LPAC rescinds support for Tran
by Matthew S. Bajko
Apolitical action committee focused on electing out women and gender-nonconforming candidates has rescinded its endorsement of a queer East Bay House candidate due to her stance against gender-affirming care for youth and spreading rumors about a gay Oakland mayoral staffer. She is also being called on to resign from the board of a local LGBTQ Democratic club.
LPAC announced its decision October 18, a day after Jennifer Kim-Anh Tran, Ph.D., had posted the comments online via her X account.
See page 10 >>
PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT Kamala Harris and Tim Walz
U.S. SENATE Adam Schiff
SF MAYOR London Breed, first choice
Aaron Peskin, second choice
SF BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Dist. 1: Connie Chan
Dist. 3: Sharon Lai, first choice; Danny Sauter, second choice
Dist. 5: Dean Preston
Dist. 7: Myrna Melgar
Dist. 9: Roberto Hernandez, first choice
Stephen Torres, second choice
Dist. 11: Ernest “EJ” Jones, first choice
Michael Lai, second choice
SF DISTRICT ATTORNEY
Brooke Jenkins
SF BOARD OF EDUCATION
Matt Alexander
Jaime Huling
John Jersin
Parag Gupta
CITY COLLEGE OF SF Luis Zamora
Alan Wong Aliya Chisti Heather McCarty
BART BOARD DIST. 9 Joe Sangirardi
OTHER RACES
ALAMEDA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Dist. 5: John Bauters
Safaí makes closing pitch in the Castro
by John Ferrannini
The decided underdog among the five major candidates in next month’s San Francisco mayoral race, outgoing District 11
Supervisor Ahsha Safaí said he’s been getting a second look from some voters after strong showings in televised debates. He’s also been a beneficiary of ranked choice strategy from one of the other major candidates.
“I can be in any corner of the city, people come up to me and say, ‘Hey, saw you in the debate, I didn’t know who you were, but I’m voting for you now, you’ve convinced me, you stand out.’” Safaí told the Bay Area Reporter. “There’s millions and millions of dollars being spent on this campaign, but with the support from organized labor and every day San Franciscans, I’ve been getting momentum. I know that we’re the dark horse in the race but I feel confident, at least, we still have a shot.”
The B.A.R. caught up with Safaí when the candidate made a stop in the Castro LGBTQ neighborhood October 17 to go inside the Castro Theatre to see the ongoing renovation and restoration project at the movie palace, which remains closed for the work. The supervisors were closely divided on the matter before they decided they’d vote down an amendment that might have curtailed manager Another Planet Entertainment’s plans back in June 2023. As the B.A.R. reported at the time, Safaí said he spoke with about 50 people before making a decision on how he’d cast his vote.
Safaí’s visit to the space only reaffirmed his decision to support APE’s plans, he said.
“I feel like this demonstrates my commitment to the LGBTQ community, but it also encapsu-
OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL
Dist. 3: Warren Logan
Dist. 5: Erin Armstrong
At-Large: Rowena Brown
BERKELEY CITY COUNCIL
Dist. 2: Terry Taplin Dist. 6: Andy Katz
EAST BAY MUD Ward 5: Jim Oddie
EL CERRITO CITY COUNCIL William Ktsanes
Rebecca Saltzman
MOUNTAIN VIEW CITY COUNCIL
Chris Clark
Devon Conley
Emily Ann Ramos Pat Showalter
PALO ALTO CITY COUNCIL
Katie Causey Anne Cribbs
PLEASANTON SCHOOL BOARD
Area 4: Charlie Jones
PINOLE CITY COUNCIL
Devin T. Murphy
Maureen Toms
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO
CITY COUNCIL Dist. 4: James Coleman
TRACY MAYOR
Dan Tavares Arriola
WALNUT CREEK
CITY COUNCIL
Cindy Darling
Laura Patch Kevin Wilk
CONGRESS (BAY AREA)
Dist. 2: Jared Huffman
Dist. 4: Mike Thompson
Dist. 8: John Garamendi
Dist. 9: Josh Harder
Dist. 10: Mark DeSaulnier
Dist. 11: Nancy Pelosi
Dist. 12: Lateefah Simon
Dist. 14: Eric Swalwell
Dist. 15: Kevin Mullin
Dist. 16: Evan Low
Dist. 17: Ro Khanna
Dist. 18: Zoe Lofgren
CA ASSEMBLY
Dist. 14: Buffy Wicks
Dist. 16: Rebecca Bauer-Kahan
Dist. 17: Matt Haney
Dist. 18: Mia Bonta
Dist. 19: Catherine Stefani
Dist. 20: Liz Ortega
Dist. 21: Diane Papan
Dist. 24: Alex Lee
Dist. 25: Ash Kalra
Dist. 26: Patrick Ahrens
CA SENATE
Dist. 3: Christopher Cabaldon
Dist. 7: Jovanka Beckles
Dist. 9: Marisol Rubio
Dist. 11: Scott Wiener
Dist. 13: Josh Becker
Dist. 15: Dave Cortese
Dist. 17: John Laird
lates what I’m about, why I’m running for mayor,” Safaí said. “I came down, I listened to members of the community, and given my background in planning, the work I have done on economic revitalization, I ultimately sided with the community that wanted to see evolution with this space, that wanted to preserve the iconic theater that is one of the defining characteristics of San Francisco but also to bring back energy, activity and life to this community. Almost every single small business owner you go to will say they’re struggling.
“I’m happy to have been the swing vote, a key vote, on that when Supervisor [Aaron] Peskin
was doing everything he could to stop it, I came in and said, ‘No, I’m going to listen to the community’ and the mayor, quite frankly, was not inserting herself into the conversation,” he added. Peskin and Breed are also running for mayor. Safaí, 51, and his mother immigrated to the United States after the Iranian revolution in 1979. Safaí worked under then-mayors Willie L. Brown Jr. and Gavin Newsom at the San Francisco Housing Authority, the Mayor’s Office of Community Development, and in San Francisco Public Works. He went on to become political
See page 6 >>
SF school closures
halted by board as new leader named
by John Ferrannini
There won’t be any public school closures next year, the San Francisco Board of Education announced, following the resignation of the superintendent who was to preside over them. The new superintendent is Maria Su, Ph.D., who formerly led the city’s Department of Children, Youth, and Their Families.
Su had headed up a team of top city officials Mayor London Breed recently dispatched to the school district to help administrators with budget and other matters.
The district’s leadership change saves the Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy in the Castro LGBTQ neighborhood, and the June Jordan School for Equity in the Excelsior, alongside nine other campuses –at least for now. Both Milk, a K-5 elementary school, and June Jordan, a high school, had been on the list of possible closures. Milk was the first openly gay man elected to public office in California when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. He and then-mayor George Moscone were assassinated in November 1978. Jordan was a queer Black woman who was a poet, essayist, and activist. She died in 2002.
Parents and community leaders have been incensed about the possible school closures or mergers since a list of affected campuses was released October 8. Breed last week criticized the district and Superintendent Matt Wayne.
been communicated and managed,” Breed stated October 15. “This cannot continue.”
Wayne submitted his resignation under pressure October 18, which was accepted by the Board of Education in a 6-1 vote. It happened just days after Breed expressed she now longer had faith in his leadership after the list of schools on the chopping block was announced.
The lone dissenter, Commissioner Kevine Boggess, felt that Wayne should instead be fired.
REMEMBER TO VOTE BY
“Over the last week since the school closures/ merger list was released, I’ve spoken to parents, educators, and staff, and so many in our city who care deeply about our public schools. What I’ve heard over and over is confusion and concern around the proposed school closures/merger list and how it has
The school board approved a separation agreement that will pay Wayne his $325,000 salary and fund his health benefits for 12 months, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Breed praised the school board’s decision to hire Su to oversee the district and its myriad crises.
See page 2 >>
Queer horror
divided
Openhouse ED quietly departs
Tamara de Lempicka
Jennifer Kim-Anh Tran, Ph.D.
Courtesy the candidate
Mayoral candidate Ahsha Safaí stood outside the Castro Theatre after a visit inside to view the renovation project.
John Ferrannini
Maria Su, Ph.D., is the new superintendent of the San Francisco Unified School District.
Courtesy DCYF
CA schools falling short on teaching LGBTQ content
by Matthew S. Bajko
Of the roughly 43% of California unified school districts that responded to the 2024 Safe and Supportive Schools Report Card, few reported having adopted all of the LGBTQ curriculum standards required by a state law that went into effect in 2012. At best, more than half had done so for at least one age cohort in either the elementary, middle, or high school level.
Known as the FAIR Act, the law added “lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans” to the list of topics public school districts in the Golden State are to teach about to K-12 students in their history-social science classes. But as the California Department of Education notes on the webpage explaining Senate Bill 48, found at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ ci/cr/cf/senatebill48faq.asp, it was left to local districts to determine how the instructional content is included.
In 2016, the state agency updated its guidelines for how school districts could integrate the LGBTQ content into classroom instruction. But as it notes on its FAIR Act webpage, “the law provides a great deal of flexibility on how it is implemented.”
There is nothing on the webpage about a hard deadline for when school districts were to have begun teaching the LGBTQ content at all grade levels. It simply states “instruction in history–social science should include” doing so. Nor does it mention any penalties for those districts that fail to do so.
Thus, of the 146 school districts that took part in the biennial report card compiled by the Equality California Institute, the educational arm of the statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization Equality California, just 37% reported that they had adopted FAIR Act compliant instructional materials in social studies and history for all grades.
When asked if they had adopted FAIR Act compliant instructional materials in all four minimum required topics: history, government, social studies, and English language arts, only 31% of the districts said that they had done so. Nearly 60% have adopted FAIR Act
School closures From page 1
“Dr. Maria Su has been a champion for families and children in our city and she has my full confidence in this new role leading our public schools,” Breed stated. “The most important thing right now is for the school district to close its budget deficit to prevent a state takeover and to instill trust
compliant instructional materials in social studies and history for at least one of the school-age cohorts.
“It is concerning,” EQCA Institute spokesperson Jorge Reyes Salinas told the Bay Area Reporter when asked about the small percentage of public school districts that reported meeting the FAIR Act curriculum requirements.
“This report highlights what is the obstacle for certain districts. Is it lack of staffing, funding, or the growth of the school district not matching financially what it needs?” noted Reyes Salinas.
The office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond did not respond to the B.A.R.’s request for comment about the latest EQCA schools report card, the third it has released since 2019. In a letter included in the 72-page report, Thurmond wrote that he hopes it fosters “connections across districts to share successful approaches and address challenges.”
He also noted, “the insights and recommendations provided in this report will help us identify critical gaps and elevate successes as districts across the state work to support positive school climates not just for LGBTQ+ youth but for all students.”
According to the report card, it “is vital” for every student to learn about the contributions and history of LGBTQ+
and confidence in the district. I know Maria has what it takes to lead this process with clarity, compassion and a commitment to strong communications with families and educators.”
The school district needs to slash $100 million from its budget and is in danger of being taken over by the state.
Tony Thurmond, state superintendent of public instruction, visited San Francisco Monday, October 21, for a rally with Breed and other officials in
individuals. It calls for increasing shared resources on LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum and instructional materials in order to facilitate continued improvement of them.
“When looking at inclusive curriculum in other areas of study, the results are underwhelming, with many districts still struggling to meet the requirements of the FAIR Act,” notes the report card. “Accessibility of inclusive curricula in all subjects will require further collaboration and resource sharing. Adoption of LGBTQ+ inclusive textbooks and educational materials must be more consistent across districts.”
Highest response rate so far
This year’s report received the highest response rate of the three so far released. Five years ago, 130 of the state’s 343 unified school districts filled out the voluntary questionnaire sent to district administrators. The number dropped to 118 two years ago as unified school districts were still dealing with disruptions brought about by the COVID pandemic.
“It is something, we of course, always talk about,” said Reyes Salinas about the disappointing response rate. “The report card is really there to highlight the challenges and the opportunities of improvement. In an ideal world, we would have all school districts prioritizing this
support of Su and the district.
“My team and I will continue to work closely with Mayor Breed, Maria Su, and the San Francisco Unified board, staff, educators, and families, as we support SFUSD to work successfully through the district’s current challenges,” Thurmond stated. “We will build on the hundreds of millions of dollars in state funding already provided to support educators’ professional development as well as students’ academic achievement
enough to provide information that down the line will help them fill the gaps they have to fulfill these mandates by the state and to support LGBTQ students, which is what this is really highlighting.”
School districts that only have high schools, or both middle and high schools, are not asked to participate.
And more than half of the districts sent the report card continue not to fill it out, including the state’s largest such district, Los Angeles Unified School District.
It currently has 540,000 students at over a thousand school sites. LAUSD’s communications office did not respond to the B.A.R.’s query on why it had for a second time not taken part in the report card.
It had filled out the inaugural one released in 2019. At that time it reported the contributions of LGBTQ+ individuals are taught in history and social studies classes. The district also said its high schools were required to begin using textbooks and/or other instructional materials that include references to LGBTQ+ Americans and other underrepresented groups.
But it did not respond to a question on if the district had adopted the use of LGBTQ+ inclusive textbooks and/or other instructional materials for history and social studies classes for its different grades.
The 2024 report card grouped districts into 11 regions across California. Most of the nine-county Bay Area was included in Region 4, but Sonoma County was included in Region 1 with other North Coast counties and Santa Clara County was put in Region 5 with Central Coast counties.
Of the 42 school districts in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Solano counties, only 17 responded with the average score being 43.4 out of a high score of 62.
“We are fortunate more districts have filled it out,” said Reyes Salinas. “But it is upsetting to have school districts in areas you noted, like the Bay Area and even LAUSD, the largest unified school district that serves a large amount of students, not fill it out.”
With issues concerning LGBTQ students coming under attack by local
and mental health. We will also continue to provide fiscal experts to help SFUSD balance its budget and build the fiscal systems needed to support the worldclass education system that all San Francisco families deserve.”
Gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who represents the Castro neighborhood on the Board of Supervisors, stated to the B.A.R. October 22 that he has “a lot of confidence in Maria Su.”
Republican officials and conservative parent groups across California in recent years, Reyes Salinas said it is more important than ever for school districts to take part in the report card. The point isn’t to “shame” or “reprimand” school districts, stressed Reyes Salinas, but to begin conversations on how they can better meet the needs of their LGBTQ student populations.
“If we are not able to have frank conversations about where our school districts are at at the moment, we are just putting a band aid on some of these critical issues,” he said.
While the actual report card, which can be downloaded at https://schools. eqca.org/report-card/, just lists the responding districts’ scores, the website includes a searchable database to see why a certain district received the score that it did.
For example, the San Francisco Unified School District, which just saw the ouster of its superintendent amid public uproar over a now-scrapped plan to close or merge 11 of its schools due to declining enrollment, received a score of 51.75, putting it among the better performing districts on the report card. It lost points because not all of its middle and high schools have a Gender and Sexuality Alliance or GSA club for LGBTQ students and for not tracking the number of LGBTQ students who are formally disciplined.
It was also dinged for not having at least one easily-accessible all-gender bathroom for students at each of its school sites. SFUSD also saw deductions for the length of time it takes to review textbooks, not having a district-wide group for LGBTQ staff, and not mandating employees have LGBTQ+ specific training nor suicide awareness and prevention training. Its suicide prevention program isn’t mandatory or taken by all of its staff.
EQCA plans to release a fourth report card, Reyes Salinas confirmed, and is hopeful of seeing the number of school districts responding continue to increase.
“As of now, yes, we plan to roll out the next one in 2026,” said Reyes Salinas. t
“She’s smart and competent and wellrespected by key stakeholders, including in City Hall and state government,” he stated. “That said, the road ahead is going to be a challenging one for the district and Superintendent Su; the choices will not be easy and the politics will be hard. The good news is Maria steps into this role with a lot of well-earned good will, which she will need.”
See page 11 >>
Valor LX2 3-sided gas fireplace shown here with Murano glass, and reflective glass liner
The Equality California Institute released its school report card for 2024 that showed few have implemented all of the LGBTQ curriculum standards required by state law.
Courtesy EQCA Institute
Volume 54, Number 43
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East Bay candidate endorsements
We made endorsements in Oakland and Berkeley city council races last month, but there are other out candidates and straight allies seeking elected office in the East Bay. Below are our recommendations.
Tracy mayor Tracy elects its mayor, who serves alongside four council members. This year, City Councilmember Dan Tavares Arriola is running again for the top job. (He first ran unsuccessfully in 2020.)
A gay man, Arriola was the first out LGBTQ elected official in the history of Tracy when he won his council seat in 2018. Reelected in 2022, Arriola decided to seek the open mayor’s seat this year. (The mayor serves a two-year term while councilmembers are elected to four-year terms.)
LGBTQ issues have arisen in Tracy. Arriola, 34, stated in his endorsement questionnaire that in 2020, after the Tracy City Council passed a resolution prohibiting the raising of the LGBTQ Pride flag for a month, “I organized community members and successfully reversed the prohibition. In 2022, I became the first elected official in the nation to testify publicly at a state legislative hearing regarding monkeypox, after testing positive myself and facing a series of obstacles in accessing resources.”
civic issues, including an appointment to the city’s transportation commission. If elected, she would be the first known LGBTQ member of the City Council. But more than that, Patch has demonstrated a willingness to gain experience that would help her on the council.
One of the most pressing issues is housing and preserving open space, Patch stated. “We need to determine which areas of land can support additional residential development, without sacrificing natural landscape,” she noted. She’s open to re-examining building height limits to allow for taller buildings, which benefits both businesses and promotes highdensity housing and incentivizing (with tax breaks) commercial building owners to convert or sell longstanding vacant spaces to affordable housing. She is supportive of high density housing near BART stations or on BART property.
On homelessness, Patch stated that she wants Trinity Center to begin offering all-year shelter. (The center, which provides several safety net services, currently provides overnight shelter from December through April, according to its website.)
Walnut Creek does fly the Pride flag in June, and Patch would like to see the city’s art and recreation department offer more activities during the month. This year, she stated, activities were only scheduled for about half the month. Overall, Patch has a lot of good ideas and would be a valuable addition to the council.
at the local, regional, state, and federal levels, given that BART deals with all of them. “As BART’s representative on the West Contra Costa Transportation Commission, I have worked to improve transportation throughout West Contra Costa County,” she stated in her endorsement questionnaire. Her background and knowledge will be of benefit to El Cerrito residents.
“My expertise is in building bridges and solving problems,” she stated. “I know how to secure resources for government agencies, how to build and grow coalitions, and how to manage organizations large and small, from multi-county government agencies to national issue-based non-profit organizations. I will enter City Hall with a broad range of experience, expertise, and connections that will help me bring out the best of El Cerrito.”
Saltzman will be an asset to the El Cerrito community.
Ktsanes is a single gay dad. He has a young adult son with special needs whom he adopted as an infant when he was volunteering through the Peace Corps at an orphanage in Thailand, caring for babies orphaned by HIV/AIDS, he stated.
Tracy has a 3-2 division on its council, with Arriola in the minority, he stated. That has led to the council changing some rules “resulting in a toxic organizational environment that has caused a large loss of institutional experience with senior staff leaving the organization, as well as unacceptable large delays and confusing standards for development and permit approval,” he stated. The city has missed out on some economic development opportunities that Arriola noted has harmed the city’s reputation in the business community.
“It is paramount that we bring our highly dysfunctional City Council back in order to restore the public-sector morale, the public’s trust in local government, and the competitiveness of our local economy,” he wrote.
Arriola has the experience to be an effective mayor and to work to restore the council’s effectiveness. We endorse him for mayor.
Pleasanton School Board Area 4
There are two candidates in the race and only one returned our endorsement questionnaire. Charlie Jones is a gay man (and partners with Arriola). He would be the first elected LGBTQ person in the city should he win his race for the Area 4 seat on the Pleasanton Unified School District board. Jones grew up in the East Bay city and has seven years of teaching experience. He currently teaches in Hayward.
He stated that this year he was opposed to PUSD trying to cut social-emotional counselors at every school site and worked with the local teachers’ union to push back against it, successfully blocking most school sites from cuts.
Jones also worked in the Hayward district to organize a rally against a homophobic school board member during Pride and got a new and more inclusive Pride Month declaration passed in the district, culminating with the display of the LGBTQ+ Progress flag at every Hayward Unified school, he noted. “I have successfully pushed for the addition of protections for gender identity and gender expression into every one of the HUSD board/district policies,” he stated.
With LGBTQ issues coming under attack in many school districts in California, Jones would be a welcome voice on the Pleasanton board. As a gay educator, he would bring his experience to help all students, staff, and families in the district. We endorse him in the Area 4 race.
Walnut Creek City Council
There are three seats up for election. We recommend Laura Patch, Cindy Darling, and Kevin Wilk. Patch is a queer woman who ran unsuccessfully for the council in 2022. Since then, she has become more involved in
Darling is seeking reelection and has been an ally on the council since she was elected in 2020. She stated that she has two gay family members and has seen first hand how important a supportive environment is for LGBTQ people. The council has been working to address housing. “Over the last 10 years, we completed two specific plans that identified sites near transit that were suitable for housing and zoned them in ways that promote housing,” she stated. “We also have an inclusionary housing ordinance that requires development of affordable housing as part of market rate development or requires payment of fees.”
Prior to joining the council, Darling served on the planning commission and supported BART’s transit village, which puts new housing next to the station.
Darling has our endorsement for a second term. Wilk, who was first elected in 2016, is also seeing reelection. A straight ally, he stated that he has helped make Walnut Creek a progressive city. Wilk supported the BART housing project, which is now gearing up for phases two and three, he noted.
Walnut Creek has also worked hard to recover economically from the COVID pandemic. “I was on our Rebound Committee to help businesses recover from COVID-19 by immediately instituting outdoor dining and curbside pickup at retail,” he stated. “Walnut Creek has recovered better than almost any other city in California. We have a DEI task force, which LGBTQ is part of in a welcoming and diverse city.”
Wilk has our endorsement for another term.
El Cerrito City Council
This Contra Costa County city likely will have an LGBTQ majority on its five-member City Council after November 5. Gabe Quinto, a gay man living with HIV, and Carolyn Wysinger, a lesbian, aren’t up this year. But the other three seats are, and there are two out candidates running whom we endorse: Rebecca Saltzman and William Ktsanes.
Saltzman may be familiar to readers, as we’ve long covered her productive 12-year tenure as an elected member of the BART board of directors, including two stints as president. A lesbian married mom, Saltzman decided not to seek reelection to that body and wasn’t looking to run for anything until one of the El Cerrito councilmembers opted not to seek reelection. Another one is also not running, meaning there are two open seats.
Saltzman has a wealth of government experience
“I’m running for El Cerrito City Council to promote fiscal responsibility, accountability and transparency; provide much-needed oversight and leadership; and genuinely engage residents in discussion as together we address the city’s complex problems, set our priorities, make difficult decisions, and chart our city’s future,” he stated.
He has deep fiscal experience from the 11 years he worked in affordable housing and community development finance within the Municipal Securities Division of Citibank. Ktsanes now teaches graduate-level finance, financial ethics, economics, and business at the University of San Francisco.
In short, Ktsanes has a breadth of knowledge that will benefit the city. In response to a past state auditor’s report that showed serious fiscal issues with El Cerrito, Ktsanes volunteered and served on the city’s Financial Advisory Board to help the city avoid bankruptcy and map a sustainable path forward, he stated.
Ktsanes’ financial background will serve the city well.
Pinole City Council
The Pinole City Council has two seats up this year and three candidates. We endorse the incumbents, Devin T. Murphy, a gay man, and Maureen Toms, a straight ally.
Murphy won in 2020 and served as mayor in 2023 (the position rotates among councilmembers).
“With nearly four years of experience as both mayor and councilmember, I bring a unique blend of leadership, expertise, and commitment to serving the Pinole community,” Murphy stated. “My tenure on the City Council showcases a consistent record of delivering results and effecting positive change, embodying the principle of ‘Promises Made, Promises Kept.’” Among his accomplishments, he noted they include reopening a fire station and securing $2 million from a sales tax measure to enhance fire protection. “I also prioritized wage equity and fair overtime pay for city employees, including police officers and firefighters, and led efforts to modernize park rules and public restroom policies,” he noted.
Murphy is the second gay councilmember but the first to serve as mayor. (Stephen Tilton was the first in 2006, but was recalled two years later over the ousting of a popular city manager.) Murphy championed Pinole’s inaugural Citywide Earth Walk, Juneteenth, and LGBTQ+ Pride celebrations, promoting community pride and inclusivity. Murphy has done a good job on the council and deserves reelection.
Toms stated that she grew up at a time when LGBTQ people were fighting for their rights. “I witnessed the struggle of friends that were in the closet in their youth, college and job market,” she stated. “I do not want to see us go back to the times I witnessed. We need to expand rights and hearts nationwide.”
Dan Tavares Arriola is running for mayor of Tracy.
Courtesy the candidate
Candidate Charlie Jones
Courtesy the candidate
Candidate Laura Patch
Courtesy the candidate
Candidate Cindy Darling
Courtesy the candidate
Candidate Kevin Wilk
Courtesy the candidate
Candidate William Ktsanes
Courtesy the candidate
Candidate Rebecca Saltzman
Courtesy the candidate
Candidate Devin T. Murphy
Courtesy the candidate
Candidate Maureen Toms
Courtesy the candidate
In LA Assembly race, a gay candidate is assured victory
by Matthew S. Bajko
Come Election Day, one outcome is a foregone conclusion in the race for the open Assembly District 54 seat in Los Angeles County. Voters are set to elect a gay Democrat of color to the legislative seat.
What won’t be known for certain until the vote count is finished in the November 5 contest is whether it will be Mark Gonzalez or John K. Yi With his being the former chair of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party and the district director for Assemblymember Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles), who is termed out this year, Gonzalez has racked up significant support from a who’s who of Democratic elected officials, labor unions, advocacy groups, and LGBTQ organizations.
He placed first in the March primary with 45% of the vote and has long been viewed as the likely winner of the seat. Yi took second place with 34.5% of the primary vote and is backed by a number of progressive elected officials and groups like the Feel the Bern Democratic Club and East Area Progressive Democrats.
“I leave it in the voters’ hands at this point,” said Gonzalez. “I am a strong believer in faith. I am confident but not complacent.”
Yi has teamed up with several other out progressive candidates running for a U.S. House seat, Dave Kim, and a Los Angeles City Council seat, Ysabel Jurado, to canvass voters; they are holding a joint get-out-the-vote event this weekend. While viewed as the underdog candidate, Yi has been able to mount a strong ground campaign and canvass voters in the district having quit his job in the spring as executive director of Los Angeles Walks, a pedestrian safety advocacy group.
will be able to carry and support the complex legislation EQCA likes to see legislators introduce and get passed.”
The independent committee is spending six-figures on ads this month on digital platforms and connected TV, meaning streaming services, to convince voters to support Gonzalez, said Temprano. Despite the strong backing with Democratic Party circles Gonzalez has received, EQCA officials and others supporting him believe the contest could be a close one and wanted to ensure they are doing all they can to see him win, explained Temprano.
“We want to make sure we do everything we need to do to help him get elected. In Los Angeles lately, if you have been watching the recent election results, you know you should not take anything for granted,” said Temprano.
Gonzalez, 40, noted to the B.A.R. that he has no control over the money being spent on the race by outside groups. He has seen their ads supporting him and appreciates the assistance for his candidacy.
His opponents are taking his candidacy seriously and have poured close to $250,000 into an independent expenditure committee working to see that Gonzalez wins their race. The money being spent on the Assembly race, said Yi, is a prime example of the entrenched political network he and his fellow progressives are running against.
“This has been a trademark of this campaign from when I started running in April of last year. I am running up against a well-entrenched political machine,” said Yi, who could become the first out Korean legislator in Sacramento should he win the seat.
Last month, the LGBT Caucus Leadership Fund overseen by the Legislature’s affinity group for out lawmakers ponied up $100,000 for the committee backing Gonzalez. Two weeks ago, the Equality California Political Action Committee funneled $15,000 toward it. The statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization over the summer also gave the maximum amount of $5,500 directly to Gonzalez’s campaign.
Gonzalez is an at-large member of the executive committee for the Equality California Institute Board, the educational arm for EQCA. As the Political Notebook column last week noted, altogether EQCA has given the third highest amount this year toward electing Gonzalez compared to the money it is using to benefit the campaigns of six out legislative candidates on the fall ballot. They are all seeking either Assembly or Senate seats in Southern California.
“With Mark Gonzalez, we have had the pleasure of working alongside him for years,” EQCA Managing Director of External Affairs Tom Temprano told the Bay Area Reporter. “We know that on day one, Mark will be able to navigate his way around the Capitol and
Gonzalez told the B.A.R. he is proud to have the support not only of his boss but that of gay former Assemblymem ber John A. Pérez, who had previ ously represented the 54th Assembly District and went on to become the first gay Assembly speaker. He first met both before they were elected leg islators via their involvement on the Democratic County Central Commit tee that runs the local party. Gonzalez, who worked for Pérez as a senior field representative, quipped, “We are mak ing the seat gay again.”
Growing up
Raised in a devout Catholic Latino family and attends Mass every Sunday, Gonzalez moved from Texas to the Los Angeles neighborhood of Eagle Rock when he was 7 years old with his mother, who was escaping an abusive relationship with his father. She grew up in East Los Angeles and wanted to return to be closer to her family.
For a number of years now Gonzalez has been the main caretaker for his mother, who until recently had been living on her own nearby him. With his focus on the campaign, she is now living with his brother’s family in Texas. Should he be elected, Gonzalez said they will need to discuss a more permanent living situation for their mother since he will be spending most of his time in Sacramento.
“She gets to be with her grandkids,” noted Gonzalez, who is president of the board for the operator of free community clinics in Los Angeles.
“I do see the mailers. I do see the ads. I am so, so phenomenally appreciative of whoever made the decision to do that,” said Gonzalez, who is mounting his first bid for a publicly elected position. “I think it is more reflective of the fact that the community, or those helping me on the outside of it, recognize the work I have done as chair of the local Democratic Party and for my community. This is their way to ensure my victory because they know I have been a lifelong champion of their causes.”
Yi, 39, told the B.A.R. he understands that groups like EQCA give money to the candidates they see as the winners in the various races and by doing so are “hedging their bets.”
This is also his first time seeking an elected office and has come to see how candidates are often judged by outside groups not by their platform or experience but by how much money they can raise for their campaigns.
“For too long in California politics, we measure winnability by money.
For me, that is not the measuring stick we should be using,” said Yi, who lives with his husband in Los Angeles’ Koreatown neighborhood. “Unfortunately, that is not the reality you are facing, and you understand these dynamics.”
While he said Gonzalez has the advantage when it comes to money, as he had already spent more than $883,000 on his campaign by mid-September compared to the nearly $87,000 Yi had spent, Yi told the B.A.R. he believes he has a better message and better mechanics behind his bid having worked as a community organizer.
“I have been knocking on doors for the past five months five hours a day,” said Yi, which he believes is “scaring” those aligned behind Gonzalez.
He also said he believes people are ready to see a change in leadership for the district in which he was born and raised by immigrant parents. When he asks people if their lives have improved over the last 25 years with the Democratic Party-backed holders of the Assembly seat, Yi said, “No one will say yes to that.”
He said he would work in the Legislature to address the caregiving issues families like his and others with elderly family members are confronting, like raising the $1,500 cap on how much people on Social Security can receive and still be eligible for the state’s MediCal health insurance program.
“We have this massive senior tsunami,” said Gonzalez, about to hit California as its residents age.
He has worked in the 54th District for the past 14 years and lives in Chinatown. From a young age he has been interested in politics and worked on behalf of a number of Democratic candidates since volunteering during high school on then-congressmember Xavier Becerra’s campaign. Not only did the politician leave an indelible impression on Gonzalez, so did the other people working on the campaign who warmly welcomed the teen onto the team.
“With my own campaign I tell people to always have food and to make sure it is good food and snacks. I believe you should treat everybody the same with kindness, whether it is the parking at tendant or the CEO of the company that is running it, because you never know where you will be in life,” said Gonzalez. He argued that he is the true progres sive candidate in a race where experi ence with the inner workings of the state government matters.
“You can’t wake up one day and run for office,” argued Gonzalez. “The real ity is you need experience to get things done. The outside groups know that he is not fit for office.”
Yi countered with two gay guys running to return LGBTQ representation to the district, voters should consider “the kind of queer LGBTQ Democrat you want.” He considers himself to be an “outsider Democrat” who will not be beholden to corporate interests.
“We are hearing throughout the district a disaffection of the Democratic Party, understandably so,” he told the host of the Korean American Podcast Ktown Social Club. “One of the mandates of our campaign is showing a different kind of Democrat.”
In less than two weeks the district’s voters will provide the answer on which of the two they feel will better represent them in the statehouse.
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John K. Yi, left, and Mark Gonzalez are both running for a Los Angeles Assembly seat.
Courtesy the candidates
director for the San Francisco Janitors Union Local No. 87. Safaí was first elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2016, representing District 11, comprising the Excelsior and Outer Mission neighborhoods.
During his second campaign for the seat, this time when it was open, Safaí was painted as the moderate candidate against fellow union leader Kimberly Alvarenga, a lesbian who was endorsed by a number of progressive supervisors at the time. He emerged the winner after five rounds of ranked-choice voting and was easily reelected four years later; Safaí is termed out this year.
Alliance with Farrell
Now considered a progressive like Peskin, Safaí has strong support in the city’s labor community, and his website touts endorsements (sole, ranked, or dual) from no less than 20 labor organizations, including the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council, which also endorsed former San Francisco mayor Mark Farrell, who is running to return to Room 200 at City Hall.
One of those labor groups that endorsed Safaí, albeit as a No. 2 choice, is UNITE HERE Local No. 2, which represents hotel workers. Thousands of San Francisco hotel workers are currently on strike seeking better wages and benefits.
“Our executive board voted to endorse Ahsha Safai #2 and London Breed #3 based on their track record of standing with workers at the time of our endorsement meeting,” Lizzy Tapia, a queer woman who is UNITE HERE Local No. 2’s president, stated to the B.A.R. Tapia said that Peskin was the union’s first endorsement but that Farrell “cannot be trusted to stand up for working people in our city.”
In this mayoral race’s first rankedchoice alliance, Safaí teamed up with Farrell. Each is asking their supporters to rank the other.
The B.A.R. asked if this is an unlikely partnership considering Farrell’s background as a venture capitalist who represented some of the city’s wealthiest neighborhoods, such as the Marina, when he was District 2 supervisor.
“The thing that I appreciate about him is that he leads with his commitment to helping other people and I share those values,” Safaí said of Farrell. “We both come from working families. Both of his parents were involved in their union’s leadership, something I’ve dedicated myself to, but also being able to bring business and labor together. We did that consistently. We started the citywide project labor agreement and I completed it when he moved on, when he left office.”
The citywide project labor agreement requires contractors performing trade work on certain San Francisco Public Works and Recreation and Park Department projects to utilize trade-appropriate union hiring halls to hire workers and to directly pay fringe benefit contributions on behalf of workers to the appropriate union trust fund programs.
Farrell told the B.A.R. October 3 that he agrees the two share “a lot of the same values” – also bringing up his parents’ background in labor.
“I’m very proud of all of the labor support that I have in my campaign,” Farrell said. “Ahsha spent his career working with the labor movement here in San Francisco and represented them well at City Hall, and I think it’s a very natural alliance for us.”
Safaí has endorsements from San Francisco Sheriff Paul Miyamoto, who endorsed him alongside incumbent Breed, and California State Treasurer Fiona Ma, who endorsed him No. 2, behind Breed.
“He has been one of San Francisco’s most consistent, reliable, and effective leaders in the fight to bring more foot patrols into our neighborhoods and fight retail theft,” Miyamoto stated. “We can count on Ahsha to deliver common sense solutions, support law enforcement, and improve public safety in every neighborhood.”
Ma stated that, “I’ve known Ahsha for
24 years, and I’ve always known him to be a passionate and effective advocate for San Francisco’s children and working families.”
“From his work raising the minimum wage as a labor organizer to his time working with Mayors Newsom and Brown to lift up immigrants and formerly incarcerated people, to his leadership in building more affordable housing – Ahsha has always been there when working families need him,” she added.
Housing and public safety
Safaí said that though there’s also overlap between himself and Peskin, “he started to pivot to campaign for the mayor, and I said to myself and I said to him, ‘If you can live with the mayor, why did you get in the race?’ He didn’t really have an answer for that.”
Safaí said he started to break with Breed after a shared effort to streamline housing production fell apart in 2021. Breed and Safaí had hoped a charter amendment allowing some projects to bypass the city’s discretionary review process would make it to the June 2022 ballot, but Peskin and District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan (then serving on the board’s rules committee) didn’t forward the legislation on to the full board.
The Breed-backed measure went to the ballot in November 2022 as Proposition D; the Safaí-backed measure went to the ballot the same month as Proposition E. Both failed.
Safaí still supports streamlining the housing site permit approval process, as well as upzoning along commercial corridors, targeting six to eight story buildings.
He also wants to create a fund to buy buildings and attract public university campuses to downtown, where he thinks foot patrols by police will help improve safety. Safaí spearheaded legislation requiring the police department to establish community policing plans in each district last year, but a spokesperson for Police Chief William Scott told the B.A.R. last month it is only implemented as staffing levels allow.
Asked how he would improve San Francisco Police Department staffing – the SFPD says it’s short 500 officers – Safaí said that voters should approve Proposition N, which he helped craft, on the November ballot. It would provide some student loan forgiveness for first responders.
“If you come work here for three years, we’ll give you up to $25,000 in stu-
dent loan forgiveness,” Safaí said. “I think it’s going to be one of the most effective tools to get more young officers to come here because it’s the first time in California’s history you have to have a four-year degree, or a two-year specialization in criminal justice, so a lot of them are going to come in with more debt.”
Responses from rival campaigns
On the housing matter, Breed campaign spokesperson Joe Arellano stated that “the proponents of Prop D, including Mayor Breed, opted for labor standards that would guarantee good wages and actually build housing. Supervisor Safaí and the proponents of Prop E wanted requirements that would have effectively prevented any housing projects from being built. There is a long-standing disagreement on this issue.”
He also stated Breed “has a long history of supporting pro-housing policies at the local and state levels,” and pointed to her support of gay state Senator Scott Wiener’s (D-San Francisco) Senate Bill 423, which streamlined housing approvals.
Arellano disputed Safaí’s account of the Castro Theatre controversy, saying that, “Her [Breed’s] administration brought Another Planet on board to work with the community, create a timeline to fix the marquee, and set other requirements that meet the community’s needs, including increasing the percentage of minimum movie screenings.”
Asked about the assertion he wasn’t sufficiently opposed to Breed, Peskin stated to the B.A.R. that, “I would not be running if I thought that London was doing a good job or getting results – after six years as mayor. I am running to be a mayor who gets basic unglamorous things done: cleaning up City Hall corruption, building affordable housing, strengthening public safety, and implementing my From Crisis to Care homelessness strategy – and more.”
Candidates make final pitches
Safaí isn’t the only candidate coming to the Castro in the closing weeks of the campaign. Farrell has made several visits, including to Bar 49 on Market Street, where the B.A.R. caught up with him October 3.
“I’m a born and raised San Francis-
can and for me running for mayor is about embracing our ethos and our values in San Francisco and wanting to represent that with a passion inside of City Hall,” Farrell said. “That includes everything we stand for as a city and so, for me, as a straight white male, being in the Castro, embracing our LGBTQ community just like I did when I was in City Hall before, is a really important thing, and it’s really important voters know about that and know where I stand and, really importantly, that our queer community here in San Francisco know that I will represent them with vigor and I have their backs.”
The next day, October 4, Daniel Lurie, heir to the Levi Strauss fortune and founder and CEO of the nonprofit Tipping Point Community, made a stop across the street at the Lookout bar. Lurie is leading in the race 56% to Breed’s 44% in the fifth round of ranked-choice voting, according to a poll published by the San Francisco Chronicle October 21.
“I’m getting such good energy from every corner of this city, including the Castro. It’s the second time I’ve been here in 24 hours. We did a merchant walk yesterday and there is energy in the street. People want change, they want a fresh approach, they want accountable leadership and they want to get rid of the City Hall insiders that are, frankly, showing their true colors with all of the corruption and the payto-play, so I’m all in,” Lurie said.
“If you want change, there’s only one choice,” he added. “If you want more of the same, you got plenty of options on your ballot. I want people to know that as their next mayor they’ll get somebody who is going to practice the true version of public service … to serve the people of the Castro and every neighborhood of this city.”
Lurie’s campaign got an assist from Mark Leno, the gay former state senator, assemblymember, and District 8 supervisor who narrowly lost to Breed in 2018 during the special mayoral election after mayor Ed Lee died.
“My strong first choice is Aaron Peskin, but I want to make sure I’ve done all I can to have our next mayor be someone who will not be fined by the ethics commission, who has moral and ethical lapses nor will have multiple department heads indicted and convicted of felonies, and I trust strongly that is the case not only with Aaron but with Daniel,” Leno said.
Mission Local reported earlier this
year on Farrell’s ethics violations. Regarding Breed, the B.A.R. recently reported on the departure of the head of the city’s human rights commission. A wide-ranging city corruption scandal that broke in early 2020 has since ensnared several former city officials, though Breed has not been implicated.
Arellano said Breed’s final pitch is that “experience matters in this election, and Daniel Lurie has none.”
“He led a 50-person organization for a few years and now has been unemployed for the last five years,” he stated. “San Francisco is a city and county with 34,000 employees. You wouldn’t get on a 737 if the pilot had no experience flying planes. We shouldn’t entrust our city to someone who will have to learn on the job. At the end of the day, we wouldn’t even be talking about Daniel Lurie as a serious candidate for mayor if he wasn’t born into wealth.”
As for Breed’s record, he said that the city is on the right track again thanks to her.
“Crime is coming down, tents and homelessness are being addressed with excellent results, downtown is evolving into a fun, new neighborhood centered around concerts, nightlife and entertainment, and relaxed city rules have created the environment for a sustained housing boom,” he stated. “Mayor Breed led the city through a global pandemic and has San Francisco on the right track after some challenging years. She deserves another term to build on all the progress she’s made, despite difficult and unforeseen circumstances. Mayor Breed’s opponents want to take us backwards. But we aren’t going back.”
Peskin stated to the B.A.R. that he’s the one with the know-how to help the city continue to recover.
“I encourage your readers, in the closing days of the campaign, to think about which candidate is really going to get things done – which candidate has a record of bringing people together to solve city problems,” he stated. “I am honored to have earned the trust of proven leaders like Mark Leno and Bevan Dufty – as well as the No. 2 recommendation of Rafael Mandelman and this publication, the Bay Area Reporter. I would also encourage your readers to use all their votes in rank-choice voting – it’s the only way your vote will truly count at the end.” t
Mayoral candidate Aaron Peskin, right, visited the Castro with former state senator Mark Leno.
Rick Gerharter
Mayor London Breed did a walking tour of the Castro this summer.
John Ferrannini
Mayoral candidate Mark Farrell, right, talked to former Castro Merchants Association president Masood Samereie during a recent walking tour of the Castro.
Mayoral candidate Daniel Lurie stopped by the inaugural Castro night market October 18.
Rick Gerharter
John Ferrannini
Man convicted in murder of trans woman Community News>>
by John Ferrannini
AMilpitas man was convicted by a jury in the 2021 murder of a transgender drag performer, according to a news release from the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office.
t Keep Informed. Stay Empowered.
The killing of drag performer Natalia Smüt Lopez, 24, of San Jose, sent shock waves through the South Bay’s LGBTQ community.
Elijah Cruz Segura, 25, was found guilty in what is believed to be the first prosecution of transgender domestic vi olence homicide in Santa Clara County’s history, according to the district attor ney’s office. (Previous reports stated Se gura’s residence was Union City, but the DA’s office identified him as being from Milpitas in its news release.)
Segura faces 16 years to life in prison, according to a statement from the Santa Clara County DA’s office. He will be sen tenced in January.
Prosecutors said that Segura had
Obituaries >> Memorial set for Jerry Berbiar
A celebration of life will be held on Halloween for Jerry Berbiar, a gay man better known to many in the San Francisco LGBTQ community as Jerry the Faerie. Mr. Berbiar died August 5 after suffering a heart attack at a hospital. He was 69. Mr. Berbiar was long a fixture in the Radical Faeries, a non-assimilationist gay men’s spirit/culture exploration group that started in 1979.
He was also involved in the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club and a volunteer at Bound Together Bookstore, an anarchist co-operative in the Haight. Joey Cain, a gay man who was a longtime friend and caregiver for Mr. Berbiar, announced that the October 31 celebration, titled “Flight of Faeries: A Jerry the Faerie Halloween Celebration and Memorial,” will be held at the San Francisco Columbarium, 1 Lorraine Court, in San Francisco. Doors open at noon, a Circle will be held at 12:30 p.m., followed by a reception from 2 to 4. Costumes welcomed.
A link to the Columbarium’s memorial page for Mr. Berbiar is at https://tinyurl.com/4em87cd9, where people can upload photos and share memories.
To RSVP, email Cain at joeycain418@gmail.com
To read the Bay Area Reporter’s obituary, go to https://tinyurl. com/2f5pd8ca
Phillip de Barone
(aka Lama Doq)
April 12, 1952 – August 23, 2024
Born Phillip Richard Weir in Mt. Kisco, New York, he took the name Phillip de Barone that honored his aristocratic Italian heritage. He toured the world concertizing upon the organ, specializing in Romantic period music with improvisations. He left that career, moved to Arizona, and studied with the Navajo and Hopi.
His 20s found him based in San Francisco in between concertizing and studies in New York (doctorate of divinity). While on a visit to India, he had a chance meeting with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama that led to studying to be a lama and a seventh degree doctor of Eastern medicine.
All of this training was used in his helping many people living with HIV in the arts and gay communities survive through the 1980s AIDS crisis through alternative medicine and holistic arts and sciences. His many students perform humanitarian and ecological work around the planet.
He left his body on August 23. Interment of his ashes took place in the sacred grove at Fernwood Cemetery
See page 10 >>
in view of his beloved Mt. Tamalpais. Many blessings to all who had the opportunity to meet him during his amazing lifetime.
Donations to any cause that benefits humanity and the planet may be made in his name.
Marlyn Farr
August 12, 1926 – August 25, 2024
Passing peacefully on August 25, 2024, Marlyn Farr left an eventful life of 98 years. Born in Saskatchewan, Canada, on August 12, 1926, he grew up in Iowa Falls, Iowa with his adoptive family. Inspired by his teacher, Helen Ozier, Marlyn developed a passion for French and Spanish. He then graduated from San Jose State University with a B.A. in those languages.
Marlyn traveled extensively in the world, especially to Montreal and Central America, making good use of his linguistic abilities and writing extensively in his journal in French, Spanish, and English. He was especially fascinated by history and geography.
Marlyn is preceded in death by his partner of 30 years, Dick Spinka. They lived together in San Francisco with their cat. Frequently commended for the quality of his work, Marlyn worked for the City of San Francisco for 30 years.
Marlyn is beloved by many for his open smile, light humorous attitude toward life, and his warm, caring heart.
A memorial service will be held Monday, October 28, at 4 p.m. at Openhouse, 65 Laguna Street, second floor.
Michael R. Levy
March 26, 1947 – October 18, 2024
Michael Levy, who spent several years working at The Hunger Project in San Francisco, died on October 18, 2024. Though Michael worked as an academic, in publishing, and in retail, it was his work at The Hunger Project that he was most passionate about.
Michael was also an artist, working in paint and fabric. He was especially proud of his photography. In addition, he was part of a loose network of beachgoers in Marin in the 1980s, where, as he wrote, “With no labels – or clothing – on people and with absolutely no barriers to chatty friendliness, freedom was a tangible, plentiful commodity.”
Michael lived in New Jersey, New York, and Philadelphia before moving to San Francisco. He spent the last 10 years of his life living at the San Francisco Campus for Jewish Living, where he taught art classes and stirred the pot.
Michael’s blog is at autoblography. weebly.com/
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Natalia Smüt Lopez
Courtesy Mothers Against Murder
Leader of SF LGBTQ senior agency departs
by Matthew S. Bajko
The leader of a San Francisco nonprofit that provides services to LGBTQ seniors has resigned after little more than three years in the job. The news comes as the agency’s affordable housing development partner has been unable to secure the financing it needs to construct a new tower of apartments aimed at queer and trans older adults.
When Openhouse announced the hiring of Kathleen Sullivan, Ph.D., as its new executive director, it had highlighted her work in affordable housing, as the Bay Area Reporter reported in June 2021. Sullivan had relocated from Portland, Oregon with her wife in order to start in the position that July.
During her tenure, Sullivan helped oversee the opening of Openhouse’s community center that had been delayed by construction issues. It is part of the agency’s campus on Laguna Street that includes its offices bookended by two buildings of LGBTQ-affirming affordable apartments for seniors.
Working with Mercy Housing California, which it had partnered with on the construction of the housing, Openhouse under Sullivan’s leadership had again worked with the nonprofit developer to be selected by the city to construct a third building with 187-units of affordable housing aimed at LGBTQ seniors at the corner of Market Street and Duboce Avenue.
A short walk away from Openhouse’s Laguna campus, the site had been purchased from a local union by Mayor London Breed’s administration for the purposes of seeing more housing geared for LGBTQ seniors be built. It has been working with Openhouse and Mercy Housing on the project since acquiring
the triangular 7,840 square foot lot in 2020 for $12 million.
State funding denied
As the B.A.R. reported in September, Mercy has been unable to secure the funding it needs to help finance construction of the new 15-story residential building. A state agency has denied its funding requests for two years in a row, with Mercy officials planning to reapply in 2025 and hoping their third time will be successful.
The project is estimated to cost $117,673,842. Sullivan had hoped ground would have been broken last year, as she had told the B.A.R. shortly after being hired.
Now a new Openhouse leader will help preside over any groundbreaking ceremony that is held. Sullivan announced her departure via a post on LinkedIn October 16.
“I am so grateful to have led Openhouse for the past three years. I am
proud of what we accomplished in a short time – from starting mental health services, partnering with Mercy Housing on a new iconic building that centers the LGBTQ community, doubling the staff, partnering with the state on the first every study of aging of our community and leaving the organization in an exceptional financial position,” wrote Sullivan. “I am transitioning to work I love, working with people age 50 and older on health, wellness and building physical strength to promote independence and aging in place.”
She did not disclose what her next job or role will be. Sullivan merely teased, “More to come!”
As of last week, Openhouse hadn’t disclosed who is leading the agency for now. It hadn’t posted anything about the leadership transition on its website or social media accounts.
But it already had deleted Sullivan’s name and image from its staff page on its website. In response to an inquiry by the B.A.R. Monday, October 21, about the leadership transition at the agency, board co-chairs Vinny Eng and Mark Buchanan said they would have more details about the search to hire a new executive director later this month.
For the time being, they said the duties of an interim executive director are being shared by Openhouse’s Deputy Director Dani Soto, Director of Finance and Operations Matthew Cimino, Director of Development Andrew Shaffer, and Program Directors Sylvia Vargas, Carrie Schell, and Carla Peña.
“We are deeply grateful for Kathleen’s contributions to Openhouse over the last three years. Her vision and dedication have shaped an incredible team that will continue leading our mission forward,” wrote Eng in an emailed reply
on behalf of the board co-chairs, adding that, “Mark, the board, and I are very fortunate to support this leadership team at Openhouse during this transition period.”
Responding to Sullivan’s announcement via LinkedIn, Openhouse cofounder Marcy Adelman, Ph.D., praised her for her tenure heading up the nonprofit.
“Thank you for three amazing years of expansion! Much gratitude for you and all your good work. The very best to you in your next adventure,” wrote Adelman, a lesbian who is an LGBTQIA aging consultant and policy adviser.
Susan DeMarois, director of the California Department of Aging, also praised Sullivan, who had approached the state agency about conducting a survey into the needs of the Golden State’s LGBTQ seniors. Completed in the spring, the first results of the survey are expected to be released sometime later this year.
“Kathleen, you’ve made an indelible impact! I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working alongside you. Lead on,” DeMarois wrote on the business-focused social media site.
In the mid-1990s Sullivan spent a summer living in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley neighborhood while working for an environmental group overseeing its offices in the Bay Area, Hawaii, and Utah. Born in New Jersey and raised in Connecticut, she had relocated from Ohio to the West Coast after being transferred by her employer to its Seattle office in 1991.
By the end of the decade, she decided to pivot her focus toward political causes. In 2000, she managed the campaign that defeated Oregon’s Measure 9, which would have prohibited the state’s
public schools from “encouraging, promoting, sanctioning or instructing on homosexual or bisexual behaviors.”
Following the Measure 9 campaign, the abortion rights group NARAL hired her as its executive director in Oregon, where she stayed for several years. In 2004, Sullivan decided to enroll at Portland State University, where in 2011 she earned a doctor of philosophy in urban studies and planning. Working with the school’s Institute of Aging, Sullivan had studied LGBTQ senior housing developments across the West, with sites in Oakland; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Los Angeles.
Upon graduating Sullivan landed a job with the Los Angeles LGBT Center as director of its senior services department. During her tenure the nonprofit merged with Gay and Lesbian Elder Housing, which built the 104-unit Triangle Square LGBT senior housing project in Hollywood. When it opened in 2007 it was the nation’s first affordable housing development of private, individual apartments for LGBT elders.
After departing the Southern California agency at the end of 2015, the following year Sullivan spent much of 2016 as executive director of Generations with Pride, a nonprofit developer of affordable housing for LGBTQ adults in Seattle. She then worked as a consultant for several years until being hired as a regional director of EngAGE in Portland. The agency partners with developers of affordable housing communities for all ages and has helped bring thousands of new units of intergenerational affordable housing to the Portland metro area and rural Oregon.
Sullivan had stepped down from that position when hired to lead Openhouse.t
SF’s Castro hit by stabbing, vandalism
by John Ferrannini
Within a matter of days San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood was hit with a stabbing in broad daylight and a spree of window smashing at businesses – all just before the inaugural night market in the LGBTQ district. The crimes are believed to be unrelated.
Most recently, on Tuesday, October 15, just before 10:45 a.m., police responded to a victim with life-threatening injuries in the parking lot behind the Walgreens at 498 Castro Street, a San Francisco Police Department spokesperson stated to the Bay Area Reporter.
“Upon arrival, officers located an
adult male suffering from stab wounds and rendered aid,” SFPD public information officer Paulina Henderson stated in an email. “Medics arrived on scene to render aid and transported the victim to a hospital with lifethreatening injuries.”
Gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman told the B.A.R. October 18, “Tuesday morning’s stabbing at the 18th and Collingwood Parking Lot was of course disturbing to me, as it was to neighbors and passersby.
“Neighbors and city personnel responded quickly and compassionately to the victim,” he continued. “As there is an active investigation, I can’t say much
other than that we don’t believe this was a random incident.”
District 8 public safety liaison Dave Burke, a straight ally, assured that the stabbing is not a homicide investigation as of October 22, and the SFPD stated there were no updates on the victim’s condition.
The stabbing comes within a week of windows at five neighborhood businesses being smashed, also by an unknown assailant, Friday, October 11, which was National Coming Out Day. The first target was the Pilsner Inn, at 225 Church Street.
“On 10/11/2024 at approximately 3:00 a.m., San Francisco Police Officers responded to the 200 block of Church Street in regard to a vandalism of a business,” Henderson stated. “Officers arrived on scene and observed damage to the building. Officers met with an employee of the business who advised that an unknown suspect vandalized the window.”
The B.A.R. caught up with Pilsner manager Adam Simonoff, a gay man, on October 17. He said the window had just been replaced that morning, and shared security camera footage purportedly showing the man who attacked the window.
“One of our bartenders was cleaning up,” Simonoff said. “It was around 2:50 in the morning, and she was in our office and heard the noise.”
The cost of the window was around $1,500, Simonoff said.
“We had to order the glass special,” he explained. “It’s not something they keep on hand.”
The same suspect is believed to be responsible for a broken window at Taco Boys at 2312 Market Street.
“Officers were advised that an unknown suspect carrying an unknown object damaged the windows,” Henderson stated with regard to that incident. “Officers arrived on scene and canvassed the area for the suspect to no avail.”
A Taco Boys employee told the B.A.R.
the manager was not in for comment October 17, but would be October 18.
Then, at Cliff’s Variety, the longtime legacy business at 479 Castro Street, a person matching the person in the Pilsner’s video smashed a window around 3:35 a.m. Store co-owner Terry Asten Bennett, a straight ally who’s president of the Castro Merchants Association, stated to the B.A.R. October 17 that “hopefully the glass is available for them to install today. Glass replacement alone is over $5,500, and we still need to replace the film and get the top of the window repainted.”
Asten Bennett said she was grateful that city officials had reached out to her.
“The police actually called me at 4:30 in the morning to let me know my window had been smashed and gave me the report number,” she continued.
Mandelman stated, “These acts of vandalism underscore the ongoing problem of San Francisco’s mental heath and drug crisis – it’s dangerous for people and dangerous for property. Thankfully neighbors secured high quality video evidence.”
Henderson stated, “On 10/11/2024 at approximately 4:34 a.m., San Francisco Police Officers were flagged down regarding a vandalism to a business located on the 400 block of
Castro Street. Officers were advised by an employee of the business that an unknown suspect had damaged the window to the store. There were no reports of items stolen from the business nor reports of injuries.”
Finally, a block down at Phantom, 516 Castro Street, a security camera video viewed by the B.A.R. in the store shows someone matching the description of the man in the Pilsner’s video smashing a window. Gay co-owner Gary Knight said a replacement was installed October 11 to the tune of $1,800.
“Thankfully, he didn’t come inside,” Knight said. “So nothing was stolen. That was it.”
Simonoff and Asten Bennett also said that nobody came into their businesses.
“It’s just annoying,” Knight continued. “It’s really annoying this is happening. What can they do if they catch him? There needs to be tougher laws.”
Henderson stated, “On 10/11/2024 at approximately 3:21 a.m., San Francisco Police Officers responded to the 500 block of Castro Street in regard to a burglary alarm at a business. Officers arrived on scene and observed damage to the store’s window. Officers determined that the unknown suspect did not enter the business.”
Vandals hit before night market debut
As the B.A.R. previously reported, the Castro got in on the night market action, with the inaugural event held October 18.
No arrests have been made in either the stabbing or the windowsmashing spree, and they remain active and open investigations. Mandelman urged anyone with “relevant information or video evidence” to come forward. Anyone with information is asked to contact the SFPD at 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 and begin the message with SFPD. t
Kathleen Sullivan, Ph.D.
Courtesy Openhouse
Surveillance video from the Pilsner Inn shared with the Bay Area Reporter shows a person allegedly vandalizing the bar’s window on October 11.
Courtesy Pilsner Inn
California Democrats split over Prop 36 Election 2024>>
by John Ferrannini
Golden State Democrats are divided about a proposition that would make key revisions to a signature criminal justice reform measure that voters passed 10 years ago. The disagreement comes amid voters’ perceptions of an uptick in criminal activity and the economic struggles many cities have as they recover from the COVID pandemic versus the fear of returning to an era of increased incarceration.
Proposition 36, officially titled “Allows Felony Cases and Increases Sentences for Certain Drug and Theft Crimes,” aims to target two persistent problems for Californians – organized retail theft and the drug overdose crisis. To do so, it would make a number of changes to 2014’s Proposition 47. For example, Prop 36 would make the theft of items worth $950 or less a felony if a person has two or more past convictions for theft crimes. Prop 47 generally made those crimes misdemeanors.
The measure would also allow people who possess illegal drugs to be charged with a “treatment-mandated felony” instead of a misdemeanor. Those who possess drugs, including fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine and have two past convictions for drug crimes would have charges dismissed if they complete mental health or drug treatment. But those who don’t finish treatment could serve up to three years in state prison. The changes undo some of the punishment reductions in Prop 47, according to the nonpartisan legislative analyst.
Governor Gavin Newsom is against the measure, and earlier this year signed a package of bills to address retail theft, hoping to dampen enthusiasm for the measure. But a coalition of district attorneys and retail giants put Prop 36 on the ballot, and it’s signifi-
cantly ahead in public opinion polls.
Gay San Francisco District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who is in recovery and has been open about his past drug use, is supportive of Prop 36. He said in a phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter that the measure “puts drug courts back in the game in a way that can be consequential for people at the end of their rope struggling with untreated drug addiction.”
“It will also be a spur for state and local government to dramatically ramp up drug treatment, which we need,” said Dorsey, who before becoming a supervisor was the chief spokesperson for San Francisco Police Chief William Scott. “Particularly in the realm of treatment mandated felonies, there is no scenario where someone is going to jail unless they choose not to complete drug treatment.”
Another supporter is San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan. During a recent news conference in Dorsey’s South of Market district, Mahan said that “public safety is a nonpartisan concern and treatment is what we need, treatment is the answer.”
“We aren’t going back to an era of mass incarceration,” Mahan said. “We need to enter an era of mass treatment.”
Mahan recalled stories of his cousin whom he said “sold his Mustang – fancy car – for drug money, dropped out of school, sold his car, and was caught in a pattern of self-destructive behavior on the streets.”
Mahan said his uncle looked for his cousin on the streets of Santa Cruz and often “they went to bed not knowing if their son was still alive.”
“Fortunately, my uncle was able to locate my cousin and, with a lot of effort, was able to effectively force him to face his addiction,” Mahan said. “It was that story that made me attuned to the challenges folks face.”
Thomas Wolf, the director of West Coast initiatives for the Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions, and is based in the Bay Area, stated that Prop 36 could help address the fentanyl epidemic.
“If you’re homeless and struggling with SUD [substance use disorder], the chances of you making a voluntary
decision to seek treatment and then actually following through with the requirements to do so are small,” he stated to the B.A.R. “Since the advent of fentanyl, the window is even smaller. And while I do believe housing can help, it’s important to look at the data.
Seventy percent of all OD deaths in San Francisco last year happened at a fixed address.”
But Anthony York of the No on Prop 36 committee said that “to say it’s about drug treatment is disingenuous.”
“The more people learn about what’s actually in Prop 36, the less they like it,” York told the B.A.R. in a phone interview. “The yes side has done a good job misleading people.”
York agrees with Dorsey on the fact that it creates a third-strike felony for people possessing certain drugs, but York emphasized that “there are no available treatment spots” in many parts of the state.
The nonpartisan legislative analyst’s office states that if passed, Prop 36 would “increase state criminal justice costs, likely ranging from several tens of millions of dollars to the low hundreds of millions of dollars each year” and would “reduce the amount the state must spend on mental health and drug treatment” likely “in the low tens of millions of dollars annually.”
“I feel that’s kind of a shell game,” Dorsey said in response to that criticism.
“I get what they’re trying to say but I also don’t buy it,” Dorsey added. “It’s at the end of the day a policy position to fund treatment. All it’s doing is changing the scheme by which we fund this. There’s nothing about Prop 47, the previous scheme, that creates a funding source.”
Dorsey told the B.A.R. October 18 he authored a resolution he intended to introduce at the Board of Supervisors in support of Prop 36. But his
legislative aide Bryan Dahl stated October 22 that Dorsey had decided it was “unlikely” he would introduce it before the election after all. Asked via text message if it was because he didn’t have the votes, Dahl replied, “That’s not the reason. Just not at the top of our list at the moment.”
Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, who is running for San Francisco mayor, told the B.A.R. he had supported the proposition but has evolved and now opposes it.
“When it comes to making policy via the ballot, I think it’s very important to listen to experts and impacted communities. I think the real question here is: will Prop 36 make our communities safer? In doing further research and listening to queer leaders like Vinny Eng and Laura Thomas, as well as trusted LGBTQ-led organizations like Equality CA, SF AIDS Foundation, Alice B. Toklas and Harvey Milk Democratic Clubs, I have heard the same answers: NO. They are all No on Prop 36 because reviving a failed war on drugs will not actually make us safer and will disproportionally impact the LGBTQ community,” Peskin stated, referring to Equality California, the statewide LGBTQ rights organization and the city’s two main LGBTQ Democratic clubs. They, along with the AIDS foundation, have all come out against Prop 36.
“There are zero dollars in Prop 36 for the mass treatment claims being pushed by the backers of the measure,” Peskin added. “They are pushing false promises contingent on a revolving door of mass incarceration. Evidence shows that these policies already don’t work and will create system involvement without ensuring that people get access to the services they need to exit homelessness or recover from substance use disorders.”
Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bipartisan package of retail theft laws in August at a Home Depot.
Courtesy Governor’s office
In it, she wrote that she believes only transgender adults should have access to surgeries or hormones as part of their gender-affirming health care.
“There are too many cases of trans youth medically transitioning as children and regretting it in adulthood,” wrote Tran.
The October 17 post prompted LPAC’s political committee to meet the next morning and vote to rescind its backing of Tran. She is running for the open 12th Congressional District seat being vacated by Congressmember Barbara Lee (D-Oakland), who fell short in the March primary for one of the state’s U.S. Senate seats.
“As an organization committed to advancing the rights of LGBTQ+ and nonbinary people, LPAC rescinds our endorsement of Dr. Jennifer Tran, effectively immediately,” stated LPAC Executive Director Janelle Perez. “The LGBTQ+ community and our allies deserve leaders who fight for us, defend us from bigotry, and help ensure our youth can thrive. Instead, Dr. Tran has promoted harmful myths and misinformation, which have devastating consequences for our youth. LGBTQ+ youth in Oakland deserve better.”
Tran did not respond to the Bay Area Reporter’s request for comment.
LPAC had endorsed Tran, an associate professor of ethnic studies at Cal State East Bay, last November ahead of her March primary race for the House seat in Alameda County centered around Oakland. Tran has always been seen as the underdog in the contest
Trans woman
From page 7
“Domestic violence of all kinds hides in the shadows of our community,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen stated. “We as a community will shine a light on it, fight against it, and work to help victims find empathy, safety, shelter, and justice.”
Segura’s attorney, Peter Johnson, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
A GoFundMe set up in 2021 for Lo-
Prop 36
From page 9
The San Francisco AIDS Foundation’s voter guide takes a No on 36 position, stating “as a provider of substanceuse disorder treatment and other health services for people who use substances, San Francisco AIDS Foundation strongly supports a public-health response to the public-health issue of problematic substance uses – strategies like giving out clean syringes and providing people treatment on demand. We know that a criminal-legal response will not end substance use, nor prevent the spread of HIV and hepatitis C. Along with unions like SEIU and legal experts like the ACLU, San Francisco AIDS Foundation urges voters to say no to Prop 36.” Peskin’s major mayoral opponents,
against fellow Democrat and BART board member Lateefah Simon.
Lee endorsed Simon to succeed her, and as the B.A.R.’s Political Notebook reported last week, a USC/CSU Long Beach/Cal Poly Pomona poll had Simon leading 27.9% to 14.8% for Tran with a margin of error of ±4.3%.
Queer Berkeley City Councilmember Cecilia Lunaparra had flagged Tran’s social media comments in an October 17 email to Michelle Atwood, LPAC’s national political/PAC director. An associate of the East Bay leader shared it with the B.A.R., adding Lunaparra had been told her doing so led to LPAC’s convening its emergency meeting of its advisory body on Friday.
Having been endorsed by LPAC when she sought her seat in a special election earlier this year, Lunaparra requested that it rescind its support of Tran’s House bid.
Noting Simon “is a progressive local elected official with a long history of fighting for queer people in our community,” Lunaparra urged LPAC to “to reverse the harm that your association with Dr. Tran’s bigotry has caused your organization and our community by unendorsing her in CA-12.”
Stonewall seeks Tran’s resignation
Members of Alameda County’s main LGBTQ political group, the East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club, are calling on Tran to resign from its board on which she serves due to her social media post. The club retweeted Friday its endorsement of Simon in the race.
“Let us be super clear to everyone! We PROUDLY endorse Lateefah Simon for US Congress! Lateefah will uphold pro-
pez’s family raised $14,566 of a $22,500 goal.
The GoFundMe was organized by Lopez’s friend, Kiara Ohlde, who didn’t respond to a request for comment.
“Natalia was ... so young and so full of life! She was fabulous,” the GoFundMe states.
“She would step into a room like a firework. Everywhere she went, she brought energy, fierce looks, and a personality that shined bright like a diamond. Her beautiful soul and presence is no longer
incumbent London Breed, former mayor Mark Farrell, Levi’s heir and former nonprofit executive Daniel Lurie, and District 11 Supervisor Ahsha Safaí are all in favor of Prop 36.
At odds with an ally
But being in favor of the measure puts Breed at odds with ally gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who appeared at the Castro Merchants Association meeting earlier this month to urge a no vote on 36. Wiener declined to be interviewed for this report.
“The Legislature passed a very robust set of public safety bills this year, working together with the governor and other folks to address organized retail theft, serial stealing, but also auto breakins, that I’ve been trying to pass for seven years,” he told the merchants.
One of those was nixing the so-
piece of the puzzle.” She has worked on BART housing projects in her day job.
tection for trans youth and support their rights in receiving gender-affirming care – which is part of DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM,” it stated.
Stonewall PAC chair Ryan LaLonde, a gay dad who lives in Alameda, told the B.A.R. he is among those who want to see Tran step down from her board position. He noted a main reason is because Tran is not holding up the party’s national platform, which states, “Democrats will vigorously oppose state and federal bans on gender-affirming health care and respect the role of parents, families, and doctors – not politicians – in making health care decisions.”
Reached during his 50th birthday party, LaLonde said the club may hold a special meeting about Tran’s remaining a Stonewall board member in the coming days or would take up the matter when it holds its monthly meeting in November.
Fellow Stonewall board member Austin Bruckner Carrillo, a gay man running for a Hayward school board seat on the November 5 ballot, also called on Tran to step down.
“Jennifer, this post is deeply troubling. You’re fueling false claims that Brandon [Harami] was assaulted by his gay parents and pushing a baseless narrative that he’s a pedophile. I expected better from you as a fellow board member,” he wrote in an October 18 post on X, referring to the Oakland mayoral staffer.
Asked about LPAC’s decision to end its support of Tran’s candidacy, Simon campaign spokesperson Elizabeth Power told the B.A.R., “Jennifer Tran revealed her true colors in that tweet. It’s concerning that she lied to LPAC in order to secure their endorsement, and even more alarming that she openly promotes bigoted, transphobic misin-
here on earth with us anymore but she is forever in our hearts.
“If anyone can find it in their heart to donate to help support the family, we would appreciate it so much as this was so sudden. Honestly, anything helps. Thank you,” the fundraising page states. “We love you Natalia [Smüt] Lopez and we will continue to seek justice for you until justice is served. All money goes directly to Natalia’s older sister, Vanessa Singh.”
Nathan Svoboda, a gay man who is
called locked door loophole – that is, a requirement that there be proof doors were locked before prosecuting a vehicle break-in.
“We finally got rid of that, and the governor signed the bill,” he said, referring to his Senate Bill 905. “Just because you don’t get it done the first time doesn’t mean you stop trying.” His previous attempts at similar legislation died in committee.
Wiener said that the Legislature also passed a bill aggregating serial shoplifting of $950 or above to a felony.
“The bills that we passed already target retail theft and auto break-ins,” he said, and are “much more effective for their needs than Prop 36. We did the work in the Legislature in a very focused way to address a focused situation around retail theft. Unfortunately, some right-wing DA’s have decided they were still going to go to the ballot, which will
formation. Lateefah Simon is proud to be a lifelong ally to the LGBTQ+ community and she will always stand up to this type of harmful rhetoric locally and in Congress.”
Queer BART board member Janice Li, who represents parts of San Francisco and is backing Simon in the race, told the B.A.R. she “absolutely” supports LPAC’s decision.
“When I was elected to the BART board in 2018, I became California’s only openly queer Asian woman in office at that time. Asian American leaders like myself who identify as LGBTQ have a unique responsibility to support trans and queer youth, denounce homophobia and transphobia, and push back on divisive rhetoric and lies,” stated Li, who herself has been endorsed by LPAC as a candidate for elected office. “I’m well aware of the homophobia and transphobia that exists particularly in Asian American communities, so we have an even higher burden to reject bigotry and disinformation.”
Tran’s X post was prompted by a question from journalist Mark Misoshnik, who asked her about paying $3,000 “to virulent transphobe Seneca Scott?” They also mentioned Tran’s “touting” LPAC’s support of her candidacy.
Scott had run unsuccessfully in 2022 against Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and has posted homophobic social media posts about her aide, Harami, using “an old trope that equates gay men with pedophiles,” as the B.A.R. noted in an editorial last September.
The postings had led the Alameda County Democratic Party and the East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club to condemn Scott.
In her October 17 post on X, Tran re-
president of the Project MORE Foundation that seeks to improve the lives of the South Bay’s LGBTQ community through “cultural activities, outreach, education, and advocacy,” according to its website, previously expressed his sorrow that Lopez died at such a young age.
“Natalia was a person full of life and seemed like a person starting to be her authentic self, who also was fairly talented and becoming quite the drag performer,” Svoboda said back in 2021. “She didn’t have the opportunity to showcase
send people to state prison for simple drug possession.”
The legislative package, signed by Newsom on August 16, included 10 laws that mandated sentencing enhancements for large-scale operations, created new penalties for damages to businesses and property in the course of theft, and tried to ensure police can arrest retail theft suspects without witnessing the crimes taking place themselves. Gay Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur (DHollywood) headed up the Assembly Select Committee on Retail Theft.
“Let’s be clear, this is the most significant legislation to address property crime in modern California history,” Newsom stated at the signing ceremony at a Home Depot store. “I thank the bipartisan group of lawmakers, our retail partners, and advocates for putting public safety over politics. While some try to
peated those claims against Harami. She also defended her working with Scott.
“Seneca and I agree on the importance of trans youth having full mental health support and being respected for their identity. However, we believe that decisions about surgeries or hormones should be made when they are adults, fully able to understand themselves,” she wrote.
In its announcement about withdrawing its support of Tran, LPAC called her out for making statements “furthering dangerous and harmful myths about LGBTQ+ people.” Retweeting the political organization’s post announcing its decision, Harami wrote, “A great example as to why you should simply not be an awful person.”
LPAC also took Tran to task for saying as part of its endorsement process last year that she supported gender-affirming care for youth.
In its statement, LPAC noted, “Tran’s comments go against recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which has affirmed the need to ‘ensure young people get the reproductive and gender-affirming care they need and are seen, heard and valued as they are.’ Dr. Tran’s statements further tropes which prevent transgender and gender-diverse youth from accessing services shown by the National Institute of Health to be lifesaving, preventing depression and suicidality.”
It is unclear if this marks the first time LPAC has rescinded support from one of its endorsed candidates. A spokesperson newly hired last month told the B.A.R. she wasn’t certain if it was and several of her colleagues who may know were traveling and couldn’t immediately be reached Friday. t
her talents at LGBTQ nightclubs, venues, and Pride events due to COVID, and so it’s sad that others can’t see the firecracker entertainer we had the opportunity to see in our community.” Lopez is featured on a mural at Splash Video Dance Bar, at the corner of Lightston Alley and Post Street, in San Jose’s Qmunity District, the LGBTQ neighborhood in downtown San Jose. Project MORE, the Qmunity District and Silicon Valley Pride also didn’t respond to requests for comment. t
take us back to ineffective and costly policies of the past, these new laws present a better way forward – making our communities safer and providing meaningful tools to help law enforcement arrest criminals and hold them accountable.”
Newsom stated at a September news conference that Prop 36 is “about mass incarceration, not mass treatment. … What an actual insult it is to say it’s about mass treatment when there’s not a dollar attached to it.”
Either way, Dorsey is confident that it will pass – only a quarter of voters told a pollster they were opposed to the measure.
“I think whatever we may think about where people stand on Prop 36, I don’t think there’s any disagreement it’s passing,” Dorsey said. “This is poised to pass overwhelmingly, including in San Francisco.” t
Toms has been a land use planner for local jurisdictions for over 30 years.
“I have worked on wind power, general plans, transit-oriented development, infrastructure, redevelopment, and climate action plans,” she stated. “I bring my experience from my career to the city I live in.”
She has also worked on affordable housing projects for decades and stated that she “understands the public finance
On other issues, Toms supports bringing new businesses to the city, having a balanced budget with adequate reserves, and various environmental issues, including the city’s climate action plan, which she helped draft. Toms has good ideas for moving Pinole forward.
East Bay MUD Ward 5
This is an open seat as longtime East Bay Municipal Utility District board member Doug Linney opted not to seek
reelection. Ward 5 covers the cities of Alameda and San Lorenzo, West Oakland, the San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport area, and a portion of San Leandro.
We endorse Jim Oddie, a gay man and former Alameda City Council member. Oddie would bring his municipal experience to EBMUD.
“I served six years as an Alameda City Councilmember, making policy and managing a public agency’s budget,” Oddie stated. “EMBUD’s budget is $1.45B and requires someone with this experience. I also worked for six years as the district director for then-Assemblymember Rob Bonta (D-Oakland), working every day serving the customers of this ward and helping shape policy to improve the lives of our constituents.” Bonta, now California’s attorney general, has endorsed Oddie.
While Oddie pointed out that EBMUD does not have control over hous-
ing, “we can find ways to work with affordable housing developers to lower the cost of utility connections,” he stated. That’s the kind of willingness to work with other entities that is needed in the region on housing, as well as other issues.
Oddie’s priorities include protecting against future drought; ensuring the reliability of the water supply; providing consistent, affordable, and transparent rates; and balancing the district’s budget. He would be a good fit for the district. t
Candidate Jim Oddie
by Brian Bromberger
Although you may not be familiar with the name Tamara de Lempicka, if you’ve watched Madonna’s videos “Open Your Heart,” “Express Yourself,” and “Vogue,” you’ve seen a few of her paintings. Lempicka (18941980) is the Polish artist known for her classical Art Deco style with their symmetrical, rectilinear sleek geometrical forms and urban landscapes with luminously colored portraits of aristocrats, writers, entertainers, artists, scientists, and exiled nobility of the 1925-1935 period. She also created powerful sensual female nudes that challenged gender norms and “encapsulated the glamour, transgression, and cosmopolitan effervescence of Paris in the years between the world wars.”
Lempicka’s first major US retrospective, with more than 120 works, is dedicated to the artist’s full oeuvre (also drawings and experimental still lifes) currently at the de Young Museum. A few of The Fine Arts Museums’ collection of Art Deco objects, sculptures, and dresses are included to provide some historical context. This exhibition is the San Franciscan art event of the year. It is presented chronologically in four major chapters marking the stages in Lempicka’s life through her changing identity.
Masculine, feminine
Born Tamara Rosa Hurwitz to a Polish Jewish family in Warsaw, she grew up in St. Petersburg where she met her first husband, lawyer Tadeusz Lempicki. After the Russian Revolution, they fled to Paris, where she was determined to become the most important artist in
Tamara de Lempicka exhibit at the de Young
the city. To support her and Tadeusz, she began painting. She became a huge critical and commercial success, signing her early works under the masculinized Lempitzky to gain social acceptance. After their divorce, she took the feminine declension Lempicka.
With the rise of Nazism and anti-Semitism, she emigrated to Beverly Hills with her second husband, Baron Raoul Kuffner, and became tagged as the baroness with the brush. But after World War II, her work fell out of favor. With the resurgence of Art Deco interest in the 1970s, her talent was rediscovered. In her later years she moved to Mexico where she died in 1980.
Bisexual, she had both male and female lovers. She summed up her own philosophy of living on her own terms: “I live life in the margins of society and rules of normal society don’t apply to those who live in the fringe.”
Capturing the social changes in society, she was ahead of her time in every way. She’s now become a symbol of strength, resilience, and survival amidst the chaos of the 20th century, embraced by today’s pop culture.
“Tamara is the most known unknown artist,” according to her great granddaughter Marisa.
Renewed popularity
In recent years her popularity has soared. Notable collectors beside Madonna include Barbra Streisand, Jack Nicholson, and fashion designer Donna Karan. Earlier this year, a Broadway musical “Lempicka” inspired by her life, was nominated for three Tony awards. In 2020, her 1932 painting, “Portrait of Marjorie Ferry” was auctioned at $21.2 million.
Queer horrors for Halloween
by David-Elijah Nahmod
Do you love horror movies, but wish they were gayer? Never fear (or do!). We’ve compiled a list of horror films with queer content or characters. These films are guaranteed to thrill, chill and titillate you. Happy Halloween!
“A Nightmare on Elm Street, part 2: Freddy’s Revenge” (1985)
This first sequel to the popular long-running series stars Mark Patton as Jesse, a teen who moves with his family to the home where the first film was set. Jesse immediately begins having nightmares about Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), the dead serial killer who comes to people in their dreams and kills them, causing them to die in real life.
The film was derided by fans at the time of its initial release, with many complaining that the film was “too gay.” Patton, who was deep in the closet at the time, found himself labeled a “male scream queen.” The subsequent negative publicity proved to be too much for Patton, who left show business and moved to Mexico, where he lived incognito for three decades.
“Nightmare 2” is indeed a gay film. Shortly after moving into the house, Jessie begins having dreams about Freddy that come true. One of these nightmarish dreams finds Jesse in
a gay bar, where he runs into his gym teacher. The teacher punishes Jesse by making him run laps around the school gym. While Jesse is in the shower, the teacher is attacked by an unseen force, stripped nude and killed.
Jesse soon realizes, to his abject horror, that he has been possessed by Freddy. Freddy’s spirit has taken hold of Jesse, and in a horrific sequence, bursts out of Jesse’s chest.
Is Jesse a gay character? Could be. When he realizes what is happening to him, he runs to Grady (Robert Rusler), a cute male friend, and begs for help.
Thirty years after the film’s release, Patton, now a happily married out gay man, came out of hiding and embraced the film. He made a few more films and began appearing at horror conventions, where the fan base now accepts and loves the film for what it is.
In 2015 Patton was the subject of “Scream, Queen: My Nightmare on Elm Street,” a featurelength documentary in which he comes to terms with the legacy of “Nightmare part 2.” He spoke openly about his life as a closeted actor in Hollywood, his battle with HIV, and his journey out of the closet. That film is streaming at Tubi.
“A Nightmare on Elm Street part 2: Freddy’s Revenge” is available on Blu Ray as part of The Nightmare on Elm Street Collection,” a box set which features all seven films in the series. It’s also streaming at Amazon Prime.
“Bride of Frankenstein” (1935)
Director James Whale, Boris Karloff and Ernest Thesiger all returned for this sequel to the 1931 classic. It’s Thesiger who makes this film gay. His character, Dr. Praetorius, works with Dr. Frankenstein (Colin Clive) in creating a female monster to be a companion for Frankenstein’s lonely creation. Dr. Praetorius is a screaming queen who expresses disdain for women and, according to legend, was meant by auteur Whale to be in love with Dr. Frankenstein. Thesiger gave an Oscar-worthy performance as the prissy Praetorius, easily stealing the movie from his higher billed co-stars.
The Bride was played by Elsa Lanchester. She’s quite a sight to behold, with her streaked hair and her flowing white gown. Lanchester, who was in a marriage of convenience to gay actor Charles Laughton, chewed the scenery in a limited scene as few actors could. She plays the Bride with all the grand gestures of a silent movie star, or a drag queen; on Blu Ray and Amazon Prime.
“The Vampire Lovers” (1970)
Polish-born Holocaust survivor Ingrid Pitt had a brief brush with movie stardom when this film was released. It was a huge hit in its day. Pitt played Countess Carmilla Karnstein, a centuriesold vampire with a yen for young ladies. Carmilla is definitely after the girls and only attacks men when they are a threat to her. Her attacks are very sexual in this R-rated film, with the telltale vampire bites appearing on her victim’s breasts.
The film was made by Hammer Films, England’s legendary horror studio, and featured Hammer stalwart Peter Cushing in a supporting role as a vampire hunter. The film was made at a time when nudity and sexuality had become quite commonplace in movies, and titillated many young men, and no doubt a few young women as well; on Blu Ray and Tubi.
“The Old Dark House” (1932)
Gay director James Whale made this darkly comic chiller as a follow-up to his mega-hit “Frankenstein” (1931). Horror icon Boris Karloff, who played the monster in the earlier film, is on hand again as a mute, creepy butler in this tale of a group of travelers who find themselves stranded
See page 15 >> See page 18 >>
Tamara de Lempicka’s ‘Portrait of Ira P.’ (detail), 1930.
Seductive new perspective on the bisexual painter
Mark Patton in ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street part 2: Freddy’s Revenge’
Enjoy a few scary movies with gay content
Elsa Lanchester in ‘Bride of Frankenstein’
‘The Vampire Lovers’
‘The Old Dark House’
A beautiful scandalous artistic life
by Brian Bromberger
Tamara de Lempicka is having a banner year, which is rather remarkable considering she died 44 years ago. In addition to the unmissable retrospective art exhibition at the de Young Museum (see our feature in this week’s issue), Armani naming her as his muse for his 1920s fashion designs, as well as being the motif of a Google logo commemorating overlooked figures, the artist is also the subject of a new documentary, “The True Story of Tamara de Lempicka and The Art of Survival.” It screened at the Mill Valley Film Festival and screens October 26 at the Roxie.
Her biography is as dramatic as her art with the documentary arguing they’re inseparable. It was her decadent indulgent lifestyle and relationships with men and women but also the pain she experienced, that inspired her art. “Each of my paintings is a selfportrait,” she said. It’s as if we can understand now why she’s so important as a bisexual, Jewish female refugee artist, finally having her breakthrough moment, after virtually been forgotten for decades, under-appreciated, if not ignored, by art critics.
A remarkable life
This groundbreaking documentary discovers documents that confirmed Tamara de Lempicka’s birth name was Tamara Rose Hurowitz, born on June 16, 1894, not May 16, 1898 as once thought. Born in a Polish family of Jewish descent in Warsaw, her entire family converted to Polish Reformed Protestantism, with Tamara baptized a Christian, probably due to fear of pogroms.
The family emigrated to St. Petersburg, Russia where she grew up. Lempicka concealed her Jewish heritage throughout her life, not out of deceit or vanity but because of persecution and anti-Semitism. Later, when she began painting, she created religious
pictures often with Catholic themes to direct attention away from any suspicions about her Jewish ancestry.
She married aristocratic lawyer Tadeusz Lempicki in 1916, with her only daughter Kizette born that same year. He worked for the Czar, was targeted in the Russian Revolution, and jailed. Lempicka rescued him by offering sexual favors to Communist party officials.
They fled to Paris in 1919 as refugees, having left everything behind. Depressed, he chose not to work, so to support the family she used her classical training in art (thanks to her wealthy grandmother) and began painting.
in 1934 after their affair, she wed Baron Raoul Kuffner, a HungarianJewish nobleman. They had an open marriage on both sides.
Alarmed by the threat posed by Nazism, for the second time, she started a new life as a refugee, leaving Paris for the U.S. in February 1939, eventually settling in Beverly Hills. Her great-granddaughter comments how Lempicka, after selling a painting, would buy a diamond bracelet, which she could sew into her clothing when she had to flee, then sell it, using the money to start a new life. She was a born survivor. After the war, her paintings were deemed anachronistic or passe, especially in light of abstract expressionism.
A rich legacy
Lempicka exhibited 12 pictures in San Francisco in 1941 at the Julien Levy Galleries (on Geary Street), eight of which are in the current de Young exhibit. Critics lambasted the themes of her work (a rich women painting the poor and sentimental religious scenes), though praised her flawless pictorial technique, which led to her no longer publicly showing her work. However, she remained a favorite of the Hollywood social scene, known for her lavish parties.
“There are no miracles,” she’s quoted as saying. “It’s only what you make.”
Influenced by Old Master/Renaissance paintings (i.e. Botticelli, Caravaggio) as well as European avantgardes like Cubism and Surrealism, she enjoyed critical and commercial success in the 1920s, becoming a millionaire in 1928.
She held her first solo exhibition in 1925, crowned the high priestess of Art Deco. She produced covers for the German fashion magazine “Die Dame” (akin to “Vogue”) including an iconic self-portrait with her blonde bob encased in a cap, while driving a green Bugatti racing car, her gloved hand barely on the steering wheel.
She divorced her husband in 1929 (he tired of her affairs, abuse of cocaine, and listening to Wagner at full volume while painting), but during their marriage she had male and female lovers, often having affairs with her models. She introduced genderfluid imagery into her portraits. She began using her feminine name and
Her husband died in 1971, with Tempicka moving to Houston to be near her married daughter. Redis-
‘The Wild Robot’ A
by Gregg Shapiro
During a typhoon in the future, a cargo vessel containing a shipment of Universal Dynamics robots, crashes on an island. Except for one, Rozzum model 7134, all the others are destroyed. That’s the way “The Wild Robot” (Universal/Dreamworks) begins.
Programmed to complete tasks, 7134 (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o) discovers that she is surrounded by the animals of the island, including raccoons, moose, beavers, an assortment of birds, a bear, and a mother possum, Pinktail (voiced by Catherine O’Hara), and her offspring, all of whom are terrified of 7134 and call her a monster. There is also a sly fox Fink (voiced by Pedro Pascal), who is initially an adversary. Another important discovery is that the crash on the island resulted in the death of a mother goose, and the destruction all but one of the eggs in her nest. When said egg hatches and the gosling immediately imprints on 7134, who now goes by Roz, she has tasks to complete, such as teaching the gosling runt, named Brightbill (voiced by gay actor Kit Connor), how to eat, swim, and fly by fall, before the annual migration begins. Longneck (voiced by Bill Nighy), the flock’s gander elder, along with a seemingly reformed Fink, assist in the training.
covered as an Art Deco icon in the mid-1970s, she moved to Cuernavaca, Mexico in 1973 where she died in 1980, cantankerous to the end about her unjust fall into obscurity. Her ashes were scattered over the Popocatepetl volcano.
The documentary uses neverbefore-seen 8mm home movies, archival footage, voiceovers, animation, as well as interviews with family members (her granddaughter Victoria and great-granddaughters Marisa and Cristina) and art historians. The movie is narrated by actress Angelica Huston, who knew Lempicka.
Filmmaker Julie Rubio is intent on showing how Lempicka was unfairly attacked during her lifetime, because critics and associates didn’t know her full story of raising a daughter by herself or being a woman painter (rare in her time) in the very patriarchal art world. Lempicka constantly reinvented herself to survive physically and economically. As a bisexual, female Jewish artist she was challenging the early and mid-20th century status quo.
Curator Furio Rinaldi declares that because Lempicka was openly bisexual, it is quite fitting that her first American retrospective is being held in San Francisco. She presented her female nudes as subjects rather than objects for the male gaze and injected eroticism into her portraits of wealthy aristocratic women. Rubio sees her as a resilient trailblazer, envisioning a future where people could be and love whatever and whomever they wanted.
In this visually stunning film, Rubio portrays Lempicka ahead of her time, breaking down personal and professional barriers, opening up doors for female artists, “leading them into a world of endless creative choice.”
This apologetic captivating documentary reveals the unity of Lempicka’s unique life, where she put all her prodigious talent, struggles, turmoil, and truth into every canvas.t
‘The True Story of Tamara de Lempicka and The Art of Survival’ with director/producer Julie Rubio in conversation with G. Allen Johnson. $6.62-$16.62, Oct. 26, 1pm, 3125 16th St. www.roxie.com www.tamaradoc.com
heartfelt animated story
But for all the onscreen sweetness, including Roz developing as much feeling as a robot possibly can, a looming darkness eventually takes hold. Sent by the company to retrieve Roz, ruthless robot Vantra (voiced by queer actor Stephanie Hsu) adds a terrifying element to the story.
But fear not, after upheaval and devastation, a hard-won happy ending is delivered. Here is what makes “The Wild Robot” so exceptional and unforgettable. At its core, it’s a movie about standing out and fitting in, chosen family, friendship, and survival. The juxtaposition of the futuristic science
fiction presence amidst the natural inhabitants of the island is also handled with grace and intelligence, creating a scenario as believable as an animated movie can be.
Not since “Wall-E” has there been a lovable piece of machinery, such as Roz, so lovingly created. The animation is sensational, and the script, by director Chris Sanders (writer/ director of “How to Train Your Dragon” and others), finds the balance between comedy, drama, and action, necessary for an audience of all ages. Rating: A-
www.thewildrobotmovie.com
‘The Wild Robot’
Tamara de Lempicka
Tamara de Lempicka Estate LLC
Tamara de Lempicka’s ‘Autoportrait (Tamara in a Green Bugatti),’ 1928.
Tamara de Lempicka Estate LLC
rot, wearing a slightly oversized coat, frowning, with a penetrating gaze.
Above Left: Tamara de Lempicka’s “Young Girl in Green (Young Girl with Gloves),” ca. 1931’
Above Middle: Tamara de Lempicka’s ‘The Girls,’ 1930
Above Right: Tamara de Lempicka’s ‘Le chapeau de paille,’ 1930
“Portrait of a Man (Tadeusz Lempicki, 1929)”, her first husband, presents an elegant image of masculinity, with his neck wrapped in a beautiful pearl grey scarf and black trench coat set against the background of skyscrapers. They divorced while she was painting him, so the left hand, where his wedding ring would be, was intentionally left unfinished.
Several of her paintings in the show merit comment. “Male Nude” (1924) is one of the few naked portraits she did of men, lent by its owner Harvey Feirstein.
“Young Girl in Pink” (1928-29) is her daughter Kizette wearing a fashionable tennis outfit.
“The Communicant” (1928) features a spiritual Kizette receiving her first Communion, done to disguise the family’s Jewish ancestry in the face of rising anti-Semitism.
“Her Sadness” (1923) captures her long-time female lover Ira Per-
“The Beautiful Rafaela” (1927) lent by composer Tim Rice, is a sex worker/lover Lempicka met in a Parisian garden. Her naked body is lying down done in a perspective from below, as she’s not looking at the viewer. She’s self-absorbed in her own pleasure, revealing the unabashed power of female sexuality.
“Spring” (1930) captures two nude women, possibly Tamara and Ira Perrot, embracing next to a lush bouquet of white lilacs. “The Girls” (1930) represents another sapphic portrait of two girls holding each other, covered by a blue fabric.
“Portrait of Marquis Guido Sommi Picenardi” (1925) was an avant-garde Futurist musician. He was married but bisexual. He had an affair with Lempicka. She depicts the handsome marquis as a sophisticate, wrapped in a fur-collared overcoat, hair glistening with pomade, a glacial coldness in his magnetic gaze.
The piece de resistance of the exhibition is “Young Woman in Green (Young Woman with Gloves,” (1931) that typifies the “modern woman.” Her conical breasts, curved hips, and deep navel are swathed in a green fabric, her eyes shaded with the edge of a wide-brimmed hat. She seems to look beyond the frame towards the future, epitomizing feminine freedom.
Defying convention
Her female portraits, often of convention-defying women, reflected the optimism of her era when women were starting to experience greater social and economic freedom. She painted them as independent, successful, and in charge of their lives. She was the first woman artist to paint female nudes, celebrating and owning their sexuality and cool voluptuousness. She created her own elegant brand, a genius at self-promotion. Today she would be an Instagram star, as she was a skillful manipulator of the media.
I asked the co-curator Furio Rinaldi whether it was her life or her work that is now beguiling the world. He insisted the aim of the exhibition is to showcase her artistry, not design, fashion, or hedonistic lifestyle. But with Lempicka, you can’t separate the two, because her captivating personality/biography is reflected in her artwork.
In her own words, “I was the first woman to paint clearly and that was the basis of my success. Among a hundred paintings you can always
recognize mine. Galleries began to hang my work in the center because my painting was attractive; it was precise, it was finished.”
The catalogue entitled “Tamara de Lempicka” edited by curators Furio Rinaldi and Gioia Mori (Yale University Press), with a preface by Barbra Streisand and background biographical and art historical essays from a few scholars, is worth the $65.00, with gorgeous reproductions of the entire exhibit. The book will be a permanent memento of what will likely be a milestone art show, obligatory viewing, in establishing Lempicka as one of the significant female artists of the 20th century.t
See our feature on the Lempicka documentary on page 14.
‘Tamara de Lempicka’ at de Young Museum through February 9, 2025, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, Golden Gate Park. https://www.famsf.org/exhibitions/ tamara-de-lempicka
<< de Lempicka
Left: Tamara de Lempicka’s ‘Male Nude,’ ca. 1924
‘Sci-Fi, Magick, Queer L.A.’
by Jim Provenzano
The intersection of early LGBT rights activism, science fiction, and the occult are beautifully recounted in the new book, “Sci-Fi, Magick, Queer L.A.: Sexual Science and the Imagination.”
Published by Inventory Press through association with the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries, editors Alexis Bard Johnson and Kelly Filreis have assembled their own essays with five contributors who discuss early science fiction zine makers, occult worshipers, and filmmakers who explored futurism, iconic symbolic rituals, and more esoteric themes in publishing, artwork, and essays.
The book is a companion catalog to the Los Angeles exhibit at the USC Fisher Museum of Art, which is on display through November 23.
Along with being a fascinating historical account of various arts movements in the underground queer communities, it’s also a beautifully designed book with dozens of reproductions of artwork, flyers, photographs and film stills. The hardback book itself is beautifully trimmed with gold, and each chapter has its own color tint in the pages’ edges. There’s even a little pull-out poster that charts the intersection of different groups throughout the 20th century. The roots of these varied communities go back to the 1930s with
the science fiction fanzine, “Voice of the Imagi-Nation,” co-published by Forest J. Ackerman, who although straight, was very queerfriendly. He would later publish the popular “Famous Monsters of Filmland” monthly magazine.
As with anything both queer and occult, mention of Alistair Crowley, the famed wizard of weird, is included. Rituals that involved sexual activities are recounted as well.
Notable contributors
The illustrations in other zines like ‘Toward Tomorrow’ show various futuristic, symbolic and homoerotic imagery and other artworks published in the independent publications that dodged censorship through the mail by discreet subscriptions, or by being sold at small kiosks and bookstores.
Related gatherings and meetings publicized in the zines led to organizations like the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society. Ackerman and Hugo Bach, a sexologist dubbed “the father of Science Fiction,” maintained clubs through the 1940s and 1950s. One early contributor to such publications was gay writer Arthur C. Clarke.
Another notable person in these varied communities was Jim Kepner, who would go on to establish and run The ONE Institute archives in Los Angeles, and edit ONE Magazine. Drummed out of San Francisco science fiction clubs because of his association with the Communist Party, Kepner fled to Southern California, where he found his underground community.
An excerpt from one of Kepner’s diaries includes his rumination and surprise that male attendees at Los Angeles science fiction gatherings were overwhelmingly gay-identified, and the women were presumed to be lesbians. The book includes several photographs of such gatherings.
One of the early editors and writers in the community was Lisa Ben, who wrote under various pseudonyms, as did many other contributors to the various zines. Few were able to come out in the decades of 1940s wartime and 1950s McCarthyism.
Exhibit book’s deep dive into occult and
fiction LGBT SoCal communities
The parallel independent publishing of occult zines with a queer edge included the historic “Amazing Stories,” which started 1926, but would later include images of busty women that appealed to not only to male readers, but to women as well. One prominent example is an issue of “Weird Tales” with an illustration by Margaret Brundage, in which a master and slave female nude duo offered shocking allure.
This was at the same time that small magazines published by the likes of Bob Mizer and “Physical Culture” became the default erotica for a deeply repressed gay subculture.
Music also plays a part in the varied history, including sheet music reproduced from the works of Harry Hay, who, before cofounding the Mattachine Society, based some of his compositions on gnostic mass rites and temple rituals led by Crowley. However, Hay is quoted as saying that he thought the occult rituals were a silly lark.
And of course, filmmaker Kenneth Anger gets a mention in an extensive essay that recounts his experimental filmmaking and use of occult symbolism in his films like “Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome,” which he actually re-edited multiple times from 1954 to 1966.
Compact yet lavish in its design, the book also includes an extensive glossary of notable figures as well as notes from the exhibit on the various illustrations.
According to
Upper Middle Left: Tom Wright’s illustration in a 1942 issue of ‘Voice of the Imagi-Nation’
Upper Middle Right: The cover of ‘Toward Tomorrow’ volume 2
Lower Middle: Marjorie Cameron in a still from Kenneth Anger’s ‘Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome.’ Below: A Los Angeles Science Fantasy
Above: Marjorie Cameron’s ‘Holy Guardian Angel
Alistair Crowley’
All photos: courtesy Inventory Press
Time between tunes
Camera Obscura, X, Kate Nash, David Gilmour & more albums reviewed
by Gregg Shapiro
There are a multitude of reasons to love the Glaswegian band Camera Obscura, but personally, the way Camera Obscura combines elements of twee and retro pop with lyrics that can be as cutting as a fresh razor is high on the list.
“Look to the East, Look to the West” (Merge), which marks the band’s return to Merge Records after a few years on 4AD, is Camera Obscura’s first studio album in 11 years, and well worth the wait. The current iteration features four original band members, including lead vocalist (and primary songwriter) Tracyanne Campbell.
Camera Obscura hasn’t lost any of its rapier wit while gaining an appreciation for a dance beat. Opener “Liberty Print” demurely lures listeners in before the beats kick in. “Big Love” takes a country detour, complete with a touch of twang and an insistently funky bass.
“The Light Nights” keeps the country-comfort, while “Baby Huey (Hard Times)” stays lightly funky. “Pop Goes Pop” will give listeners another chance to show off their dance moves, and Campbell hasn’t lost her knack for writing gorgeous songs such as the title track, “Only A Dream,” and “Sugar Almond.”
www.mergerecords.com
Kate Nash can’t seem to catch a break. Her major-label debut album arrived in 2007, a year after fellow cheeky Brit Lily Allen released hers to much acclaim. In the intervening years, she’s been surpassed by other, younger, UK female singer/songwriters such as Charli XCX.
Nash’s new album “9 Sad Symphonies” (Kill Rock Stars), her first since 2018, is an admirable attempt to remind us that she still has more to say musically. The sadness of the title is buoyed by Nash’s sassiness, a kind of survival technique, that works well throughout, especially on “Wasteman,” the trotting “Horsie,” “Millions of Heartbeats,” “Space Odyssey 2001,” “These Feelings,” and the seriously sad “Ray.”
Kate Nash performs on Nov. 3 in San Francisco at The Chapel. www.thechapelsf.com www.katenash.com
In 2020, when L.A. punk legends X released “Alphabetland,” the band’s first studio album of new material in 27 years, it was a cause for celebration. In 2017, the band embarked on a 40th anniversary tour that continued for years.
Now, the band has not only announced a farewell tour, but a final album as well, “Smoke & Fiction” (Fat Possum). While much of the al-
bum lacks the searing blast of X’s ’80s masterworks, you’d never guess that most of the members are of Medicare age, due to the fervor with which they perform songs such as blazing opener “Ruby Church,” “Sweet Til The Bitter End” (containing the lines “let’s go round the bend/get in trouble again”), “Struggle,” “Winding Up The Time,” and the title cut. Co-lead vocalists Exene Cervenka and John Doe, with drummer DJ Bonebrake and guitarist Billy Zoom, who once sang about making the music go bang, certainly go out with a bang. www.fatpossum.com
Here’s a fascinating bit of music trivia: David Gilmour of Pink Floyd fame co-produced Kate Bush’s
1978 debut album “The Kick Inside.” Gilmour’s own eponymous solo debut album was released in the same year.
The superior follow-up “About Face,” released six years later in 1984, comes closest to matching the excellence of Gilmour’s new album “Luck and Strange” (Sony Music), Gilmour’s first solo studio album in nine years.
Unlike his fellow former Pink Floyd bandmate Roger Waters, Gilmour has managed to avoid controversy, instead focusing on making memorable music featuring his trademark guitar sound. Gilmour’s wife, novelist Polly Samson, provided the lyrics for seven of the 11 tracks, and the (longtime) collaboration works well throughout, including on notable numbers such as “Dark and Velvet Nights,” “A Single Spark,” the gorgeous “Sings,” and “Yes, I Have Ghosts” (a duet with daughter Romany). www.davidgilmour.com
Washed Out (aka Ernest Weatherly Greene Jr.) is credited with being at the forefront of the chillwave genre, exemplified by his 2011 full-length debut, “Within and Without.” In the years that followed, Washed Out lost some steam, and the fittingly titled “Notes From A Quiet Life” (Sub Pop), arriving four years after its predecessor, continues the trend.
The synthetic hand claps on “The Hardest Part” give the song a retro feel, the subtle bass honk and eerie backing vocal on “Running Away,” and the strutting “Wait On,” are pleasant additions to the Washed Out canon, but the low (beyond chill) energy of the other songs tends to stall the experience. Washed Out performs Nov. 12 at The Regency Ballroom in San Francisco. www.theregencyballroom.com www.washedout.net
When you think of the non-grunge American bands that were popular in the 1990s, no doubt names such as Weezer, The Flaming Lips, and maybe even Matchbox Twenty come to mind. Nada Surf, whose debut album, containing the hit single “Popular,” was released in 1996, was also part of that scene.
While it might be considered a onehit-wonder, Nada Surf has continued to release albums throughout the 21st century, with “Moon Mirror” (New West), the band’s first in four years, being the latest. To the quartet’s credit, it has remained faithful to its sound while branching out sonically. Recommended tracks include “Losing,” “X Is You,” “Second Skin,” “The One You Want,” “Floater,” and “Intel and Dreams.” www.nadasurf.comt
Dagoberto Gilb’s ‘New Testaments: Stories’
by Laura Moreno
City Lights Books proudly presents Dagoberto Gilb’s impressive new collection of 11 short stories entitled “New Testaments: Stories.” It was released on October 1.
“New Testaments: Stories” documents the lives of ordinary Mexican Americans living along our Border, an important but overlooked part of American history.
LGBT ally Dagoberto Gilb is a master storyteller with a writing style all his own.
By the time I finished reading the first story “Gray Cloud on San Jacinto Plaza,” it was clear to me that “New Testaments: Stories” is a great literary work.
Dagoberto Gilb has an uncanny ability to steer the first-person narrative with great agility, keeping it fresh and suspenseful. Author Francisco Goldman calls it, “Pure mastery.”
An unusual characteristic feature of Gilb’s writing is his use of exremely long paragraphs that function as a sort of stream of consciousness. The format conveys candor, and at times, a child’s perspective, as when the narrator racks his mind to give every detail of a childhood memory.
His long paragraphs contain vivid descriptions, jokes, asides and numerous unexpected observations peppered in, such as “Mari stared at her blank, or like a cat might, the eyes, so still, they seemed to be more listening than seeing.”
Or when a character named Roberto moved to Mexico City, he “became Roby – not pronounced like a robber but a rower…” Or that a certain character’s adult children “needed everything but him.”
Fool stories
The author calls his own innovative narrative “first-person stupid” or “fool stories,” but his creative narration has been widely praised as parable-like, candid, clear and exuding wisdom, whether popular or not.
In “Prima,” we get a taste of yesteryear when men used to fight for women’s honor. In the Spanish world, the code of chivalry remained so strong that even murder was excusable if the dead person had done something to deserve it.
Sometimes Gilb fast-forwards far into the future to give a hopeful ending to what otherwise would be a tragedy, as when three of the five family members suddenly die after being exposed to a passing gray cloud of gas during a family outing one Sunday afternoon. The story is real and raw, but the two surviving members are determined to make their lives worth living, and do.
I’m not sure how, but Gilb achieves transcendence in just a few pages.
Author ire’ne lara silva puts it this way:
“A Buddhist nun…said something that stuck with me: that writers had to pour their entire selves onto the page.
But the crucial work – what made it art, what made it necessary to the spirit – was the writer then burning themselves out, leaving only their essence, leaving only their energy. These stories in ‘New Testaments’ are the closest I’ve seen anybody come to doing that in a very, very, very long time. I often had to stop to re-read a sentence and breathe, because the language was so beautiful I had to hold it in my mouth.”
An unlikely rise Dagoberto Gilb attended several community colleges while working as a paper cutter and stockboy, then transferred to the University of Cali-
<< Queer horrors
From page 13
in a spooky old house on a dark and stormy night. One of the travelers was played by 22-year-old Gloria Stuart, 65 years before she received an Oscar nomination for playing Old Rose in James Cameron’s “Titanic.” Another of the travelers was played by gay actor Charles Laughton, who performed his allegedly straight character with an over-the-top flamboyance.
But Laughton, as entertaining as he was, cannot hold a candle to bisexual actor Ernest Thesiger, who co-stars as one of the residents of the titular house. Thesiger swishes down the stairs and grandly introduces himself to the travelers. “My name is Femm, Horace Femm,” he says with a delightful aplomb of a queen. Horace is a queercoded character if ever we’ve seen one.
There’s also a bit of gender-bending in the film, when the audience is introduced to the bedridden 102-yearold family patriarch Sir Roderick Femm. The actor playing this role as billed as John Dudgeon, who was actually a woman named Elspeth Dudgeon. Ms. Dudgeon made no attempt at deepening her voice for her male role, but rather spoke her lines in her normal female voice.
“The Old Dark House” is a fun film, filled with dark humor and gay innuendos; on Blu Ray and Tubi.
“Voodoo Island” (1957)
Karloff stars in this low-budget chiller as the leader of a party of six who are investigating voodoo rituals on a remote tropical island. They find all kinds of scary things on the island, such as zombies and maneating plants.
What makes this film of interest to queers is the character of Claire, played by little-known actress Jean Engstrom, whose career consisted primarily of guest shots on TV shows during the 1950s and ’60s. Although the L word is never uttered, Claire’s lesbianism is front and center, a
magazine of Latinx writing. Gilb is the recipient of the James D. Phelan Award, Dobie-Paisano Fellowship, NEA Fellowship, several PEN Awards including the Hemingway Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, as well being a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist, among other awards. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he now lives in both Austin and Mexico City.
Excerpt:
fornia, Santa Barbara where he majored in Philosophy and Religious Studies and received a master’s degree in Religious Studies.
He is also a journeyman carpenter and skilled stonecutter. In 1977, while working a construction job at the University of El Paso, Dagoberto Gilb found out that short story writer Raymond Carver was teaching across the street. He decided to switch to writing short stories as well. At the time, he was completing his first novel; it has never been published.
For years Gilb wrote commentaries for NPR’s “Fresh Air” and served as Writer-in-Residence and Executive Director of Centro Victoria: Center for Mexican American Literature and Culture at the University of Houston, Victoria. His writing has appeared in the “New Yorker Magazine” among others and he is the founder of “Huizache,” a groundbreaking literary
daring thing for filmmakers to do during the ultra-conservative ’50s. Claire is dismissive of men and flirts openly with an obviously uncomfortable Sarah (Beverly Tyler), who was Karloff’s assistant. Engstrom retired in the mid-60s and is pretty much forgotten today. Take a moment to remember this brave actress who wasn’t afraid to play queer more than sixty years ago; on DVD and YouTube.
“Lust For a Vampire” (1971) Carmilla the vampire returns in this sequel, only now she’s bisexual. It’s 1830, forty years since Carmilla’s last reign of terror. She becomes a student at a finishing school for young ladies on the European continent, and promptly begins feasting upon the blood of her classmates. This time she’s a more traditional vampire and bites them on the neck. When one of her male teachers falls in love with her Carmilla returns his affections. The two make love in a mist-shrouded graveyard to the tune of “Strange Love,” perhaps the worst
“One night, some more months later, even a year, at maybe 3 am, those hours for sleep, I’d been having a long dream I couldn’t shake. I was with some people I didn’t recognize, but who I kept thinking I did. And I was supposed to drive. I didn’t drive when I wasn’t dreaming, even if I pretended to in my dad’s truck. I was scared of getting in trouble and maybe dying in a bad wreck or killing someone else. So I forced myself awake. I must have made a noise. My mom had come. While I was dreaming she was there. She wanted to know if I was okay. She was carrying a glass of water. I was thirsty and it really tasted especially good. Of course I was okay, I assured her. It was a dumb dream. I didn’t like the dream. It had nothing to do with that gray cloud, which to her...and I remember saying to her, or only to myself, Mom, it wasn’t the gray cloud, but she wouldn’t have believed me, but she wouldn’t have said she didn’t believe me. I was happy she was there, happy for the water, but as good as all that was...the gray cloud happened, and it lived with us. I woke up happy I had my mom. I had some friends who didn’t, or some who didn’t really.t
‘New Testaments: Stories’ by Dagoberto Gilb, City Lights Books, $16.95 www.citylights.com
Above: ‘Lust For a Vampire’ Upper Left: Jean Engstrom in ‘Voodoo Island Lower Left: ‘Daughters of Darkness’
pop song ever recorded. But never fear, Carmilla quickly returns to the young ladies.
While not as good as the first film, “Lust For a Vampire” is still a fun timewaster, worthy of at least one viewing; on Blu Ray and Tubi.
“Daughters of Darkness” (1971)
Perhaps the kinkiest vampire film ever made, and set at an isolated hotel in Belgium, “Daughters of Darkness” follows the adventures of a swinging bisexual couple who are engaged in a bizarre game of cat and mouse with a lesbian couple, both of whom are vampires. The film was elegantly shot and features fine, restrained performances from its international cast, which includes John Karlen, best known for “Dark Shadows.” The film has developed quite a cult following over the years, no doubt due to its unbridled eroticism. If you’re in the mood for something different, check this film out; on Blu Ray and Tubi. t
Author Dagoberto Gilb
Jean Luc Bertini
‘Halloween: A Fantasy in Three Acts’
by David-Elijah Nahmod
Halloween has always been a major holiday in San Francisco. As far back as the mid-19th century, thousands of partiers would descend upon the streets of the city, causing those streets to be closed to traffic.
Halloween has traditionally been a wild celebration for the city’s gay and hippie communities, with even sex workers getting into the act at one point, when Margo St. James’ prostitutes’ union COYOTE (an acronym for Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics) created the Hooker’s Masquerade Ball in the 1970s.
In 1981, photographer Ken Werner published a book of his photos, titled simply, “Halloween: A Fantasy in Three Acts,” that featured some of his photos from those wild street parties of long ago. The book has just been reissued in a new edition. As the book’s cover, a photo of a two-headed monster with four arms suggests, these parties were unforgettable.
Colorful history
Werner opens the book with a brief, colorful history of Halloween in San Francisco dating back to the 1870s and 1880s, recounting events that took place over the next hundred years. Werner’s introduction is a mere four pages long, so it’s impressive to see how much information he was able to fit in. Werner writes about 19th century Halloween balls that took place under the auspices of long forgotten organizations such as The Scottish Thistle Club. Thousands of people showed up for these events amid much dancing and merry-making.
The book is thin, and the pages are not numbered, but the photos remain a fascinating historical record of what Halloween was like in San Francisco during the pre-AIDS era.
In the early part of the 20th century, local merchants arranged with the police to close off streets to traffic so that public masquerade balls could be held for the kids, though there was much enthusiastic participation by adults. These parties were held in virtually every neighborhood of the city. According to Werner, in 1938, and again in 1939, more than 100,000 people attended the parade and party on Mission Street. World War II put a stop to this. Due to concerns that there might be saboteurs, outdoor festivities were banned and parties retreated indoors.
Going Out
In the ’70s, queer performance troupes like The Cockettes and The Angels of Light continued partying long after the kids had been sent off to bed.
Revels of yesteryear
What follows Werner’s brief his-
During the 1960s and ’70s, outdoor parties returned with the rise of the hippie and gay movements. But in 1977, conservatives on the Board of Supervisors blocked a request to close the streets to traffic due to what they called “degrading activities,” claiming that the streets were “awash with drug peddlers and prostitutes of both sexes.” There were protests, and the decision was reversed.
tory are around 55 pages taken during these Halloween street revels of more than a generation ago. The photos are in black and white and are divided into three sections. The photos are a fascinating record of the street parties of past eras.
Some people are seen wearing bizarre masks of all kinds, while others simply paint their faces. Some images might invite laughter, like the one of a man wearing dark glasses, carrying a tin cup and a white cane, with a sign on his shirt that says “another hapless victim of masturbation.”
Another photo features a person wearing a hat that reads “Sex relieves tension.” There’s also a photo of a woman dressed in leather, leading her scantily clad boyfriend on a chain around his neck. One clever person made himself up to look like a giant package being mailed to Daly City, their eyes peering out from a hole in the package.
While the photos may fascinate, Werner does not identify the specific years they were taken, nor does he specify which photos were taken in the Castro and which might have been taken in other neighborhoods.
Still, the book is worth a look for its historical value. Many of the people in the photos are likely no longer with us, but keeps the memory of their holiday revels alive.t
‘Halloween: A Fantasy in Three Acts’ by Ken Werner, Anthology Editions, Hardcover, 60 pages, $38.48 www.anthology.net
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Left, Right, and Below: Images in Ken Werner’s ‘Halloween: A Fantasy in Three Acts’
Ken Werner, Anthology Editions
