January 28, 2021 Edition of the Bay Area Reporter

SOMA district seeks boost

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Creative tools help LGBTQ seniors fight isolation

Courtesy Keith Baraka

San Francisco firefighter Keith Baraka

Gay SF firefighter sues city for bias

by John Ferrannini

Brian Lynch sits with his cat, Lil Guy, and holds one of his favorite paintings. His other works are on the two walls behind him.

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gay Black San Francisco firefighter is suing the city, alleging discrimination against him on account of his race and sexual orientation.

Keith Baraka, 55, was the first openly gay firefighter at Station 6, which is located at 135 Sanchez Street in the Duboce Triangle neighborhood, according to a copy of the complaint filed in San Francisco Superior Court and provided to the Bay Area Reporter.

He first joined the San Francisco Fire Department in July 1997, according to the complaint, and has been continuously working for it since that time. He is seeking relief under the CaliforSee page 7 >>

by John Ferrannini

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solation was already an epidemic among seniors, disproportionately affecting LGBTQs, before COVID-19. Now, LGBTQ seniors and agencies serving them are finding ways to survive what for many is their second fight with the effects of a health crisis.

Brian Lynch, a 67-year-old gay man who lives

in the Castro neighborhood, said he first got involved with Openhouse after the leading service provider for San Francisco’s LGBTQ seniors reached out to him.

Now, a volunteer comes to visit him weekly.

“My right leg was amputated and my left one is in pretty bad shape,” Lynch, who uses a wheelchair, told the Bay Area Reporter. “I have Charcot in my ankle, which is like all your bones

in your ankle breaking.

“They have this thing called a Friendly Visitor and so a young person named Ian comes over and does the things I can’t,” Lynch said. “Then we sit and talk. [They’re] the nicest.”

He was referring to Ian MacGregor, a queer person who told the B.A.R. that they first connected with Lynch through Openhouse at the See page 6 >> Rick Gerharter

Health panel pledges to address missing LGBTQ COVID data

by Matthew S. Bajko

AP

Retired General Lloyd Austin, shown here after President Joe Biden nominated him to be defense secretary, was on board with Biden’s executive order repealing the transgender military ban.

Biden repeals trans military ban

by Cynthia Laird

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resident Joe Biden has signed an executive order January 25 repealing the ban on transgender troops serving in the military.

The action was announced by the White House shortly before the ceremonial swearing in of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Politico reported. Austin had supported the repeal of the ban, which was put into effect by former President Donald Trump.

“I truly believe ... that if you’re fit and you’re qualified to serve and you can maintain the standards, you should be allowed to serve,” Austin told lawmakers during his confirmation hearing.

See page 6 >>

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national panel is pledging to work with California officials on addressing the lack of data about how COVID-19 is impacting the LGBTQ community.

The Public Health Work Group oversees what are known as Health Level Seven International (HL7) standards that provide guidance on the collection of certain patient characteristics, such as racial and ethnic data. But they do not include sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data, which has hampered efforts in California and other states to collect health information about LGBTQ people in order to better address what is ailing them.

The issue has taken on greater import over the last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as the lack of SOGI data on people testing positive for the novel coronavirus has made it impossible to know how widespread infections have been in the LGBTQ community or how many LGBTQ Americans have been killed by the virus. Many LGBTQ people have underlying health issues that make them more susceptible to COVID-19 or work in front-line industries that place them at higher risk of contracting the virus.

As the Bay Area Reporter reported online January 21, Dr. Mark Ghaly, the secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency,

Rick Gerharter

A vehicle enters the drive-in entrance to San Francisco’s COVID testing site at Pier 30.

and gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) had implored the co-chairs of the Public Health Work Group in a letter they sent last week to “take immediate steps” to address issues that are hampering efforts in California and other states to collect SOGI data in health settings.

In their letter Ghaly and Wiener asked the HL7 work group to immediately “modify its standards to include sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data in such a way that ensures interoperability between California’s laboratories and the state’s electronic disease reporting and surveillance system. HL7’s current lack of SOGI

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data standards is impeding California’s efforts to measure, with the goal of ultimately ensuring, health equity for the state’s LGBTQ and gendernonconforming residents.”

In response to the B.A.R.’s requests for comment from the work group co-chairs over the last two weeks, Health Level Seven International Director of Communications Andrea Ribick replied January 22 that the organization was drafting a response to the California officials. She added that no one would be available for a phone interview as the Public Health Work Group was holding meetings all this week.

See page 7 >>

<< Community News

2 • Bay Area Reporter • January 28-February 3, 2021

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Bathhouses, Eagle landmark could boost SOMA LGBTQ district

by Matthew S. Bajko

T

he giant leather pride flag that flew over the nearly finished Eagle Plaza in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood was so frayed by the wind that it was quietly removed late last year.

The shredded fabric was an apt symbol for the battering the area’s Leather and LGBTQ Cultural District experienced itself in 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic decimated the finances of numerous LGBTQ businesses in SOMA, with bars forced to close, restaurants required to end indoor dining, and stores ordered to reduce shopper capacity.

The Stud nightclub turned into a virtual entertainment venue in hopes of one day opening in a new brickand-mortar space. Blowbuddies, the area’s last remaining sex club, shut-

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tered for good as the health crisis wiped out its business.

Just as the leather enclave weathered the AIDS epidemic, SOMA boosters are confident the neighborhood will also survive the COVID pandemic. Their confidence has been boosted by city officials’ efforts to bring back traditional gay bathhouses to San Francisco and to landmark the Eagle bar, a beloved gay-owned institution and focal point of the SOMA LGBTQ district.

The supervisors’ land use and transportation committee unanimously voted 3-0 January 25 in support of having the city’s historic preservation commission consider if the Eagle bar should be designated a city landmark.

It would be the third gay bar location in San Francisco given such status if approved, and the first LGBTQ city landmark located in SOMA and related to queer leather culture.

Pushed by District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney, should the full Board of Supervisors vote next month in support of starting the landmark process then the historic preservation commission would have 90 days to take up the matter. Following its decision, the supervisors would need to vote on officially designating the bar at 398 12th Street a local landmark.

“We have endured through hard times and bringing the community back together. As a person and San Franciscan I want to point out the importance of the bar and its mission,” Lex Montiel, who reopened the bar in March 2013 with his late business partner, Mike Leon, told the supervisors committee Monday.

Planning Ahead is Simple The benefits are immense.

The benefits are immense.

Meanwhile, the city’s public health department has rescinded restrictions that kept traditional gay bathhouses from operating in the city since the mid-1980s. A legacy from the AIDS epidemic, such businesses in San Francisco until now could not have private rooms with locked doors and were required to monitor the sex of their patrons.

Those regulations resulted in a de facto ban on gay bathhouses in the city. Eventually just two remained in the Bay Area, but The Watergarden in San Jose closed for good last summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Steamworks in Berkeley is shuttered for now because of the health crisis.

San Francisco’s last remaining gay sex club, meaning it doesn’t have locked, private rooms, is Eros on upper Market Street in the city’s LGBTQ Castro district. It is temporarily closed in light of the health crisis.

Most gay bathhouses had been located on or near Folsom Street in SOMA, lending to the corridor’s moniker of the Miracle Mile. Their closure led to the area’s diminishment as a gayborhood, with waves of redevelopment in recent decades further decreasing its LGBTQ offerings. Nowadays SOMA has transformed from being a heavily industrial area into a booming residential neighborhood.

Leaders of the SOMA leather district hope a gay bathhouse will reopen in the area. And they are eager to see businesses like the Eagle bar welcome back customers so they are no longer facing financial ruin.

“I think the designation of the Eagle as a historic landmark really codifies and acknowledges the historic nature and central pillar the Eagle has been to our community for so many decades,” said Robert Goldfarb, a gay man who is the president of the SOMA LGBTQ cultural district’s board. “I think that and the change in the bathhouse regulations will certainly represent an opening that we certainly think will promote business in SOMA, and we feel that it allows an unmet need to be fulfilled in San Francisco.”

Gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who pushed to rescind the bathhouse rules last year, believes an operator likely will find it easier to win city approval to open in SOMA. “It is a good development and sets the stage for bathhouses to be part of our economic recovery,” he said. “I hope very much that they will.”

With the health crisis curtailing people’s ability to meet up in person, especially for sexual hookups, a gay bathhouse could be ready to open just as the health crisis hopefully subsides later this year.

“I think that would be a significant boost to the community in general and probably meet some pent up demand, if you will,” said Goldfarb.

As for the missing leather flag, a new one is ready to be raised but the recent weather has delayed its debut.

“We will put it up once the rainstorms pass,” Goldfarb told the B.A.R. this week. t

Artist, activist Lee Mentley dies

by Cynthia Laird

L

ee Mentley, the self-described “Princess of Castro Street,” died January 20 at his home in Sonora, California. He was 72.

The cause of death was congestive heart failure, according to August Bernadicou, who wrote an obituary for Mr. Mentley for his LGBTQ History Project website.

Mr. Mentley apparently gave himself the “princess” moniker. His 2016 memoir is titled “The Princess of Castro Street.”

Mr. Mentley was born June 2, 1948 and raised in East Los Angeles at a time when its inhabitants had to act confidently and fight for their safety, Bernadicou wrote in his obituary. (https://www.lgbtqhp.org/mentleyobituary) Mr. Mentley’s mother, knowing he was different, called When you plan your life celebration and lasting remembrance in him by the feminine name Lorraine, advance, you can design every detail of your own unique memorial which he shamelessly embraced. His and provide your loved ones with true peace of mind. Planning ahead When your celebration lasting family had guns for protection, and protectsyou your plan loved ones fromlife unnecessary stress and and financial burden, his mother told him to always keep When you remembrance plan your celebration and lasting remembrance in allowing themlife to focus on what will matter most at that time—you. in advance, you can design every advance, you canofdesign every detail of your ownand unique memorial hairspray in his car – it can be used as detail own memorial provide Contact usyour today about theunique beautiful ways to create a lasting legacy a weapon – one of the numerous preatyour theloved San Francisco Columbarium. and provide loved ones with true peace mind.

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Planning His childhood instilled in him a weprotects your loved ones from unnecessary stress and financial burden, ahead protectsProudly yourserving loved onesCommunity. from unnecessary the LGBT mentality, and allowing them focus on whatburden, will matter most them at thattotime—you. must-fight-to-survive stresstoand financial allowing while he always maintained that he “wasn’t a martyr,” he was never afraid focus on what will matter most at that time—you.

Contact us today about the beautiful ways to create a lasting legacy to make his stance known and take his cause to the street. at the San Contact FranciscousColumbarium. today about the beautiful ways to create In 1972, Mr. Mentley moved to San Francisco and threw himself into the a lasting legacy at the San Francisco Columbarium. art and activism scene. Inspired by the One Loraine Ct. | San Francisco | 415-771-0717 Proudly serving our Community. work of activists in Los Angeles like SanFranciscoColumbarium.com Donald Kilhefner, Mr. Mentley and a Proudly serving the LGBT Community.

FD 1306 / COA 660 community of activists opened the city’s first LGBTQ services center called the Gay Community Center at 330 Grove Street. On the spacious top floor, Mr. Mentley opened an art gallery called the Top Floor Gallery. The gallery and the salons he hosted at his earlier Hulah Palace featured celebrated artists like Dan Nicoletta, William McNeil, Caldwell Brewer, and countless other local artOne Loraine Ct. | San Francisco | 415-771-0717 ists. To further develop his stance as an art opportunity granter, he became the SanFranciscoColumbarium.com first openly gay city employee at the Neighborhood Arts Program with San FD 1306 / COA 660 Francisco Arts Commission.

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New bathhouse rules

Daniel Nicoletta

Lee Mentley stood outside San Francisco City Hall the day after the White Night riots, May 22, 1979.

Nicoletta fondly recalled his friend.

“Lee was the one who invited me to exhibit my photography at the Hulah Palace for their Spring Salon in 1975 and the experience was life changing,” he wrote in an email. “I continued as an exhibiting artist there over the years and followed to our new home at 330 Grove The Top Floor Gallery. I also exhibited and documented the reboot Hulah Palace reunion that Lee and friends crafted in 1994. That three-day salon was also a celebration of the 25year anniversary of the Cockettes and included deeply poignant performances by the remaining Cockettes.”

Nicoletta added that Mr. Mentley “always made the prospect of showing work casual and fun, but he was very serious about art as a tool of social transformation.”

“I was lucky to meet him and the Hulah Palace group during my formative years as an artist. Many of us stayed loyal friends, I will miss his vim and vigor,” Nicoletta added.

In 1978, Mr. Mentley served on the executive committee for the Pride Foundation at 330 Grove Street and took on his most significant art project, facilitating the creation of the rainbow flag, which has since gone onto symbolize LGBTQ people worldwide.

Bernadicou wrote in an email, “I can confidently write as an LGBTQ historian that Lee Mentley facilitated the rainbow flag, which represents LGBTQ people all around the world.” He added that Mr. Mentley was a onetime roommate of the late Gilbert Baker, who, as

the Bay Area Reporter noted in a 2018 article, co-created the first rainbow flags in 1978 with Lynn Segerblom and the late James McNamara. According to Bernadicou, who has 20 hours of recorded interviews with Mr. Mentley, “he was involved in the big picture organization, securing money, etc.”

A March 2020 piece in the Los Angeles Blade by Adrian Brooks, who recently passed away, called Mr. Mentley “The godfather of the rainbow flag.”

In 1983, Bernadicou wrote, “Mr. Mentley fled to Hawaii and, in the beginning, lived without access to radio and television and traveled on dirt roads. In Hawaii, he became the curator of Kauai Museum, chair of the Garden Island Arts Council, the founder of END/AIDS, a co-founder of Kauai AIDS Project, sat on the Hawaii Governor’s Committee on HIV/AIDS and was a representative for the Lambda Aloha to Hawaii Statewide Committee for Same Sex Marriage. He did all of this while being a landscaper for the folk singer Buffy Sainte Marie.”

In 2000, after he resurfaced in his home state, Mr. Mentley became the AIDS history curator for ONE Archive at the University of Southern California Los Angeles. In 2001, he became Director of Cultural Tourism Marketing and Development for the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, according to Bernadicou’s obituary.

A representative from the ONE Archive did not respond to an email message.

Like his time at One Archive, Mr. Mentley also dedicated his life to preserving his and others’ legacies. In 2016, he published his memoir, which he wrote in New York City, following in the footsteps of his beatnik hero, William S. Burroughs.

“While he later claimed that he was retired, he was never afraid to push his own beliefs and polarize because he realized that it was up to him to create the change he needed and wanted to see,” Bernadicou wrote in his obituary.

To read August Bernadicou’s obituary, go to https://www.lgbtqhp.org/ mentley-obituary. t

t

Health News>>

January 28-February 3, 2021 • Bay Area Reporter • 3

FDA approves first injectable HIV regimen

by Liz Highleyman

regimen if someone has to miss their planned Cabenuva injections.

T

he federal Food and Drug Administration has approved Cabenuva, the first complete long-acting injectable HIV regimen that does not require daily pills. It is approved for people with an undetectable viral load who wish to switch to a longacting regimen.

Cabenuva consists of extendedrelease versions of the new integrase inhibitor cabotegravir and rilpivirine (sold in pill form as Edurant).

The two injections are administered in the buttocks once monthly by a health care provider. ViiV Healthcare expects to start shipping Cabenuva in February. The combination regimen will cost about $4,000 a month.

The FDA action took place January 21.

“Many of our clients, some of whom have been taking antiretrovirals daily for decades, have expressed interest in long-acting injectables,” Janessa Broussard, R.N., vice president of medical affairs at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, told the Bay Area Reporter. “Adherence to a daily medication regimen can be difficult

Study findings

Courtesy ViiV Healthcare

The FDA has approved Cabenuva as the first monthly HIV injectable regimen.

to maintain for a variety of reasons.

In some cases, COVID-19 has made it even more difficult. As a provider, I am pleased to be able to offer Cabenuva to our clients as an alternative.”

Along with the injections, the FDA also approved a tablet version of cabotegravir, called Vocabria.

People who want to switch will take cabotegravir and rilpivirine pills for a monthlong lead-in period to ensure that the combination is well tolerated before starting the injections. The pills may also be used as a short-term

The approval is supported by findings from a set of phase 3 clinical trials. The ATLAS study enrolled more than 600 HIV-positive people with a fully suppressed viral load on their current oral regimen. They were randomly assigned to either stay on their existing regimen or switch to Cabenuva injections. After 48 weeks, both groups were about equally likely to maintain an undetectable viral load (93% and 96%, respectively).

A follow-up study, ATLAS-2M, showed that injections administered every other month worked just as well as monthly shots. The FDA approved only the once-monthly schedule, but European regulators recently authorized treatment either every four or every eight weeks. ViiV plans to request FDA approval of the bimonthly schedule in the United States.

In the FLAIR study, people starting HIV treatment for the first time were put on a standard three-drug oral regimen to bring down their viral load and then were randomized to stay

on that combination or switch to Cabenuva injections after a one-month oral lead-in. Again, both groups were equally likely to have an undetectable viral load after 48 weeks (93% and 94%). Follow-up findings showed that outcomes were similar without the oral lead-in.

Injectable cabotegravir alone is also being studied for HIV prevention.

Studies showed that cabotegravir injections given every other month were more effective than daily oral Truvada (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/ emtricitabine), both for cisgender men and trans women who have sex with men and for cisgender women.

Truvada is highly effective when used consistently, but some people may find it easier to stick to the long-acting regimen.

Cabenuva is safe and generally well tolerated. Many study participants experienced injection site reactions such as pain, redness, or swelling, but these were mostly mild to moderate, lasted only a few days, and became less common with repeated injections.

Nonetheless, most study participants said they preferred the monthly injections to daily pills. Reasons

included greater convenience, only having to think about HIV treatment 12 times a year and not having pill bottles that could reveal their HIV status to others.

People who use Cabenuva will need to see their providers more often than they do now for periodic viral load testing. But a ViiV study found that health care workers can successfully integrate the administration of monthly injections into their clinical practice.

“Among the scientific community, we recognize the innovation behind Cabenuva is truly meaningful. Not only is it the first, complete longacting regimen, which allows for a dramatic reduction in the frequency of dosing, but it also was preferred by most clinical trial participants when compared to their prior daily oral regimens,” Dr. David Wohl of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said in a ViiV news release.

“The FDA approval of Cabenuva underscores the value of community-centric research and I am pleased this new option will be available for those living with HIV.”t

Two-spirit powwow goes virtual for 10th event compiled by Cynthia Laird

ment director of Gender Spectrum, a Bay Area nonprofit that works to create gender-inclusive environments for youth across the country.

Horizons declined to make Lopez’s salary available. According to the agency’s 2018 IRS Form 990, the latest available, a person with the title of director of philanthropic services earned about $100,000.

Horizons has a budget of about $34 million.

B

ay Area American Indian TwoSpirits will celebrate its 10th annual powwow with a week of virtual events, allowing many more people to help commemorate the milestone.

BAAITS, a volunteer-based organization, established the first and largest public two-spirit powwow in the world.

This year’s events take place February 2-6, culminating with the Grand Entry on the last day from noon to 4 p.m. Pacific Time.

A powwow is a traditional Native American event that gathers all tribes, as well as invites non-Native guests to learn more about Native cultures. Last year, the event welcomed more than 5,000 people at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, BAAITS will hold the powwow online this year, according to a news release. It will include daily panels and workshops.

Two-spirit is a Native American term for people with both female and male energies. Two spirits may (or may not) also identify as LGBTQ. Traditionally two-spirit people often held – and many still hold – honored positions in their Native American and First Nations communities.

BAAITS interim Executive Director Amelia Vigil welcomes attendees to the powwow.

“This is a space for all of us to gather respectfully and celebrate our traditions,” Vigil stated. “By centering the voice of two spirit leadership and vision we honor all those who made it possible for us to be here. Whoever you are and wherever your roots originate, come with kindness, curiosity, and humility and you will enjoy the company of like-minded, connected people as we celebrate traditions of music, art, togetherness, and the practice of collective healing through artistic and cultural expression.”

The powwow begins Tuesday, February 2, with a welcome opening from noon to 2 p.m., followed by a Two-Spirit Futurism panel from 5 to 7. On February 3, the noon event has not yet been announced; the evening event, from 5 to 8, is SNAG Night, a virtual two-spirit

Silicon Valley Pride adopts new logo Rick Gerharter

Dancers waited to enter the arena at the 2018 Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits powwow.

mixer with host Snowflake Calvert (Tseltal Mayan and Yoeme). Thursday events include a talking circle at noon, and film shorts and a literary reading night at 5 hosted by Vigil in partnership with Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project.

Friday, February 5, there will be a Native foods cooking demonstration with Annie Dittmer (Ho-Chunk) and Esteban Orozco (Wixarika) from noon to 3 p.m., immediately followed by a conversation on self-care. The evening program will feature a hand drum contest from 5 to 7.

The main powwow on Saturday will include ceremonial honor dances, contest dances, and a drum contest.

All events are free, though donations will be accepted. Interested people should visit http://www.baaits.org/ powwow for updated Zoom links and more information. The powwow is a family-friendly, clean and sober event.

SFAF begins COVID vaccinations

With approval from the California Department of Public Health, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation this week began administering COVID-19 vaccinations to essential workers and staff working at its Strut clinic on Castro Street.

San Francisco is currently in Phase 1a of vaccine administration because of limited vaccine supply, which designates the shots for individuals providing direct health care and those supporting onsite health

care. As guidance changes, SFAF will modify its vaccination efforts, a January 26 news release stated.

“Once SFDPH approves vaccine administration to broader groups, we will be supporting efforts to provide vaccination for community members, prioritizing people experiencing homelessness, people who use drugs, and BIPOC individuals,” stated Janessa Broussard, NP, vice president of medical affairs at SFAF, referring to the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

Joe Hollendoner, CEO of SFAF, stated that the agency has been on the front lines throughout the pandemic.

“Our staff haven’t missed a day of service since the pandemic began,” he stated. “Today’s announcement means that COVID-19 won’t slow us down now.”

Silicon Valley Pride unveiled a new logo January 25 that incorporates the colors of the Progress Pride flag.

“We want to have a modern look in its logo while paying homage to the Progress flag as the current sign of the LGBTQ+ community,” Saldy Suriben, the chief marketing officer for Silicon Valley Pride and a member of its board of directors, stated in a news release.

Suriben stated to the B.A.R. that the new logo was designed with his guidance by Stew Calladine, a graphic designer in the United

Kingdom, and was recently approved by the board of directors.

As the B.A.R. previously reported, newer Pride flags intending to be more representative of the queer community’s diversity – including the Progress flag designed by Daniel Quasar in 2018 – have been gaining traction in cities across the state and country.

The Progress flag itself utilizes the colors of the transgender flag and the Philadelphia Pride flag, created in 2017.

Silicon Valley Pride explicitly stated in its release that the new logo is part of “its efforts to embrace diversity, resilience, and intersectionality within the LGBTQ+ community.”

The Silicon Valley Pride organization is responsible for the annual celebration that, until 2020, took place in downtown San Jose in August. As the B.A.R. previously reported, that celebration went virtual last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. t John Ferrannini contributed reporting.

Horizons names chief philanthropy officer

Horizons Foundation has announced that Candace Lopez has joined the LGBTQ nonprofit as its chief philanthropy officer.

In this role, Lopez will lead the foundation’s fund development, philanthropic services, and legacy giving work, agency President Roger Doughty stated in a January 25 news release.

Lopez, 38, identifies as queer, femme, and mixed-race Mexicana.

She joins Horizons with over 15 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, primarily in development.

Her fundraising experience spans multiple causes, including civil liberties, the arts, higher education, domestic violence, and gender equity.

Most recently, she served as develop-

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<< Open Forum

4 • Bay Area Reporter • January 28-February 3, 2021

Volume 51, Number 04 January 28-February 3, 2021 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 CULTURE EDITOR Jim Provenzano ASSISTANT EDITORS Matthew S. Bajko • John Ferrannini CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Tavo Amador • Roger Brigham Brian Bromberger • Victoria A. Brownworth Philip Campbell • Heather Cassell Michael Flanagan • Jim Gladstone Liz Highleyman • Lisa Keen Matthew Kennedy • David Lamble David-Elijah Nahmod • Paul Parish Tim Pfaff • Jim Piechota • Gregg Shapiro Gwendolyn Smith •Sari Staver • Charlie Wagner Ed Walsh • Cornelius Washington • Sura Wood

ART DIRECTION Max Leger PRODUCTION/DESIGN Ernesto Sopprani PHOTOGRAPHERS Jane Philomen Cleland • FBFE Rick Gerharter • Gareth Gooch Jose Guzman-Colon • Rudy K. Lawidjaja Georg Lester • Rich Stadtmiller • Fred Rowe Steven Underhill • Bill Wilson ILLUSTRATORS & CARTOONISTS Christine Smith

VICE PRESIDENT OF ADVERTISING Scott Wazlowski – 415.829.8937

Biden keeps promise with trans ban repeal

Biden’s bid to end systemic racism

I

t may be premature to declare President Joe Biden’s executive order repealing former President Donald Trump’s odious transgender military ban a “victory,” as some news outlets have reported. Rather, Biden’s action restores the ability for every qualified American to serve in the armed forces, as several trans people have pointed out. After all, before he was sworn in, Biden said he would reverse the ban.

True victory will be the seamless integration of transgender members working alongside fellow Americans in all branches of the U.S. military.

Still, Biden’s action, coming less than a week into his presidency, is indeed great news for trans people who are serving or wish to serve, as well as for several who filed lawsuits urging courts to block Trump’s ban. But as is often the case with these executive orders, it needs to be implemented. Biden and his new defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, understand this. The Palm Center, a think tank that has long studied LGBTQ military service and the discriminatory practices of the old “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy and the more recent trans ban, noted in a statement that the president “followed the science.” He relied on research by the RAND Corporation as well as “evidence amassed by experts in military health and medicine,” noted Aaron Belkin, a gay man who is director of the Palm Center. “A former military surgeon general advised that not only would inclusive policy enhance readiness, but it could also be implemented quickly because the relevant regulations were never canceled under the Trump administration,” Belkin stated. Austin echoed that judgment, pledging that the Pentagon would move forward immediately and expeditiously, Belkin noted.

Screengrab

President Joe Biden delivered remarks Tuesday coinciding with signing executive orders aimed at reducing systemic racism.

We’re impressed that Biden isn’t just signing the order and moving on to other issues.

According to the executive order, Biden intends to check back in 60 days.

At that point, Belkin stated, there should be a new policy in place that welcomes qualified transgender recruits and treats everyone according to a single standard.

Moreover, the order returns to the inclusive trans policy that was already working successfully.

It will stop all adverse actions against trans troops and require the Defense Department to correct records of anyone affected by the Trump ban. The Palm Center stated that new enlistment or commission in the military will resume consistent with the 2016 inclusive policy and under the same principle that all applicants will be evaluated under the same expectation of fitness for service.

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A day after Biden signed the order allowing transgender people to serve in the armed forces, he signed several executive orders aimed at reducing systemic racism. As he said during a press briefing, racism will not end overnight, but the actions he took send a strong message.

They include: strengthening anti-discrimination housing policies weakened under Trump; ending federal contracts with private prisons; increasing the sovereignty of Native American tribes; and combatting xenophobia against Asians and Pacific Islanders, which is particularly important given Trump’s racist language referring to the coronavirus.

While they don’t amount to a wholesale overhaul of the criminal justice system as many on the left want, they are a step in the right direction, especially after four long years of race baiting by Trump and many of his supporters both inside and outside of government. Yet they aren’t merely feel-good measures either, as Susan Rice, Biden’s domestic policy adviser, said at the press briefing.

“The evidence is clear: Investing in equity is good for economic growth, and it creates jobs for all Americans,” Rice said. “Economists have estimated that the U.S. economy has lost a staggering $16 trillion over the last 20 years because of discrimination against families of color. If we closed racial gaps in income and opportunity, these same economists have estimated we could add $5 trillion to the U.S. economy over the next five years and add over 6 million new jobs for all Americans.”

Rice also said that Biden is committed to working with Congress to advance equity in the nation’s economy, criminal justice system, health care, and schools. Changes in all of these areas are desperately needed given the backsliding of the last four years. Biden is off to a strong start – and we expect swift action on other issues. t

A chance at healing

by Gwendolyn Ann Smith

NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Rivendell Media – 212.242.6863

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A

decade ago, I had a rare opportunity.

Rushed onto a flight in the middle of the week, I made my way to Washington, D.C. I had been asked, quite at the last moment, to go to the White House to discuss transgender issues.

I felt woefully unprepared as I hurriedly wrote out a few pages of notes covering stories I wanted to discuss before heading over to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next door to the White House. There, I had the opportunity to address representatives of the Obama administration specifically on issues of anti-transgender violence.

It was both daunting and deeply flattering to have the opportunity to sit at the center of a large table, surrounded by individuals representing the administration – with photos of the noteworthy things that happened in that room in the many decades before I came calling – and speak about the things that I find important as a trans woman who has dedicated much of her life to anti-trans killing.

I found it far more important to hear those who surrounded me speak about what each of their parts of the administration were going to do to help transgender people like me. It was at this meeting that I fully began to comprehend that a presidency was not just about the person at the top, but everyone below them as well.

Much of what was discussed was already well established even then, just a couple short years into the Obama presidency. Many others, big and small, would be enacted over the course of those eight years.

Then it all changed.

During the last four years of the Trump administration, I have seen everything discussed at that 2011 meeting rolled back. Far from just a trans military ban (which President Joe Biden reversed this week), we saw trans rights challenged from top to bottom.

For every scant win came more challenges, more directives, more attempts to strip away our rights.

To be honest, it can be hard to worry

Christine Smith

about these things, with families being separated and caged in the desert, with Muslim travel bans, and a failed response to a pandemic that has left over 400,000 people dead. There’s been an amazing amount of evil done in such a short period of time.

That said, I took every trans rights loss very personally. I mentally crossed off everything lost from that 2011 meeting, with the last of it gone in the final few days of the Trump era. While I actually did expect worse for transgender people from the Trump administration – and I think it would have gotten unimaginably worse if Donald Trump had secured four more years – every one of these losses elicited a special grief, a pang in my heart as I wondered if there had been just a little something more I could have done.

This past November, I honestly wasn’t sure what would take place. Frankly, as court challenge after court challenge went by, as attempts were made to invalidate votes, and even as we saw rioters – whipped up by Trump himself – descend on the United States Capitol, I wasn’t sure we would make it to the inauguration.

Then, once again, it all changed.

A day before the inauguration, Biden tapped Dr. Rachel Levine, a transgender pediatrician, to be the assistant secretary for health. The choice made it clear that transgender voices would be a part of his administration. It is important to note that Levine has been a key part of Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 response, even while facing pushback – largely due to being a transgender woman.

Then, hours after Biden took the oath of office on the Capitol steps, he issued an executive order that protected LGBTQ people from discrimination in schools, at work, and so on. It is largely a directive based on last year’s Supreme Court ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County Georgia, which secured workplace protections under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

As noted above, Biden also issued an executive order repealing Trump’s transgender military ban, one of the former president’s first big forays into stripping transgender people of their rights.

These actions send a large, tangible signal that the new administration is working to protect transgender citizens of this country.

That said, I’m under no illusion that this won’t continue to be an uphill battle over the next four years, nor do I feel that a future right-wing president could not simply change things once more.

Even now, scores of anti-transgender bills have popped up in statehouses across the country, seeking to roll back trans rights.

Some of the worst even attempt to criminalize transgender care, mandating prison time for those who provide such services to transgender people. Further, even though it will clearly go nowhere, a bill in the Democraticcontrolled House of Representatives is also seeking to undermine the rights of transgender students across the country.

Seeing the federal Equality bill passed will be vital, even knowing that there are sure to be court challenges to it. We are but at the beginning of this battle to make trans rights truly complete and not so easy to wipe away.

We know there will be plenty of challenges to build in “religious exceptions” that could hinder these same rights, as well as pressure to see trans needs “slow-walked” in Congress in favor of easier bipartisan victories as the populace relaxes in a post-Trump world.

It’s good to see progress once again. To be frank, it heals my heart to see these things, once lost, now return.

Yet we need a solid footing, and we need it before the next president can sign it all away. t Gwen Smith would be more than happy to go back to D.C. this November, COVID-willing. You’ll find her at www.gwensmith.com.

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Politics >>

January 28-February 3, 2021 • Bay Area Reporter • 5

SF college board set to back trans diploma bill

by Matthew S. Bajko

“I know people are doing their best,” he said. “But I am now in my third year of this school; I would hope they would be able to figure it out by now.”

The CCSF board meeting begins at 4 p.m. Thursday, January 28. To watch it via Zoom, go to https://ccsf-edu. zoom.us/j/91340113747.

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he board of trustees for City College of San Francisco is expected to endorse state legislation that would outlaw deadnaming public college students on their diplomas and other academic records. The public community college adopted such a policy in 2020.

Trustee Tom Temprano, a gay man who is vice president of the community college board, introduced the resolution in support of Assembly Bill 245. The college board will vote on it when it meets Thursday.

Both the resolution and adoption of the state bill will send a message of needed support to transgender and nonbinary students at a time when other states and countries around the globe are enacting laws and policies that harm trans youth, said Charlie Garcia-Spiegel, 22, a queer nonbinary trans man who attends City College.

“This would be a huge step because even on the state level, different parts of the state have different amounts of protections for trans students and different amounts of basic human rights. On that level it is really important,” said Garcia-Spiegel. “When you zoom out and go to the macro level, across the country and across the world even, you see huge legislative fights over basic human rights for trans students.”

Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco) introduced AB 245 this month after a similar bill he authored last year had to tabled in light of the COVID pandemic. Chiu’s bill, titled Affirming Transgender and Nonbinary Student’s Names in College, would require California’s community colleges and public universities to use students’ lived names on their transcripts, diplomas, and other documents.

Transgender and nonbinary students would be able to use their lived names even if they have not legally changed their names under Chiu’s AB 245. With the health crisis impacting people’s employment, Chiu earlier this month in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter noted trans and nonbinary graduates seeking new jobs may be outed to employers and face discrimination if their academic records list their wrong name.

AB 245 follows an earlier bill Chiu was able to enact requiring public K-12 schools in the state to update the records for transgender and nonbinary students so that they match their legal name and gender identity.

Courtesy Tom Temprano

SF City College Trustee Tom Temprano

In November, the UC system released a new policy on gender identity that all of its campuses will need to implement by December 31, 2023. It includes using students’ lived names on their academic records.

City College of San Francisco implemented a chosen name system for its trans and nonbinary students and staff last year. Under its gender diversity and inclusion policy the use of chosen names is mandatory except for certain financial and legal documents.

“I think City College has rightly led the way on pushing for policies that protect our trans and gendernonconforming students, including allowing students to use chosen names in a variety of college documents,” Temprano noted in a phone interview. “I think we owe it to lead not only by example but to push other colleges around the state to do the same to protect their students.”

Because of CCSF’s own policy on student names, Temprano told the B.A.R. he expects his board colleagues will vote in support of his resolution about AB 245.

“The longer we take to allow our trans and gender-nonconforming students to use names of their choice, the longer we are putting them, frankly, in danger and making our higher education institutions less welcoming and supportive of those students,” he said.

While Garcia-Spiegel has had no issues with the name used on his college records or student ID, his City College-issued email still uses the first initial of his former first name. Since starting classes in 2019, he has yet to be able to update his school email and tries to use his personal account as often as possible.

At times Garcia-Spiegel does have to use his City College email, thus outing himself to his fellow classmates as happened recently in a biology class during an assignment where the students shared documents via their school email addresses.

Bill aims to improve services for HIV+ seniors

At the height of the AIDS epidemic in the mid-1980s, John Laird joined with five other gay men to launch the Santa Cruz AIDS Project in order to support people living in the seaside city who were becoming HIV-positive. Laird also helped to address the health crisis from inside City Hall.

He served on the Santa Cruz City Council, including two stints as the city’s mayor, during most of that decade. After being termed out of office in 1990, Laird was hired as executive director of the AIDS agency, a position he held through 1993.

Nearly three decades later, now serving in California’s state Senate, Laird is authoring a bill aimed at improving the social services HIV-positive seniors can access. His Senate Bill 258, introduced Tuesday, January 26, aims to include older people with HIV as part of the population of “greatest social need” when it comes to programs and services administered by the California Department of Aging.

“Right now senior services are targeted to certain older people with needs and now it will make sure older people with HIV are part of that target group,” explained Laird in a phone interview with the B.A.R. While seniors living with HIV have some programs and services specially devised for them funded through the federal Ryan White CARE Act and by local health agencies, Laird pointed out they are not designated as a community that should be prioritized under the federal Older Americans Act. A network of 33 Area Agencies on Aging across the state oversee the programs funded by the OAA. “This bill would add them to the priority list,” said Laird, 70, who is the oldest member of the Legislative LGBTQ Caucus.

According to a fact sheet about SB 258 that Laird’s office shared with the B.A.R., California’s current definition of “greatest social need” under its OAA programs includes various characteristics such as physical or mental disability, language barriers, and cultural or social isolation caused by, among other things, racial and ethnic status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.

See page 8 >>

Letters >> ‘Hibernia Beach’ perspective

A caveat to this letter is I am not necessarily defending the rather heavy-handed approach to the recent “Hibernia Beach” posting situation by Bank of America [“Mandelman open to landmarking BofA,” January 21]. An approach that may have been much different had there been more involvement from local management. Having said that, I am offering another perspective on the entire affair.

During the nearly yearlong closure of this branch, the postings on the building had clearly spiraled out of control and included graffiti, political messages, personal rages, and the covering of an entire window along with the sometimes difficult-to-discern memorials. In addition, a lingering years-old problem has been the lack of maintenance and removal of memorials by those persons who initially posted them once they were past their prime or had been vandalized. To the untrained eye it might appear that there was nothing more than graffiti-like material on the walls and windows of the building.

Hopefully, this event will begin a dialogue with new focus on the clear responsibility of the community to maintain the memorials in a manner reflecting the sacredness of this corner of the gayborhood. It’s one thing

to memorialize someone and quite another to simply walk away and not feel any responsibility for making certain that memorial is not diminished by a lack of maintenance or by not taking it down when it’s time to do so.

There has never been an established protocol for removing memorials, and some years ago, I wrote a letter to this paper asking people to follow up on their postings after a certain period of time had passed rather than leaving it to someone else to make that call. I hope the community and Bank of America can reach a reasonable accord to ensure the ongoing memorials and perceived sacredness of this place are considered by all parties.

In closing, I’d like to point out that more than 20 years ago the late Lion Barnett and I crafted an ongoing agreement with BofA for its generous annual donation of the community meeting room space above the Sunglass Hut used by more than 35 nonprofit groups. This is important information for those people intent upon casting Bank of America as an uncaring corporate entity.

Patrick Batt San Francisco

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

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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!

<< From the Cover

6 • Bay Area Reporter • January 28-February 3, 2021

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LGBTQ seniors

From page 1

end of 2019 or the beginning of 2020.

MacGregor’s partner, a 23-year-old, also connected with a senior through Openhouse.

“I moved to the Castro from Berkeley two and a half years ago and I knew one of the things I wanted to do was to connect with my neighbors here in the Castro who represent different generations,” MacGregor, 24, said. “As a queer person myself, I wanted to explore connections with people I’d not have the opportunity to before. I like cats; he has a cat. He’s an artist; I try to surround myself with artists. He lives in the neighborhood. The process was pretty straightforward.”

Karyn Skultety, Ph.D., a bi woman who is the outgoing executive director of Openhouse, said she thinks senior isolation “is a huge issue.”

“Maybe the good news – if there is such a thing – is that isolation was such a big issue for LGBTQ seniors at the beginning of the pandemic that it was already something we were attuned to: knowing that people needed more than a typical senior model of relying on family and spouses,” she told the B.A.R. “I think we have done a good job in proactively establishing connections with people, before things got really bad.”

Skultety, noting that “when you feel isolated, it’s hard to reach out to others,” said that Openhouse took the first step at the start of the COVID-19 restrictions by reaching out to seniors to ask if they were OK. “Some people said ‘call me next week.’ For people who say ‘no thanks, I’m done,’ we check in again,” Skultety said. “It doesn’t solve every problem, but it’s building that connection.”

Openhouse also took the step of creating 600 gift baskets for LGBTQ seniors who live in San Francisco who’d been going to Openhouse’s programs before COVID struck.

“The gift baskets were important,” she said. “The real power of the gift baskets is having a staff member in front of your door, saying,‘I miss you. You’re important to us. You matter.’ The feedback we’ve gotten is that they loved the stuff in the basket, ‘I loved that you visited, that I’m not forgotten.’”

Lynch receives the gift baskets himself.

“The last one, the Christmas one, was hysterical,” he said. “I have a cat – a little guy who rules the roost around here – and the gift basket had a lot of stuff for the cat, but it was all stuff I needed. A lot of effort went into it.”

MacGregor said Lynch has been wonderful to have in his life; Lynch gave MacGregor several of his paintings, they said.

“Things that frankly are so little effort for me make his life a lot less frustrating,” MacGregor said. “It’s been one of the most fulfilling things I’ve been able to do in the last year.”

Openhouse also does 300 to 500 support calls “depending upon the week,” Skultety said, adding that people are still virtually engaging with groups that used to meet in-person.

“Some of our groups are as big or bigger than before. It’s taken time to get there but that’s the case,” Skultety said, though she noted that “trans, people of color, and marginalized people in the community are less likely to engage with those [virtual] programs.”

This is “because they are more likely to lack access to technology and experience poverty at a higher rate than other LGBTQ seniors,” Skultety clarified. “Technology access highlights the inequities that exist in our city already.”

Skultety stated that when the pan-

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Trans military ban

From page 1

“President Biden believes that gender identity should not be a bar to military service, and that America’s strength is found in its diversity,” a fact sheet from the White House noted.

“This question of how to enable all qualified Americans to serve in the

demic began last year, isolation and food insecurity were identified as the top challenges.

“Many seniors were relying on the food/meals offered at senior centers, churches, community organizations, and senior housing as part of their weekly plan to have enough food to eat. As these locations were forced to stop offering on-site programming and food, many seniors found themselves without enough to eat. Early on, we started buying groceries and meals for seniors connected to Openhouse who found themselves in this position,” Skultety stated.

“The other challenge was social isolation which has, of course, only worsened over time,” she added. “We could see a difference even from the first week of the stay at home order to the second. We started making calls out to our community members immediately – rather than waiting for people to reach out for connection, we made calls proactively. The challenge with feeling isolated is that it makes it harder to reach out to others, which in turn only worsens isolation. It’s a vicious cycle that we tried to prevent early on by setting up weekly phone calls with LGBTQ seniors.”

Openhouse, according to its most recent publicly-available IRS form 990, had total expenses of $2.2 million in Fiscal Year 2018-2019. That year the organization took in $5.2 million.

Forty-five percent of Openhouse’s funding comes from the City and County of San Francisco, according to Skultety.

Rick Gerharter

Openhouse’s in-person programs for LGBTQ seniors held at 65 Laguna Street, shown when 95 Laguna was under construction in the background, are on hold due to the COVID pandemic but will resume when the agency is allowed to reopen its offices.

reach – teaching them how to connect with family, how to do Zoom, setting them up so that they can work from home.”

SF ReServe, which is based on a national model, has succeeded at getting 65 people over the age of 60 placed, though some people hired before the pandemic have since been furloughed.

According to Nelson, SF ReServe was involved in technology training for some of the Openhouse senior clients, as part of a partnership between the two organizations.

“What does that do?” Nelson asked.

“It takes people out of isolation.”

On Lok ramps up meal delivery

Larry Nelson, who has been a fixture in San Francisco’s LGBTQ community for decades (he created the 2018 “Generations of Strength” San Francisco Pride theme), said that there are multiple layers to the challenge of senior isolation.

“There is more now, during COVID, especially in the gay community,” Nelson, who is in his 60s, said.

“Sometimes, when someone comes out, no matter what age there is isolation,” he explained. “Then they build a chosen family, as we always say, but then that family starts dying off, and then they’re isolated again.”

Nelson said many gay men who were traumatized by decades of the AIDS epidemic are being triggered again by COVID, not only because both are viral health crises, but because many people lost their chosen families decades ago.

“There’s a gay adolescence. No matter what age you come out, you’re an adolescent. When AIDS hit it went from bars to community organizing, to discussion groups, all of that,” Nelson said. “The issue with many gay, senior men is that many have been isolated since they lost their friends to AIDS. Then new friends came who died, or moved away. So there’s many arms and tentacles to the isolation thing. There’s always isolation of seniors no matter who or where they are.

“We have really bad PTSD, which is almost unbearable for gay men in their 50s to 70s. Panic attacks. But even though we have all that, we have some experience about how to break out of isolation,” he added.

Nelson said he started a part-time job at the SF ReServe Employment Program, a nonprofit organization that helps people age 60 and up, and persons living with disabilities who are 18 and older, find part-time employment.

“Part of our program is getting computers and iPads to people, to create engagement,” Nelson said. “Always use the term ‘engagement.’ Tech out-

On Lok, which runs an eponymous senior center at 30th and Dolores streets in San Francisco, has been collaborating with Openhouse on an LGBTQ senior program that will be held at Openhouse’s 75 Laguna Street location post-pandemic. It has been focusing on delivering meals since the pandemic broke out.

“We had a vibrant, active community at 30th Street before with music classes, senior groups, and meals,” John Blazek, the executive director of On Lok’s Day Services, told the B.A.R. “Obviously, that all changed, but our commitment did not end. We decided we had to be intentional and focus on making sure people are not isolated.”

To that end, On Lok has been increasing the number of meals it delivers.

Each year, On Lok Mission Nutrition delivers 130,000 meals, but this year it is contracted to deliver 228,556 meals.

On Lok Mission Nutrition has added meal delivery routes, and on average serves two meals a day to 348 people.

“We don’t just drop the food off,” Blazek said. “We have a wellness check that comes with that home-delivered meal. The driver has a close relationship with the people they drop the food off to.”

The On Lok 30th Street Center is partially funded through the City and County of San Francisco Department of Disability and Aging Services. The expansion of meal delivery this year was funded through that department, as well as both private fundraising efforts and Give2SF, a fundraising component of the city’s COVID response and recovery fund.

According to the organization’s most recent IRS form 990, which covers Fiscal Year 2017-18, On Lok had $13.9 million in expenses.

On Lok delivers toiletries and “also fun things like hats, scarves, so that they know they are cared about,” Blazek said.

Nicole Torres, the vice president of On Lok PACE, directs the operations of that program, which is a health care plan for seniors who need support but live independently.

“Pre-COVID, the PACE program

military is easily answered by recognizing our core values,” the administration stated. “America is stronger, at home and around the world, when it is inclusive. The military is no exception. Allowing all qualified Americans to serve their country in uniform is better for the military and better for the country because an inclusive force is a more effective force. Simply put,

it’s the right thing to do and is in our national interest.”

LGBTQ advocacy organizations praised Biden’s action.

“Today, those who believe in factbased public policy and a strong, smart national defense have reason to be proud,” stated Aaron Belkin, a gay man who’s director of the Palm Center, a think tank that studies LGBTQ

Multiple layers of isolation

was based on the ability to provide a continuity of services in the center setting,” Torres said. “With COVID, that obviously has challenges. Instead of providing care in the centers, we have been able to re-mobilize into the participant’s home.

“The way older adults are reacting is similar to the rest of the world,” Torres added. “There are those who are quite fearful, and not knowing how to respond; there are those who are not letting COVID ‘take them down;’ and those who need help, and are asking how.”

Serving some of the “frailest of the frail,” Torres said that “having that empathetic ear” is of prime importance.

“Some are hopeful and are welcoming of staff entering into the home,” Torres said. “Others are taking a more conservative approach, and want help, but virtually whether through telehealth or over the telephone.”

Moving On Lok’s groups to the virtual platform have resulted in new opportunities “to engage from outside the Bay Area,” Torres said.

“On Lok has an active YouTube channel.

We put together exercise, musical events, participants sharing their own music and poems and reposting them through social media,” she added.

Rebecca Wong, 94, is an On Lok PACE participant who has been getting meals delivered through the program for four years. Before, she’d been going to an On Lok PACE Center.

“It’s good food,” Wong said of the Chinese cuisine she has delivered on Tuesdays and Fridays. “It helped me a lot because I’m getting too old to get food for myself.”

Wong said she gets her delivery around 1 p.m., at which time she thanks the driver “then I let them down to go away.”

Blazek said the greatest challenge On Lok had to overcome was the uncertainty of the pandemic’s beginnings.

“If you think back to early 2020, I think one of the challenges was the uncertainty,” he said. “I remember the word going out that two million people might die, so our anticipation was daunting. There was not the PPE and social distancing and understanding of how this virus is spread. Now, we have a better idea, but then we didn’t know if that would protect us.”

‘There’s so much you can learn’

Wes Enos, who is based in New York City, said he intends to relaunch the Generations Project in virtual space this year. The project is seeking to connect LGBTQ people intergenerationally.

“One of our main concerns is the isolation of everyone in our community, but particularly elders and older adults,” Enos, a gay man, told the B.A.R. in December. “The Generations Project has created three types of pro-

military issues. “The Biden administration has made good on its pledge to put military readiness above political expediency by restoring inclusive policy for transgender troops.

“The ban will now be replaced with a single standard for everyone that, as in the successful previous policy, will apply equally to all service members,” Belkin added. “This is a major step in the de-

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Courtesy Karyn Skultety, Ph.D.

Openhouse’s outgoing executive director, Karyn Skultety, Ph.D.

grams. In the past three to four months these are being fine-tuned and then, in 2021, we are really ramping up these programs in cooperation with SAGE – the older adult community center network.”

These programs are live intergenerational storytelling events, intergenerational storytelling workshops, and – its most popular – intergenerational writing parties. The parties are designed for up to 100 people, who will break into smaller groups of three or four.

Enos said that the intergenerational party is free and open to the public on the third Thursday of the month through the project’s website.

“That’s when the actual mingling occurs,” Enos said. “We try to do our best to get people to a point when they feel comfortable mingling and talking to each other. Interesting things come out in the breakout groups, which come out in the larger group.

“Before COVID, our writing parties were for time capsules that we’d create for senior centers,” Enos continued.

“We created these physical time capsules, and people would write short captions for photos.”

Now, they will also be writing stories relating to people’s reactions to the COVID pandemic.

Enos said he started the Generations Project five years ago.

“I felt like people my age – I was 27 then – didn’t have the opportunity to connect with older adults. We missed out on a lot of opportunities to collect these stories, so we wanted to create an organization to pay homage to that.”

Enos said that he had lived in San Francisco, disdaining history as a young adult because his dad was a history teacher in their small Oregon town.

In San Francisco, Enos met “many of the gay friends I have today.” At that time, while working in a restaurant, he made a disparaging remark about a senior who was eating breakfast alone.

“My co-worker came over to me and put me in my place, saying, they used to dance just like you do and eat breakfast like you do with your friends,” Enos recalled. “But his friends may have died in the AIDS epidemic and I had to learn about that. Ever since then I have tried to honor the older generations.”

Nelson agrees that establishing that interhuman connection – changed by the COVID pandemic – is crucial to helping people overcome isolation.

“What can younger people do?”

Nelson asked. “Talk to someone older.

There’s so much to know, so much you can learn.

“It’s simple when you think about it,” he added. t

This article was written with the support of a journalism fellowship from The Gerontological Society of America, The Journalists Network on Generations, and the RRF Foundation for Aging.

fense not only of America but of American values. We look forward to a speedy implementation of inclusive policy.”

Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and Modern Military Association of America had been fighting for three years to block the ban, filing a lawsuit on behalf six currently serving servicemembers, two transgender See page 7 >>

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Community News>>

Gay firefighter

From page 1

nia Fair Employment and Housing Act through the suit, which was filed January 19.

Attorney Angela Alioto, the former mayoral candidate and past president of the Board of Supervisors, is representing Baraka.

“It’s just become overwhelming,” Alioto told the B.A.R. January 25. “In May or June, I’m not exactly sure, a report came out from the City and County of San Francisco – a workforce report. Stunning results about a lack of African American hiring, a lack of promoting, the number of people terminated.”

Baraka told the B.A.R. later that day that he has decided to file the suit now because he feels that not only is he being retaliated against, but so too are members of the LGBTQ-affinity group within the department, SF ResQ. “After numerous attempts to rectify the wrongs outlined in my complaint, I’ve gotten absolutely nowhere. In fact, they have used the disciplinary process to punish me for bringing this to their attention,” Baraka said. “SF ResQ, the employee group, are experiencing a weaponized form of attack.

To me, that’s deplorable. It’s terrible.”

According to the complaint, being at a station so near the Castro neighborhood did not provide a safe haven from discrimination.

“During his time at Station 6, Mr. Baraka not only witnessed maltreatment of the neighborhood residents

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COVID data

From page 1

In its January 25 letter to the California officials, the organization said it was committed to ensuring states could collect SOGI data on the people testing positive for the novel coronavirus. It offered “to provide guidance and identify key questions on the technical specifications needed to report this data from labs to state electronic disease reporting and surveillance systems.”

The letter, signed by Health Level Seven International CEO Dr. Charles Jaffe, noted that HL7 has developed “in record time” new standards for reporting COVID-related data since the health crisis emerged in early 2020.

“The mission and vision of Health Level Seven International is to provide standards that empower health data interoperability and support everyone securely accessing and using the right health data when and where they need it. This includes the LGBTQ community and many others,” wrote Jaffe. “Our organization works diligently and cooperatively with global, federal and state stakeholders, industry groups, health care organizations, community groups and consumers to make this overarching vision a reality.”

Jaffe added that his organization “is committed to helping all states and their partners leverage relevant HL7 standards to improve COVID-19 reporting – for the LGBTQ community and other vulnerable populations.”

Asked about the response from Jaffe, Wiener said he found it lacking in specificity.

<<

Trans military ban

From page 6

clients seeking to enlist, and three organizational plaintiffs: the Human Rights Campaign, American Military Partner Association, and Gender Justice League. The state of Washington also joined the lawsuit.

“This is a significant and hopeful moment for our country. Over the last three years, we’ve fought to prove that transgender people are not a burden, a hindrance, or a distraction – we are an equal and contributing part of this society just as much as any other group, and this development vindicates that basic principle,” Staff Sergeant Cathrine

January 28-February 3, 2021 • Bay Area Reporter • 7

flective of the community we serve.”

Baraka had told the B.A.R. in 2019, on the occasion of Nicholson becoming the fire chief, that he was “cautiously optimistic.”

“I am just very hopeful this new chief will do the right thing,” Baraka said at that time. “I am always hopeful, but again, we can do better.”

But now, he said, “I said I was hopeful and my hopes were dashed.”

“I think it’s terrible that we have the first LGBTQ chief of the San Francisco Fire Department treating fellow community members as she has,” Baraka said. “In fact, I’ve compared her to Roy Cohn. That’s how bad she is.”

(Cohn targeted federal officials based on real and suspected homosexuality while serving as chief counsel to the late Senator Joseph McCarthy, R-Wisconsin, during the Second Red Scare. Cohn, long said to be gay himself, died of AIDS in 1986.)

Baraka said that the department refused to publish a history of SF ResQ that it was asked to write.

“We worked very hard to meet the tight turnaround and got it in on time,” Baraka wrote to the B.A.R. January 26. “The chief did not like what we wrote and refused to publish it.”

Baraka stated that employee groups organize the department’s presence at civic festivals, and that SF ResQ was given this task for the 2019 Pride parade. Nonetheless, SF ResQ was not included in the chief’s formal invitation (ostensibly on its behalf) to the Pride parade.

Baraka stated that the department

said this omission was caused by a clerical error (which he does not believe).

“These acts send a clear message to others,” Baraka wrote. “By removing our names from the invite list also implies that we had nothing to do with the hours of work and over $10K to produce events at the Trans March, the Dyke March, the Pride March, AND having a booth at the festival pavilion! Prior to SF ResQ taking ownership all we had was a parade contingent. It was a slap in the face to all the hard work we put in. Shame on her.”

In a statement late January 25, San Francisco City Attorney communications director John Coté stated, “The city takes equal employment issues seriously and is committed to fostering a welcoming workplace free of discrimination or harassment based on race, sexual orientation or any other protected characteristic.

“Privacy protections in personnel matters limit what we can publicly say, and we’re not going to try this case in the press,” Coté added. “Mr. Baraka brought this complaint in a court of law, so that is where we will address it.”

The San Francisco Fire Department declined a request for comment January 26, referring the B.A.R. back to the city attorney’s statement.

Alioto said she has a good chance of winning the case.

“I don’t file anything I can’t win,” Alioto said. “My chances are excellent.

The racism in the City and County of San Francisco is throughout. It’s unbelievable.” t

Wiener and gay Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell), the chair of the Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, held a virtual conference call with members of the HL7 work group January 7 to discuss the SOGI data matter. Wiener had told the B.A.R. they “had a really good conversation” about how the system works and what some of the challenges are in updating it to include the SOGI questions.

“It is a continuing conversation.

They clearly understood why the data is important,” said Wiener. “One of the real challenges they sort of flagged, which is very real because we have chaotic health care systems, is health care data in general is really fragmented and inconsistent and not great. It is not centralized.”

Fed up last year after months of inaction on collecting SOGI COVID data, Wiener introduced legislation to require state health officials begin doing so. Last summer Ghaly instituted regulations that were expected to result in everyone getting tested for COVID-19 to be asked the SOGI questions.

Governor Gavin Newsom in September signed Wiener’s Senate Bill 932 requiring the SOGI data to immediately be collected. But as the B.A.R. first reported in November, state and most local health officials had not fully implemented the law or the regulations.

While San Francisco had been asking about gender identity, it only updated

its COVID data collection to ask about sexual orientation last month.

The SOGI questions are often asked in both a doctor’s office and also in lab settings, but the records are not easily shared among the different locations, noted Wiener, especially if medical systems and health care providers have yet to fully digitize their record keeping.

Wiener had reached out to the national work group co-chairs after he met late last year with Dr. Erica Pan, then the acting director of the California Department of Public Health, to discuss why the state health agency is not reporting the number of COVID tests and deaths among LGBTQ Californians. During their meeting, Pan for the first time brought up the problems related to the HL7 standards, Wiener told the B.A.R. “What CDPH has told us is the labs get that data and it is being stripped out because the national reporting protocol that the labs use doesn’t have SOGI fields,” said Wiener. “So the data is effectively being stripped out when it goes into this system. We still don’t have transparency about what happens to that data.”

Because of the problems with the HL7 standards, there are no reporting protocols to share the SOGI data gathered at the local level with state health officials to get a clear understanding about how COVID-19 is impacting LGBTQ Californians, Wiener pointed out in his interview with the B.A.R. “The federal system they use doesn’t have SOGI fields, so we are all sort of pulling our hair out on this,” he said. “CDPH either didn’t know about

this earlier or just got around to telling us now. It is very, very troubling.”

The lack of the SOGI data collection regarding COVID cases and deaths was particularly frustrating for Wiener and other LGBTQ leaders since state lawmakers years ago had passed legislation requiring a number of the state’s health and social service agencies to collect SOGI data. Other states have also sought to collect SOGI data but have encountered similar issues in reporting the information.

In their letter to the HL7 work group Ghaly and Wiener noted how state lawmakers had adopted Wiener’s SB 932 last year in order to address the issues of SOGI data collection related to COVID-19 and other communicable disease cases.

They pointed out that the law requires local health officers update any electronic tools used to report cases of communicable disease to the CDPH to include the SOGI questions and requires health care providers to report, if known, the SOGI information of their patients with a case of a reportable disease.

“However, the absence of HL7 standards related to SOGI is creating a significant barrier to the ability of laboratory data systems to both ingest SOGI data sent to them by providers, and then to transmit those data to our state’s electronic disease reporting and surveillance system,” wrote Ghaly and Wiener. “We are urgently requesting HL7 to help rectify this situation as soon as possible by modifying its standards and guides to include reporting of SOGI data, especially the HL7 Version 2.5.1 guide for Electronic Laboratory Reporting to Public Health.” t

man v. Trump, on behalf of Equality California and seven transgender servicemembers and recruits the following month. GLAD and NCLR anticipate a swift resolution of all pending lawsuits opposing the ban with the issuance of today’s order.

“It is my highest goal to serve my country in the U.S. military and I’ve fought this ban because I know that I am qualified to serve,” said Nicolas Talbott, an aspiring service member who is a plaintiff in Stockman v. Trump, stated in a release from EQCA, GLAD, and NCLR. “I’m thrilled and relieved that I and other transgender Americans can now be evaluated solely on our ability to meet military standards.

I look forward to becoming the best

service member I can be.”

San Francisco Mayor London Breed and the city’s Office of Transgender Initiatives praised the president’s actions on both the trans military ban and his executive order last week to prevent and combat discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity that he issued his first day in office.

“President Biden’s executive orders affirm the value and contribution of transgender, gender-nonconforming, and LGBQ Americans who have served or want to serve our country.

Today’s announcement gives us hope for the opportunities ahead to make our country safer and more just for all,” stated Clair Farley, a trans woman

who is senior adviser to Breed and director of the San Francisco Office of Transgender Initiatives.

Experts say implementation of the Biden policy change should occur quickly. As the Palm Center has shown in a recent memo, the Pentagon has everything in place to end the ban in a matter of weeks. The memo explains that the necessary guidance “already exists in current” military policy because the Pentagon had to leave regulations in place to govern grandfathered transgender troops under Trump’s ban. As a result, even as it reinstated the ban, DoD “left all the necessary breadcrumbs to mark the way back to inclusive service,” the Palm Center noted. t

because of their sexual orientation and gender identity by his fellow firefighters – he was also a target of similar harassment himself,” the complaint states. “Mr. Baraka was consistently harassed based on his race and sexual orientation. His locker was broken into; his name was erased from the assignment board; when he entered the room, all non-Black personnel would leave. This went on for many years. This treatment occurred within the ranks of his peers and was further sanctioned by his supervisors.”

After Baraka complained, he himself was disciplined, the complaint alleges.

“Keith is an avid advocate for civil rights and he complained each time he was treated unfairly,” Alioto said.

“They laughed at him; demoted him.”

The complaint states that Baraka was subjected to slurs at work.

“Baraka was called names such as ‘faggot’ and ‘sissy’ – derogatory terms used against those who are gay or perceived as gay,” the complaint states.

“Baraka was called ‘Sambo,’ a racial epithet.

“At one point, members of Station 6 were featured in a local magazine, called 7x7. Mr. Baraka was present for the group photo and wore his helmet with the rainbow Pride sticker. It was visible in the photograph,” the complaint goes on to state. “The magazine cover was framed and hung on the wall of the station house. Shortly after, Mr. Baraka observed that it was on the floor and broken. He was told by another firefighter ‘We don’t want that picture in here.’”

The complaint quotes lesbian Fire Chief Jeanine Nicholson as stating last summer that “we are not doing a good job in terms of recruiting a good amount of diverse candidates.”

The complaint states that it is clear that Baraka was adversely affected by racism and homophobia in the department. “[Nicholson] admitted the fact that barriers to promotion for members of the department’s diverse ranks were issues known to the management and to her when she ascended to the role of chief. Thus, it is clear that there is rampant discrimination within the Department and those in management positions were aware of this fact,” the complaint states. “Mr. Baraka has been one of its victims.”

The six causes of action are discrimination on account of sexual orientation, discrimination on account of race, harassment, three counts of unlawful retaliation, and failure to take reasonable steps to investigate and prevent discrimination and harassment.

“At the moment, we haven’t gotten enough clarity from the HL7 work group. I am hoping they will provide additional information in the future,” Wiener told the B.A.R. Sean Cahill, Ph.D., director of health policy research at the Bostonbased Fenway Institute, an LGBTQfocused health agency, told the B.A.R. he agrees with the California officials that the HL7 organization needs to address the issues surrounding SOGI data collection.

“HL7 definitely has an impact.

The way it is asking the gender identity question is bad and they don’t ask about sexual orientation at all,” said Cahill in a phone interview with the B.A.R. “I hope they will turn on a dime and change it, but that is not traditionally how they have operated.”

He pointed out that HL7 is currently using outdated language when it comes to asking people what their sex is.

“Right now it asks if a person’s sex is male, female, other, or unknown.

It is a terrible way to ask the question,” said Cahill. “What we think they should do is ask what is the sex you were assigned at birth – male or female – and if you want to say intersex you can do that. Then it should ask what is your current gender identity.”

As for collecting statewide LGBTQ COVID data, California officials need to be proactive in finding a solution to start doing so, Cahill said, and not wait for the HL7 organization to update its guidelines.

“I honestly think they need to come up with a creative workaround.

I really do hope HL7 is updated, but I think there needs to be a Plan B with a

workaround,” said Cahill. “California, Massachusetts and other states have to figure out how to do this in the next couple of months.”

(Katie) Schmid, a trans woman and 15year active servicemember of the U.S. Army, stated in a Lambda Legal release.

“This isn’t simply about our place in the military, or my place in my unit. It’s about our right to be treated as co-equal members of society. This harmful and backwards policy will now be put where it belongs: in a very short, shameful chapter of U.S. military history.”

Equality California and other groups were involved in another lawsuit challenging Trump’s ban.

GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders and the National Center for Lesbian Rights filed the first legal challenge, Doe v. Trump, in August 2017 and joined Latham & Watkins, LLP in filing a second lawsuit, Stock-

A recruiter for SFFD

Baraka, who serves as the president of SF ResQ, became a recruiter for the department in 2016. He said that with time he realized he was the only administrative staff not making administrative pay.

“I took a job as a recruiter for the department to make things better,” he said. “The chief never really put any money into making sure we have a recruitment division to meet the needs of the department and making it re-

Conference call held

<< Community News

8 • Bay Area Reporter • January 28-February 3, 2021

<<

Political Notebook

From page 5

With people living with HIV now advancing well into retirement age because of progress in treatment for the virus, Laird argued it is time California expand its definition of “greatest social need” to include HIV-positive seniors. The Golden State would be following the lead of Illinois, which in 2019 became the first state to designate older adults living with HIV as such a target population.

t

As of 2018, more than 50% of people living with HIV in California were aged 50 years or older. People 50 and older also accounted for 15% of new HIV diagnoses in 2018, according to a report from the state’s Office of AIDS Surveillance.

“As someone who was an HIV agency director during the height of the epidemic before the drug cocktail, we were trying to just keep people alive,” recalled Laird, referring to the introduction in 1995 of the first antiretroviral therapy for HIV. “Now with

improvements in treatments over the last decades, we are facing a generation of people aging into the senior category with HIV.” National LGBTQ senior advocacy organization SAGE noted in a 2020 report by its HIV and Aging Policy Action Coalition that older adults living with HIV face unique challenges and barriers to accessing services. The issue is particularly acute in smaller cities and rural areas where there is a lack of competent health care providers and limited service availability.

“There are services for older adults that include meals, job training, senior centers, caregiver support, transportation, health promotion, and benefits enrollment. It would make sure that older adults with HIV are considered one of the priority groups for all of those services,” Laird said of his legislation.

According to Laird’s office, SAGE, APLA Health, and the statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization Equality California are co-sponsors of SB 258.t

Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http:// www.ebar.com Monday mornings for Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion. This week’s column highlighted the record number of state Democratic lawmakers receiving less than perfect scores on an LGBTQ group’s 2020 scorecard.

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

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039219000

STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-039116400

under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/06/21.

to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/03/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/13/21.

Legals>> FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039204600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as JB ROMM PHD, 201 MISSION ST, 12TH FL, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JESSICA BETH ROMM. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/07/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/11/20.

DEC 31, 2020 JAN 07, 14, 21, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039201700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as PS SALON & SPA, 1661 PINE ST, 2ND FL, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed SALON PS CALIFORNIA LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/08/20.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as FAMILY & COMMUNITY CIRCLES, 3288 21ST ST #230, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ZOILA CARTAGENA VELASQUEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/29/20.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/30/20.

JAN 07, 14, 21, 28, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039219300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as MUSE JUICE BAR, 2056 POLK ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SARAH WRIGHT. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/31/20.

DEC 31, 2020 JAN 07, 14, 21, 2021

JAN 07, 14, 21, 28, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039198000

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039204200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as HEADPRINT STUDIO, 2848 WEBSTER ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed BRAND BENJAMIN LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/15/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/03/20.

DEC 31, 2020 JAN 07, 14, 21, 2021 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-037972000

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as DOJIMA-ANN, 219 O’FARRELL ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business was conducted by a corporation and signed

by NEW SUN RESTAURANT CORPORATION (CA). The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/26/18.

DEC 31, 2020 JAN 07, 14, 21, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039204400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as ART SPA WORLD; AONDREA MAYNARD FINE ART, 1890 BRYANT ST #209, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110.

This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ANDREA HELEN MAYNARD. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/01/20.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/11/20.

JAN 07, 14, 21, 28, 2021

The following person(s) is/are doing business as CHINA CENTRAL SERVICE,1235 STOCKTON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed BAY AREA CENTRAL SERVICES LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/23/20.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/11/20.

JAN 07, 14, 21, 28, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039211900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as MUMBLERS PRESS LLC, 159 CASELLI AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed MUMBLERS PRESS LLC. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/20/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/22/20.

JAN 07, 14, 21, 28, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039219600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as CENSORED VODKA LLC, 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 11/13/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/31/20.

JAN 07, 14, 21, 28, 2021 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT RFP NO. 6M6145 EXTENSION OF TIME FOR RECEIPT OF PROPOSALS NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the General Manager of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District has extended the time for receipt of Proposals until the hour of 2:00 p.m. Local Time, Tuesday, February 2, 2021, by hand delivery or special delivery, at the District Secretary’s Office, 23rd Floor, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, California 94612, for Construction Management Services for the TBT, RFP No. 6M6145, as more fully described in the RFP Documents.

Dated at Oakland, California, this 15th day of January 2021. s Gloria Abdullah-Lewis for John A. Mazza, Director of Procurement San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District 1/28/21 CNS-3433409# BAY AREA REPORTER

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039204100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as LENORA LEE DANCE, 1255 29TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed LENORA LEE PRODUCTIONS LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/11/20.

JAN 07, 14, 21, 28, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039201800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as YOU SEE FLOWERS, 500 PARNASSUS AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94143. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed EDUARDO ALVARADO FERNANDEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/26/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/09/20.

JAN 07, 14, 21, 28, 2021

BECOME A PART OF HISTORY IN BRINGING RAIL SERVICE TO DOWNTOWN SAN FRANCISCO APPLICATIONS DUE FEBRUARY 26, 2021 The Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA) is soliciting applications from Bay Area residents to serve on the TJPA Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) to help shape the discussion in the development of Phase 2 of the Transbay Program and provide input in the operation of the Salesforce Transit Center and rooftop park. The Phase 2 project includes the Downtown Rail Extension (DTX), which will connect Caltrain’s commuter rail service and the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s statewide system to downtown San Francisco. Past CAC members have contributed to the successful planning, development and construction of Phase 1 of the Transbay Program, which includes the Salesforce Transit Center and the Salesforce rooftop park.

The TJPA seeks to appoint Committee members that represent the diversity of the Bay Area. There are seven full-term and one half-term seats available representing the following constituencies: Daily Caltrain Rider into San Francisco, Daily AC Transit Rider into San Francisco, Daily MUNI Rider on a line that serves the Transit Center, Member of the Citywide (SF) business community, Disabled Advocate, San Francisco based Transit Advocate, Regional Transit Advocate and Representative from Labor.

CAC full-terms are for a period of two-years and each member is eligible to serve a maximum of three consecutive terms. The TJPA CAC meets on the second Tuesday of the month from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM. Due to the Stay Safer at Home order, meetings are currently held remotely. Meetings are normally held at the TJPA office at 425 Mission Street, Suite 250, San Francisco, CA. Consistent attendance is required.

Applicants are encouraged to apply for all seats listed on the application that they qualify for. If you are interested in being considered, please submit an application to the TJPA via e-mail at cac@tjpa.org or by mail: 425 Mission Street, Suite 250, San Francisco, CA 94105. Applications are available on the TJPA website at https://www.tjpa.org/tjpa/cac/cacrecruitment and are due February 26, 2021.

CNSB#3433193

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as ARGUELLO WASH & DRY, 790 ARGUELLO BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by DOUGLAS T.K. WOO. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/30/20.

JAN 07, 14, 21, 28, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039205000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as HEARTROOT CONSULTING, 234 GARCES DR, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94132. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ROBIN H. HORNER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/25/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/14/20.

JAN 07, 14, 21, 28, 2021 NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF MICHAEL BRAUN IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO: FILE PES-21-304129 To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of MICHAEL BRAUN. A Petition for Probate has been filed by GEORGE DANIEL KIRKHAM in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. The Petition for Probate requests that SHARON DUNCAN be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval.

Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority. A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: February X03, 2021, 9:00 am, Dept. 204, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. If you object to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. If you are a creditor or contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the latter of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined by section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. You may examine the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for petitioner: THOMAS R. HEALY (SBN 164815), 601 CAROLINA ST, VALLEJO, CA 94590; Ph. (707) 553-7360.

JAN 14, 21, 28, 2021 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-20-556037

In the matter of the application of KENNETH HWANG, 1935 PACHECO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116 for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner KENNETH HWANG is requesting that the name KENNETH HWANG be changed to SAGE KUROYAMA. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N on the 18th of February 2021 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

JAN 14, 21, 28, FEB 04, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039216900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as LOCKDOWN BEAUTY, 345 DAY ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KELLY CRISPEN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/02/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/28/20.

JAN 14, 21, 28, FEB 04, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039217900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as KANDEELICIOUS COCKTAILS, 1434 INNES AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ANASSA STEWART. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/01/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/30/20.

JAN 14, 21, 28, FEB 04, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039220900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as HAULIT415, 1075 O’FARRELL ST #11, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JOEL L. MENDANHA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business

JAN 14, 21, 28, FEB 04, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039220500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as A GOOD PLACE THERAPY PACIFIC, 582 MARKET ST #1110, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94104. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed A GOOD PLACE THERAPY BY KERRIE MOHR, LICENSED CLINICAL SOCIAL WORKER, PC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/09/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/05/21.

JAN 14, 21, 28, FEB 04, 2021 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-21-556047

In the matter of the application of FERNANDO PROIETTI ORLANDI, 215 EDNA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner FERNANDO PROIETTI ORLANDI is requesting that the name FERNANDO PROIETTI ORLANDI (First: Fernando, Middle: Proietti, Last: Orlandi) be changed to FERNANDO PROIETTI ORLANDI (First: Fernando, Last: Proietti Orlandi). Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N on the 23rd of February 2021 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

JAN 21, 28, FEB 04, 11, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039222800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as ENGINEERING SPACE, 241 LIBERTY ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DEREK LANG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/16/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/12/21.

JAN 21, 28, FEB 04, 11, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039217700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as FASHION HOUSE, 910 STOCKTON ST #5, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed QI FU LIANG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/29/20.

JAN 21, 28, FEB 04, 11, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039224400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as MAC REPAIR SF; EN LA MIRA IMAGES, 721 ARGUELLO BLVD #302, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LUIS LAMASSONNE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/14/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/14/21.

JAN 21, 28, FEB 04, 11, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039223100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as TAPROOT FOUNDATION, 600 CALIFORNIA ST 11TH FL, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed TAPFOUND, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/16/05. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/12/21.

JAN 21, 28, FEB 04, 11, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039223900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as LARKINS BROTHERS TIRE, 370 SOUTH VAN NESS BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed KEWL AUTOMOTIVE INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced

JAN 21, 28, FEB 04, 11, 2021 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-038070100

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as PEAK CONSTRUCTION, 4323 17TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by TED TEIPEL. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/29/18.

JAN 21, 28, FEB 04, 11, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039224200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as PALM AND MILK, 1275 WASHINGTON ST #1C, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed GERALDINE LECUYER LOUVEL. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/14/21.

JAN 28, FEB 04, 11, 18, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039226600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as TEMPOSITIONS HOSPITALITY, 650 CALIFORNIA ST 7TH FL, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed TEMPOSITIONS, INC. (NY). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/07/02.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/21/21.

JAN 28, FEB 04, 11, 18, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039226500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SCHOOL PROFESSIONALS, 650 CALIFORNIA ST 7TH FL, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed TEMPOSITION, INC. (NY). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/30/04.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/21/21.

JAN 28, FEB 04, 11, 18, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039220000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SRIRACHA THAI CUISINE, 1319 9TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed SOI GOW LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/23/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/05/21.

JAN 28, FEB 04, 11, 18, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039221700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as CALIFORNIA TRANSACTION COORDINATORS; SAN FRANCISCO TRANSACTION COORDINATORS, 1686 25TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed ELLEVATE LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/27/20.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/07/21.

JAN 28, FEB 04, 11, 18, 2021 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-038901600

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as SAN FRANCISCO TRANSACTION COORDINATORS, 1686 TH 25 AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by ELLEVATE LLC (CA). The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/12/19.

JAN 28, FEB 04, 11, 18, 2021

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by Gregg Shapiro

T

here are some people (this writer included) for whom Colin Firth’s Academy Award-worthy performance was in 2010’s A Single Man (Firth’s initial gay role), his first such nomination, even though he won the trophy the following year for The King’s Speech. That said, ten years later, straight Firth is playing gay again, in Harry Macqueen’s Supernova (Bleecker Street), and this time could potentially snag his second Oscar.

Pianist Sam (Firth) and author Tusker (Stanley Tucci) are a married gay couple who have been together for many years. Their communication consists of playful banter, sweet bickering and loving admiration. The pair, who live in Sam’s native England, are on a road trip in their caravan with their dog Ruby. Among the plans they have for this journey are revisiting a campsite from years earlier, as well as a stopover at the home of Sam’s sister Lilly (Pippa Haywood), her husband Clive (Peter MacQueen) and daughter Charlotte (Nina Marlin). A recital, marking Sam’s return to concert performance, is also on the schedule.

This voyage, however, has more significance than others. Tusker, who has been diagnosed with early onset dementia, is in rapid decline.

For all intents and purposes, this odyssey is a chance for Tusker to say goodbye to people who have meant something to him.

Of course, the hardest farewell will be the one with Sam. Sam, who put his entire performance career on hold to care for Tusker, is in denial. But there’s no refuting Tusker’s condition. Especially when, early in the movie, after a pit stop where Sam leaves him asleep

Supernova: the stars align Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci’s gay film in the caravan and returns to find Tusker and Ruby gone. In a panic, Sam drives down the road for a stretch, only to find Tusker off to the side, standing stock still in a state of confusion.

In terms of acceptance of his condition, Tusker’s approach differs from Sam’s. For example, he didn’t bring his medication with him. Not because he forgot it, but because he doesn’t think it helps him and it only serve as a reminder of his illness.

Sam and Tusker keep an audio journal on microcassettes as another way to monitor his waning ability to recall, as well as create an audio scrapbook of memories. It’s one of the things that continues to link them, in the same way that looking at constellations through Tusker’s high-power telescope does.

The scenes with Sam’s family bring a lightness to the story. There is a surprise party and

the occasion, which provides some muchelement of escapism, Supernova also brings needed humor, feels genuine and celebratory. dramatic realism to same-gender love and reBut the bliss is short-lived when Sam makes a lationships, along with all the heartache that it series of discoveries pertaining to Tusker’s latpotentially generates. Rating: A-t est writing project, as well as his plans for the near future.

Road trip movies, including the gay-themed Uncle Frank, as well as Nomadland, made before we were all sheltering in place, have become increasingly popular. If we can’t travel, at least we have the pleasure of watching others do it. In that way, Supernova fits Stanley Tucci and Colin right into the current zeitFirth in Supernova. geist. In addition to that

Q-Music: the present and future are female

New sounds from Tami Neilson, Mary J. Blige, Pamela Means and more

by Gregg Shapiro

C

hickaboom! (Outside), the 2020 album

by Tami Neilson, the self-described “hot rockin’ lady of country, rockabilly and soul,” is being reissued in an expanded digital-only edition including five live bonus tracks. On the original version of Chickaboom!, Neilson lives up to her claims. She seriously belts like nobody’s business over the course of ten tracks, all the while not taking herself too seriously. It’s a righteous blend that works well on “Call Your Mama,” “Hey, Bus Driver,” “Queenie, Queenie,” “Tell Me That You Love Me,” and the roof-raising “Sister Mavis,” a musical tribute to Mavis Staples.

Reigning queen of hip-hop soul Mary J. Blige had her work cut out for her when it came time to release her second album, 1994’s My Life (Uptown/Republic/ UMe). Newly released in a remastered triple LP translucent blue vinyl 25th anniversary edition, My Life had the burden of following up Blige’s exceptional 1992 debut What’s the 411? While not as immediately captivating as its processor, My Life had its own charms and personality.

However, here’s an unexpected outcome of

rereleasing an album on vinyl that was previously only available on CD: previously overlooked imperfections and weaknesses come into sharper focus. Because a CD plays straight through without interruption (read: being flipped over), the songs tend to blend into one piece, if you will.

In the case of side one of My Life, Blige gets off to a stellar start with “Mary Jane (All Night Long)” on which she positions herself as a vocalist on par with, dare it be said, Ella Fitzgerald. She follows it with the equally solid numbers “You Bring Me Joy” and “I’m The Only Woman,” but loses momentum on side two with “You Gotta Believe,” “I Never Wanna Live Without You” and the title track.

Redemption can be found on the second LP, in the retro soul of “I’m Goin’ Down,” as well as “Be Happy,” “No One Else,” “I Love You” and “Be With You.” The third LP in the set features rare remixes including two of “Be Happy” in addition to Blige’s rendition of “(You Make Me Feel Like a) Natural Woman.”

When you hear songs such as “Impeachment Now!” and “James Madison,” it becomes obvious that the six-song EP Live at Northfire (Wirl Records) by Pamela Means and the Reparations (Cinamon Blair and

I-Shea) was recorded before the 2020 election. While it is a new release, it was, in fact, recorded pre-pandemic in August 2018. Nevertheless, Means’ queer activist voice comes through loud and clear on those songs. The same can be said for “Color of the Skin” (also written and recorded before the death of George Floyd and resulting protests) and “Hands Up” (which includes the lines “Gonna love out loud not afraid/Gonna march down Main in the Pride Parade”). Means also reminds us that she knows her way around relationship songs on “My Love” and “Cinnamon and Chocolate.”

After releasing a pair of well-received albums on Sugar Hill, Nashville-based singer/ songwriter Liz Longley parted ways with the label. On her newest release, Funeral For My Past “made possible by Kickstarter supporters,” Longley once again finds a way to put her amazing voice and exceptional songwriting skills front and center. As you might glean from the album’s title, there is a sorrowful quality that permeates the album, as heard on the title cut, “Torture,” “Long Distance,” and “My Muse.” If there’s any justice, the breathtaking “Fine” will reach the wide audience it deserves.

Don’t Let the Ink Dry (37d03d), the ethereal and atmospheric debut album by Eve Owen, is also worth your attention. Produced by The National’s Aaron Dessner, the dozen tracks come across like futuristic folk songs. The combination of Owen’s diaphanous vocals and the ultramodern musical arrangements make for an unforgettable listening experience, particularly on “Lover Not Today,” “Mother,” “I Used to Dream in Color” and “So Still For You.” Produced by the legendary Steve Albini, Stay Alive (Polyvinyl), the solo debut album by trans singer/songwriter/activist Laura Jane Grace (of Against Me! fame), didn’t turn out as planned. The songs were meant for a new Against Me! album, but COVID-19 changed all that. Making tasty lemonade out of the lemons she was handed, Grace recorded the songs with her (mostly) acoustic guitar, as well as the occasional drum machine (“Shelter In Place” and “Ice Cream Song”). “Return to Oz” (not to be confused with the Scissor Sisters song of the same name), “The Swimming Pool Song,” “The Mountain Song” (in which Grace sings, “I’m all fucked up/But I’m alive”), and “Blood & Thunder” (said to be a love song to her home city of Chicago), capture the tainted 2020 spirit in a nutshell.t

<< Music, Books & Film

10 • Bay Area Reporter • January 28-February 3, 2021

Pulling at heartstrings ‘Violins of Hope’ live at Kohl Mansion

Matthew Washington

Performers and authors of Intonations: Back Row Left-Right: Dawn Harms, Emil Miland, Sean Mori, Sasha Cooke, Daniel Hope, Patricia Heller, Kay Stern. Front Row Left-Right Jake Heggie, Gene Scheer

by Philip Campbell

F

ather-and-son luthiers (violin makers) Amnon and Avshalom Weinstein, Israeli co-founders of Violins of Hope, brought their traveling collection of instruments retrieved and restored from the Holocaust, to Northern California a year ago. One of the most memorable concerts in the triumphant tour, recorded by Pentatone Music, is now available for digital download. A hard copy Hybrid SACD follows in February.

In January 2020, Music at Kohl Mansion produced an eight-week residency with 42 Bay Area organizations employing more than 50 of the historic string instruments.

The world premiere of Intonations: Songs from the Violins of Hope, by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer, forms the powerful center of the new Pentatone release.

Coinciding with International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and commemorating the 75th anniver-

sary of the Liberation of AuschwitzBirkenau, the first performance in the Great Hall at Kohl Mansion featured mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke and violinist Daniel Hope, a quartet of musicians from the San Francisco Opera Orchestra (Kay Stern, First Violin) and young violin virtuoso Sean Mori.

The glittering group of star musicians responded passionately to the commissioned work, based, partly, on Violins of Hope: Violins of the Holocaust – Instruments of Hope and Liberation in Mankind’s Darkest Hour by author and musicologist James A. Grymes. The impact proved emotionally devastating and cathartic. Pentatone’s masterful engineering captures the intense poignancy of the performance with startling realism.

The collaboration of popular opera and art song composer Jake Heggie with librettist and lyricist Gene Scheer is local legend, with works like Moby-Dick and It’s A Wonderful Life creating lasting im-

pressions at San Francisco Opera (SFO) and If I Were You making a splashy commissioned debut at Merola Opera Program. Both are acclaimed worldwide, but it is good to note Jake and his husband singer and actor Curt Branom still live in San Francisco.

Early in her meteoric career, mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke was known in the Bay Area from frequent appearances with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony, and a string of major roles at SFO. Fining her voice down to a mere hint of vibrato for Intonations, Cooke’s interpretation is both convincing and touchingly beautiful.

All of the musicians performed on restored instruments from the Violins of Hope collection, including a violin formerly played at one of the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau camp orchestras. The uncanny sweetness and surprising warmth of these storied strings is a testament to the dedication and skill of Am-

non and Avshalom Weinstein.

The quality of the restoration is further apparent throughout the instrumental portions of the recording, aided by the excellent acoustics and engineering. Schubert’s unfinished Quartettsatz (“Quartet Movement”) is perceptively played and satisfying, but Mendelssohn’s final String Quartet in F Minor Op. 80, is darker and urgently concludes the concert with a restless sense of yearning.

Intonations is a dramatic song cycle in seven parts with one instrumental section called ‘Lament.’ The opening I. ‘Ashes’ refers to one of the first violins Amnon Weinstein refurbished. The case was filled with human ashes. “How could this happen?

A journey ends and another begins.”

The song sets the sobering sometimes-painful tone of the cycle, but the concluding VII. ‘Liberation,’ inspired by Paula Lebovic’s recollection of the Liberation of Auschwitz on January 27, 1945 adds a postlude of incredulous hope and unshakable resolve. In performance, a young

t

solo violinist walks to the stage to join in the finale. Of course, we cannot see this, but reading about it in the program notes and hearing Sean Mori play is still quite moving.

Avshalom Weinstein says, “It has been a very difficult year in so many new ways, and having the recording of this wonderful and meaningful Heggie piece, coming out now, gives it even more import.”

Alexander Pope said, “Hope springs eternal in the human breast,” and Weinstein adds, “…never forget the past and always let resilience and tolerance be our future guide.”

While we’re quoting, remember Harvey Milk said, “Hope will never be silent.”

The voices of the Holocaust survive in the Violins of Hope.

Harvey also said, “And you gotta give ’em hope.”t

Read the full article on www.ebar.com www.pentatonemusic.com

Violins retrieved and restored from the Holocaust.

Mutual attraction Jack Halberstam’s ‘Wild Things: The Disorder of Desire’

by Jim Piechota

A

s a noted radical social thinker and Columbia gender studies professor, Jack Halberstam’s reputation precedes him, and his new creative exploration of desire reinforces his thought process behind how human sexuality becomes attracted to everything “wild.”

In a world where more and more people prize carefulness over recklessness, the author questions whether or not the attraction toward those coveted “things that refuse and resist order itself ” remains.

His book challenges the reader to open their minds to his deconstruction of the concept of “wild” and how it has come to mean so many different things as the world has evolved. Personally, as attested to in the book’s introduction, the concept is applied to the author’s own life as he offers a “backward glance” at his youth in a somewhat dejected fashion observing “like so many of my generation ... how much has been

lost, how little we have to show for it, and how quickly we have embraced a world largely cleansed of all connections to the wild.”

He reiterates this point with a personal anecdote chronicling a unique speaking engagement at the self-governing archipelago known as the Faroe Islands in the Kingdom of Denmark, a “truly remote and wild” place in Europe he jumped at visiting since he knew he’d never venture there independently.

He went there at a pivotal time in his life as he was in the midst of relationship turmoil which solidified itself when he attempted to locate and view wild island mating puffins, which were nowhere to be found.

“The wild, I learned too late,” he writes, “is not a place you can go, a site you can visit; it cannot be willed into being, left behind, lost or found.”

His book references many texts that conjure, compare, and contrast varying notions and perspectives of what constitutes “the wild” in terms

of anticolonialism, modern sexuality, and within radical queer communities as well. These references include the “young untamed traveler” in Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are, the works of Cree artist Kent Monkman, animated features like The Secret Life of Pets, or queer theorist Eve Sedgwick’s Epistemology of the Closet.

These comparisons and correlations enliven and creatively illustrate a somewhat densely drawn text. They also offer levity at the exact moments when readers will want it most. This is a delicate bal-

ancing act for an author to achieve, and Halberstam accomplishes this with great dexterity.

When applying his central principle to gender studies, Halberstam considers the notion of wildness almost as a sword to slash wide swaths through the heavily forested terrain of what is considered “normal” in order to bring “nonnormative sexual desire” (i.e. LGBTQ+) into the realm of acceptance.

The limits of Halberstam’s analysis are boundlessly educative and entertaining: one chapter calls out proto-queer male writers for their

Wild Things: The Disorder of Desire by Jack Halberstam, Duke University Press, $26.95

Border line

LGBT refugees tell their stories in the short film ‘Hazte Sentir’

by Jim Provenzano

T

Author Jack Halberstam

affinity and identification with feral falconry while another examines the carceral nature of family pets.

Within the realms of what the author himself calls a “counterintuitive queer project,” Halberstam’s intellectually engrossing phenomenology evokes thoughts of how the concept of “wild” can be applied to creatures and concepts both great and small while inspiring spirited conversation and debate.t

he short film Hazte Sentir (Make Yourself Heard) documents a moment in the lives of LGBT refugees in Manaus, the largest city in Brazil’s Amazonas state. Cineola and Frameline share the collaborative film free online.

The process of creating the film is unique.

Director Dieter Deswarte shared directing duties with the subjects, residents of Casa Miga, Brazil’s first shelter for LGBT refugees, which opened in 2018. Gay and trans subjects tell their heartbreaking stories (with English subtitles) with a few jokes, signifying a ray of hope.

One young man tells how the collapsing economy in Venezuela left the country with either the rich or extremely poor, with four million people fleeing the country. “There is no middle class,” he says. “You either buy rice and no chicken or chicken but no rice.” He tells of the dangers of theft at refugee camps, and their journey to Brazil, which itself is no paradise.

Anti-gay and anti-trans murders occur daily.

Others discuss the arduous process of getting identity papers and professional accreditation (one refugee is a doctor). Intimate and direct, this short film shows the resilience of queer people in South America.

Watch the film at www.cineo.la/hazte-sentirt

t

TV & Film>>

January 28-February 3, 2021 • Bay Area Reporter • 11

We need a heroine or three

by Victoria A. Brownworth

G

LAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, released its annual Where We Are on TV report. The report analyzes the overall diversity of primetime scripted series regulars on broadcast networks and assesses the number of LGBTQ regular and recurring characters on primetime scripted cable programming and original scripted streaming series on the services Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix for the 2020-2021 TV season.

But LGBTQ characters and queer TV took a hit from the pandemic. The virus’s impact also illumined a problem GLAAD exposes in their report. A disproportionate number of LGBTQ characters have been created by just four showrunners: Out queers Greg Berlanti, Ryan Murphy and Lena Waithe, as well as LGBTQ-ally Shonda Rhimes, were responsible for 17% of all LGBTQ representation this year, with 62 of the 360 characters (across network, cable and streaming) appearing on their 16 series.

In short only 5% of all scripted shows accounted for 17% of LGBTQ characters on TV. And then there is the gap in feature players. The CW’s Batwoman is now the only broadcast show with an LGBTQ lead character (with Javicia Leslie’s Ryan Wilder replacing Ruby Rose’s Kate Kane). The dearth of LGBTQ-inclusive shows exemplified how only a small number of shows create a disproportionate amount of representation.

The report states 9.1% of series regular characters scheduled to appear on broadcast scripted primetime television this season are LGBTQ, a decrease from last year’s record high of 10.2 percent.

The worst news was that cable programming saw the largest decrease in LGBTQ characters, down from 215 to 118.

GLAAD cites this as “further proof of a point that a handful of series, while outstanding, have an outsized impact.”

GLAAD explained that “The importance and impact of television has grown exponentially this year.”

So true–so now we need more characters in lead roles to prove LGBTQ people really are fully integrated into the TV landscape.

Javicia Leslie is the new Batwoman

The good news is that fully half of all LGBTQ characters are people of color. But as we have been writing for years, sometimes those characters are doing double-duty on their series as the person of color and the queer person, like Angela (Carly Hughes) on American Housewife, who is both the only Black character and the only gay one. But Hughes recently left the show, citing discrimination and other issues she said created an untenable workplace. Two producers, including the series creator, have subsequently left the show.

Dan’s the man

Emmy heavyweight Schitt’s Creek is one of those shows with a strong queer presence and everyone loves Dan Levy. So set your DVR now for Levy’s hosting debut on SNL on Feb. 6, with musical guest and singersongwriter, Phoebe Bridgers.

SNL will return from hiatus for a five-week run starting on Jan. 30, when The Office star John Krasinski hosts with musical guest Machine Gun Kelly.

The phenomenal Regina King, who is brilliant in everything, will host on Feb. 13 with music from Nathaniel Rateliff.

Flack on

Who doesn’t need some high-end trash TV right about now? Set in the world of high-stakes celebrity public relations, Flack stars True Blood’s out bi actor Anna Paquin as the PR queen everyone needs, and also wants.

Robyn (Paquin), an American PR executive living in London, must figure out how to make the best of bad situations and somehow manage to get out unscathed.

Robyn specializes in clearing up the monumental messes caused by

Zoey’s trope

Wear a mask Maintain social distancing Wash your hands Shop at Cliff’s

IT....

E V A ’T H N O D IT! E D E W E F I N’T N O D U YO

Season 2 of NBC’s song-anddance romp Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, set in San Francisco is back and if you don’t watch this delightful queer-friendly dramedy, put it on your own playlist.

Jane Levy plays Zoey Clarke, a programmer who has been recently promoted to engineering manager at San Francisco-based SPRQ Point, a tech firm specializing in smart devices and apps.

An earthquake occurs while she is getting an MRI, and a huge playlist of songs on file is downloaded into her brain. She then discovers she can now perceive the innermost thoughts of others in the form of popular songs and dance.

Alex Newell, who played the fabulous Unique on Glee, is Zoey’s 479 Castro Street, San Francisco, CA 94114 genderfluid neighbor, Mo. Mo is a DJ and he helps Zoey recognize her powers and how to use them in the best way.

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist is also one of the few shows that has a disabled character. Peter Gallagher plays Zoey’s father, Mitch, who 4/27/20 has PSP (Progressive SupranuclearCliff's Variety_043020.indd 1 Palsy), which is an ALS-like disease.

Mitch can’t speak and Zoey communicates with him via her new gift.

This is the kind of confection we need to buoy our spirits, with Mary Steenburgen and Lauren Graham and some amazing guest stars like Bernadette Peters and Renée Elise Goldsberry.t

Proud to support the community

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OF S.F. TRAFFIC DEATHS INVOLVE DRIVERS MAKING LEFT TURNS.

Read the full article on www.ebar.com

Larger than life

LET’S TURN THAT AROUND.

by David-Elijah Nahmod

N

o one who’s lived in Richmond, Virginia during the past fifty years will ever forget Dirtwoman.

Donnie Corker (1951-2017) was a colorful, gay counter-culture character in a town that, according to this documentary, is filled with counterculture eccentrics. None of them could hold a candle to Dirtwoman.

Dirtwoman was not only larger than life, he was large, a morbidly obese sometime drag queen and retired prostitute who got his curious moniker by taking a dump in the back of a police car.

Corker lived by his own rules and didn’t care what anybody thought. He appears out of drag throughout the film, speaking openly of his former life as a prostitute, casually reminding people that he’s sucked thousands of dicks. He even did a short stretch in jail, claiming that he had a “good time” while in the slammer.

Corker would say or do just about anything for attention, and the denizens of Richmond ate up every second of it. Whether he was appearing on stage in a drag club or talking to a friend on a street corner, he was al-

Essentially

her hapless and selfish clients.

But of course all is not what it seems in this world of celebrity and surface. Robyn has issues –lots of them– men, women, addiction, power grabs.

High drama follows high maintenance and this series has all of that.

Flack is super watchable and relatable. An absolutely stellar cast includes Sophie Okonedo, Sam Neill, Bradley Whitford and the gorgeous Daniel Dae Kim. It’s luxe and dirty, trashy and bingeworthy and Paquin is, as always, superb, as is Okonedo.

This Brit series was grabbed by Amazon and the second season just dropped. Creator Oliver Lansley, who has been described as a British Ryan Murphy, directs in season two. Enjoy.

Dirtwoman/Donnie Corker

ways as outrageous as possible.

But Dirtwoman was more than a flamboyant, foul-mouthed queen.

One woman claims that Dirtwoman literally saved her life, pulling her out of harm’s way when a gunfight broke out in the street. Another person recalls that Dirtwoman would stand up and defend the local punk rockers when they got harassed by the neighborhood rednecks.

More than fifty people who knew Corker sat down for filmmaker Jerry Williams’ camera. Their memories are hilarious and irreverent, but the most fascinating and entertaining moments in the film come when

Corker speaks for himself.

Donnie Corker, aka Dirtwoman, lives on in the hearts of all those in Richmond who knew him or saw him around town. There have been few people who lived their lives as outrageously and as unashamedly as he did. As a film, Dirtwoman is a sometimes shocking but always entertaining tribute to one of the most unforgettable characters you will ever see.t

1

2

3

TAKE IT SLOW

MAKE IT SQUARE

STAY AWARE

5 MPH IS SAFEST

90-DEGREE ANGLES ARE BEST

LOOK OUT FOR CARS, BICYCLISTS, AND PEOPLE IN THE CROSSWALKS

Read the full article on www.ebar.com www.ariztical.com

VisionZeroSF.org/LeftTurns

VISIONZEROSF

VZ SF

VISION ZERO SF

11:40 AM

February 2021

Q Programs Coordinator/Community Liaison.

Initiative, will provide his unique insights into the

Calendar of Events

n, Stanford Forgiveness Project. and mental health. He offers easily practiced skills

HOP 2

Feb. 1

2:30pm-3:30pm

Avenidas LGBTQ Elder Empowerment and Connections Group

Feb. 4

3:00pm-4:00pm

Avenidas Wonder Woman Lesbian Social Group

This group is intended to offer support and information to participants who need a little assistance navigating the challenges of aging as an LGBTQ person. Empower yourself and the community by helping us create an environment of support and learning.

Join us on the first and third Monday of each month.

You’re invited to come be a part of our lesbian community. Open discussions, social conversations, and good times are to be expected.

Bring your unique flair and personality to the group and help us in becoming the best social group for Lesbian women in north Santa Clara County. Join us on the first and third Thursday of each month.

SSUES 2:00 to 2:15pm: Starts! Welcome and introductions Thomas Kingery, LGBTQ Programs Coordinator/Community Liaison.

Feb. 11 Conference 3:00pm-4:00pm Avenidasfrom Song Appreciation Group Clara Joe Simitian, an advocate of the LGBTQ willshare provide his that unique insights into the Diana Dean Gendotti Theme of theNext, Day:Santa “Songs thatCounty remindSupervisor you of your childhood.”

Songs hold meaning.

ComeInitiative, join us and songs have touched significance of the LGBTQ via movement. your life. Submit your song in advance email to the group facilitator at tkingery@avenidas.org, then during the group zoom meeting, ndotti is an estate trustthe administration we willplanning play your songand and provide lyrics to the group to read along. After the song has been played, we’ll discuss the meaning of 2:15 to 2:45pm: Keynote Presentation: ‘Staying Sane in These Crazy Times’ by Dr. Fred Luskin, Stanford Forgiveness Project. who has been the licensed for and has an song andDr. how it 31 relates to youhow and thedo topic of the day.through Join us honoring on the second and fourth Thursday of each month.

Luskin willyears, discuss to our best work our physical and mental health.

He offers easily practiced skills for staying calm in the face of danger, real or perceived.

Los Altos. She will highlight the critical aspects of Feb. 15 Door2:30pm-3:30pm Avenidas LGBTQ Elder Empowerment and Connections Group 2:45 to 3:00pm: prizes courtesy of Home Instead! anning, especially as it relates to LGBTQ issues.

This group is intended to offer support and information to participants who need a little assistance navigating the challenges of aging as y burning questions! an3:30pm: LGBTQ person.

Empower yourself and the community 3:00 to SESSION 1 (choose Workshop 1 or Workshopby2)helping us create an environment of support and learning.

Join us on the first and third Monday of each month.

WORKSHOP 1

LGBTQ INCLUSIVE HOUSING Instructor, will Feb. lead18everyone in a quick and 3:00pm-4:00pm

HOP 4

WORKSHOP 2

LEGAL ISSUES Wonder Woman Lesbian Social Group Openhouse and Office of SupportiveAvenidas Housing Attorney Diana Dean Gendotti You’re invited to come be a part of our lesbian community. Open discussions, social conversations, and good times are to be expected.

Join us to hear Openhouse share their journey to provide Diana Gendotti is an estate planning and trust administration Bring your unique flairinclusive and personality the group and help us in becoming theattorney best social group for Lesbian women north Santa LGTBQ+ housingto options in San Francisco. who has been licensed for 31 in years, and has an Clara County.County Join usofon the first and third Thursday of each month.

Santa Clara Office of Supportive Housing will office in Los Altos. She will highlight the critical aspects of discuss the potential of what could be coming to the County estate planning, especially as it relates to LGBTQ issues. in the future.

Bring any burning questions!

Feb. 21 1:00pm-2:30pm Avenidas 2nd Annual Bridging the LGBTQ Generation Gap;

Intergenerational Conversations 3:30 to 3:45pm: Stretch break sponsored by Care Indeed!

Jenni Castaldo, Standing STRONG Instructor, will lead everyone in a quick and You are invited to join the Avenidas Rainbow of the San Jose Youth Space, the LGBTQ Pen Pal Program, invigorating stretch so we can feelCollective energizedand for the the members next workshop. and other Avenidas Rainbow Collective program participants for a day of personal connections, community building, and honest con3:45 to 4:15pm: We SESSION 2 (choose 3 orourselves, Workshopdiscuss 4) versations. will meet on ZoomWorkshop to introduce why intergenerational interactions are important in all cultures, and then break out into smaller groups for more intimate conversations. You won’t want to miss out on this opportunity to learn about the WORKSHOP 4 WORKSHOP 3 LGBTQ community and culture.

BUILD YOUR VILLAGE OVERCOMING DISCRIMINATION Facilitators: Jenn Chan and Loretta Austin, Avenidas Facilitators: Openhouse, Thomas Kingery and Keenan Murray, Feb. 25 Avenidas 3:00pm-4:00pm Avenidas Song Appreciation Group Community is especially important right now. Building and Theme of theWe Day: that remindforms you ofofyour parents.” Songs hold meaning.

Come join usyour andvillage share your songs that haveDiscover touched strengthening will help you thrive. will“Songs examine different discrimination, how to overyour life. Submit your song in how advance to theforgroup facilitator at tkingery@avenidas.org thenconnections during the group zoom meeting opportunities for new with our intergenerational come them, and to bevia anemail advocate change.

Discussion pen pal has program social Learn where to with song colleagues at Openhouse review why peopleAfter the we will play your and provide the lyrics and to the group to some read along. song been and played we groups. discuss the meaning of find the community resources and how to build a safe space. might be asking SOGIE (Sexual Gender song and how it relates to theabout you and the topic of Orientation the day.

Identity Expression) and why you should answer honestly!

OUR VILLAGE rs: Jenn Chan and Loretta Austin, Avenidas ity is especially important right now. Building and ening your village will help you thrive. Discover ities for new connections with our intergenerational program and social groups. Learn where to find ty resources and how to build a safe space.

Affairs

4:15 to 4:30pm: Conclusion: Maribel Martínez, Director of the County of Santa Clara Office of LGBTQ Affairs, will conclude the day with a reflection on the significance of an inaugural LGBTQ Seniors Conference and share more about the County’s commitment to serving LGBTQ seniors as a way to build a strong, vibrant community for today and tomorrow.

Register on

Free and inclusive to all!

our website at (650) 289-5400 • www.avenidas.org avenidas.org/programs/lgbtq-seniors-initiative/ With support from the County of Santa Clara, Office of LGBTQ Affairs or email tkingery@avenidas.org, or call (650) 289-5433 to get assistance.

289-5445 for more information or sign upregistration at www.avenidas.org

Call (650) (650) 289-5400 • www.avenidas.org

Please reference the name of group or event that you are interested in joining.

With support from the County of Santa Clara, Office of LGBTQ Affairs

n up at www.avenidas.org

Call (650) 289-5433 or sign up at www.avenidas.org