June 6, 2024 Edition of the Bay Area Reporter

by John Ferrannini

The board of the Solano Pride Center is expressing its disappointment with Vacaville Mayor John Carli, who opted not to sign a proclamation for Pride Month this year and didn’t notify the center’s board when the rainbow flag would be raised.

After initially opting not to fly the flag or recognize Pride Month last year, as the Bay Area Reporter previously reported, Carli made the last minute decision to do so, as KXTV-TV reported.

That initial refusal would have made Vacaville the only city in Solano County not to recognize Pride Month in some fashion.

But now the East Bay Times reports that the city issued a Pride Month proclamation this year only after it was signed by Vice Mayor Greg Ritchie because Carli declined to sign it.

The text of the document was provided to the Times and the Solano County Pride Center, but was not released by the city. The center sent a copy to the B.A.R. It doesn’t declare June to be Pride Month but, rather, states June 2024 is “a time to recognize, support, include, and safeguard the LGBTQ community,” which is the resolution’s only reference to the acronym or to LGBTQ people at all.

The proclamation asks residents to “respect and honor our diverse community,” and celebrate “our interconnectedness as well as our differences.”

“The language is so vague that it could apply to any other community, without addressing the violence members of our community experiences every day,” center Executive Director Will McGarvey stated in an email to the B.A.R. on behalf of the center’s board. “Every other city we have received proclamations from has adapted the language we have offered, but has still included the historical portions because that was the point.”

SF raises Pride flag

San Francisco Mayor London Breed waved as she joined other elected officials and community leaders on the Mayor’s Balcony Monday, June 3, for the annual raising of the rainbow flag to kick off Pride Month activities. “San Francisco has and will always be a beacon of love and hope for the LGBTQ community,” Breed stated. “It is

my honor to continue this tradition by investing in critical services and programs that lift up this community, and to honor its history. Even during a difficult budget year, San Francisco will ensure our budget represents our values, including investing in LGBTQ community health care and our organizations that serve LGBTQ youth.”

Gay SF immigrant affairs director Rivas reflects on his tenure

by Matthew S. Bajko

Since taking over in early 2023 as executive director of San Francisco’s Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs, Jorge Rivas has marked a number of milestones for the city department. It is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year of being a standalone entity that staffs the San Francisco Immigrant Rights Commission oversight body.

Two of its programs, one helping people become U.S. citizens and the other a paid leadership fellowship for immigrant youth, both are now a decade old. And late last month Rivas and his staff moved into 1145 Market Street, a short walk through several public plazas from City Hall.

“It’s been an exciting year and a half,” Rivas, 43, told the Bay Area Reporter during a recent interview inside his new office, of which he had yet to adorn the windowless walls with any personal effects.

See page 16 >>

Breed now commits to backfilling some federal HIV cuts

by Cynthia Laird

After weeks of not promising to do so, San Francisco Mayor London Breed on May 31 committed to backfilling roughly $200,000 in cuts to one source of its federal HIV/ AIDS funding. The city is still awaiting word on the exact amount of an even larger reduction in what it receives from a different federal program funding its efforts to prevent HIV.

Last week the city received its notification of funding regarding its allocation from the federal Ryan White CARE Act. San Francisco, San Mateo, and Marin counties comprise the Eligible Metropolitan Area. San Francisco’s reduction is $197,850, the mayor’s office stated. It is that money that will be backfilled by the city, Victor Ruiz-Cornejo, a gay man who advises Breed on LGBTQ issues, informed the Bay Area Reporter.

San Francisco, San Mateo, and Marin counties will receive a total of $14,985,007 in Ryan White Part A funds, with about 84% of that money going to the city. The total reduction for all three counties is $228,000, according to the notification of funding.

Tyler TerMeer, Ph.D., a gay man who’s CEO of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, thanked Breed for backfilling the city’s share of reduced Ryan White funding.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed’s office said on May 31 that she is now committed to backfilling $200,000 in federal HIV cuts.

“SFAF appreciates the mayor filling the federal cuts to HIV health services,” he stated. “San Francisco Eligible Metropolitan Area (EMA) received a cut of $228,000 in our annual Ryan White Part A award. This funding is essential to providing people living with HIV access to health care and support services, and we are grateful for the mayor’s commitment to continuing these services in San Francisco.”

Still uncertain for San Francisco is a much larger expected reduction in federal funds from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for HIV prevention services. That could range between $578,000 and $806,000, said Laura Thomas, who’s director of harm reduction policy at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and co-chair of the HIV/AIDS Provider Network.

As the B.A.R. previously noted, the CDC had informed the city it would be receiving less money this year.

The San Francisco Department of Public Health needs to receive its cooperative agreement with the CDC to learn the exact amount of money awarded to the city. On May 31, a DPH spokesperson responded that the department has not received the cooperative agreement and expects to be notified of the amount it will be awarded in July.

Gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman stated that it was “great news” that Breed has committed to backfilling the Ryan White cut.

“The city has been able to backfill cuts in prior years, this has been a priority for me,” he wrote in a text message. “I am glad and grateful that the mayor has apparently found the funds to continue to make good on the Ryan White commitment even in a tough budget year.”

See page 17 >>

Richard Caldwell Brewer

Fellow Travelers'

Vacaville mayor declines to sign Pride proclamation

Vacaville Mayor John Carli

Rick Gerharter

Jane Philomen Cleland

Target shrinks nonbinary artist’s Pride products

by Cynthia Laird

As Target unveiled its 2024 Pride collection last week, one nonbinary designer is disappointed that the retail giant drastically reduced the number of pieces they were to have provided.

En Tze Loh, who is based in Toronto, Canada, runs their small business GRRRL Spells on Etsy, the e-commerce company. They had originally designed 15 items, including T-shirts, stickers, patches, and greeting cards, for the giant retailer’s Pride collection. But one by one, items were cut.

Target also removed all branding, in response to the 2023 controversy that saw Target take away Pride merchandise from stores and relocate it online.

“I asked to please keep the logo,” Loh said during a recent Zoom call with the Bay Area Reporter, “so that my community gets represented.”

Loh said that the whole experience didn’t start out that way.

“It seemed like an amazing opportunity,” Loh said of the initial plan presented by Target.

The B.A.R. published an article online May 24 that detailed issues LGBTQ designers had with Target’s 2023 Pride collection. As had been widely reported last year, the Minnesotabased retailer buckled under pressure from conservative activists and others, announcing shortly after the collection was unveiled that several items would no longer be sold at all, while other merchandise was moved online for purchase.

For this year, according to a May 9 statement, Target is “offering a collection of products including adult apparel and home and food and beverage items, curated based on consumer feedback. The collection will be available on Target. com and in select stores, based on historical sales performance.”

In other words, not all the stores will have a Pride display, as NPR reported.

Based on what the queer designers told the B.A.R., it seems likely that Target locations in more conservative areas of the country will not feature Pridethemed merchandise.

Target is the sixth-largest retailer in the U.S., according to the National Retail Federation. The publicly traded company, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has a net worth of $70.08 billion, as of May 17, according to analysts.

In the end, out of the 15 items Loh designed, only four remained, they said. Those had already been manufactured but in April, they were informed of another change. Loh said that ultimately, only one T-shirt remained, which has the message, “I Am Valid,” in the pink, blue and white trans colors. The T-shirt originally was to say “Protect Trans Lives,” Loh said. The remaining product does not contain Loh’s brand name, they said.

The other products, including a vest and a Trans Future beanie hat, would not be sold after all. Loh stated May 22 that they were supposed to get those products returned to them so that they could sell them, but two days later Loh stated that the beanie hats would not be returned.

Loh has now set up a new website, grrrlspells.com where people can purchase their Pride-themed merchandise.

GRRRL Spells is decidedly more Goth-influenced. Loh said that they were looking forward to creating products with a Goth or alternative theme for Pride that spoke to the queer and trans communities.

“I found it hard to find things that were representative – that combined Goth and queer,” they said, adding that Target’s 2022 Pride collection was mostly rainbow-themed items that the store “got flack” for in some quarters. That was one reason Target reached out to LGBTQ designers for 2023. But that seems to have returned for 2024.

“It’s very innocuous stuff this year,” Loh said.

Similarities to 2023

Loh’s story is similar to what lesbian Latina couple Jennifer Serrano and Veronica Vasquez and queer couple Ash Molesso and Chase Needham experienced last year. Serrano and Vasquez run JZD, which produced apparel for Target’s 2023 Pride collection. After the backlash, some items were removed from store shelves and were only available online. Molesso and Needham, like Loh, designed numerous items for last year’s collection under their Ash & Chess brand, only to see the items pulled at the last minute.

None of the four designers are taking part in this year’s Pride collection.

When Serrano and Vasquez heard about the issues with this year’s Target Pride collection, they weren’t surprised.

“But I was livid,” Serrano said. “I feel so much for the brands impacted this year. I know what it’s like to be chasing those dreams.”

As the B.A.R. reported, Target declined to answer specific questions

tions. It issued a statement attributed to a company spokesperson.

“Target is committed to supporting the LGBTQIA+ community during Pride Month and year-round,” the statement read. “Most importantly, we want to create a welcoming and supportive environment for our LGBTQIA+ team members, which reflects our culture of care for the over 400,000 people who work at Target. We have long offered benefits and resources for the community, and we will have internal programs to celebrate Pride 2024.

“Beyond our own teams, we will have a presence at local Pride events in Minneapolis and around the country, and we continue to support a number of LGBTQIA+ organizations,” the spokesperson stated. “Additionally, we will offer a collection of products for Pride, including adult apparel, home products, food and beverage, which has been curated based on guest insights and con-

sumer research. These items, starting at $3, will be available in select stores and on Target.com.”

Loh said that they became aware of Target reaching out to queer designers in 2022, but on a smaller scale. They increased participation of LGBTQ artists for 2023, and planned to do so this year as well, Loh stated in a follow-up email. Loh, who put up an Instagram post May 28 detailing their experience, said that they couldn’t disclose aspects of the Target deal. But they did say that they were supposed to get royalties on the original 15 items, so should receive royalties for the four products Target had manufactured.

“They told me I wouldn’t get paid until after Pride,” Loh said, adding that “hopefully” they will see something. t

Dana Piccoli of News is Out (https://newsisout.com/) contributed to this report.

Building up for Pride

The San Francisco LGBT Community Center kicked off Pride Month with its inaugural Building the Block street party Saturday, June 1. The party, held inside the center and outdoors, featured drag performers such as Sicaria, as well as vendors and resource groups. The party is just one of many ways

GRRRL Spells owner En Tze

Loh created designs for Target’s 2024 Pride collection, but only one item will be sold.

Courtesy En Tze Loh

“The Gay is Out There” patch was designed for Target, but En Tze Loh is now selling it themself.

Courtesy En Tze Loh

The “I Am Valid” T-shirt is being sold by Target this year.

Courtesy En Tze Loh

Rick Gerharter

Breed: Budget cuts won’t include public safety

by John Ferrannini

San Francisco Mayor London Breed unveiled what’s in her budget proposal for the next two years with a May 30 news release touting that public safety funding will not be cut despite the city’s budget deficit.

As a matter of fact, the release stated that under Breed’s budget, the city will fund four police academy classes of 50 officers each over the next year “as a baseline,” spend $3.7 million on drones and public cameras, and fill three 911 dispatcher academies with the goal of adding 45 dispatchers over the next year.

Breed also stated that she will maintain current levels of funding for the district attorney, public defender, adult probation and juvenile probation offices, and the San Francisco Fire Department.

“We have made real progress on public safety in San Francisco, but this is a moment to double down, not to let up,” Breed stated. “One of the core responsibilities of city government is to keep our residents, businesses, workers, and visitors safe, and my budget will deliver on that commitment.

“What we are doing is working, and we will build on that,” she added. “This budget not only invests in having the workforce to keep our residents safe, but also in the technology, tools and teamwork to deliver results.”

San Francisco Fire Chief Jeanine Nicholson, a lesbian, is thankful that the cuts won’t be affecting her department.

“I thank Mayor London Breed for her comprehensive approach to enhancing public safety across our city,” stated Nicholson. “Our work in suppression, emergency medical services, community paramedicine, street overdose, and street crisis response teams are vital in providing timely, compassionate care to those experiencing an emergency, especially those experiencing behavioral health crises and homelessness.

“These initiatives, combined with expanded staffing and new technology, will ensure we continue to serve our community effectively and with dedica-

tion,” the fire chief added.

The mayor typically has until June 1 to submit a budget proposal to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, which has to vote on the city’s budget. Breed released the spending plan May 31. (See story, page 1.)

According to a news release from the mayor, the budget is $15.9 billion for FY 2024-25, and $15.5 billion for FY 202526. The city is facing a deficit of $789 million over the next two fiscal years, according to the mayor’s office.

The supervisors will hold hearings in June to analyze the budget, hear feedback from the public, and likely make changes. In July, the budget is finalized and approved by the supervisors and the mayor. Already expecting budget challenges, Breed last December asked city departments for 10% cuts across the board. In addition to the aforementioned deficit, Breed has said the shortfall could reach $1 billion by Fiscal Year 2028.

Word of potential drastic cuts in funding from the Department of Children, Youth & Their Families to youthserving nonprofits such as LYRIC, the San Francisco LGBT Community Center, and Larkin Street Youth Services have already prompted an outcry, as the Bay Area Reporter previously reported.

Furthermore, Breed has so far declined to commit to backfilling from the city’s budget some $500,000-$800,000 of expected federal HIV cuts, as has typically been done in the past, as the B.A.R. also reported.

She did say it’s her goal to do so. Last week she did commit to backfilling about $200,000 in federal Ryan White CARE Act cuts.

The three gay men serving as supervisors – Rafael Mandelman, who represents District 8, including the Castro; Matt Dorsey in District 6; and Joel Engardio in District 4 – did not return requests for comment.

Police, 911 dispatch academies funded above recent enrollment

Breed’s release stated that reported crime in the city “is at its lowest in 10 years,” and that “San Francisco’s homi-

cide clearance rate remains above 80%, far above the national average.”

It also noted that 3,000 people have been arrested over the last year in the effort to disrupt open-air drug markets such as in the Tenderloin district.

Breed is committed to a fully-staffed San Francisco Police Department, the release stated, and therefore the budget proposal would fund four academy classes of 50 each over the next year as a baseline.

“If SFPD recruitment exceeds this goal, the mayor is committed to funding more recruits,” the release noted.

SFPD’s 281st recruit class, sworn in on May 28, only had 15 graduating officers, according to the department.

When asked how the city will improve recruitment efforts, a Breed spokesperson stated there are currently 56 people in the two ongoing police academy classes.

“The mayor’s proposed budget funds four classes, which is how many classes are in the current budget,” the spokesperson stated. “But the difference is increasing the size to 50, which is double than what current classes can accommodate. The reason for this is because of the increase in demand we’re seeing with applicants to SFPD. Over the last few years, the mayor’s budget has ramped up investment into recruitment, academy class funding and retention.”

Police Chief William Scott praised his department’s efforts.

“SFPD officers have been doing an outstanding job keeping the public safe,” Scott stated in the release. “The evidence is unequivocal; crime is down in every category this year. I want to thank Mayor London Breed for continuing to invest in the SFPD as we work hard to rebuild our ranks and rebound from the pandemic.”

Since Proposition E passed in March, the city has the capability to utilize drones and surveillance cameras in new ways. Thus, the budget includes $3.7 million “to implement these new technologies, starting with modernization and expanded use of existing public safety cameras and installation of new cameras in high-concern areas.”

Department of Emergency Management Executive Director Mary Ellen Carroll is excited about the money to fund three 911 dispatch academies.

“This budget will support our critical work to hire more 911 dispatchers as we begin our largest academy class in over two years,” Carroll stated in the release. “Dispatchers are the city’s first first responders, serving as a calm, helpful voice on the other end of the line for countless people having their worst day, and I am so grateful for the lifesaving work they do.”

The city currently employs 125 dispatchers, the Department of Emergency Management stated to the B.A.R. on May 30. There are 11 trainees who recently graduated “several different academy classes,” and 12 currently in the academy, according to a DEM spokesperson, who added that 12 is the academy’s largest class in over two years.

When asked how the city will improve dispatcher recruitment efforts, the Breed spokesperson stated, “The mayor’s proposed budget also includes funding to enable the Department of Emergency Management to fill new dispatcher academies throughout the next fiscal year. The FY 2024-25 budget funds three [Peace Officers Standards

and Training] classes with 15 candidates in each class, with the goal of returning to pre-pandemic standards, and supporting the department toward meeting their operational goals.

“DEM will utilize enhanced recruitment strategies such as moving applications online and updating testing and background processes to meet their hiring goals,” the spokesperson added.

Seventy-three percent of calls in February 2024 were answered within 15 seconds, according to city data.

The department’s goal is 95%, and the 73% number is the second-lowest share of the past six years.

The budget proposal also includes funding for the Drug Market Agency Coordination Center, to disrupt openair drug markets in the Tenderloin and mid-Market areas; to increase the Sheriff’s Department staff to fill vacancies (the exact number of vacancies was not stated); and to continue funding Police Service Aides, citywide Public Safety Community Ambassadors, retired police officer ambassadors, and the Street Crisis Response Teams, “which provide non-law enforcement responses to 911 and 311 calls for people in behavioral health crisis and people experiencing homelessness,” the release stated. t

City College hires gay interim chancellor

by John Ferrannini

T

he San Francisco Community College District Board of Trustees voted 4-1 May 30 to approve Mitchell Bailey as the first gay man to lead City College of San Francisco.

Bailey, who was not at the meeting, started on the job the following day. He is serving as the interim chancellor of the only college in the district for one year, or until a permanent chancellor is chosen, according to the professional services agreement the board signed off on. His salary will be $330,000 a year.

“I am honored with the opportunity to support my community and serve CCSF’s interim chancellor,” Bailey stated. “I look forward to working with students, faculty, staff, the board of trustees, and our broader San Francisco community in aligning priorities and resources to keep the needs of students first. As a proud community college graduate, I appreciate the challenges faced by many students in balancing priorities and needing flexible educational opportunities. I want CCSF to be accessible and welcoming to every student and resident of our city.”

As the Bay Area Reporter previously reported, board President Alan Wong negotiated a contract with Bailey after Chancellor David Martin announced last September he’d be departing at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year when his contract ends. Martin began his tenure less than three years ago.

Martin did not give a reason for his resignation, but layoffs and bud-

get cuts in an attempt to achieve fiscal stability made him unpopular with parts of the faculty union, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. While the board was able to approve a balanced budget and set aside a 5% reserve, it faced harsh criticism from students and faculty over the cuts it made to do so. And it is already bracing for more fiscal challenges in coming years.

In January, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges gave City College a warning that “the Commission requires the Governing Board consider the College’s long-range fiscal implications when making financial decisions in order to assure financial stability.” The college remains accredited, though it

must prepare a report to detail how it will fix these issues.

Bailey, heretofore the owner of and principal consultant at San Francisco consulting firm MBailey Advisors LLC, had until 2022 been a vice chancellor and chief of staff to the chancellor at the San Mateo Community College District.

While Bailey would be the college’s first gay male leader, he’s not the first out interim chancellor. That distinction belongs to lesbian Susan Lamb, who was tapped for the position in 2015, as the B.A.R. reported.

Wong said he was “so excited about this historic moment and what this means for City College and the city’s LGBT community,” but not everyone at the meeting was so sanguine.

Trustee Aliya Chisti was the only member of the board to vote no.

“Unfortunately, I will not be supporting the contract tonight,” she said. “This is not personal to Mr. Bailey, but I have overall concerns about the negotiation process and the short turnaround. I know we’re facing time constraints, but that being said, with the salary amount being compensated I cannot support this contract.”

Trustee Shanell Williams, a queer woman and past board president, called in during public comment. She was not physically present and did not vote during the roll-call.

“It’s appalling to me, when this board has talked about the amount of salary for administrators, being fiscally responsible, and the administration making exorbitant amounts, [and] the fiscal state we’re

in, what is being offered,” she said. “I am really disappointed, colleagues.”

Williams said she felt Bailey’s appointment being announced via a B.A.R. article – “media articles coming out of nowhere without full board approval” – was disrespectful.

“I just think there’s a lack of transparency and respect for colleagues on this board,” Williams continued. “This is an important role, and no disrespect for the incoming interim chancellor, I just think the process overall was a failed one.”

Wong told the B.A.R., “It’s unfortunate that Trustee Williams, who has not been at a board meeting since February 2024 and missed all the interviews and negotiation sessions for a new interim chancellor, parachuted into this meeting to not support Bailey.”

Williams told the B.A.R. she spoke during public comment because she was “under the weather” and couldn’t attend the meeting.

She said she had missed meetings recently, but added she feels Wong is singling out the attendance issue to “distract from his leadership failures.”

“People get COVID, people get sick,” she said. “He’s failed in his role as president to keep us informed. It’s just really sad he’s going this route.”

Williams said Wong “missed commencement last year” and “several key things” himself. While she told colleagues she will not seek reelection in November for another term on the college board, Williams feels Wong is upset she won’t endorse him going forward.

In her view, Martin was “pushed

out by the board majority” for his fiscal stances, was “bullied and humiliated,” and that “I don’t have capacity to support another [chancellor] search.”

Wong stated in response that he did not miss commencement last year, and “gave a commencement welcome address during each of the last two commencements.” He added that he has “not asked for nor do I want Trustee Williams’ endorsement for November.”

Bailey’s salary of $330,000 places San Francisco Community College District ninth out of the 10 regional community college districts in terms of executive pay, ahead of the Marin Community College District, with a base executive salary of $286,000. The No. 1 base executive salary, with the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, is $448,047.

Board Vice President Anita Martinez, who voted yes, said before her vote, “I will be voting yes on this because if I voted no, we’d have to start all over, because there’d only be three yes votes. We don’t have the time for that and we have to move to something more important – the search for a permanent chancellor.”

Trustee Vick Van Chung, who is nonbinary and genderqueer, said that they hope people give Bailey a chance.

“This process for finding an interim has also not been easy, given the timeline we were on, but I hope this community lends the compassion to open yourself to the idea that we really tried the hardest to find the best candidate, and I think we did,” they said. t

San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced public safety aspects of her budget proposal May 30.

Rick Gerharter

City College of San Francisco interim Chancellor Mitchell Bailey

Courtesy Mitchell Bailey

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Supes should confirm Walker to police panel

The irony was not lost on us – as Mayor London Breed was celebrating the LGBTQ community and raising the Pride flag at City Hall June 3, across the hall in the Board of Supervisors chambers the mayor’s lesbian appointee to the police commission was undergoing a grueling hearing for her nomination to a second term. In the end, the board’s rules committee, consisting that day of Supervisors Shamann Walton and Ahsha Safaí, voted to move Walker’s name on to the full board with a negative recommendation. The board is expected to vote on Walker’s reappointment at its June 11 meeting. We strongly urge the supervisors to do so, though it’s expected to be close.

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things over at the police commission are, to put it mildly, a mess. There’s also the issue of the oversight panel canceling several meetings this spring due to the lack of a quorum, as Mission Local reported. Nonetheless, given all the turmoil, Walker does want to be reappointed, and she should be. In a phone interview the day after the hearing, Walker said that there was a condescending tone in the room. “I have to say, as the flag was being raised, I felt I was being attacked,” she said. “I felt it before in my life, that I’m in over my head or go back to the arts. It’s time to stop that kind of crap” regarding lesbians and women in general, she added.

police “can shoot a little GPS thing and it sticks on the car,” she said, adding that officers can follow the vehicle and then pull it over when it’s safer instead of instituting a high-speed chase.

Walker said that she believes everyone serving on the police commission supports reform, but that interpersonal disagreements have gotten in the way, including commissioners not respecting each other or San Francisco Police Department staff that report to them, including Chief William Scott.

“There’s a lot we still need to do,” she said.

Speaking of interpersonal dynamics, Walker should have been treated better at the committee hearing. “I feel the attack wasn’t at me as much as at the mayor,” she said. That may be true, especially with Safaí down in the polls.

When Walker was appointed nearly two years ago, it was on a divided 8-3 vote, with Supervisors Hillary Ronen, Dean Preston, and Connie Chan voting against her. Add to that the likely no votes from Walton and Safaí, and Walker will need every one of the remaining supervisors – Catherine Stefani, Aaron Peskin, Myrna Melgar, and the three gay members, Rafael Mandelman, Matt Dorsey, and Joel Engardio – to be confirmed. Peskin, like Safaí, is running against Breed for mayor this November.

Police commission appointments are inherently political. The mayor controls the seven-member body with four appointments, while the supervisors have the remaining three. But at the moment, the power balance has shifted because Breed had a falling out with her own pick, Max Carter-Oberstone, in 2022, when he voted for Board of Supervisors appointee Cindy Elias for police commission president instead of Larry Yee, whom the mayor wanted to lead the body, as the San Francisco Standard reported.

Walker is a longtime artist and served on the arts and building inspection commissions before being named to the police panel. During the hearing, Safaí asked Walker if she had “time in your schedule” to serve on the commission. “I have the time,” Walker responded. “I made a commitment.” The question seemed over the top.

Walker told us that her term ended in April – the mayor announced Walker’s reappointment that month, but the hearing wasn’t scheduled until this week – and that the issue of canceled commission meetings in March before her time ended did not involve her. “I was available,” she said.

Add to that the revelation that Breed had asked Carter-Oberstone and dozens of other commissioners to sign secret, undated resignation letters (Breed later ended that practice after the city attorney’s office weighed in and the supervisors passed legislation prohibiting it), and it’s no surprise that

The police commission is dealing with the ramifications of voters’ passage of Proposition E, which the mayor supported. Walker said she did too, even as it removes some power from the commission, including implementing policies around police pursuits. She was asked about that at the rules committee meeting and said that Prop E also allows new technology to be used, something she supports. She told us that Department General Orders around pursuits led to some confusion among officers. “I want to reform policy so it’s effective and transparent,” she said. “When and what technology can be used and do pilot programs.” For example, there’s technology whereby

Walker’s reappointment would be good for lesbians, and the LGBTQ community as a whole. “I want to lift up lesbians,” Walker said, adding that what she experienced at the supervisors’ committee “doesn’t help.”

Until Walker’s term expired she was the only LGBTQ person on the commission. Should she be reappointed, that would remain the case. It’s vital for the community to have an out member on this important oversight panel. There hasn’t been a lesbian on the Board of Supervisors since Leslie Katz served in the late 1990s. There are lesbian department heads in the city – Fire Chief Jeanine Nicholson and Port Executive Director Elaine Forbes to name two – and there also needs to be lesbians on high-profile city commissions. Walker has done the work and learned a great deal about policing and she wants to continue serving. She wants to eliminate racial bias and supports the new state law that requires officers to tell a driver why they’ve been pulled over. She disagreed with the police commission’s vote earlier this year to end pretext stops, saying that, “you don’t get rid of racial bias by not enforcing the law. We’re better than that.” Walker noted at the committee meeting that she’s been appointed to previous commissions by four supervisors – Tom Ammiano, a gay man; Peskin, Matt Gonzalez, and Breed before she served as mayor. The supervisors should reappoint Walker to the police commission.t

LGBTQI+ persons need representation in official statistics

by Nancy Bates

It’s no secret that our community is regularly marginalized, stigmatized, and victimized. But what we know from lived experience is mostly missing from official statistics – and that makes it harder to demand change. The good news is, there may soon be a simple way you can be heard and counted.

When government data collections ask demographic questions – such as age, race, and ethnicity – that data is heavily protected by law, and is not traceable to you as an individual.

When demographic factors are added up, it helps governments set policies and funding to improve public well-being and reduce discrimination. Sexual orientation and gender identity are not routinely asked in these collections. As a result, it’s incredibly difficult to quantify the needs in our communities and see if policies meant for straight and cisgender populations may disadvantage us.

The scarce data we do have on LGBTQI+ populations is alarming. Persons who identify as LGBTQI+ are at increased risk for suicide, depression, homelessness, victimization, HIV/AIDS, employment and housing discrimination, and lack of access to health insurance and health services (IOM, 2011).

These results are based on a small number of federally funded probability surveys. Sexual orientation and gender identity are not collected in the “gold standard” data collections from the U.S. Census Bureau that benchmark and track outcomes of well-being like the U.S. Decennial Census, Current Population Survey, or American Community Survey.

But the conversations are changing – and history is being made. In April 2024, I was invited to attend the Consortium for Inclusive Data (CID) hosted by Koppa, a newly formed LGBTQI+ Economic Power Lab. The CID was devoted to accelerating and sharing knowledge, expertise, and strategies for increasing the quality and quantity of data on LGBTQI+ populations. More than 40 people across the economic development and civil society ecosystem discussed the critical need to expand the availability of data on LGBTQI+ people. As far as we know, that was the first meeting of a global network of practitioners who are developing LGBTQI+ data.

During the icebreaker session participants were asked: In your world, what kind of (LGBTQI+) data do you envision in 20 years? My answer: “to

see the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) routinely ask both sexual orientation and gender identity.” Why? First, because the ACS is a methodologically sound, ongoing data collection with a very large sample size and high response rate. The survey is always up to date, because it’s administered continuously throughout the year to a rolling sample of 3.54 million addresses. It collects information on all persons residing within a household and indicators of well-being on topics including education, household composition, disability, mobility, employment, income, housing, citizenship, and health insurance. This methodology yields extremely precise data down to the census block level – in urban areas, this essentially means to the neighborhood block level. That local information could help your community decide where to set up a health clinic, for example. Right now, however, the ACS only collects data on “sex,” with binary responses of male and female.

However, the U.S. Census Bureau recently an nounced testing plans that could close the data gap on LGBTQI+ populations. The census bureau plans to test adding both sexual orientation and gender identity to the ACS. For the most part, the questions to be tested follow guidance from the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Consensus Study recommendations.

help everyone use the same questions, so the data can be analyzed across programs, from Social Security to Medicare. If questions about sexual orientation and gender identity aren’t absolutely clear to respondents, there’s a risk that the data will not be accurate (this is called measurement error). Even the smallest measurement errors can result in large misrepresentation in the counts of sexual minorities.

The OMB knows how to solve this: it went through the same process in creating a directive so that all federal surveys ask about race and ethnicity the same way to reduce error (Statistical Policy Directive No. 15).

In 2022, President Joe Biden issued Executive Order 14075: Advancing Equality of LGBTQI+ population. The executive order directed the OMB to publish a report with recommendations for best practices for the collection of sexual orientation and gender identity in federal statistical surveys. In 2023, the OMB issued its report and admittedly, this was a step in the right direction. However, the report fell short of a statistical standard that requires input from agencies in the federal statistical system as well as a public comment period. And while establishing a one-size-fits-all standard for constructs as complex as sexual orientation and gender identity is by no means easy, again, it is doable and established questions already exist that are ready for “primetime” (NASEM, 2022).

This is extremely welcome (and again, historic!) news. Assuming the test is successful, and the ACS asks about sexual orientation and gender identity in the next ongoing survey, the census bureau can begin to publish official statistics on LGBTQI+ populations never before available. Community stakeholders, academics, policymakers, and public officials will be looking at the same rich datasets for purposes of community planning, human services, and understanding how aspects of identity affect well-being. Given the marked increase recently in anti-LGBTQI+ legislation in recent years, these data will be invaluable to understanding the current state of our communities. We will be represented, so be loud and proud!

My second wish during the icebreaker session was for the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to establish statistical standards for collecting both sexual orientation and gender identity. Why does this matter? Federal agencies look to OMB to

I am very encouraged by the formation of the CID and the U.S. Census Bureau’s decision to begin testing sexual orientation and gender identity in the ACS. Both initiatives can be game changers toward reversing the lack of data on LGBTQI+ people, both domestic and internationally. Let’s hope the ACS testing goes smoothly, that both questions are soon added to the ongoing survey, and that OMB leverages the test results to quickly develop standards we can all use going forward. And when you see the question on a federal survey, know that your answers will help us be counted and speak for ourselves. t

Nancy Bates, a lesbian, retired from the U.S. Census Bureau in 2020 where she served as the senior researcher for survey methodology. More recently, she was selected to serve as the vice chair of the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2030 Decennial Census Advisory Committee. She’s also an elected Fellow of the American Statistical Association.

Nancy Bates

Courtesy Nancy Bates

Debra Walker is seeking reappointment to the police commission.

t Politics >>

Community leaders call on SF to declare itself a trans sanctuary city

by Matthew S. Bajko

For more than a year now Kansas City, Missouri has been a designated sanctuary city for transgender individuals. So has New York City and West Hollywood, California.

Earlier this year Sacramento became the second known city in the Golden State to follow suit. Municipal leaders have taken such a step to counter the legislative assault against trans rights taking place in statehouses across the country.

Now, San Francisco is set to join the list. While city leaders have long embraced the local transgender community, and funded various programs and services to meet its needs, advocates see it declaring itself a transgender sanctuary city as sending a global message of support.

“This is to make sure the rest of the world knows when you come to San Francisco, this is a sanctuary city for transgender people,” said Suzanne Ford, a transgender woman who is executive director of the city’s Pride committee.

Seeing the two other California cities declare themselves to be municipal sanctuaries for not only trans people but also gender-nonconforming, nonbinary, two-spirit, and intersex individuals, Ford told the Bay Area Reporter she felt it was important for San Francisco to do the same, noting that many trans people come to the city for the medical care they are unable to receive where they live.

“I read where Sacramento had become a trans sanctuary city. Then I saw West Hollywood had done that but not San Francisco,” she said. “I thought that was an oversight, and we needed to correct it.”

Ford reached out to gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman to inquire if he would author such a declaration. In turn, Mandelman worked with various leaders within the city’s trans community on the language of the resolution.

“When our trans community and prominent trans leaders come to me and tell me San Francisco needs to do a sanctuary city resolution, I agree with them,” said Mandelman.

At Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, he introduced the resolution to officially declare San Francisco a refuge for transgender individuals. The governing body is expected to adopt it at its June 11 meeting more than two weeks before the city welcomes hundreds of thousands of people for its annual Pride parade taking place this year on June 30.

“San Francisco has a multitude of service providers who give financial, medical, social, and programmatic support to the transgender community; now, therefore, be it resolved, that the San Francisco Board of Supervisors hereby reiterates its commitment to TGNCI2S rights and equal protections for TGNCI2S people and declares San Francisco a sanctuary city and a place of safety for TGNCI2S people and providers of gender affirming care,” states the resolution.

“San Francisco has a multitude of service providers who give financial, medical, social, and programmatic support to the transgender community; now, therefore, be it resolved, that the San Francisco Board of Supervisors hereby reiterates its commitment to TGNCI2S rights and equal protections for TGNCI2S people and declares San Francisco a sanctuary city and a place of safety for TGNCI2S people and providers of gender affirming care,” states the resolution.

In crafting the language of the resolution, Mandelman’s office worked

with the Office of Transgender Initiatives and members of its advisory committee. Honey Mahogany, who took over its leadership in early May, told the B.A.R. the resolution is an “incredibly” important stance for the city to take at a time when trans people and families with trans children are leaving their hometowns and home states due to their health care being taken away or are faced with anti-trans school policies.

“We have a situation where refugees in our own country are coming to places like California and San Francisco in order to be safe, to access health care services that had previously been available to them in their home cities and home states, and to make decisions with their doctor and families,” said Mahogany. “It is really important we make it really clear that San Francisco is a place where trans people are welcome, where they can access resources, and where their rights are protected.”

While Mandelman told the B.A.R. he is proud of what the city, and Breed’s administration, has done to support the trans community, he acknowledged more is still needed. The resolution comes amid LGBTQ advocates’ concerns about what services and programs may be impacted in the city’s budget for the next two fiscal years as the supervisors and mayor work to address a deficit of $789 million.

“We are not close to meeting our obligations to trans folks. There is a ton more to do,” said Mandelman. “I don’t think we should ever lose sight of that.”

In crafting the language of the resolution, Mandelman’s office worked with the Office of Transgender Initiatives and members of its advisory committee. Honey Mahogany who took over its leadership in early May, did not respond Tuesday to the B.A.R.’s request for comment about the resolution.

It may seem counterintuitive, to some, that San Francisco needs to make such a declaration about itself.

For years, the city has had the dedicated office working to address the needs of the trans community, with longtime politico, activist, and drag artist Mahogany the latest person to lead it.

Mayor London Breed had asked Mahogany to take over the role. Several years ago, Breed pledged to end trans homelessness by 2027, a commitment she has said the city is on track to meet.

The city also provides funding to the Transgender Cultural District located in the Tenderloin neighborhood, long a home to many trans and queer newcomers to the city. San Francisco celebrates Transgender History Month each August and flies the trans Pride flag at City Hall.

“At a time when so many places in the country and world are doing hateful things, it can’t hurt to do another nice, affirming thing for our TGNC, intersex, and two-spirit communities,” said Mandelman. “I think San Francisco is certainly better than most places. I also think we should not pretend that San Francisco is as supportive of trans individuals as we would like it to be.”

There continues to be high levels of poverty and homelessness within the city’s TGNC community, noted Mandelman, as well as “disproportionate levels of anti-trans violence.”

Mandelman told the B.A.R. that the supervisors need to continue to prioritize the fiscal investments and commitments the city has already made in its past budgets to the trans community.

“The fact that other places in the country and other places in the world are doing much worse than us does not relieve us of the obligation to try to do better,” he said.

Asked about the looming budget negotiations, Ford told the B.A.R. she sees the adoption of the trans sanctuary city resolution as a statement of support from the supervisors that they will take into account the community’s needs as they work to adopt a balanced budget by August 1. Many trans people rely on the city to be a place where they can live authentically as themselves, she noted.

“I think it reinforces and shows their determination that trans people are represented in the budget process,” said Ford. “We need to make sure in the budget process we account for the services people need. Trans people are some of the most marginalized people in this country.”

Ford told the B.A.R. she hopes more cities around the world will also declare themselves to be transgender sanctuary cities. Once San Francisco adopts its resolution, Ford plans to share it with her counterparts at other Prides via InterPride, the worldwide association for organizers of the LGBTQ celebrations.

“This is not to say everything is perfect for all trans people in San Francisco,” stressed Ford. “But we do have a voice here. It is important to me that we would be saying to the world that, ‘Yes, San Francisco is a transgender sanctuary city.’”

Mandelman also said he hopes to see other cities make such a declaration.

“We want it to be done in places like Modesto, Stockton, Fresno, Eureka and Bakersfield,” he said. t

Mayor London Breed raised the trans flag outside City Hall in August 2022.

Rick Gerharter

Song raising money for trans org drops

by Matthew S. Bajko

A song created by musicians with Bay Area ties that will raise funds for a Southern LGBTQ nonprofit will drop June 7 to coincide with Pride Month. It is part of the ongoing A Thousand Pansies initiative launched by Oakland-based tattoo artist Cedre Csillagi, who coowns Diving Swallow Tattoo.

Csillagi, who is nonbinary, created a special pansy design they aim to have inked on 1,000 people as a way to show support for transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals in light of the legislative attacks against their rights. Since the effort launched in October 2022, more than 166 people have gotten the tattoo.

Among them is out Oaklandbased musician Katie Cash, who last year discussed with Csillagi creating a song for the tattoo initiative. Csillagi then brought up the idea with their client Nino Moschella, a straight ally who owns recording studio Bird & Egg in Richmond, California.

As the Bay Area Reporter noted last September, Moschella offered to help produce the track. Out musicians Vicki Randle, Dillbilly, and Julie Wolf also came on board. While Randle and Wolf live in the East Bay,

Dillbilly now resides in the Midwest.

The five music professionals are all friends and have collaborated on various past projects. Their new song is titled “Already Home” and speaks to finding one’s place in the world.

“The creation of ‘Already Home’ is a testament to the power of art to amplify marginalized voices and foster connection,” stated Csillagi. “Each artist brings a unique perspective to the song, enriching its

message of love, resilience, and belonging.”

The song will be available to download for $1 via  https://athousandpansies.bandcamp.com/follow_me  as part of Bandcamp’s monthly First Friday offer, where it waives fees so more money will be able to be raised that day. It will be later added to Spotify and Apple Music at the same purchase price. All proceeds from the sale of the song will go toward Csillagi’s fundraising effort benefitting The Knights and Orchids Society, a Black-led LGBTQ services provider based in Selma, Alabama.

The nonprofit’s name is an acronym its co-founders came up with that means Knowledgeable Noble Independent Gifted Honorable Tenacious Soldiers (Knights) and Overcoming Racism Classism Heteronormativity and Injustice Down South (Orchids). The tattoo campaign has netted it more than $77,000 to date.

“As someone who strongly believes in the collective healing work of artivism, I think all the ways Cedre has been showing up for all of the trans people in our community is one of the most beautiful examples of artivism at work,” stated TC Caldwell, a Black trans nonbinary activist and artist serving as the

nonprofit’s interim executive director. “We are so grateful to them for their boundless generosity and every single person who has connected with our mission through this initiative.”

Twenty tattoo artists in the U.S. and Canada are now signed up to ink Csillagi’s pansy design on people in their areas. Those interested must first make a $500 donation to the nonprofit before they can make an appointment with one of the participating tattoo artists.

Csillagi chose the pansy due to the flower’s symbolic attachment to the LGBTQ community going back decades. It has been used as a pejorative to denigrate the LGBTQ community and also embraced by queer people as a coded identifier. Their tattoo initiative also pays homage to The Pansy Project, through which Paul Harfleet of Great Britain plants pansies at sites of homophobic violence, and recalls the “Pansy Craze” in the 1920s and 1930s centered on underground drag balls.

For more information on A Thousand Pansies, the release of “Already Home,” and to book a pansy tattoo, visit https://cedreink. com/athousandpansies/. t

Puerto Vallarta opens LGBTQ center with newly-hired director

by Ed Walsh

Puerto Vallarta’s LGBTQ space, the Vallarta Gay+ Community Center, recently opened in a permanent space near the city’s famed Malecon walkway and is being overseen by a newly-hired executive director. Less than six months ago, the Mexican resort town’s former LGBTQ center, SETAC, closed amid fiscal problems and complaints by employees and others of mismanagement.

In an interview with the Bay Area Reporter in May, the center’s new director, Pedro Lopez, said he first worked with VG+CC, as the center is known, in March as a volunteer while it was still operating under a temporary location at Thrive IV and MedSpa. The center’s board was looking for an executive director. They were impressed by his experience and hired him to lead the organization.

Lopez was born in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, where Puerto Vallarta is situated. His family moved to the United States when he was a small child. He has over 30 years of experience working with the community in the mental health field, with the last 20 years in senior leadership and executive management positions. His experience includes work with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health on the mental evaluation team where

From page 1

McGarvey stated that he’d reached out to the mayor’s office “early” and “sent proposed language to use in a proclamation that actually gives an account of our history of discrimination and need for civil rights protections from our elected leaders,” and did not hear back despite attempts to learn about when a proclamation would be made.

A rainbow flag is flying over Vacaville, McGarvey stated, but the

he worked with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. He moved to Puerto Vallarta with his husband after retiring when he was 50 in 2020.

Don Pickens, VG+CC president and owner of the upscale boutique hotel Casa Cupula, had high praise for Lopez, telling the B.A.R., “We are very fortunate to have met Pedro and that he is able to contribute his many talents and experiences to guide the community center.

“More importantly, I am sure his impact on the LGBTQ community in the Vallarta region will be sub -

center’s board is also upset that it wasn’t notified when the flag would go up, so they could be there to celebrate.

“Our biggest frustrations have centered around the lack of notification of when the flag was to be raised, as we experienced in almost every other city of the county today,” McGarvey stated. “Because we were not notified of the time of the flag raising, our community was denied the opportunity to be in attendance and participate to mark the moment. We understand that the Pride flag

stantial,” Pickens added. “He is an incredible asset to us all.”

Lopez told the B.A.R. that VG+CC recently passed the 300 mark in number of clients served. That means it’s providing services to over a third of the 900 clients SETAC had served, with many of those 300 returning at least a couple of times to avail themselves of initial and follow-up appointments at the center. VG+CC provides HIV and sexually transmitted infection testing as well as the administration of PEP, PrEP, and doxyPEP drugs to prevent disease.

has been raised on the School Street site, and will remain except for a day to honor the Army on June 14 (veterans comprise a significant portion of our community). Though we sent our request to the whole City Council on April 17, we have had to ask for responses rather than a friendly sharing of events. The lack of communication feels intentional.”

All in all, the center’s board feels that Carli is treating LGBTQ people “like second class citizens,” McGarvey stated.

“We call upon the good people

PEP, or post-exposure prophylaxis, involves taking a monthlong course of antiretrovirals after sex or other types of exposure. PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, refers to the use of antiviral drugs to prevent people exposed to HIV from becoming infected.

DoxyPEP uses the antibiotic doxycycline as post-exposure prophylaxis to prevent STIs.

“It was a little bit of a challenge, and that we had to outreach the community from zero,” Lopez said, noting that the new center was fortunate to be able to hire a doctor and a nurse who had worked at SETAC. So far, he and the other two employees are the only paid staff. The center relies heavily on volunteers.

When SETAC closed in December 2023, gay business owners quickly stepped up to help to provide services under the name Vallarta Gay+ Community Center, with the aforementioned Pickens named as president.

Other business owners, including Paul Crist, the owner of the recently shuttered Hotel Mercurio; Jet De La Isla, owner of Jet’s Gay Youth Hostel and Jet’s Private Boat Tours; Mike Owens, owner of Studs bar; Javier Jimenez, Vallarta Pride president and owner of Mr Flamingo, Industry, Wet, and La Margarita; Realtor Fer Bolanos Cruz; and Thrive IV and MedSpa owner Mikel Joseph Alvarez were active in helping the

of Vacaville to remind their mayor that his oath of office is to serve all of the city, and not just those of his particular religious tradition,” the board stated. “Leading Vacaville together means including your LGBTQ+ family and protecting their civil rights.”

Carli told the B.A.R. in a phone call late Tuesday that the city recognized Pride Month based on the separate request of Vacaville City Councilmember Jeanette Wylie, not based on the center’s request. The vice mayor signed the proclama-

new center get off the ground.

VG+CC operates under the nonprofit charitable organization Vallarta Cares. Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS of New York had been the largest funder of SETAC for over 10 years, totaling almost $200,000. That organization’s executive director, Tom Viola, has pledged a matching gift of $20,000 to VG+CC on top of an initial $10,000 startup donation, according to Pickens.

Other major supporters include Steve Buczek of Beef Dip, the Grupo Garbo Company, as well as restaurant Daiquiri Dicks and Vidal Meza Pena, the owner of Almar Resort and the Mantamar Beach club.

“Throughout Mexico, there isn’t very many centers like what we’re trying to create,” Lopez said. “So, I think it’s a big job. We’re committed to making sure that people who need the services continue to have services available, that are accessible and that are free.”

The center is working with the Casa Jojo Foundation, whose website, https://tinyurl.com/5bch799z, is set up to take online donations. Pickens noted that as a full 501(c)3 based in Texas, the Casa Jojo Foundation can qualify for corporate matching gift programs.

VG+CC can also be reached by email at info@vallartagaycc.com or What’s App: 322-128-6793. The website, currently under construction, is www.vallartagaycc.com. t

tion, Carli said, to call attention to the center.

“We wouldn’t be having this conversation had I signed it, so for that reason, I chose not to sign it on principle,” he said. “Nobody would know any of this.”

Carli said the language of the resolution – that June is “a time to recognize, support, include, and safeguard the LGBTQ community” – came out of a City Council meeting earlier this year.

See page 9 >>

Musicians and producers have released a song to benefit a SouthernLGBTQ nonprofit, including, from left, Julie Wolf, Katie Cash, Vicki Randle, and Nino Moschella.

Courtesy Cedre Csillagi

<< Vacaville

Dr. Ashley Hernandez, left, joined Jet De La Isla, Pedro Lopez, and nurse Fatima Farias Martinez at the new Vallarta Gay+ Community Center.

Ed Walsh

Gay Games sees 4 sports groups withdraw support

by Roger Brigham

The election a year ago of a rightleaning coalition city government in Valencia, Spain triggered several local LGBTQ+ organizations last week to drop their support of the 2026 Gay Games being held in that city. The Federation of Gay Games immediately responded by saying it understood and regretted the departure of those organizations, but felt it was important to go forward with the games as planned.

“The last thing we want as an organization is that local LGBTQ+ entities do not support our event in their city, state and country,” Federation of Gay Games co-presidents Jan Schneider and Joanie Evans wrote Gay Games stakeholders Monday, May 27. “However, we respect their decision to withdraw but continue to work with the other LGBTQ+ entities that maintain their connection with us.”

Gay Games XII is scheduled to be held in Valencia in June or July 2026, with specific dates yet to be announced.

Earlier that day, Valencia Diversity Foundation (FVD) accused local government officials of “hijacking” the Valencia Gay Games organization and said it was withdrawing its support of the event along with its three member entities: LambdaLGBT+ Collective for Sexual, Gender, and Family Diversity; Avegal Association of Companies and Professionals for Lesbians, Gays, Transsexuals, and Bisexuals of the Valencian Community; and LGBTQ+ Sports Club Dracs València.

“We deeply value the support and contributions that these four LGBTQ+ entities have made to the development

<< Vacaville

From page 8

Meanwhile, the Vacaville Reporter, a sister paper of the Times, noted that Carli said he cannot condone the actions of the Solano Pride Cen-

and organization of the event so far, and we regrettably accept their decision to withdraw,” the FGG said in its press statement. “We would like to extend our gratitude to them for their hard work, past support, and collaboration.”

Holding fast in its support of the Valencia games at least for now is Samarucs, whose website reports it is “the longest running LGBTQ+ Sports Club in Valencia, boasting 18 years of uninterrupted activity” and a supporter of the FGG and European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation, which runs the EuroGames.

The FGG had been negotiating with the city and the LGBTQ+ groups the past

ter because he alleges it is a religious organization.

The organization has provided classes titled “Biblical Self Defense” and has held tarot card readings at previous Pride events. Carli also noted reservations about gender-af -

few months without success. Valencia has been governed the past year by a coalition of the conservative People’s Party, and the far-right party Vox. Reuters reports Vox is “anti-Muslim, anti-feminist, socially conservative, economically liberal, and opposes Spain’s political system of devolved government.” Toss in homophobic and increasingly aggressive in attacking transgender rights and you’ve pretty much got the picture.

In a phone call with Gay Games stakeholders May 28, FGG board representatives said they had received assurances from government officials that venues would be provided, athletes would be able to compete under

firming care for Trans youth, the paper reported. “It is OK to say I pause to allow for science and medicine and psychology to speak for itself,” Carli said, according to the paper. Carli told the B.A.R. that the center was not acting as a good faith

the gender with which they identify, participants would be free to express themselves, and government would not interfere in operations. In other words, the Gay Games would reflect the values of the progressive national government rather than the more extremist elements of local government.

“We’re confident the people making the decisions are on our side,” FGG communications officer Duncan Campbell said. “These people want to do a good job.”

The situation in Valencia unfolds against a backdrop of what the FGG referred to as “the ongoing erosion of LGBTQ+ rights and funding that is occurring throughout the world, particularly as a result of the growing support for rightwing governments.”

Then again, isn’t that pretty much the backdrop against which the Gay Games have always been held? Indeed, isn’t that pretty much the justification for its existence, to stand and compete and celebrate when elements of society and government would wish us out of existence?

munity can find a safe and inclusive space to be their authentic selves, and this is needed even more in countries or communities which lack LGBTQ+ rights. As a community we have a responsibility to be visible in the face of adversity.”

In its release, FVD said it continued to support Gay Games 2026 but that the event should be removed from Valencia and held in a city such as Munich, Germany.

“We believe it is essential for the LGBTQ+ community to be proudly visible everywhere in the world,” stated the FGG release. “Our visibility highlights the struggles we face, and shines a light on the needs of our community, especially where we lack rights and respect. We want the Gay Games to be a beacon of light for the LGBTQ+ community, a place where every member of our com-

nonprofit because of the tarot card readings and the “Biblical Self Defense” class. “It’s not our role in government to be taking sides from a religious perspective,” he said.  McGarvey took exception to the idea the center is a religious organization.

Talk to someone who can help

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Will not call emergency services without your consent.

“In case the Gay Games Federation finally decided to keep Valencia as its headquarters of the Gay Games 2026, the FVD unfortunately will be forced to strongly oppose the project and call for a boycott of the event at the local, national, and internationally, being certain that it will have the understanding and support of multiple friendly entities and organizations, as well as society in general,” FVD wrote. In response, the FGG wrote, “We want to reassure all stakeholders that the Gay Games in Valencia will proceed as planned. We firmly believe that Valencia is the ideal host city for our Games, and we are confident in the continued collaboration with the Valencia City Council to deliver a successful and memorable event. Having worked alongside the local community for a number of years, we know our event holds immense significance to them and local businesses, as well as across Spain and Europe. t

“We aren’t a religious organization, but a significant number of our clients have experienced religious discrimination, and therefore, religiously motivated trauma,” he stated to the B.A.R. “The Biblical

See page 10 >>

If you want to help a 2SLGBTQIA+ friend or young person feel safe reaching out — whether it’s before, during, or after a crisis — build trust by creating a safe space.

Introduce yourself with your name + pronouns. Always ask for theirs. Don’t assume.

State publicly that you’re 2SLGBTQ+ friendly/affirming, read up on queer liberation, amplify Pride through stickers, clothing, art, etc.

Respect that they might not want to answer all your questions.

Understand what groups they are and aren’t out to. Maintain confidentiality (+ let them know you will!)

If you’re an organization, make sure you have diverse staff to help young people feel comfortable reaching out.

* 2SLGBTQIA+ stands for Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and/or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, plus other identities. We put 2S at the beginning to recognize Two-Spirit Native people, the first queer community of North America.

For more ways to help yourself or a friend, visit NeveraBother.org

Gay Games Co-Presidents Joanie Evans and Jan Schneider have assured stakeholders that the 2026 event will go on as planned in Valencia, Spain despite the withdrawal of four LGBTQ+ organizations.

Courtesy FGG

SF DPH and CDC urge mpox vaccination << Health News

by Liz Highleyman

With Pride coming up, the San Francisco Department of Public Health and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are urging people at risk for mpox, including sexually active gay and bisexual men and people living with HIV, to receive two doses of the Jynneos vaccine to protect themselves from the disease. It comes as concern grows about a deadlier version of mpox has been found in Africa.

“With summer celebrations such as Pride approaching, now is a great time to protect yourself against mpox by getting vaccinated. The mpox vaccine is available through health systems and at clinics,” San Francisco Health Officer Dr. Susan Philip stated in a DPH news release.

“Even if you are fully vaccinated, it is still important to remain diligent since no vaccine is 100% effective. If you are experiencing symptoms of mpox such as a rash that looks like pimples or blisters, talk to your health care provider about getting tested, and talk to your partners so they can be informed and prevent the spread of infection.”

Mpox cases have risen in the United States this year compared with 2023, though they remain far below the level seen at the peak of the outbreak in the summer of 2022. Cases in San Francisco remain low and stable. But a growing outbreak of a more deadly mpox strain in the Democratic Republic of the Congo raises concerns about wider international spread.

“SF DPH is closely monitoring global mpox activity, including the clade I mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” SF DPH told the Bay Area Reporter in a statement. “Being fully vaccinated remains the best way for people to protect themselves against mpox infection, and we are encouraging people to seek the mpox vaccine ahead of the summer season.”

Mpox is transmitted mainly through close skin-to-skin contact, including sex. The global outbreak that started in May 2022 primarily affected gay and

<< Vacaville

From page 9

Self-Defense course taught by me as the executive director helps members of our community know that there are multiple interpretations of any sacred scripture, and helps them understand that there are historical, valid interpretations of the Hebrew and Greek of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures where our

bisexual men and others in their sexual networks. As of early March, the CDC had identified more than 32,000 cases in the U.S., resulting in 58 deaths. This outbreak involved clade II mpox, which causes less severe illness than clade I.

The U.S. case fatality rate is low (around 0.3%), but mpox is deadlier for people with advanced HIV.

The global outbreak declined dramatically thanks to a combination of natural immunity after infection, vaccination, and behavior change, but mpox continues to circulate at a low level. According to the May 23 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a total of 1,802 confirmed or probable cases were reported to the CDC between October 2023 and the end of April 2024. More than 90% were among men who have sex with men and around half were living with HIV. There were about 60 cases reported per week during this period, down from a high of about 3,000 in July 2022.

While this is good news, cases have increased in 2024 compared with 2023.

Nearly 750 cases have been reported so far this year, more than double the number at the same time last year. Nearly all regions have reported more cases this year, albeit with substantial local variation. New York City, for example, has

community is found, and the ways they can be read that include us.

It’s a self-defense class against those groups that continue to teach from the same book, while only sharing it from a Patriarchal, non-welcoming perspective.”

McGarvey went on to state that the center accepts and works with people of all religious traditions who accept its mission.

“The common denominator for

seen 191 cases in 2024, while San Francisco has identified only nine cases –and none since late April.

Mpox in the DRC

Prior to the 2022 global outbreak, mpox was known as an uncommon disease in western and central Africa. It was typically linked to contact with wild animals, and it was not thought to spread easily between people.

Clade I mpox has long been endemic in the DRC, but cases began to increase last year. Between January 2023 and April 2024, there were 19,919 suspected cases and 975 deaths, for a case fatality rate of 4.9%, according to the May 16 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

However, due to widespread poverty, lack of health infrastructure and ongoing armed conflict, most suspected cases have not been laboratory confirmed.

The DRC appears to be experiencing concurrent mpox outbreaks. In some parts of the country, around two-thirds of suspected cases and most deaths have been among children. In keeping with historical patterns, this is likely due to multiple separate exposures to infected animals and subsequent chains of household transmission.

At the same time, some cities and towns are seeing cases primarily among adults, apparently driven by sexual transmission. A man suspected of being the first in a cluster of cases near the capital Kinshasa visited underground clubs frequented by gay men, and he reported several sexual contacts with both men and women. Across the country, an outbreak in Kamituga, a mining town near the border with Rwanda and Burundi, appears to be mainly driven by heterosexual contact. Many of the cases involve sex workers. Genomic analysis revealed a distinct lineage of clade Ib mpox that appears to spread more easily from person to person.

“These new features of sexual transmission now raise additional concerns over the continuing rapid expansion of the outbreak in the country in a nation-

us are those systems that allow us to be who we are without discrimination or oppression, especially in the public square,” McGarvey stated.

“We do work with congregations that are Open and Affirming UCC, Reconciling Lutherans and Methodists, More Light Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Dignity and Old Catholic traditions and other Interfaith congregations that are Open and Affirming in celebrating members of

ally and internationally mobile key population,” according to the World Health Organization. “The risk of mpox further spreading to neighboring countries and worldwide appears to be significant.”

The similarly named Republic of Congo, which borders the DRC to the west, is already starting to see an uptick in cases. Infectious diseases don’t remain confined to one country, and the DRC outbreak underscores the need to make mpox vaccines and treatment available worldwide, officials noted. While the Jynneos vaccine has been widely deployed in the U.S. and other highincome countries, it is still not readily available in Africa.

Public health response

No cases of clade I mpox have been detected so far in the U.S. or in any other countries outside of endemic areas in Africa. The CDC and other laboratories have tested around 1,200 mpox specimens and wastewater samples from 186 sites, all of which were negative for this strain. The CDC urges clinicians and health departments to be alert for clade I mpox among travelers to the DRC. If a case is suspected, they should request clade-specific testing. Standard tests can detect both mpox clades but usually can’t tell them apart.

In a May 10 rapid risk assessment, the CDC deemed the risk posed by the DRC outbreak to be “very low” for the general population in the U.S. and “low to moderate” for gay and bisexual men and those in their sexual networks. Sustained heterosexual transmission of clade I mpox and widespread transmission among children are considered unlikely due to the absence of animal reservoirs, smaller household sizes, and better access to health care and sanitation resources.

The CDC now recommends routine vaccination for people at risk for mpox, whether or not an outbreak is underway. According to SF DPH criteria, this includes “all people living with HIV, anyone taking or eligible to take HIV PrEP, and all men, trans people, and

our community, as well as the NeoPagans and other life philosophies such as Buddhism and Humanism, as well as the many who are of no faith or life philosophy.”

Carli, a former police chief of seven years, was elected to a four-year term as Vacaville’s mayor in November 2022. He’d been with Vacaville police since 1989.

Joanna Leal, public relations manager for Vacaville, did not return re-

nonbinary people who have sex with men, trans people, or nonbinary people,” as well as anyone else who wants protection from mpox.

To date, only 25% of eligible individuals have received two doses of the Jynneos vaccine, and most recent mpox cases have involved people who were not fully vaccinated. Of the 32,819 confirmed or probable cases reported between May 2022 and May 2024, threequarters were unvaccinated. Among those who received two doses, however, the risk of mpox infection is estimated at around 0.1%. Among those with breakthrough infections, fully vaccinated people had milder illness, were less likely to be hospitalized, and none died.

When Jynneos was in short supply, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized an intradermal injection method that allows a single vial to be split into five doses. Recent studies have shown that this dose-sparing method and standard subcutaneous injections generate equivalent antibody responses. Researchers also saw no difference in immune responses between HIV-negative people and HIVpositive people with a CD4 count above 200. Antibody levels do decline within months after the second dose, but this is not the only marker of protection. The real-world CDC findings “suggest that immunity is not waning.”

According to CDC guidelines, either the subcutaneous or intradermal vaccination method may be used, but the former is preferred if supply is adequate. The recommended interval between shots is four weeks, but people who previously received one dose – no matter how long ago – do not need to restart the series. At this time, additional booster doses are not recommended. People who have already had mpox do not need to be vaccinated. Studies indicate that Jynneos and the antiviral drug TPOXX (tecovirimat) are effective against both clade I and clade II mpox.

Jynneos is now commercially available, but some public health sites in San Francisco still offer it for free. t

quests for comment by press time.

In 2020, Dixon was the sole city in Solano County not to recognize Pride Month, which celebrates the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall riots as the beginning of the modern LGBTQ rights movement in the United States.

The Solano Pride Celebration was held in Fairfield, the county seat, on June 2. t

San Francisco Health Officer

Dr. Susan Philip

Rick Gerharter

Badlands ownership shuffle OK’d by SF entertainment commission Community News>>

by John Ferrannini

In less than two minutes, the San Francisco Entertainment Commission unanimously approved a change of ownership for San Francisco Badlands in the Castro at its June 4 meeting.

TJ Bruce, who was brought on as co-manager of the nightclub at 4121 18th Street last year alongside gay longtime owner Les Natali, told the Bay Area Reporter the move is “more of a formality.”

Natali, 81, the owner of the Castro neighborhood property, had brought on Bruce – a gay man who owns a number of nightclubs on the West Coast, such as Splash San Jose and Badlands Sacramento, and who is working on opening a Badlands Portland – last year to reopen the space he’d shuttered amid the COVID pandemic.

“Les and I formed a new corporation,” Bruce said. “The city is requiring us to go through this process.”

The company running the bar, technically, has now shifted from Natali’s corporation, San Francisco Badlands Inc., to BLSF2 Inc.

The reason a new corporation is needed is because Natali is the sole owner of San Francisco Badlands Inc.

“To separate one of the DBA’s [fictitious business names] into new owners, we needed a new entity,” Bruce said.

The move means Bruce is a coowner of the business, alongside Natali.

Bruce told the commissioners that “I’m very excited to be part of this effort.”

“Just this last October we reopened after being closed a number of years due to COVID,” he said. “I just wanted to say hello to all of you. Thank you.”

Entertainment Commission President Ben Bleiman commented that he had “been to Badlands a couple times. It’s cool.” An unidentified commissioner chimed in “same” before the panel unanimously voted in favor of the ownership change.

Natali himself acquired Badlands, which had been a country western gay bar since 1974, in 1999, when it became one of the neighborhood’s most popular video dance bars.

The bar’s closure in 2020 came during the heady summer protests over the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. At the time, with the pandemic raging, Natali also came under renewed criticism due to past allegations of racial discrimination at Badlands.

Those complaints were back in the early 2000s. After a lengthy investigation, a 2004 report by the San Francisco Human Rights Commission found that Badlands was discriminating against Blacks, but the findings were never official be-

cause the HRC executive director at the time did not sign off on the staff report. Natali and the complainants eventually reached a confidential settlement.

Natali later opened Toad Hall across the street from Badlands at 4146 18th Street, at the site of what had been the Pendulum, a bar that catered to Black LGBTQs.

In a June 6, 2020 email after those

past allegations were brought up at a Black Lives Matter protest in Jane Warner Plaza in the Castro LGBTQ neighborhood, Natali wrote that the allegations “were found without merit and were dropped.”

“We welcome people of all races and all colors and we probably have the largest, most diverse clientele of any bar in the Castro,” he added.

Natali had originally teased a

spring 2023 reopening for Badlands, but a deal between he and Bruce needed more time to be worked out.

“When lawyers get involved in things it can get complicated and take longer than expected,” Natali told the B.A.R. when Badlands reopened in October 2023. “It was just longer than expected but we’re here, it’s over, finally.” t

TJ Bruce, now an official co-owner of SF Badlands, spoke to the entertainment commission Tuesday.

Screengrab via SFGovTV

Raucous Libertarian confab taps gay man for prez

by John Ferrannini

Apansexual San Francisco Libertarian official was dragged out of his party’s convention during former President Donald Trump’s speech, just before America’s third-largest political party nominated a gay man for president of the United States.

That nominee is Chase Oliver, 38, who’s from Georgia and is a former candidate for U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. Oliver, a sales account executive, was nominated May 26 on the convention’s seventh ballot.

Oliver’s campaign didn’t return comment for this report; last summer he told the Bay Area Reporter he’d been an Obama Democrat, but soured on the then-president’s expansion of the security state; the continuation of U.S. detention of foreign nationals at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; and the expansion of international counterterrorism efforts of dubious legality under international law.

Oliver isn’t the first gay Libertarian candidate; the party had nominated John Hospers as its first-ever presidential nominee in 1972. Hospers became the first known openly gay candidate for U.S. president.

At the convention – which was held at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C. May 24-27 – Oliver had the support of Starchild, who is the chair of the San Francisco County Libertarian Party and was a delegate. Starchild, who uses one name, had told the B.A.R. last summer he was not committed to Oliver, but later changed his mind.

“I was leaning in that direction all along,” Starchild said in a phone interview May 28. “I thought it was possible some other big name candidate might come into the race. He’s the only exDemocrat to be nominated before. I think he’s very well spoken.”

But Starchild became a star of the convention himself after he was dragged off the convention floor Saturday by who he believes were hotel security personnel. The imbroglio began when Libertarian Party Chair Angela McArdle invited the three top-polling candidates for president to speak at the convention – none of whom are Libertarians. Those

who attended were Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Democrat-turned-independent. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, was invited but did not attend.

According to the fivethirtyeight.com’s average of polls, Kennedy is polling at about 10% nationally – which would make him the best performing independent since Ross Perot won 18.9% in 1992.

“Our party chair unilaterally decided to invite Trump to speak to our convention,” Starchild said. “A lot of people weren’t happy about that, the Trump invite in particular.”

Kennedy spoke the night before Trump. Kennedy’s name was entered into nomination, but he was eliminated after only getting 19 votes on the first ballot.

Asked why the Libertarians eschewed the scion of one of America’s most prominent political families, Starchild said, “it really is that we have principles and things we stand for, and if someone comes along and doesn’t align with those values, it doesn’t matter how popular they are or how many votes they’d get us.”

‘Planned to protest’

Starchild said he had “planned to protest” when Trump came. Though security was preventing people from taking in signs critical of this year’s presumptive Republican Party nominee, Starchild managed to bring in a banner written on a sheet that read “No Wannabe Dictators!”

This was in addition to a sign he’d been approved to bring in that stated, “Restore the Republic. Abolish the Empire.”

That banner matched Starchild’s outfit

– Princess Leia from the “Star Wars” films.

“I often dress outrageously or in some kind of drag or something,” he said.

But Starchild believes it was the “No Wannabe Dictators!” banner he unfurled that provoked a reaction when several people – at least three principally, who Starchild believes were employed by the hotel – came to drag him away.

“When I was getting dragged and pulled I was trying to keep my costume from getting ripped,” Starchild recalled.

Nonetheless, he appreciated the opportunity to protest Trump.

“It was very cathartic – it’s not often you get to be 30 feet away from the disgraced former president, so-called

leader of the free world, and shout what’s on your mind,” said Starchild, who had yelled, “You are a threat to civil liberties,” at Trump. “That felt very gratifying – I’m sure he saw the banner.”

Ultimately, Trump said the party should join the GOP by nominating him – “You have to combine with us,” he said.

“What’s the purpose of the Libertarian Party of getting 3%?” Trump asked. “You should nominate Trump for president only if you want to win.” (Jorgensen, the Libertarian nominee in 2020, got 1.1% of the vote.)

Trump did not submit the necessary paperwork to get his name placed in nomination for the Libertarian Party. Six delegates wrote in his name when they voted for whom to nominate. Starchild suspects a good number of the people who came to the convention to see Trump were not party members.

The Trump campaign did not return a request for comment.

At the end of the day, Starchild is probably not going to pursue charges or take other legal action.

“That has definitely been raised to me as a possibility – probably not,” he said. “I’m not totally closed to it, but I’m not going to sue the party. As much as I have disagreements with the party leadership, they don’t have direct control over hotel security. I’m not really that inclined to do that [sue the hotel] either. It looked pretty bad, and it was traumatic in the moment … but it wasn’t that bad, compared to how many people are treated by police and law enforcement.”

Hilton Hotels & Resorts did not return a request for comment.

In a statement posted to X on May 28, McArdle defended herself.

“Everyone is understandably flipping out right now,” she stated. “I will have more to say this weekend. For now, I will say that I delivered an incredible convention, with the help of my amazing staff and volunteers. All of my critics were WRONG. I made the right call to invite Donald Trump and if Libertarians can behave themselves, he will free Ross Ulbricht and put one of us in his cabinet. Ball’s in your court, libertarians. We are getting in that administration.”

Ulbricht (who coincidentally was arrested by the FBI in 2013 at the Glen Park branch of the San Francisco Public Library), is serving life in federal prison without the possibility of parole. He had founded Silk Road, an online black market and part of the dark web. He was convicted on federal charges of engaging in a criminal enterprise, conspiracy to distribute narcotics, distributing narcotics, distributing narcotics online, conspiring to commit money laundering, conspiring to traffic in false identity documents and conspiring to commit computer hacking.

Trump pledged during his speech at the convention that “on day No. 1, I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht to a sentence of time served. He’s already served 11 years. We’re going to get him home.” Ulbricht was first sentenced to double life imprisonment plus 40 years, without the possibility of parole, two years before Trump became president. The Daily Beast reported in December 2020 that Trump “expressed sympathy” for Ulbricht; however the then-president ultimately did not pardon him. t

Supes committee rejects Walker for police panel

by Cynthia Laird

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Rules Committee on Monday rejected Mayor London Breed’s reappointment of a lesbian to the high-profile police commission. The decision came amid allegations that the panel is polarized and one supervisor remained fixated on a comment from the nominee, Debra Walker.

The rules committee did vote 2-0 to forward the nomination of another Breed pick to the police commission, retired Alameda County Superior Court Judge C. Don Clay, to the full board with a positive recommendation.

But Walker’s nomination was rejected 2-0 by acting committee Chair Supervisor Shamann Walton (District 10) and Supervisor Ahsha Safaí, who represents District 11 and is running for mayor against Breed. Rules committee Chair Supervisor Hillary Ronen (D9) was excused. District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan had sat in on the committee meeting for an earlier item but then left, leaving Walton and Safaí.

Walker’s fate is now up to the Board of Supervisors, which is expected to vote June 11. If approved, Walker’s new term would end April 30, 2028.

Walker had been serving as a police commissioner for the past year and a half until her term ended April 30. Breed had nominated her in 2022 to replace former supervisor and later police commissioner Malia Cohen, now serving as California’s elected state controller.

Back then, Walker was approved by the Board of Supervisors on a divided

8-3 vote, as the Bay Area Reporter previously reported. Until her term ended, Walker was the only LGBTQ representative on the police oversight panel.

During the June 3 rules committee meeting, Walker at one point said, “there is way too much input from people who aren’t cops.” That comment stuck with Safaí, who repeatedly mentioned it. He was also critical of Walker’s support for Proposition E that voters passed on the March ballot. The measure gives up some of the police commission’s powers.

“Should we have a police commission?” Safaí asked Walker at one point.

“Yes,” Walker responded. Walker said that she supports all of the reforms the San Francisco Police Department is undertaking, including meeting many of the 272 recommendations made by the U.S. Department of

Justice after the SFPD asked it to review the department following a series of officer-involved shootings and high-profile misconduct cases in 2016, according to the department’s website.

Walker also said that she supports the technology reforms that were part of Prop E, which was championed by Breed and Safer San Francisco.

“It makes it easier for officers to follow the rules and I think we’re going to be more effective,” she said.

But Safaí noted that Prop E “did a number of things that take things out of the police commission’s hands,” including SFPD’s pursuit policy. He said that prior to Prop E’s passage, San Francisco had one of the most reputable pursuit policies. He said that it was his understanding under that policy, officers would need to call in and get a “green light” from a captain in order to engage in a pursuit.

“Prop E removes that,” he said.

Safaí asked Walker is the police commission is involved in setting policy.

“That our policy is consistent with city law, yes,” she answered.

Walker also devoted some time to the issue of pretext stops, when an officer pulls someone over for things like minor traffic violations. Research has shown those types of traffic stops have a disproportionate impact on minorities.

The San Francisco Police Commission voted earlier this year to end pretext stops. Walker voted against the measure, as the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

At the committee meeting, Walker said that pretext stops are a tool that officers use, and said she agrees with ending racially biased pretext stops.

In a phone interview Tuesday, Walker said it was ironic that her hearing came at the same time that Breed was raising the Pride flag at City Hall.

“As the flag was being raised, I was being attacked,” she said.

She also took issue with Safaí asking if she was sure she had the time to commit to the commission.

“I have the time,” she said at the meeting.

Mission Local recently reported that the police commission has canceled several meetings this spring.

Breed controls the commission as she has four out the seven appointments (the supervisors have the other three). But Breed had a falling out with her own appointee, Max Carter-Oberstone, in 2022, when he voted for Board of Supervisors appointee Cindy Elias for police commission president instead of Larry Yee, whom the mayor wanted to lead the body, as the San Francisco Standard reported.

In September 2022, the San Francisco Standard reported that Breed had asked Carter-Oberstone, and dozens of other city commissioners, to preemptively sign undated letters of resignation.

The Board of Supervisors later officially prohibited Breed from such letters, though she had already abandoned that after City Attorney David Chiu’s office said the practice, while not explicitly barred under the City Charter, was “inconsistent” with it and should not be required going forward, as the Chronicle reported.

During his comments before the vote, Safaí noted that Breed has lost control of the police commission. Was Walker “asked to sign a resignation let-

ter?” he asked. “I didn’t even ask today. That’s what started this downhill.”

Walton said that while he has respected Walker for many years – she has previously served on the arts and building inspections commissions – he could not support forwarding her name to the Board of Supervisors because he thinks Walker does not believe the police commission should be setting policy for SFPD.

During public comment, several people spoke in support of Walker and one person spoke against. None stated their names.

Retired judge approved

The hearing for Clay, a former presiding judge of the Alameda County bench, went much smoother. Though he said he has not studied the hundreds of reform recommendations and progress SFPD has made, he told the supervisors that it’s important the reforms are there.

Clay, who lives in San Francisco, previously served on the fire commission and the juvenile probation commission. If approved by the Board of Supervisors, Clay’s term would end April 30, 2028.

During public comment, Dennis Herrera, the general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and the former city attorney, spoke in support of Clay’s nomination.

“He’s just the sort of person you’d want on the police commission,” Herrera said.

Longtime criminal defense attorney Stuart Hanlon said he’s known Clay for years and while they don’t necessarily agree politically – Hanlon described himself as a progressive – “Clay is fair, honest, nonbiased, and direct.” t

San Francisco Libertarian Party Chair Starchild unfurled a banner during former President Donald Trump’s speech May 25 and was dragged out by security.

Via MSNBC

Chase Oliver was nominated as the Libertarian Party’s presidential nominee.

Screen capture: YouTube/ABC 11

Debra Walker faced heated questioning from the Board of Supervisors Rules Committee, which rejected her reappointment on a 2-0 vote.

Screengrab from SFGovTV

Breed nominates gay leader Chen to transit board

by Matthew S. Bajko

F

our years ago, Mike Chen fell short in his bid for a local Democratic Party leadership post. He ran again this year and won a seat on the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee in the March primary.

A month later, Chen was elected by his fellow committee members to be the San Francisco Democratic Party’s director of internal operations. Now, the gay data engineer could soon find himself in the hot seat for his decisions on myriad transit issues in the city.

Thursday, May 30, Mayor London Breed nominated Chen to a seat on the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors. If confirmed by the Board of Supervisors, Chen would succeed Lydia So, whom Breed this spring named to fill a vacancy on the city’s planning commission.

Chen, 33, would return LGBTQ representation to the powerful oversight body following the resignation last year of gay business owner Manny Yekutiel from his seat on the SFMTA board. It would also transition Chen from providing input to the city’s transit agency as a cur-

rent member of its citizens’ advisory council to casting votes on policy decisions and other matters as a board member.

“Transportation is deeply linked to public health, quality of life, economic opportunity, and the future of our planet,” stated Chen, who resides in the Lower Pacific Heights

neighborhood. “I am grateful for the chance to contribute my energy and talents to the challenges and opportunities facing the SFMTA.”

In announcing Chen’s nomination, Breed’s office noted he frequently rides the Muni bus lines 1, 38, and 49. It also pointed to his using his own e-bike and bikeshare to travel around the city, as well as enjoying the Clay Slow Street where vehicle access is limited to allow pedestrians and cyclists use of the roadway.

“Mike brings a deep understanding of San Francisco’s transit challenges and opportunities,” stated Breed. “With his commitment to safe, efficient, and sustainable transit, I have confidence that he will work with the SFMTA to continue to build a transit system that works for all San Franciscans.”

So endorsed Breed’s selection of Chen to her former board seat.

“Mike brings valuable experience as a member of the SFMTA Citizens’ Advisory Council and as a frequent rider of Muni. I am delighted that the SFMTA board will continue to have representation from the Chinese and AANHPI community,” she stated, referring to the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander community.

Chen earned his Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania. He moved to the Bay Area in 2014 after being hired as a data engineer at Meta. Eight years later he left to work for software company Coda in a similar position.

He joined the SFMTA Citizens’ Advisory Council in January 2020 and served as its chair from July 2021 through July 2023. He highlighted his role as a transit advocate during his campaign for a DCCC seat earlier this year.

Another policy area he has focused on is housing, serving as a volunteer lead for YIMBY Action.

Gay state Senator Scott Wiener (DSan Francisco), who has focused on both housing policy reforms and public transit funding in the Legislature, praised Breed’s choice of Chen for the SFMTA board seat.

“Tackling significant challenges facing our public transit system will require the best public servants –and Mike Chen is one of the best,” stated Wiener. “We’re all lucky to have his thoughtfulness and dedication directed at keeping Muni running and our streets in great shape for all users.”

His nomination will first be taken

up by the supervisors’ rules committee before going to the full board for a vote. His tenure could coincide with the selection of a new SFMTA leader, as gay Director of Transportation Jeffrey Tumlin could be out of a job depending on who wins this November’s mayoral race, with former mayor and supervisor Mark Farrell saying he would seek new leadership for the transit agency if he returns to Room 200 in City Hall.

Tumlin has come under heated criticism over his handling of controversial transit projects like the bike lanes installed in the middle of Valencia Street and a proposal to alter traffic patterns in West Portal that ended up shelved due to heated opposition from local merchants and residents.

Chen told the Bay Area Reporter May 30 he had no comment regarding the Valencia bike lanes, which business owners on the street have been campaigning for months to see be removed. He has yet to be told when his hearing before the rules committee will be.

Advocacy group KidSafe SF was quick to call for Chen to be confirmed. In a statement released shortly after the mayoral announcement, it said it was “thrilled” with his being nominated.

“Mike’s extensive experience and deep passion for sustainable, safe, and efficient transportation have made him a respected voice in the community,” stated co-founder Robin Pam. “His experience as chair of the SFMTA Citizens’ Advisory Commission has shown that he is well prepared to help Muni tackle the challenges it faces in coming years, and his experience riding the bus, walking and riding a bike in the city gives him a deep understanding of everyday San Franciscans’ needs from our transportation system.” t

Obituaries >>

Robert John Ein Jr.

June 27, 1955 – March 30, 2024

Robert John Ein Jr. died March 30, 2024 from cancer. He was 68.

Robert grew up in the New York area.

Once he moved to the Bay Area, he attended City College of San Francisco and designed video games. Robert’s passion was hanging with the Rainbows/Satyrs Motorcycle Club, and he was a club member for many years.

He is survived by Daniel, his partner of several years; his mother; and his sister Elizabeth, of Rye, New York. Images of Robert can be seen around the city, including in a poster in the cage at the Hole in the Wall, and in the motorcycle exhibit at the GLBT Historical Society Museum in the Castro.

A celebration of Robert’s life was held at the Hole in the Wall Saloon, Saturday, June 1 Robert was a gentle soul, with a big heart.

[Editor’s note: This is being republished because the editor

SFMTA board nominee Mike Chen

Courtesy the subject

‘Drag Me Downtown’ returns for 2024 Community News

compiled by Cynthia Laird

The Downtown SF Partnership has announced that “Drag Me Down town,” a weekly series of pop-up drag performances, is returning for Pride Month after a successful run last year. The district oversees 43 blocks across San Francisco’s Financial District and the Jackson Square Historic District.

A news release stated that the series takes place from 5 to 7 p.m. each Thursday and starts June 6 at Harrington’s Bar and Grill, 245 Front Street. Other events are: June 13 at PABU Izakaya, 101 California Street; June 20 at The Third Floor at the Jay Hotel, 433 Clay Street; and June 27 at One Market Restaurant at 1 Market Street.

The final date will also feature a queer history bus tour and sing-along led by Sister Roma of the drag nun group the Sisters of Perpetual Indul gence. It takes place from 1 to 2:30 p.m. (The first bus tour just before the event at One Market Restaurant sold out.)

Performing at the June 27 drag shows will be San Francisco drag laureate D’Arcy Drollinger.

“As a San Francisco native and the city’s first drag laureate, my goal is, and will always be, to celebrate and elevate the art of drag,” Drollinger stated.

As the Bay Area Reporter noted last year, the idea for Drag Me Downtown originated with Robbie Silver, a bi man who is executive director of the Downtown SF Partnership.

He had been thinking of creative ways to bolster nightlife down town, which has suffered in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic.

“To continue honoring downtown San Francisco’s deep cultural heritage and history as an inclusive space, we are looking forward to ring ing in another fun-filled month of Pride celebration with Drag Me Downtown,” Silver stated. “Our goal is to give local institutions a place and purpose downtown, in addition to presenting new and exciting ways to experience the public realm.”

Donna Personna will speak about the play she co-wrote, “The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot.”

SF Pride to hold kick-off party in the Tenderloin

The San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee will hold its kick-off party Friday, June 7, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Tenderloin Museum, 398 Eddy Street.

An email announcement stated that the program features the creative team behind the play “The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot” – director/co-producer

Ezra Reaves, and trans co-writers

Drag artists are also looking forward to participating, including Bobby Friday, the drag persona of Bobby Rivera, a gay man, who is returning.

“I am so excited to partner with the Downtown SF Partnership again this year for Drag Me Downtown,” Friday stated. “I love the city of San Francisco and am so grateful to be a part of the vibrant, creative, diverse, and beautiful queer community that is here.”

People are encouraged to pre-register for the drag nights. All proceeds from pre-registration will benefit the Transgender District.

Breonna McCree, a woman of trans experience, and Carlo Gomez Arteaga, a trans man, are co-executive directors of the cultural district.

“We are thrilled to partner with Drag Me Downtown to commemorate our history and support our ongoing initiatives,” McCree and Arteaga stated.

Donna Personna and Collette LeGrande – in conversation with queer historian Joseph Plaster, author of “Kids on the Street: Queer Kinship and Religion in San Francisco’s Tenderloin.” Additionally, there will be remarks from SF Pride Executive Director Suzanne Ford, a trans woman; SF Pride Board President Nguyen Pham, a gay man; and Tenderloin Museum Executive Director Katie Conry.

The evening’s program centers on honoring the 1966 riot at Gene Compton’s Cafeteria, a seminal act of trans-led queer resistance that took place in the Tenderloin three years prior to the more famous Stonewall riots in New York City. (The exact date has been lost to history.)

The Compton’s riot is the inspiration for an immersive theater experience – “The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot” – that is produced by the Tenderloin Museum and set to open as an ongoing production in a permanent, pur-

Attendees of a Drag Me Downtown event last year surrounded drag artist Bobby Friday.

Courtesy Downtown SF Partnership

Jane Philomen Cleland

The gay son of Mexican immigrants who grew up in the agricultural town of Los Banos in the San Joaquin Valley, roughly two hours southeast of San Francisco, Rivas is fluent in Spanish and can often be seen being interviewed on local Spanish-speaking news channels. He was a few minutes late for his interview with the B.A.R. due to being asked to address reports of federal immigration officer impersonators in the North Bay approaching random people on the street and asking them for their documentation in order to steal their wallets.

“My first advice is to stay calm,” Rivas said he had told the reporter, adding people should remember California is a sanctuary state for undocumented immigrants.

While he had not heard reports as of that afternoon about the scam occurring in San Francisco, Rivas suggested anyone approached in such a manner should call one of the rapid response hotlines staffed by community organizations that work with the immigrant community.

Grants

One of his office’s main purviews is providing grants to community-based organizations to offer free immigration services, such as assistance with citizenship applications, connections to legal services, and financial support to pay for immigration application fees. It also works to ensure fair access for residents with limited English skills, as nearly 34% of San Franciscans were born outside of the U.S.

“We are tasked with ensuring the right level of resources are provided to those who need it most,” explained Rivas.

With city leaders confronted with addressing a budget deficit of $789 million over the next two fiscal years, department heads were ordered by Mayor London Breed to make cuts of 10% in their budgets. Rivas’ office had been budgeted $10.5 million in the current fiscal year.

He told the B.A.R. he targeted capacity building and training programs in the cuts he suggested to the mayor. He did so with an eye toward preserving funds for direct services and now awaits what the mayor and supervisors decide to do with the budget they need to balance and finalize by August 1.

“I think we are all waiting to see how that proposal plays out,” said Rivas. “It is a tough year with tough decisions to be made around what we reduce. We are trying to preserve direct services to our local immigrant population.”

Due to the political fighting in Congress over the country’s immigration policies, funding at the federal level isn’t available for certain services that the city allocates resources toward, noted Rivas, such as legal support for immigrants

<< News Briefs

From page 15

pose-built venue at 835 Larkin Street in the Tenderloin.

A limited number of attendees will be able to start the evening with a free short walking tour from 5 to 6 p.m. that visits both the physical site of the Compton’s riot and the immersive venue for the eponymous play just a few blocks away.

Tickets for the kick-off party are $25, though no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

To purchase tickets, go to https:// tinyurl.com/yc8esh8b.

‘Party On! Party People’ in TL

For You has announced “Party On! Party People,” a series of events produced in partnership with Little Brother’s Friends of the Elderly. One of them, “The Tom Party,” features a gay senior, Tom (no last name provided), and takes place Tuesday, June 11, at 10:30 p.m. at Aunt Charlie’s Lounge, 133 Turk Street.

According to an email announcement, Tom, originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has lived in San Francisco since 1991 and currently resides

and asylum seekers that local organizations offer.

“If we don’t fund it or provide support for it locally, it is really difficult for them to do it,” he noted.

Also under the prerogative of the immigrant affairs office is providing resources and technical assistance to other city departments and agencies that need interpretation services for meetings or events they are hosting. Rivas and his staff also enforce the city’s Language Access Ordinance, (https://sf.gov/ languageaccess) which ensures that information provided in English by city departments and agencies is translated into Spanish, Chinese, and Filipino.

Vietnamese could be added to the list, as the city’s supervisors have been advancing a policy proposal that could make it the city’s fifth official language. If instructed to do so by the board this month, Rivas said he and his team will have until early 2026 to bring a formal proposal for Vietnamese language services back to the supervisors to adopt.

Based on 2021 census data, there were 11,285 speakers of the Southeast Asian language in the city. Rivas said his office would likely also evaluate if there is a need for Russian language services, as there were 11,026 speakers of that language in the city three years ago.

Sanctuary city

Because San Francisco is a sanctuary city, it does not ask people about their immigration status, making it “complicated,” said Rivas, for his office to track exactly where the people accessing its services are coming from.

The city has seen more immigrants, particularly families, coming from Central and South America over the last two years, he said, and also has seen more Chinese immigrants making their way to San Francisco via the country’s southern border.

In a given year the waitlist for im-

in the Tenderloin.

In collaboration with Brittany Newell and Maria Silk, the hosts of “Angels,” a monthly drag and dance show at the bar, For You will honor Tom with a drag number inspired by things he loves, from the movie “Tootsie” to bicycles and the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia.

Guests at Aunt Charlie’s must be 21 years of age or older. Admission at the door is $5.

Pink triangle volunteer reminder

Patrick Carney, co-founder of the annual pink triangle installation atop Twin Peaks, wants to remind people that there are still volunteer opportunities available for this year’s project, which culminates with the installation and ceremony Saturday, June 8.

From noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, June 6, help is needed getting materials from the warehouse. On Friday, June 7, from noon to about 2 p.m., volunteers will install the pink outline borders, which are made out of hundreds of feet of sailcloth.

On Saturday, people will complete the main installation beginning at 7 a.m. The ceremony follows at 10:30.

migrant services in the city ranges from 200 to 900 people, said Rivas, with the majority being asylum seekers. While his office worked with their city counterparts on a plan should busloads of immigrants arrive in San Francisco sent from other states by Republican governors, such a situation never occurred.

“We had a plan in place,” said Rivas. With census forms not currently asking about people’s sexual orientation or gender identity, it is not known how many of the city’s immigrants are LGBTQ. While the city is known worldwide as a safe haven for LGBTQ people, those who are immigrants or asylum seekers often find it too expensive to live in San Francisco and will end up moving to nearby cities with cheaper rents or end up in other states entirely where housing costs less.

“We don’t know any trendlines,” said Rivas, when asked about the city’s LGBTQ immigrant population.

LGBTQ immigrants

The Immigrant Rights Commission did hold a special hearing last year to examine what the needs of such individuals are who do call San Francisco home. As it detailed in its annual report released earlier this year, it found that LGBTQ immigrants need expanded access to health care and mental health services. It also noted that safe housing and shelter is especially needed for transgender immigrants.

Like any immigrants to the city, the report noted LGBTQ individuals would also benefit from more legal support and pathways to employment, among other assistance programs to help them build new lives in San Francisco.

“We know immigrants have very particular needs for services, like access to quality jobs and workforce training programs,” noted Rivas, adding that he has been sharing the findings of the commission and his office with his

Members of the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band (the city’s official band) will perform, along with musical theater star Leanne Borghesi and others.

Carney stated that confirmed speakers include Mayor London Breed, San Francisco Pride community grand marshals, drag laureate Drollinger, and Honey Mahogany, the new executive director of the San Francisco Office of Transgender Initiatives.

The pink triangle will come down Sunday, June 30, after the Pride parade. Help is needed from 4 to 8 p.m., Carney noted, adding that this is the hardest day for which to get volunteers. Finally, on Monday, July 1, from noon to 1 p.m., people are needed to unload the pink triangle materials back into the warehouse.

All volunteers will receive a fashionable pink triangle T-shirt, courtesy of Thomas E. Horn, a gay man who used to be publisher of the Bay Area Reporter and who oversees the Bob Ross Foundation, which is named after the paper’s founding publisher. For more information on the pink triangle or to donate, go to thepinktriangle.com.

Castro cultural district

counterparts at other city departments focused on employment, health care, and housing.

Rivas, who is single and lives in the South of Market neighborhood, previously worked for the city in the Office of Economic and Workforce Development as the director of Invest in Neighborhoods, an interagency partnership aimed at strengthening and revitalizing neighborhood commercial districts. In response to the economic fallout from the COVID pandemic, he worked to assist impacted businesses and oversaw the deployment of more than $24 million in financial support for local small business owners and their employees.

He previously had stints as an associate transportation planner at Caltrans, the state transportation department; the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office of Housing and Economic Development; and an inaugural member of the San Francisco Soda Tax Implementation Committee. He worked for an Oakland nonprofit where he assisted immigrant nonEnglish-speaking business owners and had served as deputy director of Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Bay Area, which works to preserve and produce affordable housing and economic opportunities for people of color and immigrants.

“My entire professional career has been in public service,” Rivas noted, “so when I was given the opportunity to come to this office, I couldn’t say no. I have a passion for public service.”

Well-versed in issues

He also is well versed in the concerns of immigrants to the country. His parents came to California in the 1970s and worked as migrant farmers, with his mom taking seasonal work in a tomato cannery. His father saved up enough money to start a small dairy with his two brothers, with Rivas getting up at 3 a.m. to help milk their 120 cows.

donates Pride flag

The Castro LGBTQ Cultural District has donated a Progress Pride flag to Fisch & Flore, the revamped restaurant that used to house Cafe Flore at 2298 Market Street. The flag will be unveiled Friday, June 7, at 4 p.m. during a program that will include remarks from Breed and gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), a news release stated.

The cultural district noted that the newly refurbished restaurant represents a substantial investment by new owner Serhat Zorlu. The space has been made ADA accessible and the eatery’s features and menus have been modernized. As a key business in the LGBTQ neighborhood, the cultural district is keen to support the endeavor, especially now that it is open for lunch and dinner service, the release noted.

“I’m thankful for the donated flag by the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District,” stated Zorlu, a straight ally.

“The flag signals that we love the community and are eager to be a fabulous part of this great neighborhood.”

Tina Aguirre, a genderqueer Latinx person who is director of the

At age 15, Rivas went to work in the fields, picking cotton, melon, and watermelon until age 18 when he left to attend UC Berkeley.

“It was very difficult work. It taught me a lot about discipline. My dad would tell me, ‘Don’t be afraid of work. Just go for it,’” recalled Rivas, whose father now grows alfalfa on his farm.

The oldest of four sons, with an older half-sister, Rivas was the first in his family to receive a college degree, he earned a B.A. in urban studies, then went on to earn a Master’s of Planning from the University of Southern California. While at Cal at age 20, Rivas had a “clarifying conversation,” he said, with his Catholic family about being gay. “It was a tough time but now a whole different story.”

He is now a godfather to a nephew and two nieces and will attend church with his family around the holidays. His mom will talk about having a gay son at church retreats, allowing other parents to feel comfortable talking to her about having their own LGBTQ children.

“I remember one time I found PFLAG brochures in Spanish in a drawer at my parents’ house. It brought tears to my eyes,” recalled Rivas, who this year joined the board of LGBTQ youth service provider LYRIC. “They were trying to find that info and support.”

June is not only Pride Month but also Immigrant Heritage Month. As such Rivas’ office and the Immigrant Rights Commission host a leadership awards ceremony each year to honor those working in the city’s immigrant community.

Free and open to the public to attend, it will take place at 5:30 p.m. Monday, June 10, in City Hall’s North Light Court. Among this year’s honorees is ABADÁ-Capoeira San Francisco founder and artistic director Márcia Treidler, the first woman to hold the title of “Mestra Cigarra” in the art form of Capoeira. She is receiving the Entrepreneur Leader Award.

Profiled by the B.A.R. in 2022, Treidler arrived in San Francisco as a lesbian undocumented immigrant from her native Brazil. Among last year’s honorees was the LGBTQ Asylum Project founder Okan Sengun.

“I want to be intentional in uplifting LGBTQ immigrant voices,” Rivas told the B.A.R.

It is another way the city commission and his office aim to change the narrative and conversation around immigration and immigrants. Too often the discussion comes off as “divisive,” noted Rivas, and can be detrimental to the city’s immigrant communities.

“We have to play a role locally to uplift those voices who contribute positively to our immigrant population,” said Rivas.t

cultural district, added, “I want to make sure we give love to Fisch & Flore because it is so welcoming to us as LGBTQ community members. Donating this Progressive Pride flag is important to the district’s work to center LGBTQ people, places, and culture and that includes supporting economic vitality in the neighborhood.”

Forum on Mission Dolores neighborhood landmarks Gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and the San Francisco Planning Department will hold a community forum about potential landmark designations in the Mission Dolores neighborhood. The meeting will take place Thursday, June 13, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Noe Valley/Sally Brunn branch library, 451 Jersey Street, between Diamond and Castro streets.

According to a notice sent to neighbors, planning staff will be on hand to discuss the city landmark designation process, associated preservation incentives and responsibilities, and opportunities for public participation. t

Jorge Rivas is the executive director of the San Francisco Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs.

Rick Gerharter

‘Fellow Travelers’

by Philp Campbell

In acknowledgment of Pride Month, Opera Parallèle and the Presidio Theatre present the West Coast premiere of “Fellow Travelers” by composer Gregory Spears and librettist Greg Pierce for three performances June 21–23 at the historic Presidio Theatre in San Francisco.

There is delicious irony in the performing venue. The subject matter of the opera would

have been taboo in the 1950s when the U.S. Army still occupied the post. Cold War McCarthyism was sweeping the nation and the resulting witch-hunts led to another hysterical Capitol Hill crusade called the “Lavender Scare.” Exposing and firing accused homosexuals working in the federal government and military was the objective and like all hate-filled campaigns, the cost to innocent lives was awful.

Based on Thomas Mallon’s ambitious novel, recently adapted to a sprawling TV series for

Showtime, “Fellow Travelers” is an improbable opera, but a highly successful remembrance of the almost forgotten purge.

A “story of passion, loyalty, and ultimate betrayal” is certainly popular fodder for the operatic stage. Spears and Pierce have focused their energy on the love story at the center of the drama. Their nuanced exploration of human response during trying times remains relevant in a nation once again divided.

by Robert Brokl

Richard Caldwell (Dick) Brewer (19232014), may be one of the most interesting but uncelebrated gay artists in America. He belonged to a charmed circle of better-known artist friends, and lived in the right places at the right times, postwar Paris and New York. But his choice of subject matter – male nudes – his isolation in San Francisco and then Tiburon far from the art capital of New York, and his choice of a mentally ill former street hustler, Steven Krstich, as a live-in companion, all worked against him.

But this may be Brewer’s moment. Letters from Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gary Snyder to Brewer just sold at auction for more than $3,000, his work is doing boffo business at the boutique Lost Art Salon in San Francisco, and there’s even the dubious distinction of fake Brewers proliferating online.

Lifelong cohorts

Brewer had lasting friendships with art world notables such as curator/collector Samuel Wagstaff, Robert De Niro Sr. and his ex-wife, artist Virginia Admiral, (parents of the actor), Nell Blaine, Leland Bell and Louisa Matthiasdottir, husband and wife painters. His circle also included film critic Pauline Kael, and painters Hyde Solomon and Lawrence Calcagno.

All were gay except for Admiral, Bell, Mattisdottir, and Kael, but De Niro was deeply closeted and most of the others were discreet about it. As “traditionalists,” they were sideswiped first by Abstract Expressionism and then Pop Art.

Brewer was influenced by the work of Picasso, Matisse, Derain and Jean Helion, and Picasso and Matisse’s bold celebration of the female nude may have encouraged Brewer to do the same with the male nude. While their nudes have been mainstreamed, Brewer’s male nudes– expressively painted, unabashedly erotic– remain transgressive. His courtly manner and reverence for old masters may have inhibited him from a more provocative Robert Mapplethorpe-style campaign for recognition.

Brewer’s New York artist circle is labeled “second generation New York School.” Bell, Blaine, and Solomon showed at the pioneering Jane Street Gallery, and Matthiasdottir, Blaine, and De Niro studied with the influential painter Hans Hoffmann. Bell introduced Brewer to De Niro at a lumberyard in Provincetown in 1942, the loca-

Double lives Opera Parallèle (OP) Stage & Creative Director Brian Staufenbiel explained his new staging as a concept “inspired by the “cruel ‘double-life’ the gay community was forced to live during the McCarthy era.”

The modular set (Jacquelyn Scott, Scenic and Props Designer) moves seamlessly using silhouettes and projected paintings from the period as

See page 20 >>

tion of Hoffmann’s school. Brewer maintained their friendship was platonic, but De Niro wrote to him tenderly:

“As I look back (and I often do) the restaurant where we met had little to recommend it except you, sitting across from me, dipping your doughnut in espresso, your hair combed back on one side and over your eye on the other, wearing that quasi cashmere sweater with the inscription ‘I left my heart in S.F.’ At that time, I think, your heart was intact and in your possession. You didn’t even know that I wanted it. I hardly knew it yet, myself.”

Early encounters

Brewer attended high school with Bell in Washington, D.C. Brewer’s asthma prevented him from serving in the military, so he enlisted in the Merchant Marines, and spent time post-war attending the Ecole De Beaux Arts in Paris, where he painted and drew his friends and pick-ups.

Like Samuel Steward and John Rechy, and perhaps influenced by Alfred Kinsey’s recordkeeping, Brewer kept a diary of his sexual history, beginning in high school. His journal records he and Rechy actually crossed paths in 1966 at an El Paso, Texas bus stop. Other writings included “Biggest Cocks,” “Lost Chances,” and “Hitching,” with accounts of encounters in YMCA’s and hotels in San Francisco, New York, and Washington.

page 22 >>

Richard Caldwell Brewer in his Polk Street apartment, 1970

Bay Area gay painter may finally get his due

Courtesy Robert Brokl and Alfred Crofts

‘Fellow Travelers’ lead performers Joseph Lattanzi (above) and Jonathan Pierce Rhodes

“Buddies (Ace and Steve),” 1969

Opera adaptation of Thomas Mallon novel at Presidio Theatre

an overarching metaphor for the shell LGBT people lived in.

Leading the 17-piece orchestra and singers in the beautiful and immediately accessible score is Guest Conductor Jaymes Kirksey, a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

OP’s immensely talented cast and creative team form the latest collaborators in the continuing saga of “Fellow Travelers.” Since the world premiere in 2016, developed and cocommissioned by G. Sterling Zinsmeyer and Cincinnati Opera, the opera has won acclaim at New York’s

2018 Prototype Festival, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Minnesota Opera, and Boston Lyric Opera.

Composer Gregory Spears cites the massive collaborative energy as evidence of the viability of opera as an art form. When asked what he likes most about opera he answers, “the singers.” He might as well say the humans and his librettist Greg Pierce would agree. The underlying theme of “Fellow Travelers” is empathy, and music has the power to move us to understanding.

The OP cast features tenor Jonathan Pierce Rhodes as Timothy Laughlin; baritone Joseph Lattanzi in the role he originated as Hawkins Fuller; soprano Victoria Lawal as

Mary Johnson; baritone Kurt Winterhalter as Tommy McIntyre; soprano Elena Galván as Miss Lightfoot and soprano Cara Gabrielson as Lucy. Baritones Daniel Cilli, Matthew Worth and bass-baritone Matthew Lovell each sing multiple roles. They are lucky to have an admirer of singers writing for them. For a taste of the score, hear snippets on YouTube or listen to the entire opera on Spotify.

Related events

There are many ancillary events surrounding the production, but two of the most fun and practical happen Saturday, June 8 at 1 p.m. An open rehearsal of staging and music with the cast at the Chan National Queer Arts Center, 170 Valencia St. It’s free with advance registration.

Friday through Sunday, June 21, 22 & 23, join ‘Transportation, Tour and Lavender Toast,’ a premium pre-performance Queer History Bus Tour from the Castro to the Presidio Theatre, and return ride, plus a preshow “Lavender Toast” included. Pick up and return at the GLBT History Museum, 4127 18th St.

Expansive trans events

As ongoing evidence of OP’s extraordinary commitment to LGBTQ artists and audiences, the intrepid company, in collaboration with The Transgender District, will help launch the first-ever statewide Transgender History Month in August.

The third edition of “Expansive,” a showcase of transgender and nonbinary classical artists, has two performances at 7:30pm on August 8 and 9 at A.C.T.’s Strand Theater, 1127 Market Street.

Three talented trans artists make their own choice of classical and contemporary works to perform with San Francisco’s Afrika America returning to the stage as the evening’s high-spirited host.

Lucas Bouk, baritone; Wilford Kelly, bass-baritone; and Queen Angelina, violinist are the featured artists. New to this year’s performance, Opera Parallèle has commissioned a song by award-winning composer Joy Redmond set to lyrics by writer and filmmaker Kimberly Reed that will be performed by Lucas Bouk. Taylor Chan provides piano accompaniment.

The Transgender District was cofounded by three Black trans women in 2017, originally as Compton’s Transgender Cultural District. It is the first legally recognized transgender district in the world. The district encompasses six blocks in San Francisco’s southeastern Tenderloin.

Opera Parallèle General & Artistic Director Nicole Paiement “is excited in continuing to deepen our relationship with the Transgender District and continue to give a voice to a growing diversity of artists.”

General Admission ‘Pay What You Can’ at the following prices: $10-$50 Pay What You Can. The first four rows will be held as Community VIP seating, to be distributed by The Transgender District to local transgender community organizations.t www.operaparallele.org

Left to Right: ‘Expansive’ artists Lucas Bouk, Wilford Kelly, Queen Angelina and Afrika America

‘Hidden Master: The Legacy of George Platt Lynes’

by Gregg Shapiro

At this midpoint on the calendar, 2024 is turning out to be one of the best years for docs of interest to LGBTQ audiences. Titles such as “Queen of the Deuce,” “The World According to Allee Willis,” “Linda Perry: Let It Die Here,” and even the Cyndi Lauper doc “Let the Canary Sing,” are all required viewing. Possibly best of all (so far), is director and co-writer Sam Shadid’s “Hidden Master: The Legacy of George Platt Lynes” (Greenwich Entertainment).

Lynes’s story, one of privilege and passion, creativity and connections, genius, and queerness, will be familiar to some, while for others, it will be like discovering a treasure trove of artistic expression. George Platt Lynes (1907-1955) was a photographer so far ahead of his time that he singlehandedly redefined the genre, through his fashion photography and his groundbreaking work in the realm of the male nude.

Through interviews with scholars, gallerists, photographers, archivists, curators, models, assistants, artists, and even a nephew, Lynes’ story comes to vivid life. But it’s through photographs that we truly become completely acquainted with Lynes.

A life in prints

“Hidden Legacy” really begins when 18-year-old Lynes, an ambitious kid from New Jersey, who wanted to be part of the cultural scene of his moment, is sent to Paris in 1925 where he met Gertrude Stein. Lynes, whose photograph of Stein (which graced the

He began as a supplicant to Wagstaff, who was beginning his museum career at the Wadsworth Atheneum and before he took up with Mapplethorpe. The relationship with Brewer turned sexual, with benefits; Wagstaff’s support for his painting. Wagstaff lauds him as “Priapus Dick” and in another letter. “…how easy you are to get naked for & the special thrill of intimacy that your sexuality (& you can’t deny that, Baby) inspires. It’s also what your paintings do.”

Poetic connections

On the West Coast, Brewer knew several writers and poets, including

cover of Time) not only became part of Stein’s salon, but also the queer ex-pat scene of artists, writers, and dancers.

Of course, it’s his talent that propels Lynes, but it didn’t hurt that he was also incredibly handsome (described as “beautiful as a Greek statue”). This, in turn, led to one of the most important relationships in his lifetime – when he became part of a throuple with publisher Monroe Wheeler and writer Glenway Wescott.

This is yet another way in which Lynes was a groundbreaker, in addition to always being an out gay man, at a time when such a thing was unthinkable. As one interview subject puts it, “Not everyone was in the closet before Stonewall.”

Robert Duncan (whose partner was the artist Jess), Snyder, and Beat poet Phillip Whalen. He likely met Pauline Kael through Duncan, both former U.C. Berkeley students. Brewer claimed to have rebuffed Duncan’s advances, but thought Snyder and Bell would have been his ideal partners, had they not been straight. Brewer drew patrons of bars and cafes for pay, sometimes accompanied by Beat artist Robert LaVigne. Brewer and Whalen manned fire watchtowers in the Sierras, Snyder’s home. Snyder’s tribute poem to Brewer, “August on Sourdough, A Visit From Dick Brewer,” appeared in the prestigious Holiday Magazine August 1966 issue.

As the “first gay American artist in the full sense,” Lynes’ portraits for the New York City Ballet, as well as of celebrities including Tennessee Williams, Carmen Miranda, Igor Stravinsky, W. H. Auden, Jean Cocteau, Dorothy Parker, Marianne Moore, and others, are renowned.

But his life wasn’t without drama. A failed relocation to Hollywood forced him to return to New York bankrupt. Professionally, other fashion photographers surpassed him, and he became something of a hasbeen. He also had his share of relationship troubles. Additionally, he died young, at 47, of lung cancer.

Still, between this excellent documentary about Lynes, which reminds

Bohemian raps

The Tiburon cottage was Brewer’s anchor. Located on Corinthian Island in affluent Tiburon, it was a mere 700 square feet, a converted garage owned by his aunt and uncle, which he bought with the inheritance from his father.

After his beloved mother, Roz, moved in, he followed in 1974 after her death. He and Steven were the resident Bohemians, and he loved the tony address, maybe because he took the ferry to janitorial night jobs.

Steven may have been a mixed blessing, but his “petty criminal” (Steven’s description) brother David broke into the Polk Street apartment that Brewer rented before the Tiburon move, inflicted a devastating blow. He slashed thirteen portrait paintings, mostly nudes of Steven, ripping the torsos and removing the heads.

Career pinnacle

The Top Floor Gallery solo show in 1979, occupying an entire floor in the Gay Community Center (later demolished) on Grove Street, was Brewer’s apotheosis. The show earned mention, “…audacious in a different way… (with) an emphasis on genitalia,” by the powerful San Francisco Chronicle art critic, Thomas Albright.

De Niro contributed the exhibit statement, an art historical justification for the male nude. Most of the paintings featured Krstich, the straight-identified former street hustler. Brewer was in his mid-40s, Steven in his early 20s when they met, and Brewer exhaustively documented his appearance, from tough, working-class beauty to later years of dissipation and mental problems. Krstich began to draw and paint, too, and they depicted themselves and each other, working away and filling the cottage with work.

Brewer later turned to small abstractions featuring primary colors and all-over compositions like Jackson Pollock. He was justifiably disappointed, even embittered, about neglect by the art world, and died in 2014. Steven moved to Emeryville after the Tiburon cottage was sold. Virtually friendless, he stopped painting after Brewer’s death, dying in 2022.

Above: John Leaphart and Robert “Buddy” McCarthy in one of George Platt Lynes’ most-known photos

Below: A male nude portrait in the documentary ‘Hidden

us of his tremendous influence on generations of photographers including Robert Mapplethorpe, Peter Hujar, and Andy Warhol, and the discovery of the enormous collection (20,000 items) of his photographs purchased by the late, clos-

eted billionaire Fred Koch (brother of Charles and David), Lynes may get the overdue recognition he justly deserves. Rating: A-t

www.hiddenmasterfilm.com

Occasionally, overdue recognition finally arrives, if too late for the artist to benefit. Brewer’s paintings are now in the collections of the ONE Archives at USC in Los Angeles, the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco (including the slashed paintings and work by Krstich), and the renowned Bancroft Library at U.C. Berkeley which holds Brewer’s papers, drawings, and the time capsule treasure, “My History.” t

Lost Art Salon, 245 South Van Ness Ave.; Mon.-Sat. 10:30am-5:30pm. Appointments or walk-ins. www.lostartsalon.com www.robertbrokl.com

Above: “Untitled (self-portrait),” 1950

Above Right: “Untitled (intellectual pursuits)”, 1950s

Below Right: “Untitled,” pencil 1953

<< Caldwell Brewer From page 19

Photographer George Platt Lynes in the documentary ‘Hidden Master: The Legacy of George Platt Lynes’

Greenwich Entertainment

Master: The Legacy of George Platt Lynes’

Both photos: Greenwich Entertainment

Above: “Man in Red Shirt,” 1972

Above Right: One of Richard Caldwell Brewer’s paintings damaged by David Krstich

Below Right: “Portrait of Hank,” 1968

Courtesy Robert Brokl and Alfred Crofts

Steven Krstich in Brewer’s Polk St. apartment, ca. 1970 (Brewer’s painting “Nude with Sunglasses” on the wall)

Courtesy Robert Brokl and Alfred Crofts

Courtesy Robert Brokl and Alfred Crofts

Frameline48

by Brian Bromberger

Frameline, the longest-running

LGBTQ film festival in the world, kicks off its 48th film festival from June 19-25 with several major changes, including no screenings at the temporarily closed Castro Theatre now undergoing major renovations.

Instead of the traditional opening night film, Frameline will sponsor the first-ever Castro neighborhood celebration of Juneteenth with a free outdoor event, a special film, and a Block Party featuring an evening of music and drag performances from Reparations, curated by Nicki Jizz, the winner of the Drag Queen of the Year pageant. The whole evening will celebrate the intersection of Blackness and queerness.

There will be a screening of the documentary, “Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero,” which profiles the openly gay hip hop artist on his 2022 tour. It’s currently being shown on HBO Max (and is reviewed on our March 12 issue).

Allegra Madsen, Frameline’s new Executive Director, issued this state-

ment about the film.

“As a queer Black artist, Lil Nas X embodies so much of what this year’s Festival is about: meeting the cultural moment and using art as a means of expression, connection, creating lasting change, and celebrating queer joy.”

Awards and talks

Frameline will also present “A Conversation with Lena Waithe” at The Herbst Theater on June 29. Waithe is the Emmy-Award winning and Tony-nominated writer, producer, and actor behind the hit series and films like “The Chi,” “Master of None,” and “Twenties.” The conversation will be moderated by Jazz Tangcay, Variety Senior Artisans Editor.

The night will also include Waithe being presented with the Variety Creative Conscience Award which “honors an individual in the entertainment world who personifies the industry’s dedication to humanitarian, cultural, and charitable causes.

The Out in the Silence Award is an annual honor conferred to an outstanding film project that highlights

brave acts of visibility, especially in places where such acts are rare and unexpected, because of the dominant systems that make it difficult for LGBTQ people to live authentic lives.

Underwritten by longtime film community members Dean Hammer and Joe Wilson, this year’s award, worth $5000, goes to the documentary “Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story,” about the 1960s Black trans R & B/soul singer. The film will screen at Frameline48.

Frameline is also uniting with the Colin Higgins Foundation in announcing the recipients of the 2024 Colin Higgins Youth Foundation Grant, first created in 2023. Eligibil-

ity includes self-identifying as LGBTQ filmmakers, currently residing in the U.S., and recipients are under the age of 25. This year’s winners are New York-based filmmakers Farah Jabir and Leaf Lieber. They will each receive $15,000 to support their future film projects.

The late Colin Higgins (1941-1988) was an acclaimed screenwriter and director of the classic cult film “Harold and Maude,” but also the enduring comedy “9 to 5,” and the musical “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.” Diagnosed with HIV in 1985, he founded the Colin Higgins Foundation as a means of supporting LGBTQ youth for underserved communi-

ties by helping to fund programs and organizations that foster and build their leadership skills and empowerment, such as The Trevor Project, The Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force, En Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement. Since 1988, the Foundation has awarded over 660 grants totaling over $5.8 million.

“This year’s Festival is centered on the power film has to create change and shape our cultural moment. Youth filmmakers, like Farah Jabir and Leaf Lieber, are not only vital members of the queer film community, but their work speaks volumes about the importance of championing emerging voices in an ever-shifting political and artistic landscape,” comments Madsen.

Jabir is a Southeast Asian, South Asian and Arab independent and commercial New York filmmaker. She is a fellow at Film Independent’s Producing Lab. She is “most called to humanistic stories, centering people on society’s fringes and communal filmmaking outside of linguistic, genre and geographic limitations.” She travels to London and Kuala Lumpur, where her pet rooster lives. Her short film, “Kasbi” will screen at Frameline48.

Lieber, originally from Kauai, Hawaii, is now a writer/director based in New York. “Lieber’s visceral worlds often exist at the intersection of surreal fantasy and stark reality, often tackling themes of grief, transformation, and queer identity,” said a Frameline statement. He’s currently developing his debut feature film script.

“It’s especially meaningful to receive the Colin Higgins Youth Grant, because my late mother’s favorite film was ‘Harold and Maude,’ said Lieber. “I can’t help but think of her during this time.”

His movie “Burrow” will screen at Frameline48.t

www.frameline.org

Above: Multi-talent Lena Waithe

Below: Filmmakers Farah Jabir and Leaf Lieber

Left: ‘Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero’ Right: ‘Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story’

Help me find the Best of the Bay!

Thank you for taking the time to complete this reader survey by the Bay Area Reporter. Your opinions are important to us. For this twelfth annual readers’ poll we’re including nominees for each category, along with a write-in designation. This year’s nominees are a mix of previous winners, runners-up from last year, and new entries.

The survey should only take 10-15 minutes. Your identity and answers are completely confidential and will be used to contact the winner of a random drawing for $500. You must complete at least 75 percent of the survey to qualify for the prize drawing. Entrants will be added to our newsletter recipients. One survey per person, per device, per day is allowed and must be submitted by midnight (Pacific Time) June 30. The results of our annual poll be announced in our August 1, 2024 edition, BESTIES 2024: The LGBTQ Best of the Bay. If you have any questions about the survey, please contact our office at (415) 861-5019.

Arts & Culture

Best Art Museum

 Asian Art Museum

 Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive

 Cartoon Art Museum

 Contemporary Jewish Museum

 de Young Museum

 GLBT History Museum

 Legion of Honor

 Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts

 Museum of Craft and Design

 Museum of the African Diaspora

 Oakland Museum of California

 San Jose Museum of Art

 SF MOMA

 Walt Disney Family Museum

 Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

✎

Best Nature or Science Museum

 California Academy of Sciences

 Exploratorium

 SF Botanical Gardens

 SF Conservatory of Flowers

✎

Best Small Art Gallery

 2358 MRKT

 Bob Mizer Foundation

 Catharine Clark Gallery

 Harvey Milk Photo Center

 Lost Art Salon

 Manna Gallery, Oakland

 Queer Arts Featured

 Rosebud Gallery

 Schlomer Haus Gallery

 Tenderloin Museum

✎

Best Ballet Company

 Alonzo King Lines Ballet

 Ballet22

 Ballet San Jose

 Diablo Ballet

 Oakland Ballet

 Post:ballet

 San Francisco Ballet

 Smuin Contemporary Ballet

✎

Best Modern Dance Company

 AXIS Dance Company

 David Herrera Performance Company

 Epiphany Dance Theatre

 Joe Goode Performance Group

 ODC Dance

 PUSH Dance Company

 RAWdance

 Robert Moses’ Kin

 Sean Dorsey Dance

 Zaccho Dance Theatre

✎

Best Ethnic/International Dance Company

 Abhinaya Dance Company

 Barangay Dance Company

 Chitresh Das Dance Company

 Likha-Pilipino Folk Ensemble

 Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu

 Ong Dance Company

 Theatre Flamenco of San Francisco

Best Classical Venue

 Davies Symphony Hall

Herbst Theatre

 Old First Church

 SF Conservatory of Music

 War Memorial Opera House  Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley

Best Live Music Venue

 The Chapel  The Fillmore

 Fox Theatre, Oakland  Great American Music Hall

 Greek Theatre, Berkeley

 The Masonic

 Paramount Theatre, Oakland

 Regency Center

 SF Jazz

 The Warfield ✎

Best Small Music Venue

 Café du Nord

 The Ivy Room, Albany

 The Lost Church

 The New Parish

 Thee Parkside

 Rickshaw Stop  El Rio

Best Theatre Company

 American Conservatory Theater

 Aurora Theatre

 Bay Area Theatre Company

 Berkeley Repertory Theatre

 Left Coast Theatre Company

 New Conservatory Theatre Center

 Ray of Light Theatre

 Shotgun Players

 Theatre Rhinoceros

✎

Best Choral Group

 Chanticleer

 East Bay Gay Men’s Chorus

 Lesbian/Gay Chorus of SF

 Rainbow Women’s Chorus (San Jose)

 SF Gay Men’s Chorus

✎

Community

Best LGBTQ Event

 Folsom Street Fair

 Imperial Court of SF Coronation

 Juanita MORE!’s Pride Party

 SF Pride Parade and Celebration

 SF Drag King Contest

 Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Easter Celebration

✎

Best LGBTQ Cultural District

 Castro LGBTQ Cultural District

 San Francisco Leather & LGBTQ Cultural District

 Transgender District

 Lakeshore LGBTQ Cultural District (Oakland) ✎

Best LGBTQ Fundraiser

 AIDS Life/Cycle

 GAPA Banquet

 Horizons Foundation gala

 National Center for Lesbian Rights gala

 Reunion (GLBT Historical Society) ✎

Best LGBTQ Nonprofit

 AIDS Legal Referral Panel

 LYRIC

 Parivar Bay Area  Shanti

 Transgender Law Center

Best LGBTQ Community Center

 Billy DeFrank LGBTQ Center (San Jose)

 Coast Pride (Half Moon Bay)

 Oakland LGBTQ Community Center

 Pacific Center for Human Growth (Berkeley)

 Rainbow Community Center (Concord)

 SF LGBT Community Center

 San Mateo County Pride Center

 Solano Pride Center

Best LGBTQ Sports League

 SF Fog Rugby Club

FrontRunners

Gay Basketball Association

Gay Softball League

Pool Association

Tsunami Water Polo

Best Pro Sports Team  Golden State Warriors

Oakland Roots (soccer)

San Francisco 49ers  San Francisco Giants  San Jose Earthquakes  San Jose Sharks

Nightlife

Best Comic

 Wonder Dave

 Lisa Geduldig

 Marga Gomez  Jesus U Betta Work  Justin Lucas  Sampson McCormick  Natasha Muse

Ronn Vigh

Best DJ

 Carrie on Disco  Siobhan Aluvalot

 Don Baird  Blackstone

Brown Amy

Bus Station John

Hawthorne

 Steve Fabus

 Sergio Fedasz

 Paul Goodyear

 David Harness

 Page Hodel

 Mohammad

 Olga T

 Russ Rich  Lady Ryan

 Brian Urmanita

Best Drag Queen

 Au Jus

 Ava LaShay

 Bebe Sweetbriar

 Black Betty Towers

 Carnie Asada

 D’Arcy Drollinger

 Donna Sachet

 Elsa Touche

 Evian

 Glamamore

 God’s Lil Princess

 Grace Towers

 Holotta Tymes

 Intensive Claire

 Joie de Vivre

 Juanita MORE!

 Jubilee

 Landa Lakes

 LOL McFiercen

 Mama Celeste

 Mercedez Munro

 Mutha Chucka

 Nicki Jizz

 Peaches Christ

 Rahni NothingMore

 Raya Light

 Rock M. Sakura

 Rosie Petals

 Sister Roma

 Sue Casa

 Sugah Betes

 Suppositori Spelling

 Trangela Lansbury

 U-Phoria

✎

Best Drag King

 Alex U. Inn

 Arty Fishal

 Chester Vanderbox

 Chico Suave

 Clammy Faye

 Dicky Love

 Fudgie Frottage

 Kegel Kater

 Kit Tapata

 Leigh Crow

 Madd Dogg 20/20

 Mason Dixon Jars

 Mickey Finn

 Pepe Pan

 Vegas Jake

✎

Best Faux Queen

 Alotta Boutté

 Black Benatar

 Bruja Palmiero

 Crème Fatale

 Fauxnique

 Miss Shugana

 Trixxie Carr

 Snaxx

✎

Best Bartender

 Andy Anderson, 440 Castro

 Michael Breshears, Lookout

 Robbie Cheah, Oasis

 Miguel Chavez, Hole in the Wall

 Steve Dalton, SF Eagle

 David Delgado, The Cinch

 Heather Dunham, Wild Side West

 Lauren Eggen, Beaux

 Charlie Evans, Lone Star Saloon

 Captain Ficcardi, White Horse

 Gage Fisher, SF Eagle

 Bernadette Fons, The Stud

 Jeffrey Green, Twin Peaks Tavern

 Kurtis Janitch, Beaux

 Erick Lopez, The Edge

 Johnnie Wartella, Pilsner Inn

✎

Best Live Nightlife/Cabaret Performer

 Jeovani Abenoja

 Connie Champagne

 Spencer Day

 Russell Deason

 Max Embers

 Marshall Forte

 Sony Holland

 Barry Lloyd

 Kippy Marks

 Kim Nalley

 Suzanne “Kitten on the Keys” Ramsey

 Katya Smirnoff-Skyy

 Paula West

Best Live Band

 Commando

 Gravy Train

 Homobiles

 The Klipptones

 Lipstick Conspiracy

 Lolly Gaggers

 Lonely Parrots

 Middle-Aged Queers

 Planet Booty

 Secret Emchy Society

 Velvetta

Best Gogo Dancer

 Jaden Cedillo

 Lucy Dorado

 Jella Gogo

 Jonez Garcia

 Connor Hochleutner

 James Kindle

 Miguel Landaeta

 Chloe Rainwater

 Emerson Silva

 Colin Stack-Troost

 Chad Stewart

 Koji Tare

 Paul William

✎

Best Nightlife Photographer

 Marques Daniels

 Gooch

 Kid With a Camera

 Darryl Pelletier

 Fred Rowe

 Darryl Pelletier

 Tom Schmidt/Dot

 Shot in the City

 Steven Underhill

✎

Nightlife Venues & Events

Best Cabaret Venue

 Bay Area Cabaret at the Venetian Room

 Feinstein’s at the Nikko

 Hotel Rex

 Martuni’s

 Oasis

Best Drag Show

 Big Top Sundays at Beaux

 Mascara at Eureka Valley Rec. center

 Monster Show at The Edge

 Princess at Oasis

 Reparations at Oasis

 Oaklash in Oakland

Best Nightlife Event

 Bearracuda at Public Works

 Beatpig at The Powerhouse

 Cubcake at Lone Star

 Disco Daddy at SF Eagle

 Daytime Realness at El Rio

 Frolic at Folsom Foundry

 Mango at El Rio

 Polyglamorous at Public Works

 Powerblouse at The Powerhouse

 ShangriLa at The EndUp

 Sundance Saloon at Space 550

 Uhaul at Jolene’s ✎

Best New Venue

 Dacha

 Feelmore Social, Oakland

 Fluid510, Oakland

 Mother

 Town Bar & Lounge, Oakland

 The Stud

 Zhuzh ✎

Best Castro Bar

440 Castro

The Café

The Edge

Lookout

Midnight Sun

Moby Dick

Pilsner Inn

Toad Hall

Twin Peaks

Best SoMa Bar

Driftwood

Hole in the Wall

Lone Star Saloon

Oasis

The Powerhouse

SF Eagle

Best Dance Club

Beaux

DNA Lounge

Folsom Foundry

Great Northern

Midway

Oasis

Public Works

Space 550

Best East Bay Bar

Club 1220

Feelmore Social

Fireside Lounge

Fluid510

Que Rico

Summer Bar & Lounge

Town Bar & Lounge

The Turf Club

The White Horse

Best Cocktails

Blackbird

Ginger’s (Reopening in June)

Martuni’s

Town Bar & Lounge, Oakland

Best Beer Selection

440 Castro

Moby Dick

Pilsner Inn

SF Eagle

Toronado

Best Wine Bar

Blush

Decant SF

Pause

Swirl

Best Leather Event  Folsom Street Fair  International Ms. Leather and International Ms. Bootblack Weekend, San Jose

Up Your Alley Street Fair

Mr SF Leather

Ms SF Leather

Dining

Best Castro Restaurant

Anchor Oyster Bar

Blind Butcher

Dumpling Kitchen

Fisch & Flore

L’Ardoise

Mama Ji’s

Poesia

Best Late Night Restaurant  La Frontera

Grubstake

Ler Ros

Nopa

Orphan Andy’s

Toyose

Best Brunch  Café Mystique

Cassava

Devil’s Teeth Bakery

Jones

Kantine

Starbelly

Wooden Spoon

Best Upscale Restaurant

7 Adams

Mister Jiu’s

Mourad

Rich Table

Routier

Spruce

Third Cousin

Best East Asian Restaurant

Basil

Farmhouse Kitchen

Gao Viet Kitchen

Kothai Republic

Palette Tea House

San Ho Wan

Sushi Sato

Best South Asian Restaurant

1601 Bar & Kitchen

Aslam’s Rasoi

Besharam

Dhamansara

Mandalay

Rooh

Best Italian Restaurant

Il Casaro

La Ciccia

Cotogna

Flour & Water

Lupa

A Mano

Ragazza

SPQR

Best Mexican Restaurant

Bonita

Elena’s

Matador

Nopalito

Papito

Puerto Alegre

Best Middle Eastern Restaurant

Beit Reima

Dalida

La Mediteranee

Noosh  Old Jerusalem

Best Soul Food Restaurant  Brenda’s, Oakland

Burdell

Everett & Jones BBQ

Hard Knox Cafe

Minnie Bell’s Soul Movement

Best Bar Menu

Fluid510

Lookout

Hi Tops

Jolene’s

Kezar Pub

Willows

Best Bakery  Arizmendi

B. Patisserie

Bob’s Donuts

 Devil’s Teeth Baking Company

 Jane the Baker  Stella Pastry

 Tartine  Thorough Bread

Best Dessert  Bi-Rite  Castro Fountain

Mitchell’s

Humphry Slocombe  Milkbomb Ice Cream

Salt & Straw

Best Coffee Shop

 Café de Casa

Dento Piano Café

Flywheel

Haus

Manny’s

Spike’s

Verve

Services & Shopping

Best Bank/Credit Union

 BMO Bank

Chase

 Redwood Credit Union

SF Federal Credit Union

Tri-Counties Bank

Best Barber Shop

 Castro Barber Lounge

Glama-Rama

 Healing Cuts  Joe’s Barbershop  Louie’s Barber Shop

Best Bicycle Shop

 Market Street Cycles

Mike’s Bikes

Valencia Cyclery

Best Bookstore

 Books Inc. Opera Plaza  Dog Eared Books  Fabulosa Books

Green Apple

Best Place to Buy Furniture

IKEA

Maker & Moss

Norden Living

Room & Board

Stag & Manor

Best Grocery Store (chain or independent)

 Gus’s Market

Mollie Stone’s Markets  Rainbow Grocery

Safeway

Trader Joe’s

Best Health Care Provider

Kaiser Permanente  Stanford Healthcare

Sutter Health

UCSF

Best Gym

 24-Hour Fitness

Fitness-SF Castro

LiveFit Gym

MX3 Fitness

Soul Cycle

Best Cannabis Dispensary

Apothecarium

Eureka Sky

Flore Dispensary

Moe Greens

SPARC

Vapor Room

Best Thrift Store

Community Thrift  Goodwill

Out of the Closet (AIDS Healthcare Foundation)

Best Variety Shop

Cliff’s Variety

Just for Fun

Local Take

Best Vintage Clothing/ Consignment Shop

Buffalo Exchange

Crossroads Trading Co.

Sui Generis

Wasteland

Pride in songs and humor

by Jim Gladstone

Does Pride month’s endless unfurling of rainbow bright flaggotry strike you as over the top, corporatecoopted, and maybe just a bit oontzoontz anti-intellectual?

Take heart. There’s no need to sequester in your hidey-hole until the parade passes by. There are prickly entertainments by sophisticated queer creators to be found amidst the shrapnel of June’s glitter bomb.

Sondheim’s relationship realism

Since Stephen Sondheim’s death in 2021, there has been a nationwide boom in productions of work by the great gay lyricist and composer. At one point last year a remarkable three Sondheim musicals were simultaneously running on Broadway: “Sweeney Todd,” “Merrily We Roll Along,” and “Company,” which is now playing at the Orpheum Theatre on a national tour.

Even more Sondheim musicals –from “A Little Night Music” to “Anyone Can Whistle” to “Pacific Overtures” – are showcased in “Being Alive: A Sondheim Celebration,” a new revue that focuses on Sondheim’s explorations of the complexity in romantic relationships, which is now on stage at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley.

A gay man who came of age in a world without public models for same-sex relationships and didn’t come out until age 40 himself, Sondheim infused his songs with subtle observations and sentiments about relationship dynamics that were ahead of their time.

Before the mid-20th century, Broadway musicals were primarily light entertainments with disposable scripts and memorable songs. Love and romance were considered appropriately light and breezy subject matter. But Sondheim was a pioneer in bringing psychological depth to the form.

“So many of Sondheim’s songs are about the frustrating, disappointing and maddening parts of relationships,” said William Liberatore, the musical

Stephen Sondheim’s compositions & David Mills’ comedy

director of “Being Alive,” in a joint Bay Area Reporter interview with director Robert Kelley.

“Thirty years ago, when we had a Sondheim show programmed in our season,” recalled Kelley, TheatreWorks’ founding artistic director, a Sondheim aficionado long before it was fashionable, “we would get letters from subscribers afterward saying ‘I don’t want to see that material.’

“Well, I don’t mean to be rude, but the people who were 60 years old 30 years ago aren’t here anymore. And some people who fell in love with the sophistication of Sondheim’s music and lyrics when they were in their 30s are now part of the subscriber base.

“Old school musical theater fans had trouble transitioning to the perspectives Sondheim was writing from. I think he gifted musical theater with the possibility of dealing with complicated, contradictory emotions in a way that nobody had thought could be done.

“Sondheim showed us that music theater could be every bit as much about the depth and drama of human experience as O’Neil or Shakespeare.”t

‘Being Alive: A Sondheim Celebration,’ through June 30. $27$100. Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View. (877) 662-8978. www.theatreworks.org

‘Company,’ through June 29. $65-$224. Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market St. (888) 746-1799. www.broadwaysf.com

Comic edge

Comedian David Mills brings suave, soft-spoken vitriol to Martuni’s for one night only on June 15 with “Glamour and Despair.” He’ll be accompanied by old friend and local favorite Russell Deason on the piano.

Mills got his start as an entertainer at Josie’s Juice Joint, the late Castro cabaret space in the 1990s, then spent the bulk of the current century in London. The Martuni’s show will be his first San Francisco appearance in a decade. (Mills jumped the pond back to New York in 2022, so we’ll likely start seeing him somewhat more frequently).

In the UK, Mills honed his performance style – bone-dry, bespokesuited humor punctuated with musical interpretations in the mode of his muse, Sandra Bernhard – and won considerable acclaim. He’s had six shows featured at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, headlined major London comedy venues, and opened for his friends and queer comedy mentors, Margaret Cho and scabrous Marin-based Scott Capurro.

Mills has also been featured in brief but memorable film roles, alongside Meryl Streep in “Francis Foster Jenkins” and Benedict Cumberbatch in

the BBC’s “Patrick Melrose,” an adaptation of Edward St. Aubyn’s arch ginand heroin-infused comic novels.

In a recent interview with the Bay Area Reporter, Mills explained that some of the earliest inspiration for his comic style came from the late Paul Lynde.

“Seeing him on ‘Hollywood Squares’ and variety shows like ‘Sonny and Cher,’ I loved how sharp and inthe-moment he could be, coming up with a smart remark about any topic that came his way.

“He was haunted by the closet,” Mills noted, pointing out that the bitchy, slightly effeminate Lynde performed in an era when no celebrities

were publicly out. “I think if he was around today, I’d like to be his friend.”

Mills, who grew up Catholic and came out during college, says he finds himself pondering over the experience of many gay teens and young men today.

“What is it like to be gay without ever really living in the closet for an extended period? I’m happy for those who don’t have to, but I also think about how different it is from my experience and my peers’.

“There was a danger – which could be thrilling – involved with being gay and with cruising and sex back before PrEP that had a real formative impact on me.”

Whether riffing on Pride in the post-millennial era, geopolitics or pop culture, Mills takes a nuanced, multilayered approach with equal opportunity antagonism for all but the furthest right wingers.

Asked about performing again in San Francisco, where he debuted nearly 30 years ago, Mills said, “I’m just as ambitious as I ever was, but I’m more confident. I’ve put in the time and worked on my craft over a long time. I’m asking provocative questions about the topics I address on stage, but I know exactly what I’m doing up there.”t

David Mills’ ‘Glamour & Despair,’ June 15, 7pm. $25. Martuni’s, 4 Valencia St. (415) 241-0205. https://bit.ly/MillsMartunis

Q-Music: sounds of Pride 2024 playlist

by Gregg Shapiro

Anew Pet Shop Boys studio album is always cause for celebration, especially because it’s been four years since the last one was released. In the interim, PSB released the extraordinary (and aptly titled) “Smash” 2023 box set, easily the duo’s most complete hits compilation.

On the just-released 10-song vinyl LP “Nonetheless” (Warner/Parlophone), Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe get us on our feet and dancing with opener “Loneliness,” “Feel,” and “Bullet for Narcissus.” Dancing is a theme here, not only sonically, but in song titles including the epic club track “Why am I dancing?” and the lite funk of “Dancing Star,” as well as in the slow number “A New Bohemia” (including the line, “Who dances now to their sweet old song?”).

The ’80s vibe of “New London Boy,” which asks the question, “Is everyone gay?” is taken seriously with the inclusion of an ’80s-style rap. PSB has always had a way with a beautiful tune,

including the previously named “Feel,” as well as “The Secret of Happiness” (featuring a full orchestra and harp!). www.petshopboys.co.uk

When Brett Anderson was lead vocalist of The London Suede (the band name Suede was called in the US following losing a lawsuit brought by lesbian trumpeter Suede who had been using the name for years), he described himself as “a bisexual man who never had a homosexual experience.” Sounds gay, he’s in!

Interestingly, Anderson’s former London Suede bandmate Bernard Butler recorded a few albums with gay singer/songwriter David McAlmont as the duo McAlmont & Butler. Anderson’s latest music project is Paraorchestra a marvelous collaboration with British conductor Charles Hazlewood, featuring guest artists Nadine Shah, Gwenno, Portishead’s Adrian Utley, and Sons of Kemet’s Seb Rochford. Paraorchestra’s gorgeous new album “Death Songbook” (World Circuit/ BMG), available as a double vinyl LP,

reimagines songs by Echo & The Bunnymen (“The Killing Moon”), Mercury Rev (“Holes”), Japan (“Nightporter”), Black (“Wonderful Life”), Depeche Mode (“Enjoy The Silence”), Skeeter Davis (“The End Of The World”), Scott Walker (“My Death”) and even The London Suede (“She Still Leads Me On,” “The Next Life,” and “He’s Dead,” in stunning orchestral arrangements you never realized that the songs required. www.paraorchestra.com

These days, it seems like you can’t listen to SiriusXMU without hearing “Hand to Hand” by queer singer/ songwriter Katy Kirby, from her wonderful “Blue Raspberry” album. If you dig that song, you owe it to yourself to explore “Heart of the Artichoke” (Bayonet), the layered new album by Bloomsday Led by non-binary singer/songwriter Iris James Garrison, Bloomsday (which also includes Alex Harwood) are purveyors of glorious enby music that is as lush as it is luminous. Before you know it, you will find yourself

singing along to “Virtual Hug,” “Where I End and You Begin,” “Bumper Sticker,” “Artichoke,” “Look After,” and the subtle twang of “Dollar Slice.” The only complaint is that at just over 33 minutes, the 10 songs on this breathtaking album go by much too quickly. www.instagram.com/blooomsday

Non-binary lesbian singer/songwriter Torres (aka Mackenzie Scott, not to be confused with the ex-wife of Jeff Bezos) has returned with “What an Enormous Room” (Merge), their sixth full-length album in 10 years. Down to just Torres, co-producer and multiinstrumentalist Sarah Jaffe (with additional assistance from TJ Allen), you might expect “…Enormous Room” to sound stripped down.

On the contrary, these musicians fill up the enormous room with blazing guitars, synths, and other keyboards, and plenty of beats, as you can clearly hear on “Life As We Don’t Know It,” “Collect,” and “Jerk Into Joy.” The mesmerizing and unexpected piano and vocal closer “Songbird Forever,” alter-

nates between an unsettling “you and me” and “you own me” state of mind. www.torresmusicofficial.com

Billy Idol isn’t queer, but that hasn’t stopped countless gay men from fantasizing about him. And why not? Between his sharp cheekbones, pouty lips and accompanying sneer, bedroom eyes, six-pack abs, and penchant for dressing (or being half-undressed) in leather, Idol amassed a considerable queer following beginning with his days in the band Generation X and continuing through his lengthy solo career.

“Rebel Yell” (Capitol/UME) Idol’s second solo album originally released on Chrysalis in 1983, has been reissued in an expanded double LP vinyl edition featuring eight bonus tracks, including a cover of Rose Royce’s “Love Don’t Here Anymore,” delivered in his trademark growl. Among the nine songs on the original album were some of Idol’s highest charting singles, including the title track, “Eyes Without a Face,” and “Flesh For Fantasy.” www.billyidol.nett

Left: The cast of ‘Company’ Right: The cast of ‘Being Alive: A Sondheim Celebration’

Matthew Murphy

David Mills Reed Flores

Celebrating our elders For You’s community events in June t Party Time >>

by David-Elijah Nahmod

Throughout June, a performance and social practice group in San Francisco called For You, will present a series of four events which will celebrate isolated elders who live in the city. The events are collectively titled “Party On! Party People.” The parties are being produced in collaboration with Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly (LBFE), whose mission is to reduce social isolation and loneliness among older adults in San Francisco, many of whom are low income.

The partying will commence on June 9 from 2pm to 4pm with The Harry Party. Harry is an elder from Chinatown who grew up in a large working-class family. Harry spent a lot of his younger years helping his parents out with their restaurant

work and helping out with his seven siblings.

The June 9 event will be a surprise party for Harry which will feature games and photo ops with featured guest artist Bijun Liang, an interactive media and installation artist also based in Chinatown.

One of the goals of this party is to help Harry make new friends, both in person and through social media. The Harry Party will take place at Taishan Restaurant, 622 Jackson Street. Sliding scale donation $5-$20.

Just two days later, on June 11, For You will offer The Tom Party. Tom is a gay elder from Milwaukee who came to San Francisco in 1991. Tom hopes to connect with like-minded people who want to have fun in the city.

Tom’s party will commence with an invitation only meal in the Tender-

loin, where Tom lives. The meal will take place at the former location of the Turk Street Baths, which opened in the 1930s. At 10:30 pm everyone will walk across the street to the legendary working class gay bar Aunt Charlie’s Lounge at 133 Turk Street.

For You will be joined by Brittany Newell and Maria Silk, the co-hosts of “Angels,” a monthly drag and dance show at the bar. Tom will be honored by a number inspired by the things he loves, such as the Netflix drama “Young Royals.” Join For You for a cocktail to celebrate Tom and cap off the evening. Admission at the door to Aunt Charlie’s is $5. 21+ only.

Eight LBFE elders will be celebrated on June 15 at The 4 O’Clock Party at Ruth’s Table, 3160 21st Street. There will be snacks and drinks, and a live set by DJ Lamont. The public is invited

to engage with these eight individuals and even to bring an elder friend of their own. The goal of The 4 O’Clock Party is to develop intergenerational friendships. There is a sliding scale donation of $5-$20.

RSVP for The 4 O’Clock Party at the For You website.

Come celebrate The Janey Party, also at Ruth’s Table, on June 22 from 4pm-6pm. Janey is a 91-year-old San Francisco native who worked as a director of San Francisco’s Recreation and Parks Department. Prior to that Janey was a social worker in the foster care system, later working in a preschool program with special needs students after the Reagan administration deinstitutionalized community mental health clinics.

Janey will be honored with an afternoon concert during which

guest artist Elijah Rock will perform songs from The Great American Songbook while sharing stories and conversation.t

The Harry Party, June 9, 2pm, Taishan Restaurant, 622 Jackson Street, $5-$20.

The Tom Party, June 11, 10:30pm, Aunt Charlie’s Lounge, 133 Turk Street, $5, 21+

The 4 O’Clock Party, June 15, 4pm, Ruth’s Table, 3160 21st Street, $5-$20

The Janey Party, June 22, 4pm, Ruth’s Table, 3160 21st Street, $5-$20

RSVP: www.foryou.productions/ partyonpartypeople

Left: Janey, Ryan Tacata and Tom Right: Travis Santell Rowland and Janey

For You

You

‘DC Pride’ comics issue

Queer superheroes spark the imaginations of both young and old

by Gary L. Day

As the LGBTQ community ramps up for June Pride celebrations, this is the time of year when supportive corporate entities unveil their programs aimed at expressing their commitment to diversity and inclusivity, specifically targeting LGBTQ people. One of the most interesting examples of this is “DC Pride,” an annual publication put out by DC Comics, publishers of the iconic Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.

On May 29, DC released “DC Pride 2024,” a collection of slice-of-life stories featuring many of the LGBTQ characters the company has developed over the last several years. In fact, DC has long been a leader in promoting LGBTQ representation, even as far back as the 1980s, long before rival Marvel began inching toward representation. Even today, DC is the most prominent, including representation in even their leading franchises like Superman and Batman.

An interesting aspect of “DC Pride 2024” is it doesn’t focus primarily on the high-profile examples like Batwoman or Robin (though the gay son of Superman makes an appearance). Instead, the book focuses not just on the diversity inherent in being LGBTQ, but on the diversity of backgrounds LGBTQ people can spring from. There are aliens, Atlanteans, villains, and children of heroes. It reflects the diversity of our real-life origins in the context of the fantastic DC universe.

Relatable stories

The eight stories contained herein, crafted by eight different writers and artists, looks at what life is like for the various LGBTQ characters. There is actually little standard comic book action. Instead, the focus tends to be on everyday emotional issues that are relatable even were the fantastic comic book setting removed.

For instance, in the story featuring the gay teenaged son of Superman, Jon Kent and his boyfriend meet up with some friends for a night on the town.

Included in this group is another young hero called the Ray, who himself has recently come out. In contrast to Jon, whose parents Lois and Clark are extremely loving and supportive, the Ray’s parents reacted extremely negatively to their son being gay.

This, of course, leaves the Ray emotionally troubled and insecure about his identity as a gay person and unsure about his place in the world. The friends rally to his support, assuring him that they are also his family, that he has a place to belong, something anyone freshly out needs to know.

The story featuring former Batman villain Poison Ivy takes a delightfully acerbic turn. Ivy and her girlfriend are visiting an alien trading post (don’t ask) populated by wildly diverse beings from different worlds. While there, Ivy encounters a group of evangelical homophobes from Earth (just go with it).

The aliens just don’t get the evangelicals’ obsession with genitalia, but it’s none of their concern. However, when the homophobes confront Ivy,

she uses her power over plant life to fulfill what is no doubt a common LGBTQ revenge fantasy, infecting the evangelicals with a hallucinogen that makes them confront their deepest fears about themselves. And what is usually a homophobe’s deepest fear?

Perhaps the most heartfelt and emotionally resonant story is an autobiographical piece by Phil Jimenez. Jimenez, who has been openly gay his entire career, gained prominence in the 1990s as writer and artist for “Wonder Woman.” In this story, Jimenez considers his life as a queer comics creator, and the value fantasy worlds have held for him his entire life. He thinks how valuable fantasies are for kids growing up queer, and for adults, too. He realizes it’s important to imagine a place where one belongs because of one’s difference, since you have to be able to imagine such a world before you can create it in reality.

Realms of the imagination have always held a special appeal to LGBTQ people, be it comic book superheroes, Tolkeinesque high fantasy, or “Star Trek” science fiction. As Jimenez says, it enables queer people of all diverse variations to imagine themselves in a world where their differences are valued, and where they can belong.

The worlds of imagination of the queer superheroes in “DC Pride” are both inspirational and aspirational, enabling LGBTQ people to imagine that they have value and a place in the world, be it real or fantastic.t www.dc.com

Above: A panel from Al Ewing and Stephen Byrne’s ‘Hello Spaceboy’

Below: A panel from Gretchen Felker-Martin and Claire Roe’s ‘Poison Ivy’

Above Right: A panel from Phil Jimenez’s ‘Spaces’ Middle Right: A panel from Melissa Marr and Jenn St-Onge’s ‘The Strange Case of Harleen and Harley’

Below Right: A panel from Ngozi Ukazu’s ‘Aquaman’

Tough ‘Choice’

by Tim Pfaff

The opening pages of Neel Mukherjee’s novels have a singular staying power. Masterpieces of craft, they do their duty in launching longer works of fiction, but they linger in readers’ minds long after the novels have run their course. Daringly, Mukherjee’s new three-part novel, “Choice” (Norton), has three you won’t be forgetting anytime soon.

Readers of a certain age might say they are written in India ink, the indelible, deep black medium that now, in our advanced times, is reserved for big tasks ranging from comic book drawing to medical applications.

The Kolkata-born, London-based Mukherjee writes prose whose stains do not come off the mind.

The two extremes of poverty mark the first and third parts of “Choice.”

In Part I, a long-term gay couple –the economist Luke, scion of a wealthy family, and his lesser-earning partner, Ayush, an editor at a publishing company whose names, Sennett and Brewer, are elided into Sewer inside and outside the firm– dukes out, non-violently (depending on your working definitions of violence), the raising of twins who are the sum of Luke’s sperm and the custodial womb of a Thai surrogate.

Part III lands us back in the India of Ayush’s birth, the northwest of Bengal, to be specific, where an unimaginably poor family with its own two twins, Sadaheb and Mira for short, together eke out a hardscrabble existence on the far fringes of society or anything that could be called civilization.

In between, in Part II, a British academic named Emily, who comes from comfort and has swanky friends, is literally thrown into the company of two for-hire taxi drivers from Eritrea, whose lives she becomes deeply involved with.

There are no take-away “morals” in this deeply moral novel beyond what the title foreshadows. Both the affluent and the poor face challenges, unexpected and not, which force them to make choices pre-fabricated both by their circumstances and their innermost souls, souls being the one thing the characters have in common.

Back to the beginnings

Part I opens with a situation so hallucinatory it takes a few pages to come into focus. Settling down between the two twins for their nightly bedtime sto-

ry, Ayush shows them a video, an altogether different entertainment. There are pigs, more or less guaranteed kidpleasers, that are soon revealed to be porkers forced through slaughter for their meat in an abattoir with bloodsoaked walls. This is not Barbie pink.

Ayush, more their domestic caretaker than Luke because of his lower salary, has the high-minded goal of teaching his charges where the pink of their ham sandwiches comes from. The twins, first baffled, then horrified, soon take Ayush’s point, however reluctantly, and forever after have deep sympathy not just for piggies but for their aging family dog, Spencer. You see what’s coming and share their dread. It would be facile to see Luke, who sees all of life through the formula of his training –Economics is life; life is economic– as the less sensitive of the two co-parents, but he quickly emerges as a father who provides a deep love as well as luxury for his children. Nor is Ayush, internally, perpetually tortured by his awareness of the unfairness of life and the moral conundrums of affluence and comfort in a world so sparing with them elsewhere, a bad guy.

Emily’s life is as rudderless as it is predetermined. (Mukherjee is at his most withering in his critique of the aridities and dissatisfactions of academia, the publishing industry, and non-governmental aid agencies.) Too drunk to leave a posh party on her own, she takes a taxi that may or may not become a hit-and-run involving a boy and his dog while earning herself a concussion.

Hunting down the taxi driver, she becomes the hunted, and haunted, which ends up costing her an organ.

Hidden bones of narrative

Mukherjee is a master of changing points of view and flash forwards and flash backwards in time in the minds of the characters as they tell their stories, and as their stories are told by others.

But nothing in the novel’s careful architecture interrupts the force of the narratives large and small. The writing is as penetrating as it is devoid of gim mickry. It doesn’t seek to explain the inexplicable or gussy up the banalities of the characters’ daily lives, but neither does it wallow. This is not poverty porn.

There’s a long, expertly crafted and therefore easy to follow sentence near the end of Part I, that addresses the matter of choices. But, like the novel that unusual sentence inhabits, there are no neat takeaways. At most there is this, and this is Ayush’s tangled thinking, not Mukherjee’s lesson:

“Everything in the world makes one think that the solution lies within private choices, personal responsibility, that it is the individual at the centre of things, that personal agency is everything … But what if this centrality accorded the self is entirely misplaced, erroneous, or as a scientist once joked, not even wrong?”

When the prose lays you out as it does and will, it’s by directness, not decoration. The only given is that you will think of these characters and their stories long after you’ve closed this book.

Turning every page of it is a choice, one for which the willing reader is richly rewarded, not with abstract verities but with whole knotty worlds.t

‘Choice’ by Neel Mukherjee, W.W. Norton & Company, 298 pages, $28.99. www.wwnorton.com

Cornelius Washington

Author Neel Mukherjee Nick Tucker

Pride Booksapalooza, part 1

by Jim Piechota

H

appy Pride Month! In between the film festival offerings, the parties, the marches, the performances, and the sheer joy of celebrating our unity, inclusion, and diversity, enjoy your downtime with a new book or two.

Here is an expansive 19-title selection of newly published and upcoming fiction and poetry books for your perusal. In the coming weeks, we will also cover memoir, nonfiction, Young Adult and family-friendly queer book genres of interest as well. Keep those pages turning and open your hearts and minds to what’s new at a bookstore near you.

FICTION

‘The Queen of Steeplechase Park’ by David Ciminello

$20 (Forest Avenue Press)

Queer Portland, Oregon-based Lambda Literary Fellow, author, and screenwriter Ciminello has crafted the delightful and engrossing story of Belladonna Marie Donato, a young woman blessed with impressive culinary talents (“the Cooking Spirit”) who thrives in 1930s Coney Island despite numerous challenges and obstacles.

Chapters filled with addictive melodrama are beautifully seasoned with recipes galore for mouthwatering items like Chicken Parmigiana, Lasagna Bolognese, and Eight-Layer Cannoli Cake. This is one of the standout feel-good novels of the summer and it will tickle your funny bone, pull at your heartstrings, and remind all of us about the power of forgiveness and friendship, and the preciousness of life, love, and Italian cooking.

David Ciminello will read from and discuss his new novel at Fabulosa Books on Thursday, June 13 at 7pm.

‘All Friends are Necessary’ by Tomas Moniz, $28 (Algonquin)

2020 Lambda Literary Award winner Tomas Moniz follows up his outstanding debut, “Big Familia,” with this multilayered portrait of a unique predicament and how friends and lovers serve as a haven for a character in dire straits.

Efren “Chino” Flores is a thirtysomething Latinx bisexual high school biology teacher whose marriage in Seattle has hit the skids after a tragedy. He returns to his roots in San Francisco to recover and recalibrate his life and, enveloped by the love and support of his friends, rediscovers connection, sex, sobriety, and the power of belonging.

Tomas Moniz will discuss his new novel at Green Apple Books on the Park, 1231 9th Avenue in San Francisco on Tuesday, June 18, at 7pm.

‘Becoming Ted’ by Matt Cain, $27 (Kensington)

There’s a forty-something gay character in British author Cain’s latest novel that you just have to meet. Ted Ainsworth is his name and one day, this Englishman discovers that his longtime partner Giles has been un-

faithful. The betrayal ushers in a midlife crisis of epic proportions and ultimately, Ted seeks to check off the major bucket list item of (drum roll, please) becoming a drag queen.

With help from his bestie Denise, Ted embarks on a life-changing endeavor to become “Gail Force,” a fierce, glamorous feminine identity he adores yet finds himself unwilling to disclose from a construction worker he’s attracted to. This is fun, frothy and frivolous, perfect for the gay beach.

‘Please Stop Trying to Leave Me’ by Alana Saab, $18 (Vintage)

A lesbian woman grapples with mental illness in Saab’s emotionally piercing novel. Norma is in her late twenties when she begins interpreting the ubiquitous ads on Instagram as cloaked spiritual messages that she should dump her girlfriend.

After she receives a dual mental illness diagnosis, the narrative retraces Norma’s childhood and adolescence, expectedly fraught with turmoil, and her relationships with male partners that were fleeting and left her unfulfilled. Though much of the book is comprised of Norma’s stream-of-consciousness episodes, Saab manages to capture the reader’s attention through her compassion for a wayward woman in search of herself and the love and psychological healing she knows she deserves.

‘Bury Your Gays’ by Chuck Tingle, $26.99 (Tor/Nightfire)

Completing a two-book deal with Tor Books, pseudonymous author Tingle’s second book is an even more successful novel about a queer writer who finds himself in the crosshairs of a serial killer.

Misha Byrne is a successful Hollywood screenwriter with a recurring X-Files-esque hit show to prove his worthiness in the cutthroat showbiz world. But when studio execs demand he axe his lesbian character base to improve viewership ratings, Byrne refuses, on principle, and not just because it would ruin the season finale of his show. Soon, murderous

villains dressed as movie monsters he’d previously created begin appearing and are all hell-bent on scaring him off track.

Tingle is better known for his work writing in the niche gay erotica categories of sexy satire, risqué pop culture parodies, raunchy romance novellas, and even an erotic adventure game. Here, he manages to escalate his craft into another mainstream novel that has a flashy cover, a flashy killer-onthe-loose premise, and an outspoken queer hero who is impossible to forget once the momentum of Misha and his killers hits its stride.

Girls Night’ by I.S.Belle

$21.99 (Tiny Ghost Press)

This YA sapphic novel written for teens will please that demographic as

well as any adult readership who finds books about tough-as-nails queer girls with a score to settle fascinating. The unlikely bond that forms between a quartet of girls at Sterling High School all begins when Alex Veck’s fondness for fighting is ignited after seeing her first school fight. She is soon joined by shifty cheerleader Tulsi Ortiz, secretive classmate Sunju Park, and newcomer Clementine Rady and together they form a stealth girls’ fight club called “Girls Night” where they duel for fun.

When their group is discovered by a particularly manipulative head cheerleader, things begin to unravel, but this diversified clan stay tough as they flesh out their own identities, preferences, and passions.

‘Sex Goblin’ by Lauren Cook

$17.95 (Nightboat) Cook, a transsexual naturalist, poet (“I Love Shopping”), and author, collects his thoughts, feelings, impressions, joys, and upsets into this slim volume that explores what makes him tick. Inside are pages of enchanting autofiction, pop culture musings, personal ordeals, and a devilish moral fable about a clover-picker, a vengeful witch, and a pair of underwear you don’t want to miss.

In a series of clipped paragraphs and one-page recollections, Cook ponders Uber rides, paranoia about picking up money on the sidewalk, random text messages from his dad about who politicians really are (“failed celebrities because they are ugly and have no talent, by and large”), grocery shopping, his first trip to Los Angeles, and quite hilarious quips on obsessing about the past and random interactions with his friends and exes.

‘Escape Velocity’ by Victor Manibo, $28 (Erewhon)

After his smashing debut, “The Sleepless,” for which he became a 2022 Lambda Literary Emerging Voices Fellow, Filipino novelist Victor Manibo follows up with

this sci-fi thriller set in space in the year 2089.

Somehow, astronaut Henry Gallagher becomes stranded out in space away from his lunar habitat, Altaire, and he must now wait until it orbits closer to his location to latch back onto it for safety. But there’s no reason for his spacesuit to have lost its propellant fluid; someone is responsible and wants him out of the picture permanently.

Flashbacks point to a high school reunion populated by old friends but also a few possibly nefarious characters with axes to grind. This unique otherworldly set-up is the perfect backdrop for Manibo to demonstrate his knack for characterization and deft plotting.

‘Take All of Us’ by Natalie Leif; $19.99 (Holiday House)

Leif’s imaginative YA zombie fiction debut masterfully and entertainingly channels the struggles queer disabled adolescents encounter when coming of age in a world predisposed against them.

The dead are coming back to life in rural West Virginia and that includes Ian Chandler, a queer teen in love with his best friend Eric. Ian has a seizure and falls during an emergency town evacuation, but he rises from the dead to join with two other disabled teens, Monica, and Angel, to investigate the cause of the emergency. As these three endearing (if slowly decaying) heroes fight for survival, marginalization gets vanquished in this inspiring, thrilling, gore-drenched work of good vs evil for younger readers.

‘The Rainbow Tiger’ by BK Wells

$11.99 (Wavin’ Raven)

Talented, prolific local San Francisco author and playwright Wells features a middle-aged trans narrator struggling with identity and community in an America overlorded by a fascist government in her latest novel.

Set in San Francisco, protagonist Gene Francisco remains at odds with the edicts of the current right-winged US president, Benjamin Buck, who continues a legacy of discrimination against minority groups and the LGBTQ community. But a shockingly unlucky event in the bowels of a BART station transforms her physical body and mind around in twisted ways that play out as this creatively inspired novel winds its way around urban politics, equality, trans body image, queer liberty, a Rainbow Tiger, and a thinly veiled ex-President who is as deplorable and despicable as the real thing.

A 2021 Pinecone Book Award recipient, Wells’ relevant and entertaining novel creatively encapsulates themes of belonging, community, inclusion, exclusion, gender, and identity.

‘Hombrecito’ by Santiago Jose Sanchez $29 (Riverhead)

This explosive debut charts the immigration experience of a young Columbian named Santiago and his older brother who move to Miami after being raised by a single mother. As a child, he struggles to understand the better life his mother sought in America and after rebelling, emerges as an independent-minded teenager with queer feelings in his heart.

Sex becomes the navigator as he comes of age and in his 20s in Brooklyn, then he seeks out the attentions of a father back in Columbia who offers little to his son. Santiago makes amends with the land he left, while continuing to search for deeper connections in the sheets of other men.

This intensive story of youth, family, pain, pleasure, and self-discovery is an achievement.

‘We Used to Live Here’ by Marcus Kliewer, $28.99

(Atria/Emily Bestler Books)

Originally written as an online serialized short story on Reddit, Canadian author and stop motion animator Kliewer’s dynamic debut chronicles the nightmarish ordeal of female partners and house-flippers Eve Palmer and her girlfriend, Charlie in the Pacific Northwest.

Renovating the mansion they just acquired is moving along as planned until the five-member Faust family mysteriously appears on their doorstep, claiming to be former residents of the house. Once the family breaches the front door threshold, the house horrifically begins to morph and stink and shift and terrorize everyone inside it, just as a blizzard descends on the property trapping everyone inside the creaking, moaning mansion.

It’s an immersive and chilling reading experience and the story is embellished with conspiracy theory outtakes and commentary from “victims” of paranormal violence. Horror fans take note.

‘The Day Before It Rained’ by Rich Rubin

$15.99 (Gatekeeper Press)

Sonoma County playwright, director, and author Rubin, who recently won the Short Stories category from the Literary Global Independent Author Awards, presents this terrific collection of stories drawing on the humanity of its characters and the challenging relationship situations they find themselves embedded in.

While brief, Rubin’s stories are potent and encompass themes such as the mystery and wonder of travel, the yearning for love and connection, the power of forgiveness, and explorations of the mundane issues of life (noise, pets, responsible behavior, growing up and growing old, memories, all which Rubin breathes new life into. The collection is separated into segments on international travel, people and personalities, birthdays, mystical elements, everyday life, and renewal. Relatable and timelessly relevant, this collection will particularly resonate with readers who face life head-on and with fearless courage and empathy.

‘The Default World’ by Naomi Kanakia

$17.95 (The Feminist Press)

This clever, sexy, erotically electric novel star transgender woman Jhanvi who meanders her way through life working at a Sacramento grocery while dreaming of a better way to enjoy herself and finally get the surgery she desperately desires.

When friend Henry jokingly boasts about a new sex dungeon bankrolled by him and his overpaid and overvalued techie friends, Jhanvi’s wheels turn and sees the location as a bastion of wealthy guys who could make her life better, specifically if she latches on to Henry.

What ensues is a fever dream of hedonistic pleasures, foggy memories, and indulgences galore that find

privileged millennials at odds with the trans community as the novel writhes and bubbles onward. It’s a recipe for eye-catching, extra-sensory, titillating queer fiction.

‘In Tongues’ by Thomas Grattan, $28 (MCD)

Grattan’s second novel charts the young life of Gordon, who, after being raised in Minneapolis by indifferent parents, moves with just a few stolen dollars in his pocket to Manhattan in the summer of 2001 after being dumped by his boyfriend.

Needing work, he appeals to older West Village art gallery owner Philip and his younger assistant, Nicola, who both graciously take Gordon under their wealthy wings but with this protagonist and his nagging affinity for trouble, it’s not long before the trio break trust and this newly arranged family-of-sorts self-destructs.

Grattan’s prose is crisp and swiftly moves the plot along and his unique creation of Gordon as a queer man

is realistic and gritty. He seeks to be valued, whether under the auspices of the gallery duo or in the park getting fucked by a stranger. Readers will find themselves unable to forget him.

‘Cecelia’ by K-Ming Chang

$14.95 (Coffee House Press)

The two women featured in Chang’s slim, surreal novella are Seven, a mid-twenties doctor’s office cleaner, and Cecelia, a childhood friend who manages to manipulatively re-insert herself into Seven’s relatively placid existence. In the book’s exploration of female friendship and physical desire, Chang’s prose remains lush and poetically descriptive, but also explicitly corporeal in a near body-horror fashion.

As the pair’s volatile relations seep into descriptions of roadkill, human waste, and the awkward teenaged sexual encounter that made each girl cautious and fearful of the other.

POETRY

‘The Selected Shepherd’ by Reginald Shepherd $30 (Univ. of Pittsburgh Press)

This posthumous collection of Shepherd’s (1963-2008) dynamic poetry draws from material within his six prior published works. Brazenly authentic and honest, Shepherd’s prose hovers meaningfully over his disenchanting childhood with a single, alcoholic, and suicidal mother, his obsession with atmospheres and the natural world, and his personal identity as a Black, HIV-positive, gay, Bronx-born poet who had a sexual penchant for White men.

Shepherd died prematurely from cancer in 2008, but he leaves a trove of gorgeous, provocative, erotic, illuminative, and beautifully opinionated pieces. His legacy leaves six books in his wake, each demonstrating his command of the written word and his unobstructed sense of honesty and personal truth.

‘The Day’s Hard Edge: Poems’ by Jose Antonio Rodriguez, $18 (Northwestern Univ. Press)

Poet and memoirist Rodriguez’s fourth book of poetry treads along the theme of how relationships form our impressions of ourselves, of others, and of the world around us. Split into three sections, Rodriguez autobiographically examines his traumatic early years living on the Texas/ Mexico borderlands; then expanding outward to encompass his artwork and how honing his poetry is, in and of itself, a liberating, cathartic, freeform mode of therapeutic healing.

In absorbing these immersive works, readers will achieve an acute sense of how the poet himself struggled with his own identity as a queer Chicano immigrant who worked hard at preventing his minority status from clouding others’ impressions of his gorgeously commanding written works of art.

‘Fassbinder: His Movies, My Poems’ by Drew Pisarra $15 (independently published)

Over a decade in the making, poet and author Pisarra celebrates the life and film work of the late, great Ger-

man film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1945-1982) and publishes this book on the filmmaker’s birthday.

The poems in this dynamic volume are inspired Fassbinder’s films, whether completed or unfinished, or simply written ideas in the form of plays that Pisarra takes liberties to elaborate on in this fond artistically driven tribute.

The collection contains over 50 poems dedicated to Fassbinder’s films.

Midway through the collection is a vividly realized poem entitled “The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant,”

which, Pisarra notes, was once recited in public by a nude model at a “Lit Undressed” festival. Creative, memorable, and thought-provoking, this poetic salute impressively appreciates the genre-spanning oeuvre of a multi-talented, theatrical German cinematographer. It’s both creative and thought-provoking, especially if you are a Fassbinder fan.t

Read the full reviews on www.ebar.com.