September 10, 2020 edition of the Bay Area Reporter

07

05

CA woman HIV free

Easy ride to reelection

ARTS

02

More than Two Broads

12

Frameline 44

The

www.ebar.com

Serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities since 1971

Vol. 50 • No. 37 • September 10-16, 2020

SF HIV cases fell by 19% in 2019

by Liz Highleyman

N

ew HIV diagnoses in San Francisco continue to fall but disparities remain, according to the latest HIV epidemiology report from the San Francisco DepartRick Gerharter ment of Public Health.

While acknowledgHealth Director ing last year’s good Dr. Grant Colfax news, health officials are concerned that the COVID-19 crisis could compromise the city’s progress going forward.

“We’re seeing declines in new diagnoses across most groups, and that means we’re moving in the right direction,” Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax, a gay man hired by Mayor London Breed last year, told the Bay Area Reporter in a Zoom interview. “But just like almost everything else in society, COV-

Rick Gerharter

The San Francisco Police Department’s rainbow-decorated patrol car made an appearance in the 2019 San Francisco LGBT Pride parade.

SF officials back Pride’s police ban

by John Ferrannini

W

ith the general election season underway – coming in a year that has changed how many Americans view law enforcement – local politicians are voicing support for San Francisco Pride’s decision to ban the Pride Alliance of the San Francisco Police Department from participating in uniform in the 2021 parade.

Gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman stated September 8 that he respects SF Pride’s “process and decision.”

“I know this was not an easy step for Pride,” Mandelman stated in a text message to the Bay Area Reporter. “It’s important that all queer people feel safe at Pride, and it is evidence of the unfinished work of queer liberation that 51 years after Stonewall, many queer people do not feel safe around police.

“That said, the work must continue, and I look forward to the day when Pride can welcome back the queer members of the San Francisco Police Department, many of whom every day do the brave, difficult work of transforming the department from within,” he added.

Mayor London Breed’s spokesman told the B.A.R. that they have reached out to SF Pride leaders to discuss the situation.

“We want to be respectful of the many LGBT members of our police department as well as the SFPD Pride Alliance, who has worked to build bridges between the LGBT community and the police department,” spokesman Jeff Cretan stated. “We will continue to work with Pride to understand their goals and what it means for the future of Pride.”

The move to ban the Pride Alliance was announced in a September 2 Facebook statement

by SF Pride board President Carolyn Wysinger.

Wysinger’s message, which was co-signed by SF Pride Executive Director Fred Lopez, stated that the organization has “concluded that in 2021 we cannot welcome the participation of the San Francisco Police Department’s Pride Alliance – which is to say, uniformed SFPD officers marching as a parade contingent.”

Gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) did not respond to requests for comment. His opponent in the November election, queer educator Jackie Fielder, juxtaposed the regular Pride parade (which was virtual this year because of the pandemic) with the People’s March that occurred in June.

See page 10 >>

Trans March kicks off Oakland Pride

Rick Gerharter

S

everal hundred people turned out for the second Oakland Trans March Saturday, September 5, braving high temperatures as they went from City Hall to the Alameda County Courthouse and surrounding area.

by John Ferrannini

2011 57

second section

40th anniv., readers'

Boston, P-town travel

Considering Balenciaga

poll

The

www.ebar.com

Serving the gay, lesbian,

REPORT CITES HEALTH GAPS

by Bob Roehr

A

report released last week detailed the need for more federal and research data collection on the health of LGBT people.

Bob Roehr “Lesbian, bisexual, Dr. Robert Graham gay, and transgender individuals health disparities. experience unique LGBT is used as an Although the acronym health needs of this umbrella term, and the grouped together, community are often a distinct each of these letters represents concerns,” health population with its own of the report, written summary stated the of Medicine. by the prestigious Institute lesbians, gay men, “Furthermore, among and transgender bisexual men and women, based people, there are subpopulations status, on race, ethnicity, socioeconomicfactors,” and other geographic location, age, the report continued. statement is not While that summary with the LGBT news to anyone familiar it was made in the community, the fact that commissioned by IOM report, which was of Health, adds new the National Institutes to shaping health meaning and credibility had been policy, which that heretofore lacking. are asked Traditionally, IOM committees priorities gaps and to identify research paradigm does not within a field. “But that Dr. Robert Graham fit for this area,” chair news conference said at the March 31 releasing the report.

See page 24 >>

Our new look

decided The Bay Area Reporter that we’re 40. to update its look now slight design So we’ve made some of the paper, changes in both sections the case of the with new fonts, and in a new name.

Arts and Culture section, website has Most significantly, our for video with been updated to allow now comment stories, and readers can if they directly on our online content are friends on Facebook.▼

BAR MEMBERSHIP STRIP.indd 1

from a law enforcement-based response is a profound change in how we as a city respond when someone calls for assistance.

“It’s a key part of addressing our structural inequities, but it’s going to take work and it’s going to take time,” the mayor added. “This steering committee will play an important role in designing other models of response, and getting us to a place where we are making real, concrete change, including in future budget investments.”

HealthRIGHT 360 told the B.A.R. that its CEO, Vitka Eisen, will be its representative on the committee.

“Vitka was included because HealthRIGHT 360, and Vitka personally, have many decades of experience providing direct services to people with mental health and substance use disorders in community-based and in-custody settings, and advocating for policies and practices that that seek to reverse the deep societal damage resulting from the criminalization of addiction, mental health disorders, and homelessness,” Lauren Kahn, the vice president of communications and government affairs for HealthRIGHT 360, stated in an email to the B.A.R. “A lot is going to go into this work, but it is critically important, and long overdue, and I feel confident that this group is well-positioned to make a real impact.”

HealthRIGHT 360 is the parent organization of Lyon-Martin Health Services, which primarily serves low-income trans women.

As the B.A.R. reported last week, if MandelSee page 5 >>

M

ayor London Breed announced Tuesday the formation of a steering committee to look into having someone other than a police officer respond to non-violent 911 and 311 calls for assistance.

According to a news release, the steering committee will include representatives from at least eight San Francisco organizations, including several that have worked with the LGBTQ community for many years, including HealthRIGHT 360, GLIDE, and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

“They have deep experience working with the folks we are hoping to divert away from police responses to responses that are more public health and therapeutic,” gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman told the Bay Area Reporter September 8. “The desire is to see what are fundamentally public health challenges in that framework.”

The eight organizations – which also include Hospitality House, Urban Alchemy, the Street Violence Intervention Program, At the Crossroads, and Metta Fund – “were selected because of their commitment to centering community voices, willingness to challenge the status quo, and their dedication to exploring innovative and outcome-driven practices,” the release states.

“The steering committee also has representatives from city agencies, including the Department of Public Health, Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, San Francisco

13

1981

See page 7 >>

Breed forms panel to examine policing options

1991

1971

Oakland Pride continues through Sunday, September 13, with virtual programming. For more information, go to www.oaklandpride. org or the group’s Facebook page.

bisexual, and transgender

Vol. 41 • No. 14 • April

communities since 1971

7-13, 2011

by Seth Hemmelgarn the Bay Area or 40 years now, entertained, Reporter has informed, people in San and frequently miffed Francisco and beyond.

Bob Ross – chef, The paper started when and bar culture Tavern Guild president, with business partner insider – launched it was dated April 1, Paul Bentley. The first issue on April 2, Ross’s 37th 1971 but hit the streets all the pages by hand, birthday. Ross pasted up them to local bars. copied them, and delivered took the paper In the beginning, nobody too seriously. an “up and had he said Cleve Jones, who Ross and who was down” relationship with gay icon Harvey Milk, a close friend of slain after his arrival to started reading the paper San Francisco in 1972. sort of a silly “To be honest, it was who now works with publication,” said Jones, “Most of the other the Courage Campaign. have much use for young people didn’t really about it. It was basically just announcements going on at whatever whatever specials were bar.” many early 1970s The front covers of the Imperial Court’s issues were dedicated to See page 23 >>

F Community looks back at 40 years of the B.A.R .

Founding publisher Bob Ross

Despite setbacks, LGBT nt’ ‘vibra scene in San Jose is

by Seth Hemmelgarn

several setbacks he past year has seen even in San Jose’s LGBT community, census recently as data from the 2010 Bay berg is now the revealed that the South 10th largest city in the country. have made it Recent events, however, with almost 1 million seem that for a city strength in the gay people, there’s not much community there.

DeFrank LGBT Last month, the Billy canceled its 30th Community Center had been planned for anniversary party, which tickets had been sold.

March 26. Only about 40 Silicon Valley AIDS Last November, the had organized the Leadership Center, which announced its closure. annual Walk for AIDS, before that, in And about three months Committee August, the Gay Pride Celebrationa parade. to hold of San Jose Inc. opted not LGBT organizations Of course, problems at Several San Francisco aren’t unique to San Jose. financially. And agencies have been struggling the DeFrank center people with Pride and indicate they’re all right. and when “We have a vibrant community, that they’re there,” we can engage them, I think San Jose Pride’s joined said Ray Mueller, who board earlier this year.

LGBT night One example is last Thursday’steam. Tickets hockey with the San Jose Sharks sold out in 10 days.

T

marched The Pro-Latino contingent Parade; Pride in the 2008 San Jose sure if there will be officials are not yet year, although the a Pride Parade this for August. festival is scheduled

Rick Gerharter

will generate about Mueller said the event which is August 20$1,000 for this year’s Pride, tickets, ranging from 21. A block of about 300 for the hockey night. $36 to $73, were reserved proves there are “I think the Sharks event to something that isn’t people out there to go a gay bar and have a the usual ‘Let’s go to fundraiser,’” said Mueller.

{ FIRST OF THREE SECTIONS

Center official appears

hopeful

been hobbled by The DeFrank center has problems in recent financial and leadership no full-time executive years and currently has Flood, the DeFrank’s director. However, Chris that the center’s board president, indicated appear. He was at a doing better than it might

Screengrab via SFgovtv.com

Mayor London Breed

Police Department, San Francisco Fire Department, and [the] Department of Emergency Management,” the release continues.

Breed tied the committee to the movement for greater racial justice that has seen renewed activism in recent months, following the May 25 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.

“To address the structural inequities that too many in our city experience, in particular our African American community, we need fundamental change and reinvestments.

There is a better, more effective way to handle these calls for service that will help people who are in crisis,” Breed stated. “Working to divert non-violent calls for service away

SUPPORT

JOURNALISM ss than 28¢ a day

Become a member for le

er

ort p e R a re A y a B / m o .c o ic p www.try

See page 22 >>

}

2001 9/8/20 12:48 PM

<< Community News

2 • Bay Area Reporter • September 10-16, 2020

t

Racism plagues the Castro, activists say

by Sari Staver

A Below Market Rate (BMR) Rental Units Available

Alta Potrero,1301 16th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103

4 Studio units at $1,182 a month 13 One Bedroom units at $1,339 a month 11 Two Bedroom units at $1,494 a month 1 Three Bedroom unit at $1,649 a month Applicants must not own a housing unit, meet the "Resident Selection Criteria" and be income eligible. Households must earn no more than the maximum income levels outlined below at 55% area median income: HOUSEHOLD SIZE

Max. Annual Income

1 Person $49,300

2 Persons $56,400

3 Persons $63,400

4 Persons $70,450

5 Persons $76,100

Applications available from Friday September 4th, 2020 and due by 5PM Friday October 2nd, 2020.

Applications must be submitted online at housing.sfgov.org For more information contact Brian Minall (415) 647 7191 ext. 127. brian.minall@caritasmanagement.com

Units available through the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development and are subject to monitoring and other restrictions.

Visit housing.sfgov.org for an application and further program information.

n o e Com o t n w o d s g n i r p S m l a P

fter a long history of racial discrimination, the problem still plagues the Castro, said a panel of queer people of color during a Zoom streamed sponsored by the Commonwealth Club and San Francisco Pride.

Streamed on September 2, the panel was moderated by Michelle Meow, producer and host of “The Michelle Meow Show” that is part of the Commonwealth Club’s programming and is broadcast on KBCW. She is also a past president of the SF Pride board.

Andrea Shorter, a member of the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women and a co-founder of ...And Castro for All, said the Castro’s identity as a gay enclave began in the late 1960s as gay people moved in, finding affordable housing after many of the working class Irish and Italian residents left Eureka Valley for the suburbs or other neighborhoods in the city.

Stephen Torres, a bartender at Twin Peaks Tavern at Castro and Market streets, said that most of the bars were Irish until Twin Peaks opened in 1972 to serve the gay community. At that time, bars in the neighborhood had “no touch” policies, forbidding patrons to kiss or hold hands. The women who opened Twin Peaks, he said, made a conscious decision to have large plate glass windows, “dispensing with the dark hidden bars” so common then.

While growing up in San Francisco, Afrika America, a drag performer and social justice activist, remembers looking into Twin Peaks, finding it “tantalizing and terrifying” at the same time. From the beginning, the Castro attracted white gay men; Black gay men more often lived in the Haight or near Polk Street, Afrika America said.

Screengrab via Zoom

Panelists talked about racism in the Castro during a Commonwealth Club program.

In the 1980s, Afrika America said that the Pendulum catered to Blacks.

Twin Peaks attracted an older crowd and the long-closed Mike’s Night Gallery was the “naughty” place. When lesbians showed up in Castro bars, patrons often wondered out loud what “they were doing here,” Afrika America said. Drag was confined to Polk Street or South of Market.

Eric Phanngavong, a hospitality events manager, said for him “the Pendulum was the bar of choice,” with its great music and the chance to see people who looked like himself. There were always examples of “acts of micro aggressions” in the bars, although many people don’t want to admit it or discuss it.

“It’s very real,” he said.

Discrimination is “very real,” Shorter concurred. “It’s part of the history (of the neighborhood)” and “goes back to what people expect of the Castro.” There was a time, she said, “and it’s not entirely gone” where the neighborhood was a “white man’s playground” where everyone else is

“background or has an ancillary role.”

Shorter recalled the mid-2000s boycott of Badlands over allegations of racism.

A 2004 report by the San Francisco Human Rights Commission found that Badlands was discriminating against African Americans, but the findings were never official because the HRC executive director at the time did not sign off on the staff report. Badlands owner Les Natali and the complainants eventually reached a confidential settlement.

Natali later opened Toad Hall on the site of what had been the Pendulum.

In an email June 6, after the Badlands issue was brought up at a Black Lives Matter protest in Jane Warner Plaza, Natali wrote that the allegations “were found without merit and were dropped.”

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

See page 10 >>

CA woman may be cured of HIV

by Liz Highleyman

S DUGGAN’S FUNERAL SERVICE

DUGGAN WeLCh fAmiLy the

3434 – 17th StREEt SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110

Thomas V. Halloran General Manager A native San Franciscan with 40 years of professional experience assisting families in need.

A longtime resident of the Eureka Valley, Castro and Mission Districts; a member of the Castro Merchants Association and a 25 year member of the Freewheelers Car Club.

At Duggan’s Funeral Service, which sits in the heart of the Mission, we offer custom services that fit your personal wishes in honoring and celebrating a life.

We are committed to the ever-changing needs of the community and the diverse families we serve.

Please call for information 415-431-4900 or visit us at www.duggansfuneralservice.com FD44

acramento resident Loreen Willenberg may be the first person to be cured of HIV without a bone marrow transplant, according to a recent medical journal report.

The new research suggests that Willenberg’s virus and that of some fivedozen other people with long-term untreated HIV is so remotely hidden away in their genome that it cannot be used to produce new virus. Researchers were unable to find any intact virus in more than a billion of her cells.

“I believe Loreen might indeed meet anyone’s definition of a cure,” Dr. Steven Deeks of UCSF, one of the coauthors of the Nature article, told the Bay Area Reporter. “Despite heroic efforts, we just could not find any virus that is able to replicate. Her immune system seems completely normal. Even her HIV antibody levels are low, which is unprecedented in an untreated person.”

Willenberg, who was diagnosed in 1992, is well known among advocates as a so-called elite controller, a small subset of people with HIV who are naturally able control the virus without antiretroviral treatment. They are thought to make up less than half a percent of all HIV-positive people.

The only two people widely considered to have been cured of HIV – Palm Springs resident Timothy Ray Brown and a London man, Adam Castillejo – received bone marrow transplants from a donor with a rare genetic mutation that makes cells resistant to HIV entry. But this procedure is far too dangerous for people who do not need it to treat advanced cancer.

A team led by Dr. Xu Yu of the Ragon Institute of Massachusetts

Courtesy amfAR

Loreen Willenberg may be the first person to be cured of HIV without a bone marrow transplant.

General Hospital, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Harvard analyzed integrated HIV in millions of cells from 64 elite controllers and 41 typical HIV-positive people on antiretroviral treatment recruited at Mass General and Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.

Using next-generation gene sequencing, the researchers analyzed where the participants’ HIV blueprints are located their chromosomes. They found that the virus in elite controllers is locked up at remote sites in the genome, far from elements that are needed for viral replication.

In Willenberg’s case, after analyzing more than 1.5 billion of her peripheral blood immune cells, the researchers could not find any intact HIV capable of producing new virus.

It is unclear why this “block and lock” phenomenon happens only in a small proportion of HIV-positive people. It’s possible that the virus ends up being hidden away by chance, but the researchers think it’s more likely that the HIV sequestered in these remote sites is evolutionarily selected as the immune system eliminates more

accessible virus.

Yu first presented the research at last summer’s International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science in Mexico City, where Willenberg was referred to as the “San Francisco Patient” because she participated in research in the city. Last October, she went public with her status in a news report excerpted in the B.A.R. “I can only hope and pray that with continued dedication we can figure out how I have dumped the virus into the DNA junkyard,” she told advocates on a web forum soon thereafter. “Maybe they can reverse engineer it and figure out what’s flipped on in me that’s flipped off in others.”

The question now is whether it might be possible to develop treatments that could help the millions of people with normally progressing HIV to become elite controllers like Willenberg.

“The key question is how did her immune system achieve this remarkable state,” said Deeks. “We do not know. We need to find more people who are exceptional controllers like Loreen and get to work on figuring out the mechanism.”

Willenberg, who founded the Zephyr LTNP Foundation as a support network for HIV controllers and longterm non-progressors, is willing to do her part, having participated in more than a dozen studies over the years.

“No one is more amazed than I am that my immune system is one of the most efficient known to science,” she told advocates. “I will continue to volunteer as long as they need me. Hopefully, if there’s one of me, there are others, and I’ll do what I can to help find them.” t

<< Open Forum

t East Bay candidate recommendations

4 • Bay Area Reporter • September 10-16, 2020

Volume 50, Number 37 September 10-16, 2020 www.ebar.com

PUBLISHER Michael M. Yamashita Thomas E. Horn, Publisher Emeritus (2013) Publisher (2003 – 2013) Bob Ross, Founder (1971 – 2003)

T

he East Bay has several races in which LGBTQ candidates are running. Questionnaires were sent to the out candidates we are aware of, and are making the following endorsements based on the candidates’ responses.

NEWS EDITOR Cynthia Laird CULTURE EDITOR Jim Provenzano ASSISTANT EDITORS Matthew S. Bajko • John Ferrannini CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Tavo Amador • Roger Brigham Brian Bromberger • Victoria A. Brownworth Philip Campbell • Heather Cassell Michael Flanagan • Jim Gladstone Liz Highleyman • Lisa Keen Matthew Kennedy • David Lamble David-Elijah Nahmod • Paul Parish Tim Pfaff • Jim Piechota • Gregg Shapiro Gwendolyn Smith •Sari Staver • Charlie Wagner Ed Walsh • Cornelius Washington • Sura Wood

ART DIRECTION Max Leger PRODUCTION/DESIGN Ernesto Sopprani PHOTOGRAPHERS Jane Philomen Cleland • FBFE Rick Gerharter • Gareth Gooch Jose Guzman-Colon • Rudy K. Lawidjaja Georg Lester • Rich Stadtmiller • Fred Rowe Steven Underhill • Bill Wilson ILLUSTRATORS & CARTOONISTS Christine Smith

VICE PRESIDENT OF ADVERTISING Scott Wazlowski – 415.829.8937

NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Rivendell Media – 212.242.6863

LEGAL COUNSEL Paul H. Melbostad, Esq.

Bay Area Reporter 44 Gough Street, Suite 204 San Francisco, CA 94103 415.861.5019 • www.ebar.com A division of BAR Media, Inc. © 2020 President: Michael M. Yamashita Director: Scott Wazlowski

News Editor • news@ebar.com Arts Editor • arts@ebar.com Out & About listings • jim@ebar.com Advertising • scott@ebar.com Letters • letters@ebar.com Published weekly. Bay Area Reporter reserves the right to edit or reject any advertisement which the publisher believes is in poor taste or which advertises illegal items which might result in legal action against Bay Area Reporter. Ads will not be rejected solely on the basis of politics, philosophy, religion, race, age, or sexual orientation.

Advertising rates available upon request.

Our list of subscribers and advertisers is confidential and is not sold. The sexual orientation of advertisers, photographers, and writers published herein is neither inferred nor implied. We are not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or artwork.

Rebecca Kaplan

Courtesy Rebecca Kaplan

Oakland City Council At-Large Rebecca Kaplan

Oakland City Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan is our choice in this race. First elected to the council in 2008, Kaplan, who identifies as a butch lesbian queer, is currently president of the eight-member body and has built a solid record not only on behalf of LGBTQ constituents, but all Oaklanders. She changed the city’s youth funding distributions so that queer youth programs are included; abolished old discriminatory laws that were on the books when she was elected – such as one making “cross dressing” an illegal act – and worked to get other LGBTQ people appointed to leadership positions on boards and commissions.

“I worked with community partners to bring transgender awareness and trainings to the Oakland Police Department, and to respond to negative stereotyping that has taken place,” she wrote. She helped relaunch Oakland’s Pride festival and brought a resolution to the council on HIV/AIDS that supported hanging panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt at City Hall during this summer’s virtual International AIDS Conference.

The yearslong effort to reform the Oakland Police Department is receiving more scrutiny this year due to countrywide protests against the disproportionate killing of Black people by police. Kaplan has long supported holding OPD to account but much work remains.

As she noted, “Policing is the area of Oakland government which received the lowest score on the equity indicators report and requires substantial change. True public safety requires providing the right response for the job, and not assuming that sending someone with a gun is the solution to every problem.” The City Council passed Kaplan’s proposals to launch a civilian mental health response as an alternative to OPD, and to civilianize the special events function, taking it away from the department. “This will save the community millions of dollars, as well as providing more effective response,” she wrote.

The council also authored a November ballot measure to ensure the independence of the Oakland Police Commission and to provide oversight and accountability. Perhaps most significantly, Kaplan wrote, the council has passed a direction to plan for changing how traffic enforcement is handled, “to allow that, and other functions, to be shifted from police and also handled more effectively.” This is key to police reform because traffic stops can escalate into police shootings. No one should become a potential victim of a police shooting because they were pulled over for an infraction, such as expired tags or a broken tail light. “Some of the horrifying cases of police misconduct that have occurred, including killings of unarmed, mostly Black people, have started with a traffic stop,” Kaplan wrote. “Traffic stops are a large percentage of the public’s experience of being detained by police, and they are substantially disproportionately targeted at African Americans. Basic traffic enforcement (including to prevent speeding) should be civilianized and provided by alternative methods.”

Regarding Oakland’s housing crisis, Kaplan supports using more public land to build and preserve affordable housing. She is a strong supporter of transit-oriented development on or near BART property, both to protect the environment and create jobs. “I have been a leader in seeking common sense development rules that allow for density on our transit corridors while eliminating unreasonable barri-

ers to development in the right locations,” she wrote. “My goal for Oakland’s overall vision for development is centered on creating thriving livable transit-oriented communities.”

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Kaplan wrote that she included funding in the council’s mid-cycle budget revision for ethnic chambers of commerce to assist small local businesses, as well as community nonprofits that direct aid to vulnerable Black, Brown, and LGBTQ+ people. She helped fight for COVID testing centers in East Oakland, which has been pummeled by the virus, as well as provide personal protective equipment and free Wi-Fi. Kaplan faces perhaps her most significant challenger in gay Black small business owner Derreck Johnson. And while we were impressed with Johnson’s responses, Kaplan has a record of accomplishment and effective leadership that comes from her years of public service. We hope this race has seasoned Johnson to attempt another council seat in the future; a diverse city like Oakland can benefit from more LGBTQ representation.

In this race, Oakland voters should return Kaplan to City Hall for another term.

Courtesy Jim Oddie

Jim Oddie

Courtesy Justin Sha

Justin Sha

ber who spearheaded a 3-2 decision to remove sex education from Fremont schools rather than comply with the California Healthy School Act. The city of Fremont deserves better.

“I have consistently fought for LGBTQ issues since coming out in college,” he wrote, adding that he’s been active in the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance and other LGBTQ organizations.

Sha noted that one of the main reasons he’s running for mayor is his disappointment in the way local Black Lives Matter demonstrations were handled by the incumbent. Also, the City Council voted unanimously to increase the police budget. “We must work to address institutional bias in our communities,” Sha wrote, “and I believe that that requires a genuine and open community conversation and dialogue that is attuned to the cultural nuances of the community.”

He said that Fremont’s population is over 55% Asian and over 50% are immigrants. He said an “open and honest dialogue” is needed, including “honest reflection” by the police department. Sha supports reallocating funding so that police do not have to be the first responders to homelessness and mental health calls.

Sha is a young candidate, but one we think would positively effect change in Fremont.

Alameda City Council: Jim Oddie

A gay man who came out two years ago, Alameda City Councilman Jim Oddie was first elected in 2014 and then in 2018 to a two-year term. He is seeking a four-year term this year.

He wrote that he has a strong record of improving emergency operations, making significant investments in safe streets for all, and “securing landmark advances in affordable housing, tenant protections, and compassionate solutions for our unhoused neighbors.”

Regarding policing, Oddie wrote that the City Council directed the city manager to appoint a task force comprised of members of Black/Indigenous people of color to address the future of policing and the issue of systemic racism in Alameda. The island city does indeed have a troubled past, and Oddie said that he expects the task force to develop recommendations in five areas: unbundling police services; reviewing police policies and procedures; strengthening accountability and oversight; reviewing laws that criminalize survival; and addressing systemic racism. “As far as my opinion, there are functions that should be realigned from police to alternate responders,” he wrote.

Although Alameda does not have a BART station, Oddie supports affordable housing near the stations and on BART property. The City Council is working on the lack of middle-income housing, especially around Alameda Point. He said the city has made it easier for property owners to add accessory dwelling units to their properties.

Oddie supports the repeal (Measure A on the November ballot) of an article in the city charter that prevents the building of multi-family units in the city.

Oddie has been an effective city councilman and he should be returned for a full term.

Fremont mayor: Justin Sha

Justin Sha was in the news recently because he was mistaken about whether he could state he was a lawyer in campaign materials when he sought a Fremont City Council seat two years ago. While he graduated from law school and passed the bar exam, he is in the process of becoming a licensed attorney and does not yet practice law. Sha, 27, who identifies as gay and queer, acknowledged the error and we think voters should give him the benefit of the doubt, considering his opponent. As he noted in his questionnaire, he is running against an incumbent, Mayor Lily Mei, who voted against Harvey Milk Day when she was on the school board and is aligned with a right-wing city council mem-

Courtesy Sameera Rajwade

Sameera Rajwade

San Ramon City Council District 3: Sameera Rajwade

Sameera Rajwade identifies as a nonbinary bisexual person and is a young queer person of color. At 21, they would be one of the youngest electeds in the region. “With younger representation being scarce in our public office, we see a divide between the opinions of older versus younger voters,” they wrote. “I’ve decided to inspire Americans who are politically active to have a voice in politics.”

Rajwade has long called San Ramon home, having grown up and attended public schools there. “My knowledge on the inner workings and issues of my community makes me qualified to be a public official,” they stated.

Rajwade wrote that the San Ramon Police Department “has no legitimate form of accountability for racism or prejudice, so I plan to create a checks and balance system between community and police to ensure our LGBTQ and BIPOC communities are safe.” Community reinvestment and reallocation of police resources would be their first priority if elected, directing those funds into affordable public housing. Rajwade noted that many public school teachers in San Ramon can’t afford to live there and that this needs to be examined and addressed.

Rajwade supports affordable housing being built near public transportation. “But I also believe that housing is a human right, and, no matter what or where the location is, housing should be affordable not only to those with plenty of resources.”

Overall, Rajwade would be a strong addition to a suburban City Council, and real-world, practical experience will season their enthusiasm for public service. Voters should consider giving young people the opportunity to serve and become mature community leaders. t

t

Politics >>

September 10-16, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 5

Out BART directors have easy ride to reelection

by Matthew S. Bajko

T

he two out directors on the board of the regional BART transit agency whose terms expire this year are riding an easy path to reelection on the November 3 ballot.

Bevan Dufty, a gay dad and former San Francisco supervisor who was elected four years ago to the BART board’s District 9 seat, is facing off against two little known challengers – Patrick Mortiere and David Wei Wen Young – and gay activist Michael Petrelis, who also ran four years ago. Both of the city’s main LGBTQ Democratic clubs, Alice B. Toklas and Harvey Milk, endorsed Dufty’s bid for a second term, as did the San Francisco Democratic Party, on whose oversight body Dufty serves as an elected member.

Dufty told the Bay Area Reporter “it is fine” having to defend his seat this year. “Any politician would love to have a free ride. I, unlike José, have never gotten one.”

He was referring to his close friend José Cisneros, the city’s treasurer who has gone unchallenged in his last four races for reelection.

“And I am bitter,” joked Dufty.

Petrelis told the B.A.R. he is mounting a “one-man campaign” and has pledged to run “a positive strategy with my fellow candidates.”

Among the various policies he would like to see BART institute are banning the transit agency’s directors from accepting donations from police unions, reopening the rest rooms at all of its stations with employee attendants monitoring them, and requiring the agency’s general manager to monthly meet with passengers at one of its stations.

“I am a lifelong LGBT bicyclist, have never learned to drive a car nor owned one. I ask for your vote,” noted Petrelis.

As the B.A.R. noted in August, Rebecca Saltzman isn’t being challenged for her District 3 BART board seat, which covers parts of Alameda and Contra Costa counties in the East Bay. The lesbian married mother of an infant lives in El Cerrito and there had been some speculation earlier in the year if she would seek a third term, having been first elected as a BART director in 2012.

But with the transit agency facing its biggest financial crisis in de-

<<

Policing panel

From page 1

man’s add-backs to the mayor’s budget proposal are approved, Lyon-Martin will receive $1.2 million from the city this budget year and another in the next.

GLIDE is a social service nonprofit associated with Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in the Tenderloin. Kenneth Kim, GLIDE’s senior director of programs, will also be sitting on the committee.

“GLIDE applauds Mayor Breed for pulling together community leaders to help identify alternatives to police responses to 911 calls on behavioral health and homelessness,” Kim said. “GLIDE works at the intersection of homelessness, mental health and harm reduction issues every day and I look forward to lending our expertise on these issues.”

GLIDE spokeswoman Denise Lamott stated that Breed “reached out to many community leaders” after she “announced in June that she would fundamentally like to change the way that the city handles public safety.”

Steven Underhill

BART Director Bevan Dufty

cades due to the plunge in ridership wrought by the novel coronavirus, Saltzman decided to continue serving on the board, where she has been a strong progressive voice the last eight years.

“My continued leadership will help ensure BART emerges from the current crises as a stronger and more equitable agency, better equipped to serve all riders,” she stated in June in announcing her reelection campaign.

Both Saltzman and Dufty have pushed for the agency to build more affordable housing on the land it owns at its transit stations and most recently to reallocate $2 million toward hiring unarmed ambassadors to patrol the transit agency instead of police officers.

Moving forward, Saltzman told the B.A.R. that she believes BART will play a key role in reversing the economic impacts of the pandemic felt by cities and counties around the Bay Area. And she hoped that a policy change she helped fight for at BART would prove beneficial for LGBTQowned firms.

“One of the most important things BART can do to help the Bay Area recover economically from COVID-19 is to continue to provide service and to increase service as demand increases,” stated Saltzman. “We have structured our budget and service plan this year to be flexible so that this will be possible. Pre-pandemic I led the board along with Director Dufty to pass a policy that adds LGBTQ ownership to the bidding preference given to qualified small businesses seeking work on BART contracts.”

Dufty told the B.A.R. he is “excited

“GLIDE brings a unique perspective to the committee because of its decades-long role in the community providing direct services to unsheltered individuals, those that use drugs, and neighbors experiencing behavioral and mental health issues,” Lamott stated in an email to the B.A.R. “GLIDE staff has a deep understanding of and compassion for those individuals living on the margins and struggling every day.”

Laura Thomas, a queer woman who is the director of harm reduction policy for the AIDS foundation, told the B.A.R. via phone September 9 that she will be the representative on the steering committee.

“I was asked to serve [by the mayor’s office] on the group and was happy to say yes,” Thomas said.

“We need to be looking at alternative and better ways. The San Francisco AIDS Foundation is a behavioral health provider. We serve a lot of people with behavioral health needs and provide harm reduction and substance use counseling, and those are some of the alternatives we want to see on the city level.”

Courtesy Rebecca Saltzman

BART Director Rebecca Saltzman

to bring LGBT small businesses to the table,” noting that the larger construction firms that BART has awarded contracts to “have been very supportive. This will be a major economic stimulus in the months ahead.”

Working with Saltzman and the other progressive BART directors, Dufty pledged the board would continue to reexamine how the transit agency approaches policing the system and addressing the needs of riders who are homeless or dealing with mental health issues.

“People needing housing and treatment generally already have had a series of negative interactions with law enforcement and view armed officers as issuing citations, running warrant checks, and taking individuals to jail,” Dufty told the B.A.R. “We have an opportunity to join local governments and agencies in reckoning with past practices and reimagining what public safety can be without reinforcing systemic racism and white supremacy.”

The BART board’s other out member, Janice Li, a queer transit advocate who also represents San Francisco, isn’t up for reelection to her District 8 seat until 2022. t Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion, will return Monday, September 14.

Keep abreast of the latest LGBT political news by following the Political Notebook on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/politicalnotes.

Got a tip on LGBT politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 8298836 or e-mail m.bajko@ebar.com.

The San Francisco Human Rights Commission will guide the committee. Its goal is to “develop recommendations that can be included in the Fiscal Year 2021-22 budget process” and it will convene for the first time September 16.

Though the phrase is not included in the news release, the committee’s goals seem to coincide with some of those in the movement to “defund the police” – specifically, moving taxpayer funds away from police agencies and toward alternative ways to address public safety issues and emergencies.

Several San Francisco public officials have signaled an openness to this idea in recent months, including Police Chief William Scott and District Attorney Chesa Boudin.

As the B.A.R. previously reported, Boudin said during a June town hall hosted by the Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club that 911 calls should not always be answered by police.

“Daily life as an officer is responding to calls that are not actual crimes in progress,” Boudin said.

See page 6 >>

Barry Schneider Attorney at Law

family law specialist* • Divorce w/emphasis on Real Estate & Business Divisions • Domestic Partnerships, Support & Custody • Probate and Wills www.SchneiderLawSF.com

415-781-6500 *Certified by the California State Bar 400 Montgomery Street, Ste. 505, San Francisco, CA

LGBT PROGRESSIVE CATHOLICS † OUR FAMILIES & FRIENDS

Celebrating our Sexuality and Love as Gifts of God Liturgy & Social: Every Sunday 5pm First Sunday Movie Night Second Sunday Potluck Supper Third Wednesday Faith Sharing Group 1329 Seventh Avenue † info@dignitysanfrancisco.org Follow us on Facebook!

<< Obituaries

6 • Bay Area Reporter • September 10-16, 2020

JOIN US FOR A 2020 BLUE WAVE

Red to Blue

Battleground 2020 Campaign & Postcard Writing Scan or: Action-SF.com This ad by Action SF, Susan Gibbs, Esq. & Charlie Spiegel, Esq.

Below Market Rate (BMR) Rental Apartments Available 1801 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 1 Jr. One Bedroom at $1,339 month; 1 Two bedroom at $1,494 month.

Two parking spaces available to BMR renters for an additional $100 a month and will be offered to households in lottery rank order. Must be income eligible and must not own a home. Households must earn no more than the maximum income levels below: 55% of Area Median Income One person - $49,300; 2 persons - $56,400; 3 persons - $63,400; 4 persons - $70,450; 5 persons- $76,100 Applications must be received by 5pm on October 7, 2020.

Apply online through DAHLIA, the SF Housing Portal at housing.sfgov.org.

For assistance with your application, please contact housing conseling agencies listed at housing.sfgov.org/housing-counselors.

Please contact the 1801 Mission leasing team for more information at (415) 834-3552or 1801Mission@gmail.com Units available through the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development and are subject to monitoring and other restrictions. Visit housing.sfgov.org for program information.

1801 Mission BMR (25).indd 1

9/4/20 1:12 PM

THIS IS THE

san francisco

Columbariu M Funeral Home and

formerly the Neptune Society

Former Milk club leader Denise D’Anne dies

by Cynthia Laird

D

enise D’Anne, a transgender woman who once served as co-president of the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club and was a longtime city employee, died Wednesday, September 2. She was 86.

A cause of death was not given

by Geoffrey Scott, who was an “adopted” grandson of Ms. D’Anne’s.

Ms. D’Anne died at her home in the city’s Mission district, he said.

“I met her in 1995 and everyone would call her ‘grandma’ at the recycling center,” Scott told the Bay Area Reporter in a phone interview September 3. “We informally adopted each other.”

Ms. D’Anne was involved in the city’s recycling programs and was recognized many times for her contributions to the city’s environmental initiatives, especially its successful recycling program, her obituary noted.

Ms. D’Anne realigned her gender identity in 1968, and was an early pioneer in the transgender movement.

She served as Milk club co-president in 2010, according to a list of past leaders on the club’s website.

David Waggoner served with her as co-president.

“I am sorry to hear of Denise’s passing,” he wrote in a Facebook message. “She was a powerhouse and a trailblazer and it was an honor to serve with her as a co-president of the Milk club. She is one of the last in a long line of trans and gender-nonconforming legends of San Francisco, from Vicki Marlane to José Sarria. I am grateful to have known her and to have witnessed her unreserved passion for justice for all.”

Gabriel Haaland, a trans man and a former Milk club president, said the community mourns her death.

“We are all deeply saddened to hear that our dear friend Denise D’Anne passed away,” Haaland wrote in an email to the B.A.R. “She was a lifelong champion for the environment, labor, the LGBT community, renters, and so many social justice causes.

“She consistently pushed us all to do the right thing, and spent her entire life in service to the community,” Haaland added. “Our world is

<<

Policing panel

From page 5

“It’s evolved from violent crime and first response to social issues like overdoses, mental health crises, and disputes between neighbors.”

In Eugene, Oregon, he said, dispatchers can call a program called Crisis Assistance Helping Out On the Streets, or CAHOOTS, that will send medical professionals to situations where that would be better called for.

(Boudin did not respond to a request for comment for this story.)

Mandelman said during a Castro Merchants meeting last week

Courtesy Geoffrey Scott

Denise D’Anne

diminished by this loss of a true progressive trailblazer. She remains alive in our hearts.”

Scott said that Ms. D’Anne arrived in San Francisco in 1970. She became a city employee in what would become the Department of Human Services. She was a member of Service Employees International Union Local 400, where she served as shop steward, editor of the Local 400 newspaper, and a member of the executive board. She helped write new bylaws that, at her insistence, included a clause banning discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Over the years, her obituary noted, Ms. D’Anne stalwartly defended union interests on local and state ballot initiatives, and took a leadership role in the fight for pay equity.

In addition to speaking in various forums, she contributed op-ed pieces defending the rights of workers, especially women and minorities.

In 2019, the San Francisco Living Wage Coalition honored her as Labor Woman of the Year.

As an active member of the National Organization for Women for many years, Ms. D’Anne worked to pass the city ordinance establishing the Commission on the Status of Women. She also helped establish the Women’s Building and the Women’s Credit Union, and was an executive board member of the Democratic Women’s Forum, her obituary noted.

An early activist for environmental issues, Ms. D’Anne is a former

t

president of San Francisco Community Recyclers. For a while she had a local radio program on environmental issues, where she was known as the “Green Lady.” She helped write the Sustainable Plan for the city of San Francisco.

In 2007, San Francisco Tomorrow honored her as an Unsung Hero for her role as a pioneer in the city’s recycling program.

Ms. D’Anne also served on the boards of San Francisco Tomorrow and Sustainable San Francisco.

She was a delegate to the San Francisco Labor Council. She ran unsuccessfully for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, citywide in 1998 and in District 6 in 2002.

According to her obituary, Ms. D’Anne was born Anthony Albanese in New York City on November 30, 1933. Originally from Brooklyn, she spent most of her childhood on the East Side of Manhattan in an Italian immigrant community of modest means. Her mother was a chef, who instilled in Ms. D’Anne a lifelong interest in fine food.

Scott said that as Anthony, Ms. D’Anne served in the U.S. Army in Europe, and in the early 1950s settled in Los Angeles, where she worked for a railroad company and earned a degree in political science from Los Angeles City College.

Unfortunately, Ms. D’Anne left behind no living relatives. In her final years Scott and his partner, David Scott, cared for her. She was well-loved in San Francisco, not just in the LGBTQ community but also among environmental and labor activists of all persuasions.

“She was really proud of who she was,” Geoffrey Scott said.

Geoffrey Scott said that he and others are putting together a short documentary on Ms. D’Anne’s life.

The pandemic has made it difficult to talk to people, but he said that he hopes to resume work on the project when it’s safe to do so.

A memorial service for Ms. D’Anne is planned for the spring of 2021 and will be announced at that time. Those wishing to be notified of the memorial service should send an email message to that effect to thegreenladydenise@gmail.com.t

that while he hears merchants in his district ask for more police foot patrols, those who called in during the budget process were largely requesting that the city defund the police.

Mandelman told the B.A.R. September 8 that the number of police officers in the coming years is going to be lower because there are fewer academies that will be held, and that foreseeing this reality, he has pushed for community ambassadors in the Castro and more street crisis response teams.

“Typically they need two academies to hold steady,” Mandelman said. “Only one is scheduled in the next two years.”

Mandelman also told the B.A.R. that he has helped to increase the number of street crisis response teams from four to six in the budget through the add-back process, and that another add-back would fund community ambassadors in the Castro to the tune of a total $395,000 over two years – $195,000 in the first year and $200,000 in the second year. For 2020-21, $95,000 is a specific District 8 add-back and $100,000 is coming out of a $300,000 ask for more than one supervisorial district.

“I’m hoping we can get alternatives [to policing] in place and see what works,” he said. t

Imbued with Jewish heritage, Mike was a member and officer of the LGBTQ-focused Congregation Sha’ar Zahav.

His multiple associations with Theatre Rhinoceros included his play about gay sons and Jewish mothers, “What’s a Mother to Do?” Mike supported progressive causes and campaigns including the American Civil Liberties Union’s stand on free speech, even when it included farright groups like the neo-Nazis.

Raised in Marion, Indiana, Mike earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, and a law degree. He served with

the Peace Corps in the Philippines.

Mike became a father while married. Upon moving to the Bay Area he divorced and came out. Mike loved being a father to daughter Shona and a grandfather to Jared.

“My dad was the best person – brilliant, kind, loving, generous, and hilarious,” Shona said. “He played a huge role in my life both personally and professionally. His loss is enormous.”

May Michael’s memory be for a blessing.

Obituaries >> Michael Zimmerman Activist, patron, and artist Michael Zimmerman died at the end of July 2020.

He was 78.

A longtime resident of San Francisco, Mike professionally raised funds and consulted for numerous cultural, human rights, and environmental organizations.

An avid patron of the arts, he served as a cultural resource for many friends.

We’ve expanded our services and kept the spirit and tradition.

Call (415) 771-0717 One Loraine Court between Stanyan & Arguello

FD 1306

SF_Columbarium_2x7.625_033017.indd 1

COA 660

8/11/17 12:30 PM

Business News>>

t With public’s help, San Luis Obispo cidery expands

September 10-16, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 7

by Matthew S. Bajko

T

hree years ago this October Bay Area native Maggie Przybylski and her wife, Morgan Murphy, debuted their Two Broads Cider brand at the Hardcore Cider Tour in their hometown of San Luis Obispo. They were inspired to become commercial cider makers by a trip to Spain where they tasted various fermented apple concoctions from across Europe.

“We have been home brewers for 15 years making beer. We originally wanted to open a deep dish pizza place and a brewpub then realized it would be way super expensive and wasn’t going to work,” said Murphy, 41, who grew up in Orange County.

“But we were also making cider. Our area is interesting in that it has microclimates that are good for apple growing. Some orchards grow heirloom apples. We kind of just started thinking more about cider.”

The women, who are both bisexual, have been together since 2001 after meeting while they were students at Cal Poly. They married in late 2015, having decided earlier that year to enter the cider business.

“We eloped,” noted Murphy, in order to save money for their cidery.

With ciders growing in popularity, the couple took a chance on leasing a space in a more industrial area of their Central Coast city to set up shop. They source their apples from local growers and favor drier ciders over sweeter blends.

“Cider wants to be dry,” explained Murphy.

With punny names like “Kumquat May” and “Mawage,” their craft ciders quickly found a following among aficionados at the various cider festivals Two Broads would participate in. Soon local restau-

<<

Courtesy Two Broads Cider

Morgan Murphy, left, and her spouse, Maggie Przybylski, sit in front of fermenting equipment and barrels of their cider at Two Broads Cider in San Luis Obispo.

rants and stores were carrying their brand, followed by places in the Bay Area such as Oakland’s Crooked City Cider and lesbian-owned The Cider Junction in San Jose. They hope to add San Francisco outlets later this year.

Pandemic upends plans

When the coronavirus outbreak hit in March, it upended their business plans. They had to quickly pivot from mainly selling kegs of cider to other businesses to marketing their ciders directly to the public. In the spring they launched an order page on their website to ship bottles of cider to customers in California and Colorado, where they are licensed to do so, and are in the process of adding additional states.

“We primarily sold to restaurants and bars. Those all shut down for months, and we lost sales on that.

But it helped us focus on direct to customer and we set up online,” said Murphy, a software engineer with Amazon. “We are selling a lot more bottles now. Our revenue is close to where it was before, we are just selling a different format.”

They also decided to seek the public’s help in expanding their cidery space to include a tasting room and outdoor patio adjacent to a seasonal creek where people could enjoy their offerings onsite. (Currently, people can only stop by the cidery to pick up their online orders.)

The women launched a Kickstarter campaign in the spring and addressed their doing so during a pandemic in their fundraising pitch.

“Well, we can account for that social distancing. And more than ever people need a place to get out to that will soothe that caged spirit,” they noted. “Our patio and high ceilings

are going to be that place for social distance cider sipping. And as things change, we will adapt the tasting room to the new normal.”

Their pitch worked, with 200 people donating $25,764 toward the project, which will see their cidery increase to 3,000 square feet. Three people donated at least $750 in order to have their own dedicated tasting room seat.

“It made it down to the wire. We were a week out from our deadline and then it took off,” said Przybylski, 39, who grew up in Oakland.

“Maybe everybody sensed the desperation in my content!”

(Full disclosure, this reporter has long been friends with Przybylski’s brother and sister-in-law. It was their posting about the fundraising campaign on social media that brought attention to the Two Broads Cider business.)

Construction of the expansion is ongoing, and the couple is aiming for it to be completed by the end of the year. By late October, though, they hope to start hosting some public events at the cidery. Due to the health crisis, they are planning to have limited capacity with people wishing to visit needing to make a reservation online beforehand.

“We are updating our production area, built a cold room for storing cider and apples, and building an additional bathroom, tasting room, and outdoor patio. That is going to be our lifeblood. Right now, with the restrictions in California, everything is outdoors,” said Przybylski, who plans to quit her restaurant job to focus fulltime on the cidery once they do open to the public.

Years ago Przybylski had left her job as a field biologist with the state parks in order to learn firsthand about the hospitality industry. Their

Two Broads Cider at 3427 Roberto Court, Suite 130, in San Luis Obispo is now part of an emerging local alcoholic craft maker area with several breweries and another cidery located nearby.

“If they do any kind of advertising, we are right across the parking lot and people can see us,” said Przybylski, who is trying to lure a food truck to set up by them. “When you have food and cider there are opportunities for pairings and the mutual benefits are various and fun.”

Despite their expansion, the women want to remain craft cider makers offering their more popular blends and seasonally unique batches dependent on the apple varieties they source.

“From there we will see,” said Murphy. “We don’t have ambitions to get huge. We kind of want to serve our community and cider fans.”

At some point they would like to own their own apple orchard, where they can plant various heirloom apple tree varietals with an eye toward those better suited for a hotter, drier climate. Doing so has been out of their budget.

“We are hoping maybe the pandemic will bring prices down. Our next goal is to find some acreage where we can establish an orchard,” said Murphy. “We have always wanted to do that, it is just so expensive in California. We would like to start breeding our own varieties of apples, especially in anticipation of climate change.”

To learn more about the cidery, visit https://twobroadscider.com/. t Got a tip on LGBT business news? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 829-8836 or e-mail m.bajko@ ebar.com.

SF HIV cases

From page 1

ID-19 has disrupted our system of HIV prevention and care.”

The new report, released September 10, summarizes new HIV diagnoses during 2019 and care metrics for 2018. The data show a 19% decline in new cases, from 204 in 2018 to 166 in 2019. This follows a 13% decline between 2017 and 2018.

“We think the decline in new infections is likely a result of improved linkage of people living with HIV into care and getting them virally suppressed,” Dr. Susan Buchbinder, director of Bridge HIV at DPH, told the B.A.R. “Once someone is fully virally suppressed, they cannot transmit HIV to their sexual partners. Preexposure prophylaxis [PrEP] is also likely playing a role in driving down new infections.”

As usual, gay and bisexual men account for a majority of new cases, at 62%. Cisgender women made up 8% of new cases. Transgender women accounted for 7% of new diagnoses, compared with 3% the previous year, but this may be attributable in part to increased testing. Trans men accounted for 1% of new cases both years.

New diagnoses have fallen across population groups, including Black and Latino men, who had seen increases in recent years. But still, African American men and women continue to have higher rates than any other racial/ ethnic group.

“We’re heartened to see that the total the number of new diagnoses has declined, so that we’re at the lowest level we’ve ever seen,” Buchbinder said. “We’re also pleased that there was a decline among both Black and Latinx men, because we were concerned about

“We’re heartened to see that the total the number of new diagnoses has declined, so that we’re at the lowest level we’ve ever seen,” –Dr. Susan Buchbinder Bridge HIV Director

the trajectory the last couple of years. But the numbers are still way too high.”

Indicators of HIV care have also improved, with 95% of newly diagnosed people being linked to care within a month and 81% of those diagnosed the previous year achieving viral suppression within 12 months. The median time from diagnosis to the first care visit dropped to two days and the median time to viral suppression fell to 46 days in 2018.

But some notable disparities remain, the report reveals. The number of new HIV diagnoses among people who inject drugs and people experiencing homelessness has fallen, but remains higher than those for all other groups.

Viral suppression rates were lower for women (71%), Black people (70%), and injection drug users (66%) compared with the HIV population as a whole. Of greatest concern, less than half of homeless people (39%) had an undetectable viral load, up slightly from 33% the previous year.

Effect of COVID-19

The new data show that San Francisco continues to make progress toward achieving the goals of the Getting to Zero initiative: zero

STUDY PARTICIPANTS NEEDED IMPROVE THE LENGTH AND GIRTH OF YOUR MANHOOD • • •

EMAIL US:

AN IRB APPROVED STUDY

RESEARCH @BRANDEISMD.COM

MINIMALLY INVASIVE REDUCED COST STUDY MALES AGES 20-55*

CALL TODAY 925-255-7867

*ADDITIONAL CRITERIA APPLIES

AN INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD APPROVED STUDY

BY BOARD CERTIFIED UROLOGIST & CLINICAL RESEARCHER

DR. JUDSON BRANDEIS BRANDEISMD.COM

See page 10 >> Untitled-3 1

9/8/20 11:29 AM

IMPORTANT FACTS FOR BIKTARVY®

This is only a brief summary of important information about BIKTARVY and does not replace talking to your healthcare provider about your condition and your treatment.

POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS OF BIKTARVY

MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT BIKTARVY BIKTARVY may cause serious side effects, including:  Worsening of hepatitis B (HBV) infection.

If you have both HIV-1 and HBV, your HBV may suddenly get worse if you stop taking BIKTARVY. Do not stop taking BIKTARVY without first talking to your healthcare provider, as they will need to check your health regularly for several months.

ABOUT BIKTARVY BIKTARVY is a complete, 1-pill, once-a-day prescription medicine used to treat HIV-1 in adults and children who weigh at least 55 pounds. It can either be used in people who have never taken HIV-1 medicines before, or people who are replacing their current HIV-1 medicines and whose healthcare provider determines they meet certain requirements.

BIKTARVY does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS. HIV-1 is the virus that causes AIDS. Do NOT take BIKTARVY if you also take a medicine that contains:  dofetilide  rifampin  any other medicines to treat HIV-1

BEFORE TAKING BIKTARVY Tell your healthcare provider if you:  Have or have had any kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis infection.  Have any other health problems.  Are pregnant or plan to become pregnant.

It is not known if BIKTARVY can harm your unborn baby. Tell your healthcare provider if you become pregnant while taking BIKTARVY.  Are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed. Do not breastfeed. HIV-1 can be passed to the baby in breast milk.

Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take:  Keep a list that includes all prescription and over-the-counter medicines, antacids, laxatives, vitamins, and herbal supplements, and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist.  BIKTARVY and other medicines may affect each other. Ask your healthcare provider and pharmacist about medicines that interact with BIKTARVY, and ask if it is safe to take BIKTARVY with all your other medicines.

Get HIV support by downloading a free app at

MyDailyCharge.com

(bik-TAR-vee)

BIKTARVY may cause serious side effects, including:  Those in the “Most Important Information About BIKTARVY” section.  Changes in your immune system. Your immune system may get stronger and begin to fight infections. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any new symptoms after you start taking BIKTARVY.  Kidney problems, including kidney failure.

Your healthcare provider should do blood and urine tests to check your kidneys. If you develop new or worse kidney problems, they may tell you to stop taking BIKTARVY.  Too much lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious but rare medical emergency that can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: weakness or being more tired than usual, unusual muscle pain, being short of breath or fast breathing, stomach pain with nausea and vomiting, cold or blue hands and feet, feel dizzy or lightheaded, or a fast or abnormal heartbeat.  Severe liver problems, which in rare cases can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow, dark “tea-colored” urine, light-colored stools, loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, or stomach-area pain.  The most common side effects of BIKTARVY in clinical studies were diarrhea (6%), nausea (6%), and headache (5%).

These are not all the possible side effects of BIKTARVY. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any new symptoms while taking BIKTARVY. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.FDA.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Your healthcare provider will need to do tests to monitor your health before and during treatment with BIKTARVY.

HOW TO TAKE BIKTARVY Take BIKTARVY 1 time each day with or without food.

GET MORE INFORMATION  This is only a brief summary of important information about BIKTARVY. Talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist to learn more.  Go to BIKTARVY.com or call 1-800-GILEAD-5  If you need help paying for your medicine, visit BIKTARVY.com for program information.

BIKTARVY, the BIKTARVY Logo, DAILY CHARGE, the DAILY CHARGE Logo, KEEP SHINING, LOVE WHAT’S INSIDE, GILEAD, and the GILEAD Logo are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc., or its related companies. Version date: February 2020 © 2020 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. BVYC0219 04/20

D’EVA LIVING WITH HIV SINCE 2009 REAL BIKTARVY PATIENT

KEEP SHINING.

Because HIV doesn’t change who you are.

BIKTARVY® is a complete, 1-pill, once-a-day prescription medicine used to treat HIV-1 in certain adults. BIKTARVY does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS.

Ask your healthcare provider if BIKTARVY is right for you.

See D’Eva’s story at BIKTARVY.com.

Featured patient compensated by Gilead.

Please see Important Facts about BIKTARVY, including important warnings, on the previous page and visit BIKTARVY.com.

<< Community News

10 • Bay Area Reporter • September 10-16, 2020

<<

Pride

From page 1

“I’m glad Black LGBTQ, especially Black trans and nonbinary people, are finally being listened to. This is a long time coming,” Fielder said. “People’s March was a beautiful, peaceful, selfcontained, and fun event without police and corporate participation. I don’t know that I had ever seen that many BIPOC people in the Castro at once before. When institutional change is slow to respect the intersectionalities we embody, we have to create our own spaces and for that reason I hope People’s March comes back in the future.”

One of the few people to express misgivings about the ban was Ken Jones, a former SF Pride board president. He expressed frustration with the decision in a Facebook post.

“I am disappointed that SF Pride has voted and is now advocating that groups of LGBTQ Folks not be allowed to march in our expression of our collective Pride (and setting precedence),” he stated. “Look, I am a 70-year-old Black male and I know about the rocky relationship between me and them; and, we have been working on it. I remember the joy on the faces of the young LGBT police officers who could finally join hands with us on Pride.”

District 1 Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer, who gave a certificate of honor from the Board of Supervisors to the Pride Alliance last year, defended giving that recognition in a phone interview.

“I think that the reason I have the award is that the police department has been dominated by white heterosexual men since its inception. For folks to come out in the police department takes courage and camaraderie and I wanted to thank their courage for coming out in that culture. It didn’t have to do with the police job so much specifically,” Fewer told the B.A.R. When asked if SF Pride should have banned the contingent, Fewer said, “I’ll leave that to the organizers.”

“But what I will say,” Fewer added, “is that it’s hard being rejected by your peeps. It’s hard to come out in a culture like that and at this time what you need is support. Yeah, when you texted [about SF Pride banning the Pride Alliance] I said ‘Oh’ and felt bad for them and felt they’ve had a hard time within the context of that culture. ...

SF Pride is such a moment of joyousness and camaraderie that to have that family reject you for your profession is a little sad. But SF Pride is its own organization.”

The Pride leaders said the organization was “disappointed and frustrated” following a 2019 incident when police used force against anti-police and anti-corporate protesters who blocked the parade route for almost an hour.

As the B.A.R. previously reported one of those protesters, Taryn Saldi-

<<

Racism

From page 2

On July 31, a post on Badlands’ Facebook page said the bar, which closed due to the pandemic, would shutter permanently. A new, as yet unnamed bar under new ownership is supposed to open later this year, depending on COVID-19 restrictions being lifted.

Torres said the influx of gay men turned the “heteronormative culture (in the neighborhood) on its head” but there were few, if any, Black or Brown faces in the Castro. Torres said he moved here from Southern California and was “aghast at how racist” the neighborhood was. In a bar, people would ask about a person’s background, specifically where their parents were from, he said.

Racism isn’t confined to the Castro, said Afrika America, who transferred to Washington High School, where a counselor said they didn’t seem suit-

Rick Gerharter

San Francisco Police Chief William Scott apologized to the LGBTQ community during an event at Glide Memorial Church August 26, 2019.

var, recently filed a federal lawsuit against the city and law enforcement officers for how they were treated by SFPD. Saldivar’s attorney, EmilyRose Johns, did not respond to a request for comment from the B.A.R. for this story.

Officers will still be involved in the parade and festival for security purposes, as required by the city as part of its street permitting process. And Wysinger and Lopez’s statement did not say anything about individual police officers marching in street clothes.

Nor did it say that SF Pride leaders would ban other law enforcement agencies from participating in future parades. The statement also did not address whether law enforcement agencies, including SFPD, could have booths at the festival.

Wysinger, who lives in El Cerrito and is a candidate for the West Contra Costa Unified School District in November, did not respond to requests for comment. Lopez did not respond to a request for comment.

In a September 2 statement, the Pride Alliance stated that Pride’s decision is “extremely upsetting.”

“The Pride Alliance board was not asked to participate in any of these discussions, despite our long-standing relationships with members of the Pride board and our efforts to build bridges between the LGBTQ community and law enforcement,” the Pride Alliance stated in an email to the B.A.R. “Our LGBTQ officers and their families are proud to be out members of the SFPD and the LGBTQ community. We represent many of the diverse communities of San Francisco and we celebrate those LGBTQ officers who came before us, paving the way for officers to march in uniform representing the department and our community.”

In an emailed statement to the B.A.R. after this story was initially published online, Police Chief William Scott said he was “disappointed” and touted his department’s record on diversity and inclusion.

“Through our efforts in recruiting, community engagement, policy changes and inclusion, the San Fran-

cisco Police Department has become one of the most diverse law enforcement agencies in the country. We are indebted to the enormous volume of work by community members, city leaders, and San Francisco Police Department LGBTQ and nonbinary officers, past and present, who are contributing to foster positive changes within law enforcement,” Scott stated.

“As the chief of police, I am disappointed in the Pride board’s decision to exclude uniformed SFPD officers from participating in the 2021 Pride parade.

“I believe it is important for our members to participate in Pride Month activities so we can show firsthand that we are a diverse department, that we are proud of who we are and that we are willing to work closely with the LGBTQ community we serve,” he added. “It’s also important to show youth in the Bay Area and around the country that we are united as a community in inclusiveness, diversity, and acceptance.”

In her statement, Wysinger, a lesbian who is the president of the board of the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee, said the decision comes in the wake of the Department of Police Accountability dismissing five counts of unnecessary force stemming from last year’s parade incident.

SF Pride officials are apparently displeased with inaction by the city’s Department of Police Accountability in the 2019 incident.

“While we appreciate the work of the Department of Police Accountability, we now see that it is limited in its capacity to effect change in a situation like this. Ever since that day, Pride has advocated that SFPD’s charges against the protesters be dropped, sending letters to the court and stating our request at a press conference,” the statement reads. “We acknowledge and appreciate the steps that the police have taken to heal decades of mistrust between the department and the city’s LGBTQ+ communities.

“But SFPD’s long-standing patterns of violence outweigh any rainbow-colored police cruisers or Pride patches, and it overshadows even

able for the program for gifted students, although they had been in such a program in junior high school.

“Prejudice is broad,” Afrika America said.

An audience member asked the panelists for recommendations on what they could do to make the neighborhood more inclusive.

Phanngavong suggested people “call out acts of micro-aggressions.”

“You’ve got to start the conversation and address what’s happening,” he said. “Sometimes white people don’t want to get involved, and think it’s up to people of color to speak up, which is not true”.

Torres, who has worked in bars on and off for 20 years, said the queer bar industry is rife with abuse. Employees are typically hired on an “at will” basis and if you’re a person of color, “you may not want to make waves” by complaining.

“It’s up to our white allies” to speak up if they notice racist language or behavior, he said.

Meow pointed out that if people of color are unable to rent or own property in the Castro, “how inclusive can we be?” In response, Shorter said that while people may not be able to afford to own a home or buy a business, “we’re investors too.”

“Our presence is what defines the values” of the rainbow flag and other monuments recognizing people of color who have contributed to the city, she added.

Queer people of color can’t obtain political influence on their own, said Shorter. “We’ve got to reach out and build coalitions with other groups of Black, Latin, and Asian people.”

Torres said that the Bay Area Queer Nightlife Coalition has uncovered problems of racism in some LGBT bars. (The Bay Area Reporter recently reported on a four-hour town hall the coalition held earlier this summer.

“If they want to be part of our future, they’ve got to change,” he said. “We have the power to change direction.” t

Chief Scott’s apology for the historical mistreatment of LGBTQ+ San Franciscans at Compton’s Cafeteria and in numerous raids,” the statement reads. “While welcome, such actions are merely symbolic unless accompanied by real change. Consequently, the board and staff have come to a decision about the involvement of uniformed law enforcement officers in the San Francisco Pride parade.”

Paul Henderson, a gay man who is the executive director of the Department of Police Accountability, told the B.A.R. in a phone call September 3 that there was not much he could say for legal reasons, but clarified that the investigation dealt with five allegations but more than five officers. Four law enforcement officers had been named in the lawsuit against the city and county.

“I can’t talk much about specific cases,” he said. “What I can say is that the Pride organization contacted us and wanted to file a complaint. We can get complaints from individuals, from organizations; it’s an open field.

“I think the real issue is ‘what took so long?’ All I can say is that there are a number of reasons why,” Henderson explained. “In a case like this, with 4060 body-worn cameras, that causes an inordinate delay because DPA is one of the only such agencies in the country without body-worn camera access. So each request has to go through the police department and it can take months.”

Henderson said that while there “were no sustained allegations, there were policy recommendations made as a result of the investigation for concerns the organization had about procedures that were observed and investigated.”

His office’s dismissal of the allegations was within the past month, Henderson said.

Tony Montoya, a gay man who is head of the San Francisco Police Officers Association, called the decision “disheartening.”

“We reject all forms of racism, bias, bigotry, prejudice, intolerance, and sexism that targets any San Franciscan, and we are disappointed that rather than entering into a dialogue with our police officers to bring us together, that the event sponsors would choose to ostracize us from the community we serve,” Montoya stated in an email to the B.A.R. September 2.

“It is the height of irony that our Pride parade would be used as a wedge instead of as an opportunity to work toward improving police and community outcomes. The fact that this organization would also discriminate against our LGBTQ police officers who want to build bridges to the LGBTQ community and SFPD, is completely disheartening.”

Police participation controversial

The issue of police participation in the parade has become controversial in recent years. Earlier this year –

<<

SF HIV cases

From page 7

new infections, zero deaths due to HIV/AIDS, and zero stigma against people living with HIV. The city is also doing well with regard to the UNAIDS 90-90-90 goals, which call for 90% of all people living with HIV to know their status, 90% of people with diagnosed HIV to be on antiretroviral therapy, and 90% of people on treatment having viral suppression.

San Francisco’s numbers are hard to match against the UNAIDS goals because they are based on people diagnosed with HIV, not everyone living with the virus, Buchbinder explained. Health officials estimate that in 2019, 94% of all people living with HIV were aware of their status, 76% had received care, and 71% had achieved viral suppression.

t

before the resurgence of Black Lives Matter activism this summer – the board of directors for the Pride organization struck down an effort to ban Alameda County Sheriff’s officers from the parade (though they were not included as a contingent in the first place).

The September 2 statement from Wysinger and Lopez goes on to say that while “‘LGBTQ people’ and ‘police’ are not mutually exclusive ... police presence does not allow for [Black transgender individual and group] participation in our events.”

Alex U. Inn, a longtime community activist who with Juanita MORE! spearheaded the People’s March down Polk Street for this year’s Pride June 28, told the B.A.R. that the march will continue in the future. Inn had been on the SF Pride board for part of last year, and was a community grand marshal in 2017.

In a text message to the B.A.R. Inn stated that the Pride organization is “FINALLY! ‘LISTENING TO BLACK VOICES!’” “It took them long enough,” Inn wrote. “Carolyn [Wysinger] is trying to make it look like it’s her idea and something new that they’ve come up with when many of us REAL activists, especially our BIPOC activists, have been saying this for many, many, many years. No police presence at PEOPLE’S MARCH 2020 was the answer to SF Pride’s ignorance and their continuation of putting Black lives at harm.

“When I ran for the board and stepped down within two months of their nonsense, I ran on bringing back Black and Brown communities to San Francisco pride and have SFPD only be a traffic monitoring crew,” Inn added. “San Francisco Pride board wanted nothing to do with that. So of course they are going to now! How would it look in the era of Black Lives Matter and all that’s happening to Black lives at the hands of police that they continue to accept the entry fee of the SFPD? So if not now, when? SF Pride finally woke the fuck up!”

The decision comes after Pride organizers in San Diego in June decided not to allow law enforcement participation in San Diego Pride festivities going forward until a series of demands are met. The Pride committee also banned such groups from having booths at its festival.

“It can be traumatizing for folks to see people with guns and Tasers and batons march down a parade,” San Diego Pride Executive Director Fernando Lopez told San Diego’s ABCTV affiliate in June. “Now, someone who’s Black can’t take off their skin.

A law enforcement officer can take off their uniform. They are a whole human being. If they want to take off their uniform and march with a peace flag or Latinx community ... If the police chief wants to not wear his uniform next to me next year, I’d be happy to have him walk next to me next year.” t But COVID-19 threatens to derail this progress. The city has seen a substantial drops in the use of PrEP services, HIV testing and viral load testing, though this is starting to rebound, according to Buchbinder.

DPH is now working with community-based organizations and care providers to develop alternative ways for people to access PrEP, HIV testing, and ongoing HIV care and treatment.

“We’re working with our providers to ensure that the proper safety measures are put into place so people can still get the care they need,” said Colfax. “I think San Francisco is showing that it’s up to the task of being able to continue our HIV prevention and care efforts in the midst of another epidemic.” t

t

Legals & Classifieds>>

September 10-16, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 11

Legals>> STATEMENT OF DAMAGES (PERSONAL INJURY OR WRONGFUL DEATH) IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CGC-18-570359

To Defendant: MATINA ELAINE MCDANIEL AKA TINA MCDANIEL, Plaintiff: JANET TAPIA seeks damages in the above-entitled action, in Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102, as follows: 1. General Damages: a.

Pain, suffering, and inconvenience $300,000; b.

Emotional distress $300,000. 2. Special Damages: a. Medical expenses (to date) $200,000; b. Future medical expenses (present value) $100,000; i. Other, Wrongful eviction $600,000; j. Other, Loss of normal use of my legs physical and emotional scaring $900,000. 3. Punitive damages: Plaintiff reserves the right to seek punitive damages in the amount of $150,000 when pursuing a judgment in the suit filed against you. August 17, 2020, signed Janet Tapia (Party without Attorney), 237 Kearny St. #237, San Francisco, CA 94108

AUG 20, 27, SEP 03, 10, 2020 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-20-555832

In the matter of the application of JOHN RICHARD DANIEL, 1547 SHAFTER AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner JOHN RICHARD DANIEL is requesting that the name JOHN RICHARD DANIEL be changed to JOHN RICHARD BAIRD. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103 on the 24th of September 2020 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

AUG 20, 27, SEP 03, 10, 2020 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-20-555836

In the matter of the application of WILLIAM ERIK BLAKEMAN, 1077 MCALLISTER ST #E, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner WILLIAM ERIK BLAKEMAN is requesting that the name WILLIAM ERIK BLAKEMAN AKA ERIK WILLIAM BLAKEMAN be changed to ERIK WILLIAM BLAKEMAN. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N on the 29th of September 2020 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

AUG 20, 27, SEP 03, 10, 2020 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-20-555838

In the matter of the application of DOROTHY ELIZABETH PAUTZ, 237 GRATTAN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner DOROTHY ELIZABETH PAUTZ is requesting that the name DOROTHY ELIZABETH PAUTZ AKA DOROTHY E. PAUTZ AKA DOROTHY PAUTZ AKA DORTHY ELIZBETH PAUTZ AKA DORTHY E. PAUTZ AKA DORTHY PAUTZ be changed to DORTHY ELIZABETH PAUTZ. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N on the 29th of September 2020 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

AUG 20, 27, SEP 03, 10, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039124500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as HENRY TRUCKING, 207 PERU AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LEONARDO RODRIGUEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/01/06. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/08/20.

AUG 20, 27, SEP 03, 10, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039126900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as LEGENDS MAMA BOUTIQUE, 70 BAYVIEW ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MAGGIE PASIGAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/28/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/10/20.

AUG 20, 27, SEP 03, 10, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039123800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as THE BLUE BUDDHA, 1122A SUTTER ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ERIK EVERTS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/14/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/08/20.

AUG 20, 27, SEP 03, 10, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039128900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as BUILDNG GREEN PROJECTS, 605 ARGUELLO BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DANIEL MARTINEZ MEDELLIN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/12/09. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/12/20.

AUG 20, 27, SEP 03, 10, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039132100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as PLYWOOD PROS, 1770 ARMSTRONG AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DONALD DARRELL JORDAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact

business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/14/20.

AUG 20, 27, SEP 03, 10, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039124900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as FRESH VICTOR, 1935 LAWTON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed NINE COUNTY BRANDS, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/01/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/08/20.

AUG 20, 27, SEP 03, 10, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039112200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as KIRBY ARCHITECTURE, 311 POTRERO AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed KIRBY LEE ARCHITECTS, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/24/20.

AUG 20, 27, SEP 03, 10, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039120800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as AL’S PLACE, 1499 VALENCIA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed TATR LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/22/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/07/20.

AUG 20, 27, SEP 03, 10, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039124600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as ENTELLA HOTEL, 905 COLUMBUS AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed 905 COLUMBUS AVENUE LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/01/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/08/20.

AUG 20, 27, SEP 03, 10, 2020 NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF ZETHER MCGRIGER IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO: FILE PES-20-303828

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of ZETHER MCGRIGER. A Petition for Probate has been filed

by CECILEY MCGRIGER in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. The Petition for Probate requests that CECILEY MCGRIGER be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. The petition requests the decedent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court. The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.

A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: September 16, 2020, 9:00 am, Dept. 204, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. If you object to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. If you are a creditor or contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the latter of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined by section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. You may examine the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for petitioner: DAE HEE KIM, 605 MARKET ST. #605, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105; Ph. (415) 974-5336.

AUG 27, SEP 03, 10, 2020 NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF TAMIKO MOORE IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO: FILE PES-20-303833

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of TAMIKO MOORE. A Petition for Probate has been filed by POCO YOUNG in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. The Petition for Probate requests that POCO YOUNG be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.)

The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority. A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: September 14, 2020, 9:00 am, Dept. 204, Rm. 204,

Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. If you object to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. If you are a creditor or contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the latter of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined by section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. You may examine the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for petitioner: NICOLE C. KELLY, ESQ. (SBN 320379), THE KELLY LAW FIRM, 345 FRANKLIN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102; Ph. (415) 552-0059.

AUG 27, SEP 03, 10, 2020 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-20-555845

In the matter of the application of NEIL LICK & BRUCE SPANO, C/O ALEXANDER TOTTO, THE WALD LAW GROUP, PC, 88 KEARNY ST #1475, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner NEIL LICK & BRUCE SPANO is requesting that the name AUGUST HOLDEN CALIFORNIA SPANOLICK be changed to HOLDEN CALIFORNIA SPANOLICK. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N on the 6th of October 2020 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

AUG 27, SEP 03, 10, 17, 2020 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-20-555841

In the matter of the application of ANNETTE CERDAS, 1739 PINE ST #25, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner ANNETTE CERDAS is requesting that the name ANNETTE CERDAS be changed to ANNETTE LOYNAZ. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N on the 1st of October 2020 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

AUG 27, SEP 03, 10, 17, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039133600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as POCKET, 41 MARS ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115.

This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed EMILY FARMER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/07/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/17/20.

AUG 27, SEP 03, 10, 17, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039135700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as CAKE THERAPY, 2600 HARRISON ST #303, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ANDREW TOLENTINO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/03/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/18/20.

AUG 27, SEP 03, 10, 17, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039132200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as APEX CONSULTING, 330 CONNECTICUT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CHELSEA GODDARD. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/01/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/14/20.

AUG 27, SEP 03, 10, 17, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039133700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as MARLEY’S PLANTLY THINGS, 600 PORTOLA DR #10, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SHERRY SPENCER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/01/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/17/20.

AUG 27, SEP 03, 10, 17, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039129800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as HOTTIE DRIP LASHES, 3850 18TH ST #400, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed HOTTIE DRIP LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/13/20.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039136500

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039148000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as CRYSTALS SCENT, 410 BAYVIEW CIRCLE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed CRYSTALS SCENT LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/18/20.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as CHESTNUT STREET PROPERTIES, 2423 CHESTNUT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed EDMOND BEDROSSIAN, JASMINE BEDROSSIAN, TIGRAN DAYANS & ODETTE DAYANS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/02/05. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/27/20.

AUG 27, SEP 03, 10, 17, 2020

SEP 03, 10, 17, 24, 2020

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF DUDLEY PITTS JR. IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO: FILE PES-20-303842

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039138000

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of DUDLET PITTS JR. A Petition for Probate has been filed by PENELOPE ANNE WOODS-PITTS in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. The Petition for Probate requests that PENELOPE ANNE WOODSPITTS be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval.

Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority. A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: September 23, 2020, 9:00 am, Dept. 204, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. If you object to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. If you are a creditor or contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the latter of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined by section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. You may examine the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for petitioner: PENELOPE ANNE WOODS-PITTS 1089 N. GARFILED AVE, FRESNO, CA 93723; Ph. (559) 352-4253.

SEP 03, 10, 17, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039141300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as TS4 SECURITY SERVICE, 239 SADOWA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DILLI P. SHARMA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/13/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/24/20.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as UNEXPECTEDERA CAFÉ, 614 POLK ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed GOMEZ LINAJE ESCOGIDO LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/24/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/20/20.

AUG 27, SEP 03, 10, 17, 2020

SEP 03, 10, 17, 24, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039146700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as BIG STICK ARTS, 10 FUNSTON AVE #6, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by in individual, and is signed JOHN LEHNUS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/31/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/27/20.

SEP 03, 10, 17, 24, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039126400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as MAINLAND MARKET & PRODUCE, 5601 GEARY BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed DAKHAZ INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/22/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/10/20.

SEP 03, 10, 17, 24, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039144400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as HOUSE OF BEAUTY SF, 1849 UNION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JENNIFER MARIE ALLIVATO-SANDHOLM. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/01/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/26/20.

SEP 03, 10, 17, 24, 2020 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-20-555866

In the matter of the application of STEVEN MARK VARNEY AKA S MARK VARNEY, 1375 38TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner STEVEN MARK VARNEY AKA S MARK VARNEY is requesting that the name STEVEN MARK VARNEY AKA S MARK VARNEY be changed to S MARK VARNEY. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N on the 20th of October 2020 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

SEP 03, 10, 17, 24, 2020

SEP 10, 17, 24, OCT 01, 2020

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039146900

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039143100

SEP 03, 10, 17, 24, 2020

SEP 10, 17, 24, OCT 01, 2020

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039147900

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039151300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as 2332-2336 STEINER ST APARTMENTS, 2332-2336 STEINER ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by a trust, and is signed EDMOND BEDROSSIAN TRUSTEE & JASMINE BEDROSSIAN TRUSTEE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/18/04. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/27/20.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as KHOR; KHOR CONSULTING; KAEGO OGBECHIE CONSULTING, 1388 GOUGH ST #1108, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KAEGO OGBECHIE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/03/15. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/25/20.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as PLAZA CERVANTES, 98 CERVANTES BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by a trust, and is signed EDMOND BEDROSSIAN TRUSTEE & JASMINE BEDROSSIAN TRUSTEE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/15/09. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/27/20.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as JUST CUZZ KITCHEN; THE HOT SPOT; 631 MORSE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112 This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ZULAIKA W. MAYFIELD. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/13/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/04/20.

SEP 03, 10, 17, 24, 2020

SEP 10, 17, 24, OCT 01, 2020

Classifieds Hauling>> HAULING 24/7

(415) 441-1054 Large Truck

AUG 27, SEP 03, 10, 17, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039138100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as CAROLINE WATSON CONSULTING, 2043 PINE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CAROLINE LISA WATSON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/01/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/20/20.

Tech Support >> MACINTOSH HELP 29 YEARS EXPERIENCE SFMacMan.com

RICK

415.821.1792

Tech Support >>

Tech Support Ralph Doore 415-867-4657

Professional 30+ years exp Virus/Malware GONE! Device setup Mobile Support Network & wireless setup Discreet

 Yelp reviews

Shiva Baby

by Brian Bromberger

F

Focus on Frameline44 features doesn’t even remember, to satisfy her parents (Polly Draper’s mother is stupendous) who are hoping she might find a suitable husband. She encounters her ex-girlfriend law student Maya and Max, the man with whom she is currently having sex for pay and now discovers is married with a new baby.

Minyan Adrift as a postgrad in gender studies, she must fend off annoying questions from family and friends about her life’s plans, maintain secrets, try to live up to unreasonable expectations, while figuring out who she is and what she wants.

Danielle is a mess professionally and personally, yet the hilarious Shiva Baby is heartwrenchingly hopeful and insightful about the slippery transition to young adulthood today with just a hint of a finely-drawn faith component as a way of making sense out of the ensuing chaos. An absolute winner and unmissable at all costs.

Spirituality is at the center of Eric Steele’s Minyan (Grand Jury prize at OutFest for Best U.S. Narrative Feature), a period piece based on an award-winning short story by David Bezmozgis, that brilliantly recreates 1986/87 Brighton Beach Brooklyn revolving around 17 year old David (a stunning Samuel H. Levine in a breakout role) son of Russian immigrant parents and a yeshiva student, as he sorts out his sexuality (with a gay bartender) and attachment to Judaism’s culture and tradition.

Ron Rifkin radiates as his beloved elderly reMonsoon cently widowed grandfather, as they live together and befriend a closeted elderly holocaust surviving male couple in their building. Throw in AIDS, James Baldwin, Russian vodka, and a conservative synagogue with David attempting to comb through his competing identities and you have a potent evocative mix of a bygone era and the minefield that is intersectionality. Magnificent in every

Frameline documentaries explore LGBTQ Life

Taiwan Equals Love

Taiwan Equals Love Sophia Yen offers this fascinating documentary on the fight for marriage equality in ike everything else during the CoronaviTaiwan, the first country in Asia to legalize rus pandemic, Frameline, the San Fransame sex marriage. The director focuses her cisco International LGBTQ+ Film Fesfilm on three couples who illustrate why it is tival, has moved online. Documentary shorts so important for same sex couples to have the and features have always same rights as hetbeen a major part of the erosexual couples. menu, and Frameline 44 For Mindy, maris no exception. Throughriage to Jovi means out the festival, a diverse that Mindy can cross section of short and become a stay at feature length documenhome mom to her taries representing every daughter. The situcolor, sexual persuasion ation is more dire and gender identity will for Hsiang and be shown. All films will Tien-Ming. Hsiang be screened virtually. Here is dealing with Ahead of the Curve are some of the films. health issues and is

by David-Elijah Nahmod

L

worried about being dispossessed due to Taiwan’s inheritance laws. And for Gu and Shinchi, marriage means that Gu, who was born in Macau, can stay in Taiwan and find a job.

Without marriage, they would not be able to stay together. In Mandarin with English subtitles.

September 19, 1:30pm

picture

rameline 44’s tagline/theme is Engage.

Act. Grow, with new Executive Director James Woolley noting, “The need to be inspired and to share one another’s stories of LGBTQ+ lives around the globe, is even more palpable in these isolating times.”

To its credit, Frameline in its special June PRIDE Showcase, did a superb job of adapting to our changed sheltered world of virtual streaming, where they reproduced the Castro Theater as closely as one could hope to experience, with the staff member introducing the film in the empty Theater itself, with a pipe organ excerpt, sponsors ad, and trailer.

Under demanding circumstances, Frameline has scheduled an exciting array of American and international films, (including a special spotlight on Taiwan) that will temporarily brighten your mood during these tense days and make queer cinema from Sept.17 through 27 essential home viewing.

More than half the movies already premiered at LA’s OutFest (August 2030) so we can make several enthusiastic recommendations.

There may be a mini LGBTQ+ Jewish movie renaissance featuring two outstanding entries.

Shiva Baby may be one of the best bisexual films ever made, in a category that’s previously had few winners.

Based on her 2018 short, writer-director Emma Seligman (Grand Jury prize at OutFest for Best Screenplay) creates a flawed but fascinatingly confused character in Danielle (Rachel Sennott in a star-making performance), attending a Jewish funeral of someone she

way. Skip it at your own peril.

For those viewers who fell in love with 2014’s Lilting about a gay man and motherin-law mourning his dead lover, by the august Cambodian born, British film director/ screenwriter Hong Khaou, will have reason to rejoice in his sophomore effort, Monsoon. Kit (the straight Henry Golding from Crazy Rich Asians) is returning to his Saigon birthplace to scatter the ashes of his deceased parents in a nation where his connections are at best tenuous, as he interacts with distant family members, striving to figure out his relationship to his birth country. Complicating matters is his Grindr hookup---perhaps evolving into something more--with ex-pat Lewis (Parker Sawyers) struggling with the Vietnam War past of his veteran father, highlighting how that catastrophe altered everyone’s life in the film. Monsoon is a subtle wink and nod See page 13 >>

Franco Stevens asking whether or not a lesbian magazine was still needed for lesbian visibility. In Ahead of the Curve, director Jen Rainin and co-director Rivkah Beth Medow document Stevens’ journey and question whether or not a print magazine can remain relevant in this digital age. Included is archival footage and interviews with celebrity lesbians like Jewelle Gomez and Lea DeLaria.

Throughout the film the legacy of Curve is honored and celebrated. September 20, 1pm Killing Patient Zero This riveting film looks back upon the hedonistic lifestyle that gay men enjoyed in the ‘70s, and the AIDS holocaust which followed.

The primary focus of the film is Gaetan Dugas, a Canadian flight attendant who was dubbed “Patient Zero.” He was said to be the man who brought AIDS to the USA, a myth that was perpetuated in Randy Shilts’ book And the Band Played On, a history of the AIDS epidemic. The film, which also takes a hard look at Shilts, features interviews with Dugas’ friends and with scientists who uncovered the first AIDS cases. Killing Patient Zero ultimately remembers a community that was devastated not only by a virus, but by society’s penchant for playing the blame game. September 20, 4pm

Pier Kids This thought-provoking work focuses on the homeless queer and trans youth, almost all of them people Killing Patient Zero of color, who claimed the Hudson Piers in the West Village neighborhood of Ahead of the Curve New York City and made it their home. DirecFounded in San Francisco in 1990 as Detor Elegance Bratton, himself a former pier kid, neuve and renamed Curve in 1996, this spent five years honing his camera of a segment quarterly magazine made history for its unof the LGBTQ community that has been largely apologetic celebration of lesbian culture. But forgotten by the larger community. The film in 2019 it was rumored that the magazine See page 13 >> might go out of print, which left founder

t

Film>>

September 10-16, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 13

Cowboys

<<

Frameline Features

From page 12

commentary on the rootlessness of being an immigrant. Khaou is the master of melancholy and manages to convey so much emotion underneath the surface of his characters, with just enough dialogue to advance the plot and no more. A glorious standout with thrilling rewards for audiences.

The Western is not dead and in a contemporary modern trans twist is given renewed life and significance in director/screenwriter Ann Kerrigan’s suspenseful Cowboys, as troubled ex-con father Troy (a superlative Steve Zahn) and his trans son Joe (the remarkable Sasha Knight, who won the OutFest Grand Jury prize for Best Performance in a U.S. Narrative) head for Canada, as they try to escape from a trans resistant mother (Jillian Bell) and police detective (fabulous Ann Dowd, The Handmaid’s Tale) chasing the fugitives while trying to piece together the family dynamics. Gorgeous isolated Montana cinematography accents the challenges of being estranged 21st century parents when all the rules have changed. Visceral entertainment that enables you to fall in love with all the characters even when they do stupid things.

Monumentally good on a smallscale and riveting storytelling, Cowboys is an unexpected gem.

Writer/director Matthew Fifer transports us back to summer 2013 New York in Cicada, as bisexual millennial Ben (Fifer) begins an

interracial male relationship with Sam (Sheldon D. Brown) while reports of the trial of pedophile Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky filters through the narrative, triggering PTSD symptoms in Ben, who must confront his own history of being sexually abused.

Told with unvarnished honesty and compassion, Cicada doesn’t sugarcoat the heavy emotional costs of surviving childhood trauma. By no means lighthearted, this introspective film still manages to be sexy and funny while remaining truthful about the challenges of interconnecting with others while carrying hefty oppressive personal baggage. Cicada hits you in the gut, but you won’t mind

<<

Frameline Docs

From page 12

focuses on their difficult lives, which includes visits to relatives who do not understand them. All these kids want is a safe place they can call their own as they struggle to survive their daily lives and take part in drag balls.

The film also shines a light on neighborhood residents who sunbathe or take pictures in the waterfront park, seemingly oblivious to the kids.

Viewers of the film won’t be so oblivious as these kids are impossible to ignore. September 21, 7:30pm Transhood This film questions what it’s like to be a trans youth in the age of Snapchat, the Trump presidency, the Pulse nightclub shooting and bathroom bills, attempts to deny trans people access to the public restrooms which match their gender identity. Produced for HBO, this documentary explores the lives of four transgender youth who are coming of age in a treach-

Professional headshots / profile pics Weddings / Events

StevenUnderhill 415 370 7152 • StevenUnderhill.com

Read about more Frameline44 films on www.ebar.com Cocoon

erous political landscape at a time when technology is readily available to them. According to Frameline’s program, the film includes disturbing news footage and a discussion of self-harm. September 25, 3:30pm

Pier Kids

the punch.

Coming out/coming of age becomes the raison de’etre for sheltered shy 14 year old Nora (Lena Urzendowsky) during a sweltering Berlin summer in the German film Cocoon. Hanging out with her sister and her friends because her mother is preoccupied with work and her social life, lonely Nora finds solace in her caterpillar collection.

But temperatures get even hotter when butch free spirit classmate Romy (Jella Haase) enlivens Nora’s boredom as well as Cicada the picture’s languid pace.

Nora experiences her first period in perhaps cinema’s most horrifying scene of that female rite of passage. The cocoon metaphor is a bit heavy-handed, but both Nora and Romy are vibrant well-etched characters and you care about their potential union.

Honestly this worn out genre has been done better and more innovatively elsewhere (such as Temblores (Tremors) and To the Stars from last year’s Frameline), but Cocoon has its occasional charms and will appeal to questioning teenagers.t

Keyboard Fantasies: The Beverly Glenn Copeland Story In 1986 Glenn Copeland recorded a cassette that combined folkelectronic music with his classically trained voice. He only sold two dozen copies, but three decades later the album was rediscovered, which led to sold-out live performances around the world. Glenn’s story begins in the early 1960s, when he was the only Black classical music student at McGill Music Academy.

Now, at age 74, Glenn, who once lived as a lesbian, is out as a transgender man and is looked up to as a queer elder and a musical inspiration. September 25, 6:30pm Up Close & Personal A collection of documentary shorts which includes the story of a trans Indigenous punk musician, recollections of a generation lost to AIDS, a tribute to Brazilian gay artist Gui Taccetti, scenic lesbian road trips, and more. September 26, 11am Unapologetic

Cured In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses.

Suddenly millions of gay people were “cured” of their affliction. This film recalls the courageous gay and lesbian activists, from both within and outside of the psychiatric field, who fought the medical establishment and brought about this historic moment, one of the community’s first victories. September 27, 1pm

Let’s talk cannabis.

CASTRO • MARINA • SOMA C10-0000523-LIC; C10-0000522-LIC; C10-0000515-LIC

SERVING OUR FULL MENU!!

Keyboard Fantasies: The Beverly Glenn Copeland Story

Unapologetic A look at the BLM movement in Chicago, seen through the eyes of aspiring social worker Janae and artist/rapper/activist Bella, Unapologetic shows activism against difficult odds in the aftermath of the 2012 police killing of 22 year old Rekia Boyd and the 2019 election of Chicago’s first out Black lesbian mayor, Lori Lightfoot.

The film features interviews and footage of protests. September 27, 2pmt www.frameline.org

The new hours of Orphan Andy’s will be 9am--8:30pm 7days a week.

and in partnership with Twin Peaks serving food at their sidewalk tables Sunday- Thursday 1pm-8pm Fridays and Saturdays 1pm-9pm

3991-A 17th Street, Market & Castro 415-864-9795

<< Travel

14 • Bay Area Reporter • September 10-16, 2020

Out in Columbus Buckeye capital’s LGBT-friendly tourist sites

t

Article and Photos

by Jim Provenzano

M

arch 2020 seems like ages ago, and so much has changed since I joined a press trip to Columbus’ Short North District with other journalists. But I also had a nostalgic motive; having been raised in a town further north and attended Ohio State University, I wanted to witness the changes, and there were many, including some surprising new restaurants, shops, an expanded queer community, including a stunning art exhibition rich in LGBT history.

And yet, even upon my arrival with other journalists, the beginnings of the pandemic were clear. Some people in airports and on planes had begun to wear facemasks. Handshakes were dismissed for awkward elbow bumps or mere waves or nods of greeting. Our hosts and guides made daily changes to our itinerary as one after another business closed its doors.

Our host hotel, the Moxy, definitely falls into the ‘fauxboutique’ category, which is not a compliment, as it’s owned by a hotel chain but tries to be trendy. While the black-piping bathroom was cute, the odd metal shelves left water in a muddy pool.

Instead of bureaus or drawers, guests are expected to hang their clothes on a series of wooden sticks poking out of a wall. The room was tiny, the bed comfortable. But despite the thick windows, a nearby nightclub’s open patio kept audible music pumping until past 2 A.M. (808 N. High St. www.marriott.com) Combined with the noisy lobby bar, whose hip music was also piped into every floor’s lobby, each night demanded earplugs. If you’re up for an all-night party, Moxy is for you. If not, choose a more standard hotel, like downtown’s Hyatt Regency, Renaissance Columbus or the Crowne Plaza. For a Short North alternative, fellow alumni will enjoy the Graduate Hotel, a former senior home renovated with all necessities and plenty of scarlet and grey OSU memorabilia. (750 N. High St. www.graduatehotels.com)

Nightlife in Columbus includes 1. Axis drag shows 2. Club Diversity’s piano bar and 3. Union Café.

and visual artists share the space, Tigertree (787 N. High St. www. including aerial Movement Activishoptigertree.com), Wild Cat Gifts ties, which teaches trapeze exercise.

(3515 N. High St. www.wildcatA few in our group even tried balgiftandparty.com) and Torso for dering around the building’s lobby. the Short North clubs ranging from ancing on a suspended swing, and campy T-shirts and underwear (772 But my favorite was Ambrose & dance clubs to intimate piano bars, our ukulele-playing lesson, hosted N. High St.) Eve (716 S. High St.). Set in a cute a total of ten LGBT-specific bars. At

by Strings Attached, was extra fun.

For some handsome and unique and cozy country home, the breakfast Tremont Lounge, darts and pinball Local classes have grown to dozens of men’s wear, the charmingly rustic sandwiches, French toast, and egg are included, along with a back outweekly participants. Look for them at Samson, a Men’s Emporium offers dishes were creatively arranged, tasty door patio. (708 S. High St.). Club www.facebook.com/groups/Stringeverything from coats to shirts, pants and reasonably priced ($12 to $17).

Diversity (491 S. 4th St.) includes a sAttachedUka/ shoes and artisanal grooming prodSample numerous indie grocers, fun piano bar, and Boscoe’s (224 S. The prize of our visit was a nearucts. (772 N. High St. www.samsonHigh St.) is so cute, I wanted to rechefs, merchants and kitchens at private tour of the fascinating Art mensemporium.com ) turn another night. the food-filled North Market (59 After Stonewall: 1969-1989 exhibit Some traditions remain in ColumAlthough I knew Spruce St. www.northmarket.com), at the Columbus Museum of Art bus, particularly in historic German my college favorites a bazaar of everything from tacos, (480 E. Broad St. www.columbusVillage. We enjoyed a bit of history The Garage (aka sausages, donuts and candy to crafts museum.org). An expansive multiof the village, whose restoration and ‘The Gay Rage’), the and cute gifts. media wealth of 250+ local, regional, revival were the inspiration of two gay-friendly new Enjoy a savory stylish taste of Spain and internationally known artists; gay men, Fred Holdridge and his wavy Mr. Mustard’s at Barcelona (cue a Company song David Hockney, Robert Mapplethohusband Howard Burns (who died in and the oh-so cruisy lyric). Set in a renovated historic Gerrpe, Don Bachardy, Keith Haring and 2001 and 2010, respectively). HoldTradewinds were long man Village building with charming other well-known artists are includridge and Burns spent the 1970s, gone, one 20-year favordécor and a repaired tin ceiling, the ed, along with Bay Area favorites Le’80s and ’90s as community activists, ite still stands; Union Café (782 N. menu of small plates, entrees and panore Chinn, Jerome Caja and photos newspaper columnists, radio movie High St.), a bustling busy and fun bar ella proved not only delicious but fillof The Cockettes. critics and world travelers. You can (and the unfortunate source of noise ing. Back in the Short North, Service The exhibit shows how multiple visit the shop they opened, Hausfrau in my hotel room).

Bar (1230 Courtland Ave.) served up communities flourished after 1969, Haven, a truly eclectic array of wines, Across the street, Axis hosts fun a stylish and delicious dinner. from butch lesbians to leather fetishgift cards and knick-knacks right old-school lip-synch ists. Among the local treasures was a out of an old time gendrag shows –and series of posters from the ‘80s Rudely eral store. (769 S. 3rd St. male gogo dancersElegant parties. As a youthful college hausfrauhaven.com) on its expansive stage student, little did I know that these With its multiple (775 N. High St.). events in part gave birth to the later floors and winding For women’s gatherlarger circuit party community. rooms, the popular ings, Slammers (202 Should you miss the exhibit, Book Loft of GerE. Long St.) is a bit which is extended through October man Village is far from out of the way, but 4, the companion book (edited by wheelchair accessible, worth it if you want Jonathan Weinberg and published but the clerks can bring to hang with sisters,

by Rizzoli Electa) is beautifully deanything to the first and enjoy pizza. signed and includes most of the art floor. (631 S. 3rd St. 1. Ambrose & Eve brunch 2. Barcelona paella 3. donuts Cavan Irish Pub works from the previous installation www.bookloft.com) and 4. salsa at North Market 5. Ray Ray’s Hog Pit (1409 S. High St.) in New York.

And, as we got out maintains an easyAmong the other exhibits was a of our tour bus to take going ambiance most cute collection of drawings by Copictures of some of the The literal top of all our meals nights, but hosts male stripper shows lumbus native author James Thurber, lovely homes in the historic neighwas served at the glamorous Gooon weekends. AWOL caters to dancealong with a smartly arrayed collecborhood, a light snowfall made it all dale Station, where a cityscape view floor fans (49 Parson Ave. www. tion of modern and folk art. the more charming. atop the Canopy Hilton hotel (77 awolbar.com) E. Nationwide Blvd. www.hilton.

A diversion from our usual route, Community Art isn’t easy Why Ohio? com ), featured outdoor fireplaces our trusty guide led us to Denmark, Pride events annually take place in For cultural visits, our tour Before our first group event, I took and beautifully crafted meals paired a cool Euro-style bar that’s now Columbus in mid-June and attract brought us to a Franklintown warea Lyft north to the Ohio State Univerwith sumptuous wines and creative temporarily closed (463 N. High St. more than 700,000 participants. Yes, house of creativity and an expansive sity campus, and endured an unsoliccocktails. ww.denmarkonhigh.com) folks, despite the state’s reputation, acclaimed museum. ited rightwing rant from my driver; For more foodie fun, pick up a If beer is your vice, hops along queer folk are all around Ohio. Other The Wexner Center for the Arts too bad one can’t pre-select one’s copy of Stock & Barrel magazine (get it?) for the Columbus Ale Trail, music and food festivals take place (1871 N. High St. on the OSU camdrivers by political bent; now that’s (www.614now.com) where you’ll discover some tasty throughout the year. pus), while closed, will hopefully an app I’d pay for. microbrews among dozens of area The Stonewall Columbus Comreturn some day with its seasons of Being Spring Break (just before Shoportunities breweries (www.cbusaletrail.com) munity Center has limited hours acclaimed touring dance and theatre in-person classes Short North’s High these days, but online resources are companies and provocative art exwould be cancelled), Street features a string of good (1160 N. High St. stonewallcohibits. the campus was nearly interesting shopping oplumbus.org).

Nature lovers will enjoy the beauempty of people, but portunities.

The Ohio LGBT magazine, Prizm, tiful Franklin Park Conservatory and passing lecture halls Possibly the most un(prizmnews.com) has unfortunately Botanical Gardens.

Topiary fans can of my youth brought usual was The Candle ceased publication. take a free self-guided tour of notable back fond memories.

Lab, where we got to Shortly after my near-empty two flora, including the charming tribute One of my Dance choose various oil scents flights home, Ohio’s governor anto Seurat’s painting “Sunday AfterDepartment studios which were later comnounced a statewide shutdown. noon on the Isle of La Grand Jatte.” in the lovely Gothic bined into small glassed While careful adjustments have When one of my journalist colleagues Pomerene Hall has candles. I chose a butchbeen made, large gatherings worldwith a musical bent sang a few lines been converted to a 1. Samson deer head and 2. handmade bow ties. femme mix of cedar and wide, including in Columbus, have from Sunday in the Park With George, computer lab.

3. The Candle Lab 4. Short North shows Pride 5. Hausfrau lavender. (751 N. High been banned. Limited outdoor seatwe scared off a few geese. (www.topiBut the massive Haven’s wines and 6. a mural of its gay founders.

St. thecandellab.com) ing and entry to businesses with manarygarden.org ) multi-block construcThe intimate Prodatory facemasks are the new normal.

At 400 West Rich (400westrich. tion has changed the logue Bookshop hosted But the liberal enclave of the city com), a number of performing off-campus neighbormy sparsely attended Glorious food remains surrounded by red state athood to the point of being unrecogreading and signing Dining in the Village and elsetitudes and ignorance. nizable. Two of my former run-down of my Ohio-set sixth where proved delicious and diverse.

So, if for some reanovel, Now I’m Here. apartments had been completely deOur Franklintown visit included a son you find yourself The store includes molished (cue Pretenders’ “My City tasty sampling of BBQ meats from in Columbus, know many LGBT fiction and Was Gone”). food truck Ray Ray’s Hog Pit, parked that despite its history, nonfiction titles. While Other changes proved better, spenext to Land-Grant Brewing Compositive changes have they are taking orders cifically the charming Short North pany, where you can sample a variety been made, and you online and pick-up at district, set a few dozen blocks south of microbrews. might even have fun the door, they currently of the OSU and north of downtown.

Breakfast and brunch specialties during your visit.t have limited in-store Shops, restaurants and nightlife included The Guild House (624 N. hours. (841 N. High St. would prove to be thriving, despite High St.), and downtown’s The Keep, For up to date info, prologuebookshop. the oncoming pandemic. a modern French café set inside the 1. Art After Stonewall, with a pink leather outfit, 2. a David visit Out in Columcom) absolutely stunning art deco Hotel Hockney portrait of Divine, and Rudely Elegant posters, and bus’ LGBTQ Guide, For clothing, gifts Love the nightlife?

LeVeque. While the brunch options 3. Alison Saar’s Nocturne Navigator (in the general exhibits) www.outincbus.com and accessories, visit Columbus’ bar scene includes were passable, the real treat is wan1. Ohio State University campus 2. Tremont Lounge 3. Football mural in Franklintown 4. Affable server at Goodale Station.

t

TV & Books>>

September 10-16, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 15

Cuckoo back-stories

by Victoria A. Brownworth

Boys 2 Mean

S

eptember used to be the most exciting month of the year for TV. Then came the pandemic, pushing a plethora of new series to 2021 as production tries to figure out how to do scripted TV with masks and social distancing.

Nevertheless, some new series debut this month. The combination of fire season and extreme heat is keeping many of us indoors, so TV is a reliable go-to: An endorphin rush for calming nerves jangled by a rogue president, climate crisis and the pandemic.

On September 18, Netflix drops the long-awaited Ryan Murphy series Ratched, featuring Sarah Paulson in the title role. As Paulson delivers the line, “Save one life, you’re a hero. Save 100 lives, you’re a nurse,” we know it’s time to strap on our seat belts.

Paulson is brilliant as the eponymous character in this period piece prequel to the Nurse Ratched of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. She wears the 1940s styles with élan and her incisive, scalpel-sharp delivery is just mesmerizing. She’s scary and impressive and lures you in only to slap you senseless with a oneliner no one could have seen coming.

The horror/suspense series tells the origin story of asylum nurse Mildred Ratched. The story begins in 1947 when Mildred arrives in Northern California for a position at a leading psychiatric hospital where new and unsettling experiments have begun on the human mind.

As Netflix explains: “On a clandestine mission, Mildred presents

Sarah Paulson in Ratched

herself as the perfect image of what a dedicated nurse should be, but the wheels are always turning and as she begins to infiltrate the mental health care system and those within it, Mildred’s stylish exterior belies a growing darkness that has long been smoldering within, revealing that true monsters are made, not born.”

This is a wildly disturbing series with the kind of visceral gore Murphy employs in his American Horror Story series. It is not for the faint of heart and it may be triggering for some viewers. But it is among Murphy’s best work. Costars include Cynthia Nixon, Judy Davis (there is a scene between her and Paulson over a peach that is breathtaking), Sharon Stone, Amanda Plummer, Vincent D’Onofrio, Finn Wittrock and others.

The sets are gorgeous, reminiscent of those in Bette and Joan. Another Murphy tour de force, Ratched has multiple Emmys written all over it and one is bound to go to Paulson in what is one of her best-ever and most chilling performances.

Spirit in the sky

by Brian Bromberger

T

he following books written in the last year, strive to help readers deal with an ambivalent, still-evolving history, but also act as resources to provide thought-provoking meaning and consolation for these erratic, precarious times.

Confessions of a Gay Priest: A Memoir of Sex, Love, Abuse, and Scandal in the Catholic Seminary by Tom Rastrelli (University of Iowa Press, $19.95) is a sad story about a naive idealistic young man, knowing he was gay from an early age, who was sexually abused as a young teen-ager by his pediatrician. Undergoing a conversion experience in college, he pursued a vocation as a priest. He meets other gay seminarians all wrestling with celibacy. Though he struggles with acting on his sexuality, he has relationships with other priests, often predatory in nature. Ultimately Rastrelli became suicidal and disillusioned, leaving the priesthood twenty years ago, but now feels resurrected. Catholic gay priest memoirs are rare, but this is a devastating portrait of betrayal by a hypocritical, amoral seminary formation program and corrupt power dynamics at all church levels.

Dear Church: A Love Letter from a Black Preacher to the Whitest Denomination in the U.S. by Lenny Duncan (Fortress Press, $16.99) posits that it is the Lutheran Church’s (but this applies to all the mainline Protestant denominations and Roman Catholicism) lack of diversity that is contributing most to its decline rather than shrinking demographics. A former homeless,

We are deep in the nihilism of this dystopian moment and the best series to address that is Amazon’s The Boys. The episodes of Season 2 are debuting all month.

The Boys is the adaptation of the comic book series that began during the Bush years–the last presidential disaster--by Garth Ennis and Darrick Robertson.

Satire is always a welcome reprieve in dark times and The Boys offers a ton of that–it is peak 2020.

This satire of Superheroes is set in a universe where Superheroes are real (don’t we wish!) and evil gets bested.

The Superheroes are owned by the powerful Vought International corporation, which markets and monetizes them. The series primarily focuses on two groups: the Seven, Vought International’s premier superhero team, and the titular Boys, vigilantes looking to keep the corrupted heroes under control.

The Boys is slick and sleek and a little gory. It takes on evangelical Christianity, the military-industrial complex and the entertainment industry. There is ineffective leadership, cruelty, The Swamp and The Deep State. The Boys has hints of Mr. Robot and Humans. You do need to watch season 1 before embarking on season 2.

The Boys has a stunning cast that includes Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Elizabeth Shue, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Giancarlo Esposito and a host of others, with cameos by celebrities like Billy Zane and Tara Reid. Watch the trailer–you’ll be hooked.t

Read the full article, with more reviews, on www.ebar.com

Various faiths with queer-friendly aspects

ex-con, queer person of color, Duncan bluntly addresses controversial issues church people find intimidating, such as dismantling white supremacy/resisting white nationalism, reparations, gun violence, toxic masculinity, decolonizing liturgy, misogny, economic inequality, and a chapter on “The church is queer.”

A scorching manifesto but also a bold new inclusive vision for the church.

Mishkn Ga’avah/Where Pride Dwells: A Celebration of LGBTQ Jewish Life and Ritual edited by Rabbi Denise L. Eger (CCAR Press, $14.95) is a groundbreaking col-

FABULOUS F**K BOY Model looks 6’ 150# 27yrs, 8” uncut beautiful tight yummy ass. Smoky sexuality erotic male nympho. Hndsm hedonist. Str8, gay, married men at yr apt, hotel, mansion! Greek god Nick 415-818-3126. Leather fetish fantasy roleplay kink dom sub group scenes mild to wild. Pretty boy with a dirty mind, romantic & unforgettable! $400/hr, $2000 overnight neg.

ZebaMedia_18522_091020.indd 1

lection of LGBTQ prayers, poems, ceremonies that are a spiritual resource and a celebratory affirmation of Jewish diversity, compiled by the first openly LGBTQ person to be President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. These touching liturgies are broad enough to be adapted for Christian and nonChristian use. Personal Prayers and Blessings include such occasions as Chest Binding for Trans, Non-Binary, and Gender Non-Conforming Jews; LGBTQ People coming out; Being Attacked Physically or Verbally for Being LGBTQ; Looking for a Partner on a Dating Website/App; Egg Donation, Freezing, Insemination, or Surrogacy; and the Transgender Day of Remembrance.t

Read the full article, with many more books, on www.ebar.com

Personals Models>>

Who says masks aren’t FABULOUS? Wearing a mask protects yourself and others.

Let’s flatten the curve. We did it once.

Together, we can do it again.

People>>

PLAYMATES OR SOULMATES

Essentially Wear a mask Maintain social distancing Wash your hands Shop at Cliff’s

IT....

E V A N’T H O D E D IT! E E IF W N N’T O D U YO

Proud to support the community

Browse & Reply FREE! SF - 415-692-5774 1-888-MegaMates Free to Listen & Reply, 18+

ebar.com

9/8/20 9:12 AM

479 Castro Street, San Francisco, CA 94114

www.cliffsvariety.com

T:9.75"

Treating everyone with kindness.

Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s loving care.

At Saint Francis Memorial Hospital, our entire staff is trained in treating people of all gender identities, expressions, and sexual orientations. Making sure our patients are respected and understood from the moment they enter our doors is our priority.

Because quality care starts with kindness.

T:16"

Untitled-1 1

21-CSHD-1376_1770_9.75X16_TREATING_SFMH_M2

9/8/20 9:15 AM