January 2, 2020 edition of the Bay Area Reporter, America's LGBTQ Weekly

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Vol. 50 • No. 1 • January 2-8, 2020

New year revives legislative push for CA LGBT bills Rick Gerharter

San Francisco interim District Attorney Suzy Loftus spoke at a campaign forum in 2019.

Loftus points to achievements as short DA tenure ends

by John Ferrannini

S

Senator Scott Wiener, left, visited the California Institution for Women in Corona with Bamby Salcedo of TransLatin@ Coalition, Sam GarrettPate of Equality California, and Amy Miller and Kris Applegate with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

by Matthew S. Bajko

T

he new year will bring renewed efforts to see California lawmakers pass a trio of important LGBT rights bills that were tabled for various reasons in 2019. The legislation aims to

improve the living conditions for transgender inmates, curtail unnecessary medical interventions on intersex youth, and end the placement of LGBT minors engaged in consensual intercourse on the state’s sex offender registry.

All three bills were introduced by gay

state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) during the 2019 legislative session and co-sponsored by Equality California, the state LGBT advocacy organization.

After encountering legislative hurdles,

uzy Loftus spent over a year campaigning to become San Francisco district attorney.

See page 12 >> She has held the job for a little over two months.

Yet during that time, Loftus announced the creation of an auto burglary task force, the Courtesy Sen. Wiener’s office discovery of $2 million in stolen property, and has boosted the morale of a law office that has seen a significant number of attorneys depart in recent years, she said in a wide-ranging interview with the Bay Area Reporter Thursday, December 19.

“Overall, I will say it is a tremendous honor to serve as the chief elected law enforcement the annual LGBT Pride parade and celebration

by Matthew S. Bajko officer for San Francisco for as many days as I set to take place the weekend of June 27 and get to do it,” Loftus said. ith San Francisco’s Pride parade 28. It will be marking 50 years since its launch She will depart the office January 8, when marking its golden anniversary in in 1970, 12 months after the uprising against District Attorney-elect Chesa Boudin is sworn 2020, the city’s library branch in the police oppression at the Manhattan gay bar the in.

LGBT Castro district will be hosting a monthly Stonewall Inn. Loftus, who had been assistant chief legal program featuring LGBTQ artists and leadJanine deManda, a librarian at the branch counsel for the San Francisco Sheriff ’s Departers. Dubbed the “Queer & Present” series, it who was hired by the city’s public library sysment, announced her candidacy1% for district will kick offback in a couple of weeks with a pertem in May 2018, came up with the name for • Earn cash for everyday purchases attorney in the summer of 2018 before thenformance by queer Oakland-based musician the LGBTQ program series. She is working Rick Gerharter District Attorney George Gascón announced • No Annual Fee Blackberri, who uses only one name. with fellow adult services librarian Jennifer he wasn’t seeking re-election.

Casey Crumpacker, acting manager of In February, the branch library will present Bowman on the lineup of performers and pre• No Transfer Fee the Eureka Valley/Harvey Milk Memorial Loftus framed herself as aBalance progressive prosean author talk with Toni Newman, a transgensenters taking part in it.

Branch Library, left, and Janine cutor who could deliver results for victims and der woman who is executive director of the St. Fees “The library branch is a resource for ev• No Foreign Transaction deManda, adult services librarian, stand reduce recidivism among defendants, cutting James Infirmary, a health clinic for sex workers eryone, but ideally it should be responsive to near thedays library books. through the often-labyrinthine criminal in Sancharged Francisco, who penned the 2011for memoir 25 the people in the neighborhood served by the •city’s No Interest justice system.

“I Rise: The Transformation of Toni Newman.” branch,” said deManda, who is bisexual and “The office I inherited was, I would say, reApply today!

Other programs being planned will feature film also works part-time at the Oakland Public based on the availability of the invited perally lacking Call in morale and was in various forms screenings, poetry readings, LGBT history talks, 415-775-5377, stop by a branch visit Library system. formersor and speakers.

It isSanFranciscoFCU.com in addition to the of disarray,” Loftus said. “I don’t think the disand performances by LGBT groups.

Officially known as the Eureka Valley/Harbranch’s ongoing book club that often reads trict attorney [Gascón] was focused on the of“We already had strong LGBT programvey Milk Memorial Branch Library, the outLGBT titles and meets the first Sunday of the fice for some time. It’s a job that requires a lot ming we present at the branch, but we felt we post of the city’s public library system has long month from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. of focus and attention.” wanted to improve on that with more prohad strong ties to the LGBT neighborhood it The launch of the Queer & Present 2020 seReached December 20, a spokesman for grams. With the 50th anniversary of Pride, the calls home. It is named in honor of the city’s ries with Blackberri will take place from 7:30 to Gascón declined to comment on the record. timing is fantastic,” said Casey Crumpacker, a first gay supervisor, whose life and political 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, January 15. The author Throughout the course of the race, Loftus straight ally who was named the acting branch tenure was tragically cut short by an assassin’s reading by Toni Newman is scheduled for 6:30 received a who’s who of endorsements from manager last January. bullet the morning of November 27, 1978. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, February 25. prominent politicians: Mayor London Breed, Free for the public to attend the LGBTQ During Pride Month in June, the branch is program series, its schedule will fluctuate looking to hold events each week leading up to See page 11 >> See page 11 >>

Castro library program celebrates Stay Jolly and Gay Pride’s golden anniversary this Holiday!

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<< Community News

2 • Bay Area Reporter • January 2-8, 2020

t

Silicon Valley Pride board picks interim CEO

by John Ferrannini

A

South Bay woman has been selected as Silicon Valley Pride’s interim president and CEO in the wake of the death of its former president and CEO, according to a post on its Facebook page Monday, December 23.

Nicole Altamirano, a lesbian who was named to the posts, has been with the Silicon Valley Pride organization for three years, according to its website. She said she felt a need to get involved “with the political climate the way it is.”

The organization’s former president and CEO, Thaddeus Campbell, died just over a month ago.

In an email to the Bay Area Reporter Wednesday, December 25, Altamirano said she was grateful to have been chosen.

“It is a humbling honor to be elected as interim CEO and board president of Silicon Valley Pride,”

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she wrote. “Following the passing of Thaddeus Campbell, our previous CEO and board president, the board decided to appoint someone as interim to lead us through this time of transition.”

In a Monday, December 23 news release Altamirano said Campbell was “an irreplaceable leader, and I miss him dearly. However, I am confident our Silicon Valley Pride team will honor his legacy by making 2020 PRIDE the biggest and best ever.”

Altamirano works in the San Jose city manager’s budget office and heretofore managed the logistical operations of the Pride festival as chief operations officer.

On the Silicon Valley Pride website, Altamirano said that she was born and raised in San Jose.

“My wife and my two beautiful babies (Chihuahuas) are my world,” she wrote. “I am an outspoken individual who stands up for what I believe.”

Campbell, 64, died November 24. He had served as the president and CEO of Silicon Valley Pride for the past six years and is credited with bringing San Jose’s Pride parade back years after it had gone defunct.

“It is our 45 annual Pride festival here in the South Bay and I am excited for what we have in store,” Altamirano wrote.

Silicon Valley Pride 2020 will be held in downtown San Jose August 29 and 30.t

Facebook faces twin protests in new year

by John Ferrannini

C

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alifornia activists are planning twin protests against Facebook, even as the Menlo Park-based tech giant is facing criticism from a San Mateo County supervisor over profiting off user data after years of controversies involving the LGBT community.

“Save Our Democracy, Protest Facebook” is a two-hour protest scheduled for January 9 at 4 p.m. at Facebook’s headquarters at 1600 Willow Road (Building 10, closest to the Facebook sign) in Menlo Park on the Peninsula.

The protest is being sponsored by more than a dozen organizations, according to Andrea Buffa, a straight ally and “frustrated Facebook user” who initiated the protest and is a lead organizer.

“I was sitting around at Thanksgiving talking with family and friends expressing incredible frustration at Facebook for its most recent policy to allow politicians to blatantly lie in their ads,” Buffa said in a phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter.

“I decided to reach out to a couple of organizations, to Media Alliance, to see what we can do.”

Tracy Rosenberg, a straight ally who is the executive director of Media Alliance, said that she is “hoping some Facebook employees will come out and join us.”

“We know these are issues they care about,” Rosenberg wrote in an email to the B.A.R. “And this isn’t going to be a one-time thing – it’s going to be just the beginning of a pressure campaign to get Facebook to stop allowing lies and hatred to be spread using its platform.”

Rosenberg said that she expects to have a better idea of how many people are going to join the in-person protest after New Year’s Day. “We know the exasperation with Facebook is widespread,” Rosenberg said. “It remains to be seen how many people think going to Facebook’s door and saying something directly will make a difference.”

The other January 9 protest is a Facebook “blackout,” which was started by Andrew Arentowicz of Los Angeles.

Arentowicz is asking people to turn their Facebook profile pictures black for 48 hours “to demonstrate the overwhelming opposition to

Courtesy companyheadquarters.org

Media Alliance and other organizations are planning a protest at Facebook headquarters January 9.

your reckless political ad policy,” according to an open letter to Facebook on the blackout’s website.

“Usually you can’t tell when people are ‘blacking out’ a company by staying off of a platform in protest, but we’re hoping that this idea of blacking out your cover photo and profile photo will really appeal to people because it’s something visible,” Rosenberg said. “We don’t expect it to be the last and it is growing over time. We expect a series of these online actions to continue to grow as we move closer to the 2020 election.”

Rosenberg said that the Facebook blackout has a Facebook event page, but that Facebook won’t let the organizers run ads to promote it, claiming a violation of its ad policy.

No stranger to controversy

Facebook, of course, is no stranger to controversy. It has been criticized for allegedly inconsistent policies regarding ads and political messages and blocking drag queens, trans people, and others from using their preferred names.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before congressional committees in 2018 and 2019 over concerns about user privacy and his intention to create a cryptocurrency, Libra.

While on Capitol Hill, he also faced questions about how Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm assisting in the 2016 Republican presidential campaign of Donald Trump, harvested the personal information of tens of millions of Facebook users without their knowledge and used it for political purposes.

In the 2019 hearing, Zuckerberg had a heated exchange with Congresswoman Alexandria OcasioCortez (D-New York) that clarified that false political advertising is allowed on Facebook. It is this policy

that has led directly to the upcoming protests.

Relations with LGBTs strained

As the B.A.R. previously reported, in 2018 Facebook banned the GLBT Historical Society, which runs the GLBT History Museum at 4127 18th Street in the Castro, from boosting a post about “Fighting Back: Transgender Rights Activism,” a community forum on the history of trans activism, because the society’s page had “not been authorized to run ads with political content.”

A year earlier, Facebook rejected an ad from the society seeking volunteers for the Folsom Street Fair.

Terry Beswick, a gay man who is the executive director of the society, said he would not comment for this story; but Rosenberg said that what happened was an example of Facebook doing “too little, too late for so many groups of people whose policies it has harmed.”

“Zuckerberg has wrapped himself in the mantle of free speech when he wants to let politicians lie in their ads and let extremism and hate speech run wild, but at the same time the company regularly won’t allow nonprofit organizations to boost posts on ‘political’ issues like a transgender rights seminar,” Rosenberg said.

Sister Roma of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence echoed that sentiment.

“It sounds to me like Facebook is refusing to add the manpower to fact check the advertising and therefore denying any accountability for the content of those ads,” Sister Roma wrote in an email to the B.A.R. Monday, December 23. “It’s lazy and shameful.”

Sister Roma was part of a dustup with Facebook several years ago.

See page 11 >>

t

Election 2020>>

January 2-8, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 3

AHF rental measure likely on 2020 ballot

by David-Elijah Nahmod

L

7.625 in.

os Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation has submitted signatures to get a rental affordability initiative on next November’s ballot.

AHF held a series of rallies recently in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego where officials announced that more than 1 million signatures had been submitted to the secretary of state’s office; 623,212 valid signatures are required.

Dubbed the Rental Affordability Act, the measure would expand rent control to more buildings and also place limits on rent increases when a new renter moves in.

In 2018, an initiative that would have repealed the state’s CostaHawkins Rental Housing Act failed.

Costa-Hawkins puts limits on municipal rent control ordinances.

AHF’s Rental Affordability Act would remove current restrictions in state law. It would expand rent control to more buildings, while exempting newly constructed buildings, which will not have rent control placed on them during their first 15 years. If passed, the Rental Affordability Act will undo CostaHawkins, which outlaws rent control in all but a handful of California cities, such as San Francisco, Berkeley, and Santa Monica.

Organizers at the San Francisco rally said the lack of stronger rent control protections affects LGBTs and others throughout the state.

Ged Kenslea, senior director of communications for AHF, pointed out that 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ. “It’s understood that a significant percentage of lesbians often work in lower income jobs and professions, a factor that handicaps them in a

tight and expensive housing market,” added Kenslea.

The San Francisco event was held December 5 at the Redstone Labor Building, 2948 16th Street. Many trans women of color, all of whom said they are being impacted by the high rents in the city, were in attendance. In September, Curbed SF reported that median market rate rents for San Francisco were $3,540 per month.

“My community is what brought me here,” L’reale Earle, a trans woman of color, told the Bay Area Reporter. “I am part of a marginalized community who is deeply impacted by the high-ass rent to the extent that we either can’t afford housing and on the flip side high-ass rent is preventing stability for, specifically, black trans women who don’t have specific resources aimed at housing or mental health resources or trans shelters. We are the last to get jobs and housing and because we can’t afford the rent we are relegated to substandard living conditions.”

The rally began with attendees angrily chanting “The Rent Is Too Damn High!”

Jesse Brooks, community mobilizer for AHF, was among the speakers.

“I’ve seen California change over the last 10 years,” Brooks said. “And I’ve seen people that I grew up with side-by-side lose their homes. And there’s so many more on the edge of losing their homes.”

He said that the initiative is a way to fight and resist.

“We can’t just sit by idly while our brothers and sisters lose their homes because it might be them today and it might be us tomorrow,” Brooks added. “The rent is too damn high, so we have to let people know at the ballot box, not on Facebook with a 9.75 in. like, we’ve got to do what you’re do-

Courtesy AP

Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, spoke at a Los Angeles news conference and rally December 5 at Placita Olivera to announce the submission of nearly one million voter signatures to qualify the Rental Affordability Act, a ballot initiative that would allow for the expansion of rent control in California.

ing today, using your voice, using your feet, and resist, and we have to continue to resist, because they’re going to continue to push. We cannot let the Bay Area become a home for one-percenters.”

Mari Perez-Ruiz, the chair of the California Democratic Party Renters Caucus, also spoke.

“I am here because California’s affordability housing crisis demands actions. Bold actions,” Perez-Ruiz said. “Approximately 18 million Californians are renters.

In rural counties like Tulare, since 2018, we’ve seen a yearly doubledigit decrease of home ownership

and double-digit increase of rental housing. A one-bedroom apartment is going for $1,025 – a one bedroom in Tulare County. When folks are working 40-hour shifts at $11 an hour, they bring home $1,906 gross. So California’s housing crisis is no longer a Bay Area or Southern California problem, but is a problem that belongs to all of us.”

Some people at the rally said they’ve had to leave the city.

“Being of ethnic culture I am disenfranchised and denied the inalienable rights and entitlements established to provide prosperity for all citizens of the USA,” Velvet Sap-

phire, a 55-year-old black and Cherokee trans woman, told the B.A.R. “Being trans and mixed breed I have been forced to move out of my San Francisco housing to Pittsburg and that should never have occurred.

Nothing is done and that denies me my quality of life and causes me trauma.”

In an email, Michael Weinstein, co-founder and president of AHF, expressed confidence that the Rental Affordability Act would pass.

“Seventy-five percent of Californians hold a positive to very positive view of rent control,” Weinstein wrote. “The housing affordability and homelessness crisis are the most pressing social justice and public health emergencies in our time, especially in Southern California. We must take action to stop it now. To that end, we intend to bring the issue directly to California voters next November – and we intend to win.”

Californians for Responsible Housing, which is opposed to AHF’s initiative, pointed out that 2018’s Proposition 10, the Costa-Hawkins repeal initiative, was rejected by voters, losing by nearly 40% to 60%.

The group also said that AHF refused to support Assembly Bill 1482, authored by Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco). The law, which Governor Gavin Newsom signed, will cap rent increases at 5% each year plus inflation and goes into effect January 1.

AB 1482 is considered “the most anti-rent gouging legislation in the nation,” Californians for Responsible Housing said in a news release.

The group added that AHF’s ballot measure would discourage housing construction, reduce property values, and take large numbers of units off the market for low- and middle-income families.t

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4 • Bay Area Reporter • January 2-8, 2020

Volume 50, Number 1 January 2-8, 2020 www.ebar.com PUBLISHER Michael M. Yamashita Thomas E. Horn, Publisher Emeritus (2013) Publisher (2003 – 2013) Bob Ross, Founder (1971 – 2003) NEWS EDITOR Cynthia Laird ARTS EDITOR Roberto Friedman BARTAB EDITOR & EVENTS LISTINGS EDITOR Jim Provenzano ASSISTANT EDITORS Matthew S. Bajko • John Ferrannini CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Ray Aguilera • Tavo Amador • Race Bannon Roger Brigham • Brian Bromberger Victoria A. Brownworth • Philip Campbell Heather Cassell • Belo Cipriani • Dan Renzi Michael Flanagan • Jim Gladstone David Guarino • Liz Highleyman Brandon Judell • John F. Karr • Lisa Keen Matthew Kennedy • Joshua Klipp David Lamble • Max Leger David-Elijah Nahmod • Paul Parish Lois Pearlman • Tim Pfaff • Jim Piechota Bob Roehr • Gregg Shapiro • Gwendolyn Smith Sari Staver • Tony Taylor • Charlie Wagner Ed Walsh • Cornelius Washington • Sura Wood ART DIRECTION Max Leger PRODUCTION/DESIGN Ernesto Sopprani PHOTOGRAPHERS Jane Philomen Cleland • FBFE Rick Gerharter • Gareth Gooch Jose Guzman-Colon • Rudy K. Lawidjaja Georg Lester • Dan Lloyd • Jo-Lynn Otto Rich Stadtmiller • Kelly Sullivan • Fred Rowe Steven Underhil • Bill Wilson ILLUSTRATORS & CARTOONISTS Paul Berge • Christine Smith ADVERTISING/ADMINISTRATION Colleen Small Bogitini VICE PRESIDENT OF ADVERTISING Scott Wazlowski – 415.829.8937 NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Rivendell Media – 212.242.6863

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<< Open Forum

t The time for LGBTQ museum is now I

t’s taking longer than expected for the planned LGBTQ history museum to get some momentum, but it’s critical that community members and allies support this important addition to San Francisco’s cultural landscape. After several years of fits and starts, the GLBT Historical Society has completed a feasibility study, and has the support of city leaders for the crucial next step of identifying a site, ideally in the Castro, as Terry Beswick, the executive director of the historical society, told us last week. The larger vision of combining the society’s archives and museum will likely be postponed, although he said the long-term goal is to house both components in the same building. “We’re good with the current archive location,” he said, referring to the society’s 989 Market Street space.

Positioning an LGBTQ museum in the Castro is logical, and would help draw visitors to the gayborhood. The society’s GLBT Historical Society Museum, at 4127 18th Street, already sees a lot of visitors, Beswick said, but is tiny by museum standards and unable to showcase large-scale exhibits. “The fact that we don’t have a full-scale museum of LGBT history anywhere in the U.S. is a disgrace. If not San Francisco, where?

I think we need one. You can only do so much with 1,600 square feet,” he said, referring to the current museum.

We agree. A museum will not only preserve historical artifacts, but also help future generations of queer people learn about our communities’ past. “It helps them to get the pride and sense of connectedness and sense of their own value,” he explained, referring to younger visitors.

Right now, the society, like many nonprofits, is conducting an end-of-year fundraising appeal. Beswick was careful to note that the historical society has not yet embarked on a

Rick Gerharter

GLBT Historical Society Executive Director Terry Beswick, left, was joined

by Mayor London Breed at the organization’s gala atop Salesforce Tower in October.

capital campaign for the new museum. “We are capacity building,” he explained. “So that when we acquire a site we can program it and pay for it.” To that end, the society has a matching program that will double gifts by December 31, thanks to the Excelerate Foundation, Emily Rosenberg and Darlene deManincor, and Al Baum and Robert Holgate. But even without an ambitious capital campaign, the society is dependent on financial support from the community. Its operating budget for 2020 is $1.5 million, Beswick said, meaning that even if a site were available next month, the historical society wouldn’t have the funds to operate it.

“We’re looking at it from multiple levels,” he explained.

This is not where the society expected to be in 2020 when this process started in 2016, Beswick said. Back then it was thought that a larger museum space would be open by 2020. Now,

Beswick hopes to have a site identified and the capital campaign launched in the new year.

“We hope to see a lot of progress in 2020,” he said.

Beswick has been meeting with gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and his staff to identify a location, as well as the mayor’s office for additional help. A positive signal was Mayor London Breed’s offer of support for the idea of an LGBT museum at the society’s annual gala in October 2019. Beswick told attendees that it took about a year to get the mayor on board with the project.

“When the society applies for funding, we’ve been there with support,” Breed said at the event, held on the Ohana Floor of Salesforce Tower. “We will continue – in my administration – to look at this through an equity lens.”

Beswick said the mayor’s office has followed up and is working with his organization.

A successful museum project will rely on LGBTQs in the Bay Area and beyond – and supportive allies – to make it a reality. Already, the historical society is doing a lot of work; it has tripled in size in the last few years, Beswick pointed out, but its operating budget needs to increase to support the project.

We encourage the community to step up to the challenge. President Donald Trump and his anti-gay allies are working tirelessly against LGBTQs and the progress we’ve made for equality, so it’s more important than ever to have a museum where we can see our history on full display – and others can too.

The mayor said the city should have a place somewhere in San Francisco “that celebrates history, the movement, and vibrancy” of the LGBT community.

“And I look forward to cutting that ribbon,” she added.

Let’s all pitch in to speed up that day when the country’s first full-scale museum of LGBTQ history opens in San Francisco. To help out, and for more information, visit www.glbthistory.org.t

Time to hold PG&E accountable

by Scott Wiener

M

illions of Californians demonstrated incredible fortitude and resolve this past fall when, in order to minimize its own wildfire liability risk – caused by decades of negligence and mismanagement – Pacific Gas & Electric Co. turned off the power for millions. The consequences of these mass blackouts were devastating. Lifesaving medical equipment failed. Food spoiled, causing significant hardship for low-income residents. Businesses shut down, causing major losses for small business owners and for workers who didn’t get paid. Parents had to stay home from work due to school closures.

Hospitals, law enforcement agencies, and local governments struggled mightily to deliver life-saving services.

LGBTQ seniors, and those living with HIV/ AIDS who rely on electricity-powered medical equipment, are among the populations most severely impacted by the blackouts. We cannot let our most vulnerable communities suffer the brunt of PG&E’s mistakes. And we need to ensure that those impacted are able to recover quickly and get back on their feet.

Despite PG&E’s protestations that the mass blackouts were unavoidable, there was actually nothing inevitable about them. And while limited, targeted, and well-managed blackouts can be an important tool to avoid high-risk wildfire situations, PG&E has not been targeted in its approach. PG&E has used a sledgehammer, not a scalpel, in approaching blackouts.

Modern utilities have many tools available to prevent wildfires, and PG&E is no exception.

Unfortunately, PG&E is unique in its comprehensive rejection of less disruptive alternatives in favor of blackouts. Over the years, the company has neglected to upgrade its aging equipment, continued to build endless power lines in the highest risk fire zones (and then neglect them), and vocally opposed efforts to promote wires-free alternatives such as rooftop solar and storage. Instead, PG&E has chosen to dole out millions in executive bonuses, while neglecting its infrastructure and simply blacking people out during risky conditions.

It’s time to reform our energy system here in California and to hold PG&E accountable.

Putting aside for the moment the needs for

Rick Gerharter

State Senator Scott Wiener

fundamental, structural reform at PG&E – I believe PG&E should be a publicly owned utility, accountable to the people and not to Wall Street – we need to ensure that PG&E stops treating Northern California like a doormat subservient to the company’s own needs. That’s why I’m authoring Senate Bill 378, which will be the first of various bills I am working on to transform utilities in California.

Under our current system, utilities like PG&E are financially incentivized to shut off power during periods of perceived fire risk, even if the risk may be minimal and created by the utility’s own negligence and misconduct. Decades of neglect by PG&E have led to the prevalence of faulty equipment across our state. And why is PG&E inflicting such widespread blackouts? It wants to avoid liability for fires started because of its own defective power lines and other equipment.

PG&E’s long-term irresponsibility – putting immediate profits over long-term sustainability – cannot be overlooked. Instead of dealing with the root of the problem, PG&E is shutting off power for millions and risking lives and livelihoods.

SB 378 seeks to balance out PG&E’s finan-

cial incentives. Currently, PG&E has strong financial incentives to turn off power broadly in order to eliminate any conceivable liability risk. Conversely, it has no incentive to avoid inflicting the huge damages that blackouts cause. SB 378 seeks to re-balance these incentives by requiring PG&E to take into account the harm caused by blackouts. The legislation requires PG&E and other utilities to compensate individuals, public agencies, and businesses impacted financially by the blackouts – for example, business losses, wage losses, spoiled food, spoiled medicine, and so forth.

It’s also crucial that we incentivize utilities to make long-term infrastructure upgrades, rather than incentivizing the use of Band-Aid measures like temporary blackouts to avoid liability. That’s why SB 378 would level hourly fees on utilities during power shutoffs. It would also ensure that customers will not be charged anything during the shutoffs – yes, currently PG&E can charge customers for service even during intentional blackouts – and that utilities cannot profit off of them.

SB 378 would also mandate better data collection before and after blackouts, certifying that they are indeed necessary, and providing better reporting on the consequences of the outages.

Bay Area mayors – San Francisco’s London Breed, San Jose’s Sam Liccardo, Oakland’s Libby Schaaf, and Berkeley’s Jesse Arreguín – all agree and are supporting SB 378. This coalition understands the very real consequences of these blackouts, and together, we are working to hold PG&E accountable and reform this broken utility.

We’re just getting started. We need to give the power over our utilities to Californians, not Wall Street investors.

It’s time to put our communities first, and that begins with passing SB 378 and other legislation to ensure PG&E no longer puts profits over people.t Scott Wiener represents San Francisco and northern San Mateo County in the California state Senate.

Politics>>

t 2020 sees record number of out CA legislative candidates

January 2-8, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 5

by Matthew S. Bajko

A

record 19 LGBTQ community members, three of whom are Republicans, are known to be running for California legislative seats on the March 3 primary ballot. It is one more than the 18 candidates who ran in 2018, at the time the largest group of out legislative candidates in the state’s history.

This year’s list of out Statehouse candidates includes four incumbents seeking re-election. The rest are looking to bolster the ranks of the Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, which will see two of its seven members depart come December, one due to term limits and the other opting to seek local office rather than run for re-election.

As of now, there are no known bisexual legislative candidates and only one transgender woman seeking a state Senate seat. But it is not Palm Springs City Councilwoman Lisa Middleton, who announced December 27 she would seek reelection in November to her local council rather than seek the open 28th Senate District seat.

Republican former state Senator Jeff Stone resigned in November to work for the Trump administration in the Department of Labor, leading to the special election to succeed him being scheduled to coincide with the primary election. If no candidate secures more than 50% of the vote then a runoff with the top two vote-getters will be held May 12.

Candidates have until January 9 to file for the race. As of now the only out contender for the seat is lesbian aging policy expert Joy Silver (D), who came close to ousting Stone in 2018.

Middleton was seen as having a strong chance to become the first transgender person elected to serve in the California Legislature. In contrast, Republican Erin Smith, a transgender woman, is seen as having little chance of winning her bid for the state’s 11th Senate District seat covering San Francisco and parts of northern San Mateo County.

Smith is one of two out women trying to unseat gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco); the other being queer Democratic socialist Jackie Fielder. The duo of political newcomers faces an uphill battle in defeating Wiener, a formidable politician and fierce campaigner who is the chair of the LGBTQ affinity group for out legislators.

He will officially kickoff his reelection campaign at 10 a.m. Saturday, January 11, at the Flore cafe, a gay-owned eatery on the corner of Market and Noe streets not far from where he lives in the city’s Duboce Triangle neighborhood. It is expected he will face off against Fielder, an educator who is Native American and of Mexican heritage, on the November 3 general election ballot. Like with the special Senate seat election, the top two vote-getters regardless of party affiliation in all the legislative contests advance past the primary election to compete in the fall.

Neither of the two gay Republican men seeking Assembly seats in 2020 is expected to be declared the winner of their contests. Peace officer Chris Raahauge is the sole opponent trying to unseat lesbian Assemblywoman Sabrina Cervantes (D-Corona), who recently made history as the first out lawmaker to give birth while in office, from her 60th Assembly District seat.

Teacher Alex Walton, like Raahauge a member of the Log Cabin

Rick Gerharter (Silver), Laird for Senate campaign

Joy Silver, left, and John Laird are running for state Senate seats representing parts of Riverside County and Santa Cruz County, respectively.

Republicans club for LGBT GOPers, is one of three Republicans and four Democrats seeking the open 33rd Assembly District seat in the state’s High Desert region east of Los Angeles. State Assemblyman Jay Obernolte (R-Hesperia) opted to run for an open House seat rather than seek re-election.

succeed gay Assemblyman Todd Gloria (D-San Diego) in the 78th Assembly District, while Gloria is considered the frontrunner in the San Diego mayoral race. Also seeking Gloria’s Assembly seat are two other Democrats, queer single mom and midwife Sarah Davis and nonprofit technology consultant Micah Perlin.

Most LGBT candidates running in SoCal

Northern California races

The majority of the 2020 legislative races with out candidates are in Southern California, and their outcomes could produce historic wins for the LGBTQ community. Two gay men are seeking to be the first out legislators elected from Orange County.

Lawyer Bijan Mohseni is running for the Assembly District 72 seat against incumbent Assemblyman Tyler Diep (R-Westminster). If elected, the gay Los Alamitos native would be the first LGBT legislator of Iranian descent. But he is facing an uphill climb in a race that has also drawn a Democratic Garden Grove City Council member and a Republican former state senator.

In the adjacent 73rd Assembly District Mission Viejo businessman and grandparent Scott Rhinehart is running again after losing in 2018 to the incumbent, Assemblyman William Brough (R-Dana Point). Brough has since been accused of inappropriate behavior by four women and is facing two Republican opponents and another Democrat in addition to Rhinehart for his seat.

Abigail Medina, who identifies as both queer and lesbian, is aiming to become the first out state legislator from San Bernardino County. A member of the San Bernardino City Unified School District board, Medina is one of two Democrats and three Republicans running for the 23rd Senate District seat. The incumbent, Mike Morrell (R-Rancho Cucamonga), is termed out of office in 2020.

In Los Angeles, gay Koreatown resident Godfrey Santos Plata, an educator who emigrated as a child from the Philippines, is running to unseat incumbent Assemblyman Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles).

Should he win the 53rd Assembly District seat, Plata would be the first out immigrant elected to the Legislature.

In San Diego, lesbian Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) is assured of being re-elected to her 39th Senate District seat, as no other candidate will appear on the ballot.

Gay San Diego City Councilman Chris Ward is the heavy favorite to

In addition to the race for Wiener’s Senate seat, there are four other legislative contests with out candidates in Northern California this election cycle. Gay Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell) has drawn two opponents, Republican real estate adviser Carlos Rafael Cruz and student Sam Ross, who is an independent.

Gay former Assemblyman John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) has broad Democratic support in his bid to succeed state Senator Bill Monning (D-Carmel), who is termed out of his 17th Senate District seat along the Central Coast and is supporting Laird in the race. Laird is fending off fellow Democrats Maria Cadenas, a lesbian single mother and executive director of the nonprofit Santa Cruz Community Ventures, and rancher John M. Nevill, as well as Republican businesswoman Vicki Nohrden.

While Laird is considered the frontrunner in the race, Cadenas received a boost in December when both EMILY’s List and the California Women’s List endorsed her campaign. In a statement, EMILY’s List vice president of state and local campaigns, Geri Prado, noted that Cadenas “is a strong leader who deeply cares about her community” and that “EMILY’s List is confident she is the best person to represent the people of Senate District 17.”

Lesbian Assemblywoman Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton) is a leading candidate to succeed lesbian state Senator Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton), who will be termed out of her 5th Senate District seat in December. Eggman is competing against fellow Democrat Mani Grewal, a member of the Modesto City Council, and three Republicans for the Central Valley seat.

In the suburbs northeast of Sacramento, lesbian businesswoman and senior advocate Jackie Smith, who used to live in San Jose, is mounting her second bid to unseat Assemblyman Kevin Kiley (R-Granite Bay) from his 6th Assembly District seat.

She lost to Kiley in 2018.t Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion, will return Monday, January 13.

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

Got a tip on LGBT politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 8298836 or e-mail m.bajko@ebar.com.

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

<< Commentary

6 • Bay Area Reporter • January 2-8, 2020

2020: The stakes have never been higher

by Gwendolyn Ann Smith

A

s you read this, we are ushering in 2020, and while we can debate if this is the start of a new decade, or just the beginning of the “20s,” it seems all-too-clear that we live in some very challenging times.

The president, vice president, and all their cronies have spent the last three years recasting the government of the United States into a body rife with corruption, ignorance, and bigotry. Trans people were barred from the military while other federal departments attempted to roll back trans rights, seemingly at every turn.

Frankly, the actions that this administration has taken against transgender people feel tame in comparison to what’s being done to children in cages along the Southwest border, but they nonetheless paint a bleak picture for all of us within the community.

Meanwhile, the religious right has been making every attempt to legislate against transgender people, up to and including a forthcoming ruling at the U.S. Supreme Court that could effectively strip trans and nonbinary people of some of our most basic rights in this country.

In this environment, we are seeing an increase in anti-trans bigotry and violence. Murders and other hate crimes are on the rise. Many of our allies are overwhelmed by everything else going on in this country, are less likely to assist when they may not understand us, and don’t care enough to help in the midst of so much other awfulness.

Additionally, one of our larger trans rights organizations, the National Center for Transgender Equality in Washington, D.C., is in a tailspin amid accusations of racism and union busting. We are left without an

Courtesy AP

People rallied at the Stonewall National Monument in New York City in February 2017 to protest President Donald Trump’s decision to roll back a federal rule saying public schools had to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms of their chosen gender identity.

effective voice at the federal level exclusively focused on our issues.

I’ve brought most of this up before, of course, but as we head into this new year, it’s important to be honest about this new, terrible landscape ahead of us. Things are most definitely not good.

Yet as bleak a picture as I’ve painted, I want you to know one important thing: we can foster a better world. In a time when no one is going to rush in and save us against all these machinations, it becomes all the more important that each of us become our best selves.

This is a time for those of us within the community to learn to work together, to provide support and assistance for each other, to

open our doors and our hearts to all of us in the community. More than ever before, we are going to have to rely on each other to make it through these times.

We also are going to need to look to our allies, and the many others who are trying to make it through these times.

Even as shell groups try to tear apart the LGBTQ community, we need to stand together. We should look to the sex worker community, abortion rights activists, and many others with who we can build strong alliances.

In short, we need to start thinking strategically like never before.

Also, yes, we need to support the organizations that can work for us. I

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personally have been quite smitten with the work the American Civil Liberties Union has been doing over the last few years on behalf of transgender and nonbinary rights, and feel it may be worth our support. We can use its strong voice, both locally and at the national level.

What’s more, for every large organization doing big things, there are score upon score at the local and state level that could use your help.

Give of your time, and money, and other resources. As we see losses at the federal level, it is your city, or county, or state that could preserve your rights. Don’t forget them.

We also need to speak out more.

We need to talk about our rights, and our needs, while pushing back at droves of misinformation about transgender people wanting to attack people in restrooms and dominate women’s sports. We truly are our best

t

advocates, and need to rise up.

Of course, there is one big thing I didn’t mention that is special about 2020, and that is the presidential election.

If I’m to be honest with myself, I fear that Donald Trump can indeed be re-elected, even after his impeachment. While a majority of people, according to recent polls, feel he should be removed from office, the electorate has a short memory and a fickle temperament.

As long as enough people are willing to maintain the status quo, he has a better than fighting chance of remaining in office.

No, I don’t like that, but I think the sooner we acknowledge that this is a far better than average possibility, the better prepared we will be to fight back.

It is vital, right now, that we begin to look for a candidate that best represents us, who can be our best hope against a Trump-Pence second term. It’s important to follow our hearts, and no matter what, support a candidate who can beat him.

I do not know who that candidate is, but whomever they be, it’s going to be key that we show up at the polls this coming November and vote for them, no matter how safe you feel your state is. While I am not one for conspiracy theories, we do need to be prepared for massive attempts of voter suppression and other shenanigans that could further affect the vote.

Again, no matter what happens, we need to be there for each other. It is key that we hold each other up, and keep that spark of hope – no matter how dim it may grow – alive.t Gwen Smith feels that 2020 is going to be even more of a challenge than 2019 was. You’ll find her at www.gwensmith.com.

t

Community News>>

January 2-8, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 7

Trans woman recalls life as Orthodox rabbi

Sari Staver

Abby Stein recently spoke at the San Francisco Jewish Community Center.

by Sari Staver

A

bby Stein’s dramatic journey from a sheltered existence as an ultra-Orthodox rabbi to a fastpaced life as a transgender author, speaker, and activist recently drew a sold-out audience to the San Francisco Jewish Community Center.

Stein, 28, was in town for several appearances as part of a national tour for her new memoir, “Becoming Eve: My journey from ultra-orthodox rabbi to transgender woman,” published by Seal Press in late November. The presentation at the JCC was co-sponsored by the James

C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center at the San Francisco Public Library.

Before her December 4 talk, Stein spoke to the Bay Area Reporter about the radical choices she made that forced her to leave her home, her family, and her way of life to come out as a woman, an identity she had silently understood for many years before her decision to transition.

Stein, a 10th generation descendant of the Baal Shem Toy, the founder of Hasidic Judaism, grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where few stepped out of their traditional roles.

“I felt from a very early age that I was a girl,” Stein explained.

Still living in New York City, Stein said that she spends her time fighting for transgender rights and for those leaving ultra-Orthodoxy.

“I have a busy life,” she said.

“There’s a lot of work to be done.”

A member of the steering committee for the 2019 Women’s March in Washington, D.C., Stein said that she hopes her efforts will enable her to work in national politics on a presidential campaign staff.

Stein has also consulted with several congressional campaigns, some of the gigs paid and some volunteer, she said, declining to name any of the candidates.

Preferring the descriptor of “woman of transgender identity,” Stein is estranged from her parents but in touch with “other relatives,” she said. Stein added that she has “not given up” on her parents’ decision to cut ties with her.

“I am hopeful,” she said.

According to her book, Stein is the sixth child out of 13 born to a family of notable Hasidic leaders. She grew up speaking Yiddish and Hebrew and was educated at a traditional all-boys private school. She attended the Viznitz Yeshiva in Kiamesha Lake, Upstate New York for high school, and also received ordination as a rabbi there in 2011.

In 2012, she left the Hasidic community, and in 2014 she started attending Columbia University’s School of General Studies, later receiving a degree in political science there.

The book goes into detail about the years Stein spent grappling with her gender identity before taking the step of living openly as a woman, leaving behind the insulated religious community for a secular life

in Manhattan.

When Stein left her Orthodox community in 2012 and came out as an atheist, her parents said, that “no matter what happens” Stein would always be “their child.” But when she came out as a transgender woman, Stein’s father informed her that he “might not be able to talk to her ... ever again,” according to the book.

Stein said that she has also received hate mail from other members of her former community.

In late 2015, Stein made headlines when she came out on her blog and started her transition. Word spread quickly after she was featured in a number of major media outlets, including the New York Times, CNN, and Fox News.

In June 2016, Stein celebrated her transition and announced her name change to Abby Chava Stein at a New York synagogue, telling the Huffington Post at the time that although she did not believe in God, she wanted to celebrate in a temple.

After coming out, Stein started an

online support group to help trans people who come from Orthodox backgrounds. Stein also said that such groups have been her lifeline and made her realize the positive power of online communities.

In 2016, Stein founded a support group for trans people from Orthodox backgrounds. The group’s first meeting had 12 people attending, most of them fellow Orthodox Jews struggling with their gender identity, she said.

As to her future plans, Stein said, “Five years ago, I couldn’t have imagined I could be this happy” in her life and career.

“I hope to do more work in public policy and hope to publish another memoir” that continues where this book left off, she added.

She also hopes that her parents will want to reconcile with her.

“I hope there will be a lot of other good things in my life, stuff I cannot even imagine right now,” she said. “I see a world where my life will continue to be great.”t

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<< Obituaries

8 • Bay Area Reporter • January 2-8, 2020

Gay New Age guru Ram Dass dies

by Brian Bromberger

R

am Dass, a gay man who epitomized the countercultural psychedelic 1960s and later became a bestselling New Age guru, died December 22 at his home on Maui, Hawaii. He was 88, and surrounded by loved ones, according to his Instagram account.

His name is forever associated with Timothy Leary as they popularized their experiments with psilocybin (from mushrooms) and LSD, using the drugs to expand their consciousness and find beneficial uses.

Mr. Dass was born Richard Alpert, the son of a wealthy Jewish lawyer, one of the founders of Brandeis University. He received a Ph.D. in psychology at Stanford and then taught at Harvard, where he

met Leary. According to published obituaries, when their work with mind-expanding drugs became public with the revelation Mr. Dass was giving drugs to undergraduates, both professors were fired. Feeling restless, unfulfilled, and slowly disenchanted with his continued drug use, Mr. Dass traveled to India in 1967, where he met an ashram teacher Neem Karoli Baba/Maharajji. When he told Mr. Dass specifically how his mother died, which he could not have known and when given a high dose of LSD it had no effect on him, a transformed Mr. Dass recognized Maharaj-ji’s high level of spiritual development and became his guru.

Renamed Ram Dass (Servant of God) by Maharaj-ji, he returned to the U.S., writing down his spiritual journey and techniques, an eclectic combination of Eastern mysticism, Hindu bhakti yoga, and New Age philosophy in the 1971 book “Be Here Now,” a hodge-podge stream of consciousness style, that eventually sold 2 million copies. It would later be christened the countercultural bible.

Mr. Dass dedicated his work to social change, what he termed compassion in action, especially the spiritual growth of prisoners and support to the dying, most particularly people with AIDS. It was reported in his obituaries that a severe

Courtesy www.ramdass.org

Ram Dass

stroke nearly killed him in 1997, leaving him speechless. He made a partial recovery, but remained disabled in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He continued to write books and held teachings online as well as retreats at his Maui home. A 2001 biographical film documentary, “Ram Dass: Fierce Grace,” about his spirituality and aging, was a critical success, which led to a positive reevaluation of his career.

In 1994, in an interview with gay journalist Mark Thompson, later published in his book, “Gay Soul: Finding the Heart of Gay Spirit

and Nature,” Mr. Dass publicly came out, one of the first New Age celebrities to do so. Previously he had referred to himself as bisexual in his writings, though most of his relationships were with men. (Mr. Dass did have a son, Peter Reichard, from a previous relationship with a Stanford graduate student, according to the New York Times obituary of him.)

With his graduate work at Stanford, he got more involved with gay life in San Francisco. He confessed to having had “thousands of sexual encounters,” and also that his expulsion from Harvard was due as much to his sexual escapades with young male students as giving them drugs.

Initially, he saw being gay as deeply pathological, having been trained as a Freudian therapist, and never saw it as a central defining characteristic, objecting to labeling people as a kind of attachment. Still he came to believe that being gay “deepened the quality of my compassion toward other human beings who are ostracized,” he once said. He admired the gay community for keeping pressure on the larger culture to disclose its prejudices, but to do it with less confrontation and more wisdom.

“The art form is to enjoy being gay without being trapped by it,” he said.

In a 2001 interview with Houston’s OutSmart magazine, he related the following incident: “I was

t

standing in line at the adult movie theater in Chicago. And this hippie came walking by, saw me, and started a conversation. As we talked, I could see him registering where I was, his brain scrambling to comprehend that Ram Dass, the spiritual teacher, was standing in line at the gay porn theater. I was trying to decide whether to be honest and go into the theater or to walk down the street with him to get coffee. I chose to go into the theater. It took a lot of courage for me to do that. My own guilt and shame were so strong. It was the perfect opportunity for me to Be Here Now! “As for the young gay kids coming out and growing up, I say this, ‘Don’t label yourselves. Allow your minds and your souls to connect with everyone you meet,’” he told the magazine.

In one of his later books, “Be Love Now,” he reached a level of self-acceptance, having surrendered perfectionism – so one could be loved enough – as coming from unworthiness and inadequacy: “You are loved just for being who you are, just for existing. You don’t have to do anything to earn it. Your shortcomings, your lack of self-esteem, physical perfection, or social and economic success – none of that matters. No one can take this love away from you, and it will always be there.”t

Boudin to be sworn in as SF DA compiled by Cynthia Laird

C

hesa Boudin, who won a hard fought race for San Francisco district attorney in 2019, will be sworn in during a ceremony

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Wednesday, January 8, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Avenue. Doors open at 5.

Boudin edged out an election victory over Suzy Loftus, who had been appointed interim DA just days before absentee ballots were sent out in October. Mayor London Breed, who endorsed Loftus, named her to the interim post after former DA George Gascón abruptly resigned in early October.

He moved to Southern California and is now running for DA in Los Angeles County.

While Loftus held a slim lead on Election Day, November 5, Boudin won the race in the third round of ranked-choice voting with 50.83% of the vote to Loftus’ 49.17%. (For more on Loftus’ tenure as interim DA, see related story.)

Boudin is a progressive reformer who wants to end the criminalization of mental illness and poverty, among other changes.

“My election and swearing into office as DA represent a significant opportunity to improve San Francisco’s response to public safety issues and to restore trust between law enforcement and the communities that we swear to serve and protect,” Boudin wrote in an email to the Bay Area Reporter. “The whole country will be watching to see if, as we so often have, San Francisco can lead the way towards a more humane, victim-centered response to crime which focuses on root-causes rather than simply punishing symptoms.”

Kevin Bard, president of the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, which endorsed Boudin, said he was planning to attend.

“I’ve reserved my tickets and might even volunteer if they need me,” he wrote in a Facebook message to the B.A.R. “With Chesa, I am looking forward to cash bail finally ending and police accountability finally beginning,” Bard added.

Compton’s cultural district launches art exhibition

Jane Philomen Cleland

San Francisco District Attorney-elect Chesa Boudin

The event is free. To sign up, go to https://bit.ly/34URAiJ.

Recology to collect Christmas trees

San Francisco Public Works, San Francisco Environment, and Recology have announced that the refuse company will begin picking up Christmas trees of San Francisco residents from January 2 through January 15.

This annual program helps keep the city “clean and green,” officials said.

Trees will be collected curbside by a dedicated truck on residents’ scheduled collection day. People are reminded to remove all tinsel, decorations, plastic bags, stands, and lights from their trees when set out for collection. Trees measuring more than 6 feet tall need to be cut in half. Trees should not be put into a plastic bag.

Recology’s holiday schedule is available at www.recology.com. For more information, contact customerservice@recologysf.com or (415) 330-1300.

The Compton’s Transgender Cultural District has announced its first art exhibition, in partnership with Pentacle Coffee in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood.

The exhibition, “PLURALS,” is a two-person transgender and queer art show that combines the work of Joel Gregory and KC Crow Maddux.

Ellis Martin, an Oakland-based artist and digital archivist, is curator. Martin is known for his most recent effort as editor of “We Both Laughed in Pleasure: The Selected Diaries of Lou Sullivan” (Nightboat Books, 2019), chronicling the journey of Sullivan, a noted transgender activist who died in 1991.

“PLURALS visually expands the transgender vernacular,” Martin said in the release. “Works by Joel Gregory and KC Crow Maddux engage multiplicity to defy expectations. These works hover between the embodied and the symbolic, the historical and humorous. They take multiplicity to the next dimension.”

Founded in 2017, the Compton’s Transgender Cultural District is the first legally recognized transgender district in the world. It’s named after the first known uprising of trans and queer people in the U.S., the Compton’s Cafeteria riots of 1966. It encompasses six blocks in the southeastern Tenderloin and crosses over Market Street to include two blocks of Sixth Street.

Its mission is to create an urban environment that fosters the rich history, cultural legacy, and empowerment of transgender people.

The “PLURALS” art exhibition opens Friday, January 10, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Pentacle Coffee, 64 Sixth Street. The exhibit will be on display until February 28.

For more information about the Compton’s cultural district, visit www.transgenderdistrictsf.com.

For more information about the artists, visit www.joelgregory.co and www.kccrowmaddux.com.t

t

Queer Reading>>

January 2-8, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 9

Book explores how gays construct identities

by Brian Bromberger

W

alt Odets, Ph.D., a gay man and clinical psychologist in private practice in Berkeley, has worked with, and written about, the psychological, developmental, and social lives of gay men for more than three decades. His new book, “Out of the Shadows: Reimagining Gay Men’s Lives” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $30) is an exploration of how gay men construct their identities, fight to be themselves, and struggle to live authentically.

His seminal book, “In the Shadow of the Epidemic: Being HIV-Negative in the Age of AIDS,” published in 1995, was a groundbreaking look at the lives of HIV-negative gay men who survived the epidemic yet had to deal with issues of guilt, grief, loss, anxiety, and isolation.

Odets’ latest book uses personal stories, case histories and testimonies of patients, and social commentary to focus on the psychological aftermath of the HIV epidemic.

He also looks at long-established childhood and adolescent stigmatization and trauma experienced by gay men, and the conventional idea of “the homosexual” and its negative influences on gay identities, self-realization, and relationships between men.

Odets, 72, spoke with the Bay Area Reporter in an email interview.

Having worked with only a handful of lesbian clients over the years, Odets said that he doesn’t feel he has enough professional experience with women to make similar confident statements, though his intuition suggests that developmentally, through childhood and adolescence, their lives are somewhat easier because there is less social stigmatization of “masculine” women than there is of “feminine” men, especially public displays of affection, he wrote in the email.

He added that he was inspired to write his new book as a follow-up to his earlier work. The current book is about gay life 40 years later. Even as the epidemic is not over, its role in many people’s lives has shifted.

“The new book is a very different kind of exploration of gay lives, from childhood forward,” Odets wrote in the email. “I’ve now worked with gay men for over 30 years, and gained a sense of the issues that affect us. We are mostly people who have experienced at least some stigmatization from immediate family, the larger society, and adolescent peers.

“My therapy clients are not usually people with ‘emotional problems,’ they are people who have been marginalized and are trying to find ways to live as themselves, both internally and within communities,” he added. “And they are seeking relationships that work. So after listening to, and talking with, other gay men for about 24,000 hours, I felt that a discussion of the various issues that come up in gay lives would be useful.”

For Odets, the elephant in the room remains the ongoing HIV/ AIDS epidemic, despite the fact many have relegated it to history, even as it still ravages the LGBT community, especially the most marginalized: low-income people, people of color, and transgender people.

According to www.hiv.gov, an estimated 38,700 Americans became infected with HIV in 2016.

“Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men bear the greatest burden by risk group, representing an estimated 26,000 of new HIV infections per year,” the website noted.

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Author Walt Odets, Ph.D.

African Americans remain the highest racial/ethnic group among the newly diagnosed, followed

by Hispanic/Latinos. Researchers have said that AIDS, despite breakthroughs in treatment and prevention, still stigmatizes those affected by it, both directly and indirectly.

Three generations

Odets divides gay men into three generations based on their relationship to the AIDS epidemic: older-group men, born before 1971, including those who were out and active in gay communities before the introduction of highly active anti-retroviral therapy, or HAART, in 1996; middle-group men, born between 1972 and 1988, those who were out and active in gay communities after 1996, but had no direct, personal contact with the early epidemic; and youngergroup men, born after 1988, who have never known HIV as almost inevitably fatal and did not experience the trauma and loss that the other two groups have, yet live with the consequences of the disease.

Odets noted that these groups don’t always get along, are suspicious of each other’s motives, and make faulty assumptions, whether it be shame about surviving while others died, shame about not adhering to the “Condom Code” (the universal use of condoms in sex to reduce HIV transmission, every time for a lifetime regardless of the HIV status of the two partners) or shame about using PrEP, with some young men calling others who use PrEP, “whores” and “sluts.”

With young gay men coming out earlier and more readily today, Odets writes in his book: “Simply coming out is a poor predictor of the quality of the internal life that follows. People who have come out often still experience shame and self-doubt, and usually experience some ongoing measure of stigmatization, real or imagined.”

Odets contends it is still not easy to be gay in the U.S., “unless one comes from the relatively rare insightful family, or one of a handful of educated, socially progressive (urban) enclaves.” Most still struggle with a legacy of early-life stigma, especially bullying, and a deficiency of self-acceptance, which can fuel doubt, regret, and even self-hatred.

Odets believes that the effect of all the political and legal successes for LGBTQ people has been greatly exaggerated.

“Shame still often lurks uncon-

inclusive,” he wrote. “If I were to ask someone to describe Donald Trump, he or she would never respond with the assertion that ‘He is a heterosexual.’ If I asked the same question about Mayor Pete [Buttigieg], many would answer that he is a homosexual. All human beings are born with the need for emotional and physical attachment to others, and sex is only one important expression of that attachment. But by itself, sex is not a complete life.”

Odets postulates that for gay men, there is a gay sensibility, “which describes both the man’s internal experience of himself, and his characteristic external expression of self to others.”

“The idea of a gay sensibility rejects the narrow internal emotional life that is dictated by traditional ideas of male and female sensibility,” he wrote. “Many gay men experience an internal sensibility that blends those traditional ideas. It is true that many gay men are frightened by some measure of both internal and expressive female sensibility – and some are hyper

masculine – but I believe they are repressing otherwise natural feelings and expressions that, if allowed, might broaden their internal and interpersonal experience.

“Being gay offers important opportunities that can only be realized if gay people can free themselves of societal and internalized stigma, much of which stems from the conventional idea of the homosexual,” he added.

This is why Odets argues that for gay men, this search for authenticity won’t be found in accommodating heterosexual institutions, such as marriage.

“If acceptance is predicated on ‘normalizing’ gay relationships by molding them – at least in appearance – into conventional heterosexual forms, the change will become a significant additional source of hopelessness for gay men. Mimicking and misrepresentation are inauthentic, and inauthentic lives feel hopeless,” he wrote.

Odets believes that gay men have always had to invent their own relationships with no help from the larger culture.

“I am not, per se, critical of gay men who marry, value monogamy, or try to assimilate,” he wrote in the email. “I am certain that, for many men, these desires are an authenticate expression of how they think and want to live. But if, as two examples, men are marrying primarily for societal approval or the lifelong ‘ownership’ of a partner, then I ask that they think through their motivations.”

For Odets, this lack of authenticity makes it difficult for gay men to form lasting relationships: a connection of friendship, companionship, romantic feelings, and sex.

sciously behind the most successful of gay lives,” he wrote in the email.

“I do not know that there is a way to ‘uproot’ shame, but very broadly speaking, changes occur when one acknowledges the shame, understands its origins, recognizes when it is at play, and attempts not to play it out,” he added. “There is not a single gay man alive in America who has not sometimes felt self-conscious or fearful about touching a lover in public.”

Odets has received some criticism that most of his patients and case histories are white affluent men and have limited applicability to other diverse LGBTQ populations.

“I can only write from what I have experienced and know,” he wrote in the email. “I would add that most of the men I talk about began life in limiting families, and if they later became ‘affluent’ this was something they accomplished on their own. I don’t believe that ‘most’ of the people I discuss are white, but I know that in the U.S., non-white people are underrepresented in psychotherapy because of the cultural norms with which they grew up, and sometimes because of the costs.

“But the histories and psychological lives of the men I do discuss are applicable to most LGBTQ people,” he added. “Race and finances are often a handicap, but they do not significantly alter the psychological issues of being gay, even as they often exacerbate them.”

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Homosexual versus gay

Odets, in his first chapter, draws a distinction between homosexual and gay. Homosexuals are men who have sex with other men. Gay means attracted to other men, but rather than a single, objective behavior, the gay man encompasses an entire life of feeling.

“The majority of gay-identified men do have at least a marginally conscious sense that being gay is about more than sexual attraction or sex, but many gay men have been swayed by the heterosexual definition and have accepted the narrow, behaviorally defined identity. In today’s gay assimilationist politics, gay men often explain themselves to heterosexuals with the idea that they are ‘attracted to men, but otherwise just like you,’” he wrote.

For Odets, gay men are accepting the heterosexual perspective on who they are, which is not the whole truth.

“For us as individuals, and for the larger society, the idea that one is defined by the label homosexual SALES implies that our sexual lives are a complete description of who we are. This is nonsense, for we are obviously much more complex and

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<< Sports

t 2010-19 in sports: A decade of unfulfilled promise 10 • Bay Area Reporter • January 2-8, 2020

T

he 21st century has been going through its adolescent years the past decade, swiftly zipping in and out of its teens to enter 2020 as a young adult, fully capable of voting, driving, and spitting into the wind.

Time to look at the sports decade just passed and the one about to unfold.

In 2010, the second World Outgames, held the previous year in Co-

penhagen, announced it had turned a profit. By comparison, the Cologne Gay Games in 2010 saw a decline in registration, triggered in part by its insistence on a mandatory drug-testing policy that kept athletes away in droves; Cologne eventually reported a six-figure debt. Oh, and the Federation of Gay Games had a messy divorce with the Cleveland bidding group that had signed an agreement to hold the Gay Games in 2014 and

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set up a new deal with different organizers in that city. Meanwhile, officers from the FGG and the Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association were in the beginning stages of talks about ending the rivalry between their events – talks that would drag on for years and alienate some Gay Games supporters into dropping the organization from their wills.

Also in 2010, an International Olympic Committee panel recommended that intersex women be allowed to compete in women’s sports only if they undergo medically necessary surgical mutilation. In a process that would trigger seemingly endless investigations, allegations of corruption, and expulsions from the sport, the international governing body for soccer awarded the 2018 men’s World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar: one country embroiled in drug scandals, the other with virtually no soccer tradition to speak of, both with dismal records of human rights, especially for LGBT individuals. At the time, I wrote it was a “decision that grates on sensibilities like a stadium full of vuvuzelas.”

Oh, and on the local front, the Golden State Warriors held their first LGBT Night and the San Francisco Giants won their first World Series since moving to California.

Much of what followed the next few years is a blur. Penn State’s Jerry Sandusky and Michigan State’s Larry Nassar became poster boys for sexual predation in sports. The Giants and the Warriors both dominated their sports in the decade, each winning three championships.

Tiger Woods had a meltdown in Florida in late 2009 and spent most of the next few years trying to resurrect his personal life, his professional career, and his health.

Numerous new LGBT sports organizations were launched, including You Can Play, Athlete Ally, and Equality Coaching Alliance, but an effort to pull them all together, the LGBT Sports Summit, petered out within a few years. Jason Collins became the first active openly gay player in the NBA, Robbie Rogers came out in pro soccer, and Michael Sam came out before briefly joining the NFL. The IOC said it would allow transgender athletes to compete without reassignment surgery and

<<

Book

From page 9

“I am inclined to think of successful relationships as a balance between two conflicting requirements: mutual support for each man’s individual needs and personal growth; and the fundamental relationship requirement of being emotionally bonded and together. The former relies significantly on complementarity, the latter on symmetry, and a relatively happy relationship allows some measure of both,” he wrote.

The diminished sexuality among long-term gay couples is often due to “sport sex,” sex for fun and pleasure that is “focused on novelty, orgasm, and demonstrations of prowess and performance,” Odets writes in his book. Such sex largely excludes – often even forbids – the expression of emotional intimacy, which is precisely what is needed to sustain sex in longer-term relationships.

“A beautiful, potent body engaged in hot sex with the beautiful body of an idealized stranger is what all men, but particularly gay men, have been acculturated to believe is the definition of ‘good sex,’” he wrote. “Long-term partners usually know way too much about each

Jerry Sandusky, left, and Larry Nassar were two of sports’ sexual predators during the last decade. Both are now in prison.

would force the track and field federation to justify blocking women with naturally high testosterone from competing.

The NCAA and the NBA boycotted North Carolina over a transphobic bill and Colin Kaepernick used protests during the national anthem to call attention to violence against African Americans. The NFL came down with a headache over brain injuries and political protests that just wouldn’t quit.

Muhammad Ali died.

Ten years later, how much has changed?

Well, the World Outgames collapsed under its own incompetence, but not before leaving hundreds of LGBT athletes stranded with the cancellation of the 2017 event in Miami. The Gay Games bounced back with profits in Gay Games IX in Cleveland and Gay Games X in Paris.

Track and field never did come up with sound science to justify blocking intersex and transgender athletes, but nevertheless was allowed to restrict the participation of some runners. Other sports such as powerlifting are looking to prevent the inclusion of transgender athletes, IOC policy be damned.

A new investigation into the World Cup bidding process has been started in France and Russia remains embroiled in doping scandals.

Sandusky sits in prison, not eligible for parole until 2042. Nassar is in

federal prison in Florida, not eligible for release until 2069. Yet report after report indicates that sports federations continue to enable sexual predators, who sometimes relocate or are banned by a sports organization but that is later overturned or revoked.

Rumors continue to abound that a major male sports superstar will come out of the closet soon ... but we are teased with this every year. Increasingly, women have been joining the coaching ranks of major men’s sports teams, and the NBA seems closest to having its first female head coach. North Carolina came out with a revised bathroom bill activists said offered even less protection than the first bill and the sports groups came flocking back. The NFL has been able to divert attention from the protests and catastrophic injuries with incredibly bad officiating.

Woods won the Masters Tournament in 2019.

It’s anybody’s guess what the new decade will bring. College athletes paid not off the books but actually on team payrolls? Megan Rapinoe taking a break from a congressional run to coach the U.S. men’s soccer team? The Gay Games serving as the surprise event that restores social bliss to Hong Kong? The Russian Olympic sports organization winning the Nobel Prize in chemistry? Policy makers in track and field finally realizing that human rights actually matter in sports?

I won’t hold my breath for any of it, but I will as always hope and advocate for progress.

Beats spitting into the wind.t

other – and each other’s imperfect bodies – to buy the ‘I’m hot, you’re hot, let’s fuck’ approach that characterizes most gay-adolescent, and much adult-singles sex. When the male sensibility cannot make any transition from pure sport sex to relationship sex, both gay and straight couples experience a ‘loss of sexual interest.’ Thus, sport sex is a behavior but relationship sex is a communication of feeling.”

Odets does see some positive evolution in both personal lives and the gay subculture, especially the trend of gay men not to see themselves as victims, but as resilient innovators.

“Yes, I do see improvement, but the degree depends on the individual and the early developmental experience, particularly with the immediate family,” he wrote in the email. “I don’t think that, as a community, we are any longer united by single purpose such as gay liberation or the epidemic, but this diversity is a sign of progress. As I said somewhere in the book – I don’t remember where – simply being gay is not much to have in common with another man.

Different people will make different choices. The idea that many – probably not most – gay lives are still an uphill struggle is hardly a gloomy

prediction. Without acknowledging our histories and lives as they are, we cannot change anything.

“I do think that, very slowly, the societal and familial influence on gay people have, and will continue to, improve,” he added. “It’s still a long road. Think of the Emancipation Proclamation, which was issued by Lincoln about a century and a half ago. Today, are the lives of African Americans without uphill struggles?”

Odets hopes readers will take away his main message: “to find ways to be, and live, as yourself, to find our own ways to invent honest and loving lives. In my experience, gay men have done admirably with lives that have usually been forced to navigate an obstacle course of destructive social influences. That so many have persevered in simply living as gay men is remarkable and moving.

“Being gay in an adverse society is a sometimes-daunting, sometimeslifelong task,” he added. “But millions have found ways to have lives that authentically express who they are: the realization of gay lives is all around us. I hope for such self-realization to take root and flourish for as many men as possible.”t

t <<

Community News>>

Loftus

From page 1

a majority of the Board of Supervisors, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and California Democratic Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris. She also received the sole endorsement of the San Francisco Democratic Party. (The Bay Area Reporter also endorsed her.)

Upended election

Loftus, 45, was one of four candidates in the DA’s race; her strongest opponent was Boudin, a reformminded deputy public defender whose parents were part of the radical, left-wing Weather Underground in the 1970s. Boudin had a compelling life story – his parents drove the getaway car in an armed robbery that took three lives. His mother spent 22 years in prison and his father is still incarcerated. Boudin carried endorsements from Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King, as well as numerous progressive leaders and organizations in San Francisco.

Then the race was upended when, on October 3, Gascón abruptly announced his resignation just before absentee ballots were mailed. The next day Mayor London Breed said that she was appointing Loftus to the position of interim district attorney.

Loftus began the post October 19.

Suddenly, for some voters it was, as the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club termed it in a San Francisco Examiner opinion piece, “Chesa Boudin vs. The Machine.” The first open race for San Francisco district attorney in over a century became a microcosm of the struggle between progressives and moderates.

What was already a powder keg of a race exploded as angry protesters caused the news conference announcing Loftus’ appointment to be moved from Chinatown’s Portsmouth Square to a nearby dim sum restaurant, in an afternoon replete with confused reporters running up Chinatown streets and an angry youthful demonstrator rushing the stage inside the restaurant and shouting “anybody but Suzy.”

“I do believe I was the best person suited to step in and lead the office.

I’m not someone who made a political calculation about that,” Loftus

<<

Library

From page 1

The block of 16th Street between Pond and Prosper streets where the library is situated was renamed by the city after José Julio Sarria, a drag queen and gay man who was the first out LGBT person to run for political office when he sought a supervisor seat in 1961. The library branch’s address is 1 José Sarria Court.

It also houses a special LGBT book collection that numbers more than 1,000 titles. It is the only branch in the city’s library system that features such a collection.

“Our LGBT special collection is one of the largest at a branch library in the country,” said Crum-

<<

Facebook protests

From page 2

Facebook required individuals to use legal names while setting up accounts, a policy that many transgender people and drag performers found inappropriate.

After a September 17, 2014 meeting that included Sister Roma, Facebook decided not to change the policy but it did apologize to the LGBT community for the harm that was done and promised to change how the policy is enforced.

“We didn’t get everything we wanted, but the #MyNameIs team did have

January 2-8, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 11

said, referring to accepting the interim appointment. “I just stepped up to serve. I do think there was a political cost to it. You know, we’re in a deeply cynical time overall and a lot of folks were not comfortable with the timing and a lot of my opponents made an issue out of that, somewhat successfully.”

The San Francisco Police Officers Association fronted an all-out attack on Boudin’s candidacy, putting tens of thousands of dollars into a political action committee to oppose him, and calling him the favored candidate of criminals. The SFPOA did not endorse a candidate in the race.

On Election Day, November 5, Loftus held a slim lead. That disappeared as ranked choice ballots were counted. Four days later, Loftus lost the election in the third round of ranked-choice voting with 49.17% of the vote to Boudin’s 50.83%.

Gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who backed Loftus, was unsure whether Breed’s decision to appoint Loftus before the election hurt her at the polls.

“I don’t think we’ll ever know,” he told the B.A.R. in a recent interview. “There were benefits and detriments. There was a narrative that this was a backroom deal, which is completely false. The mayor had nothing to do with George Gascón’s decision to resign, which he did for his own reasons. Her job is to appoint the most qualified person and she had endorsed Suzy. It’s what a mayor is supposed to do.”

For his part, when asked if he thought the mayor’s decision to appoint Loftus hurt her, Boudin wrote in an email to the B.A.R., “the appointment both helped and hurt her campaign.”

Boudin will be the newest on a growing list of progressive prosecutors working to reform the criminal justice system, from Philadelphia to San Francisco.

Loftus pointed out that she started the interim DA job before the election and continued afterward.

“A lot of people after the campaign got to go rest or do something else,” Loftus said. “The reality of my life is I’m a mother of three anyway; the next day my kids were like ‘what’s for lunch?’”

Loftus quipped that come January 9, she will be in “an undisclosed location.”

Loftus said she hasn’t hired any new assistant district attorneys during her tenure, as she wants to give Boudin the chance to shape the office as he sees fit. Both Loftus and Boudin said that the transition is going smoothly.

But Loftus hasn’t been sitting on her hands. Shortly after taking office, she joined officials from multiple law enforcement agencies in announcing the creation of a task force – Operation Tangled Web – to tackle one of the city’s biggest criminal justice issues: auto burglaries.

“Law enforcement has to work more effectively together to go after the people who are repeat offenders,” Loftus said. “It really is taking a more organized approach to this crime and not just treating it as one-off car break-ins, but recognizing that it’s become a marketplace where people are making a lot of money off of stealing from us and we’ve got to disrupt that.”

Loftus said that San Francisco car break-ins are “a much more sophisticated operation than people realize” – a fact substantiated by a 2016 San Francisco Civil Grand Jury report, which stated that 80% of San Francisco car break-ins are the responsibility of gangs, but that police only made arrests in 2% of the cases.

Loftus said that after announcing Operation Tangled Web there was a decline in San Francisco car breakins but a slight up-tick in neighboring San Mateo County.

“There’s some data; it’s anecdotal, and it’s not a large amount, but there is a decision that gets made about where are [people] going to commit crime, and I think it is important for the district attorney-elect to have a strategy that ultimately prevents crime, right, by effectively partnering with law enforcement,” Loftus said.

Loftus has also aggressively been going after fencing – the practice of buying stolen goods to sell them for cash. She said that the intersection of Market and Seventh streets is a fencing epicenter.

“The police chief and I – a couple months into the job he told me that a Salvador Dalí painting was fenced in broad daylight,” Loftus said. “It has gotten to a brazen level and we have to continue to address this.

“If we’re really going to attack

property crime, we have to attack the marketplace, which is all these folks are doing it because they can convert it quickly into cash,” Loftus added. “That has to be the future of how we attack property crime. We have to do it at all levels.”

As part of the fencing crackdown, 30 search warrants have been executed throughout the Bay Area, but Loftus could not speak further on specifics due to the ongoing nature of the investigation.

On December 12, Loftus and law enforcement officials announced that $2 million in stolen property – including $750,000 in stolen retail clothing alone – had been discovered as the result of a multipleagency investigation into fishing, which included help from the California and United States departments of justice.

“It was like walking into a Target,” Loftus said. “But it was also stuff clearly in someone’s backpack or taken out of a car, and we’re going to try to get stuff back to folks.”

Loftus made a visit to the Castro Merchants meeting November 7, where she and community members discussed their concerns over quality-of-life and street crimes in the neighborhood.

“I think it’s really important that the DA’s office be a partner with the community to solve problems,” Loftus said. “I spent a lot of time with the Castro Merchants and Supervisor [Rafael] Mandelman and I brought the chief assistant from the DA’s office and a team of the neighborhood prosecutors because my whole thing is when you get outside of government you see how people are experiencing it.”

Mandelman, a gay man who represents District 8 on the Board of Supervisors, which includes the Castro, had endorsed Loftus in the race.

“I am grateful to Suzy for stepping in to the DA position on an interim basis,” Mandelman wrote in an email to the B.A.R. “She was available and accessible to my office and community, bringing senior staff to a meeting of the Castro Merchants in November to engage with neighborhood merchants and residents on the many public safety and quality of life challenges in the Castro.”

Wiener praised Loftus’ campaign.

“Suzy was a fantastic candidate

and supremely qualified for the job, but it was a tough field with four strong candidates,” he told the B.A.R. “This is perhaps the strongest candidate field I saw in any race in a long time, so it became really unpredictable. Suzy ran a great race. She was a great candidate, she should be proud of the race she ran, and she is a great community leader who isn’t going anywhere.”

Loftus said that Boudin understands, too, the importance of getting out in the community and drawing from it.

When asked what he approved of from Loftus’ tenure, he answered, “I support her focus on community prosecutors.”

packer, who was first hired by the city’s library system in February 2016 as a part-time adult services librarian at the Castro branch.

The branch is also looking to launch several other LGBTQ-related events and ongoing programs, noted deManda. It is aiming to host an event marking the International Transgender Day of Visibility, held annually March 31. Under discussion, added deManda, is offering a program for LGBTQ seniors interested in writing and a book club for teens and transitional age youth focused specifically on young adult LGBTQIAA+ authors/books.

The Castro branch is offering three quarterly program series in 2020. Its “Books & Bites” program will focus on the foods featured in

books, with the first event featuring culinary samples from the Harry Potter series. It will take place from 3 to 4 p.m. Saturday, January 11.

“Costumes are OK,” noted deManda, who said participants would be able to taste such culinary delights as scones and a special pumpkin juice brew.

The foods mentioned in “The Lord of the Rings” will be the focus of the July program and those in “The Godfather” in October. The April program will center on food cited in “Tales of the City” by gay author and former Castro resident Armistead Maupin, who now resides in London.

“We will have pizza from the Sausage Factory because characters go there in the book,” said deMan-

da, referring to the Italian restaurant that has long been a mainstay on Castro Street.

The branch’s second quarterly series is called “Accessibility at the Library” and is meant to highlight how people with various disabilities can find help in accessing the library system. Taking place in February, May, August, and November, the programs will feature how to digitally access the library’s holdings, its Talking Books and Braille Center, its deaf services center, and its library by mail option, said deManda.

The third quarterly series is called “Creative Arts” and will be an instructional program that can be expanded into a four-week session if patron interest demands it.

Drawing will be the focus in March, creative writing in June, yarn arts in September, and creative upcycling in December.

The city’s library system plans to debut a new website in January and is reminding users it no longer charges late fees and has canceled the fines that had been imposed in the past. Those looking for personal assistance on researching a topic can sign up for a 30-minute to a hourlong session with a librarian at the Castro branch library from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. the second and fourth Sunday of the month.

To do so, or to sign up for the branch’s monthly newsletter about its special events and ongoing programs, visit https://sfpl. org/?pg=0100002301.t

a great impact on Facebook’s understanding of queer and trans identity,” Sister Roma wrote. “As a direct result of our activism, Facebook implemented changes to the way a profile can be reported for having a ‘fake’ name. We also got them to add an appeals process that includes a provision for being LGBTQ – which was a huge accomplishment. People are still getting flagged and suspended but it’s much better.”

Sister Roma stopped short of endorsing the January 9 protests, but encouraged LGBT activism and involvement.

“I absolutely think that LGBT

people should support and participate in this protest – and any and all protests – that interest them,” Sister Roma wrote. “Our civil rights, our freedom, our very LIVES are at stake with every election, especially the one approaching in 2020.”

“The data dividend could either be distributed to the consumer directly or put into a fund that would then be redistributed to the working poor and middle class,” Canepa wrote in an email to the B.A.R. Thursday, December 26.

The idea of companies paying Americans a dividend on the money their data produces picked up steam in 2019, with Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang discussing it at length in the primary debates and Newsom himself endorsing the idea.

“It’s a lofty idea but when you look at Facebook being a 500 billion dollar company because it peddles in

our data, then I think some of that revenue should be given back to us,” Canepa said. “It’s like the oil dividend in Alaska.”

Canepa was also critical of Facebook’s policies as they relate to LGBTs. “I think Facebook needs to take a deep look at itself when it arbitrarily decides to deem LGBTQ-themed ads as political,” he said. “Transgender people are the most discriminated against group in America. They should be able to communicate on social media and have a sense of safety.”

Facebook and Newsom’s office did not respond to requests for comment as of press time.t

Fighting car break-ins

Data dividend

In a letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom Friday, December 20, District 5 San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa, a straight ally, said that companies that make money off the personal information of their users, like Facebook, should either “pay out” or users should “log out.”

Optimism

Loftus said she believes she brought stability and optimism to an office that was hemorrhaging during Gascón’s tenure. She said she rides a shuttle with the assistant district attorneys to the new, temporary DA’s office at 350 Rhode Island Street from the Hall of Justice at 850 Bryant Street.

She said she hopes her successor continues in that spirit of boosting office morale.

“When morale is low victims don’t get called back, you know, there’s a sense of kind of hopelessness,” Loftus said. “I really wish for the office that they get leadership that can inspire them to do what is incredibly important work. You know, there are victims and survivors and people who need this office to function and it is my hope that that would be a priority.”

Loftus said she does not have a job lined up for after she leaves the DA’s office. She is running for a seat on the San Francisco Democratic Party Central Committee, the elections for which coincide with the statewide primary March 3.

She said she is running for central committee because “history will ask all of us ‘what did you do?’” when people look back at the Trump era.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles County Democratic Party endorsed Gascón for the position of district attorney there in early December.

He announced his candidacy for Los Angeles DA shortly after resigning the position in San Francisco.

Breed did not respond to a request for comment for this story as of press time.t

<< International News

12 • Bay Area Reporter • January 2-8, 2020

Highs and lows marked 2019

by Heather Cassell

I

n 2019, global news affecting LGBTQs was filled with intense struggles and some big wins – from marriage equality to decriminalization to conversion therapy to politics.

There was time to celebrate.

New York hosted the world’s largest Pride event ever with millions of people from around the world descending on the Big Apple to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots and WorldPride.

Marriage equality

Taiwan became the first country in Asia to win marriage equality when the supreme court’s 2017 marriage equality ruling went into effect in May. The win brought out more than 200,000 people from around the world to celebrate at Taiwan Pride in Taipei in October.

Members of the United Kingdom’s parliament extended samesex marriage to Northern Ireland in July. The country’s first weddings began October 22. However, the win was bittersweet in Belfast, as the LGBT community mourned out journalist Lyra McKee, who was shot to death during a night of rioting in Londonderry in April in what authorities described as a terrorist incident.

Austria celebrated its first samesex wedding after marriage equality became legal at the beginning of 2019, but it came with a caveat: Viennese LGBT activists told the Bay Area Reporter in April that conservatives successfully inserted a clause in the law stating that binational couples can only be married if the foreign partner of an Austrian is a citizen of a country where same-sex marriage is legal.

Three country’s high courts ruled in favor of same-sex marriage – Bulgaria, Cayman Islands, and

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LGBT bills

From page 1

Wiener turned all three pieces of legislation into two-year bills.

During a recent editorial board meeting with the Bay Area Reporter, Wiener expressed confidence in seeing his legislative colleagues pass all three of the pending bills as he has been working to address the concerns lawmakers had raised about the various pieces of legislation.

In the case of his Senate Bill 132, the Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act, Wiener spent the fall visiting with inmates, both transgender and cisgender, at prisons in Southern California and the Bay Area to listen to their concerns about his legislation with the intent of fine-tuning it as it again faces legislative review.

The intent of the legislation, which Wiener first introduced in 2018 only to see it fail to advance out of the committee review process that year, is to allow incarcerated transgender people in California jails to be housed based on their gender identity, unless doing so puts their safety at risk. Currently, transgender female inmates are housed in men’s prisons, while transgender male inmates are housed in female prisons.

Despite estimates that it will result in “potentially major” costs for the state’s prison system, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is supportive of the bill and has worked closely with Wiener on its language. Also included in the bill would be a requirement that transgender inmates be referred to

Courtesy AP

People celebrate the passage of a same-sex marriage bill May 17 outside of Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan in Taipei.

Ecuador. Leaders in three countries – China, El Salvador, and the Philippines – said no to marriage equality.

India, which decriminalized homosexuality in 2018, also said no to same-sex marriage and family protections when the Delhi High Court dismissed a case in July.

Same-sex couples in Hong Kong also saw a setback in a marriage equality case. One judge ruled in favor of moving a same-sex marriage case forward at the beginning of the year, but in June another court upheld the ban on marriage equality.

The Congress of the Mexican state of Zacatecas narrowly voted 11-13, with two abstentions, against legalizing same-sex marriage in August. Additionally, the states of Yucatán and Sinaloa also voted down bills that would have come in line with Mexico’s Supreme Court decision in 2015 that legalized same-sex marriage throughout the country.

Despite the setbacks in the courts, binational couples successfully helped the cause of same-sex marriage rights in the Baltics. Two separate couples won landmark cases recognizing their marriages in Bulgaria and Lithuania, where there isn’t mar-

riage equality. The decision was in line with the June 2018 European Court of Justice ruling that said countries without same-sex marriage within the European Union must recognize marriages in other member states within the EU. A gay couple’s same-sex marriage case was backed by Chile’s supreme court in February. Chile legalized civil unions that grant same-sex couples the same rights as married heterosexual couples without the name “marriage” in 2015.

Some countries renewed or launched new marriage equality campaigns.

Czechia’s bid for same-sex marriage was backed by Prime Minister Andrej Babis on a conservative cable television station at the beginning of April. Babis’ endorsement gave a boost to the country’s marriage equality advocates for the “We Are Fair” (www.fairmarriage. org) marriage equality campaign.

At the time, marriage equality advocates were awaiting legislative action by parliament. They are still waiting. A bill remains stuck in parliament, which prompted outrage by LGBT activists in the Eastern European country and protests in September.

A lesbian couple led the charge challenging Peru’s national identification registry’s refusal to recognize their 2016 marriage in

by their preferred pronouns, gender, and name.

Wiener, along with state prison officials, advocates, and EQCA staff, met with inmates at the California Institution for Men in Chino and the California Institution for Women in nearby Corona. He also attended the Transgender Day of Remembrance event held by inmates at San Quentin State Prison in Marin County.

In general, Wiener said most of the transgender female inmates he met with “I think seem pretty interested in transferring” to a women’s prison. In talking with the transgender male inmates, “only a few,” he said, expressed a desire to be placed in a men’s prison.

Based on those conversations, Wiener said he doesn’t expect to make any significant changes to his legislation and only a few minor tweaks. With other legislative priorities eating up lawmakers’ time, the decision was made to hold off on the bill until 2020.

“We just said let’s hit the pause button and we’ll pass it next year,” explained Wiener in his December meeting with the B.A.R. Another bill that stalled in committee last summer was Wiener’s SB 145, LGBTQ Young People Nondiscrimination in the Sex Offender Registry. It would grant judges discretion to decide if a person should have to register as a sex offender if that person is within 10 years of age of a consensual sexual partner between the age of 14 and 17 and engages in oral or anal intercourse with the younger person. Under current law, the person would automatically be added to the state’s sex

offender registry.

The bill aims to include a “Romeo-Juliet” clause for gay and lesbian teenagers so they are treated similarly to their heterosexual counterparts. For example, it would prevent gay male adolescents from having to be listed on the state’s sex offender registry for sleeping with a boyfriend under the age of 18.

While an 18-year-old boy or girl who has sex with a 17-year-old partner could still be prosecuted for statutory rape, they would not need to register as a sex offender if convicted under Wiener’s bill. It stalled in the Assembly Appropriations Committee after the chair, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), expressed some concerns with the impacts of the bill on the youngest youth it covers and held it in her committee.

As the B.A.R. has previously reported, Gonzalez’s decision led to a rare rebuke from EQCA and cost her receiving a perfect score on its 2019 Legislative Scorecard. EQCA leaders had told the B.A.R. they were upset by her holding the bill because they were confident of seeing it be passed by the Assembly and then become law, as it had already passed out of the state Senate.

Wiener told the B.A.R. he has been working with Gonzalez’s office to address her concerns and expressed confidence that the bill would advance out of her committee this year.

Their talks are centered on how 14 and 15 year olds, for instance, would be treated under the bill.

“I think that she had some very specific concerns that are easily addressable. And I think, I think she just ran out of time,” Wiener said,

Miami. In April, the couple won a landmark victory in a local court that ruled authorities must treat the couple’s marriage as any other couple’s union, calling the refusal to do so discriminatory and unconstitutional.

Lesbians in Japan also kicked off the country’s legal battle for samesex marriage last January. The following month, they were joined by 13 LGBT couples in a legal challenge for marriage equality against the government.

In December, LGBT activists took to the streets of Bangkok after Thailand’s parliament failed to take action on the country’s civil unions bill all year.

Queer family wins and losses

Ana Brnabic, Serbia’s first out lesbian prime minister and the world’s first gay world leader to become a parent while in office, didn’t give a boost to queer families in her country. In August, Serbian officials responded to her new family by blocking future access to samesex couples forming families in the country.

Despite her position and being a new parent herself, she didn’t speak out against the officials’ move against same-sex families.

France, however, moved closer to making reproductive technologies available to single and queer women. In October, the country’s National Assembly overwhelmingly approved a controversial bill that will allow lesbians and single women to create families with reproductive assistance. The bill went to the Senate, where it is currently being debated. A vote on the bill is anticipated in January.t For an expanded version of this article, please visit ebar.com.

Got international LGBT news tips? Call or send them to Heather Cassell at WhatsApp: 415-5177239, or Skype: heather.cassell, or oitwnews@gmail.com.

chalking up the public dust-up about the bill after it was held last summer to a communications breakdown. “I think this is eminently fixable, and I am 100% confident that Lorena supports the bill and that she’s going to work with us.”

In light of fierce opposition from medical lobbying groups, Wiener last April tabled his SB 201 that would have banned medically unnecessary surgeries on intersex infants, allowing the individuals to make the decision themselves when they were older. Such individuals are born with both male and female genitalia and often undergo surgery shortly after birth to assign them to one gender.

Wiener told the B.A.R. that he is amending the bill so that the age of informed consent would be set at 6 years old. Doing so gives parents time, noted Wiener, to become educated about what intersex means and what the various options are for their child in terms of the medical interventions available to intersex individuals.

“By that age kids can express, you know, what they want. They know what they want to look like and they can express their gender,” explained Wiener.

The Senate’s business, professions and economic development committee has until January 24 to send it to the full Senate for a floor vote.

That chamber must pass it by January 31, sending it to the Assembly for approval, likely sometime this summer.

“We’re trying to work with this committee,” said Wiener. “I’m hoping we’ll be able to work it out.”t

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Legal Notices>> ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-555389

In the matter of the application of: ACHRAF EL KOUHEN, 1745 VALLEJO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner ACHRAF EL KOUHEN, is requesting that the name ACHRAF EL KOUHEN, be changed to ASHRAF HAROON KOHEN. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept.103N, Room 103N on the 14th of January 2020 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

DEC 12, 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038874800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: REBEL NEON, 1745 YOSEMITE AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed AMY PALMS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/20/19.

DEC 12, 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038895800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HIGH RISE FIRE SAFETY DIRECTORS, 2 TOWNSEND ST #2-403, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SHAWNA MICHELLE MORRISON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/06/19.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/06/19.

DEC 12, 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038894100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FORTUNATE HAPPENSTANCE, 830 HAYES ST #308, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed VINCENT PULITI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/05/19.

DEC 12, 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038892200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BLUE WARRIORS, 3145 GEARY BLVD #22, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed PEP CEARNAL. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/04/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/04/19.

DEC 12, 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038867600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BM REALTY, 2501 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed BROOKE MATTICE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/15/19.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/15/19.

DEC 12, 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038893500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LILY NAILS SPA, 1198 HYDE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LY THI DIEU NGUYEN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on12/05/19.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/05/19.

DEC 12, 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038876600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LIFSCHITZ LAW, 345 FRANKLIN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed LOELL, PC, (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/25/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/21/19.

DEC 12, 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038895700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: UNION SQUARE DENTAL, 450 SUTTER ST #2414, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed NAZANIN HAKIM DDS/MAHSA HAKIM DDS, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/06/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/06/19.

DEC 12, 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038886200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CARY LANE, 1615 HAIGHT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed CARY LANE INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/20/19.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/26/19.

DEC 12, 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038893400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GREEN LIFT, 2121 NEWCOMB AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BAY AREA GREEN CROSS DISPENSARY INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/12/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/05/19.

DEC 12, 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038890600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE STONE CLINIC, 3727 BUCHANAN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by a married couple, and is signed KEVIN R. STONE & SUSAN STONE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/01/99. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/03/19.

DEC 12, 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 2020

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Legals>>

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038890700

January 2-8, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 13

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038898100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE MENISCUS TRANSPLANT CENTER, 3727 BUCHANAN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by a married couple, and is signed KEVIN R. STONE & SUSAN STONE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/12.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/03/19.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CLOUD AND CROW GARDEN & APOTHECARY, 1322A NATOMA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103.

This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KATHRYN M. DELWICHE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/09/19.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/09/19.

DEC 12, 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038868900

DEC 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 09, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038896100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PRESTO INTERACTIVE OPERA, 32 WOOL ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed PRESTO INTERACTIVE OPERA (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/10/19.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/18/19.

DEC 12, 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 2020 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-037111200

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: TOPCUTS, 1642A IRVING ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122.

This business was conducted by an individual and signed by KAREN CHIU. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/24/16.

DEC 12, 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 2020 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-555458

In the matter of the application of: IULIIA SHMELEVA, C/O DAVID STERNFELD, LAW OFFICE OF DAVID STERNFELD, 420 THIRD ST #200, OAKLAND, CA 94607, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner IULIIA SHMELEVA, is requesting that the name IULIIA SHMELEVA, be changed to YULIA SHMELEVA. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept.103, Room 103 on the 28th of January 2020 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

DEC 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 09, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038905200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: D.W. GRAPHIC & SIGN CO., 1908 QUINT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DAVISSON ZOU. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/16/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/16/19.

DEC 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 09, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038899500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: AAA ARCHITECTURE, 150 HAIGHT ST #501, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed RANDOLPH R. RUIZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/31/10. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/10/19.

DEC 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 09, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038882100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: WERTHMAN INVESTIGATIONS, 4424 3RD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed NICHOLAS HOWELLS WERTHMAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/24/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/25/19.

DEC 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 09, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038888000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: YOUNTESS COMMUNICATION DESIGN, 1014 SHOTWELL ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ASHLEY ROSE YOUNT. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/27/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/27/19.

DEC 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 09, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038884600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MAD HANDYWOMAN, 501 AMAZON AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MARY ANN LORICO DESUYO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/26/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/26/19.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SAN FRANCISCO DOWNTOWN DENTAL STUDIO, 133 KEARNY ST #301, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108.

This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BAYSAC DENTAL GROUP SAN FRANCISCO 133 KEARNY PC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/17/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/06/19.

DEC 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 09, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038896000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: REJUVEDENT; REJUVADENT, 3580 CALIFORNIA ST, # 204, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BAYSAC DENTAL HEALTH 3580 CALIFORNIA PC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/17/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/06/19.

DEC 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 09, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038900500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: D + A TEAM, 1400 VAN NESS AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed THE DALE + ALLA TEAM (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/12/19.

DEC 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 09, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038896700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SANFRANCISCOTIM.COM; BARBARY COAST PRESS, 1575 BAYSHORE BLVD #2158, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a married couple, and is signed TIMOTHY P. KEEFE & ELIZABETH L. BOWERMAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/24/97.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/09/19.

DEC 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 09, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038901400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE HIGHER CONSCIOUSNESS, 1597 HAIGHT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed MJ UNLIMITED LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/21/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/12/19.

DEC 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 09, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038890000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HOLLYWOOD BEAUTY THREADING, 2859A MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed HOLLYWOOD BEAUTY THREADING LLC (CA).

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/02/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/02/19.

DEC 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 09, 2020 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-038720500

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: LEDA COHORT 5 FUND, 773 TEHAMA ST #1, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by VINCENT CASTANEDA. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/15/19.

DEC 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 09, 2020 BURK CHUNG FOUNDATION

The Annual Report of the Burk Chung Foundation, 465 Clementina Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 is available at the Foundation’s office for inspection during regular business hours. Copies of the Annual Report have been furnished to the Attorney General of the State of California. Burk Chung, Trustee. Fiscal year ended November 30, 2019.

DEC 26, 2019, JAN 02, 09, 16, 2020 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-555465

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SIMPLE MARKETING CONSULTING, 501 AMAZON AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LUZ ROMERO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/26/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/26/19.

In the matter of the application of: VICTORIA JEAN MCGOOGAN, 2209 GOUGH ST #2, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner VICTORIA JEAN MCGOOGAN, is requesting that the name VICTORIA JEAN MCGOOGAN, be changed to VICTORIA JEAN PHILLIPS. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept.103, Room 103 on the 30th of January 2020 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

DEC 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 09, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038884900

DEC 26, 2019, JAN 02, 09, 16, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038910800

DEC 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 09, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038884700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE SCHOOL OF MUSIC AND MAGIC, 779 23RD AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JULIA HAY SYMINGTON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/26/10. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/26/19.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SOLENTSA, 12 AVALON AVE #9, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed OLAYINKA SYLVIA NGUESSAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/20/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/20/19.

DEC 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 09, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038897900

DEC 26, 2019, JAN 02, 09, 16, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038903000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GOLDEN BEAUTY SALON, 494 EDDY ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SANDRA ADELA RODRIGUEZ VERA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/09/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/09/19.

DEC 19, 26, 2019; JAN 02, 09, 2020

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: X2 GREEN CARPET, 101 CALIFORNIA ST #2710, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94111. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed WILLIAM LEE CAMPERS & KIT SHUM. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/13/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/13/19.

DEC 26, 2019, JAN 02, 09, 16, 2020

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038906500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LA FLEUR DISTRIBUTION; MERCURY DIME DELIVERY; SAVVAGE DELIVERY, 1555 YOSEMITE AVE #1C, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed BIG C ENTERPRISES LLC (NV). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/17/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/17/19.

DEC 26, 2019, JAN 02, 09, 16, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038903300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: OPEN WIDE SAN FRANCISCO; OPEN WIDE; OPEN WIDE DENTAL, 1196 VALENCIA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by corporation, and is signed JANA SABO DDS INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/09/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/13/19.

DEC 26, 2019, JAN 02, 09, 16, 2020 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-555481

In the matter of the application of: CORBIN JEFFREY SIPOS, 2460 VAN NESS AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner CORBIN JEFFREY SIPOS, is requesting that the name CORBIN JEFFREY SIPOS, be changed to CORBIN ELLIOT. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept.103, on the 6th of February 2020 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

JAN 02, 09, 16, 23, 2020 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-555480

In the matter of the application of: EUGENE ANSON VAUGHAN & JENNIFER LUAN, 815 30TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner EUGENE ANSON VAUGHAN & JENNIFER LUAN, is requesting that the name DYLAN LUAN VAUGHAN, be changed to AYDEN LUAN VAUGHAN. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N, Room 103N on the 6th of February 2020 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

Outreach January 2020 Engage with the Port of San Francisco regarding waterfront resilience.

Join the Port for a 1.5 hour walking tour on January 11 around Islais Creek to learn more about the neighborhood history and ecology as well as the City’s work to mitigate and adapt to sea level rise. Meet at 10:00am at Islais Creek Promenade, located at 1698 Indiana Street. Additionally, the Port, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and other City partners are hosting an upcoming community meeting on January 30 from 5:30pm-7:00pm located at the Southeast Community Facility at 1800 Oakdale Avenue to encourage engagement on coordinated resilience projects in the Islais Creek/Bayview neighborhoods. Join the Port and the Exploratorium in the northern waterfront for a Royal Walk with the King Tide on January 10 from 10:00-11:00am and January 11 from 10:45-11:45, located between Piers 3 and 5. Stay engaged at sfportresilience.com!

APPLY TO BECOME A CENSUS TAKER! Every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau is responsible for conducting the nationwide census. The Census Bureau is recruiting now to fill important temporary positions in San Francisco with great pay ($30/hour) and flexible hours for Spring 2020. You do not have to be a US citizen to apply.

Be a Census Taker and make a difference in your community! Apply online NOW at 2020census.gov/jobs.

GET THE SALARY AND BENEFITS YOU DESERVE. Learn to identify your value, how to conduct objective market research and develop persuasive strategies with AAUW Work Smart Salary Negotiation Workshops presented by the FRIENDS of the Commission on the Status of Women, in partnership with the Commission/Department on the Status of Women. Take the FREE and self-paced e-course at friendscosw.org/online or register for an inperson workshop at friendscosw.org/equalpay. For more information, call 415.779.6636 Make a Difference, Become a Literacy Volunteer Half of San Francisco’s 3rd and 4th graders are not reading at grade level.

By volunteering to tutor through the Library’s award-winning FOG Readers program, you can help students in grades 1-4 increase their confidence and gain a half a grade level within the first three months. Currently, there are over 300 children waiting for a volunteer to help change their lives. For more information, visit sfpl.org/fog. To get started, email readers@sfpl.org.

Child support matters can be complicated, stressful, and confusing. The Department of Child Support Services helps parents understand the process so they know their rights and options for making and receiving support payments. Call us today at (866) 901-3212 or visit our office at 617 Mission Street to learn how we can help you. Information is also available online at www.sfgov.org/dcss.

The City and County of San Francisco encourage public outreach. Articles are translated into several languages to provide better public access. The newspaper makes every effort to translate the articles of general interest correctly. No liability is assumed by the City and County of San Francisco or the newspapers for errors and omissions.

CNS-3324662#

NOTICE OF ENTRY OF JUDGMENT ON SISTER-STATE JUDGMENT Case No. RG18909704 Alameda County Superior Court 1225 Fallon St. Oakland, CA 94612 Rene C. Davidson Courthouse

JAN 02, 09, 16, 23, 2020 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-555475

In the matter of the application of: MARGARET MINKYUNG AHN, 25 RUSS ST #2, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner MARGARET MINKYUNG AHN, is requesting that the name MARGARET MINKYUNG AHN, be changed to SARAH JIWON DEMARGARET AHN. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept.103N, Room 103N on the 4th of February 2020 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

JAN 02, 09, 16, 23, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038912200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HAPPY CHILD CARE, 2649 YORBA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed XIAO-JUAN LI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/23/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/23/19 JAN 02, 09, 16, 23, 2020 _____________________________

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038913800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: JMO ELECTRIC INC, 326 POMELO AVE, LOS BANOS, CA 93635. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed JMO ELECTRIC INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/23/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/23/19.

JAN 02, 09, 16, 23, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038912400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PART & PARCEL, 649 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed 67 VENTURES, INC (DE).

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/25/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/23/19.

JAN 02, 09, 16, 23, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038911800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CARMELINA’S TAQUERIA, 500 PARNASSUS AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94143. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SUGAR JONES INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/02/02. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/23/19.

JAN 02, 09, 16, 23, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038912700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TACOREA, 620 BROADWAY, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed TACOREA NOBE LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/23/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/23/19.

Plaintiff: Tapestry on Central Condominium Association Defendant: Dean Arbit 1. TO JUDGMENT DEBTOR: Dean Arbit 2. YOU ARE NOTIFIED a. Upon application of the judgment creditor, a judgment against you has been entered in this court as follows: (1) Judgment creditor: Tapestry on Central Condominium Association (2) Amount of judgment entered in this court: $15,034.81 b. This judgment was entered based upon a sister-state judgment previously entered against you as follows: (1) Sister state: Arizona (2) Sister-state court: Encanto Justice Court, 620 W. Jackson, Phoenix, AZ 85003; transferred to Maricopa County Superior Court, 125 W. Washington, Phoenix, AZ 85003 (3) Judgment entered in sister state on: August 5, 2013 (4) Title of case and case number: Tapestry on Central Condominium Association v. Dean Arbit and Jane Doe Arbit, CC2012-127983; TJ2014-000891 3. A sister-state judgment has been entered against you in a California Court. Unless you file a motion to vacate the judgment in this court within 30 DAYS after service of this notice, this judgment will be final.

This court may order that a writ of execution or other enforcement may issue. Your wages, money, and property could be taken without further warning from the court.

If enforcement procedures have already been issued, the property levied on will not be distributed until 30 days after you are served with this notice.

Date: June 18, 2018 by: S/Erica Romero, Deputy

NOTICE TO THE PERSON SERVED: You are served as an individual judgment debtor.

B. Austin Baillio, Esq. (SBN 247535) Maxwell & Morgan, P.C. 4854 East Baseline Rd., Suite 104 Mesa, Arizona 85206 Telephone No: 480-833-1001 Attorney for: Tapestry on Central Condominium Association 1/2, 1/9, 1/16, 1/23/20 CNS-3326425# BAY AREA REPORTER

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16

Star dancers

17

Music 2019

Gay Jesus

Survival lit

Vol. 50 • No. 1 • January 2-8, 2020

www.ebar.com/arts

Nickolas Muray Photo Archives, courtesy FAMSF

ebar.com

ebar.com

Looking ahead: 2020 in Bay Area art museums

by Sura Wood

T

ilda Swinton is coming. Well, not exactly in the flesh, but the gifted chameleon will arrive Feb. 7 at McEvoy Foundation for the Arts in the form of “Orlando,” a gallery show the actress curated that riffs on the themes of Virginia Woolf ’s 1928 novel of the same name. (Through May 2.)

See page 16 >>

Nickolas Muray, “Frida with Olmeca Figurine, Coyoacán” (1939), color carbon print.

Steven Arnold

Celebrating the Cockettes!

by David-Elijah Nahmod

T

he Cockettes were a legendary avant-garde theater group who struck a chord with audiences during the early 1970s. Founded in 1969, the Cockettes were based in the Haight Ashbury.

Kreemah Ritz and Hibiscus, from “Luminous Procurusses,” 1970

See page 17 >>

{ SECOND OF THREE SECTIONS }

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Out There>>

January 2-8, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 15

Masterpiece theatre

Courtesy AAM

Buddha, dated 338, from Hebei province, China, Later Zhao kingdom (319-351), reinstalled at the Asian Art Museum.

by Roberto Friedman

I

t’s a brand-new year, and the Asian Art Museum is right in the moment by unveiling its completely transformed collection galleries with new installations, and 15 “reimagined masterpieces” redesigned with new interpretative elements and digital tools on its second & third floors.

The masterworks, which AAM Di-

rector Jay Xu calls the museum’s “treasure house” of artworks from Persia and West Asia, South and Southeast Asia, the Himalayas, China, Japan and Korea, are newly displayed with more conducive lighting, resurfaced floors, and new labels describing the artifacts. The improvements are more than cosmetic.

The museum director and curators have chosen 15 of the most significant works in

their collection, and highlighted them in new displays that put them in context, and show you the route that they took from creation to curation. New videos, handheld placards and interactive digital screens help fill us in on religious, historical and cultural cues.

For example, a ritual vessel in the shape of a rhinoceros, unearthed in Shouzhang, Shandong province in Ancient China (1100-1050 BCE), is so rare in subject matter and condition that it gets its own inthe-round display case, made of seamless, glare-resistant glass, and ample seating around it. Even an Asian Art novice can see that it’s a significant piece.

These 15 rare, beautiful and significant works, resplendent in the newly remodeled galleries, are just a harbinger of big changes coming to the AAM on the heels of reaching the $100 million mark in its capital campaign. The powerhouse fundraising is setting up the museum’s April 2020 unveiling of the big new Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang Pavilion and a new East West Bank Art Terrace, additions to the building that will greatly increase the space for contemporary installations, school groups and the visitor experience. Stay tuned for announcements of opening events and celebrations.

Masterpieces taking center stage are now on view.t

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Gay in cancel culture

by Jim Piechota Do You Mind If I Cancel? by Gary Janetti; Flatiron Books, $27.99

A

uthor Gary Janetti’s list of accomplishments includes executive producer (“Will & Grace”) and television writer (“Family Guy”), and includes minor fame through a series of memes about the Royal Family on Instagram, particularly nailing the lives of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.

He cleverly channels his Hollywood entertainment acumen into “Do You Mind If I Cancel?,” a new collection of personal essays, some truly hilarious, some wincingly selfdeprecating. reflecting back on his childhood, his coming out process, and those little pet peeves that bug the heck out of all of us.

Pieces on his childhood reflect on

the rampant teasing the author had to endure after representing his gayness from an early age. An obsession with Cher solidified any doubts in his mind, yet even so, Janetti didn’t truly come to terms with his identity until he was late into his teen years and “was finally born.”

Elsewhere, he comments hilariously on the horrors of applying for a job, his fantasized tenure in the Peace Corp (he refused to give them a two-year commitment at age 22), his stressfilled days working as a waiter at Bennigan’s Irish pub-themed chain restaurant, and an overly generous cashier at Waldbaum’s supermarket.

Much of the book’s humorous content comes in essays about how Janetti either laments or celebrates the technological differences between the early days of the Internet and its contemporary digital takeover. “I wish to God I were a millennial,” he writes. “I’d be so good at it. Better than these shitty ones. I wouldn’t be wasting my time being offended by every little thing or promoting positive body images or getting involved in politics. I’d be avoiding people. I’d be working from home. I’d be watching TV on my laptop. They don’t know the nightmare it was to actually have to talk to people all the time.”

He comments about his husband, celebrity fashion stylist Brad Goreski, and their life together, but more on his current life would have drawn the reader in closer for a more personal glance instead of random vignettes. Maybe another memoir is in the pipeline.

On the web

This week, find Tim Pfaff’s review of novelist Tash Aw’s “We, the Survivors,” Jim Gladstone’s review of “Becky Nurse of Salem” and Victoria A. Brownworth’s Lavender Tube column, “Welcome to the Tabula Rasa 2020s!” online at www.ebar.com.

There are a few clunkers in the mix. Some of the stronger essays aren’t satirical at all, but introspective. They delve deeper into Janetti as a gay man, a doting husband, and a thoughtful writer, as in the essay “Letter to My Younger Self.” In this moving piece, Janetti’s advice to his boy-self is applicable to anyone reading: “Don’t go into debt over clothes. Hug your dogs while you have them. Know that you can skip most anything. You will fall in love eventually. Remember that.”

Fans of David Sedaris’ brand of wry humor should find much to savor in this collection of life observances and universally felt annoyances.t

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<< Film

16 • Bay Area Reporter • January 2-8, 2020

Cunningham, dancing through time

by David Lamble

D

irector Alla Kovgan’s captivating bio-doc “Cunningham” (1919-2009) provides a hypnotic view of the fabled gay star dancer/ teacher Merce Cunningham’s choreography, timed to coincide with his 100th birthday. Filmed in B&W, sepia, and gorgeous full color, the movie, partially narrated by Cunningham himself, includes witty references to his personal and professional relationship with the avant-garde composer John Cage.

“Cunningham” follows the innovative Cunningham’s artistic evolution over three decades of taking chances (1944-72), from his youth as an aspiring dancer in postwar New York to his eventual triumph as one of the world’s most visionary choreographers. The filmmakers use 3D technology to weave together his philosophies and stories, resulting in an exciting journey into a breathtaking explosion of dance, music, and never-beforeseen archival material. Among the highlights are Cunningham’s 1964

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European tour through Germany and France, and an acclaimed series of performances in London.

Cunningham was famously loath to claim the avant-garde label for his work, comparable with visual giants such as Andy Warhol. He said, “I don’t describe it, I do it.”

“I never believed the idea that dancing was the greatest of the arts,” he said. “There are too many low things in it, too much sweat and low labor. But when it clicks, it becomes memorable, and one can be seduced all over again.”

“Cunningham” should not be missed by devotees of modern dance and its crucial role in shaping the aesthetic sensibilities of generations eager to abandon older biases against feminine displays by men. The film documents the early years of Merce’s company, when the dancers would crowd together in a beat-up VW bus, sharing the rigors of the road and allowing a vast rural audience to partake of the pleasures of free movement without judgment or prejudice.

Opens Friday.t

Magnolia Pictures

Scene from director Alla Kovgan’s “Cunningham,” about avant-garde choreographer Merce Cunningham.

2020 Art Museums

From page 14

Swinton portrayed the book’s main character, an Elizabethan nobleman endowed with eternal youth who moves through several centuries of misogynistic British history, switching genders at will, in Sally Potter’s memorable 1992 film adaptation.

You can catch it at the Roxie, Feb. 25.

The other big news of a year packed with a surfeit of retrospective exhibitions is the transformed Asian Art Museum, whose grand opening is slated for May. Its new multimillion-dollar incarnation boasts an 8,500 sq. ft. pavilion, a 7,500 sq. ft. art terrace and refurbished galleries.

SFAI’s Main Gallery/Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture: “To Be Real,” an installation that takes its title from Cheryl Lynn’s 1970s anthem, showcases the dynamic, eye-popping oeuvre of queer artist Rashaad Newsome. Newsome creates opulent, mind-blowing collages, sculptures and videos that pull from disparate sources, from advertising, the Internet and AI to African art, haute couture, black and queer cultures and ballroom divas with attitude to burn. (Jan. 10Feb. 23) Two of his videos, inspired

by Harlem’s queer ballroom scene, are also on view in Newsome’s solo exhibition at MoAD through March

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“They All Wear Levi’s,” advertisement for overalls, 1930s, coming to the CJM-SF.

1. “Mary Lovelace O’Neal,” also at MoAD, illuminates the story of the 77-year-old African American teacher, activist and abstract painter.

(March 25-Aug. 23) Legion of Honor: “Last Supper in Pompeii: From the Table to the Grave” As residents of the ill-fated city fled the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, they were caught in frantic flight, their remains preserved for posterity in ash on what is now an archaeological site. No one who visited there will forget the horror reflected in their frozen, contorted postures, petrified at the moment they met their deaths. Focusing on their worldly pleasure in food and wine, the show includes an assortment of objects, Roman sculpture, mosaics, frescoes and household goods. (April 18-Aug. 30) de Young Museum: “Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be Deceiving” 90 years after she first visited San Francisco with her husband Diego Rivera, Kahlo returns in the context of an exhibition consisting of personal items, photographs, jewelry and handpainted corsets bearing memories of pain, along with a selection of paintings and drawings. The show lends insight into how gender, politics, physical trauma and sexual identity shaped her creativity (March 21-July 26); “Judy Chicago: A Retrospective” A pioneering, boundary-breaking artist and driving force behind the1970s feminist art movement, Chicago gets her first retrospective. Featuring over 150 paintings, performance-artbased works and prints, the exhibition surveys her career from early involvement with the 1960s California Light and Space Movement to current work that addresses

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mortality and the ravaged environment. (May 9-Sept. 6) Contemporary Jewish Museum: “Levi Strauss: A History of American Style,” drawn from the archives of the homegrown Levi Strauss & Co., tells us everything we ever wanted to know about the blue jean, which has become the uniform adopted by youth culture worldwide. Starting with its birth and the life of the company’s founder, it charts its trajectory from clothing of choice for blue-collar laborers to the runway. Among the treats: a suit that once belonged to Lauren Bacall, and a jacket worn by none other than Albert Einstein. I always knew we had something in common. (Feb. 13-Aug. 23); “Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything” has the distinction of being the first show exclusively dedicated to the legacy of the late great Canadian singer-songwriter. (Sept. 17-Jan. 24) SFMOMA: “Dawoud Bey: An American Project” is a well-deserved, comprehensive retrospective of this remarkable photographer’s career.

An empathetic portraitist, capturing his black subjects out on the street and in his studio, Bey has consistently trained his eye on marginalized communities and underrepresented histories largely ignored by the art world. (Feb. 15-May 25); “David Park: A Retrospective.” In his late 30s, Park rejected Abstract Expressionism and embraced figuration, a fateful decision that sparked the development of Bay Area Figurative Art. Those splendid 1950s canvases with which he’s most identified, that were executed at the height of his powers, constitute the core of a SFMOMAorganized show exploring the full arc of his career (April 11-Sept. 7); “Diego Rivera’s America” offers an

in-depth, critical examination of one of the most socio-politically conscious, ambitious artists of the last century, with an emphasis on the relationship between his murals and studio work, from the 1920s through the 40s. (Oct. 24-Jan. 31)

BAMPFA: “Ron Nagle: Handsome Drifter” Known for his unique, miniature sculptures, Nagle is a devilishly original customer.

Characterized by mischievous humor and alluding to Modernism, Surrealism, Pop Art, Philip Guston, the Japanese tea ceremony and Krazy Kat, his luminously colorful, sometimes funky sculptural objects, which begin life as doodles, punch above their weight. Nagle opines that he’s “just as moved by seeing a 1934 DeSoto Airflow or listening to the Kinks” as he is by “most things in a museum.” (Jan 15- June 14); “Rosie Lee Tompkins: A Retrospective” shows off the output of the celebrated, exceptionally inventive quiltmaker in her largest exhibition to date. Nee Effie Mae Howard in Arkansas, the deeply religious Tompkins, who would later incorporate embroidery and patches of faux fur, velvet and glittery materials into her compositions, learned the craft at her mother’s knee, but didn’t begin her distinctive practice in earnest until she moved to the Bay Area in the 1980s. (Feb. 19-July 19)t

Courtesy the artist and 303 Gallery, New York

Collier Schorr, “Untitled (Casil)” (2015-18), part of “Orlando,” coming to the McEvoy Foundation for the Arts.

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Music>>

January 2-8, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 17

Bay Area music, the year in review

Randy Beach

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale Music Director Nicholas McGegan.

by Philip Campbell

T

hree years into a slash-and-burn administration, American institutions are being decimated with brute force and ignorance. It may be cold comfort that the arts seem relatively under the radar, but they have also been historically besieged. As we head into the new year, thoughts turn to Bay Area musical groups, leaders, and performers who manage to survive against the odds.

Two guiding lights of historic San Francisco organizations retire in 2020. Nicholas McGegan, treasured Music Director of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale, marks the final year of his 34-year tenure with a full schedule. Called “Reflections,” his farewell season sums up an amazing career, with music from Baroque to Classical and Romantic, and a commission

by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw.

McGegan conducted lush performances of Handel’s oratorio “Judas Maccabaeus” in December

with popular tenor Nicholas Phan in the title role and pitch-perfect contributions from soloists, including mezzo-soprano/contralto Sara Couden as a memorable “Israelitish Man.” Her outstanding voice and presence added vibrant life to a neglected masterpiece. The concert also offered a delightful holiday alternative to that other Handel oratorio.

Two fully staged productions of Baroque operas are coming next year, Handel’s “Aci, Galatea e Polifemo,” Jan. 22-Feb. 1; and Leclair’s “Scylla et Glaucus,” April 15-19.

McGegan’s infectious enthusiasm and praised expertise explain his cheerful longevity. He leaves an indelible mark on a solid San Francisco institution.

Enduring star Michael Tilson Thomas is another example of lifelong dedication. Scholar and teacher, performer, raconteur, and brilliant showman, MTT has given an amazing 25 years to the San Francisco Symphony and the city he has entirely embraced.

David Wilson

Scrumbly Koldewyn and Russell Blackwood.

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Cockettes

From page 14

They celebrated queer culture by incorporating elements of silent film, Hollywood of the 1930s and 40s, and Broadway musicals into original shows performed in surreal, over-the-top drag. The troupe quickly gathered an underground following, gaining mainstream exposure soon after. They were considered to be pioneers of San Francisco counterculture.

The Cockettes will be celebrated at the Victoria Theater on Jan. 4 when “Cockettes Are Golden: A 50th Anniversary Celebration” takes to the stage. The show will feature opulent recreations of Cockettes musical numbers, with

commentary offered by original members of the troupe, who will be there in person. The evening will be emceed by Russell Blackwood, founder of the Cockettes-inspired theater group Thrillpeddlers, which disbanded a few years ago.

Original Cockette Scrumbly Koldewyn will be on hand to provide musical direction.

“The audience went crazy for us,” Koldewyn recalled of the Cockettes’ early days. “Though we were basically only dancing freely and showing ourselves off. A couple of months later, the audience had grown from 300 to 1,200+. Somehow we were never surprised, but felt it was a really fun ride that might be over at any point.”

Koldewyn wore more than one

Married to old high school friend Joshua Robison, he has made their winning partnership an endearing local celebrity-sighting. With award-winning recordings, festivals, tours, the “Mahler Project,” and innovative semi-staged productions, he has made an international name for our great American orchestra.

Striding down the aisle of Davies Symphony Hall to take the podium for his final opening night last September, he personified the elegance and excitement of the SFS. We will miss his electrifying presence, but always be grateful for the fabulous legacy.

Younger institutions are establishing their own traditions, too, and promising artists are waiting in the wings to keep Northern California a haven for music. 2019 offered especially strong examples.

Aptly named West Edge Opera is known for bold repertoire, innovative stagings, and offbeat performance venues. The festival faltered slightly last summer in two admirable but disappointing operas hat during the troupe’s shows.

“I was both performer and musician at the piano and on stage until we found other people to play piano for us,” he said. “Peter Mintun was with us the longest. I always had a solo and often a duet with Kreemah, Jeanette McDonaldNelson Eddy style.”

Koldewyn offered his own take on what it was the Cockettes did.

“We were like gentle punkrockers in that what we did on stage was not the usual talented, polished performances seen in live theater,” he said. “What we had to say was poetic, artistic in a raw way, but it spoke to the audiences. They attached deep meaning to all we did, the way Beatles fans always speculated on the meaning of their lyrics. And our punk aesthetic was celebratory, celebrating gender- and sexual-role confusion and blending, glitter and sequins, classic movies, tearing down icons, showing our bodies, loving life.”

B.A.R. asked Koldewyn why he thinks the Cockettes resonated with so many people of that time.

“Who knows?” he replied. “We were in the right place at the right time. Hippie movements were ending, and young people needed a new thing to energize them and bring them together to rally around and find more kindred spirits.”

“Cockettes Are Golden” is being produced by local entrepreneur Dan Karkoska, who offers his take on why the troupe still touches a nerve today.

“In 1969 we were in a war we didn’t want to be in, and we were being bullied by an administration that didn’t seem to care,” Karkoska said. “Gays and women were

before ending with a triumphant “Breaking the Waves.” Composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek’s profoundly strange and layered love story, based on the film

by Lars von Trier, moved dramatically with West Edge General Director Mark Streshinsky’s powerful economy of means. Music Director Jonathan Khuner conducted an excellent ensemble headed by soprano Sara LeMesh and baritone Robert Wesley Mason. They grabbed the audience by the throat and didn’t let go until the shattering climax.

LeMesh’s tour de force performance validated growing critical awareness of her impressive talent.

Bard Music West has previously featured her in solo appearances.

The enterprising California offshoot project of Bard Music Festival in New York’s Hudson Valley, the festival has explored the life, influences, and music of a single composer annually since 2017. “The World

National Digital Archives of Poland

Bard Music West presented “The World of Grazyna Bacewicz” at Noe Valley Ministry.

marching for their rights. Sound familiar? The Cockettes went to war against the norms through art and self-expression. They defied the status quo and lived their way through peace, drugs, sex, art and theater. Also, their song-crafting is so strong. The songs are so wellwritten, with catchy lyrics and beautiful melodies. Then you listen to some of the songs, and they are so dirty and delicious. No matter how hard they partied, took drugs and had free sex, they were talented and created some truly memorable songs and shows.”

Drag was never the same after the Cockettes, according to Karkoska.

“Before that, it was looking like a lady, and sometimes going to jail for it,” he said. “In the late 1960s mores had relaxed, but doing drag was still pretty edgy. They shopped at thrift stores for all these amazing 1930s clothes nobody wanted and made their own fashions.

They were so cool, John Waters, Mink Stole and Divine all traveled to San Francisco to be part of the scene. The scene was the legendary, Haight Ashbury-hippie Summer of Love acid scene. They created beautiful anarchy.”

of Grazyna Bacewicz” at Noe Valley Ministry in San Francisco expanded the formula, adding a narrative element in three emceed shows presenting a fascinating portrait of a unique and neglected composer.

Pianist Allegra Chapman, CoArtistic Director and Executive Director of BMW, and cellist Laura Gaynon, Co-Artistic Director and Associate Director, came upon the music of Grazyna Bacewicz (190969) during a trip to Poland. They researched her life, music, and contemporaries, and determined to share their discovery with San Francisco listeners. The results produced some of the most important concerts of 2019. Notable for celebrating a major female composer deserving wider currency, but also for showcasing young, proficient performers, “The World of Grazyna Bacewicz” was mind-expanding.

There was a wealth of fresh talent also on display throughout Merola Opera Program’s season, and the concluding Adler Fellows Concert (former Merolini) “The Future is Now 2019” at Herbst Theatre offered an exceptional roster of gifted rising stars. The undisputed standout was countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen. Immediately recognized as a young man who is going places, Cohen was ready for his close-up from the get-go, and his thrilling performances at Philharmonia Baroque and the San Francisco Opera proved his confidence and the strength of his beautiful voice.

I guarantee you will be hearing more from bass-baritone Christian Pursell and mezzo-soprano Ashley Dixon, too. For early star sightings, there is nothing more reliable than an Adler Fellows concert.

Things are on a forward motion in a big way at SFO with the exciting appointment of Eun Sun Kim, Caroline H. Hume Music Director Designate.t

Karkoska noted that 1969, the year the Cockettes were founded, was also the year that the gay revolution began with the Stonewall Riots.

“The Cockettes embraced the revolution and led the charge by using the arts,” he said. “They define the ideal freedom of that era, sex, drugs and rock-and-roll. They were punk before punk. They were not gay only, they were gender-queer, so on that level they were way ahead of their time.”

Karkoska described the Jan. 4 show as featuring Cockettes musical numbers performed by members of Thrillpeddlers. There will be movie clips, surprise guest performers, and recognition from the state, city, and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

He promises a night of nostalgia, celebration and community. “San Francisco may not be the same town it once was before the tech revolution, but the artistic heart of this city is still beating and creating.”t Cockettes Are Golden: A 50th Anniversary Celebration, Sat., Jan. 4, 8 p.m. Victoria Theater, 2961 16th St., SF. Tickets ($30-$50): www.brownpapertickets.com/ event/4428310

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Leather www.ebar.com

Shining Stars Vol. 50 • No. 1 • January 2-8, 2020

Arts Events January 2-9, 2020

Let’s kick off 2020 with some new and classic arts events. Make a resolution to soak up more culture.

Fri 3

Eric McCracken @ Strut

Listings start on page 19 >

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January 2-8, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 19

LGBTQ Histories from the WWII Home Front @ Rosie the Riveter Visitor Education Center, Richmond

Lois Tema

t

Arts Events>>

Park indoor exhibit that showcases the lives of historic LGBT people.

Open daily 10am-5pm. 1414 Harbour Way South, Suite 3000, Richmond. www.nps.gov/rori/index.htm

Modern Art Exhibits @ SF MOMA

Sat 4

Head Over Heels @ NCTC

Soft Power, a new exhibit of 20 artists, 12 countries, 58 new works. The Chronicles of San Francisco, photo-muralist JR’s interactive community giant group portrait; also, Don’t! Photography and the Art of Mistakes ; Far Out: Suits, Habs, and Labs for Outer Space ; other exhibits of Modern art. Free/$25. Fri-Tue 10am-5pm; Thu 10am-9pm. 151 3rd St. www.sfmoma.org

Other Cinema @ ATA Gallery

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

Harry Potter and The Cursed Child @ Curran Theater

Thu 2

The West Coast premiere of the acclaimed two-part play about Harry Potter’s son, and his time-traveling misadventures at Hogwarts, includes amazing special effects. Same-day and subsequent night tickets available. $59-$300.

Thru July 12, 2020. 445 Geary St. www.harrypottertheplay.com

Beyond the Rainbow: Building Queer Symbologies @ GLBT History Museum Presentation and workshop exploring the history of LGTQ symbols, including Gilbert Baker’s rainbow flag. $5. 7pm. Also, Performance, Protest & Politics: Gilbert Baker’s Art, an exhibit of the works and ephemera by and about the creator of the Rainbow Flag. $5.

4127 18th St. www.glbthistory.org

Groundhog Day the Musical @ SF Playhouse

Strange @ BAM/PFA Strange, a Surrealist-inspired group exhibit of works by Goya, Magritte, Cindy Sherman, Jack Smith, and many others, thru Jan 5. Film screenings, too. 2155 Center St., Berkeley. www.bampfa.org

Classic and New Films @ Castro Theatre

Survival Architecture @ Museum of Craft & Design

Jan 2: Pedro Almodovar’s Pain and Glory (6:30) and Volver (8:35). Jan 2: Pain and Glory (7pm) and Law of Desire (9pm). Jan 4: Anna Karina double-feature, with Vivre Sa Vie (7pm) Band of Outsiders (8:35).

Jan 5: Disney’s The Little Mermaid sing-along (2pm). Jan 5: Gay Chorus, Deep South (5pm, 7pm). Jan 6 & 7: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (4pm, 6:15, 8:30). Jan 8: David Bowie double-feature Labyrinth (7pm) The Hunger (9pm). Jan 9: SF Sketchfest opening night with Maria Bamford/ Josie Long ($29-$49, . $8-$16. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com

Survival Architecture and the Art of Resilience and Linda Gass: And Then This Happened…, fabric maps and multimedia (both thru May 3). 2569 3rd St. www.sfmcd.org

Fri 3 Eric McCracken @ Strut Reception for Me, Myself and My Dirty Mind, the artist’s exhibit of surrealist erotic gay art; drinks and snacks, too. 8pm-10pm. Exhibit thru Jan. 470 Castro St. www.strutsf.org

MORE! in 2020 Nightlife icon and community activist Juanita MORE! shares her thoughts on 2019’s ups and down, and projects to look forward to in 2020. Read it on www.ebar.com.

Tim Minchin and Danny Rubin’s musical adaptation of the surrealcomic Bill Murray film about a weatherman who gets stuck repeating the same day. $35-$125.

Thru Jan 18. 450 Post St. www.sfplayhouse.org

Sat 4 Animation Exhibits @ Walt Disney Museum Mickey Mouse: From Walt to the World (extended thru Feb. 17), and other exhibits of animation art by the prolific studio’s artists. 104 Montgomery St, The Presidio. $5$25. 10am-6pm. Closed Tue. http://wdfmuseum.org/

The Batman Armory @ Cartoon Art Museum Artwork, Batman props and costumes on display, thru Feb. 16.

Pre-Code Horror: Scary Stories and Ghastly Graphics from EC Comics, thru March 1. Gemma Correll’s witty cartoons in the Emerging Artist Showcase, thru March 29. Free/$10.

11am-5pm daily; closed Wed. 781 Beach St. www.cartoonart.org

Cockettes Are Golden @ Victoria Theatre 50th anniversary celebration of the legendary SF gender-bending musical ensemble whose performers included Sylvester, Divine, Mink Stole, Scrumbly Koldewyn, Pristine Condition, Pam Tent and other fabulous people, with onstage interviews and live performances. $30-$50. 8pm. 2961 16th St. www.victoriatheatre.org

Events @ Manny’s Jan 4, 8pm: Live Comedy night.

1/6, 6:30pm: Lessons From the 20102. 1/7, 6:30pm: Science of Earthquakes. 1/8, 5pm: Aspen Tech Policy Hub. 7pm: Ben Wilker, WI Democratic Chair. 1/9, 6pm: Greg Dalton on 2020 elections. 3092 16th St. www.welcometomannys.com

Head Over Heels @ NCTC The music of the Go-Go’s, with story and book by Sir Philip Sydney and Jeff Whitty, presents a royal modern fairy tale. $34-$49. Wed-Sat 8pm.

Sun 2pm. Thru Jan 12. 25 Van Ness Ave., lower level. www.nctcsf.org

Gooch

Kaleidoscope @ Exploratorium

Juanita MORE! with her dog Jackson by a Serge Gay, Jr. mural.

Artist Karina Smigla-Bobinski’s exhibit of interactive swirling electronic colors panels; thru Jan 20. Also, Cells to Self, an exhibit with amazing displays showing how single cells in the human body work, portraits engineered from DNA and more (talks, hands-on workshops and nightlife events). $10-$30. Pier 15 at Embarcadero. www.exploratorium.edu

Weekly screenings of wacky, unusual, short, documentary and animated films; free books, vinyl, VHS and wine. $7. 8:30pm. 992 Valencia St. www.othercinema.com

Skate Night @ Church on 8 Wheels Wheeled fun at the former Sacred Heart Church-turned disco roller skate party space, hosted by John D. Miles, the “Godfather of Skate,” including Saturday’s Black Rock night (Burning Man garb encouraged). 7pm-10pm. Sat afternoon sessions 1pm-2pm and 3pm-5pm. $10. Kids 12 and under $5. Skate rentals $5. 554 Fillmore St at Fell. www.churchof8wheels.com

The Tale of Despereaux @ Berkeley Rep Pigpen Theatre Co.’s inventive and imaginative musical retelling of the beloved, Newbery Medal-winning modern fable. $35-$85. 7pm & 2pm thru Jan. 5. 2015 Addison Ave., Berkeley. www.berkeleyrep.org

Vintage Paper Fair @ County Fair Bldg.

Peruse postcards, posters, ephemera and more. Free. 10am6pm. Also Jan 6. 11am-5pm. 9th Ave. at Lincoln Way, Golden Gate Park. www.vintagepaperfair.com

Sun 5 Cirque du Soleil @ Oracle Park The amazing circus company brings Amalúna to the big tent. Pre-show festivities 6:30pm. Show 8pm. $54-$300. Wed-Mon most 8pm, +matinees. Thru Jan. 12. 24 Willie Mays Plaza (cross bridge to parking lot). www.cirquedusoleil.com

Ecstatic Dance @ Sacred Heart Church Weekly group freeform dance with a spiritual flavor at the former churchturned event space. $15. 9am-12pm.

Also Wed. and Fridays in Oakland and Fairfax. 554 Fillmore St. www.ecstaticdance.org

Exclusion @ Presidio Officers Club Exhibit documenting the Presidio’s Japanese-American incarceration during World War II. Also, Andy Goldsworthy’s fascinating outdoor sculpture exhibit three-mile walking tour. Free, Tue-Sun 10am-5pm; extended thru June. 50 Maraga Ave. www.presidio.gov/officers-club/ exhibitions/

Lost at Sea @ Asian Art Museum Recovered Art From Shipwrecks, a new exhibit of antiquities discovered in oceans (thru Mar. 22); also, Chang Dai-chien (thru April 26), contemporary works by Tanabe Chikuunsai IV, Kim Heecheon and Liu Jianhua; and exhibits of historic sculptures, prints and antiquities.

Sunday café specialties from $7-$16.

Free-$20. Tue-Sun 10am-5pm. 200 Larkin St. www.asianart.org

No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man @ Oakland Museum No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man, an exhibit of amazing large artworks; thru Feb 16. Free/$15.

1000 Oak St. www.museumca.org

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

See page 20 >>

<< Arts Events

20 • Bay Area Reporter • January 2-8, 2020

Arts Events

From page 19

Picture

Sprightly @ SF Public Library Weekly hangout for LGBTQ youth, with crafts, snacks and activities.

12:30pm-2:30pm. James C. Hormel Center, 3rd floor, 100 Larkin St. www.sfpl.org

Various Exhibits @ de Young Museum

Exhibits @ Tenderloin Museum Multimedia exhibit about the historic Tenderloin district. 398 Eddy St. www. tenderloinmuseum.org

Enjoy holiday festivities, ice skating, and concessions. 12pm-9pm thru Jan 5. $13-$18. Civic Center, Grove St. at Polk. winterparkicerinksf.com

Mon 6

Expedition Reef @ California Academy of Sciences

Winter Park @ Civic Center

Andy Goldsworthy @ Presidio Enjoy a fascinating outdoor sculpture exhibit and three-mile walking tour. Free, extended thru June 2020. 50 Maraga Ave. www.presidio.gov/officers-club/ exhibitions/

Fiberful @ NIAD Art Center, Richmond Exhibits of art by visiting professionals, and art made by developmentally disabled people; new exhibits include Fiberful, a fabric sculpture group exhibit, Tippy Toes: Terry Hoff, and Right Here, Right Now, Richmond. Mon-Fri 10am-4pm. 551 23rd St., Richmond.

(510) 620-0290. www.niadart.org

William Blake in Color @ William Blake Gallery Exhibit of classic plates in the new gallery of historic art by the 18th- and 19th-century poet and illustrator. Mon-Fri 10am-5pm.

Sat 11am-5pm. 49 Geary St. #205. www.williamblakegallery.com

Sketchfest Comedy Festival @ Multiple Venues

Floral Exhibits @ SF Botanical Garden Visit the lush gardens with displays of trees, flowers and shrubs from around the world, including the annual Magnolia bloom. Monthly plant sales, plus art exhibits and gift shop; free entry with SF proof of residency. $5-$10 for others. 7:30amclosing. 9th Ave at Lincoln Way. sfbotanicalgarden.org

Exhibits of Modern and historic art, including embroidery, Maori portraits and installations. Free/$28.

50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, Golden Gate Park. www.famsf.org

– to the elegant nightclub. $35-$55 ($20 food/drink min.). 8pm. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. www.feinsteinssf.com

Tue 7 Clay Gerdes

<<

Exhibits and planetarium shows with various live, interactive and installed exhibits about animals, plants and the earth; Skin, a multi-species hands-on exhibit; Deep Reefs, Giants of Land and Sea, Gems and Minerals, and more. $20$35. Mon-Sat 9:30am-5pm.

Sun 11am-5pm. 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park. 379-8000. www.calacademy.org

Gallery of Illustrious Queers @ SF Main Library Photographer Jordan Reznick’s LGBT portrait photo exhibit; thru Jan. 16.

Hormel Center, 3rd floor, 100 Larkin St. www.sfpl.org

Remarkable WWII Rosie @ Jewett Gallery, SF Main Library Painter Carol Witten’s exhibit of portraits of women factory workers during World War II; thru Jan. 26.

100 Larkin St, lower level. www.sfpl.org

t

Sat 4

Cockettes Are Golden @ Victoria Theatre

Clockwise from upper left: Billy Orchid, Divine, Scrumbly Koldewyn, Pristine Condition, Pam Tent, Mink Stole, David Baker, Jr. in Vice Palace, 1972, SF’s Palace Theater

Trans Filmmaker Benefit @ Saint Joseph’s Arts Society

Richard Caldwell Brewer @ Lost Art Salon

Naked Men’s Sketch @ Eros

Exhibit of works by the late gay artist (1923-2014). Also, Cappi and Michael Insinna. Mon-Sat 10am5:30pm. 245 South Van Ness Ave., #303. https://lostartsalon.com/

Get naked and take turns modeling at the sex club’s popular weekly event. Donations/no entrance fee.

7pm-9pm. 2051 Market St. www.erossf.com

World Tree of Hope @ Grace Cathedral

Safeway Holiday Ice Rink @ Union Square

See the 14th annual Rainbow World Fund annual holiday tree with 1000s of origami cranes, a symbol of global unity. Also open New Year’s Day; thru Jan. 11. 1100 California St. www.worldtreeofhope.org

The ice rink in the middle of downtown SF is open for skating fun. Skate rentals $3-$18. 10am11:30pm thru Jan. 20.

Union Square, 333 Post St. www.unionsquareicerink.com

Wed 8

Thu 9

Exhibits @ Chabot Space & Science Museum, Oakland

Black is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite @ MOAD

Space, science and planetary exhibits, including planetarium shows and the Observatory; special nighttime events like meteor shower shows. Free-$18. 10000 Skyline Blvd., Oakland. chabotspace.org

Exhibit of prints by the Harlem Renaissance photographer of the 1950s and ‘60s; thru Mar. 1. $5-$10. 685 Mission St. www. moadsf.org

Illuminate SF @ Citywide

Plant Exhibits @ Conservatory of Flowers

40+ installations of light art sculptures in and outside buildings by more than 30 local artists. Free; walking tour info at illuminatesf.com

Artfully arranged plant and floral exhibits; special evening events and parties, including Night Bloom evening events, 5pm-11pm. 100 John F. Kennedy Drive, Golden Gate Park. conservatoryofflowers.org

James Tissot @ Legion of Honor James Tissot: Fashion & Faith (thru Feb 9); other beautiful exhibits of classical and modern art. Free/$30.

Lincoln Park, 100 34th Ave. www.legionofhonor.famsf.org

Thu 9

19th annual festival of comedy, cinema and more, with dozens of celebrity actors, comics, directors and musicians, including Tony Shaloub, Molly Shannon, Busy Philipps, Sandra Bernhard, Kevin Nealon, Crispin Glover, Robert Klein, Eugene Mirman, Brian Regan, Phoebe Robinson, and The Monkees with Michael Nesmith and Micky Dolenz; Maria Bamford, Macaulay Culkin, Margaret Cho, Tony Hale, Rachel Dratch, Fred Armisen, Patton Oswalt, Phoebe Robinson, Kristen Schaal, Doug Benson, Michael Ian Black, the cast and creators of SpongeBob SquarePants; film tributes to Airplane!, Clue, Rocky Horror Picture Show and many more; thru Jan. 26. Free$150. sfsketchfest.com

Margo Seibert @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko The Broadway performer brings her cabaret concert – including songs from her debut album, 77th Street

Benefit for the Provincetown Film Society’s trans-inclusive filmmakers’ funding. $250. 7pm11pm. (celebrity discussion panel Jan 11). 1401 Howard St. www.provincetownfilmsociety.org

Various Events @ Oakland LGBTQ Center Social events and meetings at the new LGBTQ center include film screenings and workshops, including Bruthas Rising, trans men of color meetings, 4th Tuesdays, 6:30pm. Film screenings, 4th Saturdays, 7:30pm. Game nights, Fridays 7:30pm-11pm. Vogue sessions, first Saturdays. 3207 Lakeshore Ave. Oakland. www.oaklandlgbtqcenter.org

Various Exhibits @ Treasure Island Museum Collections of historic Golden Gate Exposition photos and memorabilia, military ephemera and more.

Building One, Treasure Island, One Avenue of the Palms. www.treasureislandmuseum.org

Who’s Your Mami Comedy @ Brava Theatre Women’s comedy night with Marga Gomez, Chelsea Bearce, Dhaya Lakshminarayanan, Justin Lucas, Glory Magaña and the drag king duo ‘Sheesh and Schlong.’ $10-$15.

8pm. 2773 24th St. brava.orgt To add your arts or nightlife event to listings, email events@ebar.com

Hannah Einbinder, Matty Ryan and Jes Tom at Sketchfest Comedy Festival @ Multiple Venues

t

Nightlife Events>>

Full listings at

www.ebar.com/events

January 2-8, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 21

Mancrush Mondays @ Port Bar, Oakland

Mon 6

Thu 2

Munro’s at Midnight @ Midnight Sun

After Dark @ Exploratorium Enjoy cocktails and science demos at the hands-on museum. Jan 2: Exploring euphoria. Tactile dome evening hours Fri & Sat, weekly 6:15 and 7:30pm. $20. Pier 15, Embarcadero at Green St. exploratorium.edu

Last night of the monthly ‘art and anarchism’ night, with DJs John Fucking Cartwright and Kochina Rude. 9pm-3am.

399 9th St. studsf.com

Munro's at Midnight @ Midnight Sun Drag night with Mercedez Munro. No cover. 10pm.

4067 18th St. www.midnightsunsf.com

Gooch

Awooga @ The Stud

Drink & draw night with sexy male models; BYO art materials.

2st & 3rd Mondays.

No cover, but 1-drink min. 2023 Broadway. portbaroakland.com

Music Mondays @ Pause Wine Bar Marcus Rivers plays live music at the stylish wine bar; weekly 8pm10pm. 1666 Market St. yieldandpause.com

Events @ Steamworks, Berkeley The stylish bathhouse’s DJed events take place ThursdaysSundays, 10pm late; Sundays 1pm-7pm.. $7-$62, plus annual memberships $160.

Open 24/7, every day. 2107 4th St., Berkeley. (510) 8458992. steamworksbaths.com

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

Queer Karaoke @ Club OMG KJ Dana hosts the weekly singing night; unleash your inner American Idol; first Thursdays are Costume Karaoke; third is Kinky Karaoke 8pm.

43 6th St. www.clubomgsf.com

Queeraoke @ Tamarack, Oakland Dana Morrigan hosts the 1st & 3rd Thursdays queer karaoke night, 7:30pm-1am. No cover. 1501 Harrison St., Oakland. tamarackoakland.com

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

Tubesteak Connection @ Aunt Charlie's Lounge Disco guru DJ Bus Station John spins grooves at the intimate retro music night. $5. 10pm-2am. 133 Turk St. at Taylor. www.auntcharlieslounge.com

Fri 3 Drag & Dinner @ Hamburger Mary's Enjoy burgers and a drag show. $5 show. 10pm. Also Saturdays. 531 Castro St. hamburgermarys.com

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

Latin Explosion @ Club 21 The popular Latin club with gogo guys galore and Latin music. $10-$20.

9pm-3am. 2111 Franklin St., Oakland. www.club21oakland.com

Piano Bar @ Martuni’s Musician extraordinaire Joe Wicht leads tasteful sing-along selections.

5:30-8:30pm. 4 Valencia St.

Ror:Shok @ SF Eagle Miss Annus Novus drag competition at the famed leather bar. 9pm-2am.

398 12th St. www.sf-eagle.com

Rose & Javi @ Trax The Haight gay bar's weekly music video and cocktails night. 9pm-1am.

1437 Haight St. www.traxbarsf.com/

Uhaul @ Jolene’s The popular women’s dance party.

10pm-2am. 2700 16th St. at Harrison. http://jolenessf.com/

Pillows @ Powerhouse Glamamore’s crafts and drag night. 9pm-2am.

1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

Vibe Fridays @ Club BnB, Oakland House music and cocktails, with DJs Shareef Raheim-Jihad and Ellis Lindsey. 9pm-2am. 2120 Broadway.

(510) 759-7340. www.club-bnb.com

Sat 4 Bootie @ DNA Lounge Resident DJs and guests spin at the mash-up DJ dance party, with Adrian A, Mysterious D; four rooms of different sounds and multiple DJs; The Monster Drag Show hosted by Sue Casa. $10-$15 and up. 9:30pm-3am.

375 11th St. www.bootiesf.com

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

2700 16th St. www.jolenessf.com

BYF @ Lone Star

Sun 5 Blessed @ Port Bar, Oakland Amoura Teese and Ava Lashay cohost a weekly drag show. 2023 Broadway. www.portbaroakland.com

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

Domingo De Escandal @ Club OMG Weekly Latin night with drag shows hosted by Vicky Jimenez and DJ Carlitos. (Comedy Open Mic 5:30pm).

7pm-2am. 43 6th St. clubomgsf.com

Glam Sundays @ Valencia Room

Bring Your Friends, with DJs Dreamcast and La Frida. $5. 9pm2am. 1354 Harrison St. lonestarsf.com

New weekly house, funk, soul T-dance with guest-DJs and no cover. 3pm9pm. 647 Valencia St. www.glamsundays.com

Dance Party @ White Horse Bar, Oakland

Jock @ The Lookout

DJed grooves at the historic East Bay gay bar. 9pm-2am. 6551 Telegraph Ave, (510) 652-3820. www.whitehorsebar.com

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

Mother @ Oasis Heklina’s popular weekly drag show, with wild acts and music tribute themes. $15. 10pm-2am. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

The Playground @ Club BNB, Oakland Dance night at the popular hip hop and Latin club. $5-$15. 9pm to 3am.

2120 Broadway. (510) 759-7340. www.club-bnb.com

Powerblouse @ Powerhouse Juanita MORE! and her house’s monthly drag virgin makeover night. $5. 9pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

Stallion @ Midnight Sun DJ Bill Dupp, intimate dance floor, gogo cuties, all in the heart of the Castro. 8pm-2am. 4067 18th St. www.midnightsunsf.com

Woof, Frolic @ SF Eagle Canine fetish capers (3pm-6pm) and furry dancing and socializing (8pm-2am) at the famed leather bar.

Free/$10. 398 12th St. sf-eagle.com

Enjoy the weekly jock-ular fun, with DJed dance music at sports team fundraisers. 12pm-1am. 3600 16th St. www.lookoutsf.com

L-Word @ El Rio Weekly screenings of the revived lesbian TV series. 9pm. 3158 Mission St. http://www.elriosf.com/

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

1970 Chestnut St, Berkeley. www.finnishhall.org

Renegade @ Atlas

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

Vamp @ Beaux Women’s night with a sultry vampire theme; goth, red & black, lingerie attire welcome but not required; bondage and BDSM demos, too. DJs Olga T and Jayne Grey. $5-$15. 8pm2am. 2344 Market St. beauxsf.com

Willie Nelson & Family @ The Fillmore The iconic country singer performs with his band and family members. $85. Also Jan 8 & 9. 8pm. 1805 Geary St. at Fillmore. www.thefillmore.com

Tue 7 Drag Bingo @ Club 1220, Walnut Creek Holotta Tymes and Saki Samora cohost the East Bay game night. 7pm.

1220 Pine St., Walnut Creek. www.club1220.com

Gaymer Night @ Midnight Sun Weekly fun night of games (video, board etc.) and cocktails. 8pm-12am.

4067 18th St. midnightsunsf.com

High Fantasy @ Aunt Charlie's Lounge Weekly drag and variety show at the intimate bar, with live acts and lipsynching divas, plus DJed grooves. $5.

Shows at 10:30pm & 12am. 133 Turk St. at Taylor. auntcharlieslounge.com

Karaoke Night @ The Stud Sing For Your Life with LaLa and Remi; no cover, plus raffle prize drawings.

8pm-2am. 399 9th St. studsf.com

Trivia Night @ Port Bar, Oakland

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

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

Karaoke Night @ Club 1220, Walnut Creek Sing along at the East Bar gay bar; dance nights on weekends, and drag shows, too. 9pm-1am. 1220 Pine St., Walnut Creek. www.club1220.com

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

424 Cortland St. wildsidewest.com

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

Pan Dulce @ Beaux Drag divas, gogo studs, DJed Latin grooves and drinks at the Hump Day fiesta, open Christmas night. 9pm2am (free before 10:30pm). 2344 Market St. www.clubpapi.com

Wrangler Wednesdays @ Rainbow Cattle Company, Guerneville Wear your jeans and meet new folks at the Russian River gay bar. 16220 Main St., Guerneville. www.queersteer.com

Thu 9 Fuego @ The Watergarden, San Jose Weekly DJed sex party with Latin videos and musics, free salsa bar, halfprice lockers, at the South Bay bath house. 4pm-12am. 1010 The Alameda, San Jose. www.thewatergarden.com

Game Night @ Pause Wine Bar Johnny Rockitt hosts a weekly night of trivia and other games. 8pm-10pm.

1666 Market St. yieldandpause.com

Margo Seibert @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko The Broadway performer brings her cabaret concert – including songs from her debut album, 77th Street – to the elegant nightclub. $35-$55 ($20 food/drink min.). 8pm. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. www.feinsteinssf.com

My So-Called Night @ Beaux Carnie Asada hosts a weekly '90s-themed video, dancin', drinkin' night, with VJs Jorge Terez. Get down with your funky bunch, and enjoy 90cent drinks. '90s-themed attire and costume contest. No cover. 9pm-2am.

2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Nap's Karaoke @ Virgil's Sea Room

The weekly cruisy semi-private party. $5-$20. 6pm-10pm. Now also Truck Tuesdays, and Thursdays, 9pm-2am.

415 10th St. www.atlas-sf.com

Big gay trivia night at the East Bay bar with host Robert Perez; drinks specials and prizes. 8pm. Broadway. www.portbaroakland.com

Sundance Saloon @ Space 550

Truck Tuesdays @ Atlas

Sing out loud at the weekly least judgmental karaoke in town, hosted by the former owner of the bar. No cover. 9pm. 3152 Mission St. www.virgilssf.com

Super-cruisy night at the new semiprivate club. $10-$20. 9pm-2am. 415 10th St. www.atlas-sf.com

Thump @ White Horse, Oakland

The popular two-stepping linedancing, not-just-country music night, with free lessons. 5pm-10:30pm. Also Thursdays 6:30pm-10:30pm. 550 Barneveld Ave. sundancesaloon.org

Mon 6

Wed 8 Bondage-a-Gogo @ The Cat Club

Weekly electro music night with DJ Matthew Baker and guests. 9pm-2am.

6551 Telegraph Ave. www.whitehorsebar.com

TwerkBack Thursday @ Port Bar, Oakland

All-day songfest, 8pm-2am. 3600 16th St. www.lookoutsf.com

The weekly gay/straight/whatever fetish-themed kinky dance night. $7$10. 9:30pm-2:30am. 1190 Folsom St. www.bondage-a-go-go.com www. catclubsf.com

DJ Deft plays hip hop grooves, gogos at 10pm, with hosts Mahlae Balenciaga and Amoura Teese. 2023 Broadway. portbaroakland.comt

Karaoke @ SF Eagle

Bottoms Up Bingo @ Hi Tops

Sing out, Louise, at the famed leather bar. 9pm-2am. 398 12th St. www.sf-eagle.com

Play board games and win offbeat prizes at the popular sports bar. 9pm.

2247 Market St. www.HiTopsSF.com

Want your nightlife event listed?

Email events@ebar.com, at least two weeks before your event.

Event photos welcome.

Karaoke Night @ Lookout

<< Leather

22 • Bay Area Reporter • January 2-8, 2020

Happy kinky new year!

t

Christopher Wood

The SF Catalyst is both a play space and an often-used community meeting space for local leather and kink folks.

Rich Stadtmiller

Volunteering at an SF Eagle beer bust is a great way to contribute to community and meet new and old friends.

by Race Bannon

2

020 is here. Let’s all wish that we can legitimately have a happy new year. It’s going to be an interesting one for sure.

We have a looming election that will hopefully save our democracy and pull us back from the brink of disaster. Climate change is being quickly accepted as the ultimate crisis of our era. Income inequality is finally seen as the core systemic issue dragging our society down.

These and other big issues will dominate the 2020 experience for many of us, but then there’s the personal.

Amid the craziness of the world we now live in exists our personal experiences and the smaller subset of humans with whom we choose to commune and bond. That’s what elevates our lives and brings us mean-

ing. For many of us, therein lies our sexuality, erotic identity, and those with whom we share those things.

These are our communities.

What might a modern day kinkster want to see happen in 2020 that could make their lives better while strengthening the kink communities overall? I’m sure you have your own list, but here’s what I’d like to see transpire in 2020. Maybe some of you hope for the same.

I hope to see continued and increased support for our gathering places. Our bars are being challenged to stay open. Yes, they’re having to accommodate a wider audience of people in order to stay solvent. We need to fully embrace that reality or we’ll

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see our kink-friendly bars disappear altogether.

For the kinky among us in San Francisco, please especially support the SF Eagle, Powerhouse, The Edge, SF Oasis, The Lone Star Saloon, and any bar that specifically welcomes leatherfolk and kinksters to their establishment. I include Wicked Grounds and any nonbar gathering places on this list too.

I hope to see the leather and kink scenes continue to increasingly embrace the sexual as well as the social.

More play parties. More sex parties.

More overt eroticism generally.

I’d love to see more sex spaces open and we need to continue to support those that do exist like SF Catalyst, SF Citadel, Blow Buddies, Eros, and the producers who host both public and private parties at which we can play. For me, our scene remains ultimately about the sex and play. That commonality is what connects us more than anything and we need to keep our individual and collective sex lives active.

I hope people continue to figure out how to help rescind or amend the horrific SESTA/FOSTA legislation that’s damaging all sexuality communities and hampering quality sex education and the ability for our kink and sexuality communities to organize and promote their businesses, events and organizations.

If you’re not familiar with SESTA/ FOSTA, educate yourself. If you navigate within any aspects of LGBTQ or kink life, the SESTA/FOSTA legislation has already hurt you whether you realize it or not. Find out about it and pressure your elected officials to stop the bloodshed of our erotic freedoms. This is far more

January 3-19, 2020

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important than many realize.

I hope to see community money given to organizations and events that benefit the most people overall and not just a few. That means if you have a choice between giving money to keep a community space open or donate to someone’s vanity project, choose the latter.

And remember, money isn’t all you can give. You can give your time. Your time is sometimes as valuable as money. I hope to see volunteerism rise. Volunteering is a double win. You get to help the community directly and you also get to meet a lot of new friends in the process. Volunteering is the best entryway into a satisfying kink social life that there is, especially for a newcomer.

I hope to see more vehement support for the organizations and efforts that are important to every kinky person, but often don’t get the attention they deserve.

Some of these are TASHRA (The Alternative Sexualities Health Research Alliance), NCSF (National Coalition for Sexual Freedom), CARAS (Community-Academic Consortium for Research on Alternative Sexualities), the Woodhull

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Fri 3

Stank @ Powerhouse

Freedom Foundation, the Leather Archives and Museum, and the GLBT Historical Society. Look them up. Give them money. Support their work.

Lastly are some things that many others want in the coming year, mostly via social media. Let’s have fewer attacks on people, especially when the attacker has limited knowledge of the inciting incident.

How about less judgment of other people’s kinks?

Let’s have more people host their own kink events, whether a small leather dinner party, sex party or group excursion to the movies or a museum (social media makes this pretty easy to do).

More outreach to and understanding of people within our communities that struggle with mental health issues would be appreciated.

Take a moment to think about what you’d like to see happen in 2020 for us kinky folks. Then plan to do it. No matter the subculture that’s trying to survive and thrive, it always takes a village.t Race Bannon is a local author, blogger and activist. www.bannon.com

Full listings at ebar.com/bartab/leather-kink

t

Shining Stars>>

January 2-8, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 23

Shining Stars Steven Underhill Photos by

Best of 2019

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ur prolific photographer Steven Underhill attended hundreds of events last year. Here are our favorites from 2019.

1. January: Onesie Party at The Lookout 2. February: Academy of Friends at City View Metreon 3. March: Carnaval Brasileiro at the LGBT Center 4. April: Queer Bowling at Mission Bowling Club 5. May: NCLR Gala at Metreon City View 6. June: Broadway Bares San Francisco Strips IV @ DNA Lounge 7. June: SF Pride at Civic Center 8. July: Grand Opening at the Detour 9. August: GAPA Runway 31 at the Herbst Theater 10. August: Playa in the Grove at the National AIDS Memorial Grove 11. September: Folsom Street Fair at SoMa 12. October: GLBT Historical Society Gala at Salesforce Ohana Floor 13. October: Halloween in the Castro 14. November: Light in the Grove at the National AIDS Memorial Grove 15. December: Drag Queens on Ice at Union Square Ice Rink 16. December: Santa Skivvies Run in The Castro See plenty more photos on BARtab’s Facebook page, facebook.com/lgbtsf.nightlife. See more of Steven Underhill’s photos at StevenUnderhill.com.

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