September 5, 2019 edition of the Bay Area Reporter, America's highest circulation LGBTQ weekly by Bay Area Reporter

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Vol. 49 • No. 36 • September 5-11, 2019

Oakland marks 10th Pride festival by Samantha Laurey

Courtesy Sen. Wiener’s office

State Senator Scott Wiener

Deadline nears to pass CA LGBT bills by Matthew S. Bajko

alifornia lawmakers have until Friday, September 13, to pass several LGBT bills in order to send them to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk for his signature. He will have until October 13 to sign or veto the legislation. The pending bills being backed by Equality California, the statewide LGBT advocacy organization, tackle such issues as improving the safety of LGBT students on public school campuses, housing transgender inmates based on their preferred gender, and offering a month’s supply of the HIV prevention pill known as PrEP over the counter without a doctor’s prescription. The list of this year’s bills advancing LGBT rights continues to be pared down, with several being killed in committee last week and others being held by their authors until the 2020 legislative session. One bill has already become law, as the Bay Area Reporter first reported online Friday, as Newsom that day signed his first piece of LGBT legislation since becoming governor in January. The legislation, Assembly Bill 711, ensures that transgender students can obtain their school records and diplomas with their preferred name and gender pronoun. Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco) authored it. (See story Page 1.) Another bill is now awaiting Newsom’s pen to become law, Senate Bill 534, one of two bills aimed at helping LGBT-owned businesses. SB 534, introduced by state Senator Steven Bradford (D-Gardena), would require the state’s $310 billion insurance industry to biennially report how much it is contracting with businesses owned by women, people of color, veterans, and LGBT individuals. Gay Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, a former state senator, is a co-sponsor of the legislation. It revives the state agency’s Insurance Diversity Initiative that expired in January and would expand its scope to include LGBT- and veteran-owned businesses. The Senate passed the bill August 26 and it was sent to Newsom Friday. Also that day the Senate Appropriations Committee passed AB 962, co-authored by Assemblywoman Autumn Burke (D-Inglewood) and Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Oakland). It would require California hospitals to publicly disclose how much See page 17 >>

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akland Pride returns Sunday, September 8, as this year’s theme, “Power of Pride,” celebrates the 10th annual festival and the sixth annual parade. There are two new events this year: a pre-Pride party and a Trans March. Both take place Saturday, September 7. The Trans March, according to organizers, will step off from Frank Ogawa Plaza (aka Oscar Grant Plaza) at Broadway and 14th Street at 11:30 a.m. Organizer Socorro Moreland wrote in an email that Oakland is home to hundreds of trans people, specifically people of color, but that the city is often overshadowed by San Francisco. “This year Oakland will host its own trans march to create visibility and bring the community together in an attempt to have our own transgender movement and celebration,” Moreland wrote. The group will march to the Lake Merritt area, where there will be a stage and mini rally for black trans lives. Oakland Pride is holding its first prePride party, set for 6 p.m. to midnight. Admission is free and people should enter at 21st Street and Broadway.

Jane Philomen Cleland

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, second from left, raises the Pride flag at Oakland City Hall Tuesday as out Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan raises her hand.

Organizers wrote in a Facebook post that there will be live music, drinks, and lots of dancing. The party takes place at the Latinx stage and all ages are welcome.

Sunday events

Parade contingents will begin to gather at

14th Street and Broadway 10 a.m. and will plan to start marching at 11. The parade is easily accessible from the 12th Street Oakland City Center BART station. People can also use the 19th Street BART station if attending the festival. Public transportation is encouraged. See page 16 >>

Newsom signs 1st LGBT bill; Assembly panel kills pro-gay sex registry bill

by Matthew S. Bajko

overnor Gavin Newsom Friday signed into law his first LGBT rights bill since becoming California’s top executive in January. The legislation ensures that transgender students can obtain their school records and diplomas with their preferred name and gender pronoun. Also Friday the Assembly Appropriations Committee killed a bill this session that aimed to ensure LGBT adolescents are treated the same as their heterosexual peers when faced with the possibility of being listed on the state’s sex offender registry. Its demise by the panel, which had an August 30 deadline to pass out legislation that was initially introduced by the Senate in order for it to be voted on by the full Assembly, elicited a blistering response from Equality California. The statewide LGBT advocacy group lashed out at the committee’s chair, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), for blocking the bill. It was a rare public sign of pique by EQCA, which in the past has usually either not commented when LGBT rights bills died in the appropriations committee, mainly due to cost concerns, or issued a statement vowing to work with the authors of the legislation to reintroduce the bills next session.

Jane Philomen Cleland

Governor Gavin Newsom, shown in a file photo, signed his first LGBTQ bill Friday.

“Regrettably, this is not the first time that this committee, led by this chair, has stood in the way of LGBTQ civil rights legislation,” stated EQCA Executive Director Rick Zbur. “We will not stop fighting for this commonsense fix because California’s LGBTQ young people deserve better. We all deserve better.”

{ FIRST OF THREE SECTIONS }

Gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) is the lead author of the legislation, Senate Bill 145. It would grant judges discretion to decide if a person should have to register as a sex offender if that person is within 10 years of age of a consensual sexual See page 16 >>

9/3/19 10:00 AM

<< Community News

2 • Bay Area Reporter • September 5-11, 2019

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Jones readies for grand marshal duties by Charlie Wagner

leve Jones, the gay longtime activist who founded the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, will return to the North Bay this weekend as grand marshal of the Russian River Pride parade. Russian River Pride officials are set for the parade Saturday, September 7, after they received a permit from Sonoma County last week, as the Bay Area Reported online. Pride organizer Rodger Jensen said that Jones was selected due to his lifetime of LGBTQ activism, including founding the AIDS quilt in San Francisco in 1987, and his connection to the river going back over 40 years. Jones’ return marks a homecoming of sorts, as he once moved to the Russian River area and thought he’d never live anywhere else. “My first experiences at the river were in the 1970s,” Jones, 64, recalled in a phone interview. “I would hitchhike up, you could see hundreds of gay and bisexual men floating in the river and there were lots of places to dance.” Everything changed, he said, after AIDS arrived in the 1980s. Jones said he himself did not get sick until 1992-1993, when “like many men in my circumstances, I moved up to the river to die.” He knew ”hardly anyone,” but

Rick Gerharter

Russian River Pride grand marshal Cleve Jones

remembers fondly all the love and support he found, “much of it from the lesbian women who looked out for me.” Close to death by 1994, Jones was enrolled in a clinical trial of what researchers would call the “cocktail,” which transformed living with the disease for many when it became available a couple of years later. “I rebounded very dramatically, but quickly developed resistance,” he said. “They’d give you a new set of pills and see if your T cells went up or down.” Partly due to the influence of his friend, the gay late marijuana activist Dennis Peron, Jones discovered tiny Villa Grande, a small hamlet southwest of Guerneville. While he was undergoing chemotherapy treatment at Kaiser Santa Rosa, “I was able to live a relatively stress-free life up there. I think it’s See page 15 >>

Coldwell Banker leaves Castro by Sari Staver

hen the double storefront at 2355 Market Street (at Castro) goes dark Monday, September 9, the Castro will add another closed business to its long list of companies who left the neighborhood. According to office manager Doug Devine, the Coldwell Banker Castro office, which has been at Market and Castro for the past 14 years, will consolidate with the company office on Van Ness Avenue. In a phone call with the Bay Area Reporter Wednesday, Devine said he did not have any details about the upcoming vacancy. Sitting just east of the real estate company is another empty storefront, the former Bisou Bistro, which closed in 2018. In other Castro business news, Sterling Bank is planning to move next door from its current location into expanded quarters at 2100 Market Street, at the corner of Church and 14th Streets. The item will come up Thursday when members of the Castro Merchants group are scheduled to vote on whether to support the proposal. The prominent corner retail space for decades was home to various restaurants, but the developer of the property, Brian Spiers, had told the B.A.R. last month that he did not plan to lease the newly built storefront to a restaurant. Spiers’ project made headlines in August when news broke that he had partnered with an extended stay rental agency to lease out the building’s apartments. Finally, after just four months in business, Cook Shoppe, the new restaurant that took over the space at 215 Church where Chow was located for 22 years, has closed its doors. The restaurant, owned in part by a group of New York investors who also

Sari Staver

Coldwell Banker will vacate its Castro Street office on Monday.

planned to open two additional restaurants across the street from the eatery, ran into trouble almost immediately after several people complained to the state that the establishment was serving alcohol without a license. California Alcoholic Beverage Control launched an investigation and told the restaurant it had to stop serving alcohol until it was licensed to do so. Last month, in an interview with the B.A.R., a man who identified himself as Mark White, who said he was an owner of Cook Shoppe, said that ABC had made a “clerical error” on their application. White, who identified himself as a gay man, told the B.A.R. that his attorneys were working on the case to make sure the paperwork was filled out properly. But on August 30, Hoodline reported that the restaurant abruptly closed, posting a sign on the front door thanking patrons for their support. The same day, Cook Shoppe withdrew its application for a license to serve alcohol, according to Justin Gebb, agent in charge of the San Francisco office of ABC. The B.A.R. left several messages for White, which were not returned at press time. The future of the properties – a brasserie and wine bar (216 Church Street), take-out cafe Gramercy Park To-Go (212 Church Street), and Cook Shoppe – is uncertain. t

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<< Community News

4 • Bay Area Reporter • September 5-11, 2019

Reignite your passion! We can make a difference in how you feel about yourself.

New executive director starts at Pacific Center by Cynthia Laird

he new executive director at the Pacific Center for Human Growth is just one of a few queer women of color in a leadership role at a Bay Area nonprofit. Providing Testosterone Treatments to: Michelle Gonzalez, 27, took the reins of the Berkeley LGBTQ com• Improve body composition & muscle strength munity center – the oldest in the • Increase energy & vitality Bay Area and third oldest in the • Enhance sexual response nation – August 1. She spent most of July in a transition period with Leslie Ewing, the former executive director who retired. Gonzalez, 27, acknowledged that the leadership of nonprofit organizations serving the LGBTQ community lacks diversity. “I feel strongly that this is a disservice to the community,” she wrote in an email to the Bay Area Reporter. “I am honored to be leading a Bay 2100 Webster Street, Suite 416, San Francisco, CA 94115 Area LGBTQ nonprofit and look www.PMoP.com • (415) 671-6400 • DrBruce@PMoP.com forward to partnering with other organizations, as well as the broader Call us today to find how we can help you. community, to shift how we operate and who we center in our work.” She added that the perspective PMOP_Version3.indd 1 8/30/19 1:04 PM she brings to the job as a queer Cuban American woman “is important, and I’m also privileged by being cisgender, white passing, and able-bodied.” “LGBTQ nonprofit organizations must do better to center and uplift the voices of all who are marginalized in our community and I am committed to doing that in my new position,” she added. Gonzalez lives in Berkeley and previously worked at Joyable, an online site that creates curriculum for employee mental health and does therapy matching. Prior to that, she worked at Our Space, a program of Side by Side, which works with queer and trans youth in Hayward. There, Gonzalez started as a youth specialist, working directly with cli-

Pacific Center Executive Director Michelle Gonzalez

ents, before moving to a program director position. One thing Gonzalez wants to do at the Pacific Center is make its clinical services more accessible. Currently, the center works with about 24 clinicians who provide therapy and counseling to young people and adults. Licensed clinicians who are members or allies of the LGBTQ community supervise these clinicians. She also expects the center will continue to hold the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance in November. The Pacific Center started holding the event a couple of years ago after it left its longtime venue at Oakland City Hall. “I don’t see why not,” she told the B.A.R. in a phone interview August 30. The Pacific Center sees over 3,000 people per year, and helps another 1,000 through training programs and off-site connections. For example, this weekend the center will have a booth at Oakland Pride to promote its services.

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by David-Elijah Nahmod

415 370 7152 • StevenUnderhill.com

8/26/19

he new executive director of Fameline, which produces the annual LGBTQ film festival in San Francisco, started his new post last 11:25 AM week and said he’s received a warm welcome. James Woolley, 34, moved to the Bay Area from Sydney, Australia, where he most recently served as head of marketing and customer relations at the Sydney Film Festival. In all, he has over a decade of film festival management experience, according to a Frameline news release announcing his hire. “It’s been wonderful meeting all the talented staff,” Woolley, a gay man, said in a brief phone interview Friday, August 30, a few days after starting the job. “Everyone has made me feel very welcome. I’m very lucky that Frances Wallace has left Frameline in really great shape, so I can get down to business and start looking at Frameline 2020. It’s very exciting.” He was referring to the previous Frameline executive director, who departed the organization following this year’s film festival in June. Wallace had led Frameline for over five years. Woolley also previously worked as festival manager of the Queer Screen/Mardi Gras Film Festival. According to the release, Woolley was selected by a search committee of current and former Frameline

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Vera Hannush, president of the Pacific Center’s board, said board members were impressed with Gonzalez. “What stood out about Michelle was her passion, experience, and commitment to the Pacific Center’s mission and vision,” Hannush wrote in an email. “She is already identifying creative and forward-thinking ways to ensure that we remain Alameda County’s preferred LGBTQ+ mental health provider and serve the maximum number of clients.” Hannush added that some of the board’s goals for the next few months are “to continue to support the center’s key focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion; to strategize with respect to corporate giving and growing the endowment fund; to grow our board; and to continue to be great ambassadors for the center’s amazing work.” Gonzalez graduated in 2012 from Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Massachusetts with a bachelor’s degree in gender studies. She moved to the Bay Area five years ago. The Pacific Center’s annual budget is just below $1.2 million, Gonzalez said. Hannush wrote that the board declined to state Gonzalez’s salary. According to the agency’s 2016 IRS Form 990, Ewing’s salary was $96,812. So far, Gonzalez said, the job has been great. “I’m trying to get a sense of the organization and having conversations with folks,” she said. “I want to identify opportunities for the organization to improve, serve more clients more deeply, and be inclusive and accessible to everyone.”t For more information about the Pacific Center, visit http://www. pacificcenter.org.

Frameline’s new executive director takes helm

Professional headshots / profile pics Weddings / Events

Steven-LinkedIn_17160.indd 1

Courtesy Pacific Center

Courtesy Frameline

New Frameline Executive Director James Woolley

board members from more than 25 candidates during a six-month global search process. He will be tasked with overseeing the organization’s namesake film festival, as well as its other acclaimed yearround educational, distribution, and exhibition programs. “As we plan for Frameline’s future, our board and staff know that it is important both to continue Frameline’s legacy, and to find new ways to share queer stories with our community and the world,” Frameline’s board president, Nadir Joshua, said in the release. “James’ passion, innovation, and proven track record in advancing queer stories are exactly what we hoped to find in a candi-

date. We are thrilled that James will be leading Frameline’s next chapter as we continue our work to change the world through the power of queer cinema.” Woolley noted that it’s too early to talk about his plans for Frameline’s next festival, which takes place June 18-28. “It’s too soon,” he said. “We’ll definitely do some very exciting things in the future but nothing to be confirmed in week one. I’m still having a very good look at it and discussing everything with the board and the staff. We’re going to have a look at the direction we want to go in, but it’s going to be collaborative, so there’s nothing I can say at the moment.” Woolley received a bachelor of creative arts degree from Macquarie University-Sydney NSW. The Frameline release noted that during his time at Sydney Film Festival (2010-2019), Woolley and his team were credited with doubling ticketing revenue, while the Mardi Gras Film Festival tripled its audience during his run as festival manager, from 2013-2017. Frameline’s annual budget is about $2 million, according to its IRS 2017 Form 990. Woolley said that his salary is $90,000. t Frameline will start accepting submissions for the 2020 film festival this winter. For more information, visit www.frameline.org.

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<< Open Forum

6 • Bay Area Reporter • September 5-11, 2019

Volume 49, Number 36 September 5-11, 2019 www.ebar.com PUBLISHER Michael M. Yamashita Thomas E. Horn, Publisher Emeritus (2013) Publisher (2003 – 2013) Bob Ross, Founder (1971 – 2003) NEWS EDITOR Cynthia Laird ARTS EDITOR Roberto Friedman BARTAB EDITOR & EVENTS LISTINGS EDITOR Jim Provenzano ASSISTANT EDITORS Matthew S. Bajko CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Ray Aguilera • Tavo Amador • Race Bannon Roger Brigham • Brian Bromberger Victoria A. Brownworth • Philip Campbell Heather Cassell • Belo Cipriani • Dan Renzi Michael Flanagan • Jim Gladstone David Guarino • Liz Highleyman Brandon Judell • John F. Karr • Lisa Keen Matthew Kennedy • Joshua Klipp David Lamble • Max Leger David-Elijah Nahmod • Paul Parish Lois Pearlman • Tim Pfaff • Jim Piechota Bob Roehr • Gregg Shapiro • Gwendolyn Smith Sari Staver • Tony Taylor • Charlie Wagner Ed Walsh • Cornelius Washington • Sura Wood ART DIRECTION Max Leger PRODUCTION/DESIGN Ernesto Sopprani PHOTOGRAPHERS Jane Philomen Cleland • FBFE Rick Gerharter • Gareth Gooch Jose Guzman-Colon • Rudy K. Lawidjaja Georg Lester • Dan Lloyd • Jo-Lynn Otto Rich Stadtmiller • Kelly Sullivan • Fred Rowe Steven Underhil • Bill Wilson ILLUSTRATORS & CARTOONISTS Paul Berge • Christine Smith ADVERTISING/ADMINISTRATION Colleen Small Bogitini VICE PRESIDENT OF ADVERTISING Scott Wazlowski – 415.829.8937 NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Rivendell Media – 212.242.6863

LEGAL COUNSEL Paul H. Melbostad, Esq.

Newspapers need an exemption in AB 5

he newspaper industry in California, which has suffered steep declines in subscribers and advertising revenue over the past decade, is about to be dealt what will likely be a fatal blow under Assembly Bill 5. The bill, which is mainly characterized as a fight over whether Uber and Lyft drivers should be company employees, has ensnared many other industries that rely on contractors. In our case, AB 5 would be a crippling blow, as the Bay Area Reporter relies on about 50 freelance reporters, critics, photographers, and delivery drivers. An opinion essay in Tuesday’s San Francisco Chronicle painted a grim picture if AB 5 becomes law. Thomas W. Newton, executive director of the California News Publishers Association, and James W. Ewert, its general counsel and advocate, wrote that AB 5 could end home newspaper delivery as we know it. Small news and media outlets like ours simply cannot hire additional full-time or part-time employees – that’s why we, and many other industries, rely on contract workers. The bill became critical following a California Supreme Court decision that overruled a 30year precedent by declaring that workers can maintain independent contractor status only if a business and contractor can pass a three-part test, Newton and Ewert explained. Known as the ABC test, it’s the B part that would affect many industries under AB 5 because it allows independent contractor relationships “only where the worker performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business.” The bill was supposed to create a balance by both codifying the ABC test and providing exemptions to protect independent status for certain time-tested independent work relationships, Newton and Ewert wrote. Instead, AB 5 “would force

all businesses to hire independent contractors as employees – unless the business has been given a special exemption by the Legislature. So far, the Legislature has refused to grant one to the newspaper industry,” they explained, and went on to note that exemptions have been granted to doctors and real estate agents. Let’s be clear: newspapers need an exemption to AB 5. Gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), said that a deal has been struck whereby freelance

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.

writers and photographers could produce 35 assignments a year and still be considered a freelancer. Photographers could send multiple photos from an event that would count as a single submission. But that’s unrealistic in our case, and for many other publications. What’s more, many freelancers may quit entirely if they are limited to such low production volume; after all, they make their living based on the number of articles they write or photo assignments they complete for us and other media. We would have to hire another 50 freelancers – at least – in an economy and region where it’s increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to do so. We’re not alone. Any business that relies on contract workers will be imperiled if AB 5 passes. Governor Gavin Newsom indicated his support for the bill in a Labor Day op-ed in the Sacramento Bee, writing that AB 5 extends “critical labor protections to workers by curbing misclassifications.” But that misses the bigger picture in which freelancers are integral to a newspaper’s, or any other business to survive. Yes, the Chronicle has a union, as do most other large papers in the state, but it still uses freelancers to fill important roles. We agree that drivers for Uber and Lyft should be able to unionize, but that shouldn’t come at the steep cost of wiping out entire industries. AB 5 has passed the Assembly and awaits action in the Senate. We call on Wiener, lesbian Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) and their colleagues to include an exemption for newspapers in the bill. The deal that is currently on the table is woefully inadequate. Freelancers should not be restricted in the number of articles or photos they produce. Other businesses should also take note of this legislation. Uber and Lyft drivers may see the benefit of AB 5, but a lot of other workers will be left at the curb.t

It’s time for a conversation on meth use in the LGBTQ community by Joe Hollendoner, Rafael Mandelman, and Laura Thomas

Bay Area Reporter

ecent headlines scream that “Meth is back” but we know that methamphetamine never left the LGBTQ community, at least not here in San Francisco. Meth’s presence here hasn’t changed. What has changed is the increase in the numbers of meth users in our community and the broader population who are in crisis because of our city’s housing crisis and shortage of appropriate mental health and substance use disorder treatment services. In order to solve this crisis, we need the LGBTQ community to come together to care for each other and inform solutions. That’s why we, with the support of the Mayor’s Methamphetamine Task Force, and in collaboration with other community partners, are convening a town hall to hear from members of the LGBTQ community, especially those with lived experience, on what the city should be doing to end the meth crisis. Gay former District 8 supervisor Bevan Dufty and then-mayor Gavin Newsom convened the Mayor’s Task Force on Crystal Methamphetamine in 2005. That task force met for four years and focused on the needs of the LGBTQ community. It recommended a number of solutions, including increased treatment, many of which were not put in place because of the significant public health budget cuts in 2009. The new task force is picking up that mantle and will make recommendations to the Board of Supervisors this fall on new programs, policies, and funding to better prevent and treat meth use in all communities. Research has shown that LGBTQ individuals are more likely to use substances and more

Courtesy Supervisor Mandelman’s office

The reconstituted Mayor’s Methamphetamine Task Force held its first meeting April 15

likely to develop problematic substance use, largely because of higher rates of trauma, than our heterosexual siblings. Gay and bi men, and other men who have sex with men, or MSM, have higher rates of crystal meth use and may face additional HIV transmission risks as a result. In San Francisco right now, it doesn’t take much to lose one’s housing stability and homeless individuals in San Francisco are disproportionately LGBTQ. Far too many of our community are living on the streets, where meth use can be a survival mechanism. Many of us have had a friend, partner, or family member who has struggled with meth use and felt helpless in the face of their disease. San Francisco AIDS Foundation’s Stonewall Project has found success in serving gay, bi, and trans men who use meth by providing low threshold harm reduction counseling and incentives for abstaining from meth use. PROP, the Positive Reinforcement Opportunity Project, served 126 participants in the last year. Of those, 63% stopped their use of stimulants completely and another

19% reduced their use. Because of the demand for additional services, San Francisco AIDS Foundation will soon expand its effective harm reduction programming, but this expansion will not be enough to deal with the severity of the situation in our city. Significantly more must be done, especially to serve trans women, youth, and monolingual Spanish speakers. If we are to solve this crisis, we need elected officials, health care providers, people with lived experience, and other community members to come together to generate solutions. We invite you to come share your thoughts on how we can take better care of community members who want to change their meth use, protect those who are not yet at the point of changing their use from greater harm, have more open conversations about our substance use, and heal the traumas that leave many of us vulnerable to problematic drug use. We also want to hear what you think the City and County of San Francisco should be doing and funding – what do we need more of? What do we need less of? Join us Monday, September 9, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center, 1800 Market Street, in the Rainbow Room for this important community conversation. The town hall is co-sponsored by gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, the Castro Country Club, the Harm Reduction Coalition, HealthRIGHT360, San Francisco AIDS Foundation, and the SF LGBT center. t Joe Hollendoner is CEO of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. Rafael Mandelman represents District 8 on San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors and co-chairs the Mayor’s Methamphetamine Task Force. Laura Thomas is the director of harm reduction policy at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

Election 2019 >>

September 5-11, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 7

DA’s office needs to be part of solution

by Leif Dautch

Editor’s note: The Bay Area Reporter asked each of the four candidates for district attorney to write about why LGBTQ voters should choose them in the November election. This week, we feature Leif Dautch and Chesa Boudin.

hen it comes to homelessness, car break-ins, and police accountability, the San Francisco District Attorney’s office has been part of the problem – I’m running to make it part of the solution. From speaking with LGBTQ friends and supporters, and concerned citizens and small business owners all across San Francisco, it’s clear that people want the next DA to: • Open a mental health justice center for those battling mental illness on our streets. • Hold police officers accountable for misconduct. • Prioritize the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault. • Address the recent spike in hate crimes. • Launch an auto burglary task force to prosecute the organized rings breaking into cars. These are issues that affect the entire city, but they have a disproportionate impact on the LGBTQ community, whether it’s the sky-high LGBTQ youth homelessness rates or the incidence of sexual violence and police harassment against our trans brothers and sisters. I work on these issues every day as a deputy state attorney general, where I’ve prosecuted more than 400 criminal cases, from trials to

Rick Gerharter

San Francisco district attorney candidate Leif Dautch

arguing before the California Supreme Court. As an assistant supervisor, I’m the only candidate in the DA’s race who actually manages a team of prosecutors. But my passion for criminal justice started much earlier. When I was growing up, my mom worked as a nurse at a juvenile hall. She was so moved by the kids there that she convinced our family to become foster parents. We took in a dozen kids, eventually adopting two: my brother, Ian, and my sister, Elissa. I saw firsthand the effects of trauma, race, and poverty, but I also saw amazing people like my mom working within the system to ensure that a one-time mistake did not turn into a lifetime of crime. It was that childhood exposure to the justice system that set me on this path. A path that took me

from a small organic farm in rural California to Harvard Law to clerking on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to serving as the president of the San Francisco Juvenile Probation Commission, and to my current position as a deputy attorney general. But now, we face a crossroads in San Francisco. We have a broken justice system that sees 70% of people return to jail within three years of release. We have a humanitarian and public health crisis playing out on our streets. We have the highest property crime rates in the nation. Our plans to open a mental health justice center, stop car break-ins, and hold law enforcement accountable have earned us the support of gay leaders like California Assembly Speaker Emeritus John Perez, San Francisco school board Vice President Mark Sanchez, Fire Commissioner Ken Cleaveland, Democratic County Central Committee member Keith Baraka, Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club President Kevin Bard, and trans housing activist Jordan Davis. Not to mention groups like the San Francisco Firefighters, Brownie Mary Democratic Club, League of Conservation Voters, and the Latino Democratic Club. Working together, we can fix this broken system. I would be honored to earn your vote this November. t

hen I was in diapers, my parents drove the getaway car in an armed robbery that tragically took three lives. My mother spent 22 years in prison. My father may never get out. Growing up, I had to go through steel gates just to see my parents. Through those prison visits and my work as a public defender, I’ve learned that our criminal justice system is profoundly broken. It’s broken for victims, who have nothing to show for the billions spent on punishment; it’s broken for children, like me, who are left behind when their parents commit crime; it’s broken for the communities most impacted by the system, including the LGBTQ community; and it’s broken for taxpayers, who pay for a system with recidivism rates above two thirds. I’m running for district attorney because I know we can do better at keeping our communities safe. I’m proud to have the endorsement of the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, four members of the Board of Supervisors, and national reform leaders including Shaun King, Angela Davis, and Larry Krasner. Numerous other local and national leaders and organizations support my campaign and my plan to treat every arrest as an opportunity for intervention. To keep our communities safe we need to transform lives away

Rick Gerharter

San Francisco district attorney candidate Chesa Boudin

from crime. I’ll build an office as diverse as San Francisco, improving language access and cultural awareness through hiring, retaining, and promoting a diverse staff, including from the LGBTQ and formerly incarcerated communities. I’m committed to a survivorcentered response to crime, because it’s essential to a safe and just society. My restorative justice program – the most comprehensive of any DA in the United States, and available on my website – is a crucial step in that direction. Its foundation is a commitment to giving every victim of crime a voice in the process, rather than simply using them

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to secure a conviction. I was proud to stand with sexual assault survivors in developing a plan to transform our approach to sex crimes, one of the most common yet least prosecuted category of serious crimes. Sex crimes impact people across all demographics, but victims and survivors are far more likely to be transgender, gendernonconforming, nonbinary, women, low-income, unhoused, and/or people of color. Nearly half of bisexual cis women have been raped. For the trans/gender-nonconforming/ nonbinary community, the number is closer to one in two. And even these statistics grossly under-represent the problem because most sexual assaults are never reported. My plan, also available on my website, details a six-point approach to getting justice for survivors of sexual violence, including ensuring that every rape kit is tested right away and that victims are involved in the process. When victims trust the process, they’ll report what happens to them and we can eradicate sexual violence from our society. Our current criminal justice system isn’t keeping us safe or doing us justice. We need a new approach. San Francisco deserves it, and so does the LGBTQ community, the core of our city. t Chesa Boudin is a candidate for San Francisco district attorney. For more information, visit www. chesaboudin.com.

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<< International News

8 • Bay Area Reporter • September 5-11, 2019

Groundbreaking report reveals reach of conversion therapy by Heather Cassell

first-of-its-kind report documenting conversion therapy around the world highlights the pervasiveness of the practice. The 73-page report, “Harmful Treatment: The Global Reach of So-Called Conversion Therapy,” published by OutRight Action International August 22, documents common factors that lead to conversion therapy and recommendations for eradicating the practice. The report found that religion and “pseudo-health care” facilities promote preying on deep-rooted cultural faith and honor among families, who often instigate LGBT family members getting conversion therapy treatment. In some cases, LGBT individuals self-admit themselves to conversion therapy centers or practices, the report noted. Nearly 500 people from 80 countries responded to an online survey distributed in English and Mandarin, during a three-week period in March. Researchers followed up with interviews in March and April with 19 individuals who indicated interest in telling their stories. “Our report paints a chilling picture of the global prevalence of these barbaric practices, which constitute cisgender, heteronormative indoctrination,” Outright deputy director Maria Sjödin said in the organization’s news release. “So-called conversion therapy efforts hinge on the belief that cisgender heterosexuality is the norm, and gender identities beyond the binary and/or samesex attraction not only fall outside the norm, but have to be changed, if need be by brutal, inhuman force, through practices which have been recognized

SFPD+090519+100319.indd 1

Savvapanf Photo/AdobeStock

A new report details the history of conversion therapy in countries around the world and proposes recommendations for halting the widely debunked practice.

to be tantamount to torture by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.” Only four countries – Brazil, Ecuador, Malta, and Taiwan – have outlawed conversion therapy. However, even some countries that have banned the practice of “curing” sexuality and gender identity continue to struggle against conversion therapy. After the report was published, Ecuadorian LGBT organization Silueta X alleged that an 18-year-old identified as Ruben B was taken against his will and institutionalized at a socalled conversion therapy center known as Reserved on August 19, according to the organization’s August 26 news release. Ruben’s friends reached out to the organization, but his family denied he had been taken against his will and told members of Silueta X that Ruben was at a retreat known as Juan XXIII in Quito, the country’s capital city, when they in-

vestigated the complaint. Silueta X’s leaders asked authorities to investigate the situation and reminded the public that the practice, while still a challenge to shut down, is illegal. In the U.S., several states have banned the practice, mostly just for minors, such as California. Ten countries have a partial ban in place, including Canada, while 10 other countries, such as Mexico, have movements pressuring governments to ban the practice, according to the report. That means 172 countries around the world don’t ban or have a movement against conversion therapy, despite it being denounced by the World Health Organization and other organizations.

One story

In Africa, only South Africa partially bans the practice of conversion therapy out of the continent’s 54 countries. Nigerian university professor Mocha, 43, a transgender woman, told the Bay Area Reporter during a

WhatsApp call on Monday that she was lucky, despite two attempts by her family to “cure” the LGBT activist of her gender identity. Mocha didn’t want to use her last name to protect her family and her own safety. “I’ve been very lucky. Other people have been beaten up by mobs [and] had their front teeth kicked in,” she said. “They [the mobs] felt that if they [LGBT people] were tortured they would stop being who they are.” The first time her family tried to cure her she was only 9 years old. Her family, embarrassed by her effeminate ways, took her to a Tiv tribal doctor to “cure” her of what they believed were evil spirits, she said. The doctor performed a ritual cutting on several parts of her body, inserting an herbal concoction into the incisions before killing a black rooster and throwing it into the Benue River supposedly to take the evil spirits from her. It didn’t work. She was 24 when her family made a second attempt to “cure” her. They took her to a Catholic priest whom she confessed her desires and her experiences. The priest performed a ritual and told her to pray and fast as her penance. She did this for a year. It didn’t work. A middle child with two older brothers and two younger brothers, she left her family when she was 26. She moved across her small town to a new neighborhood. “I was a lot happier living on my own being who I wanted to be,” she said, talking about connecting with other transgender Nigerians. “I wasn’t worried about who was watching or who was judging.” She was relieved of her family’s pain and pressures, but societal pressures and her experiences continue to trouble her. She hasn’t been able to maintain relationships with other men because homosexuality is illegal

in Nigeria and the pressures of potentially being caught weigh on the relationships. Individuals caught engaging in a same-sex relationship can serve up to 14 years in prison. Still, Mocha believes her experience was not as bad as the brutal attempts by families fueled by religious beliefs that homosexuality and gender identity are sins to convert their children to a heterosexual way of life. It happened to her first love, who, when reunited after their school years, wouldn’t look her in the eyes, she said. “I was so hurt because it was magical back in boarding school. It was a fairytale and the experiences I had with him in boarding school would last a lifetime,” said Mocha, who blamed brutal methodologies of conversion therapy on the break-up. “Here was this totally different person whom I couldn’t have a connection with anymore,” she said. “He wasn’t able to look into my eyes anymore. When I looked at him, he looked away. It really, really broke my heart.” Mocha said she’s speaking out because she doesn’t want younger LGBT Nigerians to experience what she and others have gone through. “I hope that they don’t have to pass through what I went through. That is why I am vocal about what I went through. To make the world know and to make people know that it happened here in Nigeria,” said Mocha. “You cannot change someone’s sexuality. You cannot change who the person was born to be, and that diversity is the beauty of life.” Yet, she doesn’t want to leave Nigeria like many other LGBT people have. “Home is where the heart is. I won’t be happier anywhere else in the world,” she said, listing off the things she loves: See page 16 >>

9/3/19 10:43 AM

<< Politics

10 • Bay Area Reporter • September 5-11, 2019

Out CA lawmakers becoming parents by Matthew S. Bajko

he proverbial stork has visited at least three out lawmakers this year in California. Two female politicians are expecting children with their spouses, while a male leader adopted a son out of foster care with his partner. Gay Sacramento City Councilman Steve Hansen announced August 15 that he and Michael McNulty, his partner of five years, had legally adopted their son, Henry Benjamin Hansen McNulty. He posted photos that day on his Facebook page of the family signing the required paperwork at the state’s Nevada County Superior Court north of the capital in order to finalize the adoption. “He came to us just 14 months ago, but has been and will be in our hearts forever. We are filled with joy, love, & peace,” wrote Hansen, the first out

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LGBT city council member in Sacramento. A day later lesbian Assemblywoman Sabrina Cervantes (D-Corona) revealed that she and her wife, Courtney Downs, are expecting triplets in a pair of Twitter posts. While not the first out state legislator to be a parent, Cervantes is the first member of the Legislative LGBTQ Caucus to be an expectant mother while in office. “Thrilled to announce we will be multiplying our joy by three. #expecting,” wrote Cervantes in one August 16 tweet. In another, she wrote, “Blessed to be growing our family in #AD60! We look forward to joining all who balance parenthood and career! #MamasToBeOfThree #CALeg.” Cervantes, who is pregnant and has a due date in mid-January, could not

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be reached for an interview by press time Wednesday. But in an emailed reply to the Bay Area Reporter, she wrote, “My wife and I always hoped to become parents someday. Learning that I am expecting triplets was exhilarating, and we couldn’t be more excited to be starting our family. We are truly blessed.” And on June 26, in the middle of Pride week, lesbian BART board director Rebecca Saltzman and her wife, Caitlin Stone, announced that Stone was pregnant with a baby girl and due in mid-November. Last week, they moved from Oakland to a larger home in El Cerrito within the boundaries of Saltzman’s District 3 seat on the BART board as they await the birth of their daughter. “We couldn’t be much more excited about expanding our family!” wrote Saltzman in a Facebook post that included a sonogram image of the couple’s child. LGBT politicians having babies while in office is still relatively new in the Golden State, as those who are parents tend to enter into elective politics when their children are long out of diapers. When former gay San Francisco supervisor Bevan Dufty announced he would become a dad in 2006 amid his re-election campaign, it was front-page news. Dufty, whose son, Sid GoldfaderDufty, is now in eighth grade, currently serves alongside Saltzman as president of the BART board. Being a new parent and at the same time an elected official is “all about balance,” he said. “The best thing is your baby doesn’t care who liked what you did or hated what you did that day. They want you to focus on them,” said Dufty. “The best thing in the world for me as a new parent was being able to shake off anything bad happening in my political day. It put things in perspective.” It was Dufty’s becoming a father, and prominently featuring his child in his unsuccessful campaign to be 12:01 PM mayor of San Francisco in 2011, that convinced Hansen he could both be a father and serve in elected office. “It was so inspiring to see him with his child in public representing our families. It still lifts my spirit,” Hansen told the B.A.R. in his first media interview about becoming a dad. “It reminds me we are part of a group of families that are special. Bevan paved the way, in my mind, to show that you could be a parent and an elected official.” Saltzman told the B.A.R. she has yet to conference with Dufty about parenting tips but has received advice from other out elected colleagues in the East Bay who are parents about how to juggle raising a child and serving as a public official. Up for reelection in 2020, she has yet to think about her campaign plans next year. “I have not decided definitely and will assess that in several months after I see how things are going with balancing not just being a mom and

Courtesy Facebook

Sacramento City Councilman Steve Hansen, right, and his partner, James McNulty, hold their son, Henry, after the judge finalized the adoption.

working but also being on the BART board,” she said. “With everything that happens in life it is always a balance.” She is planning to take some time off when the couple’s daughter arrives, but noted the timing happens to coincide with a fairly light meeting schedule for the BART board due to the holiday season between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. “The reality is it is hard and there is no one trick to how to do it,” said Saltzman, who has been with Stone nearly 17 years. “I am really lucky to have my wife Caitlin; she is doing the hardest part of all of this. If I was the pregnant one, it would be a lot more challenging.” Finding a home they could afford that was within Saltzman’s BART district was a challenge. Despite the women both having well-paying jobs, they were unable to find anything in their price range in Oakland and lucked out with finding their place in El Cerrito. “We have it a lot easier than most Bay Area residents and we still couldn’t afford to live in Oakland,” said Saltzman. The couple had discussed becoming parents for years but delayed doing so for various reasons. One came in 2016 when Saltzman faced opposition in running for re-election that year, and the death of Stone’s father also led the women to postpone having a child. “There are no accidents with us, so it is very planned,” Saltzman said of her wife’s pregnancy, which was also made possible due to the support of her mother-in-law. “None of this would be possible without Caitlin’s mom, who lives in North Berkeley – part of why we moved to El Cerrito to be nearby,” said Saltzman. “She has been helping a lot with planning, the move, going with Caitlin to appointments, and she will be helping a lot once the baby is born.

We definitely couldn’t do this alone, without her and the support of many friends.” In 2017, Hansen and McNulty decided they wanted to become fathers and turned to the agency Sierra Forever Families to help guide them through the process. They made the decision to become foster parents with a desire to adopt rather than have a biological child of their own. “Especially for foster children, there are so many kids in need. Rather than going through an artificial insemination or surrogacy route, we were able to do a beautiful thing and help a child in need,” said Hansen, who in June launched his 2020 reelection bid. “We created a family of choice, which LGBT people do anyway.” They became a certified and licensed foster home and in the spring of 2018 were first introduced to Henry. He was then placed with the couple June 11 last year when he was just 4 and half months old. “It was an opportunity to take in children who need a placement and adopt them if it works out that way,” said Hansen. “There has been nothing so moving in my life as to make our son Henry legally ours.” Caring for their son has turned the working parents into “jugglers,” said Hansen. “The most important thing we do in our family is be home together at night,” he said. “I had a whole life of being single and being without children. I really love spending time with our son and with our family. There is nothing I look more forward to than spending time with them.” He’s hopeful that his constituents will adjust to the fact that their councilman has added duties at home and may not be as available as he used to be to attend events at night or on weekends. “I do think it will take a while for See page 17 >>

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Dede Wilsey called out

Yes, Dede Wilsey does give to Democrats, that is why, when the fundraiser for President Donald Trump occurred a few weeks ago in the City of Saint Francis – the

same week that Trump stood silent as “his mob” yelled “SEND HER BACK” about four congressional women of color – there was no outrage from Senator Kamala Harris, former mayor Willie Brown, or Mayor London Breed. They’ve all gotten money from Wilsey. I was outraged and my friends were outraged. But my representatives remained silent. Finally, David Campos is calling them out [“Updated: Online Extra: Campos to hold off on Shanti resolution,” August 28]. Wilsey did participate in the [Trump] fundraiser no matter what she says. Shanti should be ashamed for honoring her. Oh, yeah, she gives it money too. Daniel N. Detorie San Francisco

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<< Travel

t Puerto Vallarta offers deals, beaches, gay nightlife 12 • Bay Area Reporter • September 5-11, 2019

by Ed Walsh

f you are on a tight travel budget, the best time to visit Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, is right now. Anytime you can get an airfare under $400 from the Bay Area you are doing well, and right now, round-trip fares for fall flights to Puerto Vallarta are as low as $300. Hotel rates are also cheap if you can get away before Thanksgiving. Room rates begin to creep up around midOctober. The summer through early fall is the rainy season in Puerto Vallarta but it generally rains in the evening, so if you do go this time of year, you probably won’t have a whole day that is rained out. Puerto Vallarta continues to be the most popular gay beach destination in Mexico and its LGBT popularity is showing no signs of slowing down. Two new upscale gay nightclubs opened just this year. The new additions are Code, where the famed Club Paco Paco used to be, and Industry, which bills itself as Puerto Vallarta’s largest gay nightclub. Industry is next to what may be the city’s second-largest gay nightclub, CC Slaughters. The gay village in Puerto Vallarta is centered around the intersection of Lazaro Cardenas and Ignacio L. Vallarta. Nine gay bars and nightclubs,

including Code and Industry, are in a block radius of that crossing. The gay sauna, Spartacus, is also on that corner. The neighborhood is known as Zona Romantica, the South Side or Old Town, the latter being a misnomer since downtown, just north of Zona Romantica, is much older than Old Town. Puerto Vallarta is also fortunate to have some of the best gay hotels in the world, including Hotel Mercurio, Casa Cupula, and Pinata PV, all of which are gay-owned. The hotels are all within easy walking distance to the city’s unofficial gay beach, Blue Chairs Beach, which is part of Playa de Los Muertos Beach, in the Zona Romantica area in front of the Blue Chairs Hotel. If you want to hang at the gay beach, you can either lay a towel on the sand for free or sit on a beach chair under an umbrella, as long as you buy food or drink from the concession that owns the chairs and umbrellas. The straight-friendly Mantamar Beach Club is next to the Blue Chairs beach and includes an infinity pool. It costs 600 pesos to enter, or about $30. For a much more intimate experience, check out Casa Cupula’s clothingoptional Pool Club, which includes a pool, hot tub, and bar with beautiful

Ed Walsh

Visitors are drawn to sunset at the pier on Los Muertos Beach.

views of the city. It costs 250 pesos to enter, or about $13, and includes two free drinks. Casa Cupula also hosts a DJ party every Saturday afternoon. The fabulous Hotel Mercurio also hosts a happy hour daily, from 3 to 8 p.m., with food and drink specials. Mercurio’s Sunday Beers, Boys, and Burgers party is legendary. Mercurio is also a great place to stop by for light

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bites during the day. Piñata PV hosts a very popular men-only social every Saturday starting at 8 p.m. The hotel’s courtyard pool, spa, and sauna overflow for this fab event. It ends at 11 so guests can get some rest. But if you want to keep the party going, fear not. PV’s nightclubs don’t really get started until after midnight. While there are no lesbian bars in PV, almost all of the gay bars in the city are very women-friendly, with the notable exception of the three male strip bars, Anthropology, Wet, and 69. The smaller gay bars are busiest before midnight, including Apaches, Divas, Reinas, Garbo, and Blondies PV. The fabulous Bar Frida is celebrating its 18th year in business as an LGBT Puerto Vallarta institution. It’s a great place to mix it up with locals, with some of the best drinks in town. Frida’s Kitchen serves up comfort food at bargain prices from 1 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Daylife

The beach and pool clubs at Mantamar and Casa Cupula are great alternatives if you want to do more than just hang at the beach. The newest daytime option is Rainbow Palms Resort (https://www.facebook.com/ rainbowpalms/). It is about a 25-minute drive, or about a 35-minute bus ride, south of Zona Romantica. The resort has a pool overlooking the bay with cavernous playrooms. Plans are to open it for weekly parties. The resort will also be open soon for overnight stays. Eight rooms on the prop-

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Ed Walsh

Ronnie Lee, left, and David Tovar are the owners of Piñata PV, a men-only hotel.

erty are being renovated from top to bottom for a great gay getaway from Puerto Vallarta while still being an easy Uber or bus ride from the center of town. Diana’s Tours (http://www.dianastours.com) boat excursion has been an LGBT tradition in Puerto Vallarta for two decades. It is run by Diana DeCosta, a Canadian expat lesbian who has been keeping regulars coming back year after year. The tour runs every Thursday and includes a continental breakfast and stop for a beachfront lunch. The first stop is at Puerto Vallarta’s famed Los Arcos, giant rocks with hollow swim-through See page 16 >>

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*Offer applies only to single-receipt qualifying purchases. Ashley HomeStore does not require a down payment, however, sales tax and delivery charges are due at time of purchase if the purchase is made with your Ashley Advantage™ Credit Card. No interest will be charged on promo purchase and equal monthly payments are required equal to initial promo purchase amount divided equally by the number of months in promo period until promo is paid in full. The equal monthly payment will be rounded to the next highest whole dollar and may be higher than the minimum payment that would be required if the purchase was a non-promotional purchase. Regular account terms apply to non-promotional purchases. For new accounts: Purchase APR is 29.99%; Minimum Interest Charge is $2. Existing cardholders should see their credit card agreement for their applicable terms. Promotional purchases of merchandise will be charged to account when merchandise is delivered. Subject to credit approval. ‡Monthly payment shown is equal to the purchase price, excluding taxes and delivery, divided by the number of months in the promo period, rounded to the next highest whole dollar, and only applies to the selected financing option shown. If you make your payments by the due date each month, the monthly payment shown should allow you to pay off this purchase within the promo period if this balance is the only balance on your account during the promo period. If you have other balances on your account, this monthly payment will be added to the minimum payment applicable to those balances. ††Ashley HomeStore does not require a down payment, however, sales tax and delivery charges are due at time of purchase if the purchase is made with your Ashley Advantage™ Credit Card. Offer applies only to single-receipt qualifying purchases. No interest will be charged on the promo purchase if you pay the promo purchase amount in full within 12 Months. If you do not, interest will be charged on the promo purchase from the purchase date. Depending on purchase amount, promotion length and payment allocation, the required minimum monthly payments may or may not pay off purchase by end of promotional period. Regular account terms apply to non-promotional purchases and, after promotion ends, to promotional balance. For new accounts: Purchase APR is 29.99%; Minimum Interest Charge is $2. Existing cardholders should see their credit card agreement for their applicable terms. Promotional purchases of merchandise will be charged to account when merchandise is delivered. Subject to credit approval. §Subject to credit approval. Minimum monthly payments required. See store for details. ‡‡Previous purchases excluded. Cannot be combined with any other promotion or discount. Discount offers exclude Tempur-Pedic®, Stearns & Foster® and Sealy Posturepedic Hybrid™ mattress sets, floor models, clearance items, sales tax, furniture protection plans, warranty, delivery fee, Manager’s Special pricing, Advertised Special pricing, and 14 Piece Packages and cannot be combined with financing specials. Effective 1/1/2018, all mattress and box springs are subject to a $10.50 per unit CA recycling fee. SEE STORE FOR DETAILS. Stoneledge Furniture LLC., many times has multiple offers, promotions, discounts and financing specials occurring at the same time; these are allowed to only be used either/or and not both or combined with each other. Although every precaution is taken, errors in price and/or specification may occur in print. We reserve the right to correct any such errors. Picture may not represent item exactly as shown, advertised items may not be on display at all locations. Some restrictions may apply. Available only at participating locations. ±Leather Match upholstery features top-grain leather in the seating areas and skillfully matched vinyl everywhere else. Ashley HomeStores are independently owned and operated. ©2019 Ashley HomeStores, Ltd. Promotional Start Date: September 3, 2019. Expires: September 9, 2019.

<< Community News

t Cannabis retail projects head to planning panel 14 • Bay Area Reporter • September 5-11, 2019

by Sari Staver

an Francisco could have several new LGBT-owned cannabis businesses, if the applicants for new companies make it through the city’s lengthy, expensive, and complicated approval process. Among the applicants, first up is the Flore Store, a proposed retail shop at 258 Noe Street, across the street from its namesake, Flore, the 40-yearold cafe where the late Dennis Peron and Mary Jane Rathbun, aka Brownie Mary, used to meet to discuss the underground cannabis scene in the city, pre-legalization. On September 19, the city’s planning commission will consider the Flore Store’s application for a conditional use permit to open a retail store at a location that now houses a nail salon, Gloss ‘n Glam. Flore officials signed a lease on the property in 2016, when the nail salon owners had decided to retire. Flore Store is partially owned by one of the city’s most prominent cannabis activists, Terrance Alan, who was chair of the city’s task force on cannabis legalization and before that, chair of the city’s entertainment commission. Alan, a gay man, opened the city’s first cannabis cafe at Flore in 2016, but had to stop serving cannabisinfused food and drinks after regulations enacting Proposition 64 would not allow restaurants serving alcohol to also sell cannabis-infused products. Alan said that the proposed business, which is partially owned by investors who are longtime cannabis growers from Humboldt County, will offer “a wide selection of the best farm grown” flowers as well as a selection of “cooking ingredients” such as infused olive oils. While the Castro Merchants gave its stamp of approval to the Flore Store, the other neighborhood group

Sari Staver

Business partners Luke Bruner, left, and Terrance Alan hold a drawing of their proposed dispensary.

– Duboce Triangle Neighborhood Association – has not yet decided whether it will back or oppose the application. However, at its meeting Monday, September 2, the nine-member DTNA Land Use Committee voted unanimously to support the Flore Store application if the applicants agreed to a set of conditions, committee co-chair David Troup wrote in an email to the Bay Area Reporter. When asked for specifics on the conditions, Troup declined to specify, noting that DTNA had not yet had the opportunity to communicate its position to the applicants at the time the B.A.R. went to press. After hearing back from Flore Store owners, DTNA will communicate its decision to the planning commission and also intends to testify at its City Hall meeting this month.

“There is a great deal of distrust of the project sponsor, a long history of bad behavior by the property owner too, so I don’t know what we will decide. I don’t think anybody has a problem with a well-run dispensary – we supported Apothecarium when they opened, and we supported Eureka Sky just a few months ago when they were up for approval – but in this case, there is a lot of distrust and bad feelings, based on past history. So it could go either way,” Troup wrote before the September 2 DTNA committee meeting. In a telephone interview with the B.A.R. last week, Troup said the DTNA land use committee members have had a series of misunderstandings with Alan. According to Troup, Alan’s original proposal included the establishment of an Airbnb in an apartment adjacent to the dispensary; when DTNA said it was opposed, Alan said he would not establish any sort of short term housing in the space. But, according to

Troup, Alan converted the apartment to an Airbnb, which was temporarily listed online, but was soon shut down by the city. Alan said there is no Airbnb on site now. Troup said DTNA members also want to know the names of all the partners who own the new business, but that Alan has refused to supply that information. “He says he’s being completely transparent but we don’t agree,” said Troup. Alan, who held an open house at the new location for neighbors, said he believed neighborhood response has been overwhelmingly positive. A couple of neighbors “seemed to be upset that a longtime Castro business, the nail salon, was closing,” he said before the DTNA committee meeting. “Other than that, we thought we had strong support.” If approved by the planning commission, the business would then apply for a building permit and begin

renovation, which could take about six months. Another LGBT-owned dispensary, Eureka Sky, will probably be open months before Flore Store is ready. Formerly called Sugar, the shop was approved by the planning commission to go into the former location of Wild Card at 3989 17th Street, adjacent to Jane Warner Plaza. Eureka Sky is owned by two gay men, Ray Connolly and his husband, Desmond Morgan. The B.A.R. was unable to reach them for an update on their possible opening date. Elsewhere in the city, another LGBT entrepreneur is making plans for new cannabis-related businesses. Amber E. Senter, an Oakland lesbian, is hoping to open a 7,000 square foot business in the Bayview at 2000 Oakdale Street, and a 2,600 square foot business in the Richmond at 2428 Clement Street, she told the B.A.R. in a recent phone interview. The proposed locations, now under lease to Senter and her business partners, “are in the pipeline” and if approved by the San Francisco Office of Cannabis, would be scheduled to come before the planning commission. If approved, both could be open for business next year, she said. The Bayview business is a twostory location that would include four cannabis businesses: a retail store, a lounge, a distribution business, and a delivery service. The Richmond business would be a retail cannabis store that would “try to capitalize on tourist business since it’s close to Golden Gate Park” and “would be an oasis in an otherwise foggy neighborhood.” A comprehensive list of current and proposed cannabis businesses can be found at http://www.officeofcannabis.sfgov.org. t Bay Area Cannasseur runs the first Thursday of the month. To send column ideas or tips, email Sari Staver at sfsari@gmail.com.

Muralist selected for Openhouse project compiled by Cynthia Laird

steering committee formed by Openhouse has selected a gay, HIV-positive man to create what is believed to be the nation’s first permanent installation honoring longterm survivors. David Faulk, a painter, costumer, and performance artist, was chosen to paint a two-story mural in the new Openhouse community center under construction at 75 Laguna Street in San Francisco. He was selected from a field of 24 artists who submitted applications for the commission, according to a news release. Openhouse is a nonprofit that provides services to LGBT seniors. It has partnered with Mercy Housing to construct two affordable housing projects for seniors, many of whom are LGBT. Faulk is expected to begin work on the tribute installation in October. Titled “The Scenic Route,” the mural on the central staircase of the new Openhouse community center will create a playful visual map that examines and celebrates the different paths and experiences of longterm survivors of HIV. “The content of ‘The Scenic Route’ mural depicts a scene of upbeat celebration, as well as an upfront acknowledgment of the accomplishments and roadblocks long-term survivors face in integrating their past with their present,” Faulk said in his submission, adding that the mural “depicts personal journeys with a gentle comic eye

Courtesy Openhouse

Artist David Faulk

on the flurry of activity that makes seeking contentment a universal, and unifying, human experience from whatever place you start, on whatever road you take to get there.” Faulk and his longtime partner and collaborator, Michael Johnstone, are the subjects of a 2019 documentary, “Verasphere, A love Story in Costume,” about their art, love, and survival. HIV-positive and healthy, the couple created Mrs. Vera, a “drag tornado” costumed and portrayed by Faulk and photographed by Johnstone. Faulk lived in New York City from 1987-1992, moving there after receiving a bachelor of fine arts degree from Syracuse University in 1985. He moved to San Francisco in 1992 and began using a cartoon character, Little Lulu, as a surrogate

protagonist in a series of works addressing the physical and emotional challenge of survival, isolation, nonconformity, and his personal relationship to the AIDS crisis. Openhouse officials said they were thrilled with Faulk’s selection. “We are delighted to have David as the artist for our tribute mural,” Karyn Skultety, Ph.D., Openhouse’s executive director, said in the release. “When we started this project, we knew we wanted something unique and quintessentially San Francisco in its appeal to generations of long-term survivors.” Funded primarily by a capital grant of $250,00 from Gilead Sciences Inc., the mural will be open to the public. The steering committee will now turn its attention to planning a dedication ceremony, likely to be held in early 2020.

Howard Grayson elder conference

The aforementioned Openhouse will be the new site for the eighth annual Howard Grayson LGBT Elder Life Conference Saturday, September 14, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 55 Laguna Street (near Market). This year’s event, which is free, will include the presentation of community hero/shero awards to gay former supervisor Harry Britt and trans community activist Felicia Elizondo. David Campos, himself a gay man and former supervisor, will make the presentations. Attendees will also see “A Great Ride,” a documentary about older

lesbians living the good life, with a panel of queer women to follow. A youth panel will talk across generations, and entertainment will be provided by comedian Karen Ripley and troubadour Blackberri. People will also have a chance to win raffle prizes. Conference sponsors include Openhouse and the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club. Grayson was a black LGBT and labor activist who died in September 2011. He died alone in a hospital, and none of his family or friends was informed. The Milk club started the conference as a tribute to Grayson and to educate LGBTQ elders and their allies.

Rock the Congress in East Bay

Rock the Congress is coming to the East Bay Saturday, September 7, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Berkeley City College, 2050 Center Street in Berkeley. Join hundreds of progressives, new and experienced, of all backgrounds and ages, for a day of thoughtful, challenging presentations and discussion about 2020’s crucial elections. There will be keynote presentations, panel discussions, and interactive breakouts featuring leaders in electoral politics and issue-based advocacy. Tickets are $25. To purchase tick-

ets, or for more information, visit https://www.rockthecongress.org/ eastbay.

Library to offer queer Latinx programming

The Eureka Valley/Harvey Milk Memorial branch of the San Francisco Public Library will offer queer Latinx programming this month. On Wednesday, September 25, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., the library will hold a talk on queer Latinx history in the Mission 16th Street corridor. Jesus “Chucha” Barragan will share some of the history and stories of life on 16th Street. According to the library’s newsletter, Barragan moved to the Mission in December 1975 and helped start the Gay Latino Alliance. He has been a part of the gay Latino community of San Francisco since then. Two members of the alliance, Richard Alvarez and Tony Lopez, founded Esta Noche, San Francisco’s first gay Latino bar that opened on 16th Street in 1979. It closed several years ago. On Thursday, September 26, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., the library will hold Queer Latinx Storytime. Miss Bix will be leading children in songs and books with an LGBTQIA focus, in Spanish and English. All are welcome. Both events are free. The library is located at 1 Jose Sarria Court. t

Sports >>

September 5-11, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 15

Dallas wins Gay Softball World Series bid

allas beat out San Francisco for the rights to host the 2021 Gay Softball World Series. The announcement was made last weekend at the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance World Series in Kansas City. Dallas previously hosted the Gay Softball World Series in 1998, 2004, and 2014. San Francisco hosted the first series event in 1977 and then again in 1982, 1987, and 2001. Next year’s event will be held in Columbus, Ohio, which hosted the event in 2010 and 2015.

Halting homophobic hooligans

We haven’t seen any progress yet in the Americas under new international rules to cut down on homophobic behavior at soccer matches, but a couple of events were halted last week in France under the new guidelines. On Wednesday, August 28, referees told players in a match between Nice and Marseille to leave the field 22 minutes into the game when fans unfurled a homophobic banner. Play resumed a few minutes later after the banner was removed. On Friday, August 30, play was briefly halted 20 minutes into Paris Saint-Germain’s at Metz, again for homophobic banners and chanting. “These are unacceptable things,” Nice manager Patrick Vieira told the BBC. “The message was clear, and the referee had no choice. I hope that will not happen again in Nice or elsewhere.”

A little homework, por favor!

There is a French LGBT swimming movie making the rounds called “The Shiny Shrimps” about an inept and decidedly non-serious

Jones

From page 2

one of the reasons I survived,” he said. “I was living in Villa Grande for both major floods in 1995-1996,” he recalled, “and I saw firsthand how all different kinds of people support each other.” Jones remembers going to Guerneville as the floodwater rose to “seek out a disco ball” to raise his spirits. He kept getting lung infections, however, possibly due to the damp climate in winter. His doctors suggested moving to Palm Springs for its warmer and drier conditions, so he did in 2000. After a dispute about displaying the Names quilt in Washington, D.C. just before the presidential election, the board of the Names Project fired Jones in December 2003, taking away his health insurance. Fortunately, in 2004, a friend and organizer for the Service Employees International Union Local 2 asked for his help with LGBTQ groups that refused to honor their boycott of the Hilton Hotels. “The workers were mostly people of color fighting for better health care,” a cause close to Jones’ heart, he said. After that successful campaign, Jones was hired by UNITE HERE, to which Local 2 belongs, to build coalitions and community support. UNITE HERE represents about 300,000 workers in the United States and Canada. He never completely settled into Palm Springs, but his interest in returning to San Francisco intensified during the 2008 filming of the movie “Milk,” especially after he saw Castro Street recreated as it looked in the 1970s. Jones was friends with screen-

LGBT water polo team that goes to the Gay Games. I haven’t seen it so I will not comment on the movie itself. But some of those who are critiquing the film should put a bit more time into research before reviewing. In the movie, a star swimmer makes a homophobic remark to a reporter. To be reinstated, he is told by his sports federation that he must make amends by coaching the Shiny Shrimps water polo team. Gloss over for a moment as to whether a federation would “punish” a known homophobe by putting him in charge of an LGBT team or whether a team would accept such a bigot as boss. That’s usually not how sensitivity training works. In its review, the Upcoming, a British website, says the homophobic swimmer is coaching the Shiny Shrimps as “they embark on the greatest and frankly impossible task of qualifying for the Gay Games.” The review on LifestyleAsia.com of the movie, which is showing in the Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, says the film is “the uplifting tale of a gay water polo team vying for qualification of the upcoming Gay Games.” Darling, there are no qualifiers for the Gay Games. That’s kind of the point of an event whose mission is to be inclusive. The movie deals with the bonds that are created in a team atmosphere, the importance of those bonds for athletes smacked around by homophobia and transphobia in their daily lives, and the power sports participation and competition have to lift us all to the best we have to offer. You don’t need to qualify for that opportunity. You just do it. writer Dustin Lance Black, a gay man who won an Oscar for the film, and was portrayed by actor Emile Hirsch. “After re-living my youth as we made ‘Milk,’ I wanted to return to San Francisco,” he said. “I thought I’d write a book and eventually retire to Guerneville.” He did write a memoir, “When We Rise,” published in 2016. It served as a partial inspiration for an ABC miniseries of the same name that was broadcast a year later. Jones continues to work for UNITE HERE. “I want to achieve victories that will change people’s lives,” he explained. “We can get contracts with protection for LGBTQ individuals in places like Texas and Florida, places that don’t protect our rights.” The economic health of the Russian River area is also on Jones’s mind these days. “I don’t think people are aware how devastating the floods were,” Jones pointed out at the end of the interview. “Guerneville has just a few weeks to make up for what was lost, so I hope lots of people come up for the parade and afterward.” t The Russian River Pride parade Saturday, September 7, starts at 11 a.m. on Main Street in downtown Guerneville. Many other activities are planned. For more information, visit http://www. russianriverpride.org. Jones was a co-founder of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and will be at its annual Tribute Celebration the night of September 7, presenting the Cleve Jones Leadership Award to Sister Roma of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

Panda bows out

Football commentators have been all weepy the past couple of weeks over the retirements of the New England Patriots’ Rob Gronkowski and Indianapolis Colts’ Andrew Luck. Both were superstar athletes at their positions, both were dedicated to the sport like few others, and emotions ran deep over their decisions to quit the sport before their bodies quit on them. But that is football, and most commentators, fans, and fantasy football followers worried more about what the departures meant for their teams’ prospects rather than about what damage has already been inflicted on the players. For me, the more poignant exit was that of Pablo Sandoval, affectionately known as Panda, from the San Francisco Giants. He did not retire, but he is going to undergo Tommy John surgery and his return is beyond doubtful. Luck and Gronkwoski’s careers were about excellence; Panda’s was about exuberance. We joked about his expanding waistline, but it was no joke how he could expand a strike zone. He was erratic and exciting, whether snaring liners at third, picking off pitches at his shoelaces to plant them over the wall, or coming in for an inning of comic, but effective, relief pitching. He, along with Madison Bumgarner and Buster Posey, played for all three of the Giants’ World Series titles this decade. They might have been able to win without him ... but it wouldn’t have been half as fun. ‘Night, Panda. t

Dallas will host the Gay Softball World Series in 2021.

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<< Community News

16 • Bay Area Reporter • September 5-11, 2019

Oakland Pride

From page 1

The parade will have a firstcome, first-serve ADA access to grandstands for those who wish to view the parade, which will be located on Broadway and Telegraph. Oakland Pride officials did not return messages seeking comment, but according to its website, all ages are welcome at the parade and festival. The parade is free, but the festival charges admission of $10 for

Newsom

From page 1

partner between the age of 14 and 17 and engages in oral or anal intercourse with the younger person. Under current law, the person would automatically be added to the state’s sex offender registry. Yet, in cases where the consensual sex involved vaginal intercourse between an adolescent heterosexual couple, judges have the discretion to decide if listing on the sex offender registry is warranted. EQCA said Friday that it would continue to work with Wiener and other backers of SB 145 to pass it in 2020. “Today, we are extremely disappointed with Assembly Appropriations Committee Chair Lorena Gonzalez for allowing an outdated law that discriminates against

Puerto Vallarta

From page 12

passages. Diana’s Thursday tours are made up mostly of gay men but are also straight-friendly. The Wet and Wild tour (https://pvsunsetpartycruise.com/) is marketed to gay men, and, as the name implies, is a sexuallycharged version of Diana’s cruise.

Accommodations

Hotel Mercurio (http://www.hotelmercurio.com) is perfectly situated in the heart of Zona Romantica, just a block from the beach and in the heart of the gay nightlife scene. It has low prices but with a better-than-budget atmosphere. Besides the location, one of the best parts about the hotel is its great staff and Mercurio’s complimentary delicious made-to-order and buffet breakfast. Many of the staff have been there for years and treat the regulars like family. The luxury LGBT boutique hotel Casa Cupula (www.casacupula.com) is owned by former San Franciscan Don Pickens and has a deserved reputation for being one of the best quality hotels in Puerto Vallarta. It is in a

Out in the World

From page 8

the culture, food, and the people. She remains hopeful, as she sees laws and attitudes changing in other African countries, that someday Nigeria will come to accept its LGBT community. “I think that it will change. It’s a matter of time. Nigerian society is very religious and are not very open,” she said. OutRight researchers also concluded that conversion therapy does not work. The researchers outlined ways that countries can “safeguard their LGBTIQ citizens from these harmful practices.” They recommend government bans. International and local medical and mental health institutions should implement policies against the practice of conversion therapy and revoke medical licenses of practitioners who recommend it; and faith leaders should condemn the practice of conversion therapy. Additionally, they recommended educational campaigns about LGBT people, support services for conversion therapy survivors, and laws to challenge conversion therapy practices. They also recommended that interna-

adults and $5 for kids under 12 years of age. In addition to the aforementioned Latinx stage, the festival will have four others: main, community, Club 21, and women’s. Announced headliners include Purple Madness, a Prince tribute group; Shea Diamond; and El Dasa. Our Family Coalition will once again operate its Family Garden area for kids and their families at the festival. The popular attraction will be located at the corner

of Franklin and 21st streets in the Kaiser parking lot. For those families planning to march in the parade, OFC encourages people to bring signs, water, and the spirit for a kid-friendly environment. For any families who don’t bring signs, OFC will have some “Proud of My Family” signs available. The parade is an easy, six-block walk and is strollermanageable for families bringing young children. The Family Garden will feature arts and crafts, bounce houses, a

petting zoo, pony rides, storytime, theme park rides, contests, and a photo booth. The Family Oasis will also be open to anyone that would like to relax during the festival. OFC’s interim executive director, Sam Ames, will also be at Oakland Pride. “This will be my first Oakland Pride with Our Family Coalition and I’m looking forward to being surrounded by people as proud to call Oakland home as I am,” said Ames. t

LGBTQ people to remain on the books,” stated Zbur. “Law enforcement, sexual assault survivors, and civil rights groups alike support this bipartisan bill because it would make California’s sex offender registry more effective and end blatant anti-LGBTQ discrimination.” In a text to the Bay Area Reporter Friday, Wiener wrote, “While I’m grateful that the bill is still alive, I’m very disappointed that LGBT young people continue to experience extreme discrimination for another year. The sex offender registry destroys people’s lives, and our community doesn’t deserve this discrimination and criminalization.” Although the legislation had the support of the California District Attorney’s Association and California Police Chief ’s Association, it also had its detractors within law

enforcement circles. One of the public safety officials who had opposed the bill was Stanislaus County Sheriff Jeff Dirkse. He was featured in an ad by Democratic Modesto City Councilman Mani Grewal, who is running for state Senate, falsely claiming that it would allow adults who molest children not to register as sex offenders. Because Grewal is running against lesbian state Assemblywoman Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton) for the state’s 5th Senate District seat in Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties, his comments about SB 145 were seen as homophobic campaign tactics by EQCA and LGBT leaders. They have been seeking an apology from Grewal and asking those Democrats who have backed his Senate bid to rescind their endorsements.

As the B.A.R. reported last month, Grewal removed the ad from his Facebook and YouTube pages following the complaints about it. But he has yet to issue a formal apology.

bucolic hillside but still within easy walking distance to the gay beach and nightlife. Amenities include use of a well-equipped gym and sauna, as well as use of the hotel’s beach club. Its fabulous Taste Restaurant is one of the best restaurants in the city and a must-stop for anyone visiting Puerto Vallarta. Piñata PV (https://www.pinatapv. com) is between Hotel Mercurio and Casa Cupula in quality and price. The hotel’s rooms are situated around a courtyard with a pool, spa, and steam room. It is a beautiful modern building but with old world retro touches. The hotel is also in a great location, in the heart of the city’s LGBT nightlife and just a short walk to the beach. The hotel is clothing-optional and for men only. The largest of the hotels that is marketed toward the LGBT community is the Almar Resort (www.almarresort. com/en). The modern luxury beachfront hotel has 79 rooms and is part of the Mantamar Beach Club. The hotel promotes itself as an LGBT hotel and is straight-friendly.

Nightlife

Getting there and around

to take a timeshare presentation. No matter how nice they appear, make no eye contact, just walk straight ahead and keep going. Uber has been operating in the city for a couple of years now and it is the best way to get around. The ride-share service is not allowed to pick up passengers in front of the airport. You have to walk a few extra steps and pick it up at the bus stop next to the pedestrian bridge. To get there, just turn left when you exit the airport. At the end of the airport building, you will see the pedestrian bridge on your left. The bus stop is right in front of it. If you don’t have a data plan that works for Mexico, the airport has free Wi-Fi. You can also get an Uber on the other side of the pedestrian bridge. The restaurant there, Tacon de Marlin, has free Wi-Fi and the password is posted on the wall. Taxis also hang out in front of the restaurant and you can get a taxi into town for about $12. The airport taxis cost about $18. Uber is as cheap as $7. It’s not customary to tip cab drivers in Mexico but you can give a modest tip if the taxi driver helps you with your bags or provides above-and-beyond service. t

tional and local organizations document conversion therapy, as well as include the practice in their definitions of discrimination and deny grants to organizations that continue to promote or practice conversion therapy. To read the report, visit http:// www.outrightinternational.org/reports/global-reach-so-called-conversion-therapy.

jority country has stifled the LGBT right movement’s progress, changing people’s minds about queer people in the Central American country. Davila ran representing the progressive Winaq Movement party on a platform promising to fight for rights for communities historically excluded from society. LGBT Guatemalans enjoy some rights, such as employment and housing discrimination protections, serving in the military, and gender reassignment surgery. Once in office, Davila, who is HIVpositive, plans to work for better health care for people living with HIV, push for hate crimes legislation, and draft a law that will allow transgender Guatemalans to legally change their sex on their legal documents. Currently, transgender people can only change their names, reported Reuters. NewNowNext reported that HIV is a problem in Guatemala. HIV prevalence among gay men is 8%. Among trans people, the rate is 22.2%, with only an estimated third of the transgender population accessing antiviral therapy, according to UNAIDS. One of the first tasks Davila will tackle when he does take his seat will

be against the Life and Family Protection bill, which will ban same-sex marriage. The unusually restrictive marriage equality ban narrowly defines a man and a woman as being born as that sex at birth. “This law is regressive,” said Davila. “It violates the human rights of people of diversity.” The bill is currently in its third and final vote in the country’s Congress before being passed into law.

the town of Prizren, which denied the unidentified Kosovo transgender plaintiff’s request to change their name and gender marker on their legal documents at the Central Civil Status Register and Civil Status Principal Register, according to the release. In the release, the organizations applauded the court’s decision, calling “it a very important step to further ensure the rights of the trans community in Kosovo.” Transgender Kosovoars face discrimination and violence. More often than not members of the small community don’t declare their gender identity for security reasons and organizations are challenged to gather and report attacks and discrimination against the transgender community, according to the release. Organization leaders said they see the decision as setting an example for how the registers will handle future gender identification change requests. t

Guatemala’s openly gay congressman faces death threats

Guatemala’s first openly gay congressman hasn’t taken office yet in the Central American country’s mostly conservative Congress, but death threats are keeping him on a strict schedule. Also Davila, 41, a veteran HIV/ AIDS and LGBT rights advocate, was elected two months ago, but he won’t take office until January 14. Until then, due to the threats, he has stopped walking the streets of Guatemala City, the country’s capital city, where he lives with his partner, who wasn’t named in media reports. He only drives to his office and home. He told Reuters that the growing fundamental Christian and evangelical movements in the Catholic-ma-

Puerto Vallarta has two gay guides, which are free at LGBT places around town or you can check them out before you leave. The publications are invaluable for the ever-changing nightlife scene in the city. Sadly, Mark Page, a former Bay Area resident and the creator of “Gay Guide Vallarta” (www.gayguidevallarta.com) died in June after an extended illness, but his business partners, Isaac Carachure and Joey Ramon, are carrying on the publication. The city’s other excellent guide is “Out and About PV” (https:// outandaboutpv.com/). A good introduction to the nightlife scene is the Gay Vallarta Bar Hopping tour. Not only will you get situated to the nightlife scene, but you will also make friends that you may run into the rest of your trip. For more information and scheduling, check out https://hop.gaypv.com/. As a general rule, the larger nightclubs with a dance floor, including Paco’s Ranch, CC Slaughters, Industry, and Code, tend to be busiest after 1 a.m. Smaller bars like Apaches, La Noche and Mr. Flamingo’s are busier earlier in the evening.

School records bill becomes law

As for the bill that Newsom signed Friday, Assembly Bill 711, it requires public schools to update the records for transgender and nonbinary students so that they match their legal name and gender identity. It will go into effect January 1. EQCA sponsored the bill, as a person whose name doesn’t match the name on their school transcript or diploma can face issues when applying for college, graduate programs, or a job. They could also be outed as transgender or nonbinary to employers and others.

Alaska and United fly nonstop to Puerto Vallarta from San Francisco International Airport; Southwest flies nonstop from Oakland International Airport. United and Alaska charge extra if you want to bring more than one carry-on bag and the basic fare does not include advanced seat selection. Southwest still doesn’t charge for checked luggage, a consideration if you want to do that. Don’t forget to pack a pen with you so you can fill out the immigration forms before you land. The airlines pass them out but don’t supply writing instruments. Some airlines don’t supply the second immigration form that you will need, but you can fill it out online and take a copy with you. That will save you a few minutes when you arrive. Here’s a link to the online form: https://www.inm.gob. mx/fmme/publico/en/solicitud.html. After you exit customs in the Puerto Vallarta airport, you will have to wade through the “shark tank,” a gauntlet of timeshare people who will pretend that they want to help you find a taxi or give you transportation information, but they are just there to get you

Kosovo court grants legal gender recognition

In a landmark case, Kosovo’s Court of Appeal last month granted a transgender citizen the right to change their name and gender marker on their legal identification documents. The decision was made August 2, but the LGBTI Equal Rights Association for Western Balkans and Turkey only announced it in an August 28 news release. The organization’s announcement followed an August 22 announcement by Center for Equality and Liberty of Kosovo and the Center for Social Group Development. The court overturned a previous ruling by the Civil Status Office in

For more information on Oakland Pride, visit http://www. oaklandpride.org or check out the Facebook page. For more information on Our Family Coalition’s Family Garden, visit http://www.ourfamily.org.

“Making sure student records reflect a student’s name is a no-brainer,” stated Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco), the bill’s author. “This new law gives greater protections to transgender and nonbinary Californians and removes barriers to applying for college and employment opportunities.” Newsom signed the bill without comment along with a number of other bills. In the coming weeks the Legislature is expected to send him additional LGBT legislation to sign, as a number of LGBT bills did make it out of the appropriation committees in both legislative chambers by the August 30 deadline. Lawmakers will now vote on the bills in the coming weeks before they are sent to Newsom’s desk. t

Got international LGBT news tips? Call or send them to Heather Cassell at WhatsApp: 415-517-7239, or Skype: heather.cassell, or oitwnews@gmail.com.

t <<

Community News>>

LGBT bills

From page 1

they are contracting with LGBTowned businesses as well as those owned by women, minorities, and other disadvantaged groups. Both bills, sponsored by the Oakland-based Greenlining Institute, have relatively limited costs attached to them. The Senate now must pass AB 962, and since it was amended, it will be sent back to the Assembly for a final vote before being sent to Newsom. The Senate Appropriations Committee Friday also passed AB 493, known as the Safe and Supportive Schools Act of 2019. It would require public schools to train their staff, from teachers and guidance counselors to librarians, on LGBT cultural competency and how to address LGBT-based bullying. It survived despite an estimated cost of either $250,000 or $1.3 million for school districts to implement; it covers certificated school employees and not classified school employees like custodians and cafeteria workers. Former Governor Jerry Brown had vetoed a similar bill last fall due to its price tag. Gay Assemblyman Todd Gloria (D-San Diego) and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, who had carried it last year when he served in the Assembly, reintroduced it this year in hopes of seeing Newsom adopt it. The Assembly passed it in

September 5-11, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 17

Assemblyman Todd Gloria

the spring and it now goes to the full Senate for a floor vote. The Assembly Appropriations Committee Friday voted out two LGBT-related bills. One, gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Gloria’s SB 159, would allow pharmacists to furnish people a 30-day supply of the HIV prevention medication Truvada, known as PrEP. The state’s Department of Insurance estimates it will need $42,000 in the first two years of its implementation and ongoing costs of $18,000, while the Department of Consumer Affairs has said it will need $124,000 in the first two years and ongoing costs thereafter. It has faced strong opposition from doctors’ groups who question

the safety of having people obtain PrEP without a prescription. The lawmakers amended their bill based on that feedback to require people to see a doctor in order to continue usage of the drug after one month. The second bill approved by the Assembly committee was Wiener’s SB 132, the Transgender Respect, Agency, and Dignity Act. It would require that incarcerated transgender people in California jails be housed based on their gender identity, unless doing so put their safety at risk, and be referred to by their preferred pronouns, gender, and name. Wiener reintroduced the bill after it was quietly killed in the Legislature last summer. Its cost is estimated to be “potentially major” for

Political Notebook

From page 10

my constituents who were used to having a workaholic LGBT elected official who will now have to make space for their family,” said Hansen. “Becoming a father has truly transformed not only how I see my opportunities to create a family but how I see myself because now it is not just about me. It is about me and what I can do for him and to make a life for our whole family.” During the foster care and adoption process, Hansen and McNulty could not publicly talk about Henry or post photos of him, as they needed to abide by strict rules meant to protect the privacy of foster children.

Courtesy Facebook

Caitlin Stone, left, wife of BART board member Rebecca Saltzman, is expecting the couple’s first child in mid-November.

Even now that Henry is legally theirs, Hansen has some reservations about how much he should share via social media about his son in light of the fact

he is a public official. “As an elected official in the time of Trump, a lot of people want to attack our family. I honestly had no desire,

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prison staff training, ranging from the high hundreds of thousands of dollars to the low millions of dollars. It also has unknown but “potentially significant” costs for transferring transgender prisoners to new state correctional facilities, as well as additional costs in the hundreds of thousands of dollars to upgrade prison intake systems and identification cards. The two bills now await approval by the full Assembly. “The pro-equality legislation passed today reinforces California’s leadership role in the fight for LGBTQ civil rights and social justice,” stated EQCA Executive Director Rick Zbur Friday. “Each of these bills would create positive, meaningful change for LGBTQ Californians and provide a roadmap for other states to follow. We look forward to championing these bills and the rest of our pro-equality legislative package until each bill receives Governor Newsom’s signature.” After bill amended and passed by the Assembly last week, SB 495 by Senator Maria Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles), is now before the Senate for a second vote. It would codify into state law that a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity can’t be used to disqualify them as being an adoptive parent or legal guardian of a child.

Bills held

story Friday, the Assembly Appropriations Committee that day tabled for the year Wiener’s SB 145, LGBTQ Young People Nondiscrimination in the Sex Offender Registry. He plans to push for its passage next year. It would grant judges discretion to decide if a person should have to register as a sex offender if that person is within 10 years of age of a consensual sexual partner between the age of 14 and 17 and engages in oral or anal intercourse with the younger person. Under current law, the person would automatically be added to the state’s sex offender registry. The Senate Appropriations Committee Friday held AB 307, the Homeless Youth Grant Program, co-authored by Assemblywoman Eloise Gomez Reyes (D-San Bernardino) and Wiener. It had been coupled with an appropriation of up to $100 million and estimated costs of $1.8 to $1.9 million for the state’s Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency to administer. In July, lesbian state Senator Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton) held off on her SB 741 as she now plans to re-introduce it in January. It would allow transgender residents of the state who legally change their name and gender to update their marriage certificates and the birth certificates of their children. It is the first LGBT-focused bill to be authored by Galgiani, who is termed out next year. t

As the B.A.R. noted in its online

even though I had tremendous joy and love in my heart that we could have Henry join our family, I had no desire to deal with trolls,” said Hansen. The reaction to his news has so far been overwhelmingly positive. “Being a public official comes with real liabilities. People go to the thing you care about most and try to attack it. I have zero interest in putting my family through what I go through as a public official,” said Hansen. At the end of the day, Hansen said he is like any other parent raising an infant child. “I change diapers, I clean up poop,” he said. “As much as people want to paint us as other, we have the very same experience even though we are creating a family in our own way. We do get a little frazzled. We get sleep de-

prived. We are experiencing things an entire generation of LGBT people was told they couldn’t do, and I think it is so beautiful.” Saltzman also said that reaction has been “very positive” since she announced her news. “Everybody has congratulated me.” t Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion, will return Monday, September 16. Keep abreast of the latest LGBT political news by following the Political Notebook on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/politicalnotes. Got a tip on LGBT politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 8298836 or e-mail m.bajko@ebar.com.

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Legal Notices>> ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-555102 In the matter of the application of: NAI QUN BAKER, 4736 MISSION ST #A, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner NAI QUN BAKER, is requesting that the name NAI QUN BAKER AKA NAI QUN LIAO, be changed to NAI QUN LIAO BAKER. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, on the 24th of September 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

AUG 15, 22, 29, SEPT 05, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038741000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BAKE LOVE, 2948 FOLSOM ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JIRAPORN HALVERSON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/02/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/02/19.

AUG 15, 22, 29, SEPT 05, 2019

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038753700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: KIND EARTH PRODUCTIONS; THE BOYS WHO SAID NO!; COLORADO JONES PRODUCTIONS, 139 CORBETT AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JAMES PRINCE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/12/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/12/19.

AUG 15, 22, 29, SEPT 05, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038746400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE GENIE MUSIC, 16 LUNDYS LN, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LUIS MONTERROSA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/07/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/07/19.

AUG 15, 22, 29, SEPT 05, 2019

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038733000

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038743000

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038737300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CCS ALERTS, 1461 PINE ST #501, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ANDREW GABLE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/10/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/26/19.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: WCI PROJECTS, 555 MISSION ROCK ST #415, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94158. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ELIZABETH WARBURTON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/01/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/06/19.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PENANG GARDEN RESTAURANT #3, 728 WASHINGTON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed FORTUNE FAMILY SIX 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 07/31/19.

AUG 15, 22, 29, SEPT 05, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038744500

AUG 15, 22, 29, SEPT 05, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038743200

AUG 15, 22, 29, SEPT 05, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038741200

AUG 15, 22, 29, SEPT 05, 2019

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FILLMORE FLORIST SAN FRANCISCO, 1880 FILLMORE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed FARAMARZ TABAR. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/06/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/06/19.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CHATFUEL, 490 POST ST #526, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed 200 LABS INC. (DE). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/09/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/06/19.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CHINA CENTRAL SERVICE, 1235 STOCKTON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed CHINA CENTRAL SERVICE (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/20/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/05/19.

<< Legals

18 • Bay Area Reporter • September 5-11, 2019

Legal Notices>> FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038745900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: OSBELIA HAIR SALON INC., 4699 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed OSBELIA HAIR SALON INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/07/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/07/19.

AUG 15, 22, 29, SEPT 05, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038733400

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038747700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HYDE OUT, 1068 HYDE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed HOSSEIN KAJOUEE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/13/08. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/08/19.

AUG 22, 29, SEPT 05, 12, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038763700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: RAE VINO, 1387 DE HARO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed RAE VINO 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 07/26/19.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CRYSTAL’S PRECIOUS COLLECTIONS, 1657 CLEMENT ST #4, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed BARON LEE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/19/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/19/19.

AUG 15, 22, 29, SEPT 05, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038749300

AUG 22, 29, SEPT 05, 12, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038752800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: OZ BURGER, 4092 18TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed EYLUL LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/08/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/08/19.

AUG 15, 22, 29, SEPT 05, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038748500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NAKED CHICKEN, 11218 PADDOCK AVE, BAKERSFIELD, CA 93312. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed NAKED CHICKEN GROUP LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/07/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/08/19.

AUG 15, 22, 29, SEPT 05, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038753800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: QUICK CLIMB CREDIT SOLUTIONS, 1535 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed THE LOVE EXTENSION PROJECT LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/12/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/12/19.

AUG 15, 22, 29, SEPT 05, 2019 SUMMONS (STATE OF MICHIGAN) ALLEGAN COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, 113 CHESTNUT ST, ALLEGAN, MI 49010 NOTICE TO DEFENDANT: MOBOLAJI ADENIRAN KUDEHINBU, 200 CORONADO AVE, DALY CITY, CA 94015, YOU ARE BEING SUED. PLAINTIFF’S NAME IS KRISTINE ANN KUDEHINBU 630 HIGHPOINT DR #2, ALLEGAN, MI 49010. CASE NO. 19-61087-DO DOMESTIC RELATIONS CASE There are no pending or resolved cases within the jurisdiction of the family division of the circuit court involving the family or family members of the person(s) who are the subject of the complaint. CIVIL CASE There is no other pending or resolved civil action arising out of the same transaction or occurrence as alleged in the complaint. SUMMONS NOTICE TO THE DEFENDANT: In the name of the people of the State of Michigan you are notified: 1. You are being sued. 2. You have 21 days after receiving this summons and a copy of the complaint to file a written answer with the court and serve a copy on the other party or take other lawful action with the court (28 days if you were served by mail or you were served outside this state). 3. If you do not answer or take other action within the time allowed, judgment may be entered against you for the relief demanded in the complaint. 4. If you require special accommodations to use the court because of a disability or if you require a foreign language interpreter to help you fully participate in court proceedings, please contact this court immediately to make arrangements. Issue date 07/01/2019, Expiration date 10/02/2019

AUG 22, 29, SEPT 05, 2019 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-555122 In the matter of the application of: BETH SUZANNE DOWNEY, 885-1/2 FULTON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner BETH SUZANNE DOWNEY is requesting that the name BETH SUZANNE DOWNEY aka BETH DOWNEY, be changed to BETH SUZANNE BARTLETT-DOWNEY. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 8th of October 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

AUG 22, 29, SEPT 05, 12, 2019 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-555123

In the matter of the application of: LISA LYNN SMITH, 885-1/2 FULTON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner LISA LYNN SMITH, is requesting that the name LISA LYNN SMITH aka LISA SMITH, be changed to LISA LYNN DOWNEY-BARTLETT. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 8th of October 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

AUG 22, 29, SEPT 05, 12, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038764000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ECOGREEN CARPET CLEANERS, 615 BRUNSWICK ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed HANG LY. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/01/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/19/19.

AUG 22, 29, SEPT 05, 12, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038747600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MIRALOMA CLUB, 749 PORTOLA DR, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed HOSSEIN KAJOUEE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/13/08. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/08/19.

AUG 22, 29, SEPT 05, 12, 2019

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FC PARTNERS, 2517 MISSION ST #5, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KA LAI CHOW. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/05/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/12/19.

AUG 22, 29, SEPT 05, 12, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038743500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TOTALLY CLEAN, 1772 DOLORES ST #3, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed TODD V. GRAHAM. 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 08/06/19.

AUG 22, 29, SEPT 05, 12, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038759200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THAI COTTAGE RESTAURANT, 4041 JUDAH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed HILDA SAHESALAEH. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/23/10. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/14/19.

AUG 22, 29, SEPT 05, 12, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038758500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: OOZIE LIGUS, 875 VERMONT ST #101, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SLAWOMIR LIGUS. 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 08/14/19.

AUG 22, 29, SEPT 05, 12, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038740900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FENIX CONSTRUCTION, 321 TURK ST #5, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed FRANCISCO ESPARZA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/05/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/02/19.

AUG 22, 29, SEPT 05, 12, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038756100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LET’S ABACUS, 2125 EL MANTO DR #4, RANCHO CORDOVA, CA 95670. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SOUFIANE SAOUAF. 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 08/13/19.

AUG 22, 29, SEPT 05, 12, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038748600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BF TAX SERVICES, 2423 27TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed BORIS FUDYM. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/15/02. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/08/19.

AUG 22, 29, SEPT 05, 12, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038739700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: POLO’S DENTAL LABORATORY, 1484 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LEOPOLDO A. LOPEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/02/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/02/19.

AUG 22, 29, SEPT 05, 12, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038754600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ROCK JAPANESE CUISINE, 614 PINE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed ROCK ENTERPRISE (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/08/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/13/19.

AUG 22, 29, SEPT 05, 12, 2019X FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038762700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BOOMERS MEDICAL TRANSPORTATION, INC., 626 22ND AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BOOMERS MEDICAL TRANSPORTATION, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/01/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/16/19.

AUG 22, 29, SEPT 05, 12, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038753300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PACIFIC EDGE REAL ESTATE GROUP, 4040 24TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed ALEC MIRONOV INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/15/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/12/19.

AUG 22, 29, SEPT 05, 12, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038755900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: M/ OPPENHEIM EXECUTIVE SEARCH, 253 CERVANTES BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed MCAM 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 08/13/19.

AUG 22, 29, SEPT 05, 12, 2019

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038763300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MONKEY BRAINS, 286 12TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed ANOTHER CORPORATION ISP, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/18/06. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/16/19.

AUG 22, 29, SEPT 05, 12, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038762800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PAWLYPAL, 350 ARBALLO DR #M-L, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94132. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed JUMU LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/15/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/16/19.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038765000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DUMPLING HOUSE, 335 NOE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed DUMPLING HOUSE SF (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/08/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/20/19.

AUG 29, SEPT 05, 12, 19, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038766800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PARTRIDGE, 101 HENRY ADAMS ST #251, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed CLARA ROSE, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/21/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/21/19.

AUG 22, 29, SEPT 05, 12, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038754300

AUG 29, SEPT 05, 12, 19, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038766100

AUG 22, 29, SEPT 05, 12, 2019 NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF BARBARA QUIGLEY IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO: FILE PES-19-303008

AUG 29, SEPT 05, 12, 19, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038765100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LOVE SHACK; LOVE SHACK BY SPARC; 502 14TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed LOPARC, 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 08/13/19.

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of BARBARA QUIGLEY. A Petition for Probate has been filed by JENNIFER CAVECCHE QUIGLEY in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. The Petition for Probate requests that JENNIFER CAVECCHE QUIGLEY 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, 2019, 9:00 am, Rm. 204, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. If you object to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. If you are a creditor or contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the latter of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined by section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. You may examine the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for petitioner: PETER J. PORTER, ESQ. (SBN #132269), LAW OFFICES OF PETER J. PORTER, 19700 FAIRCHILD RD #200, IRVINE, CA 92612, Ph. (714) 835-2700.

AUG 29, SEPT 05, 12, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038771000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FINE LINE BARBERSHOP, 1796A SAN JOSE AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CARLO L. MATIBAG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/23/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/23/19.

AUG 29, SEPT 05, 12, 19, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038770900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PAGODA, 1704 POST ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SEUNG KOON YANG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/23/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/23/19.

AUG 29, SEPT 05, 12, 19, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038770800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BIRD & BLOOM, 1 ALDER ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed JASMINE DIXON & SAVANNAH ROSE CRESPO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/01/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/23/19.

AUG 29, SEPT 05, 12, 19, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038766500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PETS CORNER 2, 1232 9TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed HONG NGOC NGUYEN & ERNESTO WAII CHIEN CHENK LUO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/21/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/21/19.

AUG 29, SEPT 05, 12, 19, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038760400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DLHA LAW GROUP, 155 SANSOME ST #620, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94104. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed DE LA HOUSAYE & ASSOCIATES, A LAW CORPORATION (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 08/15/19.

AUG 29, SEPT 05, 12, 19, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038760500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DLHA DE LA HOUSAYE & ASSOCIATES LAW GROUP, 155 SANSOME ST #620, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94104. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed DE LA HOUSAYE & ASSOCIATES, A LAW CORPORATION (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 08/15/19.

AUG 29, SEPT 05, 12, 19, 2019

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EATING WITH THE SEASONS, 1925 JERROLD AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed GRUBMARKET, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/19/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/21/19.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DSUDISCOVERY, 155 HARRIET ST #2, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed DOCUMENT SERVICES UNLIMITED (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/20/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/20/19.

AUG 29, SEPT 05, 12, 19, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038770400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: WILDER, 378 SANCHEZ ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed THINK WILDER INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/23/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/23/19.

AUG 29, SEPT 05, 12, 19, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038756800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: KHAO THAI CATERING LLC, 501 TAYLOR ST #608, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed KHAO THAI CATERING 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 08/13/19.

AUG 29, SEPT 05, 12, 19, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038764500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SCALP SOCIETY, 1512 PINE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed SF SMP LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/31/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/20/19.

AUG 29, SEPT 05, 12, 19, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038773400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CAMPUS, 2241 CHESTNUT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed TELEGRAPH HILL ASSOCIATES, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/12/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/26/19.

AUG 29, SEPT 05, 12, 19, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038773600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EDDIE’S BAR CAR; EDDIE’S MSU, 425 MISSION ST, SPACE 103A, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed NATOMA PARTNERS, 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 08/26/19.

AUG 29, SEPT 05, 12, 19, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038773500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EDDIE RICKENBACKER’S, 425 MISSION ST, SPACE 103, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed NRG PARTNERS, 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 08/26/19.

AUG 29, SEPT 05, 12, 19, 2019 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-036055300

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: DYNASTY SHOP, 1922 31ST AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by GRACE NONG WU. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/23/14.

AUG 29, SEPT 05, 12, 19, 2019 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-555175 In the matter of the application of: ANTOINETTE THADA PAO, 702 ASHBURY ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner ANTOINETTE THADA PAO, is requesting that the name ANTOINETTE THADA PAO AKA ANTOINETTE PAO, be changed to HAISLEY THYDA PAO. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 17th of October 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

SEPT 05, 12, 19, 26, 2019 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-555173 In the matter of the application of: EMMA FUGLSANG FROEKJAER, 488 ANDERSON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner EMMA FUGLSANG FROEKJAER, is requesting that the name EMMA FUGLSANG FROEKJAER, be changed to EMMA FUGLSANG HARDING. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, on the 17th of October 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

SEPT 05, 12, 19, 26, 2019

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-555131

In the matter of the application of: ITIKA DENISE ROBINSON, 37 GROVE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner ITIKA DENISE ROBINSON, is requesting that the name ITIKA DENISE ROBINSON, be changed to ITIKA DENISE ROBINSON-CURRINGTON. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 22nd of October 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

SEPT 05, 12, 19, 26, 2019 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-555153

In the matter of the application of: CALEB IKAIKA SIMA, 548 MARKET ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94104, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner CALEB IKAIKA SIMA, is requesting that the name CALEB IKAIKA SIMA, be changed to CALEB FANG SIMA. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, on the 22nd of October 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

SEPT 05, 12, 19, 26, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038777700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: VISO PURO, 1538 PACIFIC AVE #110, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed NADINE STRONG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/27/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/29/19.

SEPT 05, 12, 19, 26, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038750100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GNOMAD LABS, 4521 19TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed GEORGE REASONOVER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/09/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/08/19.

SEPT 05, 12, 19, 26, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038764200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TT CONSTRUCTION CO., 1418 43RD AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed TIMOTHY TAM. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/19/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/19/19.

SEPT 05, 12, 19, 26, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038772500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DONBURI YA, 764 HARRISON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed IRON GRILL ASIAN BBQ, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/03/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/26/19.

SEPT 05, 12, 19, 26, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038777900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TYCOON KITCHEN & CATERING, 276 5TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed ASIAN BOWLS INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/29/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/29/19.

SEPT 05, 12, 19, 26, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038776300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HAULIT, 1075 O’FARRELL ST #11, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed HAULIT (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 08/28/19.

SEPT 05, 12, 19, 26, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038778300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CAL STREET CO., 1398 CALIFORNIA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed DISPLEASED MARMOT LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/29/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/29/19.

SEPT 05, 12, 19, 26, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038764600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DAVID RIO CHAI CART, 1019 MARKET ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability partnership, and is signed SF CHAI, LLC (DE). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/19/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/20/19.

SEPT 05, 12, 19, 26, 2019 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-038461500

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: SOMA SUSHI, 764 HARRISON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business was conducted by a corporation and signed by IRON GRILL ASIAN BBQ, INC (CA). The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/07/19.

SEPT 05, 12, 19, 26, 2019

Lesbian Pop

Fall Theatre

Fall Films

Steps Lively

Vol. 49 • No. 36 • September 5-11, 2019

www.ebar.com/arts

Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

Fall Preview: San Francisco Opera by Philip Campbell

Britten’s “Billy Budd” in rehearsal at San Francisco Opera, with Edward Nelson as Bosun and members of the San Francisco Opera Chorus.

he great gold curtain of the War Memorial Opera House rises on the San Francisco Opera’s Opening Night Gala celebrating its 97th season this week. Charles Gounod’s “Romeo et Juliette” is at the heart of the revels, but there should be lots of spectacle on both sides of the proscenium. The feverish excitement of the glamorous affair can sometimes obscure the musical centerpiece, but “Romeo and Juliet” continues through early autumn, and no one can deny the fun of puttin’ on the Ritz and diving into an extravagant SFO Gala. See page 30 >>

Binh Danh, “National Hotel on Broad St., Nevada City, CA” (2019). Daguerreotype, Unique (in camera exposure).

Fall Preview: Bay Area Galleries by Sura Wood

Courtesy of the artist and Haines Gallery

hile museums are busy making themselves increasingly relevant to younger and more diverse audiences, galleries continue to have their finger on the pulse. See below for a brief survey of fall exhibitions. Haines Gallery: “Binh Danh: After the Gold Rush” For his latest body of work, Danh spent six years journeying across the American West and making old-fashioned daguerreotypes on silver plates in his mobile darkroom, techniques that harken back to the pioneers of the medium and give his imagery an “another time, another place” quality. Danh captures architectural details of Victorian buildings and historical sites in Nevada City, contrasting the timelessness of the surrounding landscape with stylish storefronts, cool cars and portraits of local residents. See page 30 >>

{ SECOND OF THREE SECTIONS }

<< Out There

20 • Bay Area Reporter • September 5-11, 2019

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Anna Webber

Classical pianist Natasha Paremski and Cuban Jazz pianist and composer Alfredo Rodriguez will perform in San Francisco Performances’ 40th Anniversary Season opening concert.

More Fall Arts choices by Roberto Friedman

You Asked – We Listened!

We are pleased to announce the introduction of what will become a treasured Cliff House tradition.

The Zinc Bar Happy Hour Please Join Us! Monday – Friday, 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm Zinc Bar & Balcony Lounge Light Bites, Drink Specials & Awesome Views

1090 Point Lobos | San Francisco | 415-386-3330 Visit CliffHouse.com to see the menu. Some restrictions apply. Promotions are not valid on holidays.

n this, our second week of the Fall Arts Preview, we offer surveys of what’s coming up in Bay Area Theatre, Art Galleries, the San Francisco Opera, Film, and lesbian-created Pop Music this fall. To top it all off, here are a few more highlights to watch out for in the coming Arts season. San Francisco Performances open their 40th Anniversary Season with appearances by Russian-born classical pianist Natasha Paremski and Cuban Jazz pianist and composer Alfredo Rodriguez on Fri., Sept. 27, 7:30 p.m. at Herbst Theatre. SFP President Melanie Smith explains, “We’re excited to present this unique pairing of musicians in their first performance together. Based on Natasha and Alfredo’s similar background and interests, I invited them to perform together in a unique call-and-response type program that incorporates improvisation and interplay. Natasha will play works by Prokofiev and Ravel, as well as possibly one of the most challenging works in the piano repertoire, ‘Islamey’ by Balakirev. Alfredo will follow with his own intensely virtuosic improvisations, in response to Natasha’s program. Definitely expect some fireworks in this program!” Tickets ($70, $55, $45) can be purchased at sfperformances.org or by calling (415) 392-2545. Opening week at the SFJAZZ Center includes Miner Auditorium performances Sept. 5-8 by legendary jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal. Then on Sun., Sept. 15, Miner Auditorium will host a dual concert by jazz singers Tierney Sutton & Ann Hampton Callaway. Further treats in store from SFJAZZ include Bobby McFerrin, Sept. 19-22; the Christian McBride Big Band, Sun., Sept. 29; and much more. Calendar info is at www.sfjazz.org. San Francisco Playhouse announced casting for the first production of their 2019-20 Sandbox Series of World Premieres, playwright Patricia Cotter’s “The Daughters.” Jessica Holt will direct the world premiere production, presented at the Creativity Theater.

Let’s quote the press materials! “An essential San Francisco story, ‘The Daughters’ follows the 60-year journey of a community from the initial secret meeting of the first lesbian social club in San Francisco to closing night of the last lesbian bar. As women loving women gather in defiance of convention (and the law), they drink, debate, politicize, flirt, drink more, dance hard, make out, fall in love, break up, make history, and change the way the world thinks about the multidimensionality of female sexuality. ‘The Daughters’ is a play about the transformation of identity, gender, and sexuality across generations in the queer epicenter of the universe.” The Sandbox Series is San Francisco Playhouse’s new works program. “The Daughters” will run Oct. 9-Nov. 2 at the Creativity Theater at the Children’s Creativity Museum, 221 4th St., SF. Tickets ($30-$40) or more info: (415) 677-9596, or www.sfplayhouse.org.

Nikko sneak peek

Feinstein’s at the Nikko has announced their lineup of upcoming artists for the fall. Performers include stars of Broadway and the West End Frances Ruffelle and Caissie Levy, Broadway and television star Andy Mientus, and spirited celebrations of immortal performers Billie Holiday, Marvin Gaye, and Aretha Franklin. Tony Award winner Frances Ruffelle, known for her iconic portrayal of Eponine in the original cast of “Les Misérables” in London and on Broadway, brings “Frances Ruffelle Live(s) in New York… in San Francisco!” to Feinstein’s Sept. 27 & 28. The Billie Holiday Project evokes the electric and intimate feeling of experiencing Lady Day live in a 1930s jazz club, featuring Stella Heath invoking the vocal stylings of Billie Holiday; Neil Fontano, piano virtuoso from Sonoma County; Jason Bellenkes on tenor saxophone and clarinet; and Trevor Kinsel on upright bass and cornet. Oct. 10. Broadway and television star Andy Mientus (CW’s “The Flash,”

NBC’s “Smash,” “Spring Awakening,” “Les Misérables”) will bring Joni Mitchell’s iconic 1970 album “Ladies of the Canyon” to life onstage at Feinstein’s at the Nikko. You know Out There will be there among the Joni-heads. Oct. 12 & 13. Currently starring on Broadway as Elsa in the smash-hit musical “Frozen,” Caissie Levy will share songs and stories from throughout her celebrated career, including highlights from “Wicked,” “Ghost,” “Hair,” “Les Misérables,” and “Rent.” Oct. 25 & 26. Top Shelf Classics! returns to Feinstein’s at the Nikko with the debut of “What’s Going On – The Songs of Marvin Gaye and Aretha Franklin.” Nov. 3. Tickets for all shows are on sale now by visiting www.feinsteinssf.com or calling (866) 663-1063.

Space balls

Sometimes press releases need no explanatory gloss. “An interstellar strip show is in the works. Armand Peri, entrepreneur and founder of Hunk-O-Mania, a nationwide chain of male strip revues [for women], is making history by sending one of his dancers, Rudy Bundini, to space,” writes PR Newswire. “At $250,000 per seat, Virgin Galactic is planning a commercial ride into space in 2020. Peri says he has secured a seat for Bundini on next year’s rocket. More than 600 passengers from 60 different countries have put down a deposit to ride to space.” “This is history in the making,” said Peri. “Astronauts come in all shapes and sizes of G-strings. I’m constantly trying to find ways to show that my dancers are just like everyone else. They’re dads, entrepreneurs – and soon-to-be astronauts.” “Bundini, a Hunk-O-Mania dancer and professional model, is putting together a routine he is planning to unveil in space. The 32-year-old has been implementing an intense training regimen to ensure his signature moves survive Zero gravity. Some of his iconic moves include the ‘Striptease, please,’ and the ‘Hold-n-hump.’” Yes, how does the “Hold-n-hump” work up its signature rhythmic thump and bump in Zero gravity? Ah, the mysteries of astrophysics. If this space capsule’s a-rockin’, don’t come a-knockin’.t

. T . C . A H T I W L L A F by Caryl Churchill directed by Tamilla Woodard

Warning: Breaking glass ceiling

may cause injury

SEP 19–OCT 13 THE GEARY THEATER

by Kate Attwell directed by Pam MacKinnon

Scorching world premiere ab ou

t the rules of play on and off

OCT 24–DEC 8 THE STRAND THEATER

the field

by Charles Dickens adapted by Carey Perloff and Paul Walsh music by Karl Lundeberg choreography by Val Caniparoli directed by Peter J. Kuo based on the original direction by Carey Perloff

The Bay Area's favorite holiday tradition

NOV 29–DEC 24 THE GEARY THEATER

ALSO COMING UP IN 2020! JAN 23–FEB 16 THE GEARY THEATER

APR 23–MAY 17 THE GEARY THEATER

FEB 13 –APR 12

THE STRAND THEATER

JUN 4–28

THE GEARY THEATER

Join or Get Tickets at ACT-SF.ORG

@ACTSanFrancisco

MAR 5–29

THE GEARY THEATER

2019 | 20

SEASON

<< Music

22 • Bay Area Reporter • September 5-11, 2019

’19-’20 SEASON AT THE VENETIAN ROOM FAIRMONT SAN FRANCISCO

10/13 MAURICE HINES

11/10 LA CHANZE

(Summer: the Musical, Tony Award: The Color Purple)

(Tap and Broadway legend)

11/24 CAROLE J. BUFFORD

(Nightlife & Bistro Award winner)

3/8 MAX VON ESSEN

(Tony nom: American in Paris, Anastasia)

1/26 JOHN PIZZARELLI

(Nightlife & Grammywinning guitarist)

4/24 JAZZ CABARET

(Artist to be revealed!)

2/27 STACEY KENT

(Gold, Double Gold & Platinum selling jazz vocalist)

Listen to lesbians by Gregg Shapiro

t’s best to get this out of the way first. Comparing Alex Lahey to fellow queer Aussie Courtney Barnett is almost unavoidable. Lahey, a few years younger than Barnett, shares a similar sense of humor and musical aesthetic. Her phrasing, particularly on “Misery Guts,” is definitely reminiscent of Barnett’s. That said, Lahey’s exceptional new album “The Best of Luck Club” (Dead Oceans) is a rocking, rousing affair that has its own distinctive personality. Lahey has a knack for accessible arena rockers such as “Am I Doing It Right?” and “I Need To Move On.” Lucky for listeners, she’s also comfortable playing the indie diva on “I Don’t Get Invited to Parties Anymore,” “Interior Demeanor” and “I Want to Live with You.” Alex Lahey performs on Sept. 5 at The Independent in San Francisco.

5/10 STEPHANIE J. BLOCK (2019 Tony Award: The Cher Show)

Subscribe and get discounts and better seats!

(415) 927-4636 or www.bayareacabaret.org

If Lahey isn’t cool enough for you (and there’s no reason she shouldn’t be), consider Black Belt Eagle Scout’s “Mother of My Children” (Saddle Creek) and Hand Habits’ “Placeholder” (Saddle Creek). Black Belt Eagle Scout (aka Katherine Paul) is a queer musician rooted in both her Native American heritage and the indie rock tradition. It’s a potent combination at its most riveting on album opener “Soft Stud,” “I Don’t Have You in My Life” and “Just Lie Down.” The songs on “Placeholder” by Hand Habits (aka Meg Duffy) sound deceptively sweeter than they are. This device works well in subtly getting across the difficult moods of “Can’t Calm Down,” ”Jessica” and “The Book of How to Change, Part II.” In case any of these young whippersnappers get out of line, lesbian punk foremother Thalia Zedek can set them straight (so to speak). With a plaintive wail on par with the punk godmother of us all Patti Smith, Zedek, known for her work with groundbreaking bands such as Come, Live Skull and Uzi, makes some of her most overtly political statements on “Fighting Season” (Thrill Jockey), including the title cut, “Of the Unknown” and “War Not Won.” Also known for her political music, SONiA disappear fear confronts the rise of white nationalism on her new album “By My Silence” (disappearfear.com). It’s comprised of five new songs by SONiA, including “A Voice for Nudem Durak” and the bouncy “Wandering Jew,” as well as folk songs and covers of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and Nick Annis and Ellen Bukstel’s title tune.

Prolific singer-songwriter Rachael Sage is perhaps best known for her keyboard work. Sage shifts gears and enters SONiA’s folky world with “Pseudomyopia” (MPress), an album on which she reimagines 11 songs from her 2018 “Myopia” record, including her cover of Howard Jones’ “No One Is To Blame” on acoustic guitar. The results are refreshing and confirm Sage’s status as a musical visionary. Even though she now has five full-length albums to her name, LP (aka Laura Pergolizzi) may be best known for writing hit songs for others such as Cher, Rita Ora, Rihanna, Christina Aguilera and Greyson Chance. That shouldn’t diminish LP’s ability to perform her own songs, and it doesn’t, as you can hear on her newest disc “Heart to Mouth” (Vagrant/BMG), featuring the standout numbers “Die for Your Love,” “Girls Go Wild” and “Hey Nice to Know Ya.” EPs are even more popular than they were in the 1980s. Both Ria Mae and Anne Steele have new EPs that don’t take long to listen to. Juno-nominated Canadian singersongwriter Ria Mae is at her best when she aims for the dance-floor, as she does on “Not Your Type” on her eight-song EP “Stars” (Sony Music). But the Tegan Quin duet on “It’s You” also has its charms. Steele, who made her name in the cabaret world, continues to put some distance between herself and that scene, as you can hear on the modern pop-oriented sevensong EP “Made Out of Stars” (annesteele.com). Steele also has her sights set on the dance-floor on noteworthy songs “Love Can Take Us There” and “Obsessed.”

While you’re at it, be sure to keep in mind new releases such as “The Griot” (Vizztone) by lesbian blues goddess Gaye Adegbalola, “Rhythm of the Rain” (ameliawhite.com) by Amelia White (featuring songs co-written with Lori McKenna and Anne McCue), “The Next Line” (bridgetboyle.com), “Trust and the High Wire” (myshkinwarbler.com) and “Home” (Amityville Records) by Sarah Stop (on cassette, no less!).t

music

dance

2019/20

theater

Cal Performances U N I V E R S I T Y

O F

C A L I F O R N I A ,

Mark Morris Dance Group Mozart Dances

Berkeley Symphony Colin Fowler, conductor and piano Inon Barnatan, piano

More than a decade after its West Coast premiere, Mark Morris’ sublime, joyful Mozart Dances returns in its eagerly awaited reprise. Morris’ buoyant, exhilarating choreography is set to three exquisite Mozart piano works.

“To hear Mozart through Morris’ ears is to appreciate the music in scintillating new detail.” —The Guardian, London

S E A S O N

B E R K E L E Y

Triptych (Eyes of One on Another)

Renée Fleming, soprano Richard Bado, piano

A Cal Performances Co-Commission Composed by Bryce Dessner Libretto by Korde Arrington Tuttle, featuring words by Essex Hemphill and Patti Smith Directed by Kaneza Schaal Featuring Roomful of Teeth, special guests Alicia Hall Moran and Isaiah Robinson, and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players Music direction and conducting by Brad Wells Produced by Arktype/Thomas O. Kriegsmann in cooperation with The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation.

Fleming brings the elegance and glamour of the opera house to her intimate—and rare—recital appearances, lending her rich soprano to German art song, operatic arias, Broadway hits, classical masterworks, and new music by gifted contemporary composers.

Finding Poetry and Music in Mapplethorpe

The cool classical symmetry and bold eroticism of Robert Mapplethorpe’s photography meet sound and text in a hybrid theatrical experience that invites us to reflect on the intimate acts of looking and being looked at.

“Witty and wicked… forbidding and seductive… extravagantly poetic, matching the photographs’ explicit sexual content while meeting their cool elegance with punk Romanticism.”

“Her voice floated across the hall in an iridescent display of vocal color…. By the end of the evening, Fleming held her audience in the palm of her hand.” —Los Angeles Times

—The New York Times

Sep 20–22

Sep 28

Z E L L E R B A C H HAL L

ZELLER B ACH HALL

Maggie Haberman

Sankai Juku

The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, New York Times White House correspondent, and CNN political analyst discusses lessons learned in her long experience covering Donald Trump.

Directed, choreographed, and designed by Ushio Amagatsu

“I get it from both directions. The left and the right, which I tend to think it means we’re doing our job. But I also think my job is not to be trusted by the politicians. I think the job is to be trusted by readers.” —Maggie Haberman, ABC News

This production features sexually explicit images that may be inappropriate for some audience members.

Meguri: Teeming Sea, Tranquil Land A majestic stone wall carved with fossils of sea lilies overlooks a sanddusted stage, where eight dancers from this internationally renowned butoh company enter into a sublime dialogue with gravity.

“At its core, each Sankai Juku production draws the audience together with the performers into a powerful human experience.”

Oct 5 Z E LLE R B A C H HA LL

MOMIX

Viva MOMIX! Viva MOMIX! bursts off the stage with a collection of acts from the company’s most visually spectacular shows, including Botanica (about the seasons), Lunar Sea (the moon), and Opus Cactus (the landscape of the American Southwest).

“A magical dance theater experience.” —Critical Dance

Exclusive radio partner for the 2019–20 Speaker Series

—The Seattle Times

Oct 6

Oct 12 & 13

Oct 26 & 27

Z E L L E R B A C H HAL L

ZELLER B ACH HALL

Z E LLE R B A C H HA LL

Mariinsky Ballet and Orchestra

Farruquito

David Sedaris

Part of the legendary Farruco dynasty in Andalusia, Spain, Farruquito is the undisputed heir to that region’s rich cultural legacy of “puro” Gypsy flamenco.

A master of satire and a hilarious commentator on topics both mundane and profound, Sedaris brings his beloved stories and essays to vivid life onstage.

La Bayadère

Valery Gergiev, artistic director Music by Ludwig Minkus Choreography by Marius Petipa (1877) Revised choreography by Vladimir Ponomarev and Vakhtang Chabukiani (1941) With dances by Konstantin Sergeyev and Nikolai Zubkovsky

A timeless story of forbidden love and shocking betrayal comes alive with colorful characters, opulent sets, and vibrant costumes, performed with the unmatched refinement, dramatic poise, and flawless technique that defines this centuries-old cultural institution.

“This was flamenco that seemed improvised in the moment—raw, visceral and executed with blazing intensity and immediacy.” —The Boston Globe

“I was a smartass, born and raised. This had been my curse and would continue to be so.” —David Sedaris, Naked

Oct 30–Nov 3

Nov 4

Nov 9

Z E L L E R B A C H HAL L

ZELLER B ACH HALL

Z E LLE R B A C H HA LL

calperformances.org/tickets

Season Sponsor:

<< Theatre

24 • Bay Area Reporter • September 5-11, 2019

Fall Preview, Theatre: Companion pieces by Jim Gladstone

History & infamy

he fall theater season and the new school year always arrive around the same time. In the spirit of lifelong learning, the Bay Area Reporter has put together a mini-curriculum for theatergoers to immerse themselves in over the months ahead. Each of our three self-guided “courses” features two upcoming local shows with shared elements. There’s plenty of fodder for comparison and contrast in these pairings, so pick up tickets to two, four or all six, and take your brain out to play.

If “Hamilton” is the American history bio-musical that’s given you glimmers of hope for our country in the midst of the Trump administration, the far-lesser known but earlier-to-Broadway “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson” is the one that will salt your wound, a darkly comic time-warped mirror image of familiar faux-populism, selfabsorption and institutionalized racism. The sanguine title refers to our seventh Prez’s proud slaughter of Native Americans. Rather than rap, the songs here are emo rock,

Season Opening Concert

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

Save 25% with a 4-concert Season Ticket Subscription

Sovereignty. Sept. 26-Oct. 20. www.marintheatre.org/ productions/sovereignty

Saturday, Sept 14, 8pm SF Conservatory of Music 50 Oak Street (at Van Ness)

Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. Sept. 27-Oct. 27. www.custommade. org/bloody-bloody/

Humperdinck Hansel and Gretel Overture Amy Beach Piano Concerto Daniel Glover, piano Shostakovich Symphony No. 10

Queers & years

Tensions between the LGBTQ community and organized religion are tackled with a mix of laughout-loud jokes and poignant passages in both “The Cake,” a regional premiere at the New Conservatory Theater, from Oct. 25; and a revival of “The Most Fabulous Story Ever

https://BARS-SF.ORG

Untitled-7 1

a smart choice for the solipsistic subject, with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman, an emerging wunderkind who died of complications of AIDS at 41 in 2017. The score feels like a hybrid of “Rent” and Green Day. The humor is black. When Custom Made Theatre, one of our best small companies, presents the show beginning Sept. 27, it may well be the first time “Jackson” and “Hamilton” have run simultaneously in the same city. Write your own think-piece. In conjunction with “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson,” theatergoers should also check out Marin Theatre Company’s West Coast premiere of “Sovereignty,” from Sept. 26. Mary Kathryn Nagle’s play offers a contemporary exploration of Native American history through the prism of contemporary courtroom drama. A Cherokee lawyer fights for the rights of Indians to prosecute crimes committed by non-Native Americans on tribal lands. Flashbacks span centuries, including a visit to Andrew Jackson’s Oval Office. Playwright Nagle drew on her own family history and her legal work on behalf of America’s Tribal Nations.

9/4/19 1:16 PM

presents

shanti ’ s 45 th anniversary dinner we hope you join us on

Thursday, October 3, 2019

T H E PA L AC E H OT E L , S A N F R A N C I S C O

6:00pm cocktail reception, 7:30pm dinner & formal program

Lois Tema

J.J. Van Name in a publicity photo for “The Cake” coming to New Conservatory Theatre Center.

Told” being presented by the Left Coast Theatre Company, from Nov. 8. “Most Fabulous,” a jolly theological hodgepodge from the writer Paul Rudnick (“Jeffrey,” “In & Out”), pairs a pink-inked rewrite of Bible stories with a post-intermission focus on contemporary couples as they wrestle with faith and love over a single holiday season. Rudnick always wields his pen like a rapier, and “Most Fabulous” is loaded with well-crafted zingers. But the play debuted back in 2008, and it will be interesting to see how its riffs on gay stereotypes and assumptions about our relationships hold up two epochal decades down the yellow brick road of queer history. “The Cake,” which debuted off-Broadway earlier this year, has time and topicality on its side. The play, by Bekah Brunstetter, a writer-producer for television’s “This Is Us,” leverages relatively recent headlines, revolving around a cheerful conservative baking champion’s crisis of conscience after being asked to make a cake for the wedding of her best friend’s lesbian daughter.

for tickets and sponsorship information, please visit www.shanti.org

Courtesy Left Coast Theatre Company

Mikey Conner is part of the cast for “The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told,” coming in the Left Coast Theatre Company’s season.

The Cake. Oct. 25-Dec. 1. www.nctcsf.org/shows/ 201920season/The-Cake The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told. Nov. 8-Dec. 14. www.theexit.org/most/

Praise Churchill

CELEBRATING 45 YEARS OF CULTIVATING COMPASSION

Courtesy A.C.T.

Summer Brown is part of the cast of

Prolific British play- A.C.T.’s upcoming production of Caryl wright Caryl Churchill’s Churchill’s “Top Girls.” explorations of power, as implemented through features notable women from politics, gender and technology centuries past comparing notes (sometimes all at once), have beand complaints with professional come a staple of Bay Area stages. women of the 1980s. “Cloud Nine” The upcoming season includes comments on forms of colonialism local revivals of two major midby juxtaposing the Victorian era of career works: “Top Girls” (1982), Act I with the looser mores of the opening the American Conservamid-20th Century in Act II. More tory Theater’s season on Sept. 19; Churchill is on the way next spring, and “Cloud Nine” (1979) at Cuswith her 2016 play “Escaped Alone” tom Made Theatre, from Nov. 15. scheduled for the Magic Theatre in It’s a great opportunity for newbies April.t to take a short course in Churchill’s best-known works, and for aficioTop Girls. Sept. 19-Oct. 13. nados to see fresh takes on longwww.act-sf.org/topgirls/ time favorites. “Top Girls,” which Cloud Nine. Nov. 15-Dec. 15. has been produced locally at least www.custommade.org four times in the past five years,

Dine with Pride

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Music>>

September 5-11, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 27

Ben Platt sings from the heart by Brian Bromberger

en Platt may wind up becoming the gay Barbara Streisand, meaning a multiplatform superstar. He is one of only a handful of male Broadway musical stars this century to branch out into TV and movies, and with the release of his new CD “Sing to Me Instead,” also to have a promising career as a singer. His talent extends to songwriting, having written or co-written every track on the CD. With a starring TV role as the ambitious Payton Hobart in Ryan Murphy’s dark comic satire “The Politician” ready to debut Sept. 27 on Netflix, Platt is clearly on his way to becoming an entertainment juggernaut. He turns 26 that week. Born in LA, the Jewish son of producer Mark Platt, he played the magic-loving Benji Applebaum in the popular “Pitch Perfect” movies. He played the role of Elder Cunningham in both the Chicago and Broadway productions of “The Book of Mormon,” but he won breakout fame as the socially anxious teenage star of the musical “Dear Evan Hansen,” which won him a Tony Award in 2017, a Grammy Award for the Original Broadway Cast Recording, and a Daytime Emmy Award for a cast performance of “You Will Be Found” on “The Today Show.”

He joined forces with Lin Manuel Miranda to craft a mash-up of “Hansen” songs benefitting the “March for Our Lives” anti-gun-violence movement. Moving into a new Manhattan apartment in 2017, he bought an “old, nondescript German piano,” reacquainting himself on an instrument he learned as a child, to write songs and try to find a sound.

Signing with Atlantic Records, he didn’t want to sing traditional Broadway show tunes or songs written by other composers. He challenged himself to create something original, inviting listeners “to learn more about who I am and get a glimpse into my heart.” One of the album’s videos, “Ease My Mind,”

caused a stir with its romantic storyline between Platt and out gay actor Charlie Carver. Magazines trumpeted it as Platt’s coming-out story. But Platt came out to his parents at age 12, and has been candid about his sexuality for years. While his lyrics use male pronouns and focus on his relationships with men, he doesn’t want the gay angle to overshadow his music. Most of the songs concern two past relationships. He confesses in the opening “Bad Habit,” “Hate to say that I love you, hate to say that I need you, hate to say that I want you, but I do,” even though the guy is not good for him. He doesn’t want “Temporary Love,” proclaiming, “We don’t have to hide our love away, and both of us are gonna make mistakes, cause leaning on somebody’s never easy. Now my heart is in your hands, please don’t give it up, this is not a temporary love.” “Honest Man” shows the difficulty of dating a closeted man, begging, “Why can’t you take my hand, even if I’m not what you planned? But I’m a safe place to land, if you come out then I promise that I’ll meet you halfway, cause I see every part of you.” Platt’s sensitivity is center stage in “Hurt Me Once,” about cutting ties

once love has ended. “If you have to hurt me, hurt me once. If you have to end it, get it done.” After the relationship has ended, he attempts to start again in “New.” He’s not good at pretending that he’s happy to be alone in “Better.” “Cause I lost part of me when I lost all of you. I don’t wanna come crawling, but I catch myself falling.” In “Share Your Address,” he recalls the excitement of a burgeoning romance moving too fast. “I want a key to your house, I wanna pick up your clothes, I wanna know where you hide things, wanna be in your photos, wanna share your address.” Most of the songs are tender, melancholic ballads, with haunting but catchy melodies and simple instrumentation, usually piano or acoustic guitar. A few have gospellike background vocals. The real focuses here are the poignant lyrics and Platt’s vibrato voice cascading through several octaves. Platt claims Joni Mitchell, Carole King, and Stevie Wonder as formative influences, but the songs bear a strong resemblance to Sam Smith and Adele (one of his collaborators, Eg White, wrote some of her hit songs). Because Platt writes about rites of passages in all relationships, everyone, regardless of orientation and gender, can appreciate the doubt, heartbreak, regret, and exhilaration he references. Time listening to “Sing to Me Instead” is well rewarded.t

Casual cruising by Tim Pfaff

s competing convexities go, looking down at crotches is quickly losing ground to foreheads looking down at screens. Old-fashioned cruising has become all the rage in new gay fiction, but one frets about its survival in the real world, if that’s what cyberworld is. Now that apps have become the haps, for the new sexual outlaw, the principal carryover from the cruising of yore may be danger as one of its core thrills. That we’re in a liminal moment is clear. In its subtitle, Alex Espinosa’s new book, “Cruising: An Intimate History of a Radical Pastime” (The Unnamed Press), “history” seems almost to relegate to the past the pleasures of what was a “pastime.” Espinosa’s non-academic, flyby history of the quickie as the activity that permits no names is largely benign and decidedly sex-positive. The author traces the practice back to ancient Egypt, and carefully differentiates classical pederasty from today’s pedophilia. But the closer he gets to the present day, the more other issues – coming out, say, or wardrobe – crowd in.

The Unnamed Press photo

“Cruising: An Intimate History of a Radical Pastime” author Alex Espinosa.

The hanky-code chart may come as news to the younger crowd while inducing fits of nostalgia for bandana owners. Digging farther back in time, Espinosa’s etymology of the British term “cottaging” (in Shakespeare’s time, public toilet stalls were called cottages) is useful. Oddly, what gets the most cursory treatment is the impact HIV and the drugs to treat and prevent it have had on promiscuous sex. Espinosa’s out is that his book is personal, and, “Looking back now, I don’t know if anyone I ever knew had it or succumbed to it. Yet the specter of the disease haunts me still, has always haunted me. I see traces of it in every single aspect of my life.” Even removing HIV from the equation, there’s something rickety about Espinosa’s thesis: “True cruising allows people to set the terms of their desire and both [sic] leave satisfied. It is founded on equality.” This may surprise some seasoned practitioners. As anyone who even has read a John Rechy novel knows, anonymous sex, however consensual, is seldom, strictly speaking, “equal,” the imbalances and shifting bal-

ances of power being intrinsic parts of the game. The same reservations apply if by “equality” he means “equal opportunity.” I’m happy to dismiss my reservations as “semantics” regarding a book with no pretensions and only good intentions. “I can and will speak for myself,” Espinosa writes, but I wish he had gone deeper into his own experience. He’s forthright about the physical challenges, congenital maladies that resulted in patchy hair loss and a foreshortened right arm, that initially inhibited his sexual adventures. At a cultural moment when looks-ism is taking a thumping, a deeper dive into his happy memories of cruising might highlight alternative takes on what’s hot. He draws connections between cruising and writing, both of which he notes develop the capacity to be alone, patience, diligence and perseverance and reward them with hypnotic levels of focus. There’s no denying it’s his experience even if language itself balks. Do people even talk about “casual” sex anymore? To the extent that fiction is where cruising now thrives, it flourishes in “The Collection,” a recent novel by Nina Leger newly translated from French by Laura Francis (Granta). Its protagonist, Jeanne, is building a “memory palace” of penises she has known – to the exclusion of all other characteristics of the men in her trysts. Het as the book’s vantage point is, it’s a tutorial for all authors faced with the hurdle of verbal dickpix

Francesca Mantovani

“The Collection” author Nina Leger.

that are anything short of risible. The writing is in that dark, impersonal, agnostic voice – choosey about what it worships – at which the French excel, but it’s as impressive in its concretion and directness as it is, later on, in its adventurous play with words and larger-scale rhetoric. For Jeanne, to know dick is to keep it at a safe emotional distance, and she is more the field researcher of cocks in the wild than the aesthetician of the phallus. The dissolution of her consciousness in the novel’s final chapters attests to the value of her initial prohibition of talk and repeat engagement. “Big boy” dick is her downfall. Counterintuitively, it’s a passage

about her public play with a clothed dick that I can’t get out of my mind. “There was a beginning,” the oracular Leger writes. Jeanne sits across from a couple on the train, the man “petrified by her gaze,” the woman sensing “danger.” “Her eyelids lowered, eyes like searchlights, a look which lingers, which presses and sinks further into the folds of dark blue cloth and seems to draw down the teeth of the zip one by one,” Jeanne the voyeur fatale strikes. The couple, undone, gets off at the next stop. Whether, where, when and how Jeanne does, or you do, is left to your now-heated imagination. We all have our phallic memory palaces.t

<< Film

28 • Bay Area Reporter • September 5-11, 2019

Fall Preview: Films by David Lamble

he slate of heavyweight Fall Films headed our way becomes all the more challenging a year away from a game-changing election and on the 500th anniversary of the introduction of African slaves to the Englishspeaking New World. Some of the best of the award-season entries will make pit-stops in Toronto, New York and our own beloved Mill Valley Film Festival (October). Remember: In an age when virtually no one sees anything coming, film artists – gay, lesbian, straight, bi, trans, queer and decline-to-state – are among the most reliable tea-leaf readers. “Judy” Filmmaker Rupert Goold offers a narrative take on Judy Garland’s last full year (1968), specifically her final London concert tour. Renee Zellweger appears as Garland, with Rufus Sewell as her influential hubby Sid Luft, and Jessie Buckley as he male assistant. (Sept.)

“Ford v Ferrari” High-octane auto-racing gets a powerful fuel injection in director James Mangold’s film drama pitting Matt Damon as car designer Carroll Shelby against Christian Bale as racecar driver Ken Miles. The mid-1960s-set tale concerns the Le Mans auto race. (Nov.) “Hustlers” Writer-director Lorene Scafaria brings us one of those tales based on true events, this time about a bevy of Manhattan strippers who used the 2008 financial meltdown to get cash-wealthy guys any way they could. Julia Stiles is the reporter who uncovers the case, while the strippers are played by Constance Wu, Cardi B. and Jennifer Lopez. (Sept.) “Ad Astra” The 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing is marked by a sci-fi tale from director James Gray. An astronaut played by Brad Pit shoots off into deep space to locate his dad (Tommy Lee Jones). With Liv Tyler, Ruth Negga and

David Hindley, courtesy of LD Entertainment and Roadside Attraction

20th Century Fox

Left: Renée Zellweger as Judy Garland in the upcoming film “Judy.” Right: Brad Pitt as an astronaut who goes into deep space in “Ad Astra.”

the venerable Donald Sutherland. (Sept.) “Parasite” South Korea is the setting for director Bong Joon Ho’s twisted family drama about a poor clan who schemes their into a wealthy family’s Seoul estate. (Oct.) “Joker” Batman returns yet again with a stellar cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Marc Maron, and Dante Pereira-Olson as the franchise’s top guy, Bruce Wayne. (Oct.) “Vivarium” A young couple looking for the perfect home find themselves trapped in a mysterious labyrinth-like neighborhood of identical houses. Writer-director Lorcan Finnegan adapts a story by Garret Shanley. With Imogen Poots, Jesse

Eisenberg and Jonathan Aris. (TBA) “A Rainy Day In New York” The 48th drama from Woody Allen concerns the travails of a young couple. The comedy drama starring Timothee Chalamet is being rolled out in European markets with large numbers of Woody fans in the face of an unofficial boycott of the famed director’s work led by the family of his former life partner, Mia Farrow. The buzz around the film suggests it will eventually get an American theatrical run. (TBA) “Where’d You Go, Bernadette”: Richard Linklater, the Texas-raised filmmaker who gave us the term “Slacker” to describe promising youth who have not yet emerged from their cocoons of T-shirts, jeans

and sneakers, directs Oscar winner Cate Blanchett (2005) as the lead character taken from Maria Semple’s popular novel. Bernadette’s midlife crisis is shared in Seattle with a daughter, a hubby (Billy Crudup) and a golden retriever dubbed Ice Cream. (Now playing.) “Good Boys” Comic actor Seth Rogen (“Superbad”) produced this funny exploration of the pitfalls of exiting the sixth grade. The film has some crowd-pleasing one-liners (“Two weeks into the sixth grade, and I’m already a social piranha.”) The boys Max (Jacob Tremblay), Lucas (Keith L, Williams) and Thor (Brady Noon) are approaching puberty with America’s favorite social problem. (Now playing.)t

Cinema’s stepchild by Jim Gladstone

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left my harp in Sam Clam’s disco.” Now that’s a hoot, ain’t it? Well, no. It’s a punchline without a set-up. Now, I’ll grant you that there’s a certain mirth to the juxtaposition of images evoked by those words: a harp, a disco, a monikered mollusk; and there’s a silly civic pride implied in rhyme. But unless you’ve first heard the rambling anecdotal windup – in which Sam and his pal Larry Lobster get separated by St. Peter at the Pearly Gates, Larry gets lonely in heaven and journeys to reunite 10:55 AM with his pal in a mirror-balled underworld, etc. – it falls significantly short of knee-slapitude. “The 39 Steps,” now playing at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, will be akin to that orphan punchline for most audience members: vaguely amusing and utterly pointless. If you take the trouble to watch Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 film adaptation of John Buchan’s 1915 novel the evening before attending the stage version, it will prove considerably more ingenious (although not really much funnier). The movie is the set-up. The play is an often-word-forword recreation of the movie, a sweeping espionage chase flick, as it might be staged in a small British music hall with a troupe of four actors frantically switching characters, costumes and accents. When cast member Cassidy Brown, playing an adult, suddenly drops to his knees and turns into a scruffy paperboy hawking the evening news, it’s amusing in a slapstick, vaudevillian way. But if you’ve recently seen the movie and realize that Brown is delivering his lines with the exact same vocal intonations as the kid in the film, you can appreciate the bit on multiple levels. Ron Campbell, a second quick-changing utility player, does similarly impressive work picking up and ever-so-slightly exaggerating the tones and expressions of dozens of characters, including the story’s archvillain.

Among the most impressive elements of this production are some incredibly precise bits of folderol, scripted by adapter Patrick Barlow and flawlessly executed by director Leslie Martinson and her creative team, that leverage the differences between stage and screen storytelling. In an early scene, femme fatale Annabella (Annie Abrams, who plays all the young female roles, leaving the crotchety old ladies to her male castmates) is stabbed in the back, and as she dies, she hands dashing protagonist Richard Hannay (Lance Gardner, with a lightfooted arrogance perfect for the role) a map, urging Kevin Berne him to follow her directions Richard Hannay (Lance Gardner) and save England from sure worries his identity has been discovered disaster. On screen, there’s by two traveling salesmen (Cassidy a dissolve: Annabella’s face, Brown and Ron Campbell) in “The 39 ghost-like, recedes into an Steps,” presented by TheatreWorks image of the map as some Silicon Valley at the Mountain View of her dying words echo Center for the Performing Arts. in Hannay’s head at lower and lower volume on the soundtrack: “Quickly… scene remains (lengthily so), more quickly… quickly… quickly…” likely to elicit head-scratching than On the music hall stage, with no nail-biting in this iteration. While cinematic visual effects, Annabella’s much of this production made me persistent repetition is quite funny if thankful I’d seen the film first, scenes you’ve recently seen its movie counlike this made me wish I’d seen the terpart, but perplexing otherwise. film only. There’s another bit in which, on film, But to be honest, unless you’re a a woman’s scream at the end of one hardcore devotee of cinema history, I scene elides with a train whistle at can’t even recommend that. As techthe beginning of the next. It’s a nifty nically advanced and cinematically detail to find repeated in a live setfluid as it was for its time, the 1935 ting, but without the visual impact of movie version of “The 39 Steps” feels quick cutting, it’s lost on most of the clunky and antiquated today. As with audience. the saga of Sam Clam’s disco, it may In one of Hitchcock’s most acnot be worth sitting through the setclaimed extended sequences, Hanup for the punchline.t nay is chased atop the cars of a moving train. Suspenseful and thrillingly The 39 Steps, through Sept. 15. shot, it’s the predecessor of a century TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, of action movies yet to come. But all Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., the pratfalls in the world can’t transMountain View. Tickets ($35late a comparable kinetic rush to the $95): (650) 463-1960, stage, and there’s nothing particularwww.theatreworks.org ly funny in that impossibility. But the

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<< Music

30 • Bay Area Reporter • September 5-11, 2019

Alain Hanel/San Francisco Opera

Soprano Nadine Sierra and tenor Bryan Hymel play the title roles in Gounod’s “Romeo and Juliet.”

Fall SF Opera

From page 19

Gounod’s glittering string of melodies and elegant treatment of Shakespeare suit the mood (ignore the opera’s sad ending) of Opening Weekend, which includes Opera Ball and Bravo! Club Galas on Sept. 6; Benjamin Britten’s “Billy Budd” on Sept. 7; and the cherished annual “Free Opera in the Park Concert” on Sept. 8. Single tickets have been available all summer, but it is not too late to scan the enticing line-up and pick an opera or two (or five). There is something for everyone in the fall repertoire, called “a season of incredible storytelling” by General Director Matthew Shilvock. I have always found it interesting two French composers, noted for the beauty of their own language, had

Fall Art Galleries

From page 19

“Tamman Azzam: Forgotten Cities” A prominent artist in his native Syria, Azzam was forced to flee the country when civil war erupted in 2011. He settled in Berlin. Since launching the viral image “Freedom Graffiti,” a digital collage that combines Syrian ruins with Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss,” he gained attention for his poetic paintings, installations and collages. The mixed media works in his new show, which employ paint and shredded or torn papers, depict the terrible beauty of his ravaged homeland, an unreal nightmare of buildings reduced to rubble and trash, torched vehicles and the uninhabited remains of devastated, once-thriving ancient metropolises. (Sept. 5-Nov. 2) hainesgallery.com Bedford Gallery: “Off Menu: Contemporary Art About Food”

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such success translating the Bard of Avon’s fabled romance “R&J” into music. Berlioz is exquisitely subtle. Gounod is grandly passionate, adding pageantry to the intimate beauty of the heartbreaking tale. Former Merola Opera Program and SFO Adler Fellowship participants head the cast. Soprano Nadine Sierra and tenor Bryan Hymel are naturals for the title roles, and American lyric baritone Lucas Meachem sings Mercutio. In keeping with the Company’s commitment to developing talent in-house, husband-and-wife team Pene Pati and Amina Edris, both Adler Fellows 2016, 2017, portray the star-crossed lovers on Oct. 1. French-Canadian Yves Abel conducts Opera de Monte-Carlo director Jean-Louis Grinda’s Italian Renaissance staging. “Romeo and Juliet” (Sept. 6-Oct. 1) Benjamin Britten’s overpowering For centuries, food has been an obsession, and that applies to artists, from the still life paintings of the Dutch Masters to Wayne Thiebaud’s cakes and pies. Anchored by a dozen fine art prints by Salvador Dali, this show features culinary desires visualized by an international cast of contemporary artmakers. Don’t go on an empty stomach. (Oct. 6-Dec. 15) bedfordgallery.org Pier 24: “Looking Back: Ten Years of Pier 24 Photography” It’s difficult to believe that this unique, magnificent exhibition space on San Francisco Bay is celebrating its 10th anniversary, but indeed it is. This, the first of two consecutive exhibitions marking the milestone, features key elements, photographers and subjects such as portraiture that form the core of the Pilara Foundation’s collection. Diane Arbus, Robert Adams, Richard Avedon, Dorothea Lange and Horishi Sugimoto are among the 50 photographers, famous and lesser or unknown, whose work will be on view in the first round. (through April 30) Pier24.org Fraenkel Gallery: “Carleton Watkins” Ask the average person which photographer they most identify with sweeping Western landscapes, and they’ll likely name Ansel Adams, but Carleton Watkins was taking spectacular, large-format, sepia-toned images with a customized mammoth-plate camera a century before Adams ever saw the inside of a darkroom. A dozen rare 15 x 20-inch photographs, taken by the artist who’s considered the greatest photographer of the 19th century, are on view here. They include dramatic vistas of a thenvirtually-unknown Yosemite Valley, Oregon’s Columbia River and a dreamlike mirage of the Mission San Luis Rey. Watkins was the subject of the gallery’s first exhibition in 1979. “Another West curated by Richard Misrach” runs concurrently. (Sept. 5-Oct. 19) Ever Gold Projects: “Shaina McCoy: A Family Affair” In a new group of intimate portrait paintings, McCoy, a Minneapolis-based African American artist, summons her family heritage and legacy of

drama “Billy Budd” follows in Tony and Olivier Award-winning director Michael Grandage’s famous Glyndebourne production, set in the massive but claustrophobic hull of the H.M.S. Indomitable, designed by Christopher Oram. Britten and librettists E.M. Forster and Eric Crozier distilled Herman Melville’s complex moral dilemma into a deep reflection on innocence versus cunning. Britten’s amazing score has enough variety and color to make listeners forget it is for male voices only. The composer’s evocation of the sea and the men who sail upon it remains one of his strongest theatrical works. Merola alum (2009) American baritone John Chest makes his Company debut as pure man-child Billy. Praised for his starring role in SFO’s “It’s a Wonderful Life,” American tenor William Burden (Merola 1991) portrays agonized Captain Vere, and bass-baritone Christian Van Horn, winner of the 2018 Richard Tucker Award, completes the triangle as Claggart. His distinctive tone should make a perfect fit for the darkly motivated bad guy. “Billy Budd” (Sept. 7-22) A new production of “The Marriage of Figaro” begins a multiseason project combining all three Mozart-Da Ponte operas, which include “Così fan tutte” and “Don Giovanni,” into a trilogy. The fascinating idea, suggested by SFO to Canadian director Michael Cavanagh (Floyd’s “Susannah” and Adams’ “Nixon in China”), joins him with an innovative creative team. They are building a narrative that follows human relationships and society within a single house over three pe-

riods of American history. Casting two black singers, bassbaritone Michael Sumuel and soprano Jeanine De Bique (SFO debut), as clever and endearing Figaro and Susanna adds subtext to Mozart and DaPonte’s timeless take on class relations. Veteran SFO mezzo-soprano Catherine Cook owns the part of Marcellina, and I cannot wait to see her in the new setting. “The Marriage of Figaro” (Oct. 11-Nov. 1) In the house “Tosca” built, a season without Puccini wouldn’t be right. “Manon Lescaut” brings Armenian soprano Lianna Haroutounian and American tenor Brian Jagde (Merola 2009, Adler Fellow 2010) to star as the doomed lovers who synch their feelings too late.

Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

John Chest in the title role of Britten’s “Billy Budd,” in rehearsal at San Francisco Opera.

They still sing some gorgeous music as they stylishly travel the road to ruin. Haroutounian and Jagde are top-name Puccinians, and former SFO Music Director Nicola Luisotti is no slouch himself. He makes a welcome return to conduct one of the composer’s early mega-hits. “Manon Lescaut” (Nov. 8-26) Long before Stephen Sondheim ventured into the woods, composer Engelbert Humperdinck and his sister librettist Adelheid Wette (go ahead and chuckle, Germans think their names are funny, too) created their own Marchenoper (fairy-tale opera). “Hansel & Gretel” arrives at the War Memorial in time to start the holidays. The score’s Wagnerian breadth and universal appeal enchant young listeners and nicely surprise warier adults. The new co-production with London’s Royal Opera is sung in English with English supertitles. Company favorites take the title roles. Mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke is Hansel, and soprano Heidi Stober is Gretel. Mezzo-soprano Michaela Martens (the phenomenal Klytemnestra in SFO’s “Elektra”) and bassbaritone Alfred Walker (memorable from his SFO debut as Orest in “Elektra”) are the adventurous kiddies’ parents. The wicked Witch is tenor Robert Brubaker (remember his creepy Aegisth in that same “Elektra?”). San Francisco-born Christopher Franklin conducts British director and production designer Antony McDonald’s big, beautiful show. “Hansel and Gretel” (Nov. 15-Dec. 7)t sfopera.com/2019-20-season

Courtesy of the artist and Ever Gold Projects

Courtesy of the artist and Hosfelt Gallery

Left: Shaina McCoy, “Heir to the Throne” (2018). Oil on canvas. Right: Rina Banerjee, “She had guts! She got lost and she fought a lot, hung her inside cords, colon, stomached all that she could. She stood on a beach with one arm a hook and the other held fish, held out her actions, feared no God as nature, her mother was on her heel’s side. She was all guts!” (2019). Mixed media on paper.

closeness. Based on photographs from her family album and influenced by Impressionism, she creates suggestive afterimages of familiar, well-trodden places and loved ones with featureless faces. Mothers hold their children, a trio of friends in T-shirts and baseball caps link arms, a couple nestles close to each other: what shines through is the affection that binds them. Withholding just enough realism, her blur of emotional memories provides a canvas onto which we can project our own. (Sept. 7-Oct. 26) evergoldprojects.com Hosfelt Gallery: “Blemish” Whimsy and magic reign in Rina Banerjee’s sensuous paintings, which poetically address issues from the perspective of a woman of color. “Freedom is the most expensive commodity, nature the most dangerous beauty,” the India-born artist writes. “My work examines both.” Alluding to immigration, colonialism, the environment and identity, she fluidly blends vividly colored inks, metallic leaf and collaged materials into exotic settings

where untethered female figures or goddesses in states of transformation – oscillating between human, bird and beast – float freely through ambiguous worlds. (Sept. 7-Oct. 12) hosfeltgallery.com Berggruen Gallery: “Helen Frankenthaler: Paintings” Credited with propelling the transition from abstract expressionism to Color Field painting, and regarded as one of the most innovative and influential 20th-century painters, Frankenthaler was one of the few women artists to surmount the obstacles of her era and triumph in a male-dominated field. The show covers three decades of her career, from 1953-78; it includes 19 expansive, major works that translated the world around her, some rarely exhibited, and examples of the soakstain technique she invented, which created pools of translucent color. (Sept. 26-Nov. 9) berggruen.com Dolby Chadwick Gallery: “Useful Lies” is an exhibition of recent works by French artist and former journalist Eric Antoine, who has

been described as a man of a thousand stories. Partial to a series format, his obsessive practice involves executing meticulous drawings prior to repeatedly photographing the same personal subjects in and around his home in a forest in northeastern France, and tinkering with light, reflection and precise compositions marked by the occasional imperfection. Known as wet-plate collodion, his slow, complicated, time-consuming, pictorial process, introduced over 150 years ago, distills singular objects that are hybrids of sculpture and silvery cinematic images that catch the light and tease the mind. A mysterious glow like that emanating from a UFO hovers over a disorderly stack of aging book pages; a luminescent orb, perhaps symbolizing optimism, alights on branches fording a woodland creek; cut flowers upside-down in a bottle of water imply ruined youth; and an abandoned hammock is left to fend for itself in a stand of bare, fog shrouded birch trees. (Sept. 5-28) dolbychadwickgallery.comt

Arts Events

Nightlife Events

www.ebar.com

Leather Vol. 49 • No. 36 • September 5-11, 2019

Gina Yashere

and Friends at Freight and Salvage by David-Elijah Nahmod

n Sunday, September 8, comic Gina Yashere returns to Freight and Salvage in Berkeley for a hilarious night of gay comedy. Yashere, whose star is shining brightly in the comedy world, will be joined by fellow funny people Sampson McCormick and Karinda Dobbins. All three performers are gay, as is Lisa Geduldig of Kung Pao Kosher Comedy, the show’s producer. It’s bound to be a night where a gay old time will be had by all. See page 32 >>

Gina Yashere

Morgxn

to rock Rickshaw Stop by Jim Gladstone

ne might instinctively lump Morgxn together with the likes of 3Lau, Deadmau5, Chvrches and SBTRKT, contemporary dance music acts who seem to consider unpronounceability an indicator of hipness. But Morgan Isaac Karr kindly requests that you don’t. See page 33 >>

Morgxn backstage

{ THIRD OF THREE SECTIONS }

Untitled-1 1

9/3/19 10:00 AM

<< Comedy

32 • Bay Area Reporter • September 5-11, 2019

Playmates and soul mates...

San Francisco:

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

Gina Yashere performing

Untitled-8 1

9/4/19 1:17 PM

Gina Yashere

From page 31

Headliner Yashere was born and raised in London to Nigerian parents. She began her professional life working for Otis as an elevator engineer before making the switch to comedy. People have been laughing ever since. In September Yashere makes her debut as a sitcom creator when her new show Bob Hearts Abishola begins airing on CBS. Yashere serves as a writer and producer on the show and will also be playing a supporting role. She co-created Bob Hearts Abishola with Chuck Lorre, who brought Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon and Two and A Half Men to the tube. Always a hard worker, Yashere also has several comedy specials on Netflix, one of which was produced at the Brava Theater in San Francisco. In addition, she is the British correspondent on The Daily Show With Trevor Noah. “I don’t consider myself a celebrity,” Yashere tells the Bay Area Reporter. “I just consider myself an entertainer and performer. I’m working, so whatever work I can get I’m taking it. It’s going really well right now.” Yashere was happy to talk about her TV show, which will debut on Sept 23. “It sounds like a love story but it’s a bit more,” she said. “It’s about a Detroit businessman who goes to the hospital after having a heart attack. He falls for the Nigerian cardiac nurse who’s looking after him. We go into her life and her family as immigrants from Nigeria coming to America trying to make a life for themselves. She’s trying to get her kid through school, to make sure that he does well in life, and her expectations are excellent for that child.” Yashere pointed out that, though the show will be presenting real people and real issues, it’s very much a comedy. Her role is that of the Nigerian nurse’s friend, a friend who she confides in about what is happening in her life. “And I’m advising her, in a hilarious way,” Yashere said. Her involvement with the show came about as the result of a phone call. Lorre wanted to meet her. She was living in New York at the time, so she flew out to Los Angeles for the meeting. Lorre had the idea for the show and needed Yashere’s help. “They were three white guys and they said they couldn’t write it,” she recalls. “They needed an authentic voice for the show. They brought me

in originally as a consultant to help them bring that authenticity and they ended up saying ‘We need you’. So I stayed and helped them write and create the show.” They produced a pilot, which Yashere had a good feeling about. She packed up her life in New York, bought a house in Los Angeles, and headed west. She explains how she made the unexpected jump from repairing elevators to comedy. “I’ve always been funny,” she said. “People told me I was funny. I never realized that I could actually make a living from it, so I never considered it.” But around 1997, Yashere was laid off from her job in the elevator industry. She was 22 years old and decided to spend the summer doing fun things that she had never done before. It was during this hiatus that she fell into comedy, and never looked back. Her first gig was at a small fifty-seat theater in London. She says that she killed it. “If I hadn’t killed it I might not be

Gina Yashere

doing this today,” she said. She refers to her stand-up as a “comedy memoir” in which she talks about herself and her experiences. There’s also talk about her mom but Yashere is always careful never to be disrespectful. There was a set she did in London a few years back where she introduced her mom to the crowd--her mother got thunderous applause. Yashere’s comedy is also inspired by the things going on in the world. “I do straight observational stuff and political stuff,” she said. “Whatever I see that I can make funny, I’ll talk about it. I’ll talk about misogyny and racism, though I don’t talk about Trump that much because he’s like a vampire. You keep talking about him and he gets stronger. But I will talk about healthcare in America. I think it’s a travesty that people are being bankrupted by their healthcare, or dying because they can’t afford medication. I’ll talk about stuff like that, but in a funny way. My first call is always to make you laugh, and if you learn something while you’re laughing, that’s a bonus.” Yashere noted that her lesbianism does, on occasion, work its way into her routines. Her being a lesbian and having a girlfriend is part of who she is. “I am who I am,” she said. “I’m a walking political statement. I’m a Black female lesbian immigrant. I check all those boxes. I hold nothing back. It’s extremely important to be visible, and to be out and outspoken. And that’s what I am.” When she appears at Freight & Salvage, Yashere says that she’ll be talking about her new TV show. She hints that there’s a very funny story as to how the project came about. She’ll also be talking about her travels and her experiences. She’s been all over the world. She promises a great night of fun and laughter. “If you like laughing and having a good time, surrounded by easy going people with no hate in their hearts, come out!” she said. “It’s a good night of entertainment. Just a good, fun night, that’s all it is. I’m here to entertain.” t Gina Yashere (and Acquaintances!), Sunday September 8, 7 pm. $25-30. Freight and Salvage, 2020 Addison Street, Berkeley. www.thefreight.org

Music>>

September 5-11, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 33

“Jim Provenzano has again created characters that a reader can’t help but fall in love with. This is an epic story, a tale as captivating as a favorite piece of music.” – author Mark Abramson

Ben Zucker

Above: Morgxn performing below: Album & single covers

Morgxn

From page 31

To the earnest 32-year-old pop singer-songwriter, who appears at the Rickshaw Stop on September 12, that “x” marks the spot on his lifeline when he decided to own his vulnerability as part of his creativity, just a few years ago. Since then, he’s scored major Spotify hits including “Home,” featuring Walk the Moon, “Carry That Weight”— which he composed after participating in the National Women’s March, and the uplifting anthem “A New Way.” Morgxn has also been the featured vocalist on a number of Tiesto tracks. After a recent phone conversation with the artist about his longtime love of music theater, his flamboyant video wardrobe and his dynamic new recordings, we’ve come to think of “Morgan with an X” along the lines of “Liza with a Z” Bay Area Reporter: So, tell us about your X. Morgxn: When I started making the music for my debut album a few years ago, it felt like the first time I was claiming the parts of myself that were the scariest and most sensitive for me. I was made fun of a lot when I was growing up in Nashville. I was this highvoiced, overweight artistic kid, which made me a bit of a target. And Morgan was thought of as a girl’s name, so it all got wrapped up together. I was a target for bullying. So when I was getting ready to put music out, I wanted to own my name, but also move beyond what it had meant for me in the past. BAR: Was music a big part of your childhood? M: I was always singing around the house and my mother had me audition for a choir when I was six. The director said they didn’t take anyone under nine, but my mother said ‘Just listen to him and then decide.’ So I became the youngest person ever in the choir. By the time I was nine I started taking voice lessons and piano lessons. Performing music and being on stage was always someplace I felt strong. I remember in seventh grade,

these kids put slanderous comments about me on the internet and I was being made fun of and humiliated. Music was a way to transcend everything bad that was going on around me.

Now I’m Here

The sixth novel by Lambda Literary Award-winning author

Jim Provenzano BAR: You were into theater, too, right? M: When I was nine, there was a casting call Beautiful Dreamer Press for a local production of www.beautifuldreamerpress.com Oliver! I remember going into the audition and evwww.jimprovenzano.com eryone is long and lean and looks like a ballet dancer. I’m this chubby kid who’s never done anything before, with a resumé that’s like “INowImHere_JimProvenzano_2x7.625.indd 1 like snow globes and playing with Superman dolls.” Because I could sing well, I got a part, one of the orphans. But let me tell you, I was so paranoid: I had one solo, during “Food Glorious Food” and I was so afraid that people would make fun of me because I was fat and I was singing about being starving. The next year, the show was Annie and they said there were no parts for me, which I couldn’t understand. We had girls play boys in Oliver!, so why couldn’t I be in Annie?

ebar.com

BAR: In your recent videos and recordings, you seem to embrace an exuberant over-the-top approach both sonically and visually. M: I feel a certain strength in wearing clothing that I might have been made fun of for when I was younger. I think costumes and makeup are a way for people to share their feelings. Someone might describe it as dressing up, but to me, its just another way of expressing myself. With music, too, sometimes I start with just a few chords on a piano, but then I build it up with sort of a costume of sound. That initial feeling is at the center of it, maybe something vulnerable. But it grows into something strong and powerful.t Morgxn performs at the Rickshaw Stop, Sept 12, 7pm. All ages, $15 advance, $17 at the door 155 Fell St. www.rickshawstop.com www.morgxn.com

6/24/19 1:33 PM

<< Arts Events

34 • Bay Area Reporter • September 5-11, 2019

Two-year anniversary of the tour of local art galleries and businesses that display artists; first Thursdays, 6pm-8pm. www.castroartwalk.com

Aunt Charlie’s @ Tenderloin Museum Multimedia exhibit about the historic Tenderloin drag bar, including Beautiful by Night: Photographs from Aunt Charlie’s Lounge by James Hosking. Sept 5: reception for the new exhibit, Hot Boxx Girls, photos by Darwin Bell, 6pm-9pm. Sept 7 benefit reception 12pm-4pm: $20-$50. Sept 8: Tenderloin Pride Festival at Vicki Mar Lane. Exhibit thru Dec 1. 398 Eddy St. www.tenderloinmuseum.org

Classic and New Films @ Castro Theatre Sept 4-9: Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood. Sept 7: Valley of the Dolls (12:15). Sept 8: Model Shop (12pm). Sept 10: Verotika (9pm) with director Glenn Danzig inperson. Sept 11: Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am (3:45, 8pm) and Maiden (6pm). Sept 12: Downton Abbey sneak preview (7pm) and also Sept 19-26. $8-$16. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com

Queer Asia, BearPad @ Strut Queer Asia: Identity [re]defined, a group exhibit of Bay Area queer Asian artists’ works. Also, Woof/ Grrr, X/O, BearPad’s exhibit of illustrated colorful gay erotica. 470 Castro St. www.sfaf.org

Readings @ City Lights Bookstore Sept 5, 7pm: Daniel Handler on his new novel Bottle Grove. Sept 8, 5pm: Underground Living with V Vale and Rudy Rucker. Sept 10, 7pm: Machine author Susan Steinberg. Sept 11, 7pm: Savage Ecology: War and Geopolitics at the

Sept 5-12, 2019

Art Walk @ Castro District

Arts Events

Thu 5

End of the World. Sept 12. 7pm: release of Father’s Day by Matthew Zapruder and Little Glass Planet by Dobby Gibson. 261 Columbus Ave. www.citylights.com

The San Quentin Project @ BAM/PFA Nigel Poor and the Men of San Quentin State Prison follows the evolution of artist Nigel Poor’s (b. 1963) social art practice and her collaboration with the men incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison in Marin County; thru Nov. 17. Also, Strange, a Surrealistinspired group exhibit. 2155 Center St. Berkeley. www.bampfa.org

SF Fringe Festival @ Exit Theatre 28th annual festival of short, funny and dramatic performances. Thru Sept 14. 156 Eddy St. sffringe.org

Fall into arts fables, fantasies and forecasts.

Battista Remati

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

Thu 12

Mugwumpin @ CounterPulse

Justin Hall @ Strut

Fri 6 Cabaret @ SF Playhouse New local production of Kander & Ebb and Masteroff’s classic musical based on the John Van Druten play and stories by Christopher Isherwood, set in Weimar Germany. $35-$125. Tue-Thu & Sun 7pm. Fri & Sat 8pm. Also Sat 3pm, Sun 2pm. Thru Sept. 14. 450 Post St. www.sfplayhouse.org

Events @ Manny’s Sept 6, 7:30pm: Soul Food for Thought Open Mic. Sept , 11am: Equality California Womxn Brunch. Sept 7, 6:30pm: Moms/ Dads Comedy Show. Sept 8, 3pm: Polythene Pam, Mia Byrne, Eddie & The Heartbeats. Sept 8, 5pm: Smack Dab Open Mic. Sept 12, 5pm: Presidential Debate Watch. Free/$10 and up (donations). 3092 16th St. welcometomannys.com

Exit Strategy @ Aurora Theatre, Berkeley Ike Holter’s play about teachers and students who fight the demolition of a beloved school building. $40-$70. Thru Sept. 29. 2081 Addison St., Berkeley. www.auroratheatre.org

The hunky comic artist and editor unveils Greetings From Dadville, his new collection of illustrations from a new comic book. 8pm-10pm. 470 Castro St. www.strutsf.org

Soulskin Dance @ Dance Mission Theater The company premieres two contemporary ballets by Artistic Director Adrianna Thompson and Barbara Koch. $25-$30. Fri & Sat 8pm, Sun 5:30pm. 3316 24th St. www.soulskindance.org

Titus Andronicus @ La Val’s Subterranean Theater, Berkeley Shakespeare’s violent bloody tragedy gets an intimate local production. $15-$25. Thu 7:30pm. Fri & Sat 8pm. Sun 7pm thru Sept 29. 1834 Euclid Ave., Berkeley. www.tituslunatico.bpt.me

Sat 7 Black Choreographers Festival @ Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, Oakland Kendra Kimbrough Barnes, Gregory Dawson and Reginald Savage, and youth dance groups Frankie Lee Peterson III, New Style Motherlode, Oakland School for the Arts, On Demand, Sweat and Zaccho Youth Dance Company. $10-$25. 8pm. Also Sept 8, 3pm. 1428 Alice St., Oakland. www.bcfhereandnow.com

Brian Dettmer @ Nancy Toomey Fine Art Exhibit of the artist’s carved book sculptures. Reg hours Tue-Fri 11am5:30pm. Sat 11am-5pm. Opening reception Sept 7, 5pm-7pm. thru Oct. 12. 1275 Minnesota St. http://nancytoomeyfineart.com

Dancefar @ Herbst Theater Performance by members from numerous local dance companies, benefiting the International Rescue Committee and Gugulethu Ballet Project. $50, $250 and up. 7pm. 401 Van Ness Ave. www.dancefar.org

The Flick @ Ashby Stage, Berkeley Shotgun Players performs Annie Baker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2014 drama/comedy about three people working in a cinema. $7-$40. Thru Sept 22. 1901 Ashby Ave., Berkeley. www.shotgunplayers.org

San Francisco Mime Troupe @ Bay Area Parks The company performs Treasure Island, an update on the classic tale, with a development/greed scandal as the story. Free/$20 donations; at Bay Area locales thru Sept 8. www.sfmt.org

Titanic @ Alcazar Theater 42nd Street Moon’s concert performance of the Stone/Yeston musical based on the tragic seaship, with 70 singers! $35-$45. 8pm. Sept 8, 3pm. 650 Geary St. www.42ndstmoon.org

Sun 8 Adam Pascal @ Lesher Arts Center, Walnut Creek The musical theatre actor performs songs and stories from Broadway shows he’s performed in (Rent, Chicago, Aida, Memphis, Something Rotten!, and Pretty Woman.), plus a Q&A session. $71. 7:30pm. 1601 Civic Drive. Walnut Creek. www.lesherartscenter.org

Opera in the Park @ Robin Williams Meadow

Africa State of Mind @ MOAD Traveling exhibit curated by Ekow Eshun includes 16 artists’ works focusing on the diea of ‘Africanness.’ Also, The Sacred Star of Isis and Other Stories, photos by Adama Delphine Fawundo; also Rashaad Newsome’s Stop Playing in My Face!, a Black queer multimedia installation. Free/$10. Both thru Nov. 15. 685 Mission St. www.moadsf.org

Naked Men’s Sketch @ Eros

Enjoy a free concert of excerpts from SF Opera’s upcoming season, plus classic favorites. Free 1:30pm. golden gate Park. sfopera.com

Get naked and take turns modeling at the sex club’s popular weekly event. Donations/no entrance fee. 7pm-9pm. 2051 Market St. www.erossf.com

Smack Dab @ Manny’s

Richard Caldwell Brewer @ Lost Art Salon

Queer open mic reading and music show, with featured performer Isaac Fellman. 5pm. 3092 16th St. http://welcometomannys.com/

Mon 9 The Princess and the Porn Star @ Strut Staged reading of Kirk Shimano’s one-act play by Left Coast Theatre Company. Free, 7pm. 470 Castro St. www.strutsf.org

Queer as German Folk @ SF Public Library

Exhibit of works by the late gay artist (1923-2014). Mon-Sat 10am5:30pm. 245 South Van Ness Ave., #303. https://lostartsalon.com/

Thu 12 Chosen Familias @ GLBT History Museum Queering Familias: Building Latinx Resilience & Hope, a panel discussion, 7pm, in conjuntion with the exhibit Chosen Familias: Bay Area LGBTQ Latinx Stories. Also, The Mayor of Folsom Street: Alan Selby’s Legacy. 4127 18th St. glbthistory.org

Exhibit of ephemera and memorabilia about Stonewall rebellion commemorations in Germany and worldwide; additional exhibit also at Eureka Valley Branch, 1 Jose Sarria Court at 16th; both thru Sept 26. 100 Larkin St. www.sfpl.org

The Great Wave @ Berkeley Repertory

We Are More @ California Humanities, Oakland

Mugwumpin, Mabel Valdiviezo with Travis Bennett @ CounterPulse

Exhibit of art by four queer comic artists; Ajuan Mance, Breena Nuñez, Lawrence Lindell, and Trinidad Escobar. Thru Sept. 538 9th St. Suite 210. Oakland. www.calhum.org

Tue 10 Off the Wall @ Mission Cultural Center Exhibit and sale of historic Mission Grafica Printmaking Studio’s decades of posters and prints; main Gallery, thru Sept. 20. 2868 Mission St. www.missionculturalcenter.org

Wed 11 4 Waves @ SOMArts Cultural Center 40 Performances for the Hole, a speed-performance night with various companies and solo artists performing two-minutes works, with host Rhodessa Jones. 6pm10pm. 934 Brannan st. www.somarts.org

U.S. premiere of Francis Turnly’s drama about Asian family members separated by an ocean. $30-$81. thru Oct 27. 2015 Addison St., Berkeley. www.berkeleyrep.org

The Looking Glass Self and Metemorphosis: Phase 1 are performed by the two energetic performance ensembles. Free/$30. Thu-Sat 8pm, thru Sept 21. 80 Turk St. http://counterpulse.org

Noches de Poetas @ Strut QTPOC poetry night. Free, 7pm. 470 Castro St. www.strutsf.org

Various Events @ Oakland LGBTQ Center Social events and meetings include film screenings and workshops, including Bruthas Rising, trans men of color meetings, 4th Tuesdays, 6:30pm. Film screenings, 4th Saturdays, 7:30pm. Game nights, Fridays 7:30pm-11pm. Vogue sessions, first Saturdays. 3207 Lakeshore Ave. Oakland. www.oaklandlgbtqcenter.org

Who’s Your Mami Comedy @ Brava Theatre Chey Bell headlines the new monthly comedy night, produced by Marga Gomez; with Baruch Porras-Hernandez, Dhaya Lakshminarayanan, Emily Van Dyke and Kristee Ono. $10-$15. 8pm. 2773 24th St. www.brava.org t

<< Nightlife Events

36 • Bay Area Reporter • September 5-11, 2019

BYF @ Lone Star Saloon One A, Infinite Jess and DJ Dreamcast. $5. 9pm-2am. 1354 Harrison St. www.lonestarsf.com

Picture

Yummy beats, tasty drinks, delicious dancers, are all on your nightlife menu.

GAMboiSF @ Rickshaw Stop The K-pop gay asians and pals dance night. $8-$15. 9:30pm-2am. 155 Fell St. www.rickshawstop.com

Glide Legacy Gala @ August Hall 10th anniversary festive night of music (DJ KingMost and Glide Ensemble and The Change Band), food, dancing, awards (to The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Mpumi Nobiva) and giving. $100 and up. 7pm-12am. 420 Mason St. www.glide.org

Sun 8

Oakland Pride @ Downtown Oakland

Nightlife Events Sept 5-12, 2019

Go Bang! @ The Stud Disco retro groovy mixes celebrating Sylvester, with DJs Steve Fabus, Sergio Fedasz, Prince Wolf and Jimmy DePre. $12. 9pm-3am. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

K Flay @ The Fox Oakland

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

Thu 5 Awooga @ The Stud Party for Anarchists and art destroyers, with drag and DJed sounds. 9pm-2am. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

Dee’s Keys @ Beaux Weekly live piano and open mic night with Dee Spencer. 4pm-8pm. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Events @ Steamworks, Berkeley The stylish bathhouse’s DJed events take place Thursdays-Sundays. $7$62, plus annual memberships $160. Open 24/7, every day. 2107 4th St., Berkeley. (510) 845-8992. www.steamworksbaths.com

Junk @ Powerhouse MrPam and Dulce de Leche cohost the weekly underwear strip night and contest, with sexy prizes. $5. 10pm2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

DJ Omnibot spins grooves at the bear bar. $5. 9pm-2am. 1354 Harrison St. www.lonestarsf.com

La Bomba Latina @ Club OMG

The platinum-selling British neo-soul singer-songwriter performs with her band at the nightclub-restaurant. $44-$84. 8pm & 10pm. Sept 7, 7:30 & 9:30pm. 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland. www.yoshis.com

Heklina’s popular weekly drag show, with special guests and great music themes, and MadDogg 20/20 in the Fez Room. Sept 7 is a Rhianna tribute, with drag acts Roxy-Cotten Candy, Sassi Fran, CoCo Buttah, Militia Scunt Towers, KaiKai Bee Michaels, Juhnay Arabesque, Sendra Rose, Fox E. Kim and Tanya Tuck-it. $10-$15. 10pm3am (11:30pm show). 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Natalie Douglas @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko

Oakland Pride Kickoff Party @ Golden Bull, Oakland

Marsha Ambrosius @ Yoshi’s Oakland

The amazing voaclist performs her new concert, the Music of Roberta Flack (see interview in last week’s issue). $40-$75 ($20 food/drink min.) 9pm. Also Sept. 7. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. www.feinsteinssf.com

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

XO @ The Stud Lesbian and queer friends night with DJ Beats. 9pm-3am. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

The weekly drag show with themed nights and hilarious fun. $5. 9pm2am. 4149 18th St. at Collingwood. www.edgesf.com

Sat 7 Bounce @ Lookout

Rice Rockettes @ Lookout

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

Fri 6 Bear Happy Hour @ Midnight Sun Hairy men and their pals enjoy 2-for-1 drinks and no cover. 4067 18th St. 861-4186. www.midnightsunsf.com

Beards & Booze @ The Edge Beers, bears, cubs, snacks and grooves. $5. 9pm-2am. 4149 18th St. www.edgesf.com

K. Flay @ Fox Theatre, Oakland

Musician extraordinaire Joe Wicht leads tasteful sing-along selections. 5:30-8:30pm. 4 Valencia St.

The Monster Show @ The Edge

Enjoy hard rock and punk music from DJ Don Baird at the wonderfully divey SoMa bar, in its 25th year. Also Fridays. 7pm-2am. 1369 Folsom St. 431-4695. www.hitws.com

Sat 7

Piano Bar @ Martuni’s

The iconic progressive rock band performs, with most of the original members. $65-$150. 8pm. Also Sept. 6. 1807 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. http://thefoxoakland.com

Rock Fag @ Hole in the Wall

Mother @ Oasis

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

King Crimson @ The Fox Oakland

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

The dark-pop rising star (“Blood in the Cut”) performs with her band. Houses and Your Smith open. $30 (plus optional “Ask me whatever the f#ck you want” VIP meet & greet). 8pm. 1807 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. www.thefoxoakland.com

Bear Trap @ Lone Star Saloon

Dance music with a view at the Castro bar. 9pm-2am. 3600 16th St. www.lookoutsf.com

Fri 6

Marsha Ambrosius @ Yoshi’s Oakland

Queer Beats @ Oasis Live performances by Saro and Ames, plus music from DJ Adam Kraft. $20. 10pm-2am. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Ror:Shok @ SF Eagle Rock music and bears. $5-$10. 9pm2am. 398 12th St. www.sf-eagle.com

Stank @ Powerhouse Smelly armpit night at the cruisy gay bar. $5. 10pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

Star Trek Live! @ Oasis The hilarious drag king/queen parody performance of a classic episode of the scifi TV series teleports back to SoMa, starring Leigh Crow (Capt. Kirk) and a crew of queens and kings. $27.50-$50. Thu-Sat 7pm. Thru Sept 21. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

La Bota Loca @ Club 21, Oakland Banda Los Shakas performs at the LGBT Latinx night. $10. 9pm-4am. 2111 Franklin St. www.club21oakland.com

Live set by Dolii, performances by Snaxx, God’s Little Princess, and many others; hosted by Beatrix LaHaine, and Mama Celeste. $10. 9pm-2am. 412 14th St., Oakland. www.thegoldenbullbar.com

The Playground @ Club BNB, Oakland Dance night at the popular hip hop and Latin club. $5-$15. 9pm to 3am. 2120 Broadway. (510) 759-7340. www.club-bnb.com

Powerblouse @ Powerhouse Juanita MORE! and crew’s monthly drag makeover night, where a drag virgin makes her debut. $5. 10pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. powerhousebar.com

Qtease @ The Stud Redbone’s birthday party at the queer burlesque cabaret show. 6pm-8pm. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

Russian River Pride @ Downtown Guerneville LGBT Pride events, including a daytime parade, and at various venues (Rainbow Cattle Club, Woods Resorts, R3 Hotel), with drag shows (A Gaylactic Celebration, 8pm at the R3 Hotel, with host Cockatielia, Heklina, the Starlettes of the Divashere: Miss Rahni NothingMore, Deana Dawn, Suppositori Spelling, and Kit Tapata.) and DJed dancing. www.russianriverpride.org

Mon 9

Vamp @ Beaux

Nightlife Events>>

September 5-11, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 37

Tribute Celebration @ City View Metreon

Really Funny Comedians @ Cobb’s Comdy Club

SF AIDS Foundation’s cocktail party, fundraiser and tribute to local leaders, including Sister Roma, Fernando Castillo, and Walgreens. $350 and up. 6pm-10pm. 135 4th St. www.sfaf.org

…who happen to be women, with Irene Tu, Sandy Stec, Natasha Muse, and host Chelsea Bearce. $20-$25. 7:30pm. 915 ColumbusAve. www.cobbscomedy.com

Woof, Frolic @ SF Eagle

Renegade @ Atlas

Pup play fetish afternoon (3pm-6m) followed by the full-on Furry dance party (animal costumes encouraged). $8-$12. 8pm-2am. 398 12th St. www.sf-eagle.com

The weekly cruisy semi-private party. 6pm-10pm. $5-$20. Now also Truck Tuesdays, and Thursdays, 9pm-2am. 415 10th St. www.atlas-sf.com

Sun 8 Apocrypha @ SF Eagle Rockin T-dance. $5-$10. 7pm-1am. 398 12th St. www.sf-eagle.com

Big Gay Beer Bust @ The Cinch Benefits and plenty of beer at the historic neighborhood bar. 3pm-7pm. 1723 Polk St. www.cinchsf.com

Big Top @ Beaux Enjoy an extra weekend night at the fun Castro nightclub, plus hot local DJs and sexy gogo guys and gals. $8. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.Beauxsf.com

Blessed @ Port Bar, Oakland Amoura Teese and Ava Lashay cohost a weekly drag show. 2023 Broadway. www.portbaroakland.com

Bounce @ Lookout

Sundance Saloon @ Space 550 The popular two-stepping linedancing, not-just-country music night, with free lessons, celebrates its 21st anniversary; free admission. 5pm10:30pm. Also Thursdays 6:30pm10:30pm. 550 Barneveld Ave. www.sundancesaloon.org

Mon 9 Karaoke Night @ SF Eagle Sing along, with hosts Dulce De Leche, Eduardo Wagar, three Pristine condition and Patty Daniel, plus prizes, local celeb judges, and $2 draft beer. 8pm-12am. 398 12th St. www.sf-eagle.com

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

Sun 8

Velvetta (featuring Leigh Crow and Ruby Vixen) at Dot’s Sunday Hoedown @ The Ivy Room

KQ League Night @ Detour

Underwear Night @ 440

Game tournament at the renovated former Brewcade bar/restaurant. 7:30pm-11pm. 2200 Market St. www.detoursf.com

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

Mancrush Mondays @ Port Bar, Oakland

Vamp @ Beaux

Drink & draw night with sexy male models; BYO art materials. 2st & 3rd Mondays. No cover, but 1-drink min. 2023 Broadway. www.portbaroakland.com

Women’s night with a sultry vampire theme; goth, red & black, lingerie attire welcome but not required; bondage and BDSM demos, too. DJs Olga T and Jayne Grey. $5-$15. 8pm2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Tue 10 Cock Shot @ Beaux The weeknight party gets going with DJ Chad Bays. No cover. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Dave Matthews Band @ Chase Center The folk-rock superstar and his band perform. $50-$115. 8pm. 500 Terry A Francois Blvd. www.apeconcerts.com

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

Chest @ Powerhouse Nipple play and chest fetish night. $5. 10pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

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

Hookups =

Dot’s Sunday Hoedown @ The Ivy Room The Muddy Roses, Velvetta (featuring Leigh Crow and Ruby Vixen) and Jacob Aranda perform at a benefit for Down Syndrome Connection of the Bay Area. $10-$20. 4pm. 860 San Pablo Ave. www.ivyroom.com

Drrrty @ The Stud Queer black and white fetish bar. $7$20. 7pm-2am. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

Dr. Seuss: A Drag Show @ the Make Out Room Media Meltdown’s pop culture drag show interprets several Seuss classics, with videos, balloon art; proceeds benefit RAICES, legal aides for immigrant families. $7 and up. 9pm. 3225 22nd St. www.makeoutroom.com

Gina Yashere @ Freight & Salvage, Berkeley The insightful British lesbian comic performs, with Sampson McCormick, Karinda Dobbins, Lisa Geduldig. See interview in this issue. $25-$30. 7pm. 2020 Addison St., Berkeley. www.ginayashere.com www.thefreight.org

Glam Sundays @ Valencia Room New weekly house, funk, soul T-dance with guest-DJs and no cover. Sept 1: DJ Ruben Mancias. 3pm-9pm. 647 Valencia St. www.glamsundays.com www.thevalenciaroom.com

Oakland Pride @ Downtown Oakland Large gathering with live and dJed music, community booths, food, drinks and more. Several events preceding the rally at the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center (3207 Lakeshore Drive. www.oaklandlgbtqcenter.org/ anniversary-pride Pride events on Broadway at 14th to 20th Sts. www.oaklandpride.org

Visit www.squirt.org to hook up today

See page 39 >>

<< Leather

38 • Bay Area Reporter • September 5-11, 2019

Finding meaning The purpose-driven kink life

Rich Stadtmiller

The men of the Bare Chest Calendar, an army of volunteers who raise money for a cause they believe in, Positive Resource Center.

Rich Stadtmiller

For some kinksters, like these folks attending last year’s Folsom Street Fair, the comradery and friendships the kink scene fosters are what gives them meaning.

by Race Bannon

was reading Victor Frankl’s iconic book Man’s Search for Meaning again. Frankl, a psychiatrist, was a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps from 1942 to 1945. During his imprisonment at four different camps including Auschwitz, Frankl’s parents, brother and pregnant wife did not survive. Those horrific experiences and his and other’s coping mechanisms for survival in the camps brought Frankl to the conclusion that while we cannot avoid suffering, we can choose how to best handle it and, importantly, even find meaning

in it. He was so convinced that the pursuit of what we personally find meaningful is life’s primary driving force that he created a new school of psychotherapy called logotherapy founded on that concept. This is typically a column about sexuality, kink and relationships. What could the pursuit of meaning have to do with such things? As I read Frankl’s book again, I kept homing in on this necessity for meaning as fundamental to a good life, a happy life, in all spheres of what

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we do as humans. That includes sex and relationships. The more I thought about meaning as a core need, the more I reflected on all we do and are as LGBTQ kinksters. Puncture the veneer of the superficial armor of our displayed sexual proclivities and the most satisfying of them are founded upon a sense of meaning to who we are and what we do. There are those who feel we are born with meaning. I am not of that camp unless mere existence is to be considered having meaning. I think we create meaning. I think we nurture meaning. I think we keep our eyes open for meaning. When we can sync our natural predilections with an internal sense of meaning, we strike gold, the mother lode. This is what I think happens when those of us LGBTQ folks who might naturally lean toward kinkier sex explore those desires within the context of something we find meaningful. When it comes to leatherfolk and kinksters, I contend those who are simply going through the motions of adopting a kink identity or parroting a sexual expression without attaching them to some meaning for it all are missing out. Of course, it’s entirely their right to eschew the awareness or pursuit of an underlying meaning, but I believe for these folks the experience is more a diversion, a causal entertainment. There is nothing wrong with that, but perhaps this is the true schism within our leather and kink scene – a divide between those who have attached some meaning to who they are and what they do and those who are seeing it as simply a fun sexual rollercoaster to ride or convenient welcoming community. It’s difficult to articulate, but I sense that’s the crux of much of the angst and division among some in the leather and kink ranks. How might we apply this concept of finding meaning that Frankl’s logotherapy suggests in our personal kink lives? Here are some suggestions based on Frankl’s concepts that I believe, if adopted, would improve individual kinksters’ lives as well as the entire set of kink communities by creating more meaning and therefore more overall happiness. Create something. It could be a fetish meetup, a gear social, a sex party, a work of erotic art, a community project, a discussion group, anything for yourself or others to

Rich Stadtmiller

One of the many volunteers at a recent SF Eagle Sunday beer bust raising money for a worthwhile organization.

give you a sense or purpose which can add meaning to your life. Develop and nurture relationships. Deep interactions with others offer us a supportive circle in which we can find more meaning. Abandon scorekeeping and comparison. Life is not fair. None of us are the same. No two situations are the same. If you judge your happiness based on being hotter, more revered, higher up the power chain, more BDSM skilled, with more awards, or on any such externals, you will be unhappy. Adopt a selfguided sense of self and those times when life doesn’t seem fair will be easier to deal with and keep you centered on real meaning. Do stuff for others. Focus away from yourself and toward others. How can you help a fellow kinkster? How can you help improve some aspect of the leather or kink communities? Volunteer. This is where you’ll find meaning that will raise you up while doing the same for others. Avoid tearing others down. Keep your eye on your meaning and away from idle gossip or piling on others

such as takes place so often on social media. Those who engage in that are not happy people. Happy and fulfilled people bolster others, even when those others might not see life or an issue the same way they do. When encountering those who habitually denigrate others or dismiss an entire group of kinksters, you may need to back away from them entirely. Their toxicity will do nothing but divert you from meaning in your own life. Let’s all try to enjoy this amazing smorgasbord of sexuality and relationship options to their fullest by individually attaching some meaning to it all. Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” That why can be meaning, and that meaning can make us happier kinksters. Give it a try.t

For Leather Events, visit www.ebar.com/events Race Bannon is a local author, blogger and activist. www.bannon.com

Nightlife Events>>

September 5-11, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 39

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

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

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

Sherry Vine @ Oasis

Wed 11

Sherry Vine @ Oasis

Nightlife Events

From page 37

Gaymer Night @ Midnight Sun Weekly fun night of games and cocktails. 8pm-12am. 4067 18th St. midnightsunsf.com

Truck Tuesdays @ Atlas Super-cruisy night at the new semiprivate club. $10-$20. 9pm-2am. 415 10th St. www.atlas-sf.com

Zodiac @ SF Eagle Weekly drag show/viewing party of the Boulet Brothers Dragula ; with Nitrix Oxide, Hollow Eve and DJ Dakota Pendant; creepy clown drag encouraged. 8pm-1am. 398 12th St. www.sf-eagle.com

Wed 11 Cabaret Karaoke @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko Dick Bright MCs the new karaoke night at the elegant nightclub. $12$15. ($20 food/drink min.). Thru Sept. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. www.feinsteinssf.com

Chosen Fam @ El Rio Pilot premiere party of the QTPOC program; also production completion fundraiser. $5-$20. 6:30pm-8pm. 3158 Mission St. www.elriosf.com

GAYmes @ Port Bar, Oakland Board games night plus Baila Conmigo, queer Latinx fundraiser. 2023 Broadway. portbaroakland.com

Hollywood & Vine, the dryly campy drag singer-comic’s new saucy solo show, includes song parodies of Madonna, Tina Turner, Whitney Houston and more. $20-$40. 7pm. 298 11th St. www.sherryvine.com www.sfoasis.com

Morgxn @ Rickshaw Stop

Sigrid @ Mezzanine

Stylish pop from the LA singer, with Castelcomer and Sumif also performing (see article in this week’s issue). $15-$17. 7pm. 155 Fell St. http://morgxn.com/

Pop singer performs songs from her debut album, Sucker Punch. $25. 8:30pm. 444 Jessie St. www.mezzaninesf.com

My So-Called Night @ Beaux

Legendary UK pop-rock band performs. $50-$70. 8pm. 1807 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. www.thefoxoakland.com

Carnie Asada hosts a weekly ‘90s-themed video, dancin’, drinkin’ night, with VJs Jorge Terez. Get down with your funky bunch, and enjoy 90cent drinks. ‘90s-themed attire and costume contest. No cover. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Queer Karaoke @ Club OMG KJ Dana hosts the weekly singing night; unleash your inner American Idol ; first Thursdays are Costume Karaoke; 3rd is Kinky Karaoke 8pm. 43 6th St.

Squeeze @ The Fox Oakland

Who’s Your Mami Comedy @ Brava Theatre Chey Bell headlines the new monthly comedy night, produced by Marga Gomez; with Baruch PorrasHernandez, Dhaya Lakshminarayanan, Emily Van Dyke and Kristee Ono. $10$15. 8pm. 2773 24th St. www.brava.org t

Thu 12 Comedy Night @ Ashkenaz, Berkeley Keith Lowell Jensen, Priyanka Wali, Victor Pacheco, and Lisa Geduldig will make you laugh, guaranteed. $15-$20. 8pm. 1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. www.ashkenaz.com

Game Night @ Pause Wine Bar Johnny Rockitt hosts a weekly night of trivia and games. 8pm-10pm. 1666 Market St. www.yieldandpause.com

Gym Class @ Hi Tops Enjoy whiskey shots from jockstrapped hotties and sexy sports videos at the popular sports bar. 10pm-2am. 2247 Market St. 551-2500. www.HiTopsSF.com

Thu 12 Chey Bell headlines Who’s Your Mami Comedy @ Brava Theatre

Shining Stars Steven Underhill Photos by

Wine Tasting @ The Academy A

wine-tasting evening at The Academy, held Friday, August 30, included tips on tasting from sommelier Michael Wells. On the airy back patio, guests enjoyed sipping various wines while learning more about different vintages and kinds of wines. The Academy, 2166 Market St. www.academy-sf.com See plenty more photos on BARtab’s Facebook page, facebook.com/lgbtsf.nightlife. See more of Steven Underhill’s photos at StevenUnderhill.com.

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For headshots, portraits or to arrange your wedding photos

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

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