February 1, 2018 edition of the Bay Area Reporter by Bay Area Reporter

Missing Gay SF man found dead

Mayoral debate announced

ARTS

Sleeping Beauty

MORE! Stuff

The

www.ebar.com

Since 1971, the newspaper of record for the San Francisco Bay Area LGBTQ community

Vol. 48 • No. 5 • February 1-7, 2018

Medical pot pioneer Dennis Peron dies

by Liz Highleyman

ennis Peron, a gay man who spearheaded the fight for medical cannabis, died after a long battle with lung cancer Saturday, January 27, soon after the implementation of Rick Gerharter a law allowing rec- Dennis Peron reational marijuana use in California. He was 71. “Dennis deserves singular credit for imagining and launching the medical marijuana movement during the darkest days of the AIDS pandemic,” longtime activist Cleve Jones told the Bay Area Reporter. “He fought for patients’ access, was arrested multiple times, and never backed down. The fact that Californians can today use cannabis recreationally is his legacy.” See page 13 >>

Designers weigh comments on Milk plaza Castro resident Kile Ozier talks about his small group’s thoughts on a reimagined Harvey Milk Plaza at the first of four community meetings January 27 in the Castro.

Tony Taylor

by Tony Taylor

eople continue to have mixed views on the plans to renovate Harvey Milk Plaza, even as speakers at two recent meetings voiced concerns over the current space. On the one hand, designers and the Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza envision a sweeping

new public space, while others are critical of initial renderings and wonder how the space will avoid becoming a magnet for homeless people. The Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza started on the project last year, planning to incorporate plaza changes with accessibility improvements led by the San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Agency.

After a series of internet surveys, in-person conversations began last week to determine the fate of the Castro’s “plaza for the people.” Led by Perkins Eastman, the winning design firm that is based in New York and has an office in San Francisco, the plan is to convert the corner of Castro and Market streets into a community space that offers locals, visitors, See page 14 >>

Breed pivots back to being board prez

by Matthew S. Bajko

Besties balloting begins by Cynthia Laird

alloting for the Bay Area Reporter’s eighth readers’ poll, the Besties, begins Thursday (February 1). The popular contest allows readers to share their favorite LGBT-owned and LGBT-friendly people, places, and things in the Bay Area. Categories run the gamut from arts and culture to nightlife to dining to community. There are also destinations nominees and more. Look for some new entries this year, such as best personal trainer. Additionally there are two categories for cannabis, reflecting the now-legal use of recreational marijuana by adults. The entries for local nonprofits have been reconfigured, with mostly new nominees. See page 14 >>

wo days after being jettisoned as acting mayor of San Francisco by a majority of her colleagues on the Board of Supervisors, District 5 Supervisor London Breed showed no signs that the political upheaval at City Hall had diminished her spirit. Rather, during a 45-minute interview in her supervisor office with the Bay Area Reporter Thursday, January 25, Breed hit back at her critics and pledged to continue to focus on the needs of the city as president of the board. “I am excited and fired up. I have received an influx of support since this thing happened on Tuesday from all sorts of people,” said Breed, who is a leading contender to be elected mayor in the special election June 5 that was scheduled due to the sudden death last month of former mayor Ed Lee. In a maneuver that surprised many in the city, the board’s five progressive members, along with more moderate District 8 Supervisor Jeff Sheehy, elected Mark Farrell as the city’s interim mayor when the board met January 23. Formerly the District 2 supervisor, Farrell will occupy Room 200 at City Hall until the winner of the June race is sworn in. It was an outcome that Breed did not see coming. Prior to the vote for Farrell, four board members, including Sheehy, had voted to make Breed interim mayor, but it was two votes short of the total she needed. “I was not expecting to be made interim mayor

Rick Gerharter

Board of Supervisors President London Breed

because I knew I didn’t have the votes,” said Breed. “I didn’t expect it would be Mark Farrell.” Supporters of Breed, the first African-American woman to serve as the city’s mayor, were incensed at seeing her replaced with a conservative white venture capitalist. They castigated the board’s decision as racist and sexist. Those supportive of the move stressed it had nothing to do with Breed’s race or gender and was more about maintaining a separation of power between the board and the mayor’s office. Her colleagues chose Farrell to be a “caretaker mayor” since he opted not to enter the mayoral

{ FIRST OF THREE SECTIONS }

race by the January 9 deadline to file. They had argued it would not be fair to keep Breed as mayor, which she automatically became upon Lee’s death due to her being board president, while she ran to be elected to the position in June. In a guest opinion piece he wrote for the B.A.R. this week, Sheehy, the sole gay member of the board and the city’s first known HIV-positive supervisor, reiterated that argument. After Breed failed to be elected interim mayor, Sheehy asked himself if Farrell could capably lead the city as a “full-time mayor.” His answer, wrote Sheehy, was “a resounding yes.” Breed told the B.A.R. she found it “unfortunate” that Sheehy “did not keep his word” in regard to the interim mayor vote. She noted she had worked to address a number of issues in Sheehy’s district during the roughly six weeks she served as acting mayor, such as cleaning up the area behind the Safeway on upper Market Street where many homeless people set up tents and used needles often litter the bike path. “I have been nothing but supportive of him and the folks in District 8,” said Breed. Having endorsed Sheehy in his bid to retain his supervisor seat in the special election on the June ballot, as he was appointed to fill a vacancy by Lee last January, Breed said she does not intend to rescind her endorsement. In that race Sheehy is facing a strong challenge from gay City College trustee Rafael Mandelman. “We will have a relationship as long as he is See page 14 >>

VOTE TO WIN

ONE OF SEVERAL VALUABLE PRIZES JUST FOR VOTING FOR YOUR FAVORITE PLACES, PEOPLE AND THINGS TO DO IN SAN FRANCISCO AND THE BAY AREA. GRAND PRIZE: For our 2018 BESTIES top THIRD PRIZE: $500 shopping spree at the prize, what’s better than cold-hard cash? Our world-famous Cliff’s Variety in the heart of grand prize winner will receive $500. San Francisco’s Castro district.

FIFTH PRIZE: Two (2) tickets to see

SECOND PRIZE: Two nights’ accommodations FOURTH PRIZE: $250 Gift Certificate to

EARLY-BIRD PRIZE: Vote early (by February 8) and we’ll choose at random five (5) qualified entries to each receive a pair of tickets to see Beach Blanket Babylon.

at the Stanford Court Hotel, San Francisco.

San Francisco’s historic Cliff House.

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 eighth 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 1, 2018. Survey results will be published in the April 12 issue of the B.A.R. If you have any questions about the survey, please contact our office at (415) 861-5019.

Best Modern Dance Company

Best Art Museum

£ Asian Art Museum £ Contemporary Jewish Museum £ de Young Museum £ GLBT History Museum £ Legion of Honor £ Museum of Craft and Design £ Museum of the African Diaspora £ Oakland Museum of California £ San Jose Museum of Art £ BAMPFA £ Walt Disney Family Museum ✎

Best Ballet Dance Company £ Alonzo King Lines Ballet £ Ballet San Jose £ Diablo Ballet £ Oakland Ballet £ Post:ballet £ Smuin Ballet ✎

Best Choral Group

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

£ AXIS Dance Co. £ Jess Curtis/Gravity £ Joe Goode Performance Group £ Katie Faulkner/little seismic £ Keith Hennessy/Circo Zero £ ODC Dance £ Sean Dorsey Dance ✎

Best Nature or Science Museum

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

Best Small Music Venue £ Martuni’s £ Thee Parkside £ Rickshaw Stop £ El Rio £ SF Eagle ✎

Best Large Music Venue £ The Chapel £ Great American Music Hall £ Masonic Hall £ Regency Center £ Slim’s £ The Warfield ✎

£ Asian Pacific Islander Wellness Center £ Lyon-Martin Health Services £ Positive Resource Center £ SF Night Ministry £ Strut ✎

Best HIV/AIDS Nonprofit £Marty’s Place £Project Inform £Project Open Hand £Q Foundation £ Shanti ✎

Best LGBT Nonprofit

£Bay Area American Indian TwoSpirits £Castro Country Club £Oakland LGBTQ Community Center £Queer Woman of Color Media Arts Project £ Trans Lifeline ✎

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 £ Oakland Raiders £ Golden State Warriors £ SF 49ers £SF Giants £ SJ Sharks ✎

Best Theatre Company

£ American Conservatory Theater £ Aurora Theatre £ Berkeley Repertory Theatre £Curran Theatre £ New Conservatory Theatre Center £ Ray of Light Theatre £ SHN £ Theatre Rhinoceros ✎

Best Classical Venue

£ Davies Symphony Hall £ Herbst Theatre, Veteran’s Building £ War Memorial Opera House £ Old First Church £ SF Conservatory of Music ✎

Best Health-Related Nonprofit

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

Best LGBT Fundraiser £ Academy of Friends £ AIDS Walk SF £ Help Is On The Way/REAF £ Mighty Real Gala / PRC £ Real Bad Party ✎

ERASURE this August at the Masonic Theatre, courtesy of Live Nation.

Best Bar/Nightclub to Meet Transgender People

Best Sports Bar

£ Asia SF £ Aunt Charlie’s Lounge £ Divas £ Oasis ✎

£ 440 Castro £ The Edge £ Lookout £ Hi Tops £ Pilsner Inn ✎

BestBeer Selection

Best SoMa Bar/Nightclub

£ 440 Castro £ Pilsner Inn £ SF Eagle £ Toronado ✎

Best Cabaret Venue

£ Bay Area Cabaret, the Venetian Room £ Feinstein’s at the Nikko £ Hotel Rex £ Martuni’s £ Oasis ✎

Best Castro Bar/Nightclub £ 440 Castro £ Badlands £ Beaux £ The Café £ The Edge £ Last Call £ Lookout £ Midnight Sun £ The Mix £ Moby Dick £ Qbar £ Toad Hall ✎

Best Dance Floor £ 1015 Folsom £ Beaux £ The Café £ City Nights £ Club BnB, Oakland £ Club Six £ DNA Lounge £ EndUp £ Oasis ✎

Best East Bay Bar

BARS

Best Bar/Nightclub to Meet Men £ The Café £ 440 Castro £ Club 21, Oakland £ Hole in the Wall £ Lone Star Saloon £ SF Eagle £ Powerhouse ✎

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

£ Club BnB £ Club 21 £ Port Bar £ Turf Club £ White Horse Bar ✎

Best Mixed Drink £ Blackbird £ Club OMG £ Driftwood £ Finn Town £ Martuni’s £ Twin Peaks ✎

Best Neighborhood Bar £ The Cinch £ Pilsner Inn £ El Rio £ Twin Peaks £ Virgil’s Sea Room £ Wild Side West ✎

£ Club OMG £ Hole in the Wall £ Lone Star Saloon £ Oasis £ Powerhouse £ SF Eagle £ The Stud ✎

Best Stray (Straight/Gay) Bar £ Blackbird £ Driftwood £ EndUp £ New Parish, Oakland £ Slate £ The Uptown, Oakland £ Wild Side West ✎

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

NIGHTLIFE EVENTS

Best Drag Show

£ Femme at Balancoire £ Glamazone at The Café £ The Monster Show at The Edge £ Mother at Oasis £ Sex, Drags & Rock n Roll at Midnight Sun £ Sunday’s a Drag at The Starlight Room £ 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 ✎

Best Game Night

£ Bottoms Up Bingo at Hi Tops £ Gaymers at Brewcade £ Gaymer Night at SF Eagle £ Trivia Night at Harvey’s £ 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 £ Daddy at The Powerhouse £ Lick It at the Powerhouse £ ONYX at Powerhouse ✎

Best Monthly

Nightlife Event

£ Afternoon Delight at New Parish £ Beatpig at The Powerhouse £ Black Fridays at The Stud £ Bollywood Blast, Club OMG £ Boy Division at Codeword £ Comedy Returns at El Rio £ Daytime Realness at El Rio £ Disco Daddy at SF Eagle £ Frolic at SF Eagle £ Gameboi at Rickshaw Stop £ Go Bang! at The Stud £ Makeout Party at SF Eagle £ Mascara, Harvey Milk Academy £ Polyglamorous at Oasis £ Puff at The Stud £ Swagger Like Us at Oasis £ Uhaul at Oasis £ Vivvy’s Grand Opening, Stud ✎

Best Nightlife Event (non-weekly/nonmonthly)

£ Asheq at Slate £ Bearracuda (various venues) £ Comfort & Joy (various venues) £ Hard French at El Rio £ House Party at The Powerhouse £ ShangriLa at The EndUp ✎

Best Stage Show in a Bar/Nightclub

£ Above and Beyond the Valley of the Ultra Showgirls at Oasis £ Baloney at Oasis £ Bitch Slap! at Oasis £ Dandy at Oasis £ Debbie Does Dallas at Oasis £ Mommy Queerest at Oasis £ Red Hots Burlesque at The Stud £ Three’s Company at Oasis ✎

BestTheme Night

£ Cubcake at The Lone Star Saloon £ Gym Class at Hi Tops £ Mazel Top at Oasis £ Onesie Parties at Lookout £ Pound Puppy at the SF Eagle ✎

Best Unusual Nightlife Event

£ After Dark at The Exporatorium £ BAAAHS guerrilla parties £ GAPA Runway £ Flagging in the Park £ Frolic at SF Eagle £ Nightlife at the California Academy of Sciences £ Nightlife at the de Young £ Project Nunway at SOMArts £ Richmond/Ermet gala concerts (Broadway Bares, One Night Only, Help Is On The Way) £ Sexitude at Oasis ✎

Best Weekly Nightlife Event

£ Bandit at Lone Star Saloon £ Beer Bust at SF Eagle £ Beer Bust, Lone Star Saloon £ Domingo de Escandalo, Club OMG £ Gayface at El Rio £ Junk at Powerhouse £ The Monster Show, The Edge £ Mother at Oasis £ Musical Mondays, The Edge £ Sundance Saloon, Space 550 £ Underwear Night, Club OMG ✎

Best Women’s Event

£ Cockblock at Rickshaw Stop £ Girl Scout at Port Bar Oakland £ Mango at El Rio £ Pussy Party at Beaux £ Ships in the Night at New Parish, Oakland £ Switch at Qbar £ Uhaul at Oasis ✎

PEOPLE

Best Bartender

£ Andy Anderson, 440 Castro £ Michael Breshears, Lookout £ Robbie Cheah, Oasis £ Steve Dalton, SF Eagle £ Charlie Evans, Lone Star Saloon £ Jeffrey Green, Twin Peaks Tavern £ Kurtis Janitch, Beaux £ Aaron Isaac Joshua, Qbar £ Erick Lopez, The Edge £ Billy Nance, Midnight Sun £ Michael Tempesta, Midnight Sun £ Tommy Trujillo, Beaux ✎

Best Cabaret Performer (Female) £ Leanne Borghesi £ Connie Champagne £ Sony Holland £ Paula West £ Wesla Whitfield ✎

Best Cabaret Performer (Male) £ Jason Brock £ Brian Kent £ Barry Lloyd £ Russ Lorenson £ Joe Wicht ✎

Best Faux Queen £ Scarlet Astrid £ Alotta Boutté £ Madd Dogg 20/20 £ Trixxie Carr £ Crème Fatale £ Fauxnique £ Bruja Palmiero £ Holotta Tymes £ Miss Shugana £ Black Benatar ✎

Best Gogo Guy

Best Cabaret Performer (Drag) £ Vanessa Bousay £ Honey Mahogany £ Matthew Martin £ Katya Smirnoff-Skyy ✎

Best Comic (Female)

£ Lisa Geduldig £ Natasha Muse £ Marilyn Pittman £ Karen Ripley £ Irene Tu £ Gina Yashere ✎

£ Claudio Boser £ Teddy Bryce £ Jim Collins £ Josh Colwell £ Chad Dawson £ Aram Giragos £ Connor Hochleutner £ Ilya Khristoforov £ James Kindle £ Eric Osborn £ Simon Palczynski £ William Ramseur £ Albert Rubio £ Chad Stewart £ Colin Stack-Troost £ Andrew Slade £ Michael Tempesta £ Paul William £ Ty Vincent ✎

Best Gogo Gal

Best Comic (Male) £ Justin Lucas £ Nick Leonard £ Ronn Vigh £ Sampson McCormick £ Jesus U. Betta Work ✎

Best DJ

£ Balthazar £ Becky Knox £ Bus Station John £ Carrie on Disco £ DAMnation £ China G £ David Harness £ G Star £ Gehno Sanchez Aviance £ Jason Kendig £ Jenna Riot £ Justime £ Hawthorne £ Lady Ryan £ Lady Shar £ Luna £ Marke Bieschke £ Mark O’Brien £ MC2 £ Ms. Jackson £ Najee Renee £ Olga T £ Page Hodel £ Siobhan Aluvalot £ Skyler Madison £ Tweaka Turner ✎

Best DJ Duo/Group £ Adrian & Mysterious D £ BAAAHS £ Hard French £ Honey Soundsystem £ Go Bang! ✎

Best Drag King

£ Leigh Crow £ Clammy Faye £ Mickey Finn £ Arty Fishal £ Fudgie Frottage £ Alex U. Inn £ Mason Dixon Jars £ Kegel Kater £ Pepe Pan £ Kit Tapata £ Chester Vanderbox £ Vegas Jake ✎

Best Drag Queen £ Au Jus £ Carnie Asada £ D’Arcy Drollinger £ Sugah Betes £ Glamamore £ Intensive Claire £ Trangela Lansbury £ Raya Light £ Heklina £ Honey Mahogany £ Joie de Vivre £ Landa Lakes £ Mercedez Munro £ Mutha Chucka £ Peaches Christ £ Peggy L’Eggs £ Juanita MORE! £ Cash Monet £ Donna Persona £ Rahni NothingMore £ Sister Roma £ Phatima Rude £ Donna Sachet £ Bebe Sweetbriar £ Grace Towers £ U-Phoria £ Valentine ✎

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

Best Host/MC

£ Peaches Christ £ Heklina £ Lance Holman £ Maria Konner £ Gina LaDivinia £ Honey Mahogany £ Pollo del Mar £ Juanita MORE! £ Mark Paladini £ Donna Sachet £ Sister Roma £ Grace Towers £ Tweaka Turner ✎

Best Band/Musician

£ Matt Alber £ Eli Conley £ Double Duchess £ Vagabondage £ The Klipptones £ Maria Konner & Not From Jersey £ Tom Shaw Trio £ Xavier Toscano £ Whoa Nellies £ Joe Wicht ✎

Best Nightlife Photographer

£ Cabure Bonugli/Shot in the City £ Fabian Echevarria/FBFE £ Gareth Gooch £ Marques Daniels £ Georg Lester £ Lydia Gonzales £ CJ Knight £ Uel Renteria £ Rich Stadmiller £ Steven Underhill £ Tom Schmidt/Dot ✎

City/Town: Country: Email Address:

State:

ZIP:

Best Coffee Shop £ Blue Bottle £ La Boulange £ Church Street Cafe £ Coffee Bar £ Dolores Park Café £ Four Barrel £ Philz £ Peet’s £ Starbuck’s £ Spike’s £ Verve ✎

Best Dessert

£ La Luna £ Sift £ Sweet Inspirations £ Tartine Bakery £ Tout Sweet ✎

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

Best Outdoor Patio £ Bar Agricole £ Café Flore £ Catch £ Fable £ Foreign Cinema £ Magic Flute £ Starbelly £ Stable £ Sycamore £ Zazie £ Zeitgeist ✎

Best Late Night Restaurant £ DNA Pizza £ Flour + Water £ Grubstake £ It’s Tops £ Lori’s Diner £ Orphan Andy’s £ The View ✎

Best Happy Hour Bites £ Alchemist £ Azucar Lounge £ Bar Crudo £ Dosa £ Farralon £ Hi Tops £ Nopa £ Picaro Tapas ✎

Best Bar Menu £ Bar Tartine £ Bender’s £ Harvey’s £ Hi Tops £ Lookout £ Tempest £ Trick Dog ✎

Best Food Delivery App

Best Breakfast £ Moulin Rouge £ Orphan Andy’s £ Plow £ Stacks ✎

£ Caviar £ Munchery £ Eat24 £ GrubHub ✎

Best Brunch

£ Breakfast at Tiffany’s £ Dottie’s £ Hazel’s Kitchen £ Kate’s Kitchen £ Squat & Gobble ✎

Best Lunch

£ Basil £ Café Flore £ Farm: Table £ Harvey’s £ Super Duper £ Toast ✎

Best Bank/Credit Union £ Bank of America £ SF Federal Credit Union £ Sterling Bank and Trust £ Technology Credit Union £ Wells Fargo ✎

Best Barbershop

Best Dinner

£ Bijou £ Cala £ Canela £ Catch £ Chow £ Delfina £ Eureka Lounge £ Finn Town £ Firewood Café

Enter Your Information to Qualify for the Prize Drawings Name:

£ Frances £ Lark £ Little Gem £ Marlowe £ Nomica £ Poesia £ Saison ✎

£ Daddy’s Barbershop £ Glama-Rama £ Jungle Red Hair Salon £ Louie’s Barbershop £ Male Image £ Metamorphosis ✎

Best Bicycle Shop

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

Best Bookstore

Best Veterinarian

Best Dentist

Best Vintage Clothing/ Consignment Shop

£ Aardvark £ Alley Cat Books £ Books Inc. Opera Plaza £ Booksmith £ City Lights £ Dog Eared Books £ Green Apple £ Green Arcade ✎ £ Financial District Dental Care £ Opera Plaza Dentistry £ Michael Perona, DDS £ University of the Pacific ✎

Best Dog Park

£ Mission Pet Hospital £ San Francisco Veterinary House Calls £ Seven Hills Veterinary Hospital £ VCA San Francisco Vet Specialists £ VetPronto ✎

£ Buffalo Exchange £ Crossroads Trading Co. £ Sui Generis £ Wasteland ✎

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

Best Grocery Store (Chain) £ Molly Stone’s Markets £ Safeway £ Trader Joe’s £ Whole Foods ✎

Best Grocery Store (Independent) £ Bi-Rite Market £ Golden Produce/ Golden Natural Foods £ Good Life Grocery £ Gus’s Market £ Rainbow Grocery ✎

Best Gym

£ 24-Hour Fitness £ Fitness SF - Castro £ LiveFit Gym £ SF CrossFit £ SoulCycle - Castro ✎

Best Personal Trainer £ Lifted £ Perform 4 Life £ SkyeFit £ Sessions Training Center £ Volition Fitness ✎

Best Health Care Provider

Best Dating App £ Dandy £ Grindr £ Growlr £ Hornet £ Jack’d £ Manhunt £ Scruff ✎

Best Sex Venue

£ Alchemy £ 442 Natoma £ Blow Buddies £ The Citadel £ Eros £ Nob Hill Theatre £ Steamworks, Berkeley £ Watergarden, San Jose ✎

Best Place to Buy Sex Toys

£ Folsom Gulch £ Good Vibrations £ Rock Hard £ Mr S Leather £ Does Your Mother Know ✎

Best Place to Meet an Online Date/Hookup £ Blow Buddies £Eros £ SF Eagle £ Beck’s Motor Lodge ✎

£ Brown & Toland £ CPMC/Sutter Health £ Kaiser £ UCSF ✎

Best Medical Marijuana Dispensary £ Apothecarium £ Cookies SF £ Green Cross £ Green Door £ Shambhala MCC ✎

Best Recreational Marijuana Dispensary £ Berkeley Patients Group £ Grassroots £ Magnolia Wellness £ Berkeley Patients Care Collective £ SPARC SF ✎

Best Place to Pamper Your Pets

£ Bernal Beast £ Doggie Day Spaw £ George £ Noe Valley Pet Company £ VIP Pet Grooming £ VIP Scrub Club ✎

Best Pet Hotel

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

Best Retirement Community

£ Fountaingrove Lodge £ San Francisco Towers £ The Sequoias – San Francisco ✎

Best Thrift Store

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

MAIL IN THIS BALLOT OR VOTE ONLINE AT

HTTP://BIT.LY/2DREZ0V 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.

Best Beach

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

Best Domestic Getaway

£ Las Vegas £ Fort Lauderdale, Florida £ New York City £ Palm Springs £ Seattle ✎

Best Local Getaway £ Napa £ Santa Cruz £ Sonoma £ Reno-Tahoe £ Russian River ✎

Best Honeymoon Destination £ Hawaii £ Key West £ Paris, France £ Provincetown £ Puerto Vallarta ✎

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

Best Wedding Reception Venue

£ Bently Reserve £ City Club of San Francisco £ Julia Morgan Ballroom £ Terra Gallery ✎

Best Wedding Venue

£ Cal Academy of Sciences £ Claremont Hotel and Spa £ de Young Museum £ Legion of Honor ✎

<< Community News

4 • BAY AREA REPORTER • February 1-7, 2018

HAIR RESTORATION

BEFORE

AFTER

Free Consultation 800-743-4247 Email: RMAforHair@aol.com

THOMAS ROSANELLI, MD

Rick Gerharter

30 years experience • Solo Practitioner Thousands of happy patients

Holocaust Remembrance Day observed

s part of International Holocaust Remembrance Day January 27, volunteers planted a cypress tree in Pink Triangle Park and Memorial in the Castro and then joined for remarks from neighbors, Supervisor Jeff Sheehy, and supervisor candidate Rafael Mandelman. Gerard Koskovich from the GLBT Historical Society gave a brief history of the Nazi attack on homosexuals in 1930s Germany. John Goldsmith, who’s spearheading a renovation project at the park

PRP • ARTAS Robotics • FUE • FUS Platelet Rich Plasma for hair regrowth 20% off first hair restoration procedure* Plus receive 20 units Botox FREE with any hair restoration procedure* *Restrictions apply. New Patients only. Expires 02/28/18

www.Rosanelli.com Rosanelli_2x5.indd 1

1/29/18 12:17 PM

Rabbi formally installed at Sha’ar Zahav

by David-Elijah Nahmod

Tenant Tips For Collecting A Security Deposit

curity deposit because there was a lot of damage. That’s not true.”

A: Maria, thank you for raising this important issue of security deposits. It is one I have touched on before, but your question provides the opportunity to do so again. California Civil Code Section 1950.5 governs the grounds under which security deposits may be collected, held, retained and returned. “Security” means By Chris Dolan any payment, fee, deposit or charge that is imposed at the beThis week’s question comes from Maria in ginning of the tenancy for these Fairfield, who asks: reasons: to reimburse the landlord for costs associated with Q: “My mother rented an apartment on a processing of a new tenant; that month-to-month basis. She gave the landlord first month, last month and two month’s is imposed as an advance payment of rent; to compensate the landlord for non-paysecurity, as required by the landlord. She ment of rent; to repair damages to the and the apartment manager had a dispute premises, exclusive of ordinary wear and concerning my brother and his wife, who tear; and/or for cleaning of the premises came to stay for several days. They were upon termination of the tenancy necessary noisy and upset other tenants. My mom felt to return the unit to the same level of cleanharassed by the manager’s complaints and liness it was in at the beginning of the tenmore. My mom told the manager that she ancy. was going to move out. She gave 30 days’ lineout service up to30 100’, with accessSection point. Warranty included. 1950.5 states a landlord may not notice. SheMain moved before the days May not be combined with other offers. demand or receive security in an amount or and tried to schedule a walkthrough to get Service limited to San Francisco County resident, 8am to 7pm. value more than an amount equal to two her deposit back. The manager said my A locally owned and operated franchise. Lic# 974194 months’ rent in the case of unfurnished resimother could come back and clean the dential property, and an amount equal to apartment and get her remaining items. The www.MrRooter-SFO.com manager then changed her position and told three months’ rent in the case of furnished residential property. This is in addition to my mom she could not come back in to any rent for the first month paid on or before clean or get her things. She also said that initial occupancy. Therefore, the collection she would not give my mother back her se-

Drain Clean Special* Call us 24/7

415-993-9523

SAVING SPACE... BEAUTIFULLY

and is its primary caretaker, told the Bay Area Reporter this week that he is no longer working with the Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit District, explaining that the Eureka Valley Foundation, of which the park is a part, wanted to keep the project neighborhood oriented. He is hoping for grants to improve the irrigation and replace most of the concrete pylons, which are cracked or unstable. For more information, visit www.pinktrianglepark.org.

round 200 people attended Friday night Sabbath services January 26 as Mychal Copeland was formally installed as the rabbi at Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, San Francisco’s synagogue for LGBTQ Jews, loved ones, and friends. Copeland, a lesbian, had actually begun serving at Sha’ar Zahav last summer, but Friday night’s service and ceremony made her position official. A number of Copeland’s teachers and mentors were in attendance at the installation, including Rabbi Patricia Karlin-Neumann, who lit the Sabof four months rent in advance of moving in bath candles. Another of Copeland’s was unlawful. mentors, Steven Carr-Reuben, California Rabbi Civil Code also requires that noted herhold commitment to compasthe landlord the security deposit for the benefit of thejustice. tenant. Within a reasonable sion and time The after notification of either party’s in-their congregation welcomed tention to terminate tenancy, which or beforewas new rabbi with atheblessing, the end of the lease term, the landlord shall readthe aloud ininunison. notify tenant writing of his or her op“Rabbi, welcome to ourandhome, tion to request an initial inspection of they at stated in part. hisyour or hernew righthome,” to be present the inspection. Pursuant to law, a reasonable time, “May tonight beatone of many joybut no occasions earlier than and two weeks theYour ous manybefore smiles. termination or the end of lease date, the family and friends celebrate with you. landlord, or an agent of the landlord, shall, Challenge us to be our best.” upon the request of the tenant, make an iniThe congregation also prior said to a prayer tial inspection of the premises any final the landlord makes afterwere the forinspection all LGBTQ people who forced to live lives of loneliness or had

Rafael Mandelman, a gay Jewish man who sits on the board of City the landlord to repair or clean the premises. tenant has vacated the premSan Francisco, If the College landlord oroflandlord’s employeewas did also in ises. The purpose of the initial is currently not doattendance. the work, the Mandelman landlord shall provide inspection shall be to allow the the tenant a copy the bill, invoice or retenant an opportunity to remedy running forofDistrict 8 supervisor. ceipt supplied or entity peridentified deficiencies, in order “Thisby the is person exciting,” Mandelman, forming the work. The itemized statement to avoid deductions from the sesaid. “She has brought a really great shall provide the tenant with the name, adcurity. The landlord shall give at to thenumber temple. There’s dress feeling and telephone of the persona sense least 48 hours prior written noof renewal vigor – I’mdoes happy to or entity, if the bill, and invoice or receipt tice of the date and time of the be here.” that information. inspection if either a mutual time not include If, within the statutory is agreed upon, or if a mutually Copeland told21-calendar-day the B.A.R. that period, the Sha’ar landlord fails to provide the agreed time cannot be schedthe Zahav community was tenant with the requisite written accounting uled but the tenant still wishes “amazing.” of the portion of the security deposit to be an inspection. blessed be welcomed retained,“Ithefeel landlord musttoreturn the entire by After the pre-departure inthis group of people,” she said, notdeposit to the tenant. spection, the landlord shall give Theing bad-faith claimwas or retention by a the tenant an itemized statethat she too overcome with landlord or the landlord’s in in- Her ment specifying repairs or cleanemotion to offer successors a full statement. terest12-year-old of the securityson, or any portion thereof said ings that are proposedRick to be the Gerharter Jonah Copeland, in violation of this section, or the bad-faith basis of any deductions from the security that he thought his mom demand of replacement security, maywas sub-a good theRabbi landlordMychal intends toCopeland make. The tenant rabbi. ject the landlord to statutory damages of up shall have the opportunity during the period Monday, to twice On the amount of theCopeland security, in explained addifollowing the initial inspection until termibeen subjected hateidentified crimes and tion tothat actual nation of the tenancy toto remedy herdamages. installation was delayed bediscrimination. In short, landlord should return the deficiencies. causethe Sha’ar Zahav was preparing for No later than 21 calendarBernstein days after thethen excess security deposit charged and, since Cantor Sharon High Holy Days shortly after she was he/she denied an inspection, all the remaintenant has vacated the premises the landplaced her hands on Copeland’s head appointed. deposit. I suggest that you prolord shall furnish the tenant, by personal de- ing security a said a silent prayer in Hebrew. wetodecided there article the landlord withwas a no need livery or by first-class mail, postage prepaid, vide this “So statestatement Senator indicating Mark Leno, request a fullitrefund. If that doesfor notJanuary,” a copy Former of an itemized to for rush and planned gayandJewish manof, running I suggest you find yourself a good the and basis for, the amount any secu- for work,she said.that “I chose the date of January trial lawyer with expertise in matters of rity mayor, receivedattended and the disposition of the sethe ceremony. 26 because in our Torah reading cycle curity, and shall return remaininga joyous landlord tenant law. “Tonight we any celebrate that day lands on the Song at the Sea portion of the security the tenant.Rabbi Along Cooccasion as we toinstalled after theB.crossing the of Red Christopher Dolan is of owner theSea. Sabwith the itemized statement, the landlord Leno toldofthe Bay Area Re- Dolanbath everyEmail yearquestions on thattodate is called Law Firm. help@ shallpeland,” also include copies documents porter. “Weincurred all wish enormous dolanlawfirm.com. showing charges andher deducted by See page 14 >> success.”

Bill would set new standards for eyewitnesses to crimes in CA by Seth Hemmelgarn

people who commit crimes. Eyewitness misidentifications not only lead wo California legislators recently to the conviction of innocent people, announced a bill that would set but the actual perpetrator also restatewide standards for eyewitness mains free ... . Requiring evidenceidentification in order to help prevent based standards for eyewitness ideninnocent people from being convicted tifications will help keep innocent of crimes. people out of jail while still allowing Gay state Senator Scott Wiener public safety officials to do their jobs.” (D-San Francisco) and Assemblyman Levine stated, “We cannot allow Marc Levine (D-Marin County) ininnocent people to be placed behind troduced Senate Bill 923 last Wednesbars while perpetrators continue to day, January 24. endanger the public. We need to rely Citing the National Registry of on science-based methods to ensure Exonerations, the lawmakers say that these injustices cannot continue.” in California, eyewitness misidenAmong other provisions, SB 923 tification COME contributed to 15 out of call on authorities JOIN A CLOSE-KNIT COMMUNITY UNITED BYwould A PASSION TO: to instruct Rick Gerharter 23 DNA-related exonerations. San eyewitnesses that the perpetrator • serve underserved • gain inter-professional Francisco and other the counties have may or expertise may not be included in the State Senator Scott Wiener adopted some procedures for best behavioral • thrive in integrated • pursue social justice through lineup; encourage the use of nonpractices, but there is settings no statewide health community health suspect “fillers” in lineups that match organizations have endorsed. standard governing eyewitness identiwitness descriptions of perpetrators In a news release, Wiener said, “A ficationLEARN best practices. SB 923 adopts andorensure suspects don’t stand out; MORE: usfca.edu/nursing/psyd | QUESTIONS: (415) 422-2806 health@usfca.edu fair and equitable justice system must evidence-based procedures that and have the entire identification have theTHE strongest policies place WORLD FROM in HERE the U.S. Department of Justice, the CHANGE See page 14 >> to ensure that we correctly identify American Bar Association, and other

EARN YOUR PSYD IN

DROP IN HOURS: TUE-FRI 10:30AM-3:30PM Meet with one of our wallbeds experts!

Call Now To Make An Appointment:

415-660-6239 550 15th Street, Suite #2. San Francisco, CA 94103 Located in the SF Design District

Largest Selection of Murphy Wallbeds In Town!

SFWEEKLY.COM

SFmurphybeds.com

EDITOR’S NOTE

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY

NEWS VIEWS COVER STORY THE CALENDAR ARTS & CULTURE EAT & DRINK MUSIC |

JANUARY 18 - 24, 2018

| 13

, ay ! In nd h y rr Mo 9t Hu ds ry 1 ! En ua m le br 9p Sa Fe at

#1 IN CALIFORNIA, #1 IN AMERICA, 49 LOCATIONS TO SERVE YOU!

YEARS

SPECIAL FINANCING§ PLUS!

YEARS

YEAR

SPECIAL FINANCING§

PLUS!

15 20 25 30 OFF OFF OFF OFF % ‡‡

‡‡

6 YEARS

Brace Sofa

977 $ 17

SPECIAL FINANCING§

ON OUR EVERYDAY LOW PRICES

YEARS

plus

15 off

‡‡

no interest* no down payment no minimum purchase

On purchases with your Ashley Advantage™ credit card from 1/30/2018 to 2/19/2018. Equal monthly payments required for 60 months. Ashley Furniture does not require a down payment, however, sales tax and delivery charges are due at time of purchase. *See below for details.

20 off %

‡‡

no interest* no down payment no minimum purchase

6YEARS

15% OFF. ‡ ‡

PER MONTH FOR 60 MONTHS.‡

Includes sofa, loveseat, coffee table and 2 end tables.

348499 $ 59

INCLUDES 15% OFF. ‡ ‡

PER MONTH FOR 60 MONTHS.‡

YEAR plus

‡‡

no interest if paid in full in 24 months†† no down payment no minimum purchase

On purchases with your Ashley Advantage™ credit card from 1/30/2018 to 2/19/2018. Equal monthly payments required for 36 months. Ashley Furniture does not require a down payment, however, sales tax and delivery charges are due at time of purchase. *See below for details.

25 off %

49 INCLUDES

YEARS %

5 Piece Living Room

Reg. Price $1149.99

30 off %

‡‡

no interest if paid in full in 12 months†† no down payment no minimum purchase

On purchases with your Ashley Advantage™ credit card made 1/30/2018 to 2/19/2018. Interest will be charged to your account from the purchase date if the promotional purchase is not paid in full within 24 months. Minimum monthly payments required. ††See below for details.

On purchases with your Ashley Advantage™ credit card made 1/30/2018 to 2/19/2018. Interest will be charged to your account from the purchase date if the promotional purchase is not paid in full within 12 months. Minimum monthly payments required. ††See below for details.

on our everyday low prices

On purchases with your Ashley Advantage™ credit card from 1/30/2018 to 2/19/2018. Equal monthly payments required for 72 months. Ashley Furniture does not require a down payment, however, sales tax and delivery charges are due at time of purchase. See below for details.

no interest* • no down payment • no minimum purchase NOW HIRING! Sales Associates www.AshleyHomeStore.com

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK: Monday - Sunday 10am - 9pm “Se Habla Español”

CONCORD

FOLSOM

MODESTO

ROSEVILLE

STOCKTON

Exit at Concord, next to Trader Joe’s 2201 John Glenn Dr Concord, CA 94520 925-521-1977

Located in the Broadstone Plaza 2799 E Bidwell St Folsom, CA 95630 916-986-9200

3900 Sisk Rd., Ste B Modesto, CA 95356 209-248-6152

Highland Reserve Marketplace 10349 Fairway Dr Roseville, CA 95678 916-953-5757

In the Park West Place Shopping Center 10904 Trinity Parkway, Stockton, CA 95219 209-313-2187

EMERYVILLE

FRESNO

In the East Baybridge Shopping Center 3839 Emery St., Ste. 300 Emeryville, CA 94608 510-292-4339

7502 N. Blackstone Ave Fresno, CA 93720 559-283-8251

FAIRFIELD

In McCarthy Ranch 128 Ranch Dr Milpitas, CA 95035 408-262-6860

Exit Green Valley 4865 Auto Plaza Ct Fairfield, CA 94534 707-864-3537

MILPITAS

REDDING 1405 Dana Drive Redding, CA 96003 530-222-7707

ROHNERT PARK Exit Rohnert Park Expwy, across from Costco 6001 Redwood Dr Rohnert Park, CA 94928 707-586-1649

SACRAMENTO Located at the Promenade in Natomas 3667 N Freeway Blvd Sacramento, CA 95834 916-419-8906

VISALIA 3850 S. Mooney Blvd Visalia, CA 93277 559-697-6399

SAN FRANCISCO 707 Bayshore Blvd. San Francisco, CA 94124 415-467-4414

*Offer applies only to single-receipt qualifying purchases. Ashley HomeStore does not require a down payment, however, sales tax and delivery charges are due at time of purchase if the purchase is made with your Ashley Advantage™ Credit Card. No interest will be charged on promo purchase and equal monthly payments are required equal to initial promo purchase amount divided equally by the number of months in promo period until promo is paid in full. The equal monthly payment will be rounded to the next highest whole dollar and may be higher than the minimum payment that would be required if the purchase was a non-promotional purchase. Regular account terms apply to non-promotional purchases. For new accounts: Purchase APR is 29.99%; Minimum Interest Charge is $2. Existing cardholders should see their credit card agreement for their applicable terms. Promotional purchases of merchandise will be charged to account when merchandise is delivered. Subject to credit approval. ‡Monthly payment shown is equal to the purchase price, excluding taxes and delivery, divided by the number of months in the promo period, rounded to the next highest whole dollar, and only applies to the selected financing option shown. If you make your payments by the due date each month, the monthly payment shown should allow you to pay off this purchase within the promo period if this balance is the only balance on your account during the promo period. If you have other balances on your account, this monthly payment will be added to the minimum payment applicable to those balances. ††Ashley HomeStore does not require a down payment, however, sales tax and delivery charges are due at time of purchase if the purchase is made with your Ashley Advantage™ Credit Card. Offer applies only to single-receipt qualifying purchases. No interest will be charged on the promo purchase if you pay the promo purchase amount in full within 24 or 12 Months. If you do not, interest will be charged on the promo purchase from the purchase date. Depending on purchase amount, promotion length and payment allocation, the required minimum monthly payments may or may not pay off purchase by end of promotional period. Regular account terms apply to non-promotional purchases and, after promotion ends, to promotional balance. For new accounts: Purchase APR is 29.99%; Minimum Interest Charge is $2. Existing cardholders should see their credit card agreement for their applicable terms. Promotional purchases of merchandise will be charged to account when merchandise is delivered. Subject to credit approval. §Subject to credit approval. Minimum monthly payments required. See store for details. ‡‡Previous purchases excluded. Cannot be combined with any other promotion or discount. Discount offers exclude Tempur-Pedic®, Stearns & Foster® and Sealy Posturepedic Hybrid™ mattress sets, floor models, clearance items, sales tax, furniture protection plans, warranty, delivery fee, Manager’s Special pricing, Advertised Special pricing, and 14 Piece Packages and cannot be combined with financing specials. Effective 12/30/15, all mattress and box springs are subject to an $11 per unit CA recycling fee. SEE STORE FOR DETAILS. Stoneledge Furniture LLC. many times has multiple offers, promotions, discounts and financing specials occurring at the same time; these are allowed to only be used either/or and not both or combined with each other. Although every precaution is taken, errors in price and/or specification may occur in print. We reserve the right to correct any such errors. Picture may not represent item exactly as shown, advertised items may not be on display at all locations. Some restrictions may apply. Available only at participating locations. †DURABLEND® upholstery products feature a seating area made up of a combination of Polyurethane and/or PVC, Polycotton, and at least 17% Leather Shavings with a skillfully matched combination of Polycotton and Polyurethane and/or PVC everywhere else. **Leather Match upholstery features top-grain leather in the seating areas and skillfully matched vinyl everywhere else. Ashley HomeStores are independently owned and operated. ©2018 Ashley HomeStores, Ltd. Promotional Start Date: January 30, 2018. Expires: February 19, 2018.

<< Open Forum

6 • BAY AREA REPORTER • February 1-7, 2018

Volume 48, Number 5 February 1-7, 2018 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 • Seth Hemmelgarn 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 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 • David-Elijah Nahmod Michael Nugent • Paul Parish • Sean Piverger Lois Pearlman • Tim Pfaff • Jim Piechota Bob Roehr • Adam Sandel • Khaled Sayed 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 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

LEGAL COUNSEL Paul H. Melbostad, Esq.

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.

We screwed up T

he Bay Area Reporter values the trust that readers place in us. As the oldest, continuously published LGBTQ newspaper in the country, we take our responsibility to the community seriously. That’s why when we get it wrong, we owe you an explanation. Last week, we screwed up. In a story about a gender nonconforming person. who had been arrested but was not charged, in a possible domestic violence incident, we “deadnamed” the individual [“Person not charged in DV case,” January 25]. What that means is that we published the person’s old name. We have published the former names of trans people before, sometimes with their permission, but usually for cases in which they’ve been killed and if that’s how the authorities identify them in official documents. In those instances, we have also used the name that the deceased person was known by. But in the case last week, involving Davia Spain, we should not have published her former name. The B.A.R. news section uses the Associated Press Stylebook, which is a resource utilized by hundreds of news outlets and contains usage guidelines for all sorts of topics. It has extensive entries on transgender people and AIDS, for example, and contains more mundane topics like how to refer to courts and companies. Last year, the Stylebook included a new entry called Name changes; it states: “In general, use the name by which a person currently lives or is widely known. Include a previous name or names only if relevant to a story.” In this case, Spain’s former name was not relevant and should not have been published. We heard from community members about this error. Assistant editors Matthew Bajko and Seth Hemmelgarn, who wrote the story, news editor Cynthia Laird, and publisher-owner Michael Yamashita discussed the issue and reinforced our name

change policy. We removed Spain’s former name from the online version of the article last Thursday afternoon. We regret this mistake and apologize.

Other issues

As referenced earlier, regarding the identification of murder victims, we defer to the appropriate law enforcement agencies. We will use a person’s name and pronouns by which they were known – as we have done – but will likely include a reference to the official identification. Trans organizations should work with government agencies, like they did after the 2016 Ghost Ship fire in Oakland, to update their policies. In that case, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office’s Coroner’s Bureau worked with trans advocates and victims’ families that preferred names for the known trans victims would be used when issuing the official list of those killed. Similarly, we try to get comments from relatives of deceased people we write about. In the case of trans people, sometimes their own family members misgender or deadname them. If it’s a direct quote, we will leave that in, as we have in the past. We do not change what people say. But we will, as we have for many years, include information that the person is using pronouns with which the deceased person did not identify.

Neither of these two issues has resulted in the objections we received for the Spain article last week. We respect how people identify, and constantly ask those we interview how they identify and what pronouns they prefer. We want to be transparent when we fall short. We regularly criticize others when they get it wrong, you deserve to hear from us when we do too.

RIP Dennis Peron

Dennis Peron, the marijuana legalization advocate and activist who died last weekend, was a true San Francisco original. A gay man, Mr. Peron was unstoppable when it came to fighting for sick people to have access to medical cannabis, and his successful Proposition 215 made California the first state in the nation to legalize the drug for medicinal purposes. Along the way, Mr. Peron garnered support from progressive Democrats – and some Republicans – and saw over two-dozen other states follow California’s path in the ensuing years. Mr. Peron suffered many health challenges in recent years, and was out of the spotlight during the successful 2016 push for legalized recreational marijuana in the Golden State. But pot advocates owe him a debt of gratitude for his leadership, especially bringing medical cannabis to people living with HIV/AIDS. Mr. Peron endured rough treatment from San Francisco police and other authorities over the years, but never waivered in his belief that cannabis helped people living with serious health issues such as glaucoma and the “wasting” side effect of early AIDS medications. His former Cannabis Buyers Club on Market Street was more than one big party – it was where Mr. Peron and likeminded activists came together to help make sick people’s lives better. Mr. Peron was also a longtime activist in the LGBT community, working with pioneers like the late Gilbert Baker, the late Hank Wilson, and Cleve Jones. We will miss his usually cheerful demeanor and his fighting spirit. California is a more progressive state thanks to his advocacy.t

A difficult decision for interim mayor by Jeff Sheehy

mimicking parliamentary systems that place both executive and legisan Francisco is a dynamic city lative power in a single individual, with stubborn challenges. Resiusually a prime minister. That can be dents want local government to an effective system for governing, but combat homelessness and property that is not the system we have and we crime with greater urgency. When cannot change our system through President Donald Trump attacks supervisors failing to do their duty our health care, threatens immiand select an interim mayor. We can grants, and dismantles LGBTQ and only change our system by offering a Kelly Sullivan women’s rights, San Franciscans Supervisor Jeff measure to change the Charter that expect City Hall to fight back. These Sheehy voters ultimately decide to approve. demanding times require a full-time A meeting to select an interim mayor. mayor was finally scheduled. Acting That’s why when Mayor Ed Lee passed away Mayor Breed’s name was put forward and I eaI backed board President London Breed for gerly voted for her. She has done a phenomenal interim mayor, with the knowledge she could job in leading the city over the last six weeks and appoint a new District 5 supervisor. That’s the she is a strong candidate for mayor going into succession plan our Charter contemplates. Her the June election. However, she only received commitment to every San Franciscan, her leadfour votes. ership of the board, and her service as acting During the debate, another name mayor make her well-qualified to lead our city. had emerged from an unlikely The Charter clearly mandates that the Board source. District 7 Supervisor Norof Supervisors choose an interim mayor in the man Yee nominated Supervisor event of the mayor’s office becoming vacant. Mark Farrell. Yee represents the That happened after the murder of Mayor district next to mine, and insidGeorge Moscone and the elevation of Mayor ers call him part of the so-called Gavin Newsom to lieutenant governor and the progressive camp. I think it’s subsequent votes choosing interim mayors. more accurate to say he’s indeFor six long weeks, City Hall insiders and pendent, committed to our city’s political hacks haggled and bickered. Rather kids and focused on improving than schedule a meeting immediately, there was safety on Twin Peaks. When he nominated Farobfuscation. My position remained steadfast: rell, I was taken by surprise. I listened as Yee arwe deserve a full-time mayor and 11 full-time ticulated a strong case for his nomination. supervisors and I have been firmly committed His words hit home because I met Farrell beto the principle that we have separate branches fore becoming supervisor. As chair of the budof government, with the legislative role enget and finance committee, he met with activtrusted to the Board of Supervisors led by its ists like me to hear our budget priorities. With president and the executive role in the hands of then-Supervisor Scott Wiener, he delivered $2 the mayor. Both leadership roles should not rest million to fully fund Getting to Zero – a plan with a single individual. to end AIDS that I co-founded. Along the way, Arguments were being made that in the event he balanced the city’s entire $10 billion budget, of deadlock and no one able to get the six votes a task the interim mayor will be called upon to to be appointed, we could sustain the status quo perform before the next election.

As District 8 supervisor, I’ve worked alongside him to build more housing: increasing density through HOME-SF and adding more affordable homes for middle-class families. In my district, we opened schoolyards at Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy, McKinley, and Glen Park elementary schools so kids like our daughters could play on the weekend. Together, we got the city’s Health Service Board to ensure transgender people get appropriate medical care. When Acting Mayor Breed failed to garner the six votes needed to be named, I asked myself one simple question: is the remaining candidate, Supervisor Farrell, capable of leading our city as a full-time mayor? I found the answer to be a resounding yes. Some people say this one vote will cost me an election, as I, too, am running in June. They submit that the powerful forces that want to control our democracy will withhold their support. They say that without it, a candidate cannot win. Yet I’m heartened by the words of one of our LGBT community’s heroes, Ken Jones, who said, “Perhaps it is helpful to remember that after this election we still have to live, grow, and care for each other in this city with such a huge, huge heart.” Before this term concludes, I am committed to one simple reform: taking the money out of our local elections and demanding that voters – not powerful donors – determine who represents us. Today, I go back to work for the people of District 8 and all of San Francisco. I look forward to working with Mayor Farrell and board President Breed in leading our city. If you live in District 8, I look forward to seeing you in the neighborhood. t Jeff Sheehy is the only gay member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and represents District 8, which includes the Castro, Noe Valley, and Glen Park.

Politics>>

February 1-7, 2018 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 7

Nonbinary supervisor aide — a first at SF City Hall by Matthew S. Bajko

in leadership,” he said. “We need to support more women, bisexuals, and transgender people in leadership and these governmental positions so the community can access the resources and support.”

n taking a job this month in the office of gay District 8 Supervisor Jeff Sheehy, Koledon Lambright is believed to be the first nonbinary legislative aide hired by a supervisor at San Francisco’s City Hall. Lambright, who uses female pronouns, is also believed to be only the second transgender person to be hired for such a position. Several transgender leaders and former gay supervisors all told the Bay Area Reporter that the only other transgender person they could recall who worked as an aide to a supervisor is local union leader Gabriel Haaland. Former supervisor Jose Medina hired him in 1996, the same year he publicly came out as a transgender man. Known then as Robert, Haaland worked for Medina until 1999. “My impression at the time was I was the first transgender person hired as a legislative aide. I can’t think of anyone since,” said Haaland, the political coordinator for Service Employees International Union Local 1021. Lambright, 26, had been employed as a trans employment program associate at the LGBT Community Center since June. She had volunteered as a receptionist in Sheehy’s office after the late mayor Ed Lee appointed him last January to the vacant seat representing the gay Castro district as well as Noe Valley, Diamond Heights and Glen Park. “I loved doing that and meeting people,” said Lambright, who would also accompany Sheehy to various community events. “District 8 is amazing.” When Sheehy posted he was looking to hire two new aides, Lambright said she “jumped at the chance to apply. I loved working at the center but even they were for it. We need more queer people at City Hall.” Sheehy told the B.A.R. he was impressed with Lambright’s willingness to donate her time not only to his office but other community organizations. It was what he did after he first moved to the city and sought to become more involved socially and politically. “When Koledon came in and worked for me last year, I was totally impressed and I was so grateful, frankly, she agreed to take the job. I feel very lucky,” said Sheehy. After being offered the position, Lambright said it wasn’t until the B.A.R. sought to interview her that she learned of the dearth of transgender people hired on as supervisor aides. “That is crazy. I am glad Supervisor Sheehy took a chance on me,” said Lambright, who first moved to San Francisco three years ago after landing a fellowship at the American Conservatory Theater’s Costume Shop. To help make ends meet, she worked as a housekeeper on weekends. Theresa Sparks, formerly Lee’s adviser on transgender issues, hired her to clean her house after they met at a dinner party. Sparks soon became a mentor to Lambright, encouraging her to volunteer with local nonprofits serving the transgender community. “She really mentored me a lot on life in general and the things we have to navigate as trans women,” said Lambright, who had lived in the city’s Sunset district then moved to West Oakland. Sparks told the B.A.R. she hopes

Trans SF leader moves to the heartland

Rick Gerharter

Koledon Lambright

Lambright’s hiring will open the door for more transgender people to enter into political roles. Not only have few been hired for prominent roles at City Hall, but Sparks also noted how the city has yet to elect a transgender person to a municipal office. “Hopefully she will be someone to open some of these doors and other people will follow,” said Sparks, who like Haaland ran unsuccessfully for supervisor years ago. Lambright grew up in LaGrange, Indiana and graduated from Ball State University with a degree in theater and costume construction. She always dreamed of moving to San Francisco, which she had visited as a teenager with her father. In her senior year of high school Lambright came out as gay, causing a rift with her dad, who is divorced from her mother. In college she came out as a nonbinary queer woman, and although she does speak with her father, they don’t discuss her gender identity. “Of course being nonbinary I feel that it colors my world and will inform how I see the world and things,” said Lambright. “We can do great things just as other people if given the opportunity. For me growing up not being comfortable with yourself, you don’t get the knowledge you can do whatever you want.” Jackie Thornhill, who is a transgender woman and a political science major at the University of San Francisco, would one day like to work for a supervisor as their legislative aide. Last year she was a fellow in the office of District 6 Supervisor Jane Kim for 11 months. She surmised the lack of trans supervisor aides is due to the barriers many transgender people have faced in earning an education and finding employment. Those hurdles can turn into barriers in being selected for such coveted positions, said Thornhill. “It is tough for a lot of people in the transgender community who had a lot of other obstacles in their lives that may have held them back from getting to that point where they would be considered a candidate,” said Thornhill. “It is why it is so important transgender people have access to education and health care and housing. When you have the resources to live a stable life and be productive, you will see more transgender people working in jobs like this.” Haaland, who now lives in Solano County, said there is not enough support for transgender people, as well as bisexuals and lesbians, who are interested in getting into politics and government, even in as liberal a place as the Bay Area. “As much as San Francisco is a very progressive city, I would say there hasn’t always been a lot of support politically for transgender people

Two decades after moving to San Francisco from San Diego in order to live in a city she believed was more welcoming of transgender individuals, Sparks this month moved to the country’s heartland to be closer to her two adult children and four grandchildren. She left Sunday for Westwood, Kansas outside of Kansas City. “I rented a house back there for six months. We will see how it works,” Sparks told the B.A.R. last Thursday as she watched movers pack up her belongings. She is looking forward to spending more time with her grandchildren ages 7, 10, 11, and 14. Sparks is also planning to write her memoirs while residing in the Sunflower State. Nonetheless, she said she was “sad and sorry to be saying goodbye” to her home of 20 years. She didn’t rule out returning someday, telling the B.A.R. “you never know.” In November, Sparks officially retired from the city when she stepped down from the transgender adviser role. She first became a city employee in 2009 when then-mayor Gavin Newsom hired her to oversee the Human Rights Commission. Sparks is believed to be the first transgender person hired as a city department head. It was a far cry from when Sparks first arrived in the city to begin her gender transition and struggled to land a job. She drove a cab for a while to make ends meet and became active in city politics and a vocal transgender activist. Eventually the sex toy retailer Good Vibrations hired her as its CEO. In 2001 former mayor Willie Brown appointed her as the first transgender person to serve as a human rights commissioner. Three years later she became the first transgender person to serve on the city’s police commission, as the supervisors nominated her to the powerful oversight body. In 2007 she was voted in as its president. A large factor for why Sparks chose to move is the high cost of living in San Francisco. In Kansas, she won’t need to find a new job, as she will be able to live off her city pension. “I will find something if I feel like it. The cost of living is so much lower there that I don’t have to do anything,” said Sparks. By moving to the conservative state, Sparks is losing the LGBT protections she has fought so hard for in both San Francisco and throughout California. Kansas provides hardly any protections against discrimination due to one’s sexual orientation or gender identity. “I feel like I am sneaking behind enemy lines,” joked Sparks. t

Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http:// www.ebar.com Monday mornings at noon for Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion. This week’s column reported on Board President London Breed’s plans to shuffle committee assignments for supervisors. 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.

Barry Schneider Attorney at Law

family law specialist* • Divorce w/emphasis on Real Estate & Business Divisions • Domestic Partnerships, Support & Custody • Probate and Wills www.SchneiderLawSF.com

415-781-6500 *Certified by the California State Bar 400 Montgomery Street, Ste. 505, San Francisco, CA

LGBT PROGRESSIVE CATHOLICS † OUR FAMILIES & FRIENDS

Celebrating our Sexuality and Love as Gifts of God Liturgy & Social: Every Sunday 5pm First Sunday Movie Night Second Sunday Potluck Supper Third Wednesday Faith Sharing Group 1329 Seventh Avenue † info@dignitysanfrancisco.org Follow us on Facebook!

ADVERTISE!

415.829.8937

advertising@ebar.com

<< Commentary

8 • BAY AREA REPORTER • February 1-7, 2018

The curious case of Joseph Roman by Gwendolyn Ann Smith

riminals make up excuses for their crimes. We’ve heard so many bad excuses for crime, that many such stories have become the things of legend, like the infamous “Twinkie defense” Dan White used as his explanation for the brutal slaying of gay supervisor Harvey Milk and San Francisco mayor George Moscone. White’s consumption of sugary snacks was somehow proof of the depression he was suffering, and that depression caused him to kill two men. Or consider Josh Duggar, now pinning the assaults he performed on his sisters on the devil literally tempting him, or Keith Griffin claiming that it was his cat, not him, who downloaded over 1,000 sexually explicit photos of children to his hard drive. Now enter Joseph Roman, a 38-year-old man in Chicago. He allegedly assaulted three girls, who were between the ages of 6 and 8. Like most sexual assault suspects, Roman was a friend of their families, which allowed him to gain access to these kids. What makes Roman’s alleged sexual abuse germane to this column is his defense. He has admitted to some of the attacks, but has an interesting excuse. He told Chicago police he is “a 9-year-old trapped in an adult’s body.” His excuse is not novel. Indeed, the denizens of 4chan, a website known for, among other things, hard-core trolling, began to push a faux identity last year called “clovergender.” Named for the clover shape that 4chan uses

Christine Smith

for its logo, “clovergender” is a trolling campaign that purports to foster positive awareness of “children trapped in men’s bodies who are attracted to other children.” The whole point of this is to delegitimize transgender and related identities. I’m not sure if Roman knew of the 4chan trolling campaign, or if he came up with this excuse all on his own. Either way, the hard right latched onto him, with several websites such as Info Wars branding Roman as “trans age” and using him as a cheap jab at transgender people. The thing that both 4chan and these other right-wing websites have attempted to do is conflate Roman’s crimes with transgender people, and, specifically, transgender people using restrooms or other facilities consistent with their gender identity. This plays directly into the “transgender

bathroom panic” that has fueled calls for anti-transgender and anti-LGBT legislation in places like North Carolina and Texas. I should also note that this reminds me of Rachel Dolezal’s “trans-black” shenanigans, but with an obviously darker – no pun intended – side. While Dolezal may well have been attempting to defraud people with her actions (she is a white woman who identifies as black), we should not forget that Roman allegedly assaulted three children. That said, let’s get one thing straight: Roman’s defense, taken at face value, doesn’t excuse his crimes. He can passionately identify as anything he wishes, but this doesn’t change the fact that he was charged with assaulting three children. The same is true of any transgender person who commits a crime: our identity is not, in and of itself, a “get out of jail free” card. If anything, it is more likely to cause us to get harsher sentences purely out of antitransgender animus. This is the frustrating thing with the bathroom bills, let alone the stories about Roman or the clovergender nonsense. Being transgender in and of itself does not equate with sexual desire any more than anything else does, and there is no great transgender conspiracy that exists to get transgender people into sex-segregated spaces to commit sexual assault.

This is not deterring people such as Arkansas state Representative Mickey Gates (R), who has introduced House Bill 1894 as part of a trio of antitransgender bills in his state. It will ban trans people from updating their birth certificate. His argument: “What happens if you have a guy and he’s 24 years old and he decides he wants to be a 14-year-old guy so that he can have sex with a 14-year-old girl.” Again, sidestepping that this is still sexual assault and has little to nothing to do with updating a gender marker on a birth certificate. I will tell you this: transgender people are a wide and varied bunch, and under that umbrella are people who may fetishize attire coded for people opposite their birth gender. There’s also the widely discredited, but still active, theory of “autogynephilia,” by which researchers Kenneth Zucker and J. Michael Bailey conclude that most trans people have a sexual fetish for feminizing their bodies. If this world has taught us anything, it is that people can become aroused off of any number of things, real and imagined. Likewise, there are people out there who role-play at being “little girls,” and other forms of “age play.” This, however, is more about playing at such a role, not assaulting actual children. Worth noting, too, that not all who do such are transgender, either.

Let’s not get lost in the weeds here: none of the above falls within the dodge that Roman is trying. Even if there was validity to his claim, his alleged actions don’t square with his supposed identity, nor are those actions a natural outgrowth of such an identity. For those of us in the transgender rights movement, we have to continually explain that our identities are not something we adopt rashly. For many of us, we spend years, even decades, trying to fight against our transgender nature, then spend more time learning both self-acceptance as well as finding a place in this world to be ourselves. Those who argue against our very identities would tell you that this is nothing more than a lark at best, and that one can easily change from one gender to another in order to commit any number of crimes, like some character in a cheesy comedy from the 1980s. Indeed, our hard-won identities are treated as something we would cast off whenever we may need to, while so many of us are facing hardships and remaining true to our gender identities or expressions. I expect and hope that Roman will be convicted and spend a long time in jail, but his dodgy excuse will likely be with us for some time, reinforcing bigotry and hatred aimed at the transgender community. We must, and will, push back. t Gwen Smith isn’t kidding around. You’ll find her online at http:// www.gwensmith.com.

SF set to require gender-neutral bathrooms in SROs by Matthew S. Bajko

an Francisco is set to adopt a policy that will require single-room occupancy hotels to designate their single-stall bathrooms and shower facilities as gender neutral. The first-ofits-kind rule would not only benefit transgender residents of such housing but also seniors and disabled people with caretakers of the opposite sex, as well as parents with children of the opposite sex. The Board of Supervisors’ land use and transportation committee voted unanimously Monday, January 29, to advance the legislation to the full board, which is expected to adopt the new regulation when it meets February 6. Interim Mayor Mark Farrell over the weekend came on board as a co-sponsor of the policy, ensuring it

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is on track to require gender-neutral restrooms in single-room occupancy hotels.

will become official once it reaches his desk next month. District 9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen, who represents the Mission where a number of SROs are located, is the lead sponsor of the

legislation. Co-sponsors include Supervisors Jane Kim, Aaron Peskin, Sandra Lee Fewer and Jeff Sheehy, the board’s lone gay member. Peskin serves on the land use committee along with chair Supervisor Katy Tang and vice chair Supervisor Ahsha Safai. As the Bay Area Reporter has previously noted, the SRO policy follows city and state laws that require businesses and government-run buildings to mark all single-stall toilets as for use by anyone. San Francisco’s policy went into effect in the summer of 2016, while the state provision became law last March; neither included SROs. It is already city policy for SRO hotels to provide a water closet, a lavatory, and a bathtub or shower situated either within individual rooms or off

the exit corridor on the same floor. For single-stall facilities situated outside of a hotel guest room, the housing code would be updated to specify they “shall be made available for the use of all residents, regardless of gender or gender identity, and shall be identified as all-gender facilities by signage” compliant with state regulations for such signs. According to Jordan Davis, a transgender woman who serves on the San Francisco SRO Task Force and has been advocating for the code change, no other jurisdiction in California or another state has implemented a similar policy for their SRO hotels. “This is very historic legislation before you today,” Davis told the supervisors Monday. Several Spanish- speaking transgender women living in SROs also

urged the supervisors to support the policy. Speaking through a translator, one woman said adoption of the policy was needed “so I can go to the bathroom in peace.” Clair Farley, the mayor’s senior adviser on transgender issues, addressed the committee to inform them of Farrell’s co-sponsorship of the ordinance. She noted that many transgender people avoid using public bathrooms due to being harassed. “In San Francisco we have begun implementing all-gender restrooms throughout the city for the public sector and in city buildings. We know this continues to be important for low-income housing tenants as well,” said Farley. “It is crucial for the transgender community and disabled residents who need easy access to the bathroom.” t

In adults with HIV on ART who have diarrhea not caused by an infection

Tired of planning your life around diarrhea?

Enough is Enough Get relief. Pure and simple. Ask your doctor about Mytesi.

Mytesi (crofelemer): • Is the only medicine FDA-approved to relieve diarrhea in people with HIV • Treats diarrhea differently by normalizing the flow of water in the GI tract • Has the same or fewer side effects as placebo in clinical studies • Comes from a tree sustainably harvested in the Amazon Rainforest What is Mytesi? Mytesi is a prescription medicine that helps relieve symptoms of diarrhea not caused by an infection (noninfectious) in adults living with HIV/AIDS on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Important Safety Information Mytesi is not approved to treat infectious diarrhea (diarrhea caused by bacteria, a virus, or a parasite). Before starting you on Mytesi, your healthcare provider will first be sure that you do not have infectious diarrhea. Otherwise, there is a risk you would not receive the right medicine and your infection could get worse. In clinical studies, the most common side effects that occurred more often than with placebo were upper respiratory tract (sinus, nose, and throat) infection (5.7%), bronchitis (3.9%), cough (3.5%), flatulence (3.1%), and increased bilirubin (3.1%).

RELIEF, PURE AND SIMPLE

For Copay Savings Card and Patient Assistance, see Mytesi.com Please see complete Prescribing Information at Mytesi.com. IMPORTANT PATIENT INFORMATION This is only a summary. See complete Prescribing Information at Mytesi.com or by calling 1-844-722-8256. This does not take the place of talking with your doctor about your medical condition or treatment.

What Is Mytesi? Mytesi is a prescription medicine used to improve symptoms of noninfectious diarrhea (diarrhea not caused by a bacterial, viral, or parasitic infection) in adults living with HIV/AIDS on ART. Do Not Take Mytesi if you have diarrhea caused by an infection. Before you start Mytesi, your doctor and you should make sure your diarrhea is not caused by an infection (such as bacteria, virus, or parasite).

Possible Side Effects of Mytesi Include: • Upper respiratory tract infection (sinus, nose, and throat infection) • Bronchitis (swelling in the tubes that carry air to and from your lungs) • Cough • Flatulence (gas) • Increased bilirubin (a waste product when red blood cells break down) For a full list of side effects, please talk to your doctor. Tell your doctor if you have any side effect that bothers you or does not go away.

You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Should I Take Mytesi If I Am: Pregnant or Planning to Become Pregnant? • Studies in animals show that Mytesi could harm an unborn baby or affect the ability to become pregnant • There are no studies in pregnant women taking Mytesi • This drug should only be used during pregnancy if clearly needed A Nursing Mother? • It is not known whether Mytesi is passed through human breast milk • If you are nursing, you should tell your doctor before starting Mytesi • Your doctor will help you to decide whether to stop nursing or to stop taking Mytesi Under 18 or Over 65 Years of Age? • Mytesi has not been studied in children under 18 years of age • Mytesi studies did not include many people over the age of 65. So it is not clear if this age group will respond differently. Talk to your doctor to find out if Mytesi is right for you

NP-390-27

What Should I Know About Taking Mytesi With Other Medicines? If you are taking any prescription or over-the-counter medicine, herbal supplements, or vitamins, tell your doctor before starting Mytesi.

What If I Have More Questions About Mytesi? For more information, please see the full Prescribing Information at Mytesi.com or speak to your doctor or pharmacist. To report side effects or make a product complaint or for additional information, call 1-844-722-8256.

Rx Only Manufactured by Patheon, Inc. for Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. San Francisco, CA 94105 Copyright © Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Mytesi comes from the Croton lechleri tree harvested in South America.

Repair Shop & Kid’s Bike Sales

OPEN DURING CONSTRUCTION!

Beginning January 15th, our sales showroom at 1077 Valencia Street will be undergoing a seismic retrofit. We will temporarily discontinue sales of adult bikes until work is completed sometime in March. We apologize for the inconvenience. We will continue to sell kid’s bikes, do repairs, sell parts and essential accessories out of our repair shop at 1065 Valencia.

TUNE UP SPECIAL 20% OFF PARTS!

VALENCIA VALENCIA CYCLERY CYCLERY

Valencia (Between (Bewteen 21st 21st && 22nd 22nd St.) St.) SF SF 1065 Valencia Mon-Sat 10-6, 10-6, Sun Sun 11-5 11-5 Mon-Sat 415-550-6601 415-550-6601

valenciacyclery.com

SF 1

<< Community News

10 • BAY AREA REPORTER • February 1-7, 2018

D ay

Goodbye, Gangway

he Gangway, at 841 Larkin Street, one of the Tenderloin district’s last gay bars, closed for good Saturday, January 27. Many say the Gangway was more than 100 years old. Former owner Jung Lee, 65, said that Sam Ruslender Young, the new owner of the bar’s liquor licenses, contacted him Saturday with “no notice whatsoever” and told him he had to shut down that night. “I was really pissed off,” said Lee. “... All my staff was upset. My customers were upset.” However, Lee, who told the Bay Area Reporter in 2016 that he

Rick Gerharter

hoped to sell the bar and retire, said Monday that the net price he got for the business is $350,000. The sale to Young had been pending for months. Young, who also owns the Kozy Kar bar at 1548 Polk Street, couldn’t be reached for comment. He plans to open Young’s Kung Fu Action Theatre and Laundry at the site, according to the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. The agency’s website says the bar’s liquor licenses were issued to him January 24.

North Beach CBD to unveil LGBT historic plaques

by Matthew S. Bajko

idewalk markers at the site of three historic LGBT businesses that once operated in North Beach will be unveiled at a ceremony in mid-February. The trio is among 10 bronze street plaques commemorating historical locations in the city’s Italian neighborhood that the Top of Broadway Community Benefit District is installing in the area. All three of the LGBT nightlife

spots were shuttered decades ago. One of the 17 by 12 inch markers will be placed at 12 Saroyan Place, formerly Adler Street, where a lesbian bar operated in the 1950s. Proprietor Eleanor “Tommy” Vasu was the first known lesbian to legally own a bar in San Francisco, according to a resolution adopted by the Board of Supervisors last summer in support of the plaques. Amid a citywide crackdown on gay bars, Vasu was forced to close the two lesbian bars she owned in North Beach in 1954, according to the resolution authored by District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who represents the neighborhood. Another plaque will be installed at 506 Broadway Street, which between 1936 and 1999 had been home to the legendary Finocchio’s female impersonators cabaret. (The business’s neon sign is now part of the GLBT Historical Society’s archives.) According to the historical marker, “Finocchio’s cabaret featured female impersonators, both gay and straight, performing in elaborate shows that drew in sailors and tourists alike, as well as the watchful eye of law enforcement.” The third plaque honoring an LGBT entertainment venue will be installed at 440 Broadway, where Mona’s Club 440 had operated and was known as “Where Girls Will Be Boys.” Started by Mona Sargent Hood and her then-husband, Jimmie, the bar is credited as being the first openly lesbian bar in the nation, having first opened in 1936 in a different location. Women dressed as men would entertain the crowd at Mona’s, whose popularity spiked during World War II. In 1948 the bar was renamed as Ann’s 440 Club and was where the careers of comedian Lenny Bruce and singer Johnny Mathis began. “I think it is absolutely awesome,” said Lynda Brabec, 57, Hood’s stepgranddaughter who lives in Lake County and plans to attend the dedication ceremony for the historical markers. “I am totally blown away that she paved the way for so many people to be who they are and not have to hide from other people just to be comfortable.” Hood, who never had children of her own, married Brabec’s mother’s father, Layton Hood, after he divorced his first wife. As a child Brabec would often visit her grandparents and go swimming at their house. “Mona would have been so proud,” said Brabec. “She was such a free spirit

Rick Gerharter

One of the North Beach historical markers will honor the former Finocchio’s, a legendary female impersonators cabaret.

and she never judged anybody. She used to say no one knows what goes on between two people but the two people themselves.” After Brabec married her former husband and had kids of her own, she would host the Hoods at her home for Thanksgiving. The two never talked much about Hood’s place in LGBT history. “She talked about owning bars and living a bohemian-type life, but that was as far as it ever went. All she said was a lot of artists would hang out at her bars,” recalled Brabec. “She never really bragged about anything.” It was only in recent years that Brabec began learning from internet searches about her stepgrandmother’s role in running some of the city’s first LGBT hangouts. “She had a very open mind and open heart,” Brabec said. “She would always talk to everybody.” The historical markers will be installed starting Monday, February 5, and the official dedication ceremony will take place at 2 p.m. Friday, February 16, at 12 Saroyan Place. “We are very excited to see them be put in the ground. It has been a long time coming,” said Dominic LiMandri, the district manager for New City America, which oversees the CBD in North Beach and others around the Bay Area. The Top of Broadway CBD began work on the historical markers project four years ago when it won a $30,000 Community Challenge Grant from the city. The money paid for the cost to fabricate and install the 10 plaques, See page 14 >>

1985

Help Reduce Isolation in Your Community Give back as a one-on-one Shanti volunteer for our newest program!

2015

Shanti’s LGBT Aging & Abilities Support Network(LAASN) Supporting LGBT Seniors and Adults with Disabilities

1995

2001

Since 1974, Shanti has trained 20,000 Bay Area volunteers to offer emotional and practical support to some of our most vulnerable neighbors, including those with HIV/AIDS, women’s cancers, and other life-threatening diseases. We are now excited to announce that our services are being offered to LGBT aging adults and adults with disabilities who face isolation and need greater social support and connection.

Shanti LAASN peer support volunteers: 2009

1. Go through the internationally-recognized training on the Shanti Model of Peer Support TM 2. Make a commitment of 2-4 hours a week for a minimum of 6 months

1987

3. Get matched with one client, for whom they serve as a non-judgmental source of emotional support and reliable practical help 4. Have one of the most rewarding volunteer experiences of their lives!

2009

To learn more about how you can be a Shanti volunteer, please contact Volunteer Services Coordinator, Kayla Smyth at 415-674-4708 or email: ksmyth@shanti.org. If you think you or someone you know could benefit by being a Shanti client, or to learn more about the services, please contact Joanne Kipnis at 415-625-5214 or email: jkipnis@shanti.org

1988

2010

The LGBT Aging & Abilities Support Network is made possible by funding from the City and County of San Francisco’s Department of Aging and Adults Services.

2006

2001

Embracing Compassion. Care, and Community Since 1974

<< Community News

12 • BAY AREA REPORTER • February 1-7, 2018

Interim ED named for Rainbow center compiled by Cynthia Laird

he Rainbow Community Center of Contra Costa County has hired Philip Arca as its interim executive director. RCC’s board made the announcement January 23. In a statement, the board said that Arca has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to social justice. In an emailed response to questions, Arca, who’s in his mid-50s and straight, said he was “grateful to be invited into the organization, have been welcomed warmly, and aspire to be helpful with organizational, administrative, and fundraising issues and efforts.” He hopes to move the organization forward,

“handing off to a long-term leader from the LGBTQ community that will write the next chapter ...” Arca became interim executive director following the retirement in December of longtime Executive Director Ben-David Barr, Ph.D., due to health issues. Most recently, Arca had been interim executive director for a national network of employment lawyers committed to justice/equity in the workplace; an art and science center; a countywide foster youth program; and a youth science outreach effort in the East Bay. He has also consulted with the Ella Baker Center. He was recently accepted as a charter member of the National Association of Accredited Interim

We are Your Local Experts helping Exceptional Clients Buy and Sell Beautiful Homes in San Francisco. Call Us for a Free Valuation of Your Property.

WALLBEDS

AND

Mike Ackerman & Oliver Burgelman LIC# 01388135 | 01232037 415.307.5850 ABZ@ZephyrSF.com BuildingTrust4Life.com

space saving f urniture

Executive Directors. Arca was formally the executive director of a $7 million, 85-employee, and 800-volunteer faith-based social services organization that works in Alameda County. In other positions, he led a turnaround of the Oakland Zoo. Arca lives with his partner, Sherry, with whom he has two daughters. RCC board members said they were pleased to have an interim leader in place. “Rainbow continues to move forward and meet the needs of our community,” board chair Ken Carlson said in a statement. “As we move forward with our strategic plan, Philip’s vast experience, talent, and leadership will help to strengthen and define the future of Rainbow.” In his email to the Bay Area Reporter, Arca said that he expects to be in the position for about six months. He will also assist with the executive director search and explore efforts to leverage the center’s new site in El Cerrito, which opened last year. Arca said that he is a contracted employee, and the hourly rate for most interim leaders is in the $90$150 per hour range. For more information about RCC, visit http://rainbowcc.org/.

Levine has new role at SF Pride

A lesbian who has served as San Francisco Pride parade manager for 17 years has assumed a new position at the organization that oversees the mammoth event. Marsha Levine has started a new role at the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee as community relations and facilities manager. She will work to coordinate numerous projects such as managing the selection

Courtesy RCC

Philip Arca is the interim executive director of the Rainbow Community Center of Contra Costa County.

process for community grand marshals and coordinating their participation in the parade; overseeing the community partners program; and facilitating the membership program and volunteer registration, according to Fred Lopez, communications manager for SF Pride. “We are in the process of restructuring the roles of various staff and contractors within the organization, and anticipate further changes specifically to the parade team,” SF Pride Executive Director George F. Ridgely told the Bay Area Reporter. “That said, as community relations manager, Marsha will continue to play a leadership role in terms of the parade composition, as well as in the participation of community and celebrity grand marshals.” Levine has been with SF Pride for more than 30 years, during which time she served, at different times, as president of the board of directors,

vice president of production, main stage co-chair, safety police liaison, medical liaison, and parade co-chair. Levine spoke to the B.A.R. about what she loves about working with Pride. “It’s our grassroots nature,” she said. “We have more than 50 percent community groups and individuals participating in the parade, which keeps our nature very political and message-heavy for our spectators. Every year we have a thematic lead-off contingent for the parade, which allows us to showcase a particular focus and create awareness.” This year’s theme is “Generations of Strength.” Levine hails from Boston. She moved to San Francisco in 1985 “because of a job offer with a design firm and a desire not to ever be freezing cold or walk through snow again,” she said. Levine was a member of Boston Pride for five years, serving as president for three of those years. In February public voting will commence for this year’s community grand marshals chosen by the public. The winner will be announced in mid-March. The announcement of the full slate of community grand marshals and other awardees will be made in April.

SF Punk Archive seeks ephemera

The San Francisco Punk Archive, located in the San Francisco History Center on the sixth floor of the main library, 100 Larkin Street, is interested in original materials from the late 1970s and early 1980s. Penelope Houston said that the collection now includes zines, handbills, videos, mailart, buttons, photos, recordings, tickets, setlists, lyrics, and other items. See page 14 >>

Gay SF man who’d been missing found dead Open Saturday Noon-5pm and by appointment

415.822.0184

www.roomax.com

Visit our Showroom 1355 Fitzgerald Ave, SF

Platform Storage Beds • Closet Systems • Armoires • Home Ofﬁce • Dressers

by Seth Hemmelgarn

gay San Francisco man whose friends had reported him missing has been found dead. Shinji Kobayashi, 48, was last seen alive Wednesday night, January 24, after the San Francisco Ballet’s performance of “The Sleeping Beauty,” according to friends. He was reported missing to police days later. John Hoffman, a friend of Kobayashi’s, told the Bay Area Reporter in an email Wednesday, January 31, “I’m sorry to report that they found the body of our friend. He had been in the apartment the whole time. There was no sign of foul play. He had a heart condition – we will know more after the coroner’s report. “His body was next to the bed, covered in clothing is what we’ve been told. The building manager who did the wellness checks didn’t see him. ... This is a very sad ending – not the one we’d hoped for.” The San Francisco Medical Examiner’s office confirmed Kobayashi’s death but an employee said Wednesday afternoon that his family hadn’t been notified and details couldn’t be released yet. One of the people who saw Kobayashi at the ballet was Karen Hanzawa, who last spoke with him during an intermission. “Nothing seemed unusual about him,” she said in an exchange of Facebook messages with the B.A.R. “Shinji being his sweet quiet self ” told Hanzawa and another friend

Courtesy Facebook

Shinji Kobayashi

that he was watching the ballet for the second night in a row, she said. She wondered how he was going to get home and asked him where he lived. Kobayashi, a Hayes Valley resident, responded that he lived only two blocks away and planned to walk home. Hanzawa last saw Kobayashi during the encore. At 10:55 p.m., he posted video of the curtain call on his Facebook page and told Hanzawa in a follow-up comment that he’d had “a great time.” “He did not indicate that he had any problems and he did not seem stressed,” Hanzawa told the B.A.R. Kobayashi, who worked as a dog walker and was known for his reliability, was supposed to meet longtime friend Chanel DeLaney, 51, Thursday afternoon to walk her dog. “Usually, he’s at my house

between 3 and 3:30,” said DeLaney, who last saw Kobayashi Wednesday afternoon, when he told her he’d see her the next day. “If he’s ever running late, he texts me.” She texted him at 4:15, and then again about 45 minutes later. Over the next 48 hours, she texted and called him multiple times, with no response from him and no signs that he’d read her messages. Like others who saw Kobayashi over the past couple of weeks, DeLaney said that he didn’t appear to be having any problems with anything or anyone, and there was no indication that he was suicidal. “He was his usual genial self, and that’s why something’s happened, because this is so unlike him,” said DeLaney, who wept as she discussed her friend. “... He’s got a huge network of friends who love him,” she said, and “no one can fathom what has happened. It just is mysterious.” In a text exchange with the B.A.R., Hanzawa shared a message from a client of Kobayashi’s that said, “People have gone to his house, and he hadn’t been there for at least two days. Everything appeared to be in order at his place.” “That was sent on Saturday,” said Hanzawa. “I think they have been keeping an eye out since then and still no sign of him at his place.” Officer Giselle Linnane, a police spokeswoman, said in an email Tuesday that she could only confirm “that there is a missing person’s case open with someone by [Kobayashi’s] name.” t

Community News>>

February 1-7, 2018 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 13

Sticker shock seen in cannabis prices by Sari Staver

ticker shock is setting in among many cannabis dispensary customers, sending some of them back to the black market, where prices are as much as 50 percent cheaper. The rise in dispensary prices began in early January, when Proposition 64 regulations kicked in, adding a 15 percent excise tax and an approximately 10 percent cultivation tax, which are typically passed on to retail customers. Dispensary customers also pay local sales tax, which is 8.5 percent in San Francisco. Activist Clint Werner, author of “Marijuana Gateway to Health: How Cannabis Protects Us from Cancer and Alzheimer’s Disease,” believes the price increases will drive the black market. Werner, a gay man who has owned and bred champion dachshunds for the past several decades, said the “greedy and irrational bureaucrats who think they can bleed cannabis consumers for tax money to fund

Peron

From page 1

Starting in the 1970s, Mr. Peron was a fixture in the San Francisco gay community, becoming friends with Harvey Milk and taking part in gay rights activism. His 17th Street home, dubbed the “Castro Castle,” became known for its colorful murals outside and equally colorful gatherings inside. Already a well-known local marijuana purveyor – he was in jail for possession when Milk was assassinated in 1978 – Mr. Peron began to publicly push for medical cannabis in the early 1990s after seeing how it helped people with HIV, including his late partner, Jonathan West, cope with symptoms such as pain and wasting. “We all owe a debt of gratitude to Dennis Peron for his vision and perseverance,” said Dr. Donald Abrams of the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, who conducted some of the few medical cannabis studies permitted by the federal government. “He understood, before many others, the therapeutic potential of the remarkable plant that is so closely associated with his name.” Mr. Peron opened what is widely considered the first public cannabis dispensary in the United States, initially in the basement of his home and later in buildings on Church Street and Market Street. The San Francisco Cannabis Buyer’s Club aimed to provide a safe place for sick people to safely obtain and use medical marijuana, and it also became a cultural hub and the headquarters of the legal fight for medical cannabis in California. Mr. Peron initially hoped to get arrested to trigger a court case and jury trial, but local police did not oblige. State agents later did, however, and the club was ultimately forced to close in 1998. After San Francisco voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition P, an initiative in favor of medical cannabis, in 1991, Mr. Peron and fellow activists set their sights on the state level. California legislators passed a couple of medical marijuana bills but Republican Governor Pete Wilson vetoed them, setting

utopian boondoggles need to develop critical thinking skills and try to grasp free market principles or else they will stand as the agents of preservation for the black market. “If I can buy a pound of excellent marijuana for $1,200 why would I pay $60-plus for an eighth [of an ounce] at a dispensary?” Werner said in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter. “But if I can pay $35 for an eighth (in the black market) I’ll do it to have some variety.” He said the industry is in an “adjustment phase.” “I think more tax revenue would accrue from lower prices because being able to shop for cannabis in a store is both novel and convenient,” he said. “We are in an adjustment phase. Because cannabis is so safe and beneficial compared to alcohol and energy drinks, we should see more rational policies emerge as normalization continues.” A price check on January 31 indicated that the most common price for an eighth of an ounce of indoor grown flowers at the Apothecarium in the Castro was $68 and, with sales tax,

Sari Staver

Clint Werner with Stella the dachshund.

$73.78. But on the same day, eighths were for sale on Craigslist for as little as $17.50. Others on Craigslist offered pound packages for $800, or $600 if you bought five pounds. Under Prop 64, California’s adult use cannabis law, dispensaries agree to have their products undergo testing for chemicals and impurities, while a black market seller typically sells flowers they have purchased

In the ensuing years, Mr. Peron’s views about the benefits of marijuana entered the mainstream. Today, more than half the states have medical cannabis laws. In 2016, California voters passed Proposition 64, which allows recreational marijuana use by adults, joining eight other states. The final implementation of the law, establishing the legal sale of cannabis, went into effect January 1. “We all owe Dennis Peron a huge debt of gratitude for starting the modern marijuana movement,” Laura Thomas of the Drug Policy Alliance told the B.A.R. “Gay men with AIDS and their friends and family are

why we now have legal marijuana. I know he wasn’t a huge fan of Prop 64 because he didn’t think it went far enough, but I’m still glad he got to see legal cannabis in California.” Prop 64 not only legalized marijuana possession and use, it also allows people with prior marijuana convictions to petition the court to have those offenses expunged from their records. “Think about the tens or even hundreds of thousands of people who are not going to prison for simple cannabis possession because of Dennis Peron,” said Brian Basinger of the Q Foundation. “Thousands will go free, providing millions of years of human freedom from incarceration.” Mr. Peron was born in New York City in April 1946 and grew up on Long Island. He was drafted and joined the Air Force during the Vietnam War, where he first encountered marijuana. Having visited San Francisco on leave and been drawn to its hippie and gay subcultures, he relocated to the city after leaving the service. After the legalization battle of the 1990s, Mr. Peron moved to a marijuana farm in Lake County. He opened his Castro home to gay movement pioneers Harry Hay and John Burnside during their final years, and he and his husband, John Entwistle, later rented out rooms as a cannabis-friendly guesthouse. Diagnosed with lung cancer, Mr. Peron entered the Veterans Administration hospice program, but returned to the Castro Castle during his final months. Mr. Peron is survived by Entwistle; his brothers Brian and Jeff; and a nephew. A memorial is being planned for March 1, according to Entwistle. “Dennis was an amazingly effective advocate for gay rights and marijuana,” Entwistle told the B.A.R. “He was both compassionate and courageous, qualities that impelled him to risk life in prison to challenge the laws which prevented AIDS patients from using medical marijuana. All of this and he never ran out of time or energy or pot to share with his friends.”t

new people comfortable and sponsoring many on their clean and sober journey. Although he had an acerbic wit that sometimes earned him the nickname “Cranky Hank,” he had a very big heart, and was always ready with encouragement and support for anyone having a hard time. He was an enthusiastic fan of the opera, symphony, and ballet, and as a volunteer, once accompanied the San Francisco Ballet on a tour of Russia. Born on June 9, 1932, Hank grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts. From 1951 to 1955,

he served in the U.S. Navy. After moving to San Francisco, he worked for many years at the Pacific Stock Exchange. He is survived by two sisters, Marie O’Keefe and Linda Oswald; three daughters: Joy, Susan, and Julie; one son, David, and eight grandchildren. There will be a memorial service at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church Saturday, February 17, at 11 a.m. with a reception to follow in the social hall. The church is located at 100 Diamond Street in San Francisco, just south of 18th.

the stage for a ballot initiative known as Proposition 215. Mr. Peron and others started Californians for Compassionate Use to spearhead the effort. Passed by a 56 percent margin in November 1996, the Compassionate Use Act allowed people with HIV, cancer, and other illnesses to grow and possess cannabis with a doctor’s recommendation. It was the first state medical marijuana law, coming into conflict with the federal prohibition on marijuana use for any reason. “Dennis Peron was a hero. He fought for the health needs of people living with HIV during a very dark period – when our federal government not only abandoned us but was hostile toward us. Dennis was willing to put his own freedom on the line to help people access medical cannabis. Dennis will go down in history for his work, and we all mourn his passing,” said gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who adjourned Tuesday’s Senate session in Peron’s memory. Gay District 8 Supervisor Jeff Sheehy, who, along with other city officials honored Mr. Peron last February for his medical cannabis work, said he “saved lives.” “Dennis saved countless lives across the country through his leadership of the medical cannabis movement,” Sheehy told the B.A.R. this week. “His efforts helped begin to end the evil war on drugs and vicious criminalization and stigmatization of cannabis.”

Mainstream

Obituaries >> Hank Bineault June 9, 1932 – January 21, 2018 Hank Bineault, 85, passed away January 21, 2018, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. In his 35 years in the recovery community, he was well known for making

from a grower. Berkeley activist Brent Saupe, a garden consultant and founder of the Pot Club, a defunct cooperative that helped grow its own plants, believes that dispensaries’ recent price hikes more than cover their increased regulatory costs. Saupe, who has built and operated a number of large indoor gardens, said that while growers have been getting lower prices from dispensaries, the retailers have marked up prices. Saupe said that when he recently checked, a number of dispensaries had doubled their price from $30 to $60 for an eighth of the same strain. “I’ve also noticed that a number of dispensaries are carrying a much smaller selection of strains,” he said. “If the trend continues, and I believe it will, I think there will be some product shortages.” Saupe attributed the contraction to new regulations requiring dispensaries to work with wholesalers who have obtained permits from the state. Pounds of outdoor cannabis can now be purchased in the black market for as little as $300, down from $300 an ounce as recently as a year

ago, he said. Despite the higher prices, business is brisk at the Apothecarium, according to spokesman Eliot Dobris. In the three weeks that the Market Street dispensary has been selling recreational cannabis, it has sometimes been so busy that deliveries had to be limited to medical patients and delivery times have sometimes been longer than usual, he said. One way medical patients can potentially save money is by obtaining a state-authorized medical card, exempting their purchase from sales tax. The Medical Marijuana Dispensary Identification Card Program Best Wedding Photographer requires the patient to pay $100 per as voted bytheBAR year and obtain card readers in person at the San Francisco Department of Public Health, 101 Grove Street. For more information, visit https://www. cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CHSI/Pages/ Program-Information.aspx. t Bay Area Cannasseur runs the first Thursday of the month. To send column ideas or tips, email Sari Staver at sari@bayareacannasseur.com.

WINNER Best Wedding Photographer

Steven Underhill

PHOTOGRAPHY

415 370 7152

WEDDINGS, HEADSHOTS, PORTRAITS

stevenunderhill.com · stevenunderhillphotos@gmail.com

THIS IS THE

san francisco

Columbariu M Funeral Home and

formerly the Neptune Society

We’ve expanded our services and kept the spirit and tradition.

Call (415) 771-0717 One Loraine Court between Stanyan & Arguello

FD 1306

SF_Columbarium_2x7.625_033017.indd 1

COA 660

8/11/17 12:30 PM

<< Community News

14 • BAY AREA REPORTER • February 1-7, 2018

Rabbi

From page 4

‘Sabbath of the Song’ in celebration of the miracles in our lives, both spectacular and mundane, the unfailing spirit of our people when they could have been subsumed by despair, and the spiritual and musical leadership of one of our matriarchs, Miriam the prophetess,

Eyewitness

From page 4

procedure videotaped. In a statement to the Bay Area Reporter, San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi said, “Virtually every case study has shown that eyewitness misidentification has put more innocent

News Briefs

From page 12

The archive is looking for all aspects of punk and outlying cultures from the Bay Area, Houston noted on a flyer. For more information, call (415) 557-4567 or email: penelope.houston@sfpl.org.

Gender & name change clinic

Historic plaques

From page 10

which were produced by the Berkeleybased Artworks Foundry that also created the bronze plaques in the

Besties

From page 1

This year editors and some repeat winners agreed to retire some nominees to give others a chance to win. For example, San Francisco Pride has long been readers’ best LGBT event. This year, the category asks

who took her timbrel in her hand and led the Israelites in song as they reached dry land.” Congregants told B.A.R. that they were delighted by their new rabbi. “She’s changed the whole tenor of the place,” said congregant Beth Sousa. “The energy here is very lively and uplifting.” “She’s very humble,” added Ema

Morales. “She’s a communicator. She has time for everyone.” Copeland is a speaker and a writer on the inclusion of LGBTQ people in religious life. She is coeditor of “Struggling In Good Faith: LGBTQI Inclusion from 13 American Religious Perspectives” (Skylight Paths Publishing, 2015). She has served as director of InterFaith Family Bay Area and has also

served as a rabbi at UCLA and at Stanford University. She has a master’s degree in theological studies and a secondary teaching credential from Harvard Divinity School. She received her rabbinical degree from Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. Copeland is also a certified yoga instructor and fuses Jewish spirituality with movement in her yoga classes. She

will be bringing yoga to her new congregation. Copeland said that in the polarized political climate, the theme of her installation resonated. “I felt that we could use a night of singing out in community, healing, solidarity, and celebration,” she said. “That is exactly how I felt being officially welcomed into Sha’ar Zahav last weekend.”t

people behind bars than any other factor. I support SB 923 because it codifies the evidence-based practices used by the police in San Francisco and makes them standard throughout the state.” Spokespeople for the San Francisco Police Department declined to comment on the bill.

The California Innocence Coalition and the American Civil Liberties Union of California are sponsoring SB 923. “The need for eyewitness identification reform is nonpartisan and non-adversarial,” a statement from the California Innocence Coalition said. “Eyewitness identifications are

important to securing rightful convictions, but when they are improperly obtained it is the leading cause of wrongful convictions.” Kathy Sher, legislative advocate with the ACLU of California, stated, “Wrongful convictions are one of the most devastating blights plaguing our justice system – affecting those

wrongly convicted and survivors who turn to our legal system seeking justice, as well as society, which relies on this system to ensure overall community safety. By establishing longoverdue best practices for eyewitness identification, SB 923 will help protect the integrity of our justice system and promote safety.”t

The San Mateo County Pride Center and Bay Area Legal Aid will hold a gender and name change clinic Saturday, February 10, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 1021 South El Camino Real in San Mateo. There is no cost to attend and Spanish interpretation will be available. Volunteers with Bay Area Legal Aid will be available to assist community members with document changes for Social Security, passports, driver’s licenses, and filing or receiving a court

order. They will also help people fill out the fee waiver request form. To RSVP or for more information, call Bay Area Legal Aid at (650) 3580745, ext. 6374.

The San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition celebrates its 18th year and will have a public winetasting Saturday, February 17, from 1:30 to 5 p.m. at Fort Mason

Center in San Francisco. At the popular winetasting event guests can learn about wines, while gourmet food purveyors offer samples that pair with the award-winning selections. The event includes KGO Radio show hosts, Chronicle writers, and notable wine industry leaders. The competition kicked off earlier this year with the judging, which took place in January. Sixty-seven wine judges participated. Wines were categorized by varietal and

price range, evaluated, and then select winners were invited to participate in the public tasting event. Tickets are $70 in advance or $80 at the door, though organizers noted the event has sold out the past seven years. For tickets and more information, visit www.winejudging.com.t

Castro’s Rainbow Honor Walk celebrating deceased LGBT luminaries. “In undertaking this project the CBD wanted to tell the story of Broadway and uncover its very diverse, enriching past,” said LiMandri.

He noted it highlights how Broadway’s entertainment district cultivated the city’s early LGBT community as well as other ethnic groups. “What we hope to accomplish with putting these plaques in the ground is

to tell a different story than what most people know about Broadway,” said LiMandri. “We hope it brings a new generation into Broadway to tell the story of where it has been and where it is going.” The CBD is looking to apply for

additional funding to install more historic markers in the area. For more information on the North Beach plaque project, visit the CBD’s website at http://www.topofbroadwaycbd.org/ historical-marker-project/.t

respondents to pick another event they wish more people would go to. As in the past, readers are free to write in their own nominations in each category over those listed. Readers who complete at least 75 percent of the ballot will automatically be eligible for prizes. The top prize is $500 cash. Other prizes include a

2-night accommodation at the Stanford Court Hotel in San Francisco; a $500 shopping spree at Cliff’s Variety; a $250 gift certificate for the Cliff House; and a pair of tickets to see Erasure in August (courtesy of Goldenvoice). Early-bird voters (first week) will be entered into a special contest to win five pairs of tickets to see “Steve

Silver’s Beach Blanket Babylon” (Must be 21 or older for evening shows). For more details, see the ad in the arts section. There is a printed ballot on pages 2-3; or vote online at https://www. surveymonkey.com/r/Besties2018. Bestie voting will close March 1 at 11:59 p.m.; the Besties issue will be

published Thursday, April 12. Save the evening of April 12, when the B.A.R. will host its Besties party at Oasis, 298 11th Street, from 6 to 8 p.m. and open to the public (21 and over). The evening will feature drink specials, light refreshments, and performances by Besties winners and nominees. t years had served as San Francisco’s county clerk. She pulled papers Tuesday to run this fall for a full, four-year term as the representative for Cow Hollow, Marina, Russian Hill, and Pacific Heights. Her becoming supervisor is seen as maintaining the moderates’ sixmember majority on the board for now. Stefani was named to the budget committee as well as rules, on which she replaced District 1 Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer, now vice chair of budget and a special committee on federal issues. “I believe these are very balanced committees and I look forward to working with all of my colleagues in the coming legislative year,” stated Breed. Breed told the B.A.R. she expects to remain as board president, having been elected last year to a second, two-year term. When asked about possibly being replaced in the position, Breed said, “I haven’t heard any talk of that, but with Aaron Peskin I wouldn’t be surprised.” t

After answering a series of questions that included, “What should a memorial to Harvey Milk feel like?” and “What qualities should a future Harvey Milk Plaza have?” the groups were ready to share. Castro resident Kile Ozier was first to speak. His group noted that with “the sunken, hiddenness of the plaza [as it is], people can walk through it and not know they’ve been in it. And it’s a built-in opportunity for antisocial behavior and violence.” “It needs to be and feel very safe with an iconic presence, memorializing what Harvey stood for: coming out, community, and having fun,”

SF Chronicle public winetasting

Breed

that the only member of the board who mentioned such calls directly to her was District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin. A political foe of Conway, Peskin has criticized his political spending in past elections to defeat

progressive candidates for local office. “No supervisor told me directly that Conway had called them,” said Breed. Despite the political musical chairs of the last week, Breed expects to be

able to work with her colleagues on the board going forward. She noted how she reached out to Lee and the supervisors after her election in 2012, when she defeated appointed District 5 supervisor Christina Olague, the body’s first out bisexual member, despite not having their support in the race. “At the end of the day what I care about most is the work we are doing for the people of this city. You move on,” said Breed. “You just do the job, you do the work, and you keep it moving.” Yet Breed did indicate her pique with some of her board colleagues with the new committee assignments for the supervisors. Ronen was demoted from chair to vice chair of public safety while District 7 Supervisor Norman Yee, who nominated Farrell to be interim mayor, was made a temporary member of the budget committee. Breed reshuffled the makeup of the committees after Farrell named his former legislative aide, Catherine Stefani, as his replacement on the board. Stefani for the last two

used, though elements from it might be included. There was mention at the meeting of the Muni entrance continuing to be oriented toward Castro Street, as it is now. The Perkins Eastman design had the entrance further west near Collingwood Street. “The competition was more of an ideas competition to determine which team has a big idea and is able to take input from different stakeholders, like the city jury, design jury, and be flexible, and listen to people,” Perkins Eastman representative Justin Skoda said during the first of four community meetings January 27 at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church. The afternoon session began with

a room of locals who brainstormed ideas on how best to restore the plaza. After reviewing the site’s history, attendees heard an overview of how the SFMTA accessibility project fits into the plaza’s redesign. “We want to make sure people in community understand [the accessibility project] is happening in its own timeline,” said Skoda. According to the SFMTA website, as part of a system-wide effort to improve Americans with Disabilities Act access to Muni, the pavement and pedestrian areas around the Castro Muni station will be widened, a second elevator will be added to the south side transit entrance, the existing lighting will be replaced, and the

pavement above the station will be regraded. SFMTA predicts construction completion in 2020. “The main focus of today’s meeting is to have everyone sit down, talk amongst themselves, and hear what the community wants to tell us,” added Skoda. “We want to hear what everyone thinks.” People were seated at round tables, offering a mixture of different viewpoints. The groups worked together, sharing ideas before coming to a consensus. “With the recording and documentation of today, we’ll take that information and make the basis of a new design,” Skoda told the B.A.R.

From page 1

a supervisor,” said Breed, who on Wednesday named Sheehy chair of the board’s public safety and neighborhood services committee and maintained him as a temporary member of the budget and finance committee. During the hearing to elect an interim mayor, Breed said she took particular offense to the accusation made by District 9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen that she is in the pocket of “rich, white men.” “It is offensive to imply that somehow, as an African-American woman, a rich, white guy owns me because he has expressed support of my candidacy,” said Breed. It was in reference to reports that tech investor Ron Conway had called supervisors and threatened to ruin their careers if they didn’t back Breed remaining as mayor. Asked about the phone calls, which Conway has denied making, Breed told the B.A.R.

Milk plaza

From page 1

and commuters a safe, user-friendly, and inviting public gathering area in the heart of the Castro. In its initial rendering, the Perkins Eastman design is a large, open plaza at the Castro corner sitting at the foot of an amphitheater which steps upward, pointing toward Sutro Tower. The amphitheater is composed of a series of “stages” for seeing, hearing, and watching, connected by a series of ramps and benches for pausing and listening. Lighting treatment in the plaza also creates a permanent “candlelight vigil.” But it’s unlikely that design will be

Rick Gerharter

Interim Mayor Mark Farrell swears in Catherine Stefani as his replacement as District 2 supervisor Tuesday, as her husband, Chris, and children, Gigi and Dominic, look on.

David-Elijah Nahmod contributed reporting.

See page 15 >>

Community News>>

t Horizons, KQED, B.A.R. to co-sponsor mayoral debate by Cynthia Laird

he Bay Area Reporter will join with the Horizons Foundation and KQED to co-sponsor a mayoral debate Monday, March 19, at 7:30 p.m. at the Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street. The candidate forum will include the four major candidates for mayor: former supervisor Angela Alioto, Board of Supervisors President London Breed, District 6 Supervisor Jane Kim, and former supervisor and state legislator Mark Leno. All have confirmed their participation, according to Horizons. The forum will focus primarily on issues related to neighborhoods and LGBTQ issues. Organizers noted that the Castro serves as a microcosm of the types of issues that neighborhoods across San Francisco face. The forum will be taped for broadcast on Wednesday, March 21

Milk Plaza

From page 14

Ozier said. “Virtually every movement has started right there and some quality to the architecture [should] convey that.” Ozier’s group suggested the installation of a “giant, iconic bullhorn, on its back, straight up, with a big fountain that is a water show at night.” In 1973, Milk addressed voters in the Castro with a bullhorn atop a soapbox in support of his first campaign for San Francisco supervisor. He won a seat on the board in 1977, becoming the first openly gay man elected to office in San Francisco and California. “People need to see that they’re at a place when they get off the bus or the train,” Ozier added. “[There should be] something iconic like the clock at Grand Central Terminal.” Last year, the B.A.R. reported that the $500,000 donation to support the design competition and subsequent plaza development came from Lawrence Cushman, a gay California man, which gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) said was made several years ago into a fund at the Horizons Foundation for the plaza’s benefit. Andrea Aiello, president of the Friends’ group and executive director of the Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit District, said the first meeting went well. “It was a great turnout for the first meeting and we gathered a lot of great feedback from the community,” Aiello wrote in an email. She said that the feedback sheets are posted on the Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza Facebook page (https:// www.facebook.com/friendsofharveymilkplaza/) and will be added to the Friends’ website in the next week or so.

EVNA meeting

At the January 24 Eureka Valley Neighborhood Association meeting, attendees had mixed feelings about how to enliven the plaza. During a question and answer segment, residents agreed on the most important component of the plaza’s redesign: safety. “In any public space, [safety] will always be an issue, how to keep out unwanted urban behavior,” said Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza secretary Brian Springfield. “The answer is to activate the space, so [the homeless] won’t gather.” “Jane Warner [Plaza] is as activated as it’s ever been and the place is crawling with [homeless] people at 5 a.m.,” said Crispin Hollings, EVNA’s former

at 8 p.m. on KQED Public Radio 88.5 FM and will also be available on www.kqed.org and www.horizonsfoundation.org. KQED’s Scott Shafer, a gay man, will moderate. Horizons is serving as the event producer, while KQED is serving as the content producer. The B.A.R. is contributing editorial experience and promotion. The June mayoral election is happening due to the death in December of Mayor Ed Lee. Participating candidates were determined by their reaching a threshold of 5 percent in available public polling. People will be able to submit questions before the forum; an email address will be announced soon. Additionally, while the event is free, tickets will be required and that will also be set up in the coming days. The B.A.R. will alert readers once those details are finalized. t

president, referring to the plaza across the street. “We need to come up with something better than a promise to activate the plaza in whatever form it’s in,” Hollings added. “The idea that we’re going to activate it in the same way as Jane Warner Plaza will result in the same way: an encampment for homelessness. We will stay in a place of fear. You need to come up with something better.” One person asked why Harvey Milk Plaza wasn’t working in its current configuration. The site now is dreary; benches have been installed and removed over the years, and the upper part of the plaza doesn’t easily connect to the lower part, where there is some information about Milk. “Overwhelmingly, people wanted to honor Harvey Milk in a way that’s significant,” Springfield responded. “I’m not sure it’s possible in the current space. There’s only a sliver of space to dedicate a memorial experience.” Other people expressed concerns about seating and the idea of an increased space to assemble. Howard Grant, a retired architect and designer of the Castro Street Muni station and Harvey Milk Plaza, opposes the redesign. “We haven’t talked about the disruption and inconvenience demolition and replacement of the plaza would bring for the hundreds of Muni commuters and adjacent neighbors,” he said, reading from a prepared speech. “I believe Harvey Milk Plaza is a community asset that should be treasured, not demolished.” During last October’s public comment period, the Harvey Milk Plaza redesign project received over 20,000 interactions. Based on the data collected by Neighborland, the communications host of the online survey, during those two weeks, 2,600 people participated in the survey component and 4,000 contributed survey responses. Forty-seven percent of those who responded live or work in the 94114 ZIP code and 50 percent utilize Harvey Milk Plaza daily, weekly, or monthly. Additional fundraising efforts will call on public contributions to secure the additional $10 million required for the full funding of the design, construction, and maintenance of the plaza. The next community meetings are scheduled for March 3 and April 7 from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at Most Holy Redeemer. The fourth meeting’s time and location are unconfirmed.t

February 1-7, 2018 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 15

Legal Notices>> FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037917900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GO GO TRAVELER, 912 COLE ST #131, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LISA ZAMARIN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 12/27/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/28/17.

JAN 11, 18, 25, FEB 01, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037932100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: JIE YING, 3751 GEARY BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SHUYING WU. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/08/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/08/18.

JAN 11, 18, 25, FEB 01, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037933400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LUIS GARNICA MAINTENANCE SERVICES, 388 BEALE ST #1309, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JOSE LUIS GARNICA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/04/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/08/18.

JAN 11, 18, 25, FEB 01, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037931000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: JOVAN & BROTHERS BUILDING MAINTENANCE, 235 SANTA BARBARA AVE, DALY CITY, CA 94014. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JOVAN BUENROSTRO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 10/23/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/05/18.

JAN 11, 18, 25, FEB 01, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037914500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TESSA MARIE, 2845 VAN NESS AVE #504, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed TESSA VIKE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 12/20/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/26/17.

JAN 11, 18, 25, FEB 01, 2018, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037926900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ON TOP TAX, 4348 3RD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ROBERT EDWARDS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 12/13/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/03/18.

JAN 11, 18, 25, FEB 01, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037927000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BUBBLE LOUNGE LAUNDROMAT, 1811 FULTON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JEREMY PAZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 11/01/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/03/18.

JAN 11, 18, 25, FEB 01, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037908800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LEDA LAW FIRM; LIFSCHITZ, EZRIN, DARSKY & ALIOTO, 345 FRANKLIN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed LOELL, P.C. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 09/01/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/21/17.

JAN 11, 18, 25, FEB 01, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037929600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENTAL SERVICES, 109 BARTLETT ST #302, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110.This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SCOTT S. WILSON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/04/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/04/18.

JAN 11, 18, 25, FEB 01, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037924100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: 415 DESIGN+BUILD; 415 MAINTENANCE; 763 25TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed 415 DESIGN+BUILD (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/01/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/02/18.

JAN 11, 18, 25, FEB 01, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037906400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TORCH LEADERSHIP LABS, 383 RHODE ISLAND #201, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed REDFISH LABS, INC. (DE). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 12/15/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/20/17.

JAN 11, 18, 25, FEB 01, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037931100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PAPI’S SF, 425 A HAYES ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed PAPI’S SF, LLC (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 01/05/18.

JAN 11, 18, 25, FEB 01, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037931800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BAY BRIDGE SPIRITS; BEAR MOON SPIRITS, 849 AVE D, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94130. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed TREEHOUSE CRAFT DISTILLERY LLC (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 01/05/18.

JAN 11, 18, 25, FEB 01, 2018 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-037672500

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: 415 DESIGN+BUILD, 763 25TH AVE, SF, CA 94121. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by KENNETH CROMPTON. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/07/17.

JAN 11, 18, 25, FEB 01, 2018

STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-037314900

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: CROMPTON CONSTRUCTION, 763 25TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by KENNETH CROMPTON. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/19/16.

JAN 11, 18, 25, FEB 01, 2018 SUMMONS SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO NOTICE TO DEFENDANT: ALL PERSONS CLAIMING BY, THROUGH OR UNDER THE STONECREST CORPORATION, A DISSOLVED CORPORATION, ALL PERSONS UNKNOWN, CLAIMING ANY LEGAL OR EQUITABLE RIGHT, TITLE, ESTATE, LIEN, OR INTEREST IN THE PROPERTY DESCRIBED IN THE COMPLAINT ADVERSE TO PLAINTIFFS’ TITLE, OR ANY CLOUD ON PLAINTIFF’ TITLE HERETO, AND DOES 1 THROUGH 10, YOU ARE BEING SUED BY PLAINTIFF’S JOHN E. HADELER AND AILEEN N. WATANABE CASE NO. CGC-16-553913 NOTICE! You have been sued. The court may decide against you without your being heard unless you respond within 30 days. Read the information below. You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this summons and legal papers are served on you to file a written response at this court and have a copy served on the plaintiff. A letter or phone call will not protect you. Your written response must be in proper legal form if you want the court to hear your case. There may be a court form that you can use for your response. You can find these court forms and more information at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/ selfhelp), your county law library, or the courthouse nearest you. If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the court clerk for a fee waiver form. If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case by default, and your wages, money and property may be taken without further warning from the court. There are other legal requirements. You may want to call an attorney right away. If you do not know an attorney, you may want to call an attorney referral service. If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be eligible for free legal services from a nonprofit legal services program. You can locate these nonprofit groups at the California Legal Services Web site (www.lawhelpcalifornia.org), the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), or by contacting your local court or county bar association. NOTE: The court has a statutory lien for waived fees and costs on any settlement or arbitration award of $10,000 or more in a civil case. The court’s lien must be paid before the court will dismiss the case. The name and address of the court is: SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO, 400 McAllister Street, San Francisco, CA 94102, The name, address, and telephone number of plaintiff’s attorney, or the plaintiff without an attorney, is: Lawrence M. Scancarelli Esq., 220 Bush Street, Suite 1650, San Francisco, CA 94104 08/26/16, Clerk of the Court by Madonna Caranto, Deputy.

JAN 18, 25, FEB 01, 08, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037921100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SIT STAY SF, 854 54TH ST, OAKLAND, CA 94608. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ALTHEA S. KARWOWSKI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 11/11/12. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/29/17.

JAN 18, 25, FEB 01, 08, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037936800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GOLDEN STATE ROAD SERVICE, 156 9TH ST, RICHMOND, CA 94801. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JAYSON FULLER BRYANT. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/05/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/09/18.

JAN 18, 25, FEB 01, 08, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037910700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: RMS ASSOCIATES, 850 POWELL ST #502, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed RICHARD SCHLACKMAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/01/16. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/22/17.

JAN 18, 25, FEB 01, 08, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037944200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: AVENUE, 3361 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCICO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BING CONSULTING SERVICES (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/01/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/12//18.

JAN 18, 25, FEB 01, 08, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037946700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NOKTURNAL, 708 POLK ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed S.A.K. BARS, 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 01/12/18.

JAN 18, 25, FEB 01, 08, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037943100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MANAGEMENT, 2549 NORIEGA ST, #203, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed ZMX CORPORATION (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 01/11/18.

JAN 18, 25, FEB 01, 08, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037934600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE SUPPLY CLOSET, 501 CESAR CHAVEZ ST #100C, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed JD BERGLUND GROUP (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/21/10. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/08/18.

JAN 18, 25, FEB 01, 08, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037934500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ARMOUR FENCE, 2900 BRODERICK ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed JD BERGLUND GROUP (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/08/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/08/18.

JAN 18, 25, FEB 01, 08, 2018

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037939400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FITNESS SF SOMA, 1001 BRANNAN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BRANNAN STREET FITNESS INC. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 09/13/12. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/10/18.

JAN 18, 25, FEB 01, 08, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037916100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ALL STATES BEST FOODS, 1607 20TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed ALEES CORPORATION (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 12/27/17.

JAN 18, 25, FEB 01, 08, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037916000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DAVE’S FOOD MARKET, 1601 20TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed ALEES CORPORATION (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 12/27/17.

JAN 18, 25, FEB 01, 08, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037934900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BLAZE TRADERS, 815 TERESITA BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127. This business is conducted by a married couple, and is signed ABHINAV SANSON & SHARIKA SANSON. 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 01/08/18.

JAN 18, 25, FEB 01, 08, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037940300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DOBBS FERRY, 409 GOUGH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed DIABLO RESTAURANT GROUP LLC (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 01/10//18.

JAN 18, 25, FEB 01, 08, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037934800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SIZZLING POT KING, 139 8TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed GAN XIANG YU LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/08/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/08/18.

JAN 18, 25, FEB 01, 08, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037922300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PAPI RICO, 544 CASTRO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed RY & RIC LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/01/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/29/17.

JAN 18, 25, FEB 01, 08, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037938600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CLOCKWISE, 1067 MARKET ST #1018, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed LOCKBOX ESCAPES LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/09/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/09/18.

JAN 18, 25, FEB 01, 08, 2018 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-18-553619

In the matter of the application of: RICHARD ANTHONY MAJORS, 766 SUTTER ST #22, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner RICHARD ANTHONY MAJORS, is requesting that the name RICHARD ANTHONY MAJORS, be changed to RICE ARCHIMEDES MAJORS. 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 15th of March 2018 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

JAN 25, FEB 01, 08, 15, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037957300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATES, 5135 ANZA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CHRISTOPHER ALAN SPROUL. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/19/18.

JAN 25, FEB 01, 08, 15, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037937000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DE LEON JANITOR SERVICES, 566 MOSCOW ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed FERNANDO DE LEON BAMACA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/09/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/09/18.

JAN 25, FEB 01, 08, 15, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037951500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SAN FRANCISCO BAY COMPUTER SERVICES, 4736 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed EDUARDO SANCHEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/01/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/17/18.

JAN 25, FEB 01, 08, 15, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037943400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PAUL & DAVES MIXED DRINKS, 150 AVOCET WAY, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DAVID SPRINGER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/11/18 The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/11/18.

JAN 25, FEB 01, 08, 15, 2018

<< Classifieds

16 • BAY AREA REPORTER • February 1-7, 2018

Legal Notices>> FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037948800

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037930700

JAN 25, FEB 01, 08, 15, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037947800

JAN 25, FEB 01, 08, 15, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037957900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CALIFORNIA PAINTING, 786 MADRID ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JOAO NUNES DA SILVA JUNIOR. 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 01/16/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SYNCHRONIZED, 210 POST ST #1121, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed BRANDON PATRICK SHING. 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 01/16/18.

JAN 25, FEB 01, 08, 15, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037926700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CASTRO’S CLEANING SERVICE, 1916 FOLSOM ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed AGUSTIN BEGINNER CASTRO ALVARADO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/18/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/03/18.

JAN 25, FEB 01, 08, 15, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037952500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: INNOVATION LAB, 301 MISSION ST #24H, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed FAISAL QURESHI. 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 01/17/18.

JAN 25, FEB 01, 08, 15, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037922500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CHINA DELIGHTS, 295 ORIZABA AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94132. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JINGJING ZENG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/25/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/29/17.

JAN 25, FEB 01, 08, 15, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037942000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BLOOM THERAPY, 2224-A BUSH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LANDON ZAKI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/10/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/11/18.

JAN 25, FEB 01, 08, 15, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037947600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: VASYL HANDYMAN CO., 165 MORTON DR, DALY CITY, CA 94015. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed VASYL GOLUB. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/05/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/05/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: AUMNI TOURS, 97 JEFFERSON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MITRA KHAYAMI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/16/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/19/18.

JAN 25, FEB 01, 08, 15, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037931400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SF DENTAL HEALTH, 2460 MISSION ST #215, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed YANG DDS INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/04/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/05/18.

JAN 25, FEB 01, 08, 15, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037943800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TENBUY COMMERCIAL, 870 MARKET ST #315, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed TENBUY CORPORATION (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/12/18.

JAN 25, FEB 01, 08, 15, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037958800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LOVE PATISSERIE & MORE, 5900 3RD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed S.F. CYCLE, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/19/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/19/18.

JAN 25, FEB 01, 08, 15, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037929800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TRIBE; TRIBE SF; TRIBE FITNESS, 222 COLUMBUS AVE #220, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed TRIFITSF LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/02/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/04/18.

JAN 25, FEB 01, 08, 15, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037959800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: UNCOVER, 98 MARTHA AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SAMANTHA T. FOSTER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/16/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/16/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HANDLEBAR SPIRITS, 849 AVENUE D, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94130. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed TREEHOUSE CRAFT DISTILLERY, LLC (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 01/19/18.

JAN 25, FEB 01, 08, 15, 2018

JAN 25, FEB 01, 08,15, 2018

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037960400

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037975300

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037960800

JAN 25, FEB 01, 08, 15, 2018 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-037148300

FEB 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037959300

FEB 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037966900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HAIKUSEEDS; MEANINGFUL INSIGHTS, 1770 POST ST #234, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed MEANINGFUL INSIGHTS LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/22/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/22/18.

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: SAN FRANCISCO BAY COMPUTER SERVICES, 4736 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business was conducted by a general partnership and signed by MICHAEL POHLABLE & EDUARDO SANCHEZ. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/22/16.

JAN 25, FEB 01, 08, 15, 2018 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-037128500

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: EMPAWTHY, 3215 20TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by ALISHA JEAN ARDIANA. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/06/16.

JAN 25, FEB 01, 08, 15, 2018 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-18553626

In the matter of the application of: JOSE FERNANDO LEMA, 3008 ULLOA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116, for change of name having been ﬁled in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner JOSE FERNANDO LEMA, is requesting that the name JOSE FERNANDO LEMA, be changed to DANIEL LOPEZ. 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 15th of March 2018 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

FEB 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-18-553622

In the matter of the application of: DEEPTI ROHATGI & MAX KELLY, C/O LAW OFFICES OF YASMINE S. MEHMET, 435 PACIFIC AVE #200, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioners DEEPTI ROHATGI & MAX KELLY, are requesting that the name SIMCHA HECATE AURORA ROHATGI KELLY, be changed to SIMCHA HECATE AURORA ROHATGI-KELLY. 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 15th of March 2018 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

FEB 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037935600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TOUCH TOUCH FLOWER SHOP, 1550 CALIFORNIA ST #1R, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ISAO KASE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/09/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/09/18.

FEB 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018

Pet Services>>

Movers>>

4115 19th Street San Francisco, CA 94114

415.626.1169 www.nowvoyager.com

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: JT NAILS, 1848 FILLMORE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed TRANG THI TRUONG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/22/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/22/18.

FEB 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037963500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: JAVIER FIGUEROA HANDYMAN AND PROPERTY MAINTENANCE, 202 VERANO DR., DALY CITY, CA 94015. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JAVIER HERIBERTO FIGUEROA MARTINEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/23/18.

FEB 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037975000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TINO’S CLEANING, 70 OCEAN AVE #10, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed FLORENTINO MORALES. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/29/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/29/18.

FEB 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037971000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: D1 MUSIC, 3012 16 TH ST #201, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LOU GORDON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/26/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/26/18.

FEB 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037976600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MAYER THERAPY, 1774 UNION ST #3, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed MAYER THERAPY, A MARRAIGE AND FAMILY THERAPY CORP (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/15/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/22/18.

FEB 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037939800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TENROKU RAMEN #2, 4435 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by a corporation and is signed W & C JAPANESE RESTAURANT INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/10/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/10/18.

FEB 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037939000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THIRD WAY MEDIA, 660 MISSION ST, 2ND FLR, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BARNES MOSHER WHITEHURST LAUTER & PARTNERS 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 01/10/18.

FEB 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037953600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SUGAR SAN FRANCISCO, 1116 SUTTER ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed SUGAR METHOD LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 06/01/13. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/17/18.

FEB 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037969000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: APPLIED CABINET, 1709 TENNESSEE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed APPLIED CABINET TECHNOLOGIES, 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 01/29/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MARRAKECH MOROCCAN RESTAURANT, 419 O’FARRELL ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed MMR-SF LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/24/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/25/18.

FEB 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: JUDAH CLEAN CENTER, 3944 JUDAH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by SANDY WALSER. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/07/13.

FEB 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018

Outreach February 2018

Text “CITYPREP” to 213-33 (messaging and data rates apply). Email prephelp@sfdph.org or visit http://sfcityclinic.org/services/prep/asp for more information. This program is sponsored by the Population Health Division of San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH).

35 PUC # 176618

415 861-5381 THANK YOU ST. JUDE May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, gloriﬁed, loved and preserved throughout the world now and forever. Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us. St. Jude, worker of miracles, pray for us. St. Jude, helper of the hopeless, pray for us. Say prayer nine time a day for nine days. Thank you Jesus and St. Jude for prayers answered. Publication must be promised. B.K.

The Assessment Appeals Board resolves legal and value assessment issues between the Assessor’s office and property owners. We have two vacancies on Board 1, which oversees all downtown properties – high rise residential, office, commercial, hotels. Board 1 also oversees all properties over $50 million in assessed value throughout the City. Assessment appeal hearings are quasi-judicial, conducted in a manner similar to a court setting, with evidence and testimony presented by the parties. The Board then evaluates the evidence and testimony, and renders its decision. To be eligible for seat appointment, you must have a minimum of five years professional experience in California as either a: (1) public accountant; (2) real estate broker; (3) attorney; or (4) property appraiser accredited by a nationally recognized organization, or certified by either the Office of Real Estate Appraiser or the State Board of Equalization.

(415) 441-1054 Large Truck

11am-5pm (PST) M-F, Closed on Weekends

FEB 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037961800

Find out about PrEP, a daily pill to prevent HIV, through an automated mobile texting conversation. You can learn about PrEP, have concerns addressed, and even find out where you can get PrEP! You can also refer friends to find out about PrEP through the texting service.

27 Years Exp. (415) 794-4411 Roger Miller

Celebrating 33 Years of Fabulous Travel Arrangements!

FEB 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037962000

Did you know that there is a daily pill to prevent HIV?

CLEANING PROFESSIONAL

Travel>>

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SIMPLY SF, 1001 BRANNAN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BRANNAN STEET FITNESS, 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 01/24/18.

Then go have a drink & relax...

Housecleaning Richard 415-255-0389

HAULING 24/7 –

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SAN FRANCISCO COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER, 726-730 POLK ST, 4TH FLR, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed ASIAN & PACIFIC ISLANDER WELLNESS CENTER, INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/22/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/22/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ADVENT ANGELS, 34 RAE AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MORENA V. ABELLO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/19/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/19/18.

To place your classiﬁed ad, call 415-861-5019

RAMBO WITH A VACUUM

Hauling>>

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TRANSCENDENT COUNSEL, 870 MARKET ST #400, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ALEXANDER THEBERGE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/29/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/29/18.

STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-035088300

Classifieds Cleaning Services>>

For more information regarding the Assessment Appeals Board call (415) 554-6778.

Tech Support>>

PC Support Ralph Doore 415-867-4657

Professional 30+ years exp. Virus removal PC speedup New PC setup Data recovery Network & wireless setup Discreet

 Yelp reviews

MACINTOSH HELP •Home OR OFFICE •26 YEARS EXPERIENCE

SFMACMAN.com RICK

415.821.1792

San Francisco International Airport has commenced the Request for Proposals (RFP) process for the following concession opportunities: • Terminal 1 Retail Concession Leases The Request for Proposals includes 2 Newsstand Leases, 1 Newsstand and Convenience Store Lease (2 locations), 1 Electronics Store Lease, 1 Regional Gift Store Lease, 1 Bath & Beauty Store Lease and 1 Sunglass Store Lease. • Terminal 1 Food and Beverage Concession Leases The Request for Proposals includes 5 Quick Serve Restaurant Leases, 2 Sit-Down Restaurant and Bar Leases, 1 Café & Market Lease and 1 Café Lease. Small, local and disadvantaged businesses are encouraged to participate. Proposals will be received through the Airport’s RFP Web Portal from 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 25, 2018 until 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 2, 2018. For more information about each concession opportunity, please visit our website at www.flysfo.com/business-at-sfo/current-opportunities or please contact: • Terminal 1 Retail Concession Leases, call Ms. Clarissa Mamaril, Principal Property Manager, RDM at (650) 821-4500 or via e-mail at clarissa.mamaril@flysfo.com. • Terminal 1 Food and Beverage Concession Leases, call Mr. Tomasi Toki, Principal Property Manager, RDM at (650) 821-4500 or via e-mail at tomasi.toki@flysfo.com. The City and County of San Francisco encourage public outreach. Articles are translated into several languages to provide better public access. The newspaper makes every effort to translate the articles of general interest correctly. No liability is assumed by the City and County of San Francisco or the newspapers for errors and omissions.

CNS-3091554#

Noir lives

Risk factor

Beau Travail

St. Fran

Vol. 48 • No. 5 • February 1-7, 2018

www.ebar.com/arts

Woke Beauty by Paul Parish

S Erik Tomasson

an Francisco Ballet opened their winter season with the greatest of all classical ballets, The Sleeping Beauty, in a thrilling show that continues through this weekend. This ballet shows grace under pressure; it became iconic during World War II, when the ballerina Margot Fonteyn emboldened the role of Princess Aurora by holding her balance, unsupported, it seemed forever, as one suitor after another approached. Fonteyn was the image of triumph, she emblematized defiance of the Nazis, as the bombs were falling all over Britain. The woman who, remaining feminine, is as strong as any man, rising fearlessly, irrepressibly, gracefully, like a fountain, gave courage to the British in their darkest hour and gave a model to the real-life Princess Elizabeth. See page 24 >>

San Francisco Ballet’s Sasha De Sola and Carlo Di Lanno in Helgi Tomasson’s “The Sleeping Beauty.”

Performance artist Taylor Mac wears a Yule-festooned costume in “Holiday Sauce,” which will be part of the renovated Curran Theatre’s first subscription series.

Show business thrives on Geary Street by Richard Dodds

B Courtesy Taylor Mac

ig news arrived cheek-by-jowl from the side-by-side theaters on Geary Street. At the Curran Theatre, it was the announcement of the first subscription series since reopening last year and becoming independent of the bestof-Broadway-oriented SHN. A few steps away, at ACT, a new artistic director has been chosen to replace Carey Perloff after her 25-year run ends at the conclusion of this season. See page 24 >>

{ SECOND OF THREE SECTIONS }

<< Out There

18 • Bay Area Reporter • February 1-7, 2018

Jessica Palopoli

Billie Dawn (Millie Brooks) contemplates her role in the corrupt world of Washington, DC, in “Born Yesterday” at San Francisco Playhouse.

Political chicanery by Roberto Friedman

Be bly a n o i h s fa ! y l r ea Vote in the Bay Area Reporter’s annual readers’ choice awards poll. It’s fun, it’s exciting, and you can have your cake, and win prizes too!

EARLY BIRDS GET THE TICKETS! Vote at www.ebar.com/besties2018 during this first week of voting, and we’ll choose five winners on February 8th to receive a pair of tickets* to see the world-famous Beach Blanket Babylon.

* Must be 21+ to see an evening performance

www.ebar.com/besties2018

an Francisco Playhouse’s latest offering, “Born Yesterday,” wasn’t – penned recently, that is. Playwright Garson Kanin’s comedy premiered on Broadway back in 1946. But the eerie thing about it is that director Susi Damilano’s revival couldn’t possibly be more timely. The boorish millionaire Harry Brock comes to Washington, DC in order to bribe a sitting senator into sponsoring a bill to end all the regulations curbing his junkyard industry. Sounds exactly like what the billionaire kleptocrats who make up the heinous Trump cabinet are doing every day to end industry, banking and climatechange regulations. The play’s Senator Norval Hedges is exactly as corrupt, sniveling and kow t ow i n g - t o - o b scene-wealth as every member of the Republican majority in the 2018 U.S. Congress. Kanin’s vision of the dirty interplay between politics and wealth has all sorts of resonance with today’s hypercapitalist America. Brock is a loud, obnoxious alpha male who bullies his way into power and impresses himself (sound familiar?). He makes sure that his handshake is strong and overpowering, yanking his victim’s arm and holding on a little too long. He intimidates his underlings. He abuses his fiancée, Billie, verbally and physically. Brock has utter contempt for the press, centered on a reporter from The New Republic hired to do a profile of him. It’s Brock’s idea to have the journalist Paul Verrall mentor Billie a la Pygmalion. The connection with a thinking, caring partner opens Billie’s eyes to the corrupt machinations around her, and helps bring about the eventual downfall of the politicspower-filthy-lucre operation we’re witnessing onstage. At play’s end, social justice prevails – that’s why “Born Yesterday” is a comedy. In Trump’s America, it feels like the most unlikely fantasia. “When I read this play, I was immediately struck by how resoundingly its message still rings after 70 years,” producing director Dami-

lano said in a press statement. “The timeless story of integrity triumphing over political self-interest feels as relevant as ever.” The entire Playhouse cast does juicy justice to the old-fashioned mechanics of this evergreen play. Michael Torres is convincingly blustering as Brock. Anthony Fusco is perfect as his attorney enabler. Jason Kapoor is suitably earnest as the emissary from the Fourth Estate. Louis Parnell is deliciously unctuous as the venal senator. The remainder of the cast carry off background roles seamlessly. As usual at Playhouse, the scenic, costume, sound and lighting designs are first-rate. But hands down the production’s biggest asset is Millie Brooks as Billie Dawn, the role that made Judy Holliday a star. Brooks begins as a convincingly ditzy showgirl – “I am stupid, and I like it!” But by play’s end, she has become this incestuous world’s dawning conscience, as she calls out bribery, corruption, and greed, noting how selfishness defines the senators she sees for sale. Today’s history lesson: “Sometimes selfishness even becomes a government. Then it’s called Fascism.” “Born Yesterday” plays through March 10. SF Playhouse, 450 Post St., SF. Tickets ($20-$125): sfplayhouse.org.

Oakland mon amour

A couple of exciting events are coming up across the dancing waters of San Francisco Bay. First off, Oakland Symphony invites you to experience “Mixtape,” an experimental, boundary-pushing musical series curated exclusively for the Oakland scene. Favorite local artists come together in intimate venues to explore the sights, sounds and voices of Oak-town “in a mash-up of genres that defies boundaries and creates new connections between artists and audience.” Press materials inform, “‘Mixtape, Vol. 1: Femme Fatale’ is a celebration of powerful, thoughtprovoking women, curated by Linda Harrison from the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) and hosted by GLAAD Awardwinning comedian Marga Gomez.

Oakland’s Sh8peshifter, DJ Nina Sol with her soulful sounds, and Oakland Symphony’s own Dawn Harms (violin) and Michelle Kwon (cello) come together upstairs at the Starline Social Club on Feb. 1 at 8 p.m. to amplify the extraordinary diverse, female, and LGBTQ voices making music great today.” (2236 MLK, Oakland; 21+ only; $15 advance, $20 door; tickets: (510) 4440802, or oaksym.org/mixtape.) Then, next week, Oakland Symphony presents a special concert, “Pride & Prejudice: Notes from LGBTQ,” on Friday, Feb. 9, 8 p.m., at the Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway in Oakland. In this concert, part of the Symphony’s “Notes from” series, the program will reflect on self-identity and selfexpression through the artistry of LGBTQ composers and musicians celebrating difference, finding common ground and embracing the beauty of authenticity. Singer Noah Galvin from the Broadway musical “Dear Evan Hansen” and ABC’s “The Real O’Neals” will be featured, along with world-renowned pianist Sara Davis Buechner. Oakland Symphony music director and conductor Michael Morgan will lead the orchestra. As you might already know, Morgan was the Grand Marshal of the 2017 Oakland Pride Parade. The program, with Michelle Meow as MC, includes Samuel Barber (1910-81): First Essay for Orchestra, Op. 12; Benjamin Britten (1913-76): Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, Op. 31 (with tenor Jonathan Blalock); Jennifer Higdon (b. 1962): “blue cathedral”; Camille Saint-Saëns (18351921): Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22 (with Buechner on piano); and “With the Right Music: A Song Cycle” by Tim Rosser and Charlie Sohne, world premiere, commissioned by the Oakland Symphony (vocals from Galvin). Tickets ($25-90): (510) 444-0802 or OaklandSymphony.org.

No shiz, Sherlock!

Favorite newspaper correction of the week, from The New York Times, 1/26/18: “An article about a meeting of Sherlock Holmes devotees referred incorrectly to a costume worn by a woman attending a costume ball. She was dressed as the Grimpen Mire, not a Scottish moor.” Well, OK then!t

Film>>

February 1-7, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 19

Watch your back! ‘Noir City’ fest wraps by Tavo Amador

his year’s Noir City film festival at the Castro Theatre finishes with some rarely seen examples of the genre. “I Walk Alone” (1947) is what Frankie Madison (virile Burt Lancaster) does when released from jail after serving 14 years for bootlegging. He looks up his old partner Noll Turner (Kirk Douglas), expecting him to honor their agreement to give him half of their illegal earnings. Fat chance. Turner has become a legit owner of a swank nightclub and wants to forget about Frankie. Not a good idea. Torch singer Kay Lawrence (striking Lizabeth Scott) used to be Noll’s girl, but now wants to help Frankie. With cold-eyed Wendell Corey. Lancaster and Douglas are electric enemies in their first of seven co-starring movies. Directed by Byron Haskin. Screenplay by Charles Schnee from a play by Theodore Reeves. Not available on DVD. Quintessential thug Lawrence Tierney becomes a “Bodyguard” (1948) after being fired from the police force for insubordination. His new employer owns a meat-packing company. When an inspector is murdered, Tierney investigates and exposes corruption in the industry. With Priscilla Lane and Steve Brodie. Swift direction by Richard Fleishcher. Fred Niblo and Harry Essex wrote the screenplay, based on a story by George W. George and future director Robert Altman. (2/1) Beautiful psychology professor Loretta Young becomes “The Accused” (1949) after accidentally killing a student who tried to rape her. She eliminates traces of her presence at the crime scene, then flees. Her conscience troubles her, however, as she watches the investigation unfold. Also troubling is her romance with the dead boy’s guardian. An unjustly forgotten gem. With Robert Cummings, Wendell Corey, and Sam Jaffe. William Dieterle directed. Ketti Frings’ screenplay is based on June Truesdell’s novel. Mean, violent Charles McGraw is “The Threat” (1949), a convict who escapes from Folsom Prison and plans to avenge himself on those who sent him there. With Milo O’Shea and Virginia Grey. Crisply directed by Felix Feist. Screenplay by Dick Irving Hyland and Hugh King, from a story by King. (2/2) Although primarily remembered as the husband and father on TV’s long-running “Hazel,” Don Defore also made many B-pictures. Playing a US Secret Service agent, he dialed “Southside 1-1000” (1950) to get into San Quentin. He and the agency suspect that a master engraver, in jail for life, is behind a forged currency ring. With sexy Andrea King as the woman who complicates things. Directed by Boris Ingster, from a screenplay by Ingster and Leo Townsend. Baby Boomers recall Gale Storm from two successful 1950s TV series, “My Little Margie” and “Oh, Susanna,” but she also toiled in the B-picture fields before stardom hit. In “The Underworld Story” (1950), she’s the owner of a small-town newspaper who hires a corrupt reporter (sleazy Dan Duryea). He crusades to save a young woman unjustly accused of murder, but is really interested in her defense fund. This predates Billy Wilder’s celebrated take on a similar subject, “Ace in the Hole,” by one year. With Herbert Marshall, Alan Hale, Jr., and Howard Da Silva. Smoothly directed by Cyril (Cy) Endfield, from a tight screenplay by Henry Blankfort, based on Endfield’s adaptation of a story by Craig Rice. (2/3) Lee J. Cobb is “The Man Who Cheated Himself ” (1950), a vet-

eran San Francisco cop having an affair with a married socialite (Jane Wyatt). He witnesses her killing her husband and covers it up. But his kid brother (gay John Dall), a rookie cop, is assigned to the case. He soon begins to figure out what happened. Tautly directed by Felix Feist from a smart screenplay by Phillip MacDonald and Seton I. Miller, from a story by Miller. Shown in a newly restored 35mm print. Howard Hughes, then owner of RKO Studios, decided that veteran supporting player Charles McGraw, usually cast as tough hood, should be a star of sorts by having him overcome a “Roadblock” (1951). He’s an insurance agent who falls for the avaricious Joan Dixon. She wants money. He wants to make her happy. Neither gets their wish. Harold Daniels directed from a screenplay by Steve Fisher and George Bricker, based

on a story by Richard Landau and Daniel Mainwaring. (2/3) Bar waitress Billie Nash (Beverley Michaels) is a “Wicked Woman” (1953). She convinces employer Richard Egan to fleece his well-off

alcoholic wife then flee with Billie to Mexico. But Percy Helton has his own lustful plans for the blonde femme fatale. Russell Rouse directed from an original screenplay by Rouse and Clarence Greene.

Fritz Lang’s masterpiece “The Big Heat” (1953) is a brilliant noir about big-city corruption. Honest cop Dave Bannion (Glenn Ford) sets out to avenge the murder of his wife (Joceyln Brando). His investigation worries hood Mike Lagana (a silky Alexander Scourby), who orders Vince Stone (Lee Marvin in his breakthrough role) to take care of Bannion. But Stone’s obsessed about girlfriend Debbie Marsh (a memorable Gloria Grahame) cheating on him. He makes sure no man will ever want her again, but she avenges herself in a way he never imagined. With Jeanette Nolan and, in a bit, Carolyn Jones, very different from her Morticia Addams. Ford, Marvin, and Scourby are terrific; Grahame is unforgettable. Crackling screenplay by Sydney Boehm. (2/4)t

OAKLAND SYMPHONY PR ES E NTS

We reflect on self-identity and self-expression through the artistry of LGBTQ composers and musicians. FEATU R I NG

NOAH GALVIN SARA DAVIS BUECHNER JON COZART

FRI, FEB 9, 2018 · 8PM · PARAMOUNT THEATRE · TICKETS $25+ · OAKLANDSYMPHONY.ORG

<< Theatre

20 • Bay Area Reporter • February 1-7, 2018

Activism out of sync by Richard Dodds

t’s easier to live in a get-over-it world. So you struggled through the Great Depression? That must have been tough, now get over it. Fought in World War II? Sounds like hell, now get over it. On the front lines as AIDS was slicing through a generation? Rough stuff, now get over it. It’s both selfish and a necessary coping mechanism, for while we can muster intellectual empathy, to emotionally connect with all that our elders have been through would render us a quivering bowl of jelly. In Tim Pinckney’s “Still at Risk,” now in its world premiere at New Conservatory Theatre Center, the central character is angry at those younger than himself for not being able to do the impossible: experience the world as he did. He hears gratitude expressed for his full-out commitment to his cause as platitudinous as a game show host’s obligatory “thank you for your service” whenever a contestant’s introduction includes mention of a stint in the armed services. Kevin had been an actor early in his career when friends and colleagues began falling to AIDS, and

Lois Tema

Scott Cox, right, plays an activist from the early days of AIDS now out of sync with friends and colleagues played by William Giammona, Desiree Rogers, J. Conrad Frank, and Matt Weimer, in “Still at Risk” at NCTC.

that career now seemed a trivial pursuit. He threw himself into a life as an activist, agitator, and volunteer at an organization based on Gay Men’s Health Crisis. The year is now 2005, and Kevin is wafting through life as a cater-waiter when he hears that his late former lover, Eric, will be overlooked at a gala honoring the founders of the organization. Kevin

is a rebel who has regained a cause, but the sturm-und-drang tactics that fueled him as an early AIDS activist are out of sync with both his friends and perceived enemies. There are recurring eruptions of high-volume hectoring as Kevin remounts his high horse, and while they illustrate a release of bottledup passions, the playwright also

seems to be sharing the soapbox as the sacrifices of yesterday seem forgotten even as we enjoy their benefits today. But these instructional harangues do not set the tone of the overall play, which is often filled with the dynamics of relationships that can stray nearly to the breaking point. Yet amid all this tension, Pinckney provides steady servings of humor that earn their laughs through honest connections to the situations and the characters. Director Dennis Lickteig has sharply pulled together the multiscene play of swiftly switching emotions, and designer Devin Kasper has provided a stylish unit set that is an effective backdrop for the numerous locales, and works well with Maxx Kurzunski’s evolving lighting design. The cast is in confident agreement with the journey that the playwright and director have taken them on. Scott Cox, as the crusading Kevin, creates an engrossing ball of unstable energy. As a cohort from the old days, Desiree Rogers helps bring Kevin down to earth with calm wisdom and expertly delivered zingers. Kevin’s best friend is a stillstudly actor with a fading career,

and William Giammona gives a solid account of the character’s own shifting fortunes as his interest in helping the flailing Kevin wanes. Conrad Frank smoothly essays a devil-wears-Prada character (but without the heels) as the superciliously slick head of the multi-million-dollar organization that Kevin and his late lover helped establish. As a trust-fund baby with an uncomfortable relationship with Kevin, Matt Weimar effectively oozes Southern honey. Weimar plays Eric’s last lover, the man for whom he left Kevin, and the reasons for the switch seem an oddly narrow fixation on anal intercourse. Basically, it’s you won’t fuck me anymore even with a condom, so goodbye. But that is but a passing moment in this well-written play that is a strong character study and secondarily a teaching tool. But while facts can be learned, the emotions that come from first-hand experiences can be shared but never really passed on.t “Still at Risk” will run through Feb. 25 at New Conservatory Theatre Center. Tickets are $20$45. Call (415) 861-8972.

Fran Lebowitz explains it all for you by Sari Staver

ew Yorkers understand Donald Trump, according to Fran Lebowitz. “He’s just a cheap, trashy hustler,” said Lebowitz, a 67-yearold lesbian raconteur who makes a living making dour observations about life, typically in onstage conversations in theaters around the world.

While many people seem shocked by Trump’s constant stream of ignorant tweets, “Everyone I know in New York already knew that he is an incredibly dumb guy. None of us ever thought he was either a billionaire or a developer. That’s no secret here in New York,” she added, where Clinton beat him by a margin of 9-to-1. “And now, for the first time, Trump is exactly

Creating Memories for a Lifetime! THE CLIFF HOUSE TERRACE ROOM A UNIQUE SAN FRANCISCO EXPERIENCE Ceremonies • Receptions • Family Celebrations • Parties

www.CliffHouse.com 1090 Point Lobos • San Francisco • 415-386-3330 Private Events Direct • 415-666-4027 • virginia@cliffhouse.com

what he says he is: president of the United States,” said Lebowitz. We called Lebowitz at her New York City apartment to get a preview of her upcoming appearance at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre this month, where she will offer three different conversations, each with a different local writer, followed by a conversation with the audience. While the onstage interviewer chooses questions for the first half-hour of her appearance, the hour-long Q&A period with the audience is a free-for-all, said Lebowitz. While most celebrity onstage interviews are scripted and audience questions screened, Lebowitz wants to encourage spontaneity. “I love the onstage experience,” she said, “but especially the audience questions. They can be so nutty and so much fun.” The author of two best-selling books, the collections of essays “Metropolitan Life” and “Social Studies,” Lebowitz first gained her large LGBT following as a writer for Andy Warhol’s “Interview” magazine in the 1970s. But she doesn’t really like talking about herself. “I value my privacy,” she said, declining to discuss any romantic relationships, past or present. “I won’t even allow a journalist or photographer to come to my apartment,” she said. “I’ve never wanted to make a career” about being gay. The politics of sexual identity “are narrowing,” she said. “I grew up in a small town, and all I ever wanted was to have a bigger life.” Lebowitz has also declined any sort of “life” online, she said. “I have absolutely no idea what is being said about me,” she added, having never owned either a computer or a smartphone. “I’ve never liked machinery. When people were using typewriters, I wrote longhand. People ask me why. I say I also don’t own a plane or have a personal chef, but of course there’s the fact that I can’t afford those, either.” Lebowitz said she gets her news from the Sunday New York Times, which she reads cover-to-cover (except for the sports section), typically finishing by Wednesday. “If something else important happens, I assume people will tell me about it,” she said dryly. How does Lebowitz envision the rest of Trump’s term in office? “I’m

Courtesy the subject

Fran Lebowitz: “I’ve never wanted to make a career” about being gay.

kind of out of the prediction business since I was so wrong about the election,” she said, having repeatedly announced Trump “didn’t have a chance in hell” of beating Hillary Clinton. “I don’t think he’ll be impeached,” she said, noting that the “craven Republicans” currently in power in Congress are not interested in removing him. “It’s more likely that he will resign” rather than face any consequences from the current investigations, she said. “Trump has led the most charmed life of anyone in this country, and I don’t see that changing. “He’s not at all interested in politics,” she said. “His focus has always been on money. He will do whatever it takes to make money.” And Trump’s base isn’t likely to desert him, because his bigotry was “100% of the appeal” for them. People who are old enough to remember George Wallace or KKK rallies “will remember the similarities,” she said. During the run-up to the election, Lebowitz said she “never believed” the reasons Trump’s supporters gave for liking the Republican candidate. “I admit that I don’t personally know any West Virginia coal miners who lost their jobs, but anyone who thinks Trump will bring those jobs back has got to be delusional. It’s not going to be 1950 again.” The “real reason” most of these

people supported Trump, she theorized, “was that they found his bigotry appealing. They knew the jobs were not coming back.” Is she worried about Trump dismantling our democratic institutions? “I’m more worried about whether we are even going to be around,” she said, noting the increasingly hostile relationship with North Korea. As to her own future, Lebowitz predicts she will continue her decades-long tradition of doing onstage conversations. “People are always asking me when I’m going to write another book,” she said. “Writing is my central problem. If I didn’t have writer’s block, I’d be writing right now. I’ve been offered the opportunity to write plays, but if I can’t write a book, how can I write a play? “Some people think talking and writing are in some way connected. They are completely separate talents, and are unrelated.” Lebowitz said she doesn’t even have to prepare for her speaking engagements. “I just show up. For me, talking is effortless. Like having a trick thumb.”t Fran Lebowitz appears at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, 2025 Addison St., Feb. 2, 3 & 4. Reserved seats ($50) at www.berkeleyrep.org.

Film>>

February 1-7, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 21

Claire Denis, stranger in a strange land

SFFILM

Scene from French director Claire Denis’ film “Beau Travail.”

by Sura Wood

he patron saint of outsiders, French director Claire Denis, doesn’t fear to tread on the dark side. “Nenette et Boni” (1996), an unsentimental portrait of a perverse relationship between a brother and sister toughing out their adolescence in working-class Marseilles, is bathed in emotional brutality. In one of her greatest films, “Beau Travail” (1999), a masterpiece loosely based on Herman Melville’s allegorical novel “Billy Budd,” she delves into the coded, insular world inhabited by a unit of French Legionnaires posted in Djibouti, East Africa. The central character, Galoup (Denis Lavant), epitomizes the perfect Legionnaire until the arrival of Sentain (Gregoire Colin), an innocent young soldier. Jealous, fearful and suppressing forbidden erotic desire, Galoup charts a course that seals Sentain’s destruction as well as his own. Austere, visually poetic with spare dialogue and superb cinematography by the director’s frequent collaborator Agnes Godard, “Beau Travail” is an abstraction. Instead of the malignancy that propelled Melville’s tale, Denis opts for moral ambiguity, the sheltering sky, stark desert landscapes and the merciless African sun mitigated only by an azure sea. For its fifth season, Modern Cinema will screen “Claire Denis: Seeing is Believing” for three rewarding weekends this month. The series, a collaborative venture between SFMOMA and SFFILM, includes the

aforementioned films and 10 others by the veteran auteur, along with movies that have either influenced her filmmaking sensibility or that she worked on early in her career, such as Wim Wenders’ magical, Fellini-esque “Wings of Desire,” a production where she first met Godard, and “Down by Law,” directed by Jim Jarmusch, who hired the young Denis as an assistant. “From the start, we understood each other without words,” she has said of Jarmusch, with whom she shares a long-term affinity for society’s misfits. Denis is well-acquainted with the sensation of being a stranger in strange land. Though she has resided in Paris for decades, she spent her childhood in Cameroon, West Africa in the 1950s, where her father, a French colonial administrator, was posted. Her experiences as a foreign interloper stuck and have remained with her, infiltrating her work from the beginning. They made their way into her intimate, beautifully composed debut, “Chocolat” (1988), a gentle, troubling reverie revealed through a white woman’s comingof-age memories, and the family’s black African houseservant, whom she befriended as a young girl. With the taut, unforgettable 2009 film “White Material,” Denis returned to Africa, but not to the place she knew as a child or to the comparatively idyllic world of “Chocolat.” The unnamed country in which the later story transpires is a ruined paradise overtaken by poverty and near-mythic violence; human sav-

agery has been unleashed, and the unspeakable is primed to happen and does. In her strongest work since “Beau Travail,” Denis created the threat of imminent danger through stillness rather than action. She was helped immeasurably by an astringent, fully committed performance from her leading lady, a gaunt, impossibly resolute Isabelle Huppert, who is as hard and unforgiving as the patch of land on which her character has staked her claim and hacked out an existence. Settling in a territory torn

apart by civil war and dead-eyed, machete-wielding, child soldiers, Martha, the French ex-pat played by Huppert, insists on operating a crippled coffee plantation with a tenacity bordering on madness. Her denial of reality allows her to hang on even when hope is gone and all signs point to the exits. Denis has something to say here about power, those who have it, and those who would take it away or back. Wild animals tentatively emerging from the woods seem civilized compared to the humans

rampaging through the countryside, and scenes of the waif-like Martha wandering on dusty clay roads in her pastel shifts heighten the impression of a creature no longer at the top of the food chain. Denis took a headlong plunge into corrosive urban alienation, violence and displacement with “I Can’t Sleep” (1994), inspired by the sensational true-crime saga of the “granny killers.” The notorious pair, Thierry Paulin, a gay, black, HIVpositive, drug dealer and drag performer, and Jean-Thierry Mathurin, his lover and accomplice, went on a killing spree in the late 1980s, robbing and murdering 20 elderly Parisian women, but Denis remains almost clinically detached, reserving judgment on immigrant characters caught in the maelstrom of crime. Her most recent outing, “Let the Sunshine In,” takes an uncharacteristic turn from her usual harsh terrain toward comedy – yes, comedy, albeit a wry and sober one, with sanguine insight into the folly of sex and romance in middle age. It stars the dependably luminous Juliette Binoche, an actress expert at projecting fragility and steeliness in the same breath, as Isabelle, an unconventional divorced woman in her 50s trying to figure out what she wants. Working her way through a succession of incompatible, boorishly insensitive, mostly unavailable men who treat her with varying degrees of disregard, she attempts to fathom the mystery of lasting love that has so far eluded her. Watch out for a devilish Gerard Depardieu, who pops up briefly in fine rotund form, and an artful if ironic placement of Etta James’ signature, “At Last,” a triumphant, bittersweet anthem Isabelle may never have the chance to claim for her own. Could it be that Denis, now 71, is softening with age? Not bloody likely.t

Gilbert & Sullivan’s

Yerba Buena Center, San Francisco Feb 2 - 4 • Tix: 415-978-2787 Lesher Center, Walnut Creek Feb 9 - 11 • Tix: 925-943-7469 Mountain View CPA Feb 17 - 18 • Tix: 650-903-6000

A pair of handsome gondoliers suddenly become kings and humor and exuberance abound as they attempt to adjust to their new social status. Set by the sun-dappled waters of the Grand Canal, this joyful operetta skewers issues of social b equality and class with brilliant wit, alongside a lovely, lilting score. Scene from French director Claire Denis’ film “Chocolat.”

SFFILM

lamplighters.org • info: 415-227-4797

<< Film

22 • Bay Area Reporter • February 1-7, 2018

Independent-minded cinema by David Lamble

he 20th San Francisco Independent Film Festival returns at precisely the moment when you’re feeling a little exhausted from preOscar buzz. This edition unspools 33 features and 51 shorts, from Feb. 1-15 at the Roxie (3117 16th St.), the Victoria (2961 16th St.) and 518 Val Pop-Up (518 Valencia). While the Sundance Film Festival promises a lineup of new films likely to be at the top of the indie food chain, SF IndieFest founder Jeff Ross and his programmers offer no assurances. IndieFest is a wild movie ride, with no seat belts or dashboard padding. Ruminations Bio-doc profile of Rumi Missabu, a co-founder of San Francisco’s early queer performance-art troop The Cockettes. Told through archival film clips, animation and new conversations with stars from SF’s LGBTQ art history. (World premiere. Roxie, 2/4, 7) Rukus Documentary/fiction hybrid is set in the Orlando, Fla. gay community, where teenage filmmaker Brett Hanover provides a unique coming-of-age story between artist Rukus, 20, and his lover Sable. (Roxie, 2/2, 5) Ginger Nation With topics rang-

ing from masturbation to sperm donations, flamboyant queer entertainer Shawn Hitchins (with co-director Jonathan Soja) will remind some of the glory days of 80s monologue artist Spalding Gray. (Roxie, 2/4, 8) Viva (2007) Anna Biller presents the unlikely tale of a bored housewife who gets dragged into the early-70s sexual revolution. Abandoned by her spouse, Barbi is led into trouble by a girlfriend who preaches women’s lib and gets Barbi to toss her bra and take on sexual freedom. Nudist camps, hippies, orgies, bisexuality, sadism, drugs, bohemia. Filmed in vibrant color with authentic period detail, a salute to old-fashioned exploitation films. (518 Val, 2/3) Kaboom (2011) This Gregg Araki joint is an absurd blend of sex and mayhem. Stella: “You meet some guy on a nude beach, and five minutes later you’re downloading his hard drive in the back of a van? You’re a slut. Next to putting a dick in your mouth with Lady Gaga playing in the background, that’s about as gay as it gets.” London: “Straight guys are gayer than gay guys. The fact they’re in

Best Wedding Photographer as voted by BAR readers

Courtesy SF IndieFest

“Ruminations” is a documentary profile of Cockettes co-founder Rumi Missabu.

love and can’t suck each other’s dicks makes them act queerer than Clay Aiken.” Smith: “So, are you worried?” Stella: “Does Mel Gibson hate Jews?” (518 Val, 2/3) Holden On After succumbing to a secret battle with mental illness, Holden Layfield evolves from beloved, small-town Georgia football player to a lost, self-medicating prophet. (Bay Area premiere, Roxie, 2/4, 6) The S Word For centuries, religious groups have considered

suicide a mortal sin, and denied offenders burial in consecrated ground. Filmmaker Lino J. Klein offers stories from suicide survivors. (Roxie, 2/3, 8) Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation (1982-88) Eric Zalo showcases the efforts of three boys on the cusp of adolescence to create their own home version of this timeless Hollywood classic. It’s the story of the six years it took to create this one-of-a-kind home movie. (518 Val, 2/4) Black Cat Peter Pardini offers

what he considers a satire of the prolific genre of true-crime documentaries. Far Western James D. Payne explores the musical genre of Japanese kids hooked on American country music, a taste fostered by American Armed Forces Radio. Some of these kids grow up to write and sing their own uniquely Japanese versions of the category. I guess you are free to sing along. (California premiere with filmmaker, Roxie, 2/3, 8) The Icarus Line Must Die Michael Grodnet presents a “No Wavestyle film noir” about an aging LA underground pop star. As the story opens, frontman Joe Cardamone is down on his luck, unable to secure a record contract, and getting textmessaged death threats. (Bay Area premiere, Roxie, 2/4, 6) Shut Yer Dirty Little Mouth (2002) Robert Taischer directed this weird film record of vodka-fueled harangues between two Mission District residents, Peter and Ray. (518 Val, 2/4) Stuck Michael Berry’s innovative musical kicks off with a carload of strangers trapped together on a stalled NYC subway train. Total strangers acknowledge their fellow strap-hangers and sing out their deepest secrets. (Victoria Theater, 2/1 opening night, includes invitation to a second film, “Girl Walk/All Day”)t (Continues next week, info: sfindie.com.)

School daze in England by Brian Bromberger

WINNER Best Wedding Photographer

Steven Underhill

PHOTOGRAPHY

415 370 7152

WEDDINGS, HEADSHOTS, PORTRAITS

stevenunderhill.com · stevenunderhillphotos@gmail.com

Best Breakfast & Best Late-Night Restaurant Celebrating our 40th year!

or people who were put off by the Downton Abbey craze a few years back, the perfect antidote was last year’s BBC-TV movie “Decline and Fall,” based on Evelyn Waugh’s 1928 much-loved first satire, now released on DVD by Acorn Media. All the ideals and institutions applauded by the Downton characters become shibboleths in Waugh’s hands. He savagely mocks the cultural confusion and moral degradation he pursued in the early 1920s during his Oxford years, growing disillusioned by the decade’s end. Waugh is best-known in the U.S. for his novel “Brideshead Revisited” and the magnificent 1981 Granada TV adaptation that made Jeremy Irons a star. Several of his satires have been filmed with mixed results, but “Decline and Fall” may be the best transfer of the comical Waugh ever attempted. It’s a roman a clef about Waugh’s post-Oxford experience of teaching in a boys’ school. Paul Pennyfeather (Jack Whitehall) is a demure divinity student attending Scone College (Oxford) who innocently gets caught up in a rowdy fraternity gathering on campus, where he is stripped of his clothes and forced to run naked to his dormitory (not an unpleasant experience for the viewer). Because he is a person of no importance (meaning he doesn’t have the funds to pay the fees for his misdemeanor), he is expelled. As the college porter suggests to Pennyfeather on his way out, “I expect you’ll want to become a schoolmaster. That’s what most of the young gentlemen do that get sent down for indecent behavior.” Paul gets a job teaching German, organ, and cricket (none of which he knows) for possibly literature’s worst public school, Llanabba, in northern Wales. The headmaster, Augustus Fagan (the brilliantly acerbic David Suchet), could care less about the curriculum, concerned only with toadying to the

student’s wealthy parents, noting, “I’ve been in the scholastic profession long enough to know that nobody enters it unless he has some very good reasons he is anxious to conceal.” The school is populated by incompetent, often drunk teachers, including Captain Grimes (Douglas Hodge), a gay, one-legged, dishonorably discharged soldier who claims he lost his limb at the Battle of Gallipoli in WWI (actually from a tram accident). Prendergast (Vincent Franklin) is an alcoholic former priest. In a Sports Day event, Prendergast, launching an event with a loaded starting pistol, shoots one of the students, Lord Tangent, in the foot. His mother, Lady Circumference, is blase about the accident. Grimes agrees to marry Fagan’s unattractive daughter, moaning, “Oh God, here comes the bride” as she walks down the church aisle. Meanwhile, Pennyfeather has fallen in love with the mother of his student Peter (Oscar Kennedy), the rich, glamorous Margot BesteChetwynde (pronounced BeastCheating) (Eva Longoria). Seeing her emerge from her Rolls Royce, he exclaims, “Isn’t she beautiful?” Grimes replies, “Yes, he is,” eyeing her chauffeur. She invites him to spend the summer at her country estate to tutor Peter. Her Tudor mansion has been transformed by her pretentious German architect-lover Otto Silensus (Anatole Taubman) into a concrete-block monstrosity. She asks Pennyfeather to help with her business in Argentina, the Latin American Entertainment Company, a prostitution ring. He takes the fall to protect Margot, sentenced to seven years in prison. His life in jail and escape lead to the film’s hilarious conclusion.

Director Guillen Morales and screenwriter John Wood make it all work by recreating a farcical morality tale as a deadpan comedy that also functions as a caustic period piece. Much of the biting dialogue is straight out of Waugh’s book, but the virtuoso acting creates sympathy for these largely vacuous characters. Whitehall, a former stand-up comedian, is perfect as the trusting Pennyfeather, who thinks well of everyone, even when they are doing bad things to him. Longoria is unexpectedly effective: you’re not sure if she’s an airhead or a scheming villainess. Grimes’ Hodge steals the show, especially when he fakes his drowning on his dreaded wedding night and returns later as a white sex trader. “Decline and Fall” is a laugh-outloud absurdity that’s shocking and vicious, yet also genteel and touching. Balancing these tonal shifts has made Waugh tricky to transfer to the screen. But Waugh’s verbal dexterity is as relevant today as it was 90 years ago. Breezy and never cruel, “Decline and Fall” gives us hope that other Waugh classics will be reinterpreted. They could receive no better treatment than this crafty, scathing, oddly contemporary adaptation.t

Music>>

February 1-7, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 23

Opera features more than underpants by Tim Pfaff

ven in the normally docile world of classical-music recording there occasionally arises a duty to report. Oehms Classics, a recognized European label opera junkies would be poorer without, has issued a live recording of Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini’s opera “Edward II” that the usual classical-music print outlets are, curiously, treating like a trans-uranium element. These are not, it bears adding, journals in which gay contributors are underrepresented. To be sure, reviews of the performances by the commissioning Deutsche Oper Berlin in February and March last year were mixed, but then it’s always tonic to remember that Bizet died credibly believing “Carmen” was a flop. Word’s out that she’s coming to a theater near you. While the uniformly praised executants of this “Edward II” still know the difficult music, would a revival in San Francisco be out of the question? As the European press duly noted, “underpants” (their word, not mine) featured prominently in the costumes of male characters, vulgar words for sexual deeds were spoken, and many such deeds portrayed in ways that might bring in the SOM, if not the Silicon Valley, crowd. Anyway, DOB is Donald Runnicles’ company, so he

would probably pitch in, perhaps even conduct. Jibes and jabs aside, “Edward II” is a powerful piece of musical theater whose uninterrupted 90 minutes I’d eagerly travel for. I found every minute of it dramatically cogent and convincing, and cringed only when the subject matter left no other response. That’s saying a lot these days. Working with his regular collaborators, librettist Thomas Jonigk and director Christoph Loy, the Swiss composer has transposed Christopher Marlowe’s potent drama of the ill-fated English king and other 14th- and 16th-century sources into a deliberately present-day frame. The opera’s motivating themes are societal intolerance of homosexuals and Jews. It moves with the stealth and power of “Salome” or “Wozzeck,” though I’m not otherwise equating it with them. As a musical score, it doesn’t stint on the darkness, ferocity or brutality. But as a point of reference, it’s no more assaultive, aurally, than Aribert Reimann’s “Lear,” which had two important runs at the War Memorial in the 80s. It’s a gay opera without the leavening touch of Rufus Wainwright, whose own third opera, “Hadrian,” gets its premiere at the Canadian Opera Company in October. I find nothing gratuitously ugly

in “Edward II,” but considerable music of singular delicacy of feeling evoking dreams, ghosts, portents of private madness and, terrestrially, tender (if fraught) love between men. It’s a bother that the set lacks an English translation of the libretto, but the German text (some of it of a profanity even Berlin audiences reportedly found startling in the opera house) could not come through more clearly. Scartazzini writes music built to convey not only words but also their force. A full orchestra is augmented by electronic, sampled and otherwise manipulated sounds blended as well as I’ve heard in a contemporary score. While you’ll neither miss nor soon forget the frequent “walls of sound,” the aural sense is more that provided by an expert chamber orchestra, superbly conducted by Thomas Sondergard. Similarly, the vocal music includes Sprechstimme and ordinary (and apparently not-so-ordinary) speech, again so superbly integrated you hardly notice the transitions. More than any other opera composer today except George Benja-

min, Scartazzini writes for the voice. Even the stratospheric lines of Edward’s murderously villainous wife Isabella never sound extra-human or pointlessly acrobatic. Swedish soprano Agneta Eigenholz’s vocal ease with the harrowing role plays an inestimable part in the character’s venomous eloquence. A better or more committed cast is unimaginable. Baritone Michael Nagy gives notice of a Wozzeckin-waiting with his magisterial yet infinitely variegated dispatch of the title role. As his lover Piers de Gaveston, Ladislav Elgr sings difficult music such that you can clearly understand what Edward loves in him. That’s him in the tank top and “underpants” on the CD cover. Bur-

khard Ulrich, a fine, versatile German tenor and DOB stalwart I’ve had my eye on for a decade, makes an indelible impression as Walter Langton, the vile, homophobic, anti-Semitic Bishop of Coventry. The integrity of this opera and the Berlin performance raise a question about the rarity of operas with central gay characters that are not based on historical precedents. Even the compelling, truly important “Fellow Travelers” by Gregory Spears, which is winning new productions and performances, has its narrative roots in the D.C. paranoia of the Hoover FBI. What am I missing? The booklet essay includes a telling quote from the composer. “[Edward II] narrates a drama of intrigue concerning a homosexual couple in a society without tolerance. In general, according to Scartazzini, theatre and opera are ‘about questions of being human, living together, of the realization of the individual in society. This wellknown subject, surprisingly never before set as an opera, interests me for its social questioning and current relevance.’” As the great Leonie Rysanek loved saying, “That’s what I said.”t

Margaret Millar rediscovered

Courtesy Syndicate Press

Canadian mystery writer Margaret Millar on Hendry’s Beach, in a photo taken by her husband, Ken Millar, AKA Ross Macdonald.

by Erin Blackwell

fter my mother died, I started rereading Agatha Christie religiously. The presence of a corpse was reassuring, as was Agatha’s insistence that murder wasn’t nice. Most importantly, Christie was at pains to show that the England that had been, in 1920 when she first published, was no longer in 1952, the year of her genius play “The Mousetrap.” Things change, the ground shifts under your feet, only fools cling to the trappings of yesteryear. Out of the past now comes Canadian mystery writer Margaret Millar in a multiple omnibus edition, the seven-volume “Collected Millar” (Syndicate Press, $99.99). Reprinting a dead woman’s prose? I assumed I’d only ever find her ilk, female mystery-writers other than Christie, at used bookstores. I’d

first stumbled across Millar in the rummage rack at Aardvark Books, hesitating madly before spending $5 on a 1975 Avon reprint of “The Listening Walls” (1959). I was surprised and amused to read such a sharp portrait of clueless rich white California women slumming South of the Border in a tourist trap, written from the inside, not as objects, but as subjects driving themselves mad with their own pettiness. The ending will blow your mind. “The Listening Walls” is one of five novels bundled into Volume 3 of the Collected, entitled “The Master at Her Zenith,” available from the publisher online for $15. The spine shows a housewife holding a knife behind her back, part of a pulpy panorama of mayhem visually unifying all seven volumes. One of life’s greatest pleasures is to read pulp in the format for which it was written,

spurred on by sexist, homicidal cover art usually more thrilling than the prose it purports to illustrate. Why buy a bargain tome? Because the novels are accompanied by contextualizing intros and put into perspective as an oeuvre. Someone ought to do this for Christie. No. For Ethel Lina White. Publisher Paul Oliver says he “launched Syndicate out of an interest in restoring remarkable literature that has been lost. I used to own a bookstore where I handled antiquarian and used books as well as new. Over the years I’d encounter works covered with praise — a well-known author’s blurb or a famous translator — and yet out of print. Millar was one of those writers.” What a nice man. Or is he? “There’s an edge to Margaret Millar that I really enjoy. She’s a meticulous plotter with a brilliant sense for creating suspense, but really she had a keen eye and ear for human frailty born of vanity. Her books wear a sneer that I enjoy.” Yes, that’s it. Millar sneers at her characters from the inside, because they’re versions of her self, and of the women and men she knows and holds in contempt. She deconstructs her own class, or the class she came from before taking a nosedive into writing psychological thrillers, or the class she observed from her niche in Santa Barbara. She uses the tropes of Noir as the outer limits of societal breakdown, or social malaise, or cultural wasteland. Under her pen sexism, racism, homophobia, and the seven deadly sins impinge on the supposedly perfect, enviable, sunshine-filled, materialistic, vacuous, moronic lifestyle of post-war boom California. At her best, she writes flashingly poetic, insightful phrases. Some people consider “Beast in View” (1955), also in Volume 3, her masterpiece. Maybe I read it too fast. Maybe I’ve been reading too much Jim Thompson, if that’s possible. Anyway, I was dismayed by

the homosexuals, how sad and grotesque they were, how they appeared as brief warnings of non-viable life choices, undeveloped glimpses of horror. However, in a novel analyzing the mental breakdown of a young woman utterly isolated in her lifeless ivory tower, glimpses would be all you’d get. This is a portrait of

the closet that dare not speak its name. The repressed and repressive self is the “beast in view” in the mirror, a predator with impeccably genteel camouflage. Since my mother died, I’ve read all of Christie, and discovered they are far more incisive, deep, and broad-minded than their brainless filmed versions. This discovery encouraged me to seek out other writers of the despised genre, some of whom were translated by Hitchcock, some of whom were women. There’s a pullulating mass of wonderful mid-century writing out there, smarter, subtler, more subversive than fit the camera’s eye or limited attention spans. Margaret Millar is one of those writers, along with Charlotte Armstrong, Ursula Curtiss, and Ethel Lina White, who have walked me down dark passages in my own psyche I never guessed they knew were there.t

<< Dance

24 • Bay Area Reporter • February 1-7, 2018

Sleeping Beauty

From page 17

SFB is reviving Helgi Tomasson’s excellent version of Beauty, absent from our stage for a decade, with superb dancing from the corps, who are stronger than ever, and fielding five ballerinas in the starring role. Your reviewer has seen only two, Ana Sophia Scheller and Maria Kochetkova, both of whom were lovely, though they blurred the famous balances a bit. Reports tell me the others fared better with the balances, and the fan site “Odette’s Ordeal” reports the audience screaming during Mathilde Froustey’s Rose adagio. In flu season, one can’t expect absolute top form every night. But you can expect music as noble as Tchaikovsky’s to inspire dancers to extraordinary feats of delicacy, as well as of bravura. In choreography that is this much a high-wire act, yet calls for such humanity and awareness of the other people on stage, where the character of the dancer must shine through and illuminate the character of the Princess she is pretending to be, there are many acceptable ways of dancing the role. Carlotta Brianza, who originated the role in St Petersburg in 1890, did not do such things, nor is it likely that the Tsar would have approved – and he famously loved this ballet, going back to see it again and again. Everyone knows the story of the princess cursed by the angry fairy who’s saved by another fairy’s blessing from the full weight of the curse: she will not die, but fall asleep, and be reawakened with all her kingdom by a prince who comes from afar and revives her with a kiss. Disney did not change it. The difference is, in live theatre you can’t use trick photography or animated drawings. Nor, if somebody falls, can you do a re-take. The pressure of real time,

Curran Theatre

From page 17

Curran affairs

The four shows being sold as part of the Curran’s subscription package are an eclectic lot, with a Broadway hit and a Broadway hopeful joined by two productions that take wildly different looks at cultural traditions. Subscriptions are now on sale, with individual tickets going on sale at a later date. Info at sfcurran.com or (415) 358-1220. The season begins with the already announced “Head Over Heels,” a mash-up musical that incorporates the songs of the Go-Go’s into a reimagined version of a 16thcentury prose poem. Philip Sidney’s “The Arcadia” is a story filled with sexual encounters, political

real space, real gravity, is there from moment to moment. Consequently the suspense can become incredibly exciting when you see ballerinas as fairies running across the stage on the tips of their toes, hopping delicately or moving very fast. You can’t believe your eyes, quite, since they’re moving like dragonflies skipping on water – but there they are. They make their appearance in the first act, to give their superpowers to the infant princess. So when, in the second act, you see her defy gravity with equal aplomb, and in very slow motion, you get plenty of time to appreciate her power. All the poets and painters and musicians of St Petersburg were out of their minds with joy. The exactness, the rigor of the technique are astounding. You believe in the fairies because they move like fairies. Marius Petipa created a style for fairy-movement out of toe-hops so they skim across the floor. Every movement is so exposed, and the underlying logic is so clear, a child can tell if it’s done wrong. Some complain that there’s no suspense: the story is foretold. I don’t think so. If the dancers pull you into it, and you give it poetic faith, then it’s like when the doctor says you have a good chance of surviving this. Certainly during the AIDS era, when Tomasson’s setting of the ballet debuted here, my predecessor at this paper, the sainted Keith White, found the ballet mirrored his condition. When the Lilac Fairy said, “The Princess shall not die,” he felt it. He kept himself alive to see the premiere; his very attentive and appreciative review was the last he ever wrote. Outstanding in this production were Esteban Hernandez as Friday night’s Bluebird. His brisees voles had loft, lightness, and a heavenly ease of execution as his legs fluttered and his body flew the entire length

machinations, sleeping potions, and cross-dressing, and the idea of coupling the Go-Go’s songs to a highly irreverent approach to the source material originated with “Avenue Q” Tony-winner Jeff Whitty. “Spring Awakening” Tony-winner Michael Mayer is directing the musical, and actress Gwyneth Paltrow is one of the lead producers planning a move to Broadway this summer after its April 10-May 6 run at the Curran. At this point, any future destinations of “Soft Power” after its Curran run will be determined with the help of San Francisco audiences for this “play that becomes a musical.” David Henry Hwang (Tony Award, “M. Butterfly”) has written the book and lyrics, and Jeanine Tesori (Tony Award, “Fun Home”) has provided the score. What starts off

Erik Tomasson

San Francisco Ballet’s Sasha De Sola and Sean Orza in Helgi Tomasson’s “The Sleeping Beauty.”

of the stage in his jumps. Similarly, the night before, Jahna Frantziskonis flashed with brilliance as the Sapphire Fairy, while Hernandez danced her cavalier. Most of all, Carlo di Lanno danced Kochetkova’s Prince more romantically than I’ve ever seen it done before. I was completely

enthralled by his performance. He had the same quality of youth who has never experienced this intensity of wonder as did the young man in the film “Call Me by Your Name.” Who says we live in an era with no romance? The orchestra under Martin West is putting out a glorious sound.

Principal trumpet Joseph Brown was one of the shining lights of the evening, as his horn glowed with astounding beauty in the climaxes of the Rose Adagio. Unfortunately, West conducts with little sense of wonder or fantasy. The phrasing does not breathe or show nuance; it is not equal to the sound.t

as a contemporary comedy about a Chinese executive who falls in love with an American leader reworks recent political history by skipping ahead a century to play it back in the form of a Broadway-style East-meets-West musical. The June 20-July 8 run at the Curran follows its premiere at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. The singular sensation known as Taylor Mac has found a home at the Curran, and will make his third visit to the theater on Nov. 21-Dec. 1. In “Holiday Sauce,” the performance artist will do to holiday songs what he wrought upon the classic American songbook in

“A 24-Decade History of Popular Music,” reimagining them through a provocatively skewed social, cultural, and political lens that will be adorned by indescribably outrageous costumes by Machine Dazzle, and accompanied by a nine-piece band. The Curran’s inaugural season will close with a show of the more traditional form that usually plays Broadway-touring houses. But “Dear Evan Hansen” is an untraditional traditional musical, dealing with adolescent isolation, anxiety disorders, and even suicide. It nevertheless became a Broadway hit, winning the Tony Award as Best Musical, and it’s still playing to full houses since its opening in late 2016. With a book by Steven Levenson and songs by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, it tells the story of teenage social outcast who gains a second family when he plays along with the misapprehension that he was close friends with a schoolmate who committed suicide. When Carole Shorenstein Hayes fell out with her partners at SHN, she took the Curran Theatre out of the mix of the three theaters (which also include the Orpheum and Golden Gate) where SHN shows have played. After extensive renovations, it reopened with a mix of programming that did not have the benefit of a subscriber base that guarantees a substantial number of presold seats. That made it tough on a lesser-known show like “Bright Star,” which didn’t benefit from the hammock effect of being sold in a package with bigger-name shows. Although Shorenstein Hayes’ artistic choices have been edgier than what SHN offers, there is now a competitive overlap between the two organizations. “Dear Evan Han-

sen” is certainly a show that SHN would like to have presented. It’s a rarity in most cities to have more than one entity booking major touring shows. How that plays out economically looks to be more of a challenge for the new kid on the block than for mainstream powerhouse SHN, but in the moment at least, it’s a boon to theatergoers with an intriguingly increased array of choices.

Chad Batka

Pam MacKinnon, who is replacing Carey Perloff as ACT’s artistic director, promises more new plays by young playwrights.

New era for ACT

Pam MacKinnon has directed multiple productions on Broadway and in major regional theaters, but she has never before run a theater. That will change on July 1 when she takes over from Carey Perloff as ACT’s new artistic director. While some planning for the 2018-19 season started months ago, Perloff and MacKinnon have been working together to ensure that the upcoming season also reflects the incoming artistic director’s interests, which, she says, include more new plays by young writers. MacKinnon is currently represented on Broadway with “The Parisian Woman,” starring Uma Thurman. Other Broadway credits include the musical “Amalie” (which she also directed in a preNew York run at Berkeley Rep), the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Clybourne Park,” and the 2012 revival of Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” which won her a Tony Award. Although the 50-year-old MacKinnon will now make her home in San Francisco, her agreement with ACT allows her to continue taking on directing jobs on Broadway. “I’m so excited to continue that strand of my career, and ACT is excited that I’m in it,” she recently told The New York Times. “I’ve always been a freelance director, but now I feel ready to build something bigger than myself.”t

Arts Events

Will Roland

Karrnal Knowledge Vol. 48 • No. 5 • February 1-7, 2018

www.ebar.com V www.bartabsf.com

by Juanita MORE!

Shot in the City

n the first Saturday of every month, my drag mother Glamamore and I invite one lucky person to the stage at Powerhouse Bar in SoMa for a fullfantasy drag makeover at the club night we call Powerblouse. See page 27 >>

Brandy Sample (aka performer/author Brontez Purnell) debuts at the January 2018 Powerblouse event at The Powerhouse.

On D the Tab

ancing, dining, dishing and dragging entertainment options abound this week in Nightlife ge 26 >> City. Fun is just a shout away. tings start on pa Gooch

Lis

February

1-8

Sat 3

Go Bang! @ The Stud

{ THIRD OF THREE SECTIONS }

<< On the Tab

26 • Bay Area Reporter • February 1-7, 2018

Fri 2 Bear Trap @ Lone Star Saloon Beer, bears, booze & tunes with DJ Chaka Quan. 9pm-2am. 1354 Harrison St. www.lonestarsf.com

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

Broun Fellinis @ The Ivy Room, Albany The acclaimed local jazz-blues trio performs; Black Quarterback and Voodoo Dolly open. $11-$14. 8pm. 860 San Pablo Ave., Albany. ivyroom.com

Sat 3

Desperate Living @ The Stud

Thelma Houston at Hard French Winter Ball @ Grand Theater

Shelix hosts the drag & music night, an anti-Valentine's Day aprty, with performers Sgt Die Wies, Raya Light and Florida Man. 10pm-3am. 399 9th St. at Harrison. www.studsf.com

Friday Night Live @ El Rio Enjoy the weekly queer and LGBTfriendly live acoustic concerts. $5pm. 3158 Mission St. www.elriosf.com

The Glo Show @ Oasis

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

Thu 1 Gayface @ El Rio Queer weekly night out at the popular Mission bar. 9pm-2am. 3158 Mission St. www.elriosf.com

Intersection @ The Stud Topazu, Russell and Topa DJ. 10pm3am. 399 9th St. at Harrison. www.studsf.com

Junk @ Powerhouse MrPam and Dulce de Leche cohost the weekly underwear strip night and contest, with sexy prizes. $5. 10pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

Justin Vivian Bond @ Oasis The captivating cabaret star returns home for a new show devoted to Karen Carpenter. $25-$35. ($250 VIP champagne tables). 7pm & 10pm. Also Feb 2 & 3. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Long Island Thursdays @ White Horse Bar, Oakland Get snockered with cheap drinks at the historic gay bar. 9pm-2am. 6551 Telegraph Ave, (510) 652-3820. www.whitehorsebar.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 The museum parties return. Feb 1: celebrate the Year of the Dog with DJ King Most, Chinese martial arts, foster-ready dogs, Jing Mo lion dancers and more. Feb 8: DJs Toro y Moi and Chulita Vinyl Club, Noise Pop fun, too. $12-$15. 6pm-10pm. 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park. calacademy.org/nightlife

Queer Karaoke @ Club OMG KJ Dana hosts the weekly singing night; unleash your inner American Idol ; first Thursdays are Costume Karaoke; 3rd is Kinky Karaoke 8pm. 43 6th St. www.clubomgsf.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

Royal Variety Show @ Moby Dick Queen Dilly Dally's weekly fun variety show of drag, music and even puppets. 9pm-11pm. 4049 18th St. www.queendillydally.com

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars @ Oasis Viewing party for the new season special of the popular drag competition show, cohosted by Sister Roma and Honey Mahogany, with porn prizes, lipsynch contest and more. $10-$25. 7pm. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Sundance Saloon @ Space 550 The Country-Western line-dancing two-stepping dance events celebrates 18 years. Free-$5. 5pm-10:30pm. Also Sundays. 550 Barneveld Ave. www.sundancesaloon.org

Thursday Night Live @ SF Eagle

Electronic musical and dance party with SF musicians Venetia and German DJ duo Vizard. $20. 10pm2am. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Latin Explosion @ Club 21

The vibrant singer-pianist (and Golden Globe & Emmy winner for Ally McBeal) performs a new concert of songs from her 14 albums, before her European tour. $30-$60 ($20 food/drink min.). 8pm. Also Feb 3. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. vondashepard.com

Sat 3 Bounce @ Lookout Dance music with a view at the Castro bar. 9pm-2am. 3600 16th St. www.lookoutsf.com

Daddy's Boy @ Danzhaus The sexy dance and play party for daddies and the guys who adore them returns (first Saturdays). $10-$20. 10pm-3am. 1275 Connecticut St. ticketfly.com/purchase/event/1630587

Go Bang! @ The Stud Groovy disco classics and remixes with residents Steve Fabus, Sergio Fedasz and Prince Wolf, plus guests Lester Temple and Jim Collins. $5-$10. 10pm-4am. 399 9th St. at Harrison. http://bridgeclubpdx.com/

Stank @ Powerhouse

Rock bands play at the famed leather bar. $8. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

Tubesteak Connection @ Aunt Charlie's Lounge

Tom Gun Live @ DNA Lounge The wacky stage parody of the film Top Gun returns, with audience participation, high-flying silliness and shirtless volleyball! $25-$45. 8pm & 9:30pm. 375 11th St. tomgunlive.com

PowerBlouse @ Powerhouse Juanita MORE!, Glamamore and crew transform a drag virgin; this month, District 8 Supervisor candidate Rafael Mandelman. $5. 9pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com 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

Zepparella @ Great American Music Hall The SF all-women Led Zeppelin tribute bands rocks out; Beaux Cheveux and Daniele Gottardo open. $19-$44 (with dinner). 9pm. 859 O'Farrell St. http://www.slimspresents.com

Sun 4 Beer Bust @ Lone Star Saloon Beer, bears, beats at the weekly fundraiser for various local charities. $15. 4pm-8pm. 1354 Harrison St. www.lonestarsf.com The popular weekly event packs in the fans, with proceeds going to local charities. $10. Beer bust 3pm5pm. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.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

Fri 2

Vonda Shepard @ Feinstein’s

Red Hots Burlesque @ The Stud The saucy women's burlesque show hosted by Dottie Lux will titillate and tantalize. $10-$20. 8pm-9:30pm. 399 9th St. Also Sunday brunch shows at Piano Fight Theatre. 144 Taylor St. www.redhotsburlesque.com

Heklina's popular drag show, with special guests and great music themes (No bachelorette parties admitted!) DJ MC2 plays grooves. Feb 3 is a Whitney vs. Mariah night, with guest RuPaul's Drag Race All-Star Shangela. $15 10pm-3am (11:30pm show). 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Beer Bust @ SF Eagle

Peter Murphy @ The Chapel The legendary Bauhaus singer and solist performs a series of concerts spanning his musical career. $45-$50. 9pm. Also Feb. 4, 7, 9, 10, 11, 14 & 15. 777 Valencia St. http://www.petermurphy.info/

Mother @ Oasis

Saturgay @ Qbar

Gogo-tastic dance night starts off your weekend. $5. 9pm2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Enjoy an extra weekend night at the fun Castro nightclub, plus hot local DJs and sexy gogo guys and gals. $8. 9pm2am. 2344 Market St. www.Beauxsf.com

Dandy @ Oasis Hard French Winter Ball @ Grand Theater Grammy-winning singer Thelma Houston ("Don't Leave Me This Way") performs at the annual soul, disco and retrofunk dance event, with DJs Bus Station John, Brown Amy and Carnita. $20-$25. 9pm-2am. 2665 Mission St. www.hardfrench.com

Lips and Lashes Brunch @ Lookout Weekly show with soul, funk and Motown grooves hosted by Carnie Asada, with DJs Becky Knox and Pumpkin Spice. The yummy brunch menu starts at 12pm, with the show at 1:30pm. 3600 16th St. www.lookoutsf.com

Leigh Crow and Ruby Vixen's drag king variety show is now monthly! Check out the bevy of talents at the February "Heartthrobs" show. $10-$20 ($200 VIP champagne tables). 7pm. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.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

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. clubomgsf.com

The Hot Sardines @ Feinstein's at the Nikko The New York brass/horn hot jazz ensemble performs at the elegant cabaret/nightlcub. $45-$80. ($20 food/ drink min.) 5pm. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. feinsteinsatthenikko.com

DJ MetalBob plays hardcore industrial/metal. 9pm-2am. 1354 Harrison St. www.lonestarsf.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

Picante @ The Cafe Lulu and DJ Marco's Latin night with sexy gogo guys. 9pm-2am. 2369 Market St. www.cafesf.com

The cool rock band performs; Eagles of Death Metal open. $50. 8pm. 99 Grove St. www.ticketmaster.com

Vonda Shepard @ Feinstein's at the Nikko

Manimal @ Beaux

None More Black @ Lone Star Saloon

Queens of the Stone Age @ Bill Graham Auditorium

Strip down at the skivvies night, hosted by Dulce de Leche, with DJ Spaz. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

The popular Latin club includes drag shows, with gogo guys, drink specials and table reservations available. $10-$20. 10pm-3am. 2111 Franklin St., Oakland. www.club21oakland.com

Armpits gets judged for their ripeness; shirts-off drink specials and saucy gogo guys. $5. 10pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

Disco guru DJ Bus Station John spins grooves at the intimate retro music night. $5. 10pm-2am. 133 Turk St. at Taylor. www.auntcharlieslounge.com

Underwear Night @ SF Eagle

Shag @ Powerhouse

Sat 3

Zepparella @ Great American Music Hall

Sleazy tracks with Nic Candito and crew. 9pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

See page 31 >>

MORE! Stuff>>

February 1-7, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 27

neighborhoods in holding property owners accountable if they push out existing viable businesses or fail to fill their vacant storefronts in a timely manner. Retail is struggling across the country, and landlords need to be realistic about the rents small businesses can afford to pay.

Gooch

Rafael Mandelman with Juanita MORE! at the Starlight Room.

MORE! Stuff

From page 25

Over the past two and a half years we’ve made a very thoughtful effort to choose people that have either never done drag or have no intention of ever doing drag in the future. In other words, these future baby-queen daughters will require little or no work in the wild blue yonder, because they probably aren’t going to take it on as a career and won’t be needing our services on a regular basis. Glama and I plot all month long. We go back and forth on the new queen’s name, the color of the wig, and the style of the dress. Then we have to consider their features and how that will translate into a most glamorous beat. Some guys I’ve never seen without a beard! The transformation happens live on the makeshift stage at Powerhouse. We paint for about an hour and then take our new baby backstage to get into costume. They are introduced and pushed onto the stage to perform for the very first time. We’ve chosen our theme song “Gorgeous” from the 1966 Broadway musical The Apple Tree as their lipsync. It’s sink or swim. Some of the past performances have been absolute knockouts. Regulars love to rate the top five and bottom two. There have only been a few that truly tanked. On Saturday, February 3 we are putting District 8 Supervisor candidate Rafael Mandelman into face. We started a fundraising campaign in mid-December to let the public choose which color wig he’ll be

wearing. Get to the Powerhouse this Saturday to see him in his drag glory. I got the chance to sit down with Rafael and talk about some of the big issues that have been plaguing District 8, specifically the Castro area. I also can’t wait to put him in face, too. Juanita MORE!: I was in the Castro regularly for eight years with Booty Call Wednesdays. Over that time I watched the neighborhood change dramatically. There were many vacant storefronts then and now it seems there are many, many more. How do you intend to fill those spaces? Rafael Mandelman: The Castro is a neighborhood in need of serious love and attention. The commercial vacancy rate is several times the City average, and it seems like we are hearing about another business leaving the neighborhood almost on a weekly basis. When I heard that Crepevine was closing in December, I reached out to both the business owner and the landlord (Veritas) to see if there might be a way to keep them in their Church Street location. Unfortunately, we were not able to keep Crepevine in the neighborhood, but Veritas insists they have several new businesses coming into their vacant spaces in the next few months and they agreed to meet with neighbors and merchants on January 31. I generally try to assume the best about people until proven otherwise, and as Supervisor I will work tirelessly with landlords to help them fill their ground floor retail spaces with local neighborhoodserving uses. But I also won’t hesitate to support

Considered the center of the city, the neighborhood has a long history of community. Over the years it has been a gathering place for people to come together to love, mourn and fight. More recently I’ve seen a huge influx of our homeless moving in, in hopes of finding the love the Castro has been known to give and share. How are you going to deal with this issue? Homelessness is personal for me. My mother struggled with mental illness for much of her life, and when I was younger was actually homeless. When I was older I was able to get a conservatorship over her and find her stable housing and care. So at a personal level, I know something about how people can become homeless and some of what it takes to get them housed. At a policy level, I know that homelessness reflects the intersection of two massive decades-long public policy failures: our failure to build enough affordable housing and our failure to provide adequate healthcare to folks struggling with mental illness and serious drug addiction. Unfortunately, we cannot look to the federal government for much help with either challenge for the foreseeable future, but that makes it all the more important that San Francisco and California get our collective acts together. We must continue to expand our capacity to bring people off the streets through navigation centers and other creative approaches and we must aggressively build more supportive housing and other kinds of affordable housing, but we also have to get serious about dealing with mental illness. We need to have a serious conversation about how to care for people who cannot care for themselves but are not willing to accept treatment. When I was in law school I volunteered with a legal services organization working to get folks who had been institutionalized into the “least restrictive environment,” as required by federal law. We need more aggressive case-management but I believe we also need to look at adjusting the legal standards for involuntary commitment and conservatorships to ensure we can care for those who may not recognize they need care.

Shot in the City

Glamamore, made over baby queen Beth Quicando (aka Tom Temprano) and Juanita MORE! at the May 2017 Powerblouse.

Crime in the neighborhood is becoming a huge concern for many of my friends that go out at night in the Castro. In 2017, there were over 239 counts of assault and 195 counts of vandalism recorded. Those numbers are out of control. How do you hope to handle safety in the Castro? I have long been an advocate of increased foot patrols and am incredibly gratified that we finally have a police chief who recognizes their importance and is willing to push for them. We also need to get serious about investigating property crime, and I was glad to learn that the Chief (working with Supervisors Hillary Ronen and Norman Yee) has agreed to assign dedicated officers at all ten stations to preventing and solving property crime. Finally, getting a better handle on the other issues you have raised – vacant storefronts and homelessness – should have a positive impact on the crime situation in the Castro. A busier, more vibrant neighborhood will be a safer neighborhood. Likewise, if we could get more homeless folks housed and get care for those suffering from mental health and/ or drug addiction challenges, we could free up more of our officers to prevent and solve property and other crimes, which would be a tremendous benefit to the neighborhood. What can we do to stem the tide of gay people leaving the Castro? Do you think its time as a queer mecca has passed now that queer people from around the world can hardly afford to move into the district?

I certainly hope not. I still believe there is a need for gayborhoods, although urban economics are threatening their survival not just in San Francisco but across the country. As Supervisor I will do everything I can to keep our LGBT seniors and other longtime residents from being displaced from their rent-controlled units. But our district also has a tremendous need for more permanently affordable housing. I love what Openhouse has done at 55 Laguna, but the truth is we need at least ten times the number of affordable senior units there to make a dent in the need. And that is just our seniors; we also have a tremendous need for more housing for queer and other youth. At City College, I have been pushing for us to build housing for our homeless students, and I would love to work with organizations like Larkin Street to build permanently affordable housing for youth in our District. And of course I will do whatever I can to support the existing rich fabric of queer community institutions in our District. It will take work, but I believe we can brighten up our queer mecca, and preserve it and strengthen it for future generations of LGBT folks.t Editor’s note: Bay Area Reporter has not yet made any political endorsements in the upcoming elections. Opinions of our columnists are their own and do not always reflect the opinion of the BAR. Juanita MORE! is a supporter of the Mandelman campaign. Powerblouse is a monthly benefit for Q Foundation / AIDS Housing Alliance/SF who believes in a world where all people have a safe, decent and affordable home. http://juanitamore.com/ http://www.powerhousebar.com/

<< Arts Events

28 • Bay Area Reporter • February 1-7, 2018

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

Thu 1 Classic & New Films @ Castro Theatre Noir City filmfest, thru Feb 2. Feb 5 & 6: Oscar nominee The Shape of Water (4:30, 7pm, 9:30). Feb 7 & 8: Oscar nominee Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (4:30, 7pm, 9:30) $11-$16. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com

Deborah Roberts @ Jenkins Johnson Gallery Opening reception for the artist’s collage portraits of African American girls. 5:30pm-7:30pm. Thru March 17. 464 Sutter St. jenkinsjohnsongallery.com

Dennis Conkin @ Tenderloin Museum Opening reception for Color is Pure Feeling, the local artist and former B.A.R. journalist’s exhibit of vibrant abstract paintings. 7pm. Thru Mar. 31. 398 Eddy St. tenderloinmuseum.org

Kei Takei’s Moving Earth Orient Sphere @ CounterPulse The SF dance company performs Light: Part 44 & 47 (Bamboo Forest) and Run. $20-$35. 8pm. Thru Feb 3. 80 Turk St. counterpulse.org

Queer Ancestors Project @ Strut Queer youth exhibition of art about LGBTQ pioneers. 4709 Castro St. http://strutsf.org/

SF Independent Film Fest @ Roxie, Victoria Theaters

Sun 4 Arts Events February 1-8

Isaac Julien’s Playtime @ Fort Mason

29th annual festival of 33 features and 51 short films, including classic French noir, a documentary tribute to Dennis Hopper, and parties. $15$200 (full filmfest pass). Thru Feb 15. Roxie, 3117 16th St.; Victoria, 2961 16th St. www.sfindie.com

Trio of video installations by the award-winning British artist. Free. Wed-Sat, 12pm-8pm; Sunday, 11am-5pm. Thru Feb 11. Gallery 308, FMCAC Visitor Center, SFAI Gray Box Gallery. 1 Marina Blvd. fortmason.org/event/playtime

Skeleton Crew @ Marin Theatre Company, Mill Valley

Magnificent Magnolias @ SF Botanical Garden

Bay Area premiere of Dominique Morisseau’s play about workers at a Detroit plant who have to make tough decisions to survive. $25$44. Thru Feb 18. 397 Miller Ave., Mill Valley. marintheatre.org

West Side Story Live @ Davies Symphony Hall Screening of the classic 1961 film adaptation of the Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim musical, with the SF Symphony performing the score. $45-$79. 8pm. Feb 1, 2, 3 8pm. 8pm. 201 Van Ness Ave. sfsymphony.org

Fri 2 Born, Never Asked @ Dance Mission Theater Zoe Klein’s new intense five-dancer aerial work about immigration and adoption; includes lobby installation and special events. $10-$25. Fri & Sat 8pm. Sun 7pm. Thru Feb. 4. 3316 24th St. zoekleinproductions.com

Sat 3

Il Ritorno @ Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley

hether they paint in broad strokes and tell tales in tiny words, local and visiting artists share their sensational stories.

Megabytes the Musical @ Shelton Theater

Every 28 Hours Black Arts Festival @ Strand Theatre

Morris Bobrow’s comedy song revue about the frustrations of technology. $25-$30. Fri & Sat 8pm thru Mar. 3. 533 Sutter St. megabytesthemusical.com

Spoken word, guest speakers, music, dance and more at the all-day series of plays, installations and songs inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. Free/RSVP. 3pm-10pm. 1127 Market St. www.act-sf.org

Paul Dresher Ensemble @ Z Space The Electro-Acoustic Band in concert with the Living Earth Show premieres Ned Rothenberg’s Beyond C. $14-$22. 8pm. Also Jan. 27. 450 Florida St. www.zspace.org

Preservation Hall Jazz Band @ SF Jazz The celebrated New Orleans jazz music ensemble performs a series of concerts. $60-$110. 7:30pm. Feb 3 at 7pm & 9:30pm, Feb 4 at 11am. 201 Franklin St. www.sfjazz.org

Sondheim on Sondheim @ 3Below Theater & Lounge

Download a free PDF of this week’s edition at: www.issuu.com/

Live and video musical performance of some of Stephen Sondheim’s best songs, with video comments by the composer/lyricist. $41-$58. Thru Feb 4. 288 S. 2nd St., San Jose. https://3belowtheaters.com/

Still at Risk @ NCTC

David Spiher @ Strut Rescheduled opening reception of the gay artist’s compelling portraits and figure paintings. Thru Feb. 470 Castro St. www.strutsf.org

Artist talk with scholar and theorist Julian Carter, focusing on Joseph Liatela’s solo exhibition multimedia works on sexuality and trans/queer identity. 7pm. Exhibit thru Feb. 16. 1349 Mission St. sexandculture.org

The Laramie Project @ Lucie Stern Theater, Palo Alto Palo Alto Players’ production of Moises Kaufman’s powerful play about the murder of Matthew Shepard and its after-effects. $25$52. 7:30pm, Fri & Sat 8pm, Sun 2pm. Thru Feb. 4. 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. paplayers.org

Leo Kottke @ Herbst Theatre The acclaimed 6- and 12-string guitar virtuoso performs. $35-$55. 7:30pm. 401 Van Ness Ave. omniconcerts.com/concerts/kottke

Il Ritorno @ Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley

Miya Ando @ Nancy Toomey Gallery

Circa, the Australian theatre-circus troupe, performs an acrobatic retelling of Homer’s Odyssey, set to Monteverdi’s 17th-century opera, performed by chamber musicians and singers. $30-$68. 8pm. Feb 4 at 3pm. UC Berkeley campus. calperformances.org

SF Hiking Club @ Mount Tamalpais

Tue 6 The Rose That Grew From Concrete @ LGBT Center Exhibit of multimedia art by members of the Center’s Youth Program. 1800 Market St. sfcenter.org

Voice of the Central City @ Tenderloin Museum New exhibit about the history of The Tenderloin Times. Thru Mar. 30. Reg hours Tue-Sun 10am-5pm. Free-$10. 398 Eddy St. tenderloinmuseum.org

Wed 7 Queerest Library Ever @ SF Public Libraries Hormel at 20: Celebrating Our Past/ Creating Our Future, a dual exhibit of archival materials celebrating two decades of the LGBTQ collections. 100 Larkin St., 3rd floor, and at the Eureka Valley Branch, 1 Jose Sarria Court at 16th St. www.sfpl.org

Thu 8 Cameron Carpenter @ SF Jazz

Join GLBT hikers for an 11-mile hike around all 3 peaks of Mt. Tam. Carpool meets at 8:45 at Safeway sign, Market & Dolores. (510) 9269220. www.sfhiking.com

The celebrated keyboardist performs pop and classical music with a twist, on his International Touring Organ. $30-$75. Thu-Sat 7:30pm. Sun 2pm. Thru Feb 11. 201 Franklin St. sfjazz.org

The Third Muslim @ SOMArts Cultural Center

Dance Lovers @ CounterPulse

Group exhibit of conceptual art that explores the dangers of contemporary times and ideas, with Rigo 23, Allison Smith, Ala Ebtekar, and Dodie Bellamy & Kevin Killian showcase works that represent fear and foreboding. Thru May 27. 200 Sonoma (Carneros) Highway, Napa. www.dirosaart.org

Queer and Trans Muslim Narratives of Resistance and Resilience, a group exhibition with performances, curated by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Yas Ahmed. Tue-Fri 12pm-7pm; Sat 12pm-5pm. Thru Feb 22. 934 Brannan St. www.somarts.org

Bob Ostertag, Fred Frith @ The Lab

Two-Spirit Powwow @ Fort Mason

The two electronic/experimental music geniuses share a concert. $12$20. 8:30pm. 2948 16th St. www.thelab.org

Mon 5

Exhibits Faces of the Past: Queer Lives in Northern California Before 1930, part of the Queer Past Becomes Present main exhibit. $5. 4127 18th St. www.glbthistory.org

Widowers’ Houses @ Aurora Theatre, Berkeley

Be Not Still: Living in Uncertain Times @ diRose Center for Art, Napa

Same-sex partner tango dancing, including lessons for newbies, food and drinks. $5-$10. 3:30pm6:30pm. 1970 Chestnut St, Berkeley. www.finnishhall.org

Surface Tensions @ Center for Sex & Culture

Oborozuki (Moon Obscured by Clouds) , the artist’s evocative exhibit of paint-on-aluminum depictions of clouds. Thru Feb 22. 1275 Minnesota St. nancytoomeyfineart.com

Sat 3

Queer Tango @ Finnish Hall, Berkeley

Faces of the Past @ GLBT History Museum

Tim Pinckley’s new play explores the hazards of rewriting an AIDS activist’s past, as he tries to move forward. Pre- and post-show panels and events. $35-$45. Wed-Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm. Thru Feb 25. 25 Van Ness Ave, lower level. www.nctcsf.org

Aurora Theatre Company’s production of George Bernard Shaw’s 1892 comic satire romance and villains. $33-$65. Tue, Wed Sun 7pm. Thu-Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm. Thru Feb. 25. 2081 Addison St., Berkeley. auroratheatre.org

Visit the lush gardens for winter Magnolia displays, plus many other trees and plants. Free with SF proof of residency. $5-$10 for others. 7:30am-closing. 9th Ave at Lincoln Way. sfbotanicalgarden.org

7th annual LGBT Two-Spirit Native American Powwow features dancers from Blackfeet, Arapaho and other tribes, live music/drumming, with thousands of attendees. Free. 10am6pm. 2 Marina Blvd. www.baaits.org

James Graham Dance Theatre’s seventh annual concert of seven fascinating unusual duets, with a new duet of choreographer Graham and his mother. $18-$38. Thu-Sat 8pm. 80 Turk St. counterpulse.org

Show Us Your Spines @ SF Public Library Radar Reading’s writer residency reading by Queer People of Color, with Yolandi Cruz, Thea Matthews, Natalia Vigil and Jamil Moises. Free. 6pm. James Hormel Center, 3rd floor, 100 Larkin St. radarproductions.org

Cabaret>>

February 1-7, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 29

Parsing Nerds

Will Roland on ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ and his one-man show

Will Roland

by Jim Gladstone

“I

f I was 6’ 3” and muscular. I’d have to make peace with playing romantic leads,” wisecracks toothy-grinned, Cyranosed actor/ singer Will Roland. “We are all stuck within our types a little bit.” For most of his own career, Roland— who will make his San Francisco debut with his cabaret show, Loser Songs, at the Venetian Room on February 11, has been associated with a particular type: Socially outcast, brainy, sarcastic, sexually awkward, and ultimately adorable. “I idolize Steve Buscemi,” says the 5’ 7” 28-year-old. “At the beginning of his career, he was always cast in a certain sort of quirky, geeky role, but eventually people started to realize, ‘Oh, he’s really a good actor,’ and give him a chance to do different things.” Of course, Roland, 28, has spent nearly half of that career developing and playing a single character: Jared Kleinman, best frenemy of the title character in the phenomenally successful musical Dear Evan Hansen. In 2015, five years after graduating from the music theater department at NYU –and shortly after the only prior performances of Loser Songs– Roland was cast in the first

production of Hansen, at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. “It’s so great being a part of new work. I love table readings and rehearsals where a piece is evolving and coming together,” Roland says. “With Dear Evan Hansen, it was really something special to have had a writer create something around me, with my input.” The Hansen script describes Jared –who peppers Evan with sophomoric homophobic putdowns– as behaving with “the kind of practiced swagger only the deeply insecure can truly pull off.” Though Roland comes off as genuine and confident in conversation, it’s not hard see how he’s leveraged his own quirky, hyper-verbal charm in crafting Jared’s persona. After the DC run of Hansen, Roland has remained with the show through additional development, a buzz-building Off-Broadway engagement and the Broadway production which opened in late 2016, going on to win multiple Tony awards, including best musical, score (Pasek & Paul), book (Steven Levenson), and lead actor (Ben Platt). Roland will continue to geek out as Jared for eight performance a week in New York through some-

photo

Will Roland near a cast-signed poster of Dear Evan Hansen.

time this summer; his San Francisco performance marks the last day of a week’s vacation from the show. “I love doing this,” he says. “It’s not like I’m cutting my vacation short to work.” Roland developed Loser Songs with his friend Max Friedman, who runs the programming at Don’t Tell Mama. “He’s all about creating a new generation of cabaret. Loser Songs isn’t like most of the cabarets I’ve seen Broadway actors do,” Roland says. “I don’t think my life is so interesting that I can tell autobiographical anecdotes and do songs from shows I’ve been.” He and Friedman winnowed through dozens of songs Roland loved, developing a set that could be stitched together with interstitial spoken passages. “This is a lyrically driven narrative show with a book that tells the story of an Every-nerd,” says Roland. “Its bones are theater more than cabaret.” The songs are an intriguingly odd lot, including recontextualized compositions by Weezer, David Bowie, and Styx. There are also a pair of original tunes written specifically for the show by up-and-coming theater composers. Roland has described Loser Songs as being about “a guy who just can’t seem to get anything right…his relationships are best described as cringe-worthy…he tries (and mostly fails) to be “normal” and find acceptance among his peers.” Sounds like another pea from the Jared Kleinman pod. So, is Roland typecasting himself? “These characters couldn’t be further apart,” he harrumphs in mock horror. “It’s like night and day!” “Sure, there are things that Jared and Loser would have in common with each other –and with me: They love space and videogames and they’re late bloomers. “And there’s a quick wittedness,” he continues, inadvertently eliding his characters and himself. “They love words. I think words are the greatest thing ever. I loved writing the monologues for Loser Songs, I don’t like to vamp. I always want to have a script and to be playing a character. But the words need to stream by and seem natural even though each one is painstakingly chosen.” That said, Roland doesn’t see himself shifting his career focus away from acting toward writing. “I’m a little bit too much of a coward. When you’re an actor and audiences don’t like a play you’re in, you can step away in your mind. If you’re a writer, director or producer, it’s more difficult to distance yourself.” So, for the time being, Roland will happily continue to seek acting roles, even if casting directors, particularly in film and television, initially look at him through a relatively narrow lens. “’You can’t run away from what people see at first glance,” he reflects. “Sometimes I may end up as ‘Barista’ or ‘Hacker at Police Station.’ Hopefully, I’ll come to be seen as someone who portrays any character three-dimensionally.” Roland adds a personal anecdote of second-hand approval. “After a performance of Dear Evan Hansen one night, my mother came to me all excited because during intermission she’d overheard an audience member saying: ‘Oh, I looove The Nerd. Theater people realize that there’s more to what I’m doing. I put a little stink on it.”t Will Roland performs at the Fairmont Hotel’s Venetian Room, Sunday February 11 at 5pm. 950 Mason St. $55. After-show Q&A. http://bayareacabaret.org/

Playmates and soul mates...

San Francisco:

1-415-692-5774

18+ MegaMates.com

<< Leather

30 • Bay Area Reporter • February 1-7, 2018

Lock ‘em up! by Race Bannon

characteristic of any culture is that its trends shift over time. No culture remains locked in time. Cultures grow, morph, reassess, experiment and otherwise create new versions of themselves. The same is true of our leather and kink subculture as well. One of the fascinating things I tend to track anecdotally is when certain sexual or erotic interests appear to be waxing or waning in popularity. Or, sometimes new kinks emerge seemingly out of nowhere to become a thing. Think back to just a few years ago and ask yourself if you remember the pup scene being anywhere as big as it is today. Our scene, its practices and identities, can change quickly to accommodate our ever-growing erotic imaginations. Among kinksters I’ve certainly seen a rise in the popularity of various sexual practices, kinks and fetishes, such as pup play. But one I’ve found particularly fascinating is that more gay men lately seem to be exploring chastity play, with a significant uptick over the past year. Here I’m talking specifically about male chastity. I know female chastity play happens and appropriate devices exist, but in my LGBTQ kink sphere it’s among gay men I’ve noticed the biggest apparent increase in this interest. So, that’s what I’ll address here. I’m sure much of what I say here could apply to chastity devices for people with other body parts to lock up. One metric by which I judge when a kink or fetish has started to become more popular among gay men is when Recon, the top worldwide fetish connection site for gay

Both photos: Race Bannon

Left: This stainless steel, all-metal chastity device is one of many types of such devices sold today. Right: Replace the metal padlock on this otherwise all-plastic chastity device with one of the newer allplastic locks available and you might be able to wear this through TSA airport screening without notice.

men, adds something to their standard, selectable keyword list. They added chastity to their list just a few days ago. So, what is chastity exactly? Male chastity practitioners deliberately abstain from sexual activity, or at least any sexual activity involving their penis. While he might abstain from such sex without the need for any physical impediment to such a commitment, these days quite often the person in chastity will wear one of countless variations of chastity devices available in the kinky marketplace. Walk into just about any well-equipped retail kink gear store catering to gay men or peruse similar retail sites online and you’ll likely see an abundance of chastity devices for sale. Not that long ago you’d be lucky to find even one such retailer with anything beyond the most basic of chastity device offerings. The vast selection of devices

available today is remarkable. Guys are evidently deciding that locking up their junk is a fun and satisfying thing to do. Why? As part of the research for this column, I attended a recent San Francisco Leathermen’s Discussion Group (LDG) presentation during which Handler Rice and a panel of four chastity aficionados explained some of their reasons for enjoying this type of play along with some of the dos and don’ts. That LDG felt the topic of chastity worthy of one of their monthly presentations at which more than 80 men attended again illustrates this kink is popular. The crux of many of the reasons given for enjoying chastity boils down to control. Giving control of access to their genitals to the person holding the key to the lock on their chastity device (those who hold the main key are called keyholders). The terms of a keyholder’s and locked-up guy’s responsibilities are negotiated. Or, exerting a form of self-control and restraint by lock-

Personals Massage>>

SEXY ASIAN $60 Jim 415-269-5707 SENSUAL FULL BODY MASSAGE 415-350-0968 MEN TO MEN MASSAGE

I’m a Tall Latin Man in my late 40’s. If you’re looking, I’m the right guy for you. My rates are $90/hr & $130/90 min. My work hours are 10 a.m. to midnite everyday. Patrick call or text 415-515-0594. See pics on ebar.com

TO PLACE YOUR PERSONALS AD, CALL 415-861-5019 FOR MORE INFO & RATES

“What kept me sane was knowing that things would change; this was a question of holding myself together until they did.”

— Nina Simone

Models>>

ing up one’s own genitals without necessarily involving a second keyholder. Control. Domination. Submission. Those words are used often when describing the turn-on of chastity. One LDG panelist emphasized this even more when he described chastity for him being symbolic of the ultimate surrender. An increased sex drive was also mentioned as a motivation. Some guys find that being in chastity for a while ramps up their sex drive. Regardless of one’s reasons for enjoying chastity, there are some tips and strategies that can make engaging in this form of erotic play more successful and satisfying. Key access is a big deal. Whether the chastity device has a built-in locking mechanism, or it utilizes an external small padlock, a key of some sort is what either locks on or frees a man’s penis from the confining contraption. Letting the locked-up guy keep a key is a good idea. There are cleanliness, emergency, work, plane travel, non-casual dress, sports and gym activities, and other situations to consider that might necessitate the locked-up guy needing to take the device off, if only for a short while. If there’s a designated keyholder for the primary key, negotiating some mechanism to keep the second key in the possession of the locked-up guy secure and only accessible when absolutely necessary can add to the dominance/submission aspects of these agreements if so desired. One LDG panelist said that as keyholder he has his partner freeze the second key in a block of ice. Another audience member showed how his second key is cleverly locked in a small tube only retrievable if he breaks a simple plastic lock. Us kinksters are a creative bunch. I’ve heard repeatedly from chastity guys that the fit of the device itself is of vital importance. Every guy’s junk is different. Different sizes. Different shapes. Finding the

chastity device that fits comfortably and securely is often a matter of trying various kinds until you land upon the right design. There is evidently an online retailer who will make such a device custom, based on measurements you send them. Bad-fitting devices can lead to pinching, chaffing, sleeping discomfort, and so on. Periodically moisturizing the area seems to be a regular practice for chastity guys, especially when worn long-term. Speaking of long-term, guys wear these devices anywhere from just a few hours during a play session to a few days to weeks at a time. All depends on what turns you on the most and fits practically into your life. There’s no way I can cover all the ins and outs of chastity play here. Perhaps this has whet your appetite to explore. In terms of physical risk, if a one takes the most basic of precautions, it’s a low bar. It’s a safe form of play for many guys to experiment with. Still, gather as much information as you can before trying it out. Do an online search for “male chastity” and then for the smaller subset of search results using “gay male chastity” and you’ll see a wide array of adult sites and blogs and even some mainstream media articles about the growing practice of erotic chastity. Some sites are informational. Some are more overtly sexual and erotic. Some are about selling chastity devices. Certain retailers such as our own local Mr. S Leather offer a wide array of chastity devices online, but if you’re able to visit them in their store, their friendly and knowledgeable staff will help you select the right device to fit your junk properly and satisfy your chastity fantasy needs. Have fun “locking ‘em up!” Leather Alliance Weekend I’d like to give a heads up to everyone that one of San Francisco’s bigger leather weekends takes places March 2-4, 2018 – the Leather Alliance Weekend hosted by the San Francisco Bay Area Leather Alliance. It’s a weekend full of events. So, I like to give everyone adequate time to plan and purchase tickets. The Leather Alliance Weekend offers a formal dinner, vendor fair, educational and social programs, the Mr. San Francisco Leather and San Francisco Bootblack contests, and more. Check out the entire weekend’s schedule and find ticket information at www.leatherallianceweekend.org.t

For Leather Events, go to ebar.com/bartab Race Bannon is a local author, blogger and activist. You can reach him on his website, www.bannon.com.

FABULOUS F**K BOY

Model looks 6’ 150# 27yrs, 8” uncut beautiful tight yummy ass. Smoky sexuality erotic male nympho. Hndsm hedonist. Str8, gay, married men at yr apt, hotel, mansion! Greek god Nick 415-290-2639. Leather fetish fantasy roleplay kink dom sub group scenes mild to wild. Pretty boy with a dirty mind, romantic & unforgettable! $400/hr, $2000 overnight negotiable.

People>> HOT LOCAL MEN

Browse & Reply FREE! SF - 415-692-5774 1-888-MegaMates Free to Listen & Reply, 18+

Rich Stadtmiller

Dahn van Laarz presiding over last year’s Leather Alliance Awards Brunch as part of the Leather Alliance Weekend. Dahn served well as President of the Alliance for many years. The new recently elected Alliance President is Angel Garfold.

Karrnal Knowledge>>

February 1-7, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 31

Sowing the seeds of love bounces a towel that’s hanging on his twitching, sturdy, boner. True, Seed cams for cash, and in filmed scenes maintains a strictly non-reciprocal stance. But I don’t see the conundrum here, just a str8 and horny sex worker working hard to make that money. His refusal to fully engage in gay sex acts leaves me so cold I’ve already lost interest. Call me back in the unlikely event that he gets a dick in his mouth, or when he goes all the way with a guy. Yet, I think Constant Reader is a seer, when he proclaims, “Seed’s hot ass may never be topped on-screen.”

Love-in, love-on

Lucas Entertainment

Scott Carter relaxes into the warm hands of Ben Brown, in Men in Love.

by John F. Karr

received a query from Constant Reader who asks, “What is the conundrum of William Seed?” Seed is a sudden star. He’s very handsome, and so well built he has muscles on his muscles. But I couldn’t devise a better description than this one from ManhuntDaily. “He’s built like a bull and slings the dick like one!” I’m not exactly sure just how a bull slings dick, but the image is pretty provocative. Seed uses his eight-inch, uncut and mighty fat cock to fuck like a jackhammer on high setting, pow pow pow. In the 17 videos he’s made for men.com, where he debuted in

On the Tab

From page 26

Sunday's a Drag @ Starlight Room The weekly brunch and drag show with a panoramic view. $45. 11am, show at noon; 1:30pm, show at 2:30pm. 450 Powell St. in Union Square. 395-8595. starlightroomsf.com

Sue Per Bowl @ Oasis Enjoy the football game with queer fans, with Sue Casa and all the chip dip you can eat. 3pm-6pm. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Unleash @ The Ivy Room, Albany DJs Page Hodel and Nysdefy spin grooves at the monthly dance party; Super Bowl fun, too. $10. 3pm-8pm. 860 San Pablo Ave., Albany. ivyroom.com

Mon 5 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

Munro's at Midnight @ Midnight Sun Drag night with Mercedez Munro No cover. 10pm. 4067 18th St. 861-4186. www.midnightsunsf.com

Musical Mondays @ The Edge Sing along to shows tunes on video, lip-synched, and live, at the Castro bar. 4149 18th St. at Collingwood. www.edgesf.com

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

May last year, and where he’s remained an exclusive, I’ve seen him get blown by guys, and I’ve seen him fuck guys. But it’s strange that for a dude who claims to be bisexual, I’ve never seem him kiss a guy, blow a guy, or, heavens to Betsy, rim one. I’m thinking he’s the new Paddy O’Brien. An initial sensation who strings us along until his popularity starts to slip, at which point he sells that hefty booty to the highest bidder. The conundrum, says Constant Reader, is that Seed’s allegedly, “a gay prostitute, but he presents as gay for pay.” Which is it? In one photo on his Twitter feed he’s got a dildo up his butt, which is admittedly non-incriminating, but a bit more strange is a gif in which an off-screen woman laughs as Seed

Well, that little Seed screed was certainly no valentine. So herewith and pronto let me suggest a bon bon for your Valentine’s Day viewing. Here are a pair of LucasEntertainment movies that I hope will sate your need for a love-on. Perhaps seeking a new demographic, Lucas has been through a lot of phases. He did men in nylons, he did men sucking feet. He even did movies devoted to farting. And then he hit upon Love, and made a couple of highly recommended romantic scenes. It’s these scenes of love/lust that I treasure. Back in 2012, Lucas released within a couple of months both Men in Love, and my fave, The Power of Love. He showed his skill as a director by eliciting from his usually slam-bam performers languidly paced but no less intense make out sessions. We’re on a luxury cruise, not a bullet train--porn’s usual mode of conveyance. Scenes have a languid lead-in and a slow exit. There’s no hasty departure after orgasm, but a savoring of the moment, with the relaxed kisses and slow drift into cuddling’s reverie that are some

of fucking’s finest moments. There are whispered declarations of love, treasurable eye contact, and intense chemistry, seemingly real or feigned very well. More than anything else that differentiates Men in Love, which was filmed on glamorous Ibiza, from

the general glut of porn is the presence of emotion, as the performers enter into the soul of the matter. Jonathan Agassi crowns his caresses by shooting a lover’s load into Isaac Jones’ mouth. In another hot scene, American sex virtuoso Jessie Coulter takes a copious OCS as if it were consecrated from Continental beauty Jean Franko, and, in a wondrous coupling, Ben Brown thrills unusually handsome and fuck-hungry Scott Carter. An even better movie is The Power of Love, which was directed by Adam Killian, who shows he’s as good behind the camera as he is in front. The scenes were filmed on Mykonos, with four resplendent outdoor settings (plus one interior), a pair of oral cum shots, and much sporting in wet whities. Translucent and clinging, they make boners so irresistibly inveigling. This is a movie you can bask in. The best scene pairs Rafael Carreras with stud-muffin Mitchell Rock, on a sun-drenched terrace. Rock is just so fuckable, and confidently leads Carreras into savoring his well-padded muscle-bod and delicious ass. Especially relishable is the OCS with which he’s blessed at scene’s end. Vito Gallo and hefty Alex Marte mark their scene with a flip fuck. How exquisitely slow Marte grinds it into Gallo! Michael Lucas rewards Matthew Mason with a tasty OCS for his impressive reception of the patented Lucas slow-&deep fuck. And then comes a most impressive finale. In the ocean and on the rocks beside it, redoubtable Trenton Ducati flips with Jonathan Agassi. He gobbles Ducati’s cum and then Trenton gets Agassi’s. Power of Love connects heart to gonad. It’s a Valentine’s Day special.t

Piano Bar 101 @ Martuni's

Junk @ Powerhouse

Sing-along night with talented locals, and charming accompanist Joe Wicht. 9pm. 4 Valencia St. at Market.

MrPam and Dulce de Leche cohost the weekly underwear strip night and contest, with sexy prizes. $5. 10pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

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

Tue 6 Cock Shot @ Beaux Shot specials and adult Bingo games, with DJs Chad Bays and Riley Patrick, at the new weekly night. No cover. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Puff @ The Stud

Wed 7

Hella Saucy @ Q Bar Queer dance party at the stylish intimate bar. 9pm-2am. 456 Castro St. www.QbarSF.com

Grace Towers hosts Dick at Nite @ Moby Dick’s

Queer Karaoke @ Club OMG

Karaoke Cocktails @ Ginger's The new basement tribute to the old Ginger's Trois hosts a weekly singing fun. 8pm-12am. 86 Hardie Place. https://www.gingers.bar/

Naked Night @ Nob Hill Theatre Strip down with the strippers at the clothing-optional night. $20. 9pm. 729 Bush St. at Powell. 397-6758. www.thenobhilltheatre.com

Stag @ Powerhouse Single, or a couple looking for an extra? Cruise it up. $5. 5pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

Wed 7 Bottoms Up Bingo @ Hi Tops Play board games and win offbeat prizes at the popular sports bar. 9pm. 2247 Market St. 551-2500. www.HiTopsSF.com

The monthly queer pot-happy night, with DJ Dank, Maria Konner and her band rockin', Sergio Fedazs DJing, and a stoner raffle. 7pm-10pm. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

Dick at Nite @ Moby Dick Grace Towers' weekly drag show at the fun local bar. 9pm-12am. 4049 18th St. http://www.mobydicksf.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

Miss Kitty's Trivia Night @ Wild Side West The weekly fun night at the Bernal Heights bar includes prizes, hosted by Kitty Tapata. No cover. 7pm-10pm. 424 Cortland St. 647-3099. www.wildsidewest.com

Nudies Nubies @ Oasis Amateur burlesque night finals, with women stripping classy. $10-$15. 8pm. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Pan Dulce @ Beaux The hot weekly Latin dance night with sexy gogo guys, drag divas and more, hosted by Amaya Blac and Delilah Befierce; Feb 7: guest performer Kandy Ho. $6. 9pm-2am (free before 10:30). 2344 Market St. clubpapi.com

KJ Dana hosts the weekly singing night; unleash your inner American Idol ; first Thursdays are Costume Karaoke; 3rd is Kinky Karaoke 8pm. 43 6th St. www.clubomgsf.com

Rice Rockettes @ Lookout

Thu 8

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

Circle Jerk @ Nob Hill Theatre

Terrie Odabi @ Feinstein's at the Nikko

Porn actor David Emblem leads the very interactive sex-play party. $20. 9pm. 729 Bush St. at Powell. 3976758. www.thenobhilltheatre.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

The Oakland singer performs classic Blues and R&B songs. $19-$45. 8pm. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. http:// www.feinsteinsatthenikko.com/

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

<< Shining Stars

32 • Bay Area Reporter • February 1-7, 2018

Shining Stars Steven Underhill Photos by

Manimal @ Beaux

animal, the Friday dance music, gogo-filled, cocktailinfused friends and fun night, continues to attract cute and diverse patrons at the spacious disco in the Castro. 2344 Market St. http://www.beauxsf.com/ See plenty more photos on BARtab’s Facebook page, facebook.com/lgbtsf.nightlife. See more of Steven Underhill’s photos at StevenUnderhill.com.