March 15, 2018 edition of the Bay Area Reporter by Bay Area Reporter

Hamburger Mary's finally opens

New Pride event at the River

ARTS

Vicki Lawrence

Tommy Tune

The

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Since 1971, the newspaper of record for the San Francisco Bay Area LGBTQ community

Vol. 48 • No. 11 • March 15-21, 2018

Few policy differences between AD 15 candidates David Munoz Diaz

Courtesy SFPD

Diaz faces no-bail hearing in arson case

by Cynthia Laird

an Francisco prosecutors will ask a judge next week to detain convicted arsonist David Munoz Diaz without bail following his arrest after he was allegedly captured on video lighting a homeless person on fire. Diaz, 28, has been charged with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and arson-related charges, according to the San Francisco District Attorney’s office. He has been held without bail in San Francisco County Jail since his arrest March 8. Diaz appeared in court Tuesday but his arraignment was continued to next week. Court documents filed March 13 stated that the homeless person’s sleeve caught fire and his arm was burned. It is not known how severe the victim’s injuries were; sources told the Bay Area Reporter that the person refused medical aid. Passersby woke up the victim and helped extinguish the fire, the documents said. It is not known where or when the alleged incident occurred, though the court filing states that the victim was sleeping in a doorway. Because Diaz is a registered arsonist, the DA’s office has filed a motion to detain him without bail. Prosecutors are also seeking to revoke Diaz’s felony probation, which stemmed from earlier convictions. A judge will hear both of those items March 20, when Diaz is also expected to be arraigned on the current charges. Last year, Diaz was sentenced to five years probation after a November 2016 incident in which police said Diaz handcuffed and bit a chuck out of another man’s scalp while impersonating a cop. He pleaded guilty to false imprisonment in exchange for assault and other counts in the case being dismissed. Diaz was ordered to comply with a midnight curfew and wear an ankle monitor. See page 13 >>

The crowded field for the 15th Assembly District race includes, from left, Andy Katz, Owen Poindexter, Rochelle Pardue-Okimoto, Ben Bartlett, Jovanka Beckles, Dan Kalb, Judy Appel, Buffy Wicks, and Cheryl Sudduth. Jane Philomen Cleland

by Matthew S. Bajko

hey all support California offering universal health care to its residents. They all pledge to advocate for LGBT rights in Sacramento. Education issues rank high on their list of priorities. And all agree another top prerogative would be addressing the state’s lack

of affordable housing and growing ranks of homeless individuals. There are few policy differences, in fact, between the candidates running for the open 15th Assembly District seat, which stretches from Richmond south into parts of Oakland. The incumbent, Assemblyman Tony Thurmond (DRichmond), is running to be the state’s superintendent of public instruction after serving two

two-year terms in the Legislature. The East Bay contest is the only competitive legislative race in the Bay Area with out candidates this election year. Heading into the June primary, where the top two voter-getters will advance to the November election, any of the leading candidates has a chance of winning the seat. See page 5 >>

Gay German diplomat settles into SF by Heather Cassell

itting in his office overlooking San Francisco Bay, German Consul General of the Pacific Northwest Hans-Ulrich Suedbeck is casual and genuinely pleased to be in the city. Suedbeck, 56, who prefers to go by Uli, is the second gay man to hold the German consul general position in San Francisco. His friend and colleague, Rolf Schutte, who was the first gay German consul general to be appointed to the post here, served from 2005 to 2009. Times were different when Schutte served in the diplomatic post. Schutte’s late partner, Bertolt Schmidt, wasn’t recognized by the U.S. State Department, forcing him to travel back and forth on a visitor’s visa. Domestic partnerships were recognized in Germany, but not across borders. At the time, Schutte took a controversial position, publicly denouncing Proposition 8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage, in 2008. He was unapologetic, despite some critics who didn’t believe a foreign diplomat should weigh in on state matters. (The U.S. Supreme Court later tossed out Prop 8 on a technicality.) He also established good relationships with the Jewish community and spoke at several of the pink triangle ceremonies held every June for Pride Month. Schutte is currently the German ambassador to Latvia.

Rick Gerharter

German Consul General Hans-Ulrich Suedbeck stands beside a map of Germany.

Nearly a decade later, same-sex marriage is legal throughout the U.S., and last summer, just as Suedbeck and his family were packing to move to San Francisco, same-sex marriage became legal in Germany. Suedbeck’s family, which includes his domestic partner, Frank Vollbehr, a landscape architect, and their two young children, is recognized by the State Department, a policy implemented by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2009.

{ FIRST OF THREE SECTIONS }

The couple, who have been together for 16 years, don’t plan to marry, Suedbeck said, though he refers to Vollbehr as his husband. Germany doesn’t automatically convert domestic partnerships to marriage. In an interview with the Bay Area Reporter last month, Suedbeck offered his thoughts on a wide range of topics. See page 13 >>

What is TRUVADA for PrEP?

Who should not take TRUVADA for PrEP?

TRUVADA for PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) is a prescription medicine that is used together with safer sex practices to help reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 through sex. This use is only for HIV-negative adults who are at high risk of getting HIV-1. To help determine your risk of getting HIV-1, talk openly with your healthcare provider about your sexual health.

Do not take TRUVADA for PrEP if you:

Ask your healthcare provider if you have questions about how to prevent getting HIV. Always practice safer sex and use condoms to lower the chance of sexual contact with body fluids. Never reuse or share needles or other items that have body fluids on them.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION What is the most important information I should know about TRUVADA for PrEP? Before taking TRUVADA for PrEP:  You must be HIV-negative before you start taking TRUVADA for PrEP. You must get tested to make sure that you do not already have HIV-1. Do not take TRUVADA to reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 unless you are confirmed to be HIV-negative.  Many HIV-1 tests can miss HIV-1 infection in a person who has recently become infected. If you have flu-like symptoms, you could have recently become infected with HIV-1. Tell your healthcare provider if you had a flu-like illness within the last month before starting or at any time while taking TRUVADA for PrEP. Symptoms of new HIV-1 infection include tiredness, fever, joint or muscle aches, headache, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, night sweats, and/or enlarged lymph nodes in the neck or groin. While taking TRUVADA for PrEP:  You must continue to use safer sex practices. Just taking TRUVADA for PrEP may not keep you from getting HIV-1.  You must stay HIV-negative to keep taking TRUVADA for PrEP:  Get tested for HIV-1 at least every 3 months.  If you think you were exposed to HIV-1, tell your healthcare provider right away.  To further help reduce your risk of getting HIV-1:  Know your HIV status and the HIV status of your partners.  Get tested for other sexually transmitted infections. Other infections make it easier for HIV to infect you.  Get information and support to help reduce risky sexual behavior, such as having fewer sex partners.  Do not miss any doses of TRUVADA. Missing doses may increase your risk of getting HIV-1 infection.  If you do become HIV-1 positive, you need more medicine than TRUVADA alone to treat HIV-1. TRUVADA by itself is not a complete treatment for HIV-1. If you have HIV-1 and take only TRUVADA, your HIV-1 may become harder to treat over time. TRUVADA can cause serious side effects:  Worsening of hepatitis B (HBV) infection. TRUVADA is not approved to treat HBV. If you have HBV and stop taking TRUVADA, your HBV may suddenly get worse. Do not stop taking TRUVADA without first talking to your healthcare provider, as they will need to monitor your health.

 Already have HIV-1 infection or if you do not know your HIV-1 status. If you are HIV-1 positive, you need to take other medicines with TRUVADA to treat HIV-1. TRUVADA by itself is not a complete treatment for HIV-1. If you have HIV-1 and take only TRUVADA, your HIV-1 may become harder to treat over time.  Also take certain medicines to treat hepatitis B infection.

What are the other possible side effects of TRUVADA for PrEP? Serious side effects of TRUVADA may also include:  Kidney problems, including kidney failure. Your healthcare provider may do blood tests to check your kidneys before and during treatment with TRUVADA. If you develop kidney problems, your healthcare provider may tell you to stop taking TRUVADA.  Too much lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious but rare medical emergency that can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: weakness or being more tired than usual, unusual muscle pain, being short of breath or fast breathing, stomach pain with nausea and vomiting, cold or blue hands and feet, feel dizzy or lightheaded, or a fast or abnormal heartbeat.  Severe liver problems, which in rare cases can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow, dark “tea-colored” urine, light-colored stools, loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, or stomach-area pain.  Bone problems, including bone pain, softening, or thinning, which may lead to fractures. Your healthcare provider may do tests to check your bones. Common side effects in people taking TRUVADA for PrEP are stomach-area (abdomen) pain, headache, and decreased weight. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effects that bother you or do not go away.

What should I tell my healthcare provider before taking TRUVADA for PrEP?  All your health problems. Be sure to tell your healthcare provider if you have or have had any kidney, bone, or liver problems, including hepatitis.  If you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if TRUVADA can harm your unborn baby. If you become pregnant while taking TRUVADA for PrEP, talk to your healthcare provider to decide if you should keep taking TRUVADA.  If you are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed. Do not breastfeed. If you become HIV-positive, HIV can be passed to the baby in breast milk.  All the medicines you take, including prescription and overthe-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. TRUVADA may interact with other medicines. Keep a list of all your medicines and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist when you get a new medicine.  If you take certain other medicines with TRUVADA, your healthcare provider may need to check you more often or change your dose. These medicines include certain medicines to treat hepatitis C (HCV) infection. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.FDA.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Please see Important Facts about TRUVADA for PrEP including important warnings on the following page.

I’m active, not unaware. I know who I am. And I make choices that fit my life. TRUVADA for PrEP™ is a once-daily prescription medicine that can help reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 when taken every day and used together with safer sex practices.  TRUVADA for PrEP is only for adults who are at high risk of getting HIV through sex.  You must be HIV-negative before you start taking TRUVADA for PrEP.

Ask your doctor about your risk of getting HIV-1 infection and if TRUVADA for PrEP may be right for you.

Learn more at truvada.com

IMPORTANT FACTS

This is only a brief summary of important information about taking TRUVADA for PrEPTM (pre-exposure prophylaxis) to help reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 infection. This does not replace talking to your healthcare provider about your medicine.

(tru-VAH-dah) MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT TRUVADA FOR PrEP

POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS OF TRUVADA FOR PrEP

Before starting TRUVADA for PrEP: • You must be HIV-1 negative. You must get tested to make sure that you do not already have HIV-1. Do not take TRUVADA for PrEP to reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 unless you are confirmed to be HIV-1 negative. • Many HIV-1 tests can miss HIV-1 infection in a person who has recently become infected. Symptoms of new HIV-1 infection include flu-like symptoms, tiredness, fever, joint or muscle aches, headache, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, night sweats, and/or enlarged lymph nodes in the neck or groin. Tell your healthcare provider if you have had a flu-like illness within the last month before starting TRUVADA for PrEP. While taking TRUVADA for PrEP: • You must continue to use safer sex practices. Just taking TRUVADA for PrEP may not keep you from getting HIV-1. • You must stay HIV-negative to keep taking TRUVADA for PrEP. Get tested for HIV-1 at least every 3 months while taking TRUVADA for PrEP. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you think you were exposed to HIV-1 or have a flu-like illness while taking TRUVADA for PrEP. • If you do become HIV-1 positive, you need more medicine than TRUVADA alone to treat HIV-1. If you have HIV-1 and take only TRUVADA, your HIV-1 may become harder to treat over time. • See the “How To Further Reduce Your Risk” section for more information. TRUVADA may cause serious side effects, including: • Worsening of hepatitis B (HBV) infection. TRUVADA is not approved to treat HBV. If you have HBV, your HBV may suddenly get worse if you stop taking TRUVADA. Do not stop taking TRUVADA without first talking to your healthcare provider, as they will need to check your health regularly for several months.

TRUVADA can cause serious side effects, including: • Those in the “Most Important Information About TRUVADA for PrEP” section. • New or worse kidney problems, including kidney failure. • Too much lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious but rare medical emergency that can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: weakness or being more tired than usual, unusual muscle pain, being short of breath or fast breathing, stomach pain with nausea and vomiting, cold or blue hands and feet, feel dizzy or lightheaded, or a fast or abnormal heartbeat. • Severe liver problems, which in rare cases can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow, dark “tea-colored” urine, light-colored stools, loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, or stomach-area pain. • Bone problems. Common side effects in people taking TRUVADA for PrEP include stomach-area (abdomen) pain, headache, and decreased weight. These are not all the possible side effects of TRUVADA. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any new symptoms while taking TRUVADA for PrEP. Your healthcare provider will need to do tests to monitor your health before and during treatment with TRUVADA for PrEP.

ABOUT TRUVADA FOR PrEP TRUVADA for PrEP is a prescription medicine used together with safer sex practices to help reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 through sex. This use is only for HIV-negative adults who are at high risk of getting HIV-1. • To help determine your risk of getting HIV-1, talk openly with your healthcare provider about your sexual health. Do NOT take TRUVADA for PrEP if you: • Already have HIV-1 infection or if you do not know your HIV-1 status. • Take certain medicines to treat hepatitis B infection.

HOW TO TAKE TRUVADA FOR PrEP • Take 1 tablet once a day, every day, not just when you think you have been exposed to HIV-1. • Do not miss any doses. Missing doses may increase your risk of getting HIV-1 infection. • Use TRUVADA for PrEP together with condoms and safer sex practices. • Get tested for HIV-1 at least every 3 months. You must stay HIV-negative to keep taking TRUVADA for PrEP.

BEFORE TAKING TRUVADA FOR PrEP Tell your healthcare provider if you: • Have or have had any kidney, bone, or liver problems, including hepatitis. • Have any other medical conditions. • Are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. • Are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed. Do not breastfeed. If you become HIV-positive, HIV can pass to the baby in breast milk. Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take: • Keep a list that includes all prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements, and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist. • Ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist about medicines that should not be taken with TRUVADA for PrEP.

HOW TO FURTHER REDUCE YOUR RISK • Know your HIV status and the HIV status of your partners. • Get tested for other sexually transmitted infections. Other infections make it easier for HIV to infect you. • Get information and support to help reduce risky sexual behavior, such as having fewer sex partners. • Do not share needles or personal items that can have blood or body fluids on them.

GET MORE INFORMATION • This is only a brief summary of important information about TRUVADA for PrEP. Talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist to learn more, including how to prevent HIV infection. • Go to start.truvada.com or call 1-800-GILEAD-5 • If you need help paying for your medicine, visit start.truvada.com for program information.

TRUVADA FOR PREP, the TRUVADA FOR PREP Logo, the TRUVADA Blue Pill Design, TRUVADA, GILEAD, and the GILEAD Logo are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc., or its related companies. All other marks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. Version date: April 2017 © 2017 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. TVDC0171 07/17

TVDC0171_PrEP_D_9-75x16_BayAreaReporter_Runner_p1.indd 3

2/13/18 10:41 AM

Community News>>

March 15-21, 2018 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 5

Repair Shop & Kid’s Bike Sales

OPEN DURING CONSTRUCTION!

d’s Mayor promotes Fix-It Team

an Francisco Mayor Mark Farrell, right, worked with Sandra Zuniga, director of the Fix-It Team, Thursday, March 8, to clean up the Duboce Bikeway

Rick Gerharter

near Market Street. It was one of the Fix-It Team’s pop-up cleanup efforts focused on 20 city neighborhoods, chosen based on neighborhood priorities.

After years of delays, Castro Hamburger Mary’s opens by Matthew S. Bajko

t was a day many thought wouldn’t come, with some joking they were on the lookout for flying pigs Sunday night, as the long promised Castro location of Hamburger Mary’s quietly opened to the public. After several nights of training for its waiters, bartenders, and kitchen staff with invited customers from the city’s gay district and LGBT community, the restaurant began serving a limited dinner menu on March 11 with seating only in the front bar area. The location’s covered patio space in the back is not yet ready to be used. The restaurant expects to open it up within a month, at which time it will also expand its food offerings and start hosting drag shows and other entertainment. “When the back room opens, we will do more of a big opening party,” said gay bar owner Larry Metzger of the Mix as he welcomed some of the first customers back into the space during one of the sneak previews last Friday night. Metzger has no ownership stake in the local Hamburger Mary’s franchise. But for the last five years Metzger has been helping owner Les Natali in his efforts to open a restaurant at 531 Castro Street. The space has sat dormant for nearly two decades as Natali encountered numerous zoning issues in first trying to reopen the former Patio restaurant, which shuttered in 2002, and later a Hamburger Mary’s.

ntain

AD 15 candidates

From page 1

We will continue to sell kid’s bikes, do repairs, sell parts and essential accessories out of our repair shop at 1065 Valencia.

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on:

Beginning January 15th, our sales showroom at 1077 Valencia Street will be undergoing a seismic retrofit. We will temporarily discontinue sales of adult bikes until work is completed sometime in March. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Rick Gerharter

Bartender Elvin Qarayev mixes a martini at Hamburger Mary’s during a sneak peak March 9.

Complicated path to opening

As the Bay Area Reporter has previously reported, Natali had planned to reopen the Patio in May 2012. But a routine health department inquiry related to his request for an occupancy permit led to a determination that his planning permits were not in order. It would be the first of several permit problems Natali would have with city planning officials, leading to years of delays and a legal fight. In the midst of the zoning snafus Natali was hit with allegations of discriminatory business practices at his 18th Street gay bar Badlands. He refuted the charges and reached a mediated settlement with his accusers in 2006. For voters, who they decide to back in the race likely will come down to personal relationships and affinities for the backgrounds of the various candidates. At the forum, lesbian Richmond City Councilwoman Jovanka Beckles recalled the anti-gay insults she endured when she first joined the council. She stood up to the taunts, she said, in order to inspire and encourage LGBT youth and older people still living in the closet. “We need a voice to represent all of the people,” she said. Lesbian Berkeley school board member Judy Appel pointed to her work tackling homeless issues in San Francisco and later pushing for LGBT rights as the former longtime executive director of Our Family Coalition, a group for LGBT parents and their children. “I am the education candidate in this race,” said Appel, who has two

But the issue led to a complaint being filed against his permits for the Patio, which further delayed the remodel project. Eventually the city’s former zoning administrator ruled in his favor, and work on the space again commenced. Starting in 2008, Natali began searching for a person or group to run the restaurant. By 2013, he and Metzger had begun planning the Patio’s re-opening ceremonies. Permit issues, however, again hampered their efforts. By the following year the city’s planning commission had signed off on the permits Natali needed to operate a Hamburger Mary’s in the space. Yet nothing happened until See page 14 >> children with her wife. Bisexual East Bay Municipal Utility District board member Andy Katz, who is vying a second time for the Assembly seat, pointed to his experience lobbying state lawmakers in the past on myriad public health issues. “We need a champion for progressive values and someone who will take on workers’ rights,” said Katz, a Berkeley resident who is a worker rights attorney. Former Obama administration staffer Buffy Wicks, noting that is her real name, spoke about growing up in a rural area of the Sierra Nevada with a gay brother and later watching friends struggle with HIV prior to the introduction of effective medicines. “I think we can fix the housing crisis and get health care for all,” said Wicks, a married mother of a

CLERY The lack of contrasting positions between the candidates was on display at a forum with nine of them co-hosted by the Lambda Democratic Club of Contra Costa County and the East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club, which covers Alameda County. The February 21 event drew close to 50 people. “This is the first time we have had three queer out candidates running to represent our community,” said Lambda club co-founder and president Cesar Zepeda, who is running for a second time this fall for a seat on the Richmond City Council. “Whether it is one of the LGBT candidates or a straight alley who wins, our aim is that they represent us correctly when they get up to the Assembly.”

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See page 14 >>

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<< Open Forum

6 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 15-21, 2018

Volume 48, Number 11 March 15-21, 2018 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 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 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 • Alex Madison Michael McDonagh •David-Elijah Nahmod Paul Parish • Sean Piverger • Lois Pearlman Tim Pfaff • Jim Piechota • 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 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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News Editor • news@ebar.com Arts Editor • arts@ebar.com Out & About listings • jim@ebar.com Advertising • scott@ebar.com Letters • letters@ebar.com Published weekly. Bay Area Reporter reserves the right to edit or reject any advertisement which the publisher believes is in poor taste or which advertises illegal items which might result in legal action against Bay Area Reporter. Ads will not be rejected solely on the basis of politics, philosophy, religion, race, age, or sexual orientation. Advertising rates available upon request. Our list of subscribers and advertisers is conﬁdential and is not sold. The sexual orientation of advertisers, photographers, and writers published herein is neither inferred nor implied. We are not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or artwork.

Name SFO terminal for Milk N

ext week, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ Budget and Finance Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on March 22 renaming Terminal 1 at San Francisco International Airport after slain gay supervisor Harvey Milk. The committee should approve the item and send it along to the full board for action. In addition to naming Terminal 1 after Milk, gay District 8 Supervisor Jeff Sheehy is seeking board approval to make the airport’s address 1 Harvey Milk Way. SFO’s Terminal 1 is in the midst of a $2.4 billion remodeling project that will be unveiled in stages through 2024. Milk’s name will benefit the city, as it seeks to publicize the new terminal and updated airport. But more importantly, Milk is a global gay icon who rose to prominence in a city that’s often referred to as the “gay mecca.” It will be a powerful symbol of our values when travelers arrive in one of the airport’s four terminals named after Milk, who was the first gay person elected to office in San Francisco and California when he won his seat on the Board of Supervisors just over 40 years ago. Tragically, his life was cut short just a year later, when disgruntled ex-supervisor Dan White assassinated Milk and then-mayor George Moscone. The idea for giving Milk’s name a presence at SFO came about in 2013, when gay former supervisor David Campos suddenly proposed

naming the entire airport after him. That idea didn’t fly, due to a lack of support (including from this newspaper). Instead, Campos and the late mayor Ed Lee compromised on naming one of the terminals in honor of Milk. Last year, when Sheehy was appointed by Lee to the board, he said that naming a terminal and the roadway for Milk was his “top LGBT legislative priority.” About eight months ago, Supervisor Hillary Ronen picked up the proposal (she was a former aide to Campos) and after Lee selected the final members of the Airport Facilities Naming Advisory Committee, it unanimously recommended Terminal 1 and the access road be named after Milk. Mayor Mark Farrell told us last month that he “fully supports” the renaming proposal “to honor Harvey Milk,” just as he did when he was District 2 supervisor. The one wrinkle in the plan seems to be that the San Francisco Airport Commission is not fully supportive – it should be. While we understand the panel would like to see various naming opportunities go to those with more direct ties to the airport, we would argue that Milk’s unique position in the city’s history justifies this honor. Milk’s name graces a plaza, a school, a library branch, an arts center, a naval ship, and an education facility on Treasure Island. Terminal 1 will introduce Milk’s legacy to the millions of

Dan Nicoletta

Supervisor Harvey Milk

passengers passing through the airport. In this time of constant political attacks on the LGBT community coming from Washington, D.C. and conservative states, San Francisco has the chance to show the world that it values the contributions of its LGBT leaders. Milk was certainly that. He fought for equal rights and built coalitions with straight allies that continue today. Naming the terminal and the street after Milk would send a powerful signal to young (and older) LGBTs – that San Francisco welcomes you.t

SF judges should be retained by Angela Bradstreet, Terry Stewart, Donna Hitchens, and Linda Colfax

e are all LGBT current or retired judges in our great city of San Francisco. We include the first openly lesbian judge in the nation; the first openly gay and lesbian appellate judges in California history; the founder of the National Center for Lesbian Rights; founders and former executive directors of Equal Rights Advocates and the East Bay Children’s Law Offices; a former chief attorney in the San Francisco public defender’s office, as well as several other former public defenders; a former California labor commissioner; a former chief deputy attorney general; and a former chief deputy city attorney and the lead counsel who successfully argued the historic gay marriage case that changed lives in our community forever. We are proud to join in strong support of our four incumbent colleagues who are being challenged in the June election. Judges Jeff Ross, Cynthia Ming-mei Lee, Andrew Cheng, and Curtis Karnow are outstanding jurists who all have worked to improve the administration of justice for San Franciscans of every race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender and gender identity, and socioeconomic means. Four deputy public defenders recently announced they are running to challenge these judges. Why? The reasons they gave boil down to politics. The challengers claim that because the sitting judges were appointed by Republican former governors Arnold Schwarzenegger (three) and Pete Wilson (one), they need to be replaced. While all four incumbents are registered Democrats, according to the challengers they can’t be good Democrats or, apparently, good judges if they were appointed by a Republican. They also assert that these outstanding, longtime judges, two of whom are Asian-Americans, must all be replaced on the basis that our bench lacks diversity. These arguments make no sense, are factually incorrect, and are very dangerous. Let us say first why these arguments make no sense. The San Francisco trial bench is one of the most diverse in the state and in the country. There are African-American judges, Latino and Latina judges, Asian-American judges and eight openly LGBT judges, and all of these groups have greater representation on the San Francisco Superior Court Bench than they do among lawyers in the community. They also, in all but one category, exceed their percentages in the population at large. In short, none of these groups is underrepresented on our bench. The irony and fallacy of the challengers’ position is readily apparent when we consider that two of the challenged judges are people of color, namely Lee and Cheng.

Judge Andrew Cheng

Judge Curtis Karnow

The challengers’ claim that there are not enough criminal defense lawyers, including public defenders, on the bench is similarly without any basis in fact. Judge Teresa Caffese was the former chief attorney in the Public Defender’s office for many years, and there are 12 former public defenders serving on our bench. Ross, one of the challenged judges, is a former criminal defense lawyer who represented many people of every race and ethnicity who were accused of drug and violent crimes. The danger in the challengers’ logic is evidenced by their bald assertion that these four judges should be replaced because each is “A Democrat appointed by a Republican governor – how much of a Democrat is that person really?” This misguided attempt to politicize our local judiciary is a direct attack on our Constitution, which protects the independence of the judiciary and separation of powers. We need judges who do not owe their allegiance to a political party or political causes, judges who will apply the law and the Constitution fairly even if it may subject them to criticism. The importance of judicial independence from politics is most evident in difficult cases, the kind that are politically charged. A recent example is the In re Marriage Cases, in which the California Supreme Court issued a groundbreaking opinion interpreting our state constitution to guarantee our state’s LGBT citizens the same rights to marriage that straight people have long enjoyed. We should remember that the author of that opinion was a straight white man who had been appointed and elevated by Republican governors. In the United States Supreme Court, the historic sodomy and marriage equality decisions were written by a straight white Republican justice who was appointed by a Republican president, namely, Anthony Kennedy. And even Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision protecting a woman’s right to choose, was written by a Republican justice, Harry Blackmun. Had these justices been

Judge Cynthia Ming-mei Lee

Judge Jeffrey Ross

focused on political concerns and whether their decisions would be popular among voters, they might have made very different decisions, and we would all be worse off for it.

The judges

We all know, and many of us have worked with, the four San Francisco judges who are being challenged in the upcoming June election. Each one is a stellar jurist with deep community ties. Collectively they have over 50 years of judicial experience. Judge Lee was the first female AsianAmerican presiding judge in San Francisco and has been recognized by the Commission on the Status of Women for instituting mandatory domestic violence training. She founded the highly acclaimed Veterans Justice Court and helped to reduce truancy in schools by cofounding the Truancy Action Partnership. In 2014, she was awarded Judge of the Year by San Francisco Trial Lawyers, a group of respected trial lawyers representing plaintiffs. Judge Ross is the only incumbent to face an LGBT challenger. His commitment to serving the LGBT community has been evident throughout his career, including his community work as president of the progressive San Francisco Bar Association when he spearheaded BASF’s leadership positions against Proposition 8 – the anti-gay marriage initiative, and against Proposition 209 – the anti-affirmative action initiative. He also launched the highly successful Law Academy program, which mentors high school students of diverse ethnicities and sexual orientation to prepare them for college. He took pro bono cases for the American Civil Liberties Union and argued First Amendment cases in the Supreme Court. As the first judge of the Veterans Justice Court, Ross has helped military veterans obtain housing, mental health, drug treatment, and employment See page 14 >>

Politics>>

March 15-21, 2018 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 7

Lesbian aging expert builds support for CA state Senate race by Matthew S. Bajko

professionals have the proper training on the needs of transgender patients. “I have been an advocate and an activist my whole life,” said Silver, who grew up in Philadelphia the daughter of a police officer. To learn more about Silver and her platform, visit her aptly named campaign website https://www. voteforjoy.com/.

ne of the best chances this year to elect a new member to the California Legislative LGBT Caucus is in the gay retirement and vacation mecca of Palm Springs. It is where lesbian aging expert Joy Silver is running a strong campaign to unseat state Senator Jeff Stone (R-La Quinta) from his 28th District seat. The first-time candidate has raised a significant amount of money compared to Stone, considered one of the most anti-LGBT members of the state Legislature. And she has also garnered widespread support from Democratic leaders and officials as well as LGBT and community groups. Among her endorsers are former U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer and Congressmen Dr. Raul Ruiz (D-La Quinta) and Mark Takano (D-Riverside), who is gay. The gay mayor of Palm Springs and three of the four LGBT members on the City Council are backing her, with the fourth expected to as well. Gay state Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens), lesbian Assemblywoman Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton), and gay former state lawmaker Mark Leno of San Francisco have all endorsed Silver. As have the statewide LGBT advocacy organization Equality California, the national Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, and the Lesbian Political Action Committee. In a recent phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter, Silver said having the Victory Fund’s support, in particular, “is really an incredible thing” because of its years of work helping to elect LGBT people to office across the U.S. in order “to make sure our LGBTQ voices are heard.” “I am vey proud to have their endorsement,” added Silver. One other Democrat is in the race, registered nurse and author Anna Nevenic, who lost a previous bid for the Senate seat. But it is Silver, 62, who has drawn the most support and is seen as having the best shot at flipping the district from red to blue. “I think Joy is running a terrific campaign, raising money, talking about the issues, and is positioned to take the seat from one of the most right-wing, anti-LGBT legislators in the state,” said gay Palm Springs City Councilman Geoff Kors, a past EQCA executive director. “I think Joy is exceedingly smart, a terrific organizer, and has a history of working with people who want to see change.” Until last week, when he qualified for the ballot, it was unclear if Stone would seek re-election this year. His campaign site hasn’t been updated since he posted a victory message four years ago. Stone, 61, who earned a 20 percent score on EQCA’s 2017 Legislative Scorecard, represents a large swath of Riverside County. A former county supervisor, Stone was first elected to the Legislature’s upper chamber in 2014. A strong supporter of President Donald Trump, he is facing the same headwinds as other southern California Republicans this year who are running up against significant Democratic interest in the midterm elections. Silver is aiming to tap into that energy across the Senate district, but especially in Palm Springs following the historic election in November of the state’s first transgender city council person.

Opponent files against gay Alameda Ed Board member

Rick Gerharter

State Senate candidate Joy Silver

Should Silver be elected, she would be the first out state legislator from the Coachella Valley. “If you look at this Senate seat, it is a close registration between Democrats and Republicans,” said Kors, “and Joy is the first candidate in recent memory who is a Democrat and has really pulled together all the elements needed for a successful campaign.” But Jonathan Ingram, chairman of the Riverside County Republican Party, told the B.A.R. he doubts Stone will lose his seat. He noted that the district still tilts Republican and that Stone remains popular throughout it. “I don’t think Joy is going to have the opportunity to serve in this Senate district seat. She is more than welcome to run, but Jeff Stone is an institution in Riverside County,” he said. “He has been a fantastic representative.” In 2008 Silver took part in EQCA’s “Let California Ring” campaign against Proposition 8, the ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage but was later overturned by the federal courts. A consultant on LGBT aging issues, Silver attended President Barack Obama’s 2015 LGBT Elder Housing Summit. She previously lived in New Mexico where she started a foundation that grants funds to aging LGBTQ people facing financial emergencies. She also chaired Equality New Mexico’s health care initiatives and served on various boards serving LGBTQ seniors. She and her partner, Atma Wiseman, live in Palm Springs. During an interview while in San Francisco in January for a fundraiser, Silver told the B.A.R. she was inspired to seek public office after seeing Hillary Clinton, whose presidential campaign she had worked on, lose to Trump in 2016. Her decision was cemented when she took part in the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. last year the day after Trump took his oath of office. She said Stone’s Senate District “is much more progressive than it is thought to be,” and due to her candidacy, “Democrats have a reason to vote. It will all be in the turnout.” Her campaign is focused on issues of importance throughout the state, from housing to health care, as well as more local concerns, such as the drying out Salton Sea. She supports going to a universal health care system in the state. “In California, we want to show the rest of the U.S. it can be done,” said Silver. She would bring her experience in aging issues to the Senate and push to ensure LGBT older adults have the care they need as they enter retirement. She is also concerned about ensuring medical

The race is on in June for the seat held by the lone LGBT member on the Alameda County Board of Education. After not facing an opponent four years ago, trustee Joaquin J. Rivera is being challenged this year by scientist and entrepreneur Abdur Sikder. Rivera, who secured an early endorsement from the East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club, is one of the highest-ranking non-judicial LGBT elected officials in the East Bay. He first ran in 2010 for the education board’s Area 1 seat, which includes the cities of Albany, Berkeley, and Emeryville, as well as the Oakland neighborhoods of North Oakland, Temescal, Rockridge, and the northern portion of West Oakland. Rivera was the first, and so far only, out LGBT person to serve on the oversight body. A chemistry professor since 1990 at Skyline College, located south of San Francisco in the hills of San Bruno and part of the San Mateo County Community College District, Rivera lives in Berkeley with his husband, Joel Cohen. The couple does not have children. “I’m not concerned. Now I’ll have to campaign and raise money. I’m planning to campaign hard to win this race,” Rivera, 52, told the B.A.R. about having an opponent this year. Sikder, 50, a father of three aged 21, 19, and 6, is from Bangladesh and lives in Berkeley. Having earned a Ph.D. in computer science, he founded a computer software company based in the East Bay city. He lost a bid two years ago for a seat on the Berkeley school board. In an emailed response to the B.A.R., Sikder wrote that he is running for the county board seat because he believes voters deserve a choice. “I personally think, it is a good idea to give a chance to a new person to have a fresh perspective about the board of education’s operations,” he wrote. “Anybody for a public office for long time get too comfortable, they do not need to think differently, so best ideas never come.”

Alice backs Leno for SF mayor

After weeks of wrangling over who the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club would support in the special mayoral election on the June primary ballot, San Francisco’s more moderate LGBT political group has given gay former lawmaker Mark Leno its #1 ranked choice endorsement and a #2 ranked choice endorsement to Board of Supervisors President London Breed, who briefly served as acting mayor upon the death in December of the late mayor Ed Lee. The decision blocked attempts by Breed’s backers in the club to have Alice do an unranked dual endorsement of her and Leno, who has long had close ties to the group. None of the other mayoral candidates were able to secure the club’s #3 ranked choice endorsement. “Given my 35-year history with Alice, and its historic role as the first See page 14 >>

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<< Community News

8 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 15-21, 2018

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o be transgender in 2018 is to deal with challenging, difficult times. We face attacks from all sides, and the specter of death itself lays heavy upon our community. As a result, I find I often have to spend a lot of time ringing the alarm bells, and warning of dire times. Yes, it is just as important to take a moment to step back and realize that, in spite of the adversity, we are gaining ground. I think back to when I started out in the transgender community, such as it was at the time. We met in back rooms of hotels or in shadowy clubs, if at all. We were wholly outside the mainstream, and the notion of being “out” as trans was utterly foreign. Our role models were few and far between, as scarce as rights to protect us, or organizations willing to support us. Today, we’re seeing a bumper crop of amazing transgender people in public roles, including politicians like Danica Roem; authors like Sarah McBride, Jenny Boylan, and Janet Mock; and actresses like Laverne Cox. Movies and television have churned out a constant stream of bad “crossdressing comedies” where a person – usually male – was appearing as a female in order to deceive someone and/ or get something. All of this seemed to be borne out of the popularity of the 1959 movie “Some Like It Hot,” where the main characters – on the run from witnessing the St. Valentine’s Day massacre – join an all-female, traveling musical act. The same tropes powered films like “Tootsie,” “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “Juwanna Mann,” “White Chicks,” and so many more forgettable movies. This was when they weren’t making films featuring cross-dressing murderers like the Buffalo Bill character in “Silence of the Lambs.” In those days, we in the trans community were liable to cheer on a movie like “The Crying Game,” which featured a trans character played by an actor, Jaye Davidson, who was androgynous in appearance and gay-identified. The film itself was, for many, a breakthrough – even if it still relied on deception tropes and had a male lead character so repulsed by Davidson’s character’s transgender nature that he vomited on screen. Over the last few years, we’ve seen a new type of film take hold, one that features actual trans characters, rather than the capers of the stereotypical “man in a dress” comedies. We’ve seen characters like Rayon, portrayed by

Courtesy AP

Daniela Vega, second from left, stands on stage at the Oscars after “A Fantastic Woman,” which she starred in, won the best foreign language film award.

Jared Leto in “Dallas Buyers Club,” or Eddie Redmayne’s take on Lili Elbe in “The Danish Girl.” I think this came out of the success of Hilary Swank’s groundbreaking portrayal of Brandon Teena in “Boys Don’t Cry,” coupled with an overall increase in trans awareness over the last couple years. Of course, all of these still have an issue: the transgender characters are played by people who are not themselves trans, and who are all identified with their character’s birth gender. But we’re seeing a new category opening up, the next step beyond these stories and a sign of how far we’ve come since the late Robin Williams donned a pair of falsies and a gray wig. In the 2017 film “A Fantastic Woman,” Daniela Vega, a 28-yearold trans woman from Chile, played Marina, who is a transgender waiter and singer. Also out in 2017 was “Strong Island,” a true crime documentary directed by black trans man Yance Ford, and telling the story of his brother’s murder and the subsequent denial of justice by an allwhite jury. Both of these follow other recent works, most notably “Tangerine” in 2015, which featured a black trans woman, Mya Taylor, playing a black trans woman in the lead role. When one talks about the transgender comedies above, it is worth noting that “Some Like It Hot” was nominated for several Oscars, and both “Tootsie” and “Mrs. Doubtfire” took home Academy Awards. Likewise, “Some Like It Hot” has been listed more than a couple times as the best comedy of all time. These accolades are likely what fueled so many other films to try to mine this

trope for moviegoer dollars. The same may be said for films like “The Danish Girl,” “Dallas Buyers Club,” and others, thanks to the success of “Boys Don’t Cry.” Swank’s portrayal garnered her Oscar gold and helped make her the star she is today. It is easy to assume that these other films were banking on similar success, and indeed, “The Danish Girl” garnered a nomination for Redmayne, while Leto won best supporting actor for his role in “Dallas Buyers Club.” This is why I point at films like “A Fantastic Woman” as the next step, because it, too, struck gold at the Oscars, as it won as best foreign language film earlier this month. Vega was also part of the show, introducing one of the musical numbers, the first time an out trans woman had done so at the Academy Awards. It’s well worth noting that the director of “Strong Island” was nominated for an Academy Award as well. In these times where we see so much pushback against trans rights, with an administration so hostile to transgender people, among so many others, we can and should take hope when we see wins like this. What’s more, this isn’t – and shouldn’t – be the apex, no more than the less-than-stellar “Crying Game” was back in 1992. Now is the time for a trans-led, trans-starring film focused on trans issues to make it big and cement the next wave of trans films, where we tell our stories, and we can truly be the next big thing in cinema. We’re in an era where in spite of all the adversity we’re facing, we’re showing just what we’re made of – and we shine like gold. t Gwen Smith teared up seeing Daniela Vega at the Oscars. You’ll find her at www.gwensmith.com.

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<< International News

10 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 15-21, 2018

Ugandan gay activist visits SF by David-Elijah Nahmod

Ugandan gay activist visited San Francisco last week, in part, to raise awareness of the plight of LGBT people in his country, and to raise funds for All Out, an international LGBT rights group. Ugandan LGBT people live under harsh conditions, with gay and lesbian sex remaining illegal. Violent attacks, often perpetrated by the police, are commonplace. Same-sex marriage is prohibited. “Things are not good,” Isaac Mugisha, 25, told the Bay Area Reporter. “Eighteen people were arrested at the 2016 Pride Parade. One gay man jumped off the fourth floor of a building in order to get away from the police.” The gentleman in question survived, according to Mugisha, and is now an activist. Mugisha is the advocacy and communications director for Spectrum Uganda. Another issue facing LGBT

Rick Gerharter

Isaac Mugisha, a gay Ugandan activist, visited San Francisco last week.

Ugandans is employment. “There’s a big rate of unemployment in Uganda,” Mugisha said. “So LGBT people cannot compete. On a job interview people will be asked how their

reputation will affect the company, so some people can’t find work. It’s not easy being out.” Maintaining relationships are also a challenge. “People do relationships under the carpet, but there are not the kinds of relationships they want,” Mugisha said. He added that he’s considered leaving his country but decided to remain. “Leaving will not change the situation in Uganda,” he pointed out. “A lot of people have run away. It’s like running away from home, so who will do anything about it if everyone leaves?” Religion, according to Mugisha, is one of the reasons the laws in Uganda are so harsh. He mentioned Scott Lively, an American evangelical pastor who preached against homosexuality in Uganda, often inflaming anti-LGBT violence with his intense rhetoric. Lively was later charged in federal court in Boston with crimes against humanity, though the case was dismissed. “There are a lot of connections to our situation and Scott Lively,”

Mugisha noted. “Religion and the influence it had on the LGBT community caused a lot of harm.” Still, Mugisha himself continues to embrace God. “I’m a believer,” he said. “I find God somewhere and I pray.” Mugisha reports that there have been slight changes for the better. “We’ve seen a reduction in arrests,” he said. “The government is doing HIV work. And activists in Kenya are going to court to have anti-gay laws repealed. We need to see what this means for Uganda. In East Africa, if something happens in one country it can impact the others.” He added that one of the things that keeps him going is the support the Ugandan community gets from organizations such as All Out. “All Out came together in 2016 to fully fund Pride Uganda events,” All Out Executive Director Matt Beard told the B.A.R. “When the young man jumped off the fourth floor of the building, we went out with an emergency fundraiser and raised enough

for his operation within six hours.” Beard said that he was present for Pride Uganda in 2016 and 2017. “I brought a message of love and solidarity from thousands of All Out supporters,” he said. He noted that the organization is currently doing similar work in Chechnya, Iraq, and Azerbaijan, countries that also have draconian anti-LGBT laws. “We have a lot of support from people who are not Ugandan,” Mugisha said. “And the generation that is homophobic is the old generation. It gives me hope that in 10 years all of these guys will be gone. We’re focusing on the young people who will be in charge in 10 years.” He said he looks forward to the day when LGBT Ugandans can live openly and freely. “It’s my longtime dream,” he said. “I think there will be a time when LGBT people in Uganda will feel that things are going well.” For more information on All Out, visit https://allout.org.t

2020 AIDS conference returns to Bay Area compiled by Cynthia Laird

he International AIDS Society announced this week that it’s 23rd annual International AIDS Conference will be held in San Francisco, in partnership with Oakland, in 2020. The conference was last held in San Francisco in 1990, and it was met with unprecedented protests as activists pushed for effective treatments in an era when there were none. At the time, AIDS had killed nearly 100,000 people in the U.S. and there were an estimated 8 million people living with the disease worldwide. This week, city leaders and AIDS

advocates said they see the return of the conference to San Francisco as an “incredible opportunity.” “San Francisco will never forget the severity and magnitude of the HIV/AIDS epidemic – we lost our friends, family members, and neighbors,” Mayor Mark Farrell said in a statement released by the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. “Our own San Francisco General Hospital was the first hospital in the country to open its doors to people living with AIDS and we have been fighting the epidemic ever since. The selection of San Francisco in partnership with Oakland to host the International AIDS Conference in 2020 is an

incredible opportunity for the city to reflect on its history as we prepare for the future.” According to the IAS, the conference will take place at the Moscone Center in San Francisco July 6-10, 2020. It is expected to bring together more than 15,000 participants from around the world. “AIDS 2020 will allow us to highlight the San Francisco model of care, and the incredible progress made toward ending the epidemic in the city where it began.” Joe Hollendoner, SFAF CEO, said in a statement. SFAF and San Francisco Travel led the committee that sought the conference, according to the foundation’s

release. They were joined by the office of Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, the San Francisco Department of Public Health, Alameda County Health Department, and UCSF. Bay Area congressional representatives praised the conference returning to the Bay Area. “San Francisco is an inseparable part of the story of HIV/AIDS,” House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) said in a statement. “It is fitting and deeply inspiring that advocates, researchers, and survivors will return to the Bay Area for the 2020 International AIDS Conference.” Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland), who’s co-chair of the Congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus, said the return of the conference to the Bay Area has long been a dream of hers. “As early epicenters of the epidemic, none of us in San Francisco or Oakland were untouched by the devastating toll of the AIDS crisis,” Lee stated. “In the years since, our cities have emerged as hubs of HIV/AIDS research, innovation, and activism.” The conference’s return to the Bay Area is not without controversy. On Tuesday, AIDS activists and others announced that over 50 groups and numerous individuals had signed a letter to the IAS urging it to reconsider having the conference in San Francisco because of the current political climate under President Donald Trump. Local signatories include the Transgender Law Center, the Global Forum on MSM and HIV, and the Drug Policy Alliance. The timing of the conference coincides with San Francisco’s Getting to Zero initiative, which seeks to reduce HIV transmissions, HIVrelated deaths, and the stigma associated with the disease, by 90 percent before 2020.

Oakland LGBTQ center announces new tenants

The Oakland LGBTQ Community Center, which in January suddenly found itself with a much larger space due to the eviction of the tenant it had paid rent to, has announced that therapists, arts programs, and others are moving in. Many are LGBTQ and all are LGBTQ-friendly. Among the new tenants are Kin Folkz, founder of the Oakland Pride Creative Arts and Film Fest, who will operate the Spectrum Queer Media

Rick Gerharter

SFAF CEO Joe Hollendoner

Arts Program, of which Folkz is CEO. The internationally recognized LGBTQIA rights, media, and creative arts advocacy organization promotes social justice, visibility, and a voice for marginalized LGBTQIA people and allies through community events, according to a news release. The LGBTQ Perinatal Wellness Center will also have an office at the center. Meghan Lewis, Ph.D., has specialized for over 20 years in queer conception support, fertility enhancement, pregnancy and birth options, and postpartum and early parenting adjustment. Lewis is a birth doula and former homebirth apprentice midwife. Ps yc h o t h e r a p i s t s Lesley Sternin and Kip Williams will operate separate practices. Sternin is a licensed clinical social worker and was clinical supervisor at the Pacific Center for Human Growth for several years. Williams is a gay man who provides therapy for LGBTQ individuals, couples, families, and groups throughout the Bay Area. Clinical psychologist Bree McDaniel will also provide services at the center. She currently works with adults, adolescents, children, couples, and families, with a focus on queer people of color. Danny Ceballos, MBA, will operate Unleashed Consulting, which works with organizations to strengthen their effectiveness. Urban Indigo, a ceramics studio owned by Cynthia Bragdon, will have a space at the community center, as will Tiha Baker, MS, LAPC, who will offer counseling services. Joe Hawkins, executive director of See page 14 >>

Community News>>

March 15-21, 2018 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 11

SF, Amsterdam on ‘Fast-Track’ to reduce HIV by Charlie Wagner

“If someone with HIV is treated successfully, it’s almost impossible to transmit the virus to partners,” Sheehy said. “With PrEP, we have seen more than a 45 percent reduction in HIV infections in San Francisco. The next step is to drive the epidemic down to zero. The biggest problem in San Francisco is the huge disparity in health care quality.”

efore there was Getting to Zero, which aims to dramatically reduce HIV transmission, HIV-related deaths, and stigma by 2020, San Francisco joined Fast-Track Cities, which attempts to do the same thing in cities around the world. This week, gay District 8 Supervisor Jeff Sheehy and Amsterdam deputy mayor Eric van der Burg met in San Francisco to discuss how each city is meeting its Fast-Track Cities goals. They also urged cities that are not yet part of the program to join them. The goal of Fast-Track Cities is threefold: ensuring that 90 percent of people with HIV/AIDS know their status; improving access to antiretroviral therapy for people living with HIV/AIDS to 90 percent; and increasing to 90 percent the proportion of people with HIV/AIDS with undetectable viral load. Eliminating stigma and discrimination is also part of the effort. Sheehy and van der Burg held a news conference on the sunny deck of historic tall ship Clipper “Stad Amsterdam” (City of Amsterdam) Monday, March 12. Both cities joined FastTrack Cities when it was launched in Paris on World AID Day 2014. San Francisco started its Getting to Zero program in 2015. Sheehy said San Francisco has met or exceeded the 90-90-90 goal (status, ART, undetectable viral load) already, and his staff said that the current San Francisco numbers are 90-93-96. Amsterdam is also moving past the 90-90-90 targets, according to van der Burg. According to Sheehy, the goals will ensure every HIV-positive person in San Francisco will know their status and be treated. “We’re aiming at zero new infections and zero stigma for HIV,” Sheehy said. The issue has special

Information sharing

Charlie Wagner

Amsterdam deputy mayor Eric van der Burg, left, and San Francisco Supervisor Jeff Sheehy held a news conference aboard the historic tall ship Clipper “Stad Amsterdam” Monday to discuss HIV prevention efforts in both cities.

resonance for Sheehy, who is the first known person living with HIV to serve on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. “We will follow San Francisco in getting to zero,” van der Burg predicted. Fast-Track Cities was started by the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care and is funded in part by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. IAPAC designed the initiative to optimize HIV care through technical assistance to clinics, local health departments, other service providers, and affected communities. Each Fast-Track city is encouraged to define its own metrics for success but is required to operate within the 90-90-90 and zero discrimination and stigma framework. “We are concerned that as we move, other places in the world are not moving together,” Sheehy said. “We need to share with other cities with fewer resources because we have seen so much success in Fast-Track Cities

where NGOs [non-governmental organizations] and the government work together. “No one should be left behind,” he added. The ultimate goal is to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, though San Francisco’s Getting to Zero initiative has a deadline of before 2020. As of January 10, 77 cities on five continents were enrolled in Fast-Track Cities, with the largest number in Africa. Sheehy said that one of the tools helping in San Francisco’s Fast-Track efforts is the HIV-prevention medication PrEP, which has been shown to be successful for many people if taken as prescribed. “PrEP can be used without the consent of sexual partners, unlike condoms, so I feel it gives a woman a better tool to protect herself against HIV,” he explained, adding that Healthy San Francisco, the city’s health access program, subsidizes PrEP for youth and adolescents, so clients can obtain the medication without parental permission.

One area of information sharing is how Amsterdam treats injection drug users. San Francisco is studying the methods used in Amsterdam because, Sheehy said, “Amsterdam has achieved zero new infections due to needle use because of how drugs are handled.” San Francisco has long had syringe exchange programs, and last month the Health Commission voted unanimously to back a resolution supporting supervised injection sites. In Amsterdam, syringe exchange has proved successful, van der Burg said. “We don’t have anyone transmitting HIV because we have needle programs,” van der Burg explained. “We believe it’s good to have principles but it’s better to solve problems.” Sheehy pointed out that the policies of President Donald Trump and his administration have not helped HIV programs. “Attacks on the Affordable Care Act have caused delays in getting programs operational, and doing away with the insurance mandate has created new problems,” he said, referring to the requirement that people purchase health insurance that was repealed when Congress passed tax reform last year. In response to a question about how Fast-Track Cities impacts San Francisco’s transgender community, Sheehy said, “The trans community is one of our targeted groups and

we’ve been working with the API Wellness clinic in the Tenderloin.” (The Asian and Pacific Islander Wellness Center changed its name last month to the San Francisco Community Health Center.) Sheehy discussed another underserved community, youth and adolescents, and said, “One of the problems I’ve identified is that one in five of our homeless population are youths but they are getting only 7 percent of the (overall) funding for the homeless. Ten to 15 percent are HIV-positive and half of those are LGBTQ.” Sheehy talked about his efforts to increase funding for homeless youth programs and said he is sponsoring a June ballot measure to provide additional funding. Proposition D, Additional Tax on Commercial Rents Mostly to Fund Housing and Homelessness Services, will levy a 1.7 percent tax on commercial landlords to fund low- and middleincome housing and homelessness services for four years. It requires two-thirds passage by voters. Van der Burg acknowledged the Fast-Track Cities goal is not without risks and uncertainties. “Our challenge now is how we reach out to the last group of people,” he said. “Our goal is to achieve 100 percent sooner than the U.N. goal of 2030 but making 2020 will be hard, so probably between 2020 and 2025.” Both Sheehy and van der Burg expressed cautious optimism. “Fast-Track started in San Francisco in 2013 with just a few people,” Sheehy noted, “and now over 200 are working on the Fast-Track goals. We now have the tools.” Added van der Burg, “With this initiative, both cities work will join forces to actually get to zero and share our knowledge and expertise with other partners. Cities cannot always wait for solutions.” t

Residents irked they can’t return to homes after fire by Heather Cassell

ome gay residents and others of the 44 mobile homes that weren’t destroyed by the Tubbs Fire when it ripped through the Fountain Grove neighborhood in Santa Rosa last fall were furious to learn that they won’t ever be returning to their homes. Ramsey Shuayto, the owner of Journey’s End mobile home park, announced last month that he would not rebuild the park, reported the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. Instead, Shuayto partnered with Burbank Housing, which is also working with the city of Santa Rosa’s Housing and Community Services, to build new low-income senior apartments on the site, according to media reports. At that February 10 meeting, 75 residents were in attendance, including LGBTs whose homes are among the ones that survived the blaze. They were dismayed to learn that the mobile home park wouldn’t be rebuilt. Instead, the site will be cleared to develop a new mix of affordable and market rate permanent housing, according to Larry Florin, chief executive officer of Burbank Housing. “Burbank is partnering with the owners of the mobile home park to move forward with a permanent affordable housing project on the property,” wrote Florin in an email to the Bay Area Reporter. “The residents who were displaced by the fires will have the first rights to occupy the new affordable units once they are completed.” Florin confirmed that the nonprofit housing organization doesn’t have any solid plans for the park at the moment. Organization representatives

Heather Cassell

Journey’s End residents Carlton Willis, left, and Victor “Vic” O’Teri, partners for 61 years, joined neighbor John Triglia, right, outside of Willis and O’Teri’s home in the Journey’s End mobile home park.

currently working on the project are trying to gain access to analyze the site to see if utility services can be restored. Residents have changed the locks, preventing the organization entry into the park, and have staged protests outside its gates. Building a new complex could take up to five years, according to Jenny Yao, volunteer leader of the Tzu Chi Foundation, which, with its own team of building and legal advisers, inspected the site following the fires to see if it could be restored. The team found the site was toxic and the infrastructure was destroyed. It also deemed that restoration was cost-prohibitive, Yao told the B.A.R.

Despite the issues, the owner was attempting to avoid selling the property with the intent to retain it to provide affordable senior housing. The foundation is aware that the residents don’t necessarily have five years to wait, can’t afford to pay more than what they were paying, and don’t want to live in apartments if that’s what’s created out of the agreements being negotiated with Burbank Housing, Yao said. The residents whose mobile homes are still standing but are uninhabitable don’t have answers for what will happen to their homes or how they will be compensated if they are unable to return to the park, they said. Residents who qualify for relocation assistance will receive something, but that hasn’t been determined yet, Florin wrote. “As part of that process Burbank has to enter into agreements with those residents who are entitled to relocation assistance,” wrote Florin. “Those discussions will occur shortly.” Understanding the residents’ vulnerability during the difficult recovery period, the volunteer-based foundation turned its focus to providing ongoing emergency assistance. The foundation has distributed nearly $700,000 in emergency cash assistance, counseling, social services, connecting residents with the Bay Area Legal Aid, and even researching relocating them to a new mobile home park in the area, Yao said. Yao noted that there is no space in the 41 mobile home parks in the Santa Rosa area due to the housing crisis. Compounding the issue, the high market rate, even for lowincome housing at the parks, is more

than double what Journey’s End residents were paying pre-fire.

Residents’ concerns

John Triglia, a 91-year-old bisexual man whose mobile home is still standing at Journey’s End, called around to other mobile home parks in the area to see if he could move his home. “They would not accept any mobile homes that were not brand new. They had to be absolutely brand new,” he said. “No matter how much we do, the situation is very complicated,” said Yao. “So dynamic [it’s] changing every day.” Fire victims whose homes burned

down have been able to receive assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other organizations, but the residents of the remaining mobile homes that have been deemed uninhabitable by the California Department of Housing and Community Development haven’t been as fortunate. In the letter to mobile home owners, Shuayto didn’t mention what the plans were for the homes that have been red tagged and sitting on the land, vacant, since October. “Our strongest desire is that we ensure that the need for senior affordable housing that was served by See page 14 >>

<< Community News

12 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 15-21, 2018

New Pride event for Russian River announced by Charlie Wagner

new LGBTQ Pride weekend will debut in Guerneville in August, to be called Russian River Pride. The move comes a few weeks after Sonoma County Pride officials

announced they were moving their June event back to Santa Rosa after nine years in Guerneville, in an effort to make it more convenient for visitors and attract more people. The Russian River Pride theme is “A Celebration of Diversity.” Local activists responded quickly

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following the Sonoma Pride board’s announcement. Russian River Pride is intended to complement, rather than replace, Sonoma Pride. Sonoma Pride started in Windsor in 1987. But after attendance declined in the early 2000s, the Russian River chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence offered to produce the festival and parade on their home turf. Sonoma Pride moved to Guerneville in 2009. Rodger Jensen, event coordinator for the R3 Hotel on Fourth Street in Guerneville, will produce Russian River Pride, aided by volunteer team leaders Christina Pappan, Larry Boeger, Whitney Williams, Jen Toland and Jeff Bridges, and many others. Jensen recently helped raise over $17,000 for Sonoma County fire victims. The Russian River Chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence is also involved and is providing the nonprofit status for raising funds. Jensen has been encouraged by early fundraising and said, “We’ve had many $500 donations and already have enough to cover the cost of the parade permits.” Jensen was also happy to note most of the Russian River Pride schedule has been finalized. On Friday, August 24, the fun will start with a First Friday Art Walk in Guerneville from 5 to 8 p.m., followed by a meet and greet at the R3 starting at 8, with karaoke starting around 9. Saturday evening, Timberline Restaurant at 16440 Fourth Street in Guerneville will hold a Pride dinner from 5 to 8 p.m., followed by an R3 party with live entertainment. On Sunday, the Pride parade on Guerneville’s Main Street will

start at 10 a.m. Though there will be no grand marshal or judging of parade entries, Jensen promised a street lined with speakers playing music selected by a live DJ. Supervisor Lynda Hopkins and other local elected officials are expected to march in the parade, as they have in earlier Sonoma Pride parades. “We are not only an LGBTQ community,” Jensen pointed out, “so we want to celebrate the diversity of people living along the River as well as the approaching end of summer.” Jensen has lined up multiple sponsors, including Drake’s Brewery, which will sponsor beer busts on the weekends before and after July 4 and donate 100 percent of proceeds to Russian River Pride. The Rainbow Cattle Company has also pledged to hold at least three events and Absolute and Smirnoff will also be sponsors, according to Jensen. After the parade, the West Sonoma Inn will host a “family and friends barbecue” where children will be welcome, and there will be no cover. At the same time and also with no cover, the Woods Resort on Third Street will host a 1980sthemed party, while R3 will be holding what organizers called a “contemporary adult pool party.” Jennifer Neeley, president of the Russian River Chamber of Commerce, described the chamber’s support for Russian River Pride and said, “It is important to honor struggle and triumph in the fight for equality and to welcome people of all sexual orientations to celebrate gay Pride, and to ensure a brighter future in all communities.” Given the current political climate, Neeley predicted increased attendance at all gay Pride celebrations

Charlie Wagner

Jeff Bridges, left, general manager of the R3 Hotel in Guerneville, talked about the new Russian River Pride event with producer Rodger Jensen, who’s also the event coordinator at R3.

this year, including those in Guerneville and Santa Rosa. “The chamber wishes the Sonoma County Pride organization much success in their move back to Santa Rosa,” she added. Jensen emphasized that the R3 continues to support Sonoma Pride in Santa Rosa and will host several Sonoma Pride events. On Saturday evening June 2, “We will have a drag show starting at 9 p.m., followed by a dance,” Jensen said, “and on Sunday we are planning a pool party from noon until 5 p.m.” The Russian River Pride website is under construction and will be live in the next few weeks at http:// www.russianriverpride.org. The chamber website is http://www.russianriver.com.t

Mansion that once housed gay bar up for sale by Sari Staver

he San Francisco mansion that once housed the iconic gay bar Lion Pub is for sale – again. The stately four-bedroom Victorian mansion at 2060 Divisadero Street in Pacific Heights can be had for $5,995,000, according to the listing from Paragon Real Estate Group. The bar, which opened in 1968, morphed and changed over the years, from a gay fern bar in the 1970s to a straight bar that catered to a wide range of lifestyles. The bar, which closed in 2016 after the death of owner Kelly Ellis, became the offices for architect Tim Murphy, who bought the home for $3.4 million. After making extensive renovations, Murphy put the house up for sale last month. The space that was the bar has been rezoned as office space, said Realtor Ron Abta of Paragon Real Estate. For 48 years, the ground level of the property hosted the Lion Pub, which was known for its racy artwork and semi-tropical theme. Historically, the building featured three units: a bar on the lower level, an in-law suite used for storage, and a home above the bar. “We hope it will sell quickly,” Abta told the Bay Area Reporter in a telephone interview. “The property has a real presence.” According to the listing, the home features four original fireplaces that were salvaged during the renovation, which included a rebuilt foundation. An array of high-end appliances outfits the

Courtesy Paragon Real Estate Group

A portrait of a lion graces the mansion that once housed the Lion Pub, an iconic gay bar in Pacific Heights.

kitchen, which opens to a mahogany deck. Four bedrooms, including a master suite, are on the upper level. The lower level has an au pair suite with a bath and kitchenette, which are adjacent to the office. In a 1989 interview with the B.A.R., Ellis said, “The Lion has gone through a lot of changes since its opening 20 years ago. We’ve gone from preppy bar to a dance bar to a hippie bar to leather and back to preppy.” The bar was known for its racy illustrated advertisements, which the B.A.R. article determined were done by late local artist Richard Roesener, who used the pseudonym Dale Hall. Pacific Heights was once known for its active gay

nightlife, according to a 2015 article in the B.A.R. (http://ebar. com/bartab/bartabcolumns. php?sec=barchive&id=67). In addition to the Lion Pub, there were two other bars, the Alta Plaza (2301 Fillmore) and J.J.’s Piano Bar (2225 Fillmore). Also, in the nearby Western Addition was the Alamo Square Saloon (600 Fillmore) that was housed in Hotel Casa Loma (610 Fillmore), which for a time advertised itself as a gay hotel in the B.A.R. According to the 2015 B.A.R. story, “the decline of the gayborhood in Pacific Heights and environs was remarkably swift,” with the Alamo Square Saloon closing in 1991 and the Alta Plaza changing hands in 1999. The last of the bars to go was the Lion Pub, which continued to have listings in Damron guides until 2005. And the story of Roesener may give people a clue to the demise of this section of gay San Francisco, according to the B.A.R. story. “Many men who went to these bars died, and those left either stopped going or moved from town,” wrote reporter Michael Flanagan. The story concluded “Neighborhood bars like the Lion Pub and Club Dori were important, since many gay men lived in this part of the city and didn’t always have to go to the Castro, Polk or South of Market during week nights.” t For more about the house, see the listing at http:// www.2060divisadero.com.

Community News>>

March 15-21, 2018 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 13

Pot pioneer Peron remembered at celebration by David-Elijah Nahmod

undreds gathered in the Castro Sunday, March 11, to remember medical cannabis pioneer Dennis Peron. Peron, 71, died of lung cancer January 27. He dedicated his life to the legalization of medical cannabis after he saw the positive effects marijuana had on the lives of people with AIDS during the 1990s. Peron’s memorial and celebration of life took place in a tent that was erected on Noe Street next to Flore cafe. In addition to hundreds of supporters and friends, Peron’s husband, John Entwistle, and Jeff Peron, his brother, were in attendance. Several people said they had traveled from as far away as Florida and New York in order to be there. “Dennis would have loved this,” Entwistle told the Bay Area Reporter. Entwistle pointed out that Flore, formerly known as Cafe Flore, was where Peron co-wrote the ballot measure that became Proposition 215 and led to the legalization of medical cannabis in California in 1996. He ate lunch at the cafe a few days before he died. “He loved Cafe Flore,” Jeff Peron said. “This is where it began and ended.” Florida resident Danny Loveland recalled rolling joints for Peron for $50 a day. “Thirty-five years later he offered me a room in his house,”

German diplomat

From page 1

He expressed dismay that Chancellor Angela Merkel waited for Germany’s Supreme Court to push the government, which was under her control then, to legalize same-sex marriage. “Angela Merkel is fairly middleof-the-road politically, in my assessment,” said Suedbeck. “But she is heading a conservative party, therefore, she was not exactly pushing this legal institution. That’s why the Federal Supreme Court had to decide.” The court’s position was Germany “would have to do it at some point. She then took it up to make sure that [it happened] pretty fast,” he said.

Coming to the ‘gay mecca’

Suedbeck started his position at the end of August 2017. The nearly 30-year Foreign Service veteran took over for German diplomat Stefan Schlueter, who served in the post for three years until he retired last June. Suedbeck has served in Afghanistan, Brussels, the Netherlands, Serbia and the Balkans, Ukraine, and many other countries during his career. The consul general position in San Francisco is coveted by foreign diplomats, and being in the “gay mecca” and the tech mecca makes it very special for Suedbeck and his family, he said. “We were very happy when we learned from the Personnel Department that I was chosen to be the consul general here in San Francisco,” said Suedbeck, although he would be happy at any consulate in the U.S. “San Francisco is very high up on the wish list. We were very, very lucky that this wish came true. We love being in San Francisco.”

Arson case

From page 1

In 2014, Diaz stood trial for the June 2011 death of Freddy CanulArguello, 23, in Buena Vista Park. During the trial, Diaz testified that Canul-Arguello had asked to be choked during a sexual encounter

Rick Gerharter

Tony Serra, longtime attorney for Dennis Peron, was one of several speakers at Peron’s memorial and celebration of life March 11 in the Castro.

Fantuzzi, a friend of Peron’s who is known by a single name. “When I’m gone I hope to see a crowd like this celebrate my life,” Fantuzzi, who flew in from New York, told the audience. “I can see Dennis smiling from wherever he is.” Fantuzzi then led the crowd in a Buddhist-styled chant. “Take a moment to connect with our brother and give him thanks,” he said. Sheehy talked about the importance of medicinal cannabis on the HIV/AIDS community. “I am the first openly positive medical marijuana patient in office,” he said. “I remember when apartment buildings were emptied out because everyone died. Dennis gave cannabis to his sick lover, that’s where the medical cannabis movement began. His cannabis club kept hundreds of people with AIDS alive.” Jeff Peron recalled the childhood home he shared with his brother on Long Island in New York. “We would argue about whether we should watch ‘The Three Stooges’ or the news,” he said. “Later, he brought a lot of reefer home during visits. His legacy is compassion and compassion is not selective. He was a kind and compassionate man. He helped the homeless, he was generous.” Jeff Peron told the crowd that he did not want the event to be a memorial. “So have a good time,” he said. Singers of the Street, a group

comprised of homeless people, formerly homeless people, and homeless advocates, performed several songs, including “Over The Rainbow” and “Stand By Me.” In addition to Sheehy, several gay leaders spoke, including former Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), and mayoral candidate Mark Leno, as did many of Peron’s friends. All of the speakers remembered Peron’s compassion for people living with AIDS and for the homeless, and his medical cannabis advocacy. The Reverend Megan Rohrer, a trans person who is pastor of Grace Lutheran Church, volunteered to help run the celebration. “As a queer person I am grateful for Dennis’ work during the dawn of the AIDS epidemic,” Rohrer said. “His care for those experiencing the side effects of experimental medications and preventing wasting was heroic.” Others remarked that he ushered in a new way of thinking about cannabis. “His legacy is that he changed the conversation on how people view medical marijuana,” added District 5 Supervisor and mayoral candidate London Breed. As the celebration drew to a close, people were invited to help themselves to the potted marijuana plants that were set down in front of the podium.t

San Francisco hosted the largest German film festival outside of Germany, Berlin and Beyond, and celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Goethe-Institute in February, in which Suedbeck participated. This year Germany will celebrate the 150th birthday of Magnus Hirschfeld, who was one of the first human sexuality researchers in the 20th century and who successfully lobbied for Germany to decriminalize homosexuality. The Nazis came into power soon after and destroyed much of his work, as well as persecuted LGBT people in the concentration camps. San Francisco’s German and LGBT communities will host a commemoration of Hirschfeld at Pink Triangle Park in May, said Suedbeck. The consulate will participate in a collaborative event, the GermanAmerican Year, with the eight German consulates throughout the U.S. and the German Embassy in Washington, D.C., October 3, 2018 through July 4, 2019, celebrating the friendship between the German and the American people. Suedbeck also plans to continue his predecessors’ close relationship with the local Jewish community as well as the LGBT community, he said. “We have every intention to be as good friends as possible here, including the Jewish communities,” said Suedbeck, who said he was “very happy” to continue to cooperate with them. One project he’s working on is the annual 10-day program that brings U.S. rabbis to Germany, visiting places in which the atrocities of the past took place but focusing also on the revival of Jewish life in Germany today. “I think we’ve learned a lot from our past mistakes,” he said.t August 2016 to possessing an incendiary device and a count of second-degree burglary. He was released that September after being sentenced to a year of mandatory supervision, the arsonist registration, and other terms. t

Loveland said. “His legacy is the positive effect he had on so many people. All the things he did for us changed society. The proudest moment of my life was walking around with Dennis.” District 8 Supervisor Jeff Sheehy, a gay man who uses medical cannabis to treat his HIV, also attended the celebration. “The thing I most remember about Dennis is that he saved lives, countless lives,” Sheehy told the B.A.R. Peron led a varied life. In 1991 he fought for the passage of San Francisco’s Proposition P, which called upon the state to allow for

the use of medical cannabis – the measure received 79 percent of the vote. That same year he co-founded the San Francisco Cannabis Buyer’s Club, the first medical marijuana dispensary. The club was raided by the police. In 1996 Peron co-authored Prop 215. The proposition passed, allowing Peron’s dispensary to reopen. In 1996 Peron ran for president as a member of the Grassroots Legalize Cannabis Party. In 1998 he ran for governor in the California primary as a Republican, against his nemesis, then-state Attorney General Dan Lungren. The celebration began with

Personally, it’s a great place for he and his partner to raise their children because there are many other gay families in the Bay Area, he noted. The couple are also very social. They enjoy entertaining thought leaders in the Bay Area’s innovative business sectors and world leaders. Professionally, San Francisco is challenging as well as exhilarating. Suedbeck’s territory includes northern California to Alaska, Hawaii, and east to Wyoming. His office serves German-Americans and Germans living in the U.S., as well as American travelers to Germany. It’s estimated there are up to 44 million German-Americans living in the U.S., according to the 2016 U.S. Census. It’s estimated that 60,000 Germans call the Bay Area home, Suedbeck said, quoting an article published in the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. “That’s a huge basis for cooperation for creating sympathy for feeling connected [to Germany] and we want to work with that,” said Suedbeck, who oversees a team of about 20 people. One of his jobs is to help GermanAmericans reclaim their German citizenship their families lost when they fled the country during World War II. The number of requests has skyrocketed in the past couple of years, Suedbeck said. He and his staff are working on ways to improve processing requests and documents. One of Suedbeck’s goals is to connect German-Americans, Germans, and Americans interested in Germany through a variety of events and cultural exchanges, particularly focused on science and technology, entrepreneurship and business, and arts and culture. The consulate serves several thousand people annually. “I’m still very much under the

impression that, in a way, the future of the world is created in the Bay Area in very many respects and therefore, of course, also the future of Germany,” said Suedbeck, who is very interested in the innovation of the technology and science sectors and facilitating dialogues between science and tech professionals in Silicon Valley and Germany. He appreciates the West’s unabashed movement forward with technology, however, from a German perspective, given its leaders’ history utilizing technology, he explained, Germans take a more critical and cautious perspective to the opportunities and dangers new technologies provide. “What we want to do is to create a bigger understanding that it is important for Germany to come here and look at what’s happening,” said Suedbeck, who is pushing for Germans to see new trends originating here as early as possible, “in order to start thinking about it” and to foster informed debates in Germany about tech innovations. “Also, we want to create an understanding here in the U.S. that a slightly more cautious approach is not always the wrong one,” he added. As confirmation drags on over the nomination of President Donald Trump’s first gay appointee to become ambassador to Germany, the country has been pushing to get a U.S. ambassador in Berlin, according to media reports. At the same time, Merkel and German officials have frequently visited Trump more than recent past presidents as the two countries attempt to strengthen their relationship.

Suedbeck noted the high number of visits Merkel and Germany’s Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel made to the U.S. in 2017. “In the last year, there have been more visits by the chancellor and the foreign minister to Washington than many years before,” said Suedbeck, noting that Germany is trying to work, discuss, and coordinate with the U.S. government more than ever. At the same time, there is a great interest in Germany also in the fields where policies in California and other U.S. states differ from what’s happening in Washington, D.C. It is his task to report on things like climate and energy policies, migration issues, and net neutrality, to name a few. However, when the B.A.R. asked about Germany’s pressure on the U.S. to fill the vacancy in Berlin’s American embassy, Suedbeck responded, “I don’t think it’s Germany’s role to say it has to be this guy or that woman and I’m very sure we don’t say that. For us the U.S. is increasingly [an] important partner and, of course, we want a full-fledged ambassador to talk to.” Trump nominated Richard Grenell, a gay man, to be U.S. ambassador to Germany in September 2017, but his confirmation has stalled for months in the Senate. “You can’t just leave it empty,” said Suedbeck. “It would be in your and our interest to have an American ambassador in Berlin very soon.” It is also his duty to highlight Germans’ presence in the U.S. Germans are the largest ethnic minority in America, but as the Economist noted in 2015, they’ve assimilated so well that they are invisible.

and that he’d accidentally killed him. Jurors acquitted Diaz of second-degree murder but convicted him of involuntary manslaughter and arson, among other charges. He was released from jail in September 2014. During Diaz’s sentencing hearing in that case, Superior Court

Judge Donald Sullivan dismissed the arson count. Sullivan said that keeping the count would require Diaz’s “lifetime registration as an arsonist,” which would “mar his character.” Prosecutor John Rowland objected to the arson count being dismissed.

It was after Diaz’s 2016 guilty plea to possessing an incendiary device that he was required to register as an arsonist. That case stemmed from incidents in 2015 when Diaz was arrested again for allegedly starting fires in the Castro district. He pleaded guilty in

German-U.S. relations

<< Community News

14 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 15-21, 2018

Hamburger Mary’s

From page 5

last year, when the San Francisco Entertainment Commission voted unanimously to approve a permit that cleared the way for Hamburger Mary’s to open and bring to the Castro drag shows and other entertainment. Eight months later the restaurant finally opened its doors to paying customers. It is the 20th Hamburger Mary’s location, according to the company’s website. The restaurant chain was founded in San Francisco in 1972; the former South of Market location closed in 2001.

Guest Opinion

From page 6

services that often resulted in their criminal charges being dismissed or substantially reduced. Judge Karnow issued the ruling that saved San Francisco City College from losing its accreditation, to the great benefit of its diverse students, many of whom cannot afford to attend any other college. Karnow also wrote a published paper on bail reform that has been quoted widely

News Briefs

From page 10

the center, said other tenants will be announced soon. The Oakland LGBTQ center is located at 3207 Lakeshore Avenue (entrance on Rand Avenue). For more information, visit http:// www.oaklandlgbtqcenter.org.

QLS offers intersex support group in the Castro

Queer LifeSpace, a nonprofit counseling agency, has long had an intersex support group, and new members are welcome on an ongoing basis. The group meets on Fridays at 12:15 p.m.

Fire

From page 11

Journey’s End will be met through whatever redevelopment occurs at the park,” the letter stated. The letter also stated that Shuayto would continue working with community organizations to assist with services, including housing placement and rental assistance, during the recovery process. Yet, that still didn’t answer LGBT residents’ questions about their homes that still are standing. “They have not told us what they’re going to do with the remaining homes,” said Victor “Vic” O’Teri,

AD 15 candidates

From page 5

newborn who lives in Oakland. Thurmond recently endorsed El Cerrito City Councilwoman Rochelle Pardue-Okimoto to succeed him in the Legislature. She grew up with a mom who struggled with addiction and to make ends meet. A nurse, she now has two sons of her own. “I will bring my 17 years of experience as a bedside nurse and labor activist to the table,” she said. Berkeley City Councilman Ben Bartlett once owned a local cafe with

Political Notebook

From page 7

and oldest LGBT Democratic Club in the country, I am very pleased to have the support of the club,” Leno told the B.A.R. In a surprise result, neither Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, a former San Francisco mayor, nor any other gubernatorial candidate in the race to succeed termed out Governor Jerry Brown secured an

Natali did not respond to a request for comment. Metzger told the B.A.R. he believes the neighborhood will embrace the restaurant now that it is finally open. “I think it is going to be fantastic,” he said. “Everyone who has been in so far has enjoyed the food and themselves.” TJ Bruce, a managing partner in the restaurant who owns gay bars in San Jose, Sacramento, Reno, and Fresno, told the B.A.R. that he, too, is optimistic that the location will be successful. “It was a big learning curve for all of us,” said Bruce, who maintains an apartment in the Castro. Once the patio space is ready, the

restaurant will open for brunch on the weekends. Like the chain’s other locations, the local Hamburger Mary’s will be raising money for charities, said Dale Warner, the owner of the Long Beach and West Hollywood locations. He has been in town to help train the San Francisco staff. As for the property’s history keeping people away, Warner didn’t believe it would. “I don’t think so,” he said. “Everyone is excited. I think it will be a great partner for the community.” Leandro Gonzales, the reigning emperor of the local Imperial Court, stopped by last Friday to try out the

restaurant with friends. He told the B.A.R. he is a fan of the chain’s southern California locations and that he was excited to see the long empty storefront be revitalized. If Natali does support the local community, Gonzales said the restaurant would likely be embraced. “If he makes it a community space that is giving back to charity, then people will be more open to coming here because of the history,” he said. Hired to be a “drag liaison” for the restaurant, drag queen Carnie Asada joked it makes sense for her to be working at the restaurant as she brings “beef for beef.” She said it was about time there was a space

built specifically for hosting drag shows in the heart of the Castro. “I think Hamburger Mary’s has a great reputation across the country,” said Asada, whose given name is Doran Rivera. “I live down the street. Creating jobs for people in the Castro is a big deal.” The restaurant already has hired 25 people and is looking to bring on at least another 10 employees in order to expand its hours. Hamburger Mary’s will be open at 4 p.m. seven days a week and its bar will close at 2 a.m. Dinner service will end at 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and at 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.t

in appellate and federal decisions requiring trial judges to consider a defendant’s ability to pay in setting bail – an issue of great concern for citizens of color and LGBT people, many of whom lack the resources to post high bail amounts. Judge Cheng presided over the trial of a case brought by tenants against a landlord for violations of the San Francisco Rent Control Ordinance that resulted in one of the largest jury verdicts in the nation. Other notable rulings by him

provided outpatient treatment to greater numbers of individuals with mental health issues and allowed veterans to maintain access to services at the San Francisco War Memorial Building. In short, none of these judges has failed the LGBT community or communities of color in carrying out their responsibilities, because none has rendered decisions based on political affiliation, their own or that of the governor who appointed them. Replacing them with judges

who have vowed to bring their own politics into the courthouse would be a terrible mistake that would not be good for the court or for any of the people it serves. Our judicial system in California is the largest and best in the world. One reason our system is so highly regarded and its decisions are followed by other courts is because it has not been politicized like the courts in many other states. This bloc attack on our four excellent colleagues is unprecedented and based

solely on politics. We must not allow it to succeed. The independence of our courts and preservation of our democracy are at stake. t

According to the Intersex Society of North America, “intersex” is a general term used for a variety of conditions in which a person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t seem to fit the typical definitions of female or male. The QLS support group drives each meeting’s weekly conversation topic, and usually connects to claiming intersex as an identity wile processing the personal and public conflicts that come with it in today’s society. It is currently facilitated by psychology trainee Ben Feldman. For more information, prospective members can contact Feldman at bfeldman.1ls@gmail.com or (415) 358-2000, ext. 432.

San Mateo Pride center has new hours

The San Mateo County Pride Center has announced that it is no longer open on Saturdays, unless special programming is scheduled. The center remains open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and on Friday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Center officials also said the facility would be closed Friday, March 30. In other news, the Peninsula LGBT community center has announced the return of “crafternoons” – afternoon crafting – every first and third Wednesday from 4 to 6 p.m. On March 21, participants

will be crafting paper flowers to celebrate spring. There is no cost to attend. For more information about the center’s programs, visit www. sanmateopride.org or email info@ sanmateopride.org. The center is located at 1021 South El Camino Real in San Mateo.

Safai, who represents the neighborhood, will be on hand, along with other community leaders.

Off-leash dog park opening

The San Francisco Recreation and Park Department will hold a grand opening at its new Balboa Park off-leash dog play area Thursday, March 22, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. The park is located off of Havelock Street, just behind the Balboa Pool (1878 San Jose Avenue). District 11 Supervisor Ahsha

Openhouse, the LGBT senior agency, will have its Transgender Day of Visibility luncheon Thursday, March 29, at noon at the Bob Ross LGBT Senior Center, 65 Laguna Street in San Francisco. Trans Day of Visibility aims to bring attention to the accomplishments of trans people around the globe while fighting transphobia. Those interested in attending the lunch should RSVP to Michelle at (415) 728-0195 or michelle@ openhouse-sf.org. t

an 89-year-old man who lived with his partner of 61 years, Carlton Willis, 85, in a well-kept brown mobile home with white trim that they own outright. The two men have been drifting since they haven’t been able to return to their home, they said. Willis has very bad osteoarthritis and is recovering from pneumonia, O’Teri said. Triglia, who lives diagonally across from the men with his dog, Sophie, has been living out of a hotel after the senior housing his nephew found for him in Napa was too far away from his doctor’s office. The men are a few of the LGBT

residents of the park. Many of the residents have left, with some moving far away, while others have died since the fire, the men said. Triglia, who has lived in the park for three years, keeps returning to his mobile home to tend to his rose garden. He imagines that nothing has changed, even though the fire came right up to the row of mobile homes behind his home and his prized roses. “It’s like I’m having this grand illusion that nothing’s changed,” said Triglia. “I’m just pruning my garden like I normally would do.” O’Teri is under no illusion. He wants answers.

“We want to get back into our homes,” said O’Teri, who said they have attended every meeting the owner has held. Triglia agreed, adding, “When your 91 years old you don’t want to be out there waiting your turn. You want something now, so you don’t worry.” The men aren’t interested in apartment living. “We do not want to live in an apartment. We’re too independent for that. We want to live in our own home,” said O’Teri. “We need to find out what they plan to do with our existing home. That is paramount.” Triglia, who is still paying a

mortgage on his home, hopes that he will receive some type of settlement so he can find another mobile home to move into, he said. He already has volunteers ready to help him move his 65 rose bushes if he can’t move back into his home, he said. “I’ve been to the school of hard knocks,” said the soft-spoken Triglia. “Life has never been easy. This is one more little dilemma to work out.” Yet, even with his quiet demeanor, he’s frustrated too. “Give us a break. Buy these damn houses. Give us our money so we can move on,” Triglia said he would like to tell the owner of the park. t

his father, a former Black Panther member, in the city’s downtown. He also lived in Los Angeles for a time and worked as an organizer in the city’s black community. “We are all in this together. We as African-Americans, we need you to stand with us now,” he said. Two-term Oakland City Councilman Dan Kalb pointed to his 35 years of public policy work, including nearly a decade drafting legislation in Sacramento as the state policy director with the Union of Concerned Scientists. “I know how to get things done in Sacramento,” he said.

Journalist and blogger Owen Poindexter, who lives in Berkeley with his wife and son, is a proponent of adopting a universal basic income. “We have folks working two to three jobs to stay in their homes who can’t afford health care,” he said. “We have the resources. We can solve this.” Cheryl Sudduth, a mother of two sons and a daughter, is a disability rights activist and contracting consultant who formerly worked for Goodwill Industries. “I fight for social justice for everyone,” said Sudduth, a Muslim who

previously ran for Congress. Toward the end of the forum, one major difference did emerge among the candidates. While nearly all said they had first voted for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary, and then for Hillary Clinton against Donald Trump that November, Beckles disclosed she had voted for Green Party candidate Jill Stein in the fall. It drew audible gasps from the crowd, with Beckles defending her decision because, “in California, we get to vote our conscience. Hillary did a lot of damage to the black community, which was not OK with me.”

Wicks, having run her campaign in the state, was the only person to say she voted for Clinton in both the primary and general election. Sudduth would only disclose that she didn’t vote for Trump, while Appel had already left the forum prior to the question being asked in order to make it to her school board meeting that night. The Stonewall club will vote on its endorsement in the race Wednesday, March 21. Lambda members will decide their endorsement April 25. In order to secure both clubs’ endorsement, a candidate needs 60 percent of the vote. t

endorsement from the Alice club. The club also did not endorse in the attorney general race where Xavier Becerra, whom Brown appointed to the position, is fighting off a challenge from fellow Democrat Dave Jones, the state’s insurance commissioner who is termed out this year. Alice did endorse former Obama ambassador Eleni Kounalakis in the lieutenant governor race to succeed Newsom. In two races with out

candidates, Alice endorsed gay state Senator Ricardo Lara (DBell Gardens) to succeed Jones and become the first LGBT person elected to statewide office, but it did not endorse lesbian state Senator Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton) for the District 2 seat on the state Board of Equalization. Instead, Alice endorsed San Francisco Supervisor Malia Cohen, who is termed out of her District 10 seat this year. t

In addition to the four authors listed above, this opinion piece is also signed by Judges Ron Albers, Teresa Caffese, Roger Chan, Nancy L. Davis, Gail Dekreon, Charles Haines, James Humes, Kevin McCarthy, Mary Morgan, Joseph Quinn, Kay Tsenin, and Carol Yaggy.

Trans visibility event at Openhouse

Supervisor Malia Cohen, left, is running for the state Board of Equalization.

Cohen campaign

Classifieds>> t Legal Notices>> FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038005700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BABY’S EATERY AND PALABOK, 4609 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed PATRICK JOHN ALVIR. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/08/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/14/18.

FEB 22, MAR 01, 08, 15, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038002000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BARBER & GENT; ORIGINAL GRAPHIC ARTS, 3239 MISSION ST #A, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed IVAN GOMEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 02/12/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/12/18.

FEB 22, MAR 01, 08, 15, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038001800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: QUICKDRAW PERMIT CONSULTING, 584 CASTRO ST #466, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JEREMY S. PAUL. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 06/15/89. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/12/18.

FEB 22, MAR 01, 08, 15, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037989800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SHANGHAI SUPERSMART INTERNATIONAL TRADE, 560 7TH AVE #1, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed VIVIAN H. WANG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 02/05/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/05/18.

FEB 22, MAR 01, 08, 15, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038003500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CASA MAYAH RESTAURANT, 294 TURK ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed RODOLFO MAAY. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 02/13/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/13/18.

March 15-21, 2018 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 15

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038011100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: OPEN SKY COMMUNICATIONS, 520 27TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed OPEN SKY COMMUNICATIONS, 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 02/16/18.

FEB 22, MAR 01, 08, 15, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038013000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BALLAST COFFEE, 329 W PORTAL AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed KICK-START COFFEE, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/01/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/16/18.

FEB 22, MAR 01, 08, 15, 2018 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-036235200

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: CITY PIZZA & YUCATAN FOOD, 294 TURK ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by RODOLFO MAAY. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/07/15.

FEB 22, MAR 01, 08, 15, 2018 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-037332900 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: CABLE CAR COFFEE, 902 MARKET ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by SIMON H. ZERAI. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/03/16.

FEB 22, MAR 01, 08, 15, 2018 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-18-553705

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CABLE CAR COFFEE, 902 MARKET ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed ASMEROM B. GUEBRMICAEL & SIMON H. ZERAI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 02/15/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/15/18.

In the matter of the application of: WUN KWAN SIU TAM, 389 HOLYOKE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner WUN KWAN SIU TAM, is requesting that the name WUN KWAN SIU TAM AKA WUN KWAN SIU AKA WUN KWAN SIU TAM, be changed to WUN KWAN SIU TAM. 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 17th of April 2018 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

FEB 22, MAR 01, 08, 15, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038002100

MAR 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038015600

FEB 22, MAR 01, 08, 15, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038007000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ENGINEER.AI, 600 CALIFORNIA ST, 11TH FLR, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SD SQUARED NORTH AMERICA LIMITED (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 11/06/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/12/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TOGETHER WEDDING COMPANY, 1463 POWELL ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed YI CHEN. 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 02/20/18.

FEB 22, MAR 01, 08, 15, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038005000

MAR 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038023800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FOLIOAVENUE; PANCOAST BITCOIN, 3053 FILLMORE #118, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed GREENFORCE CLEAN TEAM CO. LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 02/14/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/14/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DEJAVU PIZZA & PASTA RESTAURANT, 3227 16TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed AUNG KYI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/26/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/26/18.

FEB 22, MAR 01, 08, 15, 2018

MAR 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038006600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PACIFIC VENTURES & INTRODUCTIONS, 2905 HARRISON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MA ANNA SOFIA GARCIA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/14/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/15/18.

MAR 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038004700

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MAR 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038020000

MAR 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-037483100

MAR 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038030500

MAR 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038020300

MAR 15, 22, 29, APR 05, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038036100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE HR PERSON, 550 SPRUCE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SARAH MCNAMARA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 02/06/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/14/18.

MAR 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038021200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: A YEAR IN AMERICA, 4175 CESAR CHAVEZ ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LAUREL ANNE ANDERSON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 02/01/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/23/18.

MAR 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038008500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LONG OVERDUE, 2275 MARKET ST SUITE F, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed FRANK P. REYES. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 02/15/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/15/18.

MAR 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038021700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NORCAL SALON SUPPLIES, 1501 20TH ST UNIT B, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed MICHAEL CHAU & VI DAM. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/23/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/23/18.

MAR 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038011900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: WINNING COLORS INC, 850 SOUTH VAN NESS, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed WINNING COLORS INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/01/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/16/18.

MAR 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018

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The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: JIFFY DOG, 300 DE HARO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by ALEX TAO. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/23/17.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CAPRICE ANTIQUES AND DESIGNS, 145 LAUREL ST, #4, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed EVELYN HAYES VOSTI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 10/01/14. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/23/18.

MAR 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038004000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ANGELA CHONG MONTAGUE ART + HAIR, 415 STOCKTON ST FL4, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ANGELA CHONG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/13/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/13/18.

MAR 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038027500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EL PORTENO INC, 1 FERRY BLDG, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94111. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed EL PORTENO INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 02/21/08. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/01/18.

MAR 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038029200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SCHOOL NIGHT, 601 19TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed MORTAR & MASH ONE, LLC (DE). 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 03/01/18.

MAR 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018

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The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: HALAL SF GYRO, 1301 MARKET ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by MUHAMMAD AKMAL KHAN. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/18/16.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: 2 TRIFLIN COLLECTIVE, 620 HAMILTON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DOMINIQUE CLEOPE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/02/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/02/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GRIGGWEST CONSULT, 474 FREDERICK ST. #2, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CHRISTINA GRIGG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/01/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/08/18.

MAR 15, 22, 29, APR 05, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038037800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ORTEGA-MEDINA AND ASSOCIATES, 150 POST ST #742, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ORLANDO ORTEGA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/08/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/08/18.

MAR 15, 22, 29, APR 05, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038031400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MAGICECOCLEAN, 3018 MISSION ST #32, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual and is signed LILIA PRISCILA TIRADO SARMIENTO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/01/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/05/18.

MAR 15, 22, 29, APR 05, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038005600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CALIFORNIA AUTO GLASS, 2560 MARIN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LUIS SARAT. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/01/99. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/14/18.

MAR 15, 22, 29, APR 05, 2018

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MAR 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-037181500

MAR 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038005500

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The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: HALAL SF GYRO, 1390 MARKET ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by MUHAMMAD AKMAL KHAN. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/18/16.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CN GOLD USA INC, 150 POST ST #360, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SHANGRILA EXPRESS INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/18/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/22/18.

 Yelp reviews

Housecleaning Richard 415-255-0389

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BING & BOBA, 1476 HAIGHT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed MAISON M. 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 03/02/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MAKER & MOSS, 364 HAYES ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MATTHEW BISSINGER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 09/30/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/15/18.

Professional 30+ years exp. Virus removal PC speedup New PC setup Data recovery Network & wireless setup Discreet

CLEANING PROFESSIONAL

MAR 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-037181400

MAR 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038008300

Ralph Doore 415-867-4657

Cleaning Services>>

MAR 01, 08, 15, 22, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038015700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SOMA EATS 2, 121 SPEAR ST SUITE B7, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SOMA 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 02/21/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SULTAN’S KEBAB, 3915 24TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed FAMUS (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 02/20/18.

PC Support

415 861-5381

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038030200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BUNN MIKE, 300 DEHARO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ALEX TAO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 02/14/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/14/18.

Classifieds Pet Services>>

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038016700

Primary point of contact to facilitate, create and implement a LGBTQfocused Adult Day Health Care at SteppingStone in San Francisco. For more information: http://www. steppingstonehealth.org/Jobs.html AA/EOE

Architect, design, & develop robust software. Req. Bach in Comp. Science or rel ﬁeld & 1 yr exp in job or 1 yr exp in rel occup. Any suitable combo of educ, training &/or exp is acceptable. Jobsite: Redwood City, CA. Send resume: E. Garcia Reynoso, Innit, Inc, 600 Allerton St, Ste 101, Redwood City, CA 94063.

DRIVER NEEDED –

Gay professional male arriving from Boston MA in San Fransico, Friday March 23 at noon, to to to Sonoma CA and return Sunday March 25 noon. Has few minor medical problems. Has already reserved a car at SF airport. Purpose of visit is business meeting and touring wine country. TRIP FREE FOR DRIVER: Must have good driving record, non-smoker, no alcohol, no drugs and clean. Must speak good English, neat and tidy. Will need to share hotel room in Sonoma. Modest meals provided. Driver will not have any expense during trip. He is 55, Indian, college preppy New England look, straight appearing and acting. Ideal person needed would be a good conversationalist, pleasant companion, adjustable accommodating nature, easy to get along and easy to please. COMPATIBILITY VERY IMPORTANT: COMPENSATION $250 CASH FROM FRIDAY AFTERNOON TO SUNDAY AFTERNOON. NadirBoston@gmail.com

/lgbtsf

<< Legals

16 • BAY AREA REPORTER • March 15-21, 2018

Legal Notices>> FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038005300

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038036500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MAZ AUTO GLASS, 2560 MARIN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LUIS SARAT. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 02/14/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/14/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: L34 GROUP, 1699 VAN NESS AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed PACIFIC UNION INTERNATIONAL, 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 03/08/18.

MAR 15, 22, 29, APR 05, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038035300

MAR 15, 22, 29, APR 05, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038036600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE RAINBOW, 4401 18TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed HUSAM HABASH. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/07/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/07/18.

MAR 15, 22, 29, APR 05, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038015000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CARDONA’S FOOD TRUCK, 1390 MISSION ST #409, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed CHANO JOSE CARDONA & CIPRIANO CARDONA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/01/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/20/18.

MAR 15, 22, 29, APR 05, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038037300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GOLDEN BAY INSURANCE AGENCY, 2826 SAN BRUNO AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed GOLDEN BAY INSURANCE 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 03/08/18.

MAR 15, 22, 29, APR 05, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038031500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: VELIC CONSTRUCTION, 438 HOLLOWAY AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed VELIC CONSTRUCTION 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 03/05/18.

MAR 15, 22, 29, APR 05, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038034900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PACIFIC UNION COMMERCIAL, 1699 VAN NESS AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed PACIFIC UNION INTERNATIONAL, INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/01/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/08/18.

MAR 15, 22, 29, APR 05, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038019700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: R&P AUTO GLASS, 27 GRANADA AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed R&P AUTOMOTIVE SERVICE (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 02/22/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/22/18.

MAR 15, 22, 29, APR 05, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038034600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: YORAY’S, 280 NEWHALL ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a married couple, and is signed YOLANDA JONES & RAYSEAN JONES SR. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/01/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/06/18.

MAR 15, 22, 29, APR 05, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038034300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: 3RJ CUSTODIAL CONSTRUCTION CLEANING LLC, 280 NEWHALL ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed 3RJ CUSTODIAL CONSTRUCTION CLEANING LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/01/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/06/18.

MAR 15, 22, 29, APR 05, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038038400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BAY ROOF COATING, 1420 YOSEMITE AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BAY ROOF COATING (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03//01/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/06/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SYLVAN LEARNING, 379 WEST PORTAL AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed HL LEARNING SOLUTIONS LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/01/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/09/18.

MAR 15, 22, 29, APR 05, 2018

The State of Israel – The Enforcement and Collection Authority Execution, Tel Aviv Bureau, 6 HaMasger Street POB 10 Tel Aviv – Yaffo 6777655 Case number 512842-12-17 In-case caution for the realization of another ruling Personally delivered caution To:

Yelena Fisherman Abroad, abroad 8888888

I.D. no.: 304233372

Caution (according to section 7(a) of the Execution Law of 5727-1967) Execution case no.: 512842-12-17 type: other ruling, in which you appear as debtor number 1, was initiated against you on December 13th 2017 by the creditor: Arthur Abtisian. Creditor address: 59 Jabotinsky, Bney Brak 5110000. Creditor is represented by adv. Yiftah Ibn Ezra Of 3 Nirim, Tel Aviv – Yaffo 6706000, phone: 0547514942; Debt as at case initiation: 631.94 ILS Legal fees and expenses: 450.63 ILS Coupled with Execution fee: 186.53 ILS Total debt payable amount: 657.39 ILS According to a ruling given in court on October 2nd 2017 in case number 16914-11-14 Mandatory injunctions detailing: Other, partnership liquidation Liquidation of partnership in the residential apartment known as plot 7361 parcel 82 sub-parcel 15 59 Jabotinsky Bney Brak Obligation order in installments Your debt amounts to 657.39 ILS. Payment of the entire case debt will be made using the payment voucher attached herewith. According to the payment order as per section 69A, should you be unable to pay the entire debt, you should pay your debt in linked monthly installments, amounting to 250.00 ILS. The first installment is immediate. Note that payment at the Postal Bank will be credited to the case only following approximately 5 work days. During those days the debt will accrue lawful linkage differences and\or interest. You are to pay your debts in the above rates coupled with linkage differences. Partial payment of the debt hereunder does not prohibit the claimant from acting against you under the procedures detailed in the law, which involves expenses that will increase you debt in the case. To make the payments, approach the information center according to the details herein and obtain payment vouchers according to the obligation order.

Untitled-1 1

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT NOTICE TO PROPOSERS - GENERAL INFORMATION The SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT (“District”), 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, California, is advertising for proposals to provide Utilization and Bill Review Services, Request for Proposals (RFP) No. 6M4113, on or about March 6, 2018, with proposals due by 2:00 PM local time, Tuesday, May 29, 2018 at the District Secretary’s Office, 23rd Floor, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, CA 94612. The purpose of this Agreement is to have a dedicated team of experienced technical staff possessing comprehensive knowledge relating to Utilization Review Services and Bill Review Services for workers’ compensation claims that shall handle the BART account. The team will consist of all necessary management, supervisory, technical/professional, administrative and support personnel, and shall be responsible for efficient, timely, compliant, and cost-effective Utilization Review Services and Bill Review Services for BART’s Workers’ Compensation Program.

DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES TO BE PROVIDED

The request to provide Utilization and Bill Review Services, shall be for three (3) years, with two (2) one (1) year options, exercisable by the District at its sole discretion, to extend the term of this Agreement for one (1) year each. It is anticipated that the total cost for the Agreement for providing Utilization and Bill Review Services shall not exceed the amount of Three Million and Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($3,500,000); however, there is no guaranteed minimum level of compensation anticipated as described in the RFP No. 6M4113. Proposal Meeting: A Pre-Proposal Meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 27, 2018. The Pre-Proposal Meeting will convene at 1:30 PM at BART’s Administrative Building located at 300 Lakeside Drive, 15th Floor, Room 1500, Oakland, CA 94612. At the Pre-Proposal Meeting the District’s Non-Discrimination Program for Subcontracting and Small Business Program will be explained. All questions regarding MBE/WBE participation should be directed to Fei Liu, Sr. Civil Rights Officer at (510) 874-7348 – FAX (510) 464-7470. Prospective Proposers are requested to make every effort to attend this only scheduled Pre-Proposal Meeting. The pre-proposal meeting will also discuss other Workers’ Compensation RFP for Third Party Claims Administration and Utilization and Bill Review Services. Networking Session: Immediately following the Pre-Proposal meeting, the District’s Office of Civil Rights will be conducting a networking session for subconsultants to meet the prime consultants for MBE/WBE participation opportunities.

REQUIRED REGISTRATION ON BART PROCUREMENT PORTAL

In order for prospective Proposers to be eligible for award of an Agreement being solicited on the BART Procurement Portal, such Proposers are required to be currently registered to do business with BART on the BART Procurement Portal on line at https:// suppliers.bart.gov and have obtained Solicitation Documents, updates, and any Addenda issued on line so as to be added to the On-Line Planholders List for this solicitation. If a prospective Proposer is a joint venture or partnership, such entity may register on the BART procurement portal with the entity’s tax identification number ( TIN ) and download the Solicitation Documents so as to be listed as an on-line planholder under the entity’s name prior to submitting its Proposal. If such entity has not registered on BART procurement portal in the name of the joint venture or partnership prior to submitting its Proposal, provided that at least one of the joint venturers or partners registered on line on the BART Procurement Portal and downloaded the Solicitation Documents so as to be added to the On-Line Planholders List for this solicitation, such entity will be required to register with the entity’s TIN as an on-line planholder following the submittal of Proposals, in order for the entity to be eligible for award of this Agreement. PROPOSERS WHO HAVE NOT REGISTERED ON THE BART PROCUREMENT PORTAL PRIOR TO SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL, (OR FOR JOINT VENTURE OR PARTNERSHIP AS DESCRIBED ABOVE PRIOR TO AWARD) AND DID NOT DOWNLOAD THE SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS FOR THIS SOLICITATION ON LINE SO AS TO BE LISTED AS AN ON-LINE PLANHOLDER FOR THIS SOLICITATION, WILL NOT BE ELIGIBLE FOR AWARD OF THIS AGREEMENT. Any questions regarding this Notice to Proposers should be directed to the BART Procurement Department, Attention: Claudia Horton, 300 Lakeside Drive, 17th Floor, Oakland, CA 94612, email address: chorton@BART.gov, telephone (510) 464-6362. Dated at Oakland, California this 6th day of March 2018. /S/ Patricia Williams Patricia Williams, Interim District Secretary San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District 3/15/18 CNS-3108424# BAY AREA REPORTER

3/12/18 12:58 PM

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT NOTICE TO PROPOSERS - GENERAL INFORMATION

The SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT (“District”), 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, California, is advertising for proposals to provide Workers’ Compensation Medical Case Management Services, Request for Proposals (RFP) No. 6M4112, on or about March 9, 2018, with proposals due by 2:00 PM local time, Tuesday, May 15, 2018 at the District Secretary’s Office, 23rd Floor, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, CA 94612.

The SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, California, is advertising for proposals to provide Workers’ Compensation Third Party Administration Services, Request for Proposal (RFP) No. 6M4111, on or about March 6, 2018, with proposals due by 2:00 PM local time, Tuesday, May 1, 2018 at the District Secretary’s Office, 23rd floor, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, California 94612.

DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES TO BE PROVIDED

DESCRIPTION OF WORK TO BE PERFORMED

The District is soliciting the services to provide Workers’ Compensation Medical Case Management Services. The services will establish and coordinate treatment plans that are medically appropriate, defensible, improve the quality of care, control costs, and that facilitate a prompt return to work and claim closure. Services shall include effective partnerships with the injured worker, medical providers, the District’s designated ThirdParty Claims Administrator and Utilization and Bill Review consultant. The request to provide Workers’ Compensation Medical Case Management Services, shall be for three (3) years, with two (2) one-year options, exercisable by the District at its sole discretion, to extend the term of the Agreement for one (1) year each. It is anticipated that the total cost of the Agreement for Workers’ Compensation Medical Case Management Services shall not exceed the amount of Three Million Five Hundred Thousand ($3,500,000) dollars; however, there is no guaranteed minimum level of compensation anticipated as described in the RFP No. 6M4112.

The District is soliciting the services to provide Workers’ Compensation Third Party Administration Services. The services will establish a dedicated team of experienced technical staff possessing comprehensive knowledge relating to the handling of workers’ compensation claims that shall exclusively handle the BART Agreement or account. The team will consist of all necessary management, supervisory, technical/professional, administrative and support personnel, and shall be responsible for the efficient, timely, complaint and cost-effective management of BART’s Workers’ Compensation Program. The request to provide Workers’ Compensation Third Party Administration Services. shall be for three (3) years, with two (2) one (1) year options, exercisable by the District at its sole discretion, to extend the term of this Agreement for one (1) year each. It is anticipated that the total cost for the Agreement for Workers’ Compensation Third Party Administration Services shall not exceed the amount of Five Million and Three Hundred Thousand Dollars ($5,300,000); however, there is no guaranteed minimum level of compensation anticipated as described in the RFP No. 6M4111.

Proposal Meeting: A Pre-Proposal Meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 27, 2018. The Pre-Proposal Meeting will convene at 1:30 PM at BART’s Administrative Building located at 300 Lakeside Drive, 15th Floor, Room 1500, Oakland, CA. 94612. At the Pre-Proposal Meeting the District’s Non-Discrimination Program for Subcontracting and Small Business Program will be explained. All questions regarding MBE/WBE participation should be directed to Fei Liu, Sr. Civil Rights Officer at (510) 874-7348 – FAX (510) 464-7470. Prospective Proposers are requested to make every effort to attend this only scheduled Pre-Proposal Meeting. The pre-proposal meeting will also discuss other Workers’ Compensation RFP for Third Party Claims Administration and Utilization and Bill Review Services. Networking Session: Immediately following the Pre-Proposal meeting, the District’s Office of Civil Rights will be conducting a networking session for subconsultants to meet the prime consultants for MBE/WBE participation opportunities.

Proposal Meeting: A Pre-Proposal Meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 27, 2018. The Pre-Proposal Meeting will convene at 1:30 PM at BART’s Administrative Building located at 300 Lakeside Drive, 15th Floor, Room 1500, Oakland, CA 94612. At the Pre-Proposal Meeting the District’s Non-Discrimination Program for Subcontracting and Small Business Program will be explained. All questions regarding MBE/WBE participation should be directed to Fei Liu, Sr. Civil Rights Officer at (510) 874-7348 – FAX (510) 464-7470. Prospective Proposers are requested to make every effort to attend this only scheduled Pre-Proposal Meeting. The pre-proposal meeting will also discuss other Workers’ Compensation Third Party Administration Services. Networking Session: Immediately following the Pre-Proposal meeting, the District’s Office of Civil Rights will be conducting a networking session for subconsultants to meet the prime consultants for MBE/WBE participation opportunities.

REQUIRED REGISTRATION ON BART PROCUREMENT PORTAL

If a prospective Proposer is a joint venture or partnership, such entity may register on the BART procurement portal with the entity’s tax identification number ( TIN ) and download the Solicitation Documents so as to be listed as an on-line planholder under the entity’s name prior to submitting its Proposal. If such entity has not registered on BART procurement portal in the name of the joint venture or partnership prior to submitting its Proposal, provided that at least one of the joint venturers or partners registered on line on the BART Procurement Portal and downloaded the Solicitation Documents so as to be added to the On-Line Planholders List for this solicitation, such entity will be required to register with the entity’s TIN as an on-line planholder following the submittal of Proposals, in order for the entity to be eligible for award of this Agreement.

If a prospective Proposer is a joint venture or partnership, such entity may register on the BART procurement portal with the entity’s tax identification number (TIN) and download the Solicitation Documents to be listed as an on-line planholder under the entity’s name prior to submitting its Proposal. If such entity has not registered on BART procurement portal in the name of the joint venture or partnership prior to submitting its Proposal, provided that at least one of the joint venturers or partners registered on line on the BART Procurement Portal and downloaded the Solicitation Documents so as to be added to the On-Line Planholders List for this solicitation, such entity will be required to register with the entity’s TIN as an on-line planholder following the submittal of Proposals, in order for the entity to be eligible for award of this Agreement.

PROPOSERS WHO HAVE NOT REGISTERED ON THE BART PROCUREMENT PORTAL PRIOR TO SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL, (OR FOR JOINT VENTURE OR PARTNERSHIP AS DESCRIBED ABOVE PRIOR TO AWARD) AND DID NOT DOWNLOAD THE SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS FOR THIS SOLICITATION ON LINE SO AS TO BE LISTED AS AN ON-LINE PLANHOLDER FOR THIS SOLICITATION, WILL NOT BE ELIGIBLE FOR AWARD OF THIS AGREEMENT.

Any questions regarding this Notice to Proposers should be directed to the BART Procurement Department, Attention: Gary Leong, 300 Lakeside Drive, 17th Floor, Oakland, CA 94612, email address: gleong1@BART.gov, telephone (510) 287-4717.

Any questions regarding this Notice to Proposers should be directed to the BART Procurement Department, Attention: Gloria Abdullah-Lewis, 300 Lakeside Drive, 17th Floor, Oakland, CA 94612, email address: gabdull@bart.gov, telephone (510) 464-6547.

Dated at Oakland, California this 5th day of March 2018. /S/ Patricia Williams Patricia Williams, Interim District Secretary San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District 3/15/18 CNS-3107662# BAY AREA REPORTER

Dated at Oakland, California this 6th day of March 2018. /S/ Patricia Williams Patricia Williams, Interim District Secretary San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District 3/15/18 CNS-3108454#

Saturday night

Opening night

Divine rights

Simon says

Vol. 48 • No. 11 • March 15-21, 2018

www.ebar.com/arts

Courtesy the subject

Monster mash by Paul Parish

by Sari Staver

or decades, comic actress Vicki Lawrence has had an enthusiastic following in the gay community, but she still isn’t sure exactly why. “Why do you think I do?” she asked a reporter who called to ask about her upcoming show, “Vicki Lawrence and Mama: A Two Woman Show,” at the Castro Theatre on Sat., March 17, at 8 p.m. See page 17 >>

Guest conductor roulette by Philip Campbell

or the past two weeks at Davies Symphony Hall, the San Francisco Symphony played host to a pair of talented guest conductors. Spanish maestro Pablo Heras-Casado has grown in local popularity with numerous prior visits, and British musical leader Edward Gardner, Chief Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic, made a positive first impression in his well-received debut. See page 24 >>

Guest conductor Pablo Heras-Casado.

{ SECOND OF THREE SECTIONS }

Wei Wang as the Creature in Liam Scarlett’s “Frankenstein.”

Erik Tomasson

Mama’s girl

he atmosphere was electric in the Opera House last Thursday for San Francisco Ballet’s revival of “Frankenstein.” The crackle in the air recalled that of last year’s premiere, when the house was completely sold out and tickets could not be had for the Western Hemisphere premiere of Liam Scarlett’s ballet. Scarlett is the youngest-ever choreographer in Residence for the Royal Ballet (London), who had co-commissioned the piece with SFB. See page 24 >>

Renske Vrolijk

Vicki Lawrence as Mama and herself.

<< Out There

18 • Bay Area Reporter • March 15-21, 2018

Mid-March OT playlist

by Roberto Friedman

TS HEADSHO S PORTRAIT EVENTS

StevenUnderhill PHOTOGRAPHY

StevenUnderhill.com StevenUnderhillPhotos@gmail.com

415 370 7152

STEVEN_2x3-REDESIGN.indd 1

e all thrilled to singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens crooning “Mystery of Love” from “Call Me By Your Name,” nominated for Best Original Song, at the Academy Awards earlier this month. Less well-known is that Stevens has written the song “Tonya Harding,” not for the film “I, Tonya,” but in honor of the same public figure. In his essay “Tonya Harding, My Star,” Stevens wrote, “Tonya Harding’s dramatic rise and fall was fiercely followed by the media, and she very quickly became the brunt of jokes, the subject of tabloid headlines and public outcry. She was a realityTV star before such a thing even existed. But she was also simply uncategorical: America’s sweetheart, with a dark twist.” We’ll say! Twee Scottish pop group Belle and Sebastian is coming back to North America in June for a monthlong run of tour dates in support of their EP trilogy, “How To Solve Our Human Problems.” Judging from some of the song titles, it looks to be some classic B&S: “The Girl Doesn’t Get It,” “A Plague On All Other Boys.” They’ll play the Fox Theater in Oakland on June 25. Trio Da Kali & Kronos Quartet will play a series of rare concerts this spring following their groundbreaking collaborative album “Ladilikan,” hailed as World Music album of the year. The [UK] Guardian called it an “exquisite, spellbinding collaboration.” You can see the music video for “God Shall Wipe All Tears Away,” from the album, on YouTube. The Malian trio & Kronos will appear on April 27 at SFJAZZ’s Miner Auditorium. The Canadian Opera Company has announced its October 2018 premiere of “Hadrian,” an opera by Canadian-American singer, songwriter and composer Rufus Wainwright, with a libretto by Canadian actor, director and playwright

Daniel MacIvor. American baritone Thomas Hampson will portray the title character, with Finnish soprano Karita Mattila portraying Plotina, wife of the emperor Trajan and a great supporter of the emperor Hadrian. “Hadrian” is Wainwright’s second opera, following 2009’s “Prima Donna.” The collaborative, conductorless chamber orchestra One Found Sound will be returning to Heron Arts in San Francisco for their annual Gala, this time a Quinquennial Birthday Bash on April 27. Founded in 2013 by five graduates of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, One Found Sound hosts performances in warehouse spaces, art galleries, local wineries, and livework collaborative venues. “Our concerts are more like events than standard classical music performances,” said co-founder Sarah

Bonomo. “They are a public space where our musicians and members of our community can share a creative and artistic experience. We remove standard classical music performance barriers: we perform standing up and without a stage, we encourage phone use or clapping or vocalizing if the music so moves you, and our audience sits or stands close to us.” OMG, it’s OMD! Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark will be playing the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco on March 27. The duo recently released “The Punishment of Luxury” on White Noise. Consequence of Sound called the album “an addicting jolt of bright 80s synth pop, replete with Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphrey’s pristine harmonies.” Sounds like old times. Finally, the legendary folksinger Joan Baez has announced her final North American tour, to support her new album “Whistle Down the Wind.” She plays the Nob Hill Masonic Center in SF on Nov. 15, 2018. Last chance to see a legend.t

Scissor sister

3/9/18 3:20 PM

Best Breakfast & Best Late-Night Restaurant by Jim Piechota

Celebrating our 40th year!

Singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens wrote a tribute to Tonya Harding.

Boys Keep Swinging by Jake Shears, Atria Books, $26

f you’re a sporadic drag queen like me, the pink, purple, and silver glitter palette on the cover of Jake Shears’ new memoir should be enough to draw you in. Once inside, there’s a generous amount of juicy material about the kaleidoscopic life of this creative founding member of the glam pop group

Scissor Sisters. The book is written very much in the way Shears has led his life: brashly honest, well-honed, bubbly, dazzled by celebrity, and infused with plenty of eyebrowraising tidbits. In three sections, “Youth,” “New York,” and “Scissor Sisters,” Shears spills the details about his gay coming-of-age in Mesa, Arizona, as Jason Sellards, a born showman who adored older women, dreamt about men, lied his way through kindergarten, and loved telling tall tales. He matured during the pre-Internet days where getting creative with the International Male catalog became a masturbatory necessity, and his discovery of bands like the Violent Femmes and Siouxsie and the Banshees kept his youth and yearning for alternative music afloat. College life at Southern California’s Occidental College was more freeing and less bullying than high school as Shears became enraptured by drag queens and nightclubs. These anecdotes form the perfect lead-in to his more formative musical years in New York City. The memoir’s middle portion is awash in sexual escapades and late nights at bars like the Cock, as Shears prowls the big city and spends swel-

tering summers in a place that stunk like “dead seaweed in a sour-cream ocean.” With a swirling cast of supporting characters, the anecdotes and sordid stories flow like lava. Once Shears began writing songs and embracing his place on stage and in front of a crowd, he had truly found his calling. The closing section details the formation of the Scissor Sisters; the evolution of their bestselling breakout track, the bouncy, upbeat “I Don’t Feel Like Dancing”; what Shears felt were the band’s “shortcomings” as they grew in popularity; and events both positive and negative that contributed to the band’s current indefinite hiatus. Unfortunately, the book stops before more dirt on the band’s current status is unearthed. Perhaps Shears wished to conclude things on a good note rather than harp on the negative aspects of the band’s conflicts and irreconcilable differences. There is still plenty of fun to be had within these pages. The stories alone are enough to keep readers up at night. For an update on Shears and his performance career, he has joined the cast of the Tonywinning musical “Kinky Boots,” with Kirstin Maldonado, in his Broadway stage debut, assuming the role of the failing shoe factory owner Charlie Price.t

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<< Theatre

20 • Bay Area Reporter • March 15-21, 2018

Stephen Sondheim’s baby steps because in 1952 nobody was taking musicals seriously enough to label them ‘chamber,’ ‘metamusical,’ or anything like that.” As Sondheim’s stature grew over the years with such musicals as “Company,” “Follies,” “Sweeney Todd,” “A Little Night Music,” and “Into the Woods,” he received repeated requests from theater companies for permission to stage “Saturday Night.” His answer was always no, at least until 1997, when he granted the Stephen Sondheim Society of Birmingham, England, his blessing. He saw the society’s concert version in London the following year, which led to its U.S. debut in 1999 at a small theater in Chicago, and finally to its belated New York premiere in 2000 at the Second Stage Theatre. By this time, Sondheim had written two new songs, edited the book, and brought in longtime collaborator Jonathan Tunick to provide new orchestrations. Tempting as it may have been, he did not

mentor and surrogate father, after all. Sondheim’s plan was to make his Broadway debut by age 25, and when he was tapped to write the songs for a Broadway musical, it didn’t seem as much astonishing good fortune as a right and proper career trajectory. But “Saturday Night” never made it to Broadway, the planned production collapsing with its lead producer’s death in 1955. Sondheim was disappointed, of course, but he saw it as evidence that he was Broadway-ready, and

now he had a complete show featuring his songs in his portfolio. Before long he was providing the words to music written by Leonard Bernstein for “West Side Story,” and by Jule Styne for “Gypsy.” These were assignments taken reluctantly, for he considered himself a composer first and a lyricist second, but when the chance came again to have both his music and lyrics on Broadway, it was Sondheim who scuttled the project. Styne thought “Saturday Night” deserved another shot at Broadway, and was helping usher it onto the Main Stem in 1959. Bob Fosse had been signed to direct, choreograph, and even play the lead when Sondheim decided to pull the plug. “When we started auditioning people, I got a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that I didn’t want to regress,” he is quoted as saying in Craig Zadan’s “Sondheim & Co.” “It was a small, charming show, but I couldn’t go ahead with it.” Brothers Julius and Philip Epstein, screenwriters who won an Oscar for “Casablanca,” had written a play inspired by their brother’s exploits in the 1920s. It’s the story of a group of Brooklyn boys trying to get rich quick in the stock market, and the series of comic and dramatic complications that ensue. Gene, the central character, is so eager to climb the social ladder and impress his sweetheart, a Southern debutante type who is just another pretender from Brooklyn, that he invests his friends’ money in a fancy apartment and sells the gang’s precious automobile as things take plenty of turns for the worse before righting themselves at the end. “Saturday Night” was in the traditional Rodgers and Hammerstein form, Sondheim wrote in “Finishing the Hat,” except that it did away with the traditional chorus that usually arrive in different guises to provide backup. “It turned out, unintentionally, to be a chamber musical in an era when there was no such thing,” Sondheim wrote. “We didn’t recognize it at the time,

The flamboyant characters on that show stem from the type of openness we hadn’t seen since vaudeville. It was a resurgence of flamboyance,” Drollinger said. The San Francisco audience, he predicted, “is really going to love this show.” A meetand-greet with Lawrence sold out in a day, he said. Lawrence, 68, and married for 44 years to Hollywood make-up artist Al Schultz, said she’s always gotten a kick out of her gay following. She first learned of her LGBT fan-base from a colleague, Dorothy Lyman, who also found a following in the LGBT community. “Mama is most definitely a fun character who gets away with having a potty mouth and pretty much saying whatever she wants,” explained Lawrence. “Maybe that’s what resonates” with a gay audience, she said. “Everyone has an outspoken Mama in their family,” she said. At her “Mama” shows, which began almost two decades ago, gay fans often come dressed in drag as Mama. “D’Arcy has organized a contest with prizes, for intermission in San Francisco,” she said. Lawrence said audiences also seem to enjoy hearing about her real life, which she discusses in the first act of her show. In it, she answers all the questions people want to know, such as how she was plucked out of total obscurity and got instant fame on the Burnett show at the tender age of 17. “That’s an interesting story,”

she said. During her senior year of high school, Vicki sent Burnett a letter, including a clip from a local newspaper article that mentioned their resemblance. She also invited Burnett to attend the local fire department’s “Miss Fireball Contest,” where Lawrence was performing. Burnett, who happened to be looking for an actress to play her kid sister on her variety show, contacted Lawrence and made arrangements to come to the event. “And the rest is history,” said Lawrence, although the role of kid sister quickly gave way to her longtime role as Burnett’s mother, despite the fact that Burnett was 16 years her senior. Lawrence earned one Emmy Award and five nominations for her role. When the Burnett show wrapped up after 11 years on the air, Lawrence’s career continued to thrive. She has written two books, including her autobiography “Vicki: the True Life Adventures of Miss Fireball” and “Mama for President: Good Lord, Why Not?” Lawrence went on to star in her own TV series, “Mama’s Family,” syndicated for five years in the late 1980s. On her lengthy resume are also credits for hosting a game show, “Win, Lose, or Draw,” her own daytime talk show, called “Vicki,” and hosting the program “Fox After Breakfast.” She has also appeared in many stage productions, and appeared briefly in “The Vagina Mono-

logues” with Rita Moreno. She also travels around the country speaking to women’s organizations about her life and career, and about being a woman in a man’s world, including some horrific abuse on the set of a show. When Lawrence went to the top brass of the production company complaining about an abusive male colleague, “They fired me, not him,” she said. The loss of her job sent Lawrence into a three-year downward spiral of severe depression. “I was stunned and in shock. I had absolutely no idea that they would even consider letting me go,” she said. “Friends and family stuck by me” while she went through the motions of daily life. While she tried to decide how she might make a comeback, her colleagues from the Burnett show advised her to come up with something “that I could call my own,” she said. “It was really good advice,” says Lawrence, who made her living room into a rehearsal space, and put together the one-woman Mama show. But the abusive treatment she received, and her subsequent dismissal for complaining about it, still haunts her. “I don’t believe that sort of thing could happen today,” she said of the abuse. “Thanks to the #MeToo movement and women coming together to demand better treatment, I hope those days are over.” But her stint in the doldrums, when she was unable to work, is

Joan Marcus

Stephen Sondheim’s “Saturday Night” arrived in New York, at the Second Stage Theatre in 2000, nearly a half-century late (above). 42nd Street Moon is presenting its Bay Area premiere.

by Richard Dodds

“S

aturday Night” was supposed to be Stephen Sondheim’s first Broadway musical, and the 66-year journey to its San Francisco premiere as part of 42nd Street Moon’s season has been one filled with bumps and detours along the way. The young Stephen Sondheim didn’t arrive in New York with doubts about his abilities and where those abilities should quickly take him; Oscar Hammerstein II was his

Vicki Lawrence

From page 17

The show, a 90-minute one-woman performance, features Lawrence as herself, updating the audience on her life and career, during the first half, and as “Mama,” her iconic character role from “The Carol Burnett Show,” for the second half. The show was brought to San Francisco by impresario D’Arcy Drollinger, who seems to know exactly why Lawrence is a hit with so many people in the LGBT community. “I think in many ways Mama is a drag queen,” said Drollinger, an actor, writer, and director known for his stage productions, which often combine slapstick, farce, and drag. Drollinger, who owns the San Francisco nightclub Oasis with drag performer Heklina, saw Lawrence’s new show and “knew we had to bring it to San Francisco,” he said in an interview with the B.A.R. “Mama has her wigs and her housecoats and is so full of sass that we see as over-the-top camp comedy. That appeal is what attracts people. Those of us old enough to have watched her on ‘Carol Burnett’ knew she was creating groundbreaking, hilarious comedy sketches, and set a precedent for how we view comedy and drag theatre today.” When the Burnett show premiered in 1967, “it was the first platform in mainstream American culture that embraced lots of drag.

alter his original songs. “It’s not bad stuff for a 23-yearold,” he told The New York Times in 2007. “There are some things that embarrass me so much in the lyrics – the missed accents, the obvious jokes. But I decided, leave it. It’s my baby pictures. You don’t touch up a baby picture – you’re a baby.” Ryan Weible is directing 42nd Street Moon’s production of “Saturday Night,” which will run March 28-April 15 at the Gateway Theatre. Tickets are available at 42ndstmoon.org.

More Marga

We haven’t seen the last of “Latin Standards,” even if Marga Gomez claims it is her last one-woman play. Her tale of growing up with ambitious showbiz parents is returning to Brava Theatre Center Cabaret, where it had its SF debut in January. The new solo show, her 12th, focuses on her showman father’s songwriting ambitions that culminate in actually selling a song heard in elevators. The encore run will take place March 16-April 1. Tickets are at brava.org.t

Fabian Echevarria

Marga Gomez is offering an encore run of “Latin Standards” at Brava Theatre Center.

something she doesn’t want to repeat. “Retirement would not be for me. I have no idea how I would cope with it, or what I would do with my time,” she said. For now, Lawrence thinks Mama still has many years to go as a performer. “I’m constantly thinking of things Mama would want to comment on. I jot them down and send them to my writer,” she said. Lawrence travels with her husband, who is her producer, and her son, her director. “I’m working with my two favorite guys in the world. What could be better?” And both at home and on the road, Lawrence is often recognized by fans. “I love it,” she said, “when people tell me their fond memories” of her TV roles. Recently, she said, a fan who works in the entertainment industry stopped her in the grocery store to say he’d heard “good things” about a new TV pilot she made. “I’m keeping my fingers crossed,” she said of the pilot, which also stars David Alan Grier, Leslie Jordan, and Martin Mull, who play three guys in a retirement home who have to deal with new arrival Margaret, played by Lawrence. “Please stay tuned. I’d love to be back on TV.”t “Vicki Lawrence and Mama: A Two Woman Show,” Castro Theatre, March 17. Tickets: $30 (balcony), $60 (orchestra): www. ticketfly.com/event/1631621vicki-lawrence-mama-two-sanfrancisco/.

Theatre>>

March 15-21, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 21

Opening-night jitters behind the scenes by Richard Dodds

here’s a marvelous scene in the second act of Terrence McNally’s “It’s Only a Play” in which a self-involved wunderkind director has a meltdown, reverting to childhood as he reenacts a scene between his innocently sensitive self and his gruff father over the boy’s interest in theater. “But I want to be Peter Pan,” he pleads, which leads to the director on the floor giving himself a spanking as his colleagues watch aghast. Would that McNally had shown more of that invention in his comedy, which far too often goes for easy laughs with dropped names that have little comic resonance beyond the fact that they are recognizable. “Why is James Franco always sexting me?” asks a member of an opening night party. “James Franco sexts everyone,” comes the reply, even though James Franco has nothing to do with anything that has come before or will come later, and the reference will no doubt be changed when its shelf life expires (if it hasn’t already). Invocations of the Kardashians, Lady Gaga, Chris Christie, and many, many others fall into similar categories. In fact, McNally already nipped and tucked his play for its all-star 2014 Broadway revival, as the playwright updated the irrelevant references to unseen characters since its 1982 New York premiere. Arlene Francis is now Kelly Ripa. Charles

Chris Morrell brings Nelson Reilly morphed nuance to the sincereinto Harvey Fierstein. desperate playwright whose Shirley MacLaine is Rosie career is on the line, Melissa O’Donnell. And McNally Smith makes believable the seems to have updated bubble-headed sincerity a few other names since of the neophyte producer, 2014 for the version now and Michaela Greeley has at New Conservatory a wonderful melodramatic Theatre Center. “Hamilflair as the scandal-ridden ton,” which didn’t open on actress trying for a comeBroadway until 2015, now back. There’s more good gets a shout-out. work from Kevin Singer as But among the evathe pretentious director, nescent laughs that the especially in his scene of deluge of trending names self-flagellation, Geoffrey can offer can be found Colton as a vicious theater the bones of a solid play critic who crashes the party, built on more durable and Nicholas Decker as a cliches about life in the starry-eyed gofer who is antheater. Director Arturo gling to perform “Defying Catricala works with both Gravity” for the assembled the transient and more luminaries. enduring aspects of the There probably never play to create a handsome will be a definitive version production at NCTC of “It’s Only a Play,” with filled with entertaining McNally or his estate pullperformances and housed Lois Tema ing out names and installin Kuo-Hao Lo’s busily ing others as the celebrity stylish replica of the mas- Chris Morrell, left, is a playwright at an opening-night desperately awaiting the reviews, as P.A. Cooley and Geoffrey Colton look on in “It’s Only a Play” at New mill grinds on. But the best ter bedroom atop a luxe Conservatory Theatre Center. moments don’t come from Manhattan townhouse. the name-dropping but It’s the inner sanctum despair, recriminations, and paeans play. Cooley expertly conveys a from the glimmers of heart for the producer, director, to theater’s noble mission even as controlled mania, at times the senit displays about that business we playwright, star, and a few interlopers failure crashes the party. sible character, albeit with a bitchy call show.t who have escaped the opening-night This is an ensemble cast, but backhand and an easily aggrieved party below to await the reviews. it does have a ringleader of sorts. ego. When he hears a snatch of teleOr perhaps that should be review, “It’s Only a Play” will run P.A. Cooley plays an actor who has vision news suggesting something singular, for it is the arrival of the through April 1 at New decamped to a lucrative Hollywood has happened to Barbra Streisand, Conservatory Theatre Center. notice from The New York Times Tickets are $25-$50. Call (415) career in television, and is back for his hyperventilating concern is both that provides the first-act cliffhanger 861-8972 or go to nctcsf.org. the opening of his longtime friend’s funny and real. and the second-act conflagration of

Culture shock by David Lamble

“O

h Lucy!” is that rare foreignlanguage social comedy that one should not arrive late for. The first 10 minutes find a mildmannered Japanese office worker, Setsuko (Shinobu Terajima), waiting for one of her country’s famous high-speed “bullet” trains when a gentleman behind her on the platform discreetly pushes by with a whispered “Goodbye,” before leaping onto the tracks as the train barrels into the station. Following this rattling event, our heroine, a lonely, chain-smoking Tokyo office lady well past her prime, decides to take an English class. The white male American instructor (somewhat-past-hisprime ex-hunk Josh Hartnett) gives our gal a new American nickname, Lucy. John, the teacher, operating under a sign that proclaims “English Only Zone,” startles Lucy by wrapping her in his bear-like arms. “What can I say? I’m a hugger.” He adds, “It’s important to relax, because I teach American English, and in American English, when you speak it, you have to be lazy –

lazy and relaxed.” Then he pulls out a blonde wig. “I want you to wear this, it’s the clincher.” “Lucy” falls for the teach, who suddenly disappears. She pursues him to America, to a rundown San Diego motel complex. Japanese-born/Noe Valley, SFresident writer-director Atsuko Hirayanagi explains that in both her film-thesis short version and in the Sundance-awarded feature-length version of “Oh Lucy!” she set out to demonstrate how far a quiet, obscure office drone might go if given permission to vent. The film is photographed in a low-key, drab manner that emphasizes both the banal and surreally nutty aspects of Japanese office life and routines. Employees and supervisors are absurdly formal, and adults walk through the streets wearing white surgical masks, as if hoping to ward off an influx of plutonium. “Oh Lucy!” is a 96-minute culture-shock excursion that’s hilarious at times. Trigger warnings for the man jumping onto train tracks, a teen girl leaping off an oceanside cliff, much cigarette smoking, and a general sense of social disorder. The

Film Movement

Setsuko (Shinobu Terajima) is given a blonde wig in director Atsuko Hirayanagi’s “Oh, Lucy!”

movie features both American-style English and conversational Japanese with English subtitles, mostly easy to follow. Its fans may also want to

check out another cheeky Japancentric oddball comedy, the 1995 feature “Cold Fever,” in which a 20something Japanese businessman

takes an Icelandic vacation to pay his respects to his deceased parents, who perished there in a weird accident. Opens Friday.t

<< Books

22 • Bay Area Reporter • March 15-21, 2018

The ends of the affair by Tim Pfaff

wouldn’t call voyeurism the theme of Alan Hollinghurst’s absorbing new novel “The Sparsholt Affair” (Knopf), but it is its seed, its germ. The novel’s primal scene is the glimpse, by Oxford students during the prescribed blackouts of the WWII blitz, of a transfixing nude male torso in a room across the quad, truncated almost exactly as it soon would be in a drawing by one of the artsier scopophiliacs. You feel the pitch as the characters run to the window, somehow affording the reader the best view. From there the novel opens out – across time (the sweeping generational saga is a Hollinghurst specialty) and space. But in scene after scene, the ogling goes on in a myriad of ways with at least some avid onlookers not seeing anything that’s outside the frame. It’s no surprise that picture frames, and framings of characters known and unknown, e.g., an unnamed Tory disgraced by the “Affair,” figure prominently throughout, all emanating from that big-bang view framed by window casings, parted curtains and, frustratingly, drawn shades. In less deft authorial hands, this could be cock-teasing at its worst. But that first sneaked glimpse, as stolen as it is tantalizing, is the last innocent one – and itself framed as a memoir by one the peepers, Freddie Green. What we learn, piecemeal, by reassembling the strips Hollinghurst feeds us from his imagination’s busy shredder – the novel’s omniscient narrator despite shifting points of view – is that David Dunn Sparsholt

was at Oxford for only one term, captaining the crew while awaiting being called up to the Royal Air Force, where he became a star in the heavens, turning into an Icarus crisp only well after surrendering his wings. DD, whose full name we are supplied only in bits, is Adonis handsome with a Michelangelo-sculpted body, traits he maintains longer than would be reasonably expected, and which contribute to his inevitable unmasking – which, quasi-studly, he survives as he did the war. Kudos to the “Financial Times” critic who called out Hollinghurst for framing “arshol” in the name attached to the “Affair.” If, unlikely, that was unconscious on Hollinghurst’s part, it’s proof of the existence of a creator god. It’s yet another element that simultaneously conceals DD’s sexual predilection while making

the novel could have been tragic, have made them hard. The vilest it, for the reader, an eyeworm pathetic or, in the sense he meant characters of either gender turn out whose pronunciation-defying it in “The Stranger’s Child,” classy to be at least as entertaining as they singularity screws its way into “smut.” But Hollinghurst sustains are bad. the mind. his subterranean human comedy A greater challenge is to make There’s less between DD’s with wickedly Wildean compassion, a gay protagonist who is a knot of ears, but when has that got in sufficiently well-mannered that complexities yet with whom readthe way of a successful busiyou neither put the book down nor ers fall hopelessly in love, till end ness career? He’s made good reach for a single stone to throw at pages do them part. Hollinghurst on his subaltern engineering anyone. has capped his previous endeavors studies at Oxford, to which he Hollinghurst has never stooped along that line with Johnny Sparcould have returned but didn’t, to conjure a fictional world where sholt, guileless son of the secretive knowing that Sparsholt Entergay is good and straight is at best “Affair” Sparsholt. Eventually a prises would benefit him more, suspect. His secondary gay charsuccessful if usually disengaged while ceding him private time acters haunt some extremes and portraitist who has somehow surwith men of a certain persuacraftily elude morals or moralism, vived the family scandal only ension. and, with one important exception, dearingly wrecked, Johnnie is gay The temptation in describhis carefully sketched female charand runs the gamut of homosexual ing a Hollinghurst novel is acters convince us that their men experiences and emotions before getting as caught up in the your wondering eyes just as ur-narrative as its cast his father ran interference of characters does, liton them. erally for generations. Hollinghurst is a connoisBut the substance of seur of gay men’s magnetic this novel is watching attraction to certain straight them, not ogling Sparmen, a natural force that sholt. implies the mutual pull of “Affair” is like a opposite valences. “Affair” Merchant-Ivory producis his deepest examination tion with more credible sex, of that to date. It’s not just complete with stunning because he writes sentences landscapes and clothes with precision that his char(most of which gain attenacters are multi-dimensional. tion for being ill-fittingly As startling is his capacity to outre or otherwise overrender the full complexity of the-top) and a soundtrack incidents with short, blunt that manages to work in bits of dialogue that tauntMahler, heard and recalled ingly conceal as much as they in what could not be called claim to reveal. tranquility. Hollinghurst’s When Evert Dax, whom we sophisticated style, with its follow across the span of this diamond-cutter’s feel for book, at Oxford “confesses” what qualifies as an edge, to Freddie Green that his never goes full-on Jamesian. While his characters seeming pointless obsession are averting their eyes, Holwith Sparsholt has climaxed linghurst sculpts their exact in “I had him,” the confidence Robert Taylor Photography shapes. raises more questions than it Had he been one small “The Sparsholt Affair” author Alan Hollinghurst. answers, and powers the rest degree more morgueof the book. You’d beg in vain table psycho-pathologist, for some spoliers.t

Coming out in love by David-Elijah Nahmod

best-selling teen novel has become this spring’s most charming gay film. Simon Spier is a typical teenager. He dates girls, hangs out with his friends, and enjoys a nice rapport with his family. But Simon is harboring a secret. “I like your boots,” he nervously says to the hunky gardener, who shakes his head and turns away. Yes, Simon is gay, but he’s afraid to tell anyone about it. Greg Berlanti’s new film “Love Simon” follows Simon on his journey out of the closet and on his search for love. The film is a good-natured and touching look at the horrors of teen angst in our

internet era, based on Becky Albertalli’s novel “Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda.” One of the first things viewers notice about the film is the diversity of the cast. Simon’s circle of friends is an even mix of whites and African Americans. They’re a close-knit group, yet race is a non-issue to them. It’s an accurate portrayal of the world today’s teens live in. “The film shows what the world looks like,” director Berlanti told the B.A.R. in a brief phone interview. “What you see in a coffee shop or a train station should be what you see on the screen. You’ll always get a better story if the film looks like the world we live in.”

As the story gets underway, Simon’s school is buzzing after one of the students, who identifies himself only as “Blue,” posts on a message board that he’s gay. Everyone wants to know who Blue is, especially Simon, who begins an e-correspondence with Blue. The two open their hearts to each other, and Simon soon finds himself falling in love with someone he’s never met. He wants them to meet, but Blue declines, while continuing to keep his identity a secret. Some viewers might question why it’s so difficult for Simon and Blue to come out in today’s world, where Karpel Group being gay has become less of an issue. Berlanti Nick Robinson as Simon in director Greg Berlanti’s “Love Simon.” reminds us that there are still places where LGBT read it. It felt current, simple and Blue while he hopes that none of people are not accepted. “Times special. I’m thinking about some of his friends will discover his secret. are different,” Berlanti said. “Yet it’s the films I grew up with that have They do. staggering how many kids still try to stayed with me my whole life. I hope “Did you break up with me behurt themselves. Coming out is still that people mark their life by this cause I look like a guy?” Simon’s a very personal journey.” film and connect to it.” ex-girlfriend asks him. There are many hilarious moUltimately, “Love Simon” is a “No, I broke up with you because ments as Simon wrongly assumes tender film about a young man you don’t look like a guy,” Simon that every male he meets is Blue. At looking to find his place in the replies. one point he wonders why straight world. Simon’s story is a universal Jennifer Garner and Josh Duis always the default. This is foltale: being a teenager is never easy. hamel offer fine work as Simon’s lowed by a collage of sidesplitting As we see throughout the film, loving and accepting parents. The fantasy sequences in which Simon’s Simon’s straight friends are also film includes a powerful scene in friends come out to their parents as looking for love, often just as awkwhich dad apologizes to Simon for straight. wardly. not realizing the truth sooner. “I like men,” a young lady tells her Newcomer Nick Robinson is “Love Simon” is a universal story. mom, who bursts into tears. Whether gay or straight, we’ve all wonderful as Simon. He hits all “I loved the script,” Berlanti said. been Simon at one point in our the right notes as Simon stumbles “I had a visceral reaction when I lives. Opens Friday.t around in the dark trying to find

Fine Art>>

March 15-21, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 23

Let’s get metaphysical! by Sura Wood

ars have been waged and masterpieces created, all in the name of religion. Prime examples of that art, in particular the tangible forms of deities found in Buddhist and Hindu cultures, constitute “Divine Bodies,” an interesting if somewhat esoteric, narrowly focused new exhibition at the Asian Art Museum. Entering the first of the show’s two contemplative galleries, you’ll encounter a serene golden Buddha from Thailand (1600-1700) reclining blissfully on his side, his head propped up by a strategically placed hand. The ornate, gleaming sculpture memorializes the moment when he died and simultaneously attained Nirvana. Though one doesn’t have to be knowledgeable about transcendence, transformation, metamorphosis, or the relationship of the body to the cosmos, the exhibition will be most rewarding for those with a grasp of or at least a curiosity about its metaphysical concepts. Those concepts, such as the unending cycle of birth and death, aren’t easy to translate into concrete artworks, but they’re universal ideas that have proved seductive for Westerners as well. “The boundaries that divide life from death are, at best, shadowy and vague,” opines none other than Edgar Allan Poe, who’s quoted here. “Who’s to say where one ends and the other begins?” The ways in which artisans made the universal specific were predicated on the time, place and culture in which they lived – which is to say, a divinity’s features were often modeled on the physical characteristics of local people, including themselves. A grouping of Buddha heads sculpted in different eras, hailing from Pakistan, Thailand, China, Indonesia and India, support that contention, but why so many representations of Buddha are oddly similar, when no likeness of him from his time survived, remains a mystery. Of the dozen or so gracefully artistic, in some instances visceral aspects of divinity on view, ranging

photography. Singh can from the beautiful and be seen, eyes downcast, gentle to the sensuous and in the lower quarter of fierce, it’s futile to fight one picture, while in the inexorable pull of the others, like those of a Buddhist deity Ragaraja pair of bodybuilders, her (Japan, 1615-1868), a.k.a. presence can be detected the King of Passion. He’s only by the shadow that imagined in a robust falls across the frame. wooden sculpture as a For the ancients, gods red-faced, angry being, a were mutable and asscreaming Mimi embodisumed multiple guises ment of a terrible tantrum like Avalokiteshvara, the with fangs, a third eye, six lord of compassion, who jeweled arms, two raised juggled his 11 heads in fists, and his hair on fire. the Himalayas but maniThe exhibition text counfested as male, female or sels that these fearsomeandrogynous in China. looking entities weren’t In the modern world, truly dangerous, but don’t transformation is often count on it. This one, enassociated with gender. raged, crossed-legged and In 1989, on assignment beady-eyed, appears ready for the London Times, to burn the house down. Indian photojournalIt’s easy to gravitate ist Dayanita Singh toward the work of concovered Delhi’s hijra temporary artists who community; its memprovide a novel twist on bers, born male and the past, and in the case self-identified as female, of Indian artist Vivan are considered a third Sundaram, a soupcon of gender. Despite being mischief and fun. Sunshunned and segregated, daram injects a playful they’re revered for conirreverence in his merging taining male and female of comics and the Surcosmic forces – also presrealist game of exquisite ent in powerful Hindu corpse to illustrate what deities – that make them happens when the divine close to the divine. Singh are divorced from their developed a fruitful 30religious context. For his year collaboration with delightfully devilish seMona Ahmed, a eunuch ries “Khajuraho” (1965), outcast whose difficult he drew cartoon images life and transcendence on black & white phoAsian Art Museum became the central subtographic reproductions ject of her work. She’s of historic sacred sculp- The Buddhist deity Vajrabhairava, approx. 1700-1800. Tibet. Bronze with gilding. in numerous black & tures from Indian temple white photographs from complexes, techniques clude a female deity whose demure (2000-03), a series of enigmatic Singh’s series “Myself that amuse while walking classical pose is belied by heavy hand-colored prints, is an unusual Mona Ahmed” (1999-2017) and a fine line between the sacred and eyeliner and a bobbed haircut sugtake on self-portraiture in which the a short video. “She wanted to tell the profane. Imagine a sardonigesting silent movie flapper Louise artist’s visage barely registers. Shot the story of being neither here nor cally captioned New Yorker cartoon Brooks. In a picture of a spooked during extended strolls through there, neither male nor female, and projected on the façade of a colossal couple donning shades, one whisthe old city, they incorporate vinneither a eunuch nor someone like temple of antiquity, and you get the pers to the other, “Hey honey, let’s tage pigments, sepia tones, and me,” recalls Singh. “She would alidea. Utilizing the language of adget out of here fast before they find fragmented imagery overlaid with ways ask, ‘Tell me: what am I?’”t vertising and anachronistic touches out who we are.” archaic symbols; the elements, when like theatrical makeup, stylish coifs Photographer Pamela Singh’s combined, achieve an antiqued efand fashion accessories, Sundaram’s Through July 29; asianart.org. “Tantric Self-Portrait in Jaipur” fect recalling 19th-century Indian humanized composite figures in-

Bawdy shenanigans in London by Brian Bromberger

hen “Tom Jones” was given the Best Picture Oscar of 1963, it was one of the very few times the top honor was given to a comedy. It remains so. This picaresque satire, with its irreverent wit, now released for the first time on a new 4K digital restoration for Bluray by Criterion, became a worldwide sensation, making millions in profits. With his career-defining performance, Albert Finney became a leading British star. Sadly, it was also the last film President John F. Kennedy viewed prior to his assassination. Looking back, it is not hard to see why the film was so popular. After that tragedy, the country needed some comic relief, and “Tom Jones” provided many titillating laughs. Based on the 1749 Henry Fielding novel (which consequently became a 1964 bestseller), the film begins in silent slapstick mode, a la Keystone cops. A baby, purportedly conceived by his barber and one of his servant girls, is discovered in the kindly Squire Allworthy’s (George Devine) bed. Both he and his sister Bridget (Rachel Kempson) decide to adopt

and raise it as their own son, though society at large sees him as a bastard. Tom (Finney) grows up to be a roguish womanizer, but falls in love with the upper-class Sophie Western (Susannah York). But her father (the hilarious Hugh Griffiths) opposes the match due to the difference in their stations. Tom is disgraced because of his lecherous adventures with the local whore Molly (the win-

ning Diane Cilento), which his jealous and conniving cousin Blifil (David Warner) uses to convince Allworthy to kick him out of the house. Blifil also discovers and hides a letter telling the truth of Tom’s real parents. Western’s contrary sister (a riotous Dame Edith Evans) arrives, proposing Blifil as Sophie’s husband. Tom sets out for London to make his fortune, and prove himself worthy of Sophie. He falls into the clutches of scoundrels and the military, featuring swordfights, mistaken identities, and a justly famous stag-hunting episode highlighting the violence of the gentry. With his good looks, women of all classes want to bed him, and Tom happily obliges them, even if it ruins them socially. He has sex with many married women, one of whose husbands comes looking for him. Then there is the most lascivious eating scene in screen history, marrying lust and gluttony. At a roadside inn, Tom and Mrs. Water (a delicious Joyce Red-

man) mutually seduce each other by slurping, sucking, and devouring mouthfuls of food lewdly. Blifil frames Tom for robbery, and the question becomes whether Tom will hang for the crime he didn’t commit, forever forgoing his beloved Sophie. Based on a droll Oscar-winning script by playwright John Osborne, “Tom Jones” was a radical departure for gay director Tony Richardson, who was known as one of the theatrical and movie originators of the kitchen-sink drama. Instead, he parodies the pompous costumeperiod genre, subverting its standard conventions using a modern sensibility influenced by French New Wave filmmaking techniques, such as using a lenspiece to focus in one character, jump cuts, stop motion, characters breaking the fourth wall of film by speaking to the audience, and a hilarious narrator (Michael MacLiammior) making ribald observations: “We are as God made us, and many of us much worse,” and, “In London, love and scandal are considered the best sweeteners of tea.” Richardson, who deservedly won the Best Director Oscar, opts for a rollicking pace, stylishly invoking the English Beatlesque pop culture. In one of the supplements (all excellent, especially the mournful reminiscence by Vanessa Redgrave of her early, brief marriage to

Richardson), film scholar Duncan Petrie argues that “Tom Jones,” with its casual, carefree attitude about sex and the character’s bawdy shenanigans (without nudity), was the first swinging London picture, setting the tone for later films “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Alfie,” and “Georgy Girl.” Tom Jones as a rule breaker personifies the rebellious 1960s, with its raunchy comedy of manners. The movie also has the distinction of being the first and only one to feature three Supporting Actress Oscar nominees (Cilento, Redmond, Evans). The tinkly harpsichord score also won an Oscar. But what seemed audacious in 1963 feels tame today. The cheeky romp milieu grows exhausting as the plot plods along. Nor does the humor seem as naughty as it once did – i.e., the use of cock and pussy, but only as double entendres. The characters, while entertaining, don’t invite much emotional commitment from the audience. In 1989, Richardson snipped off 7 minutes (this version is also included on the DVD), but he could have cut more. Still, “Tom Jones” revived Hollywood commercial interest in British cinema and retains some of its debauched charm, aided by the lush English countryside cinematography. But in 2018, the film says more about the mores of the 1960s than about the social relations of 1749.t

<< Film

24 • Bay Area Reporter • March 15-21, 2018

Dance of defense by David Lamble

sraeli writer-director Samuel Maoz is diabolically clever in using the metaphor of an old-fashioned dance – the kind they used to teach in school before rock-n-roll – in his latest fiction feature “Foxtrot.” Opening Friday at Landmark’s Embarcadero Cinemas, “Foxtrot” unspools in a tricky three-act structure where the filmmakers deliberately mislead us. Act I begins with a father getting the devastating news that Jonathan, his young soldier son, has “fallen” (been killed) while serving the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in a remote border outpost. Your enjoyment of “Foxtrot” depends on the wild plot swings that follow this seemingly simple dramatic beat. “Foxtrot” joins a long run of Israeli-set dramas that demonstrate how little really changes in

this cradle of civilization. The acting is uniformly excellent, starting with veteran Lior Ashkenazi as the grieving father Michael Feldmann. Early in the film, Feldmann goes through all the classic stages of grieving, with an emphasis on anger. This is a case where spoilers should be avoided, although once you’ve seen “Foxtrot,” not spoiling the film for somebody else is even harder than learning the dance steps involved. Director Maoz, last represented on screens by his 2009 Israeli tank drama “Lebanon,” has admitted that the inspiration for “Foxtrot” came two decades ago when he refused his young daughter’s request for taxi fare when she was running late for school. Instructing her to take a city bus, he suffered a horrible waiting period when reports came back that the bus line she was on had been bombed by terrorists.

Erik Tomasson

Max Behrman-Rosenberg as Victor’s young brother, and Wei Wang as the Creature in Liam Scarlett’s “Frankenstein.”

Frankenstein

From page 17

The audience skewed young. I can’t remember seeing so many fresh faces and eagerly darting people in the lobby and the aisles. Perhaps the high-tech theme attracted techies, perhaps the popularity of the movie versions encouraged younger folk to try a crossover? In any case, it was thrilling to feel such anticipation. As the lights went down, the

SF Symphony

From page 17

The recent announcement of SFS Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas’ plans for his second-to-last season, before stepping down after 2019-20, only intensified interest in the visiting conductors’ qualifications as possible contenders for his position. It is early speculation for now, but that won’t stop regulars and new listeners from watching visitors with heightened scrutiny. Most recently, Edward Gardner joined with pianist Simon Trpceski in a program that sometimes felt like a very accomplished Pops concert. That light-hearted air endeared both artists to a receptive audience, and relaxed the atmosphere in the hall. Trpceski’s agile attack on Gershwin’s evergreen “Rhapsody in Blue” in Ferde Grofe’s orchestral setting was still quite thrilling. The musicians of the SFS have proven their jazz chops as recently as 2016 in the “Summer with the Symphony” series, and the latest soloist could stand with them in his own showy and idiomatic way. He played Paul Desmond’s “Take Five” in a solo take on the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s

sound of a heartbeat emerged from the orchestra in deep, pulsing notes, and the front-cloth imagery began to morph. Against a background of blood, a bone-white skull and vertebrae began to grow, to add new body parts. On the edges of the screen, annotative scribbled lines appeared as marginalia. This was our introduction to John MacFarlane’s brilliant stage designs, which never ceased to create the perfect scene for the action we were about to see.

“Foxtrot” benefits from a talented supporting cast: Sarah Adler as Daphna Feldmann, Yonaton Shiray as Jonathan, Shira Haas as daughter Alma, and Yehuda Almagor as Michael’s brother Avigdor. There’s also a humorous interlude where a camel passes through the desert at the checkpoint manned by Jonathan and his three unit-mates. The film is a nifty illustration of the fact that the deadliest factor in military stalemate is boredom. Homo-hook: gay male viewers will revel in the sublime beauty of Jonathan and his mates. Rated R for some Scene from director Samuel Maoz’s “Foxtrot.” sexual content, graphic images, and brief drug use.t Everyone knows the story, of course, and in so many different versions. What’s most distinctive here is the look of the scene. The monster looks the part, Vitor Luiz is a noble savage hideously scarred, but strangely beautiful. He completely supplanted memories of Boris Karloff, which is a colossal achievement in itself. The dark and stormy night, the Frankenstein mansion, the operating theater, the pastoral garden-scene in which the monster kills the little boy, the surreal ballroom in the last act (“I’ll be with you on your wedding-night”) – all of these are realized in brilliant detail. Most of all, the grisly back-alley scene in which the sweet servant-girl (Julia Rowe, superb in the role), who’s been framed with the murder and condemned by a turbulent mob, is hanged, twitching. This is the second-act curtain, and it is gut-wrenching. MacFarlane’s scenery contains all this, and carries the action past innumerable bits of weird social interaction. Although the solos and duets are all good, some superb, still, it must be said, there’s a great deal of malarkey for the corps de ballet, where suddenly the servants in the background of a scene start dancing brilliantly when there’s no call for it. The big group dance in the operating theater, when the nurses cavort their bell jars and lift them aloft like Clara with her Nutcracker, or the party scene when blindfolded guests begin leaping about the stage, hurl-

ing themselves in large trajectories, to give only two examples – these violate poetic faith, and are doubtless the reason the London critics trounced the ballet when it premiered there. In Scarlett’s defense, these group dances are exhilarating. The duets are thrilling, romantic things, whether it’s love (Victor and Elizabeth: Aaron Robison and Frances Chung) or fury (Robison, with Vitor Luis brilliant as the monster), or both (Luis and Max BehrmanRosenberg, the little boy who, blindfolded, dances happily with the monster until the veil comes off, and then, terrified, provokes the monster to kill him). Robison’s made a romantic, indeed orgasmic fantasia out of the actual creation of the monster, with sweeping adagio pirouettes, floating, suspended moments of ecstasy as new ideas came into his head for how to bring this scientific miracle to consummation. He began by climbing on top of the table, lying down on the body, and rose to new heights from there. There’s a wonderful truth-to-life in this: scientists working with CRISPR technology to turn off genes, to split DNA, to create new forms of life in real life right now have recorded in their diaries the overwhelming ecstatic thrill of turning their ideas into reality. No wonder it’s called conception. The stage scenery is exploding with fireworks as Robison plants his seed. Robison interprets Victor’s subsequent inaction not as remorse but as PTSD. He

version for an encore. He can ing piece is a brief visceral swing easily with American exercise in rhythm and dense classics, and it was a lot of fun. harmonics that finishes with Gardner also showed vera blast. satility in opening and closing SFS Concertmaster Alexselections. Michael Tippett’s ander Barantschik was center Ritual Dances from “The stage next, for the ShostaMidsummer Marriage” startkovich Violin Concerto No. 2 ed the night in a rhythmically (1967). He gave a good if not stimulating and sensuous perequally exciting performance, formance. Briefly introducfaring best in the contemplaing the piece with his own tive moments, but also expertenthusiastic endorsement, the ly covering the passagework. lively conductor proceeded The heat turned up rather to make an attractive case for unexpectedly after intermisthe challenging (to play) suite sion when the alert and musiof dances. It was good to see cally experienced conductor an English conductor proproved once again he is more moting an English composer than just another handsome other than Britten or Elgar. face and agreeable personalThe orchestra managed to ity. The person next to me expertly follow his lead in the couldn’t help mentioning his Benjamin Ealovega extremely tricky and quirkily sunny smile, but Heras-CasaGuest conductor Edward Gardner. engaging score. do tore into the Brahms First Gardner served up RachSymphony with uncommon maninoff ’s lush Symphonic strength, quickly blowing the Casado got his own props from anDances for the concert’s finale. dust off a beloved masterpiece. Evother excited crowd with a cleverly Regardless of critical condesceneryone talks about the burnished, balanced program that also showed sion over the years, the Russian autumnal sound of Brahms, but his versatility. The first SFS perforHeras-Casado evokes a warmer composer’s glorious gift for melody mances of “Helix” (2005) by Esa springtime atmosphere. He coaxed has survived. His brilliant talent Pekka-Salonen opened the concert the musicians to some of their richfor dramatic orchestration can still with an impressive display of Herasest and most detailed playing of the elicit a delighted audience response. Casado’s and the orchestra’s grip on season. They could probably play The previous week, Pablo Herasmodern music. The steadily build-

Sony Pictures Classics

danced last week as a visiting artist, replacing injured Joseph Walsh. He learned the role last year when he was a member of SFB, but now dances in London with the English National Ballet. The dancers give themselves to this with no reservations, and their confidence can carry the day. Scarlett is one of those artists, like D.H. Lawrence, where the imagination is tremendous and some passages are great, the ideas are huge, the passions grounded in heart’s truth, but –. Still, with most of the audience, Scarlett got his horses over the bridge. Outstanding dancers were Jennifer Stahl as the housekeeper, Rowe as her daughter, Victor’s friend (Angelo Greco), and as servants, fellow med students, townspeople, the following: Nathaniel Remez, Kimberly Marie Olivier, Henry Sidford, and the wonderful Myles Thatcher and Lonnie Weeks. “Frankenstein” will end its run before this notice appears. The next program, an all-Jerome Robbins evening, is already selling fast without being advertised much. That program will feature his first big hit, “Fancy Free.” Also on that program will be “The Cage,” a nightmare of insect-like copulation, with the bride killing the groom after the orgasm, and the heavenly “Other Dances,” perhaps his most beautiful dance set to Chopin. “Opus 19/The Dreamer” will round out that program, which runs March 20-25.t Brahms with their eyes closed, but they partnered to make a fresh and urgent statement.

This week at Davies

The Big Kahuna is back on the podium at DSH this week with a program that spotlights his own insights into contrasting modern music. MTT and the SFS give the world premiere of Pulitzer Prizewinning and MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Charles Wuorinen’s “Sudden Changes.” The bill includes Copland’s Symphony No. 3, featuring his famous theme “Fanfare for the Common Man.” The concert is loosely called “American Optimism” for Copland and Wuorinen, but the Prokofiev Third Piano Concerto will also be performed. Wuorinen is currently based on the East Coast and married to his manager, Howard Stokar. He has also been a friend to MTT for years. We know him from his four years as Composer-in-Residence to the SFS. Copland was a gay composer, and another friend and colleague to MTT. So let’s hear it for members of the home team. More info on “American Optimism” at sfsymphony.org.t

Arts Events

Leather

Shining Stars Vol. 48 • No. 11 • March 15-21, 2018 Franko Lacosta

www.ebar.com V www.bartabsf.com

Tommy Tune Broadway Legend Returns To Feinstein’s by David-Elijah Nahmod

aving worn many hats over the course of his 50-year career in the theater, actor, dancer, director and choreographer Tommy Tune has done it all. He’s won ten Tony Awards, among many other honors. On Sunday, March 18, Tune returns to San Francisco for two shows at Feinstein’s at the Nikko. See page 26 >>

Tommy Tune

by Michael Flanagan Members of the Muscle System gym, done up in drag for their annual Halloween drag party, celebrate at Cafe San Marcos in 1990.

T Rick Gerharter

he late 1980s saw something of an explosion of women’s venues, which was followed shortly thereafter with an implosion. Café San Marcos (2367–2369 Market, which in 1991 became The Café) found itself in an unusual situation during that period. See page 27 >>

{ THIRD OF THREE SECTIONS }

KATHY GRIFFIN

june 14 t h e m as o n i c T I C K E T S O N SA L E n ow

K AT H YG R I F F I N . CO M l i v e n at i o n . CO M “every era gets the lenny bruce it deserves. ours is k at h y g r i f f i n . ”

“ F O U R s ta r s ! g r i f f i n ’ s s h ow was d e f i a n t, f i e r c e a n d v i c i o u s ly f u n n y. ”

“ T H E R E ’ S N OT H I N G L I K E E X P E R I E N C I N G K AT H Y GRIFFIN LIVE.”

<< Feature

26 • Bay Area Reporter • March 15-21, 2018

Carol Rosegg

Tommy Tune in Lady Be Good.

Tommy Tune

From page 25

“I’m so exciting to be returning,” Tune said in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter, speaking from his home in New York. “The first time I played San Francisco was at the Venetian Room, and we were a

smash. It was flattering to be appreciated.” For his show at Feinstein’s, Tune will be sharing songs and stories from his illustrious career, a career that seemed unlikely when he was growing up in Wichita Falls, Texas. “When you grow up in Texas they don’t want you to leave,” he recalled.

Arts Events March 15-22

Contraption @ Contemporary Jewish Museum Contraption: Rediscovering California Jewish Artists, a new group exhibit of works by 16 artists who explore the idea of the “machines.” Thru July 29. Also, Mar. 15: Women and New Machines, demos by technology innovators. 736 Mission St. thecjm.org

Empowerment in Print @ GLBT History Museum LGBT Activism, Pride & Lust, a new mini-exhibit of periodicals from the collection. Also, March 15: Designing Women: A Lesbian Couple in the Arts & Crafts Movement : Architectural historian Inge Horton and novelist Linda Ulleseit will present their research on architect Emily Williams and her partner, metalwork artist Lillian Palmer. $5. 7pm. Also, Angela Davis: OUTspoken. 4127 18th St. glbthistory.org

Fri 9

Iron Shoes @ Ashby Stage, Berkeley

Smoke + Mirrors @ Ravot

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

Thu 15 Classic & New Films @ Castro Theatre Mar. 15: Faces Places (3pm, 7pm) Playtime (4:40, 8:45). Mar. 16: Get Out (7pm) and The Stepford Wives (9pm). Mar. 17: Vicki Lawrence (and Mama) A Two-Woman Show (8pm: $30-$100). Mar. 18: The Dark Crystal (1pm, 7pm), The Lord of the Rings [animated] (2:50, 8:50) and Watership Down (5:15). Mar. 19: Candidate Forum for SF Mayor (7:30). Mar. 20: The Post (2:15, 7pm)

Gooch

“Because they have everything–– winning his first Tony Award for his everything but Broadway. I never work in the musical Baker Street in saw a play until I was 16.” 1965. It was the movies that got the “It’s like when you have the feelyoung Tune interested in musical ing of falling in love for the first theater. time, it’s an out-of-body experi“I wanted to see movies where ence,” he said. “I look upon these people behaved like that,” he said awards as a parental pat on the head. of movie musicals. “I loved Fred They encourage an artist.” Astaire, Gene Kelly, and Cyd ChaTune’s Broadway credits as a risse. I always found the musical performer include How Now Dow numbers more interesting than the Jones, Seesaw, and My One and prime story.” Only. He made his debut as a diYears later, as Tune’s star on rector in 1978 with The Best Little Broadway was rising, he took direcWhorehouse in Texas and contintion from Gene Kelly in the film verued directing with shows such as sion of the musical Hello Dolly. A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the “It was my first movie and it Ukraine, Nine, Grand Hotel, and couldn’t have been better,” he said. The Will Rogers Follies. In some of “Gene said to me, Tommy, dance these productions he also served as better. I knew what he meant and I choreographer. did. So I always try to dance the best I can because of Gene.” And now, with the 50th anniversary of the film coming up in 2019, Tune will be participating in a Hello Dolly reunion on the streets of Garrison, New York, where the film was shot. “We’re going to have a parade on the street where we shot “Put On Your Sunday Clothes” and I’m going to be grand marshal,” he said. “The facades from the movie are still there in front of people’s homes.” Tune explained why he’s made so few films. “I want to perform for people, not for machines,” he said. “I don’t even have a cell phone. I had one for about two weeks five years ago. It was disruptive. So if someone wants to meet me they can’t call and say they’re going to be late. They have to Tommy Tune with longtime friend Carol Channing. be there.” He remembers the thrill of

and Silkwood (4:30, 9:10). Mar. 21: The Post (2pm & 7pm) and All the President’s Men (4:15, 9:10). Mar. 22: Raising Arizona (7pm) and High and Low (8:45). $11-$16. 429 Castro St. castrotheatre.com

The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot @ New Village Café The Tenderloin Museum presents the world premiere of Collette LeGrande, Mark Nassar and Donna Persona’s stage story of the historic preStonewall San Francisco uprising of Tenderloin drag queens, with a dozen performers. $60 (includes a ‘breakfast for dinner” meal). 1960s attire and drag encouraged. Thu-Sat 8pm. Thru May 5 (Fri & Sat only in April & May). 1426 Polk St. http://bit.ly/2mvz8ZY

Shotgun Players and Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble perform Michelle Carter, Janet Kutalas and Erika Chong Shuch’s new music play of updated Eastern European fairy tales. $7, $25-$40. Thru April 15. 1901 Ashby Ave., Berkeley. shotgunplayers.org

Jazz Search West @ Various Venues New weekly jazz singer/musician showcases and competition. Various dates thru Semi-Finals April 18 and Finale April 24 at Yoshi’s Oakland. livingjazz.org/jazz-search-attend

ODC Dance @ YBCA 47th annual home season for the innovative modern dance company. $25-$80. ($150 and up for March 16 gala at the St. Regis Hotel). Mar. 1518. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 700 Howard St. www.odc.dance

Office Hour @ Berkeley Rep Julia Cho’s drama about a troubled student and a teacher’s attempts to help him. $30-$97. Tue, Thu-Sat 8pm. Wed & Sun 7pm, and Sun 2pm. Thru March 25. 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. berkeleyrep.org

Performance Festival @ CounterPulse Launchpad for new experimental dance and performance works, many with queer themes, including Valeria Reding, Mica Sigourney and Silk Worm, Ruairi Donovan, and others. Thru Mar. 18. 80 Turk St. counterpulse.org

PunkkiCo @ ODC Theater Raisa Punkki and company performs Controle, her new work about online vs. real life identities. $15-$50. Mar. 15-17, 8pm. 3153 17th St. odc.dance

Steven Saylor @ Book Passage The prolific gay author of Roman history novels and mysteries reads from his latest, The Throne of Caesar. 6pm. 1 Ferry Bldg., SF. www.booksinc.net

Vietgone @ Strand Theater American Conservatory Theatre’s production of Qui Nguyen’s moving road trip comedy about three Vietnamese immigrants who trek across 1970s America. $25-$55. Tue-Sat 7pm or 7:30pm (some 2pm), thru April 22. 1127 Market St. act-sf.org

What They Said About Love @ The Marsh Berkeley Steve Budd’s ‘Best of SF Fringe’ solo show rumination on finding love. $20-$100. Thu 8pm, Sat 5pm, Sun 2pm. Thru April 21. 2120 Allston Way. www.themarsh.org

In his early days Tune was mentored by another musical theater legend, Carol Channing. The two remain close friends today. “I’ve known Carol since I was 17,” he said. “She came to my high school graduation.” He plans to see Channing while he’s in California. “I talk to her every day, but it’s not the same as seeing her,” he said. Channing has long been an icon to gay theater buffs, and she’s always embraced her gay audience. Tune has been open about his own sexuality from the beginning. “That was the gift of the theater,” he said. “We were free and welcome in the theater in New York.” He spoke of how alone he had felt back in Texas. “I thought I was the only one,” he said. “There was no one to relate to, there were no gay characters. I thought there was something wrong with me. There was no one to talk to until I went to New York.” He also spoke of the two relationships he had. “Both of my partners died,” he said. “But at least I experienced it. Gay marriage is so beautiful. It didn’t exist back then.” These are some of the stories Tune will be sharing when he appears at Feinstein’s. He calls his show a “musical autobiography in song and dance of my career and some of my offstage life. “The hardest thing in my show is what I leave out,” he said. “I’m grateful to the theater and that I could make a living at it.”t Tommy Tune at Feinstein’s at the Nikko. 222 Mason St. Sunday, March 18, 4 and 7pm. $60-100. feinsteinsatthenikko.com

Fri 16 Bamboozled @ City Club, Berkeley Central Works Workshop’s production of Patricia Milton’s new play about a Daughter of the Conferacy swindled out of historic heirlooms. $30-$35. Extended thru Mar. 25. 2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. www.centralworks.org

Beach Blanket Babylon @ Club Fugazi The musical comedy revue celebrates its 43th year with an ever-changing lineup of political and pop culture icons, all in gigantic wigs. $25-$160. Beer/ wine served; cash only; 21+, except where noted. Wed-Fri 8pm. Sat 6pm & 9pm. Sun 2pm & 5pm. 678 Beach Blanket Babylon Blvd. (Green St.). 421-4222. www.beachblanketbabylon.com

Diffused Reflections @ Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts Opening reception for the 31st annual Solo Mujeres exhibit of new works, curated by Marissa Del Toro. $5. 6:30pm-9pm. Also, Guerrilleras, Victoria Montero and Rebecka Biro’s exhibit of El Salvador women who endured the Civil War. Both thru April 20. 2868 Mission St. missionculturalcenter.org

Holes in the Floor @ Old First Church The cello quartet performs new works by composers Jeremy Crosmer and Bobba Panh, plus works by Tansman and Bach. $5-$23. 8pm. 1751 Sacramento St. oldfirstconcerts.org

See page 29 >>

BARchive>>

March 15-21, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 27

2. 3.

1. Marcus Wonacott, right, manager of Cafe San Marcos, enjoys the sun on the bar’s balcony overlooking Market and Castro Streets in 1990. 2. Patrons on the back sun porch of Cafe San Marcos in 1990. 3. Victoria Collins, a bartender at Cafe San Marcos in 1990. 4. .Members of the Muscle System gym, done up in drag for their annual Halloween drag party, celebrate at Cafe San Marcos in 1990. All photos: Rick Gerharter

Café San Marcos

From page 25

The bar started drawing women around 1987. As other women’s venues closed, the venue found itself in something of an identity crisis: was it a mixed bar or a women’s bar? As I frequented the bar in this period, I had a ringside seat to the changes. In research for this article I discovered advertisements for Café San Marcos in publications with a high percentage of women’s readership (Coming Up!) as far back as 1985. It was first referred to as a mixed bar

Café San Marcos ad in DykeSpace.

was in the Bay Area Reporter. An article about the bar from May 17, 1990 was entitled “Portrait of a ‘Nice Mixed Bar.’” To drive home the point, the article quoted then-manager Marcus Wonacott: “On Friday nights, for instance, he says the bar is ‘filled with wall-to-wall women. It’s important that people know that we support the women’s community specifically.’” By 1991, the bar began to refer to itself as “The Only Mixed Bar In The Castro” in its advertisements. I began going to The Café in the

late ‘80s. My friend and former coworker, the artist and writer Signe Cook, suggested we go there after Maud’s (937 Cole) closed in 1989. The Café was a place to get together and talk on weekend afternoons. We may have been somewhat out of the mainstream in this, as in a 1988 article on Ollie’s closing (4130 Telegraph, Oakland), Rikki Streicher said, “Talking bars are becoming obsolete. Talk isn’t so important anymore; it’s the look that’s important.” Streicher’s comment was in reaction to change occurring in the women’s community. Peg’s Place (4737 Geary) had also closed in 1988. Meanwhile, a variety of weekly dance nights like Skirts (177 Townsend), Club Mystique (22 4th Street) and Club Rapture (1484 Market) opened around town. Some of these clubs were mixed too. Lucie Faulknor, one of the founders of Skirts, discussed co-founder Mariah Hanson’s philosophy in Coming Up!: “Mariah wanted a women’s club where men are welcome as long as they know it’s for women. Like at men’s clubs, we’re welcome even though it’s understood it’s for men.” Still, the place of “mixed bars” could be confusing. In November 1991 the San Francisco Bay Times reacted to Amelia’s closing with a headline that stated “Last SF Lesbian Bar to Close.” The next month, however, it noted that Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon were celebrating the 20th anniversary of the publication of Lesbian Woman at the Café. Roberta Achtenberg celebrated her victory in the “Lavender Sweep” at Café San Marcos on November 6, 1990. Although she is a lesbian, the victory was community-wide. I was reminded by my friend (and former bartender at Café) Lu of an animal rights event at the Café in the early ‘90s which Grace Slick attended, an event not geared toward any particular orientation or gender. Among the bar’s prominent events was the annual drag party sponsored by the Muscle System Gym. That event became so popular, in its later years, it was moved to Eureka Valley Recreation Center. Café was mixed in another way: as well as being a mix of genders, it was a daytime talking bar and a nighttime dance bar. Though we were there mostly in the daytime hours, we occasionally stayed until the early evening when DJs like Stephanie Philips started their sets. It was this mix that generated conflict. It didn’t surface till 1994. In a February 1994 article, “Where Women Dance” in San Francisco Bay Times, author Anderson asked (regarding Friday nights), “What’s with all the men?” She also asked, “Guys, please, can’t we just have one night without you? It’s not like we have the same options you do.” In an April 14, 1994 Bay Area Reporter column author and activist Rachel Pepper wrote, “The one Castro area women’s bar and the only full-time bar identifying in the whole bloody city as lesbian, the Café, is trying to push out the women to go gay. As in gay men.” A spate of letters responded and a

cover article from May 5, 1994 in the B.A.R. by Katherine Collins asked “Is The Café Trying to Get Rid of Women? Most People Say No.” In a letter to the paper (May 16, 1994) then Café manager Morgan Gorrano said, “The Café is a mixed bar. It is a bar for women and men, not one or the other. If you are a man and don’t like women, don’t come here. If you are a woman and don’t like men around, don’t come here. If you like the mix, want to dance

and drink in pleasant and safe surroundings, you’ll have a good time and be treated well by our staff.” I didn’t know about the tension and was told by my friends about the letters. I don’t think I was being oblivious as I was in the bar mostly during the day, when it was less crowded. I was there to visit with my lesbian friends and not to cruise men, so the issue went right over my head. In 1996 Signe moved to Southern California, and I stopped visiting the bar nearly as often. By 1997 the Lexington Club opened. As the Café was no longer the only bar in town that functioned as a women’s bar, the issue seemed to fade away. Our community’s attitude toward mixed bars is complex. Mixed bars like Wild Side West still exist, but tend to be ignored when bars like the Lexington Club close. As this March is not only Women’s History Month, but the sixth anniversary of my friend Signe’s death, I would advise you to treasure the time you have together and enjoy the company of your friends in places where you have a good time together. That is what the memory of Café in the ‘90s will always be for me.t

<< On the Tab

28 • Bay Area Reporter • March 15-21, 2018

Smoke + Mirrors @ Ravot

Sun 18

Opening reception for an exhibit of glamorous nightlife photos of local drag queens by Gareth Gooch. 6pm-10pm. 115 Clement St. garethgoochphotography.com

Disco Daddy @ SF Eagle

Gooch

Star Trek Live @ Oasis

March

15-22

Back by popular demand, another hilarious stage adaptation of a classic Star Trek episode, "Turnabout Intruder," with Leigh Crow, Laurie Bushman, Allison Johnson, Ammo Eisu, Sue Casa and others. $27-$40. Fri-Sun 7pm. Thru March 17. 298 11th St. sfoasis.com

Wuhfff @ Powerhouse

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

Armond Rizzo @ Nob Hill Theatre The porn stud does solo shows (8pm) and sex shows with Dylan Strokes (10pm). $25. Also Mar. 17. 729 Bush St. at Powell. 397-6758. www.thenobhilltheatre.com

Thu 15 Circle Jerk @ Nob Hill Theatre

La Bomba Latina @ Club OMG

Porn pup Armond Rizzo leads the interactive fun in the downstairs arcade (before his Mar. 16 & 17 shows with Dylan Strokes). $20. 9pm. 729 Bush St. at Powell. 397-6758. www.thenobhilltheatre.com

Drag show with DJ Jaffeth. $5. 9pm2am. 43 6th St. www.clubomgsf.com

Brooke Candy @ Oasis The LA singer-rapper performs. $20$45. 10pm. 298 11th St. sfoasis.com

Comedy Returns @ El Rio

Pedal Pups Paddy's Day party AIDS Ride fundraiser, with DJ Guy Ruben. 9pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

Sat 17 Asheq @ Slate The popular Middle east North queer dance party, with gogo dancers, belly dancers, and DJ Nile. $5-$10. 9pm2am. 2925 16th St. www.facebook.com/AsheqSF/

Beatpig @ Powerhouse Juanita MORE! and crew, with DJ Stanley Frank, host the eclectic fun night. $5. 9pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. powerhousebar.com

Laugh along with stand-ups Dan St Paul, Carla Clayy, Victor Pacheco, Judi Leff, and MC Lisa Geduldig. $7-$20. 7pm. 3158 Mission St. www. march15elrio.brownpapertickets.com

Daddy Saddle @ Lone Star Saloon

Junk @ Powerhouse

Fantasy Friday @ Divas

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

Weekly drag shows at the last transgender-friendly bar in the Polk; with hosts Victoria Secret, Alexis Miranda and several performers. Also Thursdays and Saturdays. Thursday karaoke night. $10. 10pm. 1081 Polk St. www.divassf.com

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

Friday Nights at the Ho @ White Horse Bar, Oakland

Mother @ Oasis

DJed music night at the bear bar. 9pm-2am. 1354 Harrison St. www.lonestarsf.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

Dance it up at the historic (and still hip) East Bay bar. 9pm-2am. 6551 Telegraph Ave. whitehorsebar.com

Picante @ The Cafe Lulu and DJ Marco's Latin night with sexy gogo guys. 9pm-2am. 2369 Market St. www.cafesf.com

Latin Explosion @ Club 21 The popular Latin club includes drag shows, with gogo guys, drink specials and table reservations available. $10$20. 10pm-3am. 2111 Franklin St., Oakland. www.club21oakland.com

Queer Karaoke @ Club OMG KJ Dana hosts the weekly singing night; unleash your inner American Idol. 8pm. 43 6th St. clubomgsf.com

Makeout Party @ SF Eagle

Sister Spit @ The Stud

Smoochfest and groovy tunes with DJs Robin simmons and Elaine Denham. $5-$10. 8pm-2am. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

The women's and QPOC writing collective closes out their national tour at the famed bar with Mari Naomi, Jamal Lewis, Juliana Delgado Lopera, Wo Chan, Jayy Dodd, Virgie Tovar and Andrea Abi-Karam. $15$20. 7pm-9pm (Hoe is Life follows, 10pm-2am). 399 9th St. studsf.com

Mandy Gonzalez @ Feinstein's at the Nikko The Broadway star ( Hamilton, Wicked ) brings her new cabaret show, Fearless, to the stylish nightclub. $41-$75. 8pm. Also March 17, 8pm. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. feinsteinsatthenikko.com

Sundance Saloon @ Space 550 The Country-Western line-dancing two-stepping dance event celebrates 18 years. Free-$5. 5pm-10:30pm. Also Sundays. 550 Barneveld Ave. www.sundancesaloon.org

Red Hots Burlesque @ The Stud The saucy women's burlesque show hosted by Dottie Lux will titillate and tantalize, with guests Alotta Boutte, Shells Bells, and Caramel Knowledge. $10-$20. 8pm-9:30pm. 399 9th St. www.redhotsburlesque.com

Thursday Night Live @ SF Eagle Rock bands play at the famed leather bar. $8. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

Blessed @ Port Bar, Oakland Carnie Asada's fun drag night with Carnie's Angels Mahlae Balenciaga and Au Jus, plus DJ Ion. 2023 Broadway. www.portbaroakland.com

Dirty Musical Sundays @ The Edge Sing along at the popular musical theatre night, with a bawdy edge. 7pm-2am. 2 for 1 cocktail, 5pmclosing. 4149 18th St. at Collingwood. www.edgesf.com

Disco Daddy @ SF Eagle DJ Bus Station John's 4th annual Sylvester tribute, at the T-dance postbeer bust. $5-$10. 7pm-2am. 398 12th St. at Harrison. sf-eagle.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

Sunday's a Drag @ Starlight Room The weekly brunch and drag show with a panoramic view. $45. 11am, show at noon; 1:30pm, show at 2:30pm. 450 Powell St. in Union Square. 395-8595. starlightroomsf.com

Sugar @ The Cafe Dance, drink, cruise at the Castro club, with DJs Gay Marvine, Taco Tuesday and Matthew XO. 9pm-2am. 2369 Market St. www.cafesf.com

Sat 17

Asheq @ Slate

Mon 19 Epic Karaoke @ White Horse, Oakland Mondays and Tuesdays popular weekly sing-along night. No cover. 8:30pm-1am. 6551 Telegraph Ave, (510) 652-3820. whitehorsebar.com

Musical Mondays @ The Edge Sing along to shows tunes on video, lip-synched, and live, at the Castro bar. 4149 18th St. at Collingwood. www.edgesf.com

Matt Baume

Underwear Night @ 440

Queens of Adventure @ Oasis

Queens of Adventure @ Oasis Drag queens play Dungeons and Dragons! The hit show from Seattle invades the Bay Area with a new local cast: Empress Pollo Del Mar, KaiKai Bee Michaels, Erika Klash, Kitty Powers and 'Dungeon Master' Matt Baume. $10-$15. 8pm. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Stag @ Powerhouse Single, or a couple looking for an extra? Cruise it up. $5. 5pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. powerhousebar.com

Vice Tuesdays @ Q Bar Queer femme 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. www.QbarSF.com

Wed 21 Bottoms Up Bingo @ Hi Tops Play board games and win offbeat prizes at the popular sports bar. 9pm. 2247 Market St. 551-2500. HiTopsSF.com

The parody singing troupe takes on Grease. $20-$40. 8pm. Also Mar. 23 & 24, 7pm. 298 11th St. sfoasis.com

Follies & Dollies @ White Horse Bar, Oakland

Mica Sigourney and Tom Temprano cohost the wacky weekly game night at the cool Mission bar. 8pm. 3152 Mission St. www. virgilssf.com

Tue 20

Strip down with the strippers at the clothing-optional night. $20. 9pm. 729 Bush St. at Powell. 397-6758. www.thenobhilltheatre.com

Drunk Drag Broadway @ Oasis

No No Bingo @ Virgil's Sea Room

Fri 16

Naked Night @ Nob Hill Theatre

Grace Towers' weekly drag show at the fun local bar. 9pm-12am. 4049 18th St. mobydicksf.com

Reddroxx @ Lone Star Saloon

Stanley Frank spins house dance remixes at the intimate Castro dance bar. $3. 9pm-2am (weekly beer bust 2pm-9pm). 456 Castro St. QbarSF.com

Sing Till It Hurts with hostess Sister Flora; 2 for 1 happy hour, no cover, plus raffle prize drawings. 8pm-2am. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

Dick at Nite @ Moby Dick

Revamped night at the popular hip hop and Latin dance club. $5-$15. 9pm to 3am. 2120 Broadway. (510) 759-7340. www.club-bnb.com

Saturgay @ Qbar

Karaoke Night @ The Stud

Kollin Holtz hosts the open mic comedy night. 5:30pm8pm. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

The Playground @ Club BNB, Oakland

DJs Brd and Chakaquan, with guest 50 Pound Note, play an '80s St. Patrick's Day mix. 9pm-2am. 1354 Harrison St. www.lonestarsf.com

Tue 20

Comedy Showcase @ SF Eagle

Heklina's popular drag show, with special guests and great music themes; DJ MC2 plays grooves. March 17 features Adore Delano. $15. 10pm-3am (11:30pm show). 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

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

DJ Marke B spins and Landa Lakes performs at the 33-year anniversary of the GLBT Historical Society, and the 7-year anniversary of the Castro museum; two for one, more fun. $10$20. 7pm-9pm. 4127 18th St. www.glbthistory.org

Sun 18

Lips and Lashes Brunch @ Lookout

Tubesteak Connection @ Aunt Charlie's Lounge

Anniversary Party @ GLBT History Museum

Leather night at the famed bar with the BLUF guys. 9pm-2am. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

Steven Underhill

On the Tab

Tribe @ SF Eagle

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

Weekly drag show at the historic gay bar. 9:30pm-11:30pm. 6551 Telegraph Ave, (510) 652-3820. www.whitehorsebar.com

Miss Kitty's Trivia Night @ Wild Side West The weekly fun night at the Bernal Heights bar includes prizes, hosted by Kitty Tapata. No cover. 7pm-10pm. 424 Cortland St. 647-3099. www.wildsidewest.com

Pan Dulce @ Beaux The hot weekly Latin dance night, hosted by Amaya Blac and Delilah Befierce, with gogo studs. $6. 9pm2am (free before 10:30pm). 2344 Market St. clubpapi.com

Thu 22 Night at the Jewseum @ Contemporary Jewish Musuem Enjoy a fun party, after-work cocktails, food and new and permanent exhibits. $5. 6pm-9pm. 736 Mission St. thecjm.org

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

Arts Events>>

March 15-21, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 29

Mon 19 Alex Girard @ Strut Muse, the artist’s exhibit of gendershifting photo portraits. Thru March. 470 Castro St. www.strutsf.org

Playmates and soul mates...

Thu 15

ODC Dance @ YBCA

Andrew Weeks

Fantasy Life @ SF City Hall Tabitha Soren’s 15-year project photographing Oakland A’s players through their careers. Extended thru March 23. Ground Floor & North Light Court. sfartscommission.org

Tue 20 Arts Events

From page 26

It’s Only a Play @ New Conservatory Theatre Tony-winning playwright Terrence McNally’s 11th production at NCTC shares the story of a nervous playwright awaiting reviews at a cast party. $25-$50. Wed-Sat 8pm, Sun 2pm thru April 1. 25 Van Ness Ave., lower level. www.nctcsf.org

Latin Standards @ Brava Theater Center Marga Gomez’ hit show about her father’s show biz legacy returns. $25. Fri & Sat 8pm, Sun 7pm. Thru April 1. 2781 24th St. brava.org

Mandy Gonzalez @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko

Sat 17 Out of Site @ North Beach Seth Eisen and James Metzger’s group performance event and walking tour of local LGBTQ historic sites and people; see queer history come alive, from colonial days to the ‘70s. Different times thru March 25. (Part 2 May 12-27 in the Tenderloin). www.eyezen.org

Sonnets to Orpheus @ Hillside Club, Berkeley Left Coast Ensemble concert of several works that explore the myth of Orpheus, including composers Eric Moe, Claudio Monteverdi and a new work by Aida Shirazi. $15-$30. 7:30pm at The Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St., Berkeley. www.leftcoastensemble.org

The Broadway star ( Hamilton, Wicked) brings her new cabaret show, Fearless, to the stylish nightclub. $41-$75. 8pm. Also March 17, 8pm. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. feinsteinsatthenikko.com

Caryl Churchill’s inventive drama about human cloning. $33-$65. Thru May 6. 2081 Addison St. Berkeley. auroratheatre.org

Opening reception for an exhibit of glamorous nightlife photos of local drag queens by Gareth Gooch. 6pm-10pm. 115 Clement St. garethgoochphotography.com

Transitions @ Gateway Theatre Theatre Rhino’s new production of John Fisher’s satire about Donald Trump’s secret romance with a sassy drag queen. $15-$40. WedSat 8pm. Sat 3pm. Thru Mar. 17. 215 Jackson St. theatrerhino.org

The Wedding Singer @ Victoria Theatre Bay Area Musicals’ new production of the Tony-nominated musical based on the Adam Sandler film. $35-$100. Thu-Sat 8pm, some 7:30pm. Thru Mar. 17. 2961 16th St. www.bamsf.org

Weightless @ Z Space World premiere of Kate Kilbane and Dan Moses’ genre-bending rock show take on Ovid’s tale of Procne and Philomela, sisters who fight gods and distance to reunite; set in a nightclub speakeasy, with different nightly opening acts. $10$150. Thru March 18. 450 Florida St. zspace.org

t.w.five @ Museum of Craft & Design Installation of a lesbian couple’s “home” and an exploration of domestic life. Also, Tom Loeser’s Please Please Please, artistic unusual handmade chair sculptures. Both thru May 20. 2569 Third St. sfmcd.org

Wed 21 Diasporic Alchemy @ SOMArts Cultural Center

Margaret Cho & Friends @ Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley

Ragtime @ Berkeley Playhouse

Smoke + Mirrors @ Ravot

Lucy Prebble’s play explores romance amid pill-popping culture as a straight couple fall in love, but is their passion from the drug they’re taking? $35-$55. Tue-Sun thru April 28. 450 Post St. https:// www.sfplayhouse.org

New exhibit, Transforming Ancestral Traditions into Ritual Futurisms, curated by Louis Chinn and missTango, featuring shamanic and mythological subjects. Thru April 5. 934 Brannan St. www.somarts.org

A Number @ Aurora Theatre, Berkeley

Terrence McNally, Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens’ musical adaptation of E.L. Doctorow’s novel about early 1900s New York immigrants. $22-$40. Thru Mar. 18. Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave., Berkeley. berkeleyplayhouse.org

The Effect @ SF Playhouse

Wed 21 Margaret Cho & Friends @ Zellerbach Theatre

A Streetcar Named Desire @ Marines’ Memorial Theater African American Shakespeare Theatre Company’s new production of Tennessee Williams’ classic. $35. Mar. 17 & 18. 609 Sutter St. african-americanshakes.org

Sun 18 Junior Bach Festival @ Old First Church All-Bach concert of solo and ensemble works performed by local student musicians. 4pm. $3-$15. 1751 Sacramento St. oldfirstconcerts.org

My Stroke of Luck @ The Marsh Diane Barnes’ solo show about recovering from a stroke. $20-$100. Mar. 15-29, Thu 8pm & Sun 2pm. 1062 Valencia St. themarsh.org

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

The daring comic shares a night of comedy and talk about race and identity with Ali Wong, Aparna Nancherla and Hari Kondabolu in the Front Row series. $5. 7pm. UC Berkeley campus. calperformances.org

The Retrieval @ SFAC Gallery Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle’s solo exhibit of works visualizing the disappearance of Black women in California, and with traditional Nigerian Egungun costumes. Thru April 7 (closing reception, performance 5:30pm-7pm). 401 Van Ness Ave. sfartscommission.org

Smack Dab @ Dog Eared Books Dana Hopkins and Larry-bob Roberts cohost the eclectic reading and open mic series, with special guest Harmony Moses, found of Vasileia. 8pm. 489 Castro St. www.dogearedbooks.com

Thu 22 Spring Selections @ Jenkins Johnson Gallery Group exhibit of print and paintings honoring Women’s History Month. Thru May 12. 464 Sutter St. jenkinsjohnsongallery.com

Here Kitty Kitty: The Pussy Bites Back @ Bindlestiff Studio Granny Cart Gangstas, the allwomen Asian American comedy troupe, performs hilarious sketches about San Francisco, pop culture and daily life. $13$30. Thu-Sat 8pm. Thru March 31. 185 6th St. https://gcg2018. brownpapertickets.com

San Francisco:

1-415-692-5774

18+ MegaMates.com

<< Leather

30 • Bay Area Reporter • March 15-21, 2018

Leather Alliance Weekend

Both photos: Rich Stadtmiller

Top: All the Mr. SF Leather and SF Bootblack 2018 contestants (left to right): Kenzi, Colton Long, Ken Berard, Victoria Bootblack, Matt Welch, Camryn Obscura, Stephan Ferris, Whisper, and Spencer Adam. Rich Stadtmiller

Left: Mr. SF Leather 2018 contest emcees: Alotta Boutté (left), international cabaret and burlesque sensation, and Lance Holman (right), Mr. San Francisco Leather 2010.

Left to right: Stephan Ferris, 1st Runner Up Mr. SF Leather 2018; Victoria Bootblack, SF Bootblack 2018 (winner); Matt Welch, Mr. SF Leather 2018 (winner); and Spencer Adam, 2nd Runner Up Mr. SF Leather 2018.

by Race Bannon

he San Francisco Bay Area Leather Alliance produced this year’s Leather Alliance Weekend March 2-4, 2018. As always, this special weekend offers locals and visiting leatherfolk and kinksters lots of fun events to attend and things to do. Mr. S Leather hosted the opening meet and greet party at their store on Thursday night. If you’ve never been to one of the in-store parties that Mr. S Leather hosts, do yourself a favor and go. You get to mingle with fellow kinky types in an incredibly erotic atmosphere. Of course, at the same time you can peruse and purchase all sorts of fetish gear, clothing and toys in one of the world’s premiere leather and kink retail establishments. The crowd chatted and cruised, and then the Mr. San Francisco Leather contestants, judges and contest staff were introduced. On Friday, the Alliance tried out a new format. Instead of having their brunch on Sunday during which they also give out their San Francisco Leather Community Awards, they had a formal dinner at SOMArts. I think having the formal dinner and awards ceremony on Friday night as opposed to Sunday morning was a smart move. I’ve always advocated for event producers to not have anything big scheduled earlier in the day since it’s likely many of those who want to attend are out late the previous night. So, kudos to whoever made that decision. Prior to the dinner, guests enjoyed a casual cocktail party at which they could also have their photos taken at a photo booth. The technical portion of the San Francisco Bootblack competition was also held on this night. The dinner was excellent, and I loved how social it was. The cocktail hour before the dinner gave people a wonderful space during which to chat and socialize, get their photo taken, and shop in the vendor area. After a delicious meal, local people, clubs, organizations and events were honored for their contributions to the local leather community during the past year. The 2017 winners this year were: Best New Organization, Onyx Northwest; Next Generation (under 35), Keao Lani; Outstanding Community Business, Wicked grounds; Outstanding Community Nonprofit Organization, Trans Lifeline; Best Leather Contest, Mr. San Francisco Leather; Jim Remer Unsung Hero Award,

Jason Husted; Best Community Education Event, Leathermen’s Discussion Group - Depression & Suicide in the Men’s Community; Best Organization Anniversary Event, The 15 association; Best Community Leather/Fetish/Motorcycle Event (Not a Contest or Street Fair), Leathermen’s Discussion Group Community Discussion with Cleve Jones and Race Bannon; Best Community In town Weekend Event, Leathermen’s Discussion Group - Fetish Fair; Most Visible Organization in the Leather/Fetish/Motorcycle Community, Leathermen’s Discussion Group; Best One-Day Ride, SF Dykes on Bikes WMC SF Pride Ride; Best Overnight Out of Town, Golden Gate Guards Yosemite Run; Frank Benoit Award, Jim Taylor and Rand Hunt; Woman of the Year, Angel Garfold and Ms. Cat; Non-Binary Person of the Year, Azalea Hollinger; Man of the year, Al Rahm; and Philip M. Turner Lifetime Achievement Award, Dahn van Laarz, A new Selby Award was also awarded. This occasional award is in recognition and appreciation of continuous dedication and service to our communities, inspired by the deeds and service of the late and great Alan Selby (he’s the original “S” in Mr. S Leather). It was awarded to Dahn van Laarz. On Saturday, the judges for the Mr. San Francisco Leather 2018 and San Francisco Bootblack 2018 contest interviewed the contestants at SOMArts and the public could observe. I’ve noticed as I’ve traveled the country attending various contests that this “open” style of interviews is becoming more common. I think it potentially eliminates concerns the public might have about judging that otherwise takes place in private. Also on Saturday, the Leathermen’s Discussion Group held a Show and Tell educational session and the vendor area was open with kinky wares being sold by Wicked Grounds, Frugaldomme, Killer Bob, and Dorian Katz. New this year was onsite free and confidential HIV/STI/HepC testing. I’m always a fan of such testing being readily available as often as possible. Thanks for doing that, Alliance. That evening the public portion of the contest was held. International cabaret and burlesque sensation Alotta Boutté sang the National Anthem to start the evening off. Then she and Lance Holman, Mr. San Francisco Leather

2010, served as stellar MCs for the evening’s proceedings. The contestants this year for the Mr. San Francisco Leather title were: Ken Berard, Mr. Sober Leather 2018; Matt Welch, Mr. Bay Area Cub 2017; Colton Long, Mr. SF Eagle Leather 2018; Whisper, Mr. Daddy’s Barbershop Leather 2018; Stephan Ferris, Mr. Friendly Leather 2018; and Spencer Adam, Mr. Powerhouse Leather 2018. Vying for the first San Francisco Bootblack title were: Camryn Osbcura, Kenzi, and Victoria Bootblack. This year’s Mr. San Francisco Leather judges were: Ralph Bruneau, International Mr. Leather 2017; Geoff Millard, Mr. San Fran-

cisco Leather 2017; Chris Rice, currently September 2018 on the Bare Chest Calendar; Azalea, Ms. San Francisco Leather 2017; and Levi Halberstadt, Western and International Battalion Commander for the Dyke Uniform Corps. The judges for the San Francisco Bootblack contest were: slave Tabitha, International Ms. Bootblack 2015; Ms. V, International Ms. Bootblack 2007; and Gage Fisher, Mr. San Francisco Eagle 2014. As for the competition itself, I was impressed by everyone. And I mean every contestant, for both Mr. San Francisco Leather and San Francisco Bootblack. They all did an amazing job of presenting them-

selves, answering pop questions, and giving rocking speeches. There was honestly not a disappointing performance from any of them. Every contestant should be quite proud of how they conducted themselves. I’m sure the judges wrestled with their decisions. Before the contest winners were announced, the awarding of the newly named Leather Heart Award that replaces the former Brotherhood Award took place. This award is given to the person their fellow contestants believe best represents the friendly and open spirit of the contest. This year they chose Victoria Bootblack. After the judges scores were tallied, the emcees announced the winners. Mr. San Francisco Leather 2018 is Matt Welch, with Stephan Ferris first runner up and Spencer Adam second runner up. The first ever San Francisco Bootblack 2018 is Victoria Bootblack. Both winners appear to be awesome people. I’ve known Matt for a while and he’s demonstrated a longtime dedication to community service. Victoria also shined on stage throughout and captured the audience’s hearts. I have no doubt both will serve out their title years as respected representatives of the titles. After the contest the Alliance hosted a Victory Play Party at SF Catalyst. Then on Sunday there was a beverage benefit and auction at the SF Eagle to close out a great weekend. Thanks to the Alliance, volunteers, contestants and judges for a wonderful weekend. See you next year!t

For Leather Event listings, visit www.ebar.com/bartab Race Bannon is a local author, blogger and activist. You can reach him on his website, www.bannon.com.

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March 15-21, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 31

Shining Stars

Photos by Steven Underhill Beards & Booze @ The Edge B

eards & Booze, the new Friday Happy Hour at The Edge (5pm-9pm), draws guys with facial hair, and their fans and friends. DJ Brian Kent played groovy tunes, and fans and patrons celebrated the weekend. The Edge, 4149 18th St. www.edgesf.com See plenty more photos on BARtab’s Facebook page, facebook.com/lgbtsf.nightlife. See more of Steven Underhill’s photos at StevenUnderhill.com.