May_3_2018 by Bay Area Reporter

Long-term survivors art

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Empty SF storefronts on next mayor’s to-do list

Vol. 48 • No. 18 • May 3-9, 2018

by Matthew S. Bajko

Jane Philomen Cleland

Soni S.H.S. Wolf at the 2015 San Francisco Pride parade.

Dykes on Bikes founding member Soni Wolf dies by Cynthia Laird

oni S.H.S. Wolf, a lesbian and founding member of the Dykes on Bikes Women’s Motorcycle Contingent, died Wednesday, April 25, the organization announced May 1. Ms. Wolf was 69 and died of natural causes, the organization said in a news release. Brooke Oliver, an attorney who represented Ms. Wolf and Dykes on Bikes in a high-profile trademark case, said Ms. Wolf had been ill for about the See page 10 >>

ealing with the growing glut of empty storefronts in commercial corridors throughout the city is among the to-do list items for San Francisco’s next mayor. The issue has been a pressing one for years in the city’s gay Castro district, where locally-owned businesses have struggled amid increasing rents, changing demographics, and the rise of online retailing. Also transforming the neighborhood’s retail landscape has been the addition in recent years of ground-floor storefronts in new mixed-used residential developments along upper Market Street. Many of the sidewalk retail spaces have sat vacant as landlords have struggled to attract tenants, and more are on the way as several new developments are either under construction or have been approved by city planners. Efforts to fill them can be hampered by a range of issues, from landlords asking for unreasonably expensive leases to the square footage being too large for the needs of local merchants. The city also has strict rules on where chain stores can locate in the Castro and prohibits office-like uses in ground-floor storefronts. Community leaders have tried various tactics to address the issue, from marketing the Castro

: Rick Gerharter

The site of the former Sparky’s Restaurant is now vacant. It is one of several empty storefronts in the 200 block of Church Street.

to leasing agents to assisting entrepreneurs in opening their doors. A retail corridor study was conducted a few years ago to determine what businesses residents would like to see open in the neighborhood. Landlords with a vacant commercial space are required to register it with the city’s Department of Building Inspection within 30 days of it becoming empty and pay a fee of $711. Until

they lease the space, landlords are supposed to pay the fee each year. There is a legislative effort at City Hall to possibly increase the fee for landlords who fail to lease their storefronts. And there also have been calls for better enforcement on the city’s part to ensure landlords are registering when

Arrest warrant issued in 1999 cold case killing

Mixed messages for SF State’s HIV, STI testing program

by Alex Madison

young, bisexual man was violently stabbed to death in his residential hotel room in Chinatown almost two decades ago with few clues, no suspect, and no arrest. Last week, after 19 years, an arrest warrant was issued for Roy Donovan Lacy Roy Donovan Lacy in connection with the murder of Kameron Sengthavy, the Bay Area Reporter has learned. Lacy, 38, is currently in custody in Florida serving nine years for a series of bank robberies committed in the state. Lacy, who has a lengthy criminal history, has robbed 13 banks throughout California and two in Florida. He was convicted in 2016 in Marin County for three bank robberies he committed in 2012 and 2013 with his girlfriend, Michelle Marie Maxwell, in San Rafael and Novato. During his sentencing at Marin County Superior Court, Lacy was given 105 years to life, a sentence he called, “insane,” given he didn’t See page 15 >>

See page 4 >>

by Alex Madison

t took the voices of student activists to motivate San Francisco State University to once again offer free HIV and sexually transmitted infection testing to LGBT students, while heterosexual students have had that service for years. Hoping to receive an HIV test for free in 2016 at the university’s Student Health Services center, like many of his heterosexual peers had, Jose Francisco, a 23-year-old gay man, was told he would have to pay more than $200. “I initially heard from my peers that my school tested for free,” said Francisco in a phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter. “I disclosed I was gay and, ultimately, I was not given the health services that my school would otherwise provide to my heterosexual peers for free.” At the time, the university’s health professional did offer Francisco referrals to other organizations, like the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, which offer HIV/STI and other health services to LGBTs for free. But Francisco said those agencies usually have a long wait, sometimes days, and are located across town. Francisco is a public health major and president of the Health Education Student Association at the university. In talking to LGBT community members on campus, Francisco found they, too, had similar experiences, which they

described as discriminatory. “It sort of made me question the equitability in terms of access for sexual minorities, especially sexual minorities who are more susceptible to HIV and STIs,” Francisco said. Francisco wrote an op-ed in the university’s newspaper the Golden Gate Xpress detailing his experience. With that, came change. For the first time in more than two years,

starting last month, LGBT students have the ability to be tested for HIV, gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis at no cost as a part of the $314 health fee all students pay every school year. The funding for the testing comes in part by the San Francisco Department of Public Health, which has a memorandum of understanding with the university to See page 15 >>

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San Francisco State University student Jose Francisco took part in a San Francisco AIDS Foundation campus event.

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<< Community News

2 • BAY AREA REPORTER • May 3-9, 2018

DA rejects arrest warrant in Qualls case by Alex Madison

fter nine years, the first arrest warrant for a suspect connected to the death of transgender woman Mariah Qualls was issued by the San Francisco Police Department in March, but was rejected last week by the San Francisco District Attorney’s office due to lack of corroborative evidence. “At this point, the investigation lacks sufficient corroborative evidence, and we are unable to ethically charge the case at this time,” said Alex Bastian, deputy chief of staff for the DA’s office. To Dan Cunningham, an SFPD homicide inspector who has worked on the case since the beginning, the suspect in question is guilty. “I think he did it,” he said in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter. “When everything is said and done about that day and place, there wasn’t enough evidence to connect him to the incident and charge him.” The police did not provide the suspect’s name because he has not been arrested in the case. Qualls, 23, was found dead in her North Beach residential hotel room at the Golden Eagle Hotel,

Courtesy SFPD

Mariah Qualls

402 Broadway Street, in December 2009. The medical examiner’s office determined the cause of death was blunt force injury to the head. Cunningham said that the male suspect is currently in custody on separate murder charges for an incident in which he allegedly punched and killed someone at Market Street and Van Ness Avenue this year. Cunningham said there was a lot of circumstantial evidence on the

suspect, but no corroborative evidence, including sufficient amounts of DNA or eyewitnesses, to charge him. He did confirm, however, that the suspect was staying in the room with Qualls during the time of her death. There were many inconsistencies in the suspect’s statements to police, as well, like saying he was not at the hotel during a certain time although there are eyewitnesses who said he was. Cunningham spoke with Christine Qualls, Mariah Qualls’ mother, over the phone last week to let her know his arrest warrant was rejected. “I felt that she understood,” Cunningham said. “She seemed OK with it. It’s hard for a mom to wait this whole time and not get the result you want.” The B.A.R attempted to contact Mariah Qualls’ family members, but were unable to reach them. In a previous B.A.R. article in 2014, Christine Qualls had said that she couldn’t believe “nobody knows anything” and was incredulous that there was still no resolution. Judy Garcia, Mariah Qualls’ grandmother, had previously said, “It infuriates me that this hasn’t

been resolved.” She was disappointed that information from other residents of Qualls’ building hasn’t led to an arrest. Christine Qualls also spoke about her daughter’s love for the LGBT community in San Francisco, as she was originally from San Jose. “She loved the gay community,” Christine Qualls said in a 2009 interview. “She loved the gay Pride parades. It just fit. That’s where she thought she would fit. She just wanted to start a new life.” An arrest in the case has eluded investigators for years despite an offer of a $75,000 reward by former mayor Gavin Newsom’s office for information leading to the identification, arrest, and conviction of the suspect(s) responsible. The reward has been available since 2011, and SFPD reiterated the offer in a bulletin issued December 2014. As previously reported by the B.A.R., the report on Qualls’ death from the medical examiner’s office indicates her final days were extremely troubled. “I think she was kind of having a harder time than what she let on. She moved around a lot. She stayed in a lot of different hotels,” Christine

Qualls said in a 2009 interview. According to the report, which cited police and the manager of Qualls’s building, at about 1:30 a.m. December 8, the day before her body was found, “the neighbor across the hall heard an altercation in the subject’s room, describing the incident as ‘yelling and someone getting slapped around.’” There’s no indication the neighbor called police. At about 11 a.m. December 9, the report says, “pest control and the building manager responded to the subject’s room for monthly pest extermination and found the door unlocked.” They found Qualls “lying in bed, apparently unresponsive.” Within minutes, emergency responders pronounced her dead. The documents say methamphetamine was present at the scene and “blisters and ulcers” on Qualls’ upper lip were “suggestive of thermal injuries” from a “glass or metallic pipe.” She had methamphetamine in her blood, according to the toxicology report. “Drug paraphernalia consisting of multiple small plastic bags (bindles) and previously cut straws” were in a drawer, the documents say.t

Art exhibit features works by long-term survivors by Tony Taylor

hat began as a self-care practice for Diane Sciarretta to describe the feelings of her illness to doctors and family has transformed into a partnership of survival. Bodyscapes, the artistic healing program Sciarretta created, will host an art exhibit showcasing a recent collaboration with longtime survivors of HIV/AIDS. During an opening reception at Art Saves Lives Gallery Sunday, May 6, the remarkable exhibition, “Age, Survive and Thrive,” will unveil drawings and poems created by long-term HIV/AIDS survivors. When the Bay Area Reporter interviewed Sciarretta and a few workshop participants at Castro’s Cafe Mystique, she described the alignment between Bodyscapes and the survivors as “serendipitous.” After bonding with publicist Laura Davis on a BART train two years ago, the two kept in touch. Sciarretta was looking for a new population to share her Bodyscapes project with and soon after their meeting, Davis

Tony Taylor

“Age, Survive and Thrive” participants Harry Breaux, left, Gregg Cassin, Diane Sciarretta, Marcus Oliphant, and publicist Laura Davis look forward to the opening reception.

went to the screening of “Last Men Standing,” a documentary about HIV/AIDS survivors. At the screening, Davis met Gregg Cassin of Honoring Our Experience, a retreat for people impacted by HIV. Davis then told Sciarretta, “I think this might be your group.”

And so began the love story, as Sciarretta called it, between her and Cassin. Through his connections with Honoring Our Experience, Sciarretta had new participants for her workshop. “If he wants my project, this is the group I want to give it to,” Sciarretta

O K E L L’ S

recalled thinking. “[The connection] was beyond my expectation.” Bodyscapes workshops began partnering with HIV/AIDS survivors in late 2016, and the program continued for a year. Sciarretta, an art educator, soon realized that many of the participant’s health issues were around aging with AIDS. “Bodyscapes was born out of my illness and trauma,” she explained, beginning to tear up. “What’s important for me after 25 years of depression is to let Bodyscapes be of use. [I wondered] why my life as a schoolteacher ended. It’s to give this project to people with illness and about the importance of their stories being told.” Cassin said that many people who have lived with HIV/AIDS for decades are now concerned with aging issues. Participant Marcus Oliphant’s art and poem, “Inside Me,” are featured on the cover of the “Age, Survive and Thrive” catalogue. Oliphant, 44, described the upcoming exhibit as “an artistic voice in our journey of dealing with this virus.” “Most of us [with HIV/AIDS]

are isolated. My culture doesn’t talk about it at all,” said Oliphant, who is African-American. “This platform that Diane introduced to honor our experience was a perfect match. Community is what’s important in this battle of HIV and AIDS and the stigma behind it.” Harry Breaux, 73, who is an artist involved with “Age, Survive and Thrive,” was one of eight men featured in “Last Men Standing.” He arrived to the Castro in the 1970s, before the AIDS epidemic began. “My long-term AIDS process started in the 1970s during the extreme gay revolution. That’s when the virus was being passed around,” Breaux said. “The action in the 1970s was fighting for our rights. When the 1980s [and epidemic] came around, we changed that slogan to ‘fighting for our lives.’” In response to participating in Bodyscapes, Breaux said he was resistant at first, but he did the workshops and found himself getting into it more than he expected. His poem, “My See page 14 >>

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hirty years ago, the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance was formed to address social, cultural, and political issues affecting gay and bisexual Asians and Pacific Islanders. Through the years, GAPA has kept its focus on helping gay and bi men while becoming more Kid’s Asian Hybrid/City Hybrid/City Kid’s inclusive and providing positive role models in the community. Next weekend, GAPA will celebrate its 30th anniversary with Legacy, a black-tie gala to commemorate the organization’s years Kid’ Hybrid/City Kid’s of advocacy and activism. The dinner will include an awards ceremony honoring those who have Road Mountain Mountainmade significant contributions to Road Now Open Thursday to 7pm! the API community. There will be Now Open Thursday to 7pm! an address by keynote speaker Sam Now Open Thursday to 7pm! Park, the first openly gay man to be Every Thursday in April between 4 & 7pm elected to the Georgia state LegislaEvery Thursday April between 4 & 7pm Every Thursday in April between 4 &in7pm ture, as well as entertainment from take 20% OFF all parts, accessories & clothing.* take 20% OFF all & parts, accessories & clothing.* take 20% OFF all parts, accessories clothing.* the GAPA Men’s Chorus, GAPA Road Mountain limited toTheater, stock hand. and the Rice Rockettes. *Sales limited to stock on *Sales hand. *Sales limited to stock ononhand. Community icon Tita Aida will Now Open Thursday to 7pm! emcee the festivities. There will be four honorees at the awards ceremony. Alma Soongi Every Thursday in April between 4 & 7pm Beck will be given the George Choy take 20% OFF all parts, accessories & clothing.* Award of Recognition for her ef*Sales limited to stock on hand. forts in helping bring the queer API community together, making 1065 (Btwn & 107721st Valencia 1065 & 1077 Valencia & 22nd(Btwn St.) •21st SF & 22nd St.) • SF a lasting impact through both her SALES 415-550-6600 • REPAIRS 415-550-6601legal work and her deep community SALES 415-550-6600 • REPAIRS 415-550-6601 1065 & 1077 Valencia (Btwn 22nd St.) • SF involvement. Mon.-10-7, Sat. 10-6,21st Thu.&10-7, Sun. 11-5 Mon.Sat. 10-6, Thu. Sun. 11-5 SALES 415-550-6600 • REPAIRS 415-550-6601 API Equality – Northern California is being awarded the Doug 1065 & 1065 1077Valencia Valencia (Between 21st &St.) 22nd St.)11-5 SF Mon.- (Bewteen Sat. 10-6, 10-7, Sun. 21stThu. & 22nd SF Yaranon Community Ally Award Mon-Sat (Btwn 10-6, Sun for being an outspoken organizaSALES 550-6600 • REPAIRS 415 St.) 550-6601 1065 &415 1077 Valencia 21st11-5 & 22nd • SF tion that inspires and trains lead415-550-6601 Mon.-Sat. 10-6, Thu. 10-7,415-550-6601 Sun 11-5 SALES 415-550-6600 • REPAIRS ers, establishes intergenerational Mon.- Sat. 10-6, Thu. 10-7, Sun. 11-5 connections, and documents and disseminates LGBTQ API histories. Former GAPA Co-Chair Ben Leong will get the Donald Masuda Vanguard Award. He has worked to strengthen connections and leverage resources for the LGBTQ Asian and Pacific Islander communities throughout the years. And finally, the Godzy Award, GAPA’s highest honor, goes to Ty Lim. The Godzy Award honors and recognizes current and former GAPA members who have made an outstanding and enduring impact on the organization. Lim was a George Choy Scholarship recipient before becoming GAPA Scholarship Committee Chair. He is now president of the GAPA Foundation. “It’s amazing to think that 30 years of GAPA have happened,” said GAPA Chair Michael Nguyen. “I feel a real sense of accomplishment and pride that an organization like GAPA exists and is there to bring the community together.” Nguyen noted that, in spite of gains that have been made, the organization is still very much needed. “In an ideal world we would not be needed,” he said. “But we’re being attacked and we need organizations like GAPA to fight and speak up.”

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<< Community News

4 • BAY AREA REPORTER • May 3-9, 2018

D ay

Empty storefronts

From page 1

they have vacant storefronts. Landlords could face even stiffer penalties following the outcome of the special mayoral election on the June 5 primary ballot. The leading candidates in the race are all on record in support of seeing San Francisco institute a commercial vacancy tax on owners of property with empty retail spaces. Former state lawmaker Mark Leno, who lives in Noe Valley and represented the neighborhood at City Hall when he served as the District 8 supervisor, has called for such a tax. He has not yet determined, however, what it would cost or what

Courtesy GAPA

Gay Asian Pacific Alliance members participated in the 1998 San Francisco Chinese New Year’s Parade.

GAPA was originally formed by a group of students in Berkeley in 1987. “They were seeing the HIV epidemic escalate and wanted to create a support and safe space,” Nguyen explained. “We were formally incorporated in 1988. At the time they wanted to build community and create an advocacy organization that would further the interests of gay and bisexual men.” In 1990 GAPA had a float in the Chinese New Year’s Parade. Members were trying to convey to the larger Asian community that gay and bisexual men had always been there. The group won best float. “Being invisible creates the mentality that we’re not involved,” said Nguyen. “So GAPA always tries to push for visibility.” Nguyen described keynote speaker Park as “just a regular guy.” “He was inspired to run for office because of attacks on Obamacare,” said Nguyen, referring to the Affordable Care Act. “His mom is fighting cancer. We’re really excited to have him – he represents the way GAPA could be. GAPA aspires to have national influence by supporting elected officials like Representative Park. We hope by bringing Sam Park as our keynote speaker that he inspires a new generation of queer and trans Asian Pacific Islanders to run for office.” “It’s a great honor to be invited to be the keynote speaker for GAPA’s 30th anniversary as the first gay Asian male to be elected to the Georgia House,” Park told the B.A.R. in a phone call. “I support and commend the work GAPA has been doing to lift up and empower voices from our community.” Nguyen referred to President Donald Trump as a “major crisis.” “Trump’s Muslim ban, DACA, Dreamers, and the trans military ban,” he said, referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and children who were brought to the U.S. by their parents. “There are countless attacks coming from

Trump. What can we do? We can bring our communities together and find more of our people who can run for office and engage with people who are supporting our interests.” Nguyen emphasized that GAPA’s focus has changed over the years. “We became more inclusive in the 2000s,” he said. “We changed our bylaws to be more inclusive because it’s reflective of the world.” In addition to its political activism, GAPA offers a variety of social programs including a monthly happy hour, a brunch group, and a book club. Cultural programs include GAPA Men’s Chorus, and GAPA Theater, a storytelling workshop. GAPA cultural chair Dino Duazo spoke about these programs. “GAPA was founded from a deep desire for our needs as queer Asians and Pacific Islanders to be addressed,” said Duazo. “We hoped to see change, that unfortunately, is not yet within reach, as the current political climate abundantly makes clear. Although queer APIs are more numerous and integrated into the community, the need for that safe space where our needs aren’t ignored or pushed aside still matters. Creating a sense of community with others who are familiar with where you’re coming from means a lot.” Duazo also talked about the goals of the organization’s cultural committee. “For the cultural committee, our aim is to provide our voices and our perspectives to the discussion,” he said. “To get a sense of empowerment and inclusion. Just like Black Panther et al touches the black community, so do we want to have the same type of impact, even if on a smaller scale.”t

the stipulations would be for when the tax would kick in. “It is painful but a curiosity that the laws of market demand don’t seem to be working here. We have all of this new residential development, especially on upper Market from Octavia to Castro. The city requires ground floor retail for all

sorts of good planning purposes,” said Leno. “We have a glut now of commercial space available, both all the newly constructed and the existing vacancies. You would think prices would begin to fall, and they are not.” With the current fee landlords

Corrections

Legacy takes place Saturday, May 12, at 6 p.m. at the Century Club of California, 1355 Franklin Street in San Francisco. Tickets are $150 and can be purchased at http://www.gapa.org.

See page 13 >>

The April 26 article, “BALIF splits in SF judicial races,” should have stated that judicial candidate Nicole Solis was appointed by the California State Bar Board of Trustees, formerly known as the Board of Governors, to the California State Bar’s Criminal Law Advisory Commission. The April 26 article, “Prop I not an easy sell in SF,” should have stated that James Erickson runs a nonprofit called Direct Help, which helps support low-income children. The online versions have been corrected.

Vote NO on E Prop E is a ban on ADULT choices

California recently changed the tobacco purchase age to 21, and the real solution is to strictly enforce the new Age 21 law, punish retailers and other sources who violate the law, and focus the millions of dollars the City and County receives for youth tobacco prevention education to actually educating our kids on the harms of tobacco use.

Banning choices is not what San Francisco is all about

Support San Francisco’s longstanding spirit of not restricting freedom of choice. We’ve never been about telling adults what they can and cannot do. Let’s not start now.

Respect everyone’s choice of how to live their life

Smoking and vaping is a choice, and even if we don’t approve of the choices adults make we shouldn’t tell adults who to be and what to do. Proposition E goes too far by limiting choice and telling adults what to do.

Stop the Prohibition Proposition On June 5th you can help stop City Hall’s misguided ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes, hookah tobacco, most vaping liquids, and other tobacco products.

Vote NO on E June 5th NoPropE.com

Paid for by No on Prop E - Stop the Prohibition Proposition, A Coalition of Concerned Citizens Supporting Freedom of Choice, Adult Consumers, Community Leaders, and Neighborhood Small Businesses, Committee major funding from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Financial disclosures are available at sfethics.org.

<< Open Forum

6 • BAY AREA REPORTER • May 3-9, 2018

Volume 48, Number 18 May 3-9, 2018 www.ebar.com PUBLISHER Michael M. Yamashita Thomas E. Horn, Publisher Emeritus (2013) Publisher (2003 – 2013) Bob Ross, Founder (1971 – 2003) NEWS EDITOR Cynthia Laird ARTS EDITOR Roberto Friedman BARTAB EDITOR & EVENTS LISTINGS EDITOR Jim Provenzano ASSISTANT EDITORS Matthew S. Bajko • Alex Madison CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Ray Aguilera • Tavo Amador • Race Bannon Erin Blackwell • Roger Brigham Brian Bromberger • Victoria A. Brownworth Brent Calderwood • Philip Campbell Heather Cassell • Belo Cipriani Christina DiEdoardo • Richard Dodds Michael Flanagan • Jim Gladstone David Guarino • Liz Highleyman Brandon Judell • John F. Karr • Lisa Keen Matthew Kennedy • Joshua Klipp David Lamble • Max Leger Michael McDonagh • Juanita MORE! David-Elijah Nahmod • Paul Parish Sean Piverger • Lois Pearlman Tim Pfaff • Jim Piechota • Bob Roehr Adam Sandel • Jason Serinus • Gregg Shapiro Gwendolyn Smith • Tony Taylor • Sari Staver Jim Stewart • Sean Timberlake • Andre Torrez Ronn Vigh • Charlie Wagner • Ed Walsh Cornelius Washington • Sura Wood ART DIRECTION Max Leger PRODUCTION/DESIGN Ernesto Sopprani PHOTOGRAPHERS Jane Philomen Cleland • FBFE Rick Gerharter • Gareth Gooch Jose Guzman-Colon • Rudy K. Lawidjaja Georg Lester • Dan Lloyd • Jo-Lynn Otto Rich Stadtmiller • Kelly Sullivan Steven Underhil • Dallis Willard • Bill Wilson ILLUSTRATORS & CARTOONISTS Paul Berge • Christine Smith ADVERTISING/ADMINISTRATION Colleen Small Bogitini VICE PRESIDENT OF ADVERTISING Scott Wazlowski – 415.829.8937 NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Rivendell Media – 212.242.6863

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Senate candidate unleashes hate D

on J. Grundmann, who’s running against Dianne Feinstein, Kevin de León, and a bunch of lesser-known candidates for U.S. Senate, unleashed a diatribe of hate directed at the trans community in his official candidate statement. Californians can breathe easier knowing Grundmann has no chance of winning, but by including his rant in the Official Voter Information Guide, which is mailed to every voter in the state, it makes his hate platform legitimate political discourse. “There is no such thing as ‘transgender,” Grundmann writes. “It does not exist. What does exist are broken people who pretend to be the opposite sex and even mutilate themselves in the attempt.” That’s pretty standard anti-trans rhetoric, and then naturally, as if on cue, he launches into his “what about the children” false arguments that are reliable justifications for inciting intolerance against sexual minorities. “In our constitutional Republic we are free to be psychotic as long as we do not hurt ourselves or others but we have no right to lie to children and teach them that this mental, emotional, and spiritual pathology/sickness is normal, natural, or healthy in the slightest possible way,” he writes. It goes on from there. Let’s call this garbage what it is: transphobia plain and simple. Kids are discovering their gender identities at younger ages, and, unlike 10 or 20 years ago, there are growing numbers of parents who support their gender nonconforming children. This has led to new policies in some states, like California, where gender-neutral public restrooms are now required by law in businesses, government buildings, and places of public accommodation. California also has a nonbinary gender law because every person deserves full legal recognition and equal treatment. So, while Grundmann is living in the dark ages, the Golden State has let in the daylight with some of the most progressive laws in the country. We were surprised to find out that the secretary of state’s office allows such misinformation and vitriol in the voter guide. Candidates need only to pay $25 per word for their statements, and can write anything they want. And, it only

costs a few thousand dollars to qualify for the ballot. So, for about $12,000, Grundmann – who’s head of the Constitution Party, which currently is not recognized in California – can spread his hostility across the state, using his campaign to amplify his hatred. Grundmann’s hate speech isn’t limited to trans people. Although he did not mention it in his candidate statement, his campaign website has a lengthy “letter” he wrote to black Americans. “Now I am going to be your friend,” he writes. “I will explain how and why you are a chump and a slave. Then if you want to be free, and (especially) to have your children free, you can, if you choose to, begin to understand how to do so. If you decide that you don’t want freedom you will simply be stupid (adj. – lacking intelligence or common sense).” And, he writes that people like former President Barack Obama, Senator Kamala Harris (DCalifornia), and Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) are “House Negros” because they support Planned Parenthood. We think it’s important that voters are aware

and alert to candidates whose policies threaten our community. Most Californians are fairminded and support equal rights for trans people. In the last decade, state lawmakers have passed bills that have helped LGBTQ people, immigrants, and women. There is broad consensus that California is on the right track generally, and that’s in part because the state is forward-looking in its attempts to treat people equally. Equality California, which is backing Feinstein in the Senate race, pointed out the obvious. “California voters are looking for a leader who will fight for full equality and social justice for the LGBTQ community, not someone so obsessed with his own bigotry toward trans folks that he can’t write a coherent ballot statement,” EQCA spokesman Samuel Garrett-Pate wrote in an email. “There’s no place for Mr. Grundmann’s hateful, transphobic rhetoric in California politics – or anywhere in our society – and we look forward to the end of his sad, irrelevant campaign.” The end for Grundmann’s Senate campaign will come June 5, when he and all but two of the other candidates will go down to defeat. For LGBTQ voters, that will indeed be gratifying. t

The US fails to protect asylum seekers by Anna Lijphart

he Asylum Division of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, whose stated mission is to provide immigration, protection, and humanitarian services for people who are fleeing oppression, persecution, or torture, recently announced a bizarre and unjust approach to dealing with the backlog of their pending asylum applications. As of January 29, it now processes asylum applications starting with those most recently submitted, and then works its way backward: “last in, first out.” This cruel and unjustified procedural change punishes asylum seekers who have already been waiting in the queue for years. Just under 300 of our clients at Oasis Legal Services, a nonprofit legal immigration services provider based in Oakland that focuses on asylum for LGBTQ refugees, find themselves in this black hole. We would like to share the story of one such client, a gay man from Mexico. For his safety, we are not able to disclose his name. Our client’s father objected to his effeminate mannerisms from the time he was very little. Dad regularly beat his son with fists, ropes, sticks, pans – whatever he could find – saying that he was going to “beat the faggot” out of his son. When our client was about 14, Dad took him to a brujo (male witch) to “make him a man.” The brujo and his assistant forcibly held our client down and took turns raping him. They told him that’s how he would learn to stop being a “faggot.” Our client was bullied and abused for his entire life in Mexico. He was so depressed that, several times, he contemplated suicide. He came to think that being gay was a bad thing. He wanted to change and struggled to accept himself.

Anna Lijphart

Finally, our client fled to the United States and applied for asylum here in 2015. He qualifies for asylum in the U.S. because he was persecuted in his home country for his sexual orientation. His application is pending as he waits for the San Francisco Asylum Office to schedule his interview. Until this recent policy change, asylum seekers living in the San Francisco area could expect to wait for an interview for a little over two years. In Boston, the wait was almost four years. Asylum interviews are conducted by asylum officers, and there simply are not enough of them to keep up with the applications. There are now over 300,000 pending asylum applications in the U.S. While asylum seekers wait for their interviews to be scheduled, they are living here with the uncertainty of whether or not they will be able to stay. Our client has struggled to re-build his life while living in constant

fear of being sent back to a country where odds are high that he would be beaten, tortured, raped or killed, just for being gay. The logical solution to decrease the backlog of applications is to hire more asylum officers. Faced with an inability to obtain the necessary funding to do so, the asylum office blames an increase in “frivolous and non-meritorious” asylum applications for the backlog and justifies the new system by saying they will be able to weed out those undeserving of asylum sooner rather than later. Officials themselves admit that their plan is not based on hard numbers. And given the fact that the 10 asylum offices in the U.S. consistently cannot keep up with incoming applications, it is doubtful that the currently pending cases will ever be heard. The new asylum office policy is contrary to the basic rules of fairness that we learn in kindergarten. Simply put, you can’t have a rule that allows every new person to cut to the front of the line. And applying this policy to some of the most vulnerable members of our community is cruel and inhumane. Until this new policy was announced, our client and almost 300 LGBTQ refugees like him represented by Oasis Legal Services, and over 300,000 asylum applicants nationwide, thought the wait for their interview was almost over. They could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Now that light has gone dark. t Anna Lijphart is executive director of Oasis Legal Services (https://www. oasislegalservices.org), a nonprofit legal immigration services provider based in Oakland that focuses on asylum for LGBTQIA+ refugees. Oasis is one of the largest affirmative asylum service providers in the country. Lijphart is a Department of Justice fully accredited representative and has represented over 175 asylum seekers at their asylum interviews.

Letters >>

May 3-9, 2018 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 7

Leno attack rooted in untruths

The attacks levied by Debra Walker and Roma Guy against gay former state senator and mayoral candidate Mark Leno in last week’s letters to the editor [April 26] were the most dangerous of attacks: those rooted in deception and untruths. Throughout Leno’s two decades in public service, he has stood with women and families. Leno authored legislation making California the first state in the nation to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, giving 5.6 million workers a raise and lifting over 2 million Californians out of poverty. Given that women workers make up over 50 percent of minimum wage earners yet less than half of the U.S. workforce, this hard-fought win for California especially impacted women and their families. When domestic violence survivors came to Leno seeking his support, Leno authored legislation allowing survivors safe exits from their homes by breaking their residential leases. And when Leno authored the bill that removed from all state statutes the term “Battered Women’s Syndrome” and replaced it with “Intimate Partner Battering,” he joined hands with women in affirming our belief that how we describe a crime of violence should not further victimize the survivors. To claim that Leno’s “history with women” is anything but one of committed allyship that translated into significant public policy is to overlook some of his greatest accomplishments as a public servant, in the interest of furthering a false narrative about one of California’s greatest champions for all those without a voice. As queer people of color, let us be clear: Leno has heard us and stood with us time after time. There could be no stronger voice in City Hall leading fearlessly on the issues impacting us all than Leno. San Franciscans, join us by voting Leno for mayor. Honey Mahogany, Harvey Milk Club Co-President Carolina Morales, Harvey Milk Club Co-President San Francisco

Bathroom signage

Gwendolyn Ann Smith’s Transmissions column April 12 [“Here’s your (bathroom) sign,”] opens more discussion on the topic of signage. As a sometimes cross-gendered female, I, too, have heard the hollering in the restroom, apparently caused by my presence. Fortunately, women in general have broadened their expectation of who we are and what we do in more recent years so things are more comfortable. And newer, genderneutral one-holers are efficient and comfortable for most people, I think. Multi-stall public bathrooms becoming “allgender” are apparently comfortable for some people, too. But many women (trans, intersex, and non-transsexual, puleese) prefer to avoid the messes they are finding, or the sight of organs once used as weapons to abuse them, or the loss of the camaraderie, and sense of safety and modesty they are used to finding in the women’s room. Some public places

like the de Young Museum have shifted signage in response to the diminished usage of the all-gender main restrooms that have the urinals. I happened to visit the San Francisco LGBT Community Center during the midst of the #MeToo movement, enjoyed one of the all-gender bathrooms, and asked as I was leaving if there was a women’s restroom. No, none in a building of four floors. I could only find myself saying, “That’s unfortunate,” to the somewhat stunned people attending the counter. And it is. Marie Kochaver Richmond, California

Prop I proponent responds

In response to “Prop I not an easy sell in SF” [April 26], I must first disclose, I am the proponent and author of SF ballot measure Proposition I, “Relocation of Professional Sports Teams.” Prop I is an easy sell in San Francisco. It was so easy to collect, on average, 2,000 signatures (500 on average were tossed out for noncompliance) a week for 10 weeks to qualify the measure for this June’s election. But don’t just take my word, please read the 500-word measure in the voter pamphlet, which will soon be mailed. In reporting, the article points to the fact that more than 14,000 signatures of registered voters of San Francisco agreed with my position that we might owe our neighbor an apology. The article also points out that 30 top San Francisco Democrats on the Democratic County Central Committee voted to recommend a no vote. San Francisco Democratic Party Chair David Campos said they did not understand the measure. I must take Campos at his word but, what was not asked: what is not to understand about taking from someone else when we have so much more already? San Francisco has a $10 billion annual tourism industry compared to Oakland’s $800 million annual tourism industry. Or, what is not to understand about opposing sports teams (Warriors and Raiders) that are trying to walk out on more than $100 million combined public debt? Or, would you like an 18,000seat arena right across the street from your neighborhood hospital? I must also state, along with the 14,766 actual signatures of support, I do have support from the San Francisco League of Pissed off Voters and the San Francisco Bay Guardian. In addition, over 20 noted UCSF faculty and health researchers signed a letter to the late Mayor Ed Lee, resolute against the project. Finally, the motto for the organization that was formed for Prop I is, “A world-class city helps its neighbors; it does not help itself to its neighbor’s jewels.” If you agree, Prop I is an easy sell to SF. If not, the term, willingly ignorant, better describes Campos and the SF DCCC vote against it.

nsuring that city boards and commissions in San Francisco include members from the LGBT community has been an issue for years. The oversight panels not only influence city policies, development decisions, and the management of departments and agencies, but also can serve as a springboard for running for public office. As the LGBT community has witnessed a decline in the number of out elected officials in the city, seeing that there are LGBT commissioners and board members has taken on greater importance. The issue flared anew last month with Mayor Mark Farrell’s decision not to reappoint lesbian Port Commissioner Leslie Katz, the lone LGBT member of the panel, to another four-year term. Despite protests from a handful of LGBT leaders, as well as the Bay Area Reporter, about the move, the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted Tuesday to name Gail Gilman to Katz’ Seat 5 on the port commission. CEO of the nonprofit Community Housing Partnership, Gilman has been serving on the city’s Building Inspection Commission. A number of LGBT officials spoke in favor of her port seat nomination before the board’s rules

Courtesy Port of San Francisco

Former port commissioner Leslie Katz.

committee last week, which forwarded her name to the full board without taking a stance. Sounding resigned to Katz being replaced, and not calling on his colleagues to outright reject Gilman for the seat, gay District 8 Supervisor Jeff Sheehy nonetheless did address at the rules hearing why LGBT representation on city oversight bodies is important. “For us, as a community, there is always this assumption we’ve made it. Anyone who knows the history of the LGBT

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community knows that whenever we make gains we lose those gains,” said Sheehy, who voted with his colleagues this week to approve Gilman’s nomination. “On our climb up the ladder, we have fallen back many times.” He pointed out that, when Katz served as a city supervisor in the 1990s, she was one of three out members of the board. Today, Sheehy is the lone LGBT supervisor. “So, we are very sensitive to our representation and to our ability to participate fully in this city’s life. It is important to us as a community,” said Sheehy. “To see that moving backwards is just very, very difficult for us.” Most of the city’s commissions now have at least one LGBT person serving on it. According to a report looking at the 2017 makeup of the dozens of such oversight panels, 17 percent of the members identified as LGBT. For comparison, the report estimated the overall LGBT population of the city as 5 to 7 percent. The members of some advisory bodies, like the Municipal Transportation Agency board, are solely appointed by the mayor, while the supervisors make appointments to certain bodies, like the planning and entertainment commissions. But among the more high-profile panels, LGBT representation is lacking and could decrease in the coming months. See page 14 >>

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8 • BAY AREA REPORTER • May 3-9, 2018

Sheehy proposes LGBTQ cultural district for Castro compiled by Cynthia Laird

an Francisco Supervisor Jeff Sheehy this week formally introduced a resolution to establish the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District. Sheehy took the action at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting. Sheehy said last week that his Castro cultural district resolution will be included in Supervisor Hillary Ronen’s larger historic district legislation. “The Castro has been the heart of the LGBTQ community for decades, and the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District will enable us to preserve our history and continue building our community in the neighborhood,” Sheehy, the board’s lone gay member, said in a news release. “The Castro is a haven for our community and is a beacon of hope around the world.” Terry Beswick, executive director of the GLBT Historical Society, strongly supports the cultural district. He thanked Sheehy, Ronen, and Supervisor Jane Kim for their efforts on creating cultural districts. Kim’s office is involved in the South of Market LGBTQ and Leather Cultural District and the TLGB district in the Tenderloin. “The Castro has truly been a beacon of LGBTQ culture and history recognized around the world,” Beswick stated in the news release, “and this measure will help keep the gayborhood going the way of the Polk, Tenderloin, and other neighborhoods that have largely lost their queer identity and businesses.” Sheehy’s office said that community forums will be organized over the coming months by the Castro Cultural District Working Group to help lay the groundwork for the mission and purpose of the subsequent nonprofit whose goals will be preserving, sustaining, and promoting the LGBTQ history and culture of the neighborhood. This will include highlighting structures and sites important to LGBTQ history; fostering racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity among resident and businesses; and creating a safe, beautiful, and inclusive space

Rick Gerharter

Visitors snap a selfie of themselves and the iconic intersection of 18th and Castro streets.

for LGBTQ and allied communities. Meeting dates will be announced soon.

Supes OK SOMA district

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the creation of a South of Market LGBTQ Leather Cultural District Tuesday, May 1. District 6 Supervisor Jane Kim, who represents the area, said that the city should make sure that it’s a “living, breathing” cultural district that supports businesses, the leather community, and provides housing and social services. The district would run from Division to 7th streets, from Howard to Harrison streets, and along Harrison from 7th to 5th streets

Give OUT Day sets record

The recent Give OUT Day, a national LGBTQ day of giving, enjoyed record-breaking success, with more than $932,000 raised for over 400 participating nonprofits in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to Horizons Foundation, which administers the program. Organizers had hoped to top $1 million, but the $932,000 raised was the most in the six Give OUT Days

that have been held. Additionally, Give OUT Day, which was held April 19, broke its previous record for number of donations made in 24 hours: 12,500. The total marked a 28.2 percent increase over last year’s fundraising total and a 32.9 percent increase in number of donors participating. “In these days of challenges on many fronts, it is encouraging to see Give OUT Day demonstrate the power of our communities rallying around so many important organizations,” Horizons President Roger Doughty stated. “By raising our voices together, we did not simply retain much-needed funding for participants, we created a national conversation about those who serve the diverse needs of our communities.” In addition to the funds raised by individuals, Horizons, with support from other foundation partners, awarded leaderboard prizes worth nearly $130,000. Prizes were given to organizations that raised funds from the greatest number of individual donors in multiple categories. This year, new categories focused on nonprofits that specifically serve women, people of color, bisexuals, and transgender people. Other leaderboards were based on organizational size and geographic location. Local leaderboard winners included the Center for Sex and Culture, El/la Para TransLatinas, TGI Justice Project, Horizons Young Professionals for Equality, Asian Pacific Islander Equality – Northern California, and the Equality Federation.

SF HRC lends support to intersex resolution

The San Francisco Human Rights Commission announced its support for Senate Concurrent Resolution 110, which calls on health professionals to protect intersex newborns, infants, and toddlers from medically

unnecessary surgeries. The commission announced its support Friday, April 27. The nonbinding resolution, authored by gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), was passed by the Senate Committee on Health last month on a bipartisan vote of 7-2. “We are in solidarity with the lives and lived experiences of Intersex communities and acknowledge the pain Intersex people have experienced in enduring irreversible, invasive surgeries as newborns and infants,” said Sheryl Davis, executive director of HRC, in a news release. Intersex people are defined as those born with any variation of reproductive or sexual anatomy characteristics including genitals, chromosome patterns, and sex hormones. Surgeries that decide the infant’s sex at birth are still being performed in California and around the country, despite medical evidence of physical and psychological harm. HRC, a charter commission of the City and County of San Francisco that works for equality and human rights, has long been fighting to protect the intersex community. It published a 200-page report in 2005 that called for an end to normalizing surgeries. The report highlighted findings that unnecessary surgeries are in violation of intersex infants’ human rights and should be deemed unethical. Aria Sa’id, LGBTQI+ policy adviser for HRC, in a news release called the policy “a major step in increasing accountability of health providers to ensure that medically unnecessary surgeries be ceased on Intersex communities – who have expressed grief and trauma from the outcomes of those surgeries for generations.” At an information hearing on the resolution March 2 in Sacramento, activists representing InterACT Advocates for Intersex Youth, which is sponsoring the resolution, called out UCSF for continuing to perform these surgeries. Dr. Larry Baskin, a urology professor at UCSF, told the Bay Area Reporter in a March email that such

surgeries can be performed “when medically indicated.” He did not elaborate further. The Senate Judiciary Committee was expected to vote on SCR 110 May 1. The resolution allows the Legislature to recognize the intersex surgery issue without anything actually becoming law. Wiener may come back at some point with proposed legislation.

OFC Night Out coming up

Our Family Coalition’s annual Night Out benefit will be held Friday, May 11, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the InterContinental San Francisco, 888 Howard Street. The nonprofit will honor three advocates for LGBTQ families: Salesforce, which will receive the Corporate Ally Award that will be accepted by Tony Prophet, chief equality officer; gay state Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell), who will receive the Luminary Award; and Shayna Cureton, founder and director of Abundant Beginnings, who will receive the Community Partner Award. OFC officials said that the agency will also launch its new emeritus board at the gala. Tickets are $250 and can be purchased at ourfamily.org.

South Bay Youth Pride Festival

The LGBTQ Youth Space will hold its second annual South Bay Youth Pride Festival Saturday, May 12, from noon to 4 p.m. at 950 West Julian Street in San Jose. The free celebration by and for queer and trans youth will feature music and entertainment, food trucks, guest speakers, photo booths, resources, and games and activities. The festival is open to queer and trans teens, their friends, and allies. For more information, contact Adrienne Keel at akeel@fcservices.org or visit www.youthspace.org.t Alex Madison contributed reporting.

Leaders from Israel’s newest LGBT center visit SF by Heather Cassell

movement and the work they are doing at their new center. The Haifa Communities’ House for Pride and Tolerance leaders Arnon Allouche, CEO, and Adi Sadaka, program manager, were on a tour of the United States as a part of A Wider

embers of the LGBT Jewish community crowded into a small room at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center recently to hear Haifa LGBT leaders speak about their

MARK LENO F O R

M A Y O R

A New Direction for San Francisco Create, build, and refurbish 5,000 affordable homes every year

A real plan to end street homelessness by 2020

Stop property crime by increasing foot patrols, enforcing consequences, and establishing a centralized Property Crime Director

Endorsed as the # 1 Choice for Mayor by the San Francisco Democratic Party

ABOUT MARK LENO Mark Leno lost his life partner to the AIDS epidemic, dedicated himself as a community volunteer and civic leader, and became the first openly gay man to serve in the California Senate. Mark’s accomplishments include raising California’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, requiring developers to build affordable housing in every large project, stopping the chemical industry from putting dangerous toxins in consumer products, and passing landmark laws for equal rights, marriage equality, and protecting transgender Californians. Mark has run a small business in San Francisco for 40 years. He lives in Noe Valley, and he would be the first gay Mayor in San Francisco history.

We are proud to support Mark Leno for Mayor: a new direction for San Francisco Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club American Federation of Teachers Local 2121 Equality California Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club

Sierra Club San Francisco Bike Coalition United Educators of San Francisco Victory Fund

Paid for by Leno for Mayor 2018. Financial disclosures are available at sfethics.org.

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Bridge’s speakers program. A Wider Bridge is a pro-Israeli LGBT organization promoting relationships between U.S. LGBT individuals and organizations to support Israel. Haifa is home to the fourth and newest LGBT center in Israel. The center is also the second in the country to be completely funded by a municipality. Tel Aviv’s LGBT center is fiscally supported by that city. The LGBT leaders from Haifa visited Boston; New York; Washington, D.C.; and Chicago before arriving in San Francisco in late March. The northern Israeli port city is a sister city with San Francisco. The two leaders were joined by the Israeli Consul General of the Pacific Northwest Shlomi Kofman, gay District 8 Supervisor Jeff Sheehy, and other LGBT community leaders. “The delegation from Haifa here with the leaders of the LGBT community reminds us of the special bond the communities have in the challenges of today’s world,” Kofman said. “Haifa and San Francisco are special cities,” Kofman added. “They are two cities that are centers of tolerance, pride, humanity, and acceptance. They were and are supported by wise people and tolerant people.” Sheehy said that the city supports Israel. “We can never forget that the threats that are faced both within the region, where this is the only state that recognizes our civil rights, and also within this country where you have the [boycott, divestment, and sanctions] movement, which is truly sinister, where they turned

Rick Gerharter

Adi Sadaka, right, program director for the Haifa Communities’ House for Pride and Tolerance in Israel, speaks about their work in Israel along with Arnon Allouche, center, CEO of the center and Tyler Gregory, the executive director of A Wider Bridge, the host organization.

truth into lies,” he said reaffirming San Francisco’s support for Israel and presenting a certificate to the Haifa LGBT community leaders for their work. This was the first time the Haifa leaders visited the U.S. Their goal was to meet with U.S. LGBT leaders and network to support their efforts at the new center as well as educate American Jewish LGBT leaders about the queer movement in Haifa.

Bringing community together

Haifa, Israel’s third largest city, has no qayborhood and it didn’t have a queer center until last year. The Haifa Communities’ House for Pride and Tolerance opened in February 2017. The lack of a singular neighborhood or center made it challenging for LGBT

people to connect and communicate with other queer people and build a movement, Sadaka, a 34-year old lesbian, explained to the nearly 30 people who came out that evening to meet the queer leaders. Since the center opened, Sadaka and Allouche have worked with community members to build programs and events. During its first year, Allouche told the Bay Area Reporter that the center had become a gathering place for the city’s LGBT community, helping an estimated 800 people. The most recent event before they departed on their American tour was the city’s first Queer History Festival, which showcased Haifa’s LGBT See page 14 >>

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<< Election 2018

10 • BAY AREA REPORTER • May 3-9, 2018

LGBT Senate candidates face varying odds of victory by Lisa Keen

historic number of openly LGBT people are running for the U.S. Senate this year: five. Two of those candidates are running in elections that are seen as the most competitive this year: Arizona and Wisconsin. And that competition is both good and concerning for LGBT candidates. It’s troubling news for the best known of the five candidates – lesbian incumbent Senator Tammy Baldwin (D). She is facing fierce opposition spending from billionaire conservatives who apparently see an opportunity in the fact that Republican President Donald Trump won Wisconsin in 2016. The state had voted for the Democratic presidential candidate for the seven previous presidential contests, and the Senate seat Baldwin holds has been held by a Democrat since 1957. But a competitive race is good news for a second LGBT Senate candidate – bisexual Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema. She’s a Democrat from Arizona who is hoping to win over a predominantly Republican state for a historically GOP seat. Arizona has voted for a Republican presidential candidate in nine out of the last 10 elections. And the last time a Democrat won a Senate seat from Arizona was 1988. Sinema was polling ahead of the Republican incumbent Jeff Flake even before he announced he would not run for re-election. Two of the other LGBT Senate candidates this year are running for the same seat – a Senate seat for Delaware currently held by a pro-LGBT Democrat, Tom Carper. Carper’s challenger for the Democratic nomination, Kerri Harris, is a lesbian military veteran and longtime community activist for people with low incomes. Carper’s aspiring Republican primary opponent is a gay businessman and former executive at PayPal, Gene Truono.

Courtesy Sinema for Senate campaign

Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema

The fifth candidate is Chelsea Manning, a trans woman best known for her conviction for leaking government documents via WikiLeaks. She is running in Maryland, against twoterm straight ally Senator Benjamin Cardin (D). Republicans currently hold the majority of seats in the Senate, 51. Democrats and independents, who caucus with Democrats, hold 49. For Democrats to take over the Senate, they need a net gain of two seats.

The promising newcomer

Sinema could have the best chance of capturing one new seat for Democrats. A moderate Democrat from Arizona, she was a longtime member of the state Legislature who developed some popularity even before winning her first term in the House of Representatives six years ago. She has a pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps life story. For three years during her childhood, she and her family lived in an abandoned gas station. But she worked hard, was valedictorian of her high school, earned both a doctorate in social work and a law degree, served

Courtesy Baldwin for Senate campaign

Senator Tammy Baldwin

in the state House and Senate, and, in 2013, became the first openly bisexual candidate to be elected to Congress. Sinema’s political popularity is probably due in large part to her willingness to ignore party lines on issues critical to her constituents. The political analysis group http://www.fivethirtyeight.com said Sinema has voted “in line with” Trump’s position 57.4 percent of the time. That compares with liberal Baldwin’s 22.1 percent. Several other election analysis sites (the Cook Political Report, CNN, Real Clear Politics, and others) say Arizona – which currently has two Republican senators (Flake and ailing John McCain) – is now a toss up. That’s good for Sinema. But recent ABC polling shows an even rosier picture: Sinema beating any of the three Republicans seeking the GOP nomination. While the other three fight it out until the August 28 primary, Sinema has a growing and healthy campaign war chest and can rise above it all. She’s raised $6 million – more than twice the money raised by all three of the Republican candidates combined. But when the final stretch begins in September and the Arizona seat is on the line, Republicans and conservatives are likely to pour money into stopping Sinema.

The tough incumbent

Republicans and conservatives are already pouring money into an effort to defeat Baldwin in Wisconsin. The chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party said conservative Republicans are “coming after Tammy

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past year with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonia. “It was really a shock that it got so bad so quickly,” Oliver told the Bay Area Reporter in a phone interview Tuesday. Dykes on Bikes members mourned the loss. “Soni leaves an indelible mark on history, and especially, on those who shared her daily life,” Dykes on Bikes spokeswoman and past president

Baldwin like no other” Senate candidate in this year’s elections. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote that she’s facing a “tough re-election,” in large part because a “political network financed by billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch has spent more than $5 million” to oppose her re-election. (Federal Elections Commission records through March 31 put the number at $3 million.) CNN and Politico said Baldwin’s seat is one of the 10 Senate seats most vulnerable to switching parties in November. For almost a year, there has been big money being spent to push the state each way. Last July, a pro-Trump group directing messages to conservative blacks bought radio time for an ad that claims Baldwin’s pro-choice position “is a big reason why” one in three abortions in America are sought against “black babies” and threatens the birth of the “next Frederick Douglass or Rosa Parks or Martin Luther King.” Last October, the Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, a tax-exempt group headed by the right-wing Koch Industries, vowed to spend $1.6 million in television and digital ads against Baldwin, a first-term Democrat and the first openly LGBT person elected to the Senate. The group said Baldwin supports higher taxes and “a broken system rigged against ordinary Americans.” The Capital Times of Madison noted last month that Baldwin’s “favorability” rating has dropped from 40 percent to 37 percent since last year. As of April 4, the Americas PAC, a conservative political action committee based in Iowa, has spent $3,325,05 against Baldwin’s re-election and for one of her Republican opponents, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. One of Baldwin’s key Republican opponents is businessman Kevin Nicholson. In February, several news organizations reported that Nicholson’s parents and brother had contributed the maximum allowable to Baldwin’s reelection. But his sister has been posting crude Twitter messages against Baldwin and others. “Maybe you should stick to opioids, scandals, and lesbians,” wrote sister Rebecca Steve, a resident of Texas. Nicholson has reportedly asked his sister to stop the Twitter posts on his behalf.

Despite the pummeling Baldwin has been taking, the Cook Political Report said the seat is “likely” to remain Democratic. Baldwin has raised $13 million in contributions and has benefited from another $1 million in outside spending for her. She also stands to benefit from having two Republican candidates go through a harsh primary battle to win the GOP nomination. And Baldwin has the incumbency advantage. The question is whether Wisconsin is moving into the red column or if the state’s 2016 vote for Trump was an anomaly.

Kate Brown said. “Soni steadfastly refused to accept ‘dyke’ as an epithet. She blazed the trail for the rest of us in courage and LGBTQ pride.” Ms. Wolf had recently been named a community grand marshal for this year’s San Francisco Pride parade. “Soni’s legacy looms large at San Francisco Pride,” George Ridgely, executive director of the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee, said in a statement. Ms. Wolf was best known in recent years for successfully fighting to

trademark Dykes on Bikes. Over 14 years Ms. Wolf worked with a team of lawyers, including Oliver at 50 Balmy Law, who took the case pro bono to successfully argue, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court twice, that the trademark Dykes on Bikes signifies pride in the LGBTQ community and is protected as political speech. In 2005, Dykes on Bikes announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark office reversed its initial refusal to trademark the name Dykes See page 14 >>

Alameda and graduated from Hayward High School in 1962. He also completed two years at Cal State Hayward (now Cal State East Bay). During his lifetime, he worked in various warehouseman jobs, including working as a checker for Rathjen Wines and Spirits and Young’s Market Company. A big fan of crossword puzzles, Frank had a passion for American literature and theater. He was a walking encyclopedia on classic Hollywood films. He was a great fan of soul and rock music, attending the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967 and concerts of Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, the Rolling Stones, and David Bowie. Frank was an enthusiastic fan of the San Francisco Giants. Frank also enjoyed trying his luck at video poker in casinos in several states. Frank enjoyed travel and visited much of Western Europe, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Frank generously gave to organizations

that benefitted Native American schools, U.S. veterans, the mentally and physically challenged, and the environment. Frank was interested in liberal and progressive politics. He saw various presidential candidates speak when they visited California and also participated for several years in the Hayward Demos Democratic club. Frank was well liked by nearly everyone who knew him. He was the great love and best friend of his companion of over 42 years, whom he was able to marry on June 20, 2008. Their marriage was covered in the local paper, as it was the first same-gender marriage of residents of Union City. He will be greatly missed by those who knew him. A date and time of a memorial service for Frank are still being determined. For information, email eugenegarver_ marangoni@yahoo.com.

The long shots

Two LGBT candidates are vying to carry their party’s mantle into the November election for Senate in Delaware: Truono, a Republican; and Harris, a Democrat. It will be a long, uphill battle for both. Incumbent Carper has $1.2 million in his campaign coffers and, for the past two sessions of Congress, he’s had a 100 percent pro-LGBT record, according to the Human Rights Campaign. Harris, who will face Carper in the primary, has an impressive record of service to her country and community but has raised only $23,000. She served in the Air Force, volunteered with numerous community service groups, including Habitat for Humanity, is a working mom, and cofounded a civil rights group. Truono has raised only $57,000 and loaned himself $75,000. His original primary opponent had raised three times that amount but developed health issues and withdrew from the race. But that opponent has now thrown his support to a new Republican challenger, leaving Truono struggling. Another long shot is Manning, who announced in January that she would challenge Cardin, who has scored a perfect 100 percent on HRC’s Congressional Scorecard. Just before leaving office, President Barack Obama commuted Manning’s 35-year sentence, allowing for her release in May 2017. According to the Baltimore Sun, Manning is a native of Oklahoma who lived in Montgomery County, Maryland, for many years. She came back to Maryland after she was released from Fort Leavenworth prison last year.t

Obituaries >> Frank John McNamara April 1, 1944 – April 27, 2018

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Frank John McNamara, resident of Union City, California, passed away in his sleep April 27, 2018 after struggling for two years with interstitial lung disease. He is predeceased by his older brother, Ron McNamara, and survived by his spouse, Eugene Garver Marangoni; his brother Gregory Hester; sister Silvia (Robin) Hester; sister Cathy Dully; his aunt, Maxine Araujo, and uncle Nick Araujo; and several cousins in California and Utah. Born in Lansing, Michigan, Frank spent much of his childhood in Santa Rosa and

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What Is Mytesi? Mytesi is a prescription medicine used to improve symptoms of noninfectious diarrhea (diarrhea not caused by a bacterial, viral, or parasitic infection) in adults living with HIV/AIDS on ART. Do Not Take Mytesi if you have diarrhea caused by an infection. Before you start Mytesi, your doctor and you should make sure your diarrhea is not caused by an infection (such as bacteria, virus, or parasite).

Possible Side Effects of Mytesi Include: • Upper respiratory tract infection (sinus, nose, and throat infection) • Bronchitis (swelling in the tubes that carry air to and from your lungs) • Cough • Flatulence (gas) • Increased bilirubin (a waste product when red blood cells break down) For a full list of side effects, please talk to your doctor. Tell your doctor if you have any side effect that bothers you or does not go away.

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Should I Take Mytesi If I Am: Pregnant or Planning to Become Pregnant? • Studies in animals show that Mytesi could harm an unborn baby or affect the ability to become pregnant • There are no studies in pregnant women taking Mytesi • This drug should only be used during pregnancy if clearly needed A Nursing Mother? • It is not known whether Mytesi is passed through human breast milk • If you are nursing, you should tell your doctor before starting Mytesi • Your doctor will help you to decide whether to stop nursing or to stop taking Mytesi Under 18 or Over 65 Years of Age? • Mytesi has not been studied in children under 18 years of age • Mytesi studies did not include many people over the age of 65. So it is not clear if this age group will respond differently. Talk to your doctor to find out if Mytesi is right for you

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<< Commentary

12 • BAY AREA REPORTER • May 3-9, 2018

A cannabis garden: The best bud for your buck by Sari Staver

hanks to new laws and regulations legalizing cannabis, it’s easier than ever to grow your own, still the best bud for your buck in San Francisco. According to state Proposition 64, which legalized the adult recreational use of cannabis, and local regulations implementing the law, people over age 21 can “plant, harvest, dry, and process” up to six cannabis plants in their private residence or on the grounds of your home, said Nicole Elliot, director of San Francisco’s Office of Cannabis. In an email to the Bay Area Reporter, Elliot pointed out that people cultivating in their private residences “are still subject to state law, meaning they need to grow in an area that is not visible to the public” and is secure. For less than $100, you should be able to grow six plants. If you get them into the dirt this month, by Thanksgiving you should be able to harvest enough fresh flowers to make holiday shopping a thing of the past.

Getting started

Here are some suggestions and ideas on getting started. While you don’t need any gardening experience to successfully grow cannabis (it’s a weed, remember?), you will need a patch of sunshine in your yard, deck, or balcony; lacking that, I bet you have a friend who will let you use theirs, with a promise of a split of the finished product. (While indoor gardens are also legal, this column only deals with the cheap and easy method of growing outdoors.) The hardest part of creating a garden is buying some starter plants, or clones, because in recent years cannabis dispensaries in the city have stopped selling clones. Although

Sari Staver

A variety of products can help your outdoor cannabis plants thrive.

dispensaries selling retail cannabis are allowed to sell plants, I have not found any in the city that do so, probably because local regulations make it complicated. But if you’re willing to cross the Bay Bridge, there are a number of places to find high quality plants in Oakland. I’ve had excellent experience buying from both Magnolia (www. magnoliawellness.org) and Harborside (www.harborsidehealthcenter. com). And if you want to take it to the next level of sophistication, and figure out which strains you’d like to grow, there’s a goldmine of information at the website of Dark Heart Nursery (http://www. darkheartnursery.com), an East Bay wholesale grower that will not only give you detailed descriptions of each strain, but will tell you when and where they will be “dropping” plants that you can purchase. If you don’t want to leave the city, there are several online companies that will deliver or meet you in San Francisco, with a minimum purchase. I’ve never used either of these

StevenUnderhill PHOTOGRAPHY TS HEADSHO S PORTRAIT

companies, but I’ve confirmed by phone that they are selling plants this season. A Marin County nursery, https:// www.gardenofzensf.com/, has 18 different strains available, mostly $7 apiece, according to a man who answered the phone but preferred not to give his name. The Petaluma nursery will deliver to the city, with a minimum order of $25, or will allow you to pick up near its headquarters if you have a smaller order. The site https://clonesbros. com/, which has greenhouses in central and southern California, will deliver to San Francisco with minimum $200 orders, plus a $50 delivery fee. The company has “dozens” of varieties available, currently priced at $12 each, according to a spokesperson. I’d also recommend two classic books – “Marijuana Horticulture” by Jorge Cervantes and Ed Rosenthal’s “Marijuana Grower’s Handbook” – as reference guides for growing. You don’t really need them but if you find yourself curious about the intricacies of the cannabis lifespan, they are worth having and fun to read. There

are now hundreds of websites and YouTube videos about growing, with new ones added daily. Google “cannabis garden” and browse. After you obtain your plants, you’ll need some soil and you’re set to go. I’ve had great luck using FoxFarm soil, although I’ve not seen any hard data that specialty products like this actually produce bigger or better plants than generic soil found at Lowe’s or Home Depot. A useful website on soil for growing cannabis is https://www. leafly.com/news/growing/findingthe-best-marijuana-growing-soil. Before growing cannabis was legal, people working in garden stores were often uncomfortable discussing pot or recommending products. That has all changed now and I’ve found that most stores have someone who is knowledgeable. You’ll also want to pick up a few plastic or clay pots for transplanting your clone, which is typically about 6 inches tall and growing in rock wool in a plastic container. I’ve had good luck transplanting a few times as the plant grows, eventually renting an auger to dig deep holes in my back yard when the plant is a few months old. If you don’t have a back yard, you can grow the plants to maturity in a pot. I’ve had success with growing both ways – in pots and in the ground – but if you have a back yard, it’s probably worth the time and trouble to dig a large hole for your plant. Remember the common guideline, “the bigger the pot, the bigger the pot.” Even with the help of a couple of strong friends, the rental of an auger at http://www.actionrentalsonline.co/ makes the job a lot easier. The only other products you might want to consider are the myriad selection of fertilizers and soil supplements. I’ve had good results with the popular brand FoxFarm, (https:// foxfarmfertilizer.com/) but full disclosure, I’ve never done or read about

a double blind, placebo controlled study to see if the plants that I’ve fertilized actually yield more flowers than those grown in just plain soil. While it’s common wisdom that a south-facing yard will get enough sun to succeed, if your outdoor space is less than ideal, go for it anyway. It’s a weed, and weeds grow anywhere and everywhere. Finally, and this part can be a little tricky, you’ll need to figure out just how much water your plant needs and how often you want to water. It’s hard to generalize so best to speak to the person selling you the clone. The secret is to avoid drowning or starving and learning the signs that your plant may not be happy with the mixture of sunlight and water it’s getting. Harvesting and drying your plants are, for many gardeners, the most exciting part of the process, because you are finally approaching the day you will get to enjoy homegrown, organic pot. Figuring out the optimal time to harvest your plant – beginners tend to do it too early – is made easy by examining the ripened flowers and comparing it to buds you see on cannabis websites, such as http://ww2. marijuanagrowing.com/. Drying is the simplest step; simply hang the branches on string or rope in your doorways. In a few weeks, you are ready to trim and store in an airtight container. If neighbors complain about the skunky smell coming from your yard, be sure to tell them you’re planning to share the crop. If that doesn’t work, assuring them that what you’re doing is 100 percent legal may help. Enjoy. t Bay Area Cannasseur runs the first Thursday of the month. To send column ideas or tips, email Sari Staver at sari@bayareacannasseur.com.

What to do about alleged torture at SF airport by Christina A. DiEdoardo

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o most travelers, San Francisco International Airport is a welcoming gateway to the Bay Area. To Jerome Succor Aba, it’s the spot where he was held for 28 hours without access to a lawyer, where his visa to enter the U.S. was revoked, and where he was allegedly tortured by Customs and Border Protection agents before they sent him back to the Philippines. On Monday, April 23, about 200300 people demonstrated outside and inside SFO to demand that those responsible for what happened to Aba be held accountable. The event was organized by a coalition of organizations led by the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines. “What I’m here to do today is to tell you Jerome’s story,” said Sharif Zakout, an organizer with the Arab Resource and Organizing Center. Zakout then read a translation of the remarks Aba made in Tagalog upon his return to the Philippines. “[CBP] took my personal belongings, my laptop, and cellphone, without my consent,” Aba said, according to Zakout. “I started asserting my human rights. I have the right of access to a lawyer. “They said I have no rights, because I am not a citizen of America,” he wrote. CBP agents then reportedly engaged in behavior that more closely resembled abuses committed by CIA interrogators in Afghanistan than normal questioning by

Christina A. DiEdoardo

Activists at San Francisco International Airport protested the detention and removal from the U.S. of Philippine human rights observer Jerome Succor Aba at an April 23 demonstration.

customs officers at a suburban airport. “In an empty and stainless room where they were questioning me, they commanded me to undress,” Aba said through Zakout. “I asserted this is illegal, this is cruel, this is inhumane, this is a violation of my human rights.” After Aba complied with the agents’ demand that he remove his clothes, “it was cold, and they made it colder,” he said, through Zakout. “They brought in a very big electric fan and they turned it on. It was so cold, I was naked, and they left me in there with the fan.” Zakout said Aba remembered “the main interrogator, an agent bearing the badge ‘Lopez’ telling him ‘Be good here, be nice here. If

you do anything bad, I will not hesitate to shoot you.” Sure enough, according to Aba, “Every time I moved, [Lopez] would reach for his sidearm.” Zakout said the CBP interrogated Aba for hours “about his affiliations, his political beliefs, and his cultural effects,” including Aba’s “participation in rallies, [his] views on U.S.Philippine relations, martial law in Mindanao, and [President Rodrigo] Duterte’s drug war, which has taken over 13,000 lives,” he said. To the activists, these questions offered a clue as to the CBP’s motivations in detaining Aba. Mindanao is the southernmost island in the Philippine chain and where most of the Moro, or the Muslim population of the See page 13 >>

t <<

Election 2018>>

Empty storefronts

From page 4

pay not being a large enough disincentive to keep retail spaces vacant, Leno said a vacancy tax could be the answer to push them into lowering lease prices to attract tenants. “I have had long conversations with the merchant association, and what I am hearing from them, and not just in our neighborhood but also around town, is oftentimes when we are dealing with out of town property owners, out of town landlords for commercial space – they could be pension funds, they could be insurance corporations and their investment pool money – they have very little inclination or apparently incentive to negotiate with entrepreneurs and potential small business owners to offer a rent that is affordable,” said Leno. “Different with local property owners, who do seem to be more willing and interested in negotiating a price that is affordable. So, there is some hope there if we put appropriate incentives in place.” District 6 Supervisor Jane Kim, who lives in South of Market, has also spoken out in favor of instituting a retail vacancy tax. But she too has not determined exactly how it would work, as she pointed out that during a downturn in the economy, landlords may have difficulty leasing out storefronts even when they are actively trying to do so. “I talk to landlords all the time who are waiting for that Chase bank to come along and be that cash cow for them, or the Walgreens, or CVS. And that I want to figure out a disincentive to, however, we also don’t want to burden small property owners who truly are trying to find a tenant, but either because of economic cycles or whatnot are not able to,” said Kim. “So that’s been the holdup to that issue, but I absolutely support the concept of a vacancy tax.” District 5 Supervisor London Breed, currently the board president and a resident of the Lower Haight, has also suggested a retail vacancy tax is needed. She would also like to see better enforcement on the city’s part of the vacant storefront database to ensure landlords are registering and paying

Resist

From page 12

Philippines, live. For most of the last 400 years, the Moro have been fighting for self-determination against a succession of governments – from the Spanish to the Americans to the present regime in Manila – and in every case, their antagonists have deployed exceptionally harsh measures to suppress them. These have ranged from the U.S. Army’s killing of 1,000 Moros – many of which were women and children – in March 1906 at the Moro Crater Massacre to Duterte’s more recent military strikes on targets in Mindanao, as well as his so-called war on drugs, which his political opponents see as a fig leaf for the Duterte government’s extrajudicial murder of those it considers to be undesirables. It is true that there’s a history of armed struggle in Mindanao by Islamist groups whose world view is closer to that held by al-Qaida and the Islamic State, but there’s no public indication Aba was involved with any of them. Instead, besides his work as a human rights observer, he serves as the chair of Suara Bangsamoro, or “Voice of the Moro People,” which began as a political party, but now more closely resembles a non-governmental organization, at least according to some observers. Last November, members of Suara Bangsamoro helped fill the streets of Manila as part of protests against the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting, which specifically targeted both Duterte and President Donald Trump for criticism.

the fee. “I will be open to exploring opportunities to try and address what is happening in certain neighborhoods in our city for the purposes of getting landlords to rent their properties to people, or to at least treat their current tenants better and not try to raise their rent by a ridiculous amount of money in order to get them out for the next tenant,” said Breed, who briefly served as acting mayor following the sudden death of the late mayor Ed Lee December 12 due to a heart attack. “We’ve got to do something different, and so I am open to that for sure.” Former supervisor Angela Alioto has long championed the idea of imposing a tax on property owners with vacant retail spaces. North Beach, the city’s Little Italy neighborhood near where she has her law office, “is devastated” due to all of the empty storefronts. “I think that we need to start taxing them at six months for keeping it vacant at a percentage that would give them an incentive to rent it,” said Alioto, who lives in Pacific Heights. “I think six months might be a long time, but again, this is something we would just be trying.” Should she become mayor, Alioto would convene local financial experts to figure out how to make the vacancy tax “painful” enough to make landlords act, especially those who live out of town. “If it’s not painful, it doesn’t matter, right? I mean, you’re not going to get altruistic landlords that live in New York City and own the building here unless it’s painful to their pocket,” contended Alioto.

Zoning rules could change

Apart from instituting a vacancy tax, which would need voter approval, the next mayor could order the city’s planning department to propose zoning rule changes to make it easier for chain stores or other uses to move into vacant retail spaces. They could also examine if the city should scrap requiring new developments all have sidewalk-fronting storefronts. Leno told the B.A.R. that is a conversation that should be had with community leaders. He said the city

While the United States has imposed sanctions on various individuals and entities in the Philippines for alleged involvement in criminal or terrorist activity, neither Sura Bangsamoro nor Aba appear on the public lists maintained by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which is responsible for maintaining them. Zakout said that after nearly a day in detention, Aba’s captors offered him food for the first time. “Adding insult to injury, CBP disrespected his religion by deliberately serving him pork,” Zakout said. “They asked [Aba] ‘What do you want to eat?’ [Aba] said ‘I don’t eat pork.’ “They replied, ‘What do you think of ham?’” and gave Aba a bread and ham sandwich, said Zakout. According to Zakout, the CBP refused to release Aba until he signed a blank paper (to which a statement would presumably be added later) and recorded a video where he said he had not been tortured. “So, this happened right here at SFO,” Zakout said. “We’re here today to say no to torture at SFO, no to torture happening here and #Justice4Jerome.” Not surprisingly, a spokesperson for CBP, who declined to be identified by name, had a different view. “These allegations of torture and religious discrimination made by Mr. Aba are false,” the person said. According to the person, “Mr. Aba was referred for a secondary examination, where it was determined he was inadmissible to the United States.” CBP also denied that Aba had been removed from the United

May 3-9, 2018 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 13

Paid Political Advertisement could find ways to allow for community serving uses of such spaces by helping to subsidize rents for arts organizations and nonprofits, many of which are being priced out of the city. “If we have got all this space, why do people need to leave town? When we’ve got all this space available, how do we make it useable and affordable for those in need so they don’t leave town,” said Leno. Kim also voiced support for seeing the city allow other, community-oriTasers are a less-lethal option used in law ented uses in the vacant storefronts. enforcement agencies across the country But she was quick to add she would not allow for office uses in the new and have been proven to reduce suspect and buildings along upper Market Street. officer injury by almost 60%. Proposition H “Yeah, so I’ve heard that same will equip San Francisco police officers with complaint actually from developers that we have now required too much tasers in order to keep our community safe. ground floor retail, with all of our new development and existing development, and simply just pure supply and demand cannot fill all this ground floor retail space,” she said. “I think that nonprofits, particularly ones that are community serving so you’ll still get that activity on the ground. That was the thinking and principle in the planning department in requiring some type of ground floor occupation, but it does not have to be retail to activate ground floor spaces.” Breed told the B.A.R. she is also open to making changes to the zoning requirements for new mixed-use developments. “But again, the decisions I make as a member of the board and as mayor, I would prefer to use data to inform those decisions,” said Breed. Paid for by Yes on H, Safe Neighborhoods for All, When she sees some of the newer Sponsored by the SF Community Alliance for Jobs empty storefronts, Breed allowed and Housing and the San Francisco Police Officers she at times thinks they are a wasted opportunity. Association. Committee major funding from: “In my mind I am like housing, San Francisco Police Officers Association housing, housing. We could turn that Financial disclosures are available at sfethics.org. store into a house,” she said. Alioto also expressed support for easing up the zoning laws but would not want to scrap the ground-floor storefront requirement altogether. 18GGF0418_375x7625_3.indd 1 4/18/18 “We could also rezone some of the areas and make them single dwellings, single residency dwellings, depending upon the area and the length that the commercial business is,” she said, adding, “But with percentages. This is not takeover the neighborhoods, OK.” t

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States by its order, asserting that he voluntarily decided to return to the Philippines after being denied entry. “Mr. Aba claims that during his time in CBP custody he was forced to remove all his clothing, and had a large fan pointed at him so he would be cold while being interviewed in a stainless room,” said the spokesperson. “CBP interviews passengers in offices, not stainless rooms. CBP has a very strict policy regarding persons in custody and personal searches. CBP never asked Mr. Aba to remove his clothing.” The agency also denied Aba’s assertion that he was served pork and was threatened with weapons or was targeted because of his political beliefs. So far, CBP isn’t saying why it believed Aba was inadmissible, at least in public. A spokesman for SFO declined to comment. There are two clear takeaways from this, at least to me. First, if Aba hadn’t been a political activist who was invited to America by the U.S. Conference of Bishops (as he was) and didn’t have contacts in the United States with the National Lawyers Guild and others (which he did) we’d probably never have heard of his story. That begs the question of what CBP officers at SFO are doing in their secondary interrogations of passengers who lack access to the resources Aba could tap. Second, regardless of whether one finds Aba’s or the CBP’s version of what happened more credible (I believe Aba, but that’s not relevant for these purposes) there’s a straightforward way to prevent incidents like this from happening See page 14 >>

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14 • BAY AREA REPORTER • May 3-9, 2018

Art exhibit

From page 2

AIDS,” channels his feelings of betrayal. In his youth, Breaux had gone to military school, and when it was learned that he was homosexual, he said, “that all went away.” “To me, the betrayal was having really become a patriotic American, expecting to go that route [in life],” Breaux added. “But what I saw during the epidemic was this country turn its back on a cure or helping us get through it.” Nearly 40 years after the epidemic

Israeli center

From page 8

movement for the past several decades. “If we are talking about communities, history is something that makes you feel that you belong too,” said Allouche, 45, who is a Haifa native. It’s that importance of people feeling like they belong that prompted them to launch Haifa’s LGBT program. “There were people who actually built the path for more freedom and more diversity in our own city which is an amazing city, but it’s not Tel Aviv,” said Allouche. Sadaka was born and raised in a small town near Haifa, but she lived in Tel Aviv for a decade after her military service ended before returning to Haifa, four years ago.

Worlds apart

The two Israeli cities are worlds apart, she said. Haifa is considered to be a feminist city due to feminism coming to the

Resist

From page 13

again at SFO. If every secondary inspection at SFO was observed by community volunteers who weren’t beholden

Soni Wolf

From page 10

on Bikes. The trademark office had twice rejected the group’s application for a trademark on the ground that the name Dykes on Bikes was allegedly disparaging to lesbians. According to a news release from the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which assisted Oliver in the case, the attorneys submitted more than two-dozen expert declarations from scholars, linguists, psychologists, and activists demonstrating how the word “dyke” has evolved to become a positive term and that lesbians viewed Dykes on Bikes as a symbol of pride and empowerment. “Forty years ago, it was very difficult to stand up and call yourself a dyke,” Oliver said. “It was dangerous, it invited loss of job, it invited social ridicule, it invited attack by the police.” In those days, Oliver said, bars were the main social outlet for lesbians. “I think a lot of younger people don’t have a concept of being brave on a motorcycle, calling yourself out

Political Notebook

From page 7

Gay Police Commissioner Julius Turman is resigning from his board appointed seat this Friday, May 4, leaving one out member of the body, Petra DeJesus. And a campaign is already underway to see the supervisors reappoint gay Planning Commissioner Dennis Richards, the lone LGBT person on the powerful body, as his seat is up for renewal July 1. All four of the leading mayoral candidates in the special election on the June 5 primary ballot told the B.A.R. that they would take into account LGBT representation on advisory bodies when making appointments

began, a revolutionary, long-acting injectable prevention formula, Cabotegravir, is being investigated. According to http://www.AIDSmap. com, the injection, given every eight weeks, produces high enough drug levels to offer protection against HIV. Cabotegravir, which is being studied on HIV-negative participants at low risk for HIV infection, began tests in 2017 in Brazil, Malawi, South Africa, and the United States. Most U.S. participants were men, while the women were distributed across the three countries. According to AIDSmap.com, six trans men and

one trans woman were included. Just over 40 percent were black, 27 percent were white and 24 percent were Latino or Hispanic. Currently, the most effective drug for preventing HIV, PrEP, is a oncedaily pill. “This is a miracle,” said Cassin of PrEP. “We’ve gotten to a place where we aren’t relying on condoms. It’s what we’ve hoped and prayed for; what we’ve all wanted.” He added that the way Sciarretta designed the Bodyscapes workshop is a powerful way of facing and challenging illness.

“It’s profound,” Cassin said. “So much of the challenges we faced for decades was the power of stigma and shame that drove this epidemic. People are afraid to get tested or afraid to speak out for treatment.” Breaux described his art as a visceral response to the disease. “Art can [express feelings] in a way that just talking about them at the town hall meeting doesn’t,” Breaux said. “[With Bodyscapes], for people living an extremely altered life for years, we’re still able to find beauty and joy in our experience rather than being depressed by what it means to

be a survivor of AIDS.” “It’s so dark and alone living with this disease,” Oliphant added. “This gave me a voice to tell the story of my journey. Hopefully, others will connect with it and get something out of it for their journey.”t

city in 1979, and women continuing to hold seats of power throughout the city, Allouche and Sadaka said. “I think that the connection between feminism and LGBTQ is the fact that women are always the most oppressed group,” said Sadaka, noting that the room filled mostly with men at the San Francisco center reflected many organizations in the LGBT community. “In Haifa it’s different. In Haifa, usually, you see more women” activists at the center. “Haifa [is] ... very special and very unique,” she continued.“I think that Haifa is an example for everybody that women can actually bring a change to this world.” However, Allouche said the center tries to create more awareness of gender equality and feminist struggles. “The voice of women in our community is not as strong as it should be and I find it very problematic,” Allouche added. “It’s very important for us and I’m very proud that our center might be the only center in Israel that has more women’s programming

than men’s programming.” While Haifa could be considered Israel’s feminist center, Tel Aviv could be thought of as the “gay mecca” of the Middle East with its thriving LGBT community and openness. “There is almost no violence [toward LGBT people] in the streets [in Tel Aviv]. It’s very safe and very comfortable. Anywhere you look there are gays or lesbians or homosexual couples,” she said. Haifa is a diverse port city with a large Arab-speaking population. Residents struggle with understanding the LGBT community. “I moved to Haifa and almost immediately, I felt a difference,” Sadaka said. “We still have violence in the streets,” among other issues. To tackle the issues and build bridges between Haifa’s diverse LGBT community, the two have been working with city leaders, community leaders, and local schools to bring Haifa into the 21st century regarding queer rights. Upon learning about transgender sex workers in the neighborhood

where the center is located they launched a monthly luncheon for the women. Prior to the program the women didn’t leave their flats, said Allouche. The program is funded by a one-year grant awarded by A Wider Bridge’s Impact Fund. “Helping a transgender woman having food ... was a very moving experience for me,” said Allouche. “Seeing her coming after a year to give us a hug and have a cup of coffee in the sun for the first time felt like I’m doing something right.” The center is also working with schools to help teachers provide safe spaces for LGBT youth and working on reaching out to the large Arab community. During the past year, the center provided multi-lingual safe-space kits to teachers. Two days after a teacher put up the signage an Arab girl and a Jewish boy came out to her. Due to not having an active program at the center yet, Allouche immediately reached out to an LGBT Arab expert in Tel Aviv who traveled

to Haifa to not only provide support to the girl, but also the school. “That’s the most moving, encouraging story that I have to share,” said Allouche. “Being able to create a change” through building more awareness, accessibility, and services for the LGBT community, “this is our job and I’m very proud of it.” The center also transformed the neighborhood where its single floor flat is located. The once drug-infested park and building has become safer after being cleaned up, and security has been installed at the building, they said. When asked about the center’s future, Allouche said, “Our goal is to create a more involved community ... through building this very small, very personal bridges.” Sadaka agreed, adding, “My mission is to make Haifa relevant,” and to make the LGBT community feel that the center is “their home and they have a place to be. A place where they can build a future,” rather than leave for Tel Aviv or other parts of the world.t

to CBP or law enforcement, then there would be a powerful deterrent against both bad behavior by CBP and the temptation of detainees to exaggerate or lie about what happened to them. Of course, given the fact that the

federal Department of Justice is suing California as I write this over the latter’s demand to inspect federal immigration facilities within its borders, this may be a tough sell. Even so, CBP would be wise to ponder the words of the late

Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis. “Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases,” said Brandeis. “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the

most efficient policeman.” So long as CBP insists on operating in the dark, it is inviting the public to assume the worst.t

and proud, and rolling down Market Street,” Oliver added. “Soni did that.” Oliver said that the LGBTQ community has lost “a founding mother.” “Dykes around the world found their voices as Soni and her sisters rumbled down Market Street at the head of Pride for 40 years,” Oliver said in the news release. “Chapters around the world spread that tradition. We have lost a sister, a mentor, and an inspiration who started an epic cultural shift. Her legacy lives on at the front of Pride parades everywhere.”

Important legal strategy

Last year, Dykes on Bikes’ legal strategy helped overturn an unconstitutional law, part of the Lanham Act, in what was hailed as one of the most important freedom of expression case in years. In Matal v. Tam, a case involving the Slants, an Asian-American band, the justices ruled 8-0 that the trademark office violated the group’s First Amendment right to freedom of speech when it denied it the right to register a trademark on the name. According to Dykes on Bikes, Ms. Wolf began riding with fellow women

motorcyclists at the front of the San Francisco Pride parade in the late 1970s, shortly after the movement for women’s empowerment and visibility brought Dykes on Bikes to the parade’s front. “On her motorcycle, Soni Wolf blazed a new path forward for women and lesbians by defying gender stereotypes and boldly demanding recognition of our community on our own terms,” outgoing NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell said in a statement. “NCLR was honored to represent Dykes on Bikes, and Soni, in its challenge for recognition, and today, we mourn this loss for our community.” Ms. Wolf helped Dykes on Bikes evolve into a 501(c)3 nonprofit, spearheading the group’s mission to create a national and international community of women’s motorcyclists supporting philanthropic endeavors in LGBTQ communities. There are currently 16 chapters worldwide, throughout the U.S., Europe, and Australia. At next month’s Pride parade, Ms. Wolf, who formerly served on the Pride board, will be represented by her closest friends carrying the historic

and beautifully painted gas tank from the motorcycle Ms. Wolf rode in the first Dykes on Bikes contingent in San Francisco. She mentored may Dykes on Bikes riders, and was sainted by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence in 2016. Brown wrote in an email that Ms. Wolf was born in September 1948 and grew up in Rhode Island. She served in the Air Force in Texas, where she was a stateside medic during the Vietnam War. She moved to the Bay Area in the 1970s. In her professional life she managed copy centers for Charles Schwab and various other law firms. “She was with Schwab for many years,” Brown wrote. In addition to Ms. Wolf, several others started the Women’s Motorcycle Contingent, the news release stated. They include LB Gunn, Kalin Elliot-Arns, Christine Elliot, Sabine Balden, and Mel, whose last name was not available to Brown. “She was an incredible advocate for lesbian pride and dignity and gave courage to generations,” Brown told the B.A.R.

Ms. Wolf was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. She moved to the Bay Area in the 1970s. A public recognition of Ms. Wolf’s life and contributions to the LGBTQ community will take place Sunday, June 24, on the SF Pride main stage. The San Francisco Dykes on Bikes created a special email address (rememberingsoni@dykesonbikes.org) where people can send their thoughts, memories, and goodbyes to Ms. Wolf. A private memorial for Ms. Wolf is also planned. The Soni Wolf Memorial Fund has been established for those wishing to contribute. Ms. Wolf was Dykes on Bikes’ long-standing secretary and historian, and, in 2016, was granted secretary emeritus status. According to Brown, it was Ms. Wolf’s wish that the documents and materials with historical significance to the Dykes on Bikes and larger LGBTQ community in her care be archived and the fund will be used in part to support these efforts. Donations are tax-deductible and can be made via http://www. gofundme.com/soni-wolf-memorialfund. t

to city commissions and boards. Gay former supervisor and state lawmaker Mark Leno said he would create “a committee for commissions,” similar to ones formed by past mayors George Moscone and Art Agnos, that would be composed of community leaders who would make recommendations to the mayor on who should be appointed to commission and board seats. “I will commit to making sure our commissions reflect the face of San Francisco. So I will be there to support my community, the LGBT community, but I will be there to support the Chinese-American community because they’re under-represented,” said Leno. “I will be there for the Latino

community, the African-American community. The commissions should reflect the face of San Francisco.” Board President London Breed, who represents District 5, told the B.A.R. she would commit to making sure every city commission has at least one LGBT person on it. “I just think that it is important there is LGBT representation, there is diverse representation on our boards and commissions,” she said. District 6 Supervisor Jane Kim also told the B.A.R. that she “would certainly endeavor to appoint” one LGBT person to each of the city’s boards and commissions. She added that ensuring LGBT representation would not just be a priority at the commission

level, but also among her department heads and high level staff she names as mayor. “I think that that is incredibly important to do,” Kim said. “Diversity is something that is going to be important to me in terms of women, people of color, immigrant status, and of course LGBTQ.” Former supervisor Angela Alioto, who now has her own law practice, also committed to making sure every city oversight panel had an LGBT person serving on it. As for the lack of LGBT people serving on the Board of Supervisors itself, Alioto said she would push to change how supervisors are elected. Instead of having all 11 supervisors

voted by district, Alioto said she has long advocated for adopting what she called “the Boston split,” where six of the supervisors are elected citywide and five are elected by district. “I absolutely think it’s absurd that people get three and four thousand votes and potentially are the mayor of San Francisco,” said Alioto, referring to how the president of the board automatically becomes acting mayor should a mayor die in office, as is what happened when Breed moved into Room 200 at City Hall upon the sudden death December 12 of the late mayor Ed Lee. “That’s ridiculous. I think you have to run citywide. I think district elections

The opening reception for “Age, Survive and Thrive,” is May 6 from 1 to 5 p.m. at Art Saves Lives Gallery, 518 Castro Street. The event is free, though donations are welcome. For more information, visit http://www. redandorangehouse.com.

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

See page 15 >>

t <<

Community News>>

Cold case

From page 1

injure anyone during the robberies, according to the Marin Independent Journal. “I’m not a molester or a murderer,” he said at the hearing. Lacy is now being charged in two murders. After his Marin County sentencing, Lacy was transported back to Florida to serve out the remainder of his sentence. It was during this time that Dan Cunningham, San Francisco Police Department homicide inspector, gathered enough evidence to connect Lacy to two homicides committed in San Francisco: Sengthavy’s in 1999 and the murder of a gas station attendant on June 1, 2000.

‘Very good kid’

Sengthavy was 25 years old when he was killed on December 9, 1999. He was found lying in the third-floor hallway of the Alisa Hotel at 447 Bush Street, which today is the Hotel des Arts. Police believe he was stabbed in his room and stumbled into the hallway where he collapsed, according to a 1999 San Francisco Chronicle article. Homicide Lieutenant David Robinson, now retired, was at the scene the day of his death and said there was no evidence that Sengthavy was robbed or that his room was ransacked.

SF State

From page 1

offer testing. “It took students to call us out for us to work hand in hand with them and the [San Francisco] department of health to find other solutions for no cost health services,” said Gene Chelberg, a gay man and associate vice president for student affairs at San Francisco State University, in a phone interview with the B.A.R. “We are committed to doing the right thing.” According to Chelberg and Dr. Susan Philip, the director of STD Prevention and Control Services at SFDPH, the university couldn’t offer free testing to LGBT students because they are not eligible for Family PACT, the program the university relied on for funding to offer students free HIV/STI testing. Family PACT is a statewide, federally funded program that provides comprehensive family planning services to low-income women and men. There were more than 6,000 students enrolled in Family PACT in the last year, Chelberg said, that’s one-third of the university’s student population. The eligibility criteria for Family PACT is: must be a California resident; an individual whose family income is at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level; “must have a medical necessity for family planning services;” and do not qualify for MediCal or other health insurance. The Family PACT website does not explicitly state eligibility or policy requirements based on sexual orientation or sexual partners. But Chelberg, who worked closely with Family PACT authorities, said he was told that LGBTs were not eligible for Family PACT because they do not engage in reproductive intercourse and do not have the ability to become pregnant. Philip said the program has “gaps, as many programs do,” but said it was still an important program, especially for women.

Political Notebook

From page 14

have been destructive. You want something done in a place, you have to go speak to that one supervisor.”

Clarification

Due to inaccurate information from her campaign, District 6 supervisor candidate Sonja Trauss’ connection to the city’s sex-positive and polyamorous communities was incorrect in last week’s column. While she doesn’t

May 3-9, 2018 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 15

“There were no screams. No cries for help. There was no noise heard by neighbors,” Robinson said in the Chronicle article. Cunningham called the murder a “brutal slaying,” but did not provide further details of the killing or evidence against Lacy. “He was a young guy. This never should have happened to him,” Cunningham said. “I hope this can give some relief to his loved ones.” Sengthavy’s second cousin, Jean Kamp, was asked to identify her cousin’s body almost 20 years ago, a memory she described as “shocking.” “I don’t know much, but I know his throat was slit,” she said in a phone interview this week with the B.A.R. “He started hanging out with a new group of people, and it was the wrong place, wrong time kind of thing.” She described Sengthavy as a “very good kid” who didn’t do drugs and was “nice and easygoing. He was a fun guy. Everyone liked to hang out with him.” He grew up in Montreal, Canada, with his parents, who are still together, and younger brother. He lived what Kamp called a “normal life.” After graduating high school, Sengthavy received a swimming scholarship to attend the University of Nevada Las Vegas. The Office of the Registrar at the university confirmed Sengthavy was a student from August 1994 to the spring

of 1997, but that he did not graduate. He majored in business management. A talented swimmer, Sengthavy made many swimming records at the university. The butterfly was his stroke, said Kamp. It was in college where he began dating men and came out. Kamp said her cousin was bisexual. After college he moved to San Francisco, where he felt more accepted and comfortable about his sexuality, Kamp said. She was not able to give Sengthavy’s occupation, but said he loved to dance and was a big foodie. The news of the recent arrest was a big relief for Kamp. “This has been a long time coming,” she said. “I was very happy to finally have closure and to know what happened during that time, that it was not a random act, but someone in his circle, and I am very happy to know he is in custody and coming back to San Francisco.” Kamp is a special assignment teacher in Long Beach, California, and has a daughter who swims. Once Lacy is tried in San Francisco for the murders, he will return to Florida to finish out his nine-year sentence, then come back to Marin County and serve out his 105-year sentence. He also received a 71-year sentence in San Diego County. Anyone who has any information regarding the case of Kameron Sengthavy can contact Dan Cunningham at (415) 553-9515.t

Chelberg called the program outdated, “I would argue that the eligibility requirements are dated. We know there are many more ways to engage in reproductive sex outside the traditional heterosexual structure.”

services to his “brothers and sisters.” Chelberg was the one to contact Francisco directly after reading his opinion piece to work on getting free HIV/STI testing for all students regardless of their sexual orientation. Starting a year ago, Chelberg worked closely with Philip and students to formalize a memorandum of understanding to offer HIV/STI testing free of charge to LGBT students. Philip said the new agreement would act as a pilot program to determine need and gather other important data. Chelberg did say the university, with funding from SFDPH, did offer HIV/ STI testing to LGBTs at no cost before funding ran dry more than two years ago. For Francisco, this is an accomplishment for the LGBT community and testament to activism. “When this first happened, I wasn’t looking for an individual apology. My goal was really to fight for equal access to sexual health services for minorities on campus,” he said. Recently, Francisco organized a campus event with SFAF and its mobile van to offer STI/HIV and other health services to students on campus for four hours. Andrew Hattori, senior director for marketing and communications at SFAF, said the event held at the university’s campus on April 19, which offered students free health services through its mobile testing unit for four hours, was successful. He emphasized the importance of HIV and STI testing, especially for gay men. “It’s critically important to have culturally competent testing for free for folks, especially men who have sex with men,” he said in a phone interview with the B.A.R. Francisco said he was still affected by the bad experience he had that fall day in 2016 at the university clinic. “It takes a lot of work to push for that effort,” he said. “I’m glad to see the progression happen and that no LGBT person will have to have that experience again.”t

Surprised at news

The exclusion of LGBTs under Family PACT, however, was news to Christina Morena, chief of Office of Family Planning for Family PACT, who said Family PACT has been offering health services to the LGBT community since it began in 1996. “Yes, absolutely. We definitely do,” she said in a phone interview with the B.A.R. “STI and HIV testing are provided to any eligible client without bias based on gender identity or sexual orientation.” When asked about the ability to become pregnant eligibility requirement mentioned by Chelberg, she said only if the person is medically sterile would they not qualify for Family PACT services if they otherwise meet the additional eligibility requirements. “If an individual is sterilized, no longer has the ability to have children, than they don’t meet the medical necessity requirement. Absent of that, a person can still become pregnant irrespective of sexual orientation.” Morena said it was possibly the university’s misinterpretation of Family PACT’s eligibility policy as to why it did not offer HIV/STI testing to its students under Family PACT. Family PACT was not able to provide documents that show the number of LGBT people it serves, but said it was in the process of collecting that data. This came as a shock to Chelberg, who said he had “extensive” conversations with Family PACT representatives who told him LGBTs did not qualify. “Frankly, I’m stunned. This is not just our interpretation. We do not get to choose the eligibility requirements, they are given to us by Family PACT.” As a gay man, Chelberg said he would never intentionally refuse health use the term polyamorous to refer to herself, Trauss is in a non-monogamous marriage. Wednesday night she co-hosted a meeting with leaders of those communities, as well as the leather community, to create a legislative agenda to address their needs. t Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http:// www.ebar.com Monday mornings at noon for Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion. This week’s column reported on an

LGBT Democratic club’s endorsement in an East Bay Assembly race. 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 mailto:m.bajko@ ebar.com.

Legal Notices>> SUMMONS SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO, CIVIC CENTER COURT, 400 MCALLISTER ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102 NOTICE TO DEFENDANT: BRYAN CHAUVEL, SCOTT NOLEN, JASON LALAK & DOES 1-5, INCLUSIVE, YOU ARE BEING SUED BY PLAINTIFF: 100 VAN NESS ASSOCIATES, LLC CASE NO. CGC-16-553342

Notice! You have been sued. The court may decide against you without your being heard unless you respond within 30 days. Read the information below. You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this summons and legal papers are served on you to file a written response at this court and have a copy served on the plaintiff. A letter or phone call will not protect you. Your written response must be in proper legal form if you want the court to hear your case. There may be a court form that you can use for your response. You can find these court forms and more information at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), your county law library, or the courthouse nearest you. If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the court clerk for a fee waiver form. If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case by default, and your wages, money, and property may be taken without further warning from the court. There are other legal requirements. You may want to call an attorney right away. If you do not know an attorney, you may want to call an attorney referral service. If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be eligible for free legal services from a nonprofit legal services program. You can locate these nonprofit groups at the California Legal Services Web site (www.lawhelpcalifornia.org), the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo. ca.gov/selfhelp), or by contacting your local court or county bar association. NOTE: The court has a statutory lien for waived fees and costs on any settlement or arbitration award of $10,000 or more in a civil case. The court’s lien must be paid before the court will dismiss the case. The name and address of the court is: Superior Court for the State of California, County of San Francisco Civic Center Court, 400 McAllister St, San Francisco, California 94102 The name, address and telephone number of plaintiff’s attorney, or plaintiff without an attorney is: Francisco G. Torres (SBN 156169), 625 Market St, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105; (415) 977-0444 ext. 224, Date: July 29, 2016. Clerk of The Court. NOTICE TO THE PERSON SERVED: You are served as an individual defendant. On behalf of: Limited Liability Corporation.

APR 12, 19, 26, MAY 03, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038086500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FIRE 2 SMOKE, 1954 48TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DONALD MICHAEL BUDETTI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 04/09/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/09/18.

APR 12, 19, 26, MAY 03, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038060700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BUILDCORP, 666 MONTEREY BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed FLORENCE LY. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on NA. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/23/18.

APR 12, 19, 26, MAY 03, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038082300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ADVERTISE ON SEARCH, 548 MARKET ST #19013, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94104. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CARTER KASH. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 04/01/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/05/18.

APR 12, 19, 26, MAY 03, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038047500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TEICHOSCOPIA, 866 VALENCIA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SALEM EVANS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/18/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/19/18.

APR 12, 19, 26, MAY 03, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038082700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EKO KITCHEN, 3090 26TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94132. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SIMILEOLUWA ADEBAJO. 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 04/05/18.

APR 12, 19, 26, MAY 03, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038078500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: VOLDI EVENTS, 1151 POST ST APT 3, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed NICOLAU FERNANDES. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 04/03/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/03/18.

APR 12, 19, 26, MAY 03, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038049400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TARANTINO’S, 206 JEFFERSON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed HERRINGBONE TAVERN INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on NA. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/19/18.

APR 12, 19, 26, MAY 03, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038066900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CORVERA’S TOWING, 2000 MCKINON AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed HOWARD N. CORVERA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 08/21/07. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/27/18.

APR 12, 19, 26, MAY 03, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038071700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TAZ STREET CLEANER, 1450 SUTTER ST #322, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JOSEPH MASKINS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/22/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/29/18.

APR 12, 19, 26, MAY 03, 2018

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038055600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NORTH SOUTH CONSTRUCTION, 1657 JENEVEIN AVE, SAN BRUNO, CA 94066. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed NORTH SOUTH CONSTRUCTION INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/22/08. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/22/18.

APR 12, 19, 26, MAY 03, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038081300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SIMPLE, 2620 OCEAN AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94132. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed AP SIMPLE (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/04/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/04/18.

APR 12, 19, 26, MAY 03, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038080600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MIX TRADITIONS, 800 CORTLAND AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed FVI INVESTMENT CORP (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/04/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/04/18.

APR 12, 19, 26, MAY 03, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038087000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: KNR CLEANING COMPANY, 145 BRITTON ST APT G, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KYWANNA REED. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/09/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/09/18.

APR 12, 19, 26, MAY 03, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038084900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: JACOBSEN WINES, 1387 DEHARO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed JACOBSEN WINES LLC (CA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/06/18.

APR 12, 19, 26, MAY 03, 2018 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-037539100

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: E BUY STORE, 2750 SAN BRUNO AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by XIU MEI LI. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/31/17.

APR 12, 19, 26, MAY 03, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038049100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE MINT, 1942 MARKET ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed MINT PARTNERS INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 10/01/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/19/18.

APR 12, 19, 26, MAY 03, 2018 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-18-553836

In the matter of the application of: CHERRY MARY SHEEDY, 391 ELLIS ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102, for change of name having been ﬁled in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner CHERRY MARY SHEEDY, is requesting that the name CHERRY MARY SHEEDY, be changed to CHERRY SHEEDY. 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 MAY 2018 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

APR 19, 26, MAY 03, 10, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038081400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE ERGO LADY, 1519 OAK ST #5, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CAMERON STIEHL. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/29/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/05/18.

APR 19, 26, MAY 03, 10, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038087100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: RED SHELF, 1232 UNION ST, OAKLAND, CA 94607. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed OBAIDALLAH MEDHAT KAMAL MAHMOUD. 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 04/09/18.

APR 19, 26, MAY 03,10, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038072700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SAN MARCOS RESTAURANTE, 98 LELAND AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SULMA YOJANA CASTANON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/15/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/29/18.

APR 19, 26, MAY 03, 10, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038091600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: AGENCY ALL ABOUT CHILDREN, 1410 NORIEGA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed EDWARD Y. ROMANOV. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 10/20/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/11/18.

APR 19, 26, MAY 03, 10, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038083200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: KIDS PARADISE, 1700 31ST AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SHEYNDEL SAMERS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/01/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/05/18.

APR 19, 26, MAY 03, 10, 2018

<< Classifieds

16 • BAY AREA REPORTER • May 3-9, 2018

Legal Notices>> FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038089300

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038091700

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038107000

APR 19, 26, MAY 03, 10, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038099000

APR 19, 26, MAY 03, 10, 2018 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-037839500

APR 26, MAY 03, 10, 17, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038081200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LAMELLA, 381 VALENCIA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CLAUDIO MARTONFFY. 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 04/10/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GREEN SPA & NAIL, 347 JUDAH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed NGOC-TRANG TRAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 04/16/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/16/18.

APR 19, 26, MAY 03, 10, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038094300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SF TRUCKER, 1330 VAN DYKE AVE #B, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed JAGPAL SINGH & SANDEEP KUMAR. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 04/12/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/12/18.

APR 19, 26, MAY 03, 10, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038096800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EGGXOTIC, 3251 20TH AVE #156, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94132. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed EGGXOTIC 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 04/13/18.

APR 19, 26, MAY 03, 10, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038090200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MISSION DENTAL HEALTH, 2725 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed VICTOR J. QUANT, DDS INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 04/01/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/10/18.

APR 19, 26, MAY 03, 10, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038093000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HART, 925 O’FARRELL ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed STAG DINING GROUP (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/28/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/11/18.

APR 19, 26, MAY 03, 10, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038087800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: RAAVI EATERY, 1063 MARKET ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BHUWAN FOOD INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 02/01/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/09/18.

APR 19, 26, MAY 03, 10, 2018

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: AZAR REALTY GROUP, 2700 SAN BRUNO AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed AZAR REALTY GROUP INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/14/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/11/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE CRAFT [INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE], 935 SUTTER ST #32, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JAMES MATTHEW COTTRILL. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 04/20/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/23/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EL ALAMBRE, 80 RICE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MIGUEL ANTONIO BLANCO CHUC. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 04/03/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/04/18.

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: MISSION DENTAL HEALTH, 2725 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, 94110. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by JEROME HOWARD WEITZ ESTATE. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/03/17.

APR 19, 26, MAY 03, 10, 2018 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-037221700

APR 26, MAY 03, 10, 17, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038104500

APR 19, 26, MAY 03, 10, 2018 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-037159000

APR 26, MAY 03, 10, 17, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038101800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: STUDIO 252MYA; TECTONIC APPS, 1436 CALIFORNIA ST #7, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed BRIAN GARLAND. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 01/01/17. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/19/18.

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: EMPIRIKAL SERVICES, 1782 LOMBARD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by JOHN MILO. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/18/16.

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: BAY SUBS & DELI, 2486 SACRAMENTO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business was conducted by a married couple and signed by SANG WOO LEE & MI HYANG LEE. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/30/16.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: IRVING PIZZA, 928 GEARY ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MOHAMAD ALBAWAYAH. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 04/17/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/17/18.

APR 19, 26, MAY 03, 10, 2018 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-037886500

APR 26, MAY 03, 10, 17, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038104700

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: KIDS PARADISE, 1700 31ST AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business was conducted by a married couple and signed by EDWARD ROMANOV & JANET ROMANOV. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/08/17.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: OMIGO, 1159 HOWARD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BRONDELL, INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 04/01/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/20/18.

APR 19, 26, MAY 03, 10, 2018 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-037279800

APR 26, MAY 03, 10, 17, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038101500

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: MARINA PET HOSPITAL, 2024 LOMBARD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business was conducted by a limited liability company and signed by LEGACY VET-MARINA, LLC (WA). The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/26/16.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: J REILLY CONSTRUCTION, 2127 25TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed J REILLY CONSTRUCTION (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 02/14/14. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/17/18.

APR 19, 26, MAY 03, 10, 2018 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-18-553825

APR 26, MAY 03, 10, 17, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038102600

In the matter of the application of: JAMES STUCKY, 363 LYON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117, for change of name having been ﬁled in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner JAMES STUCKY, is requesting that the name JAMES STUCKY, be changed to JAMES ASHER. 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 5th of June 2018 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: WEED HUB, 1510 WALLACE AVE, UNIT B, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BAY AREA SAFE ALTERNATIVES COLLECTIVE, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 04/18/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/18/18.

APR 26, MAY 03, 10, 17, 2018

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Located at Piers 68/70 in San Francisco, this shipyard lease offering consists of approximately 13.7 acres of total land and piers, including16 buildings. Significant Port-owned assets such as floating Dry Dock #2 that was upgraded in 2008 to post-Panamax lifting capability; floating Dock Eureka; and a $5.8 million Sk-ampere shoreside power system are included. The RFP includes a smaller core footprint (10.1 acres with 10 buildings) than in the prior Shipyard RFP issued August 15,2017.This change is to reduce a new operator’s maintenance and repair costs of buildings not critical for the operation of a shipyard. There are an additional 6 buildings comprising 3.6 acres that are independent, optional offers depending on the proposer’s business model. The Port is improving the site for future operations including upgrading the electrical Infrastructure; demolition of antiquated buildings to add laydown space; and $3.5 Million in dredging under Dry Dock #2 and piers for exclusive access by the lessee. The Port may also conduct future maintenance dredging. To learn more about this offering, please visit us at: www.sfport.com/shipyardRFP2

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In the matter of the application of: CRISTIAN GERARDO CALVA GALINDO, 2102 BUSH ST #4, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner CRISTIAN GERARDO CALVA GALINDO, is requesting that the name CRISTIAN GERARDO CALVA GALINDO, be changed to JERRY RAYMOND KLEIN. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514 on the 21st of June 2018 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MAY 03, 10, 17, 24, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038092300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NICE AND BETTER, 3170 21ST ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed HERALD DANILO BERMUDEZ AGUILERA. 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 04/11/18.

MAY 03, 10, 17, 24, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038116400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BARKEEP, 230 CASELLI AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed TIMOTHY A. EICHER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 03/09/10. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/30/18.

MAY 03, 10, 17, 24, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038114800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LES PETITES FLEURS, 599 3RD ST #302, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed GRACE HUBERTS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/27/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/27/18.

MAY 03, 10, 17, 24, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038115900

MAY 03, 10, 17, 24, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038105000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SUE TRUPIN RN PATIENT ADVOCATE, 389 DAY ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SUE TRUPIN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed ﬁctitious business name or names on 04/18/18. The statement was ﬁled with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/20/18.

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Kronos time

Better 'Angels'

Lesbian scene

'Mystery' play

Vol. 48 • No. 18 • May 3-9, 2018

www.ebar.com/arts

Julian Schnabel mingles with Rodin by Sura Wood

Julian Schnabel stands amidst his paintings and sculptures exhibited in the Court of Honor at the Palace of the Legion of Honor, site of an exhibition of his work, “Symbols of Actual Life.”

Rick Gerharter

ulian Schnabel brought his celebrity, a sextet of specially created, jumbo-sized artworks, and a titanic ego to the Legion of Honor’s courtyard last week. When I asked if he were intimidated by sharing the same space permanently inhabited by a bronze casting of Rodin’s “The Thinker,” Schnabel, a man not prone to self-doubt, responded with a flat “No.” The exhibition, Julian Schnabel: Symbols of Actual Life, which also includes eight paintings from three older bodies of work, is part of the Fine Arts Museums’ ongoing program to mingle contemporary art with their estimable Rodin collection, a bold idea that, so far, has yielded mixed results. See page 24 >>

Vanishing acts from SF Ballet by Paul Parish

Erik Tomasson

he second half of San Francisco Ballet’s “Unbound” dance festival opened last week, again with full houses and standing ovations after nearly every piece. Programs C and D are well balanced, with a definite uptick in the festivity level in the season-ending Program D. Both are well worth seeing, with spectacular dancing by the company. If your great love is the grace in classical dancing, you’d prefer Program C, with astonishingly pure dancing to great music like Bach violin concertos. If your understanding of contemporary ballet leans towards expressionism and outbursts of drama, Program D tends that way. See page 24 >>

Frances Chung and Esteban Hernandez in Stanton Welch’s “Bespoke.”

{ SECOND OF THREE SECTIONS }

“A revelation” –San Jose Mercury News

A Gay Fantasia on National Themes

LE A D S P O N S O R S

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<< Out There

18 • Bay Area Reporter • May 3-9, 2018

What we learned at the SFPL by Roberto Friedman

ith the world going digital all around us, sometimes Out There loves to return to antique technologies, to doing things “the old way” like borrowing CDs from the San Francisco Public Library and listening to them on our home stereo. Here’s part of what constitutes our continuing education from the SFPL. Eighth Blackbird, “Filament” (Cedille) (2016). There’s a world of nuance and musical interplay in the seven parts of Bryce Dessner’s “Murder Ballades,” “Doublespeak” by Nico Muhly, and two Son Lux pieces bracketing Philip Glass’ “Two Pages,” a live performance recorded at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Yo-Yo Ma & the Silk Road Ensemble, “Sing Me Home” (Sony) (2016). On this companion album to the Morgan Neville documen-

tary “The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble,” musical cultures meet, connect, and make something new. “Silver Apples of the Moon” (1967), for electronic music synthesizer by Morton Subotnick (Nonesuch) (1978/1994), blew our mind because gay novelist Dennis Cooper had just blogged about hearing the piece live in a performance in Paris. With the Subotnick composition “The Wild Bull” (1968), this is psych-expanding early analog electronic music. “Martha Argerich & Friends, Live from Lugano 2014” (Warner) (2014). Classic powerhouse shares the wealth. “Stephen Hough’s French Album” (Hyperion) (2012). Sacre bleu! “Sviatoslav Richter plays Scriabin” (Praga) (2017). With URSS

State Symphony, Moscow, led by Yevgeni Svetlanov. Richter is a master of the keyboard. Maurizio Pollini, “Chopin, Late Works, opp. 59-64” (DG) (2017). Pollini brings subtlety and grace. “Philip Glass, Piano Works” (DG) (2017). Pianist Vikingur Olafsson, Siggi String Quartet. Young Icelandic wunderkind Olafsson finds new ways into the pattern work. The Magnetic Fields, “Love at the Bottom of the Sea” (Merge) (2012).

Including “The Horrible Party,” “My Husband’s Pied-a-Tierre.” We love the dry wit. Jason Moran, “Same Mother” (Blue Note) (2005). “Gangsterism on the Set.” Pianist-composerimpresario Moran is on his way to creating real masterworks in jazz. Library research can even serve to preview upcoming arts events. For example, take “The Magic of Youth,” a semi-staged concert coming up in Michael Tilson Thomas

and the San Francisco Symphony’s 2018-19 season (6/27, 29, 30, 2019). Advance materials tell us “the fantastic world of a young imagination comes to life in a dazzling production of Ravel’s ‘The Child and the Magic Spells.’ The program will be performed by an all-star cast and highlighted by mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard.” We found the Ravel piece as part of a 2-CD set from Eratos (2017). “In his role as Music Director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Mikko Franck conducts Debussy’s ‘L’Enfant prodigue,’ starring Roberto Alagna and Karina Gauvin, and Ravel’s ‘L’Enfant et les sortilèges,’ with Nathalie Stutzmann and Sabine Devieilhe among the singers surrounding Chloé Briot in the role of the Child.” That’s a magic trick to us!t

Kronos Festival moves beyond borders by Philip Campbell

enre-crossing, border-lifting, barnstorming Kronos Quartet is well into middle age now, morphing over the years from progressive string quartet to internationally recognized arts institution. They are too busy evolving to take much note of the passing decades themselves. Judging from high-energy concerts in the recent Kronos Festival 2018 at SFJAZZ Center, their adventurous career still moves vigorously to the future. The “fourth annual hometown festival” took place over three days, highlighting the group’s mission with world premieres, the selection of multi-instrumentalist David Coulter (he plays musical saw!) as artist-in-residence, and exciting appearances by international and local guest artists. Kronos makes diversity look as easy as it ought to be. Colleagues, prominently represented by women, and compositions ranging from new takes on traditional music to

modern jazz, pop and art rock created an exhilarating showcase for a rich slate of concerts. Kronos’ artistic director, founder and violinist David Harrington called Festival 2018 “a giant leap for our work.” Threading the Quartet’s innovative open-access education initiative “Fifty for the Future,” which commissions, and distributes for free, a learning library of contemporary repertoire throughout the series, proved his commitment. “Deepening relationships” with colleagues, and “celebrating possibilities” for discovery, are really nothing new for Kronos. They have been taking risks for as long as I can remember. At the heart of the presentations, Harrington, John Sherba (violin), Hank Dutt (viola) and Sunny Yang (cello) surrounded themselves with new and old friends. On opening night, Egyptian electro-chaabi pioneer Islam Chipsy set the tone and made his Kronos debut, performing his own “Zaghlala (Blurred vision caused by strong

light hitting the eyes),” composed for “Fifty for the Future.” “Pallavi,” another piece written for the initiative, by tabla player Zakir Hussain, was given a World Premiere performance. American musical group CocoRosie, formed by sisters Bianca “Coco” and Sierra “Rosie” Casady in Paris in 2003, presented “Songs” written for Kronos, World Premieres. The capacity crowd was intrigued by their dreamlike quality and the striking opera- and bluesinflected vocals. John Coltrane’s “Alabama” (arr. Jacob Garchik) set the stage for David Coulter’s astonishing solo in saxophonist Ralph Carney’s “Lament for Charleston” (arr. Danny Clay). Filled with pathos and anger over the killing of nine at a church in 2015, the dirge was stirring. Played with a bow, the musical saw has a strange and beautiful sound. Coulter added drama with scratchy percussive effects. Iranian singer Mahsa Vahdat closed with an exquisite collection

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Evan Neff

Tabla player Zakir Hussain performed with Kronos Quartet in the Kronos Festival 2018 at SFJAZZ Center.

of songs arranged by Sahba Aminikia, a song arranged by her husband Atabak Elyasi, and a Kurdish song for an encore. Vahdat’s flawless delivery, marked by pure tone, subtle use of vibrato, and dusky sensuality, was a revelation. Her first appearance with Kronos was at last year’s festival. Her return visit was triumphant. A line from “My place is the Placeless, my trace is the Traceless” by classical Persian poet Rumi says, “I am neither Christian nor a Jew, I am no pagan, no muslim.” It captures Vahdat’s transcendent artistry and the power of her music to erase boundaries. The second Festival concert further illustrated Kronos’ ceaseless exploration of world music, but in a generally lighter way. Coulter was back for more “sawing,” in an engaging suite drawn from Jack Nitzsche’s music for “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (arr. Garchik). A special appearance by the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts’ Dragon String Quartet with young performers Lucy Nelligan, Ben Hudak, violins; Kana Luzmoor, viola; and Isabelle Fromm, cello, had everyone beaming ear-to-ear. They were joined by Fode Lassana Diabate, virtuoso balafon (22-key xylophone) player from Mali, in his composition written for “The Kronos Learning Repertoire,” “Sunjata’s Time.” Off-the-wall, but perfectly in tune with today, self-described “post-Mexican composer-performer-visual artist” Guillermo Galindo’s “Remote Control” received its World Premiere as part

of “Fifty for the Future.” Galindo told the amused crowd to take out their mobiles, fire them up, and set the volume to high as they programmed saved videos and one of his own. Kronos added instrumental support when everyone hit play. The results were actually kind of magical: inconsequential, but ingeniously inspired. Singer-songwriter Jolie Holland brought the first half to a satisfying close with a set of two original numbers (arranged for Kronos by Garchik) framing Randy Newman’s superb “Louisiana, 1927.” Holland’s style blends a country-folk vibe with art-song poetry. She set toes to tapping even as she evoked a wistful mood. Harrington met her when she was working in SF at a restaurant near the Kronos’ business office. His instincts paid off well. The rest of the night was given to Malian griot ensemble Trio Da Kali, performing music from the recording “Ladilikan” on World Circuit, which joined them with Kronos back in 2017 to great acclaim. Trio Da Kali musical director Fode Lassana Diabate got spontaneous applause for his steaming balafon solos. Mamadou Kouyate contributed exciting drive on bass ngoni, and the blending with string quartet added plush support for vocalist Hawa Kasse Mady Diabate. Channeling the majesty of Mahalia Jackson within her own seductive range, La Diabate cheerfully personifies the sheer joy of music and a brave new world without borders. Come to think of it, Kronos Quartet does, too.t

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<< Theatre

20 • Bay Area Reporter • May 3-9, 2018

Tony Kushner’s complex God

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Kevin Berne/Berkeley Repertory Theatre

Stephen Spinella (Roy Cohn) in Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s production of “Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches.”

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fter much soul-searching, I decided against Berkeley Rep’s $14 box lunch and went with an Alpine burger and garlic fries from Barney’s Burgers, ordered online and consumed on the terrace in the fresh air. My date paid. She’d always wanted to binge-watch the sprawling, genre-bending, AIDSrelated saga “Angels in America” in a single day, for which adventure sufficient rations are key. We worked up an appetite during the first half (three-and-a-half hours, including two 15-minute intermissions), and ate ravenously before schlepping ourselves back inside the Rota for the second half (three hours and 45 minutes). You can double dip or consume either part separately, at Berkeley Rep through July 22. “Angels” was born in San Francisco. Berkeley Rep artistic director Tony Taccone, who directs, was artistic director at San Francisco’s Eureka Theatre in 1989 when he commissioned Tony Kushner to write the legendarily tumescent megatext. The Eureka staged the world premiere of Part One, “Millennium Approaches,” in 1991. Part Two, “Perestroika,” was added for the world premiere of the whole enchilada in 1992 at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles and London’s National Theatre, before this quintessentially New York story was unleashed on Broadway in 1993. A lesbian friend active in ACT UP paid for my ticket. I was stunned by the sheer verbiage. Politics rarely make it to Broadway, but channeling the angst of his gay generation, Kushner takes on Ronald Reagan, who became president the year AIDS got its name. As a father figure for all Americans, the ex-president of the Hollywood Screen Actors Guild notorious for “Bedtime for Bonzo” (1951), and ex-governor of California (196775) infamous for his indifference to redwoods, was a Rushmore-sized target. I was thrilled, awed, and bewildered to hear political discourse cutting through the usual shtick. Can you do that for eight hours and make em like it? Yes, if you’ve the chutzpah to transgress societal and theatrical norms, transcend selfpity, and transform a plague into a

metaphysical picnic. You do not go to Kushner for streamlined structure, narrow focus, or dramatic necessity. You go for talk, fabulousness, jokes, cosmology, schmaltz, Jewishness, and an inclination to weave the Past into the Present while staring down an implacable Future. You go for gay guys screwing up their domestic arrangements, self-obsessing like Woody Allen, hallucinating like Chagall, and breast-beating like Clifford Odets. Broadway’s voice of Jewish idealism in the 1930s, Odets championed the family, the working class, unions, and artists. Never mentioned, Odets nevertheless haunts “Angels.” This golden boy of leftist theater named names to the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1952, ruining his street cred but boosting his Hollywood career. Which brings us to Roy Cohn, Kushner’s “Pole Star of human evil,” a closeted Jewish mama’s boy who, after prosecuting the Rosenbergs for the Justice Department, became chief counsel to Senator Joe McCarthy in 1953. Their anti-Communist shenanigans were matched by their anti-gay terror campaign. That gay scapegoating is a marker for homosexual panic — the simple premise forming the steely moral core of Kushner’s fluffy fantasia — might shock those who don’t know their Freud. Cohn’s as relevant today as ever: he had a crush on Donald Trump while acting as his go-between with mobsters running construction in NYC, before dying of AIDS in 1986. “Angels” begins in 1985. Joe (Danny Binstock), a young Mormon lawyer married to unloved Valiumpopping Harper (Bethany Jillard), is being groomed by Cohn (spiffy Stephen Spinella) for a Washington, D.C. job to spy on Cohn’s enemies in the Justice Dept. Joe becomes the love object of Louis (quirky Benjamin Ismail), a Jewish intellectual office drudge who’s freaked out by the AIDS-related diseases of his lover Prior (perky Randy Harrison), a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant who connects with an Angel (fiery Francesca Faridany), an ecstatic hermaphrodite who denounces “the virus of Time” that lets humans alter the world’s course.

Spinella gives the most compelling performance, his Cohn being abruptly nice, nasty, or pathetic as the mood strikes him, and his death scene is a high point. The three young male leads form a sexual triangle triggered by Louis’ abandonment of his lover. Ismail, as Kushner’s doppelganger Louis, handles his over-intellectualized outbursts with grace. Harrison, as the sympathetic AIDS sufferer Prior, believably does impossible things like talk to angels. Binstock as Joe, the married Mormon gay Republican butt-boy, is convincing as a man who does not know who he is or what he wants. Caldwell Tidicue, as Cohn’s black male nurse Belize, reality checks the delusional white people with authentic warmth and attitude. Three women lend support in multiple roles. Carmen Roman opens the show as an ancient rabbi. Then, as a Mormon mom, she adapts to Joe’s newfound ho-mosex-u-a-li-tee. She sings beautifully as Ethel Rosenberg, a worthy nemesis to that “son of a bitch” Cohn. Francesca Faridany registers as a crazy homeless hag and a gung-ho real-estate agent in silly, curly wig. Her Angel wasn’t entirely cohesive opening night due to a glitch with the flying harness, but they’ll fix that. In the thankless role of Harper, the woman no one wants, Jillard is overwrought, never attaining the Valium-induced loopiness that links her to the hallucinating Prior. Artistic director Tony Taccone might be too familiar with this old play to do it justice. “Angels” is an iconic gay classic, a period piece that deserves to be fluffed by a new queer vision. Taccone’s staging is static, even though scenes jump from office desk to living room couch, to hospital bed, to park bench, to the Mormon Visitors Center, to Antarctica, to Salt Lake, to Moscow, and all the way to Heaven. Platforms glide in and out while sliding vertical panels catch projections of scenery and weather effects: rain, snow flurries, and lightning. This mechanical activity, however, is no substitute for creative impulse. Once the cast settles into the run of this three-ring circus, things will no doubt sort themselves out. God willing. Go see.t

Theatre>>

May 3-9, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 21

Relationship issues by Jim Gladstone

“D

on’t you want to be comfortable?” Jonny asks his lifelong friend Charlotte in The Mystery of Love and Sex, a thrilling psychological dramedy playing at NCTC through May 20. “I want to be so much more than that?” is Charlotte’s reply. It’s one of many acutely awkward moments in playwright Bathsheba Doran’s tight, suspenseful snare drum of a script. In the two fleet hours of director Rebecca Longworth’s beautifully realized production, race, sexuality, spirituality and the bonds of friendship and family vibrate against each other to sometimes excruciating but ultimately comforting effect. Next-door neighbors and companions through childhood, churchgoing African American Jonny (Kenny Scott) and agnostically Jewish Charlotte (Linda Marie Giron) appear drawn toward romance as the play opens. Now in college together, the pair are preparing a dorm-room dinner for Charlotte’s visiting parents, former New Yorker Howard (Dave Sikula) and Southern-born Lucinda (Shay-

Oglesby Smith). The older pair is justifiably concerned at the evolution of the younger’s relationship given the students’ lack of life experience and apparent impulse to stick with the familiar. But Howard also seems to harbor unjustifiable discomfort with their ethnic and religious differences. And while Lucinda comes across as the more open-minded parent here, there’s a single disarming moment to come in which she lashes out with crude racial invective. Whether Howard, an author of detective fiction, or Lucinda is actually racist – and whether such a label can ever be conclusively used – is just one of the mysteries explored by the play. What’s inarguable is that they are loving: of Charlotte, Jonny, and despite a sometimes tumultuous marriage, each other. The love between Charlotte and Jonny is also put to the test over the play’s five-year span as she gradually moves into problematic relationships with women and alcohol. Meanwhile, he awkwardly dates a number of women, agonizing about remaining a virgin until marriage while harboring a vast store of anger

Lois Tema

Best friends since childhood, Charlotte (Linda Maria Girón) and Jonny (Kenny Scott) tell each other everything, in The Mystery of Love and Sex at NCTC.

and a pair of ultimately explosive secrets. Doran deftly keeps those revelations under wraps without resorting to any red herrings. Instead, she provides a compelling story with Charlotte at its center until, during the second act, Jonny’s self-created distractions are stripped away. Howard and Lucinda also continue to grow more nuanced until the very last scene. The mysteries here are never of the mechanical

detective-fiction variety; while just as nerve-wracking, they prove more profound and strangely satisfying in their insolvability. All four actors deliver strong, shaded performances here. Given the constrained pool of Bay Area actors, director Longworth succeeds in casting and modulating such a well-matched quartet. One of the frequent flaws in local productions is an unevenness within casts that can inadvertently focus audiences

on talent level and acting technique rather than allowing them to become smoothly immersed in the story being staged. The cast here collaborates almost flawlessly, letting the viewer concentrate on characters rather than actors. The spare, modular set by Ting Na Wang appropriately evokes several environments while allowing quick changes and leaving all of the play’s telling details to emerge from the actors’ performances and Doran’s dialogue. Ultimately, Doran’s script is the breakout star here. While all too many plays about domestic relationships end up tinged with sitcom silliness or telemovie melodrama, Doran, who has written for HBO’s Masters of Sex and Boardwalk Empire, has managed to compress, into a single evening of theater, the complexity of character that can evolve over a season’s worth of firstrate serial television. The Mystery of Love and Sex delivers a binge’s worth of reward for a one-night commitment.t The Mystery of Love and Sex, through May 20, NCTC. Tickets ($30-$45): www.nctcsf.org.

Behind the show tunes by John F. Karr

do not come to bury Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber; nor do I come to marry him. I’m actually kinda indifferent to him. But I was intrigued by the idea of his autobiography, called “Unmasked: A Memoir” (Harper, $28.99). So I read it, and I’m glad I did. Learned all sorts of stuff about ALW, both craft- and gossip-related. At first sight you’ll marvel at this tome. It’s 500 pages long, and only makes it to the opening night of Phantom of the Opera in 1986! There are eight more shows, of which only Sunset Blvd. (1993) and School of Rock (2015) can be counted as successful. If ALW hadn’t blabbed on at quite such length about his orchestrations, there might have been room to cover those two hits. But a second volume for those other six shows? “Oh, yeah, let me tell you about the two decades I spent writing flops.” But for a while there, he did write hits. And he orchestrated them himself. Jason Robert Brown and Kurt Weill orchestrated all their shows, and Leonard Bernstein some of his. So I can see how describing his orchestrations at length shows ALW’s skills as composer and musician. It’s also heartening to hear him cop to his faults. He puts us up close to his three marriages, and only a little less candidly, to his tantrums. The dear boy is so high-strung. And he knows it, describing himself as “wound up,” “hyper,” and “tense.” He even tries to describe his dislike for his mostof-the-time lyricist, Tim Rice, even though he ultimately cops out with the lame excuse, “What happened is beyond the scope of this volume.” On Rice’s part, the lyricist called ALW “a hot-headed perfectionist who can be extremely obnoxious,” as well as pointing out “his undermining and occasionally deceitful ways.” On ALW’s part, when he alone was presented with an honor, he gloated,

“What made it particularly satisfying was Rice was furious.” And what’s going on with the numerous times the heterosexual ALW drops gay items? Particularly this stunner. In 1979 (mind the year), wife Sara Brightman’s father, whose job remains a mystery, called ALW for a tête à tête. After a couple drinks, he confided, “There’s going to be a plague, and it is going to kill a lot of people. It is mainly transmitted either through sex or infected fluids. It will grow out of control in Africa [and] will spread to the West probably via the homosexual community. There is no known cure.” Just mind-boggling. ALW considers himself, above all, a melodist. And that may be why his favorite theatre composer is Richard Rodgers, a king of melody. Which brings us to a second newly published book, “Something Wonderful – Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Broadway Revolution” by Todd S. Purdum (Henry Holt, 400 pp., $32). Both Broadway know-it-alls as well as neophytes will find a book that is now arguably the definitive account of the R&H career. I found a lot I didn’t know, and appreciated new aspects of what I already knew, in a book that covers its subject from beginning to end, taking in their other collaborators, each of their shows, and making enjoyable side-trips to related subjects. Purdum summarizes quite well the political and social forces that shaped the team and encouraged their vast popularity. And if he only touches on a couple stories, like the unmitigated warfare among the three gay collaborators the homophobic Rodgers fought with during the creation of Do I Hear a Waltz?, well, those stories have been well-covered elsewhere. Pre-Rodgers, Hammerstein had written escapist operettas that had wonderful songs (The Desert Song, The New Moon, Rose-Marie) but stories that were pap (excepting

that preview of the future, Show Boat). He always envisioned, and now with Rodgers, turned to serious, socially-oriented plots, and made standard practice producer Theresa Helburn’s vision of “a play in which the music and dancing would be aids and adjuncts of the plot itself.” Ranging over the team’s entire career, Purdum makes clear the progressive nature of their work,

and just how they wrought their revolution. When Stephen Sondheim described the team, he said Hammerstein was a man of limited talent but infinite soul, and Rodgers was a man of infinite talent but limited soul. Purdum delineates Rodgers’ neuroticism. He was unfriendly, miserly, paranoid, homophobic, and as a lifelong womanizer, unfaithful

to his wife. Directly the opposite, Hammerstein was devoted to his wife, didn’t smoke, drank little, rose early, and went to bed equally early. Yes, they were middlebrow, and of a frequently earnest mien. But they were sincere. Hammerstein gave forth some gentle sentimentality. And Rodgers gave forth melody after melody after melody. You could love a guy like that.t

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<< Books

22 • Bay Area Reporter • May 3-9, 2018

Something else again by Tim Pfaff

ith his second novel, “The Queen of the Night,” whose protagonist was famously an opera singer – but, the reader learns, much else – Alexander Chee proved he could write with the best of them. In his new collection of essays, “How To Write an Autobiographical Novel” (Mariner Books), it’s his voice that counts. The title is not a ruse, though Chee’s writing tips are likely to be of the greatest benefit to people already immersed in writing, and writing fiction in specific, though the advice about money is salient. In these big-hearted, deeply wise essays, the author addresses the matter – more tender than tricky – of fiction’s being a better way to get at truth than pretended, ultimately unachievable objectivity. The autobiographical novel of the title is his first, “Edinburgh,” which arrived on the scene as a kind of breach baby, nearly paperback first. That we don’t hear much about this book until deep into these 16 reflections is telling in its own right. As with his novel, Chee has much ground to till for the new seed to germinate of its wont. Its subject(ive) matter, less the childhood sexual abuse itself than its lifelong outfall, might make for a feeding frenzy in today’s Oprahfied publishing world. At the time, the turn of our bruised-on-arrival century, it generated rejection let-

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

“How To Write an Autobiographical Novel” author Alexander Chee.

ters – as much over the mystery surrounding its genre as the difficulty of its subject. Is it a memoir? the questions went. If not, why not? And what of these new essays? Closely watched trains of thought. Chee places Maxine Hong Kingston in the capacious pantheon of his artistic forebears, and readers will recall the publisher’s subtitle, “A Memoir of a Girlhood Among Ghosts,” which, for all its intrigue, weighed down her novel “The Woman Warrior” like its tail a soaring Chinese kite.

Both writers take their American mixed-race otherness not as anything so reductive as a theme but, rather, as twice-fertilized soil from which to make the journey of individuation that makes or breaks anyone. As I write, I recall Kingston saying, almost off-handedly, “I don’t know how people who don’t write endure their lives.” Kingston also spoke, wryly, of the second fortune she passed up by declining to make “The Woman Warrior” a movie or stage script. She said, in paraphrase, After the words told me what order they wanted to be in, I couldn’t ask them to get back in line. So, when Chee looks back at the novel that made him a fiction writer, the light refracts as much forward as back. Understanding, valid and essential at any point, ripens over time. The story’s never over. At their most straightforwardly narrative and entertaining – Chee’s two years in San Francisco pop three-dimensionally, his one-nightstand with drag a refining-fire fourth – Chee’s words are a chiaroscuro. Hauling ass around town on a motorcycle when not minding the register at A Different Light bookstore, Chee is never more vivid a tragicomedian than he is when being an AIDS activist.

His nomadic life in Manhattan is colorfully picaresque in the manner of Quixote. You learn in the first essay that he is fluent in Spanish (if not in Korean, his father’s tongue), but it’s the how and why of that modest revelation that impresses more. With language that’s at once adjective- and adverb-averse in its concretion, Chee also whips up the wizardry, bittersweet as it can be. You don’t stop to question his conviction that his father died early, rather than at a young age.

lent example of McCauley’s drollery, cementing his status as a superb exemplar of the comedy-of-manners genre. He writes amiable satires on the mores and affectations of contemporary life that questions cultural norms. With this format, plot is of secondary importance. Witty dialogue and biting (but not offensive) social commentary are paramount. David Hedges is a 50-something gay man, a successful college admissions consultant living in San Francisco, who helps privileged children get into good schools. But at the start of the novel, his boyfriend Soren has left him for an older surgeon, he’s now overweight, and his best friend Renata, a realtor, is trying to sell his ocean-view rental out from under him, pushing him to the verge of eviction. Meanwhile, across the country in Beauport, a tourist town on the New England coast, resides Julie Fiske, David’s ex-wife from 30 years ago. They were briefly married, but discovering he was gay and having lost their baby, they divorced. Her second husband Henry has abandoned her for a younger woman, Carol, but wants to sell their huge Victorian house, in which Julie has been renting out rooms on AirBnB to make ends meet along with her teaching. She wants her 17-yearold daughter Mandy to get serious about applying to colleges. With all this stress, despite claiming she has quit, she continues to smoke pot. Finalizing their divorce, Julie has only two months to raise some serious money to buy the house from Henry. Mandy, rummaging in the basement, finds old boxes with books, records, and photos indicating her mother had been previously married. Henry, making a threat that if Mandy doesn’t apply to college, she will have to live with him and Carol, compels

It’s hard to convey the sheer joy of reading McCauley’s effervescent, penetrating prose that can be simultaneously hilarious and heart-breaking. McCauley’s genius is to allow characters to say outlandish comments that we all think in our heads but wouldn’t have the courage to voice out loud. McCauley is particularly keen on the complexities and pitfalls of modern relationships, both gay and straight. Here’s a brief taste of the many bon mots: “All couples start off as Romeo and Juliet and end up as Laurel and Hardy.” “They were probCourtesy the subject ably in their early 30s, that “My Ex-Life: A Novel” author Stephen awkward age when people McCauley. still believe they matter and that life is going to go their way.” “She had the Mandy to lie to him that they are getdisturbing pallor David had come to ting assistance from David, promptrecognize as a sign of either genetic ing Julie to email David and renew illness or an unhealthy familiartheir connection as best friends. ity with Harry Potter.” “She and her To escape his problems, David flies husband were wine connoisseurs, across country to spend his sumwhich is to say, incipient alcoholmer vacation, aiding Julie with her ics with money.” “My mother was issues and assist Mandy in writing awful, a real – oh, what’s that word, a winning college essay. Mandy is the terrible one that begins with a confused and is making some dumb, C? Catholic?” “I think people like potentially dangerous choices. Can standing ovations as a way of conDavid and Julie help each other put vincing themselves they got their their lives back together? money’s worth.” Even with a brief summary, the The novel is a meditation on plot is rather minimal, but there second chances inspired by mid-life are numerous colorful supporting melancholy as one’s decisions and characters, a McCauley specialty, goals are reassessed. The cultural such as the alcoholic Sandra, an oncriticism can be brutal, yet McCauline expert in making more money ley actually espouses traditional renting out AirBnBs, including values such as home, altruism, her obsession with throw pillows; family, and especially the grace of Julie’s sultry neighbor Amira, goodfriendship. McCauley delivers his naturedly cheating on her rich older medicine with perceptive warmth, husband; and Kenneth, a bossy whether he’s discoursing on college antique store owner romantically application essays or live porn webinterested in David. McCauley’s gift sites. His characters grow in ways is to summarize these people in just they often don’t realize themselves a few sentences of dialogue so you as they journey in fits and stumbles recognize instantly who they are, yet toward a fresh start.t appreciate their eccentric qualities.

So, the novel’s not dead, the within-memory thought-tobe-imperiled memoir certainly isn’t, and the author’s father receives the kind of ancestor worship no lesser a first son could give. If you pay attention to these things, the endangered species of the literary essay is now on the rebound, to the point that almost anything can be called an essay. Even its greatest present-day exponents can turn it into brain-teasing puzzle, dazzling with curlicued profundity, Milton’s “Areopagitica” with cusswords. Having thus shown us new ways of seeing, thinking about and talking about things, they can make us feel like fools for not having seen it – or seen through it – all along. Chee takes the fool-wisingup role for himself, and it’s not a pose. We’re the wiser for not having been humiliated and the happier in our new wisdom. Here’s his summation of the drag episode, another facet of what he credits Loorie Moore as calling “the consolations of the mask”: “I am not the person who appeared for the first time that night. I am the one only I saw, the one I had rejected until then, the one I needed to see, and didn’t see until I had taken nearly everything about him away. His face is not half this or half that, it is all something else.”t

Summer escape by Brian Bromberger

My Ex-Life: A Novel by Stephen McCauley; Flatiron Books, $25.99

ith the disastrous outpouring of calamitous news daily from the Trump administration, never has some mordant humor been more urgently needed. Fortunately, the great news is that after an eight-year absence, author Stephen McCauley has resurfaced with one of his best novels. McCauley has written six previous books, the most wellknown being his debut, The Object of My Affection, later turned into a movie starring Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd, about the relationship between a gay man and a straight woman, a theme he returns to in his new book. He currently serves as Director of Creative Writing at Brandeis University. The press release states, “In

his spare time, he practices yoga, the ukulele, and ironic detachment.” The latter comment is an excel-

Film>>

May 3-9, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 23

Unorthodox behavior by David Lamble

y now you will have probably heard about the racy lesbian bedroom scene that is giving “Disobedience,” a contemporary family drama from Chilean helmer Sebastian Lelio, its well-deserved online buzz. In his first English-language feature, Lelio delivers a nuanced look behind the scenes of a London Orthodox Jewish community as an attractive young woman unexpectedly returns to her religious family upon the sudden death of her pious father. This means rubbing shoulders with observant ex-friends who shunned her for her attraction to a female childhood friend. The reunion rekindles their old passions as the women seek the freedom to jump-start new lives together in more-tolerant New York. Director Lelio (with co-screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz) brings Naomi Alderman’s novel to the

screen, making good use of its contemporary London settings. The explosive six-minute bedroom scene will bring a new generation of filmgoers to the task of bringing an isolated-by-choice Orthodox community kicking and screaming into the secularizing perils of the morally hazardous modern world. The film is blessed with energetic turns from its lead cast: Rachel Weisz, Rachel McAdams, and Allesandro Nivola, as the rabbi who attempts to thwart the women’s pursuit of happiness. The filmmakers are brave in daring to present a modern, non-observant audience with the inside details of how the pious avoid becoming sanctimonious. In a very moving moment, the ambitious and at first overly aggressive young rabbi realizes his error and releases his young bride into a relationship he can’t be entirely comfortable with. Rated R for strong sexuality. Opens Friday.t

Bleecker Street

Rachel Weisz (left) as Ronit Krushka, and Rachel McAdams (right) as Esti Kuperman, in Chilean director Sebastián Lelio’s “Disobedience,” a film with lesbian lovemaking.

May busts out at the Castro Theatre

by David Lamble

ay finds the Castro Theatre devoting a full month to its delicious mix of new and old faves. “Isle of Dogs” (2018) Stop-motion from director Wes Anderson is set in a future dystopian Japan. Bill Murray heads an all-star cast of voice actors. “Man’s best friend” is smarter than we think, with quirks, abilities and prejudices. Ultimately, no mutt is an island, and the story has a happy if chaotic conclusion. (5/3) “Amadeus” (1984) Peter Shaffer’s hit play, based on the last year of Mozart’s life, tells a story that ought to be true even if it’s farfetched. Eight Oscars including Best Picture. Tom Hulce is divine as “Wolfy,” complete with pink wig. “Hair” (1979) The late Milos Forman brought the spirit of 60s hippie America to the screen. Treat Williams is the draft-dodging longhair in Central Park with friends who can sing up a storm. (both 5/6) “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1977) Based on Ken Kesey’s novel about the disintergration of mental health care in post-WWII America. A rebel patient (Jack Nicolson) attempts to overthrow “Big Nurse” (Oscar winner Louise Fletcher). Won Oscar’s Top 5: Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Director and Screenplay. “Man on the Moon” (1999) Forman helmed this Jim Carrey tribute to the eccentric late comic Andy Kaufman. With Danny DeVito. (both 5/7) “Love, Simon” (2018) The teen comedy romance gets a makeover in this Hollywood take on a gay boy’s coming out tale. (5/8)

“I, Tonya” (2017) Iceskating drama features one of the year’s hardest-to-like heroines, offset by a strong turn by Allison Janney as the bad girl’s mom. “Slap Shot” (1977) Great comedy about the role of violence in minor league hockey. Director George Roy Hill’s profane, action-packed film concerns aging male athletes (Paul Newman), “high sticking,” the penalty box, bombastic sports talk hosts and macho jocks doing fashion shows. Sexy Michael Ontkean does a robust on-ice striptease. Nancy Dowd’s script uses homophobic language for a good cause. (both 5/9) “An American Story: Norman Mineta and His Legacy” Opening night for the 36th Asian American Film Festival. (5/10) “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” (1975) Often hilarious sendup of most things stuffy people hold sacred. “Jabberwocky” (1977): Terry Gilliam gathers the Python gang for another stroll through the Dark Ages. (both 5/11) “Double Indemnity” (1944): The granddaddy of all noirs, Billy Wilder’s film combines a great male-female double-double cross with a platonic male love story. Hip insurance salesman Fred MacMurray sells a policy on the life of femme fatale Barbara Stanwyck’s grouchy oil-company executive husband. They’re soon plotting to bump off the hubby while making it look like an accident, thus claiming his policy’s double pay-out. “The Killers” (1946) The screen debut of tough guy Burt Lancaster is only one of the pleasures derived from this Ernest Hemingway short story (adapted by John Huston and Anthony Veiller) about the murder of an ex-boxer. “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid” (1982): Director Carl Reiner joins forces with a young Steve Martin in this complicated spoof of film noir. Martin interacts with clips from 40s noir classics. Dedicated to costume designer Edith Head; it was her final credit. (all 3, 5/12) “My Fair Lady” (1964) Smash hit Broadway musical became, under the direction of (at the time closeted) gay helmer George Cukor an eight-Oscar winner, including Best Picture, Director, and Actor

for Rex Harrison. Professor Henry Higgins rescues Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn) from the gutter in order to win a bet with his pal. A submersion into the foibles of Edwardian England, based on Socialist G.B. Shaw’s stage play “Pygmalion,” adapted by Lerner and Lowe. “Doctor Dolittle” (1967) Rex Harrison returns as UK children’s writer Hugh Lofting’s animal-doctor character who could speak to his charges in their own languages. Fans of the books are divided on the merits of this one. (both 5/13) “Black Panther” (2017): Blockbuster comic book-inspired crowd-

pleaser should be a real treat at the theatre where every type of film has its best run. (5/15-16) “Barbarella” (1968) France’s Roger Vadim found success with this undemanding adaption of a popular 60s French comic strip. Then-newbie Jane Fonda’s openingcredits striptease is a huge reason viewers found this one so groovy. Fonda and Vadim were “involved” at the time. “Modesty Blaise” (1966) American-born exile from McCarthyism Joseph Losey helmed this Pop Artinfluenced silliness based on the antics of a young female spy (Monica Vitti). (both 5/17)

“A Fistful of Dollars” (1964) Sergio Leone concocted the formula for the Spaghetti Western with this Italian-shot oater. Clint Eastwood is a mysterious armed stranger who doesn’t hesitate to keep the locals in line. Based on the Japanese samurai classic “Yojimbo.” “Dirty Harry” (1971) Clint Eastwood and director Don Siegel became forever linked for this kick-off of their five-part series about the cop known for the punchline, “Make my day!” This tribute to the men and women of the SFPD (pre-Moscone-Milk) will appeal to fans of pure action. (both 5/29)t

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<< Fine Arts

24 • Bay Area Reporter • May 3-9, 2018

Julian Schnabel

From page 17

The new 24x24-foot paintings in bluish mauves and soft orange, with occasional swaths of gesso, are as tall as the colonnade ringing the courtyard where they’re installed for the next four months. The artist worked on the pieces, made with tarpaulins he acquired from itinerant Mexican fruit markets, at his roofless studio in Montauk, Long Island. Their excessive height required ladders and a brush attached to a long stick so they could be painted up, down and sideways. Schnabel describes them as “geographies of feeling”; if only saying made it so. An absence of depth or reflection evident in both his remarks and the work make for art that’s gigantic but vacuous. Surrounded by the paintings and ideally situated on the plaza are a few immense, distressed plaster vases, from the 1980s, that seem to float above their rusted steel pedestals. Tinged with earthen brown and produced to scale, they could be ruins from the colossal temples Schnabel saw on his visits to Egypt, which, he says, had “a huge effect” on his sculpture. The exhibit continues inside the museum’s Rodin galleries with a pair of examples of the Jane Birkin series (1990), named, for no apparent reason, after the actress and singer who inspired the Hermes bag. Created out of mended Egyptian sail cloth, and accented

by strips of blue and/or stains of blood-red paint, the simplicity and taupe tones of the triangular forms harmonize sweetly with the gallery walls on which they’re mounted. In another room are works from “The Sky of Illimitableness,” a 2012 hallucinatory tribute to the late artist Mike Kelley, where a goat with a rabbit on its head, superimposed on digital reprints of 19th-century wallpaper remnants, reigns over a sugar-and-ice glacial paradise, a reminder of what prompts some people to ridicule modern art. But a set of angular abstractions from 2016 is quite good. They come in purple in varying hues, depending on how much the sun had bleached the material, with strokes of gesso acting as clouds drifting across an expanse suggesting the sea. Schnabel again utilized tarps that he hung out to dry between palm trees, then stitched together before packing them in suitcases and shipping them to Australia, where he was traveling. A high-living art star of the 1980s New York art scene, famous for a louche lifestyle that included wearing pajamas in public at unexpected times and places, Schnabel earned a rep as a world-class schmoozer and self-promoter, with more than a touch of the hustler. He achieved enviable commercial success and freedom to live as he pleased early, in no small part owing to an understanding of how to play

Erik Tomasson

Maria Kochetkova in Arthur Pita’s “Björk Ballet.”

Unbound festival

From page 17

Arts festivals should best be viewed on vacation, away from home, when all you have to do after bingeing on brand-new sensations is stumble back to the hotel and prepare for another day of same. Nevertheless, all four opening nights of San Francisco Ballet’s “Unbound” festival seemed to fill the Opera House, with 12 new works by choreographers from all over. Maybe the best, “Anima Animus” from Program B, was by a European choreographer, David Dawson, whose work has never been seen in this country before. It’s foolish to predict which new ballets shown in festival atmospheres will “have legs.” All ballets are vanishing acts, in which moments of brilliance flash by like fireworks, and the best you can hope for is after-images that will stay with you forever, and a sense of their belonging together in a sequence that adds up to an emotionally or intellectually satisfying whole.

Sometimes a little squib becomes iconic, like “Dying Swan,” which was composed as entertainment for a fundraiser. It’s not rare; but you never know. Dance-makers were given free rein in this fest: Make something new 30 minutes long, you’ve got the SFB orchestra, a dozen dancers (more or less), a sizable budget, plenty of rehearsal time, the excellent lighting designer James Ingalls. Then they were allowed to follow their bent. A shrewd guess would be that Arthur Pita would make something very glitzy (he did) that could be planned to end everything like fireworks (it did), that Trey McIntyre would do something exquisitely tender with popular songs (he did, using Chris Garneau), that David Dawson would make something with a soaring, winged reach to it (he did). On the other hand, Stanton Welch’s heartbreaking classical new piece was nothing like the aboriginal, floorpounding ballet he made for the company years ago. What could be counted on was that our fabulous dancers would

Rick Gerharter

Two of Julian Schnabel’s “Untitled” artworks are displayed amidst the Rodin sculpture collection at the Palace of the Legion of Honor.

the game, with key figures positioned to advance his career. Fashion-wise, he appears to have transitioned from just-rolled-outof-bed-casual to slightly more formal, just-stepped-off-the-sailboat attire, like the red sweater and rumpled white cotton pants he wore to a recent press event, though his blue-tinted shades lent the unsavory impression of a tin-pot dictator. He clearly thrives on adulation, lighting up while expounding in front of an appreciative crowd or when flattered by passers-by who step up to reminisce or shake his hand. During his presentation, he had considerable less tolerance for the boisterous kids waiting on line to enter the mu-

seum, at one point calling out, “Hey, we’re talking here.” Schnabel is also an innately talented, exceptional filmmaker. “Before Night Falls,” based on the autobiography of gay Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas (Javier Bardem); and ”The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” for instance, both of which he wrote and directed, are brimming with rapturous imagery and passionate emotional content steered by confident storytelling. His new film “At Eternity’s Gate,” co-scripted with the great French screenwriter Jean-Claude Carriere, is about Vincent van Gogh’s time in Arles, and stars Willem Dafoe as the tortured painter. It’s slated to be shown in

August at the Venice Film Festival and during Schnabel’s exhibition at the Musee d’Orsay in October. An avid surfer, he turns to the ocean to unwind. “The face of a wave is a space, and paintings are about dealing with time and space; movies are, too,” he explains. “Surfing is an anti-gravity machine. The sea is bigger and more powerful than you are, and when you’re surfing, there’s something you can catch for a moment. But just as it’s happening to you, it’s over, and you want to have that feeling again and again. That’s the sensation I get out of painting.”t Through Aug. 5. www.famsf.org.

ground all around her and formed come through, and that we’d see been costumed from the glama grove she danced through on her them from angles we hadn’t seen rock and spider-web wings of a way offstage. But that was just the before. I’d never seen the slutty pop-up Halloween store. “Altered beginning. The crowd pogo-ing in side of Sarah Van Patten until Pita’s consciousness” maybe? Armchair the big group number presaged the “Bjork Ballet,” nor the gamine in folklorists could have a field day entrance of a giant table with Dores Isabella de Vivo until McIntyre’s arguing, Was it just drugs, or maybe Andres dancing on it (an echo of “Your Flesh Shall be a Great Poem.” full-tilt possession Pita had on his Nijinska’s “Bolero”?), which was the We’d only seen hints of the majesty mind? How deeply in debt was he climax to a ballet that would have that the Greek-statue-beautiful to Vodun rites when he created his been nothing but climaxes had it Benjamin Freemantle brought to tinselly ballet? Was the black-clad, not been for the haunting spirit in that same ballet, with a poignancy white-masked MC a misrememthe white mask, who so strongly reminiscent of Housman’s poem bered reference to Papa Ghede, the recalled for me the Haitian dance as “To an Athlete Dying Young.” Sasha white-faced, black-clad top-hatted I’ve seen it performed at the Ethnic De Sola was a heroine of the entire MC of the dancers who become possessed by the ancestral gods Dance Festival. In Pita’s ballet, he’s festival, wonderful in fresh ways from Africa? a fisherman and rather woebegone, in everything she did, perhaps the Among the brilliant effects in rather than the arbiter. Still, he is most versatile star in the company “Bjork,” the magenta socks surthe convener of all these spirits who after Van Patten. De Sola can sink rounding Maria Kochetkova’s do embody the strange, haunted to the floor like a contact-improv entrechat-quatres spring to mind, qualities of Bjork’s weird world. dancer (in Wheeldon’s “Bound since these are among the last of her The festival closes as it opened, To”), she can spin like a steel ball in appearances with the company, and with Program A, on Sunday, May a pinball machine, stop on a dime; since she became so famous through 6. Check it out. Many of the ballets whatever, she’s always radiant. And Instagram and the fashion mags will look good from the cheap seats yet another breakout role made for her personal style. The forest upstairs, especially “Anima Animus” Dores Andre a stone diva in “Guerof tinsel palm trees that hung over and “Bespoke,” which should projnica,” which displays her dramatic ect to the gods.t the stage at curtain-rise fell to the temperament, knowing legs and tragic face in an over-the-top “moment of truth” showstopper. This ballet may age well. On opening night, it seemed punched out, felt more like a Vegas Paso-doble production number than Picassoesque. The dancer who loomed over the whole festival was principal Angelo Greco. He’s not just a cavalier, he is a protagonist. His fearlessness and off-the-charts technical power, and a kind of gravity in his temperament, encouraged a pair of choreographers to go for something fated in their ballets, as if his ability to conjure the immortal begged them to show a hero’s doom. He can move with the weight that feels right for Bach’s music. His presence alone in Stanton Welch’s pure classic “Bespoke” (Program C) and in Dwight Rhoden’s Greektragic-feeling “Let’s Begin at the End” (Program D) would give me reason to see both programs. It might have helped if they’d handed out tabs of Ecstasy before the premiere of Arthur Pita’s ravey, glitterErik Tomasson spangled “Björk Ballet,” which fielded two dozen Dores André and Vitor Luiz in Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s “Guernica.” dancers and seemed to have

Arts Events

Leather

Shining Stars Vol. 48 • No. 18 • May 3-9, 2018

www.ebar.com V www.bartabsf.com

Sampson McCormick: Seriously funny a night of ‘Black and Brown queer comedy’ at Oakland’s LGBT Center by David-Elijah Nahmod

A Logan Alexander

frican American gay comedian Sampson McCormick will headline a night of uproarious queer comedy on May 11 at the Oakland LGBT Center. Diana Hong of Sacramento Punch Line is the evening’s special guest. See page 27 >>

Gooch

Sampson McCormick

by Juanita MORE!

I Juanita MORE! (center) with her pony boys at her 2016 Pride party, held at Jones.

remember the first time I marched in the San Francisco Pride Parade. It was pure magic stepping off the curb and planting my foot on Market Street. The heavy weight of not being out to everyone in my life had been lifted off my back and I felt like I had finally set myself free and was floating way up high in the clouds. I smiled the entire day. See page 26 >>

{ THIRD OF THREE SECTIONS }

<< MORE! Stuff

26 • Bay Area Reporter • May 3-9, 2018

MORE! Stuff

From page 25

Since then, every day has been a pride parade for me. I’m either busy being fabulous, celebrating being queer, fighting for LGBTQ rights, or raising funds in support of our community. A lady’s work is never done. But now, more than ever, is when things really start to go at a mad-

dening pace. The first Pride party I threw was in 2003, making this year’s party our quindecennial anniversary. My idea then was to create a safe space for my friends to come together. It was a time when the San Francisco art scene was exploding with creativity. Everywhere we went, so many exciting things were happening, but not much of it was represented on Pride Sunday. A riot

to be who we are in public. It’s easier to relax, go out at night, and ignore the fact that our friends and chosen families are under attack in other parts of the world. A friend recently said that Mark Leno is largely responsible for the entire framework of rights that the LGBTQ community in California enjoys. I would say we are fortunate here in San Francisco but that’s not to say that freedom from discrimination and the freedom to be yourself are still not threatened. I love you, San Francisco. Let’s continue to celebrate our alternative and creative sides and find more ways to share our talents, art, and beauty.t

Dan Nicoletta

MORE! JM! Pride info at www.juanitamore.com

Chris Knight

into the venue, I knew that I was in a very special place where decades of dancers, musicians, and performers spent many nights having a good time. It’s magical! Pride month is a time to reflect, remember, celebrate and unfortunately still fight for our rights. The president and his backward administration continue to dismantle LGBT rights in this country. There are 74 countries where it is illegal to be LGBT. In 13 countries, being gay or bisexual is a crime punishable by death. Sometimes it’s easier to forget that we’ve not always been allowed

Mark Christopher

Above: Juanita MORE! pulls into Civic Center atop a taco truck at 1995’s Pride parade. Below: Balloons and confetti are strewn as Juanita MORE! waves to the 2006 Pride parade viewers from a cable car.

is what started this party and my friends and I were definitely not interested in what was fast becoming the commercialization of Pride. That first party was beyond joyful and we felt like we had found our space. A year later, Mark Leno officially proclaimed June 2004 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. He urged all residents to join in celebrating the accomplishments and contributions of LGBT people as well as advancing the cause of equality of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. This was a positive step of inclusion for our community. Each year I have taken great pleasure in seeking out some of our community’s most needy organizations as beneficiaries. We’ve raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in support of their important missions. This year I’ve chosen TRUTH (TRans yoUTH), a joint program between Transgender Law Center and GSA Network - both organizations which I have continually supported over the years. The TRUTH program seeks to amplify the voices of trans and gender non-conforming young people by offering a safe place to share struggles, learn empathy, and build public understanding. 40% of trans individuals who responded to a 2015 survey shared they had attempted suicide and 77% of trans youth shared they had experienced harassment or discrimination in school. TRUTH is allowing these youth to lead the way to end the isolation and stigma that trans youth face so these statistics can reach zero. These are the youth of our future and they have the power to change both minds and policies through their stories. To add a cherry to my ice cream Sunday, I’ve decided to throw not one but two parties this year! I really do want to spend the entire weekend with you! The new party is on Saturday, June 23, the night before my now legendary Sunday daytime event at Jones. It takes place at the former Carousel Ballroom, which hosted big bands in the 1930s and ‘40s. When that era faded, a new style of music was ushered in, featuring Ike & Tina Turner, B.B. King, Chuck Berry and many, many more. Bill Graham took over the concert hall in 1968, opening its doors as its most famous incarnation The Fillmore West to the likes of the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Santana and countless others and also where Aretha Franklin recorded her legendary live album in 1971. So when I first walked

Above: Juanita MORE! at her Pride Party at the Phoenix Hotel in 2004. Middle: (left-right) Honey Mahogany, Todd Barket, Sister Roma, Juanita MORE! and David Glamamore at 2015’s Pride party. Below: A capacity crowd at Juanita MORE!’s 2013 Pride party.

Comedy>>

May 3-9, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 27

Above/Right: Sampson McCormick

Sampson McCormick

From page 25

“I’m happy to be doing it,” McCormick says of his comedy. “Even with all the challenges.” McCormick, who has been heralded by Buzzfeed and Out Magazine as “one of the funniest standup comedians,” still finds it difficult to be noticed and heard. “The biggest challenge is that there’s still a big under-representation of LGBT people in media and onstage,” McCormick said. “Especially Black and people of color. Where are they?” McCormick proudly points to the fact that he was one of the first Black gay comedians. He’s been working at his craft for more than fifteen years. He’s appeared at the Comedy

Store in Hollywood, San Francisco Punch Line, on college campuses, cruise ships, as well as at The White House and The Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts. There have also been comedy albums and occasional film appearances. “We didn’t have marriage equality and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was still in place,” said McCormick of his early days performing. “A lot of Black men weren’t out as they are now. So people who were doing what I was doing weren’t embraced as much as we are now. Some audiences would turn on you.” Even today, McCormick is asked if he’s “really gay.” “It’s sad that in 2018 you cannot go to a club and see a gay male stand-up comedian,” he said. “Mario Cantone and Alex Mapa

were the first two who broke through that ceiling.” McCormick noted that every aspect of mainstream culture has been influenced by LGBT culture. “On some of your favorite reality shows like Real Housewives of Atlanta, they talk like gay men,” he pointed out. “Even on ESPN, phrases like throwing shade, spilling T and reading, all gay slang terms, are heard.” And yet the challenges remain in place. “Most minorities have a hard time breaking in,” McCormick said. “I am, according to reviews, the best of the LGBT comics, but I still don’t get the same opportunities that gay white male comics get.” Asked about the recent arrest of two Black men at a Philadelphia

Starbucks, as well as about other recent examples of racism in society, McCormick said, “I don’t believe in fighting fire with fire. All these isms and phobias do exist, but there are some amazing people of all races, sexualities and cultures. If you look at our struggles we haven’t done it alone. We’ve had to help each other. But there are still biases that exist that present challenges. It can be emotionally and mentally challenging and tiring; another hurdle that you have to worry about.” Laughter, McCormick said, is how he takes care of himself. “If you can laugh at something you can learn from it,” he said. “You can survive it. It makes it easier for you to learn a lesson from which you can grow. I believe these influence your art and make it better.” Many of those lessons find their way into McCormick’s act. He spoke of some of the issues he addresses on stage. “I’ll talk about things from the Black, LGBT experience,” he said. “About politics and racism. The audience and I will laugh about life and relationships. I’m going through a break-up now which has

been challenging. A lot of stuff has gotten more serious, but it’s really funny.” The current president might also be part of McCormick’s Oakland act. “Trump is a Greek tragedy,” he said. “All of it is funny. Melania hates him, so do the people around him. It’s a circus.” There’s also trans rights, LGBT rights, and voter suppression. “I always talk about what’s going on,” McCormick said. “There’s a dark cloud over our country and we have to process it. It’s therapy. I’ll talk about some of it in Oakland.” Those who attend McCormick’s Oakland show should expect the unexpected. “I don’t know what’s going to come out,” he said. “People have said that it’s part comedy, part theater and part church. How can you get onstage and not talk about what’s going on?”t Sampson McCormick performs Friday May 11, 7:30pm at the Oakland LGBT Center, 3207 Lakeshore Avenue. www.sampsoncomedy.com

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<< Arts Events

28 • Bay Area Reporter • May 3-9, 2018

Arts Events April 26-May 3

Megabytes the Musical @ Shelton Theater Morris Bobrow’s comedy song revue about the frustrations of technology. $25-$30. Fri & Sat 8pm. Extended thru May 5. 533 Sutter St. www.megabytesthemusical.com

The Mushroom Cure @ The Marsh, Berkeley Adam Strauss returns with his hit solo show about treating his ODC with hallucinogenic mushrooms. $20-$100. Fri 8pm, Sat 8:30pm. Extended thru June 16. 2120 Allston way, Berkeley. www.themarsh.com

Thu 3

The Color Purple @ Orpheum Theatre

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

Thu 3 Castro Art Walk @ Castro Venues Monthly (1st Thursdays) strolling events at participating bars and galleries, with artist exhibits and mini-chats, including Dog Eared Books, Blackbird Bar, Spark Arts and more. 6pm-9pm. www.castroartwalk.com

Classic & New Films @ Castro Theatre May 1-3: Isle of Dogs (4:45, 7pm, 9:15). May 4: Love , Simon (7pm) and Baby Driver (9pm). May 5: Peaches Christ’s Steel Dragnolias drag show and screening of Steel Magnolias ($25-$100, 3pm, 8pm). May 6: Moana sing-along (2pm). May 6: Milos Forman’s Hair (4:45) and Amadeus Director’s Cut (7pm). May 7: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (7pm) and Man on the Moon (9:25). May 8: Midnight Cowboy (7pm) and My Own Private Idaho (9:05). May 9: I, Tonya (7pm) and Slap Shot (9pm). May 10: CAAMfest Opening Night: An American Story: Norman Mineta and His Legacy (7pm). $11-$16. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com

The Color Purple @ Orpheum Theatre

Marjorie Prime @ Marin Theatre Company

Touring company of the Tonywinning Broadway revival musical based on Alice Walker best-selling novel about African American women in the South. $55-$246. TueSat 8pm. Wed, Sat & sun 2pm. Thru May 27. 1192 Market St. shnsf.com

New local production of Jordan Harrison’s stunning drama about an elderly woman whose programmed companion brings funny an haunting surprises. $25-$60. Thru May 27. 397 Miller Ave., Mill Valley www.marintheatre.org

The Congresswoman @ Exit Theatre

What the Constitution Means to Me @ Berkeley Repertory Theatre

Stuart Bousel’s contemporary adaptation of Aristophanes’ play about communities and political corruption. $15. Thu-Sat 8pm. Thru May 26. 156 Eddy St. theexit.org

Head Over Heels @ Curran Theatre The new Go-Go’s musical, a lighthearted Elizabethan romp, plays before its Broadway premiere. $39$175. Thru May 6. 445 Geary St. www.sfcurran.com

The Gangster of Love @ Magic Theatre Jessica Hagedorn’s stage adaptation of her novel about her immigration from Manila, set in SF’s 1970s Haight district, with live music, poetry and video. $20-$65. Tue 7pm, Wed-Sat 8pm, Sun 2:30pm. Thru May 6. Fort Mason, 2 Marina Blvd., Bldg D. www.MagicTheatre.org

Heidi Schreck’s Obie-winning solo show about her childhood speeches abouit the Constitution, and the document’s multi-generation effect it had on women in her family. $17$62. Thru June 17. Peet’s Theatre, 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. www.berkeleyrep.org

You Are My Sunshine @ Phoenix Theatre Kelli Kerslake Colaco’s play with folk songs, based on a true story. $15$30. Thu-Sat 8pm. 414 Mason St., 6th floor. phoenixtheatresf.org

Plant Sale @ SF Botanical Garden

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

Can You Dig It? The ‘60s @ The Marsh

Member preview of the huge plant sale and auction, 5pm-8pm. General public: May 5, 10am-2pm. Strybing Arboretum, 1199 9th Ave., Golden Gate Park. sfbotanicalgarden.org

Don Reed’s acclaimed autobiographical solo show recalls his groovy (and not so groovy) childhood. $20-$100. Sat 8:30pm, Sun 5:30pm, thru June 16. 1062 Valencia St. www.themarsh.org

Power Plays @ Noh Space

Culture Catalyst @ SF Arts Commission Galleries

Four satirical plays by Nick Ishimaru about social iniquities, civil rights and community. $20-$50. Fri & Sat 7pm, Sun 4pm. Thru May 13. 2840 Mariposa St. theatreofyugen.org

Rova Saxophone Quartet @ St. Cyprian’s Church The music ensemble performs works from their 40th anniversary CD, In Transverse Time. $16-$20. 8pm. 2097 Turk St. www.sflivearts.org

Group exhibit celebrating the art and legacy of the Neighborhood Arts Program. Thru June 11. 401 Van Ness Ave. sfartscommission.org

Holly Penfield @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko The elegant jazz/rock/gypsy chanteuse performs her new cabaret show, Fragile Human Monster. $18$45 ($20 food/drink min.). 8pm. hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. www.feinsteinsatthenikko.com

Fri 4

Power Plays @ Noh Space

Fri 4 All the Shah’s Men @ Royce Gallery Arabian Shakespeare Festival’s production of Matthew Spangler’s drama about the 1953 U.S. and British-led coup in Iran. $15-$35. Thu-Sun 8pm. Thru May 20. 2901 Mariposa St. Arabianshakes.org

Avant @ Yoshi’s Oakland The R&B singer-songwriter performs a series of concerts and the elegant restaurant-nightclub. $39-$79. 8pm & 10pm. May 5, 7:30 & 9:30. May 6, 7pm & 9pm. 510 Embarcadero West. www.yoshis.com

Bay Area Dance Week @ Multiple Venues 20th anniversary celebration of dance, with 400+ free, indoor, outdoor and fully staged performances, workshops and classes all over the Bay Area, thru May 6. bayareadance.org

Flash Gordon: Live! @ Exit Theatre Comic stage adaptation of the campy 1980 space opera film loosely based on the comic. $20. Fri & Sat thru May 26. 156 Eddy St. theexit.org

Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami @ Embarcadero Cinema 12 years in the making, Sophie Fiennes’ documentary about the amazing singer as she tours the world and visits her Jamacian family. Also at Landmark Shattuck in Berkeley. www.kinolorber.com/film/ gracejonesbloodlightandbam

Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco @ St. Ignatius Church Passages, a Musical Journey Through the Stages of Life, the chorus’ spring concert includes works by Bob Cohen, Kirke Mechems, Steve Goodwin, and Pasek & Paul. $20-$25. 8pm. 650 Parker Ave. www.lgcsf.org

Smuin Ballet @ YBCA Works by Helen Pickett, Amy Seiwet and Val Caniparoli are performed in the Dance Series 02 concert. $39$79. Touring thru Bay Area thru June 2. www.smuinballet.org

The Speakeasy @ Secret Location The ongoing ‘theatre, booze, gambling and retro costumes’ participatory experience takes you back to Prohibition-era debauchery. $50-$90. Fri & Sat thru June 16. www.thespeakeasysf.com

Trog Live @ Oasis Matthew Martin, Adam Roy and Heklina star in the hilarious camp drag parody performance of Joan Crawford’s no-budget final film about a scientist and a troglodyte. $27.50-$40. Fri-Sun 7pm. Thru May 12. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Unbound Festival @ War Memorial Opera House San Francisco Ballet dancers and young choreographers premiere new works. 4 programs thru May 6; LGBT Nite Out May 4. $28-$365. 301 Van Ness Ave. sfballet.org/unbound

Womxn, Omen, Women in Chinatown @ Chinese Cultural Center Opening reception for an exhibit of works by Bijun Liang, Shisi Huang and Vida Kuang. 5pm-8pm. Thu-Sun 11am-4pm, thru June 17. 41 Ross Alley. www.cccsf.us

Magnificent Magnolias @ SF Botanical Garden Visit the lush gardens for winter Magnolia displays, plus many other trees and plants. Free entry with SF proof of residency. $5-$10 for others. 7:30am-closing. 9th Ave at Lincoln Way. www.sfbotanicalgarden.org

Me and My Girl @ Gateway Theatre 42nd Street Moon’s production of the Tony-winning revival version of Rose & Furber’s rollicking 1930s musical. $25-$75. Wed & Thu 7pm, Fri 8pm, Sat 6pm. Sun 3pm. Thru May 20. 215 Jackson St. www.42ndstmoon.org

Way Bay @ BAM/PFA, Berkeley Large group exhibit of Bay Area artists working in various media. Agony in Effigy: Art, Truth, Pain, and the Body, a graphic art exhibit of historic works from the 1500-1600s. Thru June 17. Also, ongoing film series at the Pacific Film Archive. Berkeley Art Museum, Pacific Film Archive, 2155 Center St. Berkeley. www.bampfa.org

Xian Rui: Ten Years @ Chinese Cultural Center Exhibit of works representing the Center’s first decade. Thru Aug. 18. CCC Visual Art Center, 750 Kearny St., third floor. www.cccsf.us

Arts Events>>

Sun 6 Make Believe: The World of Glen Keane @ Walt Disney Family Museum Exhibit of animation art by the prolific artist (Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Tarzan ). Thru Sept 3. 104 Montgomery St, The Presidio. $5-$25. 10am-6pm. Closed Tue. wdfmuseum.org

May 3-9, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 29

The Color Purple Cast Members @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko Actors from the touring production of the hit musical perform other songs at a festive benefit for Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS. $20-$50 ($20 food/drink min.). 7pm. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. www.feinsteinsatthenikko.com

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

Various Events @ Oakland LGBTQ Center Social events and meetings at the new LGBTQ center 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

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Will Durst @ The Marsh The satirical comic returns with his politically-themed show, Durst Case Scenario. $20-$100. 8pm. Tuesdays thru May 29. 1062 Valencia St. www.themarsh.org

Wed 9

Sun 6 Make Believe: The World of Glen Keane @ Walt Disney Family Museum

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

Queericulum @ The Center SF Comfort & Joy’s LGBTQday-long artistic and social urban retreat, with playshops, communitybuilding, art-making and closing dinner theatre show. $25. 11am-10pm. 548 Fillmore St. queericulum.eventbrite.com

Ralph Steadman, Emek @ Haight Street Art Center Exhibit of the illustrator known for Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas (thru May), and the psychedelic rock concert poster designer (thru June 15). Free; posters, clothes and stickers on sale. Wed-Sat 11am5pm. 215 Haight St. at Laguna. www.haightstreetart.org

Mon 7 The Art of Rube Goldberg @ Contemporary Jewish Museum Art work and ephemera by the creative contraption illustrator and comic artist, thru July 8. Also, Contraption: Rediscovering California Jewish Artists, a new group exhibit thru July 29. And, In That Case: Havruta in Contemporary Art-Allison Smith and Christina Zetterlund, thru July 3. 736 Mission St. thecjm.org

Empowerment in Print @ GLBT History Museum Empowerment in Print: LGBTQ Activism, Pride & Lust , a miniexhibit of periodicals from the collection. Also, Angela Davis: OUTspoken, a new exhibit of art and ephemera about the historic lesbian activist and scholar, and Faces of the Past: Queer Lives in Northern California Before 1930, part of the Queer Past Becomes Present main exhibit. $5. 4127 18th St. www.glbthistory.org

Unearthed @ California Academy of Sciences Exhibits and planetarium shows with various live, interactive and installed exhibits about animals, plants and the earth; new exhibit, From Stone Age to Space Age, showcases minerals through time. Special events each week, with adult nightlife parties many Thursday nights. $20-$35. Mon-Sat 9:30am-5pm. Sun 11am5pm. 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park. 379-8000. calacademy.org

Tue 8 Sublime Seas @ SF MOMA John Akomfrah and J.M.W. Turner, a captivating video installation (thru Sept. 16). Also, Designed in California (thru May 27), Nothing Stable under Heaven (thru Sept. 16), The Train: RFK’s Last Journey (thru June 10) and Alexander Calder: Scaling Up (thru Aug. 19). Free/$25. Fri-Tue 10am-6pm. 151 3rd St. www.sfmoma.org

Divine Bodies @ Asian Art Museum New exhibit of sculptures and works about the Buddha, humans & their environments; thru July 29. Also, Traces of the Past and Future, Fu Shen’s painting and calligraphy, thru Sept. Free-$20. Tue-Sun 10am-5pm. 200 Larkin St. asianart.org

Respect: Hip-Hop Style & Wisdom @ Oakland Museum New exhibit that visualizes the movement and sound of the music genre, with many live events through the run. Friday night parties and performances. Free$16. Wed-Sun. Thru Aug. 12. 1000 Oak St., Oakland. museumca.org

Thu 10 Art Party & Auction @ CounterPulse Annual fundraiser for the performance space, with performances by Deborah Slater Dance Theater, PUSH Dance Company, installations, maskmaking, giant coloring books, craft brews from Queers Makin’ Beers, and more. $ Donations. 7pm-10pm. 80 Turk St. www.counterpulse.org

Father Comes Home From the War (Parts 1, 2 & 3) @ Geary Theatre American Conservatory Theater and Yale Repertory Theatre’s production of Suzan-Lori Parks’s epic drama trilogy inspired by Homer’s The Odyssey, reset during the U.S. Civil War. $35-$85. Thru May 20. 415 Geary St. act-sf.org To submit event listings, email events@ebar.com Deadline is each Thursday, a week before publication.

NobdoubleHill Theatre Circle jerk with dylAN JAMES & JESSIE COLTER Thursday - MAY 3RD @ 9pm

www.thenobhilltheatre.com

DYLAN JAMES JESSIE COLTER friday & Saturday

MAY 4th & 5TH

solo shows @ 8pm sex shows @ 10pm

Thu 10

Father Comes Home From the War @ Geary Theatre

<< Nightlife Events

30 • Bay Area Reporter • May 3-9, 2018

Nightlife Events May 3-10

Sat 5 La Bota Loca @ Club 21, Oakland Banda Los Shakas performs live at the LGBT Latinx night. $10. 9pm-4am. 2111 Franklin St. club21oakland.com

Dad Rave @ Lone Star Saloon DJ Collin Bass spins grooves at the bear bar. 9pm-2am. 1354 Harrison St. www.lonestarsf.com

Thu 3 Meshell Ndegeocello @ Freight & Salvage, Berkeley

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

Thu 3 After Dark @ Exploratorium The cocktails and science night for adults, with installations throughout the hands-on exhibit museum. May 3: Boundaries, be they cell membranes or bubbles. $20. 6pm-10pm. Pier 15 at Embarcadero. exploratorium.edu

Double Circle Jerk @ Nob Hill Theatre Porn studs Jessie Colter and Dylan James head up the interactive downstairs arcade playtime (before their May 4 & 5 sexy stage shows). $20. 9pm. 729 Bush St. at Powell. 397-6758. thenobhilltheatre.com

Extra! Extra! @ The Stud New monthly political drag night with games and local dignitaries; first up mayoral candidate Mark Leno! $5 7pm-9pm. 399 9th St. studsf.com

Meshell Ndegeocello @ Freight & Salvage, Berkeley The amazing multi-genre singer performs new and favorite songs. $60-$65. 8pm. Also May 4. 2020 Addison St., Berkeley. thefreight.org

Monster Show @ The Edge The weekly drag show with host Sue Casa, DJ MC2, themed nights and hilarious fun. $5. 9pm-2am. 4149 18th St. at Collingwood. www.edgesf.com

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

Sundance Saloon @ Space 550 The Country-Western line-dancing two-stepping dance event celebrates 20 years. Free thru April 29; $5 after. 5pm-10:30pm. Also Sundays. 550 Barneveld Ave. sundancesaloon.org

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

Tubesteak Connection @ Aunt Charlie’s Lounge Disco guru DJ Bus Station John spins grooves at the intimate retro music night. 10pm-2am. 133 Turk St. at Taylor. www.auntcharlieslounge.com

Frolic @ SF Eagle The monthly animal fursuit night returns. $8-$12. 8pm-2am. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

Lips and Lashes Brunch @ Lookout

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

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

Friday Night Live @ El Rio

Mexican Radio @ SF Eagle

Enjoy the weekly queer and LGBTfriendly live acoustic concerts. $5pm. 3158 Mission St. www.elriosf.com

Maricones de Mayo, with Dulce de Leche, Gera Mendez, and Rose La Rumorosa. 2pm-8pm. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

Friday Nights at the Ho @ White Horse Bar, Oakland

Hard Fridays @ Qbar DH Haute Toddy’s weekly electro-pop night with hotty gogos. $3. 9pm-2am (happy hour 4pm-9pm). 456 Castro St. www.QbarSF.com

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

Prism @ Qube Bar & Grill, San Mateo New weekly LGBT night at the East Bay restaurant/bar. 8pm-11:30pm. 4000 South El Camino Real, San Mateo. www.qubebargrill.com

Red Hots Burlesque @ The Stud The saucy women’s burlesque show will titillate and tantalize, with guests Alotta Boutté, Shells Bells, Bo Vixxen, Violet Streak, and other guests. $10-$20. 7pm-9pm. 399 9th St. redhotsburlesque.com

Ror: Shok @ SF Eagle 3rd anniversary of the rock and drag night, with Johnny Rockitt, Rita Dambook, Suppositori Spelling, DH Superinto.it and a May the 4th Star Wars preview. $5-$10. 9pm-2am. 398 12th St. at Harrison. sf-eagle.com

Safada @ Oasis Brazilian, Baile funk and Latin beats with DJs Kahtuaba, Ember Alert, Black Unicorn, drag acts Persia, Yves St. Croissant. $8. 10pm-2am. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Stank @ Powerhouse

Trivia Night @ Port Bar, Oakland

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

Cranny hosts a big gay trivia night at the new East Bay bar; drinks specials and prizes. 7:30pm. 2023 Broadway. www.portbaroakland.com

GlamaZone @ The Cafe

Vice Tuesdays @ Q Bar

Pollo del Mar’s weekly drag show takes on different themes with a comic edge. 8:30-11:30pm. 2369 Market St. www.cafesf.com

Jock @ The Lookout Enjoy the weekly jock-ular fun, with DJed dance music at sports team fundraisers. 12pm-1am. NY DJ Sharon White from 3pm-6pm. 3600 16th St. www.lookoutsf.com

Mon 7 Bob the Drag Queen @ Oasis New weekly drag shows with the dragster/actor, who performs the rest of the week in Berkeley Rep’s Angels in America. $20. 8pm. Thru July 16. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Wed 9 Comedy Showcase @ SF Eagle Kollin Holtz hosts the open mic comedy night. 5:30pm-8pm. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

Dick at Nite @ Moby Dick Grace Towers’ weekly drag show at the fun local bar. 9pm-12am. 4049 18th St. mobydicksf.com

Planet Booty @ Rickshaw Stop Oakland’s sexy groovy band headlines a night with Sal’s Greenhouse and Love Jerks. $12-$15. 9pm-1am. 155 Fell St. rickshawstop.com

Mon 7

Powerblouse @ Powerhouse Drag virgins get an onstage makeover by Glamamore and Juanita MORE!; this month, SF Bicycle Coalition’s Executive Director Brian Wiedenmeier. $5. 10pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

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

Bob the Drag Queen @ Oasis

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

Munro’s at Midnight @ Midnight Sun

Sun 6

Drag night with Mercedez Munro. No cover. 10pm. 4067 18th St. 861-4186. www.midnightsunsf.com

Big Gay Beer Bust @ The Cinch

Musical Mondays @ The Edge

Benefits and plenty of beer at the historic neighborhood bar. 3pm-7pm. 1723 Polk St. www.cinchsf.com

Blessed @ Port Bar, Oakland

Odorama contest with funky pits and more. $5. 10pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

Vibe Fridays @ Club BnB, Oakland

Dark Meat @ Powerhouse Cyanide hosts a night of twisted performance, with DJ Jim Collins. $5. 9pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

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

No No Bingo @ Virgil’s Sea Room Mica Sigourney and Tom Temprano cohost the wacky weekly game night at the cool Mission bar. 8pm. 3152 Mission St. www.virgilssf.com

Tue 8 Cock Shot @ Beaux The weeknight party gets Folsomy, with leather gear dress coede, host Leo Forte and a $100 kink gear contest; DJ Chad Bays spins sexy grooves. No cover. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Bears & Booze @ The Edge The weekly happy hour event for bearded guys and fans. 4149 18th St., 5pm. www.edgesf.com

Naked Night @ Nob Hill Theatre

La Bomba Latina @ Club OMG

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

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

Dylan James, Jessie Colter @ Nob Hill Theatre

Rainbow Kitten Surprise @ The Fillmore

Tue 8

Queer femme and friends dance party with hip hop, Top 40 and throwbacks at the stylish intimate bar, with DJs Val G and Iris Triska. 9pm-2am. 456 Castro St. www.QbarSF.com

Heklina’s popular drag show, with special guests and great music themes. DJ MC2 plays grooves. May 5 with Monét X Change, plus Suppositori Spelling, Roxy Cotton Candy and Kylie Minono. $15-$25. 10pm-3am (11:30pm show). 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Fri 4

The two porn studs perform solo (8pm) and duo sex shows (10pm) at the famed strip club. $25. Also May 6. 729 Bush St. at Powell. 397-6758. www.thenobhilltheatre.com

Domingo De Escandal @ Club OMG

Mother @ Oasis

Carnie Asada’s fun drag night with Carnie’s Angels Mahlae Balenciaga and Au Jus, plus DJ Ion. 2023 Broadway. www.portbaroakland.com

House music and cocktails, with DJs Shareef Raheim-Jihad and Ellis Lindsey. 9pm-2am. 2120 Broadway. (510) 759-7340. www.club-bnb.com

Rainbow Kitten Surprise @ The Fillmore

The amazing band known for haunting harmonies and skilled instrumentation performs. CAAMP opens. $25. 8pm. 1805 Geary St. at Fillmore. http://thefillmore.com

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

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

Queeraoke @ El Rio Dulce de Leche and Rahni NothingMore, Beth Bicoastal, Ginger Snap and Thee Pristine Condition perform, plus karaoke for queens. 9pm. 3158 Mission St. elriosf.com

Thu 10 Comedy @ Ashkenaz, Berkeley Comics over 50 (with Bad Backs), features stand-up comics Ian Williams, Bridget Schwartz, Judi Leff, and Lisa Geduldig. $15-$20. 8pm. 1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. www.ashkenaz.com

Madeleine Peyroux @ Freight & Salvage, Berkeley The accomplished jazz singer performs music from her 8 albums, and her newest, Anthem, with her band. Carsie Blanton opens. $45-$60. 8pm. Thru May 13 (7pm). 2020 Addison St., Berkeley. https://www.thefreight.org/

Thump @ White Horse, Oakland Weekly electro music night with DJ Matthew Baker and guests. 9pm-2am. 6551 Telegraph Ave, (510) 652-3820. www.whitehorsebar.com

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<< Leather

32 • Bay Area Reporter • May 3-9, 2018

Top: International Ms. Bootblack 2018, Teagan (left), and International Ms. Leather 2018, girl ang (right). Top Right: Some members of ONYX Northwest at SF Leathermen’s Discussion Group (left to right): Jack Thompson, Graylin Thornton, Daddy Rod, Trey, and Danny Nguyen. Bottom Right: Patrons of the SF Eagle helped celebrate the renovated bar’s fifth anniversary on April 29.

by Race Bannon

very so often I’m reminded of how vibrant our San Francisco Bay Area leather and kink scene is and how lucky those of us who live here are to so easily be our true erotic selves. This past week was a clear reminder that our local scene is most definitely alive and well. Three recent events stood out for me because they represent what are to me vitally important things for our scene to address – fully embracing women and people of color kinksters, and supporting our oftendwindling public gathering places. IMsL/IMsBB IMsL/IMsBB, otherwise known as the International Ms. Leather and International Ms. Bootblack weekend and contest, took place April 19-22, in San Jose. More than 750 people attended. The producers of this weekend do an amazing job of mounting not just one of the best-produced contests in the country, but also an array of welcoming social gatherings, classes and entertainment. While this event is rightly focused on leather women, the producers and volunteers go out of their way to embrace everyone. Their own event Diversity Statement sums up their approach nicely. “The IMsL/IMsBB weekend should be an inclusive and sex positive space for all people. All are welcome, and racism, transphobia, and other forms of discrimination have no place here. An important part of the weekend is exploring how the intersectionality of race, class, gender, and ability affect experiences of leather, kink, and sexualities. We must make a commitment to enriching these intersectionalities not only at the weekend but throughout our communities. We will work toward this goal.” While there is no such thing as a perfectly produced event and we all need to give well-intentioned producers credit for creating the array of leather and kink events we can all attend, these producers really do go the extra mile to ensure everyone feels welcome. Some other events could learn by their example. In the contest, seven competed for the International Ms. Leather title and five for International Ms. Bootblack. The new International Ms. Leather is girl ang, who, being from Australia, became the first holder of this title from outside North America. The runner-up was Jesbian. A Bay Area local, Teagan, won International Ms. Bootblack, and became the second transgender

woman to hold the title. The runner up was Brynn. Sir Dom from Montreal was selected by the entire class as the Heart and Soul winner for their service and compassion all weekend. A dedicated staff and host of volunteers worked throughout the event. Girl Complex and Elisa delivered beautiful step aside speeches and Bootpig delivered the weekend’s keynote address. The 20th Anniversary of the IMsBB title was celebrated with a master restoration class, West Coast preview of the movie Shiners, and an IMsBB alumni panel. There was also Seduction, workshops, hospitality parties, ONYX dance party, vending, silent auction, the pool party, Bawdy Storytelling, and an active play space. Well done IMsL/IMsBB; another great weekend. I’m looking forward to next year. www.imslbb.org ONYX Northwest at LDG Kinky men of color face unique challenges as they come to embrace their edgier sexual proclivities while at the same time attempting to socialize and bond with the various kink communities that have often historically been quite white in their composition. A wonderful national organization, ONYX, has spawned a new local chapter in our area, ONYX Northwest. Some of the men from this new local club were on a panel at the most recent SF Leathermen’s Discussion Group monthly event. The panel was asked questions by the moderator and audience and the panelists offered a wealth of information about the leather and kink experience from their perspective. While much was discussed, one thing stood out for me the most. It’s perhaps the simplest but most important thing that white kinksters can do to better include men of color (which of course also means anyone of color in our scene). Reach out and talk to people of color when you see them in our bars and at our events. There was a lot of great feedback and advice given by the panelists, but this one came up a few times and resonated with me. Nothing replaces each of us taking responsibility for acknowledging and engaging with those who might not easily see themselves reflected in the bulk of the leather and kink worlds. Let’s do better to make our kinky realm welcoming to everyone. The men of ONYX Northwest hope kinky men of color and their allies check out their club and join them at their events. www.onyxnorthwest.com

The Eagle Turns 5! During their usual Sunday beer bust time slot, the San Francisco Eagle had a fantastic five-year anniversary block party on April 29. It’s been five years since the new Eagle owners, Lex Montiel and Mike Leon, re-opened the historic bar after its future languished for a while. The Eagle and event producer Brian Kent blocked off a section of 12th Street in front of their bar to create a large party venue. The street and bar were packed with an enthusiastic crowd. A new Eagle Feather Award was given to some community members by the SF Eagle to honor their service. I was lucky to have been one of those selected to receive the award, along with Jason Husted, Sandy Mama Reinhart, Daddy Ray Tilton, and Beth Bicoastal. Local leather community staple Lenny Broberg emceed the event, along with the reigning Empress Pollo Del Mar. Celebrity guests Mark Leno, Donna Sachet, Audrey Joseph, Scott Wiener and Brian Kent presented to the Eagle Feather Award honorees. A steady stream of entertainment and music was provided by bands Ethel Merman Experience, Diesel Dudes, and Bitch, Please!, along with DJs David Harness and Don Baird.

Rich Stadtmiller

Shilo McCabe

Race Bannon

The scene is alive and well

It was a beautiful afternoon and the owners of the Eagle held true to their business’s mission statement. “We are committed to bring everyone together and be an anchor for diversity and inclusion. We are dedicated to not only celebrate the heritage of this institution, but we are also boosting our range of influence by producing and hosting multiple events to bring all factions of our society together. We want to continue to include organizations

representing all genders and sexual orientation.” Bravo, SF Eagle. You are doing just that. www.sf-eagle.comt

Find Leather/Kink events at www.ebar.com/bartab Race Bannon is a local author, blogger and activist. You can reach him on his website, www.bannon.com

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May 3-9, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 33

Shining Stars

Photos by

Steven Underhill Head Over Heels @ Curran Theatre

ead Over Heels, the joyously anachronistic jukebox musical set in the Elizabethan era, with music from the pop band the Go-Go’s, enjoyed festive opening night celebrations, with cast members (starring Miss Peppermint), most of the band members in attendance, and co-producer Gwyneth Paltrow. Go-Go’s lead singer Belinda Carlyle stopped by for the April 28 show. Head Over Heels runs through May 6 at the Curran Theatre, 445 Geary St. https://sfcurran.com/ See plenty more photos on BARtab’s Facebook page, facebook.com/lgbtsf.nightlife. See more of Steven Underhill’s photos at StevenUnderhill.com.