the twisted piece of cloth used to gag Escalon “smelled strongly of apparent amyl nitrate.” Prosecutors are trying to prove that Rickleffs immobilized and drugged Escalon, left him to die, stole valuable items from his apartment, and fled, while the defense is arguing it was a BDSM night gone wrong. Rickleffs, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, has been in custody since September 2012. The case is being heard by Superior Court

Victim Steven “Eriq” Escalon

Judge Gerardo Sandoval. Through questioning her witnesses, Deputy Public Defender Niki Solis emphasized the party lifestyle she alleged Escalon led, his time of death, specific evidence found at the scene, and contradictions found in the medical examiner’s report. In her crossexamination of Assistant District Attorney Julia Cervantes’ last witness, lead investigator San Francisco Police Sergeant Scott Warnke, she aimed to reveal that Escalon was a recreational user of amyl nitrates and participated in BDSM activities. The most significant witness to take the stand for the defense as of Tuesday, February 19, was Sergeant Joseph Lynch with SFPD, who was with the

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Crime Scene Investigation unit when he was working on the case. Lynch testified that an Iron Horse bottle was found in what Escalon’s roommates identified as his purse. Iron Horse is a brand of retail poppers, often sold at sex shops or online. Also found in Escalon’s purse was a small bag of five or six pills, one of which was identified as an amphetamine, as well as breath mints. Items that were found in Escalon’s room after his death, Lynch said, included another bottle of Iron Horse that was discovered spilled behind Escalon’s bed. A Jungle Juice bottle, another brand of retail poppers, was found on Escalon’s nightstand. Additionally, Lynch found a roll of duct tape in Escalon’s closet. A bottle of cotton candy-flavored vodka, which Escalon’s friend previously testified was purchased by him on June 11, 2012, was found in the hallway. The vodka bottle was apparently half full, as a crime scene photograph detailed, but the liquid was never identified, Lynch testified. None of these items were tested for DNA, Lynch said. Lynch added that 21 items from the apartment were tested for fingerprints and only one came back positive for usable prints, See page 13 >>

Gay man alleges harassment by SF gym owner by Alex Madison

VOTE NOW!

gay man claims his landlord, an owner of Fitness SF, is using a restraining order as a way to eventually evict him from his home. Thomas Jackovics, founder of Jackovics Enterprises Inc., which runs Fitness SF, filed a restraining order against his tenant James Rosenfield in August 2017. For almost three decades, Rosenfield, 60, has lived in the Castro district at 334 Noe Street, which is adjacent to the Castro’s Fitness SF gym at 2301 Market Street. Jackovics, 80, purchased the Noe Street apartment building in 2014. Rosenfield claims that Jackovics and the eight other people listed on the restraining order, including Jackovics’ family members and two Fitness SF employees, filed the restraining order after Rosenfield called city agencies about violations occurring at the gym and his home. Jackovics was allegedly issued over 50 violations from several city agencies including the Department of Building Inspection, San Francisco Public Works, Department of Public Health, and the planning department for various maintenance and safetyrelated issues. Rosenfield provided documentation for some of the alleged violations to the Bay Area Reporter. Rosenfield also claims that some of the people listed on the restraining order have been “harassing” him and making it “nearly impossible” for him to honor the requirements of the restraining order. He has appealed the restraining order, which is in litigation. Jackovics’ attorney, Scott Okamoto, told the B.A.R. that his client has no intention of evicting Rosenfield and that Rosenfield’s allegations of harassment are untrue. Earlier this month, Rosenfield filed his own restraining orders against Jackovics and Blake Smith, the manager of Fitness SF in the Castro, due to what he said was harassment. At a court hearing Friday, February 8, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Gail Dekreon denied both of Rosenfield’s requests for restraining orders.

Rick Gerharter

Castro tenant James Rosenfield stands outside his apartment building.

At the first portion of the hearing involving the request for a restraining order against Jackovics, Rosenfield alleged that Jackovics has made repeated unauthorized visits to his home, attempted to illegally increase his rent, and has created nuisances at his home due to the negligence of repairs. Jackovics has attempted to increase the rent on Rosenfield’s rent-controlled apartment. That case is before the San Francisco Rent Board. “They are making it impossible for me to honor the terms of the RO,” Rosenfield said in court, referring to the restraining order. “I live in fear of falsely being accused of violating the RO.” The longtime Castro resident said the landlord and people from his team gave “excessive notices of entry,” nearly 50, to his home. The judge said the high number of notices of entry made sense since Jackovics needed to address the nearly 50 violations. After Rosenfield, who was acting as his own attorney, completed presenting his case, Dekreon quickly denied the restraining order saying, “You haven’t given any evidence of credible threats of violence.” Dekreon then heard the case for Rosenfield’s restraining order against gym manager Smith. During the

hearing, Rosenfield described two incidents in which Smith allegedly came to Rosenfield’s former place of work, Finn Town Tavern, and an arts theatre where he volunteers. “I am trying to avoid these people to the best of my ability,” Rosenfield said in court. “I’ve never been under restraint before.” In court, Smith said that he did not know where Rosenfield worked or volunteered and said the occurrences were coincidental. Additionally, Rosenfield claimed Smith had sent unqualified gym employees to address maintenance requests at Rosenfield’s home. Rosenfield also said he received notices of entry that asked him to leave his home for three and four days consecutively. An incident occurred September 2017 in which a Fitness SF employee entered Rosenfield’s garage to fix a leak. Rosenfield then called police. At the hearing, Okamoto claimed that Rosenfield approved this request. Another gym employee testified at the hearing to verify this. Okamoto also said that any other time Smith came to Rosenfield’s home was prior to the restraining order against Rosenfield and was approved by Rosenfield beforehand. Dekreon eventually denied Rosenfield’s request for a restraining order against Smith. “You have not carried the burden of proof of clear and convincing evidence of harassment and unlawful violence,” Dekreon said. After the hearing Okamoto told the B.A.R. that, “The judge got it right. The law is very clear about what constitutes harassment. Nothing he alleged in paper or at the hearing constitutes harassment.” On the other hand, Okamoto defended his client’s restraining order against Rosenfield. Two of the people listed on the restraining order have never met Rosenfield. Rosenfield provided the B.A.R. with the claims made against him in the restraining order. They include that Rosenfield has See page 10 >>

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<< Open Forum

4 • Bay Area Reporter • February 21-27, 2019

Volume 49, Number 8 February 21-27, 2019 www.ebar.com PUBLISHER Michael M. Yamashita Thomas E. Horn, Publisher Emeritus (2013) Publisher (2003 – 2013) Bob Ross, Founder (1971 – 2003) NEWS EDITOR Cynthia Laird ARTS EDITOR Roberto Friedman BARTAB EDITOR & EVENTS LISTINGS EDITOR Jim Provenzano ASSISTANT EDITORS Matthew S. Bajko • Alex Madison CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Ray Aguilera • Tavo Amador • Race Bannon Erin Blackwell • Roger Brigham Brian Bromberger • Victoria A. Brownworth Brent Calderwood • Philip Campbell Heather Cassell • Belo Cipriani • Dan Renzi Christina DiEdoardo • Richard Dodds Michael Flanagan • Jim Gladstone David Guarino • Liz Highleyman Brandon Judell • John F. Karr • Lisa Keen Matthew Kennedy • Joshua Klipp David Lamble • Max Leger Michael McDonagh • Juanita MORE! David-Elijah Nahmod • Paul Parish Sean Piverger • Lois Pearlman Tim Pfaff • Jim Piechota • Bob Roehr Adam Sandel • Jason Serinus • Gregg Shapiro Gwendolyn Smith • Tony Taylor • Sari Staver Jim Stewart • Sean Timberlake • Andre Torrez Ronn Vigh • Charlie Wagner • Ed Walsh Cornelius Washington • Sura Wood ART DIRECTION Max Leger PRODUCTION/DESIGN Ernesto Sopprani PHOTOGRAPHERS Jane Philomen Cleland • FBFE Rick Gerharter • Gareth Gooch Jose Guzman-Colon • Rudy K. Lawidjaja Georg Lester • Dan Lloyd • Jo-Lynn Otto Rich Stadtmiller • Kelly Sullivan • Fred Rowe Steven Underhil • Dallis Willard • Bill Wilson ILLUSTRATORS & CARTOONISTS Paul Berge • Christine Smith ADVERTISING/ADMINISTRATION Colleen Small Bogitini VICE PRESIDENT OF ADVERTISING Scott Wazlowski – 415.829.8937 NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Rivendell Media – 212.242.6863

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News Editor • news@ebar.com Arts Editor • arts@ebar.com Out & About listings • jim@ebar.com Advertising • scott@ebar.com Letters • letters@ebar.com Published weekly. Bay Area Reporter reserves the right to edit or reject any advertisement which the publisher believes is in poor taste or which advertises illegal items which might result in legal action against Bay Area Reporter. Ads will not be rejected solely on the basis of politics, philosophy, religion, race, age, or sexual orientation. Advertising rates available upon request. Our list of subscribers and advertisers is confidential and is not sold. The sexual orientation of advertisers, photographers, and writers published herein is neither inferred nor implied. We are not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or artwork.

DMV needs to get a clue

he decision by the state Department of Motor Vehicles to reject a gay man’s “LTHR DDY” – short for leather daddy – vanity plate for his motorcycle reeks of homophobia, as gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) pointed out in a sharply worded letter to the agency. While we understand that DMV routinely rejects thousands of vanity plates for a variety of reasons, “LTHR DDY” is about more than “sexual connotation” or “a term of lust or depravity,” which was the DMV’s stated rationale in a letter it sent to city resident Robert Haynes in denying his license plate. The DMV must have a more enlightened view of the leather community. This was not a vanity plate that read “SEX 4 U” or something else demonstrably lusty. The leather community, just like every other community, is remarkable in its own diversity. Over the decades, it has contributed time, money, and talent to helping fight HIV/ AIDS, caring for those living with the disease, and battling for civil rights just like a lot of other groups. That many choose to do so while donning leather gear is irrelevant. As Wiener wrote, “To imply that the leather community, or being a leather daddy, is exclusively about sexuality – specifically that being a leather daddy is about nothing more than ‘lust or depravity’ – ignores the broader cultural expression of this community.” Wiener pointed out that yes, sexuality does play a role in the leather community, “as it does and should in other communities.” We appreciate that the DMV has set standards when it comes to vanity plates. For example, vulgar, hostile, or racist terms are rejected, as are swear words and terms that denigrate certain groups or law enforcement entities. And the DMV did acknowledge in its letter to Haynes that it is difficult “to balance an individual’s constitutional right to free speech and expression while protecting the sensibilities of all segments of our population.”

But it’s obvious that the department personnel who approve or deny vanity plates need some cultural training on the LGBT community – leather folks and others – if they’re rejecting something as tame as “LTHR DDY.” Of course, rejecting vanity plates for ridiculous reasons is just one of the many problems plaguing DMV. One of Governor Gavin Newsom’s first directives after taking office last month was to order an overhaul of the troubled department, which has been beset by hourslong wait times, computer crashes, and voter registration errors involving tens of thousands of customers, as the Los Angeles Times reported in a recent article. The paper went on to note that Newsom appointed state Government Operations Agency Secretary Marybel Batjer to lead a strike team with a goal of modernizing the agency and enacting changes that improve customer satisfaction, employee performance, and transparency. The department has also faced criticism for botching federal Real-ID standards in issuing driver’s licenses. As if see-

ing the writing on the wall, former DMV director Jean Shiomoto retired from the agency just weeks before Newsom was sworn in. We expect that Batjer or her top staffers, in their efforts to clean up the DMV, will begin work to modernize the vanity plate department, specifically when it comes to stereotypes of the kind used to reject Haynes’ license plate. DMV officials should not underestimate Wiener, who told us he will turn the issue into a “big deal” if the agency doesn’t reverse its stance. The vanity plate rejection is homophobic and was obviously made by someone who doesn’t have a clue about the leather community. In San Francisco, as readers know, officials just last week approved a permit for Eagle Plaza, a parklet in the South of Market neighborhood that will be a centerpiece of the LGBTQ cultural heritage district the city created in western SOMA. So yes, leather folks are out of the shadows and have been for many, many years. The DMV must reverse itself in this case and determine the appropriateness of future vanity plate requests on more than the tired tropes around sex and the LGBT community.t

Resisting Trump in Congress by Eric Swalwell

s we strive to protect America’s progress toward LGBT equality against a rising tide of intolerance, that awful tide has ramifications around the world – and Chechnya is the latest example. The Russian LGBT Network and news media have reported a new wave of government-sponsored violence against LGBT people in Chechnya, a federal subject of Russia, since the end of December. It’s the newest spasm in a pattern of persecution dating back to 2017 that has included jailings, torture, and murder. The Trump administration has used sanctions and other mechanisms to push for unbiased investigations into crimes against the LGBT community, but they fear the new reports of violence only confirm Russia’s unwillingness to take these crimes seriously. A Russian Justice Ministry official denied last May that an LGBT community even exists in Chechnya, and Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov at one point allegedly said that LGBT people in Chechnya should be removed to “cleanse our blood.” And that should chill our blood – particularly as our president keeps cozying up to, and carrying water for, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has cavalierly denied the obvious increase in homophobic discrimination throughout Russia during his reign. Putin’s regime seeks to undermine America’s core ideas – including the idea that no matter who you are or who you love, you can be yourself and achieve your dreams. Putin doesn’t want Russians to wish for that, and he believes that by attacking our democracy and compromising our president, he can mute our ability to call out his humanrights abuses. But we won’t be muted. In January, I joined with gay Congressman David Cicilline (D-Rhode Island) and Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-New York) to lead more than five-dozen of our House colleagues in urging Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to publicly condemn the violence against the LGBT

Courtesy Congress.gov

Representative Eric Swalwell

community in Chechnya and to pressure Russian leaders to stop this persecution. As we await a response to our bipartisan letter, we note that the United States is no longer proving to be the sort of refuge for these victims of persecution as it has for so many others in the past. A staff attorney with the New York City AntiViolence Project, which provides free legal services to LGBT people, recently told the Daily Beast that the Trump administration has brought “a definite increase in aggressiveness in the tone and harshness of asylum hearings,” and that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has developed a reputation as “really an arm of the deportation system.” A new policy requires asylum hearings for those who come on a visa within three weeks of their entry – meaning Chechen LGBT people, many of whom were victimized privately or publicly for years, would have only that much time to prepare a clear, compelling case on efforts to eradicate them. And this administration’s visible hostility toward immigrants and LGBT people apparently is dissuading them from even trying, the attorney said. Yes, the tone we set here in America has re-

percussions around the world, and right now, the Trump administration is sending a global message that persecuted LGBT people shouldn’t bother looking here for refuge. But the House is pushing back. I sent a letter this month signed by 160 House members urging acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan not to implement the president’s heartless and pointless ban on transgender people serving our nation in the armed forces. Back in November, I joined 87 of my colleagues in a letter demanding that Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar reject any consideration of a policy to redefine “sex” to exclude the transgender community, denying them basic civil rights. And I’ll be an original co-sponsor of the Equality Act, a comprehensive bill that will be introduced in the House to end discrimination against LGBT Americans, just as I was in the last Congress. Yet Congress – especially with the Senate still controlled by this president’s enablers – is limited in its ability to mitigate the executive actions of a flailing administration that refuses to respect the dignity and value the lives of LGBT people here and abroad. But you aren’t. This president might not care about persecution of LGBT people, but he certainly cares about his own TV ratings and his poll numbers. Imagine how he’ll feel if the voices of our Democratic House majority are bolstered by millions of American voices raised in righteous anger at his callous indifference to vicious bigotry. Call. Write. March. Be heard. Don’t let our homegrown bigots feel enabled and validated by this administration, or vice versa. Breaking the chain of hate here strengthens our ability to break it elsewhere around the world. We can make it clear that our nation will move forward, not backward; that we will role-model equality around the globe; and that we won’t tolerate this kind of violent persecution anywhere. t Congressman Eric Swalwell represents California’s 15th Congressional District, in the East Bay, and serves on the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees. Follow him on Twitter at @RepSwalwell.

Politics>>

February 21-27, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 5

In a first, CA transit agency reports contracts with LGBT businesses

by Matthew S. Bajko

n the fiscal year 2016-2017 the California Department of Transportation awarded a construction contract worth $1,367,300 to a bisexual-owned business. The following year, a bisexual-owned business won a contract worth $458,781 to provide goods, services, and construction work to the agency, known as Caltrans. The contracts are believed to mark the first time a state transportation agency has confirmed that it has awarded contracts to an LGBT-owned business. The information was included in the agency’s “Small Business Outreach Plan and Implementation Report” it released February 11 and sent to state lawmakers. The report “outlines the historic inclusion of LGBT businesses! This marks the first time in the history of the United States that a State Department of Transportation has included LGBT businesses in its official procurement programs,” stated the Golden Gate Business Association, the LGBT chamber of commerce based in San Francisco, in an email it sent to its members. It is unclear if the same business won the two contracts, as the report does not disclose the names of the businesses. GGBA spokesman Paul Pendergast, who has been involved in advocating that state agencies contract with LGBT-owned businesses, did not respond to the Bay Area Reporter’s request for comment for this story. Caltrans did not make anyone overseeing its contracts available for an interview with the B.A.R., saying they were too busy to speak prior to the paper’s press deadline. In an emailed reply, a spokeswoman for the agency pointed out that the information in the report is based on forms that businesses are not required to fill out so there could be other LGBT-owned companies that have won contracts from Caltrans. “This form is strictly voluntary and is not necessarily representative of all LGBT-owned businesses who received contracts. Because this is a voluntary form, it is difficult to say with certainty how many minority-owned businesses, including but not limited to LGBT-owned businesses, actually received contracts,” explained Alisa Becerra, a public information officer for Caltrans. For years state lawmakers have adopted legislation requiring various state agencies to contract with LGBT-owned businesses similar to how they have programs aimed at benefiting businesses owned by minorities and women. As the B.A.R. first reported two years ago, the GGBA for some time has also eyed the purchasing power of local transit agencies to bolster the bottom lines of certified LGBT Business Enterprises, or LGBTBEs for short. Both the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and BART, the regional transit agency, include LGBTBEs in their competitive bidding procurement programs. To qualify as LGBTowned, a business must be at least 51 percent owned by a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender person or persons and one or more of those individuals must control its management and daily operations. Gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who chairs the

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Caltrans has issued a report stating it has awarded contracts to LGBT-owned businesses.

Legislative LGBT Caucus, credited GGBA leaders for their “tenacity” in ensuring that LGBT-owned businesses can successfully compete for government contracts. “This has been a long-term process to get government agencies to include the LGBT community in their contracting process. This is definitely a step forward,” Wiener told the B.A.R. about seeing an LGBT business included in the Caltrans report. “Other agencies have been terrific in embracing the LGBT community. It is great to have Caltrans now on board.” The agency’s report stems from the adoption of Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 that former Governor Jerry Brown signed into law April 28 of that year. It established a $54 billion fund through a new gas tax over the next decade to improve and maintain California’s transportation infrastructure and sparked a ballot measure effort to repeal it that voters overwhelmingly rejected in November. In order to ensure small businesses benefited from the revenue measure, state lawmakers passed a budget trailer bill, SB 103, in July 2017 that required Caltrans to develop a plan for notifying those companies about the procurement opportunities funded by the gas tax. It also required Caltrans to provide annual reports to state lawmakers on how many small businesses, including those owned by LGBT people, were winning contracts. “The GGBA, and members of its leadership team, have been actively advocating for this level of inclusion for the past 23 years,” the LGBT chamber noted in its email. “Our leadership has steadfastly worked to showcase to Caltrans the economic benefits of working with LGBT businesses.” Caltrans continues to work closely with both the GGBA and the National LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce on ways to reach LGBT-owned businesses about its contracting opportunities. One method it has used in the past two years is advertising in LGBT publications like the B.A.R. “Caltrans is committed to increasing outreach efforts and implementing this Small Business Outreach Plan,” wrote Becerra. “A few examples of our efforts include improving partnerships with business assistance organizations that host workshops, training classes

and other activities focused on opportunities to contract with Caltrans. We are also organizing business matchmaking events to introduce small business enterprises to prime contractors and are expanding opportunities for underrepresented groups to participate in California’s statewide Small Business Council meetings.” According to its report, Caltrans set a goal of seeing 17.6 percent of its Federal Highway Administration-assisted contracts be awarded to Disadvantaged Business Enterprises in the fiscal years 2019-2021. It also wants to increase the number of newly certified highway construction and related professional services Disadvantaged Business Enterprises by 100 percent in the 2019 calendar year. Caltrans is also working to ensure at least 25 percent of its state-funded contracts and procurements are awarded to small businesses. And, as stipulated by SB 1, it is developing a plan by January 1, 2020, to increase by up to 100 percent the dollar value of contracts and procurements awarded to certified Small Business, Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise, and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise firms. To download the Caltrans report, visit http://www.dot.ca.gov/ obeo/docs/SB_Outreach_Plan_ Implementation_Activities.pdf. For LGBT-owned businesses interested in bidding on Caltrans contracts, the agency created a one-page guide that can be downloaded at http://www.dot.ca.gov/ paffairs/docs/sb1-opportunities. pdf.t Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http:// www.ebar.com Monday mornings for Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion. The column returns Monday, February 25. Keep abreast of the latest LGBT political news by following the Political Notebook on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/politicalnotes. Got a tip on LGBT politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 8298836 or e-mail m.bajko@ebar.com.

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<< Community News

6 • Bay Area Reporter • February 21-27, 2019

Syringe access site near Duboce Triangle expands services by Tony Taylor

ity public health officials told Duboce Triangle residents at a recent meeting that they started an expanded syringe access and disposal site behind the Safeway store last month as a way to offer “low-barrier medical services” to homeless people and others. The site at Duboce Avenue and Church Street has long been used for needle exchange, said Eileen Loughran with the Department of Public Health. The service, operated by the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, occurs every Tuesday from 6 to 8 p.m. and there is usually a doctor, nurse, and at times a UCSF resident engaging people with services, she explained. “As noted at the presentation, this is a pilot so we are being thoughtful as we roll out the low-barrier medical services currently being provided,” Loughran wrote in an email to the Bay Area Reporter following the February 11 Duboce Triangle Neighborhood Association meeting. “This is the first outdoor site with the low-barrier medical services. SFAF has recently done HIV/ HCV testing at their Mission site that is outside. We would like to see lowbarrier medical services at all outdoor sites. We began the low-barrier medical services at the site on January 8.” However, Loughran added that HIV/HCV testing is not done at the syringe access and disposal site behind Safeway. “Eventually there will be expansion to include HIV/HCV and STI testing,” Loughran wrote, referring to hepatitis C and sexually transmitted infections. Syringe access and disposal sites offer drug users a place to properly dispose of used needles and lower the risk of disease and infection. “It’s a very unique dynamic about developing that relationship [with drug users],” Loughran said to the nearly 40 Duboce Triangle residents gathered during the meeting in the Gazebo Room at California Pacific

Tony Taylor

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman talks about homelessness issues at the February 11 meeting of the Duboce Triangle Neighborhood Association.

Medical Center’s Davies campus. “Everyone who is accessing these services isn’t living on the streets.” Approximately 25,000 injection drug users are in San Francisco, according to Loughran. “It’s many of our neighbors; housed people,” she said. DPH is exploring how best to address the stigma around drug addiction and what issues keep someone from accessing services. Since the on-site medical services began in January, Loughran said 12 people have been medically assisted and received treatment that curbs the craving for opioids immediately. Over 22 people have been referred to other services. The free program does not require identification. Gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman praised the syringe access and disposal program. “San Francisco’s success in reducing the spread of HIV and other bloodborne diseases is a direct result of data-driven, science-based efforts like the syringe collection and distribution program behind the Safeway, which has been operating for more than two decades,” he wrote in an email after the meeting. “I strongly support the pilot program to add additional medical

services to get as many people as possible into treatment for their drug addiction and, for those who are living on the streets in Upper Market, into shelter and care.” He added that some residents in the neighborhood had expressed concern last month. “We have engaged with the Duboce Triangle Neighborhood Association every step of the way and haven’t heard of any new or worsened impacts to the neighborhood following the start of the additional medical services,” Mandelman wrote. “At last week’s DTNA meeting it appeared that the feedback from neighbors was mostly supportive and positive, which seems like a good sign.” DTNA President Kimyn Braithwaite told the B.A.R. in a follow-up email that she thinks board members “want people to have help and have easier access to it.” “If the syringe program can provide services that aren’t easily accessible for most, as well as helping people get access to further services, then it’s definitely a win,” she added. “The main concern is that the corner that the syringe program takes place is already very stressed and some members of the board have expressed a fear that rather than help the community, it will further exacerbate

the problems that exist there. “It was nice to hear the representative from the SF AIDS Foundation talk about their sweeping of the area before and after the program hours and that they will happily expand that sweep to more streets than just the immediate ones,” she added. Also at the DTNA meeting, Alex Lazar, director of neighborhood services in the mayor’s office, spoke briefly about initiatives in place to secure more housing, reinforcing Breed’s “ambitious plan” of creating 1,000 new shelter beds by 2020. Lazar said that 942 people have been saved from homelessness since the mayor took office last year. Of those, 658 individuals have been housed permanently and 284 people have been “reunited with households,” such as by the city providing one-way bus tickets to people to live with family or friends. On January 15, Breed introduced legislation to declare a shelter crisis in San Francisco. According to a news release, two ordinances would significantly expand a more limited shelter crisis ordinance already in effect and streamline administrative, contracting, building, and planning code red tape that delays the construction of new shelters and the delivery of services to those in need. Lazar said 156 San Franciscans become homeless each week, a number that audibly startled the meeting’s attendees. He also skimmed over the new conservatorship law, which was coauthored by gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and signed by Governor Jerry Brown last year. To be considered under the proposal for a judge-ordered involuntary hold or conservatorship, the San Francisco Examiner reported, a person would need to have had eight or more 5150 psychiatric emergency holds in a year, according to the terms of Senate Bill 1045. “My view is that if it’s four people or one person [conserved], it’s worth do-

ing it,” Mandelman, who supported the bill, said at the meeting. “We should not be saying no to any additional tools.” Mandelman said the city is spending tens of millions of dollars directing police and public health workers, cleaning up after folks who sleep on sidewalks, and intercepting the person “melting down” in the streets. Sometimes residents report safety issues and health hazards via 311, the non-emergency hotline for municipal services, and the report gets closed without action, Mandelman said. “We want to know if you find out the city is not responding to it in an effective way,” he said. “Sometimes the most troubling thing is seeing someone who seems seriously out of their mind and you’re not entirely sure why. It seems like there should be some kind of public health response.” If someone seems to be in danger or experiencing a health problem, call 911, Mandelman encouraged. “The police will determine the necessary response,” he said. “If you see someone going into traffic, call 911. See someone is passed out and you’re not sure if they’re dead, call 911.” The supervisor admitted that there is no direction on telling people where to put their tents, but reinforced that the mayor is committed to get more housing units online. Braithwaite wrote that she thought the meeting went “very well.” “I appreciated the time that we were given by all of the presenters and the thorough information that they offered. I felt that the community members had thoughtful opinions and the questions that were asked were compassionate while also clearly expressing the frustration that we all feel about the street activity and behavior in our neighborhood and city as a whole,” she wrote. “That is part of the reason I wanted to have a meeting focusing on street behavior, because of what I believe is a collective sense of frustration.”t

Amara La Negra to headline SF Pride compiled by Cynthia Laird

usician and television personality Amara La Negra has been announced as the first entertainer who will headline this year’s San Francisco LGBT Pride celebration. According to a news release from the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee, La Negra will appear on multiple stages at the 49th

annual Pride celebration. La Negra, 28, is a star of Miami Afro-Latin culture. She is an international entertainer and performs a variety of musical genres, particularly rhythms hailing from the Caribbean. She’s a break-out star of “Love and Hip Hop: Miami.” She also appeared in the film “Fall Girls,” which premiered on BET in January. “We are thrilled to welcome Amara

La Negra to our Pride celebration,” George F. Ridgely Jr., SF Pride executive director, said in the release. “Her talent is undeniable, and her messages of self-confidence and determination resonate with many in our communities.” La Negra, an ally to the LGBT community, will release her new EP, “Unstoppable,” this month. She describes it as a Spanglish presentation of her

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growth as a musical artist. In the release, she commented, “I’m just so happy because I’ve worked so hard for a moment like this.” She was referencing her EP’s release and her other projects. She will appear on SF Pride’s Don Julio Latin stage, in addition to the main stage, on Sunday, June 30. SF Pride officials said that more performers, as well as special guests and celebrity grand marshals, will be announced as the event approaches. The main stage is accepting submissions of interest to perform until March 15. For more information, visit www.sfpride.org/main-stage. Pride weekend is June 29-30. This year’s theme is “Generations of Resistance.”

Queer women to debate an ‘L World’

Three out women from different generations will talk about “Creating the L World” at a panel discussion Wednesday, February 27, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center, 1800 Market Street, Room 204. Hosted by Team Q of the United Democratic Club, longtime community leader and former Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club co-chair Louise “Lou” Fisher will moderate a conversation with Kate Kendell, Christine Sun, and Angelic Williams. The women will discuss the history and future of the LGBTQ rights movement. Kendell, who represents a baby boomer perspective, recently left the

Courtesy SF Pride

Amara La Negra will perform at San Francisco Pride.

National Center for Lesbian Rights, where she had been its longtime executive director. In an email, Kendell, who is recovering from foot surgery, said she thinks the event is important. “The idea that ‘those who are ignorant of their history are doomed to repeat it’ is not some tired trope,” Kendell wrote. “The LGBTQ community has a rich and complex history and we all benefit from that history. We also have new generations of leaders who are coming up more fierce and courageous than any generation prior. It is an exciting time to have us all engage.” Sun, a Gen X member, is the legal and policy director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California. She also serves on the See page 13 >>

Community News>>

February 21-27, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 7

Russian River escapes major flooding by Charlie Wagner

n a surprising follow-up to headlines about the rising Russian River, the Russian River Chamber of Commerce and multiple LGBTQserving businesses said Guerneville was ready for visitors by Saturday of Presidents Day weekend, two days after the river reached flood level on Thursday, February 14. As Robert Frederick, co-owner of Rainbow Cattle Company bar in Guerneville, put it, “Nothing has changed, and we’re open for business.” The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration defines “flood level” for the Russian River as

32 feet and above. The river exceeded that level last Thursday morning and peaked at 34.8 feet on Friday at 1 a.m., according to the NOAA. Earlier forecasts had ranged up to 40 feet. The Russian River last week also failed to reach the level many locals consider critical. Guerneville is in an unincorporated section of Sonoma County, so the Russian River Chamber of Commerce is a key participant in local emergency preparations. As Elise VanDyne, the chamber’s executive director, explained, “We prepare with outreach, connect with county and state resources, and post information to our social media

Charlie Wagner

Cars slowly ford a road next to the flooding Russian River at 1 p.m. Friday, February 15, when the river level was 33.1 feet.

pages, including information such as where to get sandbags and what

fielded a lot of calls asking about road openings and flood levels. We have a link on our homepage (http://www.russianriver.com) with information about river levels, and that link is definitely the more followed information during this time period.” Describing the Rainbow’s response to the NOAA forecast, Frederick said, “The only thing we had to do was alert some employees that they might not be able to drive to the bar and make sure local bartenders were available. We did move some bottles close to the floor to a higher shelf, but I had no fear be-

to expect with the water level.” In the last week, she recalled, “We

See page 12 >>

LGBT senators split on AG vote by Lisa Keen

he two LGBT senators split their votes on the confirmation of William Barr to be U.S. attorney general. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) voted no; Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-Arizona) voted yes. The Senate vote on Barr’s confirmation February 14 was 54-45. (Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina did not vote.) Baldwin issued a statement saying that, while she considered Barr to be a “serious nominee with public service experience,” she was concerned about the “hostility” he expressed last year toward the special counsel’s investigation into Russian interference in the

special counsel’s probe. Barr said Special Counsel Robert Mueller “should not be permitted to demand that the president submit to interrogation Senator Tammy Baldwin Senator Kyrsten Sinema about [the p re s i d e n t’s ] 2016 presidential election. alleged obstruction” of the investigaBarr, who served as attorney genertion. al under President George H.W. Bush, Baldwin said she also had some sent a memo to Deputy Attorney “serious concerns” about “whether General Rod Rosenstein in June of Mr. Barr would continue to move in last year offering his advice about the the wrong direction with efforts to

roll back equality for LGBTQ Americans….” Sinema released a two-sentence statement saying she evaluates every presidential nominee based on “whether he or she is professionally qualified,” and that she believes Barr “meets this criteria.” LGBT groups largely opposed Barr’s nomination. Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Equality California, Equality Texas, and 30 other organizations signed onto a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee to oppose Barr’s confirmation. “Mr. Barr has asserted that LGBT people are not worthy of be-

ing treated as equal to others,” said the letter, citing a speech he gave as attorney general and a law review article he penned about a lawsuit seeking equal access to a gay student group at Georgetown University. Most recently, the letter said, he wrote an opinion piece in the Washington Post, praising former Attorney General Jeff Sessions for withdrawing “expanded statutory protections based on gender identity that Congress had not provided for in law.” The Human Rights Campaign also opposed Barr’s nomination, saying he has a “disturbing record of hostility toward non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people.” t

Trump drops lesbian judicial nominee by Lisa Keen

resident Donald Trump has dropped one of his openly LGBT judicial nominees and downgraded the second one from a federal appeals court seat to a district court seat. Trump did not re-nominate lesbian Magistrate Judge Mary Rowland last month when he re-nominated 10 other nominees who had not been confirmed by the end of the last congressional session. Any nominee who has not achieved confirmation by the end of a two-year congressional session

Magistrate Judge Mary Rowland

must have the president re-submit their nominations at the beginning of the new Congress.

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Rowland was one of 15 such nominees at the end of the 2017-18 congressional session. While Trump did re-submit the nominations for 10 of the 15 candidates on January 23, he did not re-submit that of Rowland and four others. Rowland was the first of Trump’s out judicial nominees. He nominated her in June 2018 to serve on the U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois. San Diego attorney Patrick Bumatay was his second. Trump nominated Bumatay in October 2018 to serve on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. His nomination was also sent back to the president after the

end of the congressional session. But on January 30, when Trump resubmitted his nominees to that federal appeals court, Bumatay’s name was gone, replaced by a new nominee. Then on February 6, Trump nominated Bumatay to a U.S. district court seat for the Southern District of California. Bumatay is currently a U.S. attorney for the Southern District. Several court watch media outlets reported that Trump did not consult with Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, both Democrats from California, for nominees from that state, as is tradition. And they

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<< Community News

8 • Bay Area Reporter • February 21-27, 2019

SF approves first cannabis equity applicant by Sari Staver

an Francisco’s first cannabis dispensary equity applicant got the green light from the city’s planning commission this month, enabling the founders of Cole Ashbury Group to begin renovations on a storefront at 1685 Haight Street. On February 14, the commission voted 6-0 to approve a conditional use permit for the proposed dispensary in a 1,250 square foot storefront now occupied by a pop-up business. The San Francisco equity-owned cannabis program enables people from communities that have been affected by the war on drugs to receive incentives to apply for licenses

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to open retail dispensaries. At the hearing, Cole Ashbury Group CEO Shawn M. Richards, a San Francisco native and founder of the anti-violence group Brothers Against Guns, told the commissioners that he began selling drugs at age 13, but has turned his life around and hopes the new business will “benefit the community.” Richards said that at neighborhood outreach meetings the response to the proposal had been overwhelmingly positive, as were the letters received by the city in response to the proposal. The others involved with the project are Conor Johnston, a gay man who was chief of staff to London Breed when she was District 5 supervisor, and John Delaplane. At the hearing, dozens of activists testified in favor of Richards’ application, which had also been recommended for approval by the planning staff. Individuals from over a dozen neighborhood business and community groups said they were in favor of the proposed business. Only one speaker, another applicant for an equity permit, testified against the project, claiming that the founders of Cole Ashbury Group

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seemed to have received preferential treatment because of their relationships with City Hall employees. Two LGBT cannabis activists endorsed the project. David Goldman, president of the Brownie Mary Democratic Club, said he has known Richards and Johnston for many years and is “confident they will be exemplary merchants.” Michael Cohen, also a member of the gay, cannabis-oriented Democratic club, echoed the sentiments, praising Cole Ashbury Group for “doing their homework” in getting its application in promptly. In response to questions from the commissioners, the founders said the new business has hired a professional security firm to staff the shop and will have “cameras all around” the interior and exterior. Longtime gay Planning Commissioner Dennis Richards (no relation) said Shawn Richards’ life has been “a great turnaround story” and offered him accolades for bringing a complete application – “a fully baked cake” – to the city. The dispensary is expected to open before the end of the year. Shawn Richards is also a founding member of the SF Equity Group, a grassroots organization designed to address the damage sustained by

Sari Staver

Cole Ashbury Group’s proposed dispensary would be located at 1685 Haight Street.

communities of color as a result of the government’s war on drugs. Following the planning commission decision SFEG said on its website that the approval was “certainly a cause for celebration.” “At the same time,” the group wrote, “there’s an enormous amount of work yet to be done in San Francisco and across the nation. The War on Drugs has disproportionately targeted people of color and devastated communities for decades, creating damage that will take years to heal.

“While the SF Equity Program was established to correct the wrongs done by the War on Drugs by prioritizing those impacted for licensing and permitting, the fact that it took well over a year from the program’s creation to reach just one equity-owned business, points to how many barriers remain,” the statement read. The group urged other equity applicants to contact it at http://www. sfequitygroup.org to learn about available resources. t

Newsom names SF pot czar to state post by Sari Staver

overnor Gavin Newsom has named San Francisco cannabis czar Nicole Elliott as a senior adviser for cannabis in the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, an appointment that drew praise from LGBT leaders in the cannabis industry. Erich Pearson, a gay man who is founder, CEO, and chairman of SPARC, a San Francisco-based dispensary, told the Bay Area Reporter in an email that Elliott “has added tremendous value to San Francisco’s cannabis program, and I’m sure she’ll do the same in Sacramento. As an operator, her team has been delightful to work with. We wish her all the best in her new endeavors.” SaraMitra Payan, former chair of the San Francisco Legalization Task Force, said in a telephone interview

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that she was “thrilled” that Elliott was tapped for the new position. Payan, who identifies as queer and

is the public education officer at the Apothecarium, predicted that Elliott would do an “excellent job” working with activists and industry representatives and “will do a great job educating the governor” on the most important issues around legalized cannabis. Elliott, 34, has been director of the San Francisco Office of Cannabis since 2017. She served as director of the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Legislative and Government Affairs from 2014-2017 and held multiple positions in the city and county government before then. Elliott’s new position, which does not require Senate confirmation, has a salary of $150,000. Elliott’s husband, Jason, is director of Executive Branch Affairs for Newsom. At press time, Elliott could not be reached for comment.t

Love Shack dispensary reopens by Sari Staver

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he Mission district’s longtime cannabis dispensary, Love Shack, which closed nearly a year ago, has re-opened by the gay-owned and -operated retail chain, SPARC. Love Shack was launched in 2002 by Chris Montana at 14th and Guerrero streets. It was one of the only onsite consumption dispensaries in San Francisco before adult use laws came online in 2018, according to a news release. With a brief announcement on Facebook, Love Shack by SPARC, as it is officially known, opened Monday, February 18, said Robbie Rainin, the retail director of SPARC, a five-store local chain, which was founded by Erich Pearson. Rainin and Pearson are both gay. In an interview Tuesday at the new shop, located at 502 14th

Sari Staver

Serge Kay, left, stands outside Love Shack by SPARC with Robbie Rainin and Philip Morelli.

Street, Rainin said the grand opening will be held Thursday, February 21. The store will be open seven days a week, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and will carry both medical

and adult use products. Love Shack is SPARC’s fifth location in the Bay Area. It has three outlets in San Francisco, one in Santa Rosa, and one in Sebastopol. t

Community News>>

February 21-27, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 9

Appel, Bernstein moved to rehab and healing by Alex Madison

fter being hit by a car over a month ago, Judy Appel, president of the Berkeley school board, and her wife, attorney Alison Bernstein, have both been moved into rehab from the intensive care unit at Highland Hospital in Oakland and are healing well, according to friends of the couple. “Their care team is saying that Judy and Alison are continuing to work with their speech, occupational, and physical therapy. Judy is still not able to walk on her injured leg, but is now able to stand, and Alison is steadily working on her recovery from her traumatic brain injury,” Martin Rawlings-Fein, a friend of the women, who have two children, told the Bay Area Reporter last week. Appel and Bernstein, ages 53 and 54, were hit by an 81-year-old male driver January 5 when they were walking to their Berkeley home. They were crossing Martin Luther King Jr. Way in a crosswalk near Stuart Street shortly after midnight. Appel had just begun her term as the board’s president prior to the accident. Berkelyside.com published a

Courtesy Facebook

Alison Bernstein, left, and her wife, Judy Appel, are in recovery.

lengthier statement that was released by an online community group set up by friends and family of the couple at http://www.lotsahelpinghands. com. It stated that the women are “recovering incredibly well” but “each have a long road of rehab ahead of them. We now expect both of them to make a complete or almost complete recovery.”

The statement also revealed more details about their injuries. Appel “sustained countless fractures on the left side of her body,” while Bernstein suffered skeletal fractures along with a brain injury. Both women have been moved to the rehab unit after spending weeks in the intensive care unit at Highland. “Judy is now able to stand and

move herself around a bit. It won’t surprise any of you who know Judy that she’s the very definition of persistence and resilience,” the statement continued. Bernstein is currently “walking, talking, and sounding a lot like herself,” thanks to a “strict rehab regimen,” the update also said. “As is common when recovering from brain injury, Alison is tired and really focusing all of her energy on recovery.” The driver who hit Appel and Bernstein has continued to cooperate with police. The Berkeley Police Department is waiting for blood results of the driver and no arrests have been made, BPD spokesman Officer Bryon White informed the B.A.R. last week. White previously told the B.A.R. that the primary cause of the collision was a “failure to yield the right of way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within any marked crosswalk.” The pedestrian and auto collision was just one of nine pedestrian-vehicle collisions in Berkeley that left 11 pedestrians injured, as of late January, as previously reported by the B.A.R. Last year, the city averaged nine to 10 pedestrian-involved collisions a

month. The incident has brought renewed attention to an issue city officials say they are creating an action plan for with a Vision Zero policy. On February 5, Berkeley City Council held a special meeting on its process to update the city’s pedestrian master plan, according to Berkeleyside. Appel was the first out lesbian to be elected to the Berkeley school board in 2012. She was re-elected in 2016 and in December began her latest term as president. In June 2018, Appel unsuccessfully ran in the primary for the 15th Assembly District seat. Former Obama staffer Buffy Wicks was elected to the position in November. Bernstein is a senior deputy attorney with the Office of the State Public Defender, where she represents capitally sentenced men and women in both direct appeal and state habeas proceedings. She has spent over 16 years at the office, according to her LinkedIn profile. A GoFundMe account was set up for the women’s medical costs and raised over $14,000. The site is no longer active due to reaching its contribution goal. t

Grenell one of Trump’s picks for US ambassador to the UN by Heather Cassell

he White House this week released four potential nominees, including gay Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, for the vacant position of U.S. ambassador to the United Nations following the abrupt withdrawal of Heather Nauert. Nauert, who was nominated by President Donald Trump in December 2018, following former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s resigna-

STD clinic

From page 1

mydia that has been going on in the city since 2007. According to preliminary data for 2018, chlamydia increased by 4 percent last year to 9,481 cases. Gonorrhea increased by 3 percent to 5,931 cases. Total syphilis cases remained largely flat in 2018 with 1,689 cases compared to the 1,694 reported in 2017. “For chlamydia and gonorrhea the amount of the increase has decreased to single digit increases instead of double digits compared to prior years,” said Philip. Nonetheless, “We are not satisfied with that,” she added. “We would like to see it decrease.” While men who have sex with men continue to account for the majority of STD cases in the city, San Francisco officials have seen an alarming spike in the number of women becoming infected with syphilis. Based on the unofficial numbers for 2018, total cases of syphilis among females increased by 88 percent last year to 120. A majority (71 percent) of the female primary and secondary cases were in women of childbearing ages 18 to 44 years old. Relatively few had a recent STD test, according to city health

tion, dropped out of the running last weekend due to her employing a nanny who was in the U.S. legally but didn’t have authorization to work. Critics took aim at the current State Department spokeswoman and former “Fox & Friends” host when she was nominated U.S. ambassador to the U.N., citing her diplomatic inexperience.

Nauert, who has been with the State Department since 2017, publicly condemned the LGBT Chechen crackdown and has promoted Spirit Day, a campaign to combat bullying, reported the Washington Blade. The other potential nominees are Dina Powell, a partner of Goldman Sachs and former Trump administration official; Kelly

Craft, U.S. ambassador Canada; and John James, former Republican Senate candidate from Michigan, reported the Hill. Ivanka Trump, the president’s eldest daughter, is also potentially in the running if no other candidate emerges as a fit for the position, reported the political newspaper.

officials, 16 percent were homeless at their diagnosis, and 37 percent reported meth use in the past year. “It is a call to action, the rising number of cases of syphilis in women. We want providers to know about that,” said Cohen. “Most providers are never going to see a cisgender woman with syphilis. Many may have forgotten that can happen, but that is happening.” The increase in female syphilis cases is leading to concerns that the city may begin finding a spike in congenital syphilis cases in pregnant women similar to what other parts of the state and country are seeing. The disease, if not treated, can cause complications for both the woman and her child. While there were no reported cases in 2018, the city saw one case in 2017. “The bigger problem with congenital syphilis is the lack of access to prenatal care for women or they are not accessing prenatal care because of homelessness or drug use,” said Cohen. “Some providers are not screening in the third trimester and the health system is not supporting the women who have complex things going on in their lives.” Across the country the rise in drug use, in particular methamphetamine, heroin, and other injected drugs, is

leading to a rise in STDs among heterosexuals. In August the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported there were nearly 2.3 million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis in the U.S. in 2017. It marked the fourth year in a row that the federal agency had recorded increases of all three STDs. To combat the issue, the National Coalition of STD Directors is asking Congress to allocate $70 million toward federal STD prevention programs. Funding for the CDC’s STD prevention program has not been increased in 15 years, noted the coalition in a statement last week released in response to a federal analysis of STD trends between 2013 and 2017. “Without increased federal funding, a nearly bankrupted STD prevention effort in this country could be pushed over the edge when you add in the additional burden of the nation’s drug crisis,” stated David C. Harvey, executive director of the STD directors’ group. “Combatting STDs and drugs go hand-in-hand.”

the city to revive its methamphetamine task force in order to develop a plan for how the city should respond to the rise in use of the drug and the negative consequences that stem from it. Philip told the Bay Area Reporter that she hopes the task force will include STD prevention as part of its focus. “In San Francisco we are concerned and we are aware that substance use has been associated with an increase in syphilis,” she said. “We are looking to see how the conversation around syphilis and congenital syphilis can be incorporated into the larger work the city is undertaking on meth and opiate use.” Addressing the rise in STDs in conjunction with other health endemics has been the approach local medical providers and advocates have taken. They are coordinating the efforts to reduce STD rates with the city’s plan to end the transmission of both HIV and hepatitis C, and local officials are also calling on state health leaders to draw up a combined plan to end new cases of HIV, STDs, and hepatitis C across California. “This year we are doing a better job than ever incorporating overall health

Reviving task force

In San Francisco Mayor London Breed and gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman have called for

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into the framework of Getting to Zero,” said Philip, referring to the city’s strategy for ending new HIV cases. Condom usage among gay men has decreased as the community embraces other HIV prevention efforts, from using PrEP, the once-aday pill that protects HIV-negative people from acquiring HIV, to ensuring HIV-positive people are in treatment so their viral levels are undetectable and therefore are unlikely to transmit the virus to their HIV-negative sex partners. Yet neither strategy prevents STD infections, so health officials continue to recommend that all sexually active gay and bisexual men get tested every three months. Those patients infected with syphilis within the last year are being asked to assist health officials in contacting their sexual partners in order to get them into treatment. The city can do so confidentially and anonymously, Philip stressed. “We don’t release names to the CDC or the state or anyone else,” said Philip. “Our job is to reduce the amount of syphilis in San Francisco overall. We know if one person has it, their partner may have it and not be getting treated.”t

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<< Commentary

10 • Bay Area Reporter • February 21-27, 2019

Love means showing up by Christina A. DiEdoardo

hile much of the city was rushing for last-minute gifts on a rainy Valentine’s Day, a small group of activists with Pangea Legal Services, a nonprofit law firm that provides free and reduced cost representation to immigrants in removal proceedings, showed their love in a much more direct fashion – by showing up to support Aida Carolina Andrade-Amaya, who has been in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody since last November. Andrade-Amaya, whom the government separated from her prematurely-born baby and other U.S. citizen children, was on calendar at Immigration Court for a bond hearing. Depending on what U.S. Immigration Judge Julie L. Nelson ultimately decides, Andrade-Amaya might be released to her family and children while her removal case proceeds. Unfortunately, this case is more complex than most. The government of El Salvador, where Andrade-Amaya is from, wants her on charges of aggravated theft and robbery and asked Interpol to issue a Red Notice, which is the international arrest warrant that the United States originally relied on to detain her.

Christina A. DiEdoardo

Activists from Pangea Legal Services assemble outside Immigration Court before doing court support for Aida Carolina Andrade-Amaya, an El Salvadorian mother who has been separated from her U.S. citizen child.

“I recognize there are unique issues in this case because of the arrest warrant from El Salvador,” said Nelson on February 14. To the United States, the underlying El Salvadorian arrest warrant – which it presented to the court just before

the hearing – resolves the question of whether she should receive bail, much less remain in America, in the negative. To her advocates, the warrant needs to be viewed in the context of conditions in Andrade-Amaya’s home country. For the last two and a half decades, El Salvador has struggled with increasing violence driven by its maras, or gangs, many of which originally formed from persons deported from the United States for gang activity in Los Angeles and elsewhere. There are no prizes for guessing that those connected with the maras – or those with money or political pull – typically don’t face judicial consequences for their alleged actions. Even the U.S. State Department concedes that “corruption undermines credibility” in the El Salvadorian justice system, which “is still heavily under-sourced and overwhelmed by the volume of cases,” according to a 2018 report. As often happens historically in these situations, police in El Salvador have further been accused of involvement with extrajudicial killings of prisoners and suspects and other illegal acts. For that reason, lawyers for An-

drade-Amaya are seeking to introduce additional expert testimony to help the court understand what it’s dealing with – and why a warrant from El Salvador might not be entitled to the same deference as one from a country with a functional judicial system. If that fails, they still may have a shot at keeping her in the country with her family if they can persuade Nelson that Andrade-Amaya is likely to be tortured. But all that required a lot more time to hear evidence and review documents than the court had that Thursday, so Andrade-Amaya’s Valentine’s Day ended where it began, in an immigration lockup far from her family. While hers is just one note in the sorry symphony of America’s failure to build a fair and equitable immigration system, it’s a note worth remembering for this reason. Every dollar spent for “border security” or a “smart wall” or “enhanced immigration enforcement” ultimately means more Andrade-Amayas ripped away from their premature newborns. There’s a human cost to the use of euphemisms some utter to make themselves feel better about “compro-

mising” with a regime in Washington that’s both openly racist and nativist – and it’s not being paid by the Nancy Pelosis and Chuck Schumers of the world, but by desperate people like Andrade-Amaya with nowhere else to go. The activists from Pangea understand that, which is why they do court support for Andrade-Amaya and their other clients in similar circumstances. Maybe the day will come when more people who aren’t directly impacted by the crisis in our immigration system will do so as well.

Rise up against racism

At 1 p.m. Saturday, February 23, at New Valencia Hall at 747 Polk Street in San Francisco, the Freedom Socialist Party Bay Area will present “San Francisco City Workers Rise Up Against Racism,” a discussion by city employees and union activists fighting back against what they describe as racially-motivated discrimination, bullying and harassment by management. Organizers are asking a $3-$5 donation for the talk and a $10 donation for lunch, which will be served from 1 to 2:30 p.m., with the presentation following thereafter. t Got a tip? Email me at christina@ diedoardolaw.com.

New book raises profile of disability community by Belo Cipriani

ome books become classics because they bring to the forefront new ideas, while others are imprinted in our consciousness because they shine light on a little known world. “Resistance and Hope: Essays by

Disabled People,” edited by Alice Wong, is one of those rare anthologies that both highlights new ways of examining disability, as well as raises the profile of the disability community. Wong, a San Francisco-based disability rights activist and journalist, has gathered 16 essays from some of the leading voices in dis-

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ability advocacy, to shed some light onto disability issues in the Trump era. While several of the authors identify as members of the LGBTQ community, for this column, I have chosen to focus on three of my favorite essays by LGBTQ contributors; however, all of the essays in this collection are worth reading. “Hip Hop and Disability Liberation: Finding Resistance, Hope and Wholeness,” by DJ Kuttin Kandi and Leroy Moore : “If we, as a hip-hop community can face our own internalized ableism as we confront institutionalized ableist systems, we can find truth in our futile search for hip-hop ‘authenticity,’” the authors write. Like a hailstorm, Kandi and Moore deliver a slew of examples of ableist behavior by some of the leading voices in hip-hop. They offer criticism, but also ideas on how hip-hop as a community could be more inclusive of artists and fans with disabilities. The result is a poignant essay that captures the struggles and hopes for hiphop. “Building Back Belonging, Hope and Possibility,” by Mia Mingus: Mingus writes, “Resistance is only as powerful as what it is in service of. Resistance by itself – resistance just to resist – is not meaningful and will lead to burnout very fast. It’s when re-

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called and emailed Jackovics multiple times to the point of harassment; visited Jackovics’ employees at the gym, and told them of his desire to make Jackovics’ life miserable and allegedly hurt his family; and that Rosenfield called Jackovics’ wife and used threatening statements. Rosenfield denies these accusations and said he has simply complained about maintenance issues that have been neglected by his landlord. He admitted to calling Jackovics’ wife, but said that the conversation lasted less than a minute and he was address8/11/17 12:30 PM

Courtesy Disability Visibility Project

Disability activist Alice Wong

sistance is in service of something larger than itself that the true power of resistance is unleashed.” With sharp prose, Mingus shares how her own journey shaped her advocacy work. As someone who helps people who have experienced violence regain belonging, Mingus discusses the process of cultivating hope in a world that spills a lot of hate. This thought-provoking essay offers optimism, as well as a model for contributing to social causes during challenging times. “Back into the Fires that Forged Us,” by Shain M. Neumeier :

ing an incident in which he said his garage was broken into because it was not properly secured by his landlord. Rosenfield did not file a police report, and said nothing was taken. “I never made any such threats to any of them, and have never said anything that in any way resembles wanting to personally or professionally harm him or his family,” Rosenfield said in a document he sent to the B.A.R. He continues to stand by his opinion that Jackovics is using the restraining order to intimidate him and eventually harass him out of his home. “It is increasingly common for San Francisco landlords to get fictitious

“For one, many Americans have an authoritarian streak, or at least concede that even extremely harmful forms of authoritarianism are legitimate or necessary, either out of genuine belief or for political gain,” Neumeier writes. “This includes many of the very people who use the rhetoric of freedom and independence, at least where it concerns guns or the right to emotionally abuse others.” Neumeier’s expository essay examines the criminalization of resistance to injustices by marginalized communities. It highlights the participation of the media, government officials, and civilians in inflicting abuse in the name of American freedom. Well-cited and narrated, this piece looks at how the law has been used to hurt underrepresented groups – especially the disability community. “Resistance and Hope,” available at https://disabilityvisibilityproject. com/resist/, is a quick read that not only brings the reader a deeper understanding of disability discourse during the age of President Donald Trump, but also offers people with disabilities and their allies a guide to joining the disability justice movement at many levels. t Belo Cipriani is an award-winning author and prize-winning journalist. His new book, “Firsts: Coming of Age Stories by People with Disabilities,” is now available. Learn more at www.olebbooks.com.

restraining orders against protected tenants to harass them out of their homes,” Rosenfield said on a website he created about landlord and tenant disputes. The site has now been taken down. “There’s a lot of money behind displacing protected tenants, and ROs are a relatively inexpensive tool used by SF’s most unethical landlords and displacement attorneys.” Rosenfield is currently unemployed and suffering from depression, he said. Okamoto requested that Rosenfield pay for the legal fees of Smith and Jackovics. Dekreon said she would take it under submission. t

Sports >>

February 21-27, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 11

The NBA’s imperfect All-Star Game by Roger Brigham

o, when the NBA All-Star Game was played last weekend, LeBron James had picked his favorite soonto-be free agents to populate his squad with the not-so subtle suggestion that he would love them to come to Los Angeles after the season to join him on the Lakers and that paid off big time when Warriors forward Kevin Durant won the game’s Most Valuable Player Award when James’ squad rallied for a comeback win, and Steph Curry delighted his home crowd with a sky-high bounce pass to Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo for a delightful dunk and, can we forget about all of that for a moment and talk about the game being played in North Carolina? If y’all recall, the game had been scheduled to be played in Charlotte two years ago. At the time, the state Legislature was considering a law called HB 2, or the “Bathroom Bill,” a statewide law that banned local LGBT anti-discrimination ordinances and required transgender individuals to use restrooms associated with the gender listed on their birth certificates. Rick Welts, a gay man who’s an executive with the Golden State Warriors, had delivered an impassioned speech at the 2016 NBA owners meeting and said he would not attend the game there if the law passed. The law passed. The NBA pulled the game (the NCAA also pulled several tournaments from the state and several companies dropped expansion plans). Subsequently, the Legislature adopted a new law, HB 142, which dropped the blanket

Los Angeles Lakers guard Reggie Bullock spent part of the NBA’s All-Star weekend talking with LGBT youth and allies.

prohibition of public restroom use by transgender individuals – but moved control of public restroom policy to the hands of the Legislature – and continued the ban on local non-discrimination laws until 2020. At the time, Simone Bell, a regional director with Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, said, “Lawmakers replaced a bad bill with another bad bill. This fake repeal is an attempt to silence LGBT people. It is shameful to stamp a start date on equality. We demand a full, clean repeal, and that includes comprehensive nondiscrimination protections.” The NBA? It decided the bill was good enough to claim victory and awarded the 2019 All-Star Game to Charlotte. “I’m sympathetic to those who feel that there are still not appropriate protections for the LGBTQ com-

<< A healthier future. Let’s pass it on together.

munity,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. “But I also felt from a league standpoint it was important, and as part of our core values, to work with people and, ultimately, to move forward with the community.” As for Welts, the executive whose marketing savvy built the All-Star weekend into the financial bonanza it is? He declined comment and kept a low profile, but apparently went to Charlotte after extensive meetings with other NBA leaders. Comedian Dave Chappelle used the weekend as an opportunity to put on two sold-out performances loaded with jokes about transgender folks. Gay former NBA player Jason Collins was in town representing NBA Cares. Los Angeles Lakers guard Reggie Bullock, whose transgender sister, Mia, had been stabbed to death in 2014, met with two-dozen LGBT youth and allies. “It was good for me to be able to be here with them and talk to them

and hear their stories,” Bullock, 27, told the Los Angeles Times. “They weren’t holding back on anything. It opened up my eyes to what they have to go through on a daily basis, because when you randomly walk past someone, you never know what they’re going through. I’m trying to educate myself every day as a straight man on this community that I stand up for and support.” So, bottom line: was the All-Star Game’s return to North Carolina a compromise or a capitulation? Neither. It was another imperfect step in a timeless struggle between ignorance and enlightenment, prejudice and acceptance, fear and compassion. It’s too soon to give it a final score or declare victory.

FGG annual meeting set

The Federation of Gay Games will hold its annual membership meeting and officer elections October 31-November 2 in Guadalajara,

Jalisco, Mexico. Guadalajara had been a finalist in the bidding to host the 2022 quadrennial Gay Games, which ultimately were awarded to Hong Kong. Elections are scheduled to be held for 12 two-year seats on the board of directors: female co-president; vice presidents of operations and member services; officers of marketing, diversity and inclusion, ceremonies, human resources, sports (male), international development, site selection, and development; and an officer-at-large. The membership will also receive annual reports and updates from the 2022 Gay Games host organization. All proposed motions and bylaw changes must be submitted to ADA2019@gaygames.net by July 31 and will be presented by the board to the membership by August 31. Registration information is available at http://www.gaygames.org/ event-3265456.t

Out in the World

From page 9

Russian officials in April 2017 following initial reports of the arrest, detainment, and torture of 100 suspected gay and bisexual men. At the time, up to three men were murdered. “We are alarmed by information Courtesy AP pointing to a new wave of persecution based on sexual orientation,” Gay U.S. ambassador to Gerthe experts said in a release from the many Richard Grenell UC UNHRC. San Francisco “Abuse inflicted Health on victims is a part of thehas All of Us Research Program, from allegedly become more cruel and and Grozny in December 2018. Two violent compared with reports from people had the National Institutes of Health. died, reported the Russian It is no longer only gay men in LGBT organization. The2017. goal of All of Us is to help Chechnya who are being targeted but The organization has monitored researchers about women also.” understand more and worked on Chechnya’s gay purge The Russian LGBT Network April 2017 when independent why people get sick or staysince healthy. sounded the alarm in a January 14 Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta news release, reporting an estimated broke the news.t 40 suspected LGBT people – men and Forwomen more information enroll: – had been arrested andor de- to A longer version of this column is Call: (833) 268-8273 tained in the Chechen cities of Argun online at www.ebar.com.

Email: allofus@ucsf.edu Obituaries >>

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Mary Margaret Isham

about social justice, Mary fought for the rights of women, people of color, May 18, 1949 – February 3, 2019 the LGBTQ community, and health care for all. She loved clowning and Mary Margaret performing, music, cooking and nuIsham died peacetrition, Buddhism and Native Amerifully, surrounded can spirituality, among other pursuits. A Member of All of Us California by friends at home, She participated in Art for Recovery at February 3, 2019 afUCSF and her artwork is on display at You will receive $25struggift card ter a a 20-year the lobby of Bakar Cancer Hospital, gle with a neuroenUCSF Mission Bay, through April 30. after you complete your visit. docrine tumor of the pancreas. She is survived by her siblings, fosAll of UsBorn and the All of logoin areFowler, service Inmarks ofter the children, godchildren and many May 18,Us1949 U.S. Department of graduated Health and Human Services. diana, Mary from Indiana nieces, nephews, and cousins. She was University and started her nursing cagrateful to her many communities, inreer in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Moving cluding her loving support team and to California in 1974, she worked in her health care team. AoU_COB_UCSF_SFChronicleAd_4.792x9.83_Print_V2_120718_HF.indd 1 the San Francisco city and county jails, A celebration of Mary’s life will juvenile hall, and was founder and ditake place from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. rector of the pioneering Mission High Sunday, April 28, at the Freight and School Health Center. Salvage Coffeehouse, 2020 Addison A proud butch dyke passionate Street, Berkeley.

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<< Community News

12 • Bay Area Reporter • February 21-27, 2019

Gender center

From page 1

countywide LGBT health survey in 2013. The center was a priority for Maribel Martínez, a queer woman who is director of Santa Clara County’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs. The office co-founded the clinic with Dr. Jackie Newton, a lesbian who is the assistant medical director for the Valley Homeless Health Care Program, one of the county’s primary care clinical programs. “This clinic opened as a direct response to the lack of transgender, nonbinary, and gender-diverse services in the county,” Newton told reporters. Recalling discovering the importance of the gender health center six years ago, Yeager said, “It was very obvious that transgender people were not getting the service that they needed.” He remembered listening to transgender individuals talk about having to go outside of the county to receive health care due to the lack of services and discriminatory care providers in the county’s health care system. “We knew right away that we had to open up a clinic to serve their need,” he said. It was important to take the time to find the right partners, Martinez told the B.A.R. Working with Newton, the LGBTQ affairs office ensured patient access through multiple points of entry in the health care system. “What was really important to us [was] we wanted it to be as accessible as possible,” she said. Newton added, “In order to provide good service it needs to be multidisciplinary,” and institutional and social barriers to care needed to be removed. That meant hiring and training cul-

Russian River

From page 7

cause we’re at a higher elevation in the downtown area.” He admitted, however, “At first it reminded me of the 1986 flood, which happened 36 years ago to the day, but then the feeling passed.” Jeff Bridges, general manager of the R3 Hotel, revealed how his business reacted. “We have a file with written procedures and go on auto-pilot when the river rises,” he said. “Those prone to flooding stock up on supplies, though we did not need to do that.”

turally sensitive medical and mental health care providers and staff, eliminating referral-based treatment, making appointments simple to obtain, and ensuring the center was located in a centralized place that people could easily get to by public transportation. “Most importantly, we must employ cultural humility in our work and partner with the transgender, nonbinary, gender-diverse community to elevate their voices,” said Newton. “[To] strengthen community through the lens of solidarity and together drive social transformation.”

Results

Yeager and city officials couldn’t be prouder of the result. “It just really shows in Santa Clara County when we have a vision, we can actually carry it out,” he said. “I’m so proud of the county and their support of the LGBTQ community.” Supervisor Cindy Chavez, the board’s vice president, said the county’s investment in the project was key. “This has to do with leadership and leadership that believes in civil rights and recognizes that all of our services have to be reflective of our entire community,” said Chavez during a news conference before touring the facility. “What’s important about this is that we are not just talking about doing the right thing, that we are investing resources.” As a local leader, it was one thing to talk about how important a community was, but “it was a completely different thing and a more respectful thing to invest,” Chavez continued. “What you see reflected here is an investment in the community. An investment in the LGBTQ community that says we deeply, deeply believe in you, care for you, and want you to get Things were different in 1986 when another “atmospheric river” condition pushed the Russian River to 49 feet, and people had to be evacuated by helicopter from the historic Guerneville Cemetery. There were two more destructive floods in the 1990s. “I moved here after 1986, but was here for all the other floods,” Bridges said. He laughed as he recalled how after the 1995-1996 event, “people called us a year later to ask if we were open. We never closed, even in the 1990s, and it’s never taken longer than 12 weeks to recover.” Nowadays, Bridges said, “The R3

CA DMV

From page 1

Wiener (D-San Francisco) for help in winning approval for the “LTHR DDY” vanity license plate he would like to attach to his 2015 Kawasaki Vulcan motorcycle. “I understood when I submitted this the term could be controversial. But for it to be a lustful or depraved reference is missing the scope of leather culture,” Haynes, 38, told the Bay Area Reporter. “And it is kind of endemic of how people take leather culture from the outside and immediately relate it to sexual as being exclusive to the entire lifestyle.” Living in a state as progressive as California, which has been on the vanguard of LGBT rights in recent years, Haynes was shocked by the DMV’s stated purpose for its rejection. “I would expect this perhaps in other parts of the country,” he said. “But I really thought California was a little more open-minded and less dualistic in seeing everything as a good and bad binary if you will.” Wiener told the B.A.R. that the decision made by the DMV as stated in the letter is based on homophobic notions of what a leather daddy is. He sent a letter to DMV officials demanding that they approve Haynes’ vanity plate. “If it doesn’t, I will turn this into a big deal,” said Wiener, who last year received an apology from a neigh-

Courtesy Robert Haynes

Robert Haynes’ application for a vanity license plate for his motorcycle was denied by the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

borhood newspaper in San Francisco after it was accused of homophobia for running a photo of the lawmaker shirtless but adorned in a leather vest alongside a story on a controversial housing bill he had authored. “If this is an intentional decision, and I am hoping it is not, but if the agency stands by this decision that is a big problem. That would be very disrespectful of the LGBT community and leather community, and frankly, would be homophobic.” DMV officials did not respond to the B.A.R.’s request for comment by

The clinic is currently looking for a health education specialist and additional psychiatry and psychology professionals to join its team, she added. “So, it’s a very large medical and psychosocial team,” said Newton, who with the support of Martinez launched a program to provide health care services to homeless transgender patients at the Valley Homeless Health Care Program in 2016. The medical professionals work together in a collaborated effort “across the health and hospital system” so that transgender patients at any access point “can receive respectful dignified care,” said Newton. “Our goal is that care exists in custody, in emergency psychiatric services, behavioral health and substance abuse treatment services, and housing,” she added. “The medical is a small piece to a larger movement of combatting social injustice and driving transformation,” said Newton, noting the thought and care that went into planning the clinic from designing a welcoming space to the friendly greeting when patients enter the clinic to the services being provided. “What I love about this clinic is that it is a beautiful bright space that is new,” said Newton. “That shows the community that they matter. That they deserve a beautiful building.” “I just hope people come and partner with us and tell us how to do better,” she added. t

Since November 2018, the clinic has been ramping up services for patients at Valley Health Center’s downtown campus, the newest facility in Santa Clara County’s health care and

medical network, and began accepting patients during its soft opening. The clinic is located in a small office at Valley Health Center at 777 East Santa Clara Street and consists of an administrative area and patient exam rooms on the third level of the center. A cadre of medical providers has cared for patients like Valotea, who has been seeing a doctor who is a part of the clinic for about two years. The gender health center currently provides services to an estimated 100 patients, according to the County of Santa Clara Health System. Care is provided based on a patient’s health insurance. Currently, there is a waitlist for new patients, however, Martinez and Newton invite gender-variant individuals living in the South Bay to make an appointment. The clinic provides primary care, sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment, HIV testing, masculinizing and feminizing hormones, trans-affirmative gynecologic care, PrEP and PEP (prescriptions for daily HIV prevention medicine), and mental health counseling. Newton said that medical providers at the clinic take two approaches: trauma informed and gender-affirming services to help patients feel safe and comfortable to manage their care with their doctor. The clinic’s new medical director, Dr. Jules Chyten-Brennan, a transgender man, is set to begin working in August, said Newton. Currently, the clinic has three primary care providers, one OB-GYN, one psychologist, one psychiatrist, and one medical social worker. Two nurses assist them. A health center manager and an assistant nurse manager oversee the clinic, said Newton.

Hotel has its own generator, so everybody flocks here when there are power outages. This week we lost power for only for 30 minutes.” The R3 was almost sold out for the holiday weekend, he boasted. Frederick has similar memories. “I’ve been through the floods from 1980s on up,” he said. “In 1986, we had two feet of water in the bar, but only closed for three or four days. We had to take bottles touched by the river and pour them out, so we lost between $3,000 and $4,000.” For residents, thanks in part to the efforts of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, virtually all

properties in lower elevations have been raised, moved, or demolished. FEMA underwrites house insurance in flood-prone areas of Sonoma County and usually requires houses to be raised in order to be insured. VanDyne also noted, “Cleanup seems more manageable due to what I see as overall progress ... and the efforts of the Clean River Alliance. We also have fewer homeless encampments along the river that are at risk, due to the proactive efforts of West County Community Services.” “I’ve been here a year and was impressed by how prepared and calm

everyone is,” VanDyne added. “The river is a living part of this community. For the most part, we are prepared to adapt to the levels of the river while keeping businesses open.” Frederick pointed out other differences from 1986. “Power outages are much rarer, Fife’s Creek floods much less due to dredging by the county, and none of our employees lost their housing this time,” he said. Bridges said, “People in town know each other and stick together. I’m proud of the town. Everyone pulls together.” t

deadline this week. Last Friday, the agency informed Wiener it had received his letter and was “in the process of drafting a reply at this time.” Haynes is not overly involved with the leather community or a leader of a leather group or organization. He did compete in the 2011 International Mr. Leather contest as Mr. Bolt representing the Bolt bar in Sacramento, where he was living at the time. But he does consider himself to be a leather daddy, despite his age, and wears leather apparel when he takes his motorcycle out for rides. He and his partner had gotten vanity plates for the vehicles they share, one of which is based on the ruby red color of their Mazda CX3. Around the New Year holiday he submitted his request for the “LTHR DDY” plate along with the $50 fee to the DMV and shortly after received a letter informing him his application was being processed. But then came the January 18 letter signed by A. Holmes, a program manager in the DMV’s customer service program support for the California Environmental License Plate Program denying his plate, refunding him his money, and explaining how he could contest the decision. “I am sure you can appreciate how difficult it is to balance an individual’s constitutional right to free speech and expression while protecting the sensibilities of all segments of our population,” read the letter. “Please under-

stand that this is a very difficult area to regulate and that not everyone feels the same way on any given subject.” The DMV routinely rejects vanity license plate requests for a variety of reasons in addition to the one stated in the letter to Haynes. Vulgar, hostile, or racist terms are also rejected, as are swear words and terms that denigrate certain groups or law enforcement entities. In 2017 the Sacramento Bee reported that the state agency receives 20,000 requests a month for specialty plates and that it had denied three quarters of the 12,000 license plates flagged for review in the last half of 2016. Nonetheless, when Wiener read the letter the DMV had sent to Haynes, his “jaw dropped” at the reasoning stated. “I was really floored that a California agency would boil the whole concept of leather daddy down to depravity or lust,” said Wiener. “Being part of the leather community is about so much more than sexuality. It is about diversity, freedom, and people being who they are.” San Francisco not only embraces the leather community, noted Wiener, it celebrates it and is working to protect its longtime home in the city’s South of Market neighborhood by establishing an LGBT cultural district in the area. Just last week city leaders approved a permit for a public parklet that will commemorate the leather community. Wiener referenced those efforts in his letter, dated February 11, to former acting DMV Director Bill Davidson.

“The leather community is a central part of San Francisco’s identity,” wrote Wiener, adding that the “incredibly diverse” community includes all facets of LGBT people “committed to individual self-expression and diversity.” He noted that leather men and women played a crucial part in the community’s response to the AIDS epidemic and continue to have vital roles in everything from nightlife and cultural events to activism on myriad issues. “To be clear, sexuality, of course, plays a role in the leather community, as it does and should in other communities,” wrote Wiener. “Sexuality is a normal part of human existence and something to be celebrated, not shunned or shamed. Yet, DMV’s response boils the leather community and the concept of leather daddy down to sex and sex alone. That is inaccurate.” Haynes sent his own letter protesting the DMV’s decision and is refusing to cash the refund check the agency sent him. He remains hopeful it will reverse course on its decision so he can install his vanity plate in time for this year’s AIDS/LifeCycle ride. A former six-time participant in the annual fundraiser for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and Los Angeles LGBT Center, he is volunteering a second time this June as part of the Moto Safety crew. It is a group of motorcycle riders who not only assist with protecting the bicyclists along the route but also raise money themselves for the two agencies. t

all of the services you need,” she said. Martinez said the center’s budget is approximately $1.8 million. Supervisor Susan Ellenberg, a straight ally who replaced Yeager on the board and is the vice chair of the board’s Health and Hospital Committee, was also on hand. “The way in which a community treats its most vulnerable members really speaks volumes about the culture of that community,” said Ellenberg, noting that the center’s opening was “one more avenue to ensure that we are meeting the health-related needs of every single community member. “Today, the county of Santa Clara is building further on our culture of inclusion and that is indeed worth celebrating,” she added. Before finding services at the health center, Valotea and his friends created their own patchwork network of care providers, he said. They would refer each other to the best doctors they could find who wouldn’t discriminate against them or refuse to answer their questions or care they requested. “I can’t really blame a doctor for thinking what’s healthier for you, but I can disagree,” said Valotea about his efforts searching for transgender-sensitive medical care. At the clinic, he has been able to work in partnership with his doctor for his medical needs, he said. He feels safe to make suggestions to his doctor and if his doctor doesn’t know the answer, he can research it and discuss his findings with him, Valotea said.

Welcoming patients

For more information, call (408) 272-6050 or visit https://goo.gl/ VLsqKM or https://www.scvmc.org/ clinics-and-locations/Downtown/ Pages/Overview.aspx.

t <<

Community News>>

News Briefs

From page 6

board of Asian Americans Advancing Justice/Asian Law Caucus. Williams, a millennial, is the founder of MyUmbrella, a social networking app for the LGBTQ community. She is also the leader of the San Francisco chapter of Black Women Talk Tech. She has created digital innovations to empower underrepresented members of the queer community. The event is free and open to the public.

Early bird tickets for Soiree

Drag queen and hostess Juanita MORE! returns as entertainment director for the San Francisco LGBT Community Center’s annual gala, Soiree, and discount dinner tickets are available until February 28. This year’s event will be held Sat-

February 21-27, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 13

urday, April 13, at Terra Gallery, 511 Harrison Street. Dinner is at 5 p.m.; the party begins at 8:30. Organizers said that the evening will celebrate the community. It will include an open bar, raffle, live auction, and dancing. DJ Lady Ryan will be spinning. Soiree can help the center raise over $100,000 in funds to expand its programs and services, officials said. Discounted dinner tickets are $249 (they go up to $295 March 1). Tickets for the party only are $95. To purchase tickets, visit www.sfcenter.org.

Shanti gets Dignity Health grant

The Shanti Project was one of several organizations that recently received grants from Dignity Health St. Mary’s Medical Center. A February 12 news release from Dignity Health said that the nonprofit received $57,000 for the care and jus-

Rickleffs

From page 2

a drinking glass from the kitchen with Escalon’s fingerprints on it. Two towels – one in the bathtub, the other on the bathroom floor – were also found at the crime scene. When Cervantes cross-examined Lynch, he said a possible reason for there not being fingerprints found on items is that someone may have wiped them off. “It appears someone was trying to clean up after themselves,” Lynch said on the stand. Solis continued to try and show Escalon’s wild lifestyle when she crossexamined Warnke. She asked him about a Craigslist post, allegedly published by Escalon, that was advertising sex with porn and poppers provided by Escalon for a willing participant. “Do you remember reviewing a Craigslist ad that Eriq had that indicated he would have porn and poppers at the ready?” Solis said. “I don’t remember,” Warnke replied. Solis also showed the jury images of Escalon dressed only in a black pair of underwear and a blindfold covering his eyes, along with another picture of Escalon standing next to a man holding a whip. Warnke testified that a friend of Escalon’s showed him

Courtesy SFPD

Defendant James Rickleffs

the first photo in person on the computer during Warnke’s investigation, but that he does not know who took either photo. Solis also presented evidence that a mask was found in Escalon’s room when investigators searched the scene. It was made by Sportsheet, a bondage company, though Warnke acknowledged he did not research the company name.

Sex toys in suitcase

Several sex toys were taken out of a black laptop bag and shown to the

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SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT RFP NO. 6M3426 EXTENSION OF TIME FOR RECEIPT OF PROPOSALS NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the General Manager of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District has extended the time of receipt of proposals until the hour of 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, March 12, 2019, by hand delivery or special delivery, at the District Secretary’s Office, 23rd Floor, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, California 94612 for the Production Rail Profiling Services, RFP No. 6M3426. Dated at Oakland, California, this 12th day of February 2019. /S/ Kofo Domingo Oji Kanu, Manager, Contract Administration San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District 2/21/19 CNS-3222668# BAY AREA REPORTER

tice alliance program, which supports HIV/AIDS clients with health and legal interventions through Shanti, the Justice and Diversity Center of the Bar Association of San Francisco, and the AIDS Legal Referral Panel. The grant was part of more than $100,000 that was awarded to local agencies this year. “Community partners help us care for our patients outside the hospital’s walls,” John Allen, St. Mary’s Medical Center president, said in the release. “These partnerships align closely with our mission and meet the unique health needs of San Francisco.” In addition to Shanti, La Casa de las Madres received $40,000 for the domestic violence high-risk program in partnership with the Rally Family Visitation Center and the San Francisco Police Department. The group 18 Reasons received $20,880 for free six-week cooking and nutrition classes for 240 low-income

adults and families to help address underlying causes of diet-related diseases and obesity. It is partnering with the YMCA and FoodsCo. The community grants were awarded in January. St. Mary’s has awarded yearly grants since the early 1990s to promote health and wellness in San Francisco.

jury during the trial last week. Warnke said on the stand that the sex toys came from the silver suitcase that Rickleffs had when he was arrested in an unrelated incident a day after Escalon was found dead. Police considered Rickleffs a person of interest in the case after this arrest because the suitcase on his person contained items from Escalon’s apartment including a laptop, Escalon’s checkbook, and a bankcard of one of Escalon’s roommates, according to police. Solis pulled out a dildo, butt plug, vibrator, and a club card from Good Vibrations sex shop from the laptop bag along with a black leather harness and leather wrist straps from the suitcase. It is not known who these items belonged to, as Warnke said that he did not ask Rickleffs or Escalon’s family about the sex-related items. Solis also poked holes in Warnke’s investigation of the case. A white Mac laptop was reported as missing from Escalon’s room in Warnke’s initial notes of the scene. That laptop was found in the suitcase that Rickleffs had the day of his arrest. While on the stand, Warnke said, he “attempted to turn [the computer on] but it didn’t turn on.” Solis asked,“Did you take it to the Apple store to see if they could turn it on?” Warnke replied, “No.”

Defense opening

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In her opening statements, Solis argued that Rickleffs stole the laptop because he did not want naked pictures of himself to be leaked. It’s alleged that Escalon offered to pay Rickleffs $100 in order to take naked pictures of Rickleffs the night of June 11, when the two first met. Solis also pointed out that Warnke was unsuccessful in retrieving surveillance footage from 440 Castro the night Rickleffs and Escalon were there and that Warnke’s initial notes from the scene had no mention of smelling or seeing amyl nitrate. Another witness Solis called was Dr. Judy Melinek, a forensic pathologist for Alameda County, formerly employed at the San Francisco Medical Examiner’s office in 2012. On the stand she contradicted some aspects of Escalon’s autopsy report done by Dr. Ellen Moffatt, San Francisco’s chief medical examiner. Melinek reviewed pictures taken of Escalon at the time of his autopsy and at the scene of his death. Moffatt testified earlier that there was bruising on Escalon’s lips as they were purple in color. Melinek said she believes this to be post-mortem changes. “These are post-mortem changes, not bruising on the lips. There are no lacerations on the lips to indicate

Sale of Tenant’s Abandoned Personal Property. Notice is hereby given that on March 7, 2019, at 10:00 a.m. at 1340B Haight Street, San Francisco, California 94117, County of San Francisco, the following items will be auctioned pursuant to Civil Code Section 1993 et seq.: 1 Door hook hanger, 2 basic detox kits, 2 TMI take home water kits, 2 candida cleanse kits, 2 parasite cleanse kits, 2 vital nutrients kits, 2 colon cleanse kits, 5 herbal tobacco free cigarettes, 6 activated charcoals, 3 bentonite clay, 8 diatomaceous earth, 9 Thorne L-Glutamine, 3 colon cleaners, 5 digestive enzymes, 2 stand up fans, 1 beauty molly, 5 poop glasses, 1 thorne basic detox nutrients bottle, 1 spool yarn, 2 the Candida cure books, 1 small dresser, 1 core pau d’arco blend, 5 olive leave extract, 3 thorne MediBolic, 3 white plastic chairs, 1 foldable table, 1 ipad, 3 salt lamps, 1 bose, 1 chrome HP laptop, 1 canon scanner, 1 router, 1 slab of glass, 1 small refrigerator, 5 wall mirrors, 2 floor mats, 6 glass water bottles, 4 scissors, pens/rubber bands/tape/stapler, bag of printer ink, envelopes/sticky notes, 1 himalayan salt, 1 metal mixing bowl, 1 plastic box of full unknown black cord things, 1 salon sundry, 9 sandals,

trauma,” Melinek told the jury. Cervantes pointed out that Melinek was paid to testify by the Public Defender’s office and that she testifies in about four to eight cases annually. A paramedic with the San Francisco Fire Department, Kristina Nelson, also took the stand. She testified that rigor was apparent in Escalon’s jaw, wrist, and ankles. She noted in her report at the time of death that an oropharyngeal airway, or a plastic adjunct used to keep the mouth open while performing CPR, was hard to insert into Escalon’s mouth due to rigor. Rigor begins approximately six hours after death, according to Melinek. The Castro Citibank branch manager, Bill Gardner, testified about specific transactions that Escalon allegedly made the night before his death. To help show that Escalon did offer to pay Rickleffs $100 to take naked pictures of him, Solis asked Gardner to verify that there was an ATM withdrawal of $100 at 4440 Castro on June 12 around 1:30 a.m. As well, she asked about a $10 debit card transaction for a taxicab at 1:38 a.m. the same morning. Gardner verified both transactions reading from a bank document. The defense is expected to continue to call witnesses through the end of the week. t

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1 binder (foot bath), 1 reverse osmosis storage tank, 1 recycle bin, 1 flashlight, 2 blue bottles of unknown liquid, Sink parts?, 1 box of cords, 1 client folder, 1 paper shredder, 1 blue tooth key pad, 1 amazon basics, 1 paper cutter, 1 T shirt, 1 keurig, K cups and metal holder, 4 coffee cups and plates, 3 method glass surface cleaners, Cleaning supplies, 12 essential oils, 7 blue droplet bottles, 3 metal cups, 1 poop mug, 1 plastic box of painting supplies, 1 tool box, 1 electric screw driver, 1 phone charger, 1 shower hanger, 1 shower curtain, 1 metal toilet paper holder, 4 poop stools, 4 metal tissue boxes, 4 trashcans, 1 hair dryer, 1 eat sleep poop picture, 3 wall clocks, 1 mounted glass shelf, 1 blue velvet couch, 1 wood coffee table, 1 ottoman, 3 grey curtains/rods, 1 glass rolling wine bar, 7 glasses, 3 hanging glass diamond decorations, 2 aqua detox, 2 metal décor bowls, 5 bamboo place matts, 1 mail package, 1 black barn door, 1 black picture frame, 4 mounted wall lamps, 1 leather bench, 1 plastic bin with cords/black metal parts, 3 amazon boxes of hinges, Manuals/ clipboards, 1 plastic paper holder, 2 dohm, 2 hanging black curtain dividers, 1 grey hanging curtain divider, 1 black wardrobe, 2 scales, 1 standing shelving, 1 lamp/ 1 lamp just base, 1

sauna, 14 black satin robes, 1 laundry basket full of towels, 1 laundry basket full of more robes, 1 black canvas box with a pillow in it, 1 Bag of glue, 1 box of hooks, 1 air freshener, 1 blink and parts, 1 poop deck door sign, 1 utility closet sign, 1 stand up shit show sign, 1 swiffer/1broom/1dust pan, 3 cans paint, 1 staple gun, 1 wire spool, 1 framed magazine picture, 1 mountain black shelf, 1 flat screen TV/ remote, 3 black canvas box, 1 ply wood standing shelves, Wooden hangers, 1 space heater, 2 hanging magazine holders, 1 ply wood end table, 1 plastic step stool, 3 framed certifications, 2 drawers full of colonoscopy tubes, 1 colonoscopy bed, 1 infusion menu, 1 mountain wood cabinet with faucets, 3 boxes of Latex gloves, 1 bradford white tank, 1 hanging white curtain, Colonoscopy tools, 2 boxes of vinyl examination gloves, 1 metal shelving, 1 white air filter. These items remained on the premises located at 1340B Haight Street, San Francisco, California 94117, which was vacated by tenant, TMI Colonics, LLC, and will be auctioned for the landlord, 2B Living as Agent for the Owner. Dated: February 21, 2019, by Pahl & McCay, APC, 225 W. Santa Clara Street, Suite 1500, San Jose, California 95113.

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<< Legals

14 • Bay Area Reporter • February 21-27, 2019

Legal Notices>> ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-554563 In the matter of the application of: HIROKO CAROLINE WONG, 509 LINCOLN WAY, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner HIROKO CAROLINE WONG, is requesting that the name HIROKO CAROLINE WONG, be changed to CAROLINE HIROKO WONG. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, on the 7th of March 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

JAN 31, FEB 07, 14, 21, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038498800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CHOSEN ROOTER & PLUMBING, 463 23RD AVE #1, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DENIS TSEYREF. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/28/19.

JAN 31, FEB 07, 14, 21, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038490500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EXCELSIOR LIQUOR, 4501 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ABDO ALAWDI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/01/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/23/19.

JAN 31, FEB 07, 14, 21, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038455100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ALFARO CLEANING SERVICES, 358 PARIS ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed FANNY ALFARO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/03/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/03/19.

JAN 31, FEB 07, 14, 21, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038484900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GET IT DONE; GETITDONE, 350 TURK ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DAPHNE JOMO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/18/19.

JAN 31, FEB 07, 14, 21, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038488800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BANOGUE BUILDING SUPPLIES, 2406 42ND AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed NATASHA M. MCPARLAND. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/23/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/23/19.

JAN 31, FEB 07, 14, 21, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038479800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BSR SHOP, 709 LARKIN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed QUOC NAM LE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/16/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/16/19.

JAN 31, FEB 07, 14, 21, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038480000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: A TWIN SWEET, 709 LARKIN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed BINH VAN NGUYEN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/16/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/16/19.

JAN 31, FEB 07, 14, 21, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038470000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: RAMEN CITY, 1398 GRANT AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed WJH ENTERPRISE INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/10/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/10/19.

JAN 31, FEB 07, 14, 21, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038487000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TYCOON KITCHEN, 425 MISSION ST #121, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed MR. EAST INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/22/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/22/19.

JAN 31, FEB 07, 14, 21, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038487600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SAN FRANCISCO ARTS HIGH SCHOOL; SAN FRANCISCO ARTS ACADEMY, 1950 PAGE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed INSTITUTE FOR ARTS & CULTURE, INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/22/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/22/19.

JAN 31, FEB 07, 14, 21, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038486200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TEAMLOGIC IT #60537, 12 GEARY ST #401, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed JCE SERVICES, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/22/19.

JAN 31, FEB 07, 14, 21, 2019

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FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038492700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GLOWING, 3281 20TH ST # 250J, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94132. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed GLOWING INVESTMENT INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/23/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/24/19.

JAN 31, FEB 07, 14, 21, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038491400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LUXE PREMIER TRAVEL, 601 VAN NESS AVE #3145, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed GREENFORCE WINDOWPRO (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/24/19.

JAN 31, FEB 07, 14, 21, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038491500

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038509000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GROVE ENGINEERING, 2038 19TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed GEAROID CROWE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/01/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/01/19.

FEB 07, 14, 21, 28, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038499800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FOGG BOOKS, 2200 PACIFIC AVE #4D, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ALISON FOGG CARLSON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/13/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/29/19.

FEB 07, 14, 21, 28, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038480100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FOLIOAVENUE PUBLISHING SERVICE, 601 VAN NESS AVE #3145, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed GREENFORCE WINDOWPRO (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/24/19.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EARTHWHILE ENDEAVORS; EARTHBATH; EARTHWHILE PET CARE, 231 9TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed EARTHWHILE ENDEAVORS, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/05/95. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/16/19.

JAN 31, FEB 07, 14, 21, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038458700

FEB 07, 14, 21, 28, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038508400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DAVE’S FOOD STORE, 1601 20TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed DAVE’S FOOD INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/04/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/04/19.

JAN 31, FEB 07, 14, 21, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038489300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GASPARE’S PIZZA HOUSE AND RESTAURANT, 5546 GEARY BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed INDELICATO, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/06/85. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/01/19.

FEB 07, 14, 21, 28, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038508000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: OPUS JEWELERS, 888 BRANNAN ST #1150, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a married couple, and is signed PETER K. CHEN & FLORENCE K. CHEN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/01/09. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/23/19.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LINGUA FRACA TUTORING, 2 PLAZA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed RAHAF ABUOBEID. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/01/19.

JAN 31, FEB 07, 14, 21, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038485200

FEB 07, 14, 21, 28, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038478200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: OPTIONONE CARE AT HOME, 649 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed OPTIONONE HEALTHCARE MANAGEMENT, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/28/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/18/19.

JAN 31, FEB 07, 14, 21, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038485900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: WEST PORTAL ANTIQUES, 254 WEST PORTAL AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed WEST PORTAL ANTIQUES LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/19/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/22/19.

JAN 31, FEB 07, 14, 21, 2019___ FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038482700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ERNEST GOODS COMPANY, 1468 WALLER ST, #A, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed ERNEST GOODS COMPANY LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/09/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/17/19.

JAN 31, FEB 07, 14, 21, 2019___ FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038490400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SMOOCH TARTSHOP, 1 HAWTHORNE ST, UNIT15A, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed SMOOCH BAKEHOUSE, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/15/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/23/19.

JAN 31, FEB 07, 14, 21, 2019__ FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038493000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SFNEWA, 407 ELLIS ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed NEWA LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/24/19.

JAN 31, FEB 07, 14, 21, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038509100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MASSAGELOGIC BODYWORK, 582 MARKET ST, #908, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94104. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CARRIE ANN STONE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/30/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/01/19.

FEB 07, 14, 21, 28, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038473900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NEXT STEPS TOURS, 3099 MARKET ST #4, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed PHILIP DOBBS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/15/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/15/19.

FEB 07, 14, 21, 28, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038486900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: JUNKLY, 3207 JENNINGS ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JULIAN BRADFORD. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/22/19.

FEB 07, 14, 21, 28, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038499600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ACE ACCOUNTING & MANAGEMENT, 1874 11TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed WILLIAM C. CHANG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/07/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/29/19.

FEB 07, 14, 21, 28, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038493100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: OUT OF THE FRYING PAN PRODUCTIONS, 1479 14TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed LORRAINE HESS, KEITH FULTON & ERIN CRYSDALE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/24/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/24/19.

FEB 07, 14, 21, 28, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038488400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: WHOLESOME BAKERY, 295 DIVISADERO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed HARPER RYAN HOLDINGS, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/09. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/23/19.

FEB 07, 14, 21, 28, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038509200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MASSAGE LOGIC, 787 BRANNAN ST #3, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed MASSAGE LOGIC LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/22/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/01/19.

FEB 07, 14, 21, 28, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038501700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: INCA JUICES, 2301 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DORA J. PAREDES. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/14/19.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SF QUEST KIDS LLC, 351 5TH AVE #3, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed SF QUEST KIDS LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/06/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/30/19.

FEB 07, 14, 21, 28, 2019

STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-037813700

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: LITTLE KITE, 3515 20TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by ALICE HO. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/23/17.

FEB 07, 14, 21, 28, 2019 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-554609

In the matter of the application of: NATHAN LEE RICHARDSON, 573 DOLORES ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner NATHAN LEE RICHARDSON, is requesting that the name NATHAN LEE RICHARDSON, be changed to CAMILO MOSES VILLALPANDO. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, on the 21st of March 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

FEB 14, 21, 28, MAR 07, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038497000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HOMEOSTASIS, 200 BRANNAN ST #205, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed IRENE SLEIGHT. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/11/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/28/19.

FEB 14, 21, 28, MAR 07, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038519700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ELLISON ROOFING; ACE ROOFING, 130 STAPLES AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ELLISON J. MA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/18/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/11/19.

FEB 14, 21, 28, MAR 07, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038513700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ARIANNA TRADING COMPANY, 70 LAPIDGE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed GEORGE S. MENZELOS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/28/09. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/06/19.

FEB 14, 21, 28, MAR 07, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038512600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PARALEGAL HOPE, 407 CAMBRIDGE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed HOPE ARNOLD. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/01/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/05/19.

FEB 14, 21, 28, MAR 07, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038515000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: WORKOUT ON THE HILL, 370 THE ALAMEDA, SAN ANSELMO, CA 94960. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KRISTINA SCHUBERT. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/01/15. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/06/19.

FEB 14, 21, 28, MAR 07, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038486700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MISS TOMATO SANDWICH SHOP / GEARY STREET, 577 GEARY ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed NABEEL ABDALLAH. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/22/19.

FEB 14, 21, 28, MAR 07, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038486800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MISS TOMATO SANDWICH SHOP, 388 MARKET ST #106, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94111. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed TAREK SAIDI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/22/19.

FEB 14, 21, 28, MAR 07, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038498500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HONG KONG ALTERATIONS & TAILORING, 1832 BUCHANAN ST, #D, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CARRIE LAM. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/28/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/28/19.

FEB 14, 21, 28, MAR 07, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038520400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SAN FRANCISCO TREASURY SYMPOSIUM, 1750 GRANT AVE #B, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SAN FRANCISCO TREASURY MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/19/97. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/11/19.

FEB 14, 21, 28, MAR 07, 2019

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038488300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GLYMPS, 1238 CHESTNUT ST, SAN FRANCISCO CA 94109. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed CHATZAPP (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/06/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/23/19.

FEB 14, 21, 28, MAR 07, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038509500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CHEESEQUAKES! 1 FERRY BUILDING KIOSK 06, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94111. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed CHEESEQUAKES! LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/05/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/04/19.

FEB 14, 21, 28, MAR 07, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038510100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: JOLI BIJOU SALON, 2550 SACRAMENTO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed HAIR BY GEORGETTE LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/04/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/04/19.

FEB 14, 21, 28, MAR 07, 2019 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-035767400

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: JOLI BIJOU, 2550 SACRAMENTO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by MADALENA G. SEMEDO. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/07/14.

FEB 14, 21, 28, MAR 07, 2019 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-554621

In the matter of the application of: HIEN VAN NGO, 44 SENECA AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner HIEN VAN NGO, is requesting that the name HIEN VAN NGO, be changed to VICTOR ANDY NGO. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 26th of March 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

FEB 21, 28, MAR 07, 14, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038504200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: WALK IT OFF, 775 5TH AVE, #1, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed APRIL MEINER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/31/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/31/19.

FEB 21, 28, MAR 07, 14, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038525800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HOWB, 1259 FOLSOM ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DARREN COREY. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/14/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/14/19.

FEB 21, 28, MAR 07, 14, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038524300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SUNG’S AUTOMOTIVE, 999 DIVISADERO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CALVIN SUNG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/13/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/13/19.

FEB 21, 28, MAR 07, 14, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038526400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BILL MOHLER FITNESS & WELLNESS, 1188 MISSION ST, #1416, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed WILLIAM MOHLER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/20/15. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/15/19.

FEB 21, 28, MAR 07, 14, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038519800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: QUEEN ANNE HOTEL, 1590 SUTTER ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109.This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed GOKEL CORPORATION (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/01/97.The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/11/19.

FEB 21, 28, MAR 07, 14, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038498200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: WICKED GROUNDS ANNEX, 293 8TH ST #1, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed SPIKY JANE’S COFFEE LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/28/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/28/19.

FEB 21, 28, MAR 07, 14, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038498300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: WICKED GROUNDS CAFE, 289 8TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed SPIKY JANE’S COFFEE LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/19/13. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/28/19.

FEB 21, 28, MAR 07, 14, 2019

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Vol. 49 • No. 8 • February 21-27, 2019

www.ebar.com/arts

Rick Gerharter

Claude Monet’s enchanted glade by Sura Wood

he received wisdom, at least for some, is that Impressionist master Claude Monet is too easy, but, as with all great artists, he only makes it look that way. One is reminded of his virtuoso technique and the exceptional luminosity and paradisiacal colors of his canvases in “Monet: The Late Years,” a new show at the de Young that features nearly 50 paintings including more than 20 examples of his sublime water lilies. See page 24 >>

Three different views of Claude Monet’s “The Artist’s House Seen from the Rose Garden,” now on exhibit at the de Young Museum.

Erik Tomasson

Spotlit moves

by Paul Parish

an Francisco Ballet’s second and third programs opened during the rains of last week and made many people glad they’d braved the downpours. The dancing was so thrilling, you came away with a kinesthetic high that sharpened the senses. Each show is a triple bill; Program 2 had one boffo hit, and Program 3 had two, which is a very good average for ballet. See page 15 >>

Schwabacher Recital Series

San Francisco Ballet dancer Elizabeth Powell in Benjamin Millepied’s “Appassionata.”

South Korean baritone SeokJong Baek appeared in recital.

Great acoustics by Philip Campbell

he Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera, the thoroughly renovated fourth floor and basement of the Beaux Arts-designed Veterans Building, opened to enthusiastic praise three years ago. See page 20 >>

{ SECOND OF THREE SECTIONS }

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<< Out There

16 • Bay Area Reporter • February 21-27, 2019

Courtesy the filmmaker

Written and directed by Trevor Jimenez, the animated short “Weekends” is nominated for an Oscar.

Cultural connections by Roberto Friedman

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ut There goes out & about to arts & cultural events five nights out of seven most weeks. It’s a good way to stay involved, be a part of the city, see different neighborhoods and get out of our own personal bubble. Just look at everything we got to experience last week! Last Wednesday night we went to see the Oscar-nominated Animated Shorts program at the Embarcadero Cinemas. The New York Times published a plea last weekend for the Academy to drop its three short-film categories from the Oscar telecast, but we think this is wrong-headed. The Shorts programs (animated, live action and documentary) are now routinely screened in commercial theaters in the weeks prior to the Oscar broadcast, and they’re a good way to sample the work of diverse and international filmmakers. Anyway, the animated shorts are always fun to see. This year the nominees are: “Animal Behaviour” (National Film Board of Canada), directed by David Fine & Alison Snowden. Five animals meet regularly to battle their compulsive behaviors in a group therapy session led by Dr. Clement, a canine psychotherapist with compulsions of his own (butt-sniffing). “The group includes Lorraine, a leech who suffers from separation anxiety; Cheryl, a praying mantis who can’t seem to keep a man; Todd, a pig with an eating disorder; Jeffrey, a bird with guilt issues; and Linda, an obsessive-compulsive cat. But this week’s session proves to be a challenge for the group when they’re joined by a reluctant new member: Victor, an ape with angermanagement issues.” Haven’t we all been there? High-larious! “Bao” (Pixar Animation Studios), directed by Domee Shi and Becky Neimann-Cobb. An aging Chinese mother gets a big surprise when one of her handmade dumplings springs to life. This will probably win the prize, as it’s from the Disney-Pixar powerhouse studio, but we found it cloying and sentimental. “Late Afternoon” (Cartoon Saloon), directed by Louise Bagnall and Nuria Gonzalez Blanco, is a touching study of an older woman remembering major life events as she drifts off into dementia. “One Small Step” (TAIKO Studios), directed by Andrew Chesworth and Bobby Pontillas, follows Luna, a young Chinese-American girl who dreams of becoming an

astronaut. Ten points for resisting gender and ethnic stereotypes. But Out There’s choice for the Oscar for Best Animated Short is “Weekends” (Past Lives Productions), directed by Trevor Jimenez. A boy is shuttled back and forth between very different and divorced parents. A simple premise, but one told with thoughtfulness and precision. Hand-animated, set in 1980s Toronto. Then, Thursday night, OT attended the opening of the Mostly British Film Festival, which got off with a bang at the historic Vogue Theatre with the California premiere of “The White Crow,” directed by and starring Ralph Fiennes. The film follows Russian ballet legend Rudolf Nureyev from his humble beginnings to his dramatic defection to the West in 1961. With a script by British screenwriterplaywright David Hare, the dance-heavy biopic stars yummy acclaimed Ukrainian dancer Oleg Ivenko as Nureyev. And although the main romance depicted is boygirl, the movie clearly makes the case that Rudy went for more than a little boy-boy action as well. But oh, those mean old Russians were always trying to step on his fun! In the moviehouse and sitting just two rows in front of OT were San Francisco film-world first couple Francis Ford and Eleanor Coppola, escorting their friend, Tosca owner Jeanette Etheridge, who

gave a talk after the screening about her friendship with Nureyev, and his famous arrest in 1960s SF for smoking pot on a Haight-Ashbury rooftop. The film festival’s kickoff party filled the Laureate Bar & Lounge in Laurel Heights with fans of quality motion pictures. All of the ballet imagery and intrigue in “White Crow” made for a good warm-up for our next two evenings out, Friday & Saturday, which were both at the Opera House to see San Francisco Ballet in this season’s Programs 2 & 3. You can find dance writer Paul Parish’s review of both programs in this issue; OT was happy just to bask in the music, the lithesome bodies of the dancers, and the sheer beauty and spectacle of the performance. Friday night was the first of the season’s Nite Out series, which turned out to transpire in Dress Circle after the show, not in the basement bar as foretold. On each of this series’ three nights, the ballet company honors another community nonprofit organization. Last week, the honoree was The Transgender Law Center. These postperformance parties are a good way to connect with fellow audience members and ballet enthusiasts over a drink; a poster announced that the events celebrate the diverse LGBTQQIA community in San Francisco – and the company has added letters to that pile of initials since last season. We take the double-Q to represent both Queer and Questioning. But really, shouldn’t the Questioning contingent be Answering by now?t

Courtesy MBFF

Ukrainian dancer Oleg Ivenko stars as Rudolf Nureyev in director Ralph Fiennes’ “The White Crow.”

See how a star is really born.

A new planetarium show narrated by Tom Hanks Explore the solar system, zoom through a black hole, and discover our place in the cosmos. Now playing in one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest all-digital domes. Get tickets at calacademy.org Passport to the Universe was developed by the American Museum of Natural History, New York (amnh.org) in collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Major support for new version provided by California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco.

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<< Theatre

18 • Bay Area Reporter • February 21-27, 2019

Caliphates & catfish by Jim Gladstone

wo forces are at war in “A White Girl’s Guide to International Terrorism,” a slow, soulful social drama and a hastily paced thriller. Commissioned for San Francisco Playhouse’s developmental Sandbox Series, Chelsea Marcantel’s script, at its best, offers a finely observed depiction of small-town life on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, an American Tragedy of drug addiction, dead-end jobs and precarious aspirations. Seventeen-year-old high school senior Blaze (Isabel Langen, nailing mercurial adolescence) lives in a trailer home with her divorced mother Kit, a hardworking nurse who’s reluctant to let her daughter dream big, lest she crash hard (Arwen Anderson, beautifully toggling between ache and resignation). Blaze harbors a longtime crush on a classmate, Gabe (Davied Morales). When he receives an out-oftown college scholarship, it throws into relief Kit’s gloomy perspective that the world is divided into “the ones that leave and the ones that get left behind,” and that her daughter belongs to the latter cohort. Gabe’s nickname for Blaze is “Stick,” and yes, she’s lanky, but she’s also stuck. In the sticks. Too clever by half? Consider it foreshadowing. Blaze has been reaching beyond her parochial confines for quite some

Jessica Palopol

Blaze (Isabel Langen) and Rowena (Neiry Rojo) share a moment at their high school prom in Chelsea Marcantel’s “A White Girl’s Guide to International Terrorism.”

time. She’s got a YouTube channel on which she posts lively video monologues of herself portraying female saints and woman warriors she’s researched in the library, projecting fantasies about making her way out of town and making a difference in the world. Even when her views number only in the dozens, their farflung provenance gives Blaze a sense of potential. Marcantel acknowledges both the value and the false promise of the internet in the hinterlands. It’s clear that Blaze’s social media activity helps assuage her feelings of isolation, inspires her creativity, and draws her into intellectual discussions unlikely to take place in her hometown. On the other hand, watching one of

her friends, Rowena (Neiry Rojo, at once immature and world-weary), fret over nude selfie etiquette and rely on an app for spiritual guidance reminds us that the iPhone can serve as an opiate. Unfortunately, as Blaze reaches out, Marcantel overreaches. The play’s title refers to the online relationship Blaze is drawn into by Wafiya (Liz Sklar), a confident young woman who grew up in Michigan, realized America wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and moved to Syria (“a paradise”) so she could marry an anti-Western extremist who, she effuses, enjoys reading books with her as they loll in a hammock. The notion of foreign terrorist groups radicalizing disillusioned

Western youth is intriguing, but Marcantel never credibly shows us how that might happen. Wafiya’s text messages to Blaze amount to little more than chitchat: America is soooo bad, right? There’s no sophisticated gamesmanship on Wafiya’s part, no cunning manipulation of malaise into righteous anger. Blaze’s intelligence routinely trumps her inexperience. She’s quick to challenge Wafiya on a point of Islamic theology (she’s studied up at the library) and makes it clear she’s unwilling to wear a hijab. Yet Blaze works extra shifts at the Dairy Freeze, saving up for airfare to the Middle East. The play’s Louisiana scenes cede to momentum-sapping monologues about terrorist recruitment delivered directly to the audience by Agent Salem (Mohammad Shehata). In his final speech, we realize that Salem is prosecuting Blaze. But not because she’s ended up committing acts of terrorism with her paradise pals; she never made it out of the country. Turns out “Wafiya” was Salem’s collaborator in a U.S. government entrapment scheme. Their mission: scour the internet for young Americans who might be susceptible to extremist overtures; lure them to pledge allegiance to radical forces abroad; then arrest them as terrorists. This operation not only sounds as ill-conceived as Build That Wall, it’s enough to make

an audience member want to bang his head against it. After nearly two hours in the compelling emotional milieu of Blaze and her Louisiana crew, the last few scenes of “White Girl’s Guide” feel like a trapdoor into a lesser story. Too much exposition unreels in the play’s final minutes, all of it about characters Marcantel has ignored until then. Salem, an Arab-American, feels guilty having entrapped so many brown boys through his operation, and relishes the opportunity to see a white girl convicted. “Wafiya” implies that the agents have an ill-fated romantic history, further complicating their motivations. It’s like a halfseason of “Homeland” has arrived via shoehorn. Marcantel is wrestling with a broad range of notions about identity (racial, gender, class, national) while trying to craft an unlikely genre hybrid. Her script is admirable in its ambition, but clearly still in development. Here’s hoping that Marcantel finds “A Playwright’s Guide to Prioritization and Proportion.”t A White Girl’s Guide to International Terrorism, through March 2. San Francisco Playhouse at the Creativity Theater, 221 4th St., SF. Tickets from $25: (415) 6779596, www.sfplayhouse.org.

Bay Area Musicals blossoms by Jim Gladstone

“V

iolet” is in bloom, and it’s a sight to behold. Also, a joy to listen to. The four-year-old nonprofit Bay Area Musicals (BAM) organization has come fully into its

own with this sparkling production of composer Jeanine Tesori (“Fun Home”) and lyricist/book-writer Brian Crawley’s adaptation of a short story by Doris Betts. A fresh and compact bouquet of pleasures, the show, set in 1964, fol-

lows its titular backwoods gal on a Greyhound ride from her home in rural North Carolina to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Violet hopes to have her facial scar, the result of a childhood tragedy, erased by her favorite television faith healer. Along the

who befriend Violet on her trip, way, characters who initially recoil then fall into an unpredictable from Violet’s appearance abandon love triangle. And in his big solo their scorn, coming to appreciate “Raise Me Up,” Clay David’s highher inner warmth. bouncing, low-down preacher man The scar is reacted to and spoken almost steals the show, even amidst of, but not visually represented on a kick-ass ensemble of 15 in which stage; its existence, for Violet, proves every performer offers moments of as psychological as it is physical. It splendid near-thievery. will hardly surprise you that Violet Costume and wig designers undergoes a similar reassessment Brooke Jennings and Jacqueline of her own worth. What should Dennis make the cast feel even surprise you is that such potentially larger, with their ongoing parade lachrymose material delivers far of stunning period looks. Jennings’ more pop than corn. collaboration with lighting designer A crackerjack six-piece combo Eric Johnson yields postcard-pretty under the music direction of Jon color coordinated vignettes. The Gallo keeps things moving at a flexible single set by company artisnonstop, no-time-for-sobbing pace, tic director Matthew McCoy is full and Tesori’s amalgam of blues, folk of gliding, sliding secrets. and country vernacular stays light In this month when San Franon stand-still balladry, setting toes cisco’s commercial producers are tapping while Crawley’s tight scenes welcoming pricey blockbusters whiz by at a bus-window clip. The “Hello Dolly” and “Hamilton” to direction, by Dyan McBride, is town, “Violet,” with its top ticket at cinematically fluid. When the stage $65, offers showgoers the greatest erupts into gospel, you may find it value in town, hands down.t challenging to remain in your seat. As written by Crawley and played by a revelatory Juliana Lustenader Violet, through March 17. Bay – imagine young Laura Linney, Area Musicals at the Alcazar Theater, 650 Geary St., SF. with luscious pipes – Violet dodges Tickets from $35: (415) 340-2207, sticky-sweetness with more than www.bamsf.org. a pinch of salt in her character. Always leaning toward snappy over sappy, she’s a bit of a card sharp, happy to down a shot of booze, openly flirtatious and notmuch-less-openly horny. She’s even inadvertently racist on occasion. It’s as refreshing as a nickel Coke that none of this makes the other characters think Violet’s not a good woman. She’s just a heck of a lot more interesting than your typical Broadway princess. An ideally cast 12-yearold Miranda Long plays Violet in her youth, often harmonizing with Lustenader as childhood Courtesy BAM memories intermingle with the present. Jack Juliana Lustenader and Miranda Long O’Reilly and Jon-David play the title character in Bay Area Musicals’ “Violet” at the Alcazar Theater. Randle are both swoonworthy as military men

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<< Film

20 • Bay Area Reporter • February 21-27, 2019

Encores! Best Pictures worth revisiting by Tavo Amador

ome Best Picture Oscar winners were instantly inexplicable choices – “The Greatest Show on Earth” (1952), “Crash “(2005), “The Shape of Water” (2017) – while others are a reflection of their time. Many transcend their eras. Several are worth watching again or for the first time. Edmund Goulding’s “Grand Hotel” received one nomination, for Best Picture, and captured the 1931-32 prize. This adaptation of Vicki Baum’s novel received the deluxe MGM treatment, including Art Deco sets that are masterpieces. The cast validates Metro’s claim about having “More stars than there are in heaven.” With Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Wallace Beery, and most memorably, an astonishingly sexy Joan Crawford as a stenographer selling more than secretarial services. The acting is uneven, although Crawford’s work holds up and the others all have remarkable moments. “It Happened One Night” (1934), Frank Capra’s influential comedy, was the first to win for Best Picture, Director, Actor (Clark Gable), Actress (Claudette Colbert) and Adapted Screenplay (Robert Riskin). It’s still fun. Today, most critics and viewers would select “The Wizard of Oz” over “Gone with the Wind” as 1939’s best picture. But GWTW remains powerful and engrossing, despite its highly sanitized portrayal of slavery. Large segments of Margaret Mitchell’s bestselling novel were cut for the screen, but producer David O. Selznick still created a lavish epic. His casting the relatively unknown Vivien Leigh as Scarlett was brilliant. She holds the story together and elicits admiration, even when behaving badly. Selznick paid dearly

Wilsey Center

From page 15

It is home to the 299-seat Diane and Ted Taube Atrium Theater, a flexibleseating venue that accommodates musical and theatrical performances, movies, meetings, and talks. Equipped with the remarkable but virtually undetectable Meyer Sound Constellation Acoustic System, the site is perfectly suited to smaller events. The patina that comes from frequent use is developing, as the Taube Atrium also provides an intimate space within the San Francisco War Memorial & Performing Arts

to borrow Clark Gable from MGM for Rhett, a wise investment. Olivia de Havilland’s Melanie is flawless, and Hattie McDaniel’s Mammy, her Oscar-winning performance, a first for a black actor, is compelling. Only Leslie Howard’s Ashley disappoints. Victor Fleming replaced gay George Cukor as director. Eight Oscars in total, including those for Leigh, McDaniel, and Fleming. “Rebecca” (1940), another Selznick production, marked Alfred Hitchcock’s American directorial debut. It’s a mesmerizing version of Daphne du Maurier’s Gothic romance, with Joan Fontaine giving a star-making performance as the second Mrs. de Winter, Laurence Olivier as her husband Maxim, and Judith Anderson as Mrs. Danvers, the most malevolent head housekeeper in film history. Michael Curtiz’s “Casablanca” (1943) understandably appeals to new generations. Never has nobility been better presented. Ingrid Bergman convinced audiences that Humphrey Bogart was worthy of her love. Billy Wilder’s frightening look at alcoholism “The Lost Weekend” (1945) is unjustly forgotten. It’s the “Ben is Back” of

its day. Ray Milland’s Oscar-winning performance graphically reveals the disease’s horror. With Jane Wyman, nearly 40 years before TV’s “Falcon’s Crest.” Wilder won for Best Director and a writing prize. In “The Best Years of Our Lives” (1946), William Wyler movingly evokes the challenges WWII veterans faced upon coming home. Some things don’t change. Three films from the 1950s appeal to subsequent generations: Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s scathingly witty look at life in the theatre “All About Eve” (1950); Elia Kazan’s gripping portrayal of corruption and betrayal “On the Waterfront” (1954); and Vincente Minnelli’s magical musical version of Colette’s “Gigi” (1958), in which a girl (Leslie Caron) raised to be a courtesan, shocks by choosing the life of an haute bourgeoisie matron. The 60s started with Wilder’s mix of cynicism and romance “The Apartment” (1960), a cunning view of sexual exploitation with fine performances by Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, and especially Fred MacMurray. Wilder won for Best Director and garnered another

writing statuette. Gay John Schlessinger’s “Midnight Cowboy” (1969) became the first X-rated top prize winner, which was important, but it’s more than that. Jon Voigt and Dustin Hoffman are terrific as denizens of the often ugly world of Manhattan predators. Schlessinger also won for directing. Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather” (1972) is deservedly among the most frequently revived films of the last 50 years. Just as amazing, his “The Godfather Part II” (1974) became the first sequel to win the top prize, and it too merits frequent screenings. Milos Foreman’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975) unleashed the full power of Jack Nicholson and matched “It Happened One Night” by winning the top five prizes. “Ordinary People” (1980), Robert Redford’s poignant study of family crisis, features a touching Mary Tyler Moore as an angry, emotionally repressed mother desperate to hold herself together. James Brooks’ “Terms of Endearment” (1983) is another heartbreaking portrayal of a family tragedy, with a different kind

Center for musical organizations other than the SF Opera. Three concerts in February have shown the versatility of the multi-purpose hall and welcomed new and diverse audiences to the Wilsey Center in the Civic Center arts district. Most recently, the SFO Center and Merola Opera Program opened the 36th season of the Schwabacher Recital Series with WooYoung Yoon and SeokJong Baek sharing the Atrium Theater stage, accompanied by pianist Kseniia Polstiankina Barrad. The 2019 four-recital series, continuing through April 24, offers a chance to hear opera’s next generation up-close

and personal, singing repertoire that highlights promising talent. Young Korean baritone Baek (Merola 2018, first-year Adler Fellow) started with a sensitive rendition of Mahler’s song cycle “Songs of a Wayfarer.” His evenly produced and clear tone matched the youthful ardor of the music and text. He surpassed himself singing Francis Poulenc’s delightful “Chansons Gaillardes” (“Ribald Songs”) with sophistication and idiomatic French. Tenor Yoon (Merola 2018), another young South Korean, aimed high with Richard Strauss’ “Four Songs,” but the difficult music was a slight challenge for his pitch. He made a stronger impression singing at full voice. Composer Jake Heggie’s “Friendly Persuasions: Songs in Homage to Poulenc,” with words by Gene Scheer, gave Yoon another opportunity to show his range. He sailed through the witty piece with ease. Ukraine pianist Kseniia Polstiankina Barrad (Merola 2018, firstyear Adler Fellow) was an excellent accompanist. The duet “Au fond du temple saint” from Bizet’s “The Pearl Fishers” provided a wisely chosen crowd-pleaser and a fine way to end the performance. Next Schwabacher Recital, Feb. 27: David Pershall, baritone and John Churchwell, piano. sfopera.com/srs. A 4 p.m. matinee the previous Sunday brought a shivering crowd in from the rain for an extraordinary concert of two piano arrangements by Shostakovich, including the West Coast Premiere of his own Symphony No. 4 and Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms. Frequent duo collaborators Maki Namekawa and Dennis Russell Davies appeared as part of Other Minds’ continuing 2018-19 season. Charles Amirkhanian, Executive and Artistic Director of Other Minds, was emcee. The two-piano arrangement of

Shostakovich’s “missing” symphony is rarely heard. The original 1936 orchestral version was withdrawn during rehearsals, probably for good reason, since Stalin had denounced the composer’s opera “Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District” only two years before. The score vanished during WWII, and it has never been found. The Symphony No. 4 was eventually reconstructed from individual orchestral parts and the composer’s two-piano arrangement. Namekawa and Russell Davies opened with a gently probing Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms, but it was mostly an interesting warm-up to the massive Shostakovich. Hearing the stark reduction of the Fourth made sense of the composer’s haunted mind and brought insight to some of his typically abrupt disruptions of mood. Violence, agonized reflection, pathos, and even references to Mahler and popular song appear in the long score. Shostakovich called

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New Century Chamber Orchestra’s new Music Director, violinist Daniel Hope.

of mother, Oscar winner Shirley MacLaine. Milos Foreman’s “Amadeus” (1984) humanizes Mozart and his alleged rival, Salieri, while superbly recreating 18th-century Austria. “The Last Emperor” (1987), helmed on location in Beijing’s Forbidden City by Bernardo Bertolucci, is a lush, unforgettable biography of China’s final hereditary ruler, who perhaps was gay. Stephen Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List” (1993) revealed the heroism amidst the horror of the Holocaust. Despite the theme, it was a popular success and inspired hope. “American Beauty” (1999), Sam Mendes’ revealing look at the ugly side of suburban life, stars Annette Bening and Oscar winner Kevin Spacey as the troubled couple. Spacey’s performance foreshadows his current problems. “Chicago” (2002) of the Roaring 20s was dazzlingly recreated by Rob Marshall and became the first musical Best Picture choice since 1968. Oscar-winner Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renee Zellweger are tough jailbirds adeptly handled by Queen Latifah’s prison matron. Tom Hooper’s “The King’s Speech” (2010) is an impressive look at George VI’s (father of QE II) unexpected 1936 ascent to the throne, which required courage and personal sacrifice. Tom McCarthy shone a bright “Spotlight” (2015) on the Roman Catholic Church’s attempt to conceal clerical sexual abuses in Boston. It’s also a suspenseful tribute to The Boston Globe and courageous journalists everywhere. “Moonlight” (2016) is Barry Jenkins’ powerful gay love story set in the harsh world of Miami’s black ghetto. It’s another landmark: no homosexual romance had ever won the top award before. Will this year’s winner be worth repeated viewings? Let’s hope so.t it long-winded, but he was often self-deprecating. The kaleidoscopic work remains an intriguing puzzle. The brilliant performers offered a profound solution. More info: otherminds.org New Century Chamber Orchestra presented the SF premiere of Max Richter’s “Recomposed: Vivaldi – The Four Seasons,” playing the cozy Taube Atrium for the first time in a concert called “Recomposed.” Star violinist Daniel Hope was featured in his first appearances as the group’s new Music Director. From arrangements by Benjamin Britten of Henry Purcell and Robert Schumann to Ralph Vaughan Williams’ exquisite “Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis” and Peter Warlock’s jaunty take on Renaissance music, the 1926 Capriol Suite, Hope and the ensemble set up the program’s big-ticket item on the second half with characteristic virtuosity. Max Richter incorporated phased and looped excerpts from Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” when he recomposed the beloved work in 2012, writing and recording in collaboration with Daniel Hope for Deutsche Grammophon. The results soon topped the iTunes classical chart in the US, UK and other countries to become one of the most successful classical recordings of recent times. The original Vivaldi is omnipresent ear candy and something of a guilty pleasure for music-lovers everywhere. Richter wanted to “love it again,” and he worked with Hope to return the element of surprise. So what’s Baroque Italian for Bingo? Down-low admirers are free again to express their affection aloud. The delighted NCCO audience justified Richter’s update and happily applauded Hope’s masterful contribution.t Upcoming concerts: ncco.org

Film>>

February 21-27, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 21

Voices from the black gay community by David Lamble

he late Marlon Riggs (1957-94) captured a cultural movement in his 1989 music- and poetry-driven documentary “Tongues Untied: Black Men Loving Black Men.” It plays the Roxie on Wed., Feb. 20, at 7 p.m. Playing mostly at LGBT film festivals, “Tongues Untied” arrived in America at a prickly moment. The nation was experiencing a nasty eruption of right-wing bigotry from North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms. One-time TV anchor Helms had taken it upon himself to wage a crusade against openly queer artists such as Robert Mapplethorpe and Marlon Riggs. He sought to cut funding for queer artists from the National Endowment for the Arts. But Riggs had traveled a long way and accomplished a great deal for the then-emerging black gay men’s movement. Born on Feb. 3, 1957 in Texas, Riggs was a director and producer with 10 credits on IMDB, including “Color Adjustment” (1992), “Black Is... Black Ain’t” (1994) and “Tongues Untied” (1989). Riggs died on April 5, 1994 in Oakland, CA. A poetic State of the Black Gay Union, “Tongues Untied” is as powerful and relevant today as the year it debuted. The film opens with a salvo of highly incorrect language against a backdrop of young men coming of age, beginning with this from the lips of a teenage Southerner: “Motherfucking Coon!” A young black kid sneers, “Uncle Tom! Punk! Homo! Faggot!” Riggs zooms in on the mouths of black men and preachers, white men and youth who attack his young self for his open homosexuality and his emerging radical racial identity.

20something Catholic theRiggs’ strategy was more ater major named Nathan. It than mere shock tactics. He screens on Tues., Feb. 26, at was introducing Americans the Roxie. of all backgrounds to the rich Many of us who went legacy being compiled by through a bumpy coming-out black gay men, including the process have probably had a poet Essex Hemphill, whose Nathan or two in our lives, an verse celebrated black men outwardly attractive young loving black men as a revoman who’s a total mess inside. lutionary act. Riggs spliced Nathan is an aspiring stage together footage of Hemphill actor who would be perfect reciting his verse with Riggs’ in the role of the guilt-ridden account of coming of age as Michael in “The Boys in the a black child growing up in Band.” Like Michael, Nathan a segregated, violently racist is abrasively witty and loaded society. In one riveting scene, with self-deprecating quips that a black gay man describes the spell out “Stay Away from Me” experience of hearing two to any prospective date, straight black gay men verbally assault or gay, male or female. each other on a Washington, “The Sunday Sessions” has a DC Metro bus. “You my bitch!” sympathetic shrink at the helm, “No, I am not your bitch! who seems sincere in wanting Courtesy the artist “I fucked you. You is my Nathan to get a grip on himself. bitch!” Still, “The Sunday Sessions” is Scene from director Marlon Riggs’ “Tongues Untied.” “Your bitch is at home with really just an exercise in putting your kids!” lipstick on a pig, in this case “Tongues Untied” is a rapturthe noxious and, in a growing Riggs explains what loosened his sprang naturally, organically from ous display, scenes of men in social number of states, illegal practice of tongue. “I was mute, burdened by a tribe yearning to snap the chains. intercourse and dance, with comic gay conversion therapy. A real-life shadows and silence. Now I speak, Riggs emerges as a complex and riffs including a visit to the “Institute version of Peter Hedges’ drama and my burden is lightened, lifted.” important artist, with conviction of Snap!-thology,” where men take “Boy Erased,” “The Sunday Sessions” “Tongues Untied” is informed and a sense of purpose. He’s up lessons in how to snap their fingers: should probably not be viewed by by the bluesy refrains of Nina there among the greats of our tribe, the sling snap, the point snap, the anyone under the age of reason. Simone, Billy Holiday and Roberta such as novelist James Baldwin, diva snap. Riggs quotes freely from Halfway through, Nathan tells Flack, whose “The First Time filmmaker Arthur J. Bressan, Jr., the vicious anti-gay monologues his shrink about the time his dad Ever I Saw Your Face” introduces film historian Vito Russo and the of comic movie star Eddie Murphy, chastised him for wearing makeup Riggs’ real-life relationships with late singer/AIDS activist Michael who instructs his audiences to keep for a high school play. He removes white gay men. The film is part Callen. A true gay filmmaking giant, gay men from getting a glimpse at his shirt in the last act, revealing why tutorial and part an entertaining he died in 1994 from complications “your booty.” The film closes with he was a hit on the bar circuit for a trip down memory lane of discofrom HIV/AIDS. a roll call of African American men couple of years. The camerawork dancing and nightclub-going. gone from AIDS, along with hisis a tad shaky, and there are some Sunday school One section follows Riggs’ painful torical footage of the American civil lines swallowed up by an inferior The documentary “The Sunday falling in, then out of love with rights movement placed next to footcamera mike. Still, the Roxie is to Sessions” takes a centuries-old the Castro neighborhood, a place age of black men marching in a Gay be congratulated for bringing this dilemma – the demons imposed where he ultimately felt unwanted, Pride Parade. radioactive material to those of on believers by orthodox Roman “invisible.” Why the title? In the final mous tough and wise enough to see Catholicism – and gives it a fresh “Tongues Untied” is that rare, ments of this revolutionary film, through it.t spin, complete with a conflicted almost perfect work of art that

Inside discredited ‘conversion therapy’

Courtesy the filmmaker

Scene from director Richard Yeagley’s “The Sunday Sessions.”

by Brian Bromberger

ast year’s release of the mainstream Hollywood film “Boy Erased,” based on the real-life experiences of Gerard Conley, shined a spotlight on gay conversion therapy, also called reparative therapy, in which attempts are made to change one’s sexual orientation or gender identity. This therapy has been proven to be futile, discredited by every major American medical, psychiatric, and psychological organization. Banned on the use of LGBTQ minors in 11 states, it’s still legal for adults. While media publicity has brought this clandestine practice to public attention, its actual logistics remain surreptitious. But with the release of filmmaker Richard Yeagley’s

fly-on-the-wall documentary “The Sunday Sessions” on DVD by FirstRun Features, the behindthe-scenes footage reveals how this manipulative process works. Yeagley follows the journey of 26-year-old Nathan Gniewek, a struggling actor and devoted but conflicted Christian who lives in rural Virginia, as he tries to reconcile his religious convictions with his sexual identity. Yeagley was given unfettered access as Nathan struggles with “same-sex attraction (SSA)” and attends sessions with therapist Christopher Doyle in his home, a weekend retreat camp in which gay men are taught to be more masculine. He also gets counseling with his family. Doyle, a “success story” in that he’s been married for nine years to a

woman and has sired five children, is shown being interviewed on TV by Dr. Oz as he answers criticisms of conversion therapy. Doyle notices that Nathan is self-deprecating, making passive-aggressive remarks about himself that act as defense mechanisms. Doyle believes Nathan was mistreated by others and never defended himself, so he challenges him “to grow a pair of balls” in intimidating role-play scenarios. The only way to get rid of SSA is to deal with underlying (debunked) issues such as an emotionally distant father, a controlling mother, or possible molestation. Nathan brings his best friend, atheist hairdresser Cameron, a potential sex partner, to therapy, but Cameron resists Doyle’s approach. Later Doyle tells Nathan to limit his contact with Cameron, despite their lively connection, which will leave him depressed and angry. The camp scenes – bullying, role-playing, and self-esteem exer-

cises, all to build manliness – come across as unintentionally satirical, not to mention ineffective. The most devastating scenes are Doyle’s confrontative sessions with Nathan and his parents, who actually are willing to accept him “no matter what,” yet are forced to apologize for how they have failed him. Eventually Doyle recommends Nathan meet him twice a month, but won’t allow the camera into those sessions. Doyle renames his treatment “Sexual Identity Affirming Therapy,” relocating to an office, a rebranding possibly to gain professional legitimacy and perhaps circumvent the law, since conversion therapy is illegal in Maryland, where he practices. Nathan’s willingness to expose his life and turmoil to Yeagley is commendable. He enjoys performing as an actor, both on stage and arguably in his daily life. Yeagley crafts a gripping psychological thriller as we guess what Nathan’s outcome will be. In his director’s statement, Yeagley rejects an advocacy-based approach. “I knew I had to strip myself of bias, and approach the film as objectively as possible.” He succeeds, even as he admits that when “things started to get emotionally dark for Nathan, I

wanted to give him a hug and tell him everything would be alright and recommend he move to a city like New York or Washington, DC, where there’s more diversity and a bigger support system for the LGBTQ community.” Yeagley doesn’t blame Nathan’s faith. He includes a scene where Nathan recites a religious passage about values leading people to realize themselves fully. But in this therapy Nathan seems to be doing the opposite, abandoning authenticity. LGBTQ viewers will likely want to shake Nathan and tell him he’s fine as he is, even when he seems to be his own worst enemy. We might scream at the screen at the unprofessional shaming techniques and thought control Doyle uses to coerce Nathan, and at the disappointing ending. In a postscript, according to a Jan. 18 Baltimore Sun article, Doyle has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn Maryland’s ban on treating minors with conversion therapy, saying the ban violated his rights to free speech and the practice of religion, as well as the rights of clients “to prioritize their religious and moral values above unwanted same-sex sexual attractions, behaviors, or identities.” (Plays the Roxie, 2/26.)t

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WILL BE ENTERED INTO A SPECIAL CONTEST TO WIN A PAIR OF TICKETS TO SEE RANDY RAINBOW AT THE MASONIC ON APRIL 20 (SPONSORED BY LIVE NATION)

GRAND PRIZE: Three-night accommodation at the Nantucket Whale Inn in Half Moon Bay.

2018 BESTIES SPONSORS

hank you for taking the time to complete this survey by the Bay Area Reporter. Your opinions are important to us. For this ninth annual readers’ poll we’re including nominees for each category, along with a write-in designation. This year’s nominees are a mix of previous winners, runners-up from last year, and new entries. The survey should only take 10-15 minutes. Your identity and answers are completely confidential and will be used to contact winners of a random drawing for several valuable prizes. You must complete at least 75 percent of the survey to qualify for the prize drawings. Entrants will be automatically added to our newsletter. One survey per person/email is allowed and must be submitted by midnight (Pacific Time) March 3, 2019. Survey results will be published in the April 4 issue of the B.A.R. EARLY-BIRD PRIZE: Vote early (by February 6) and you’ll be entered in a drawing for a pair of tickets to see Randy Rainbow at the Masonic Auditorium on April 20 (sponsored by Live Nation). If you have any questions about the survey, please contact our office at (415) 861-5019. Best Choral Group

 Chanticleer  East Bay Gay Men’s Chorus  Golden Gate Men’s Chorus  Lesbian/Gay Chorus of SF  Rainbow Women’s Chorus (San Jose)  SF Gay Men’s Chorus ✎

Best Art Museum

 Asian Art Museum  Contemporary Jewish Museum  Cable Car Museum  de Young Museum  GLBT Historical Society Museum  Legion of Honor  Museum of Craft and Design  Museum of the African Diaspora  Oakland Museum of California  Pacific Pinball Museum  San Jose Museum of Art  SF MOMA  Walt Disney Family Museum ✎

Best Nature or Science Museum

 California Academy of Sciences  Exploratorium  SF Botanical Gardens  SF Conservatory of Flowers ✎

Best Ballet Company  Alonzo King Lines Ballet  Ballet San Jose  Diablo Ballet  Oakland Ballet  Post:ballet  San Francisco Ballet  Smuin Ballet ✎

Best Modern Dance Company  AXIS Dance Co.  Detour Dance  Jess Curtis/Gravity  Joe Goode Performance Group  Katie Faulkner/Little Seismic  Keith Hennessy/Circo Zero  ODC Dance  Sean Dorsey Dance ✎

Best Classical Venue

 Davies Symphony Hall  Grace Cathedral  Herbst Theatre, Veteran’s Building  War Memorial Opera House  Old First Church  SF Conservatory of Music  Taube Atrium Theater ✎

Best Large Live Music Venue  The Chapel  The Fillmore  Fox Theatre (Oakland)  Great American Music Hall  Masonic Hall  Regency Center  Slim’s  The Warfield ✎

Best Small Live Music Venue  Martuni’s  The New Parish (Oakland)  Thee Parkside  Rickshaw Stop  El Rio  SF Eagle ✎

Best Theatre Company

 American Conservatory Theater  Aurora Theatre  Bay Area Musicals  Berkeley Repertory Theatre  Curran Theater  New Conservatory Theatre Center  Ray of Light Theatre  SHN  Theatre Rhinoceros ✎

Other prizes include: • Two-night accommodation at the Stanford Court hotel atop San Francisco’s Nob Hill • $500 Shopping spree at Cliff’s Variety • $250 gift certificate at the Cliff House • Pair of tickets to see Megan Mullally and Stephanie Hunt as Nancy and Beth at Feinstein’s at the Nikko May 4 • Pair of tickets to see Randy Rainbow at the Masonic April 20 (sponsored by Live Nation).

Best Neighborhood Bar

BARS

Best LGBT Event  Castro Street Fair  Folsom Street Fair  Oakland Pride  SF Dyke March  SF Trans March ✎

Best LGBT Fundraiser

 AIDS/LifeCycle  GLBT Historical Society Gala  Horizons Foundation Gala  Light in the Grove  NCLR Gala ✎

Best Health-Related Nonprofit

 Mission Neighborhood Health Center  HealthRight 360 (Lyon-Martin, Tenderloin Health)  PRC  Shanti  St. James Infirmary ✎

Best HIV/AIDS Nonprofit

AIDS Healthcare Foundation AIDS Legal Referral Panel Bay Area Young Positives Project Open Hand  San Francisco AIDS Foundation ✎

Best LGBT Nonprofit

Billy DeFrank LGBTQ Center Oakland LGBTQ Community Center Pacific Center for Human Growth Rainbow Community Center  SF LGBT Community Center  San Mateo Pride Center  Spahr Center ✎

Best LGBT Sports League  Golden Gate Wrestling Club  SF Fog Rugby Club  SF FrontRunners  SF Gay Basketball Association SF Pool Association  SF Tsunami Water Polo ✎

Best Bay Area Pro Sports Team  Oakland A’s  Golden State Warriors  SF 49ers SF Giants  SJ Earthquakes  SJ Sharks ✎

Best Bar/Nightclub to Meet Men  440 Castro  Club 21, Oakland  Lone Star Saloon  SF Eagle  Powerhouse ✎

Best Bar/Nightclub to Meet Transgender People  Jolene’s  Asia SF  Aunt Charlie’s Lounge  Divas  Oasis ✎

Best Bar/Nightclub to Meet Women  Qbar  Virgil’s Sea Room  Wild Side West  Club BnB, Oakland  The Uptown, Oakland ✎

Best Bar Beer Selection  Blackbird  440 Castro  Pilsner Inn  SF Eagle  Toronado ✎

Best Cabaret Venue

 Bay Area Cabaret at the Venetian Room  Feinstein’s at the Nikko  Martuni’s  Oasis ✎

Best Castro Bar/Nightclub  440 Castro  The Edge  Lookout  Midnight Sun  Twin Peaks ✎

Best Bar Dance Floor  Beaux  The Café  Club BnB, Oakland  Oasis  Space 550 ✎

Best East Bay Bar  1220 Club  Club BnB/Club 21  Port Bar  Turf Club  White Horse Bar ✎

Best Bar for Mixed Drinks  Blackbird  Driftwood  Finn Town  Martuni’s  Twin Peaks ✎

 The Cinch  Pilsner Inn  Twin Peaks  Virgil’s Sea Room  Wild Side West ✎

Best Sports Bar  440 Castro  The Edge  Lookout  Hi Tops  Pilsner Inn ✎

Best SoMa Bar/Nightclub  Club OMG  Driftwood  Hole in the Wall  Jolene’s  Lone Star Saloon  Powerhouse  SF Eagle  The Stud ✎

Best Stray (Straight/Gay) Bar  Blackbird  Driftwood  EndUp  Slate  The Willows ✎

Best Wine Bar  Blush  City Club  Press Club  Swirl ✎

NIGHTLIFE EVENTS

Best Drag Show

 Blessed at Port Bar  Daytime Realness at El Rio  The Monster Show at The Edge  Mother at Oasis  Sex, Drags & Rock n Roll at Midnight Sun  Vivvy’s Grand Opening at The Stud ✎

Best Comedy Night

 Comedy Night at Club OMG  Comedy Night at the SF Eagle  Comedy Returns at El Rio  Funny Fun at Club 21, Oakland  Hysteria Comedy at Martuni’s ✎

Best Game Night

 Bottoms Up Bingo at Hi Tops  Gaymers at Brewcade  Gaymer Night at SF Eagle  Gaymer Night at Midnight Sun  Miss Kitty’s Trivia Night at Wild Side West ✎

Best (non-contest) Leather Event at a Bar  BLUF at SF Eagle  Code at The Edge  Lick It at the Powerhouse  Onyx at Powerhouse ✎

Best Weekly Nightlife Event  Lips & Lashes at Lookout  Pan Dulce at Beaux  Sundance Saloon at Space 550  Uhaul at Jolene’s  Beer Bust at SF Eagle  Gayface at El Rio  The Monster Show at The Edge ✎

Best Monthly Nightlife Event

 Beatpig at The Powerhouse  Boy Division at Codeword  Dads And Disco at Driftwood  Disco Daddy at SF Eagle  Gameboi at Rickshaw Stop  Go Bang! at The Stud ✎

Best Non-Weekly/NonMonthly Nightlife Event

 Asheq at Slate  Bearracuda (various venues)  Comfort & Joy (various venues)  Hard French Winter Ball  ShangriLa at The EndUp ✎

Best Stage Show in a Bar Nightclub

 Baloney at Oasis  Buffy the Vampire Killer at Oasis  Dandy at Oasis  Red Hots Burlesque at The Stud ✎

Best Bar Theme Night  Cubcake at The Lone Star Saloon  Frolic at SF Eagle  Gym Class at Hi Tops  Onesie Parties at Lookout  Puff at The Stud ✎

Best Unusual Nightlife Event

 GAPA Runway  Flagging in the Park  Broadway Bares Strip SF at DNA Lounge  Project Nunway at SOMArts  Glow in the Streets at Flore ✎

Best Women’s Bar Event

 Girl Scout at Port Bar Oakland  Mango at El Rio  Vamp Mondays at Beaux  Ships in the Night at New Parish, Oakland  Uhaul at Jolene’s  Vice Tuesdays at Qbar ✎

PEOPLE

Best Bartender

 Captain Ficcardi, White Horse  Jeffrey Green, Twin Peaks Tavern  Ben Chambers, Beaux  Aaron Isaac Joshua, Qbar  Denny Lee Miller, Pilsner  Ricky Mendia, Lone Star  Justin Barrett, Midnight Sun  Oscar Pineda, The Stud  Joe Quintero, Virgil’s Sea Room ✎

Best Cabaret Performer  Leanne Borghesi  Connie Champagne  Sony Holland  Paula West  Brian Kent  Barry Lloyd  Russ Lorenson  Joe Wicht  Vanessa Bousay  Matthew Martin  Katya Smirnoff-Skyy ✎

Best Comic

 Lisa Geduldig  Natasha Muse  Marilyn Pittman  Karen Ripley  Irene Tu  Justin Lucas  Nick Leonard  Ronn Vigh  Sampson McCormick  Jesus U. Betta Work ✎

Best DJ

 Becky Knox  Bus Station John  DavOmakesbeats  Marke B  David Harness  Hawthorne  Jason Kendig  MC2  Guy Ruben  Mark O’Brien  Trever Pearson  Balthazar  Carrie on Disco  Jenna Riot  Juanita MORE!  Lady Ryan  Lady Shar  Luna  Najee Renee  Page Hodel  Olga T  Ms. Jackson  Skyler Madison  China G  Siobhan Alovalot  Tweaka Turner ✎

Best DJ Duo/Group

Best Host/Emcee  Peaches Christ  Heklina  Lance Holman  Gina LaDivinia  Honey Mahogany  Pollo del Mar  Juanita MORE!  Donna Sachet  Sister Roma  Grace Towers ✎

Best Band/Musician

 Matt Alber  Eli Conley  Double Duchess  Suzanne ‘Kitten on the Keys’ Ramsey  The Klipptones  Maria Konner & Not From Jersey  Secret Emchy Society  Tammy Hall Trio  Tom Shaw Trio  Xavier Toscano  Vagabondage  Velvetta ✎

Best Nightlife Photographer

 Cabure Bonugli/Shot in the City  Gooch  Marques Daniels  Georg Lester  CJ Knight  Rich Stadmiller  Steven Underhill  Tom Schmidt/Dot ✎

 Adrian & Mysterious D  BAAAHS  Hard French  Honey Soundsystem  Go Bang! ✎

Best Drag King

 Leigh Crow  Clammy Faye  Madd Dogg 20/20  Mickey Finn  Arty Fishal  Fudgie Frottage  Mason Dixon Jars  Kegel Kater  Pepe Pan ✎

Best Drag Queen  Carnie Asada  D’Arcy Drollinger  Sugah Betes  Glamamore  Intensive Claire  Raya Light  Joie de Vivre  Landa Lakes  Mercedez Munro  Mutha Chucka  Rahni NothingMore  Bebe Sweetbriar  Grace Towers  Holotta Tymes ✎

Best Faux Queen  Scarlet Astrid  Alotta Boutté  Trixxie Carr  Crème Fatale  Bruja Palmiero  Miss Shugana  Black Benatar ✎

Best Gogo Guy

 Teddy Bryce  Josh Colwell  Chad Dawson  Dwayne Hibbert  James Kindle  Simon Palczynski  Chad Stewart  Colin Stack-Troost  Michael Strickland  Michael Tempesta  Paul William ✎

Best Gogo Gal

 Lucy Dorado  Jella Gogo  Chloe Rainwater  Vada Ashley ✎

Best Breakfast

Best Coffee Shop

Best Grocery Store (Independent)

 Blue Bottle  Dolores Park Café  Four Barrel  Peet’s  Philz ✎

 Bi-Rite Market  Golden Produce/ Golden Natural Foods  Good Life Grocery  Gus’s Market  Rainbow Grocery ✎

Best Late Night Restaurant  DNA Pizza  Orphan Andy’s  Grubstake  Nopa  Trick Dog ✎

Best Gym

Best Happy Hour Bites  Azucar Lounge  Harvey’s  Hi Tops  Jolene’s  Nopa ✎

 Apothecarium  Green Cross  Medithrive  SPARC  Vapor Room ✎

Best Bar Menu  Harvey’s  Hi Tops  Jolene’s  Lookout  Sycamore ✎

Best Place to Pamper Your Pets

 Bernal Beast  Doggie Day Spaw  Mudpuppy's Tub & Scrub  Noe Valley Pet Company  VIP Pet Grooming / VIP Scrub Club ✎

Best Pet Hotel

Best Auto Dealer

 High Tail  Pet Camp  Mission: Cats  Wag (Oakland)  Wag (San Francisco) ✎

 BMW of SF  Carlsen Subaru  Lexus of Serramonte  Mini of SF  SF Toyota ✎

Best Bank/Credit Union

 Orphan Andy’s  Howard’s Café  Kate’s Kitchen  Me & Tasty  Stacks  Plow ✎

Best Brunch

 Daddy’s Barbershop  Glama-Rama  Louie’s Barbershop  Male Image  Mystic Haircutting ✎

Best Lunch

 Flore  Harvey’s  Starbelly  Super Duper  Zazie ✎

Best Dinner

Best Barbershop

Best Bicycle Shop

 Box Dog Bikes  Freewheel Bike Shop  Market Street Bikes  Mission Bicycle Company  Valencia Cyclery ✎

Best Bookstore

 Canela  Delfina  Firewood Café  Finn Town  Petit Crenn ✎

 Alley Cat Books  Books Inc. Opera Plaza  Dog Eared Books  Folio Books  Green Apple Books ✎

Best Dessert

Best Dog Park

 The Baked Bear  Genki Crepes  Sixth Course  Tartine  Tout Sweet ✎

Best Ice Cream/Frozen Yogurt  Bi-Rite Creamery  Castro Fountain  Garden Creamery  Humphry Slocombe  Mitchell’s Ice Cream ✎

Best Restaurant Outdoor Patio  Americano  Fable  Foreign Cinema  Mars Bar  Zeitgeist ✎

 Code at The Edge  Junk at Powerhouse  Underwear Night at 440 Castro  Pound Puppy at SF Eagle ✎

Best Sex Shop

 Auto Erotica  Does Your Mother Know  Good Vibrations  Mr. S. Leather  Rock Hard ✎

Best Cannabis Dispensary

 Bank of America  Capital One  Chase  SF Federal Credit Union  Sterling Bank and Trust ✎

 Breakfast at Tiffany’s  Dottie’s  Hamburger Mary’s  Jones/MORE  Squat & Gobble ✎

 24-Hour Fitness  Barry’s Bootcamp  Fitness SF - Castro  LiveFit Gym  SF CrossFit ✎

Cruisiest Event

 Bernal Heights Dog Park  Corona Heights Dog Park  Duboce Park  Ocean Beach small dog run (weekly)  Point Isabel (Richmond) ✎

Best Doggie Day Care  Mr Muggles' Dogs  Wag (Oakland)  Wag (San Francisco)  Tafani & So. Dogcare ✎

Best Veterinarian

 Castro Animal Hospital  Mission Pet Hospital  San Francisco Veterinary House Calls  Seven Hills Veterinary Hospital  VCA San Francisco Vet Specialists ✎

Best Thrift Store

 Community Thrift  Goodwill  Out of the Closet (AIDS Healthcare Foundation) ✎

Best Vintage Clothing/ Consignment Shop  Buffalo Exchange  Crossroads Trading Co.  Sui Generis  Wasteland ✎

Best Variety Shop  Cliff’s Variety  Just for Fun  Local Take ✎

Best Beaches

 Black Sands  Marshall’s Beach  Muir Beach  San Gregorio Nude Beach  Stinson Beach ✎

Best Domestic Getaway  Las Vegas  Chicago  New Orleans  New York  Palm Springs  Santa Fe ✎

Best Local Getaway  Carmel/Monterey  Half Moon Bay  Sonoma  Reno-Tahoe  Russian River ✎

Best Honeymoon Destination

 Hawaii  Key West, Florida  Paris, France  Provincetown, MA  Puerto Vallarta, Mexico ✎

Best Place to Buy Rings  D&H Sustainable Jewelers  Gallery of Jewels  Love & Luxe  Shane Co.  Shreve & Co ✎

Best Wedding Photographer

 Jane Cleland  Rick Gerharter  Gooch  Georg Lester  Steven Underhill ✎

Best Wedding Reception Venue

 City Club of San Francisco  Julia Morgan Ballroom  Legion of Honor  SF City Hall  Terra Gallery ✎

Best Place to Buy Furniture  Ashley Home Store  Maker & Moss  Norden Living  Room & Board  Stag & Manor ✎

Best Sex Venue

Best Grocery Store (Chain)

 Mollie Stone’s Markets  Safeway  Trader Joe’s  Whole Foods ✎

 Blow Buddies  Eros  Steamworks Berkeley  The Watergarden ✎

Enter Your Information to Qualify for the Prize Drawings Name: City/Town:

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www.ebar.com/besties2019 Mail to Besties, 44 Gough St. #204, San Francisco, CA 94103. Bay Area Reporter staff are not eligible for prize drawings. Survey results will be published in the April 6 issue.

<< Fine Arts

24 • Bay Area Reporter • February 21-27, 2019

Monet

From page 15

It’s a companion to the museum’s 2017 show “Monet: the Early Years,” covering a time when, as difficult as it is to believe, he was a starving artist seeking success, recognition and a way out of poverty. The current exhibition finds the old Monet anything but settled in the last chapter of his life, beset by tragedies and recovering from a series of devastating losses: the death of his second wife, Alice, in 1911, followed by his eldest son in 1914; the horrors of WWI thundering near his heavenly estate in Giverny, and the onset of cataracts. The deteriorating eyesight that accompanied that condition terrified and frustrated him, and struck at the heart of how he expressed himself and perceived his environment. Undeterred, his woes and the specter of mortality sparked a burst of creative energy before his death in 1926 – he outlived fellow impressionists Degas and Renoir by a decade. Among the results of this prodigious period were immersive, mural-style panoramas of worlds one can get happily lost in – a group of them are permanently installed at the Musee de l’Orangerie, in Paris – and smaller, radically modern canvases painted with a feverish, almost fauvist intensity, some with a scarlet, desert yellow palette not usually associated with the artist. The show posits that a portion of these later works represent a venture into abstraction that lay the groundwork for 20th-century art. Monet’s reputation and repertoire precede him. Relatively free of explanation, this spare exhibition lets the splendor of the paintings speak for themselves. Enveloped

SFB 2&3

From page 15

We’re at the beginning of the run, which goes through Sun., Feb. 24, so what seems like big news now may change as more of the younger dancers come to the fore, but already the highlights have come from corps and soloists. The most beautiful sight I’ve seen so far this year was Max Cauthorn (soloist) in Balanchine’s “Divertimento #15.” He’s a local boy, good-looking in a sort of quarterback-ish way, but his dancing was beyond good-looking, it was Dresden-statuette perfection in epaulement, ballon, line, action, intention. In flight, he’s like a threepoint basket. You can tell from when he leaves the ground where he’s going and that he’s going to whiff

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by his great canvases at the museum on a recent rainy morning, the work was a port in the storm, an oasis of staggering beauty where light glinted off water and flowers, and Monet’s life-long genius for color, much imitated but unequaled, was on ravishing display. Who could have created such an artistic legacy? At the entrance to the exhibition, a short black-and-white film shows the diminutive, white-bearded artist at work at Giverny. Seen in a straw hat at his easel, a cigarette dangling from his lips, his dog faithfully trotting after him, it appears he was just a man after all. The introductory gallery featuring familiar early works from the 1890s serves as a prologue. It leads into a grand space that includes Courtesy of FAMSF classic 3-by-4-meter water lily paintings in a rhapsody Anonymous, “Monet in His Garden at Giverny” (1921). Autochrome. Collection of the Troob Family Foundation. of cornflower blues, orchid, swooning violets, undersea lost in the Great War. dunked the lilies to keep the scene branches interrupted by deep red greens and indigo, accented The exhibition represents a full pristine, affords a similar opportubuds; and a long, rectangular mural by exquisite salmon pink and peach circle for Monet: he invented himnity. Some renderings are verdant of “Wisteria” (1919-20), an ode to blooms, each rapturous canvas loveself to launch his career and, after with sylvan pathways through light spring in which the flowering vines lier than the one that preceded it. refusing to give up or give in to age and shadow enticing the eye into an hang in a lilac-suffused mist. Though it’s almost too much seeing and slings and arrows that would’ve enchanted glade. Another (1918Comfortable financially and with this many Monets in a single setting, slain a mere mortal, succeeded in 24), yellowish-green in tone and a nothing left to prove, he indulged the aggregation allows one to detect reinventing himself at the very end. contrast to the iconic one from 1899 his passion for the epic, producing subtle variations in brushstrokes Brace yourself for the crowds and executed in gorgeous teal, illustrates works in a vast studio on his propand color; a discreet dab of mauve erty completed in 1916. These monthe steep ticket price ($35); admisMonet’s technique of combining adds texture to a dazzling blue sky, umental “Grandes Decorations,” 14 sion to heaven doesn’t come cheap. two colors on the brush, the ala dusting of white in the upper regto 20 feet wide, are a highlight of Free Saturdays for San Francisco resichemy occurring the moment it met ister suggests clouds mirrored in a the show. They read differently updents starts April 6, but doesn’t apply the canvas. pool of clear water below. A series close than from a distance, and reto special exhibitions like this one.t Monet branched out beyond lildepicting the Japanese footbridge ward close looking. Monet donated ies to other residents of his beloved that arced over his famous lily pond, 300 linear feet of these canvases to garden in large-scale works such as tended by a fleet of eight gardeners Through May 27. Ticket France in 1918 in honor of those “Roses” (1922-26), a tangle of thorny info: deyoung.famsf.org who, at Monet’s direction, regularly

through the net. Just the right effort, just the right shape, miraculously coordinated. When he’d alight from a jump, his position was perfect, the stillness complete: alert, but still as a deer. It just looked like pure fun. He was not the only one. Corps dancers Solomon Golding (what elevation!), Ellen Rose Hummel, Madison Keesler glowed as if they had their own spotlights; soloists Isabella de Vivo, Benjamin Freemantle, Wona Park, Elizabeth Powell, Henry Sidford, Hansuke Yamamoto had clarity of outline as if drawn by Andy Warhol in the shows I saw Thurs. & Fri. nights. They held their own against principal dancers who are long audience favorites, who were themselves dancing beautifully. The principal dancers I saw who did truly heroic things were Ulrik Birkkjaer, Angelo Greco, Joseph Walsh, and Sasha de Sola, who took the MVP trophies in very different ways. De Sola, who can do anything but dances with such modesty you think of Audrey Hepburn, took the bravura ballet “Etudes” over the top with her witty, “I’m just doing this because I like to” charm, when every step she was doing came from the hard book. Indeed, Harald Lander made this ballet in 1948 for the Royal Danish Ballet to demonstrate the solid base of their technique and the quiet personal grace with which they behave onstage. From the simplest moves up to the tip-top, gutwrenching, hardest moves ever, it’s always “We hope you like it.” Like it we did. Our audience can dance; I’d wager over half the women have had a few years of ballet at least; and we went berserk. From the bottom to the top, the hierarchical difficulty of steps was met with mastery. The curtain goes up on dancers in the dark at the barre, and the lights pick out a few legs where they’re pointing the feet; more lights pick up another set of legs pawing the stage, and it builds from there, with hilarious intricacy pitting slicing action against circling moves, “and so on.” Our ability to predict what they might do next is met with wit

Erik Tomasson

San Francisco Ballet dancer Angelo Greco in Harald Lander’s “Etudes.”

and surprises. Once they start turning, it becomes a display of the base level of competence expected of the apprentice, and she steps out and crosses half the stage in perfect slowmo chaine turns before being joined by another who does exactly the same thing. The sequence is finished by the ballerina – de Sola, of course, who does her specialty, chaine turns that speed up til they’re blur-spins. Then she stops on a dime and holds an arabesque forever. They proceed through all the exciting versions of turning leaps, showing how easy it is for them to leap right at each other without accident, injury, or signs of nervousness. Then Joseph Walsh and Angelo Greco enter and show you something really difficult and exciting: they jump high, clap their legs together and change direction in mid-air. Greco is smiling the whole time, and Walsh displays a cat-like smile that says he’s not going to pan-

der to the audience, but he sticks his landings and looks calm as George Washington after winning a battle. This may sound like a crude display of bravura, but it’s set to brilliantly subversive music by Knudage Riisager, who orchestrated the piano études of Carl Czerny. There’s a slight cat-like smile to the whole ballet, and our dancers got the whole spirit of it. It’s deeply akin to kids doing 720s on skateboards or dancing on pointe in sneakers. It’s something kids like to do, and even if it’s in a technique that goes back to Louis XIV, it’s cool to do it. Absolutely stellar performance of this ballet, which is the main reason to see Program 3. But the other reason to see it is Ulrik Birkkjaer, who so far as I can see is the reigning genius of the company at the moment. He was the star of “Snowblind” (Prog. 3), though nobody else Thursday rose to the dramatic challenges of that bal-

let, and also of the thrilling “Appassionata,” a “setting” of Beethoven’s eponymous piano Sonata, #23 in F minor, on Program 2. Birkkjaer comes to us as a fully mature dancer in the heroic mode from the Royal Danish Ballet, and he has every gift, especially the power to project emotion, usually called “acting.” He can create a character, make you identify with him, hurry away your soul. In “Appassionata” (by Benjamin Millepied for the Paris Opera Ballet), Birkkjaer makes entrances and exits more important than pirouettes. He makes the normally commanding ballerina Dores André blanche and turn pale when he hurtles onto the scene, and flee in the midst of a pregnant pause in the music, when the pianist reaches the end of a tremendous climax. He rushes offstage after her as if his life depended upon it, whereupon the pianist begins again. In short, he makes pirouettes, jumps, slides across the stage, falls to the floor, all the turbulent “moves” dancers do become, as Hamlet says, “words, words words.” It’s not that the steps don’t matter. There are three couples, but the other two are eclipsed on the stage compared to the drama Birkkjaer brings out from Millepied’s propulsive choreography. I urge you to see it and see what you think. The other dancers who were excellent, all of them, were Jaime Garcia Castillo, Sasha de Sola, Elizabeth Powell, and Benjamin Freemantle. The Balanchine/Mozart “Divertimento” remains the great piece on the shows; it is one of the finest dances ever created in the U.S. Outstanding in it were Wona Park, Walsh, Yamamoto, Cauthorn, and de Sola. All danced well; I want desperately to see it again. Last on that show was “Hurry up, We’re Dreaming,” Justin Peck’s fantasia on club dancing and the way we live now. Isabella Devivo stood out from the crowd, as did Cavan Conley, Henry Sidford, and Wei Wang. I would wear those clothes.t Info: sfballet.org.

Oscar Parties

Arts Events

www.ebar.com

Shining Stars Vol. 49 • No. 8 • February 21-27, 2019

Telly Leung From Aladdin on Broadway to Orinda By Jim Gladstone

ust last week, Telly Leung ended a twoyear stint in the demanding title role of Aladdin on Broadway. And for most of the two years prior to embodying the boy with the lamp-locked life coach, 39-year-old Leung was also on Broadway stages; first as the George Takei-inspired lead in Allegiance and then in the ensemble of In Transit, the a cappella musical by Frozen co-composer Kristin Anderson-Lopez. See page 26 >>

Telly Leung

Shot in the City

Nightlife Events

February 21-28

Sat 23

Polyglamorous @ Public Works

You’ll have fun this week, if you dare to try. Scout’s honor.

Listings on page 28 > { THIRD OF THREE SECTIONS }

<< Cabaret

26 • Bay Area Reporter • February 21-27, 2019

Both photos: Kevin Alvey

Telly Leung performing his cabaret show.

Telly Leung

From page 25

That’s almost four non-stop years of singing eight shows a week, which can be tough on the vocal cords. In fact, that “almost” attests to just how tough: Near the start of the 2016 run of In Transit, Leung suffered a vocal injury which led him to miss about six weeks of performances, had him concerned about possible perma-

nent damage and ultimately led to the new solo set he’ll be performing in the East Bay. The Bay Area cabaret favorite will perform in the Live at the Orinda series at the 144-seat Orinda theater, which is a two-block walk from BART; not exactly a magic carpet ride, but close enough to consider a visit. In the wake of last month’s soldout Lena Hall shows at Feinstein’s

at the Nikko –in which the Hedwig star chronicled her history of auditions– Leung’s Sing Happy will offer local theater aficionados a very different behind-the-scenes peek at the sometimes precarious career of a theater singer: coping with a significant physical setback. “You know how athletes tend not to discuss the details of their injuries?” asks Leung (also recognizable to many from his role as Wes, one of the Warblers, on Glee) during a recent phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter. “Well, this happens with singers too. And Broadway singers really are vocal athletes. Opera singers aren’t asked to sing eight times a week. But when you have an injury, especially if you’ve never had one before, there’s a fear that maybe you’ll be considered ‘damaged goods’.” Among the discoveries Leung made after being sidelined was just how many of his peers had quietly struggled with similar injuries. “So many people reached out to me with advice and support, many of whom I didn’t realize had dealt with this kind of thing.” In turn, says Leung, after his own full recovery, “I’ve reached out to four other injured performers to tell them about my journey with it.” During his leave of absence from In Transit, Leung says “I went pretty much M.I.A.” And while noting that “I learned so much more about my voice” and how to use it through weeks of rehabilitation with a vocal coach, Leung says the down time made him think about broader issues as well. “I was pretty much at the height of my career so far, and all of a sudden I had to sit down and shut up. The universe was saying ‘Take care of yourself.’ For years, I’d worked on the days of so many weddings and birthdays and weekends and dinners. So I ended up spending a lot of quiet time with my family and my husband.” Leung publicly announced his marriage to his partner of 12 years, James Babcock, on Inauguration Day, 2017, pointedly adding ‘#LoveTrumpsHate’ to his online post.” That bit of activist punctuation is typical of Leung, who has been outspoken about racial prejudice in casting and a limited number of roles written specifically for Asian Americans. While Leung found great satisfaction in being in Asian-centric shows including Allegiance and Flower Drum Song, he’s also played Bok in Wicked and Angel in Rent. “As an actor, my approach is to always go in thinking, ‘Why not me?’ I can’t control my age, my height, my skin color.” Given his desire to see more roles

written for and played by AsianAmerican actors, how did he feel about being cast as Aladdin, a role that might have been played by an Arab-American? “That’s a totally fair question,” he says. “Disney was always very clear when they were putting the show together that Agrabah wasn’t supposed to represent a real place but a fantasy, and that the show could draw on a variety of cultural traditions.” “I replaced an Aladdin who was

half-Caucasian, half-Filipino. My understudy was half-Puerto Rican, half-Mexican American. My replacement is a white Australian actor. The show is very melanin agnostic. And I’m very proud to have been the first Far East Asian Aladdin.”t Telly Leung’s “Sing Happy” March 14, 7:30pm. $55 and up, at the Orinda Theater, 4 Orinda Theater Square, Orinda. (925) 254-9065. www.lamorindatheatres.com

Above: Telly Leung Below: Telly Leung as Aladdin on Broadway.

Oscar Night>>

February 21-27, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 27

Cinematic celebrations Oscar parties around the Bay Area for Roxie members). 3:30pm. 3117 16th St. www.roxie.com

Oscar Viewing Party @ Balboa Theatre

Watch the Oscars on the big screen in a restored 1930s cinema when the Balboa Theater offers up a viewing party hosted by comedian Irene Tu. And the cost is no more than the price of a movie. $10-12.50, 5pm. 3630 Balboa St. https://www.cinemasf.com/balboa/

Oscar Viewing Party @ New Parkway Theater, Oakland Both photos: Steven Underhill

Left: Classy patrons at a recent Academy of Friends gala at City View Metreon. Right: Oscar hunks from a 2010 Academy of Friends gala at Fort Mason.

By David-Elijah Nahmod

scar night is one of the holier nights on the LGBTQ calendar, and there are plenty of ways to celebrate the big night. Even with this year’s controversies over choosing a host (who isn’t a homophobic jerk) might dissuade former fans from viewing. This year’s nominees include a record number of LGBT people and films nominated, so there’s that. If you want to enjoy a bit of festiv-

ity other than watching from home with your cat, here are a few of the Oscar parties happening around town and around the Bay. All events take place on Sunday, February 24.

Drunk Drag Red Carpet Party @ Oasis

Come watch Oscar on Oasis’ big screen and celebrate the winners and losers on Hollywood’s biggest night in true San Francisco fashion. There will be fierce live perfor-

mances by San Francisco’s hottest drag queens and drag kings, live commentary and hosting by Drunk Drag stars CoCo Buttah, Chyna Maykit and Alpha Betty. A night to remember is promised! $10-20. 5-9pm. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Oscar Viewing Party @ The Midnight Sun

Academy of Friends; Neptune’s Fantasy @ City View, Metreon

Up The Awards Benefit Bash 2019 @ Roxie Theater

Join Academy Of Friends for their 39th annual Academy Awards night gala with ticket sales benefiting HIV/AIDS services in the Bay Area. Everyone at the event will enjoy food provided by the Bay Area’s finest restaurants and caterers, wine and champagne, live entertainment, and a fun way to watch the 2019 Oscars. Proceeds to benefit AIDS Legal Referral Panel, LGBTQ Connection, Positive Resource Center, and St. James Infirmary. $300-750, 5-10pm (early entry for VIP attendees at 4pm). 135 4th St, #4000. www.academyoffriends.org

Watch the Oscars live at the Castro’s premiere video bar. The show will be seen on all screens. 2-4-1 well and call cocktails until 9pm. No cover. 5pm. 4067 18th St. www.midnightsunsf.com

The annual bargain basement broadcast of Hollywood’s attempt to get you back into the multiplex. The party will include curiously captivating shorts, twisted music videos, and bizarre film clips, all designed to render the evening commercial free. Proceeds to benefit the historic, non-profit independent theater. Contest: the person who most accurately predicts the winners wins free movies and popcorn at the Roxie for a year! $16 (free or discounted

Watch the Oscars in Oakland’s coolest theater, where you can sit on a couch! Ticket includes the red carpet show, the main event, and all you can eat appetizers. The theater has a fine selection of local wine, beer, and non-alcoholic treats. $23-25, 4pm. 474 24th St., Oakland. http://www.thenewparkway.com/

Oscar Viewing Party @ Rialto Cinemas, Sebastopol

Parties aren’t limited to San Francisco. Watch the Oscars with fellow film lovers at Rialto Cinemas, the North Bay’s premiere showcase for independent, classic and foreign films. The theater promises an evening of stargazing, suspense, prizes and lots of local color, all to benefit Food For Thought, who provides food and compassion to people living with HIV and other chronic illnesses in Sonoma County. The party includes beverage, appetizers, costume contest, trivia contest, ballot participation and more! 6868 McKinley St, Sebastopol. $30, Red Carpet at 4pm, show begins at 5pm. www.rialtocinemas.comt

Oscar Party @ Manny’s

Manny’s, the new cafe and wine bar in the Mission, hosts political and literary events each week. They’ll host an Oscar viewing party complete with gold tinsel, a specialty Oscars cocktail, Oscar-themed games and prizes for folks who guess the right winners. Registration required. 3092 16th St, $10, 5-9pm. www.welcometomannys.com

Oscar Viewing Party @ Cinch Saloon

The Cinch, the last remaining gay bar from the glory days on Polk Street, hosts a very informal Oscar screening party with complimentary hors d’oeuvres and a glass of champagne on arrival. Fill out an Oscar ballot. The person with the most correct answers wins $100. Movie-themed costumes and drag are always welcome at this fun neighborhood bar. 4pm. 1723 Polk St. www.cinchsf.com

Dale Godfrey

Top: Coco Buttah cohosts the Oscar-viewing party at Oasis. Middle: The Cinch bar’s cute ‘red carpet’ from last year’s Oscars party. Bottom: Food for Thought Oscar party patrons in Sonoma.

Playmates and soul mates...

San Francisco:

1-415-692-5774

18+ MegaMates.com

<< Nightlife Events

28 • Bay Area Reporter • February 21-27, 2019

Mean Gays @ Castro Theatre Peaches Christ leads another drag parody and screening, this time of Mean Girls, with Kim Chi, Willam, Laganja Estranja and other talents (but no film screening). $20-$140 (VIP seating, meet & greet). 4pm & 8pm. 429 Castro St. peacheschrist.com

We Are Monster @ The Stud Dance night with DJs Hieroglyphic Bein, Carlos Souffront. $10. 9pm2am. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

Mother @ Oasis Heklina’s popular weekly drag show, with special guests and great music themes. Feb 23 is J. Lo vs Selena night. $15-$20. 10pm-3am (11:30pm show). 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Nitty Gritty @ Beaux

Sat 23

Josh Carmichael with DJ Salazer host the tattoo appreciation night. $10. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Galactic Camp @ Sea, Air and Space Museum, Alameda

Onyx @ Powerhouse

Thu 21 After Dark @ Exploratorium Enjoy cocktails and science demo sat the hands-on museum; Feb 21: flares and flashes, pickling and brining. $15$20. 6pm-10pm. Pier 15 (Embarcadero at Green St). www.exploratorium.edu/

Friends Live @ Oasis The popular ‘90s sitcom gets a double drag (king/queen) parody performance of a few episode scripts, with Nancy French, Sue Casa Steven LeMay and other talents. $27-$50. Thu 8pm, Fri & Sat 7pm. Thru Mar. 2. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Gayface @ El Rio Queer weekly night out with DJed and live music, at the popular Mission bar. 10pm-2am. 3158 Mission St. www.elriosf.com

Haters Roast @ Palace of Fine Arts The Shady Tour 2019, a drag celeb comedy show with a bevy of RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni doing routines. $35-$150. 8pm. 3301 Lyon St. http://dragfans.com/

Hoe is Life/Soakin’ Wet @ The Stud Slutty fun at the historic bar. 9pm2am. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

Junk @ Powerhouse MrPam and Dulce de Leche cohost the weekly underwear strip night and contest, with sexy prizes. $5. 10pm2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

The Monster Show @ The Edge The weekly drag show with host Sue Casa, DJ MC2, themed nights and hilarious fun. $5. 9pm-2am. 4149 18th St. at Collingwood. www.edgesf.com

Nightlife @ California Academy of Sciences Parties at the fascinating spacious nature and science exhibits; Feb 21, Lunar New Year with lion dancers, martial arts demos, and real pigs! $12-$15. 6pm-10pm. 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park. www.calacademy.org

Rice Rockettes @ Lookout Local and visiting Asian drag queens’ weekly show with DJ Philip Grasso. $5. 10:30pm show. 3600 16th St. www.lookoutsf.com

Rock Fag @ Hole in the Wall Enjoy hard rock and punk music from DJ Don Baird at the wonderfully divey SoMa bar. Also Fridays. 7pm-2am. 1369 Folsom St. 431-4695. www.hitws.com

Steve Grand @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko The hunky gay singer performs. $65$90 ($20 food/drink min.) 8pm. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. https://www. feinsteinsatthenikko.com/

Fri 22 Bare Chest Calendar Prelims @ Powerhouse Meet early candidates for next year’s fundraiser calendar; weekly for a while. 8pm-10pm. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

Big Boy @ Lone Star Saloon DJ Boyshapedbox plays grooves. $5. 9pm-12am. 1354 Harrison St. www.lonestarsf.com

La Bomba Latina @ Club OMG Drag show with DJ Jaffeth. $5. 9pm2am. 43 6th St. www.clubomgsf.com

Fantasy Friday @ Divas Weekly drag shows at the last transgender-friendly bar in the Polk; with hosts Victoria Secret, Alexis Miranda and several performers. Also Thursdays and Saturdays; Thursday karaoke night. $10. 10pm. 1081 Polk St. www.divassf.com

Friday Nights at the Ho @ White Horse Bar, Oakland Dance it up at the historic (and still hip) East Bay bar. 9pm-2am. 6551 Telegraph Ave. www.whitehorsebar.com

Growlr @ SF Eagle DJ Phil B, cruising bears and cubs and gogo dancers, a lumberjack contest and more at the monthly party. 8pm1am. 398 12th St. www.sf-eagle.com

Harder @ Oasis Dance music night with DJs Eric Bloom and Patrick. $15. 10pm-2am. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Latin Explosion @ Club 21 The popular Latin club with gogo guys galore and Latin music. $10-$20. 9pm-3am. 2111 Franklin St., Oakland. www.club21oakland.com

Manimal @ Beaux Gogo-tastic dance night starts off your weekend. $5. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Puff @ Secret Locale DJ Dank’s private version of the cannabis appreciation night, ‘Dabs, Doobies and Drag,’ with DJ Sergio Fedasz, a stoner raffle and drag show. $15-$20. 6pm-9pm. www.eventhi.io/event/puff-privateparty-dabs-doobies--drag-989

Swagger Like Us @ The Stud Foozool, DJ Jibbz and Fela Kutchi play, you dance. $10. 10pm-2am. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

Uhaul @ Jolene’s The popular roving women’s dance party returns at the new nightclub, now weekly. 10pm-2am. 2700 16th St. at Harrison. www.jolenessf.com

Sat 23 AsQew @ Driftwood Queer R&B night at the fun stray bar, with Prince and soul grooves, art wall and craft brews. 9pm-1:30am. 1225 Folsom St. www.driftwoodbarsf.com

Steam @ Powerhouse Bath house-style fun with DJ Entrée, gogo studs in towels, wet towel contest and sexy giveaways. $5. 10pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

Polyglamorous @ Public Works 4-year anniversary of the groovy DJ collective (Mark O’Brien, John Major, Beya), with guests HorseMeat Disco and Looky Looky. $10-$20. 10pm4am. 161 Erie St. https://www.publicsf.com/

Dance, drink, cruise at the Castro club, with DJs Gay Marvine, Taco Tuesday and Matthew XO. 9pm-2am. 2369 Market St. www.cafesf.com

Sun 24 Academy of Friends @ City View Metreon Neptune’s Fantasy, this year’s undersea theme for the 39th annual fundraiser for AIDS/HIV nonprofits, with drinks, food, desserts, live entertainment, silent and live auctions, raffles, and a screening of the Academy Awards. $300 and up. 4pm VIP, 5pm general admission, to 10pm. 135 4th St. AcademyofFriends.org

Awards Night @ Rialto Cinema, Sebastopol Food for Thought’s annual fundraiser party and Oscar viewing. $30. 4pm11pm. 6868 McKinley St., Sebastopol. http://www.rialtocinemas.com/

Beer Bust @ SF Eagle The popular daytime party, where $10-$15 gets you all the beer you can drink, supporting worthy causes. 3pm-6pm. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

Beer Bust @ Lone Star Saloon Beer, bears, food and DJed beats at the weekly fundraiser for various local charities. $15. 4pm-8pm. 1354 Harrison St. www.lonestarsf.com

Tue 26

Vice Tuesdays @ Q Bar

Bearracuda @ SF Eagle Strip down to jocks and singlets at the under-bear party, with DJ Paul Goodyear, photos & décor by Dusti Cunningham, clothes check and three bars. $10. 9pm-2am. 398 12th St. www.bearracuda.com

La Bota Loca @ Club 21, Oakland Banda Los Shakas performs live at the LGBT Latinx night. $10. 9pm-4am. 2111 Franklin St. club21oakland.com

Brunch @ Jolene’s Enjoy DJed grooves, chicken & waffles, veggie scrambles and more, with brunch cocktails, at the new queer bar. 11am-3pm. Also Sundays. 2700 16th St. www.jolenessf.com

Dance Party @ White Horse Bar, Oakland DJed grooves at the historic East Bay gay bar. 9pm-2am. 6551 Telegraph Ave, (510) 652-3820. www.whitehorsebar.com

Galactic Camp @ Sea, Air and Space Museum, Alameda Space-themed one-night Furry convention! Prepare for liftoff with space-themed costumes, dancing, DJs, fursuiting, The Apollo 11 Test Capsule, a full bar, and waterfront views on the historic USS Hornet Aircraft Carrier. $20-$100. 6pm-3am. 707 West Hornet Ave., Alameda. www.eventbrite.com

Qtease @ The Stud Nudie Nu Bois, an amateur strip competition hosted by Jet Noir. $10$25. 5pm-8pm. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

Saturgay @ Qbar Stanley Frank spins house dance remixes at the intimate Castro dance bar. $3. 9pm-2am (weekly beer bust 2pm-9pm). 456 Castro St. www.QbarSF.com

Studio 5’4” @ Lone Star Saloon Celebration of short guys with punkthemed hits with DJs Jimmy Swear and Teeny Turner, plus Gummi shots! $5. 9pm-12am. 1354 Harrison St. www.lonestarsf.com

Beverage Benefit @ The Edge Fundraiser and fun, with proceeds going to local nonprofits. $10. 4pm7pm. 4149 18th St. www.edgesf.com

Big Gay Beer Bust @ The Cinch Benefits and plenty of beer at the historic neighborhood bar. 3pm-7pm. 1723 Polk St. www.cinchsf.com

Big Top @ Beaux Enjoy an extra weekend night at the fun Castro nightclub, plus hot local DJs and sexy gogo guys and gals. $8. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.Beauxsf.com

Boob Tube @ SF Eagle Drag show cosplay night T-dance with Trangela Lansbury, Holly Graphic, and Punky Pebbles takes on The Flintstones and The Jetsons; costumes welcomes. $8 no drag. 9pm-1am. 398 12th St. www.sf-eagle.com

Rory O’Malley @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko The Broadway actor performs Pub Crawl, his biographical Irish-American life story in song. $40-$70. ($20 food/ drink min.), 8pm; also Feb 23. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. www.feinsteinsatthenikko.com

Men of color in leather monthly night, DJ Blackstone, bootblack stand, raffles, shots. 5pm-9pm. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

Sugar @ The Cafe

Niko SF

For full listings, visit www.ebar.com/events

Bounce @ Lookout

Sat 23

Bearracuda @ SF Eagle

Weekly dance and cavorting night with a view. $5. 9pm-2am. 3600 16th St. www.lookoutsf.com

Dirty Musical Sundays @ The Edge Sing along at the popular musical theatre night, with a bawdy edge; also Mondays and Wednesdays (but not dirty). 7pm-2am. 2 for 1 cocktail, 5pm-closing. 4149 18th St. at Collingwood. www.edgesf.com

February 21-27, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 29

B.P.M. @ Club BnB, Oakland Olga T and Shugga Shay’s weekly queer women and men’s R&B hip hop and soul night, at the club’s new location. 8pm-2am. 2120 Broadway, Oakland. www.bench-and-bar.com

Castro Karaoke @ Midnight Sun Sing out with host Bebe Sweetbriar; 2 for 1 well drinks. 8pm-2am. 4067 18th St. 861-4186. midnightsunsf.com

Follies & Dollies @ White Horse Bar, Oakland Weekly drag show at the historic gay bar. 9:30pm-11:30pm. 6551 Telegraph Ave, (510) 652-3820. www.whitehorsebar.com

Mon 25 Queer Bowling @ Mission Bowling Club

Drunk Drag Red Carpet Party @ Oasis Watch the Academy Awards broadcast with drag acts CoCo Buttah, Chyna Maykit and Alpha Betty. $10-$20. 5pm-11pm. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Domingo De Escandal @ Club OMG Weekly Latin night with drag shows hosted by Vicky Jimenez and DJ Carlitos. (Comedy Open Mic 5:30pm). 7pm-2am. 43 6th St. www.clubomgsf.com

Jock @ The Lookout Enjoy the weekly jock-ular fun, with DJed dance music at sports team fundraisers. 12pm-1am. NY DJ Sharon White from 3pm-6pm. 3600 16th St. www.lookoutsf.com

Juanita’s Drag Brunch @ MORE/Jones Juanita MORE’s new daytime drag show on the restaurant’s scenic courtyard terrace, with a tasty revamped menu by chef Cory Armenta and food stylist Cole Church. Entrees $14-$21. 11am-3pm. Wednesday Fried Chicken nights, too. 620 Jones St. www.juanitamore.com

Nellie McKay @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko The Broadway actress performs an evening of songs and stories, including tracks from her seventh album, Sister Orchid. $30-$55. ($20 food/drink min.), 7pm. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. www.feinsteinsatthenikko.com

Queer Tango @ Finnish Hall, Berkeley Same-sex partner tango dancing, including lessons for newbies, food and drinks. $5-$10. 3:30pm-6:30pm. 1970 Chestnut St, Berkeley. www.finnishhall.org

Spellbound @ The Stud Gothy dance night with DJs Stephen Quinones and Siobhan Aluvalot. $10. 9pm-2am. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

Tag Team @ Powerhouse All the singlets, all the singlets.” (Get it?) Travis Rowland, Mr. Powerhouse Leather 2017, hosts wrestling and sports gear fetish night. $5. 9pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

Mon 25 Gaymer Meetup @ Brewcade The weekly LGBT video game enthusiast night includes big-screen games and signature beers, with a new remodeled layout, including an outdoor patio. No cover. 7pm-11pm. 2200 Market St. brewcadesf.com

Gerri Lawlor Memorial @ Oasis Memorial for the popular theatre and nightlife performer. Donations. 7pm. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Opulence @ Beaux Weekly dance night, with Jocques, DJs Tori, Twistmix and Andre. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Pillows @ Powerhouse Glamamore’s crafts and drag night. 9pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

Queer Bowling @ Mission Bowling Club New 4th Monday party with bowling and grooves by DJs Marke B, Siobhan Aluvalot. $4 cocktails and pints, free til 9pm. 6pm-10pm. 3176 17th St. https://missionbowlingclub.com/

Robyn @ Fox Theatre, Oakland The unique creative pop singer returns for two nights. Channel Tres and Kindness open. $60-$80. 7pm. Also Feb 27. 1807 Telegraph ave., Oakland. http://thefoxoakland.com/

Underwear Night @ 440 Strip down to your skivvies at the popular men’s night. 9pm-2am. 440 Castro St. 621-8732. the440.com

Tue 26 Cock Shot @ Beaux The weeknight party gets going with DJ Chad Bays. No cover. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Gaymer Night @ Midnight Sun

Gigante @ Port Bar, Oakland Juanita MORE! and DJ Frisco Robbie’s weekly event, with Latin, Hip Hop and House music, gogo gals and guys, and a drag show. $5. 9pm-2am. 2023 Broadway, Oakland. www.portoakland.com

NSA @ Club OMG Weekly underwear party at the intimate mid-Market nightclub. $1 well drinks for anyone in underwear from 9pm-10pm. 43 6th St. http://www.clubomgsf.com

Fuego @ The Watergarden, San Jose Weekly DJed sex party with Latin videos and musics, free salsa bar, half-price lockers, at the famed South Bay bath house. 4pm-12am. 1010 The Alameda, San Jose. www.thewatergarden.com

Gym Class @ Hi Tops Enjoy whiskey shots from jockstrapped hotties and sexy sports videos at the popular sports bar. 10pm-2am. 2247 Market St. 551-2500. www.HiTopsSF.com

Latin Explosion @ Club 21 Latin beats, Lulu and Jacqueline’s drag show, gogo hotties and a packed crowd. $10-$15. 9pm-4am. 2111 Franklin St. club21oakland.com

Literary Speakeasy @ Martuni’s Strong cocktails and powerful words with authors and poets Missy Church, Nancy Patrice Davenport, Jeanne Lupton, René Vaz, and Siamak Vossoughi; hosted by James J. Siegel. 7pm. 4 Valencia St.

Porn @ The Stud Queer sex worker party. $10. 9pm2am. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

Steve Tyrell @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko The crooner will feature selections from his newly-expanded Back to Bacharach album, his 2018 album, A Song for You, as well as various favorites. $75-$115 ($20 food/drink min.). Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. www.feinsteinsatthenikko.com

Thump @ White Horse, Oakland Weekly electro music night. 9pm-2am. 6551 Telegraph Ave, (510) 652-3820. www.whitehorsebar.com

Thursday Night Live @ SF Eagle Rock bands play at the famed leather bar. $8. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com To submit event listings, email events@ebar.com Deadline is each Thursday, a week before publication.

Marques Daniels

Nightlife Events>>

Pan Dulce @ Beaux Drag divas, gogo studs, DJed Latin grooves and drinks. 9pm-2am (free before 10:30pm). 2344 Market St. www.clubpapi.com

Queeraoke @ El Rio Midweek drag rave and vocal open mic, with Dulce de Leche, Rhani Nothingmore, Beth Bicoastal, Ginger Snap and guests. 10pm. 3158 Mission St. http://www.elriosf.com/

Wed 27

Pan Dulce @ Beaux

Thu 28 Beer Bust @ Lone Star Saloon Weekly beer bust and benefit for local charities. 9pm-11pm. 1354 Harrison St. www.lonestarsf.com

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Weekly fun night of games (video, board and other) and cocktails. 8pm12am. 4067 18th St. www.midnightsunsf.com

Impromptu! @ Main Street Bistro, Guerneville Pop-up piano bar with comic singer/ composer Tom Orr and pianist Russell Deason. Food & drinks available; no cover. 6:30pm-11:30pm. 16280 Main St., Guerneville. mainstation.com

Sing Out @ Encore Karaoke Lounge Home of drag shows, and hilaraoke karaoke. 9pm-1am. 1550 California St. #2. 775-0442.

Vice Tuesdays @ Q Bar Queer femmes and friends dance party with hip hop, Top 40 and throwbacks at the stylish intimate bar, with DJs Val G and Iris Triska. 9pm2am. 456 Castro St. www.QbarSF.com

The Wizard of Poz @ SF Eagle Leather title holders and drag talents perform an especially queer take on the The Wizard of Oz. $5. 8pm. 398 12th St. www.sf-eagle.com

Wed 27

the official magazine of san francisco pride 2019

Bar of One’s Own @ The Stud Happy hour for writers of all kinds, with Xandra Ibarra. 5pm-7:30pm. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

Call 415-829-8937 Advertising@ebar.com

<< Arts Events

Feb. 21-28, 2019

Arts Events

30 • Bay Area Reporter • February 21-27, 2019

Black Choreographers Festival @ Dance Mission African Americn dances performed by several companies. Thru Mar. 10, 3316 24th St. Also Mar. 2-3 at SAFEhouse Arts, 145 Eddy St, and Mar. 9-10 at Laney College Theater, Oakland. www.bcfhereandnow.com

Border People @ The Marsh Dan Hoyle’s new solo show embodies multiple characters based around the U.S./Mexico border wall controversies; extended thru April 27. $25-$100. Thu & Fri 8pm, Sat 5pm. 1062 Valencia St. www.themarsh.org

Classic and New Films @ Castro Theatre Feb 21: Bay Area Book Festival presents An Evening with Gloria Steinem (7pm, www.womenlit.org) $15-$20. Feb 22: What’s Up, Doc? (7pm) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978, 8:50pm). Feb 23: Peaches Christ’s Mean Gays ($30$110, 4pm, 8pm). Feb 24: Disney’s Moana sing-along (11:30am). Feb 24: All About Eve (2:15, 7pm) and Orson Welles’ restored film The Other Side of the Wind (4:45, 9:30). Feb 25: Bohemian Rhapsody sing-along (7pm). Feb 28-Mar 2: Lesbians Who Tech presentations. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com

Events @ Manny’s Feb 21: homelessness discussion. Feb 22: Youth Speakers open mic, 7pm. Feb 23: screening of 12 Years a slave. Feb 24: Oscar party viewing 5pm. Feb 27: DeRay McKesson book signing. $6-$54. 7:30pm. 3092 16th St. https://welcometomannys.com/

Galatea @ CounterPulse New rock musical adaptation of Ovid’s classic story Pygmalion. $20$35. Thu-Sat 8pm, Sun 2pm, thru Feb. 24. 80 Turk St. www.counterpulse.org

I, Too, Sing America @ Brava Theater Poetic works by Langston Hughes, Jean Toomer, Beyonce and poets of color, set to music and dance. $15$45. Thu-Sat 8pm, Sun 2pm, thru Feb 24. 2781 24th St. www.sfbatco.org

Paradise Square @ Berkeley Repertory New musical about the 1860s Black and Irish-populated Five Points district of New York (Book by Marcus Gardley, Craig Lucas, and Larry Kirwan; Music by Jason Howland and Larry Kirwan, Lyrics by Nathan Tysen; based on the songs of Stephen Foster). $40-$115. Thru March 3. 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. www.berkeleyrep.org

Risa Jaroslow & Dancers @ ODC Theater At Your Service, a wait staff and wage-rights-themed dance, is premiered. $15-$30. Thu Sat 8pm thru Feb 23. 3153 17th St. www.odc.dance

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Mary Zimmerman’s award-winning modern adaptation of Ovid’s iconic mythological story collection returns in a new co-production with The Guthrie Theatre. $28-$115. Thru Mar 10. 2015 Addison St., Berkeley. www.berkeleyrep.org

Prolific playwright and director John Fisher’s new solo show’s subtitled The D-Day Invasion to the Fall of Berlin. $20-$100. Thu 8pm, Sat 8:30pm. Extended thru March 9. 1062 Valencia St. themarshsf.com

SoMa Nights @ GLBT History Museum SoMa Nights: 1980s-1990s Queer Club Photography, an exhibit of prints by prolific photographer Melissa Hawkins. $5. 4127 18th St. www.glbthistory.org

The 7 Fingers @ Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley

Thu 21

A History of World War II @ The Marsh

Program 3: In Space and Time, thru Feb 24. Special NiteOut post-show party with LGBT patrons and performers (Mar. 29 & April 19). $64-$325. 8pm. 301 Van Ness Ave. www.sfballet.org/niteout

Fri 22 For full listings, visit www.ebar.com/events

Metamorphosis @ Berkeley Rep

San Francisco Ballet @ War Mem’l Opera House

What awaits you behind that curtain? Find out at theatrical and other arts events this week.

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Show Us Your Spines @ SF Public Library Radar Productions presents and evening of interdisciplinary performances by Jose Figueroa, Tanea Lunsford Lynx, Gato Rodriguez, and Juniper Yun. 6pm. James C. Hormel Center, 3rd floor, 100 Larkin St. www.sfpl.org

Steve Grand @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko The hunky gay singer performs his affable rock-pop-country songs, including music from his new album, Not the End of Me. $65$90 ($20 food/drink min.), 8pm. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. www. feinsteinsatthenikko.com/

Fri 22 The 7 Fingers @ Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley Stunningly fun Canadian circustheatre arts troupe performs their new full-scale work, Reversible, an exploration of the role ancestors play in the shaping of modern identities. $30-$68. Fri & Sat 8pm, Sun 3pm. Thru Feb 24. Bancroft Way at Dana, UC Berkeley campus. www.calperformances.org

Creditors @ Aurora Theatre, Berkeley August Stringdberg’s drama (powerful psychodrama about a sexual triangle taken to destructive extremes) is performed in a new version by David Greig. $35-$70. Extended thru March 3. 2081 Addison St., Berkeley. www.auroratheatre.org

Every Day Alice @ PianoFight Utopia Theatre Project’s production of Anne Yumi Kobori’s modern take on Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan as a couple. $12-$35. 7pm. Thru Mar. 9. 144 Taylor St. www.utopiatheatreproject.com

Her Portmanteau @ Strand Theatre

Late Company @ NCTC Jordan Tannahill’s gripping family drama about antigay bullies, redemption and anger, gets its West Coast-premiere. $20-$50. Wed-Sat 8pm Sun 2pm. Thru Feb 24. 25 Van Ness Ave, lower level. nctcsf.org

Mark Abramson @ Strut The prolific local author reads from and discusses his new book, Farm Boy, a Memoir with Recipes. 7pm. 470 Castro St. www.markabramson.net

Then They Came For Me @ Futures Without Violence Incarceration of Japanese Americans During WWII and the Demise of Civil Liberties, a touring multimedia exhibit documenting the terrifying period in U.S. history when the government scapegoated and imprisoned thousands of people of Japanese ancestry, including photographs by Dorothea Lange and Ansel Adams. Free. WedSun 10am-6pm. 100 Montgomery St. https://thentheycame.org/

West Side Story @ Berkeley Playhouse Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Lauents, Jerome Robbins and Steven Sondheim’s classic urban musical is performed by the East Bay company. $20-$45. thru Mar. 17. 2640 College Ave., Berkeley. www.berkeleyplayhouse.org

A White Girl’s Guide to International Terrorism @ Creativity Theater Chelsea Marcantel’s drama about post-9/11 America, seen through a young girl’s experience. $30. Thru Mar. 7. 221 4th St. www.sfplayhouse.org

Sat 23 Adam Tendler @ SF Conservatory of Music The acclaimed pianist performs and discusses works by Cage, Rzewski, Lauten, and Bartók. $20. 7:30pm. 50 Oak St. http://adamtendler.com/ http://www.pianotalks.org/

Forever, a Moment: Black Meditations on Time and Space @ SOMArts Group exhibit; curators Yetunde Olagbaju and Kevin Bernard Moultrie Daye feature 15 Bay Area artists who explore Black identity. Thru April 6. 934 Brannan St. www.somarts.org

Sat 23 Mark Abramson @ Strut

The Mushroom Cure @ The Marsh Adam Strauss’ hit solo show about overcoming mental issues through psychotropics. $20-$100. Saturdays, 8:30pm, thru March 30. 1062 Valencia St. www.themarsh.org

Overlooked Latinas @ Brava Theater Studio Tina D’Elia’s comic solo show about queer telenovela characters and family drama. $10-$25. Sat 8pm, Sun 3pm thru Mar. 3. 2781 24th St. at York. www.brava.org

SF Hiking Club @ Mount Tamalpais Join GLBT hikers of the SF Hiking Club for an 11-mile hike to circle Mt Tam. Carpool meets 8:45 at Safeway sign, Market & Dolores. (510) 985-0804. sfhiking.com

Nigerian playwright Mfoniso Udofia’s Ufot Family Cycle is performed thru Mar. 31 at 1127 Market St., and In Old Age at the Magic Theatre, 2 Marina Blvd, Mar. 27-April 21. $40-$100. www.ufotplays-sf.com

Hot Rod to Hell @ The Magazine Record release party, poetry reading and film screening of the gay porn classic, with Roy Garrett. 6pm-9pm. 920 Larkin St. themagazinesf.com

King of the Yees @ SF Playhouse Lauren Yee’s comic play about a Chinese American family, a missing father, and a 150-year-old men’s club. $25-$125. Tue-Thu & Sun 7pm. Fri & Sat 8pm. Sat & Sun 2pm. Thru March 2. 450 Post St. 2nd floor. sfplayhouse.org

Sat 23 Adam Tendler @ SF Conservatory of Music

Arts Events>>

February 21-27, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 31

That Don Reed Show @ The Marsh Berkeley

Monet: The Late Years @ de Young Museum

The acclaimed local playwright/performer returns with his hit solo show that takes on Black stereotypes and show business bias. $20-$100. Sat 8:30pm, Sun 5:30pm, thru Mar. 17. 2120 Allston Way, Berkeley. www.themarsh.org

New exhibit of the French Impressionist’s great later works, including Water Lilies ; thru May 27. Also, Gaugin: A Spiritual Journey, an exhibit of the French painter’s Tahitian paintings, and works by artists who influenced him. Thru April 7. Free/$15. 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, Golden Gate Park. www.famsf.org

Trans & Singing @ Community Music Center Workshops, presentations and vocal symposium for/with transgender singers and choral organizers, with New Voices Bay Area TIGQ Chorus. Fre/ register. 3pm-9:30pm. 544 Capp St. http://tinyurl.com/ trans-and-singing

SF Hiking Club @ Half Moon Bay

Thu 28

Violet @ Alcazar Theater

Join GLBT hikers of the SF Hiking Club for a 6-mile hike by the ocean at CowellPurisima Coastal Trail near Half Moon Bay. Carpool meets at Safeway sign, Market & Dolores, at 9am. 650-740-9849. sfhiking.com

Bay Area Musicals’ In Search of the Glass Slipper @ SF Public Library new production of Jeanine Tesori and Brian Crawley’s Tonynominated musical about a young women’s spiritual cross-country journey. $35-$65. Thru Mar. 17. Antarctica in Expedition Reef @ Califor650 Geary St. www.bamsf.org Fiction and Fact

Sun 24

nia Academy of Sciences

Wonderland @ Berkeley City Club Gary Graves’s dark comedy mixes Kafka and Alice in Wonderland. $15-$38. Thu & Fri 8pm, Sat 7pm, Sun 5pm, thru Mar 17. 2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. www.centralworks.org

Exhibits and planetarium shows with various live, interactive and installed exhibits about animals, plants and the earth; Deep Reefs, Giants of Land and Sea, Gems and Minerals, and more. $20-$35. MonSat 9:30am-5pm. Sun 11am-5pm. 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park. 379-8000. calacademy.org

Mon 25 @ Folio Books

Join authors Erika Atkinson, Lucy Jane Bledsoe, and UC Berkeley professor Kurt Cuffey as they read from their works on Antarctica and climate change affecting the continent. 7pm. 3957 24th St. http://foliosf.com

Modern Art @ SF MOMA Wayne Thiebaud, Etel Adnan, Alexander Calder, Donald Judd, Louise Bourgeois and many classic Modern works. The Sea Ranch: Architecture, Envioronment and Idealism (thru April 28). Vija Celmins: To Fix the Image in Memory, thru March 31. Free/$25. Fri-Tue 10am-6pm. 151 3rd St. www.sfmoma.org

Show Me as I Want to Be Seen @ Contemporary Jewish Museum Show Me as I Want to Be Seen, the work of groundbreaking French Jewish artist, Surrealist, and activist Claude Cahun (1894–1954) and her lifelong lover and collaborator Marcel Moore (1892–1972), thru July 7. 736 Mission St. www.thecjm.org

Tue 26 Impromptu! @ Main Street Bistro, Guerneville Pop-up piano bar with comic singer/composer Tom Orr and pianist Russell Deason. Food & drinks available; no cover. 6:30pm-11:30pm. 16280 Main St., Guerneville. www.mainstation.com

Readings @ City Lights Bookstore Maxine Gorden on jazz legend Dexter Gordon. 7pm. 261 Columbus Ave. www.citylights.com

Westward @ City Hall Exhibit of large-scale photos by women photographers focusing on West Coast communities. Thru May 2019. North Light Court, Ground Floor, 1 Dr Carlton B Goodlett Place. www.sfartscommission.org

Wed 27 #We @ Octopus Literary Salon Reading and talk series on queer perspectives, with poet Jan Steckel and Tom Odegard. 7pm. 2101 Webster St., Oakland. oaklandoctopus.org/

Nona Caspers, Brian Thorstenson @ SF Public Library The acclaimed local author of The Fifth Woman reads with the actorplaywright. 6pm. James Hormel Room, 3rd floor, 100 Larkin St. www.sfpl.org

Thu 28 Fighting Back @ GLBT History Museum Love, Marriage and Queers: 15 Years Bliss?, a discussion about the history of marriage equality. $5. 7pm. 4127 18th St. www.glbthistory.org

In Search of the Glass Slipper @ SF Public Library Perci Chester’s ‘70s gay community photo exhibit; opening reception, Feb 28, 6pm-7:30pm, thru May 16. 100 Larkin St. www.sfpl.org

Lesbians Who Tech @ Citywide Annual conference of multiple business and social events for women in technology. https://lesbianswhotech.org/ sanfrancisco2019/ To submit event listings, email events@ebar.com Deadline is each Thursday, a week before publication.

Shining Stars Steven Underhill Photos by

Furrplay @ Oasis F

urr Play at Oasis drew husky bears, otters and their pals to the dance event at the popular SoMa nightclub on February 15. Oasis, 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com See plenty more photos on BARtab’s Facebook page, facebook.com/lgbtsf.nightlife. See more of Steven Underhill’s photos at StevenUnderhill.com.

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