June 4, 2020 Edition of the Bay Area Reporter by Bay Area Reporter

Queer the census!

Pride flags raised

Boards repurposed

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Vol. 50 • No. 23 • June 4-10, 2020

Pride Month begins with calls for police reforms across US by Matthew S. Bajko Rick Gerharter

Shanell Williams stood for a recent photo in Koshland Park, near where she grew up in the Western Addition.

City College board prez Williams seeks 2nd term by Matthew S. Bajko

t has been a tumultuous first term for City College board member Shanell Williams, once a student of the San Francisco community college and now president of its oversight body. Williams, a bisexual woman, was elected in 2016 amid fears the school would lose its accreditation and be forced to close its doors. Part of a four-person out majority on the college’s oversight body at the time, Williams and her fellow trustees worked with the campus community and other elected officials to keep the institution accredited. They also hired a new permanent chancellor, Mark Rocha, as they grappled with serious budget deficits and declining enrollment. Last summer, the board adopted its first balanced budget in 10 years, though it faced backlash from students and faculty because they achieved the milestone by cutting courses and staff. It was then learned that Rocha had buried deep within the budget documents significant pay increases for the college’s administrators. Amid a fierce backlash, the board revoked the pay hikes and instead approved raising administrative pay by 10%. Then in March, weeks after city voters approved an $845 million bond to repair City College’s buildings, the board placed Rocha on administrative leave. Days later Rocha resigned, and the board again launched a search for new leadership for the college. Meanwhile, the school was forced to shift its summer and fall semesters to remote learning due to the novel coronavirus outbreak and recently held a virtual graduation ceremony. And the college’s finances continue to crater, leading the board last week to end its long-term lease for its satellite campus at Fort Mason in order to save money. The decision was criticized not only by seniors who take arts classes at the Marina location but also by former Mayor Willie Brown in his San Francisco Chronicle Sunday column. Of the four incumbent trustees whose terms expire this year, two have decided not to seek reelection – Ivy Lee and Alex Randolph, one of two gay men on the board. The other, board vice See page 10 >>

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year ago Pride organizers around the country were wrestling with calls from some within the LGBT community that they order police officers not to march in uniform or ban them outright from the annual parades. Few did, and in San Francisco protesters blocked the city’s event for nearly an hour largely due to the issue. Some demonstrators held signs reading,“cops kill.” Twelve months later and Pride Month was ushered in Monday, June 1, by nationwide protests against police brutality, numerous LGBTQ organizations pronouncing solidarity with people of color, and rainbow flag ceremonies punctuated with the names of African Americans killed by police officers and transgender people murdered in recent months. Gay Congressman Mark Takano (D-Riverside), the lone LGBT member of the House from California, specifically called out the killings of three black Americans – two straight, one a transgender man – in announcing his support Tuesday for a resolution co-authored by Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) that condemns police brutality, excessive use of force, and racial profiling.

Rick Gerharter

Participants at a kneel-in outside San Francisco City Hall Monday, June 1, heard from actor Jamie Foxx and Mayor London Breed as they demanded justice for the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

“We must also acknowledge that racist police brutality has gone without impunity for far too long in America. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, are the most re-

cent cases of black men and women who have died at the hands of police – that we know of,” stated Takano. “Too often, the results of invesSee page 8 >>

Mandelman discusses Brousseau shooting in online meeting

by John Ferrannini

ay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman hosted an online town hall May 27 to answer questions about the recent Mission District shooting that killed a bisexual transit advocate and injured one other person. “This is our opportunity to talk about the horrific incident that occurred,” Mandelman said in his opening remarks. “In speaking with the immediate neighbors, it seemed like there was an interest in having a meeting.” As the Bay Area Reporter previously reported, Courtney Brousseau, 22, died several days after he was shot May 1 at around 8:22 p.m. at the intersection of 14th and Guerrero streets. A second person was injured in a fuselage of 50-60 gunshots. Captain Gaetano Caltagirone of the San Francisco Police Department’s Mission Station could not explicitly say much about the investigation into the shooting. “It’s an ongoing investigation and I can’t reveal a lot about it because I don’t want to jeopardize the case,” Caltagirone said.

Scott Wazlowski

A memorial was set up at 14th and Guerrero streets honoring bi transit advocate Courtney Brousseau, who died after he was shot at the intersection May 1.

Caltagirone did say, however, that SFPD’s gang task force was trying to identify suspects and make an arrest. “It’s a sad situation, what happened,” he said. “It’s just a tragic thing. “We’re continuing to have high visibility in the area, and what I’m asking community mem-

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2 • Bay Area Reporter • June 4-10, 2020

LGBT groups to push census participation by Matthew S. Bajko

ith the national response rate to the 2020 census at 60.5%, LGBTQ organizations will mount a push next week to “Queer the Census” in hopes of boosting participation within the community during Pride Month. The National LGBTQ Task Force is partnering with a coalition of national, state, and local LGBTQ organizations from across the country to host a series of events starting Monday, June 8, aimed at getting those LGBTQ households that have yet to fill out their census form to do so. Whether they are a U.S. citizen or an undocumented immigrant, people can complete their census questionnaire online this year for the first time at www.my2020census.gov, by calling 844-330-2020, or by mailing in the form sent to them. The deadline to do so is October 31. “LGBT people are generally un-

photo

LGBT groups have organized a “Queer the Census” outreach effort that starts June 8.

dercounted on the census,” noted Meghan Maury, the task force’s policy director, in a recent phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter. Their taking part in the census impacts how many House seats in Congress are apportioned to their state as well as how much federal funding for myriad social services and health care programs is funneled to their state’s coffers. San Francisco officials estimate the city will lose $2,000 per year over the next decade for every household

that fails to respond to the census. “Funding for San Francisco’s hospitals, first responders, schools, small businesses, and public benefit programs for the next 10 years relies on an accurate census count,” noted Mayor London Breed in a Facebook post last month. “We can’t do it without you! Count yourself in.” Of the four cities in California with populations larger than 700,000, San Francisco was in third place as of Tuesday, June 2, in terms of its census response. The city’s 58.6% rate puts it ahead of Los Angeles with its response rate of 50.3%. San Jose holds the top spot with 68.9% and San Diego trails in second with 66.9%. It has resulted in a bit of civic one-upmanship, with Santa Clara County officials for months ballyhooing their first place standing in the rankings. In a June 1 email to her constituents, lesbian state Senator Pro Tempore Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) noted they were neck-in-neck with

San Jose in the response rate rankings. “We’re hot on the heels of our northern neighbor in the race for the highest response rate of all cities across the country with more than 1 million residents,” wrote Atkins. Due to the shelter-in-place orders instituted to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, census outreach efforts have been hampered for months. Only recently has the census bureau begun to ramp back up its field work in various areas of the country. As the B.A.R. has previously noted, San Francisco is a laggard as far as its response rate compared to the other eight Bay Area counties. Three now are above the 70% mark – San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Contra Costa counties – and the other five are in the mid60 percentile. In communities like San Francisco, where there is a large segment of the population that doesn’t speak English or may not have access to the internet, door-to-door outreach about the cen-

sus is crucial and the suspension of that work due to the pandemic is likely behind its lower response rate, said Maury. “Door knocking is going to be really hard this year,” she said. “Even though the census bureau is beginning operations in many states, there are still a lot of places where they aren’t able to.” Thus the Queer the Census week will mostly feature online events. For instance, the San Mateo County Pride Center is hosting a Zoom discussion from 7 to 8 p.m. Monday, June 8, about the importance for LGBTQ people to fill out their 2020 census form. To participate people need to register in advance to receive the login information to join the online discussion. They can do so at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/ register/tZcpf-2oqTgtGNCIWaBwl_ C0Cr7R3L9QqP-G. For more information about the Queer the Census efforts, visit www. queerthecensus.org. t

Meow to receive Peacemaker Award compiled by Cynthia Laird

ichelle Meow, the longtime host and producer of “The Michelle Meow Show,” will receive an award from Community Boards during its virtual event Friday, June 5. Meow, a lesbian, is a former president of the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee. She will receive the Raymond Shonholtz Visionary Peacemaker Award. In addition to her show, Meow also has a partnership with the Commonwealth Club of California, where she serves on its Board of Governors. Her programs focus on the LGBTQ community

Rick Gerharter

Michelle Meow will receive a Peacemaker Award.

Community Boards is a San Francisco agency that operates the longestrunning nonprofit conflict resolution center in the United States.

Meow’s mission is constructing opportunities for people to listen in to deep conversations to develop understanding and empathy, Community Boards’ website states. “We simply don’t have enough opportunities to talk and not enough moments to listen,” she stated. Meow’s show can be heard in San Francisco and nationally on the Progressive Voices Network and her local TV show can be seen on KBCW TV and Channel 44. The online Community Boards ceremony is free, and takes place from 10 to 11 a.m. After that, Kenneth Cloke will host an online workshop about what people can learn about conflict

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resolution from the novel coronavirus pandemic. It requires a ticket purchase. Other honorees include Ana Villareal, a student at Mission High School who is involved with its peer mediation program, who will receive the Gail Sadalla Rising Peacemaker Award; and La Raza Community Resource Center, which will receive the Leadership Peacemaker Award. Community Boards also has an online auction that goes until Sunday, June 7, at 10 p.m. For more information and to

B.A.R. makes fundraising goal

The Bay Area Reporter this week announced that it has made its $30,000 goal via a fundraising effort on Indiegogo. As of June 1, when the two-month campaign ended, the paper received $30,021 from 367 backers. The LGBT newspaper launched the effort in early April shortly after See page 9 >>

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4 • Bay Area Reporter • June 4-10, 2020

Volume 50, Number 23 June 4-10, 2020 www.ebar.com

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A Band-Aid ripped off

he LGBTQ community took shape in response to a history of targeted harassment by police: raids of gay bars, entrapment in cruising areas, violent responses to protest marches, failures to treat our cases seriously when we are victims of crime or murder. We just couldn’t take it anymore and set out to change minds and society, and so we stand in solidarity with the outrage that the police killing of George Floyd has touched off across the country. But we are also heartbroken and angered that peaceful demonstrations have been overshadowed by vandalism and looting, thus distracting from the real issue: police brutality and the pattern of law enforcement officers’ encounters with unarmed black men and women frequently ending in their deaths. The series of recent deaths is hard to ignore and cry out for reform of policing practices involving black and brown people. The protests started last week, after George Floyd, a black man, died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck. In Louisville, Kentucky, an African American woman, Breonna Taylor, died after white plainclothes Louisville police officers kicked down the door of her apartment and shot her eight times as she slept in her bed. Before them there were Stephon Clark, Sandra Bland, Philando Castile, Oscar Grant, Mario Woods, and many more too numerous to mention or others whose cases were never publicized. A black trans man, Tony McDade, was reportedly shot by police in Tallahassee, Florida May 27. While early reports in Mother Jones noted that McDade may have been a suspect in a fatal stabbing, eyewitnesses indicate police never tried to de-escalate the situation, the magazine reported. “Tony was a queer black American who was gunned down by law enforcement,” said Gina Duncan, director of Transgender Equality for Equality Florida, a statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization. “Nothing can erase that. Talking about Tony’s earlier brushes with the law should not diminish the humanity

Rick Gerharter

Actor Jamie Foxx speaks to several hundred people outside San Francisco City Hall Monday, June 1, who were protesting the police killing of George Floyd.

of this being a person who is now dead and certainly shouldn’t diminish the fact that society failed Tony. Tony was calling out for help and society failed Tony in so many ways.” In fact, society is failing people of color in general. Law enforcement agencies across the country need a new approach to policing their communities rather than resorting to force and their guns first. In Santa Cruz, the police chief took a knee with protesters during demonstrations last Saturday. In Oakland, which has been hit hard by vandalism, a group of police officers took a knee with demonstrators Sunday. San Francisco Mayor London Breed was joined by actor Jamie Foxx on Monday for a kneel-in protest on the steps of City Hall. Although symbolic, these gestures help de-escalate the frustration of protesters and, if sincere, could be the start of a partnership for reform and a commitment to rooting out discrimination in policing practices. Talking a step in that direction, Congress-

woman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) on Monday announced legislation to form a U.S. Commission on Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation. The proposed legislation is supported by a broad coalition of members of Congress and will officially be introduced Thursday June 4. In a news release, Lee noted the murder of Floyd and the current COVID-19 crisis, both of which “illustrate once again the painful and dangerous legacy that white supremacy has had in our country, and the desperate need to fully acknowledge and understand how our history of inequality continues today.” Lee is right when she notes that inequality “is at the heart of every crisis we’re dealing with right now.” In addition to police brutality and COVID, which has been shown to disproportionately impact African Americans, poverty excludes many families from the American Dream, Lee stated. “Only by understanding our past, and confronting the errors that still haunt us today, can we truly move forward as a people and a country.” The LGBTQ community also knows about police brutality, as many have pointed out on social media for the beginning of Pride Month. The modern LGBTQ movement started as a riot at New York City’s Stonewall Inn in 1969 when queers fought a police raid of the bar. Three years earlier, transgender patrons at Compton’s Cafeteria in San Francisco battled a police raid there. Numerous instances of police violence followed, such as the 1979 White Night riots protesting the lenient sentence handed down to Dan White after he assassinated supervisor Harvey Milk and mayor George Moscone in 1978. Police from Mission Station carried out the Castro Sweep in 1989, in which they rushed down Castro Street in riot gear and formation as they beat protesters and bystanders along the way. Police around the country brutalized many who protested government inaction on HIV/AIDS. While Lee’s commission faces an uncertain future in Congress, it shouldn’t. Representatives and senators should welcome the chance for the country to start addressing these racial inequalities that go back to the founding of our country. Now the Band-Aid has been ripped off, our leaders must lead us in healing.t

Supes should OK Natoli for SFMTA board T

he San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ rules committee is scheduled to hold a hearing Monday, June 8, for Jane Natoli, a trans woman whom Mayor London Breed nominated to serve on the board that oversees the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. The committee should forward Natoli’s name to the full board, which should confirm her. The rules committee’s hearing on Natoli last month was canceled. SFMTA has been near the top of the list of supervisors who want to keep a check on the mayor. The Board of Supervisors, in a 6-5 vote May 12, rejected the reappointment of SFMTA director Cristina Rubke, an attorney and disability rights advocate whom Breed had renominated. The move was widely seen as a rebuke of the SFMTA board’s unanimous vote in April to approve a two-year transit budget with fare hikes, the San Francisco Examiner reported. The Board of Supervisors had previously voted 10-1 to approve a resolution calling for no transit fare increases. SFMTA is a city department that’s responsible for all ground transportation. It has oversight of Muni, as well as bicycling, paratransit, parking, traffic, walking, and taxis. It is led by Jeffrey Tumlin, a gay man hired by Breed in November. In a news release from the mayor’s office announcing her nomination, Natoli noted that she knows the value of safe streets as she’s been hit three times while biking on city streets. She’s a former member of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition’s board of directors and remains involved with the organization. Natoli has advocated and supported Tumlin in implementing protected bike lanes on Folsom and Howard streets, and car-free stretches along Market. Natoli moved to San Francisco in 2013 and became involved in local politics and community organizing. She serves as a mayoral appointee on the Citizens’ General Obligation Bond Oversight Committee, the release noted. Her day job is working as a financial crimes analyst at Stripe, where she specializes in anti-money laundering investigations. She has a B.S. degree from Iowa State University

Courtesy Jane Natoli

Jane Natoli has been nominated to serve on the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s board of directors.

and is a resident of the Inner Richmond. Natoli, who does not currently serve on the SFMTA board, did not vote on the fare hike issue. In an interview last month, Natoli told us that she is looking forward to her hearing before the rules committee. Its members include chair Supervisor Hillary Ronen, and Supervisors Catherine Stefani and Gordon Mar. “I plan to show up and make the best case for myself,” Natoli said. She also told us that she’d rather explore “all options” before voting to institute a fare hike, should she be approved for the board seat and the issue comes up. The SFMTA board only has four directors at the moment. Natoli would be the transit oversight body’s first transgender member and the lone representative from the LGBT community due to gay SFMTA board member Art Torres’ departure May 20 following his appointment by his alma mater UC Santa Cruz as an alumni representative on the Uni-

versity of California Board of Regents. Given the drastic cuts in revenue and service for Muni due to the novel coronavirus pandemic and the stay-at-home orders that are now slowly being lifted, Natoli told us that the path forward for public transportation “will be hard for awhile.” She said that mass transit needs to build “ridership trust” when service increases. Right now the Muni Metro subway is closed and many bus lines are not operating. “On the other hand, I see people riding the bus, and they need it most,” Natoli said. “What we need to remember is to center those who ride the bus now.” Other things that likely will come out of the public health crisis, she said, will be budget challenges and thinking about how people get around. “We don’t want cars returning,” she said, adding that other options would be walking and biking. As part of bringing riders back to public transportation, Natoli said that requiring face coverings is likely for the foreseeable future. “Especially in a situation like public transportation, where people are in a closed space, it’s going to be a necessary tool on the path to get the system running again,” she explained. The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition supports her nomination, as does the Bay Area Housing Advocacy Coalition. “Jane is a pro-housing, urbanist friend of HAC who understands the strong connection between housing and transportation policy,” a May email stated. The rules committee should give Natoli a fair hearing. We think Natoli would be an asset to the SFMTA board. In this case, the supervisors should set aside their disagreements with the mayor, who has made an excellent nomination, and approve Natoli, a qualified candidate, for the SFMTA board. t

Politics >>

June 4-10, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 5

San Mateo, Contra Costa counties edge closer to Pride campaign sweeps

by Matthew S. Bajko

Barry Schneider Attorney at Law

family law specialist* Cynthia Laird

As the rainbow flag is raised at City Hall in Clayton for the first time Monday, June 1, Mayor Julie Pierce reads a proclamation declaring Pride Month.

day, June 1, that he is hopeful his council will issue a Pride Month proclamation when it next meets Wednesday, June 17. “I don’t know what Atherton will decide. I am putting on our agenda for our next meeting and hopefully, I will have support from other council members,” wrote DeGolia in an emailed reply. In Contra Costa County the only two cities among the 19 in the East Bay jurisdiction that had not previously celebrated Pride Month were Danville and Clayton. Both have now done so, as Clayton not only issued a proclamation in honor of Pride it also raised the rainbow flag at several sites in its downtown area Monday. They will fly throughout the rest of June. In the coming days LGBT residents of the county expect to see every city declare June as Pride Month, with many also raising the rainbow flag. “We hope that Contra Costa County is but a ripple in this vast ocean of change and that other counties and cities join us. It is never too late to do the right thing for a better tomorrow,” gay Richmond resident Cesar Zepeda, who helped found his city’s Pride committee and has worked on the countywide Pride initiative for the last several years. “For that person reading this and struggling with being who they are; know that there is hope, and the rainbow will always come out even after a darkest of storms.”

Flying Pride flag still an issue

But for some city councils, raising the rainbow flag in front of their city halls is still a step too far for them to take. Such was the case in Foster City, where its council voted Monday night to reject a request that it fly the international symbol for the LGBT community in addition to its issuing a Pride proclamation for the second year in a row. As the B.A.R. first reported online shortly after the June 1 meeting, the Reverend Jim Mitulski, a gay man who is pastor of the Island United UCC Church in the city, criticized the decision. He was one of two people who had asked the council members to approve flying the flag, and he was critical of their citing concerns doing so would require them to also fly flags associated with racist

causes or groups. Mitulski could not address the council during its virtual meeting as he was just getting home from attending a peaceful demonstration in front of the city of Alameda Police Department. He is now reaching out to the council members to request they revisit their decision. In the meantime, he intends to find a way to fly the rainbow flag in front of his church this year in a more visible spot than it has in years past. “We will likely raise a flag on the church property. We already hang one in the window but it’s hard to see from the street. Plus, I can’t figure out how to have protests right now,” Mitulski told the B.A.R. A number of people Tuesday night asked the Danville Town Council to also consider flying the rainbow flag in their submitted comments read by the town clerk. Among them was Jacquie Guzzo, the president of the local PFLAG chapter who accepted the Pride proclamation. She and several others also requested that the city fly the Black Lives Matter flag in light of the protests against police brutality taking place across the country. In terms of seeing the rainbow flag flying in the town, Guzzo noted it would send an especially important message to LGBT youth in the area. “Many of our kids here in Danville didn’t come out to us until they left to go to college because of being afraid they wouldn’t be accepted due to the negative messaging they were hearing here in Danville,” wrote Guzzo. Another person sent in an email that concluded, “Fly the damn flag!” The council members, however, did not address the flag raising requests. t Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http:// www.ebar.com Monday mornings for Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion. This week’s column reported on the Human Rights Campaign endorsement of a queer San Diego House candidate. 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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fter reading her city’s first proclamation declaring June as Pride Month, East Palo Alto Mayor Regina Wallace-Jones explained why doing so held particular importance for her. Fifteen years ago one of her siblings came out as a transgender woman. “My thoughts here are that when I was approaching 30, my youngest sibling, he was approaching 15, shared with our family that he at the time but she now did not identify with being a male. I know for our family it was a very hard struggle and journey for each member of our family to get there,” said Wallace-Jones during the City Council’s Tuesday, June 2 meeting. “But today, almost 15 years later, we are there there. And it is not lost on me how complicated and difficult a topic like this and month like this can be in a city like ours.” City Councilwoman Lisa Gauthier added that the predominately black Peninsula city stands with the local LGBT community “with pride” and expressed her disappointment that it could not celebrate Pride Month in the usual manner with public parades and gatherings. This year, due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, most Pride events are being held virtually, as was the council’s meeting. “We stand with you through this difficult time of COVID and everything else,” said Gauthier. An hour later in the East Bay town of Danville, its council also issued a Pride Month proclamation for the first time. In reading it during her council’s livestreamed meeting, Mayor Karen Stepper noted that it called for Danville to annually proclaim June as LGBTQ Pride Month. “The Town of Danville recognizes the importance of equality and freedom, and is dedicated to fostering acceptance of all its citizens and preventing discrimination and bullying based on sexual orientation and gender identity,” read Stepper. With the issuance of the two proclamations, LGBT community leaders in San Mateo and Contra Costa counties edged closer to achieving their goal of seeing every one of the incorporated cities and towns in their jurisdictions mark Pride Month this year in some manner. Because of the pandemic upending Pride plans this year and forcing people to shelter at home, the Pride Visibility campaigns took on greater importance so that LGBT people could feel accepted and embraced by their hometowns. “This visibility allows LGBT residents to know they are seen and they are important,” Andres Loyola, a training and peer group coordinator at the San Mateo County Pride Center, told the East Palo Alto council members. Tanya Beat, director of the San Mateo County LGBTQ Commission, told the Bay Area Reporter this week that she had received confirmation from all but one of the county’s 20 cities and towns that they would celebrate Pride Month by issuing a proclamation or raising the rainbow flag – or doing both – in the coming days. The lone holdout on the list is Atherton. The affluent town’s mayor, Rick DeGolia, told the B.A.R. Mon-

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<< Community News

6 • Bay Area Reporter • June 4-10, 2020

Furloughs, layoffs hit cannabis industry by Sari Staver

lthough San Francisco cannabis industry leaders breathed a sigh of relief when the city reversed itself to allow dispensaries to stay open and operate as essential businesses after the stay-at-home order was issued in mid-March, layoffs and furloughs have hit some of the larger companies as demand for products in the COVID-19 era has remained weak. Two of the largest local companies, the Apothecarium and SPARC, have each downsized. Ryan Hudson, CEO and co-founder of the Apothecarium, whose flagship store is at 2029 Market Street, wrote in an email to the Bay Area Reporter, “The current economic situation due to COVID-19 and San Francisco’s strict rules on social distancing inside retail operations have had an impact on customer traffic at The Apothecarium. “Even though online orders for delivery and pickup have increased significantly, our business is facing a difficult time,” he added. “Unfortunately, that means we have had to furlough a little more than 20% of our staff because of the current economic situa-

tion. We’ve also had to lay off a much smaller number. Twenty-five people total are affected. These were very difficult decisions involving staffers we love and respect. As business returns to normal we hope to welcome back our furloughed staff.” The Apothecarium was the Castro’s first cannabis dispensary, opening at 2011 at 2095 Market Street as a medical dispensary. Since then, it has donated more than $400,000 in cash to community groups and nonprofits – plus more than $300,000 worth of in-kind donations, according to media consultant Eliot Dobris. SPARC, which has a large footprint in the Bay Area, has also had to reduce its staff. Founded in 2010 by Erich Pearson, a gay man, at 1256 Mission Street, SPARC was one of the first in the city to incorporate a smoking lounge within its store. It also has two other dispensaries in the city and two in Sonoma County. In a telephone call with the B.A.R., Michael Bossart, SPARC’s director of strategy and implementation, said that the company has reorganized and eliminated some roles and has also furloughed seven people from its staff of 120. The company’s executive team

Sari Staver

Apothecarium CEO Ryan Hudson

also took a cut in salaries, he said. SPARC said the company has seen a huge shift to online ordering, although customers are able to shop in person, one at a time for physical distancing. SPARC has also “beefed up” its website, emphasizing online ordering, he said. The recent protests of racial violence and the killings of African Americans by police has also taken a toll on both companies. The Apothecarium and SPARC were both victims of robbers who reportedly struck two-dozen dispensaries over the past few days, in protests that turned violent following the murder of George Lloyd by Minneapolis police. As of Monday, June 1, the Apothecarium said it plans to open all three of its San Francisco locations later this week. Please check the website for the latest updates. (https://apothecarium. com/san-francisco) SPARC has closed all shops until further notice for the protection and safety of staff and customers. Check the website for updates.

Hard times for others, too

Hard times have hit a number of local manufacturers, including Soma-

tik, which markets a line of infused cold brews in partnership with Ritual Coffee Roasters, as well as a line of chocolate products. In a telephone interview with the B.A.R., Christopher Schroeder, a gay man who founded the company in 2016, said the firm’s difficulties began before the pandemic kept people at home. Last fall, the cannabis industry went through months of rocky times when the investment market suddenly chilled. Somatik downsized, laid off its staff of seven, and last month, closed its manufacturing facility to share a kitchen with another company. “It was really a blow to have to let the team go,” said Schroeder, who is still optimistic that the company can succeed, noting that Somatik is the only THC-infused cold brew on the market. The pandemic has not only kept people at home, but also probably has discouraged many new users from experimenting with cannabis. “It’s a social activity. Many people enjoy cannabis with a friend,” he said. Oakland lesbian Amber Senter, who manufactures and distributes a line of her own products, said her business “really hasn’t been hurt” by the recent developments. In a telephone interview with the B.A.R., Senter said that she hasn’t had to furlough or lay off any staff and, in fact, is giving delivery workers additional “hazard pay” for working through the pandemic. Senter, founder and CEO of Breeze Distro, a manufacturing and distribution company, also has two applications in the San Francisco pipeline for

new dispensaries, one in the Bayview and one in the Richmond. “I have to tell you that the folks in the Office of Cannabis have been working really hard” through the pandemic, helping her to push her paperwork through the system, she said. Despite the seemingly gloomy retail sales, over three-dozen companies are advertising for help on the employment website, Indeed. While most of the jobs are entry-level positions in delivery or manufacturing, there are also a number of sales jobs with greater potential. “Cannabis is hiring,” said a May email from www.flowerhire.com, which labels itself a cannabis executive search and staffing company. “Cannabis is a multidisciplinary industry that requires teams with both industry specific skill sets” as well as people from outside the industry with transferable skills and experiences, the email states. Jobs in cannabis manufacturing “look a lot like other agricultural- or food-based manufacturing jobs – albeit with a lot more regulation and safety requirements,” the recruiting company added. “As cannabis goes digital and brand building continues, we see tremendous demand for folks out of tech and e-commerce. ... Many folks who have been hard hit due to COVID in other industries find themselves exploring cannabis as a future career,” the company said. t Bay Area Cannasseur runs the first Thursday of the month. To send column ideas or tips, email Sari Staver at sfsari@gmail.com.

Stereotypes, biases, and bad theories

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t the heart of many of society’s “-isms” is a laundry list of stereotypes that seek to characterize a group in ways that both provide an easy, if inaccurate, method of describing that group, while also confirming already-inherent biases against it. While some stereotypes may be born out of some facts about a group, they most often are limiting and harmful, relying on cultural beliefs that do not reflect the lived experiences of those who exist within a group. At worst, these stereotypes are directly harmful to a group, leading to decades of discrimination and hurt. Enter Ray Blanchard, Ph.D., an American and Canadian sexologist. In the 1980s and 1990s, Blanchard refined a theory that there are two types of trans people in the world. One is the “homosexual transsexual” whose desire to transition is based largely on their attraction to men and their innate – perhaps even stereotypical – femininity. The second is an “autogynephilic transsexual,” who is sexually aroused at the idea of having a female body. I should note that while Blanchard did also coin “autoandrophilia,” he is primarily focused on transgender women in his work. A lot of Blanchard’s work would likely be relatively unknown if not for the book “The Man Who Would Be Queen” by J. Michael Bailey, who discusses Blanchard’s theories heavily. Blanchard has also become a darling of modern anti-trans forces, who use his theories to further anti-

Christine Smith

transgender sentiment by pathologizing transgender women, treating us as nothing more than paraphiliac men. Further, his theory has a very heterosexual view of transgender people and their sexuality, assuming that those who are attracted to men are more feminine than those attracted to women, going so far as to place the latter into a fetishistic category and delegitimizing their gender identity in the process. Of course, his theories have received plenty of pushback over the years from transgender people. They point out both flaws in the theories as well as concerns about his ethical standards in doing his studies at the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry in Toronto. The Clarke Institute is now part of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and faced controversy over accusa-

tions of practicing what amounted to conversion therapy on young transgender people. Now, a study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine in March calls into question Blanchard’s whole theory. The study, titled “Sexual Behavior, Desire, and Psychosexual Experience in Gynephilic and Androphilic Trans Women: A Cross-Sectional Multicenter Study,” reported that, “Clinical translation data of this study indicate that sexual orientation does not appear to be a good predicator for sexual behavior, desire, and psychosexual experience in trans women.” In short, the reductionist views of Blanchard do not fit the reality that these researchers have uncovered – a fact that transgender people have been saying all along. To those of us who are trans, we understand that our gender identity and our sexual orientation are largely separate things. One may influence or enhance another, but are not the prime mover. When I first heard Blanchard’s theories in the 1990s, they seemed absurd from the get-go. My life didn’t fit either category. I identify as bisexual, predominately lesbian, but I’ve never had a sexual arousal toward feminizing my body. I simply do not fit the model, like so many others. Unfortunately, few have bothered to listen to the lived experiences of See page 9 >>

Community News>>

June 4-10, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 7

Castro businesses cover plywood with murals by John Ferrannini

urals have begun to appear on the plywood that became a staple of Castro neighborhood storefronts following the imposition of shelter-in-place orders in March due to the novel coronavirus. “This is a really amazing show of solidarity with folks in the Castro working together to make it happen,” Shannon Amitin, a trans activist who is on the advisory boards of both the Castro Merchants and the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District, told the Bay Area Reporter via phone May 29. Amitin said that the idea for more murals in the Castro pre-dated March’s widespread business closures. “It started in a conversation with Eddie Ferriter. Eddie and I came together with a desire to work on improving what he calls ‘the low hanging

John Ferrannini

Blake Cedric’s mural on the shuttered GLBT Historical Society Museum urges LGBTQs to come out, while depicting some well-known figures and an essential worker.

fruit’ – the smaller ways we can improve the neighborhood and make it a little bit better,” Amitin said, referring to the Castro resident. “We were working on semi-permanent installations

in empty storefronts, but then COVID happened.” After Governor Gavin Newsom ordered the state’s bars closed the afternoon of March 15, and Mayor London

Breed announced an order for city residents to shelter in place the following day, many businesses decided to board up to discourage vandalism and looting. As the B.A.R. previously reported, gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman said that his office worked with the planning department and the Department of Building Inspection to make sure business owners wouldn’t be penalized for boarding up. Boarding up is usually forbidden in many circumstances in order to prevent the appearance of blight, but these legal requirements have not been enforced in San Francisco since the shelter-in-place order took effect. While some discouraged boarding up storefronts, others decided to make the best of what had been an unthinkable scenario. Amitin said that the Castro Mer-

chants, the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District, and the Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit District joined together to connect artists with business owners. A GoFundMe page for the Castro Art Project reached its $1,500 fundraising goal spearheaded by Amitin and Ferriter on May 27. “We’ve been working on getting a hold of businesses and getting approval,” Amitin said. “From a cultural district standpoint, we have had a strong emphasis on working with queer muralists.” Artists from Paint the Void, a group that has been working on getting gigs for artists who are struggling due to the economic shutdown, has been heavily involved. “Paint the Void is an organization that has an impressive operation of See page 9 >>

LA Pride to hold march in solidarity with BLM by John Ferrannini

hile this year’s Pride in-person parade had initially been canceled due to COVID-19, the Los Angeles Pride organization announced June 3 that it will be holding an event after all – a march in solidarity with Black Lives Matter. Pride events began in Los Angeles, and other cities, as a protest against discrimination and police violence. Now, 50 years later, the Los Angeles Pride solidarity march will go from the intersection of Highland Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard – near where the first LA Pride took place – to the intersection of Santa Monica and San Vicente boulevards in West Hollywood.

Courtesy Los Angeles Blade

Last year’s LA Pride was a party; this year, organizers have called for a protest march in solidarity with Black Lives Matter.

The march will take place Sunday, June 14, at 10 a.m., according to an article in the Los Angeles Times.

Estevan Montemayor, a trans woman who is the board president of Christopher Street West, which puts

on LA Pride, said that protests are essential activities and should take place in spite of the novel coronavirus outbreak that led to so many Pride cancellations. “We have been told that it is safer at home – and that is absolutely true; it is safer at home during this health pandemic – and that unless it is absolutely necessary you should not leave your home,” Montemayor said, according to the Times. “But as we reflect on what is occurring, I think it is very fair to say that it is absolutely necessary that we leave our homes and speak loudly and clearly about this injustice and peacefully protest.” All the demonstrators are asked to wear face masks at all times, in accordance with public health guidelines.

The city of West Hollywood has a mask requirement similar to the one instituted in San Francisco on Friday. New York City Pride also announced June 3 a “rally to center on racial justice.” The New York event, however, will occur virtually and not at the same time the Pride parade would have occurred. The virtual rally will occur at 2 p.m. Pacific Time Friday, June 26, and will be streamed on YouTube and Facebook. It will be hosted by trans activist Ashlee Marie Preston and trans actor Brian Michael Smith. “I’m beyond excited to co-host the digital rally with NYC Pride this year,”

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<< Community News

8 • Bay Area Reporter • June 4-10, 2020

Police reforms

From page 1

tigations into these instances of police misconduct amount to nothing and true justice is never served. This cannot, and must not, go on.” The list of LGBTQ organizations pledging solidarity with the African American community continued to grow this week. Their doing so followed the release last Friday, May 29, of a joint statement regarding the country’s racist legacy and calling for the end of white supremacy signed by the leaders of 75 LGBTQ advocacy groups in the U.S. It was sparked by the first three days of protests demanding justice for Floyd, who was asphyxiated to death by Minneapolis police officers, one of whom had kneeled on his neck, and ignored his pleas of “I can’t breathe.” “As a collective of LGBTQIA people from a range of backgrounds and life experiences, we have benefitted immeasurably from black leadership and actions that have brought greater civil liberties for all,” wrote the staff and board of the Solano Pride Center in Fairfield, California in a letter released Monday. “As a center, we aspire to do more and do better at serving and focusing on African American lives, needs, voices, hopes, achieve-

Mandelman

From page 1

shooting was related to other violence in the Bay Area. “It’s spilled over from things going on around the city,” Caldwell said. “There have been issues with Valencia Gardens [the complex near where the shooting occurred.] There has been some cross-county work in trying to de-escalate the violence that’s coming from San Francisco, Oakland, Richmond, and San Jose, and how these young men and women are maneuvering throughout the Bay Area. ... A task force has been put together to quell the violence, to ensure that

Elisabeth Middleberg

The Reverend Jim Mitulski, left, took part in a peaceful protest outside the city of Alameda Police Department Monday, June 1.

ments and beyond.”

Pride born of protest

Many in the LGBTQ community noted Monday that the annual Pride celebrations were born 50 years ago with marches in New York and San Francisco commemorating the first anniversary of the riots that occurred at New York City’s Stonewall Inn the night of June 28, 1969 when queer and transgender patrons of the gay bar rose up against the police who had raided the establishment. “Pride was born from a moment in which black and brown trans folks had had enough and pushed back against

young people take responsibility for their own neighborhood.” Later in the meeting, Caldwell said that innocent people in San Francisco often end up being targeted multiple times unintentionally due to a practice known as “phone pimping.” “Phone pimping – they make a phone call trying to target one individual, and bystanders get hit,” Caldwell explained. Caldwell said that “we’re having a season” of the kinds of barrages of gunfire that killed Brousseau. “There’s been a rash of gunfire – multiple rounds – in different areas of the city,” Caldwell said. “There’s been a high rate of it happening for

a system that oppressed them,” noted San Francisco Pride Executive Director Fred Lopez in a June 1 statement. “Pride, as we are all reminded today, began as an expression of anger, of frustration, of rage. Half a century later, we are seeing outrage on the streets of our nation – and we feel it, too.” Due to the novel coronavirus outbreak resulting in the cancellation, postponement, or virtual revamping of Pride celebrations across the globe, Pride Month had already lost some of its celebratory feel with millions of Americans out of work, whole industries shuttered, and the number of those killed by the virus surpassing the grim milestone of 100,000 last week. Aiming to provide some relief and solidarity to people as they shelter in place and grapple with the fallout from the pandemic, Pride organizers had pivoted to hosting online events throughout the month of June, culminating with a globally livestreamed celebration the weekend of June 27-28. “Pride started as a grassroots coming-together to liberate our people. It’s remarkable that we’re doing exactly that during this pandemic. Our entire production team are volunteers who are members of our community that have a passion to ensure our visibility during this challenging time,” stated

Michelle Meow, executive producer of the Global Pride event and a past president of the board that oversees San Francisco Pride. “This has never been done before and we’re excited about the authentic materials we’re collecting that represents our global community. While production will be a challenge, we’re incredibly grateful to the support of everyone from the small Pride organization you’ve never heard of before to the big global tech companies providing their support.” The civil unrest raging on the streets of dozens of American cities is sure to be a focal point of this year’s virtual Pride celebrations. At numerous rainbow flag raising ceremonies in cities around the Bay Area this week, speakers remarked upon the health crisis, the deaths of black and transgender people, and the calls for police reforms. San Mateo County LGBTQ Commission member Dana Johnson, who co-chairs the county’s Pride Initiative, called out the names of Floyd, Taylor, McDade, and Ahmaud Arbery during the city of Half Moon Bay’s ceremony Monday afternoon. “We are still not safe to express our gender identity,” said Johnson, who is black and gender nonbinary. “Fifty years since the Stonewall riots and

there is still a lot of work to be done. So let’s get back to work and fight for justice for all.” During Richmond’s livestreamed ceremony Monday when it again flew flags for Pride and Juneteenth and marked the start of Immigrant Heritage Month, gay leader Cesar Zepeda noted it was especially important for the city to “stand together as one community” this June. “The LGBTQI community we stand in solidarity with our black brothers and sisters, especially during a difficult time for our city,” said Zepeda, a co-founder of Richmond Rainbow Pride, which will host a virtual Pride event Sunday, June 14. In asking his fellow council members at their meeting Monday to again support the issuance of a Pride Month proclamation and flying the Pride flag this month, gay Pleasant Hill City Councilman Ken Carlson reminded them that doing so sends the message that “we are here to stand together as a community.” The city’s current mayor, Councilman Matthew Rinn, referred to the flying of the international symbol for the LGBT community as the “silver lining to a storm.” t

a couple months.” When asked by Mandelman, Caltagirone said that he could not guarantee violence wouldn’t break out in the area again. Sam Moss, executive director of the Mission Housing Development Corporation that owns and operates the Valencia Gardens complex, said he thinks there is less violence in the area than previously. “We’ve been running it for at least eight years. Anyone who remembers the old Valencia Gardens knows it’s night and day,” Moss said. “Not to say that what happened should happen. … Our residents felt concerned and were pleased to know we joined the efforts of

[Mandelman] to talk about this.” Several virtual attendees of the town hall questioned Moss about why a large gathering in and around the complex before the shooting wasn’t broken up, and why the shooting was only mentioned at the monthly apartment meeting at the end when someone broached the issue. “It’s not Mission Housing’s policy to overly police our tenants,” Moss said. “I know it’s frustrating and some people think we should move everyone along.” Virtual attendance was limited to 100 people, but only around 60 attended. Less than 20 minutes after the

meeting ended, the SFPD made an announcement about multiple arrests in the Sunnydale and Ingleside neighborhoods, including one in March that involved 30 shots from multiple firearms, and one in May that involved 40 shots. “These incidents are part of a recent increase in gang-related shootings that have occurred in several neighborhoods in the City,” the SFPD statement reads. “The SFPD Gang Task Force worked with officers from the Patrol and Investigations Bureaus to develop leads and information. The investigation resulted in securing multiple search warrants in connection with the shootings.” t

was beloved by her city family and the nonprofit partners in the housing and homelessness response system. In her 22 years with the city, she single-handedly ended homelessness for so many people it would be impossible to count. Margot deeply loved San Francisco and its people, and believed all people deserved a home. On Tuesday, gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman adjourned the Board of Supervisors meeting in memory of Margot. Margot was an affectionate friend whose laugh was infectious. She showed up for every occasion important to the people she loved. She was generous with her time, quick witted, beautiful, and inspiring. She was brilliant, a fierce fighter, impeccably dressed, and a femme queer icon who walked this earth with deep wisdom, profound dignity, and timeless grace. Margot’s philanthropic and community efforts include being a member of

the HIV Planning Council, member of the SRO Task Force, the SF Food Security Task Force, Women Organized to Respond to Life-Threatening Diseases, and the Iguanas Board – her running club. She generously supported many organizations. She is survived by sisters Caroline Antonetty and Jeanette (Wolfgang) Schött; niece Jacqueline Schött; and nephew Patrick (Anna) Schött, all of Pulheim, Germany. Margot is survived by family throughout the world. She left behind many dear friends and chosen family members. Donations may be made in Margot’s honor to DISH (Delivering Innovations in Supported Housing) and Rocket Dog Rescue. Funds are being raised to have Margot’s name included in the National AIDS Memorial Grove as a supporter, as well as for trees to be planted in Israel. For more information, contact sherilyna2003@yahoo.com.

writing poetry. Ida earned degrees in English literature and library science and was proud of her professional work in these fields. However, her true passions were poetry and theater, helping to found both the Oak Grove Theater in Virginia and Mothertongue: A Feminist Readers’ Theater in San Francisco. She shared her talents with Old Lesbians Organizing for Change, the former New Leaf: Services for Our Community, GLOE, OutLook Theater, Frameline Generations Film Workshop, numerous writing workshops, and was a recipient of

the Pat Bond Fourth Biennial Memorial Old Dyke Award. Look for her poetry at http://www. SinisterWisdom.org and read the story of her name in “The Lesbian Path” (ed. Margaret Cruikshank). Ida will be lovingly remembered by her family and a large circle of lesbian feminist lovers and friends. Her papers and personal archives have been donated to the San Francisco History Center and James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center at the San Francisco Public Library. A chapbook of her poetry is in progress.

Obituaries >> Margot Antonetty

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t <<

Community News>>

News Briefs

From page 2

the stay-at-home order was issued for the state. Since the Bay Area went into lockdown March 17, the paper has seen a majority of its advertising disappear as businesses closed or saw drastic drop-offs in customers. With the San Francisco LGBT Pride parade and festival going virtual this year, the B.A.R. continues to face financial hurdles. “The cancellation of Pride will be devastating,” publisher Michael Yamashita wrote in a response to a question from Press Pass Q, a newsletter about LGBT publications. “It’s the year’s biggest issue and helps to carry us through the third and fourth quarters. It’s the same for any LGBTQ business where Pride is canceled. This year is our Pride’s 50th anniversary, so it’s particularly painful for San Francisco.” The B.A.R. continues to apply for various federal, city, and private loans and grants. It recently received a loan through the federal paycheck protection program. He thanked all those who contributed to the Indiegogo fundraiser. “On behalf of all of us at the B.A.R., thank you to everyone who rallied

Transmissions

From page 6

transgender people, preferring the words of a non-trans person like, oh, Blanchard. Long before he published his theory, transgender people have had to navigate stereotypes. For one, we have been assumed to be mentally disordered. I presume that those who are not trans can only relate to this by assuming that if they faced gender dysphoria, it would be be-

to help us reach our goal, especially when many are in need too,” Yamashita stated. “The outpouring of support has been amazing, from donations by authors and artists to generous contributors. The fundraising campaign helped raise awareness and inspired others to advertise with us during this difficult period. The funds raised will allow us to continue operating through the summer as we attempt to weather the economic downturn. We are all grateful for the support from the community, family, and friends.” Interested readers can subscribe to the B.A.R.’s daily newsletter via www. ebar.com.

June 4-10, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 9

the last decade. A news release noted that people who identify as a sexual minority are twice as likely as heterosexuals to have a substance use disorder and between 20 and 25% of the LGBTQ community have moderate to severe alcohol dependency. For more information, and to sign up for the Pride Month meetings, go to https://www.lionrockrecovery.com/online-aa-meetings-and-support-groups.

Applications open for AIDS grove arts award

Pride Month can hold unique triggers for those in recovery and Lionrock Recovery will be offering free virtual LGBTQ meetings during June. Beginning Tuesday, June 9, the virtual CommUnity support group/recovery meetings will take place from 5 to 6 p.m. (Pacific Time). The sessions are open to all members of the queer community (co-ed) and all paths of recovery. Lionrock, which has offices in the Bay Area and elsewhere, has been treating substance use disorder virtually for

The National AIDS Memorial Grove has announced that applications are now being accepted for the Mary Bowman Arts in Activism Award. The new program offers support to young artist-activists who are working and committed to making a difference in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The award is named after Bowman, a poet, advocate, author, and singer who was living with AIDS. She died in early 2019 at the age of 30. “This award honors Mary’s pioneering work to end bigotry, discrimination, and to advance social justice, particularly around the issue of HIV/AIDS,” John Cunningham, executive director of the grove, said in a news release.

cause they’ve “gone crazy.” It doesn’t help when transgender people are portrayed in popular culture as being mentally unstable. Therefore, they are unwilling to listen to the “ravings of a lunatic.” I also have to note that Blanchard’s theories themselves only help to reinforce this notion of transgender people as being mentally disordered. The only other option would be, a non-trans person might assume, that we are doing something dishonest. This is where all that “sexual deviant hiding in the women’s rest-

room” stuff comes from. It’s the notion of Corporal Maxwell Q. Klinger trying to use cross-gender presentation to escape the Army on the classic television show “M*A*S*H,” among plenty of other portrayals of people using cross-gender presentation as a conceit. Once again, this means they can discount anything we happen to say, because we clearly must be willing to twist our words to get something we want. As a result, Blanchard has been able to spend decades successfully

Pride Month online recovery meetings

Castro murals

From page 7

professional installations,” Amitin said. “They are doing this citywide.”

Museum mural celebrates 50 years of Pride

Almost two-dozen murals have appeared in the Castro, though not all are connected with the aforementioned initiative. For example, Terry Beswick, a gay man who is the executive director of the GLBT Historical Society and its museum on 18th Street, told the B.A.R. via phone May 28 that the museum was boarded up later than many surrounding locations. Beswick ultimately asked his landlord to board up the museum because he was “worried about the artifacts inside” after someone graffitied the front window. “Then I noticed all of the murals going up and reached out to my friend, Juanita MORE!, who is the queen of deals in San Francisco,” Beswick said. MORE!, a well-known drag artist, connected Beswick with Blake Cedric, a 37-year-old gay artist.

LA Pride

From page 7

said Preston in a news release. “The current socio-political climate around LGBTQ rights is similar to that of the 1960s; but our commitment to shattering systemic barriers that impede our ability to thrive is exactly the same as it was for our foremothers – Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. Poisonous policies, patriarchal power, nor the pandemonium of a pandemic will thwart our progress.” Johnson and Rivera were New York-based trans activists who took part in the 1969 Stonewall riots that kicked off the modern LGBT rights movement, and the anniversary of which Pride commemorates. San Francisco Pride has not re-

John Ferrannini

The mural on the boarded up Beaux bar features an inspirational message.

“I’ve known Blake Cedric for quite a long time,” MORE! wrote in an email to the B.A.R. June 2. “I’ve always been a fan of his brightly colored creations that have been so diverse in depicting the people he sees in the San Francisco nightlife scene. Turning his work into a mural has secretly been something I’ve been wanting to figure out how to do. “When the opportunity came, I jumped at connecting him with Terry Beswick at the GLBT Historical Society,” MORE! continued. “I know the

subject matter was emotional for Blake to paint, and hope that there are many more murals to come.” Beswick got a discount on art supplies from Cliff’s Variety on Castro Street. Cedric had never before painted a mural. “Juanita reached out and contacted me about doing the mural,” Cedric told the B.A.R. in a June 2 interview. “I was asked to do something that showed diversity and also represented the 50 years of Pride. That was the only direction I was given.”

sponded to a request for comment. The City by the Bay has been the site of several protests in solidarity with Black Lives Matter over the past week, after an international outcry was sparked by a video of the Memorial Day killing of George Floyd, a black man, by a white police officer who knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes. Protests in the Bay Area have occurred in spite of orders to shelter in place to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. In response to nighttime looting downtown late May 30, Mayor London Breed instituted an 8 p.m. curfew in San Francisco. Other jurisdictions followed suit. Tensions have been high nationwide as peaceful protests have not only been accompanied by looting, but have been met with police vio-

lence themselves. At least one member of the San Francisco LGBT community thinks that San Francisco should also have a march in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. Okan Sengun, the founder and executive director of the LGBT Asylum Project, which this year is an organizational grand marshal for the SF Pride parade (which, like LA Pride, was also holding its 50th anniversary and was also canceled due to COVID-19), said he hopes San Francisco Pride considers the option. “This is exactly what I have been thinking about this year’s San Francisco Pride,” Sengun wrote on Facebook. “We are not in the mood to celebrate or talk about LGBT rights event after event this month when the black community is being subjected to such

Bowman was born with HIV and lived out her experience of growing up and living with HIV (and losing a mother to AIDS) through her art. According to the release, the $5,000 award is intended to support one young artist, 27 years of age or younger. The award is being funded through a grant from ViiV Healthcare. “Mary Bowman was an icon of hope and resilience, and performed at the 2018 ViiV Healthcare Youth and Community Summit, where she inspired leaders across the movement,” stated Marc Meachem, head external affairs North America ViiV Healthcare. Details about the application process and requirements for the award can be found at http://www.aidsmemorial.org. The deadline to apply is July 20. The first recipient will be announced in August.

Muni Art call for artists

San Francisco Beautiful has issued a call for artists for its Muni Art 2021 program. The theme will be “San Francisco United” and will recognize people, communities, and heroes who united the city through the novel coronavirus pandemic, a news release stated. Interested artists can get complete

rules and details at www.sfbeautiful. org. The deadline to apply is July 17.

Call for SF poet laureate

The San Francisco Public Library and the San Francisco Poet Laureate Selection Committee are seeking nominations for the city’s eighth poet laureate, to succeed Kim Shuck, whose term is expiring. “During this crisis, it remains important to support and celebrate poets,” Mayor London Breed said in a news release announcing the call for nominations. “Since the creation of the San Francisco poet laureate position in 1998 by Mayor Willie Brown, our poet laureates have brought the beauty and joy of poetry to the lives of our city’s residents.” Poet laureates must be San Francisco residents and have a substantial body of work, among other requirements. The nomination period is openended for now, library spokeswoman Michelle Jeffers wrote in an email. Given the shelter-in-place order, the library, which administers the selection process, wanted to get the word out broadly so that people know about it. Nominations can be submitted online at http://www.sfpl.org/poetlaureate. t

We have spent endless decades living in these stereotypes, initially having to play guinea pig to people like Blanchard, then learning to navigate the stereotypes they created in order to get the care we need. Now it is your turn: I want to see people reach beyond the stereotypes, and their own biases. It is the only way to find out who we truly are.t

promoting a theory that doesn’t fit the lived experiences of countless transgender people, helping to create careers for not only himself, but several other sexologists and others who promote a theory that transgender people fit into two ill-fitting categories where we can continue to be called deviant. Meanwhile, all this time and attention is going into sexologists and others who create pet theories of transgender behavior, rather than toward the bettering of transgender lives in this society.

Gwen Smith believes in the power of listening. You can find her at www.gwensmith.com.

Cedric’s mural, which encourages people to “come out,” features four people who represent the LGBT community. “I pretty much painted four people based on that (from right): a leatherman and an homage to San Francisco nightlife staple and legend, Steve Fabus; Rene Pierre, a nurse at UCSF who has been a great worker for the queer community, being an essential worker who is also helping people out with meals; Juanita [MORE!] and [her dog] Jackson; and the trans black activist Marsha P. Johnson,” Cedric said. “I tried to put an array in there,” Cedric said. “I free-handed it.” Amitin couldn’t pick a favorite. “The mural on the museum was painted by a friend, and Elliot Nathan [of Paint the Void] was also a friend, so it’s challenging to answer the question,” Amitin said. “I have a soft spot for the Harvey Milk one.” The Milk mural, which features the late supervisor arrayed by rays of light, is at the Mudpuppy’s dog grooming business at 536 Castro Street – which is on the same block as the former Castro Camera store that became Milk’s political headquarters. (It is now the Hu-

man Rights Campaign’s Action Center and Store.) Josh Katz, who painted the mural, was connected to Mudpuppy’s through the Castro Merchants. He wrote in an email to the B.A.R. June 2 that it is the first in “a new series where I paint leaders from queer history in the form of public murals.” “I decided to paint Harvey’s portrait, smiling, and with encouraging language stenciled into the background of the mural,” Katz wrote. “I made stencils of phrases such as Harvey’s, ‘Hope will never be silent,’ and collaged my own stenciled phrases such as ‘We are resilient,’ ‘We will persevere,’ and ‘Support your community.’” As the B.A.R. previously reported, the “Hope will never be silent” quote is widely attributed to Milk, though it is unclear when he first said it. Beswick said he hopes the murals can be preserved, at least digitally, once more Castro-area businesses reopen. “We’re definitely talking about that,” Beswick said. “We are going to document the murals as much as we can before they come down.” Ferriter did not respond to a request for comment at press time. t

brutal and endless police violence due to decades long racism in this country! Injustice to anyone is injustice to everyone! We need to get together and we need to focus our efforts on Black Lives Matter right now!” Sengun elaborated on these comments in a statement to the Bay Area Reporter on June 3. “I applaud LA Pride for taking the historic steps of turning this year’s Pride march into a Black Lives Matter march,” Sengun wrote. “It’s my sincere hope San Francisco will consider doing the same. ... We need to understand the constant fear that our African American brothers and sisters are experiencing every single day when they leave their houses just because of their skin color! “Now is the time to stand united as a community,” he continued. “We

need to come together and dedicate all of our forces, compassion and resources to the Black Lives Matter movement and we need to do this RIGHT NOW!” The San Francisco Pride organization has faced ongoing criticism for the participation of police departments in its annual celebration. Just last year, protesters against police and corporate participation in the parade delayed it for about an hour. As the B.A.R. previously reported, leaders of the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee struck down a proposal to prevent Google, YouTube, and the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office from participating before this year’s parade was canceled April 14.t

<< Community News

10 • Bay Area Reporter • June 4-10, 2020

Aunt Charlie’s threatened with closure due to COVID by John Ferrannini

page states. “He has been paying rent and utilities out of his own pocket. All money raised will go towards direct business expenses:

rent, utilities, and operations. Any funds received beyond our goal will be invested in the long-term sustainability of your favorite community gathering place.” Myles Cooper, a gay man and one of six organizers of the fundraiser, has been a DJ at Aunt Charlie’s for over a decade. He told the Bay Area Reporter in a June 2 phone call that even though the fundraiser met almost half its goal in one day, organizers are not planning on resting on their laurels. “Bill [Erkelens, the owner] said he could no longer pay for the bar and had to close it August 1 unless

‘something happened,’” Cooper said. “He didn’t say a fundraiser. We’ve raised over $40,000 – which is great, we’re getting a lot of community support. There’s a lot of momentum and I feel like that’ll happen in the first couple of days.” Erkelens did not respond to a request for comment. Joseph Mattheison, a gay man who has been the bar manager of Aunt Charlie’s for 23 years, spoke on his behalf in a June 2 phone interview with the B.A.R. Mattheison said that Erkelens is “very, very loyal to his employees” and with the money from the

GoFundMe he would be able to operate the bar at a loss – a likely scenario because of the physical distancing that will still be prescribed even after San Francisco bars are projected to open again in mid-August. “We’re very, very grateful for the contributions,” Mattheison said. “I was extremely amazed. Some 600 or so people made an outpouring to help maintain the bar. I knew a lot of the people but a lot I didn’t know.” t

B.A.R. she believes the college board needs to have experienced leadership on it to help it navigate the rough road it faces. “Even though things have been challenging, it has also been quite rewarding,” said Williams, who grew up in the city’s Western Addition and Fillmore neighborhoods and now lives in the Upper Haight by Buena Vista Park. “I’ve grown over these last four years as a person and elected official.” But the stress from the role has come at a cost. Last year, Williams dropped her bid for the city’s District 5 supervisor seat, citing personal reasons at the time for doing so. She told the B.A.R. she made the decision following a health scare that led to her being hospitalized for three days and put on blood thinners to treat a deep vein thrombosis, or a blood cot, in her left leg that had turned into a pulmonary embolism. “I am just really thanking God that I did slow down. If I was still trying to run for District 5 supervisor and do my work stuff and the college board, I could have died,” said Williams. “It would have literally been a life or death situation maybe if I was not paying attention to the signs. I think I totally made the right decision to step back and reevaluate it.” As Williams added, “My health is

number one. If I don’t have my health, I can’t help anyone.” Today, Williams said she is taking greater care of her health and that she feels “completely renewed” for her reelection bid following the passage of the college’s bond on the March 3 primary ballot and her being elected to a seat on the oversight body for the San Francisco Democratic Party. Ahead of the election, voters in the city’s eastern neighborhoods received a mailer that featured two of the city’s gay elected officials “introducing” them to Williams. District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who had served with Williams on the college board, and BART board member Bevan Dufty, who had served as the District 8 supervisor, had put together the mailing to help see that Williams joined them on Democratic County Central Committee. Considering Williams received 2,860 more votes than Mandelman and 3,634 more than Dufty, it could be that they benefited more than she did from the flyer. After all, in her 2016 race for the college board, Williams was the top vote-getter. “I could not be more thrilled if we rode her coattails to victory in the March election. I am totally duplicitous and made it seem like I was doing something for her,” joked Dufty, who had asked Williams to run for one of the DCCC seats. “Shanell is a native

San Franciscan and she grew up facing a fair amount of adversity. And I am so proud of her career and focus on health care and education; two of the things so important in life.” Williams told the B.A.R. she was grateful for the support. Others had pointed out the vote total discrepancy between the three candidates, but Williams said she “didn’t rib” Mandelman and Dufty about it. “It was a good feeling to do so well,” she said. “Given it was only my second time running for office, I was nervous.” She and Dufty had bonded years ago over both losing their mothers and have grown closer ever since, said Dufty, adding that he has “big plans” politically for Williams. “What I know about Shanell is she has got a very strong internal compass,” he said. “She will be respectful. She is not second-guessing herself. She knows where she is going and that is a wonderful quality.” In her youth Williams ended up in the juvenile justice system and placed into a residential program at Walden House at 15 years old. She was also placed in foster care, and at age 17, after graduating high school in 2003 enrolled at City College. “My dad and family members have taken classes at City College for many, many years. It is a critical part of the

web of our city,” she said. Not only is she confident of her being able to win a second term, Williams told the B.A.R. she believes voters will also pass a spending measure expected to be placed on the November 3 ballot that will funnel $20 million in city funding to pay for the college’s workforce development and training programs. She is one of two out women of color who hold elected office in the city, the other being queer BART board member Janice Li. Williams is also one of the few LGBTQ African American officeholders in the city and Bay Area. “Besides being African American, being queer can be lonely,” said Williams. She took great pride at being mentioned in the press as a possible appointee for the District 5 supervisor seat when London Breed resigned to become the city’s first black female mayor. “I know it makes my family proud,” said Williams. “I am the only elected official in my family; that is a big deal.” For that reason, and the heartfelt messages she has received from young queer people of color from around the country, Williams hopes San Francisco voters will continue to entrust her to help oversee City College. Despite the ongoing challenges, Williams told the B.A.R. she is confident better days lie ahead. “I am hopeful for the future,” she said. t

STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-035499300

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039061100

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039067500

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039071500

unt Charlie’s Lounge – one of the last LGBT bars in a oncevibrant Tenderloin scene – has launched a GoFundMe campaign to prevent having to close August 1. The fundraising goal is $100,000. As of Wednesday, over $58,000 had been raised. “After the (COVID-19 shelter in place order), the bar’s owner applied for a (paycheck protection program) loan and received only a fraction of the requested funds because the business is just ‘too small,’” the GoFundMe

Williams

From page 1

president Tom Temprano, is seeking another four-year term as is Williams in November.

SF native

Considering the tribulations and the controversies she has weathered, it is to be expected that Williams will be fielding questions as to why she wants to continue serving on the college board. “It is a good question. Why am I running for another term?” responded Williams when posed the question by the Bay Area Reporter during a recent phone interview. Her reason is rooted in her having matriculated at the college and her being a San Francisco native. “I care deeply about City College of San Francisco,” said Williams, 35, the director of community engagement for the California Preterm Birth Initiative at UCSF. “I just see how it transforms lives and all our students who depend on City College to be strong. I just don’t want to step away from this commitment at this time.” In light of the unknown impacts on enrollment the college may see in the coming months due to the health crisis, its ongoing budget issues, and the chancellor search, Williams told the

Rick Gerharter

Empress Mae, a bartender at Aunt Charlie’s, stood behind the bar on November 9, 1990.

For a longer version of this story, go to ebar.com.

Legals>> FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039051600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SIMPLY NAILS, 5933 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112.This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed WENDY DANG.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/01/20.The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/22/20.

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: SIMPLY NAILS, 5933 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business was conducted by an individual, and signed by TOMMY WONG. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/01/13.

MAY 14, 21, 28, JUN 04, 2020

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039060500

STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-036620800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MSQUARED, 1303 MONTGOMERY ST #LOWER, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SERGHIO MUNOZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/28/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/06/20.

MAY 14, 21, 28, JUN 04, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039058600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SMALL WORKS, 1113 CONNECTICUT ST #3, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ANDREW WILLIAM STEINBERG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/17/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/01/20.

MAY 14, 21, 28, JUN 04, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039057200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: 14TH STREET OLIVEIRA CHIROPRACTIC, 640 14TH ST, OFFICE B, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed 17th STREET OLIVEIRA CHIROPRACTIC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/01/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/29/20.

MAY 14, 21, 28, JUN 04, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039062300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DIYA, 25 MASON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed MENUKA FOOD INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/08/20.

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: SAN FRANCISCO ORGANIC, 800 CORTLAND AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business was conducted by a corporation and signed by CHU CHU’S GOODS INC (CA). The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/07/15.

MAY 14, 21, 28, JUN 04, 2020 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-032707500

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: CANCILLA MARKET, 3216 FOLSOM ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business was conducted by a corporation and signed by CHU CHU’S GOODS INC (CA). The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/14/10.

MAY 14, 21, 28, JUN 04, 2020 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-036620700

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: SAN FRANCISCO ORGANIC, 3216 FOLSOM ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business was conducted by a corporation and signed by CHU CHU’S GOODS INC (CA). The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/07/15.

MAY 14, 21, 28, JUN 04, 2020 IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA IN AND FOR THE COURT OF YOLO JUVENILE DIVISION IN THE MATTER OF MALIYA EDWARDS, DEPENDENT NO. JV-18-13 CITATION

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TRAUST MOVING LOCAL & LONG DISTANCE MOVES; EASY MOVE, 101 MCLELLAN DR #1056, SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94080. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed SPECTRUM MOVERS LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/04/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/08/20.

To MICHAEL EDWARDS, you are hereby cited and required to appear at a hearing in Yolo County Juvenile Court, located at 1000 Main Street, Woodland, California 95695, on July 23, 2020 at 9:00a.m. in Department 5. At the hearing the Court will decide whether to permanently terminate your parental rights over the above-named minor child born Camay Law Taylor on August 20, 2014. If you wish to be represented by an attorney and are unable to afford one, the Court will appoint an attorney to represent you. Due to COVID-19 this hearing may be held through zoom, please contact the Health and Human Services Agency at (530) 6612712 regarding your appearance. Dated 05/13/20, Tom M. Dyer, Judge of the Juvenile Court.

MAY 14, 21, 28, JUN 04, 2020

MAY 21, 28, JUN 04, 11, 2020

MAY 14, 21, 28, JUN 04, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039061900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HOHOL HOLDING, 2355 18th AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed VOLODYMYR KHOKHLOV. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/24/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/08/20.

MAY 21, 28, JUN 04, 11, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039067700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MIKECHEB, 310 TOWNSEND ST #312, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MICHAEL CHEN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/29/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/15/20.

MAY 21, 28, JUN 04, 11, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039067300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DOG TALES WALKING SERVICE, 2758 22ND ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DEBORAH ANN DEEGAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/01/03. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/15/20.

MAY 21, 28, JUN 04, 11, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039069400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LIMPRO, 5262 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JOSUE GUTIERREZ REYES. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/15/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/18/20.

MAY 21, 28, JUN 04, 11, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039061800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE NOE VALLEY VOICE, 55 ORA WAY #B101, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed JACK C. TIPPLE III & SARAH M. SMITH. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/01/77. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/08/20.

MAY 21, 28, JUN 04, 11, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039062500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NOUVELLE TAILOR & LAUNDRY SERVICE, 1583 SANCHEZ ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131. This business is conducted by individual, and is signed BRENDA H. LAU. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/01/05. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/11/25.

MAY 28, JUN 04, 11, 18, 2020

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ALCHEMY ARTS THERAPY, 510 26TH AVE #407, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed REBECCA MARTINEZ-THOMAS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/15/20.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CIRCLE AND STRIPE, 730A LIGGETT AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94129. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JOREY HURLEY. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/22/20.

MAY 28, JUN 04, 11, 18, 2020

JUN 04, 11, 18, 25, 2020

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039064300

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039071200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SAMS AMERICAN EATERY, 1220 MARKET ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SAM INCORPORATED (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/15/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/12/20.

MAY 28, JUN 04, 11, 18, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039070500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE ROOST, 613 YORK ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed MERCHANT ROOTS, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/20/20.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE UPS STORE #4546, 2370 MARKET ST #103, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed DELBOM LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/27/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/22/20.

JUN 04, 11, 18, 25, 2020

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Magical History Tour Out of Site’s virtual history of South of Market by David-Elijah Nahmod

ike many other events, Eye Zen Productions’ Out of Site tours have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The tours take patrons on a walk through a neighborhood’s queer history during which actual historical sites are visited. The outdoor show features actors playing the people who lived, worked and played on those sites. That version was cancelled for Pride month due to the Covid shutdowns. Undaunted, tour creator Seth Eisen is moving forward. Out of Site: SOMA, this year’s planned performance work celebrating the South of Market neighborhood’s LGBT history, has been moved online. The performances will celebrate a wide array of queer people who populated SOMA over the years: “from honoring one’s trans identity in the early 1920s, to resisting development in the ’60s, to caretaking for each other during the AIDS crisis of the ’80s,” reads the Out of Site press release. “At first we had been rehearsing our scenes over at CounterPulse, where we’re resident artists,” Eisen tells the Bay Area Reporter. “As soon as the pandemic hit we continued our rehearsals online, not actually knowing what we were going to do.” As their rehearsals continued, Eisen realized that it made sense to move the performances themselves online, which would make the tours available to more people, both nationally and internationally. The script is written by acclaimed gay novelist K.M. Soehnlein (The World of Normal Boys). “We feel it’s for now an amazing opportunity to have new and different audiences witness the work that we’ve been making,” he said. Eisen noted that he had to think outside the

box in order to make this happen. “We have a show launching that was supposed to be outside; how do we adjust that?” he asked. “To have the same sense of community, the same sense of fun, the same sense of intimacy that you have when you’re seeing a show live, getting to go indoor places where you haven’t been before, so it’s different.” Eisen noted that they’ve made progress with their test audiences. They always have works in progress that they offer for free. “We’ve learned a lot over the past couple of months, seeing what works and doesn’t work,” he said. “And I’m really pleased with the results. People are going to get to see the same work. We haven’t really modified it that much, except that we’ll be giving the sensation of traveling through time and space. You’ll get these aerial views and street views like you’re moving about the city, as well as having the live theater happen. We’re working with a bunch of different technologies to make that happen.”

Diego Gomez/Design Nurd

Promotional flyer for Out of Site: SOMA

online with a trio of performers playing multiple roles: Leigh Crow, Ryan Hayes and Hector Zavala. “When viewers purchase a ticket, they are given a link that leads them to a virtual lobby,”

Eisen said. “We have cocktail parties that happen pre-show and pre-show tidbits that happen, and then when the show begins, they’re viewing from their home. What we do differently to include the audience is that we ask people to dress up, to make beverages and snacks and we share those recipes among the audience. We ask people to dress up in their finest leathers and their kinky and cool queer costumes or drag. And then we ask some of the audience members who have dressed up to participate in the scene.” The performances are done live as though the audience were walking around the neighborhood with the performers. “The walking-around part is simulated,” said Eisen. “So we give them a sense that they’re walking through the city. It’s all done with virtual backgrounds and green screens. We didn’t want to put anyone in jeopardy by having a camera crew with people outside.” Eisen wants to remind people that SOMA was once a major hub for the queer and leather communities. The history lesson delves deep into the neighborhood’s LGBT past. One of the stories shared is that of Jack Garland, a transgender man who was a journalist for the San Francisco Examiner. He talks about the Philippine/American war in which he served as a male nurse. Garland also helped in the relief effort after the 1906 earthquake. “His life story was written about by an early transgender activist named Lou Sullivan who was very active in the 1970s and ’80s,” Eisen said. “And he did a lot for transgender rights during that period, both locally and nationally. So we feature characters that people are not likely to have even heard of, and the histories of the city like the whole labor movement, and how there were queer people involved in the labor movement that really helped create the city. These are histories that people don’t much know about. We talk about the businesses that were owned by women and continue to be.” The SOMA tours are part of a larger ongoing project that is about touring different San Francisco neighborhoods and looking at the queer histories of those neighborhoods. Eye Zen’s earlier show, Out of Site: North Beach, is now available for free viewing at the Eye Zen website.t

Read the full interview on www.ebar.com Out of Site: SOMA takes place on June 19, 20, 21, 26, 27 and 28, from 7pm to 9pm. www.eyezen.org

Streets to feeds

When the live tours normally happen on the streets of the neighborhood, everyone meets at a set location. The audience then moves from location to location as actors recreate neighborhood figures from the past, performing as though they were in a play. As the audience moves from place to place, points of interest are pointed out along the way while stories about neighborhood history are shared. The audience also goes indoors to some of the locations to “meet” historical figures, such as having an actor play Alan Selby, founder of the famed leather shop Mr. S. Leather. There’s also some audience participation involved in the tours. In the virtual tours, everything happens

Clockwise from Top Left: Leigh Crow, Hector Zavala, Director Seth Eisen and Ryan Hayes in Out of Site: SOMA

<< Leather

12 • Bay Area Reporter • June 4-10, 2020

The power of story Bawdy Storytelling’s tempting tales

The

A GLOBAL Brenton Corns - 4xFarPhotography.com

happen every two weeks on Satloving community. The stories run urday night at 7pm Pacific Time. the gamut from flirtatious sex to There is also a weekly podcast that outrageously kinky and everything features stories from the live stage in between. Mixed in are some fun series. Visit the Bawdy Storytelling games to make it easier to talk to website for information about ticknew people. Dixie hosts each show ets to the livestreamed shows, how with a jovial aplomb that puts both to listen to their podcast, and more. performers and audience at ease. www.bawdystorytelling.comt Playgirl magazine described Bawdy as “the original sex and storytelling series” and LA Weekly Read the full article on compared it to a famous nonprofit www.ebar.com storytelling group calling it “The Moth for pervs.” Bawdy has received Resources Guide widespread media coverage and acThe LGBTQ Leather, Kink and colades. Sexuality Communities Resources Normally these shows would be Guide is a ‘living’ document and delighting live audiences not only updated ongoing as 2012 more Vol.will 42 •beNo. 25 • June 21-27, here in San Francisco where Bawdy information is made available. was born, but also in Chicago, Seathttps://bit.ly/2Jpcxud tle, Los Angeles and elsewhere. The pandemic halted those live shows. Luckily, it turns out the telling of Race Bannon is a local author, sexual stories translates well to the blogger and activist. intimacy of online viewing. Bawdy www.bannon.com has pivoted quickly and successfully to the online format and Dixie is quite happy about that. “I’m hearing that some people like it more than the stage show! They like that they’re so close to the storyteller, that it feels like each teller is talking directly to them. We’ve circumvented a lot of the sound and video problems that other shows are dealing with and I’m proud of this new version of the show. We’ll definitely keep doing livestream shows after all of this is over because now people in South Africa and Ireland and Australia who want to be part of Bawdy can join in and be there live with us.” “I’m pretty proud of what I’m producing for a national audience. It’s shocking that this pandemic is Brenton Corns - 4xFarPhotography.com forcing us to adapt, and the resulting virtual show is much better than Dixie De La Tour amid her hostess duties during her I ever anticipated.” recent anniversary show. At present, Bawdy is primarily a livestream event. The online shows

Pride • 2012

SYMBOL Dixie De La Tour surrounded by one of her casts during final bows. Clockwise: Justin Hall (in the cape), Dixie De La Tour, Jeffrey Allen Hayes, April Kidwell, Mosa Maxwell-Smith, and Rachel Lark.

▼

by Race Bannon

hrough stories people share parts of themselves with others. The stories we tell are central to human existence. Every culture has a storytelling aspect. We are wired to share stories and by the telling of those stories we also better understand ourselves. Jonathan Gottschall, author of The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human, said, “We are, as a species, addicted to story. Even when the body goes to sleep, the mind stays up all night, telling itself stories.” Apart from the more obvious

story narratives, I have come to believe that the primary skill set that elevates the great sexual players above the average is the ability to effectively tell a story. It is essentially story that serves as the central foundation upon which every sexual encounter rests. If story is so pivotal to who we are as humans, then the telling of erotic stories should be just as vital. There is erotica. Porn can be a story of sorts. But the verbal telling of sexual stories, especially to a public audience, has been a relatively rare occurrence. Then many years ago Dixie De La Tour decided to change that.

Dixie is the founder and host of the renowned Bawdy Storytelling shows. When asked exactly what Bawdy Storytelling is, Dixie, a selfdescribed sexual folklorist, is more likely to point to its history than describe it with any specificity. That is because what started as a gathering for San Francisco’s sexual underground to share sexual adventures has changed over time. Now Bawdy is more than a storytelling show. It is also a place to let your guard down, a revival where people celebrate each other’s sexuality and erotic identities. Many hookups and marriages have started at Bawdy events. Each Bawdy Storytelling has original music and true personal stories that Dixie has coached and curated into an evening of diverse,

PRIDE

A contingent carries the rainbow flag in the 2011 LGBT Pride Parade.

REACH THE BAY AREA’S LARGEST LGBTQ AUDIENCE THIS PRIDE

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F OR EMAIL US ADVERTISING@EBAR.COM or some 34 years now, the rainbow flag has been the most visible symbol of LGBT pride. Businesses use it to indicate they are gay-owned or gay-friendly, churches use the rainbow colors to indicate all are welcome at worship. The list goes on. In short, if you see a rainbow flag, you

That flag’s creator, Gilbert Baker, will be back in San Francisco this weekend to accept the inaugural Gilbert Baker Founders Award from the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee. You’ll find a story about him in this special Pride section. This year’s Pride theme is “Global

rights advances in Latin America, along with profiles of the community grand marshals. Finally, lots of youth arrive in San Francisco and turn to the streets, and we examine that issue as well. This Pride season promises to be big,

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Music>>

June 4-10, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 13

Chillin’ with Dylan Rice Gay musician’s new music of ‘Fits and Fevers’

Dylan Rice

by Gregg Shapiro

here aren’t many up and coming gay singer-songwriters who can say that they were given the seal of approval by queer royalty at the start of their careers. But Dylan Rice can. Styx co-founder and bassist Chuck Panozzo not only collaborated with Rice on his 2002 demo, he also performed onstage with

Rice at the 2006 Gay Games closing ceremonies. Rice, who relocated to San Francisco in 2016, recently answered a few questions about his life and music. Gregg Shapiro: Dylan, how long have you been living in San Francisco and what precipitated the relocation from Chicago? Dylan Rice: I moved to San Fran-

cisco in 2016. It wasn’t easy leaving the tight-knit music community of Chicago, where I learned how to craft a four-minute rock song, hustle to get a gig, and grow as an artist in a safe space where I could make rookie mistakes. I had been braving those long winters for 20+ years, turning 40, and I felt an itch for a new queer adventure out west. I grew up a closeted queer kid in the hostile pressure valve of Salt Lake City during the ‘80s. I had dreamed of escaping to San Francisco, where I visited my aunt as a kid, to become my authentic self. I saw men holding hands in leather Dylan Rice’s Fits and Fevers chaps, and even though I didn’t know exactly who I was, I felt an for the queer leather bar set. Instead inkling of: This is freedom, this of “A Boy Named Sue,” it’s a tale of is peace, this is where I want to be. characters desperately looking for Turns out I wanted to walk where love and redemption in the dark Harvey walked. I wanted to dance corners, in the backroom. There is where Sylvester danced. I wanted to “Hank with an app who dances in write where Allen wrote. your lap” and a drag queen named “Rosaline who steals the show with “Throes” really stands out beher cataclysmic crow.” There is wild cause of its reference to SoMa. love, heartbreak and loneliness in How has San Francisco been a those transformative spaces. songwriting inspiration? “Throes” is my love letter to the In terms of your music and perqueer leather bars in SoMa. I decided formance during the pandemic, to make it an old-timey country balwhat tools are you utilizing for lad, like if Johnny Cash wrote a song

Q-Music: Safety in (small) numbers by Gregg Shapiro

ocial distancing can be a challenge if you are in a band. It probably gets somewhat easier for

musical duos and (possibly) trios. Tennis, married couple Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley, have a habit of social distancing when it comes to writing their songs on

Top Left: Tennis Top Right: Purr Upper Middle: Omni Lower Middle: Bonny Bottom: Ex Hex

long boat trips as they are known to do. For two people in the habit of keeping their distance from other folks, the timeless pop songs on Swimmer (Mutually Detrimental/ Thirty Tigers) have a universal appeal. The evocative and suitably titled opener “I’ll Haunt You” lingers long after it ends. “Need Your Love” picks up the pace and then drops it like it’s hot before picking it up again. “Echoes” sounds like a lost Jenny Lewis number while the title cut glides along beautifully. The island vibe of “Tender As A Tomb” is a cooling breeze and “Matrimony II” is simply gorgeous. Depending on where you fall on the hipster scale, you may or may not remember NYC duo Eliza Barry Callahan and Jack Staffen of Purr from their former musical outing Jack + Eliza. If you haven’t heard the pair’s 2015 album Gentle Warnings, it’s a good intro to the twosome. Like New (Anti-), released as the couple’s latest musical incarnation Purr maintains the psych-folk sound they’ve been crafting. There are also some pleasant surprises including “Giant Night,” “Boy,” “Avenue Bliss,” “Wind,” “Take You Back” and “Miss Youniverse.” You can hear the influence of Television and Devo on Atlantabased Omni, made up of Frankie Broyles (former member of queer musician Bradford Cox’s band Deerhunter) and Philip Frobos (formerly of Carnivores). The songs on its album Networker (Sub Pop), while angular and jerky, never feel derivative. On the contrary, to Omni’s credit, songs such as “Courtesy Call,” “Genuine Person,” “Sincerely Yours,” “Present Tense,” “Flat Earth” and “Blunt Force” are of the moment and fresh. It’s nice to see that winning a 2019 Tony Award for her musical Hadestown has not distracted singer/songwriter Anaïs Mitchell from her love of singing and songwriting as demonstrated on the eponymous 37d03d Records debut by folky super-group Bonny Light Horsemen. Mitchell and her cohorts, Eric D. Johnson (of Fruit Bats) and Josh Kaufman, breathe new and exciting life into ancient folk ballads, giving them a spin that

is as timeless as it is current. Even if this kind of thing isn’t your bag, it’s still an impressive show of force, especially on songs such as the title track, “The Roving,” “Bright Morning Stars,” “Deep In Love” and “Blackwaterside.” Mary Timony, of Helium and Wild Flag fame, now leads the allfemale rock trio Ex Hex, which includes Betsy Wright and Laura Harris. It’s Real (Merge), the threesome’s new album, suggests a steady diet of classic, not alternative, rock. It’s all about the guitars, bass and drums. The songs sound like they could have been written and recorded last year or 40 years ago. This is particularly true of “Diamond Drive,” “Cosmic Cave,” “No Reflection,” “Rainbow Shiner” and “Radiate.”t www.tennis-music.com www.purrband.com www.omniatl.bandcamp.com www.bonnylighthorsemancom www.exhexband.bandcamp.com

those purposes, and what do you hope to do musically when it is safe again? Since the pandemic hit, I had to cancel my album release show in April at Ivy Room. It was going to be this amped-up full band show; then the world went into lockdown. I’ve been taking to the streaming platforms on Facebook and Instagram as an intimate way of getting my music to my fans, having fun with merchandising. I’m about to release a Fits and Fevers tea blend with Eli Tea from Detroit. It contains Colorado lavender! When we can finally gather in music venues again, I plan on getting the band back together, doing the Biggest Do-Over Show Ever. It’s gonna feel like a religious revival. And I refuse to sing through a mask. If it’s behind a scrim with backlighting, well then, we can talk (laughs).t

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<< Books

14 • Bay Area Reporter • June 4-10, 2020

Life with Leon Acord New book chronicles the life of a gay actor by David-Elijah Nahmod

In his new book Sub-Lebrity: The Queer Life of a Show-Biz Footnote, actor and former San Franciscan Leon Acord, now a resident of Hollywood, chronicles his life as an openly gay theater actor and a performer in low budget independent film. For years Acord worked steadily in Bay Area theatre and appeared in numerous films, some of which never got beyond the film festival circuit or were only released on the home video market. He always took his work seriously and gave his all. Acord epitomized the concept of the jobbing actor, one who gets up and goes to work, never getting the recognition he deserves. Acord has had two brushes with fame. He’s the writer/producer/director/star of Old Dogs & New Tricks, a popular gay web series about a group of middle-aged gay men navigating the dating scene in youthoriented West Hollywood. And, a few years back, he got into a very public skirmish with the conservative, right wing, pro-Trump Susan Olsen (Cindy on The Brady Bunch). In his book, Acord writes about these experiences with a refreshing candor. He also writes about his youth in Indiana, where he knew he was gay before he knew what being gay was. He remembers finding the sight of a shirtless William Shatner on Star Trek most exciting, even if he didn’t yet understand where

those feelings came from. Acord spoke of the meaning behind the book’s title. “Sub-Lebrity came from when Old Dogs & New Tricks first debuted, there was a reviewer that liked the show but intimated that I was an egomaniac,” he explains. “And I kind of sensed that he meant it as kind of shade, but since I was a nolebrity, and I’m all about taking words like queer and fag and all the words that are meant as insults and taking the power from them. And I thought better a sub-lebrity than a no-lebrity, I’ve graduated, I’ve moved up.” Acord also shared that while he was writing the book, a voice in his head told him, “‘Who the hell cares, you’re a nobody, who’s going to want to read a memoir by a non-famous actor!’ So it also kind of ties into that.” Acord believes that being so out as a gay man might have held him back as an actor. “Because of my generation,” he said. “I’m about to turn 57. There’s a reason a lot of the out gay actors now, the known names who are out of the closet, don’t come out until

Leon Acord

they’ve achieved a certain level of success. God love them for having the bravery to do it at that point. My thing was, I could never fake it, I could never pretend, I couldn’t work a party and pretend to be straight.” Acord says that he hopes people walk away from the book entertained. “I’d love for them to walk away with a sense that success is not defined by dollar signs or fame,” he said. “Success really boils down to are you doing what you want to do and are you happy doing it. If you can say yes to both those questions, I would say that you’re successful.” Judging by the stories that are shared in this book, Leon Acord is a very successful man. He may not be a big star, but for many years he toiled at his chosen profession, loving every second of it. And if Old Dogs & New Tricks is any indication, he has done good work. He has also found love, having been with his husband Laurence for decades. Sub-Lebrity: The Queer Life of a Show-Biz Footnote, is a superb memoir of a life well lived. The book is now available on Kindle and will be published in paperback on June 14.t

Read the full article on www.ebar.com www.instagram.com/leonacord

Sporting lives Mark Brown’s ‘Gay Games I: The True Story: The Forgotten Man’ by Roger Brigham

hirty-eight years ago, Mark Brown, a former sports columnist for the Bay Area Reporter as well as an early organizer in local LGBT softball and bowling leagues, left the organizing group of the inaugural Gay Games. His sudden departure just weeks before the event caused his earlier work for the event to be largely forgotten and his name mostly absent from the subsequent historical record. Now he has published a book that shares his perspective on his involvement and his desire for recognition. The book repeatedly states the Gay Games would never have happened if Brown had not been involved. Never mind that Gay Games founder Tom Waddell was the one

who originated the idea and defined its mission, or that when Waddell first mentioned it to Brown, Brown said he wasn’t interested. Never mind the enormous team of dedicated volunteers who did the day-to-day work of making the Gay Games become reality, from last minute scrambling when secured venues became unsecured, to the encouragement of news local clubs to form in sports such as wrestling and track to be created from scratch. When a need arose, volunteers were found. There is a saying that if you think you are indispensable to an enterprise, stick your hand in the water. Then pull it out and understand the hole you leave will be how much you will be missed. Saying Brown played key roles in helping the Gay

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Games come into existence is one thing. It is foolhardy to say they would not have existed without him. Waddell had found Brown and Paul Mart, the third founder. It he’d struck out with Brown, there is little doubt he would have continued to search for other volunteers to make it happen. As far as credit goes, there is an odd omission in the book, which is composed of 26 opening paragraphs by Brown about his life leading up to the formation of a board of directors for the Gay Games; a San Jose State master’s thesis paper written by a college student about Brown and his involvement with the Gay Games; and postGames sports reports written at the time by the coordinators for those events. Brown’s name is listed, and the authors of the post-event reports are credited. But no place in the book is the name of the person who wrote the bulk of the book, the college paper, ever acknowledged. Nowhere. The academic paper itself presents no footnotes identifying the source of some of its statements. It incorrectly states Waddell died a year before Gay Games III (Waddell died in 1987; Gay Games III in Vancouver occurred in 1990). Repeatedly asserting the event would not have happened without Brown’s involvement, it never explains what would have prevented other volunteers from becoming involved. It does not mention that during much of his tenure with the Gay Games, Brown was paid $100 a week for working with the volunteer organization. Late in the book Brown says he was jealous of the attention Waddell was increasingly getting as the face of the Gay Games. (It was Waddell, not Brown, who was sued

Author Mark Brown

by the US Olympic Committee and had a lien placed on his home because the Gay Games were using the word “Olympic.”) “I shouldn’t have resigned,” Brown says in the book. “It was a big mistake. It’s one of the few mistakes I’ve made in my life. Ah, and I regret it, but my ego got the best of me.” Woven throughout the book are hints of the different visions Waddell and Brown had of what the Gay Games mission, look and culture should be. Brown discovered sports as a gay community recreational activity. He liked to dress in drag using the name Bubbles and was heavily involved with the Imperial Court. Waddell was an Olympian. (“I didn’t know who Waddell was,” Brown told me in an interview for the B.A.R. in 2009. “Nobody else did. He was an Olympian — what was that? It meant nothing to me.” The details surrounding Brown’s resignation and its aftermath are seldom mentioned in other historical accounts, so that is the most intriguing part of this narrative. It would have been beneficial to read

more about the details of the work Brown and others did during the formation of the Gay Games: the specific anecdotes about recruiting and training volunteers, dealing with mainstream sports groups, securing venues and so forth. The most uplifting parts of the book are the short summaries of the results of the sports that were contested. Forget whatever internal acrimony there was: in the reports, you get a sense of the breathless excitement the athletes and coordinators felt at having been part of something significant and wonderful. It’s a wonderful reminder that, as I have told a fellow Gay Games volunteer over and over through the years, we don’t do this for us and we don’t do it for thanks. We do it for the athletes. The book is available through several online vendors such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Apple. Curiously, the book is listed in the Fiction category on Amazon.com and its author page links to a different Mark Brown.t

Read the full review on www.ebar.com

TV & Online Events>>

Deja View

The Lavender Tube on crimes, queens and cool kids

CNN or Mr Robot? Why not both?

by Victoria A. Brownworth

appy Pride, everyone! This is going to be a rough Pride Month, between the pandemic that still rages around us and the turmoil across this country wrought by the epidemic of racist violence. Let’s take a moment to acknowledge the import of TV news as protests have exploded nationally. CNN has done spectacular work– despite several of their reporters being arrested and others being injured at the scenes of various protests over the brutal killing of George Floyd, notably in Minneapolis and Atlanta. There were no iPhones taking video at the Stonewall Inn 51 years ago as Stormé DeLaverie and Marsha P. Johnson confronted police. But we have seen brutal executions on live feeds in recent years. George Floyd is the latest. CNN’s out gay anchor Don Lemon hosted I Can’t Breathe: Black Men Living & Dying in America on May 31. It is available online. Please watch it. LGBTQ people are at much higher risk for police violence than their straight peers. That risk becomes exponentially higher for black and brown and disabled LGBTQ people. Our intersectionality is always our point of greatest solidarity. Since so much of public Pride has been cancelled, watch some queer TV to celebrate. SyFy and USA networks have partnered with GLAAD for Pride Month to highlight LGBTQ visibility. On June 7, USA network will air a Law & Order: SVU marathon with LGBTQ episodes hosted by out actor BD Wong (Mr. Robot). The

June 4-10, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 15

longest-running drama on prime time TV, Law & Order: SVU finally has a main queer character after 21 seasons in bisexual Detective Kat Azar Tamin (Jamie Gray Hyder). But central detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) has always been a lesbian icon and a TV character who should have come out queer. USA will also run several seasons of the sit-com Modern Family, starring out actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Mitchell) and Eric Stonestreet (Cameron). The on-screen couple are credited with having enlightened America about gay relationships. The duo and series are reliably hilarious. Modern Family ended its 11 season run on April 8. Wynonna Earp, SyFy’s supernatural Western horror premiere, has been a lesbian favorite throughout its three seasons. Wynonna’s (Mela-

Jamie Gray Hyder in Law & Order: SVU

nie Scrofano) half-sister, Waverly (Dominique Provost-Chalkley) and Nicole Haught (Katherine Barrell) are a top fandom super couple. SyFy is re-running the series in preparation for season 4, which premieres later this summer. Also available on Netflix. The four seasons of USA’s queerforward Mr. Robot, starring Oscarand Emmy-winning Rami Malek and Tony-winner BD Wong is also available. And for Pride #TBT, USA is running Thursday morning marathons of Xena: Warrior Princess. The network will have discussion spots with stars Lucy Lawless (Xena) and Renee O’Connor (Gabrielle) on queer representation. New for Pride is PBS’s Prideland, which premieres Friday, June 12 on PBS and is already available on PBS Voices, YouTube. Actor Dyllón Burnside hosts the one-hour documentary exploring LGBTQ in the South. There is also a six-episode, short-form series on PBS Voices, which is a new documentary-focused YouTube Channel by PBS Digital Studios. Burnside’s own personal story is the debut episode. Welcome to Chechnya premieres June 30 on HBO. This compelling documentary was directed by Academy Award-nominated director David France (How To Survive A Plague). Welcome to Chechnya shadows a group of LGBTQ activists risking their lives to confront the ongoing anti-LGBTQ persecution in the repressive and closed Russian republic of Chechnya. They confront Russian leader Ramzan Kadyrov and his government-directed campaign to detain, torture and execute LGBTQ Chechens. (Kadyrov, when confronted, says the torture and killings can’t be true because “there are no such people here.” Welcome to Chechnya is a real-life thriller, which makes viewing unnerving as hell. The underground network to protect young lesbians and gay men from certain death at the hands of their families or the state is a stark reminder that in much of the world, coming out can be a death sentence. Who doesn’t love a gay rom-com? Love Victor premieres June 19 on Hulu and is a spin-off of the film Love, Simon. The dramedy follows Victor (Michael Cimino), a new student at Creekwood High School who reaches out to Simon to help him navigate being queer in high school. HBO is trying hard to challenge Netflix with several new and different platforms. On its HBO Max platform is a new series, Legend-

ary, which is Pose for cash. Voguing houses must compete in classic ball culture over-reach to achieve “legendary” status. Eight diverse “houses” will compete in nine balls for a $100,000 prize every Thursday.

Dyllón Burnside hosts Prideland.

Judges include Jameela Jamil, Megan Thee Stallion, Law Roach and Leiomy Maldonado. Check out the trailers before you buy. Sissy that walk! RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars premieres June 5 on VH1. In this exciting mash-up, 10 of the top queens from Drag Race will return for a second (or third, in the case of Alexis Mateo and Jujubee) reach for that oh-so-elusive crown. This season RuPaul will select one winner from the challenge. The will lip-sync against a “mysterious lip-sync assassin,”--former queens. If the All-Star prevails, she wins $10,000 and the power to send a competitor home. If the assassin wins, the bottom queen (yes, we said bottom queen) picked from a secret group vote must go and the prize money rolls over. Expect the queens to scream. Ricky Martin is guest judge in the premiere episode. With the world in crisis and our country at a crossroads, you must stay safe and stay tuned.t

Dashaun Wesley (center), a commentator on the new vogueing competition series Legendary.

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