June 6, 2019 Edition of the Bay Area Reporter by Bay Area Reporter

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Gay men assaulted near Dem confab

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Dublin Mayor David Haubert, second from right, and City Councilman Shawn Kumagai, holding rope, raise the rainbow flag outside City Hall Tuesday Night.

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Cities fly Pride flag

Mayor raises Pride flag

by Meg Elison an Francisco police have arrested a man in connection with an alleged attack on two gay men who were in the city last weekend for the California Democratic Party convention. The victims, ages 21 and 23, told police they had been struck in the face by a male suspect who had used homophobic slurs immediately prior to the attack, which took place Sunday, June 2, at 12:50 a.m. outside Southside Spirit House, 575 Howard Street. Griffin Murray, 27, of San Francisco, was located by police a few blocks away from the incident. Murray was cited and released on two counts of misdemeanor battery, according to the San Francisco Police Department. The Bay Area Reporter spoke with one of the victims on Tuesday, who asked that he not be identified in the paper. Speaking briefly by phone, he confirmed SFPD’s description of the event and described his injuries including a concussion and the lasting emotional impact of battery. “I’m just trying to recover,” the victim, who had been hospitalized, said. “I am still traumatized.” The other victim reportedly suffered minor injuries, according to police. The incident took place following the Saturday night session of the state Democratic Party’s convention at nearby Moscone Center. Both victims were in town to attend the convention. The timing of the incident prompted alarmed responses from party officials and local public figures who were concerned by homophobic violence in a city known as a haven for the LGBTQ community. Newly-elected California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks weighed in on the attack as one of his first official statements in the position. “I join the CDP LGBTQ Caucus and Democrats everywhere in strongly condemning the violent attack on two Democratic LGBTQ activists in San Francisco on Saturday,” he said in a statement. “Violence motivated by hate and homophobia is particularly repulsive, and we must all speak out for safer communities and stand with the survivors today.”

Vol. 49 • No. 23 • June 6-12, 2019

by Matthew S. Bajko

he city councils of Dublin and Tracy voted Tuesday night to fly the rainbow flag in recognition of June being Pride month. Both flag requests were brought by gay freshmen councilmen who were elected in November as the first LGBT people to serve on their city’s governing bodies. And both generated heated debate between those opposed and in support of seeing the LGBT community’s symbol be flown on flagpoles in front of the

Bill Wilson

ayor London Breed waves to a crowd below City Hall Monday, June 3, after gay city Treasurer Jose Cisneros, right, and other officials raised the rainbow flag to usher in Pride Month. “San Francisco has always been a leader in the fight for equal rights, and we will continue to push to not only protect the rights of everyone in our city, but to expand those rights,” Breed said in a statement. She also said that the

city and LGBTQ community must remember “those who have come before us, including those who have been the victims of hate crimes and who have lost their lives to HIV/AIDS.” She said that on the occasion of the 49th San Francisco Pride parade, which is coming up June 30, “we recommit ourselves to being a city for all people, no matter who you are, where you come from, or who you love.”

Dem prez hopefuls flock to CA

See page 15 >>

by Cynthia Laird

ay Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg was one of several White House contenders who received an enthusiastic response from delegates at last weekend’s California Democratic Party convention in San Francisco. But Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker, two of the 14 candidates who made their pitches in a packed hall at Moscone Center Saturday, outshined him, while the state’s junior senator, Kamala Harris, was greeted warmly but did not ignite sparks like the others, based on audience response in the room. Buttigieg, a millennial and the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said he’s running “because of the seriousness of the moment we’re in. A moment of such consequence that even now, we may well be underreacting.” “In these times, Democrats can no more promise to take us back to the 2000s or 1990s that conservatives can take us back to the 1950s,” he said. Speaking about the fact that he is the only out candidate in the race, Buttigieg said, “This morning I woke up next to my husband, a moment that exists because of a single vote on the U.S. Supreme Court.” He told delegates, “There’s no going back to normal now.” “A president like this one doesn’t come within cheating distance of the Oval Office unless something is deeply wrong with the old normal,” he added. “The economic ‘normal’ has failed a work-

Rick Gerharter

Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and Senator Cory Booker were three of 14 Democratic presidential candidates who addressed the California Democratic Party’s convention June 1 in San Francisco.

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ing and middle class that powered America into a new era of growth ... only to see the amazing wealth we created go to a tiny few. The political ‘normal’ has failed when an American majority supports ideas from universal health care to common-sense gun safety laws, only to see their politicians unable to deliver.” That was a theme throughout Saturday’s sessions, and one that Warren zeroed in on. The Massachusetts senator has been rolling out plans for various problems she sees in the country, and the San Francisco audience wanted to hear them. “We will break up big ag, we will break up big banks, we will break up big tech,” Warren said to loud cheers. “Yes, we will pass a wealth tax – 2 cents on the dollar –” for those making over $50

{ FIRST OF THREE SECTIONS }

million. Money from that would fund universal child care and pre-kindergarten, she said, and she pledged $50 million for historically black colleges and universities. She cautioned that the rich and powerful won’t give up without a fight, and had some words seemingly aimed at other candidates, though she did not mention anyone specifically. “When a candidate tells you all things aren’t possible, they’re telling you they won’t fight for you,” Warren said. “Not me. I’m here to fight. We need to be the party of moral clarity and the party with a backbone.” Booker, a New Jersey senator who’s been polling in the low single digits, addressed delegates in the afternoon. He changed his remarks to focus See page 14 >>

SPECIAL PRIDE SECTION Vol. 40

. No. 25 . 24 June 2010

ne 2 u J S E LISH B U P n o ry. diti E o e t d s i i r co P n h 29 8937 s i i c e n c a pla an Fr 415 8 r S l l 9 u 1 a o 0 C Our 2 eserve y .com ar R b e @ g tisin r e v d A Untitled-8 1

6/5/19 12:36 PM

<< Community News

2 • Bay Area Reporter • June 6-12, 2019

TAKE PRIDE IN YOUR BRAIN

LGBT Asylum Project opens Castro office

by Sari Staver

Everyone with a brain is at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. During Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month in June, learn the facts about brain health.

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n organization that offers legal assistance to LGBTs seeking asylum has opened an office in the Castro. The board of directors of the LGBT Asylum Project – part of the Center for Immigrant Protection – celebrated the opening of the new office at 526 Castro Street at a ribbon cutting and reception Thursday, May 30. Now in its fourth year of operation, the nonprofit organization provides pro bono legal representation for LGBT immigrants who are fleeing persecution and seeking asylum in the United States. According to its website, the LGBT Asylum Project provides support to immigrants in the San Francisco Asylum Office jurisdiction (from Bakersfield, California to Seattle, Washington) who identify as LGBTQ and have been persecuted or have fears of future persecution if they return to their home country. Since its inception, officials said, the project has provided legal representation in 95 cases, and legal consultation and information about the U.S. asylum process for more than 1,085 LGBTQ individuals. The new offices will also house the Immigration Defense Project, providing anyone seeking immigration relief with legal services on a sliding scale, as well as the private law practice of Okan Sengun, co-founder and executive director of the LGBT Asylum Project. Before the group moved to the Castro earlier this year, it was operating out of Sengun’s downtown office, which has covered the costs of furnishing the new office. “This feels like a culmination of efforts since founders Okan Sengun and Brooke Westling first brought five of us together,” said Adam Sandel, a founding board member and director

Sari Staver

LGBT Asylum Project co-founder Brooke Westling, left, joined board members, staff and volunteers Malena Salem, Kenan Arun, Alan Delamora, Juan Herrera, Cip Cipriano, Donna Sachet, Adam Sandel, and co-founder and Executive Director Okan Sengun at the organization’s opening for its Castro Street office.

of fundraising. “I’m very grateful that the community has rallied to support us in this life-saving work, and there’s so much more work to do.” Those attending the event included gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and activists Cleve Jones, Donna Sachet, and Sister Roma of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Praising the work of the project, Mandelman said the new office space had decades earlier been occupied by the offices of the KS Foundation, an early HIV group that eventually became the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. “So it is super cool to have (the

Asylum Project) in this historic space,” he said. Most recently, the office was occupied by the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, which moved to 170 Valencia Street. The asylum project, said Mandelman, “is a beacon of hope” in recognizing the role this country has played for people around the world. “They are making good on that best vision of what our country is all about,” he said, presenting project officials with certificates of commendation from the Board of Supervisors in appreciation of their work. See page 14 >>

SF protest held after trans asylum seeker dies

by Meg Elison

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ctivists held a protest Monday in front of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in San Francisco following the death last weekend of a young trans woman shortly after she was released from ICE custody. Johana Medina, 25, was an asylum seeker from El Salvador who died June 1, a few days after her May 28 release from an ICE facility in El Paso, Texas. Medina died of complications from HIV after complaining of chest pains and being admitted to Del Sol Medical Center, according to media reports. Medina had been in ICE custody for six weeks prior to her release. In a statement released late Monday, ICE confirmed Medina’s death. While the statement used Medina’s male name, it also referred to her using female pronouns. It said Medina was transferred to ICE custody April 14, and had received a “positive credible fear finding” and was issued notice to appear before an immigration judge. ICE said Medina was transferred to the medical center May 28 after she requested an HIV test and the result was positive. “That same day, her case was reviewed and she was released on parole,” the agency stated. Protesters in downtown San Francisco on Monday, June 3, remarked that Medina’s death kicked off a Pride Month already complicated by continued federal pressure

Bill Wilson

Activists led a protest Monday outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in San Francisco to call attention to the deaths of two trans women, one of whom died last Saturday.

against trans rights and the rights of asylum seekers. Medina’s passing also comes shortly after the one year anniversary of the death of another transgender woman who was in ICE custody. Roxsana Hernandez, 33 and from Honduras, died May 25, 2018. Hernandez was also suffering from HIV. According to reports, she died after spending time in a socalled ice box for isolation and without receiving medical treatment. The protesters who gathered in front of ICE offices on Sansome Street had photos of both Medina and Hernandez on signs as they chanted through their bullhorn: “No ban, no wall, no detention at all!” Security

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from ICE’s offices made their presence known but did not attempt to disperse the crowd, which numbered about 30 people at its most dense. “I heard about Johana’s death through social media.” said Matt McGowen, a 28-year-old San Francisco resident and gay man who organized the protest. “And I’m so angry. And it’s Pride. And something has to be done about this fascist border regime and the way ICE is getting away with killing people.” “We’re in the era of corporate Pride, the era of LGBT for Trump,” said McGowen, speaking through a bullhorn to the crowd. “It’s the 50th anniversary

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<< Open Forum

4 • Bay Area Reporter • June 6-12, 2019

Volume 49, Number 23 June 6-12, 2019 www.ebar.com PUBLISHER Michael M. Yamashita Thomas E. Horn, Publisher Emeritus (2013) Publisher (2003 – 2013) Bob Ross, Founder (1971 – 2003) NEWS EDITOR Cynthia Laird ARTS EDITOR Roberto Friedman BARTAB EDITOR & EVENTS LISTINGS EDITOR Jim Provenzano ASSISTANT EDITORS Matthew S. Bajko • Meg Elison CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Ray Aguilera • Tavo Amador • Race Bannon Erin Blackwell • Roger Brigham Brian Bromberger • Victoria A. Brownworth Brent Calderwood • Philip Campbell Heather Cassell • Belo Cipriani • Dan Renzi Christina DiEdoardo • Richard Dodds Michael Flanagan • Jim Gladstone David Guarino • Liz Highleyman Brandon Judell • John F. Karr • Lisa Keen Matthew Kennedy • Joshua Klipp David Lamble • Max Leger Michael McDonagh • David-Elijah Nahmod Paul Parish • Sean Piverger • Lois Pearlman Tim Pfaff • Jim Piechota • Dan Renzi Bob Roehr • Adam Sandel • Jason Serinus Gregg Shapiro • Gwendolyn Smith • Tony Taylor Sari Staver • Jim Stewart • Sean Timberlake Andre Torrez • Ronn Vigh • Charlie Wagner Ed Walsh • Cornelius Washington • Sura Wood ART DIRECTION Max Leger PRODUCTION/DESIGN Ernesto Sopprani PHOTOGRAPHERS Jane Philomen Cleland • FBFE Rick Gerharter • Gareth Gooch Jose Guzman-Colon • Rudy K. Lawidjaja Georg Lester • Dan Lloyd • Jo-Lynn Otto Rich Stadtmiller • Kelly Sullivan • Fred Rowe Steven Underhil • Dallis Willard • Bill Wilson ILLUSTRATORS & CARTOONISTS Paul Berge • Christine Smith ADVERTISING/ADMINISTRATION Colleen Small Bogitini VICE PRESIDENT OF ADVERTISING Scott Wazlowski – 415.829.8937 NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Rivendell Media – 212.242.6863

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Schaaf must fund LGBT services

akland Mayor Libby Schaaf proposed budgets would wipe out funding for some LGBT services, and add money for others. The mayor and City Council are deliberating the city’s next two-year spending plan. Schaaf’s submitted proposal to the council cuts funding for groups such as Our Family Coalition, despite having receiving money in prior years. Lesbian council President Rebecca Kaplan told us during a recent interview that she’s working to change that. She has requested $200,000 for each of the 20192020 and 2020-2021 budgets. Schaaf, who was re-elected in 2018 partly with the support of the LGBT community, should know that helping the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center and restoring the cuts to OFC are just as important as other spending priorities. Kaplan said other groups that have done LGBT-oriented programming, like Destiny Arts Center, were funded in the past. “And the administration is also proposing to cut them significantly,” she said. “So you know, as I’m working on my budget amendments, we will definitely be addressing those concerns. And also, of course, making sure that the city continues to support the Pride festival as well as the LGBT center.” Renata Moreira, the outgoing executive director of OFC, told us that the funding cut would be disastrous for the agency. “Should this funding not be replaced, OFC would be forced to temporarily discontinue successful parent education classes, parent-child interactive programs, support groups, and community building events that we have offered to Oakland families for almost a decade, including the Bay Area’s largest family garden at Oakland Pride,” she wrote in an email. “We’d also be unable to rehire a phenomenal trans person of color who currently coordinates our East Bay programs after July 1, which will be heartbreaking for our team and families.” Progress on LGBTQ equality in Oakland is in jeopardy, as needed services for queer families, trans people, and others could be eliminated. Homelessness is also an issue in Oakland, and that affects the queer community too. Kaplan wants to see money in the budget for either an LGBT-specific shelter or one that is overtly LGBT-welcoming. In her proposed budget amendments, Kaplan wants the city to expand

its response to homelessness. “The recent Pointin-Time count shows that homelessness has increased here dramatically over the past four years, and thousands of people are living in unsafe conditions in underpasses and more,” she wrote in a news release. “The scale of our response has not been adequate to the magnitude of the problem.” She wants to increase funding to assist tenants facing displacement, expand sanitation services to additional allowable locations, and include opportunities to hire homeless people to help with these and related efforts. There are inadequate services for homeless youth, both LGBTQ and straight, Kaplan said. “If you’re a teenager who’s on your own, a lot of existing services don’t serve that population,” she said. “And that has a disproportionate impact on LGBT youth, because LGBT youth are more likely to be homeless by themselves as teenagers.” Kaplan is familiar with this constant fight for city dollars for LGBTQ services. Several years ago, we reported on the fact that the city’s youth services program had zero dollars in it for LGBTQs. Kaplan said she made staffers come back with a request for proposals and the city ended up funding several programs. That funding is being maintained, she pointed out, even as dollars are being cut from other areas.

Kelly Sullivan

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf

Last year, when Schaaf was seeking re-election, she told us that the city’s ability to fund the LGBTQ center, for example, was limited because the city uses a two-year budget plan and 2018 was in the middle of that cycle. The new budget is the appropriate opportunity for the mayor to include such funding. She told us she would consider it. Now is the time for her to act. This Monday, June 10, OFC urges its members and supporters to attend the City Council’s special budget meeting at 5 p.m. at City Hall, 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza, to advocate for culturally competent LGBTQ family programs and services it provides. We urge other LGBTQ organizations to make supportive public comments so City Council members understand the negative impact the mayor’s proposed budget will have on the community. t

LGBTQ solidarity in the age of Trump by Jeff Cotter

any people, regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation, are surprised to hear that Cuba has a vigorous LGBTQ+ movement whose primary supporters are the Cuban government (through CENESEX, the Cuban National Center for Sex Education) and progressive churches, largely Christian denominations but inclusive of other faiths. Just as Pride activities during June are the public centerpiece for LGBTQ+ people and supporters in the United States, for the last 12 years the month of May has been the time for the Jornada, Cuba’s Pride activities that coincide with the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. During the Jornada, the Cuban LGBTQ+ community comes together to gather strength, heal, and inspire. It includes social gatherings, educational activities, and artistic expressions. The congas, their version of our Pride parade, are their most visible and powerful means to organize and show the strength of the LGBTQ+ community. This was Rainbow World Fund’s eighth year participating in the Jornada and carrying out our humanitarian aid activities in Cuba, which have included supporting the LGBTQ+ community, helping children with HIV/AIDS and other chronic illnesses, and providing direct aid following natural disasters. Our 16-person delegation included gay activist Cleve Jones, who was invited to participate in the Jornada as a grand marshal for the Havana conga and to receive the CENESEX Prize in recognition for his contributions to the queer movement. Anticipating an extraordinary opportunity to engage in so many aspects of the

Gooch

Cleve Jones, center, joined members of Rainbow World Fund delegation at CENESEX headquarters in Havana, Cuba in May. This was the first time that the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt visited the country.

Jornada, we were shocked on the day before our arrival in Havana that the government, through CENESEX, had canceled the gay congas both in Havana and Cienfuegas, a second conga held to outreach to LGBTQ+ communities in other parts of the country. The cancellation was officially attributed to “international and regional” tensions, leaving many to speculate as to the actual cause. It is evident that Cuba is already feeling the hostile effects of the Trump administration’s efforts to inflict a stranglehold on the economy by hardening the 59-year-old embargo in order to undermine Cuba’s ties to Venezuela. These efforts include dramatically reducing the amount of monetary remittances U.S. citizens can send to their families, placing restrictions on business banking and oil imports, promising

to severely limit travel to Cuba, and worst of all, activating Title III of the Helms-Burton Act allowing lawsuits to recover property nationalized after the Revolution. The resulting cash crisis has forced the rationing of basic foods and power consumption in many sectors. Local participants also revealed that there had been a dramatic rise in pressure from anti-LGBTQ+ fundamentalist Christians who, emboldened by the failure of Cuba’s new constitution to include a marriage equality provision, were threatening to disrupt the congas. Part of the evangelicals’ tactics had been to inflame the homophobia that already exists in Cuban society. So did the bad guys win? No. Most of the See page 13 >>

Politics>>

June 6-12, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 5

SF set to name new LGBT landmark

Barry Schneider Attorney at Law

family law specialist* Rick Gerharter

A Board of Supervisors committee has voted to support city landmark status for 524 Union Street, the site of the former Paper Doll restaurant in North Beach

by Matthew S. Bajko

an Francisco officials are expected to designate the city’s fourth LGBT historic site next week when the Board of Supervisors votes to landmark 524 Union Street. The North Beach property was home to several LGBT restaurants, most famously that of the Paper Doll, starting in the 1940s. It is believed it would be the first landmark in the country to focus on an early queer restaurant. The Paper Doll, which opened in 1944, is believed to be San Francisco’s first restaurant and nightclub catering to the gay community. As the Bay Area Reporter first disclosed in 2017, the Smucha family that owns the building has sought to have its historical significance be officially recognized by the city. It has been six years since the Twin Peaks Tavern, the Castro gay bar that was the first to install clear glass windows, was deemed a city landmark. Four years ago San Francisco adopted an LGBT historic context statement that included a list of various properties worthy of landmark status. Among them was 524 Union Street, which has housed bars and restaurants since the late 1840s and was rebuilt after the 1906 earthquake. The Paper Doll’s first owner, Tom Arbulich, hired lesbian staff and offered a welcome watering hole to queer patrons. By the mid-1950s gay men had claimed the space as their own, leading to a court fight over the suspension of its liquor license waged by then-owner Dante Benedetti, a straight man. He lost his legal battle and later sold the bar; in the late 1960s and early 1970s the late B.A.R. founding publisher Bob Ross had two stints operating restaurants there. By the 1980s the restaurant space lost its gay affiliations and was home to a number of establishments that catered to mostly straight clientele. It has been vacant since 2012 when the French bistro Le Bordeaux closed. Due to the length of time the restaurant space has sat dormant, it lost the right to operate as an eatery. The Smucha family has been fighting with the city’s planning department to be able to rent it out to a restaurant operator. District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who represents North Beach and chairs the board’s land use and transportation committee, had been expected to be the lead sponsor of the landmark request. But because he owns property within 500 feet of the site, Peskin had to recuse himself from voting on the matter when it

came before the committee Monday, June 3. He will also have to recuse himself from voting when the full board takes up landmarking the building at its June 11 meeting. Land use members Supervisors Ahsha Safai and Matt Haney voted this week to recommend their colleagues approve the Smucha family’s request. “Now, at a time we are losing San Francisco’s cultural institutions and notable queer spaces, maybe we can get one back or in the same spirit. We would love to see a new Paper Doll or something in that spirit go in honoring it,” said Barak Smucha, a third-generation San Franciscan whose family has owned the site since the late 1970s. “We thank you for helping us preserve this space.” The city’s other two LGBT landmarks are the late gay supervisor Harvey Milk’s residence and former Castro Camera shop at 573 Castro Street and the former Jose Theater/ Names Project Building at 2362 Market Street, once home to the AIDS Memorial Quilt. While the Women’s Building at 3543 18th Street is also a city landmark, it was listed for its historical significance predating the modern LGBT rights movement. It did recently gain national historic site status due to its LGBT cultural significance.

CA Dems elect new chair

At its convention last weekend, the California Democratic Party elected Los Angeles labor leader Rusty Hicks as its new state chair. He easily defeated six other candidates, including second place finisher Kimberly Ellis, with 57% in the first round of voting Saturday, June 1, to claim victory. “I applaud the other six candidates. I got to hear them and know them as we all campaigned over the last four months,” stated Hicks, 39. “I believe that the positive nature of our respective campaigns has been and will prove to be a positive step to a bigger, better, stronger Democratic Party. Let’s get to work.” Ellis had narrowly lost to gay Los Angeles Democratic Party leader Eric Bauman in 2017. He was forced to resign last fall after numerous party members came forward to allege Bauman had verbally and sexually harassed them. The accusations are now the basis of several lawsuits his accusers have filed. Unlike two years ago when she refused to concede, Ellis via a tweet congratulated Hicks on his win.

“Party politics is always going to be tough and often disappointing, but great change is never easy,” she wrote. The convention attracted 14 of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates to the party confab held in San Francisco. Meanwhile, at the Santa Cruz Pride festival Sunday, June 2, attendees picked Vermont U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders as their top choice to be the party’s nominee. The independent lawmaker took first place with 210 votes. In second, with 171 votes, was California Senator Kamala Harris, while Pete Buttigieg, the gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana, landed in third with 135 votes. Rounding out the top five were Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren with 128 votes and former vice president Joe Biden with 29 votes. Touted as the first California Presidential Primary LGBTQA Straw Poll, the Santa Cruz County Democratic Central Committee conducted it at its booth.

Be bored to tears ...

... or be riveted Thursday (June 6) by a 17-hour live reading of the redacted Mueller report at the gayowned Manny’s in the Mission. A number of local politicos, including LGBT leaders Scott Wiener, Rafael Mandelman, David Campos, Cleve Jones, and Carol Queen, Ph.D., are slated to read 30-minute portions of the 442-page document detailing special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether President Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election and if he and his administration tried to obstruct the efforts to look into the matter. It will kick off at 7 a.m. at the cafe and event space located at 3092 16th Street in San Francisco’s Mission district. The free reading, which will also be livestreamed at welcometomannys.com/, should wrap at midnight. t

Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http://www. ebar.com Monday mornings for Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion. This week’s column reported on the Pride gear presidential candidates are hawking. Keep abreast of the latest LGBT political news by following the Political Notebook on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/politicalnotes. Got a tip on LGBT politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 8298836 or e-mail m.bajko@ebar.com.

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<< Community News

6 • Bay Area Reporter • June 6-12, 2019

Compton’s district honors trans women by David-Elijah Nahmod

nsung sheroes were honored by the Compton’s Transgender Cultural District as the organization kicked off Pride Month. About 200 people attended the June 2 brunch in the Green Room of the San Francisco War Memorial that was organized by Aria Sa’id, a trans woman who is executive director of the cultural district. The Compton’s Transgender Cultural District is the first legally recognized transgender district in the world. The cultural district spans six blocks of the lower Tenderloin, which encompasses parts of the Sixth Street Corridor and Market Street. The district’s goal is to preserve and honor the history of the trans community. The district is named after the old Gene Compton’s Cafeteria, a 24-hour eatery that had operated at 101 Taylor Street. In what was one of the earliest examples of transgender pushback against police repression, riots took place there in August 1966, three years before the more famous Stonewall uprising in New York City, which is considered by many to be the beginning of the modern LGBT civil rights movement. More than 50 years later, last weekend’s brunch celebrated the gains the trans community has made, while acknowledging the work that still needs to be done. Many of the awardees referenced the anti-trans policies of the current White House administration and the murders of trans women of color. “In the past few weeks the transgender community locally, and nationally, have been grieving the loss of black trans women who were murdered,” Sa’id told the Bay Area Reporter. “Genocide is a reality for transgender people. We think of it

Rick Gerharter

Breonna McCall, left, and Andrea Horne were recipients of Lifetime Achievement awards during the Celebration of Unsung Sheroes, a brunch held by the Compton’s Transgender Cultural District June 2 in the Green Room at the San Francisco War Memorial.

daily. We consider our safety perhaps more than anyone else. We are highly sensitive, hyper-vigilant, and aware of our mortality in more ways than anyone else. It is, unfortunately, what comes with existing in a world that does not want us to exist.” Transgender men were there to show support. “I’m forgoing the Democratic convention for this because I really want to support my trans sisters,” said Martin Rawlings-Fein. “I’m so happy to be able to come out and support them. Aria is amazing – she transforms the cultural district into something special.” The brunch was emceed by transgender comic Nori Reed and included musical performances from Bionka Simone, Xristina Blioux, Amber Gray, and Carolyn Henry. “It feels so good to be here with

the trans community today,” Reed said from the podium. “Let’s give it up for the beautiful trans people here. I’m a proud trans woman.” “Are you excited for today?” Reed continued. “Are you ready to celebrate trans excellence? We have so much trans excellence in this room right now. It’s beautiful to look at. Thank you all for being here.”

Awardees

Porshay Taylor and Ronjah Earl received the Translife Emerging Leader Award. “I’m so happy to be here,” said Earl. “I was homeless when I came here to San Francisco. I went through so many pairs of shoes, trying to look for employment and housing. I really didn’t know what was going on until I hit rock bottom. If it weren’t for my trans family

members and the social groups that I surrounded myself with I don’t think I’d be up here receiving this award. I realized in the midst of my personal storm I can have a job, and I can have housing, and now I have two jobs, I have my place, and I have money in the bank.” Earl works at the TGI Justice Project, a nonprofit that aids transgender and gender-variant people inside and outside of prisons, jails, and detention centers. Jordan Davis and Ebony Harper were given the Joanne Keatley Trailblazer Award. Kayla Moore, Jasmine Powell, and Janelle Vinson received the Kween Culture Icon Award. Lisseth Sanchez and Johana Ramirez shared the Alexandra Ruiz Community Builder Award. Cecily Crosby took home the Kween Culture Vanguard Award, while longtime trans advocate Veronika Fimbres, a former San Francisco veterans affairs commissioner, was honored with the Compton’s Riots Transgender Pioneer Award. “I had no idea I was winning,” said Fimbres. “I feel really good about being acknowledged by my fellow community members and my trans peers. I’m glad to be at the vanguard, it’s such a great honor. I’m proud of the youth coming behind me, but there’s so many issues that we have to tackle, such as the murders of trans women of color. There is still racism and disparity for transgender [women] of color, especially blacks.” Fimbres pointed out that racism and discrimination exists even in San Francisco, and sometimes comes from within the LGBTQ community. “We should not be discriminating against each other,” she said. Keatley, Donna Persona, and Al-

exandra Rodriguez de Ruiz also received Pioneer Awards. Breonna McCree and Andrea Horne were honored with the Reverend Bobbie Jean Baker Lifetime Achievement Award. De’Anthony Jones, a gay man who’s neighborhood liaison for Mayor London Breed, attended the ceremony and presented a proclamation from the mayor that honored the awardees. “As leaders in our trans community you embody the resilience, strength, courage, and joy that makes our city a welcoming place for all. Your continued commitment to empowering and ensuring the well beings of transgender individuals truly represents San Francisco values at their best,” the proclamation read in part. The proclamation was met with thunderous applause. Honey Mahogany, a trans woman who’s the former director of the cultural district and now works for District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney, said that she was delighted with the brunch. “It was a gorgeous event,” she said. “It really honored the legacies of those community members who have been working so hard on behalf of all of us for so long.” Sa’id was ecstatic afterward. “I hope that allies who attended had an opportunity to witness trans people celebrating life, because I think too often we are burdened with statistics of our marginalization, and there isn’t enough visibility on our culture as transgender people,” she told the B.A.R. “That’s what A Celebration of Unsung Sheroes is all about, and I think that we at the Compton’s Transgender Cultural District are proud to lead more efforts like this for the years to come.” t

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8 • Bay Area Reporter • June 6-12, 2019

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onoma County Pride was held in Santa Rosa last weekend, and officials said the event brought as many as 5,000 spectators to the downtown area, double last year’s attendance. The June 1 parade, which had twice as many contingents as last year, included groups advocating trans

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rights, seniors, students, straight allies, and much more. Grand marshals were KSRO broadcaster Pat Kerrigan and Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the U.S. Supreme Court same-sex marriage case. Rhiannon Jones, 22, the first openly gay Miss Sonoma County, was the parade’s honored guest.

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memoir by the late Gilbert Baker, co-creator of the rainbow flag, will be featured at a launch party Tuesday, June 11, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Koret Auditorium at the main San Francisco Public Library, 100 Larkin Street. “Rainbow Warrior: My Life in Color” is being published posthumously by Chicago Review Press. Baker, 65, died in March 2017 in New York City, where he had lived for many years. Baker is known as the man behind the rainbow flag, which has become a world-recognized symbol of the LGBTQ community. A former longtime resident of San Francisco, he and friends, Lynn Segerblom and James McNamara, who died of AIDS in 1999, created the first rainbow flags for the 1978 San Francisco Pride parade. Those flags were different than the common six-striped flag seen today. The upcoming program, organized by the GLBT Historical Society and co-sponsored by the James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center at the library, will feature a short film about Baker’s life, selected readings from the memoir, and a discussion with social justice advocates. Panel participants include attorney and activist Matt Foreman, attorney Kate Kendell, AIDS activist and former San Francisco supervisor Jeff Sheehy, and Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence member Cass Brayton (Sister Mary Media). Journalist Tony Bravo will moderate. The evening will begin with a reception and end with a book signing. Admission is free. Baker is the subject of an upcoming exhibition this fall at the GLBT Historical Society Museum. For more information, visit

Mark Maxwell/courtesy GLBT Historical Society

Gilbert Baker stands in front of one his rainbow flags.

glbthistory.org/events or sfpl.org/ index.php?pg=1038504401. On Wednesday, June 12, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. there will be another book launch event for “Rainbow Warrior” at Bloomingdales San Francisco, 845 Market Street, hosted by drag queen Donna Sachet.

Volunteers sought for pink triangle display

This year’s 24th pink triangle installation atop Twin Peaks will be special, as it’s the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York City. People looking for a hands-on Pride experience can sign up now to help create the triangle (or take it down at the end of Pride weekend). Patrick Carney, cofounder of the project, said in a news release that it takes at least 125 people to install the tarps that make up the giant public art, and about 50 to take it down. The pink triangle can be seen for miles if the weather is clear. The main installation takes place Saturday, June 29, from 7 to 9 a.m. A

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ceremony follows at 10:30. Carney said that confirmed speakers include Mayor London Breed; gay diplomats Hans-Ulrich Suedbeck, consul general of Germany, and Emmanuel Lebrun-Damiens, consul general of France; gay politicos state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman; fellow San Francisco lawmakers Assemblymen Phil Ting and David Chiu; some of the San Francisco Pride grand marshals and honorees; the San Francisco Lesbian/ Gay Freedom Band (the city’s official band); and musical theater star Leanne Borghesi. The most difficult challenge is getting volunteers to help dismantle the pink triangle Sunday, June 30, from 4:30 to 8 p.m. after the Pride parade. Carney promised a free dinner at a Thai restaurant for those who help with the take-down. All volunteers will receive pink triangle T-shirts, the funding of which was donated by the Bob Ross Foundation. The reason Carney and others started the pink triangle installation was to remind people of the time when it was used by the Nazis in concentration camps to identify and stigmatize homosexual prisoners. It has since been embraced by the LGBTQ community as a symbol of pride. “Various speakers will point out that the kind of hatred that existed in the 1930s and 1940s still exists today – as in Chechnya, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Brunei, Jamaica, Saudi Arabia, and so many other places,” Carney said in the release. “There is much to be done and education is the key. That’s why the pink triangle is still being installed after all of these decades – it is a giant one-acre learning tool.” Volunteers should bring a hammer and gloves, wear closed-toe shoes, and wear sunscreen. To sign up, for directions, or more information, visit www.thepinktriangle.com.

Bill Wilson

Mayor London Breed and AIDS activist Cleve Jones spoke at last year’s pink triangle ceremony.

Three Bay Area cultural organizations – the California Historical Society, the Contemporary Jewish Museum, and the Oakland Museum of California – are joining together to celebrate Pride Month with a wide range of programs at each institution, including exhibitions, a lecture series, special programming, and events to See page 14 >>

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<< Community News

10 • Bay Area Reporter • June 6-12, 2019

Walking tour doubles as SOMA history show by David-Elijah Nahmod

ocal history buffs are invited to take a walk through the South of Market neighborhood’s queer past over two weekends this month. The June 8-9 and 15-16 tours, titled “Out of Site: SOMA,” are the second in a series of such walking tours brought to the city by Seth Eisen through his company Eye Zen Presents. The concept of the tours is simple: participants will be led on a guided tour of the South of Market neighborhood, which has long been a stronghold of the leather community. Along the way, the audience will be introduced to actors and performance artists who will tell the stories of the physical places that the audience is visiting and some of the people involved. The cast includes Kai Brothers, Maria David, Brian Freeman, Marga Gomez, Ryan Hayes, and J. Miko Thomas, aka Landa Lakes. Attendees will learn about Native American two-spirit culture, lesbian auto mechanics, dock workers, and drag queens as the history of SOMA comes back to life. The audience will also be taken back to the early days of the Folsom Street Fair. Last year, Eisen took audiences on a similar historical walking tour of North Beach, which was an early gathering place for the city’s LGBT community in the days before the establishment of the Castro. Eisen, a gay man, brings his own long history of dance and performance art to the table. At one point he worked with Keith Hennessy, a dancer, choreographer and performance artist who is a pioneer in the field of queer- and AIDS-themed performance. “From the get-go I was making work primarily about queer history,” Eisen told the Bay Area Reporter. “That actually happened while I was with Keith. I did a show with Keith

Robbie Sweeny

Ryan Hayes, left, is joined by fellow “Out of Site: SOMA” performers Brian Freeman, Marga Gomez, and J. Miko Thomas, aka Landa Lakes.

called ‘How To Die,’ where I played the ghost of disco, and I realized that theater and queer history coming together was where my passion was. Ever since, I’ve been making work that was based in artistic and archival research based on queer history, mostly histories that have been lost, forgotten or erased.” The seed for the neighborhood walking tour was planted in 2016, when Eisen read an LGBTQ Historic Context Statement that was done for the National Park Service during the Obama administration and explores the way LGBTQ histories have shaped the fabric of San Francisco’s culture. “That’s where this project began,” said Eisen. “I realized that there’s so much more history that I haven’t dug into – it would be amazing to do a project where the sites themselves were part of the work, meaning an immersive theatrical project that’s not in a theater but happens on the street where we learn about the location or the site of queer history where it happened.” Eisen gave as an example the pos-

sibility of visiting Harvey Milk’s old camera store at 575 Castro Street – now the Human Rights Campaign Action Center and Store – with Milk present via an actor’s interpretation. (Milk, a San Francisco supervisor, and then-mayor George Moscone were assassinated in 1978 by disgruntled ex-supervisor Dan White.) “That doesn’t happen in this show,” Eisen said of the upcoming SOMA tours. “That’s just an example of something people could connect to. There’s a synergy that happens when those two things come together, when you actually see the history in the place or nearby where they happened. It helps to put together a picture.” Gomez, a lesbian comedian, said the show in some ways is a familiar story to her. “For me to play a character at the Bay Brick (now the Cat Club) – where I used to perform and where I used to pick up ladies! – is a personal highlight of the tour,” she said in a statement to the B.A.R. “I also portray Kathleen Connell, who started the Folsom

Street Fair, and I remember her well because I was one of the first emcees at the event in 1984. Because I was in San Francisco during the onset of the AIDS crisis, I feel like I have a very personal stake in Out of Site. Every day we do this show my old friends are with us.” Connell, who co-founded the leather and kink extravaganza with Michael Valerio, wrote in a Facebook message that the two were community economic development displacement advocates in the 1970s and 1980s. “This was a time when the city was aggressively characterizing the South of Market area as blighted, in order to drive out low-income elderly residents, artists, Filipino immigrant families and the LGBT community,” she added. “Their objective was to make way for the growth of downtown across Market Street, all the way to Brannan. “As LGBT people, we were also part of the community being devastated by AIDS. Leather community leaders told us, and we could see, that they were being ignored and underserved in the midst of the crisis,” she wrote. “The city itself was in mourning.” Their first response, Connell wrote, was rebranding the area as SOMA. “Then in 1984 we produced an inclusive, large and festive first Folsom Street Fair, which we dubbed ‘Megahood,’” Connell wrote. “Marga Gomez volunteered her time as the emcee on the main stage. Thirty thousand people attended the first fair, and ‘Folsom’ was born. We gave away all of our proceeds, a tradition that has continued to this day, resulting in many, many millions donated to nonprofits. The leather community participated and became more visible, even while many of our 400 community volunteers were sick or dying.” She encouraged people to take the “Out of Site: SOMA” tour. “We are part of a long, largely un-

known, and vibrant history of diverse rebel organizers in SOMA, which Out of Site is bringing back to life with a walking theater piece,” she wrote. “The story of SOMA’s unexpected history is fascinating. I recommend this event to everyone.” Brothers is playing an artist who was involved with the leather community. “I was drawn to join the cast of Out of Site because I wanted to learn more about our gay history,” Brothers, who is gay, wrote in an emailed statement. “One of the roles I play is that of Chuck Arnett, a ballet dancer in Broadway musicals as well as a visual artist, who moved to SF to be part of SOMA’s leather community. His most famous artwork was a mural painted on the walls of the Tool Box, a gay bar he worked at in the 1960s. His example of self-reinvention is very inspiring. By the way, I wear my own Mr. S stuff in the show.” Eisen pointed to projects such as the Rainbow Honor Walk, in which plaques are embedded in Castro district sidewalks to commemorate key LGBT historical figures. “What’s different about what we’re doing is that we’re actually bringing those histories to life. Our North Beach tour went back to the Barbary Coast,” Eisen said, referring to a tour he did last year. “The Transamerica tower was the site of a place called the Monkey Block, where dozens of artists hung out and had studios in this building. We went all the way back to the Native American period and then to the 19th century, and then forward to the early 1900s, when the Black Cat was one of many bars in North Beach. We did a lit crawl because there were many poets that we brought back to life, and lesbian bars. It was quite a scene that we recreated.” This process will be repeated for “Out of Site: SOMA.” A tour guide See page 14 >>

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ome late July, the next batch of plaques honoring LGBT luminaries should be installed along Market Street between Castro and Noe streets. The group includes lesbians Chavela Vargas, a Costa Ricanborn singer of Mexican music, and American physician and political activist Marie Equi; bisexuals American singer Josephine Baker and Queen frontman Freddie Mercury; gay men ballet dancer Alvin Ailey, English poet W.H. Auden, and Congressman Gerry Studds; and trans pioneer Lou Sullivan. Part of the Rainbow Honor Walk, organizers hope to see the sidewalk markers added to the streetscape by July 20. The eight

deceased LGBT icons were among the second group of 24 people to be added to the walk that were announced in 2016. The 3 foot by 3 foot bronze plaques cost roughly $7,000 and feature the visage of the person, a short bio, and their signature. Four each will be installed along the sidewalk on either side of Market Street, a main commercial corridor through the city’s LGBT district. The new plaque designs were unveiled Monday, June 3, at an event hosted by Google that netted more than $3,300 in donations. Organizers are looking to raise $55,000 by this fall to cover the costs for the additional markers still to be installed. See page 11 >>

Community News>>

June 6-12, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 11

LGBTQ artists awarded city arts grants by Meg Elison

us continue a vibrant arts scene unlike anything else in the world.” Drew added that some of the funding “will help us create our 20th anniversary project, ‘SafeSpace NoPlace,’ which focuses on the conflict over tech people in the city and the changes in places like Valencia Street, to re-inscribe the history of two-spirits and other queer and trans people of color, as well as addressing the tension that exists there. And we’ve been here, in places like

he San Francisco Arts Commission recently released its Community Investments Program overview that showed 46% of the 78 total individual grantees for fiscal year 2019-2020 identified as LGBTQ. Overall, SFAC grants totaled $4,993,350 for the fiscal year. The report includes organizational grantees, 32% of which have a stated mission of engaging the LGBTQ+ community, as well as 12% given to organizations specifically for transgender and nonbinary community work. The goal of the program, which stewards over $6 million in annual grant investments through the Cultural Equity Endowment Fund, is to allocate resources to “foster the values and increase the impact of cultural equity and neighborhood arts.” The program supports San Francisco artists in every possible medium, arts organizations serving the diverse communities of the city, and specifically seeks to fund historically underserved communities’ art with grant money as well as technical assistance and education initiatives, according to the report. Inspired by the Works Progress Administration’s inclusion of artists in its efforts to employ people to the betterment of their communities during the Great Depression, the SFAC has been around since 1932 and has funded thousands of projects for individual artists and art organizations over the years. Grant recipient Baruch PorrasHernandez, a 37-year-old queer poet and performer, wrote in an email, “It’s very tough surviving here as a queer artist, even with a day job, often with no support we leave some of our most cherished artistic projects in the back burner because we know we can’t make them happen with just hard work and sweat alone. Grants like this help an artist,

LGBT honor plaques

From page 10

“I think we help beautify the city,” said Sonoma attorney Charlotte Ruffner, who has served for six years on the project’s board. “We also educate the people who walk down the streets and see the plaques.” A straight ally who used to live in Noe Valley, Ruffner pushed for both Vargas and Auden to be included. “I love poetry,” she explained for why she advocated for Auden, noting that one of his poems is featured in the movie “Four Weddings and a Funeral” and recited by a gay character at the funeral of his partner. Since 2014 the honor walk has seen 28 plaques be installed along the 400 and 500 blocks of Castro Street, a portion of 19th Street, and the 2300 block of Market Street. The most recent plaques were installed last November. The remaining eight plaques from the second group of people should be installed this fall by October 11, which is National Coming

T. Kebo Drew, managing director of Queer Women’s Collective Media Arts Project, said the group received two arts grants.

especially a working-class (in San Francisco I am technically ‘working poor’) put on a realistic path to not just finish our projects but lay down the groundwork for continual growth.” According to public records, Porras-Hernandez received a $15,000 grant. Growth is of particular importance to queer-identified organizations, as they attempt to stay alive and relevant in a changing city where tech often drowns out art. Recipient T. Kebo Drew, 49, is a queer woman and managing director of the Queer Women’s Collective Media Arts Project. The organization received two grants, one for $100,000 over two years, and the other for $20,000. When asked what this grant money would mean to her organization, Drew said in a phone interview that the worth of it was inestimable. “Most city or state arts organizations and arts commissions offer early and ongoing support, but few focus on equity to the same degree as the SFAC,” Drew said. “So many queer and trans artists are getting pushed out of the city, but work like this helps

Out Day. They are lesbians American pianist and singer Gladys Bentley and radical feminist and political activist Audre Lorde; gay drag queen actor Divine; transgender activist Sylvia Rivera, who cofounded the Gay Activist Alliance and was among those protesting at the Stonewall Inn riot 50 years ago this month; and gay men Air Force veteran Leonard Matlovich, American film historian Vito Russo, English writer Quentin Crisp, and American illustrator and author Maurice Sendak. Eventually, promoters of the project would like to see it extend north along Market Street to Octavia Boulevard, where the LGBT community center is located. David Perry, a gay man and public relations professional who helped conceive of the project, expects the next group of people to be honored will be announced in early 2020. “We are already getting ideas on whom to select,” he said. For more information about the Rainbow Honor Walk, as well as a list of all of the honorees, visit http://www.rainbowhonorwalk. org. t

Mission Dolores. We are not new. And with the SFAC’s commitment to equity, we’re hanging on.” Tom DeCaigny, a gay man who is the city’s director of cultural affairs for the arts commission, commented specifically on the way the commission affects queer working artists. “For over 25 years, the San Francisco Arts Commission has nurtured and supported art by and for the LGBTQ community through our groundbreaking Cultural Equity

Endowment,” he wrote in an email. “Through years of investment, we have been able to fortify San Francisco’s queer artists, which have gone on to mentor subsequent generations ensuring that the LGBTQ art scene remains a robust and vibrant part of the city’s cultural fabric.” t To read the report, visit https:// sfgov.org/arts/sites/default/ files/050619_CIP_Overview_FY1920.pdf.

IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO CALIFORNIA BARREL COMPANY LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, Plaintiff, v. All Persons Claiming Any Interest in, or Lien Upon, the Real Property Herein Described or, Any Part thereof, Defendants. Case No. CGC-19-574377 SUMMONS ON SECOND AMENDED COMPLAINT [CCP § 751.05] The people of the State of California, to All Persons Claiming Any Interest in, or Lien Upon, the Real Property Herein Described or, Any Part thereof, defendants, greeting (See Memorandum Disclosing Adverse Interest [CCP § 751.07] attached.): You are hereby required to appear and answer the complaint of CALIFORNIA BARREL COMPANY LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, plaintiff, filed with the clerk of the above-entitled court and county, within three months after the first publication of this summons, and to set forth what interest or lien, if any, you have in or upon that certain real property or any part thereof, situated in the City and County of San Francisco, State of California, particularly described as follows: REAL PROPERTY, SITUATE IN THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, COMPRJSED OF SIX (6) PARCELS, DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: BEING A PORTION OF PARCEL A, AS SAID PARCEL A IS DESCRJBED IN THAT CERTAIN GRANT DEED RECORDED SEPTEMBER 26, 2016 AS DOCUMENT NUMBER 2016-K334613 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS, IN THE OFFICE OF THE RECORDER OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: PARCEL ONE BEING ALL OF MARYLAND STREET, AS SAID STREET EXISTED PRIOR TO THE VA CATION THEREOF, LYING WITHIN SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRJBED AS FOLLOWS: BEGINNING AT THE INTERSECTION OF THE NORTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613) WITH THE WESTERN LINE OF SAID MARYLAND STREET; THENCE, FROM SAID POINT OF BEGINNING, ALONG SAID NORTHERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), EASTERLY 80 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID NORTHERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613) WITH THE EASTERN LINE OF SAID MARYLAND STREET; THENCE, ALONG SAID EASTERN LINE OF MARYLAND STREET, SOUTHERLY 279 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID EASTERN LINE OF MARYLAND STREET WITH THE SOUTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL A (ON 2016-K334613); THENCE, ALONG SAID SOUTHERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), WESTERLY 80 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID SOUTHERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613) WITH SAID WESTERN LINE OF MARYLAND STREET; THENCE, ALONG SAID WESTERN LINE OF MARYLAND STREET, NORTHERLY 279 FEET TO SAID POINT OF BEGINNING. PARCEL TWO BEING ALL OF LOUISIANA STREET, AS SAID STREET EXISTED PRIOR TO THE VACATION THEREOF, LYING WITHIN SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: BEGINNING AT THE INTERSECTION OF THE NORTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016- K334613) WITH THE WESTERN LINE OF SAID LOUISIANA STREET; THENCE, FROM SAID POINT OF BEGINNING, ALONG SAID NORTHERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), EASTERLY 80 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID NORTHERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613) WITH THE EASTERN LINE OF SAID LOUISIANA STREET; THENCE, ALONG SAID EASTERN LINE OF LOUISIANA STREET, SOUTHERLY 279 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID EASTERN LINE OF LOUISIANA STREET WITH THE SOUTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613); THENCE, ALONG SAID SOUTHERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), WESTERLY 80 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID SOUTHERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613) WITH SAID WESTERN LINE OF LOUISIANA STREET; THENCE, ALONG SAID WESTERN LINE OF LOUISIANA STREET, NORTHERLY 279 FEET TO SAID POINT OF BEGINNING. PARCEL THREE BEING A PORTION OF GEORGIA STREET, AS SAID STREET EXISTED PRIOR TO THE VACATION THEREOF, LYING WITHIN SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: BEGINNING AT A POINT ON THE WESTERN LINE OF SAID GEORGIA STREET, SAID POINT BEING THE SOUTHWESTERN CORNER OF PARCEL 1, AS SAID PARCEL 1 IS DESCRIBED IN THAT CERTAIN JUDGMENT RECORDED FEBRUARY 1, 2001, AS DOCUMENT NUMBER 2001-G897578 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS, IN SAID OFFICE OF THE RECORDER OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO; THENCE, FROM SAID POINT OF BEGINNING, ALONG THE SOUTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL 1 (DN 200 l-G897578), EASTERLY 80 FEET TO A POINT IN THE EASTERN LINE OF SAID GEORGIA STREET, SAID POINT BEING THE SOUTHEASTERN CORNER OF SAID PARCEL 1 (DN 200 l-G897578); THENCE, ALONG SAID EASTERN LINE OF GEORGIA STREET, SOUTHERLY 406.42 FEET TO THE NORTHEASTERN CORNER OF PARCEL 3, AS SAID PARCEL 3 IS DESCRIBED IN THAT CERTAIN JUDGMENT QUIETING TITLE RECORDED MAY 26, 1960 IN BOOK A 127 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS, AT PAGE 596, IN SAID OFFICE OF THE RECORDER OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO; THENCE, ALONG THE NORTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL 3 (Al27 OR 596), NORTHWESTERLY 18.79 FEET TO A POINT ON THE WESTERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613); THENCE, ALONG SAID WESTERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), THE FOLLOWING TWO (2) COURSES: 1) NORTH 03°10’16” WEST 125.39 FEET, AND 2) SOUTH 86°49’44” WEST 63.85 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID WESTERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2001-K334613) AND SAID WESTERN LINE OF GEORGIA STREET; PARCEL FOUR BEING A PORTION OF MICHIGAN STREET, AS SAID STREET EXISTED PRIOR TO THE VACATION THEREOF, LYING WITHIN SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: BEGINNING AT A POINT ON THE EASTERN LINE OF SAID MICHIGAN STREET, SAID POINT BEING THE SOUTHEASTERN CORNER OF PARCEL 2, AS SAID PARCEL 2 rs DESCRIBED IN THAT CERTAIN JUDGMENT RECORDED FEBRUARY 1, 2001, AS DOCUMENT NUMBER 2001- 0897578 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS, IN SAID OFFICE OF THE RECORDER OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO; THENCE, FROM SAID POINT OF BEGINNING, ALONG SAID EASTERN LINE OF MICHIGAN STREET, SOUTHERLY 157.42 FEET, MORE OR LESS, TO THE NORTHEASTERN CORNER OF PARCEL 4, AS SAID PARCEL 4 IS DESCRIBED IN THAT CERTAIN JUDGMENT QUIETING TITLE RECORDED MAY 26, 1960 IN BOOK A127 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS, AT PAGE 596, IN SAID OFFICE OF THE RECORDER OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO; THENCE, ALONG THE NORTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL 4 (A127 OR 596), NORTHWESTERLY 2 FEET, MORE OR LESS, TO A POINT ON THE WESTERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016- K334613); THENCE, ALONG SAID WESTERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), THE FOLLOWING TWO (2) COURSES: 1) NORTH 03°10’16” WEST 9.01 FEET, AND 2) SOUTH 86°49’44” WEST 11.12 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID WESTERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2001-K334613) AND SAID NORTHERN LINE OF PARCEL 4 (A127 OR 596); THENCE, ALONG SAID NORTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL 4 (A127 OR 596), NORTHWESTERLY 6 FEET, MORE OR LESS, TO A POINT ON SAID WESTERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613); THENCE, ALONG SAID WESTERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), NORTH 03°41’19” WEST 143.4 FEET, MORE OR LESS, TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID WESTERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613) WITH THE SOUTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL 2 (ON 2001- 0897578); THENCE, ALONG SAID SOUTHERN LINE OF PARCEL 2 (DN 2001-0897578), EASTERLY 18.62 FEET TO SAID POINT OF BEGINNING. PARCEL FIVE BEING A PORTION OF HUMBOLDT STREET, AS SAID STREET EXISTED PRIOR TO THE VACATION THEREOF, LYING WITHIN SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K3346 l 3), MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: BEGINNING AT THE INTERSECTION OF THE SOUTHERN LINE OF SAID HUMBOLDT STREET (33 FEET WIDE) WITH THE EASTERN LINE OF MICHIGAN STREET, AS SAID MICHIGAN STREET EXISTED PRIOR TO THE VACATION THEREOF, SAID POINT BEING THE NORTHEASTERN CORNER OF PARCEL 2, AS SAID PARCEL 2 IS DESCRIBED IN THAT CERTAIN JUDGMENT RECORDED FEBRUARY I, 2001, AS DOCUMENT NUMBER 2001-0897578 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS, IN SAID OFFICE OF THE RECORDER OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO; THENCE, FROM SAID POINT OF BEGINNING, ALONG THE NORTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL 2 (ON 2001-0897578), WESTERLY 18.62 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID NORTHERN LINE OF PARCEL 2 (2001-0897578) AND THE WESTERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL A (ON 2016- K334613); THENCE, ALONG SAID WESTERN LINE OF PARCEL A (ON 2016K334613), THE FOLLOWING TWO (2) COURSES: I) NORTH 03°41’19” WEST 1.31 FEET, AND 2) NORTH 87°24’17” EAST 18.63 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID WESTERN LINE OF PARCEL A (ON 2001-K334613) AND SAID EASTERN LINE OF MICHIGAN STREET; THENCE, ALONG SAID EASTERN LINE OF MICHIGAN STREET, SOUTHERLY I .12 FEET TO SAID POINT OF BEGINNING. PARCEL SIX BEING A PORTION OF HUMBOLDT STREET, AS SAID STREET EXISTED PRIOR TO THE VACATION THEREOF, LYING WITHIN SAID PARCEL A (ON 2016-K334613), MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: BEGINNING AT THE INTERSECTION OF THE SOUTHERN LINE OF SAID HUMBOLDT STREET (33 FEET WIDE) WITH THE EASTERN LINE OF GEORGIA STREET, AS SAID GEORGIA STREET EXISTED PRIOR TO THE VACATION THEREOF, SAID POINT BEING THE NORTHEASTERN CORNER OF PARCEL 1, AS SAID PARCEL 1 IS DESCRIBED IN THAT CERTAIN JUDGMENT RECORDED FEBRUARY I, 2001, AS DOCUMENT NUMBER 2001-G897578 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS, IN SAID OFFICE OF THE RECORDER OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO; THENCE, FROM SAID POINT OF BEGINNING, ALONG THE NORTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL 1 (ON 2001-0897578), WESTERLY 80 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID PARCEL 1 (2001- 0897578) AND THE WESTERN LINE OF SAID GEORGIA STREET, SAID POINT BEING THE NORTHEASTERN CORNER OF SAID PARCEL I (ON 2001-0897578); THENCE, ALONG SAID WESTERN LINE GEORGIA STREET, NORTHERLY 33 FEET TO THE NORTHERN LINE OF SAID HUMBOLDT STREET; THENCE, ALONG SAID NORTHERN LINE OF HUMBOLDT STREET, EASTERLY 80 FEET TO A POINT ON THE EASTERN LINE OF SAID GEORGIA STREET; THENCE, ALONG SAID EASTERN LINE OF GEORGIA STREET, SOUTHERLY 33 FEET TO SAID POINT OF BEGINNING. PARCELS ONE THROUGH SIX BEING PORTIONS OF APN 4175-017. ATTACHED HERETO IS AN ILLUSTRATIVE INDEX MAP, AND BY THIS REFERENCE, MADE A PART HEREOF. And you are hereby notified that, unless you so appear and answer, the plaintiff will apply to the court for the relief demanded in the complaint, to wit: quiet title to the Property consistent with the legal description above, against all adverse claims of all claimants, known and unknown, as of the date the Complaint in this case was filed. Witness my hand and the seal of said court, Memorandum Disclosing Adverse Interest [CCP § 751.07] The following persons are said to claim an interest in, or lien upon, said property adverse to Plaintiff: 1. PG&E, 245 Market Street, NlOA, Room 1015, P.O. Box 770000, San Francisco, CA 94177 2. City and County of San Francisco, Office of the City Attorney, Room 234 City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco, CA 94102 3. Trans Bay Cable LLC, One Letterman Drive, C5-100, San Francisco, CA 94129 4. San Francisco Port Authority, Pier 1, The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94111 5. California Regional Water Quality Control Board for the San Francisco Bay Region, 1515 Clay Street, Suite 1400, Oakland, CA 94612 6. NRG Potrero LLC, c/o GenOn, 1360 Post Oak Boulevard, Suite 2000, Houston TX 77056

<< Community News

12 • Bay Area Reporter • June 6-12, 2019

1 “Below Market Rate” ownership home at 1452 Bush Street 1 two-bedroom home priced at $371,337 with 1 car parking. Applicants must be first-time homebuyers and cannot exceed the following income levels: 100% of Area Median Income 2019

Applications due by 5:00 PM on July 11, 2019. Apply online through DAHLIA, the SF Housing Portal at https://housing.sfgov.org or mail in a paper application with a self-addressed stamped envelope to BMR 1452 Bush, P.O. Box 420847, San Francisco, CA 94142. Paper applications can be downloaded from https://housing.sfgov.org or picked up from Vanguard Properties at 1801 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, CA 94115. Please contact Rebecca Stack and/or Colleen Cotter for an application and more information at (415) 706-1241 or rebecca@vanguardsf.com. Units available through the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development and are subject to monitoring and other restrictions. Visit www.sfmohcd.org for program information.

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SF_Columbarium_2x7.625_033017.indd 1

SF cannabis office works on permit backlog by Sari Staver

One person - $86,200; 2 persons - $98,500; 3 persons - $110,850; 4 persons - $123,150 etc.

FD 1306

COA 660

8/11/17 12:30 PM

ore than 100 people crowded into the Castro’s Flore on Market recently, anxious to shake hands with Marisa Rodriguez, the newly appointed director of the city’s Office of Cannabis. Rodriguez, who declined to give her age, spent the last nine years as an assistant district attorney in San Francisco, where she was involved with the city’s groundbreaking program to retroactively wipe out more than 9,000 marijuana-related convictions. She took over the cannabis office in April after the previous director, Nicole Elliott, was named senior adviser on cannabis in Governor Gavin Newsom’s Office of Business and Economic Development. At the May 23 event at Flore, Rodriguez was the guest of honor at a meet and greet hosted by cafe proprietor Terrance Alan, former chairman of the now-defunct Cannabis State Legalization Task Force, as well as an applicant to open a new dispensary, Flore Store, across the street from his café. Formerly known as Cafe Flore, it has a long history in the city’s cannabis movement and is where late marijuana activists Dennis Peron and Mary Jane Rathbun, aka Brownie Mary, often met. With a crowd six-deep in line to talk to Rodriguez, we decided to say hello and follow up with a telephone interview to get an update on the latest developments in the city’s efforts to shape and regulate the cannabis industry. Rodriguez suggested we scan her office’s website (https://officeofcannabis.sfgov.org/) to get an instant picture of what is happening now in the cannabis business. To be sure, the map of the existing 37 retail dispensaries is just a hint of what’s to come, since another graphic points out that there are more than

Sari Staver

Cannabis entrepreneur Terrance Alan, left, meets SF Office of Cannabis director Marisa Rodriguez.

293 applicants waiting for licenses, which includes people who want to open delivery, manufacturing, cultivation, and distribution businesses. The website, a gold mine of details about how to get into the industry, can answer many questions about the complicated process and gives contact information for further details. Currently, Rodriguez and her staff of four are spending the majority of their time processing applications from equity candidates, a term used by the city to even the playing field by lowering the barriers to cannabis licensing for those hardest hit by the war on drugs. People can qualify as equity applicants based on eligibility criteria including their residency, income, criminal justice involvement, and housing insecurity. Rodriguez conceded that the application process is complicated and time-consuming, but said that she is “optimistic” that her staff is making “good progress” in making its way through the long list of applicants. The application process began

18 months ago, she explained, and “thanks to the city committing more resources to the office,” it has gotten “some momentum going” in getting people through the first phase of the application and into the next, where they must be approved by the planning department. When Rodriguez took over, some 24 applicants had finished their work with the office and were being processed by the planning department. Since she came on board, 10 more applicants were forwarded to planning. Rodriguez predicted the first of these equity applicants will be finished with the entire application process by the end of this year. In addition to being time consuming and complicated, getting a license is “incredibly expensive,” acknowledged Rodriguez. If you want to open a dispensary in a pricey area like Union Square, she said, startup costs can easily be at least $1.5 to $3 million. Most equity applicants don’t have that kind of cash or credit line available, she said, but many are finding See page 13 >>

Tyler Center

William P. Roderick

August 14, 1990 – May 13, 2019

January 13, 1933 – May 25, 2019

Email stevecanning@cox.net for the location and date.

Tyler Center, born August 14, 1990, was found dead May 13, 2019 in Los Angeles at age 28. He was also called Taylor Wang. The cause of death was suicide. Tyler lived in New York, Taiwan, the Bay Area, and L.A. He was a native speaker of Mandarin and English, and traveled easily between Chinese- and English-speaking worlds. He earned an associate degree with honors in 2011 from City College of San Francisco, and then transferred to UCLA. Tyler was scheduled to graduate from UCLA on June 15; he will receive a posthumous diploma. At age 15, Tyler entered foster care. He was placed with Claudia Center, of San Francisco, who became his chosen mother. Tyler is also survived by foster brother Christopher Kohler, of San Francisco; and chosen family Francis, Vivian, Christiane, and Yorkman Chan, of Daly City. Tyler was academically gifted, and typically earned straight As (when he did not receive straight Ws). He enjoyed traveling internationally, working, driving, eating, and hanging out with his friends. He was estranged from his biological parents. A memorial is scheduled for Sunday, June 16, at 1 p.m. at Eureka Valley Recreation Center, 100 Collingwood Street in San Francisco. Donations may be made to the National Trans Bar Association, https://transbar.org/.

A great man has departed. Rod, as he was known, was given the title of the “Godfather of Disco” by many of the nightclub promoters and owners during the 1980s and 1990s in San Francisco. He was instrumental in assisting and coordinating the design and installations of lighting and sound systems at Pleasuredome on Townsend Street and other nightclub venues that have long since closed. Whenever there was a major party at Pleasuredome, you can be assured that Rod was somehow involved with the production. Rod’s signature tambourine could almost always be heard from the back of the club around 3 or 4 a.m. He would always want to see for himself how the event was going and this was the “hour of magic” at the club. His smile would light up a room beyond all of the techno beams at the club. Rod coordinated many of the DJs and lighting technicians who performed at the clubs. Rod’s mansion home on McAllister Street was very often where the out-of-town talent would stay. There was a full DJ booth at the mansion and a wonderful lighting system that would entertain many of Rods friends on the dance floor at the mansion. Those were magical times in San Francisco before, during, and after the AIDS crisis. He enriched the lives of so many people. He insisted on perfection and always paid so much attention to detail. These attributes were evident in every aspect of his life and career. Rod also did everything with high-class style. A celebration of life will be scheduled for Rod soon.

Obituaries >>

Keith Thomas Shivers December 23, 1956 – May 9, 2019

Keith Thomas Shivers was born in Nashville, Tennessee, to William and Frances Shivers. He was the youngest sibling of Connie (Shivers) Bennett, Jeff Shivers, and his twin, Karen (Shivers) Saccone. Keith is survived by his mother and his sister Connie, along with a nephew and three nieces. Keith passed, at home, after a long illness. In San Francisco, Keith worked at the QT, Dante’s, Hilton SF, Castro Video, Luisa’s, Castro Station Bar, Marriott Fisherman’s Wharf, and the Hotel Whitcomb. Before moving to San Francisco in the mid-1980s, he lived in Denver, Key West, and Orange County. As a bartender, he was one of a kind. Every action behind the bar was a symphony of humor and skill. No one will be able to recreate his original drinks. He never missed an opportunity to use his Southern charm. Over the years, he dearly loved his pets, Ramsey, Dobie, Bella, Mouse, and Mijo. Everyone learned Christmas lights brought him endless joy. Keith, the ceaseless practical joker, will be missed by many. Try to focus on the happiness of Keith in your life, and the impish disregard he brought to so many situations and stories. More information: krsfca@gmail. com.

Commentary>>

June 6-12, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 13

More than a monument by Gwendolyn Ann Smith

n conjunction with Pride Month, New York City has announced a future monument dedicated to Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson. The memorial will be placed about a block away from the Stonewall Inn, the flashpoint of the modern LGBTQ rights movement and the site where the duo gained notoriety for their involvement in the Stonewall rebellion. It should be unnecessary to describe who Johnson and Rivera are, but just in case, I’ll explain. Johnson – the “P” is for “Pay It No Mind,” she once said – was, in modern terminology, gendernonconforming. She self-defined as a drag queen, but I feel it worthwhile to note that “drag” as a term was viewed somewhat differently in the time and place, and was often used as an umbrella term in the same way we use “transgender” today. What Johnson did in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969 will likely never be known for sure. Many claim that she threw the first brick at Stonewall, while others dispute the claim. Even she said that she arrived after the riot had already begun. Nevertheless, she soon became a key individual in the rebellion, alongside Rivera. Rivera was in the same circles as Johnson, living on the streets and eking out a life – and while some do deny Rivera had any involvement with the Stonewall rebellion, she was nevertheless key to many things that happened

Bay Area Cannasseur

From page 12

investment partners who can either provide commercial space for their business or technical assistance in launching the business, she said. The city’s cannabis website also lists potential investors who have in-

Guest Opinion

From page 4

other Jornada events were held with large and enthusiastic audiences. Jones received the CENESEX Prize at a dazzling gala event at the Karl Marx Theater, the largest venue in Cuba. Presenting the award was Mariela Castro Espin, an ally who is a member of the national assembly, the director of CENESEX, daughter of former president Raul Castro, and the country’s best-known official LGBTQ+ rights activist. In return, Jones presented Castro Espin with one of the last rainbow flags created by the late Gilbert Baker. It was a moment that deeply joined Americans and Cubans in support of the rights of all people. On what would have been the day of the conga, an open-air Diversity Celebration was held instead. At the evening’s entertainment, Jones and Castro Espin were greeted with roaring approval for their messages of hope and support for Cuba’s LGBTQ+ communities. The following day, Jones presented a display of two panels of the Names Project Quilt that featured memorials to Cubans who had died from AIDSrelated illnesses. On our last day in Havana, we visited Projecto Memorias – the Cuban AIDS Quilt – where an unveiling ceremony was held and we talked with staff and patients about the healing power of the quilt and created a new bond and made new friends. On the day of the original conga,

Christine Smith

Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson

in the wake of that battle. After the riots, Johnson and Rivera founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries, or STAR, and fought for homeless LGBTQ people in New York. They founded STAR House to care and nurture young drag queens, trans people, and gender-nonconforming youth. Both worked for much of their own lives advocating for our community. Yet the community did not always reciprocate. In 1973, as the larger “Gay Rights” movement began to mature, the duo was barred from their local Pride event. The attitude at the time was that drag – as well as BDSM and dicated an interest in partnering with an equity applicant, Rodriguez said. As for the concerns of the general public, Rodriguez said “number one” is probably whether they want a new cannabis business to open in their neighborhood. While much of the stigma of cannabis has disappeared since the state has legalized the herb for recreational

we followed the news as a spontaneously called alternative conga marched to one of Havana’s public squares. Although the unauthorized march was quickly dispersed by authorities and some of the organizers and participants arrested and later released, it seemed to our American eyes that there was hope in the willingness of this group to stand up and be seen and heard. It demonstrated to the world that the spirit of Cuba’s LGBTQ+ people was unbroken. That spirit will be tested in two years when there will be a referendum to update Cuba’s Family Code in which activists hope to see inclusion of the language establishing marriage as “the union of two people.” This week the Trump administration further reversed the engagement policies of the Obama era by eliminating “people to people” visits, banning group tours and cruise ships from going to the island. As a humanitarian aid provider, RWF is still permitted to travel to Cuba, and we will return to Cuba next year, from May 6-16. We hope to be marching in the conga and to see the campaign for marriage equality in full swing. This is a time for a revolution for equality and justice – and Cubans know a great deal about revolutions. We stand in solidarity with our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters in Cuba and around the world. t Jeff Cotter is executive director of the Rainbow World Fund. For more information, visit www. rainbowfund.org.

other outward displays of sexuality – were giving the movement a bad name, and hindering the advancement of LGBTQ rights. In 1992, shortly after Pride, Johnson’s body was found floating in the Hudson River. Police called it a suicide, but evidence pointed elsewhere. In wasn’t until 2012 – 20 years later – that the New York Police Department reopened her case as a possible homicide. It remains open and unsolved. Rivera was living on the street in the late 1990s when the transgender community started blossoming, and quickly became politically active once again. She resurrected STAR – changing “transvestite” to “transgender” in the process – and fought for transgender and LGBTQ rights in New York. Her return was shortlived, however, as cancer would claim her life in early 2002. For much of their lives, as I alluded to earlier, questions swirled around just how much of a part they played in the actual events of one evening in June 1969. I’m sure that the same will happen as this monument goes forward. I would also argue that Stormé DeLarverie, a butch lesbian and drag performer who likely threw the first punch at the Stonewall Inn that morning, deserves a whole lot more credit than usually given. Nevertheless, it is Johnson and Rivera who are key to the story of our movement. What they may have done or not, that one day, is only a single part

of their story. The duo gave everything to our community in the wake of that event, and yet were still viewed as too queer for the very movement they helped usher in. They have become a symbol, a testament to our community of fierceness, of determination, and of activism above and beyond one’s self. Everyone who has marched in a Pride parade, who has stood up for their rights as an LGBTQ person, or who has enjoyed gains made by the LGBTQ movement owes a debt to this pair. We owe them far more than a chunk of stone or whatnot on a parcel in Greenwich Village. We need to learn from their example and their lives, and move forward. STAR helped our queer youth, provided them a home, and watched them grow. We need to continue to raise up those who have been forgotten and marginalized everywhere. LGBTQ youth are still cast out by their families and end up on our streets. It is up to us to reach out. Both Rivera and Johnson were often out on those streets too, and both suffered for it. We need to look at the rest of our community that could be out there trying to survive on the streets, and create sustainable services that can help people at any stage of their lives.

use, “there will always be some people” who are opposed to having any sort of cannabis business near their home, she said. A number of studies have indicated that cannabis businesses do not present a danger to a neighborhood, either in terms of additional crime or harm to other existing shops. As the new applicants make their

way through the planning department, often accompanied by public hearings, Rodriguez said she expects that there will continue to be differences of opinion among San Franciscans. “Both sides are organized,” she said of the cannabis industry and opponents. “We will continue to hear both sides of the story,” she added. t

Rivera died of liver cancer, which is linked to hepatitis infection as well as exposure to alcohol. We need to continue to address alcohol use and abuse in our community, as well as illnesses like hepatitis. Johnson, like so many others in our community, was murdered. We know just how common that is. We need to continue to fight back against the continual, sickening number of dead trans women of color, and continue to press for their killers to be brought to justice. More than this, we need to work to include our whole community, and not push away people with the misguided notions of “respectability” in the face of a conservative movement for which we can never be too polished, too clean, and too submissive. New York City will erect a monument to Johnson and Rivera, but it is up to each of us to make a world worthy of such a thing: a place where the real monument is a legacy of good works done in their names. t Gwen Smith reminds you that the first Pride was a riot. You’ll find her at www.gwensmith.com.

The Office of Cannabis is located in City Hall Room 018, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, and is open weekdays from 1 to 5 p.m.

Life at San Francisco Towers is everything you love about the city and more. It’s a smart, sophisticated, inclusive senior community. Stay involved in your favorite activities. Enjoy the conveniences of a Life Plan Community. And experience the peace of mind that comes with planning for the future now. For singles or couples, San Francisco Towers is the welcome you’ve been looking for.

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<< Community News

14 • Bay Area Reporter • June 6-12, 2019

Prez hopefuls

From page 1

on gun safety in the wake of Friday’s mass shooting at a municipal building in Virginia Beach, Virginia that left 12 people dead. Police killed the shooter, identified as DeWayne Craddock. “We’ve seen normalization of mass shootings,” Booker said, referencing several previous incidents, including the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, Florida that killed 49 people in June 2016. “It’s time for us as a nation to come together and take the fight to the NRA like we’ve never seen before,” he added, referring to the National Rifle Association. Harris, who had a bevy of supporters in the hall, said that with the current president, the country “is in a fight for truth itself.” She referred to President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs as “the Trump trade tax,” and said they are “taking $1.4 billion out of Americans’ paychecks every month.” And she criticized Trump for dividing the country, including the ban on allowing trans people to serve openly in the armed forces. “Transgender people who want to serve in the military should be treated

Asylum project

From page 2

Sengun, the founder and executive director, reminded attendees that it’s still considered a crime to be LGBT in 75 countries. Earlier in the day, said Sengun, a gay man told staff at the project that he had been beaten by family members because of his sexual orientation.

SF Protest

From page 2

of Stonewall this month. We need to celebrate that memory and bring that fight into the future. We have to fight for the liberation of queer people of every nation.” Other attendees were also critical of immigration authorities. “Border Patrol is setting a dangerous precedent for criminalizing HIV,” said Marke Bieschke, a 49-year-old queer man and publisher of the independent 48 Hills online site. Bieschke took a turn with the bullhorn, speaking to the assembled

Walking tour

From page 10

will lead attendees to various historical sites, where the actors will play actual people who made the neighborhood what it was. Unlike the North Beach show, which featured entertainment spots and places where people congregated, the SOMA show will focus on

News Briefs

From page 8

help tell the unique stories of the LGBTQA community and shine a light on its historical significance to the region, state, and nation. According to a news release, this is the first time these three organizations have worked together to promote special programming, which also complements two ongoing exhibitions focused on LGBTQA communities: “Show Me as I Want to Be Seen” at the CJM through July 7, and “Queer California: Untold Stories” at OMCA through August 11. Over the weekend of June 22-23, members of each organization will receive reciprocal access to all three institutions. California Historical Society programming includes a lecture series every Tuesday during June at 6 p.m. at 678 Mission Street. Upcoming talks include “The Roots of Today’s Revolution” (June 11) with award-winning trans scholar and filmmaker Susan Stryker, and a film screening and discussion of “Major!” about trans activ-

Rick Gerharter

Senator Kamala Harris spoke at the California Democratic Party’s convention last weekend.

ering, instead delivering remarks at a Human Rights Campaign dinner in Ohio. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders addressed delegates Sunday. Woods said that Sanders and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar came to the state party’s LGBT caucus to speak even though they were not scheduled. She said Sanders never uttered the words “bisexual” or “transgender” during his remarks to the caucus. “Very disappointing, since two of the three closest board members to the stage are trans-identified, Evan Minton and myself,” she wrote. Klobuchar, Woods wrote, talked about LGBT accomplishments in Minnesota and the repeal of the military’s anti-gay “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and other national issues. Woods said the caucus reached out to Buttigieg’s campaign but no one showed up. The candidate himself was attending a fundraiser in San Francisco, which was closed to the press, at the same time as the caucus meeting. On the convention floor, former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke gave part of his speech in Spanish (Buttigieg also spoke some Spanish during his remarks), and talked about voting rights and immigration, pledging to

bring the more than 11 million undocumented people “out of the shadows.” New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said Trump is “tearing apart the moral fabric of the country,” and said she has stood up to the president by voting against his cabinet and judicial nominees “more than anyone else in the Senate.” Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii said she would crack down on Big Pharma and “end the federal prohibition on marijuana.” Congressman Eric Swalwell, who’s top priority is gun control, touted his plan to “ban and buy back every single assault weapon” in the country. Klobuchar talked about the need for comprehensive immigration reform and action on climate change, saying she would get the U.S. back into the international climate agreement. Former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper drew boos when he told delegates, “If we want to beat Donald Trump and achieve big progressive goals, socialism is not the answer.” Washington state Governor Jay Inslee, who’s running on climate change, referenced one of gay icon Harvey Milk’s famous quotes on the first day of Pride Month. “I’ve come to recruit you ... for a clean energy future,” he said. t

as heroes, not have the door slammed in their faces,” Harris said. She did say that Congress should begin impeachment hearings against the president, which drew cheers. Tiffany Woods, a trans woman who was elected northern co-chair of the state Democratic Party’s LGBT Caucus during the convention, said several presidential candidates impressed her. “I thought Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, and May-

or Pete were hands-down the most electrifying and engaging with the best audience reactions,” she wrote in an email. She was impressed with Buttigieg, who she had not heard speak before.

The previous week, a female client told the attorneys that as a high school student she was stoned in public for kissing another girl in the open. “These walls are going to record horrifying stories,” Sengun said, but the work of the asylum project “gives me hope for a better future.” “Our work is within reach of everyone in the LGBT community,” he added.

One asylum project client, Hussein Sham, seconded Sengun’s sentiment. Sham, a 30-year-old gay man and Indian citizen, moved to the Bay Area from Dubai to attend college at Golden Gate University. After Sham received his degree, he had trouble finding a job and feared he might have to return home. (Last fall, the India Supreme Court struck down a

colonial era sodomy law that made gay sex punishable by up to 10 years in prison.) In a telephone interview with the Bay Area Reporter, Sham said that after meeting attorneys from the asylum project he was able to complete the complicated task of applying for asylum, which was recently approved. “Going back home was not a viable

option,” said Sham. “I am so grateful for the help provided to me by the asylum project. They are so humble about the work they do. These are people who are doing this work from their heart. I cannot thank them enough.” t

crowd. “They’re holding her up as an example of how refugees are bringing disease into the country. We’re the richest country in the world, and having HIV does not make you a criminal. These people are human and deserve human rights. They have the right to seek asylum, to come here and seek help.” The protesters took up a chant of “No more ICE deaths,” as people queued into the building at two separate entrances, both behind barricades organizers said were placed by the city in order to discourage encampment around the building following 2018’s Occupy ICE protests.

National organizations like the Human Rights Campaign and the National Center for Transgender Equality spoke out this week about Medina’s death and the ongoing humanitarian crisis at the border. David Stacy, HRC director of government affairs, said in a news release: “The death of Johana Medina, a transgender woman of color and asylum seeker, just hours after being released from ICE custody, is yet another horrific and deeply disturbing development in the ongoing crisis of anti-LGBTQ actions by immigration authorities. “This follows the still-unexplained

death of Roxsana Hernandez and numerous reports of mistreatment of LGBTQ migrants and asylum seekers while in custody of CBP and ICE,” Stacy added, referring to Customs and Border Protection. “It is critical that every person be treated with safety, dignity, and respect by immigration authorities, and this latest tragedy demands greater transparency and accountability of these agencies.” NCTE pointed out the particular vulnerability of transgender asylum speakers in its statement. “Transgender migrants held by ICE report high levels of physical and sexual abuse as well as inadequate

food and a lack of access to basic medical care,” the agency stated. “According to data released by the agency to Representative Kathleen Rice (D-New York), transgender people only make up 0.1% of the detainee population, yet 12% of sexual assaults reported to the agency come from transgender detainees.” Monday’s protest ended peaceably without intervention from ICE or its building security. Demonstrators left behind their poster images of Medina and Hernandez, taped to the exterior of the building’s stone walls. t

the contested land of Native people, organized labor, and the leather community. Nineteenth century transgender history will be included. The audience will “meet” a trans man named Jack Garland, who wrote for the San Francisco Examiner and other local papers, fought in the Spanish American War, and helped homeless people. “We fast forward to the 20th century and look at some of the lesbian

bars, the histories of gay bars in South of Market, and how the leather community was formed,” said Eisen. “We go into some of the first leather bars such as the Tool Box and a bar called the Ambush and we feature some of the very important people of that era. It’s a fun way to get educated.” The tour will take about two hours, and includes rest stops. “It’s a performance-driven, immer-

sive, sight-responsive queer history walking tour that literally brings queer history onto your lap,” said Eisen. “It places you right into the center of queer history as opposed to watching it from a distance. It’s exciting, it involves the audience – you get to be part of the scene as a participant helping to enact the histories. It’s a very unique experience. A lot of people think they know South of Market,

you’ll never see it the same.” t

ist Miss Major Griffin-Gracy (June 18). A presentation on California’s “Gay Revolution” in the Stonewall era will be held June 25. In addition to its current exhibit, CJM will hold a one-day zine fest Sunday, June 9, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. featuring zines and comic art celebrating self-expression in all its forms. On June 20, from 6 to 8 p.m., the museum will participate in Call and Response: Curator Swap, a new progressive gallery talk in collaboration with the historical society and the Museum of the African Diaspora, which will bring together educators and curators to examine work on view at the three museums in connection with Pride. Over in the East Bay, OMCA will hold drag family storytime Friday, June 7, from 6 to 7 p.m., and a Queer California Film Series that begins at 7:30. “In Conversation: Queer Cinema” takes place Friday, June 14, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., while “In Conversation: Black Trans Women on Resilience and Strength” will be held Saturday, June 15, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. During the San Francisco Pride pa-

rade Sunday, June 30, staff members from each of the three institutions, in partnership with several other cultural groups, will march together as part of a Museums with Pride contingent. For more information, including tickets and other events, visit www. californiahistoricalsociety.org, www. thecjm.org, and www.museumca.org.

space in the urban landscape has always been essential for queer survival, both for building community and obtaining political and cultural power. As the city undergoes transformation in its physical landscape and its resident population, previously queer sites and neighborhoods have slowly moved away from their historic identities. Panelists will probe San Francisco’s status as a haven for queer communities and look forward to where people want it to be in the future. Scheduled panelists include Terry Beswick, executive director at the GLBT Historical Society; Tania Jimenez, program coordinator at El/ La Para TransLatinas; Gerard Koskovich, adviser and archival researcher in the field of LGBTQ history and culture; and Gayle S. Rubin, American cultural anthropologist, activist, and theorist of sex and gender politics.

15, from 5 to 8 p.m. at 911 Dowling Boulevard. A news release stated that the night will be hosted by Imelda, a local drag queen from the East Bay city. The night will raise funds for the church, which is a diverse and dynamic congregation with active ministries including a 15-member pastoral care team, a food pantry that serves 350 people monthly, and a neighborhood center used by 12step programs, music and dance classes, and community groups. Rector the Reverend Justin Cannon, a gay man, became leader of the church just over three years ago. He was recognized as one of Instinct magazine’s Leading Men of the Year for his work in the LGBT community. The bingo night will include seven rounds with prizes ranging in value from $50 to $250. Additionally, the evening includes a Mexican dinner hosted by Mi Zacateca’s, an Oakland eatery. Tickets are $10-$25 and available at https://bit.ly/2wvmL5E. t

Other candidates

Aside from those four, the other Saturday speakers drew polite applause from delegates. Former Vice President Joe Biden skipped the gath-

Discussion on queer sites in San Francisco

Just in time for Pride Month and the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, the San Francisco Public Library will host “SF’s LGBTQIA Historic Places: Meaning, Value, and Use,” a panel of community scholars and organizers discussing the status of historic queer sites and queer public history in San Francisco. Carol Queen, Ph.D., a local writer, activist, and advice columnist for Good Vibrations magazine, will moderate the panel. The event is Thursday, June 13, at 6 p.m. in the Koret Auditorium at the main library, 100 Larkin Street. Admission is free. According to organizers, carving

Drag bingo benefit in San Leandro

All Saints Episcopal Church in San Leandro will hold its first drag bingo event Saturday, June

For more information, visit www. lgbtasylumproject.org.

“Out of Site: SOMA” takes place June 8-9, 15-16; Saturdays at noon and 2 p.m., Sundays at 1. People should meet at Howard Langton Community Garden, 10 Langton Street. The show finishes at Ringold Alley, 1 Ringold Street. Tickets are $10-$45 and available at https:// www.eyezen.org/out-of-site-soma.

t <<

From the Cover>>

Gay men assaulted

From page 1

David Campos, a gay man and chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party, denounced the incident in a Facebook post. “Any hate crime is unacceptable. That it would happen in San Francisco is heartbreaking and infuriating,” Campos, a former city supervisor, wrote. “San Francisco has a long history of embracing the LGBTQ community and has zero tolerance for any homopho-

Pride flag

From page 1

two cities’ city halls. Pinole’s City Council also voted 4-1 Tuesday night to fly the rainbow flag for the first time. The city raised the flag Wednesday morning and will keep it up through the end of June. And in Piedmont, the City Council voted Monday night to fly the flag for the first time at the request of bisexual City Councilman Tim Rood, who brought up the matter following what happened in Dublin. The city flew the flag Tuesday in front of a police station and will keep it up for the rest of the month. In the case of Dublin, the East Bay city’s five-person City Council had unanimously voted May 21 to issue its first proclamation in support of Pride. But on a 3-2 vote it denied a request from gay City Councilman Shawn Kumagai to also raise the rainbow flag on one of the three flagpoles in front of City Hall. Following a week of intense backlash from across the country, City Councilman Arun Goel and Dublin Mayor David Haubert announced they had changed their minds about

June 6-12, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 15

bic, transphobic, or racist act. Unfortunately, hate still exists in our society, especially in these times, and even here in progressive San Francisco. “My heart goes out to the victims and I call upon the San Francisco Police Department and our district attorney to conduct a full and swift investigation treating this as what it is, a hate crime,” Campos added. “That this would happen after a Democratic Party event, here in San Francisco of all places, reminds all that we have

much work to do. We must stand together against hatred and violence.” Tiffany Woods, northern cochair of the California Democratic Party LGBT Caucus, also issued a statement in response to the attacks via email Monday: “We strongly condemn the actions of this individual. We call on the San Francisco Police Department and San Francisco district attorney to fully investigate and prosecute this violence for what it is: a homophobic assault and battery.

“Homophobia has no place in our communities, not in San Francisco, not anywhere,” Woods added. “We stand with these two victims and we look forward to an appropriate response from local authorities that sends a strong signal to the public that this behavior is unacceptable and illegal, for the safety of our entire community.” The B.A.R. attempted to contact the suspect, but the only Griffin Murray fitting the description of the suspect who lives in San Francisco stated by phone that he was

not the same individual involved in the incident. The San Francisco Special Investigations Division, which oversees hate crime investigations, was assigned this case. SID investigators will be conferring with the San Francisco District Attorney’s office on the matter, according to police. As of press time, there was no court date scheduled for Murray. Neither SID nor the San Francisco District Attorney’s office responded to requests for comment. t

flying the Pride flag. LGBT Dublin residents and their allies nonetheless held a protest Saturday, June 1, at the city’s flagpole, where they brought their own rainbow flags to put pressure on the council to fly it on a city flagpole. At its June 4 meeting, where Haubert wore a rainbow sash that said “mayor” he had been given when marching in Boston’s Pride parade with a contingent of other mayors from across the country, the council adopted an outdoor flag policy paving the way for the city to fly the rainbow flag for the first time. The vote came after an hour of public comment that overwhelmingly was in support of the flag policy, while those opposed refrained from using outright homophobic remarks as had happened two weeks ago. “No gains will have ever been made for the LGBTQ community if it weren’t for the changed hearts of allies,” said Kumagai, who wore a rainbow heart on his suit jacket. The council then held a second, special meeting to vote on when to fly the rainbow flag. Kumagai last month had initially sought to have the Pride flag be raised for the en-

tire month of June but then sought a compromise proposal of having it be flown one day, which also failed to gain support. This week the council voted unanimously to raise the flag Tuesday night immediately after it recessed its special meeting and to leave it up through July 3. It plans to hold a formal ceremony June 22. Emeryville will fly a second rainbow flag at its City Hall on behalf of Dublin at a ceremony this Saturday, June 8. Gay City Councilman John Bauters pushed for the solidarity gesture and also reached out to Haubert last month to talk to him about why his handling of the flag issue had been problematic. In response to one woman who criticized Haubert Tuesday night for being silent about the homophobic and transphobic comments voiced at the prior council meeting two weeks ago, he issued an apology and said his remaining silent was “inexcusable” and that he had “missed an opportunity” to denounce the remarks. “I am sorry,” said Haubert early on in the meeting. Later in the evening Goel said he

felt “accountable and responsive to everyone. It is why I feel even more this commemorative flag policy should exist.” Kumagai also said he had failed at the prior hearing “to fully explain the significance of the Pride flag; for that I apologize.” The city councils of Hercules and Antioch will both vote June 11 on also raising the Pride flag.

ymously written blog during his campaign last year, Arriola wasn’t sure how the vote would go. “People realize that type of rhetoric is not tolerated in Tracy. I am hoping we learn that we can’t tolerate that and move forward. I am optimistic it will pass,” he said. In a text following the council’s vote, Arriola wrote he was “proud” that his council had voted unanimously to raise the flag. The city’s mayor also issued a proclamation for Pride month Tuesday night, marking a first for the San Joaquin County city. “Tonight, for the first time ever, the city of Tracy voted to recognize and actually celebrate the LGBT community,” Arriola told the B.A.R. “As the first openly LGBT elected official in our city, I am so proud that our community decided to support acceptance, unity, and love!” As he wrote in a Facebook post, Arriola explained that flying the flag “is about recognizing that LGBT people exist in our community, that they deserve respect and dignity, and that our community will not stand for intolerance or hate. This is about acceptance.” t

Classifieds Outreach June 2019 Child support matters can be complicated, stressful, and confusing. The Department of Child Support Services helps parents understand the process so they know their rights and options for making and receiving support payments. Call us today at (866) 901-3212 or visit our office at 617 Mission Street to learn how we can help you. Information is also available online at www.sfgov.org/dcss. Park Smart! The San Francisco Police Department reminds you to Park Smart to help prevent auto burglaries: * Keep valuables with you, not in your vehicle. * Shopping? Hold onto your purchases until you leave. Thieves often watch parking lots to spot shoppers dropping bags off in their car. * Visiting? Check luggage at your hotel- don’t leave it in your auto. If your car has been burglarized, here’s what to do: * Is the break-in happening right now? Call 9-1-1 with your location and a suspect description. * Did the break-in already happen? Report the crime on the non-emergency line at 1-415-553-0123. You may request that an officer come to the scene. You can also call 3-1-1 and file a police report online at https://sanfranciscopolice.org/reports. Visit any San Francisco Police station to have your vehicle fingerprinted. For more information, please visit our redesigned sanfranciscopolice.org website. Let’s get connected! Sign up for emergency text alerts from AlertSF. Simply text your zip code to 888-777 or visit alertsf.org. AlertSF will send alerts and instructions following a natural disaster, major police, fire, or health emergencies, or significant transportation disruptions to your mobile device. AlertSF is a service provided by the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management. Amazing has Arrived! Join San Francisco International Airport for a free Community Day on July 20 in celebration of Harvey Milk Terminal 1 and the Grand Hyatt at SFO. For information, visit flysfo.com/GrandOpenings

Interested in applying for an advisory body? The Citizens’ General Obligation Bond Oversight Committee has the following vacancies: Seat 1, succeeding Brenda Kwee McNulty, term expiring November 21, 2018, must be active in a business organization representing the business community located within the City, for a two-year term ending November 21, 2020. Seat 2, succeeding Alexander Tonisson, term expiring November 21, 2018, must be active in a labor organization, for a two-year term ending November 21, 2020. Seat 3, succeeding Kristin Chu, term expiring November 21, 2018, must be active in a community organization, for a two-year term ending November 21, 2020. Exclusions: No employee or official of the City shall be appointed to the Committee. No vendor, contractor, or consultant of the City that performs work funded by bonds issued by the City shall be appointed to the Committee. No appointee shall serve more than two terms. Please visit our vacancy page on our website for application instructions and other vacancies, sfbos.org/vacancyboards-commissions-task-forces.

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Tracy recognizes Pride month

In Tracy, right outside the Bay Area in the Central Valley, the city’s mayor and four council members agreed to gay City Councilman Dan Tavares Arriola’s request to fly the Pride flag June 28 in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, the uprising at a New York City bar that is credited with launching the modern gay rights movement. Ahead of the council meeting Tuesday, Arriola had told the Bay Area Reporter that he had hoped his city wouldn’t follow in Dublin’s initial footsteps and reject flying the rainbow flag. Having been subjected to homophobic attacks on an anon-

IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO CALIFORNIA BARREL COMPANY LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, Plaintiff, v. All Persons Claiming Any Interest in, or Lien Upon, the Real Property Herein Described or, Any Part thereof, Defendants. Case No. CGC-19-574377 SUMMONS ON FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT [CCP § 751.05] The people of the State of California, to All Persons Claiming Any Interest in, or Lien Upon, the Real Property Herein Described or, Any Part thereof, defendants, greeting (See Memorandum Disclosing Adverse Interest [CCP § 751.07] attached.): You are hereby required to appear and answer the complaint of CALIFORNIA BARREL COMPANY LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, plaintiff, filed with the clerk of the above-entitled court and county, within three months after the first publication of this summons, and to set forth what interest or lien, if any, you have in or upon that certain real property or any part thereof, situated in the City and County of San Francisco, State of California, particularly described as follows: REAL PROPERTY, SITUATE IN THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, COMPRISED OF SIX (6) PARCELS, DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: BEING A PORTION OF PARCEL A, AS SAID PARCEL A IS DESCRIBED IN THAT CERTAIN GRANT DEED RECORDED SEPTEMBER 26, 2016 AS DOCUMENT NUMBER 2016-K334613 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS, IN THE OFFICE OF THE RECORDER OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: PARCEL ONE BEING ALL OF MARYLAND STREET, AS SAID STREET EXISTED PRIOR TO THE VACATION THEREOF, LYING WITHIN SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: BEGINNING AT THE INTERSECTION OF THE NORTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613) WITH THE WESTERN LINE OF SAID MARYLAND STREET; THENCE, FROM SAID POINT OF BEGINNING, ALONG SAID NORTHERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), EASTERLY 80 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID NORTHERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613) WITH THE EASTERN LINE OF SAID MARYLAND STREET; THENCE, ALONG SAID EASTERN LINE OF MARYLAND STREET, SOUTHERLY 279 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID EASTERN LINE OF MARYLAND STREET WITH THE SOUTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613); THENCE, ALONG SAID SOUTHERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), WESTERLY 80 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID SOUTHERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613) WITH SAID WESTERN LINE OF MARYLAND STREET; THENCE, ALONG SAID WESTERN LINE OF MARYLAND STREET, NORTHERLY 279 FEET TO SAID POINT OF BEGINNING. PARCEL TWO BEING ALL OF LOUISIANA STREET, AS SAID STREET EXISTED PRIOR TO THE VACATION THEREOF, LYING WITHIN SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: BEGINNING AT THE INTERSECTION OF THE NORTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613) WITH THE WESTERN LINE OF SAID LOUISIANA STREET; THENCE, FROM SAID POINT OF BEGINNING, ALONG SAID NORTHERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), EASTERLY 80 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID NORTHERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613) WITH THE EASTERN LINE OF SAID LOUISIANA STREET; THENCE, ALONG SAID EASTERN LINE OF LOUISIANA STREET, SOUTHERLY 279 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID EASTERN LINE OF LOUISIANA STREET WITH THE SOUTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613); THENCE, ALONG SAID SOUTHERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), WESTERLY 80 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID SOUTHERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613) WITH SAID WESTERN LINE OF LOUISIANA STREET; THENCE, ALONG SAID WESTERN LINE OF LOUISIANA STREET, NORTHERLY 279 FEET TO SAID POINT OF BEGINNING. PARCEL THREE BEING A PORTION OF GEORGIA STREET, AS SAID STREET EXISTED PRIOR TO THE VACATION THEREOF, LYING WITHIN SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: BEGINNING AT A POINT ON THE WESTERN LINE OF SAID GEORGIA STREET, SAID POINT BEING THE SOUTHWESTERN CORNER OF PARCEL 1, AS SAID PARCEL 1 IS DESCRIBED IN THAT CERTAIN JUDGMENT RECORDED FEBRUARY 1, 2001, AS DOCUMENT NUMBER 2001-G897578 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS, IN SAID OFFICE OF THE RECORDER OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO; THENCE, FROM SAID POINT OF BEGINNING, ALONG THE SOUTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL 1 (DN 2001-G897578), EASTERLY 80 FEET TO A POINT IN THE EASTERN LINE OF SAID GEORGIA STREET, SAID POINT BEING THE SOUTHEASTERN CORNER OF SAID PARCEL 1 (DN 2001-G897578); THENCE, ALONG SAID EASTERN LINE OF GEORGIA STREET, SOUTHERLY 406.42 FEET TO THE NORTHEASTERN CORNER OF PARCEL 3, AS SAID PARCEL 3 IS DESCRIBED IN THAT CERTAIN JUDGMENT QUIETING TITLE RECORDED MAY 26, 1960 IN BOOK A127 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS, AT PAGE 596, IN SAID OFFICE OF THE RECORDER OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO; THENCE, ALONG THE NORTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL 3 (A127 OR 596), NORTHWESTERLY 18.79 FEET TO A POINT ON THE WESTERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613); THENCE, ALONG SAID WESTERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), THE FOLLOWING TWO (2) COURSES: 1) NORTH 03°10’16” WEST 125.39 FEET, AND 2) SOUTH 86°49’44” WEST 63.85 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID WESTERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2001-K334613) AND SAID WESTERN LINE OF GEORGIA STREET; THENCE, ALONG SAID WESTERN LINE OF GEORGIA STREET, NORTHERLY 271.42 FEET, MORE OR LESS, TO SAID POINT OF BEGINNING. PARCEL FOUR BEING A PORTION OF MICHIGAN STREET, AS SAID STREET EXISTED PRIOR TO THE VACATION THEREOF, LYING WITHIN SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: BEGINNING AT A POINT ON THE EASTERN LINE OF SAID MICHIGAN STREET, SAID POINT BEING THE SOUTHEASTERN CORNER OF PARCEL 2, AS SAID PARCEL 2 IS DESCRIBED IN THAT CERTAIN JUDGMENT RECORDED FEBRUARY 1, 2001, AS DOCUMENT NUMBER 2001-G897578 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS, IN SAID OFFICE OF THE RECORDER OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO; THENCE, FROM SAID POINT OF BEGINNING, ALONG SAID EASTERN LINE OF MICHIGAN STREET, SOUTHERLY 157.42 FEET, MORE OR LESS, TO THE NORTHEASTERN CORNER OF PARCEL 4, AS SAID PARCEL 4 IS DESCRIBED IN THAT CERTAIN JUDGMENT QUIETING TITLE RECORDED MAY 26, 1960 IN BOOK A127 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS, AT PAGE 596, IN SAID OFFICE OF THE RECORDER OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO; THENCE, ALONG THE NORTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL 4 (A127 OR 596), NORTHWESTERLY 2 FEET, MORE OR LESS, TO A POINT ON THE WESTERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613); THENCE, ALONG SAID WESTERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), THE FOLLOWING TWO (2) COURSES: 1) NORTH 03°10’16” WEST 9.01 FEET, AND 2) SOUTH 86°49’44” WEST 11.12 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID WESTERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2001-K334613) AND SAID NORTHERN LINE OF PARCEL 4 (A127 OR 596); THENCE, ALONG SAID NORTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL 4 (A127 OR 596), NORTHWESTERLY 6 FEET, MORE OR LESS, TO A POINT ON SAID WESTERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613); THENCE, ALONG SAID WESTERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), NORTH 03°41’19” WEST 143.4 FEET, MORE OR LESS, TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID WESTERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613) WITH THE SOUTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL 2 (DN 2001-G897578); THENCE, ALONG SAID SOUTHERN LINE OF PARCEL 2 (DN 2001-G897578), EASTERLY 18.62 FEET TO SAID POINT OF BEGINNING. PARCEL FIVE BEING A PORTION OF HUMBOLDT STREET, AS SAID STREET EXISTED PRIOR TO THE VACATION THEREOF, LYING WITHIN SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: BEGINNING AT THE INTERSECTION OF THE SOUTHERN LINE OF SAID HUMBOLDT STREET (33 FEET WIDE) WITH THE EASTERN LINE OF MICHIGAN STREET, AS SAID MICHIGAN STREET EXISTED PRIOR TO THE VACATION THEREOF, SAID POINT BEING THE NORTHEASTERN CORNER OF PARCEL 2, AS SAID PARCEL 2 IS DESCRIBED IN THAT CERTAIN JUDGMENT RECORDED FEBRUARY 1, 2001, AS DOCUMENT NUMBER 2001-G897578 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS, IN SAID OFFICE OF THE RECORDER OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO; THENCE, FROM SAID POINT OF BEGINNING, ALONG THE NORTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL 2 (DN 2001-G897578), WESTERLY 18.62 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID NORTHERN LINE OF PARCEL 2 (2001-G897578) AND THE WESTERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613); THENCE, ALONG SAID WESTERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), THE FOLLOWING TWO (2) COURSES: 1) NORTH 03°41’19” WEST 1.31 FEET, AND 2) NORTH 87°24’17” EAST 18.63 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID WESTERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2001-K334613) AND SAID EASTERN LINE OF MICHIGAN STREET; THENCE, ALONG SAID EASTERN LINE OF MICHIGAN STREET, SOUTHERLY 1.12 FEET TO SAID POINT OF BEGINNING. PARCEL SIX BEING A PORTION OF HUMBOLDT STREET, AS SAID STREET EXISTED PRIOR TO THE VACATION THEREOF, LYING WITHIN SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: BEGINNING AT THE INTERSECTION OF THE SOUTHERN LINE OF SAID HUMBOLDT STREET (33 FEET WIDE) WITH THE EASTERN LINE OF GEORGIA STREET, AS SAID GEORGIA STREET EXISTED PRIOR TO THE VACATION THEREOF, SAID POINT BEING THE NORTHEASTERN CORNER OF PARCEL 1, AS SAID PARCEL 1 IS DESCRIBED IN THAT CERTAIN JUDGMENT RECORDED FEBRUARY 1, 2001, AS DOCUMENT NUMBER 2001-G897578 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS, IN SAID OFFICE OF THE RECORDER OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO; THENCE, FROM SAID POINT OF BEGINNING, ALONG THE NORTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL 1 (DN 2001-G897578), WESTERLY 80 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID PARCEL 1 (2001-G897578) AND THE WESTERN LINE OF SAID GEORGIA STREET, SAID POINT BEING THE NORTHEASTERN CORNER OF SAID PARCEL 1 (DN 2001-G897578); THENCE, ALONG SAID WESTERN LINE GEORGIA STREET, NORTHERLY 33 FEET TO THE NORTHERN LINE OF SAID HUMBOLDT STREET; THENCE, ALONG SAID NORTHERN LINE OF HUMBOLDT STREET, EASTERLY 80 FEET TO A POINT ON THE EASTERN LINE OF SAID GEORGIA STREET; THENCE, ALONG SAID EASTERN LINE OF GEORGIA STREET, SOUTHERLY 33 FEET TO SAID POINT OF BEGINNING. PARCELS ONE THROUGH SIX BEING PORTIONS OF APN 4175-017. ATTACHED HERETO IS AN ILLUSTRATIVE INDEX MAP, AND BY THIS REFERENCE, MADE A PART HEREOF. And you are hereby notified that, unless you so appear and answer, the plaintiff will apply to the court for the relief demanded in the complaint, to wit: quiet title to the Property consistent with the legal description above, against all adverse claims of all claimants, known and unknown, as of the date the Complaint in this case was filed. Witness my hand and the seal of said court, DATE: APR 15 2019 Clerk, By JUDITH C. NUNEZ, DEPUTY [SEAL], CLERK OF THE COURT Memorandum Disclosing Adverse Interest [CCP § 751.07] The following persons are said to claim an interest in, or lien upon, said property adverse to Plaintiff: 1. PG&E, 245 Market Street, N10A, Room 1015, P.O. Box 770000, San Francisco, CA 94177; 2. City and County of San Francisco, Office of the City Attorney, Room 234, City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco, CA 94102, 3. Trans Bay Cable LLC, One Letterman Drive, C5-100, San Francisco, CA 94129; 4. San Francisco Port Authority, Pier 1, The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94111; 5. California Regional Water Quality Control Board for the San Francisco Bay Region, 1515 Clay Street, Suite 1400, Oakland, CA 94612; 6. NRG Potrero LLC, c/o GenOn, 1360 Post Oak Boulevard, Suite 2000, Houston TX 77056 SUMMONS_revised041619.indd 1

4/16/19 12:56 PM

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16 • Bay Area Reporter • May 30-June 5, 2019

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The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CORONA HEIGHTS MARKET & DELI, 4400 17TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ROSSETE SABA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/30/19.

MAY 16, 23, 30, JUNE 06, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038634300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PERFECT SHAPES MAID SERVICE; PERFECTLY TOUCHED CLEANING SERVICE, 1706 OAKDALE AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ELISHA WOOTEN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/01/19.

MAY 16, 23, 30, JUNE 06, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038633700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: 148 PRINT, 1275 FAIRFAX AVE #203B, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed RICARDO S. CRUZ JR. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/30/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/30/19.

MAY 16, 23, 30, JUNE 06, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038625900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SULLIVAN & SONS, 1067 TENNESSEE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ALISON R, SULLIVAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/23/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/23/19.

MAY 16, 23, 30, JUNE 06, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038640400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NKG CREATIVE INSIGHTS, 274A 29TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed NATALIE GUNN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/01/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/06/19.

MAY 16, 23, 30, JUNE 06, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038646200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: IZAKAYA MAYUMI, 2221 CLEMENT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed IZAKAYA MAYUMI, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/08/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/08/19.

MAY 16, 23, 30, JUNE 06, 2019 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-554835 In the matter of the application of: CAMILA SUSANA FABERSUNNE, 1419 PALOU AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner CAMILA SUSANA CRIBB FABERSUNNE, is requesting that the name CAMILA SUSANA CRIBB FABERSUNNE, be changed to CAMILA SUSANA CRIBB FABERSUNNE. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 25th of June 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MAY 16, 23, 30, JUNE 06, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038625300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: POPPY’S PETALWORKS, 2860 LAGUNA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed POPPY’S PETALWORKS, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/04/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/23/19.

MAY 16, 23, 30, JUNE 06, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038638100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SAN FRANCISCO CANNABIS COMPANY; CANNABIS COMPANY OF SAN FRANCISCO; ENTOURAGE EFFECT, 2130 OAKDALE AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed TOP HORTICULTURAL CONCEPT (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/02/19.

MAY 16, 23, 30, JUNE 06, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038618000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MONEY EXPRESS CENTER, 4601 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by a married couple, and is signed ROBERT AVELLAN & YADIRA D. ESCOBER PACHECO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/11/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/17/19.

MAY 16, 23, 30, JUNE 06, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038637200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: VELA CAPITAL GROUP, 43 ELLERT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed CRV VENTURES LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/02/19.

MAY 16, 23, 30 JUNE 06, 2019 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-038357700

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Legal Notices>> FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038632500

STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-038366700

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: POPPY’S PETALWORKS, 2860 LAGUNA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by LAURA H. AUYEUNG. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/22/18.

MAY 16, 23, 30, JUNE 06, 2019 SUMMONS (CITACION JUDICIAL) SUPERIOR COURT STATE OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO, UNLIMITED CIVIL JURISDICTION NOTICE TO DEFENDANT: STEVEN KARIKER AKA STEVEN D. KARIKER; AND DOES 1 THROUGH 50, INCLUSIVE, YOU ARE BEING SUED BY PLAINTIFF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION, A CORPORATION. CASE NO. CGC-18-569648

NOTICE! You have been sued. The court may decide against you without your being heard unless you respond within 30 days. Read the information below. You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this Summons and legal papers are served on you to file a written response at this court and have a copy served on the plaintiff. A letter or phone call will not protect you. Your written response must be in proper legal form if you want the court to hear your case. There may be a court form that you can use for your response. You can find these court forms and more information at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo. ca.gov/selfhelp), your county law library, or the courthouse nearest you. If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the clerk for a fee waiver form. If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case by default, and your wages, money, and property may be taken without further warning from the court. There are other legal requirements. You may want to call an attorney right away. If you do not know an attorney, you may want to call an attorney referral service. If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be eligible for free legal services from a nonprofit legal services program. You can locate these nonprofit groups at the California Legal Services Web site (www.lawhelpcalifornia.org), the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), or by contacting your local court or county bar association. NOTE: The court has a statutory lien for waived fees and costs on any settlement or arbitration award of $10,000 or more in a civil case. The court’s lien must be paid before the court will dismiss the case. The name and address of the court is: SUPERIOR COURT, STATE OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO, UNLIMITED CIVIL JURISDICTION, 400 MCALLISTER ST, ROOM 103, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102; The name, address, and telephone number of plaintiff’s attorney, or plaintiff without an attorney, is: ROBERT L. POLLAK #083950, GLASSBERG, POLLAK & ASSOCIATES, 1000 4TH ST, #570, SAN RAFAEL, CA 94901-3118 415-291-8320 CLERK OFF THE COURT, DE LA VEGA-NAVARRO, ROSSELY NOTICE TO THE PERSON SERVED: You are served as an individual defendant.

MAY 23, 30, JUNE 06, 13, 2019 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-554850

In the matter of the application of: KATE AMELIA REBER, 357 ALLISON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner KATE AMELIA REBER, is requesting that the name KATE AMELIA REBER, be changed to KIT REBALSKY. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 27th of June 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MAY 23, 30, JUNE 06, 13, 2019 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-554847 In the matter of the application of: ALISON ROSS, 525 BAKER ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner ALISON ROSS, is requesting that the name ALISON ROSS, be changed to ALISON SASHA DE VRIES. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 9th of July 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MAY 23, 30, JUNE 06, 13, 2019 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-554842 In the matter of the application of: NINA RAMOS HARRISON, 334 NOE ST, #2, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner NINA RAMOS HARRISON, is requesting that the name NINA RAMOS HARRISON, be changed to NINA RAMOS COSTA. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514 on the 25th of June 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MAY 23, 30, JUNE 06, 13, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038651300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ASPIRE HEALTH CARE & NURSING EDUCATORS PRIVATE TRAINING INSTITUTE, 511 HEAD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94132. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JENNIFER SHIA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/10/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/13/19.

MAY 23, 30, JUNE 06, 13, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038650500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: APJ CONSULTING, 2503 POST ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed TIMOTHY EDWIN JOHNSON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/13/19.

MAY 23, 30, JUNE 06, 13, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038652600

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: REGENT THAI RESTAURANT, 1700 CHURCH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131. This business was conducted by a corporation and signed by REGENT THAI INC (CA). The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/15/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SALON 828, 2004 IRVING ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122.This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed RHODA LEE.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/01/11.The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/14/19.

MAY 16, 23, 30, JUNE 06, 2019

MAY 23, 30, JUNE 06, 13, 2019

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038643800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ARENA SF, 2565 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed QUALIA ENTERTAINMENT INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/29/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/07/19.

MAY 23, 30, JUNE 06, 13, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038656300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CALIFORNIA AUTO GLASS, 1880 EVANS AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SARAT FAMILY ENTERPRISES GROUP (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/15/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/15/19.

MAY 23, 30, JUNE 06, 13, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038656400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ARCHE ENTERPRISE, 201 WEBSTER ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed ARCHE ENTERPRISE (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/08/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/15/19.

MAY 23, 30, JUNE 06, 13, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038657200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SULTANS KEBAB, 3915 24TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed B&F RESTAURANT INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/01/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/16/19.

MAY 23, 30, JUNE 06, 13, 2019 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-036340100

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: COUPLES THERAPY COLLECTIVE, 3237 SACRAMENTO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business was conducted by a general partnership and signed by VANESSA WATT & DOROTHY JANE WALTER. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/03/15.

MAY 23, 30, JUNE 06, 13, 2019 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-554871 In the matter of the application of: ROY FRANCIS JADRYEV, 448 DOUGLASS ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner ROY FRANCIS JADRYEV, is requesting that the name ROY FRANCIS JADRYEV AKA ROY F. JADRYEV AKA ROLAND PETER JADRYEV, be changed to ROLAND FRANCIS PETER JADRYEV. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 11th of July 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MAY 30, JUNE 06, 13, 20, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038668300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: KIND EARTH PRODUCTIONS, 139 CORBETT AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CHRISTOPHER C. JONES. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/24/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/24/19.

MAY 30, JUNE 06, 13, 20, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038664900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MAZ AUTO GLASS, 1880 EVANS AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DARIO SARAT-GUZMAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/22/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/22/19.

MAY 30, JUNE 06, 13, 20, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038660800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MISSION K, 77 BLUXOME ST, UNIT 112, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KHANH MONG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/20/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/20/19.

MAY 30, JUNE 06, 13, 20, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038664700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HUZZAH STUDIO, 778 30TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SARAH JUTRAS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/22/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/22/19.

MAY 30, JUNE 06, 13, 20, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038663100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PIXTRANSFER, 33 ELLERT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ROBERT ADLER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/21/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/21/19.

MAY 30, JUNE 06, 13, 20, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038662300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LUCKY CAB, 1407 IRVING ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed LUCKY TAM, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/15/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/21/19.

MAY 30, JUNE 06, 13, 20, 2019

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038658800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: INNER SUNSET PUBLISHING; KRONOS ARTS PUBLISHING; KRONOS QUARTET, 1242 9TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed KRONOS PERFORMING ARTS ASSOCIATION (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/01/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/17/19.

MAY 30, JUNE 06, 13, 20, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038661100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THANH PHAN; TONY PHAN, 1343 21ST AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed LUNA PIENA INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/09/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/20/19.

MAY 30, JUNE 06, 13, 20, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038663200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MISSION CURRY HOUSE, 2434 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed O&R RESTAURANT GROUP INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/21/19.

MAY 30, JUNE 06, 13, 20, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038663400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SF TOWN BUILDERS, 3450 SACRAMENTO ST #157, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SF TOWN BUILDERS, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/21/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/21/19.

MAY 30, JUNE 06, 13, 20, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038659500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: YUKOL PLACE, 2380 LOMBARD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed MCGEM LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/17/19.

MAY 30, JUNE 06, 13, 20, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038655800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: VOSS GALLERY, 3344 24TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed VOSS GALLERY LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/15/19.

MAY 30, JUNE 06, 13, 20, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038667700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE AVENUES SPA, 3929 CALIFORNIA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed TAS LIMITED LIABILTY COMPANY (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/24/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/24/19.

MAY 30, JUNE 06, 13, 20, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038667900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HOLY GELATO, 1392 9TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a limited liability company and is signed HK KINGSMAN (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/24/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/24/19.

MAY 30, JUNE 06, 13, 20, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038668000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HARAJUKU SUSHI AT 1920 BAR, 1812 CLEMENT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed HK KINGSMAN (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/24/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/24/19.

MAY 30, JUNE 06, 13, 20, 2019 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-036970600

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: RPM (RICHMOND PLAZA METASPACE), 275 6TH AVE #109, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by LAUREL LYNN CONNELL. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/03/16.

MAY 30, JUNE 06, 13, 20, 2019 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-554901 In the matter of the application of: THOMAS ROBERT VENEGONI, 1250 BRODERICK ST #6, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner THOMAS ROBERT VENEGONI, is requesting that the name THOMAS ROBERT VENEGONI, be changed to THOM FOWLER. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 18th of July 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

JUNE 06, 13, 20, 27, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038672800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: KOSA BELLA, 3133 22ND ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed REINA O. PORTILLO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/30/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/29/19.

JUNE 06, 13, 20, 27, 2019

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-554896 In the matter of the application of: JULIA AYANA BALTRIP, 333 GONZALEZ DR, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94132, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner JULIA AYANA BALTRIP, is requesting that the name JULIA AYANA BALTRIP AKA JULIA ALYS BALTRIP AKA JULIA ALYS AYANA BALTRIP AKA JULIA ALYS AYANA BALTRIP BALAGAS AKA JULIA BALTRIP AKA JULIA A. BALTRIP AKA AYANA BALTRIP AKA AYANA BALTRIP BALAGAS, be changed to JULIA AYANA AÏRAKAN-MANCE. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 16th of July 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

JUNE 06, 13, 20, 27, 2019 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-554846 In the matter of the application of: BOBBY DULAI SINGH, 3352 18TH ST #3, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner BOBBY DULAI SINGH, is requesting that the name BOBBY DULAI SINGH, be changed to BOBBY DULAI. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 27th of June 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

JUNE 06, 13, 20, 27, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038673300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LACUNA ERGONOMIC, 1881 GREENWICH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KELLY WHITTLESEY. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/30/19.

JUNE 06, 13, 20, 27, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038670000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BOTTOMFEEDER RECORDS; WACKOWORLD MUSIC, 225 ANDOVER ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ERIK IAN WALKER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/21/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/28/19.

JUNE 06, 13, 20, 27, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038673200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LITTLE HANDS DAYCARE, 330 HOWTH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ASHLEY BERKLEY. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/24/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/30/19.

JUNE 06, 13, 20, 27, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038670600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HOOLOO TRAVEL, 1015 FILLMORE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ZERYIHUN LEMMA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/01/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/28/19.

JUNE 06, 13, 20, 27, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038667100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ERBOSE, 190 22ND AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed AUDREY DOMBROSKI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/31/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/24/19.

JUNE 06, 13, 20, 27, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038670100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE THONGLOR, 420 GEARY ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SRI-SUK, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/10/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/28/19.

JUNE 06, 13, 20, 27, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038660100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: STEPHANIE KIM WONG, D.O., INC., 341 CHESTNUT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed STEPHANIE KIM WONG, D.O., INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/19/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/20/19.

JUNE 06, 13, 20, 27, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038645900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: 1327 ENTERPRISES, 1327 COLUMBUS AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a married couple, and is signed CALVIN CHOW & DIANA MARIE CHOW. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/08/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/08/19.

JUNE 06, 13, 20, 27, 2019 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-035940300

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: WALKING TOGETHER, 341 CHESTNUT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business was conducted by a corporation and signed by WALKING TOGETHER (CA). The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/05/14.

JUNE 06, 13, 20, 27, 2019

Dream play

D.C. drama

Elton fever

Vivid Vivien

Vol. 49 • No. 23 • June 6-12, 2019

www.ebar.com/arts

Netflix

Transgender actresses Jen Richards and Daniela Vega are part of the cast of “Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City,” a new version launching on Netflix this week.

Barbary Lane beckons for a new generation

by David Lamble

ver nearly three-quarters of a century, North Carolina-born and -raised author Armistead Maupin has cultivated a large and loyal following as the author, screenwriter, TV and film producer of multiple volumes and versions of his award-winning “Tales of the City” serial. See page 24

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Tattoos make the man

by Sura Wood

mong the cognoscenti, the 19th-century Japanese tradition of tattooing, which emerged during the late Edo era, is considered the best, prized for its detail, complexity, and subtle shifts in vibrant hues and sophisticated compositions.

{ SECOND OF THREE SECTIONS }

See page 17 >>

“A Water Margin of Beautiful and Brave Women: Actors Bando Hikosaburo V, Onoe Kikugoro V, Sawamura Tossho II (R), Otani Tomoemon V, Sawamura Tanosuke III, Iwai Shijaku II, Nakamura Shikan IV (C), Kawarazaki Gonnosuke VII, Bando Mitsugoro VI, and Ichikawa Kuzo III (L)” (1869), by Toyohara Kunichika. Woodblock print; ink and colors on paper.

<< Out There

18 • Bay Area Reporter • June 6-12, 2019

Savoring soundtracks by Roberto Friedman

“The Living Daylights,” Timothy Dalton’s sole turn as 007. Someone we know dated him. “Never on Sunday,” composed by Manos Hadjidakis. OK, that earworm, but the rest is lively Greek music. “The Pink Panther Strikes Again,” Henry Mancini’s timeless theme, plus Tom Jones singing “Come to Me.” “Some Like It Hot,” the famous numbers, zaftig Marilyn, also a background score. “The Thomas Crown Affair,” one of the classic film scores, composedconducted by Michel Legrand. “Victor Victoria,” Julie Andrews, James Garner, Robert Preston. “What’s New Pussycat?” Classic Bacharach/ David, Tom Jones, Dionne Warwick. “The Whisperers,” Dame Edith Evans hears voices in John Barry’s score. Also (non-MGM): “The Cardinal,” classic film music by Jerome Moross; “Funny Lady,” period Streisand, songs by Kander/Ebb; “The Godfather Suite”; “Goldsmith Conducts Goldsmith”; “Jaws,” perfect for the bath; “The Island of Dr. Moreau”; “Silk Stockings”; and “A Star Is Born,” the Old Testament version (Judy Garland). And many more! Finally, a triad: “A Single Man,” “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” “Wall-E,” which begins, “Out There, there’s a world outside of Yonkers!”

ome people collect stamps, some coins. Out There has always enjoyed collecting movie soundtracks, on LPs (yes, rekkids) and CDs. Over the years we’ve amassed a nice little collection of scores, mostly of classic films, but also of movies right up to the present day. Great thing about soundtrack recordings is that, yes, they feature the movie’s signature theme and all its cloying variations, but there’s also plenty of background music that works surprisingly well as a soundtrack for daily life. Right now we’re taking a few spins through “Phantom Thread” (Universal), music composed by Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead fame. It’s music perfectly suited to its film, Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2017 fictive character study of renowned dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock, his 1950s London milieu and his ways (or not) of romancing. We enjoy listening to the “Woodcock theme” and imagining we’re Daniel Day-Lewis, jumping into his MG roadster and taking off into the English countryside when the philistines don’t understand that “the eye must travel!” (to quote Diana Vreeland). “I Am Love” (Nonesuch, 2009), soundtrack by John Adams. This was for a film directed by Luca Guadagnino starring Tilda Swinton that supposedly was very good. Never saw it, but the all-Adams score is a knockout, and the music works well as a soundtrack. Includes “The Chairman Dances” from “Nixon in China” (1985) and a chorus from “The Death of Klinghoffer” (1991). Here are 25 more soundtracks from our collection. Unless otherwise noted, most are from a yummy series of “Original

Professional headshots / profile pics Weddings / Events

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Latches on to the drive and pure energy of shows like Rent

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MGM Motion Picture Soundtracks” that include liner notes and vintage poster art related to the films. “After the Fox,” composed and conducted by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David, written by Neil Simon, starring Peter Sellers, directed by Vittorio De Sica, with Britt Ekland. If that’s not enough boldface for you, the title song is sung by The Hollies. “Alice’s Restaurant,” tirelessly essayed by Arlo Guthrie. “Annie Get Your Gun,” tracks from both the film starring Betty Hutton and the aborted version that was to star Judy Garland. “Best of the West,” MGM soundtracks from great Westerns including “The Wonderful Country” (1959, Alex North), and classic themes from Elmer Bernstein and Jerry Goldsmith. “Like jazz, the Western is a uniquely American art-form.” “Gypsy,” with Rosalind Russell, Natalie Wood, Karl Malden. “Hit the Deck,” late (1955) Hollywood musical. “Judgment at Nuremberg,” directed by Stanley Kramer, music by Ernest Gold. “The Knack and How To Get It,” composed by John Barry, very “Swinging London.” “Last Tango in Paris,” composed by Gato Barbieri, still slippery.

The SF LGBT Center hosts an evening with Merola Opera Program on June 26, performing selections from the new opera “If I Were You.” “The new commissioned opera is a contemporary story of identity with echoes of classic literature, from Faust to Jekyll & Hyde,” say press materials. “Composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer envision a work in which many of the Merola Opera Program’s young singers have the opportunity to be the lead as Fabian’s soul and music move from one character to the next. “Fabian Hart, an aspiring writer who yearns for a way out of his stifling existence, would sell his soul to be somebody else. Brittomara, the devil, offers him a supernatural power. By singing a secret phrase, Fabian will be able to transfer his soul into another person’s body and live their life. Thus begins the perilous journey of ‘If I Were You’ as Fabian moves his lost soul from person to person in search of a more fulfilling identity.” The event will benefit the SF LGBT Center, Wed., June 26, 6 p.m. SF LGBT Center, 1800 Market St., SF. Tickets start at $35. VIP tickets start at $60 and include a meet-and-greet with the performers after the program. All tickets include refreshments, and all sales will go directly to the Center’s programs and services.t

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<< Theatre

20 • Bay Area Reporter • June 6-12, 2019

Willie the Shakes’ nonstop faerie frolic by Jim Gladstone

uck yeah! Relishing his role as Fairyland’s mischief chief and occasional cur, Robin Goodfellow, aka Puck (Robyn Kerr) – already the doubling is dizzying! – delights in his assignment to confuse and befuddle. “Up and down! Up and down!” he sings to himself. “Goblin, lead them up and down.” Kerr’s lanky, Caribbean-accented Puck serves as our emcee in California Shakespeare Theater’s romp of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” He leads the cast of characters up and down the ladder of social hierarchy, ensorcelling royals to fall in love with commoners, a fairy to swoon for a mortal, and plebes to swap partners as if a certain distinctly unfrigid 1970s ice storm were sweeping through the Athenian woods. Up and down and side to side, the audience is invited to swing along with references that range from highbrow to low, and from ancient to modern. One happily anticipates Shakespeare’s threading of gorgeous Elizabethan poetry with coarse wordplay and earthy sex jokes in his fantasy of Ancient Greece. But director Tyne Rafaeli and dramaturg Philippa Kelly stir things further with passages set to hip-hop rhythms and fourth-wall busting outbursts of contemporary slang. The Gordian plot that allows for

Courtesy Cal Shakes

Robyn Kerr and Amber Chardae Robinson in California Shakespeare Theater’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

these multi-layered hijinks is helpfully summarized in the program and readily findable online. The bumbling theater troupe that mounts “Midsummer”’s show within a show has always been composed of laborers and craftsman, hoping to entertain their social

superiors. In this poppy, souped-up iteration, the traditional minions evoke our latter-day version, kitted out in bright yellow get-ups that winkingly reference the “Despicable Me” movies. Throughout the show, Asta Bennie Hostetter’s candy-colored costumes, Nina Ball’s “Laugh-

In”/Jack-in-the-box set and Jiyoun Chang’s lighting design enrich the fast-paced verbal comedy, underscoring scripted jokes and adding new visual gags. Puck and his fellow fairies sport lumpen Day-Glo soft-sculptural outfits that recall the pediatricpsychedelic designs of 1970s TV impresarios Sid and Marty Krofft (“H.R. Puff ’n’Stuff,” “The Bugaloos”). When ensemble member Amber Chardae Robinson plays a theoretically inanimate role in the amateur theatrical, her costume screams SpongeBob. Thy gossamer Shakespeare wardrobe this is not. The entire cast of 10, all playing multiple roles, seamlessly shifts from character to character and nimbly handles their dialogue. Their crisp articulation, along with T. Carlis Roberts’ gratitude-worthy sound design, make the play’s language surprisingly easy to hear and follow given its kitchen sinkful of storylines. In addition to Kerr’s Puck, who makes you feel like a co-conspirator as much as an audience member, Jenny Nelson and Dean Linnard turn in particularly sly comic performances: Nelson’s Hermia, the show’s central female love interest, strikes a funny balance between romance and entitlement, and Linnard perfectly calibrates gawkiness and sex appeal in his main roles as young lover Lysander (sexy up;

gawk muted) and play-actor Flute (full gawk; light, drag-enhanced sexiness). Then there’s Marcel Spears, whose gut-busting performance comes as close to a star-turn as possible within this tight-knit ensemble production. As cocky Bottom, the weaver and would-be thespian, Spears struts and preens to delicious comic affect, refusing to consider himself any less desirable even when his head is magically transformed into that of a donkey. He helps turn the last few scenes of the show into a delirious party that you want to continue even after the cast takes its bows. That’s the kind of raucous engagement one might have felt when this play was performed in Shakespeare’s time, and it’s a pre-summer night’s dream to experience at the Bruns Amphitheater in Orinda. Some chalk-dusty high school English teachers might disapprove of this production’s nonstop cartoon verve, but if your interest in the Bard is as much about living theater as written literature, you’ll find CalShakes’ “Midsummer Night’s Dream” an accessible and irrepressible delight.t

weekend at Disney World. “They don’t allow apex predators at the character breakfast,” quips Lauren. McDowell, thanks to a combination of Burgess’ writing, Joanie McBrien’s direction and Wood’s sterling performance, is the show’s most three-dimensional figure, finely grained and steering altogether clear of caricature. An avuncular, untrustworthy villain at first glance, he gradually reveals a complex blend of empathy, pragmatism and sensible self-defensiveness. Mitchell, whose twitchy facial expressions suggest a soul-deep allergy to her own behavior, and Stebbins, who seems wrapped in a gauze of despair, successfully flesh out the slightly underwritten lobbyists. After a real-world tour of a sausage factory, participants

would unlikely have much appetite for a meal. But on stage in “Kings,” where the wurst observed is Washington’s worst, having all the gristly ingredients pointed out makes one hungry for a narrative resolution. Preferably a hopeful one. As riveting as her play is from scene-to-scene, Burgess, like many Americans these days, can’t seem to imagine an ending that isn’t stuck in the status quo. The show concludes with Millsap morally uncompromised. And the system entirely unchanged. Dinosaur, meet tar pit.t

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, through June 16 at the Bruns Amphitheater, 100 California Shakespeare Theater Way, Orinda. Tickets from $20. (510) 548-9666, www.calshakes.org.

Swamp creatures by Jim Gladstone

ong before today’s elephants and the donkeys came the dinosaurs. You know: Brontosauruses, Pterodactyls, and Americans who ran for

Congress – or worked on Congressional staffs – as an act of public service rather than a calculated long-term career move. “Kings,” Sarah Burgess’ engagingly unsavory behind-the-scenes

D.C. drama now being staged by Berkeley’s Shotgun Players, is a sort of Capitol Hill “Jurassic Park.” Its unlikely protagonist, Sidney Millsap (Sam Jackson, warm and self-assured throughout), is a creature seemingly resuscitated from extinction, an idealistic, ethically upstanding freshman Representative. An African-American, Gold Star military widow and single mother, Millsap hasn’t turned away from today’s state of government affairs in disgust, but decided to take it on by speaking truth to power. Burgess’ script is rich in researched details, and the show’s purest pleasures are almost documentary. By writing Millsap as a trained accountant with her sights set on fighting income tax inequality, she’s able to weave in a remarkably lucid explanation and defense of the Carried Interest Fairness Act. Jackson, to her credit, imbues potentially didactic dialogue with a sense of deeply felt moral righteousness that makes the economics lesson go down easily, and dramatically. Similarly, Millsap’s heated conversations with lobbyists Lauren (Sarah Mitchell) and Kate (Elissa Beth Stebbins) allow Burgess to entertainingly educate audiences on fascinating if disheartening bits of Beltway nitty-gritty: the legal basis for donors treating politicians to cocktails and hors d’oeuvres rather than dinners, the enormous amount of time members of Congress spend on fundraising while their lobbyist-influenced staffs do much of the actual work of government, the disingenuous legislative strategy of “broadening a bill to death.” The sinister strategy behind Kate’s lobbying efforts for a national podiatry association is appalling and ingenious. Burgess also does a terrific job at conveying the banal, repetitive, kowtowing rituals of the grin-andgrip political schmooze circuit. There’s a twisted tingle of delight in watching John McDowell (Don Wood), the folksy seasoned Senator whose seat Millsap challenges, suffer through his annual fundraising

Kings, through June 16. Shotgun Players, 1901 Ashby Ave., Berkeley. Tickets: ($7-$43): (510) 841-6500, www.shotgunplayers.org.

Ben Krantz

Sam Jackson as Sydney Millsap in Shotgun Players’ “Kings.”

Books>>

June 6-12, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 21

Talented, triumphant & tormented by Tavo Amador

any people regard Vivien Leigh (191367) as a figure from Greek tragedy: beautiful, acclaimed, plagued by mental illness, abandoned by her husband of 20 years Laurence Olivier, and living a melancholy existence after their 1960 divorce. Alan Strachan’s “Dark Star, A Biography of Vivien Leigh” (I.B. Tauris, $29) carefully separates facts from legend, which began with her star-making performance as Scarlett O’Hara in 1939’s “Gone With the Wind.” Vivian Mary Hartley, born in Darjeeling, India, was the only child of welloff bourgeois parents. She was educated at Sacred Heart Catholic Academies there, in England, France, Italy, and Austria. She changed the spelling of her first name to make it more feminine. In 1932, she married attorney Leigh Holman. Their daughter Suzanne was born two years later. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, she made her 1935 London stage debut as Vivien Leigh in “The Mask of Virtue.” Her beauty and performance were lavishly praised. Film producer Alexander Korda signed her to a contract. Impressed, Olivier, already successful, introduced himself. They became lovers while shooting Korda’s “Fire Over England” (1937), a popular Elizabethan drama in which she was first-billed. Despite very long odds, she was determined to play Scarlett, the most coveted role in film history. She got agent Myron Selznick, producer David O. Selznick’s brother, to represent her. She accompanied Olivier, still married to actress Jill Esmond, to Hollywood where he would film “Wuthering Heights.” Selznick began shooting in late 1938 without a Scarlett. During the burning-of-Atlanta scene, Myron introduced him to Leigh, saying she was his Scarlett. Director George Cukor tested her. Almost at once, he and Selznick knew she, nearly unknown in America, was the Scarlett they had been seeking. The film was a smash. She won the Best Actress Oscar. Its regular re-releases kept her famous. Divorced from their respective spouses, she and Olivier married in 1940. She starred opposite Robert Taylor in the successful “Waterloo Bridge” (1940), a romantic melodrama. With Olivier as Lord Nelson, she was “That Hamilton Woman” (1941), memorable as the notorious Emma. Again, she was first-billed, evidence that outside of England, she was more famous. She battled tuberculosis and suffered two miscarriages. When well, she returned to the theatre rather than movies. She would make only seven more films, winning a second Oscar for her magnificent Blanche du Bois in 1951’s “A Streetcar Named Desire,” a role she had played in the London production under Olivier’s direction. Gay author Tennessee Williams said she brought everything to the part he had intended, and much he had never dreamed of. Pauline Kael wrote that she “evokes both pity and terror,” and hailed it as one of the “greatest performances” ever filmed. Strachan expertly records the impressive range of her theatre work, often with Olivier. In addition to Williams, she appeared in plays by Shakespeare, Shaw, Terrence Rattigan, Thornton Wilder, Noel

admit, however, that his dismissing her Lady Macbeth (opposite Olivier) was a great error, acknowledging that she had given a brilliant performance. Still, Tynan’s general myopia has resulted in the inaccurate belief that she was a very limited stage actress, reliant more on beauty than ability. Strachan powerfully refutes that. He cites other informed critics who praised her performances, as did leading British actors including John Gielgud, Coward, Michael Redgrave, Peggy Ashcroft, Gladys Cooper, Sybil Thorndike, and Ralph Richardson. “Episodes” of irrational behavior had been noted since her school days, but the public was unaware of them until 1954. She was in Sri Lanka filming “Elephant Walk” with Peter Finch, with whom she was having an affair, when she suffered a severe, long-lasting bi-polar attack that was terrifying to witness. Olivier flew

over to bring her home. Elizabeth Taylor replaced her. The affair with Finch ended – he couldn’t cope with her little-understood condition. Treatments included lithium and electric shocks. She was back on screen in Rattigan’s “The Deep Blue Sea” (1955). On stage, she triumphed in Jean Giraudoux’s demanding “Duel of Angels” (1958). Olivier, who had had a long affair with actress Dorothy Tutin, had fallen in love with Joan Plowright. He insisted on a divorce. She reluctantly agreed. Actor Jack Merivale became her devoted lover/companion. She returned to work in Williams’ “The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone” (1961), his favorite among movies based on his writings. On Broadway, she won a Tony for Best Actress in a 1963 musical, “Tovarich.” Her throaty singing was reminiscent of Marlene Dietrich. Her sensational Charleston stopped each performance. Sadly, after six months, she had a violent bi-polar attack and left the play, which soon closed. She portrayed American Mary Treadwell (her third Southern lady) in 1964’s “Ship of Fools,” her final film. She was ill throughout shooting, but her work before the cameras

is poignant. She was rehearsing for the London production of Edward Albee’s “A Delicate Balance” when she died from a pulmonary blood clot brought on by tuberculosis and heavy smoking. Strachan is a sympathetic but not uncritical biographer. He effectively untangles her complex relationship with Olivier without making either a villain. They remained friends after the divorce. Her death devastated him. He also convincingly refutes Olivier’s alleged bisexuality. When well, Leigh was celebrated for her exquisite manners, thoughtfulness, elegance, bawdy language, wit, and enormous capacity for friendship. Her memorial service at London’s St. Martin in-the Fields was packed with theatre royalty. Only Coward, overcome by grief, was absent. “Dark Star” would have benefited from careful editing. For example, Strachan calls Melanie Scarlett’s cousin, rather than her sister-in-law. The index is woefully incomplete. Nonetheless, this is a welcome appraisal of a remarkable artist, who, despite making only 19 movies in 30 years, was ranked the 16th greatest female legend of the 20th century by the American Film Institute.t

“ROCK YOU!” Coward, Jean Anouilh, and Anton Chekhov. Inexplicably, she failed to impress London’s leading theatre critic, Kenneth Tynan. Tynan would later

WE WILL WE WILL

June 8-16, 2019 Where Tradition Meets Innovation

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22 • Bay Area Reporter • June 6-12, 2019

Classic LGBTQ TV for Pride 50 by Victoria A. Brownworth

appy World Pride, dear readers. Happy 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion and Days of Rage. Happy gayness, lesbianity, biness, transness and queerness. In the best of worlds, the historic importance of this month would be celebrated with nothing but queer TV 24/7. But we’ve got Trump/ Pence actively trying to deny us every conceivable civil right and, if possible kill us, instead. The one Republican Congressman being lauded for breaking ranks with the GOP and coming out for impeachment is also – spoiler alert! – a virulent homophobe. Fox News is still demonizing LGBTQ people despite Pete Buttigieg getting a standing ovation at his Fox News Town Hall. Despite this being the 50th anniversary of one of the most pivotal civil rights actions in American history, TV networks seem not to have noticed. Shocking and not. Which means it’s really just us and “Pose” for Pride Month, and some classic Netflix and rainbow chill. So let’s fall into “Pose” and praise Pray Tell, and look for some other queer tidbits to make us feel celebratory. Thank the gods and goddesses for RuPaul, Ellen, Anderson Cooper, Rachel Maddow, Don Lemon and Janet Mock. As long as they are around, there will always be some queers on TV to turn to, for which we are grateful. And while his politics are a little too Midwestern for us, we are also grateful that Mayor Pete and his husband Chasten are touring the country for Pride 50, showing the straights how it’s done on TV screens, local and national. It is, pardon the pun, a seminal moment. Netflix, Amazon and Hulu are the places to settle in for Pride Month. If you want to watch some classic LGBTQ TV, “Queer as Folk” is on Hulu, Amazon Prime and Showtime. This series opened the door for gay and bisexual people on TV. While it is very white, it still has resonance in its depiction of gay men and their friends. The interconnectedness we experience within queer community and the isolation we feel from straight society are certainly captured well in the series. Bar culture and nonstop cruising, and the concomitant bed-hopping, also get pride of place. The series debuted in 2000 on American TV (there was a previous UK version), which means many of you were toddlers when it came out. But for five seasons, it rocked our collective world to know that there would be five gay men, two nesting lesbians having a baby with one of the men, a plethora of their friends, and real-life lesbian actress Sharon Gless playing a classic PFLAG mom on TV every week. The series is set in Pittsburgh, which was where everything was set in the early 2000s. There are 83 episodes, so you can settle in with the boys and come home to them every night for some time. “The L Word” was also classic queer TV. Lesbians had Ellen, but depictions of lesbians on TV were even scarcer than gay men. Seeing lesbian couples living in West Hollywood and slipping in and out of each other’s lives had a realness that we’d never thought we’d be able to witness on the small screen, since we certainly hadn’t seen it on the big screen. “The L Word” is getting a reboot before this 50th Pride year is up, and creator Ilene Chaiken has promised a less white, less affluent, more everything in “The L Word: Gen-

eration Q.” But if you want to see how it all began and fall in love with Shane (Katherine Moennig) and Papi (Janina Gavankar) like the rest of us did, there are six seasons and 70 episodes of the show that ran from 2004-09. On Netflix and Amazon Prime as well as Showtime. Starring Jennifer Beals, Mia Kirshner, Pam Grier and Sarah Shahi. Remember when all of gay San Francisco was aflutter because HBO was setting a TV series about gay men there? The 2014 HBO series “Looking” only got two seasons, but it was compelling and realistic, and it was hard not to be drawn in to the three main characters, Patrick (out gay actor Jonathan Groff), Agustín (Frankie J. Jonathan Groff, Frankie J. Alvarez, and Murray Bartlett Alvarez) and Dom (Murray starred in classic LGBTQ show “Looking.” Bartlett), and their romantic and sexual experiences. Plus, San Francisco is another star Browning). There’s a lot happening leased for Pride 2018, “Nanette” is of the series, and it’s frankly enjoyhere. Charlotte woos Lizzie. There’s a stand-up comedy act written and able to see gay men on screen in San a tryst. Maybe. Then things start to performed by lesbian Australian coFrancisco and fall into that aspect of happen that you really did not see median Gadsby, not like any other the show. There are 18 episodes, so comedic performance you’ve ever coming. it’s perfect for a week of binging. seen. It’s about gender, sexual orienWilliams is tour de force good There is also “Looking: The tation, sexual assault, self-loathing as Charlotte, and Browning is notMovie,” which wraps up the series. and more. too-innocent as Lizzie and also That debuted at Frameline in 2016 We saw “Clapham Junction” at a gives a stellar performance. There and is also available on Amazon queer film festival several years ago, are secondary characters who proPrime, You Tube and HBO. and we’ve never forgotten it. The pel and bolster the narrative, played If you want more queer 2007 British television film, written by the always superb Steven Weber San Francisco, then by Kevin Elyot and directed by Adriand Alaina Huffman. There is lots “Tales of the City” is an Shergold, centers on the experiof music, much of it scary, and the available on Netflix, ences of several gay men during a visuals are terrific. It is also deeply, Amazon Prime and 36-hour period in the Clapham area darkly, archly, surprisingly witty. You Tube. The TV seof London, and the consequences The caveat here is if you are not ries based on Armistead when their lives collide. a fan of the horror genre, you will Maupin’s books set in From a civil partnership cerlikely hate this because of the horribald 1970s San Franemony to a heated dinner party, ror elements, but this is a fabulous cisco was extremely five stories are woven into London new addition to the killer lesbian controversial when it life from school and work, to bars genre of horror films. There are first aired in 1993. Sex beand clubs, during one hot sumseveral trailers available, and we tween men in the midst of the AIDS mer’s night. The film opens with the recommend watching those prior pandemic was considered extreme. audio of a weather report highlightto the film just to be sure you’re up HBO dropped the project, which ing a current heat wave, while the for the visual challenges. Do not eat PBS picked up. But the outrage was main characters and storylines are prior to viewing. such that the series, which was unintroduced. Danny (Jared Thomas) If you haven’t watched Seasons questionably groundbreaking at the is shown walking down a deserted 1 & 2 of “The Handmaid’s Tale” time and remains iconic, was axed tunnel in a school uniform, Robin on Hulu, now is the time to binge after three seasons. (Rupert Graves) is heading into those, because not only is it becomThere are so many stars in this the Channel 4 studios, 14-year-old ing more a reality series every day, series it’s amazing. It was Laura LinTheo (Luke Treadway) takes books but Hulu just dropped Season 3 on ney’s breakout role. Sir Ian McKelfrom his locker at school, and Terry June 5. len, Olympia Dukakis, Nina Foch (Paul Nicholls) is at work, driving and Bob Mackie step in from the Marsha P. doc while listening to headphones. We big screen. Chloe Webb, Thomas The Netflix documentary “The then see Danny practicing on the Gibson, Mary Kay Place and Donald Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnviolin, before the first scene opens Moffat are among the Emmy-nomson” is quintessential Pride viewwith Robin trying to sell a script he’s inated stars from myriad TV series. ing. The Stonewall activist who just finished. The script is rejected Netflix has a reboot premiering died mysteriously in 1992 is being because “the whole gay thing has June 7 on Netflix. The new “Tales honored with a statue in New York been done.” This sets a general narof the City” stars Linney and DukaCity. Johnson, a self-identified drag rative for the whole film, questionkis as well as out lesbian actor Ellen queen who alternately referred to ing the idea that legal equality and Page and “Looking” star Murray themselves as a queen and gay, was general media acceptance makes Bartlett. The series is executive proa founding member of the Gay Libbeing gay no longer an issue. duced by Maupin, and is perfect for eration Front and the co-founder, There is so much going on here Pride. with trans woman Sylvia Rivera, of and it’s so deeply engaging, you will The Australian limited series S.T.A.R. (Street Transvestite Action want more after it ends. The per“Deep Water,” at only four episodes, Revolutionaries). Their work was formances are achingly good, and can be binged in an evening. The integral to the queer civil rights the intensity is as gripping as any drama is based on the historical, movement. Johnson modeled for thriller. The way in which Elyot has unsolved hate murders of possibly Andy Warhol and performed onwoven the stories of these men and 30-80 gay men in Sydney’s eastern stage with the drag performance boys and how their lives intersect suburbs and beaches in the 1980s troupe Hot Peaches. Johnson was over one moment of senseless, in& 90s, and is set in the present (it known as “the Mayor of Christoexplicable and irrevocable violence debuted in 2016) during Pride. Sydpher Street,” and from 1987 until is masterful. Available on Netflix, ney’s Pride is one of the most extravtheir death in 1992, was a prominent YouTube and Here TV. agant in the world. This is a fabulous NYC AIDS activist with ACT UP. “The Perfection” is the latest series, and speaks directly and deeply Though sometimes credited with most-hyped Netflix original film, to the way gay hate crimes have been starting the Stonewall uprising, and wow is it something. Netflix deroutinely ignored throughout hisJohnson denied she had started it, scribes it as “a twisty horror-thriller” tory, even relatively recent history. stating in 1987 that she had arrived in which “a once-promising music Compelling, if triggering. There is at around “2:00 [that morning],” prodigy reconnects with her former anti-gay violence, so be forewarned. and that “the riots had already mentors, only to find them taken There is also a documentary on the started” when she arrived and the with a talented new pupil.” events upon which the series was Stonewall building “was on fire” Oh the understatement. This based called “Deep Water: The Real after police set it on fire. The riots film makes the violence of the Story,” available on Netflix. reportedly started at around 1:20 lesbian-themed “Black Swan” feel Also available for binging on Neta.m. that morning after lesbian drag so “All About Eve” tame. Allison flix is “Queer Eye” in both its first king Stormé De Larverie fought Williams plays Charlotte, a talented iteration and its more recent reboot. back against the police officer who cellist whose career is derailed by Season 2 of the current fab five just attempted to arrest her that night. her mother taking ill. Charlotte became available for June. Other sources including The New must care for her, and when she If you haven’t seen Hannah York Times credit De Larverie, a returns, Charlotte meets the woman Gadsby’s “Nanette,” why not? Rebiracial lesbian who hung out at the who took her place, Lizzie (Logan

<< TV

Stonewall Inn, with starting the events that night. What remains clear is that gender non-conforming people began the pushback that triggered the Days of Rage, and all of them – Johnson, De Larverie and Johnson’s friend and fellow activist Rivera – deserve our honor and gratitude. The critical importance of the street activism of these three icons cannot be overstated. Each followed their actions at Stonewall with lives of dedication to the LGBTQ community during the earliest days of the quest for civil rights and liberation. “The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson” follows trans activist Victoria Cruz of the Anti-Violence Project HBO as she investigates Johnson’s murder. As the film’s main narrator, Cruz, a contemporary of both Johnson and Rivera, gives her firstperson account of their lives and experiences. It is as gripping as it is heartbreaking, because Johnson and Rivera, like so many trans and gender non-conforming people, were subjected to so much abuse and violence that an upwelling of rage attends this viewing. “[Cruz] lived in that same time, in the same New York,” says director David France, an Oscar nominee for his previous documentary “How to Survive a Plague.” “Almost nobody who was a trans person of color survived, and she survived. She’s a witness to a time that most of us can’t even imagine.” In a Vanity Fair interview, Cruz, a native of Puerto Rico who moved to New York with her 11 siblings as a child, is described as a stunning investigator. Despite being in her 70s, she “called up police precincts, coroners, Johnson’s family and friends, and other leads in an attempt to uncover new details about her mysterious death, 25 years later. She proves surprisingly adept at this grim, thankless job, though in real life she is deeply jovial, with a quick, flippant sense of humor.” “The D&L of MPJ” is compelling and enriching viewing. As Cruz told Vanity Fair about the work she did for the documentary, “Who gets a chance to relive their youth over again? That’s how I looked at it, it’s a labor of love. And I knew Marsha.” The stories of our LGBTQ lives are really just beginning to be told 50 years after that hot night in Greenwich Village. There are many gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, gender non-conforming and non-binary characters on scripted TV series, and others on reality series now. There were none in 1969 when being gay or trans was considered a mental illness. But while we can watch those characterizations nightly now, as well as watch several out queer anchors giving us our news, we still battle to have appropriate depictions of our lives. Lesbians who don’t suddenly become bisexual and vice versa. Gay men who aren’t sexually neutered. Trans people played by actual trans actors and actresses as “Transparent” and “Pose” proved can be done (oh look!) really easily, if the show’s creators and producers have the will to do it. But it’s still gruesomely difficult to be an out queer or trans person in America, which makes representations of our lives all the more critically important on the small (and big) screen. LGBTQ kids need to see themselves reflected on screen, but so do LGBTQ adults. So for the nostalgia as well as the new, the scripted and the all-too-real realities, for this Pride and always, you really must stay tuned.t

Film>>

June 6-12, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 23

Elton John rocks the Castro Theatre by David Lamble

as a fabulously successful rock superstar. Born Reginald Kenneth Dwight in Middlesex, England, the musical genius who would become Elton John was the son of a dad who couldn’t express affection. Kicking off his career as leader of a backing band for the folk artist Long John Baldry, Elton John discovered he had a knack for composing vibrant rock scores, but little feel for lyrics. Developing a Pop Art fashion sense capped by a signature taste for cartoon-like eyeglasses, Elton churned out a series of Top 40 hits that dominated the charts in both the UK and USA: “Crocodile Rock,” “Bennie and the Jets,” “Philadelphia Freedom,” “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.” In a sense, Elton successfully filled the void in the pop world created by the late-60s breakup of The Beatles.

eginning with blockbuster music specials and ending with the annual San Francisco International LGBTQ Film Festival, the Castro Theatre is jumping in June. “Rocket Man” 29-yearold British TV star Taron Egerton combines an appealing vulnerability with low-key charisma as Elton John, in a much-anticipated film bio that traces the openly gay British recording artist from his youth as a prodigy at the Royal Academy of Music, through his enduring musical partnership with lyricist Bernie Taupin. We also get his battles with depression, drugs, and a lifelong struggle to be comfortable

“Rocket Man” traces the volatile trajectory of a career beset by the natural ups and downs of the music business, including exploitative agents and the crushing pressures pushing gay performers to maintain a straight public facade. The film it most resembles in style and energy is Bob Fosse’s boldly fractured 1979 auto-bio “All That Jazz.” If while watching “Rocket Man” you recall Roy Scheider’s great tagline as the drug-addicted Fosse “It’s showtime!” you’ll receive “Rocket Man” in the spirit it creators intend. Co-starring Jamie Bell as Taupin, Richard Madden as John Reid, and Bryce Dallas Howard as Elton’s mum. Directed by Dexter Fletcher, who took over “Bohemian Rhapsody” after its original director Bryan Singer was fired; written by Lee Hall (“Billy Elliot”); executive produced by Sir Elton; “Rocket Man” is a highenergy musical romp that plays to all the Castro’s strengths in projec-

tion and sound. (6/5-10, 12, 14-17) “Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese” captures the troubled vibe in mid70s America and the celebratory music that Dylan played that year. Part concert film, part fever dream, “Rolling Thunder” is a singular experience from Oscar-winning master director Scorsese. A 60s pop icon, Dylan had disappeared from public view amidst rumors of a serious motorcycle accident. The Rolling Thunder Tour (1975-76) featured Dylan in a series of onenight theater concerts with little publicity. Among his co-stars were Joan Baez, Roger McGuinn, and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, while one-off special guests included Ringo Starr, Patti Smith and Joni Mitchell. Starring Bob Dylan, Allen Ginsberg, and Sam Shepard. (6/11) Frameline 43 Our coverage will appear over three upcoming issues. (6/20-30)t

Chasing Henry James by Brian Bromberger

n their heyday (1982-2000), the sophisticated, independent gay personal-professional partnership of Ivory & Merchant was the most successful team in adapting literary classics to film, especially E.M. Forster and Henry James, tailoring three of his works, “The Europeans,” “The Bostonians,” and “The Golden Bowl.” Merchant/Ivory changed story elements, added or removed characters and scenes, but always remained true to the point of view and tone of voice of the author. So it was exciting news when it was announced that James Ivory would be one of the executive producers of the new film based on Henry James’ 1888 mystery novella “The Aspern Papers” (Cohen Media DVD), with the hope of recreating some of that classic Merchant/Ivory magic. Alas, Ivory’s fingerprints seem as nonexistent as James’, the final result a missed opportunity. In Venice, ambitious American editor-biographer Morton Vint (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is fascinated by long-dead poet Jeffrey Aspern (based on Percy Shelley), both his poems and his wild personal life. He rents rooms in the dilapidated palazzo home of Juliana Bordereau (Vanessa Redgrave), Aspern’s former

lover and muse, pretending he wants to revive the abandoned gardens. Suspicious of his motives, Juliana consents only when he agrees to pay an exorbitant rent. His real goal is to get possession of possible love letters Aspern wrote to Juliana. Now a recluse, Juliana has no intention of sharing these documents with any literary critic. So he resorts to courting Juliana’s middle-aged, unwed niece Tina (Joely Richardson, Vanessa’s daughter by bisexual director Tony Richardson), who is also her caretaker, in the hope she will lead him to the letters. Believing Vint is wealthy, Juliana encourages him to spend time with Tina, who relishes his attention. In a contest of wills, she must decide whether to remain loyal to her aunt or give into her desires for Vint and give him the letters. The Redgraves bring their own James legacy. Vanessa’s bisexual actor father Michael adapted “Aspern Papers” for the stage in 1959. In 1984, Vanessa won an Olivier Award playing Tina in the London production, and can now play Juliana to daughter Joely’s Tina. With all that pedigree, this version should have been a winner. Both Redgraves are magnificent, with steely, shrewd Vanessa ferociously protecting her right to privacy to camouflage a sense of personal loss, and Richardson’s re-

pressed character becoming aware of her own romantic feelings and agenda. They are the sole reasons for seeing this movie. The film lacks two elements essential to the novella: suspense and paranoia due to claustrophobic surroundings. The script fails to explore why Vint is so obsessed with Aspern. Is it his poetry or his scandalous bisexuality with another Romantic poet in a menage-a-trois with Juliana? Sex is hinted at in gratuitous soft-core flashbacks that recall pseudo-arty Calvin Klein underwear ads. The homoerotic element is veiled in the novella (James was a closeted homosexual). You have a man having to go through two women to pry into one man’s possible romance with another man. This is made somewhat explicit in the film with Vint dreamily fantasizing kissing Aspern. But his motives aren’t

explored, and there are unexplained dream sequences of him being chased by his own Doppelganger, maybe because director Julien

Landeis once made a short on that topic. The other fatal flaw is the miscasting of Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Vint (unnamed in the book). In Rhys Meyers’ raspy American accent, his stilted line readings lack nuance or emotional expression. Vint comes across as unlikable, although the novella’s reader is supposed to empathize with him. One wonders why even the sheltered Tina would be attracted to such an arrogant manipulator. James was critiquing the cult of celebrity, fans more interested in scandal than art, a contemporary theme. The film may inspire viewers to read James to fill in the film’s plot holes. But for James aficionados, Cohen Media recently restored Merchant/ Ivory’s 1984 “The Bostonians,” starring Vanessa Redgrave, and will release it on Blu-ray.t

Patagonian playtime

by David Lamble

he coming-of-age adolescentboy romantic drama “My Best Friend” is a first feature from Argentine helmer Martin Deus. In it, nerdy Lorenzo finds his home and high school life disrupted when his drug-dealing dad brings a tattooed kid to the family’s secluded Patagonian home. The new guy, Caito, whose body bears bruises along with the markings, and who displays a cocky irreverence towards Lorenzo’s precious books, also starts to shake redhead Lorenzo’s notions of his place on the Kinsey scale. Not long after skinny Lorenzo makes it with his high school girlfriend, his daydreams start to wander from their accustomed path. “My Best Friend” (“Mi Mejor Amigo”) succeeds by allowing its pretty teen protagonist (Angelo Mutti Spinetta) – good with the books, last to be picked for school soccer scrums – to dominate the film through a nuanced passive-

aggressive stance towards both his bohemian family and its chosen exile. Director Deus allows the pristine beauty of Argentine Patagonia’s bottom-of-the-world landscape to captivate queer filmgoers, much the way it did in the gay teen feature “Glue.” His film beams down a similar Latin-slacker, queer-teen vibe to what “Glue” writer-director Alexis Dos Santos pulled off with his offbeat comedy. The dealclincher is how new face Spinetta

manages the same quirky balance of drugs and fun in the sack that Nahuel Perez Biscayart did in “Glue.” Young Biscayart rode his debut feature romp into an international film resume. “My Best Friend,” which had its North American debut at the Castro Theatre in Frameline 42, is available on DVD from Breaking Glass Pictures. Special features include a short film, “The Prisoner,” by director Martin Deus; director & cast interviews; and “Behind the Music.”t

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24 • Bay Area Reporter • June 6-12, 2019

Tales of the City

From page 17

“Tales of the City” follows the adventures, romantic and otherwise, of the residents of Barbary Lane, a mythical place that has, over nearly half a century, acquired a hold on the imaginations of residents of Maupin’s adopted hometown of San Francisco. Prompted by the Netflix reboot of the TV series (downloading June 7), I recently sat down with Maupin for a conversation similar to the ones we shared on my KGO-FM talk show in the early 1980s. Armistead Maupin: “Tales” began years ago, when I convinced the editors of the San Francisco Chronicle to commission a daily serial recounting how some mostly young residents (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender) of the city around the Marina Safeway were living their lives. That’s how it started, 40 years ago. David Lamble: During the early years of the serial, did you ever experience “writer’s block?” I couldn’t afford to have writer’s block because I had to have 800 words a day, five days a week. Sometimes I would just sit the characters down at the kitchen table at Mrs. Madigral’s house and have them talk to each other, and things would arise from that. It’s still a technique I use in writing fiction. It was panicky when writing for a daily paper. It seemed conducive to bringing out subconscious things for me. I revealed a lot about myself that I didn’t know I was revealing until I

Tattoos/Japanese Prints

From page 17

But the only surviving record of the real-life, deliriously intricate inked designs are woodblock prints produced by artists in the same period. Whether the tattoo fad and its enduring motifs were spawned by the prints or vice versa is still a subject of debate. Academic questions aside, the technical virtuosity on display in “Tattoos in Japanese Prints” at the Asian Art Museum is sure to thrill a legion of aficionados. While die-hards may be the target audience, other visitors, even those not compelled to run out to the nearest tattoo parlor, will appreciate the splendid artistry and style of an arcane craft preserved for posterity by dint of gifted printmakers. A far cry from their back-alley sisters, the (mostly) large-scale, spectacular pictorial tattoos depicted here are big mothers designed to impress with creative prowess and complicat-

Netflix

Scene from the rebooted “Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City,” a new version launching on Netflix this week.

looked back at it. You come from a background seemingly far removed from San Francisco. The North Carolina of conservative, if fact rabidly homophobic Senator Jesse Helms, and Vietnam War-era service in the Navy are things many liberal San Franciscans don’t necessarily associate with a gay author of your stature. It helped me with my early life. I’m glad I was in the Navy, the Navy was great! It was a democratic institution. I met people of color for the first time whom I didn’t meet back in North Carolina, where we had sort of a cloistered kind of, country club kind of existence.

Helms? In the early 1990s, he was an extremely right-wing figure who, among other things, launched a kind of legislative Jihad against the work of the queer photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. He was a terrible person, let me tell you. He was executive vice president of the TV station where I worked. He used to tell me that I was the hope of the future, and I now like pointing out that I was! Just not in the way that he expected. Describe the new installments of “Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City” coming to Netflix this week. Well, there are characters that don’t exist in any of the TV versions.

Will you expand on your time with the late Senator Jesse

You told me once on the radio show that you experienced

ed narratives. If there is an acknowledged father of the specialty it would be master artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi, who’s credited with all but inventing the full-body tattoo. His emblematic iconography, speculated to have kicked off a boom that lasted for 40 years, came to adorn the bodies of urban Japanese men. Resembling colorfully patterned garments and layered with hidden meaning, these action-packed scenarios of mythical and historic derring-do – with all manner of dragons and demons, fierce predators and a random plum blossom or two – covered the flesh from the neck to the knees, except for a discreet bare strip down the middle of the chest that allowed them to be easily concealed by clothing. Along with colorful pages from erotic books and manuscripts with examples of forcibly applied punishment tattoos, the show includes primo selections from Kuniyoshi’s best-selling series inspired by the immensely popular 14th-century

martial arts novel “Water Margin.” The epic fantasy-adventure tale was first translated from the Chinese and published in Japan between 1757-90. Kuniyoshi’s illustrations, which he called “One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Water Margin,” departed from the source material, where only four of the legendary hero bandits were described as having tattoos; indulging in a bit of artistic license, he invented designs chronicling the exploits of 15. The prints were a mega-hit when they came out in the late 1820s, their mass appeal rivaling “The Avengers” phenomenon of today. In “Zhang Shun, the White Streak in the Waves,” regarded as the finest of the series, a man’s naked body is embellished with a monstrous snake slithering through ivy. Brandishing a fearsome sword, he dives underwater with gusto to breach the watery gate of a fortress. Meanwhile, another Olympic swimmer, “Li Jun, the Dragon in the Turbulent River,” overturns a boat with brute force and tosses its passengers into the drink, aided no doubt by the Thunder God and lightning bolts that dance across his torso and shoulders. In the kinetic “Ruan Xiaowu Fighting Underwater,” a former fisherman, perhaps Japan’s answer to Aquaman, plunges into the watery deep to vanquish an enemy general; yet another scene shows a hero tattooed with a leopard, holding back a waterfall with his bare hands. The exhibition also injects fun facts into the mix. We’re told, for instance, that the government of the early Meiji period (1868-1912), believing that tattoos were uncivilized and didn’t comport with the modern image they wished to project, prohibited the practice. Although the edict didn’t bar sailors on leave, foreign tourists or posh aristocrats like George V of England and Russia’s Nicholas II from acquiring tattoos, it did drive a once-thriving if marginal industry underground, and put the damper on prints of tattooed figures. (The ban was lifted after WWII.) A defiance of social convention coupled with a painful design process involving multiple sessions where a bundle of needles at the end of a

Pride Concert

Dawn Harms, Music Director & Conductor Tickets & Info: http://BARS-SF.ORG

Saturday, June 8, 8pm SF Conservatory of Music 50 Oak Street (at Van Ness)

Elfrida Andrée

Prelude to Fritiofs Saga

Shawn Kirchner

Brokeback Mountain Suite Shawn Kirchner, piano + tenor Ryan Harrison, tenor Ann Moss, soprano

Berlioz

Symphonie fantastique

http://BARS-SF.ORG

problems with the way the first TV version was handled by public television. They were pressured by the American Family Association, an outfit that’s still around – it’s run by this crazy man’s son! The Rev. Donald Wildman objected to what he called the “anal intercourse” – what is that?! We didn’t come close to depicting that in the first one, although I’m happy to say we’ve got a little in this one. It was a tough time, because it was the beginning of the culture wars – the very beginning, in fact. People for the American Way [founded by TV producer Norman Lear’s organization; he was the creator of “All in the Family,” with the genial bigot Archie Bunker] was a big supporter of the show. Lear pointed out that it was among the first shots fired in the culture wars, among the most

Courtesy the subject

“Tales of the City” author Armistead Maupin.

important, as a matter of fact. So we had a battle on our hands, and they were waging war on what was essentially a very sweet story that people today just think, “Well, that’s nice.” But because there were men kissing in it, and people smoked joints, they pretended to be outraged. You’ve got to understand how these rightwing media organizations work. They riled up their constituency about whatever horror they claimed to see coming down the pike, and got them to give them money. And we were the way they did that in those days. Very different these days. We had 10 writers in the writers’ room, and they represented every shade of queerdom! At one point I thought, “Maybe we should have one straight person!” But then I thought, “We didn’t have one straight person when I was writing it! Just this queer guy imagining straight lives.” Queer folk can do that, we have done it traditionally for years, and written about other kinds of lives, including heterosexual lives. I was pleased that we represented so much – both people who lived through AIDS and those who didn’t experience the epidemic.t As part of June 2019 LGBTQ Pride observances, the Netflix limited series “Armistead Maupin’s Tales of City” drops all 10 one-hour episodes in its launch on Friday, June 7. Maupin wryly observes that the series can be viewed worldwide except for in Iran, North Korea and Russia.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

“Shi Jin, the Nine Dragoned,” from the series “One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Water Margin” (1853), by Totoya Hokkei. Woodblock print; ink and colors on paper.

stick were hammered into the skin (the body-sensitive need not apply) gave tattoos outlaw status and made them a badge of bad-boy courage for gangsters and organized crime syndicates like Japan’s Yakuza. Though a frequent subject for printmakers, Kabuki Theater actors never had real tattoos; the imagery was temporarily painted on their skin and removed so they could portray a range of characters. A restriction forbidding women to perform onstage gave rise to crossdressing and female impersonation. In “A Water Margin of Beautiful and Brave Women,” a playful, gender-bending triptych impressively rendered by Kuniyoshi protégé Toyohara Kunichika, a

gaggle of famous actors of the day, elaborately dolled up in red and blue, pretend to be tattooed amazons readying for battle, one clutching the top of her head as if fretting over the imminent conflict. Utagawa Kunisada imagines a scene featuring an actor in the role of Benten Kozo Kikunosuke, a handsome thief who disguised himself as a woman to better pull off his crimes. He appears here barefoot and sitting on a tansu chest, coquettishly proffering a cup of tea. In a moment of fatal distraction, his patterned robe slips off a tattooed shoulder, revealing his actual gender. Uh-oh.t Through Aug. 18. asianart.org.

Nightlife Events

Arts Events

www.ebar.com

Shining Stars

Steven Underhill

Vol. 49 • No. 23 • June 6-12, 2019

Wrestling for Pride

Grapplers go for/with the gays at El Toro by David-Elijah Nahmod

n Thursday, June 13, pro wrestlers will be in the center ring for a Pride event that offers something a little bit different. The evening will end with one of the wrestlers showing his bra and panties! It all happens at El Toro nightclub in the Portola District, where the villainous wrestler Rik Luxury goes up against “The Sexy Swinger” Jheri Gigolo in an all-out battle to save Pride. The first heavyweight to strip off his opponent’s evening gown and reveal the other man’s bra and panties is the winner. See page 27 >>

Flying grapplers at 2018’s Wrestling for Charity event.

Off to the market we go International Mr. Leather explored

International Mr. Leather

by Race Bannon

very year for decades men have descended on Chicago over the Memorial Day weekend for an annual leather pilgrimage otherwise known as International Mr. Leather (IML), as did I this past week. See page 30 >>

{ THIRD OF THREE SECTIONS }

IML/IMBB winner’s podium (left to right): Jawn Marques, first runner-up IML; Geoff Millard, first runner-up IMBB; Jack Thompson, winner IML; Kriszly de Hond, winner IMBB; Fionn Scott, second runner-up IML; and Sparkie, second runner-up IMBB.

<< Nightlife Evnets

26 • Bay Area Reporter • June 6-12, 2019

Fri 7 Bobby Caldwell @ Yoshi’s Oakland The globally known jazz vocalist performs at the East Bay restaurantnightclub. $34-$79. 8pm & 10pm. Also June 8, 7:30pm & 9:30pm. 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland. www.yoshis.com

Nightlife Events June 6-13, 2019

Sat 8

Dive in to dive bars, come out in classy nightclubs, check out the happy hours, hilarious queens and hot gogos, all as we ease on down the rainbow road through Pride month.

Brooke Lynn Hytes at Mother @ Oasis

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

Thu 6 Christina Bianco @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko Internationally-acclaimed singer, actor, and impressionist (What if Julie Andrews sang Led Zeppelin?) brings Me, Myself, and Everyone Else! to the elegant nightclub. $40-$70 ($20 food/ drink min.). 8pm. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. feinsteinsatthenikko.com

Greg Holden @ Hotel Utah The Brit/LA-based singer performs songs from his new album, World War Me, at the SoMa bar; Shwa Loseben and KTL open. $12-$15. 8pm. 500 4th St. www.gregholdenonline.com www.hotelutah.com

The Monster Show @ The Edge The weekly drag show with host Sue Casa, DJ MC2, themed nights and hilarious fun. $5. 9pm-2am. 4149 18th St. at Collingwood. www.edgesf.com

Sex and the City Live @ Oasis The comic drag parody performances of scripts from the hit HBO show about four Manhattan women, adapted by and starring D’Arcy Drollinger. $27-$50. Thu-Sat 7pm thru July 13. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Sundance Saloon @ Space 550 The popular two-stepping linedancing, not-just-country music night, with free lessons. $5. 6:30pm10:30pm. Also Sundays 5pm-10:30pm. 550 Barneveld Ave. www.sundancesaloon.org

Thursday Night Live @ SF Eagle Rock bands play at the famed leather bar. June 6: The Throw-Ups, Cape Fury and Space Committee. $8. 398 12th St. at Harrison. sf-eagle.com

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

Detention @ Oasis Dance night with DJ Devin Jay and host D’Arcy Drollinger. $7-$10. 10pm2am. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Disco Coalition @ Lookout Juanita MORE! and Go BANG! present the weekly series of community-building party-fundraisers for local LGBTQ nonprofits, thru June. 5pm-8pm. 3600 16th St. at Market. www.lookoutsf.com

First Friday @ The Stud Lesbian, queers & pals’ dance party with hip hop, Top 40 grooves. 10pm2am. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

Friday Nights @ Oakland Museum Early evening weekly parties coordinated with Queer California: Untold Stories, a multimedia exhibition documenting California LGBT lives, with contemporary artwork, rare historical materials, film, photography, sculpture; thru Aug. 11. Free/$15. 5pm-9pm. 1000 Oak St. http://museumca.org/

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

Latin Explosion @ Club 21 The popular Latin club with gogo guys galore and Latin music. $10-$20. 9pm-3am. 2111 Franklin St., Oakland. www.club21oakland.com

MAX First Friday @ Eclipse Bar Monthly gathering of the gay men’s social group. 6pm-8:30pm. Hyatt Embarcadero Hotel, Atrium Lobby level. 5 Embarcadero Center. www.MAXsf.org

Matt Doyle @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko The talented Broadway singer-actor performs his new cabaret concert. $35 ($20 food/drink min.) Also June 8. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. www.mattdoylemusic.com

Polythene Pam, Secret Emchy Society @ The Lost Church The queer rock-pop and Americana bands share an acoustic bill at the intimate venue. $10-$15. 8:15pm. 65 Capp St. www.thelostchurch.com

Ror:Shok @ SF Eagle Jonny Rockitt’s drag and music night with Pina Busch and Mary Magnum. 9pm-2am. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

Stank @ Powerhouse Odorama manliness at the cruisy bar, with the smelly armpit contest; no, really. $5. 10pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

Uhaul @ Jolene’s The popular women’s dance party returns at the new nightclub, now weekly. 10pm-2am. 2700 16th St. at Harrison. www.jolenessf.com

Dance Party @ White Horse Bar, Oakland DJed grooves at the historic East Bay gay bar. 9pm-2am. 6551 Telegraph Ave, (510) 652-3820. www.whitehorsebar.com

Do Fireflies Dream of Electric Sheep? @ The EndUp Burning Man art cars fundraiser with DJs from The Flaming Lotus Girls (FLG), BAAAHS and Pyramid Scheme. $30 and up. 9pm-6am. 401 6th St. www.theendupsf.com

Draglesque @ The Stud Nudie Nubie’s burlesque show 6pm8pm. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

M.D.C., VKTMS, Deseos Primitivos @ El Rio Three veteran punk rock bands share a bill. $10. 9pm-11:30pm. 3158 Mission St. www.elriosf.com

Mother @ Oasis Heklina’s popular weekly drag show, with special guests and great music themes. June 8 is an Annie Lennox tribute with guest-star Brooke Lynn Hytes. $15-$25. 10pm-3am (11:30pm show). 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Napa, Sonoma Pride @ Various Venues

Weekly dance and cavorting night with a view. $5. 9pm-2am. 3600 16th St. www.lookoutsf.com

Domingo De Escandal @ Club OMG Weekly Latin night with drag shows hosted by Vicky Jimenez and DJ Carlitos. (Comedy Open Mic 5:30pm). 7pm-2am. 43 6th St. clubomgsf.com

Drunk Drag Tonys @ Oasis Watch the Tony Awards with the drag hosts of Drunk Drag Broadway, and hostess Chyna Maykit. $15-$20. 5pm. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Flagging in the Park @ AIDS National Memorial Grove DJ Andre Steffens plays at the popular outdoor flow arts and dance party and picnic. Donations benefit Positive Resource Center. 1pm-4pm. Nancy Pelosi Drive at Bowling Green, Golden Gate Park. www.flaggercentral.com

Haight Street Fair @ Upper Haight 42nd annual street fair with live bands, DJs, food, crafts and fun. 11am-5pm. Haight Street from Mason to Stanyan. www.haightashburystreetfair.org

Ruby @ SOMArts A cabaret and dance party extravaganza celebrating 40 years of the performing arts center, with music, dancing, and honors ceremonies for founding board member Rhodessa Jones. $30-$250 (VIP). 6pm-12am. 934 Brannan St. www.somarts.org

Sacramento Pride @ Capitol Mall Two-day LGBT festival, with performers Lizzo, Animil, Planet Booty, Ariana and the The Rose, Mayhem Miller, Brooke Lynn Hytes, Sacramento Gay Men’s Chorus and multiple DJs and dance spaces, plus a parade. $10-$150 (VIP pass). 11am-5pm. 3rd & 7th St., Sacramento. sacramentopride.org

San Mateo County Fair @ San Mateo Event Center

Thu 6

Greg Holden @ Hotel Utah

New World Disorder @ The Stud Daughters of Dysorder’s night with DJs Techno Pagan, Chi Hai, La Frida and a live set by Erica Mar. $5-$10. 10pm-2am. 399 9th St. studsf.com

Annual fair with rides, food, live music acts, agriculture and livestock displays, arts, crafts and more. Free$10 ($45 full adult pass). Daily 11am10pm. Thru June 16. 2495 S Delaware St, San Mateo. www.sanmateocountyfair.com

Vanessa Bousay @ Martuni’s

Writers With Drinks @ Make-Out Room

Mon 10

Charlie Jane Anders hosts the monthly literary+ booze night, this time with Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Mauro Javier Cardenas, Achy Obejas, Josiah Luis Alderete and Rachelle Escamilla. 7pm. 3225 22nd St. makeoutroom.com

Sun 9

The drag chanteuse performs ‘Blondes in a Bar’ (Dinah, Doris, Dolly, Peggy) with Keta Bill; Tom Shaw and Roberta Drake accompany. $20. 7pm. 4 Valencia St. vanessabousay.com

Herb Alpert & Lani Hall @ Yoshi’s Oakland The famed trumpeter-band leader performs with the jazz vocalist. $49. 8pm. Also June 11 & 12. 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland. www.yoshis.com

Karaoke Night @ Lookout

Apocrypha @ SF Eagle

All-day songfest, 8pm-2am. 3600 16th St. www.lookoutsf.com

Post-beer bust T-dance with DJ Spazitron and host Mocha Frapalatte. $7. 9pm-2am. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

Munro’s at Midnight @ Midnight Sun

Beard Haus @ Lone Star Saloon DJ Prince Wolf plays at the bear bar. $5. 9pm-2am. 1354 Harrison St. www.lonestarsf.com

Banda Los Shakas performs live at the LGBT Latinx night. $10. 9pm-4am. 2111 Franklin St. club21oakland.com

Bounce @ Lookout

Enjoy dances, cookouts, park parties, drag shows, youth dances, art shows and more; most Saturdays, Sundays thru June 28. NapaSonomaPride.org

Sat 8

La Bota Loca @ Club 21, Oakland

Sun 9

Vanessa Bousay @ Martuni’s

Drag night with Mercedez Munro. No cover. 10pm. 4067 18th St. 861-4186. www.midnightsunsf.com

Wrestling>>

Wrestling

From page 25

The event is called Wrestling For Charity, and part of the evening’s proceeds will benefit the Portola Neighborhood Association. “We have hosted ten Wrestling For Charity events at El Toro nightclub,” said Paul E. Pratt, aka drag host and Empress Pollo Del Mar. Pratt noted that El Toro is not a queer-specific space, but a Latin bar. He said that the owner is very excited about bringing inclusive events and activities to the space. El Toro hosts the Portola Neighborhood Association’s drag bingo twice a year, among other diverse and inclusive events. “Every year I host an annual drag pageant for charity,” said Pratt. “The last two or three years we’ve been at El Toro because they’ve been so inviting to us. They’re very much looking to invigorate San Bruno Avenue and the Portola neighborhood and make it a nightlife destination location for all people, queer people included.” Wrestling For Charity is a professional wrestling organization that produces benefit events for various local charities. The organization is a collection of many of the Bay Area’s favorite names in wrestling. Pratt said that the wrestlers were indeed professionals, and that he was the only drag queen involved. When the audience sees the show, they’ll be hearing Rik Luxury making homophobic and misogynistic

June 6-12, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 27

remarks, but it’s all an act. “In Wrestling For Charity, Rik is the epitome of all the things that I stand against,” said Pratt. “The way we present this, I’m very much the heroine. I’m not presented as a drag queen but as a female character, and the audience accepts that. This is a theatrical experience, it happens to be an athletic theatrical experience. It’s theater presented in the wrestling context. The characters that are portrayed are done to tell a story for the audience. Rik plays his character extremely well. He epitomizes all the evil, horrible things that we’re facing.” This is in direct opposition to Jheri Gigolo and Pollo Del Mar. “I’m there as a symbol of female empowerment,” said Pratt. “And Jheri is there to play to our gay audience members. He loves and celebrates them, and he bills himself as coming from the heart of the Castro. That’s how theater plays out in the world of professional wrestling. Somebody is the embodiment of evil or the darkness that we face, and then there’s somebody who embodies the good, and the viewing audience hopes that good will triumph over evil.” Pratt describes the match as an immersive theatrical event in which the wrestlers play characters, and that the audience is made part of the show. “It’s long been known that professional wrestling is scripted,” Pratt said. “I’m one of the main creative influences for these productions, so

Miss Kitty’s Trivia Night @ Wild Side West

Jim Hopkins plays classic pop oldies, with vintage music videos. 9pm-2am. 44 Castro St. www.the440.com

The weekly fun night at the Bernal Heights bar includes prizes, hosted by Kitty Tapata. No cover. 7pm-10pm. 424 Cortland St. 647-3099. www.wildsidewest.com

Home of drag shows, and hilaraoke karaoke. 9pm-1am. 1550 California St. #2. 775-0442.

Pam Ann @ Feinstein’s

Pillows @ Powerhouse

Vice Tuesdays @ Q Bar Queer femmes and friends dance party with hip hop, Top 40 and throwbacks at the stylish intimate bar, with DJs Val G and Iris Triska. 9pm-2am. 456 Castro St. QbarSF.com

Glamamore’s crafts and drag night. 9pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

Wed 12

Underwear Night @ 440

B.P.M. @ Club BnB, Oakland

Strip down to your skivvies at the popular men’s night. 9pm-2am. 440 Castro St. 621-8732. the440.com

Tue 11 Chromatics @ Mezzanine Desire and In Mirrors also perform. $36-$40. 9pm. Also June 12. 444 Jessie St. https://mezzaninesf.com/

Wrestling For Charity Presents SF Slam10: Pride On The Line. Thursday, June 13, 7pm at El Toro Nightclub, 2470 San Bruno Avenue. $20. www.facebook.com/ WrestlingForCharity

Retro Night @ 440 Castro

Sing Out @ Encore Karaoke Lounge

Wed 12

I’ve been guiding this storyline for over six months. The idea of Rik and Jheri facing off in this absurd ludicrous evening gown/bra and panties snatch was my idea. The guys thought it was amazing and hilarious, something that you won’t see in any other show.” Reactions from the audience has been positive, according to Pratt. People who come to see the matches are a mix of LGBT folks and general wresting fans, and they’re into the show because they want to see more than just a wrestling match. They’re getting a solid storyline from performers who aren’t just wrestlers, they’re actors and comedians. “One of the things I love about this show is that it’s attracted a lot of people who do not consider themselves professional wrestling fans when they arrive,” said Pratt. “I’ve had a number of women show up, and they’ve absolutely had a blast. Our show is in a small, intimate environment, where the show is happening right in front of you, around you, and sometimes on top of you, and people are blown away not only by the interactivity of it all, but the kind of energy it creates with the audience, the show, and the performers. It’s truly a one of a kind experience.” t

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

Pam Ann @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko The stewardess with satiric sass

All photos: Steven Underhill

Action-packed fun at a 2018 Wrestling for Charity night at El Toro, hosted by Pollo Der Mar.

returns with comic songs and in-flight service. $55-$85 ($20 food/drink min.). 7pm. Also June 13, 8pm. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. www.feinsteinsatthenikko.com

Pan Dulce @ Beaux Drag divas, gogo studs, DJed Latin grooves and drinks. 9pm-2am (free before 10:30pm). 2344 Market St. www.clubpapi.com

Queeraoke @ El Rio Midweek drag rave and vocal open mic, with Dulce de Leche, Rhani Nothingmore, Beth Bicoastal, Ginger Snap and guests. 10pm. 3158 Mission St. http://www.elriosf.com/

Free pool and drink specials at the historic neighborhood bar. 8pm-1am. 1723 Polk St. www.cinchsf.com

Enjoy a night of baseball (Giants vs Padres), with a pre-game party hosted by Juanita MORE!. $17. 6:45pm. 24 Willie Mays Plaza. www.sfgiants.com/specialevents

Thu 13 Comedy @ Ashkenaz Laughs at a Father’s Day show with Tom Ammiano, Samson Koletkar, Jeff Applebaum and Lisa Geduldig. $15-$20. 8pm. 1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. www.koshercomedy.com

Latin Explosion @ Club 21 Latin beats, Lulu and Jacqueline’s drag show, gogo hotties and a packed crowd. $10-$15. 9pm-4am. 2111 Franklin St. www.club21oakland.com

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

Freeball Wednesdays @ The Cinch

SF Giants LGBTQ Night @ Oracle Park

Nightlife @ California Academy of Sciences

Wed 12

Miss Kitty’s Trivia Night @ Wild Side West

Parties at the fascinating spacious nature and science exhibits. June 6: DJ set by King Most, Sea Prom party, World Oceans Day celebration. $12-$15. 6pm-10pm. 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park. www.calacademy.org t

<< Arts Events

28 • Bay Area Reporter • June 6-12, 2019

Arts Events

Queer Rebel Fest 11 @ African American Art & Culture Complex

June 6-13, 2019

Performances by queer and trans people of color; Carolyn Wysinger, Nori Reed, Scout Tran, Greg Pond, Rene’ Vaz, Hector Zavala, AhSa-Ti Nu Tyehimba-Ford, Europa and Alexa Burrell. $15-$25. 7pm. Also June 8. 762 Fulton St. www.eventbrite.com

Pride month gets rainbow-licious, with a few vintage exhibits in stately black and white.

Tue 11

Thu 6 Above Ground @ Mojo Theatre Footloose’s festival of new theater; four weekends of different short plays, solo performers and more. $15-$30. Thu-Sat andb 2 Sundays, 8pm. 2940 16th St. www.ftloose.com

Action Hero @ Phoenix Theatre Theatre Rhinoceros’ new production of John Fisher’s play about an actor with Hollywood dreams. $20-$40. Thru July 6. 414 Mason St. www.TheRhino.org

The Mueller Report Reading @ Manny’s One of many nationwide live and streamed full readings of the (redacted) Mueller Report on Trump’s (alleged) corruption, with Hadar Aviram, David Campos, Matt Haney, Cleve Jones, Supe. Rafael Mandelman, Carol Queen, Supe. Hillary Ronen, Susan Solomon, Buffy Wicks and State Senator Scott Wiener. Free. 7am-12am. 3092 16th St. www.welcometomannys.com

Documentary Film Festival @ Roxie, Brava Theaters Fascinating documentary films from around the world; thru June 13. 3117 16th St. and 2781 24th St. www.sfindie.com

Fabric Animal @ CounterPulse

Dan Savage @ Palace of Fine Arts

Local innovative dancerchoreographers Sonsherée Giles & Sebastian Grubb perform a new dance work. $20-$35. 8pm. Also June 7 & 8. 80 Turk St. www.counterpulse.org

The gay author and sex advice columnist reads and pontificates. $40. 8pm. 3301 Lyon St. https://palaceoffinearts.org

Queer as F*** III @ Bindlestiff Studio Tickling Your Funny Bone(r), a twoweek festival of comic plays with queer and trans themes, performed by the 26-member troupe of Filipino actors. $12-$25. Thu-Sat 8pm, Sat & Sun 3pm, thru June 8. 185 6th St. www.bindlestiffstudio.org

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The Good Book @ Berkeley Rep Deni O’Hare and Lisa Peterson’s play about three people exploring their faith, and the very human roots of the Bible. $45-$97. Thru June 9. 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. www.berkeleyrep.org

Max Vernon’s glam-rock gospelpop musical, about a hipster who’s transported back in time to a historic 1970s New Orleans gay bar. $35-$60. Live music pre-show Wednesdays. Thru June 9. 25 Van Ness Ave. www.nctcsf.org

Sat 8 Charming Hostess @ John Coltrane Church The duo performs a concert of folk queer-themed songs about love, work and anti-fascist struggle. $18. 8pm. 2097 Turk St. www.SFLiveArts.org

Radar Superstar @ SF Main Library Radar Productions presents storytelling with Anastacia Reneé, Aimee Suzara, Honey Mahogany, Librexht Baker, and a farewell to Juliana Delgado Lopera. Free. 5:30pm. Koret Auditorium, lower level, 100 Larkin St. www.sfpl.org

Joshua Harmon’s witty romantic comedy about a gay men who endures all his friends’ weddings. $20-$100. Thru June 15. 450 Post St. www.sfplayhouse.org

Fri 7 American Psycho @ Victoria Theatre Ray of Light Theatre’s production of Duncan Sheik and Roberto AguirreSacasa’s darkly satiric musical based on the 1980s Bret Easton Ellis novel. $15-$40. Thru June 8. 2961 16th St. www.rayoflighttheatre.com

Dan Hoyle’s new solo show embodies multiple characters based around the U.S./Mexico border wall controversies; extended thru June 22. $25-$100. Wed-Fri 8pm, Sat 5pm. 1062 Valencia St. www.themarsh.org

Cheyne Gallarde @ Strut Opening reception for Comic Book Queeroes, the artist’s exhibit of vibrant illustrations. 8pm-10pm. Thru June. 470 Castro st. www.strutsf.org

The Visability Project, the artist’s series of portraits of diverse people. Desai Matta Gallery, California Institute of Integral Studies, 1453 Mission St. www.ciis.edu

Napa, Sonoma Pride @ Various Venues Enjoy dances, cookouts, park parties, drag shows, youth dances, art shows and more; most Saturdays, Sundays thru June 28. www.NapaSonomaPride.org

Oedipus el Rey @ Magic Theatre Revival of Luis Alfaro’s 2009 modern update on the classic Greek tragedy focuses on incarcerated youth. $15-$75. Thru June 23. Fort Mason, 2 Marina Blvd., Bldg D, 3rd floor. www.MagicTheatre.org

Out of Site: SoMa @ South of Market Locales Seth Eisen’s new LGBT history walking tour covers the sexy cruisy distrcit, from Native American villages, gold miners, leather men and up to tech bros; with performances by Marga Gomez, Brian Freeman, Landa Lakes and other talents. $10-$45. June 8 & 9, 15 & 16. 12pm & 3pm. Sun 1pm. Meet at Howard Langton Community Garden, 10 Langton St. www.eyezen.org

Sacramento Pride @ Capitol Mall Two-day LGBT festival, with performers Lizzo, Animil, Planet Booty, Ariana and the The Rose, Mayhem Miller, Brooke Lynn Hytes, Sacremento Gay Men’s Chorus and multiple dJs and dance spaces, plus a parade. $10-$150 (VIP pass). 11am-5pm. 3rd & 7th St., Sacramento. sacramentopride.org

The Oakland artist’s installation recreates and honors her father’s history as owner of SF’s first Black-owned gay bar, with archival materials and ‘hosted’ events; thru June 30. 2948 16th St. thelab.org

Sat 8

Charming Hostess @ John Coltrane Church

Queer California: Untold Stories @ Oakland Museum Multimedia exhibition documenting California LGBT lives, with contemporary artwork, rare historical materials, film, photography, sculpture; thru Aug. 11. Friday 5pm LGBT film screenings. Also, Cruisin’ the Fossil Coastline, Ray Troll’s illustrations paired with paleontologist Kirk Johnson’s research. Also, Take Root: Oakland Grows Food and more. Free/$15. 1000 Oak St. http://museumca.org/

Films @ BAM/PFA Artistic and award-winning films, including international features, and documentaries about artists; ongoing. 2155 Center St., Berkeley. www.bampfa.org

Kiss My Aztec! @ Berkeley Rep John Leguizamo and Tony Taccone’s hilarious multi-genre musical comedy about woke Aztecs taking on Spanish invaders. $35-$115. Thru July 14. 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. www.berkeleyrep.org

Chosen Familias @ GLBT History Museum Opening reception for Chosen Familias: Bay Area LGBTQ Latinx Stories, 7pm. Also, The Mayor of Folsom Street: Alan Selby’s Legacy, an exhibit of the leather culture pioneer. Also, SoMa Nights: 1980s-1990s Queer Club Photography, an exhibit of prints by prolific photographer Melissa Hawkins; thru May 27. $5. 4127 18th St. www.glbthistory.org

Mia Nakano @ CIIS

Sadie Barnette: The New Eagle Creek Saloon @ The Lab

Significant Other @ SF Playhouse

Border People @ The Marsh Since 1977

American Conservatory Theatre’s new production of Eugene Ionesco’s classic and still timely dark satire about political mendacity and cultural conformity; translated by Derek Prouse; special events thru run. $15-$110. Thru June 23. 415 Geary St. www.act-sf.org

The View Upstairs @ New Conservatory Theatre Center

Rainbow Warrior: The Memoirs of Gilbert Baker @ SF Main Library

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

Rhinoceros @ Geary Theatre

Sat 8

Out of Site: SoMa @ South of Market Locales

That Don Reed Show @ The Marsh Berkeley The award-winning solo performer returns with his acclaimed show about Black media stereotypes and his own identity. $20-$100. Sat 8:30pm, Sun 5:30pm, thru June 9. 2120 Allston way, Berkeley. www.themarsh.org

Various Exhibits @ NIAD Art Center, Richmond Exhibits of art by visiting professionals, and art made by developmentally disabled people. Mon-Fri 10am-4pm. 551 23rd St., Richmond. (510) 620-0290. www.niadart.org

Arts Events>>

June 6-12, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 29

Exclusion @ Presidio Officers Club Exhibit documenting the Presidio’s JapaneseAmerican incarceration during World War II; other exhibits show the history of the former military base and the SF peninsula. Free, Tue-Sun 10am-5pm. Thru Spring 2019. 50 Maraga Ave. www.presidio.gov/ officers-club/exhibitions/

Sun 9

Gender Queer @ Cartoon Art Museum

Flagging in the Park @ AIDS National Memorial Grove

Who Killed Sylvia Plath? @ The Marsh

Sprightly @ SF Public Library

Lorri Holt performs Lynne Kaufman’s fascinating solo play about the tragic demise of the poet. $25$100. Sat 8:30pm, Sun 5:30pm. Thru June 16. 1062 Valencia St. www.themarsh.org

Weekly hangout for LGBTQ youth, with crafts, snacks and activities. 12:30pm-2:30pm. James C. Hormel Center, 3rd floor, 100 Larkin St. www.sfpl.org

Women’s open mic with featured performer Karen Mullally. $7-$10. 6:30pm potluck, 7:30pm show. 424 Monte Vista, Oakland. http://plymouthoakland.org/jazz

Sun 9

Andy Warhol @ SF MOMA Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again, a new exhibition of the iconic pop artist’s works; thru Sept 2. Also, other exhibits of Modern art. Free/$25. Fri-Tue 10am-5pm; Thu 10am-9pm. 151 3rd St. www.sfmoma.org

Tattoos in Japanese Prints @ Asian Art Museum Tattoos in Japanese Prints and The Bold Brush of Au Ho-Nein, both thru Aug. 18; also, Contemporary works by Kim Heecheon and Liu Jianhua; exhibits of sculpture and antiquities. Sunday café specialties from $7-$16. Free-$20. Tue-Sun 10am-5pm. 200 Larkin St. www.asianart.org/

LGBT Book Club @ Dog Eared Books Discussion of Emily M. Danforth’s The Miseducation of Cameron Post. 7pm. 489 Castro St. www.dogearedbooks.com

Tue 11

James Hosking

Works in Progress @ Plymouth Jazz and Justice Church, Oakland

Tue 11

Mais Kobabe’s Gender Queer, thru July 1, and other exhibits. 11am-5pm. 781 Beach St. cartoonart.org

Aunt Charlie’s @ Tenderloin Museum

Exhibits @ Treasure Island Museum

Flagging in the Park @ AIDS National Memorial Grove DJ Andre Steffens plays at the popular outdoor flagging, flow and dance party and picnic. Donations benefit Positive Resource Center. 1pm-4pm. Nancy Pelosi Drive at Bowling Green, Golden Gate Park. http://www.flaggercentral.com/

Haight Street Fair @ Upper Haight 42nd annual street fair with live bands, DJs, food, crafts and fun. 11am-5pm. Haight Street from Mason to Stanyan. www.haightashburystreetfair.org

Maricela, Luis Mora @ Dance Palace Art and photo exhibit of imagery and symbolism of Danza Azteca. 503 B St., Point Reyes Station. http://dancepalace.org

The Port Chicago Story: Lighting the Fuse to Civil Rights, thru July 7. Also, collections of Golden gate Expo postcards, military memorabilia and more. Building One, Treasure Island, One Avenue of the Palms. www.treasureislandmuseum.org

Group exhibit of amusing art works of dogs by the members of the developmentally challenged artists group. Mon-Fri 10am-5pm (Thu 7pm) Sat 12pm-5pm. 3245 16th St. www.creativityexplored.org

Show Me as I Want to Be Seen @ Contemporary Jewish Museum

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

Show Me as I Want to Be Seen, the work of groundbreaking French Jewish artist, Surrealist, and activist Claude Cahun (1894–1954). 736 Mission St. https://thecjm.org/

Opening reception for the multimedia exhibit about the historic Tenderloin drag bar, with SF Pride Grand Marshal Donna Persona (8pm). Thru Dec 1. 398 Eddy St.

Preserving SF’s Queer Historic Places @ SF Main Library Panel discussion about gentrification’s effect on hsitoric buildings and spaces, with Tania Jimenez, Gerard Koskovich, Gayle S. Rubin, Terry Beswick and moderator Carol Queen. Free. 6pm. Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin St. sfpl.org

Thrill Spot: The Raid on Tommy’s Place @ GLBT History Museum Author Katie Gilmarten hosts a lecture about the historic raid of the San Francisco lesbian bar in 1954, with rare photos and scandalous headlines. $5. 7pm. 4127 18th St. www.glbthistory.org

With(out) With(in) the Very Moment @ SF Arts Commission Exhibit about LGBT lives, and surviving AIDS, with Elliot Anderson, Adam Ansell, Ed Aulerich-Sugai, Mark Garrett, Cliff Hengst, Nancer Lemoins, Mark Paron, Anton Stuebner, and featuring Alternate Endings, a series of video programs by Visual AIDS for Day With(out) Art. Thru June 22. 401 Van Ness Ave. sfartscommission.org t

Playmates and soul mates...

Early Rubens @ Legion of Honor Exhibit of epic massive paintings of biblical and mythical subjects by Peter Paul Rubens; Thru Sept 8. Also, Small Inventions: Artist’s Books by Charles Hobson (thru July 14) ; Mummies and Medicine (thru April 14) and other exhibits of classical and modern art. Free/$30. Lincoln Park, 100 34th Ave. https://legionofhonor.famsf.org/

Reception and book release for the Rainbow Flag creator’s posthumously released memoir, with Tony Bravo ( SF Chronicle ) and Sister Mary Media. Free. 5:30pm. Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin St. www.sfpl.org

Smoke & Mirrors: The War on Drugs @ AAACC Exhibit of works by six muralists and 20 artists focusing on pot use, hemp, and historical elements of cannabis in communities of color. Tue-Fri 12pm-6pm. Sat til 5pm. Thru Aug 31. 762 Fulton St. www.aaacc.org

Wed 12 Coffee, Rhum, Sugar and Gold: A Post-Colonial Paradox @ MOAD

Coffee, Rhum, Sugar and Gold: A Post-Colonial Paradox @ MOAD

Laughs at a Father’s Day show with Tom Ammiano, Samson Koletkar, Jeff Applebaum and Lisa Geduldig. $15-$20. 8pm. 1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. www.koshercomedy.com

Aunt Charlie’s @ Tenderloin Museum

Rainbow Warrior: The Memoirs of Gilbert Baker @ SF Main Library

Wed 12

Comedy @ Ashkenaz

To submit event listings, email events@ebar.com Deadline is each Thursday, a week before publication.

Mon 10 Bitchin’; an Art Show for Humans and Dogs @ Creativity Explored

Thu 13

Exhibit of works that explore the legacy of European colonialism in the Caribbean through the work of 10 contemporary artists. Free/$10. Wed-Sat 11am-6pm. Sun 12pm5pm. Thru Aug 11. 685 Mission St. www.moadsf.org

San Francisco:

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<< Leather

30 • Bay Area Reporter • June 6-12, 2019

Left: Race Bannon Top: International Mr. Leather

Left: Dave Watt, founder of the Mr. Friendly campaign, at the IML vendor market. Top: Two of the thousands of sexy men attending IML were partners Anuar Chain-Haddad (left) and Colin Marcus Jackson (right). Colin was also an IML contestant.

IML

From page 25

One of the little talked-about but main draws of the IML weekend is the immense leather and kink vendor market, which appears from the mist each year like Brigadoon to become the world’s largest kink market of its kind for a few days. Not only is the market big in terms of attendance, it’s also one of the most popular aspects of IML. A healthy segment of people watch or participate in the IML or International Mr. Bootblack (IMBB) competitions. Others kick up their heels at one of the many dances. Many join a host sex and play parties. Various social and sex gatherings happen, both formal and ad hoc. And the host hotel and bars are teeming with the kinky masses. But it seems that virtually everyone at some point over the weekend crosses the transom of the vendor market doorway during the weekend’s daytime hours. This year there were 58 vendors from around the world selling just about every type of fetish garb and sex gear one might imagine. In ad-

dition to retailers there were also clubs, event producers, and nonprofits represented. Walking around the vendor market is a rite of passage for those who attend IML. Yes, they sell a lot of great stuff and promote great organizations and projects, but it’s also a main daytime cruising and socializing venue. If you’ve never been, think of it as an immense leather bar with pop-up stores, big and small, scattered throughout. It’s a sight to behold. Since the market is such a big IML attraction, I thought I’d focus here a bit on that aspect of the event. Often the coverage of big leather or kink weekends that happen to include a contest are covered as if the contest is all that takes place. It distorts one’s perception if you haven’t attended such an event. One afternoon over the weekend I walked around the market talking to a wide variety of people. Some were vendors. Some were there to shop. Some were there to simply socialize and cruise. Among them I spoke with Dave Watt, founder of the Mr. Friendly Campaign, one of the nonprofits

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set up in the vendor market. Mr. Friendly works to help fight HIV stigma in friendly ways. I asked him why his organization keeps coming back to the IML vendor market. “We’re making connections with people around the world. Our mission is to fight stigma of HIV, but also raise awareness about causes such as repealing SESTA-FOSTA, and I’m learning so much from people all over the world that we need to band together to be there for each other and for our community.” I asked Dave why he thinks so many people at IML attend the vendor market. “I think people are looking for the next thing. It could be something that helps them express themselves. When I see someone come to the booth and they see a Friendly pig t-shirt, that helps them initiate the conversation they want to have.’ When I asked people why they attend the vendor market at IML, I got a variety of reasons. Sure, the shopping for leather, gear and toys is unparalleled anywhere in the world, but I was not surprised when so many told me they hang out in the vendor market because it essentially becomes the biggest and best leather bar in the world for a few days; the cruising, bumping into old friends, making new friends. The multiple booths are a big draw, but they also serve as a background for one of the best kinky socializing spaces to exist anywhere in the world.

The Contest

I can’t write about IML without mentioning the contest itself. The resulting titleholders are often the traveling, outward faces of IML throughout the year. While you’ll see a lot more people attend the vendor market overall than the IML and IMBB competition, the contest is still considered the weekend’s centerpiece and it continues to be one of the popular aspects of the IML weekend. This year there were a whopping 68 men vying for the IML title and four men hoping to win IMBB. As I sat in the audience during the Finals on Sunday night, I was impressed by the diversity of men, kinks and identities represented on the stage. It was a sexy bunch of guys. Once again this year, Bay Area local Thib Guicherd-Callin served as the contest emcee. He did a masterful job of keeping the proceedings moving along quickly, not an easy thing to do with so many contestants. With the judges’ votes tallied, atop the IML podium to become International Mr. Leather 2019 was Jack Thompson from Baltimore, MD. First Runner-Up was San Francisco

Top: Two of the rubber-clad hunks worked the Steamworks booth at All photos: International Mr. Leather the IML vendor market. Middle: Two pups look over some of the vast kinky merchandise available at the IML vendor market. Bottom: Just one of the many rooms on three floors that comprise the huge IML vendor market.

local and Mr. Daddy’s Leather 2019, Jawn Marques. Second Runner-Up was Fionn Scott from Dublin, Ireland. Winning International Mr. Bootblack 2019 was Kriszly de Hond from Zaandam Noord, Holland. First Runner-Up was Geoff Millard from Baltimore, MD. Second Runner-Up was Sparkie from Waukesha, WI.

Controversy

It seems no big leather event can take place these days without at least

some controversy. This IML was no exception. Within moments of Jack Thompson winning IML, social media had a smattering of negative posts because Jack is a trans man. It’s not the first time a trans man has won IML and it was controversial back then. This time the contrary voices were fewer than last time and the communal pushback in support of Jack was larger. I consider this a good sign that times are changing for the better. But contrary voices were certainly present. One that garnered the most attention was a Facebook post by Craig MrCode, the now-former President of the Southeast Conference of Clubs (SECC). After his post about Thompson’s win was overwhelmingly deemed transphobic, he was ousted from the presidency of the organization. Let the swift action of the SECC serve as notice to anyone who has a problem with a trans man winning IML. This is 2019. The world is moving on to fully embrace trans folk as the gender with which they identify. If that bothers you, you might want to leave the leather world, because the vast majority of us are quite fine standing alongside our trans siblings. Peace.t

For Leather Events, visit www.ebar.com/events This year’s IML winner Jack Thompson.

Race Bannon is a local author, blogger and activist. www.bannon.com

Shining Stars>>

June 6-12, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 31

Shining Stars Steven Underhill Photos by

St. James Infirmary Gala @ Terra Gallery

abulous frocks and fashions, and talented entertainers highlighted the St. James Infirmary gala, held at Terra Gallery on June 3. Dale Johannes hosted the gala fundraiser for the peep-based occupational health and safety clinic that assists sex workers with healthcare and other needs. Executive Director Toni Newman spoke along with other local notables. Performers included singers Jennifer Holliday and Lawrence Beamen, comic Marga Gomez, and the Justin Rock Trio. https://stjamesinfirmary.org/ See more photos on BARtab’s Facebook page, facebook.com/lgbtsf.nightlife. See more of Steven Underhill’s photos at StevenUnderhill.com.

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For headshots, portraits or to arrange your wedding photos

call (415) 370-7152 or visit www.StevenUnderhill.com or email stevenunderhillphotos@gmail.com

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