November 29, 2018 Edition of the Bay Area Reporter by Bay Area Reporter

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Vol. 48 • No. 48 • November 29-December 5, 2018

South Bay opens trans health center; OKs shelter

Openhouse announces lottery date

by Alex Madison

by Matthew S. Bajko

he South Bay’s first transgender-specific health clinic opens Thursday, November 29, for a half day inside the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in Jo-Lynn Otto downtown San Jose. Supervisor In other South Bay Ken Yeager news, the San Jose City Council on Tuesday voted to approve a lease for the county to operate an LGBT-specific adult homeless shelter. After two years in the making, the Gender Health Center will have a soft opening in December with limited services and be fully operational starting in January. The clinic will offer hormone treatments, trans-affirmative gynecologic care, sexually transmitted disease testing and treatment, HIV See page 12 >>

City Hall recalls Milk, Moscone

by Matthew S. Bajko

ay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and Mayor London Breed, who were both small children at the time of the 1978 assassinations of mayor George Moscone and supervisor Harvey Milk, held a special commemoration under the rotunda of City Hall Tuesday afternoon to honor the two men. They both credited their political predecessors with laying the groundwork for their own elections 40 years later this past June. “Young people today may not be aware of how significant it was to have Harvey Milk as the first openly gay elected leader in the city,” said Breed, who was 4 years old in 1978. “Mayor Moscone was making the kinds of appointments that were just not happening here in San Francisco. He made sure to appoint AfricanAmericans, women, and LGBT people. It was significant then and something we take for granted today.” See page 8 >>

Rick Gerharter

Santa visits Castro

anta stopped by the annual lighting of the Castro Merchants’ holiday tree Monday, November 26, to pass out candy canes to the children who were there. Groups participating in the tree lighting

included the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band, the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco, and the Golden Gate Men’s Chorus.

pplicants looking to be selected for 57 units of affordable housing aimed at LGBT seniors in San Francisco will have seven days to enter into the lottery starting next Friday, Kelly Sullivan December 7. Karyn Skultety, Ph.D The last day for people to submit the required application form will be the following Friday, December 14. It is expected that upward of 3,000 seniors, both LGBT and straight, age 62 and older will seek to live at the new building under construction at 95 Laguna Street. Openhouse, a nonprofit provider of LGBT senior services in San Francisco, disclosed the application window dates late on Wednesday, November 21, the day prior to Thanksgiving. It has since mailed out letters to those seniors See page 12 >>

Milk, Moscone celebrated at vigil

by David-Elijah Nahmod

light, steady rain did not deter about 500 people from gathering in San Francisco Tuesday, November 27, to mark the 40th anniversary of the assassinations of mayor George Moscone and supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to office in California. Disgruntled ex-supervisor Dan White snuck into City Hall and killed both men after he asked the mayor for his old job back and was refused. Joining the crowd that met in the Castro and marched to City Hall was Milk’s gay nephew, Stuart Milk; gay former supervisor Harry Britt; activist Cleve Jones; and a number of others who knew Milk personally. Younger people who had not yet been born when the assassinations took place in 1978 also came out to celebrate the lives of the two men. “Three years ago Harvey Milk was a character in ‘The Mayor of Castro Street,’ a book that I read in my little apartment in Denver,” Scott Bird, a gay 24-year-old, told the Bay Area Reporter. “I’d been to San Francisco many times but never knew his legacy until reading that book. Every time I came to this city I would come to this street and reflect on that legacy. I had no way of knowing that I would move here, and since I’ve been here I keep the reverence of that legacy with me. “I’m honored to be able to light this candle the same way they did 40 years ago in

Rick Gerharter

Former supervisor Harry Britt speaks at the candlelight march November 27 to mark the 40th anniversary of the City Hall assassinations of Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone.

remembrance of the hope that Harvey Milk gave to me and to so many others,” he added. Mayor London Breed praised the two progressive San Francisco leaders. “Thank you all for coming to honor the legacy of two amazing men,” she said. “Two men who paved the way for LGBT people, for people of color. Moscone had a partner in Harvey Milk to make sure that everyone was included.” The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus performed a rendition of “Singing For Our Lives (Gentle Angry People),” a song lesbian

singer-songwriter Holly Near wrote on the day of the assassinations. The chorus had sung the song on the steps of City Hall that very night for what was their first public performance. The song was updated slightly for the vigil. After the line “We are gay and straight together, and we are singing, singing for our lives,” the chorus added a new line: “We are trans and cis together, and we are singing, singing for our lives.” “I think it’s important for organizations like the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus to commemorate anniversaries like this so that people who are my age know where we came from,” said gay man Andrew Caldwell, 32. Caldwell also said that he would like to be able to thank Milk. “I would have loved to have seen what else he could have done with his life,” he said. David A. Diaz, a 53-year-old gay man who just joined the chorus, told the B.A.R. that he was “extremely proud” to have taken part in the evening. “It’s tremendously significant to me to get to be part of something that I think is part of history,” Diaz said. “Harvey Milk is my idol and hero. The year I came out was the year the documentary ‘The Times of Harvey Milk’ was released. He inspired me so much at an early age. I went from being a closeted, confused kid to being a full blown activist a year later.” Friends of Milk who spoke included Britt, See page 8 >>

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<< Community News

2 • Bay Area Reporter • November 29-December 5, 2018

Everything for the holidays

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y b p o St s ' ff i l C

Marching for trans lives P

eople carried signs remembering transgender people who have been killed during the past year as they marched from San Francisco City Hall to UC Hastings College of Law for a

cliffsvariety.com

by Alex Madison

here is a new sheriff in town. Lesbian Shannan Moon became California’s first openly LGBT sheriff when her opponent Bill Smethers conceded the race in Nevada County Monday, November 19. The latest vote tally shows Moon, currently an operations captain at the Nevada County Sheriff ’s Office, with 28,107 votes, or 57.83 percent, and Smethers, an executive lieutenant with the department, with 20,498 votes, or 42.17 percent. 12:53 PM In January, Moon will take her place as sheriff of the small northern California county’s largest law enforcement agency replacing Sheriff Keith Royal, who is retiring after first being elected in 1998. Moon, 50, spoke with the Bay Area Reporter Wednesday and said she’s proud to be the first lesbian sheriff, but that she looks forward to a time in which being a gay sheriff doesn’t make headlines. “I just look at it as it’s who I am,” she said. “It’s difficult to look

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outside of me, but I understand the impact externally and that’s the part I still try to be cognizant of. It’s a good thing for the LGBT community to have.” In the June primary in the county that includes the towns of Truckee, Nevada City, and Grass Valley, Moon and Smethers advanced to the general election after coming in first and second. Former Grass Valley Police Chief John Foster came in third. The first priority for Moon is creating a five-year strategic plan for the department. Though she does not plan to implement any specific LGBT polices, she said, “the fact that I am here and people in the community can know that because of my perspective and who I am, there will be more of a voice for fairness and equity and equal treatment.” The stepmom of three has served Nevada County in various law enforcement positions for over three decades. According to her campaign website, she is the first woman to earn the ranks of sergeant,

Nevada County Sheriff-elect Shannan Moon

lieutenant, and captain in the 167year history of the Nevada County Sheriff ’s Office. She has served as a major crimes detective, narcotics K9 handler, led the hostage negotiation team, and has been a Superior Court bailiff. “I have made a lot of firsts here,” she said. “I grew up in this community and it’s a beautiful place to live. For the last 28 years, I have looked at

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Transgender Day of Remembrance program November 20. In the background, City Hall was lit in the colors of the trans flag that evening. See the Resist column for more on TDOR.

Lesbian wins Nevada County sheriff’s race

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See page 13 >>

On Lok helps LGBT seniors this holiday season by Alex Madison

the Fall Prevention Program, Always Active, and nutrition lectures every d Lehmann spends at least four week at the center. But it’s lunch days a week at On Lok’s 30th where he gets most of his socializaStreet Senior Center having lunch, tion in, a very important aspect of his exercising, and his favorite, socializlife that he doesn’t find elsewhere. Now Open Thursday to 7pm! ing with other seniors. The gay man “I have met a lot of really nice peoroad Mountain road Mountain Mountainis one of thousands of older adults, ple from being at the center,” he said. road Now OpentoThursday to 7pm! LGBTs included, who utilize servic- “The center is important to everyone Every Now Thursday April between 4 & 7pm Open in Thursday 7pm! es offered through the nonprofit’s who comes here. I have friends here I Now Open Thursday to 7pm! Thursday to 7pm! take 20% Now OFF Open all parts, accessories & clothing.* various programs. wouldn’t have otherwise.” The meal service that began in Every Thursday April between & 7pm EveryinThursday in 4April between 4 & 7pm On Lok is a San Francisco-based *Salesbetween limited 4to&stock Every Thursday in April 7pmon hand. senior health care organization that Thursday in April between 4 & 7pm 1979 provides hot meals to nearly takeEvery 20%take OFF all parts, accessories & clothing.* 20%Thursday OFF all parts, accessories & clothing.* NowOFF Open 7pm! take 20% OFF to all & parts, accessories & clothing.*is the parent organization to mul3,000 low-income San Francisco setake 20% all parts, accessories clothing.* *Sales limited to stock on hand. tiple nonprofits niors who are susceptible to hunger limited to stock on hand.whose mission is *Sales to stock on hand. *Sales limited to stock on*Sales hand. limited to improve quality of life and care and the health problems associated Spring Every Thursday in April between 4 & 7pm for seniors. On November 6, On with poor nutrition. Every year, the got m take 20% OFF all parts, accessories We’ve & clothing.* Lok launched Mission Nutrition, program serves more than 88,000 ready to ride an initiative to bring awareness to meals at the 30th Street center and *Sales limited to stock on hand. its popular community and homefive other dining locations throughdelivered meals program run out of out the city, officials said. Another the 30th Street center. 130,000 meals are packaged and deLehmann, 70, retired two years livered to almost 350 seniors, many Rick Gerharter 1065 & 1077 Valencia (Btwn (Btwn 21st & 22nd St.) •St.) SF • SF 10651065 & 1077 Valencia 21st & 22nd ago after being a cab driver in San disabled, at their home every year. 1065 & 1077 Valencia (Btwn 21st & 22nd St.) • SF & 1077 Valencia (Btwn 21st & 22nd St.) • SF SALES 415-550-6600 • REPAIRS 415-550-6601 Ed Lehmann stands outside Francisco for more than 30 years. He The number of LGBTs who parHybrid/City SALES 415-550-6600 •REPAIRS REPAIRS 415-550-6601 SALES 415-550-6600 • REPAIRS 415-550-6601 SALES 415-550-6600 •Thu. 415-550-6601 Lok’s 30th Street Senior Mon.Sat. 10-6, 10-7, Sun. 11-5 1065 &10-6, 1077 Valencia (Btwn 21st &Sun. 22nd11-5 St.) would • SFoften drop passengers off at the ticipate in the On Lok meal programs On Mon-Sat Sun 11-5 Center, where he goes Mon.Sat. 10-6, Thu. 10-7, Mon.Sat. 10-6, 10-6, Thu. 10-7, Sun. 11-5 Mon.Sat. Thu. 10-7, Sun. 11-5 senior center and they raved about it, is not yet known as the intake forms frequently for activities. SALES 415-550-6600 • REPAIRS 415-550-6601 so he decided to give it a shot. See page 13 >> 1065 & 1077 Valencia (Btwn 21st & 22nd St.) • SF Mon.- Sat. 10-6, Thu. 10-7, Sun. 11-5 Today, Lehmann participates in

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<< Open Forum

4 • Bay Area Reporter • November 29-December 5, 2018

Volume 48, Number 48 Nov. 29-Dec. 5, 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 • Alex Madison CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Ray Aguilera • Tavo Amador • Race Bannon Erin Blackwell • Roger Brigham Brian Bromberger • Victoria A. Brownworth Brent Calderwood • Philip Campbell Heather Cassell • Belo Cipriani • Dan Renzi Christina DiEdoardo • Richard Dodds Michael Flanagan • Jim Gladstone David Guarino • Liz Highleyman Brandon Judell • John F. Karr • Lisa Keen Matthew Kennedy • Joshua Klipp David Lamble • Max Leger Michael McDonagh • Juanita MORE! 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 • Fred Rowe Steven Underhil • Dallis Willard • Bill Wilson ILLUSTRATORS & CARTOONISTS Paul Berge • Christine Smith ADVERTISING/ADMINISTRATION Colleen Small Bogitini VICE PRESIDENT OF ADVERTISING Scott Wazlowski – 415.829.8937 NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Rivendell Media – 212.242.6863

LEGAL COUNSEL Paul H. Melbostad, Esq.

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.

Giants cut down by owner

he San Francisco Giants long-celebrated support for diversity was undermined and undone when it was revealed that the team’s principal owner, billionaire Florida resident Charles Johnson, made not one but two political donations to racist Giants principal groups or candidates. owner Charles The first was $1,000 to Johnson Black Americans for the President’s Agenda, a super PAC that released a racist attack ad in Arkansas. The second, made by Johnson and his wife, was a $5,400 contribution to Mississippi Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, who won her runoff race Tuesday but has been under fire for her own racist comments. Now, prominent civil rights leaders, including the state and local branches of the NAACP, are calling for a boycott of the team while Giants executives scramble to distance themselves from their clueless owner. That’s right, Johnson’s attorney, Joe Cotchett, said that Johnson wasn’t aware of the racist taint of either the super PAC or Hyde-Smith’s comments. That’s unbelievable, considering Hyde-Smith’s November 2 statement about a local rancher (“If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row”) was widely publicized, as was her decision not to issue a formal apology. Johnson and his wife made the donation to Hyde-Smith on November 20, nine days after video of her comment surfaced. Hyde-Smith is a vile woman who has been

photographed proudly wearing Confederate attire and then doubled down on the ensuing controversy, just like her biggest supporter, President Donald Trump. Lest anyone not get the connection, Hyde-Smith’s “public hanging” comment was widely interpreted as a reference to lynchings, of which there were 581 in Mississippi – more than any other state – from 1882 to 1968, according to the Tuskegee Institute. It’s a stain on America that remains blood-soaked today. It was just last summer that white supremacists marched in Virginia and one man drove his car into a crowd of protesters, killing a woman. Giants President and CEO Larry Baer said this week that the team can’t control the actions of the 30 owners, or who any of their employees support politically. That may be true, but it certainly does not exonerate any of those owners who don’t adequately evaluate political candidates they’re supporting or donating to or don’t care. It’s a tone-deaf message when the team he owns is in San Francisco, a world leader on diversity, inclusion, and equality for all. It’s been a shock for many longtime baseball fans and it’s within their rights to object. The Giants are one of the few professional sports teams that have led the way on inclusivity. Back in 1993 the Giants held the first Until There’s A Cure Day game to bring attention to HIV/AIDS. One of the players at the time, closer Rod Beck, was the initial spokesman for that inaugural event, and remained involved during his tenure with the

team. In recent years, the Giants held one of the first LGBT Pride Nights in professional sports, which continues today. For the 2019 season, the team will hold special nights for various communities, including Latinos, Irish-Americans, African-Americans, and even Marvel comic fans. In short, team executives know their audience, even if some of the owners do not. Cotchett said this week that Johnson would ask Hyde-Smith for his campaign contribution to be returned if she’s a racist. (It was reported Tuesday that he did.) If that’s the case, we expect Johnson to immediately ask for his money back. He did request for the PAC donation to be returned and issued a rare statement last month condemning any form of racism. But the larger point is that the Giants ownership needs to get in synch with the team and community. The Giants front office may not be able to tell owners what to do when it comes to politics, but the team needs to send a stronger message to fans to counterbalance any damage by forcefully connecting with and supporting minority communities. Sports teams are usually owned by very rich white men who do what they want because they can, and unfortunately, that privilege often collides with the very fan base that supports a team. The Giants are in such a pickle, and whether a boycott is successful or not, the team needs to take unequivocal action to demonstrate its commitment to diversity – especially since they risk tarnishing their reputation in the eyes of their fans because at least one owner does not.t

HIV response fails black GBTs

by Ace Robinson

ast week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its HIV Surveillance Report (https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/ library/reports/hiv-surveillance.html). And, like every year in recent memory, the result told us what we already suspected. HIV incidence has improved for nearly all demographics except black gay/bisexual/same-gender loving men and transgender women (GBT). In the United States in 2017, 38,281 people were diagnosed with the virus. As a whole, that is excellent news as the numbers are ticking downward. However, for black gay men and transgender women, the numbers remain horrendous. They account for at least 10,007 of the new infections, which is 26 percent of the new infections in the United States. Black GBT people account for 0.3 percent of American residents. What does that mean? The national response to the HIV epidemic has continued to utterly fail black GBT individuals. The data does not lie. Currently, one in two black gay men are predicted to acquire HIV during their lifetime; although black GBT people exhibit fewer behaviors that expose them to HIV. They continue to see unsatisfactory levels of HIV infection and HIV-related deaths. Roscoe Boyd, executive vice president at SLAY TV and steering committee member of the undetectable equals untransmittable, or U=U campaign, proclaimed, “We are in a state of emergency. We need to sound the alarm because the people who have been doing this work should not be there. The predication that half of black gay, bisexual, and transgender people contracting HIV is not definitive.” Many progressive leaders in the HIV field posit that the future of the HIV response does not have to look like the past. One of the most vocal leaders advocating for change is Robert Newells, who is the executive director of AIDS Project East Bay in Oakland. He is clear and direct in his position: “We cannot expect to see any change as long as there is no one leading these organizations who looks like the people sitting in the waiting room.” His focus continues to be on meaningful engagement with disproportionately impacted communities. He shared: “I not only look like and love like the people who are getting infected at such high rates, but I also live in their neighborhood. I do not have to be invited to come to their

Ace Robinson

neighborhood when I already live there. For me there is no such thing as a hard-to-reach population.” Christopher Hucks-Ortiz, chair of Black Caucus of the HIV Prevention Trials Network, concurred. “It only makes sense that, in order to really provide evidence-based and culturally sound programs and strategies, it requires that we seek leaders who come from these same communities,” he said. We find many people working in the field asking for a different approach. HIV clinician and advocate, Dr. David Malebranche of Morehouse Medical College, said, “Those of us who work in the HIV field need to stop pointing fingers and asking ‘what’s wrong with these young black men?,’ but turn the mirror around and ask ‘what’s wrong with us?’” He continued, “We need to stop asking for permission to do the work that needs to be done to stop HIV in our communities.” Many black BGT people have become disillusioned by the lack of inclusion in senior leadership in HIV organizations and have left the field. Boyd declared, “We have many black gay men who are excellent in their craft. But we are not allowed to change the field even if it will save the lives of other black gay men.” Some people have begun to redefine the systems that have failed them and their communities. Daniel Driffin co-founded THRIVE SS and serves as director of development. THRIVE SS is an internationally recognized peer support model that provides traditional

in-person support to help address the issues that many men who have sex with men of color face surrounding HIV infection. Driffin said, “Thrive SS was created because racism, homophobia, and transphobia keep black gay men and transgender women out of key decision-making roles.” He added, “Racism forces us to start new community-based organizations because the structures that currently exist do not allow for innovation and change.” These messages and calls for action are not sitting in a bubble. One of the most prolific qualitative researchers within the transgender community has begun to the set the stage. Tonia Poteat, Ph.D., assistant professor at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, said, “The intersection of transphobia and racism lead to high-risk context and less access to medically and culturally-competent care.” She understands how important it is to mentor and make space for transgender people of color. Poteat stated, “Change has to come from the top and has to be infused from the leadership [of HIV service organizations] throughout the staff.” We have proven tools to reduce the rate of new HIV infections that many others have benefited from except black BGT communities. We know from HIV Prevention Trial Network’s HPTN 073 that when PrEP, the HIV prevention medication, is made available to black gay men in a culturally competent manner that uptake and sustained utilization follows. We also know that the message of U=U, when shared with all people, including black GBT people, empowers them. However, for far too many black GBT individuals, those messages do not reach them in a way that can be effectively heard. Boyd voiced his concern when he stated, “Our systems do not seek to empower us, but to control us.” No one wants to see only a few groups improve their health outcomes. We want to reach the proverbial mountaintop as one. Our collective hope is that the HIV surveillance report in 2019 will be different than the one just released. We have the opportunity to improve an uncertain future. Hucks-Ortiz declared, “As long as the face of HIV continues to be blacker, younger, and GBT, it is imperative that we also look for new leadership that matches these populations.” George Bernard Shaw once said: “Progress is impossible without change.” We have a choice. The time is now. Onward. Together.t Ace Robinson is the South Los Angeles HIV commissioner.

Letters>>

LGBTs and climate change

November 29-December 5, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 5

In his original rainbow flag, Gilbert Baker reserved green for nature. Yet, what exactly is the LGBTQ community’s special relationship to nature that compelled Baker to include it in what would become our greatest symbol? I’ve thought about this question a lot as I’ve stared out my window at the apocalyptic smoke blanketing the Bay Area. Perhaps it is because we have empathy for the fragile and downtrodden. Nature’s fragility has never been more apparent than with the recent wildfires. I’m 24 years old, and I’m scared to death by climate change. I don’t know what kind of world I will welcome my children into, or if there will be a life worth having for my grandchildren. United Nations climate scientists have warned we have only 12 years to take radical action, wean our country off of fossil fuels, and mitigate the worst of climate change. Fortunately, the LGBTQ community is no stranger to radical action. For 50 years, LGBTQ people have sharpened their teeth as activists, politicians, and changemakers through gay liberation, AIDS, marriage equality, and transgender rights. It’s now time we come together and do what others will not: fight for the future of our planet, our children, and the human race. The political networks and institutions we have built must hold our leaders accountable for a stable climate, clean water, and healthy air. We can start by supporting the Green New Deal, a vision championed by Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to create millions of green jobs, protect working people of all backgrounds, and move our country to renewable energy. This month’s wildfires have taught us that no one is safe from climate change: not Neil Young or Miley Cyrus, not the residents of Paradise, or those of us in the Bay Area. Ignoring the issue out of fear or despair is not an

option for our planet’s young people who will live with our new climate reality for decades. The situation will be most dire for the poor and marginalized who will have no choice but to face head-on the encroaching flames and rising tides of our future. The bad news is that climate change is here, stronger and faster than we predicted. The good news is that we have the tools to save ourselves. Now we must only use them.

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Rainbow, trans flags in UN Plaza

The mayor raising the trans Pride flag off her balcony recently was a laudable step for visibility, as you recently reported [“Breed declares Trans Awareness Month,” November 15]. Let’s build on that small step forward. I would like to see enormous trans Pride and gay Pride rainbow flags flying in the center of United Nations Plaza on December 10, which is Human Rights Day. At a time when the Trump administration and too many other world leaders are pushing back on liberation and solidarity strides made by queer folks around the world, our great city of San Francisco, which birthed the United Nations, would send a powerful, large, and loud message if our Pride flags flew at this central location. All it would take is for San Francisco Public Works, the agency responsible for the two flagpoles at this plaza, to obtain the correct sized flags and hoist them, at minimal cost. Flying our Pride flags at UN Plaza annually is an idea we ought to consider. Visibility = Life!

400 Montgomery Street, Ste. 505, San Francisco, CA

Michael Petrelis San Francisco

Fate of gay CA Dem chair Bauman is uncertain

by Matthew S. Bajko

hether or not gay California Democratic Party Chair Eric Bauman remains in the high-profile position will rest on the findings of an investigation into charges that he sexually harassed young men working for the statewide party and how he handles the shocking allegations against him, a number of LGBT Democratic leaders told the Bay Area Reporter since the scandal broke over the holiday weekend. Gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), a former chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party, said Tuesday that he first learned about the allegations over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend like many party officials. He remains in the dark, he said, about the details of what allegedly took place. According to several sources, it is believed to stem from Bauman’s interactions with at least two male interns or staffers. He reportedly has privately denied the allegations in conversations with party officials. “We need to wait for the investigation to be done,” said Wiener in response to a question on if he thought Bauman would remain as party chair. “Understandably, he is being respectful of the right of the people to come forward to tell their stories. But I do not know what is being alleged. I want to wait to see the details and result of the investigation.” Also on Tuesday the executive board of the state party’s LGBT Caucus issued its own statement in response to the news about Bauman. “The LGBT Caucus is committed to the principle that all people should be able to participate in workplaces and the public square without fear of harassment, assault, or abuse. This is the only way each one of us can bring all of our unique talents forward and thrive. Our caucus fights to ensure a healthy and safe environment for every person,” read the statement, posted to the caucus’ Facebook page by its Co-Chair Evan Michael Minton. “We believe that an unbiased, objective and thorough fact-finding process is critical for the sake of all parties at this time and we would like to assure our caucus members that our party leadership has initiated an

Courtesy AP

California Democratic Party Chair Eric Bauman is the target of an investigation into alleged sexual misconduct.

independent investigation.” Omar Torres, a gay San Jose resident who represents Region 7 on the state party committee, told the B.A.R. Tuesday night that he believes Bauman should step down immediately as chair and signed on to a petition being circulated among party delegates calling for him to do so. He feels he does not need to wait until the investigation results, said Torres, as he has heard for years about Bauman behaving inappropriately with young male party members. “Our party does not need this,” said Torres. “We have to remain above the fray from sexual harassment or assault. We have to stand apart from the Republican Party. I cannot continue to tolerate sexual harassment in our party.” As the B.A.R. reported online Monday evening, Bauman decided to take a leave of absence effective at 5 p.m. that day while the Sacramento law firm Churchwell White conducts an investigation into the accusations. The state party’s First Vice Chair Alexandra “Alex” Gallardo Rooker is assuming the duties of chair for the time being. State party spokesman Mike Roth explained in an emailed statement to reporters that Bauman had made the decision “after taking the holiday weekend to consider the most constructive path forward for” the state party. “Chair Bauman believes this decision is the best way to ensure the

independence and integrity of the process,” stated Roth. “The party is confident that the procedures in place will allow for all parties to come forward freely and provide for a thorough and complete review.” The announcement came hours after the B.A.R. reported that gay San Francisco Democratic Party Chair David Campos felt Bauman needed to relinquish his day-to-day management duties of the statewide party while being investigated. “One thing I would say is I don’t see how he can perform his duties while an investigation is ongoing,” said Campos, a former supervisor. “From my perspective, at a minimum, he should take a leave of absence so the work of the party can continue.” The Friday after Thanksgiving the state party’s Second Vice Chair Daraka Larimore-Hall revealed in a letter to party leaders that a number of the party’s “young political professionals” had accused Bauman of sexual harassment and assault in conversations with him. He didn’t provide any details of the allegations and said the individuals desired to be left alone or remain anonymous. “Their stories are devastating. I believe them,” he wrote. After Bauman refused to resign when he confronted him about the charges, Larimore-Hall filed charges calling for Bauman’s removal as chair with the state party’s human resources department and its secretary, Jenny Bach. “Obviously, it is completely unacceptable for Chairman Bauman to remain in office given these credible, corroborated and utterly heart-breaking allegations,” wrote Larimore-Hall, adding that he would “not tolerate sexual harassment or assault on any level. And once a thorough investigation is conducted, we must work to ensure this never happens again.” The matter then broke open publicly when Congressman Ro See page 8 >>

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<< National News

6 • Bay Area Reporter • November 29-December 5, 2018

New PrEP data show nearly 30 percent rise by Liz Highleyman

he number of people taking PrEP rose by nearly 30 percent from 2016 to 2017, but disparities remain, according to updated figures released this week by AIDSVu. Numbers will likely increase further following a recent U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendation that people at high risk for HIV infection should be offered PrEP. “It is our hope that the newly available 2017 data on AIDSVu will allow health departments, policy makers, researchers, and community leaders to better understand and visualize trends in PrEP use, monitor progress, and address disparities in their communities so they can develop programs and policies to increase PrEP awareness and access where it is needed most,” said AIDSVu principal scientist Patrick Sullivan of Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health. In March, Emory and Gilead Sciences launched a project to make the latest PrEP numbers available via AIDSVu, an interactive online map of the U.S. HIV/AIDS epidemic. The project collects data from more than 100,000 pharmacies, hospitals, outpatient facilities, and physician practices across the country. At that time, Sullivan’s team reported that PrEP use had increased from 8,768 prescriptions in 2012 – when the federal Food and Drug Administration approved Truvada (tenofovir/ emtricitabine) for HIV prevention – to 77,120 in 2016. The new numbers, released during a webinar November 27, indicate that approximately 172,479 people were using PrEP in 2017. This estimate is not precise and the actual number could range from around 100,000 to 200,000.

This represents an average annual increase of 56 percent over the fiveyear period, including a 29 percent jump during the last year alone, Sullivan told webinar participants. But these figures reflect a conservative, or minimum, estimate, as not all sources of PrEP are included (for example, health systems like Kaiser Permanente with proprietary pharmacies). Many experts think the real number is substantially higher.

Disparities persist

The latest data show ongoing disparities in PrEP use, with some of the populations at highest risk for HIV infection lagging behind. Women were early adopters of PrEP – in part to enable safe conception for mixed-status couples – accounting for about half of users in 2012. But while the number of women using PrEP has remained stable, the number of men has increased dramatically. Women account for 19 percent of new HIV diagnoses, but made up just 6 percent of PrEP users in 2017. Sullivan said the AIDSVu data cannot discern how many transgender people use PrEP because medical record and billing systems “don’t fully capture” information about gender identity. Likewise, records often do not include information on race and ethnicity. However, available data suggest that African-Americans are underrepresented among PrEP users. Although they make up about 12 percent of the U.S. population and account for 44 percent of new HIV diagnoses, black people are thought to make up only about 10 percent of PrEP users. Sullivan said researchers are working to address this data gap and plan to release

Rick Gerharter

A research project shows PrEP use has risen nearly 30 percent in the U.S. and that San Francisco’s gay community has widely adopted it.

figures on PrEP use by race and ethnicity in 2019. PrEP use is about twice as common in the Northeast compared with other regions of the United States, Sullivan reported. Although the South accounted for more than half of all new HIV diagnoses, it was home to just 30 percent of PrEP users in 2017. The top five states or jurisdictions with the highest rates of PrEP use were Washington, D.C., New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Washington state. Although the gay community in San Francisco widely adopted PrEP early on, this was not enough to put California in the top tier. Next year AIDSVu plans to release more granular data on PrEP use by county. “It’s worth noting that four of the top five all have campaigns to end AIDS or Getting to Zero efforts,” Sullivan said. “We see the greatest rates of PrEP use in cities that are participating in organized efforts to end AIDS.”

USPSTF recommendation

On November 20, the USPSTF issued draft recommendations on

HIV screening and PrEP use. Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention already recommends PrEP for those at substantial risk, USPSTF guidelines are important because private insurers, Medicare, and state Medicaid programs are legally required to pay for screening and prevention services with an “A” or “B” grade. An “A” rating indicates a high degree of certainty that the benefit is substantial. “The evidence is clear: when taken as prescribed, PrEP is highly effective at preventing HIV,” USPSTF member Dr. Seth Landefeld of the University of Alabama at Birmingham said in a statement announcing the guidelines. “To make a difference in the lives of people at high risk for HIV, clinicians need to identify patients who would benefit and offer them PrEP.” The screening recommendation says clinicians should offer HIV screening for adolescents and adults ages 15 to 65, as well as for younger adolescents if they are at increased risk. Screening is also recommended for pregnant women. Both are “A” recommendations. The PrEP recommendation says clinicians should offer PrEP to people who are at high risk of HIV acquisition. This is also a grade “A” recommendation. The sole recommended PrEP regimen is once-daily Truvada. Although studies have shown that tenofovir alone, or Truvada taken “on demand” before and after sex, also prevent HIV infection, only daily Truvada is FDA-approved for this purpose. Clinical trials of men who have sex with men have shown that Truvada reduces the risk of HIV infection by around 90 percent if used

consistently. In real-world studies and demonstration projects, no one who took PrEP at least four times a week became infected. PrEP also offers a high degree of protection for women, although they may require stricter adherence. There is less evidence regarding people who inject drugs. People at high risk include HIVnegative gay and bisexual men with HIV-positive sex partners, recent sexually transmitted infections, or inconsistent use of condoms for receptive or insertive anal sex. Heterosexual women and men are also considered at risk if they have condomless sex with high-risk partners of unknown HIV status. People who inject drugs are at risk if they share needles or other injection equipment. Both draft recommendations are open for public comment until December 26. HIV providers and advocates welcomed the new recommendations. The PrEP recommendation “holds the potential to facilitate access to a proven and valuable intervention for people who are exposed to higher risks of HIV infection,” the HIV Medicine Association said in a statement. “The USPSTF recommendation could significantly raise the percentage accessing it now, to many more, particularly those with health insurance coverage.” The AIDS Institute issued a stronger statement: “Once finalized, there should be no excuse for clinicians not to recommend PrEP to people who are at risk of HIV. Additionally, thanks to the Affordable Care Act, private insurers must cover PrEP without cost-sharing.”t To submit public comment, go to https://bit.ly/2QaTvwv.

Trump asks court to lift block on trans ban by Lisa Keen

he Trump administration has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to vacate a national injunction that is currently blocking the president’s proposed ban on transgender people in the military. The Trump administration tried this procedural move in September in one of four lawsuits challenging the transgender ban; but its earlier request was more complicated than just ending the injunction,

and the administration eventually withdrew it. In response to the administration’s new petition November 23, the Supreme Court gave attorneys for the parties challenging the ban until December 24 to file briefs regarding the injunction request. The Trump administration will be given a chance to reply to that brief. So, it will likely be January, or later, before the Supreme Court either grants or denies the administration’s request to review its

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arguments to vacate the injunction. In his November 23 petition to the high court, Solicitor General Noel Francisco argued that waiting for the normal judicial process to run its course would jeopardize the “readiness, good order and discipline, sound leadership, and unit cohesion” that are “essential to military effectiveness and lethality.” The Trump administration petition asks the Supreme Court to intervene now in three of four lawsuits where a district court has put

an injunction in place. It also asks the court to rule on the “overall dispute.” Jennifer Levi, director of the transgender project for LGBTQ Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, said the issue before the court is on the injunction but the court could take up the transgender ban itself. “There are a number of things that make the request extraordinary,” explained Levi. “One is that they are leapfrogging the appeals process in filing a cert petition

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before judgment from the appeals courts. The other is that they are angling to try to get the court to review the constitutionality of the ban – on the merits. Both are extraordinary and not supported by precedent. But time will tell, of course, what the court decides to do.” And the court, added Levi, “can do whatever it wants.” The timing of the Trump administration request puts it up against another extraordinary moment in the See page 8 >>

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<< Community News

8 • Bay Area Reporter • November 29-December 5, 2018

Milk, Moscone

Vigil

From page 1

who took over Milk’s seat on the Board of Supervisors seat after the assassinations. Others who attended included gay former supervisor and state Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, Milk’s campaign manager Anne Kronenberg, and former supervisor Carol Ruth Silver, who served with Milk. Gay former supervisor David Campos, chair of the San Francisco

hall anywhere in this nation,” said Brown, 84, adding that his friend “George Moscone’s politics inspired all of us.” It was just five years ago on November 10 that Jonathan Moscone stood on the mayor’s balcony inside City Hall to wed his husband, Darryl Jude Carbonaro. The well-known

arts leader and advocate said he agreed to return this week to the ceremonial spot in order to celebrate the life of his late father and not to mourn his death. “What we miss is the man himself,” said Moscone, 54, whose father taught him and his siblings how to play tennis and schooled them in

progressive politics. “We didn’t see enough of him when he was alive and we would do anything to see him again.” Milk’s gay nephew, Stuart Milk, recalled how his uncle had taken him to opening night of the Broadway musical “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” which he had co-produced, and brought him backstage after the show to meet the cast. He was the only family member he felt close enough with to talk about how, as a 12-year-old, he felt there was something different about himself. “He was the only person in my life who accepted me and who I could say anything to. I didn’t have the same relationship with my father that I had with Harvey,” said Milk, who was 17 and in college when his uncle was killed. “I lost that touchstone and color in my life that day.” Noting that on Monday he had joined the picket line with Marriott

Democratic Party, also attended. “The campaign were the best days of my life,” said Kronenberg. “We knew we could change the world, and we overcame, we now have gay marriage and things I never thought we’d have in my lifetime. The bullet in his brain opened closet doors and now we have many Harvey Milks.” Ammiano referenced the Trump administration’s actions against immigrants. “It’s changed but it’s not changed,” he said. “We’re gassing

children and putting them in cages. I want to honor what we’ve done but I also want change.” Campos did not know Milk, but knows what he stood for. “He was against injustice against anyone, not just the LGBT community,” said Campos. “His message is as relevant today as it was 40 years ago as we see what’s happening at the border with tear gas being used on children. Harvey would be outraged and would be speaking out against it.”

After the speeches people marched down Market Street from the Castro to City Hall. The mood was quiet, somber, and reflective. There was no chanting. At City Hall there was a moment of silence for Milk and Moscone, after which Jones thanked everyone for coming. There were no speeches. “This shows me the solidarity of a generation,” Hannah Gonsalves, 19, who said she identified as sexually fluid, told the B.A.R. at City Hall. “Harvey Milk is a person we can all

look up to. I think like the speakers said – he’s important now as much as ever. Harvey Milk made it easier for me. He broke the barriers and made it all possible. I continue the fight.” Gonsalves was accompanied by her friend, Meredith Sheppard, 19, a straight ally. “I think it’s important to show support,” said Sheppard. “Everyone deserves to be loved and respected, no matter what their identity. Milk paved the way for people to feel accepted and celebrated.”t

District Judge Jon Tigar had blocked his executive order to severely restrict the ability of immigrants to apply for asylum. In an extremely rare move, Chief Justice John Roberts responded, rebuffing Trump’s suggestion that a federal judge appointed by President Barack Obama was biased against Trump when he issued a temporary national injunction against Trump’s asylum plan.

Roberts told the Associated Press, “We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them. The independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.” Because a public statement with such political implications from the chief justice is such an unusual event, Roberts’ comment was widely publicized and discussed. Trump then attempted a response on Twitter, saying, “Sorry Chief Justice John Roberts, but you do indeed have ‘Obama judges,’ and they have a much different point of view than the people who are charged with the safety of our country.” With the transgender ban injunction, three out of four lawsuits have been granted a national injunction pending judicial review of the constitutionality of the ban. Those three are from Los Angeles (Stockman v. Trump), Washington state (Karnoski v. Trump), and the District of Columbia (Doe v. Trump). The latter case is one that prompted the Trump administration’s first request for Supreme

Court intervention. In September, a judge for the federal district court in Washington, D.C. ruled that a revised policy banning transgender people was “essentially the same” as the original policy Trump announced in 2017. She refused to vacate the initial national injunction. The Trump petition November 23 suggests all four cases could be consolidated on a review of the constitutionality of the proposed ban. The fourth case is from Maryland (Stone v. Trump). All were filed soon after Trump announced in 2017 that he intended to ban transgender people from the military. He later “revised” the wording of the proposal to ban, with few exceptions, anyone with a history of gender dysphoria and require those without gender dysphoria to dress consistent with their identified gender at birth. GLAD, which along with the National Center for Lesbian Rights, is representing plaintiffs in two of the lawsuits, said that vacating the injunction alone would “dramatically upend the lives and families of thousands of trans service members and enlistees, and disrupt the military as a whole.” Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, which is leading one

of the 9th Circuit lawsuits, called the Trump petition to the Supreme Court “wildly premature and inappropriate.” “It seems the Trump administration can’t wait to discriminate,” said Lambda Legal attorney Peter Renn. “There is no valid reason to jump the line now and seek U.S. Supreme Court review before the appellate courts have even ruled on the preliminary issues before them.” Of the three cases cited in Trump’s petition, all have cleared the district court phase on the issue of an injunction against the policy. But only one has reached the threejudge appeals panel phase on the injunction issue and that panel has not yet issued its opinion. No court has yet to hear arguments on the constitutionality of the proposed ban itself. Sarah McBride, a national spokeswoman for the Human Rights Campaign, which is a plaintiff in one of the four lawsuits, said she believes Trump officials are trying to circumvent normal judicial procedure “because they know that every day that transgender people continue to enlist and serve with distinction is another day that the courts and the public see this irrational policy for what it is.”t

any allegation brought forward by anyone who believes they have been caused pain.” He added that he looks “forward to putting these allegations behind us and moving forward as unified Democrats.” Bauman, who turns 60 next month, lives in North Hollywood with his husband, Michael Andraychak. He became the first openly LGBT chair of the California Democratic Party in May 2017 in a heated and close contest with progressive leader Kimberly Ellis of the Bay Area. He won by a 60vote margin, which Ellis contested. Campos told the B.A.R. that he first learned about allegations of improper behavior between Bauman and young people during a bus tour ahead of the November 6 midterm elections on the Thursday prior to Election Day. Bauman was expected to participate in a get-outthe-vote event Friday, November 2,

in San Francisco that the local party and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) had coordinated. After learning about the allegations, the local party leaders asked Bauman not to attend. “Both Pelosi’s folks and I felt the allegations were serious enough that it was important for him not to come to our event,” said Campos. “We specifically requested at that point an investigation be done by the Democratic Party. I presume that process began right away.” While Campos believes at least one of the people alleged to have been harassed by Bauman attended the San Francisco event, he has not spoken directly with any of the victims. He stressed that they must be heard and empowered to tell their stories. “I don’t know the veracity of any of the allegations,” said Campos. “They are very serious and have to be taken very seriously.”t

From page 1

Mandelman, 45, noted that the decisions made by Moscone and Milk paved the way four decades later for Breed to be the city’s first black female mayor and for him to serve on the board, though his being the lone out supervisor is a low point in terms of LGBT representation on the board in recent decades. “We live in the city these men made,” said Mandelman, who later added, “Thank you Harvey and George.” San Francisco will never be the same after losing the two progressive leaders, said former mayor Willie Brown, who served with Moscone in the state Legislature and worked with him in 1975 to overturn California’s anti-gay sodomy law. “It was so many years ago that things happened in this City Hall that should not happen in any city

Trump ban

From page 6

history of the Supreme Court and the White House. Two days before the administration filed its petition, President Donald Trump derided the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (where two of the four transgender ban cases are pending) as a “disgrace.” He was angry that 9th Circuit

Bill Wilson

Cleve Jones, left, joined Jonathan Moscone, Mayor London Breed, Stuart Milk, and Supervisor Rafael Mandelman in speaking at City Hall Tuesday, the 40th anniversary of the assassinations of mayor George Moscone and Harvey Milk.

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Political Notebook

From page 5

Khanna (D-San Jose) tweeted about the allegations late Friday night, calling the accusations against Bauman “shocking.” He added that the party should replace Bauman as chair with Stanford law professor Michele Dauber, who in June led the successful recall of former Judge Aaron Persky due to his lenient sentencing of a Stanford swimmer who sexually assaulted and attempted to rape an unconscious woman. As other news organizations began reporting on the matter, Bauman released a short statement Saturday in which he did not deny the allegations made against him. He did disclose that “a respected outside investigator” was looking into the charges and would treat the individuals “with respect and free from any concerns of retaliation.” Bauman stated, “I take seriously

hotel workers going on their 55th day striking for a better contract, gay activist Cleve Jones said he could think of no better way to honor Milk and Moscone. A confidant and aide to Milk, Jones saw his friend’s legs sticking out into a hallway inside City Hall the morning of the murders. “It was so horrifying, all I could think was it is all over now. How do we move forward?” recalled Jones, 64, now a labor organizer. “All I could think was it’s over, it’s over.” But when he saw the sea of candles held by mourners in the plaza in front of City Hall on the evening of November 27, 1978, Jones knew that the fight for equal rights that Milk and Moscone had helped lead would not die with them. “I knew I was wrong. It was not over; it was just beginning,” said Jones. “Those two men taught us how to fight, and to love each other, and to hold on to that dream that makes this city so special.”t

Community News>>

November 29-December 5, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 9

Breed funds tenant attorney program and Community Development will oversee the program. It carried out a competitive process to select the funded organizations, the release stated. The Tenant Right to Counsel program is ramping up immediately, with full implementation planned for July.

RWF helps Camp Fire victims

Rick Gerharter

Mayor London Breed

compiled by Cynthia Laird

an Francisco Mayor London Breed this week announced that local nonprofit legal services organizations will receive $5.8 million in total funding over the next two years to provide assistance to city tenants facing evictions. The Tenant Right to Counsel program, as it’s known, is the first program of its kind in California and the second nationally, according to a November 26 news release from the mayor’s office. City voters approved Proposition F in June, which established the policy that all residential tenants facing eviction in San Francisco have a right to legal representation. One of the organizations slated to receive funding is the AIDS Legal Referral Panel. Bill Hirsh, ALRP executive director, told the Bay Area Reporter that the agency will receive about $115,000 for the current fiscal year as part of a collaborative with the Eviction Defense Collaborative. “We were able to bring on a new staff attorney on October 1 and this will have a big impact on our ability to serve people with HIV who are facing evictions,” Hirsh wrote in an email. Hirsh added that there are discussions among legal service providers around creating a seamless system of referrals for people in the city who are facing an eviction. “There will likely be a need for greater resources than the city has currently committed to this effort, but we are assessing that need and will be providing feedback to the city,” Hirsh added. Other organizations receiving funds are: Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus, Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach, Bay Area Legal Aid, Justice and Diversity Center of the Bar Association of San Francisco, La Raza Centro Legal, Legal Assistance to the Elderly, Open Door Legal, and the Tenderloin Housing Clinic. The Bar Association of San Francisco will also receive funding for mediation. In the release, Breed said that as she is a lifelong renter she knows what it’s like to face housing insecurity and the threat of eviction. “I fought to include funding for tenant legal defense services in the budget because no one should face eviction alone without knowing their rights,” she stated. Because Prop F did not create a funding source for its implementation, Breed and the Board of Supervisors rebalanced the city’s budget to include $1.9 million in fiscal year 2018-19 and $3.9 million in 201920 to fund the program, according to the release. The Mayor’s Office of Housing

The Rainbow World Fund is asking for donations to aid the victims of the Camp Fire in Butte County. So far, more than 80 people have died and the city of Paradise suffered major damage in what’s become California’s deadliest and most destructive wildfire. It was fully contained over the weekend. RWF, an LGBT humanitarian organization, is partnering with local LGBTQ groups that are mobilizing to provide front-line aid. “We are raising funds and collecting needed supplies to deliver to the affected areas,” Jeff Cotter, a gay man who’s executive director of RWF, wrote in an email to supporters. On December 8 and 15, RWF’s Rainbow Bus will be parked at Jane Warner Plaza in the Castro where people can donate monetary and in-kind items. Supplies most needed are bottled water, backpacks, toiletries (toothpaste and brushes, hand sanitizer, soap, sunscreen), diapers (baby and adult), feminine products, contact lens solutions, and new clothes only (pajamas, sweatpants, T-shirts, and maternity clothes). Volunteers are also needed to help with supply collection. To sign up, contact RWF at http://www. rainbowfund.org/contact-us/. To make a donation online, visit https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/1210623 (specify “Fire”).

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SF Pride solicits grand marshal noms; gives to community partners

The San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee is now accepting suggestions for 2019 community grand marshals. SF Pride is looking for local individuals who have contributed in large part to the Bay Area LGBTQI community; or as openly LGBTQIidentifying to the broader society. Nominees must live or be based in the nine Bay Area counties (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Mateo, Solano, and Sonoma). For the guidelines and to make suggestions, go to http://www. sfpride.org/grand-marshals/. The deadline is 11:45 p.m. January 9. In other SF Pride news, the organization recently gave $189,000 in proceeds from 2018 events to its community partners. Officials said that brings SF Pride’s total donation since 1997 to $3.1 million. SF Pride partners with Bay Area-based groups whose missions involve service to the LGBTQ communities.

Historical society gets challenge grant

The GLBT Historical Society has received a challenge grant that will match up to $50,000 in donations received by December 31. See page 13 >>

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<< Travel

10 • Bay Area Reporter • November 29-December 5, 2018

Hawaii is bursting with adventure by Heather Cassell

hen the Kilauea volcano erupted in May, I was back stateside but immediately took in the news. It was only days after I returned from the Island of Hawaii, commonly known as the Big Island, where locals and visitors were abuzz in anticipation about the pending eruption. Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes, had been discontented for decades, but she was getting agitated in April when I visited. The pending eruption was evident in the bubbling and spattering lava of the shield volcano at the crest of the Halema’uma’u Crater at the Kilauea Caldera. The Jaggar Museum at the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park remains closed. Hawaii magazine reported that it may not reopen, though most exhibits and artifacts have been moved. That overflow wowed onlookers during the day and photographers who ventured out to the observatory in the middle of the night. The early morning hours April 26 turned out to be a significant day and an once-in-a-lifetime event when I peered out at the crater

alongside the other photographers. The lava had broken through the crust on the crater floor and overflowed onto the lava lake at Kilauea’s summit. It was a signal of the eruption seven days later on May 3. (Portions of the park reopened in late September.) The United States Geological Survey reported that the Halema’uma’u Crater at the Kilauea Caldera increased from 280 feet to approximately 1,600 feet and the diameter more than doubled. It was the only period during my trip where the sun broke through the clouds for an entire day without one drop of rain. During the day, I visited the museum and observatory and enjoyed a half-day bike tour around the volcano courtesy of Volcano Bike Tours (http://bikevolcano. com) on its Bike Volcano Summit Tour Special. That evening I enjoyed dinner at the Volcano House’s restaurant, the Rim (http://www.hawaiivolcanohouse.com/dining), where diners overlook the Halema’uma’u Crater. The hotel and restaurant reopened earlier this month. Regular updates about the lava flow and Kilauea can be found on

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the west side it does have all of the major resorts, but they aren’t all lined up on the beach. It has a much more remote feel to it.”

Where to stay

Heather Cassell

Eric von Platen Luder, left, and his husband, Scott Dodd, stand outside Lava Lava Beach Club, one of the restaurants and lodging businesses they own under the Luana Hospitality Group on the Island of Hawaii and Kauai.

the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park website (http://www.nps.gov/havo/ planyourvisit/lava2.htm). Unfortunately, Puna, on the east side of the Big Island, didn’t fair as well. A popular local volcanic pool, Ahalanui Hot Pond, and the beloved Kapoho Bay were overcome by the lava flow. There is now a new black sand beach created it. Nearly 875 acres was added to the island, according to media reports. The east side of the island is known for its “hippie vibe” because it attracts many artists, healers, spiritualists, and people who simply live off the grid. It has a significant LGBT population. The historic nonprofit retreat, Kalani Oceanside Retreat (http:// www.FB.com/Kalani.Oceanside), founded by gay artist Richard Koob and his late partner, Earnest Morgan, on what has been dubbed the “yoga coast” temporarily closed due to Kilauea’s lava flows, according to the retreat’s Facebook page. The 120-acre retreat is close to the famous Kehena Black Sand Beach in Pahoa. It’s a nude beach and also known as the unofficial gay beach. So far, the beach has survived the lava flow. It is on the way to the famed Uncle Robert’s Awa Bar and Farmers Market (https://sites. google.com/site/unclesawaclub/). The bar and market reside on the edge of the lava flow that settled there between 1983 and 1990. Guests can leave homages at the altar for Pele that is out on the lava rocks. On Wednesday nights people party it up at Uncle Robert’s Night Market. “I especially love just how vibrant the nature is,” said Jared Sam, a 42-year-old gay man who was the retail manager as well as a yoga instructor, massage therapist, and retreat facilitator at the now temporarily closed Kalani Oceanside Retreat. “I love the community. “I just love how sustainable and healthy everything is here,” he added. “It’s almost like we are forced to take a close look at ourselves because we can’t drive away.” Sam has worked at the retreat since 1997.

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Despite the constant threat of Pele’s ire, LGBT Hawaiians on the Big Island love it. They boast of the lifestyle, which is largely focused on outdoor activities. Locals and visitors love hiking trips that include waterfalls, rainbows, and views. Some of the best snorkeling and diving in the United States is on the Island of Hawaii, along with swimming with gentle giant manta rays at night, dolphins in the morning, and turtles throughout the day. So-called Punatics love the east side of the island for its raw nature untouched by commercial tourism and its free-spirited atmosphere. “It’s still true Hawaii to me,” said Gary Marrow, 43, co-owner of KapohoKine Adventures (https:// kapohokine.com). “That’s kind of

the last spot in the whole state that is still true Hawaii.” Marrow started the tour company with his life and business partner, Tony De Lellis, 43, nearly 15 years ago with the Secrets of Puna tour. Paul Gallagher, a 38-year-old gay man, was my tour guide. Kona, on the west side, is more commercial and mainstream, boasting two gay bars, My Bar (http:// www.mybarkona.com) and the Mask-querade Bar (http://themaskqueradebar.com). Marrow, De Lellis, and several of their friends decamped from Los Angeles to the Island of Hawaii in 2003, leaving behind the hustle and bustle. One of the aspects of Hawaiian culture that is so appealing to many LGBT travelers is the diversity and openness, people I spoke with said. “Hawaii, the island itself, is just so open to so many different cultures and diversity,” said Marrow. “Nobody really cares.” While Maui and Oahu receive much of LGBT travelers’ attention, LGBT hospitality and tourism experts have noticed an increase in LGBT travelers to the island. “We are seeing so many more gay travelers on the Big Island,” said Eric von Platen Luder, 60, who owns Luana Hospitality Group with his husband, Scott Dodd, 55. The couple have been together for 26 years. The Luana Hospitality Group owns and operates several restaurants and four villas off the side of Lava Lava Beach Club (http://lavalavabeachclub.com) on the west side of the island. The boutique hospitality company’s restaurants include Huggo’s (http://huggos.com), which turns 50 in 2019; On the Rocks (https://huggosontherocks.com), which turned 20 this year; Paradise Gourmet Catering (http://paradisegourmet.com); and its newest ventures the clubs on Hawaii and Kauai. The men believe Hawaii is being rediscovered again by travelers, including LGBT visitors, because of what it has to offer, such as unique black and green sand beaches, volcanoes, outdoor adventure, and the secluded feel of the island even at the larger resorts. “We are seeing a lot more gays here and for the same reason that tourism on the Big Island has stepped up anyway because it’s more adventure travel,” von Platen Luder said. “On

I started my Hawaiian adventures at the Grand Naniloa Hotel Hilo (http://www.grandnaniloahilo. com) where I had view overlooking Hilo Bay, the Japanese gardens, and Liliuokalani Park and Gardens in the shadow of the Mauna Loa Volcano. It is is the world’s largest active volcano, rising 13,100 feet above sea level, and makes up about 85 percent of the Island of Hawaii. Below the sea the volcano is 26,200 feet. From its base below the sea to its summit it is 55,700 feet, making it taller than Mount Everest, said Gallagher. The tour company owns a shop at the Grand Naniloa Hotel Hilo where it operates all of the hotel’s concierge services as well as its 18 tours and zip-lining, he said. On the Kilauea Volcano, I stayed at 5th Street Ohana (http:// www.5thstohana.com/en-us), a vacation rental owned by Emma Spencer Living. The boutique hospitality company also owns the luxury boutique property Volcano Village Lodge (http:// www.volcanovillagelodge.com), which is built right into the jungle. There is also the Volcano Men’s Retreat (http://www.volcanomensretreat.com) in the area. On the west side, I stayed at Lava Lava Beach Club’s cottages and toured the Sheraton Kona Resort and Spa at Keauhou Bay (http:// www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/ koasi-sheraton-kona-resort-andspa-at-keauhou-bay). The charming cottages feature an indoor and outdoor shower (if you don’t mind company with the geckos), a rarity on the Hawaiian Islands. I enjoyed a long walk along the beach, which wasn’t very populated, and met several turtles along the way. The Sheraton hosts a nighttime glass bottom boat tour with a diving and swimming experience with the manta rays and a manta ray learning center. It’s also walking distance from the Fair Wind Cruise dock.

Where to eat

In Hilo, I enjoyed dinner at Pineapples (http://www.pineappleshilo. com) and Jackie Rey’s (http:// www.jackiereyshilo.com) and had breakfast at the Hawaiian Style Cafe (http://hawaiianstylecafe.com) and Ken’s House of Pancakes (http:// www.kenshouseofpancakes.com). Pineapples serves updated local Hawaiian fare in a casual open-air bar atmosphere while Jackie Rey’s offers a more upscale dining experience in downtown Hilo. Hawaiian Style Cafe and Ken’s House of Pancakes are typical diner-style breakfast places – Ken’s is open 24/7. In Volcano, I enjoyed a quick bite to eat at Volcano’s Lava Rock Cafe (http://www.lavarock.cafe). I had an enjoyable breakfast at the Kilauea See page 13 >>

Heather Cassell

A turtle rests on the black and white sand beach on the Kohala Coast on the Island of Hawaii.

Commentary>>

November 29-December 5, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 11

TDOR and hard truths by Christina A. DiEdoardo

don’t talk about my status and personal experience as a trans woman in this column very often, mainly because it’s not directly relevant to the topic under discussion. Given recent events, however, it would be irresponsible of me not to do so. On Tuesday, November 20, about 150 people gathered before the steps of San Francisco City Hall to begin this year’s commemoration of the Transgender Day of Remembrance. Founded by my Bay Area Reporter colleague Gwendolyn Ann Smith in 1999, TDOR is when we honor the memories of those trans people whom we’ve lost to violence in the previous year. The event is especially necessary given the habit of most law enforcement and media to misgender our fallen (most of whom are already marginalized in our society by virtue of being women of color, as well as being trans) as a “man in a dress” or something equally repugnant – and to use our deadnames in all coverage, Associated Press guidelines to the contrary be damned. Thus, for some martyrs, TDOR may be the only time they’re remembered under their correct name, as opposed to the one on their government documents. Sadly, in most of the last 19 years, the numbers of those we’ve lost have grown ever larger. While some might argue that’s due to improvements in

reporting, given that much of that jump occurred after groups that formerly opposed marriage equality started to turn their rhetorical guns on trans people in a major way beginning in 2014, it feels more like an increase of violence to many of us in the trenches. Which is why organizers of this year’s TDOR in San Francisco adopted the hashtag #EnoughIsEnough for the event. “I’m here standing proud and tall and I will not ever forget my sisters who have died of violence and of suicide and homicide,” said Billie Cooper, one of the co-chairs of TDOR, to the cheering crowd. “I am standing on your shoulders and I’m standing on the shoulders of all my sisters who have passed. “I have to keep their memory alive,” Cooper added. Clair Farley, director of the city’s Office of Transgender Initiatives, pointed out that the trans flag was flying from the mayor’s balcony at City Hall and the entire building was decked out in the flag’s colors of pink, white, and blue. These are positive gestures to be sure, as is the fact that the city even has an Office of Transgender Initiatives. Still, it begs the question of whether we’re addressing the fundamental problem. The main reason cisgender people (who make up the overwhelming majority of our killers) stab, shoot,

beat, and otherwise deprive trans people of life is because they don’t see us as possessing the same right to exist as they do. To put it bluntly, in their eyes we’re subhuman freaks. The most pernicious aspect of this kind of bigotry is that other than how far the person infected with it is prepared to personally go to hurt trans people, there’s not a lot of practical difference between the man who murders a trans woman because she’s trans; the politician who opposes equal access to bathrooms for trans people, particularly trans kids; or the cis queer activist who thinks transphobic jokes are so hilarious (and when called on it, tries to use their queerness as a shield, rather than acknowledging the harm they cause). It’s nice that Mayor London Breed declared November to be Trans Awareness Month. What would be nicer is if she owned up to the harm she caused by endorsing – to the bitter end – San Francisco school board candidate Josephine Zhao, a documented transphobe of many years (and whose history was well known to anyone who was even halfway paying attention to local politics). Ditto for gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who endorsed Zhao with full knowledge of her history (and who attended a fundraiser she threw for him a few years ago after she backed a failed measure to repeal protections for trans youth in schools). At least Wiener rescinded his

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Former PFLAG prez Sam Thoron dies

by Cynthia Laird

am Thoron, who was involved in the leadership of PFLAG for many years, died in his sleep November 17 in San Francisco. He was 79. His family said that Mr. Thoron had recently been diagnosed with esophageal cancer. Mr. Thoron and his wife, Julia, were longtime allies to the LGBT community, which became important to them after their daughter, Elizabeth Thoron, came out. He served as president of PFLAG’s San Francisco chapter and served on the national PFLAG board for 10 years, including a stint as president from 2002-2006. According to an obituary prepared by his family, Mr. Thoron was passionate about helping other parents learn to accept, support, and advocate for their gay, lesbian, and transgender children. “Service on the board has been the most challenging and the most rewarding assignment I have ever undertaken,” Mr. Thoron told the Bay Area Reporter in a 2015 interview. “Attempting to effect social change is always interesting. Progress is often halting, at best.”

Rick Gerharter

Sam and Julia Thoron acknowledged the cheers of the crowd following their acceptance of the Equality Award at Equality California’s annual dinner in 2010.

At the time, Mr. Thoron said the mission of PFLAG had changed over the years. He said that in 1990 the organization was focused primarily on gay and lesbian issues. “The organization and its mission have evolved over time,” he said. “We have gradually broadened our focus to be much more inclusive, first with bi and then to trans people. Now we include the variety of orientations and the spectrum of gender identity, advocating full

equality and safety for all.” The couple’s advocacy went statewide in 2008, when they were featured in the first television campaign ad against Proposition 8, the same-sex marriage ban. Both Mr. Thoron and his wife signed the ballot argument against Prop 8 in the California Voter Information Guide, stating that they simply wanted their lesbian daughter to have all of the same rights and opportunities as their two straight sons. (Prop 8, which voters passed that November, was ultimately overturned by the federal court and same-sex marriage became legal in the Golden State in 2013.) Kate Kendell, the outgoing executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, told the B.A.R. that she was heartbroken to hear of Mr. Thoron’s passing. In 2008, Kendell was a member of the No on 8 campaign’s executive committee. “Sam and Julia were there for queer folks years before so many of their generation,” Kendell wrote in an email. “They had their own lesbian daughter, but they parented See page 12 >> Call Now to Make an Appointment with a Wallbed Expert!

Obituaries >> Emilio Gonzalez November 28, 1937 – October 21, 2018 Emilio Gonzalez of Santa Rosa, California, slipped away peacefully Sunday, October 21, 2018. He was 80. Born in Ybor City in Tampa, Florida, November 28, 1937, he served in the U.S. Navy from 1957-1961 as a disbursing clerk. In his youth he loved fishing at Ballast Point Pier and the 22nd Street Causeway in Tampa. He was a talented watercolor artist, poet, and published author. Mr. Gonzalez, a gay man, wrote a

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Guest Opinion column for the Bay Area Reporter this summer on growing up in Tampa and learning English. Jorge Rodriguez, a longtime friend, said that Mr. Gonzalez suffered from heart angina. According to his obituary in the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, Mr. Gonzalez attended UCLA and had worked for the Diocese of San Francisco as an accountant. He served as a tenant commissioner on the city of Santa Rosa Housing Authority Board for four years. A tai chi master and instructor, he held classes in Occidental, California until several weeks before his death and considered his students his family. In 2012, his book “Cigar City Stories,” a series of short stories of his experiences growing up in Ybor City, was published. In

1995, he produced a four-part PBS television series “Qigong for Health.” He had several exhibits of his watercolors in the northern California area. Mr. Gonzalez was predeceased by his parents, Domingo Gonzalez and Manuela Llanes, and brother Antonio “Tony” Gonzalez. He is survived by his two sisters, Alice Gonzalez of St. Petersburg, Florida and Sylvia Espinola of Tampa; a nephew, Caton Espinola; two grandnephews, C.J. Espinola and Zachary Espinola; and grandniece, Karsyn Ross. A special thanks to his “bonus” sister, Rebecca Fernandez (Seena) of Santa Rosa, who cared for him in his last days, as well as Sutter Hospice and From the Heart Caregiving Service’s caregiver, Fay. He lived a full and eventful life and always marched to his own drum.

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<< Community News

12 • Bay Area Reporter • November 29-December 5, 2018

Trans health center

From page 1

testing, and PrEP and post-exposure prophylaxis prescriptions. The clinic is the result of conversations and action by the Santa Clara County Office of LGBTQ Affairs. “There are several reasons why a clinic like this is so important,” Maribel Martinez, a queer woman who is director of the Office of LGBTQ Affairs, told the Bay Area Reporter. “The county, in so many ways, is the local safety net, and we need to provide services in our community and ensure that these services are accessible, affordable, and inclusive to folks.” After a countywide LGBTQ Health Assessment in 2013, initiated by gay Supervisor Ken Yeager, exposed a significant need for transgender care in the county, conversations surrounding the creation of the clinic began, with formal talks starting in 2017. The survey revealed that many trans individuals have to travel to San Francisco, Oakland, Santa Cruz, or Fremont to receive trans-specific medical care. After the Gender Health Center’s opening this week, it will offer

Openhouse

From page 1

who have indicated to the agency their interest of living in the building, which will be called the Marcy Adelman and Jeanette Gurevitch Community at 95 Laguna after the co-founders of Openhouse. It will also be highlighting the application period in its December monthly newsletter that will soon be emailed out to clients and supporters of Openhouse. The lottery will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, January 15, in the San Francisco Main Library’s Latino Room. Applicants do not need to be present for the lottery, which will be run electronically and the results posted January 22. Those selected are expected to move into their new homes in April. While the application window is hitting in the middle of the busy holiday season, Openhouse Executive Director Karyn Skultety, Ph.D., told the Bay Area Reporter this week that she isn’t concerned about the timing. “In some ways leading up to the holidays is when people are most aware they don’t have a home that

pediatric primary care and psychology services every second and fourth Wednesday afternoon of the month and adult primary care services every Thursday morning. A social worker will be available to patients Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. An important aspect, Martinez emphasized, is that patients do not need a referral to get an appointment at the center, eliminating another barrier to health care that many trans individuals face. Once fully up and running in January, the clinic will expand services. A fully operational staff will include a medical provider, nurse practitioner, psychologist, psychiatrist, and health education specialist. A medical director has not yet been chosen, but an announcement is expected early next year. One Santa Clara County trans resident is particularly excited about the clinic’s opening. Lance Moore, 58, is the creator of the South Bay Trans Day of Visibility, now in its 10th year. Once the clinic opens, Moore, a bisexual trans man, can refer participants of a social group for trans men he started at the Billy DeFrank LGBT Community Center

in San Jose to the clinic. “For a long time there were very little health services for trans people,” he said. “There was no access to education for people to even ask about how transitioning works.” He continued, “It’s going to be a wonderful thing. I won’t have to send people to Santa Cruz anymore. It’s really important to make trans services more accessible to the South Bay.” The clinic, which is part of the medical center, is funded by the county. Martinez was not able to provide the cost to get the clinic up and running, but said it is “using existing codes and budget already allocated” to the medical center in an email. San Jose Inside reported the cost to start the clinic is $1.8 million. David Campos, a gay man who’s a deputy county executive, said that trans people are among the most disadvantaged of the LGBT community and said the opening of the clinic is a matter of “equity and fairness,” as trans people face barriers to medically necessary services that others do not. “Our goal with the medical center is not just to make it a center of

excellence for the trans community in the Bay Area, but in the world,” Campos said. To do that, Campos explained that the entire staff at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center will undergo cultural competence training, which he said is underway. Another aspect included in his goal is “to start exploring what else is out there,” in terms of medical innovation and other trans services. As expected, the San Jose City Council approved the lease for the LGBT-focused adult shelter November 27. Earlier this year, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved nearly $2.3 million for the creation of the shelter, which hopes to open next month on a limited basis. A downtown San Jose building has been chosen. It is expected to serve up to 20 people. As previously reported by the B.A.R., the proposed LGBT adult shelter would be only the second of its kind in the United States. San Francisco established Jazzie’s Place, a shelter for LGBTQ adults, in 2015, which

Campos took the lead on. Los Angeles and New York have established homeless shelters with specialized services specifically for LGBT youth. San Francisco’s Larkin Street Youth Services offers homeless services that are LGBT-friendly, including emergency and supportive beds. The San Francisco LGBT Community Center offers some daytime homeless services, but not shelter beds. The opening of the center and the shelter are coming at a very important time, Yeager told the B.A.R. “Few local governments have had the will or ability to make these sorts of investments. In a time when federal government is working to erase trans people from existence, this clinic is another way we are telling our transgender and gender-nonconforming residents that they are seen and valued,” Yeager said in an email response to the B.A.R. Appointments for primary care and medical social work at the Gender Health Center can be made by calling the Downtown Clinic Call Center at (408) 977-4411. The center’s insurance eligibility is the same as at other Santa Clara Valley Medical Center clinics.t

is safe or have a home that is welcoming to them,” said Skultety, who is bisexual and started working at Openhouse in February last year. “In some ways this is very fitting to be in the time period leading up to the holidays because this is our mission, to create a chosen family for older LGBTQ seniors. One of the ways we do that is the housing and the other is through the services and community building that we offer.” The seven-story $40 million building at 95 Laguna Street is a collaborative effort between affordable housing developer Mercy Housing and Openhouse. The two agencies in late 2016 opened the project’s first phase, which saw a former college building on the edge of the city’s gay Castro district remodeled into 40 rental units, one of which is for the resident manager. It is known as the Openhouse Community at 55 Laguna. While any senior, LGBTQ or straight, who met the eligibility requirements could apply to live there, a majority of the residents selected, 68 percent, identify as LGBTQ. Openhouse and city leaders are hoping to see a similar outcome with

the residents living at 95 Laguna. “Two years ago, Openhouse opened the doors of 55 Laguna, the city’s first affordable, LGBTQ-welcoming housing for seniors. We still celebrate the community and sense of home 55 Laguna has offered to its residents, and we are excited to soon provide additional affordable housing next door at 95 Laguna,” noted the agency in an email in early November to those on the interest list for the additional housing. The new building will have 7,000 square feet of community space for Openhouse to utilize. It will share an outdoor courtyard with 55 Laguna, which not only houses residents but also Openhouse’s staff offices at 65 Laguna Street. It is known as the Bob Ross LGBT Senior Center due to a $1 million donation from the foundation of the B.A.R.’s founding publisher. Anyone who entered the lottery for 55 Laguna and did not get accepted must submit a new application for 95 Laguna if they meet the age requirement of 62 or their spouse, partner, or roommate they will be living with

is at least 62 years of age. The age limit for the new building is higher than it was for 55 Laguna, which was set at 55 years old, due to changes in the rules governing the financing of the new building. The other eligibility criteria are largely the same, such as applicants must meet certain income thresholds and either live or work in San Francisco. Applicants who were displaced by redevelopment in the city’s Western Addition and Hunters Point neighborhoods in the 1960s and 1970s will be given first preference. Those seniors who were displaced by an Ellis Act or owner move-in eviction will be given second preference. Residents of the District 8 supervisorial district or seniors living within a mile and a half of the building will be eligible for up to 40 percent of the units. The rent for the building’s 28 studio units will be $1,000 per month, in the range of $1,056 to $1,140 for the 27 1-bedrooms, and between $1,257 and $1,270 for the two 2-bedrooms to be selected by the lottery. There will be a total of 79 new pet-friendly units at 95 Laguna, with one set aside as the living quarters

of the property’s resident manager. Fifteen units will be designated for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, with the remaining six units specifically for people living with HIV or AIDS. Those residents will be selected through a different process outside of the lottery. Openhouse is encouraging people to use the online five-page application form to enter into the lottery via the DAHLIA San Francisco Housing Portal at http://housing.sfgov.org. The agency is hosting drop-in question and answer sessions at 65 Laguna from 1:30 to 5 p.m. on the next two Saturdays, December 1 and December 8. It is also hosting the sessions from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, December 5, and from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday, December 6. There will also be a community informational meeting about the lottery process at 5 p.m. Tuesday, December 11, at 55 Laguna. People with questions can call the Openhouse Housing Hotline at (415) 230-0634. For more information about the eligibility requirements to apply for the housing at 95 Laguna, visit https://www.openhouse-sf.org/95Laguna.t

that she could have won a seat. The remedy to the Zhao fiasco should be obtaining a public commitment from Breed and other politicos

that transphobes will not be supported or endorsed. It won’t be, though. Instead, Breed probably figures that she can appease the community by decking out City Hall with lights and flags and appointing a trans person or two to a post and then go on with politics as usual, where people like Zhao are accepted into polite company if they can deliver votes. While it’s easy to call out Breed for her cynicism, she’s hardly alone. Legions of cis queers continue to maintain friendships with trans exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs)

like those who attacked the SF Dyke March this past summer, despite the tendency of TERFs – especially recently – to join forces with homophobic fundamentalist Christian groups who also demand the extinction of trans women. Other queers genuflect at the heels of RuPaul, despite Ru’s history of transphobic behavior that goes back almost a decade. And invariably, whenever a trans person calls out a cis queer for these sorts of behaviors, a virtual mob of the calledout queer’s friends forms to demand the trans person be silenced in the

interest of “unity.” If you see yourself in the last few paragraphs, congratulations. You provide the agar of social acceptance where the virus of transphobia can grow and multiply – and the blood of my murdered sisters, this year and next year and the year after that – will remain on your hands as well as those of our killers unless you fight the infection rather than collaborate with it. Happy TDOR, y’all.t

LGBT Pride Celebration Committee as recipients of the Jose Julio Sarria History Maker Award, in recognition of their extraordinary contributions to the way society views the LGBTQ community. Mr. Thoron was dedicated to his family, starting with his wife, Julia, of 55 years, whom he always introduced as “my lovely bride.” His family said that he parented with both joy and seriousness, forging connections with his children and grandchildren through bedtime stories, stuffed animals, sailing and motor-boating adventures, and earnest, wide-ranging conversations over dinner. He cared deeply for his extended family, and was a link that kept various branches of the family together. Mr. Thoron was born in Washington, D.C. on June 15, 1939, the

third child of Violet Spencer Thoron and Benjamin Warder Thoron. He was educated at St. Albans School in Washington, D.C., Pomfret School in Connecticut, and Harvard College, with a break during his college years to serve in the U.S. Army in an artillery unit stationed in Germany. While at Harvard he met Julia Harding Miller. They were married in December 1962 in San Francisco. Mr. Thoron’s lasting sources of meaning and personal satisfaction were found in his 35 years of sobriety and connection to other recovering alcoholics in Alcoholics Anonymous, in his many years of leadership in service and advocacy organizations working on behalf of the LGBTQ community and their allies and in the fight for marriage equality, and in his deep

connections to his family, both immediate and extended. Mr. Thoron stopped drinking in 1983. For 35 years, he regularly attended AA meetings and remained sober until the end. He found his own recovery strengthened when he helped those facing similar struggles, and he prized his relationships with all his friends in the recovery community. Mr. Thoron freely admitted that if he’d kept drinking he would have lost both his family and his life a long time ago, and he was continually grateful for his hardwon second chance, his family said. In addition to his wife, Mr. Thoron is survived by his children, Benjamin, Joseph, and Elizabeth and their spouses, Patricia Saraniero, Lisl Thomsen, and Lisa Mitchell; seven grandchildren; his sister, Ann

A. Hale of Bedford, Massachusetts, the extended Thoron family; and the beloved Miller family of Marin County. He was predeceased by his brother, Christopher Thoron, and his parents. The family encourages Mr. Thoron’s friends to consider a donation in his memory to one of the organizations that was important to him: the PFLAG Thoron State Advocacy fund at http://www.pflag.org/ thoron-state-advocacy-fund; Point Blue Conservation Science at https:// www.pointblue.org; or Horizons Foundation at http://www.horizonsfoundation.org/s/give/. A memorial service is planned for Saturday, January 5, at 10:30 a.m. at the First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco, 1187 Franklin Street.t

Resist

From page 11

endorsement of her prior to the election (which, due to the timing of Zhao’s withdrawal, went forward with her name still on the ballot). If Breed and Wiener had pulled their support earlier – or better yet, not endorsed a bigot in the first instance – we’d have been spared the spectacle of Zhao formally “withdrawing” from the race but her minions continuing to campaign almost up to Election Day, as well as the danger

Sam Thoron

From page 11

countless other LGBTQ kids and adults by simply embracing them with their love. Sam was both an LGBTQ advocate and a true renaissance man. His standard greeting when you asked, ‘How are you?’ was ‘better for seeing you.’ It was an honor to know him and a huge loss that he is gone.” Mr. Thoron was also active in Marriage Equality USA and Freedom to Marry, where he served as a board member. He was a supporter of the Horizons Foundation, which provides grants and other services to LGBTQ nonprofits. In 2015, Mr. Thoron and his wife were honored by the San Francisco

Christina A. DiEdoardo

The transgender flag flies over the Mayor’s Balcony at City Hall as the building is lit for the 2018 Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20.

New building

Shelter approved

Got a tip? Email me at christina@ diedoardolaw.com.

t <<

Community News>>

Lesbian sheriff

From page 2

ways to improve the department and as the head of an agency I am now able to represent my department and my community. I care about making sure we have the best practices.” She shared the challenges and the support she’s received growing up in Nevada City and making her way up the ranks in the force as a gay woman. Her father was a Nevada County deputy and Nevada City police chief. First starting work at the Nevada County Sheriff ’s Office in 1990, she said it was challenging “to be an LGBT in a rural area” and that there was a locker-room type mentality among the men in the department and she knew as a woman she would need to work harder to get ahead. Many men throughout her career also supported her, she noted. Her decision to run for sheriff grew out of her desire to give back

On Lok

From page 2

were updated just six months ago to include an identity question, said Valorie Villela, director of the center. Anecdotally, however, Villela said she’s known many LGBTs throughout the years, mainly gay men, who use the center. Officials are expected to have “more concrete” data on LGBT participation this time next year, Villela told the Bay Area Reporter. Despite a lack of data, the director emphasized how important the program is to the LGBTs who use it. “There is this myth that [LGBT seniors] have what they need and that is totally wrong,” said Villela, who is a straight woman. “Many seniors, including LGBTs, happen to be house rich, but cash poor. Their Social Security is not keeping up or they don’t have the kind of job that fully supports them. Many have to choose between medication and eating something.” Seniors are asked for a suggested $2 donation at every meal, but no senior is ever turned away from a meal, and all incomes are kept confidential. The only requirement of the program is participants must be 60 years or older.

Early outreach

On Lok is largely funded by the

News Briefs

From page 9

In a letter to supporters, Executive Director Terry Beswick said that the society has launched Vision 2020, which prepares for a capital campaign for a new world-class museum. Currently, its GLBT History Museum is located in a small Castro storefront that is “too small to adequately represent the richly diverse stories of LGBTQ history,” Beswick wrote. According to Beswick, several donors are offering the matching funds. To donate, visit http://www. glbthistory.org/donate.

Hawaii

From page 10

Lodge (http://www.kilauealodge. com/restaurant) before venturing down the volcano to the Kohala Coast on the west side of the island. I highly recommend breakfast at Kilauea Lodge. The food is good and served in a charming atmosphere. On the west side, I enjoyed dinner at the Lava Lava Beach Club and On the Rocks in Kona, followed by drinks at My Bar.

What to do

No trip is complete without

November 29-December 5, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 13

to the community. Sunny Schwartz, a lesbian who worked for the San Francisco Sheriff ’s Department for more than 30 years as a program administrator, said she was proud to see a member of the LGBT community finally be elected sheriff in the state. “It’s always heartening when anyone from our community gets elected and is out and proud,” Schwartz told the B.A.R. Schwartz, who said she doesn’t know Moon, is co-founder of the San Francisco Sheriff ’s Department’s Five Keys Charter School, which serves incarcerated youth. “It’s heartening that someone from our community is recognized and encouraged to lead. It’s a historical moment of pride,” she added. Schwartz also said that she believes Moon will bring a “nononsense humanity” to the rank and file and upper echelon of the department.

Other sheriffs

San Francisco Department of Aging and Adult Services. Shireen McSpadden, a bisexual woman who’s the executive director of DAAS, said the city’s partnership with On Lok is integral, particularly because of its work servicing minorities including the Latino and LGBT communities. “They were one of the first mainstream organizations to educate themselves in doing better outreach and in-reach for the LGBT population,” McSpadden said, adding that Villela and her board have done a great job at creating a welcoming environment for all people. “She wanted to make sure LGBT people felt free to be out,” McSpadden explained. Throughout the years, On Lok has partnered with Openhouse, which offers housing and community services to LGBT seniors, to educate On Lok staff on cultural competency and encourage LGBTs to use its services. DAAS allocated $2.8 million in fiscal year 2018-2019 to On Lok; $790,000 to the home-delivered meals program and $660,000 to the community meals program. One of the reasons Lehmann continues to return to the senior center is because, “as a gay man, I’ve never felt any discrimination here,” he said. Although Lehmann is not low income, he understands how

valuable the service is to his senior friends, some of whom are lowincome LGBTs. The low-carb, low-sodium, and low-sugar meals have also improved Lehmann’s health and, he thinks they’re delicious. His favorite is Chile Verde pork stew, which he has asked to be served more often because “everyone likes it so much.” The meals are made from scratch and reflect a variety of food traditions including Latin American and Asian. They are served MondaySaturday in the community dining room at noon and 1 p.m. The center, at 225 30th Street, also offers nutrition lectures, taught by Villela, which Lehmann attends. Aside from the nutrition-rich meals provided, the opportunity to socialize during the meal can be equally important. “The Community Meals Program helps connect seniors to each other,” said On Lok CEO, Grace Li, in a news release. “Mission Nutrition allows us to achieve our goal of nourishing souls and minds with companionship and human interaction. One of our priorities as an organization is to enable seniors to live full, independent lives for as long as possible.” Lehmann said conversations at the table involve, well, “everything,

you name it. Sometimes current events, but not politics too much.” The lower Nob Hill resident utilized the Fall Prevention Program after he suffered a fall about two years ago. Since joining he has not had one since. “It really does work,” he said. In the class he practices balance, upper body strength, and if he does fall, how to get up easier and safer. Since participating a few times a week in Always Active, the hour-anda-half exercise class that includes 60 minutes of general conditioning led by trained professionals certified by national fitness organizations, Lehmann has been taken off both his diabetes and blood pressure medications after 20-some years. “I’m really seeing the results,” he said. “I like it because every day of the week there is a different person leading Always Active,” he said. “Each has their own way of doing it. It’s not the same every day.” Lehmann, originally from Boulder, Colorado, is married and said his husband cooks at home and doesn’t go to the center. But for Lehmann, the center is home away from home.t

Bodyscapes art at Strut

worked with other long-term survivors of HIV/AIDS to create art and poetry about their lives. For the new exhibit, Vince Crisostomo, program manager for the Elizabeth Taylor 50-Plus program, brought Sciarretta to Strut in October and she conducted two days of her bodyscapes workshops that were free to group members. Strut is located at 470 Castro Street. For more information, visit http://www.strutsf.org.

8, as part of an art event from noon to 4 p.m. at 1800 Market Street. Kay Haring wrote a best-selling children’s book about her brother, “The Boy Who Just Kept Drawing.” She will do a Q&A and book signing, with a portion of book sale proceeds being donated to the center. Drag queen and trans woman Honey Mahogany will read the book at the event. Other activities will include a kids’ fashion show by Emily Payne from “Project Runway,” designer of the Devon Rose children’s clothing line; and an art sale of pieces inspired by Keith Haring. Keith Haring, whose pop art grew out of the New York street scene, died of AIDS in 1990.t

Bodyscapes Healing Arts Workshops, working with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation’s Elizabeth Taylor 50-Plus Network, will exhibit newly created pastel drawings and poetry at Strut, SFAF’s men’s health center in the Castro. There will be an opening reception for “Celebrating Resilience” Wednesday, December 5, from 6 to 8 p.m. A poetry reading takes place at 7. The Elizabeth Taylor 50-Plus program was started by SFAF in 1982 and is for gay, bi, and trans men age 50 and older, regardless of HIV status. Bodyscapes founder Diane Sciarretta of the Red and Orange House Foundation previously

visiting the volcanoes either by car, boat, or helicopter. Even six months after Kilauea’s eruption there is still some lava flow and the volcanoes are still something to see. The Island of Hawaii is – and isn’t – known for its beaches. While much of the island’s beaches are lava rock, the island is one of the rare places in the world that has black and green sand beaches along with white sand beaches. The island also boasts the southernmost point of the United States at Ka Lae, commonly known as South Point. It’s a popular spot for adventurers to cliff dive.

California was not the only state to elect its first LGBT sheriff this month. Hennepin County in Minnesota has a gay sheriff-elect, Dave Hutch. Hutch defeated pro-Trump and anti-immigrant three-term incumbent Rich Stanek by more than 2,300 votes. Though Moon has made history as the first openly gay sheriff in the Golden State, other LGBTs have run in the past. As previously reported in the B.A.R., Jay Foxworthy, a gay deputy sheriff in San Francisco, last year announced his campaign for sheriff of Sonoma County, which includes the gay Russian River resort area. He ultimately dropped out of the race for personal reasons. Dave Myers, a gay man and commander with the San Diego County Sheriff ’s Department, ran this year for sheriff but lost. In the 2011 sheriff ’s race in San Francisco, two gay men,

Haring’s sister at LGBT center

Kay Haring, the late gay artist Keith Haring’s younger sister, will be at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center Saturday, December

South Point is also near Papakolea Beach, one of the world’s four green sand beaches. Hawaii has a number of black sand beaches, but Punalu’u Beach is the most popular. Hapuna is the popular white sand beach. I really enjoyed the aforementioned outdoor activities, along with culinary tours of Kau Coffee Mill and the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Visitor Center (http:// www.maunaloa.com/visitor). All of the guided tours were exceptional. The Mauna Loa factory tour was fun and quick. There aren’t any

then-police officer Michael Evans and former sheriff ’s deputy Jon Gray had pulled papers to run, but both opted not to officially enter the race. There have only been a few out elected sheriffs in the country, one of the first being Margo Frasier, a lesbian elected in 1997 as sheriff of Travis County, which includes Austin, Texas. Another Texan, lesbian Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez, won her fourth term November 2016. She resigned last December to run for Texas governor, but lost. In Arizona, former Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu won re-election in 2012 after being outed as gay by an ex-boyfriend. His term expired January 1, 2017. For Moon, her family comes first. In 2010, Moon met her wife, then Amy Perez, who had three daughters. Amy Moon is a county deputy probation officer. The pair married in 2014.t

For more information about Mission Nutrition and the various programs offered at the center visit https://30thstreetseniorcenter. org/ or call (415) 550-2210.

discounts for traveling all the way to the island to purchase the delicious nuts, but you get free samples.

Getting there and getting around

I flew Hawaiian Airlines to Hilo. The airline flies regularly from all three Bay Area airports to the Island of Hawaii’s two main airports – Hilo on the east side and Kona on the west side. Once I landed, I rented a car. It is the best way to explore Hawaii, which can take several hours to get from one destination to the next. I returned home on Alaska Air.t

Legals>> SUMMONS SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO NOTICE TO DEFENDANT: PAUL JOHNSON CONNELL AND DOES 1 THROUGH 10, INCLUSIVE, YOU ARE BEING SUED BY PLAINTIFF: BANK OF STOCKTON CASE NO. CGC-17-559950 NOTICE!

You have been sued. The court may decide against you without your being heard unless you respond within 30 days. Read the information below. You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this summons and legal papers are served on you to file a written response at this court and have a copy served on the plaintiff. A letter or phone call will not protect you. Your written response must be in proper legal form if you want the court to hear your case. There may be a court form that you can use for your response. You can find these court forms and more information at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), your county law library, or the courthouse nearest you. If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the court clerk for a fee waiver form. If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case by default, and your wages, money, and property may be taken without further warning from the court. There are other legal requirements. You may want to call an attorney right away. If you do not know an attorney, you may want to call an attorney referral service. If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be eligible for free legal services from a nonprofit legal services program. You can locate these nonprofit groups at the California Legal Services Web site (www.lawhelpcalifornia.org), the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo. ca.gov/selfhelp), or by contacting your local court or county bar association. NOTE: The court has a statutory lien for waived fees and costs on any settlement or arbitration award of $10,000 or more in a civil case. The court’s lien must be paid before the court will dismiss the case. The name and address of the court is: Superior Court for the State of California, County of San Francisco Civic Center Court, 400 McAllister St. San Francisco, California 94102 The name, address and telephone number of plaintiff’s attorney, or plaintiff without an attorney is: Barry W. Ferns, Esq., SBN 76381 Ferns, Adams & Associates, 2815 Mitchell Dr #210, Walnut Creek, CA 94598, (925) 927-3401, (925) 927-3419. Date: July 05, 2017 Clerk of The Court, Rossaly De La Vega-Navarro, Deputy.

NOV 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038385900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MARTINEZ ELECTRIC CO, 1318 QUESADA AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed EDWIN MARTINEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/05/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/05/18.

NOV 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038386200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: COME HITHER BEAUTY, 1500 VALLEJO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MICHELLE A. SMITH. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/05/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/05/18.

NOV 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038381600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FASHION FORMULA, 1716 OCEAN AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MIAOTIAN JIANG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/30/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/01/18.

NOV 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038363800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: COINECT, 414 BRANNAN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CARL WU. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/15/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/18/18.

NOV 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038381800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: RICK’S BARBERSHOP, 5349 GEARY BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JERVIEN VELASCO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/01/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/01/18.

NOV 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038377900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HOUSE OF CLAY, 584 CASTRO ST #458, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CLEUTON DE ARAUJO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/29/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/29/18.

NOV 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038377000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HEALING KITCHEN, 2948 FOLSOM ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KANA CARLISLE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/29/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/29/18.

NOV 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038379900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PLAYLAND 33, 1049 MARKET ST #403, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed HSF HOLDINGS, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/29/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/30/18.

NOV 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038381500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: KAZUO KITCHEN, 4036 BALBOA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed KAZUO KITCHEN (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/24/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/01/18.

NOV 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018

See page 14 >>

<< Legals

14 • Bay Area Reporter • November 29-December 5, 2018

Legals

From page 13

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038379400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FITNESS SF TRANSBAY, 425 MISSION ST #212, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed TRANSBAY FITNESS, 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 10/30/18.

NOV 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038385000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FOODIE BOX, 2800 LEAVENWORTH ST. STE A09, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed TANCHAN LLC, (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/02/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/02/18.

NOV 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038383100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NICHI NICHI MAKANAI, 612 18TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed THE 4TH MONKEY, 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 11/01/18.

NOV 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-035535500

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: OF ARCHETYPE LLC, 348 HYDE ST #11, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business was conducted by a limited liability company and signed by OF ARCHETYPE LLC (CA). The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/12/13.

NOV 08, 15, 22, 29, 2018 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-18-554392

In the matter of the application of: PHUONG TRANG THI PHAM, 1501 19TH AVE #1, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner PHUONG TRANG THI PHAM, is requesting that the name PHUONG TRANG THI PHAM, be changed to TRANG PHUONG THI PHAM. 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 20th of December 2018 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 06, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038391100

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038365700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE PARK GYM GEARY BLVD, 4801 GEARY BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DAVID PARK. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/19/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/19/18.

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 06, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038390400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GENESIS JANITORIAL SERVICES, 5734 HARMON AVE, OAKLAND, CA 94621. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed FRANCISCO J. MOLINA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/24/05. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/08/18.

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 06, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038383200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HYDEOUT TALENT AGENCY, 1545 A PERSHING DR., SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94129. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CHRISTOPHER MCGREW. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/15/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/01/18.

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 06, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038390900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EARLY CARE EDUCATORS OF SAN FRANCISCO (ECESF), 445 CHURCH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SAN FRANCISCO EARLY CARE EDUCATORS RESOURCE PROGRAM (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/07/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/08/18.

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 06, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038389800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CINDERELLA BAKERY & CAFE - THE MISSION, 2937 24TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed 24TH CINDERELLA BAKERY, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/02/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/07/18.

NOV 15, 22, 29 DEC 06, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038380100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FAMILY STONE CHOCOLATE, 1049 MARKET ST #103, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed HSF HOLDINGS, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/29/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/30/18.

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 06, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038374800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NOMADNIGHTCLUB, 839 POST ST #107, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JAMES KEITH HARPER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/08/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/08/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CROSSROADS PIZZERIA CAFE, 1596 MARKET ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed UNIVERSAL CAFE DELICANCIES LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/25/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/25/18.

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 06, 2018

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038387700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BREAKTHROUGH PERSPECTIVES, 950 LINCOLN BLVD #29095, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94129. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed CTMG LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/06/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/06/18.

NOV 15, 22, 29, DEC 06, 2018 NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF AUDREY SUE WOO IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO: FILE PES-18-302377

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of AUDREY SUE WOO. A Petition for Probate has been filed by BETTY J. YEE in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. The Petition for Probate requests that BETTY J. YEE be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. The petition requests the decedent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court. The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority. A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: Dec 11, 2018, 9:00 am, Rm. 204, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. If you object to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. If you are a creditor or contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the latter of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined by section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. You may examine the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for petitioner: Mr. Michael Yee SBN: 25881, Michael Yee Law Group, 4010 S Land Park Drive, #B, Sacramento, CA 95822; Ph. (916) 927-9001.

NOV 22, 29, DEC 06, 2018 NOTICE OF SECOND AMENDED PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF ROSA ISABEL VALLE IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO: FILE PES-17-300714 To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of ROSA ISABEL VALLE. A Second Amended Petition for Probate has been filed by CESAR BONILLA III & DIANA BONILLA in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. The Petition for Probate requests that DIANA BONILLA be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. The petition requests the decedent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by

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May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, glorified, loved and preserved throughout the world now and forever. Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us. St. Jude, worker of miracles, pray for us. St. Jude, helper of the hopeless, pray for us. Say prayer nine time a day. Publication must be promised. B.K.

the court. The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority. A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: Dec 11, 2018, 9:00 am, Dept. 204, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. If you object to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. If you are a creditor or contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the latter of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined by section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. You may examine the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for petitioner: Mr. Philip E. Carey, 555 University Ave., #116, Sacramento, CA 95825; Ph. (916) 564-0706.

NOV 22, 29, DEC 06, 2018 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-18-554400

In the matter of the application of: SUMANA LAKSHMI VALLURI RAO, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner SUMANA LAKSHMI VALLURI RAO, is requesting that the name SUMANA LAKSHMI VALLURI RAO, be changed to SUMANA VALLURI RAO. 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 10th of January 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

NOV 22, 29, DEC 06, 13, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038397100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: JEFFERSON MACK & ASSOCIATES, 2266 SHAFTER AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JEFFERSON MACK. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/14/18.

NOV 22, 29, DEC 06, 13, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038398500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BITTIKER ARCHITECTURE, 8 LANDERS ST #203, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DANIEL BITTIKER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/15/18.

NOV 22, 29, DEC 06, 13, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038399500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: RILEY REAL ESTATE GROUP, 160 LANDERS ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SHAWN MICHAEL RILEY. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/15/18.

NOV 22, 29, DEC, 06, 13, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038394900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NEW 7 NAILS, 2611 A SAN BRUNO AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed NEW 7 NAILS, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/01/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/13/18.

NOV 22, 29, DEC 06, 13, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038397700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ART OF TECH, 2261 MARKET ST #317, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed EDUCATIONAL MEDIA ARTS, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/14/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/14/18.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038402000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: QUICKY BURGERS, 4092 18TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed EYLUL LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/19/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/19/18.

NOV 22, 29, DEC 06, 13, 2018 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-18-554429

In the matter of the application of: HALEN PAYNE WOOTEN, 4630A 18TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner HALEN PAYNE WOOTEN, is requesting that the name HALEN PAYNE WOOTEN, be changed to ADAM ELLIOTT NEWTON. 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 10th of January 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

NOV 29, DEC 06, 13, 20, 2018 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-18-554426

In the matter of the application of: TOMMY MINH HO, 972 ROLPH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner TOMMY MINH HO, is requesting that the name TOMMY MINH HO, be changed to TUAN MINH HO. 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 08th of January 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

NOV 29, DEC 06, 13, 20, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038403300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HOSTESS EXPRESS, 89 LOBOS ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed TONETTE DENISE PHILLIPS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/20/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/20/18.

NOV 29, DEC 06, 13, 20, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038383700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: RELIABLE CLEANING/MAINTENANCE, 391 ELLIS ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ANDREE DARNELL WHITE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/02/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/02/18.

NOV 29, DEC 06, 13, 20, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038385500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LEXCO, 4297 23RD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ALEXANDER FRANKLIN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/02/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/02/18.

NOV 29, DEC 06, 13, 20, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038401600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: RAYGUARDPROTECT.COM, 1430 IRVING ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed RAYMOND MICHAEL LEVESQUE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/01/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/19/18.

NOV 29, DEC 06, 13, 20, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038402900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PHO LUEN FAT BAKERY & RESTAURANT, 110 LELAND AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KENT K. WONG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/17/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/20/18.

NOV 29, DEC 06, 13, 20, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038390300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LISA’S LITTLE GARDEN, 932 MADRID ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed DINORAH OSORIO & GEORGE OSORIO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/07/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/08/18.

NOV 22, 29, DEC 06, 13, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038398600

NOV 29, DEC 06, 13, 20, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038399200

NOV 22, 29, DEC 06, 13, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038397000

NOV 29, DEC 06, 13, 20, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038402400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TRIDENT REAL ESTATE, 3 STARK ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed NORTH BEACH NATIVE 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 11/15/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GOZU; ITTORYU GOZU, 201 SPEAR ST # 120, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed KOJIN SF 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 11/14/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HOMESCAPENOW, 580 CALIFORNIA ST, 12TH FLR, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94104. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed ARBORISTNOW INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/30/10. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/15/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PACIFIC COAST PERIODONTICS, 450 SUTTER ST #2400, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SOHYUN PARK, DDS 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 11/19/18.

NOV 22, 29, DEC 06, 13, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038395100

NOV 29, DEC 06, 13, 20, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038405500

NOV 22, 29, DEC 06, 13, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038400600

NOV 29, DEC 06, 13, 20, 2018 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-037881000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: INNOC3NTS, 2035 35TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed ZLMMLL, 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 11/13/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SLEEP OVER SAUCE, 135 GOUGH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed MALTI INVESTMENTS LLC. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/15/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/16/18.

NOV 22, 29, DEC 06, 13, 2018

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE LINKS BAR AND GRILL, 3129 CLEMENT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed LYNKSTAR, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/20/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/20/18.

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: PACIFIC COAST PERIODONTICS, 450 SUTTER ST #2400, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business was conducted by a corporation and signed by MARK J. WIESEN DDS A PROF CORP (CA). The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/06/17.

NOV 29, DEC 06, 13, 20, 2018

Mac attack

Illumination

Italian screens

Pike place

Vol. 48 • No. 48 • November 29-December 5, 2018

Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

www.ebar.com/arts

Cue the guardian angels! by Philip Campbell

ike a boutique dusting of California snow, the West Coast premiere of composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” opened at the San Francisco Opera last week to make a picturesque start for the holiday season.

Golda Schultz as Clara in Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

See page 16 >>

Ole Haupt, courtesy FAMSF

Paul Gauguin, “Tahitian Woman with a Flower” (1891), oil on canvas.

Rosanne Cash: “More California new country than Tennessee rockabilly.”

Spiritual Gauguin

Cashing in

by Sura Wood

See page 22 >>

{ SECOND OF THREE SECTIONS }

inger-songwriter Rosanne Cash and guitarist Ry Cooder will perform their rendition of the music of Johnny Cash on Dec. 5-6 at the War Memorial Opera House. See page 22 >>

Michael Lavine

by Sari Staver

hen French painter Paul Gauguin, beautifully played by actor Oscar Isaac, strides onto the screen in the new film “At Eternity’s Gate,” Julian Schnabel’s hypnotic meditation on Van Gogh and the tortures and exhilaration of art, he cuts a swaggering figure: a brash, iconoclastic follower of no one, sure of himself and his own instincts, self-centered to a fault and just passing through.

<< Out There

16 • Bay Area Reporter • November 29-December 5, 2018

Bring on the holiday entertainments!

by Roberto Friedman

e’ve turned the corner into the holiday season, so last week Out There attended shows perfect for this time of year. On Saturday night we made a long overdue visit to Beach Blanket Babylon’s holiday edition, and earlier in the week, we were in the house for opening night of San Francisco Playhouse’s “Mary Poppins.” Surely you know the BBB story by now. Snow White (sometimes called Snow Tires) searches the world for her Prince Charming, hot dudes available to young ladies being in short supply in San Francisco. Pop culture is sent up courtesy of musical riffs, outrageous caricatures, extravagant costumes and sky-high hats. As always, there are up-to-the-moment topical references galore, from Keebler elf Jeff Sessions still smarting from his ignominious end, to Vladimir Putin (“on the Ritz”), Kim Jong Un and other global villains. The Trump Crime Family gets a number, too, a la the Von Trapps; the Criminal-in-Chief remembers golden showers, while Melania reprises her famous Marie Antoinette line, “I really don’t care, do you?” There’s Kanye, there’s Kim, there’s tired old Caitlyn Jenner, but the

Wonderful Life

From page 15

Mostly based on the classic 1946 Frank Capra movie and original source material “The Greatest Gift” by Philip Van Doren Stern, the musicalization met with mixed reviews when it was first performed at Houston Grand Opera in 2016. That version has been revised and rejuvenated, and the mood generally brightened for San Francisco. The pace is brisk and characters are drawn in bold strokes as they travel through a big nostalgic Christmas pageant. It is hard to imagine many who haven’t seen the film. By focusing even closer on the life story of George Bailey, the despondent good-guy hero, Heggie and Scheer efficiently allow music and sung

Jessica Palopoli

Mary Poppins (El Beh), Bert (Wiley Naman Strasser) and park strollers (Rudy Guerrero, Sophia LaPaglia) in “Mary Poppins” at San Francisco Playhouse.

Rick Markovich

Tap-dancing Christmas tree from “Steve Silver’s Beach Blanket Babylon Holiday Extravaganza” at Club Fugazi.

most current event of all is the holiday season, and the end-of-year BBB offers plenty of Xmas cheer, including Xmas King Louis, Mr. Peanut Santa, and a chorus line of TapDancing Xmas Trees. The gigantic Yuletide Hat is a winter wonderland, complete with chugging toy train. The SF skyline hat now boasts a Salesforce tower, but it’s still the Transamerica pyramid that gets a rise out of all the excitement. It’s been a while since OT visited

BBB, and we’re happy to report the Old Girl still has it in her to amuse, delight and surprise, much like SF itself. Treat out-of-towners, family and loved ones for fail-safe holiday fun. “Steve Silver’s Beach Blanket Babylon Holiday Extravaganza” holds the Club Fugazi stage through Dec. 31. Tickets ($30-$155): www.beachblanketbabylon.com, (415) 421-4222, or at the box office, 678 Beach Blanket Babylon Blvd., formerly Green St., SF.

dialogue to fill in the blanks for the uninitiated. The restructuring has pluses and minuses. Cheerful episodes and big set-pieces – a production number about patriotic unity during WWII, a high school dance (including a cringeworthy dance hit called the “Mekee-Mekee”) and a stirring closing anthem on friendship – make the postcard community of Bedford Falls come to colorful life. Subtler shadings and insights to individual personalities are diminished by the glare of the show’s Hallmark Card sentimentality. Still, the idealistic populism of the town is probably more believable without harder scrutiny. As for George, a stand-up guy can only take so much. His life is struggle enough without a spiteful foe (Mr. Potter) wickedly plotting to

extinguish the last of his dreams. It’s enough to bring him to the brink, which is exactly where Angel Second Class Clara (talk about your deus ex machina) intervenes to grant his wish to never have been born. The sequence that follows is one of the opera’s boldest, played in monochromatic shadows, eerily without music. It is a theatrical gamble that makes a powerful point. When George comes back to life, he sings and the lights return to color; the orchestra bubbles back; and Heggie’s flowing melodic line courses on to the joyous finale. Set designer Robert Brill, projection designer Elaine J. McCarthy, choreographer Keturah Stickann, and director Leonard Foglia, the SFO team responsible for Heggie and Scheer’s magnificent “Moby Dick,” are back to create another smoothly

Oh, Mary!

SF Playhouse’s “Mary Poppins” is a musical based both on the stories of openly bisexual author P.L. Trav-

SF ’ S FAVORITE NAUG HT Y PU PPETS R ETU R N HOM E FOR TH E HOLIDAYS

NEW CONSERVATORY THEATRE CENTER IN ASSOCIATION WITH SE ASON PRODUCE RS: LOWE LL KIMBLE & TE D TUCKE R PRESE NTS

“Fresh and delightful”

“A smash hit”

SF EXAMINER

BAY AREA REPORTER

“Hilarious, high energy”

“A local tradition”

THEATRE EDDYS

SAN FRANCISCO TRAVEL

THE MUSICAL MUSIC & LYRICS BY ROBERT LOPEZ & JEFF MARX

BOOK BY JEFF WHITTY

BASED ON AN ORIGINAL CONCEPT BY ROBERT LOPEZ & JEFF MARX

DIRECTED BY JAY MANLEY · MUSICAL DIRECTION BY MARK DIETRICH · PUPPET DIRECTION BY ASSISTANT DIRECTOR CHRIS MORRELL · ORCHESTRATIONS AND ARRANGEMENTS BY STEPHEN OREMUS · CHOREOGRAPHY BY AUDREY BAKER

NOV 30, 2018 – JAN 6, 2019 BUY TICKETS AT NCTCSF.ORG BOX OFFICE: 415.861.8972 25 VAN NESS AVE AT MARKET ST AVENUE Q is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. 421 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019. Phone: 212-541-4684 Fax: 212-397-4684. www.MTIShows.com. Avenue Q has not been authorized or approved by the Jim Henson Company or Sesame Workshop, which have no responsibility for it’s content.

ers and on the Walt Disney film she resisted and reviled. As artistic director Bill English points out in his program note, “The original Mary, like Ms. Travers, an immigrant from Australia, was from the underclass of London deplorables,” not posh like Julie Andrews’ version. The musical offers an intriguing and quite un-Disneylike critique of the English class structure. The heroes are lower-class sorceress Mary and the dirt-under-his-fingernails, working-class chimney sweep Bert. Upper-class banker Mr. Banks and out-of-touch Mrs. Banks need more than a spoonful of sugar to catch a clue on child-raising. The show, with its typically-forPlayhouse elaborate set design and high production values, never fails to delight. Bay Area stage veteran El Beh makes for a formidable Mary, cinematic production. Doors open, close, rise and fall in the floor and ceiling, representing portals in the flashbacks of George’s life. Angels easily ascend and descend, and the entire cast is costumed in vintage clothing designed by David C. Woolard, illuminated by Brian Nason’s brilliant lighting design. The show is stuffed with treats start to finish, as perky and energetic as the very best of Broadway. The score is instantly appealing, and Patrick Summers (another frequent Heggie collaborator) leads the enthusiastic 50-piece orchestra with a pulsing beat and sparkling sheen. The large cast is excellent, and once one accepts tenor William Burden, who created the role in Houston, looking middle-aged from the start, his expressive tone and committed acting make his portrayal of George Bailey believable. His clear voice also pairs nicely with Canadian soprano Andriana Churchman, making a graceful SFO debut as George’s loving wife Mary. Their love duet at the end of Act I is beautiful. Another Canadian in his SFO debut, baritone Joshua Hopkins is appealing as George’s brother Harry. Tenor Keith Jameson also debuts impressively as endearingly simple Uncle Billy. SFO veteran baritone Rod Gilfrey has covered a lot of ground since he started hearts racing at the War Memorial as Stanley Kowalski in Andre Previn’s “A Streetcar Named Desire.” Twenty years haven’t dimmed his looks, but he has always been a good singing actor, so his portrayal of George’s nemesis, bitter old Mr. Potter, convinces. He created the role at the HGO premiere two years ago and still seems to enjoy adding depth to the old codger’s nastiness. Adler Fellows Sarah Cambidge, Ashley Dixon, Amitai Pati and Christian Pursell appear as four Angels First Class, and look spectacular with their wings opened out. Ian Robertson’s SFO Chorus cuts loose, filling a multitude of roles from high school jitterbugs to the good people of Bedford Falls. As Clara (Clarence in the movie), the angel eager to earn her wings, South African soprano Golda Schultz

Wiley Naman Strasser is a spry and appealing Bert, and the entire cast, including two very game child actors, fill their characters with life and song. Special note must be made of trouper Katrina Lauren McGraw, who makes a meal out of two quite dissimilar parts: the nasty nanny Miss Andrew, always ready to inflict poisonous “Brimstone and Treacle” on misbehaving children; and the rumpled bag-lady Bird Woman, offering her cruddy parcels of crumbs for “tuppence a bag.” Exclaim the Banks children, “Oh, there’s that horrible woman Daddy warned us about!” But she, too, becomes a lower-class hero in this passion play. So a most populist Mary Poppins and all sorts of fantastical San Francisco Beach Blanket characters await you this holiday season. Take the plunge and book some tickets!t

Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

William Burden as George Bailey in Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

makes her SFO and role debut with charming innocence and earnest determination. The “heavenly” aspects of the opera and film veer close to mawkishness, but if you’re going to have faith in guardian angels, one couldn’t do better than believing in Schultz’s Clara. Her stratospheric high notes are startlingly pure, and her silvery tone is amusingly contrasted in exchanges with her celestial boss “A Voice,” pre-recorded by baritonal Patti LuPone. Even without appearing, she gets laughs. Her contribution also puts some needed booze in the punch bowl. Heggie and Scheer’s lovable opera genuinely wants to please, and makes a most sincere effort without a hint of falseness. It may go on a bit, could still use some editing, and the cuteness quotient is high, but the sentiments are timeless, and the music is irresistible. “No one is a failure who has friends.” When the cast invited us to join in singing “Auld Lang Syne” during the curtain calls, I obliged by smiling my way through. “It’s a Wonderful Life” is like a sweetnatured Labrador at a holiday party who thinks he’s a lapdog. By the third lick, you just can’t help but laugh and hug back.t “It’s a Wonderful Life” continues through Dec. 9. sfopera.com

<< Theatre

18 • Bay Area Reporter • November 29-December 5, 2018

Saucy & soulful Taylor Mac is back by Jim Gladstone

ground and Rolling Stones songs as commentary on the holiday season, this carnival-cum-concert is not your grandparents’ Christmas pageant. Not Mac’s grandparents’ either, it turns out. In the show’s most emotionally gripping section, about two-thirds of the way through, Mac gives his music director, Matt Ray, and snazzy eight-piece band a break. Alone at center stage, he strums a ukulele and sings a candid original composition about his extended family. What at first seems a whimsical ditty soon evolves into a piercing lament about the scars left by multi-generational dysfunction, and an explanation of how Mac vows to cover them with glitter. Suddenly the locally recruited choir of senior citizens that has occasionally chimed in throughout the evening has new meaning. They’re a willful reframing – not only of Mac’s grandparents, but of whole generations unwilling to accept queer people or anyone else superficially

readlocked and ample-breasted, the infant Christ (sidhe degreene) lolled in a straw-lined cradle, sucking first her thumb and later a 40 oz. malt liquor with the fervor of a peen-parched fellatiophile. As the impresario and titular star of “Taylor Mac’s Holiday Sauce” sashayed downstage to lead his Curran Theater congregation in a rousing rendition of “Oh Holy Night,” the wee savior cried out in vain to save her own spotlight: “Nobody puts Baby Jesus in the corner!” Good luck with that one, J.C. All formal aspects of traditional Christendom – which Mac deems “Patriarchy as Spirituality” – are gleefully shoved aside in favor of a “Radical Faerie Realness Ritual” in the MacArthur-winning performance artist’s orgiastic baccha-noel. From a buck naked Angel Gabriel to a phallically gifted Santa, to Mac’s stirringly sung reframing of Velvet Under-

Little Fang Photography

Machine Dazzle and Taylor Mac in “Taylor Mac’s Holiday Sauce” at the Curran Theater.

different from themselves. As much as this show’s outré elements might put off certain audiences, Mac suffuses the whole with a wish for all to be welcome, at any celebration. “Irreverence,” he tells us, sharing wisdom offered by his late drag mentor Flawless Mother Sabrina, “is a tool, not a lifestyle.”

That said, sincerity is a tool as well, one that Mac swung awfully hard and not particularly precisely in several meandering speeches about his sociopolitical leanings, which are quite clearly pre-approved by his self-selecting audience, and far more elegantly expressed in the body of his performance. One of the

more annoying hallmarks of patriarchal spirituality is preaching to the converted.t Taylor Mac’s Holiday Sauce plays the Curran Theater through Dec 1. Tickets from $29. (415) 358-1220, www.sfcurran.com.

Folklore & history by Jim Gladstone

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dd to say about a play that touches on the Holocaust, but with its poignant take on family, fiction and hope for the future, “Everything Is Illuminated” offers a lovely welcome to the holiday season. At the Aurora Theatre through Dec. 16, this warm cookie of a show is a little nutty, loaded with bittersweet morsels and misshapen in a way that only adds to its homey authenticity. Playwright Simon Block’s quirky, multi-textured adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer’s bestselling novel braids three narrative strands. The most prominent takes the form of a largely comedic road trip. Twentyish Jonathan (Jeremy Kahn), a character based on the novelist, travels to Ukraine, searching for a woman who decades earlier helped his grandfather flee their small village and escape the Nazis. He’s also trying to write a chronicle of his family’s history, through which he hopes to understand his own place in the world. Jonathan is guided on his Ukrainian journey by Alex (Adam Burch. a lanky, larky delight), a local young man whose mangled English, perpetual horniness and uncritical adoration of all things American provide much of the show’s humor. Also along for the ride is Alex’s grandfather, played by Julian LópezMorillas in a sterling performance that persuasively evolves from curmudgeonly to cruel to compassionate. Burch, too, believably reveals unexpected facets of his character over the course of the evening. The heart of the play is its second story, told mainly through anecdotes recollected by Alex’s grandfather and an elderly village woman (Lura Dulas, delicately compelling) who Jonathan desperately hopes will prove to be his grandpa’s onetime savior. Emotional pain throbs through the older characters’ dredging of long-smothered memories, making what could have been the evening’s most prosaic moments into its most dramatic. The play’s thinnest strand is a series of vignettes intended to show Jonathan’s wordplay-besotted creative process. He draws on both his Ukrainian journey and his imagination to piece together a stylized

Aurora Theatres

Julian López-Morillas, Adam Burch, and Jeremy Kahn in Jonathan Safran Foer’s “Everything Is Illuminated,” adapted by Simon Block, and directed by Tom Ross.

version of his family lineage. We see him scribble in his notebook, narrating tales and engaging in dialogue with characters he concocts in an effort to bridge the gaps in his sparse factual knowledge. While playwright Block doesn’t get many narrative dividends out of this third track, director Tom Ross, with keen support from designers Kurt Landisman (lighting), Kendra Jackson (masks), and Matt Stines (sound), and fifth cast member Marissa Kettle (in several tiny but finely-etched roles), smartly elevates its brief scenes into a lovely Chagallevocative ornamentation. They leaven the play’s heavier elements and, in their echoes and contradictions of other sections, remind us that “Everything Is Illuminated” is, above all, about the truth-obscuring and wish-fulfilling power of storytelling. Scenic designer Kate Boyd enhances this motif with her simple yet fanciful set of the old woman’s crooked-doored, artifact-packed house, which looks lifted from the pages of a children’s book. Props master Eric Johnson invites the audience to project its imagination just like Jonathan does, with rolling chairs cleverly choreographed to stand in for a car. While Julian López-Morillas and Adam Burch convincingly show us their characters’ evolution, Jeremy Kahn succeeds at a challenging task

in the role of Jonathan Safran Foer. He’s the only actor required to hopscotch meta-fictional conceits from the source novel that Block has ambitiously, clumsily adapted to the stage. But, impressively, everything isn’t convoluted. In the first scene, as Jonathan starts out on his trip, Kahn’s physical presence and locution both feel a bit formal, stiff, as if he’s tiptoeing into his own story, half-narrating, half-playing his action. This seems an intentional choice by Kahn and director Ross, because as the play proceeds, Kahn relaxes into the character, Jonathan’s self-consciousness only evident in those scenes when he’s trying to write. Formality, accompanied by hard-won confidence, returns in the play’s final scene, in which Jonathan, having transformed his experience into a novel, stands before the audience and reads a whimsical, soul-stirring passage from his book. With a deep affection for yarnspinning, a plea for compassion both familial and global, and an appealing pinch of awkwardness, “Everything Is Illuminated” makes for first-rate holiday fare.t “Everything Is Illuminated,” through Dec. 16. Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison St., Berkeley. Tickets ($35-$70): (510) 843-4822, www.auroratheatre.org.

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<< Theatre

20 • Bay Area Reporter • November 29-December 5, 2018

Sun shines with spectacular acting

Teresa Castracane

Award-winning writer-performer Nilaja Sun in the West Coast premiere of “Pike St.” at Berkeley Rep.

by Jim Gladstone

ike the Cirque that shares her surname, Nilaja Sun dazzles audiences with jawdropping skills while demonstrating considerably less knack for conveying a storyline. Sun plays four men and five women in her fast-paced, always entertaining solo show “Pike St.,” now at the Berkeley Rep. Her characters converge in and around the Lower East Side tenement apartment called home by three generations of the Vega family. At the center of this clan is Evelyn,

the effortfully upbeat single mother of a seriously disabled teenage daughter, Candi. Evelyn’s libidinous widowed father, referred to only as Papi, lives here, too. And her brother, Manny, an enlisted soldier, returns home from Afghanistan on the day the play is set. The spiritual essence of the family’s late matriarch is also conjured in opening and closing moments. Sun swiftly etches her characters, using powerful physical and verbal shorthand to make each of them indelibly distinct. Plainspoken Evelyn holds her head high. Candi has

twisted limbs and a slack jaw. Papi is stoop-shouldered and broadstanced, with a protruding lower lip and a thick Puerto Rican accent, frequently used to deliver racy wisecracks. Manny speaks minimally, holding himself at constant attention to tamp down the rage and disorientation of PTSD. Beyond the family, Sun gives us Manny’s squinty, skulking hoodrat pal Ty; Papi’s money-hungry ladyfriend Migdalia; a Yemeni bodega owner; and gabby downstairs neighbor Mrs. Applebaum, whose osteoporotic gait and Yiddish inflection,

while undeniably funny, are also unquestionably stereotypical. Like Papi’s horny old goat shtick, Mrs. Applebaum’s dialogue finds Sun leaning hard on ethnic caricature. That’s an almost inevitable pitfall of Sun’s hyper-kinetic performance style. She’s not doing a series of monologues here – two, three, even four characters at a time engage in often rapid-fire dialogue. And even her minor roles must be instantly recognizable. Imagine each character as a television station with Sun pressing her thumb down on the channel-changer: the transitions come impressively fast, but along with PBS, HBO, Telemundo and BET, the Cartoon Network gets its moments. Oy! Sun’s transitions and the show’s occasional changes in locale are elegantly supported by director Ron Russell’s space-carving sound design and Tyler Micoleau’s lighting, which subtly cues each character shift. But as dazzling as Sun’s transformations are – and they’re dazzling enough to make “Pike St.” well worth seeing – the show’s writing and conceptual constructs detract from its strengths. In choosing to juggle so many characters throughout an 80-minute show, Sun gives herself little choice but to portray some more sketchily than others. Depth sometimes takes a backseat to flash, with some genuinely touching moments that deserve room to breathe abruptly shifting to more jokey material. One wonders how much more emotionally resonant “Pike St.” might be if Sun reduced her char-

acter palette to the members of the Vega family, allowing their impact on one another’s lives to become clearer and more nuanced. We get plenty of recognizable tics, but not enough sense of what makes each character tick. The link between overpopulation and underwriting is most sharply underscored in Sun’s efforts to provide audiences with not only a portrait gallery, but also a multitentacled plot. The action of “Pike St.” takes place on a day when not only is Manny returning from Afghanistan, but New York is bracing for the onslaught of a major hurricane. The storm poses particular danger to Candi, who is dependent on electric power to run her respirator and dialysis machine. Oh, and Manny needs to be told that the business he planned to run, his late mother’s botanica, has been shuttered and sold during his final tour of duty. That’s enough literal sturm, family drang and dashed American dream for a lengthy two-act evening, but after being touched upon in the opening scenes of “Pike St.,” they’re essentially set aside for the mesmerizing spectacle of Sun’s characterization skills. When these big themes swoop back in minutes before show’s end, they serve more as distraction than denouement. It’s like an August Wilson drama butting into “Tracey Ullman’s Show.”t “Pike St.” at Berkeley Rep through Dec. 16. Tickets ($45$90): (510) 647-2949, www.berkeleyrep.org.

Fighting trans stereotypes by Tim Pfaff

hailand’s not a world leader in much, but it’s the Silicon Valley of all things trans. Back in 2003, Ekachai Uekrongtham, a Thai independent filmmaker working out of Singapore (where, ironically, the censors are even more severe), released “Beautiful Boxer,” a bio-pic about Parinya (“Nong Toom”) Charoenphol, who mastered muay-thai kickboxing to become an international lord of the ring – before transitioning to being a woman. If the recent Trans Film Festival whetted your appetite for more, the multi-award-winning “Beautiful Boxer” can be found online, and

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I was as impressed and moved by it recently as I was in 2003. What made me take it off the shelf again was the potent new memoir “Amateur” (Scribner), by Thomas Page McBee, an American trans man whose journey took him to Madison Square Garden – in the ring. It could be argued that the two sagas show that what underlies being trans is universal and crosscultural, which would be not only superficial but also wrong. The struggle against societal notions of what constitutes masculinity informs both, but beyond the fact that these stories “end” differently, gender-wise, being real-life stories, they’re about individuals whose paths are as distinctive as these two, knocking personal demons down for the count. Just pages in, McBee writes about his earlier self being “so concerned with being perceived as a threat that I’d become a ghost instead,” a line no animist Southeast Asian would need unpacked. Beyond that, typology vanishes in this quintessentially American book. The author, previously, of “Man Alive: A True Story of Violence” and “Forgiveness and Becoming a Man,” McBee has honed his writing to the meet the task of taking readers deep inside his experience, fearful only of stereotypes, superficialities and cliches. It asks as much of the reader’s integrity – reading without presumptions, without reading in – as it does of the author’s. This shocker (and this is not a spoiler) comes in the penultimate chapter, where McBee begins a sentence with, “In my five months boxing…”. For the reader, it feels like an epic few people could fit into a lifetime, or two. McBee started his testosterone shots in 2011, this book in 2015, the latter the result of his fury after an early date with his future wife, who said, “Maybe, instead of looking for

the men you want to be, you need to face your worst fears about who you are.” Here’s a dose of McGee’s candor: “But the more I felt at home in my body, the more my discomfort of what was expected of it deepened.” Here’s McBee on the ritual of self-discovery that, for him, was American boxing, a long-time if second-hand love: “The brutal intimacies of boxing – between coaches and fighters, and even between opponents – are part of our cultural narrative, and I imagined they might help me address the question of male violence with some ritual and containment.” What most fascinated him, and enlivens his book, was “the literary quality to what struck me as a compelling allusion and troubling metaphor for my own experience of manhood: two men, stripped and slowly ground down to their essences in front of a blood-thirsty crowd in a wounding ballet of fists

and a losing battle with time. There was honesty in that violence, a kind of grace that both referenced and

Amos Mac

“Amateur” author Thomas Page McBee.

eclipsed my more toxic notions of masculinity. I couldn’t think of a more visceral way to face it.” McBee’s initial question is: “Why do men fight?” His writing about boxing itself, which regularly plies scathingly honest hilarity when chronicling his own progress, requires nothing less than a psychic mouthguard from readers, who will, or will be brought to, see themselves somewhere, and their society everywhere. Even with the author’s interjecting questions about his development and changing character, his story of getting to Madison Garden – both within and on the ropes – for a charity match moves right along. But it’s his constantly shifting, occasionally feinting, always deepening reflections on the porous boundaries between aggression and violence, the fighter and the fought, masculinity as taught and susceptible of being relearned, that sometimes make you forget he’s on his way to win or lose or both or neither in the glare and roar of the Garden. The experience he reveals is at once unwaveringly personal – including an unflinching look at decades of sexual abuse by his stepfather and the miracle of its resolution – and enlivened by the insights he, as a trained journalistwriter, has gained by interviewing the experts on gender, sexuality and masculinity. We witness his own deep dive into Jung’s injunction to confront and integrate the “shadow.” I won’t disclose the page number of his final realization about what lay at the spinning gyre of his “crisis of masculinity.” It’s as worth fighting your way to as it was for McBee.t

Film>>

November 29-December 5, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 21

Italian landscapes in new cinema

New Italian Cinema

Scene from director Francesco Falaschi’s “As Needed,” the opening-night film of the New Italian Cinema Film Festival.

by David Lamble

ow in its 22nd year, the 2018 edition of the New Italian Cinema Film Festival returns with a youth-must-be-served theme. The festival, sponsored by the Italian Cultural Institute, presents 10 feature films over three days (11/3012/2) at San Francisco’s Vogue Theatre. Today’s Italian filmmakers are just as devoted to life’s darker hues as their forefathers in the Fellini/ Antonioni era of the late 1940s-70s. The boys may be cute, but they are

anything but sweet. Below find capsules of the fest’s features. “As Needed” Director Francesco Falaschi sets his road comedy in the world of Italy’s primo chefs. We meet Arturo (the crafty Vinicio Marchioni) as he’s finishing the community-service part of a short prison stint due to anger management issues. Arturo’s assignment is to travel to a cooking contest with a talented young chef. Guido (spirited newcomer Luigi Fedele) is a highfunctioning Asperger’s kid who recalls every ingredient in every recipe

he’s ever prepared. On the road to Florence, Arturo and Guido bond in odd, endearing ways in a road comedy that will take them through some beautiful byways in the Italian countryside. (11/30) “Here and Now” This nimbly shot noir will remind some fans of classic Italian cinema such as the 1953 Fellini masterpiece “I Vitelloni,” where handsome idle youth acquire bad habits as ordinary rites of passage. Director Fabio Martina opens his tale with three friends navigating the slums of Milan in an expensive SUV. Showing off, the driver, pretty-boy Cosimo, abruptly stops near a public park where he and his buddies brutally attack an innocent victim. Full of themselves, the boys keep upping the ante until they find themselves unable to stay on top of the cruel game. Homoerotic shots of unhinged youth will remind some of a more recent Italian classic, Matteo Garrone’s 2009 crime bash “Gomorrah,” where skinny, swimsuit-clad young hoods brandish machine guns before taking their own fatal plunge in a society still dominated by crime families. (12/1) “The Last Italian Cowboys” This rural doc from director Walter Bencini captures a male culture in decline: the now-elderly horsemen who watch over cattle and horses in a stretch of grassland around Tuscany. (12/1)

Both photos: New Italian Cinema

Above: Scene from director Simone Spada’s “Hotel Gagarin.” Below: Scene from directors Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo’s “Boys Cry.”

“Boys Cry” This brutal little drama, shot by brothers Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo, focuses on the ambitions of two handsome pizza delivery boys. An accident propels them from school to a precarious niche on a local crime don’s hit-list. Matteo Olivetti and Andrea Carpenzano are the cocky Mirko and Manola, doomed youth trapped in a hood far tougher than either one of them suspects. (12/2) “Manuel” Director Dario Albertini provides a youth to admire in this neorealist drama. The film kicks off with our 18-year-old hero

leaving a state school where he was remanded after his mom’s arrest. Andrea Lattanzi gives a heartfelt performance as a young man who strives to get the last years of his mother’s sentence converted to house arrest. (12/2) “Easy” Andrea Magnani presents the story of a young man nicknamed “Easy” who finds himself out of a job as a go-kart driver after a unexpected weight gain. His depression is lifted when his brother hands him a new driving assignment: deliver the coffin of a worker from Italy to a remote part of the Ukraine. (12/2) “Hotel Gagarin” Director Simone Spada tells the tale of five young aspiring filmmakers whose dreams are upset by a flim-flam artist. Stranded in the snowbound Hotel Gagarian in a remote part of Armenia, the five are threatened by a nearby outbreak of fighting. Giuseppe Battiston stars as Nicola, a history teacher amazed to think that a script of his could actually by filmed. Silvia D’Amico is a mood-swinging wannabe actress. Plays with the short “The Whole World, One Step at a Time.” Gianmarco D’Agostino’s short doc profiles Bangladeshi kids and efforts to improve their lot. (12/1) Closing night, Dec. 2, is devoted to two one-hour docs. “Open to the Public” Director Silvia Bellotti appears in person to present her study about how Naples’ 40,000 housing units are allocated. The film documents despair mixed with low farce. “The Call” Enrico Maisto shows jury selection Italian-style with this peek at how Milan authorities select the brave citizens who will judge suspects accused of serious crimes, including mass shootings. (Both 12/2)t www.NewItalianCinema.org

<< TV

22 • Bay Area Reporter • November 29-December 5, 2018

Post-traumatic stress disorder by Brian Bromberger

and 2022, with vertically cropped 4:3 aspect ratio. So it’s easy to distinguish the storylines. The whole series transpires in 10 crisp 30-minute episodes. Heidi Bergman (Julia Roberts) is a counselor at the Homecoming Transitional Support Center, a private facility located near Tampa, Florida, run by the Geist corporation, treating PTSD soldiers returning from active combat duty, using counseling, role-play, and food spiked with a mysterious drug. With its claustrophobic design, the facility resembles a prison. Heidi’s boss, Colin Belfast (Bobby Cannavale), is interested only in extracting data from the veterans. Heidi develops a friendly professional relationship with one of her clients, Walter Cruz (Stephan James), a black soldier home from Afghanistan dealing with survivor guilt about a friend killed in action.

Flash-forward four years later. A downtrodden Heidi is now living with her mother (Sissy Spacek), working as a waitress in a dockside greasy-spoon called Fat Morgan’s. Defense Department auditor Thomas Carrasco (Shea Whigham) appears, asking Heidi about her time at Homecoming, but she can hardly remember any details, as if the whole experience were wiped clean from her mind. Together Heidi and Carrasco try to piece together this puzzle of what happened at the now-closed Homecoming program. Roberts is perfect for this role, because as “America’s sweetheart” we trust that she genuinely cares about wanting to help the veterans. But we share her dawning realization that she has unwittingly played an ethically compromised role in a cunning form of brainwashing. They

are being used as biopharmaceutical guinea pigs to erase PTSD memories, in a bid to save millions on therapy and recycle them back into combat. In the paranoid 2022 sequences, her mother observes, “People make compromises. You did what you had to do. You took a job.” All the other performances are spot-on. James is suave, charismatic, and vulnerable, creating chemistry with Roberts. Whigham acts as a surrogate for the viewer trying to figure out what’s going on. Spacek embodies the clueless but defensive mother. Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Walter’s mother, who knows something’s amiss, is riveting in her devotion. The scene-stealing Cannavale creates a micromanaging villain in constant motion, intent on making Homecoming a success at any cost.t

behind to raise their five children in Copenhagen – though one wonders if she had a choice – while he traveled to the South of France, New Zealand, the Marquesas Islands, and Tahiti, seeking unspoiled regions where he could nourish his soul, feel closer to the earth and embolden his artistic imagination. She promoted and sold his paintings for him in his absence. Meanwhile he was off in the South Seas, surrounded by teenage native girls, and accumulating young mistresses from Paris to the tropics. A chart mapping his extra-curricular relationships reveals he fathered children with several women and painted others in works one wishes were here. Though Mette appears in a sensitive, pencil-drawn portrait he did in 1873, the year they wed, and the couple is seen in photographs together, they were estranged for most of their marriage, from 1885 until his death in 1903; they never divorced. Gauguin compiled his thoughts, ruminations on his paintings and the writings of Poe and Rimbaud in a notebook for his daughter – sample pages are on view – but she succumbed to pneumonia before she received it. As the exhibition trips through the decades, Gauguin is revealed as a scavenger who sampled and adopted styles that he made his own. His early paintings hew close to the Impressionists with whom he exhibited his work between 1880 and 1882. The gentle composition and muted colors of “The Family of the Painter in a Garden” (1881), which depicts his young children in the Vanguard district of Paris, reflects

the influence of Renoir, Degas and his teacher and mentor, Camille Pissarro. (Gauguin, an avid collector, owned the two Pissarro paintings displayed in the show.) “Garden in Snow” (1879), a rural landscape with a frozen lake and a filigree of bare tree branches etching the icy air, could be mistaken for one of the famous winter paintings by Monet, who was a certifiable rock star at the time. And the frankness of Gauguin’s assured charcoal-andchalk-pastel “The Woman from Arles, Madame Ginoux” (1888), with its take-no-prisoners subject, is reminiscent of Toulouse-Lautrec’s denizens of the demi-monde. (In Schnabel’s film, Gauguin sketches her while visiting Van Gogh.) Many will bemoan the shortage of the Tahitian paintings for which Gauguin is best known. “Tahitian Woman with a Flower” (1891), a portrait of a handsome,

almost masculine woman, remote in affect and dressed in stiff colonial clothing, her black hair contrasting with a maize background, was painted shortly after his arrival on the island. What an odd impression he must have made with his trademark cowboy hat (he was a fan of Buffalo Bill) and long, unruly hair. “Reclining Tahitian Women,” or “The Amusement of the Evil Spirit” (1894), a primal scene of bathers washing their hair in a stream limned in bold colors and a mix of figurative and abstract forms, was actually painted in France and bartered to pay his hotel bill in Brittany. (Both works are discussed in the exhibit’s “First Impressions,” a video by Samoa-based artist Yuki Kihara that explores Gauguin’s imagery of indigenous Mahu, or Tahitian thirdgender individuals.) “Landscape from Tahiti” (ca. 1893) is a pure distillation of paradise, an idealized

exotic dream of the Pacific where inviting pools of water beckon beyond a grove of lush green palms whose upper canopy has been scorched by the sun. Gauguin’s stunning, earth-toned prints offer another means of escape. He seized upon the medium at a moment in the 19th century when the ancient art-form was experiencing a revival, and adapted it for his own purposes. Printed with dark sepia ink, Gauguin’s superb aquatint etching of fellow Symbolist and mutual admirer Stephane Mallarme (1891) conveys the writer’s character and gravitas, and the merging of two poetic spirits. In “Eternal Night” (1893-94), an emotionally forceful, technically brilliant black-and-orange woodcut on pink paper, the dimming light of an oil lamp casts a faint glow on an inert figure attended by a shadowy gathering keeping vigil as he transitions from day to night, literally and metaphorically. A similarly unusual clay-andochre palette, more in tune with pantheism than the heaven-sent blues and pinks of the Impressionists, permeates his wood carvings and “Flowers and Cats,” a still life painted in 1899, a few years before he died at the age of 55. The autumnal hues seeping like blood through a floral bouquet suggest the inevitable return to the soil and oneness with the earth Gauguin had been seeking in life.t

cisco, and it could only be with Ry,” she said. “I am really looking forward to being back.” Cash, the winner of four Grammys and nominee for 11 others, has also written four books, including the bestselling memoir “Composed,” and has written essays published in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and The Nation. In addition to continual worldwide touring, Cash has performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. Born in Nashville in 1955 just as her father’s songs were hitting the charts, Cash spent her early years growing up in California. She said she always wanted to be a writer, but not a musician. But as a teenager, her father encouraged her to go on the road with him to learn the music business. She learned to play the guitar and often came out from backstage to sing in the finale. She moved to London for a while, hoping to write songs for other people. “Life on the road in the music business was not appealing to me,” she said, noting that many performers, including her father, had longstanding problems with drugs.

But once Cash got her first recording contract, at age 22, she changed her mind. Back in Nashville, Cash won commercial and critical success following the release of her second album, “Seven Year Ache,” which yielded three #1 country hits. But being the daughter of Johnny Cash wasn’t always easy, she said. “People were sometimes resentful,” she said, “thinking you have it easy.” Cash said her sound was different from her father’s, “more California new country than Tennessee rockabilly.” After nine years in Nashville, she left for New York City with her three children after her first marriage fell apart. She married producer John Leventhal in 1995, collaborating with him on her latest album, “The River and the Thread,” which won three Grammy awards. When she is not writing, rehearsing, or touring, Cash said she has “a really busy life” with her family. “Today my daughter and I spent half a day going through my files and getting rid of a lot of old clippings,” she said. With her latest album released just two weeks ago, Cash said she is spending a lot of

uring the Age of Trump we have experienced paranoia, crackpot theories, conspiracy plots, the corporatization of government, polarization, and mistrust. So it is no exaggeration to say that Amazon Prime’s new TV series “Homecoming,” which started streaming Nov. 2, with all those themes embedded in its circuitous intrigue, puzzling twists, and Hitchcockian suspense, is tailor-made for our times. It features Julia Roberts in her first foray into serial TV, giving her best performance since her Oscar-winning Erin Brockovich in 2000. Developed and directed by Sam Esmail, based on a podcast by Eli Horowitz and Micah Bloomberg, the series’ action occurs on two alternating timelines: 2018, presented in full-frame boxy 16:0 aspect ratio;

Paul Gauguin

From page 15

He bears a striking resemblance to the man who inhabits “Gauguin: A Spiritual Journey,” an exhibition that opened recently at the de Young Museum. The show of 60 paintings from the collection of the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen also features revelatory examples of the artist’s expressive printmaking, painted wood bas reliefs, and over a dozen, lesser-known primitive experiments with ceramics only a Gauguin enthusiast could love. Beginning its narrative arc in 1870, the exhibition lays out its two main themes: how this original artist’s pivotal relationships with fellow artists and his wife shaped his work; and his quest for spirituality, not only his own but that of other cultures he believed could unlock the secrets of nature. The curators also include artifacts from FAMSF’s Oceanic Art collection, the rationale being they connect with Gauguin’s sojourns to the Pacific Islands. But what might have been a good idea in theory doesn’t work in the context of the show. Like so many male artists then and now, Gauguin had the advantage of love and support of a strong, independent and devoted woman. (A book about all of the women who’ve sacrificed their own talents and ambitions on the altar of their male partners’ careers is waiting to be written.) In Paris he met Mette Gad, the resourceful Danish woman he would marry. Sympathetic to his passion for art, she agreed to stay

Rosanne Cash

From page 15

Cash, who just released her 15th album, “She Remembers Everything,” on Blue Note Records, and Cooder, best known for his work with the Rolling Stones and Van Morrison and for producing the album “The Buena Vista Social Club,” will reprise their four-night sold-out 2017 collaboration at SFJAZZ, where they first performed Johnny Cash classics. “I had been avoiding singing my father’s music for 40 years,” said Cash in a telephone interview with the B.A.R. But the four concerts, which sold out almost immediately, “turned out to be a wonderful way to put my memories to rest,” she said. So when SFJAZZ invited her back this year, Cash decided to take a short break from her worldwide tour promoting her 15th album for two nights in San Francisco. She will also be performing her new music on Jan. 27, 2019 at Napa’s Uptown Theatre, and on Jan. 30 at Monterey’s Golden State Theatre. “If I am going to sing my father’s music it could only be in San Fran-

Amazon Prime

Julia Roberts in director Sam Esmail’s “Homecoming.”

Ole Haupt, courtesy FAMSF

Paul Gauguin, “Reclining Tahitian Women” (1894), oil on canvas.

time promoting it on radio and TV. “And doing interviews just like I am with you right now,” she added. She is finishing the last song for the score she has written for a theatrical production of the 1979 movie “Norma Rae,” the story of a factory worker in North Carolina who gets involved with labor union activities. The musical, which is going into rehearsals soon, will be staged next summer. Cash’s activism also keeps her busy, she said. Among the issues she has been fighting for are artists’ rights, both to control how their work is used and to be paid fairly. She testified before Congress on intellectual property rights, copyright reform, and the “weird loopholes in the law that allow digital companies to avoid paying legacy artists. These practices are “horrible and disrespectful,” she said. Another issue, gun control, has been on Cash’s radar for two decades. “A single child’s life is more precious than the right to own a personal arsenal of military-style weapons,” she said. “The killing of children in schools should not be

Through April 7. famsf.org. “At Eternity’s Gate” is currently playing in theaters.

collateral damage for the Second Amendment.” Cash has organized a number of seminars on gun control legislation. Cash has also been a longtime supporter of women’s rights. “We are not small, inferior versions of men,” she said. “We deserve respect and every kind of consideration given to men, including equal representation in government and equal pay.” While not “overtly political,” Cash said the songs on her new album, all written or co-written by her, reflect the world “from a uniquely feminine perspective. I wish I could be more optimistic about the progress of women’s rights. Given the current political situation, and the recent appointment of [Supreme Court Justice Brett] Kavanaugh, it’s obvious that much of what I have hoped would change in my lifetime really has not. At least not yet.”t Tickets for Cash’s performances at the Opera House are $55$195: www.sfjazz.org. Cash’s January performances: www. UptownTheatreNapa.com, www.GoldenStateTheatre.com.

Arts Events

Nightlife Events

Shining Stars

Vol. 48 • No. 48 • November 29-December 5, 2018

www.ebar.com V www.bartabsf.com

20 Questions with Shawn Ryan Robert Barbutti

Cabaret star plays multiple Bay Area gigs

By David-Elijah Nahmod

s he prepares for his November 30 show at Oakland’s Sound Room (which is already sold out) and his December 9 show at Guerneville’s Main St. Station, singer, actor and naughty comedian Shawn Ryan answered a volley of questions for the Bay Area Reporter. Ryan will also perform at the Marines Memorial Theater on December 10 in Help Is On The Way XVII, to benefit the Richmond Ermet Aid Foundation. Look for his new album, Shawn Ryan Live! See page 25 >>

Shawn Ryan at his recent Great American Music Hall show, Streep Tease.

A Celebration of Streetbar

How the first gay bar in Palm Springs signaled a change by Michael Flanagan

riting about LGBT history in San Francisco tends to give you a particular perspective. We have seen the reduction of neighborhoods (like Polk Street) and the closing of the Lexington Club, the last lesbian bar in town. It’s easy to assume that we are in a time of decline. But it’s important to understand that not all cities are the same and that they’re not all following the same trajectory. In honor of Palm Springs Pride, which happens at the beginning of November, here is a very different story from a Southern Californian city. See page 24

Streetbar, the Palm Springs historic gay tavern.

{ THIRD OF THREE SECTIONS }

RESERVE YOUR SPACE!

Call Scott W. Wazlowski, (415) 829-8937 or email advertising@ebar.com

<< BARchive

24 • Bay Area Reporter • November 29-December 5, 2018

The seasonally-decorated chandelier at Streetbar.

Kane Price; courtesy Jim Suguitan

Streetbar event in the 1990s

Streetbar

From page 23

Palm Springs has been associated with the gay community for a very long time. But as David Wallace points out in his book A City Comes Out: How Celebrities Made Palm Springs a Gay and Lesbian Paradise, for a long time its association with Hollywood (and celebrities like Rock Hudson and Liberace) also meant that it was a closeted association. Part of the bargain that closeted celebrity status entailed was dealing with politicians and a business community that abhorred public displays of homosexuality – and it was well known. In 1980 Mr. Marcus, writing in the Bay Area Reporter referred this in a column: “Handsome Troy Hignite, man-

ager of the CC Construction Co. in Palm Springs area blew into town last week. In case you didn’t know it, CC means Cathedral City, a suburb of the Springs. Everyone knows gay bars are banned there.” Marcus was correct. Damron’s guidebooks list all of the gay bars for Palm Springs through the ‘80s as actually being in Cathedral City. Since Cathedral City was not incorporated as a city till 1981, it was easier to open gay bars there. But the animosity that Palm Springs politicos expressed towards gay people went further than this. At a press conference in late 1984 to express opposition to a clothingoptional resort becoming an AIDS hospice, then-Mayor Frank Bogert said, “The whole world now has the idea that Palm Springs is the place

you go to get AIDS. When (tourists) hear Palm Springs has an AIDS place, they’re not going to come here.” It took considerable nerve for Dick Haskamp, the late owner of Streetbar (224 E Arenas Road), to buy the bar with a partner in 1991, before effective AIDS therapies were available. It is true that by that time Sonny Bono (who was less antagonistic to the gay community than Bogert) was Palm Spring’s mayor. But it is also true that Haskamp was a firsttime business owner. He had initially been a bartender at Streetbar Named Desire (as the bar was initially called). There were LGBT restaurants prior to Streetbar’s opening (Gloria’s and the Red Raven), but Streetbar was the first gay bar in town. In a 2010 interview on KPTR’s Business Outvoice program, Haskamp said that in 1991 the bar was the “only gay business on Arenas road – most of the storefronts were vacant.” That certainly wasn’t the case for long. In the next few years other LGBT businesses moved onto the block. I spoke with Streetbar Manager David Farnsworth who told me, “I started in 2000 and the street was full at that time.” Clearly the reason that the bar was such a success was that Haskamp enjoyed entertaining the bar’s guests and hired a crew of workers with the same attitude. In the 2010 interview, he said (in response to a question about when he was going to retire), “This is not work, this is just fun. I can’t imagine not having this job.” Should you ever wonder whether or not a neighborhood bar can have an effect on an entire city Streetbar would prove that case. The Pride Parade, which had originally been on Williams Road, moved downtown to Ramon Road in 1996 and incorporated a festival on Arenas Road in 1996. Having a downtown gay business district gave Pride a focus in the downtown area. Part of Streetbar’s success was due to Haskamp’s involvement in the Palm Springs LGBT community. When he died in March of this year, Gay Desert Guide posted an obituary which mentioned that Haskamp was on the board of the Desert Gay Rodeo Association, the Desert Business Association, the Palm Springs Desert Gay Tourism Guild, AIDS Assistance Program (a/k/a AAP), and the LGBT Community Center of the Desert. Farnsworth told me that the bar “has raised over $275,000 for various local charities, primarily AIDS-related.” One of the major charity projects they are involved in is the Artwall Project, which dedicates a wall of the bar to local artists. Farnsworth told me, “Artwall Project is the brainchild of several Streetbar employees, themselves artists, who select local artists to display and sell their

works to benefit the AAP and other charities.” More than fifty local Palm Springs artists have had their work displayed at the bar since 2003. Perhaps the most astounding thing about Haskamp is that he made plans prior to his death to keep the bar going after he passed. In both writing and reading about LGBT history, one of the things that I have discovered is that business owners rarely plan in advance for the continuity of their businesses, whether they retire or die. That Haskamp did and that Streetbar continues on is a tribute to both. It is also a tribute to Haskamp, Farnsworth and the entire crew of Streetbar that the charity work that was part of his vision for the bar continues. During his memorial earlier this year, the bartenders from Stacy’s, a bar which had suffered fire damage, took over for the crew of Streetbar, and all sales and proceeds from the bar went to the displaced bartenders.

Since then the bar has had fundraisers for the Palm Springs Hot Rodeo, the Community food bank, and on December 5 they hold their annual Holiday Wreath Auction. This season of the year is traditionally when we express gratitude for the good things in our lives. One thing that I will be adding to my list is gratitude that there are businessmen like Dick Haskamp and bars like Streetbar that know the value of community. And further I am grateful that there are places like Palm Springs, where the LGBT community continues to thrive and grow.t The author would like to thank Ron Williams, David Farnsworth and especially Jim Suguitan for his splendid Palm Springs history site (http://www.dejaival.com).

Top Right: Ron Williams Bottom: Jim Suguitan

Top Left: Streetbar owner Dick Haskamp. Top Right: A hunky bartender at Streetbar earlier this year. Bottom: Dick Haskamp in drag at Streetbar.

Cabaret>>

November 29-December 5, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 25

6: Who are your gay role models? My role models in high school were found in narrative films. Movies like Trick by Jim Fall, Love! Valour! Compassion!, and then the lessons in camp history like Auntie Mame and old episodes of The Judy Garland Show. The people in these tapes became my role models. Their art helped me imagine a world where I could be myself and live freely. Art has truly always been my greatest influence. 7: Talk about your friendship with the lovely Andrea Marcovicci. I think our friendship is based in mutual admiration for the other’s ability and I simply adore her. She lives the glamorous life of a cabaret queen that I aspire too. More often than not, we find ourselves super casually dressed eating in one of our favorite Hollywood diners just being silly and laughing.

Shawn Ryan

From page 23

1: Why are you often called ‘The Other Queen Of Cabaret?’ I was dubbed The Other Queen Of Cabaret by the Queen herself, Andrea Marcovicci, and considering I have come up in the cabaret world idolizing her, it was a true honor to be dubbed the Other Queen. 2: How did you come to be called The Love Child Of Peter Allen And Bette Midler? When I started in this business, I had a really hard time finding my place. I couldn’t just stand up and croon old Sinatra tunes, and I couldn’t do my versions of show tunes, though I tried both. Neither one seemed to fit. So, I decided to be myself on stage. The debut of this new concoction was in San Francisco in 2007 at The Herbst Theatre. It was then that I was dubbed the love child of Peter Allen and Bette Midler. I had always adored Miss Midler; much of her performances shaped who I wanted to be on stage. He was and she is so distinctly unique and I love what they bring to audiences. I would’ve loved to actually been the product of that union, but of course, that never happened.

Not to make this whole thing about Bette Midler, but she really was the one. I studied everything of hers my whole life. I was so obsessed, in fact, that when I was sixteen my first official date was with a girl (clears throat) to see Diva Las Vegas, Bette’s then-touring show. The clincher was the girl I was taking was playing Peter Pan in our community theatre production to my Lost Boy #6. So my first date was taking Peter Pan to see Bette Midler. Freud would’ve had a field day.

3: Tell us about your younger years. My first professional job was as a rodeo clown in Pocatello, Idaho at five years Steven Underhill old and the first time I heard 5,000 people laugh at a Shawn Ryan in his Christmas tree joke that I had made; I was costume at a 2016 REAF benefit concert. hooked! I did professional theatre out of college. When a contract that I was in ended early, I decided to enter a Cabaret Contest. I won it and the rest, as they say, is history. 4: Who are your musical influences? The Sherman Brothers were my first real intro to jazz. Any true jazz lovers just rolled their eyes at the white boy from Pleasanton, CA saying he learned about jazz from Disney. But it’s true. It was the perfect combination of real jazz and theatrical interpretation and I adored it. “Bare Necessities” [from The Jungle Book] was on repeat on my tiny record player. Later I would realize that I liked bears for a whole different reason. 5: Who are your comedy influences?

8: You are often very comic and naughty in your cabaret shows. By nature, I’m a silly person. I enjoy a good dirty joke, but never crass; just enough to tease your ticklish spot. I always wanted our shows to feel like you were just in our living room having a cocktail and telling the latest dish about this or that. And there just happens to be a sixpiece band there, too. 9: What drew you to music and comedy? I love a good ballad; don’t get me wrong. But I think what the world needs and wants is a good laugh. And what better way to present it than in that old-fashioned Judy Garland-esque way of adding a melody? So that’s what we do. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, we don’t over plan. We just want you to order a cocktail, sit back and let us do all the heavy lifting. 10: Tell us about America’s Got Talent. Were you outrageous? Out on the air? Did you shock them? At no point did they check with me to see if it was okay to out me on national television. They did it quite kindly and I reacted with pure, genuine truth. I was out before, but this was cementing into the NBC archives. And I’m so glad that I got to be me on that show. My gayness wasn’t what shocked them. It was my comedy, and they all agreed that our act was perfectly entertaining. Piers Morgan even said, “It looks like you were born to do this!” I had an absolute blast on that show! 11: What was your impression of Regis Philbin? I love that man. Coming off stage of my first big win, the producers pulled me aside immediately and shouted at me with a camera in my face. And I held my hand up in front of the camera with a huge smile on my face and said, “I feel amazing. I’d love to visit hair and make up and the restroom and then come back for this interview.” And at that mo-

Shawn Ryan’s Live album

ment, Regis was passing by and he exclaimed in his purely Regis tone, “I like this kid!” We were friends from that moment forward. 12: Did you win America’s Got Talent? We always knew we were not

Playmates and soul mates...

San Francisco:

1-415-692-5774 Megamates.com 18+

going to win. But we sold a ton of albums and each week 18 million people got to see what we do. I always truly believed that we did in fact win. Cabaret rooms for the most part hold 100-150 people. So in one night, our art and music could be seen by 18 million people! It was a huge win! by the shock factor, for sure. Once I had penned it, I realized it’s actually quite an informative number that people go crazy over. And I love that people love it. It makes me so happy. The song, that is… and foreskin.t

Read the rest of this interview at www.ebar.com/bartab Shawn Ryan performs Nov. 30 at Oakland’s Sound Room, Dec. 9 at Guerneville’s Main St. Station, and Dec. 10 in Help Is On The Way XVII at Marines’ Memorial Theatre. http://www.shawn-ryan.com

<< Arts Events

26 • Bay Area Reporter • November 29-December 5, 2018

Arts Events

November 29-December 6

Thu 29

Magic Makers @ Humanist Hall, Oakland

Night Bloom @ Conservatory of Flowers

Sixth annual fair of queer-made visual art, jewelry and accessories, herbal blends and tinctures, clothing, books and zines, body care products, and more. 12pm6pm. Also Dec 2. 390 27th St., Oakland. queermagicmakers.com

New evening exhibit of nocturnal plants, with light shows and music. $20-$39. 5pm, thru Jan. 6. 100 John F. Kennedy Drive, Golden gate Park. www.nightbloom.org

Pike St. @ Berkeley Repertory Theatre

Heading into the last month of the year, we can’t resist the oncoming holiday-themed events, World AIDS Day commemorations, Golden Girls, wildfire victims benefits, and ... two Queen concerts?

Holly Near @ NorCal Venues

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

Fri 30 Barbarella @ Exit Theatre

Thu 29 A Bronx Tale @ Golden Gate Theatre Touring production of the acclaimed musical adaptation of Chazz Palminteri’s autobiographical story about a Bronx teenager enamored of a mafia boss. $56-$256. Tue-Thu 7:30pm. Fri & Sat 8pm, Wed, Sat Sun 2pm. Thru Dec. 23. 1 Taylor St. at Market. www.shnsf.com

Another Hole in the Head Film Festival @ New People Cinema 15th annual festival of fun, unusual scifi, horror and animated films. $15-$160 (full pass). Thru Dec. 12. www.sfindie.com

Dames at Sea @ Gateway Theatre 42nd Street Moon’s production of the musical that spoofs 1930s shows. $30-$75. Wed/Thu 7pm. Fri 8pm, Sat 6pm, sun 3pm. Thru Dec 16. 215 Jackson St. www.42ndstmoon.org

Holly Near @ NorCal Venues The acclaimed folk singer performs through Northern California with Tammy Hall and Jan Martinelli; Nov 29, 7pm at Sebastopol Community Cultural Center, 390 Morris St. Nov 30, 7pm at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church, 2391 St. Marks Wat. Dec 1, 8pm at Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison St., Berkeley. Dec 2, 6pm & 8pm at Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320-2 Cedar St. $20-$35. www.hollynear.com

Lucy Jane Bledsoe @ REI Stores The lesbian author of the new short story collection Lava Falls reads from her Grand Canyon adventure story, and other works, at the outdoor/camping supply stores. Nov 28, 7pm: 849 Brannan St. SF. Nov 29, 7pm: 1338 San Pablo Ave. Berkeley. Dec 6, 7pm: 2450 Charleston Road, Mountain View. http://www.lucyjanebledsoe.com/

Reorienting the Imaginaries @ SOMArts Cultural Center Opening reception for an exhibit of multidisciplinary works that bring together more than a dozen artists of color who are connected by complex histories, identity and power. 6pm-9pm; thru Jan 24. 934 Brannan St. www.somarts.org/

Vampire Christmas @ Exit Theatre Stuart Bousel and Allison Page’s comic monster holiday play. $20$30. Thru Dec 15. 156 Eddy St. http://www.theexit.org/

Becky Hirschfeld & Dani Spinks’s stage adaptation of the comic book by Jean-Claude Forest and the campy ‘60s scifi film. $12. Thru Dec 15. 156 Eddy St. www.theexit.org

The Bathroom Line @ SOMArts Cultural Center Radar Productions’ exhibit about intimacy, ritual, and public/private space, expressed in visual and text pieces by several queer POC artists. Opening reception 6pm-9pm. 934 Brannan St. www.somarts.org

The Golden Girls @ Victoria Theatre They’re back! D’Arcy Drollinger, Heklina, Matthew Martin and Holotta Tymes perform drag versions of holiday episodes. $25$50. Thu-Sat 8pm, Sun 7pm thru Dec. 23. 2961 16th St. www.thegoldengirlslive.com

Mary Poppins @ SF Playhouse The popular Broadway adaptation of the P.L. Travers book and Disney film about a magical nanny gets a local production; music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman; book by Julian Fellowes. $30-$55 and up. Thru Jan 12. 450 Post St. www.sfplayhouse.org

The Right Note @ Phoenix Theatre

Award-winning performer/ playwright Nilaja Sun’s new solo show portrays three generations of a Puerto Rican family’s legacy and lives. $27-$80. Thru Dec 16. 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. www.berkeleyrep.org

San Francisco Bach Choir @ Calvary Presbyterian Church The choir performs Joyeux Noel, a (mostly) French Candlelight Christmas. $10-$35. 7:30pm. Also Dec 2, 4pm. 2515 Fillmore St. www.sfbach.org

The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberly @ Marin Theatre Company Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon’s stage adaptation of the story by Jane Austin, with upper class and servants’ lives entangled in holiday intrigue. $39-$52. Thru Dec 16. 397 Milelr ave, Mill Valley. https://www.marintheatre.org

Sun 2 DanceHack @ CounterPulse Dance and technology combine in an experimental night. $20-$35. 7pm. 80 Turk St. counterpulse.org

Dandy @ Oasis Leigh Crow and Ruby Vixen cohost the fun monthly drag king variety show, this time with a Casino Royale theme. $15. 7pm. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Mon 3 World Tree of Hope @ Grace Cathedral Rainbow World Fund’s 13th annual tree-lighting ceremony, with 1000s of paper origami crane “wishes” for world peace, cohosted by Donna Sachet and Heklina, with musical performances by Tammy Hall, SF Gay Men’s Chorus members, Dames at Sea cast, Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and more. 6:30pm8:30pm. 1100 California St. http://www.rainbowfund.org

Tue 4 Between Life and Death @ Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts Harvey Castro’s photo exhibit of Mexican peoples’ traditional ways of honoring their dead. Thru Dec 13., Tue-Sat 10am-5pm. 2868 Mission St. http://missionculturalcenter.org

Fever @ Center for Sex & Culture Fever: Documenting the Human Sexual Experience, a group photogrpahy exhibit curated by Anissa Malady. Tue 11am-5pm. Wed 10am-3pm, Thu 3pm-7pm and by appointment. Thru Dec. 28. 1349 Mission St. www.sexandculture.org

Wed 5 Bodyscapes @ Strut Opening reception for a group exhibit of art by the 50-Plus Network members, with music and poetry readings. 6pm-8pm. Thru Dec. 470 Castro St. www.strutsf.org

Break Free! A Night with Queen @ Shelton Theater Body Taboo Defiance presents a night of burlesque, drag, performance art, live music, circus, spoken word and frivolity with the music of Queen. $20-$100. 11pm doors, show at midnight. 533 Sutter St. http://sheltontheater.org/ body-taboo-defiance/

A History of World War II @ The Marsh Prolific playwright and director John Fisher’s new solo show’s subtitled The D-Day Invasion to the Fall of Berlin. $20-$100. Thu 8pm, Sat 8:30pm. Thru Dec. 15. 1062 Valencia St. www.themarshsf.com

Joe Mantello’s solo stage adaptation of David Sedaris’ popular story about working as a holiday elf is performed by Max Tachis. $45. Thru Dec. 23. 12345 S. El monte Road, Los Altos. www.TheatreWorks.org

Thu 6 Cynthia Ling Lee, Melissa Lewis @ CounterPulse The two artists perform Lost Chinatowns and I Dreamed Bruce Lee Was My Father, their works about Asian lives, stereotypes and icons. $20-$35. Thu-Sat 8pm. Sat 2pm, thru Dec. 15. 80 Turk St. www.counterpulse.org

Drag Queens on Ice @ Union Square Ice Rink Safeway Holiday Ice Rink hosts the ninth annual drag show, on ice! With MC Donna Sachet. 8pm9:30pm. Union sqaure, downtown S.F. www.unionsquareicerink.com

The Incarnates @ CounterPulse Works by missTANGQ, a ChineseAmerican multimedia artist and first-generation mystic-nerd. Free. 6pm-8pm. 80 Turk St. www.counterpulse.org

Now We’re Here @ The F’Inn Acoustic concert of Queen songs with singers and musicians Peter Fogel, Suzanne Ramsey, Diogo Zavradski, Adam Dragland, with special guests Leigh Crow, Ruby Vixen and Jason Brock; hosted by author Jim Provenzano. Complimentary champagne, appetizers and desserts. $20$50 (VIP includes priority seating and a signed copy of the novel Now I’m Here ). 7:30pm doors. 8pm concert. 814 Grove St. https://queencelebration. brownpapertickets.com/

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Dickens Fair @ Cow Palace Annual holiday festivities include exhibits, arts, crafts, food and drinks, with a Dickensian costume flair. $14-$120. Thru Dec. 23. Lower Exhibition Halls, 2600 Geneva Ave., Daly City. https://dickensfair.com/

The Santaland Diaries @ Lohman Theatre, Los Altos Hills

Personals

Rice Majors and Jerome Joseph Gentes’ musical about a singing competition show’s mystery gets staged workshop performances. $15-$45. 8pm. Also Dec. 1, 2, 12, 14 & 15. 414 Mason St. 6th floor. https://sparestage.org

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Nightlife Events>>

November 29-December 5, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 27

Nightlife Events November 29-December 6

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

Friday Nights at the Ho @ White Horse Bar, Oakland

Thu 29

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

Literary Speakeasy @ Martuni’s

Latin Explosion @ Club 21

James J. Siegel’s monthly authors and cocktails night, with Katie Aliferis, Kelly Landmine, Kyle Thomas Smith, D’mani Thomas, and Jenny Xie. 7pm. 4 Valencia St. at Market.

Love for Paradise @ MORE/jones Juanita MORE! hosts a benefit for the North valley Community Foundation. $50 of all sales benefit victims of the Camp Fire in Butte. 5pm-10pm. 620 Jones St. www.juanitamore.com

Fri 30 La Bomba Latina @ Club OMG Drag show with DJ Jaffeth. $5. 9pm2am. 43 6th St. www.clubomgsf.com

Hysteria Comedy @ Martuni’s

DJs Sappho, StormyRoxx, and The Prey (David Sylvester) spin at the intimate Lower Hight club. 9pm-1am. 424 Haight St. www.facebook.com/ undergroundsf/

DJ Lady Char spins dance grooves; gogo studs, and drink specials, too. 9pm-2am. 2023 Broadway. (510) 8232099. www.portbaroakland.com

Laugh out loud comics at the open mic night. 6pm-8pm. 4 Valencia St.

Frolic, Woof @ SF Eagle

Gooch

Go Bang’s 10th @ The Stud

Shake It Up @ Port Bar, Oakland

Sat 1

Leave the year behind as we head into the last month; get your Santa hats and holiday gear pressed and steamed.

Dec 1

NoFoMo @ Underground SF

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

Light in the Grove @ Nat’l AIDS Memorial Grove Annual gala fundraiser for the Grove, with a tented dinner, honors, and a candlelit commemoration at the Circle of Friends. $250 and up. 6pm-9:30pm. Nancy Pelosi Drive at Bowling green, Golden Gate Park. www.aidsmemorial.org

Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis, Jr. @ Feinstein’s The seven-time Grammy-winning duo perform their show Up, Up and Away. $67-$110. 8pm. Dec 1 at 5pm & 8pm. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. www.feinsteinsatthenikko.com

The fursuit fun night welcomes guest-DJ Jello Biafra (The Dead Kennedys), playing garage, punk and surf, and DJ Paul Goodyear for a house & disco set. $8-$12. 9pm2am. Preceded by the human pup mosh (3pm-6pm). 398 12th St. www.sf-eagle.com

GAMeBoi SF @ Rickshaw Stop The Gaysians and pals dance night celebrates K-pop, hip hop and house grooves. $8-$15. 9:30pm-2am. 155 Fell St. www.rickshawstop.com

Go Bang! @ The Stud Ten-year anniversary of Steve Fabus, Sergio Fedasz and Prince Wolf’s groovy classic disco night, with guest DJs Elaine Denham, Robin Simmons and Stanley Frank. $5-$10. 9pm-3am. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

Mistle-Glow @ Club 6 Comfort and Joy’s 10th annual Touch party, with sexy vibes, groovy grooves (DJs Jason Godfrey, One A, Hil Huerta and Ivan), wild performances, and holiday glow décor by Chickpea! $30-$50. 10pm5am. 60 6th St. www.playajoy.org

Powerblouse @ Powerhouse Juanita MORE, Glamamore and crew give a drag newbie an onstage makeover. $5. 9pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

Shining Stars

Sun 2 Christine Andreas @ Venetian Room The Broadway and cabaret singer performs Piaf: No Regrets. $65. 5pm. Fairmont Hotel, 950 Mason St.. www.bayareacabaret.org

Queer Tango @ Finnish Hall, Berkeley Same-sex partner tango dancing, including lessons for newbies, food and drinks. $5-$10. 3:30pm-6:30pm. 1970 Chestnut St, Berkeley. www.finnishhall.org

Mon 3 Meow Mix @ The Stud DJs Jezza and dank play at the last Meow Mix. 9pm-2am. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

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

Tue 4 High Fantasy @ Aunt Charlie’s Lounge Weekly drag and variety show, with live acts and lip-synching divas, plus DJed grooves. $5. Shows at 10:30pm & 12am. 133 Turk St. at Taylor. www. auntcharlieslounge.com

Vice Tuesdays @ Q Bar Queer femmes and friends dance party with hip hop, Top 40 and throwbacks at the stylish intimate bar, with DJs Val G and Iris Triska. 9pm2am. 456 Castro St. www.QbarSF.com

Wed 5 Castro Karaoke @ Midnight Sun Sing out with host Bebe Sweetbriar; 2 for 1 well drinks. 8pm-2am. 4067 18th St. 861-4186. midnightsunsf.com

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

Queeraoke @ El Rio Midweek drag rave. 10pm. 3158 Mission St. http://www.elriosf.com/

Thu 6 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

Would You Be Caught Dead in That Outfit? @ The Stud Retro ‘70s and ‘80s wear with “maricones and mariposas” style, photos, fashion show, drag and style. 7pm-10pm. 9pm-2am. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

Photos by

Steven Underhill Holiday Ice Rink @ Union Square T

he holiday season got off to a cool start at the November 7 opening day ceremonies for the Safeway Holiday Ice Rink in Union Square. Figure skating star Brian Boitano, singers from the cast of the musical Dear Evan Hansen and nimble ice skating women kicked off the ceremonies, while the SF Giants seal mascot literally broke the ice – sculpture, that is. www.unionsquareicerink.com See plenty more photos on BARtab’s Facebook page, facebook.com/lgbtsf.nightlife. See more of Steven Underhill’s photos at StevenUnderhill.com.

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For headshots, portraits or to arrange your wedding photos

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

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