Members of San Antonio’s LGBTQ+ community celebrate their chosen families
The Opener News in Brief Suits and Shame
Tracking the fallout from Texas’ antiLGBTQ+ legislation
Cruzin’ for Cash
Ted Cruz’s controversial podcast deal keeps raking in the campaign loot
Bad Takes
Time to switch off the hysteria about teens and their cellphone use
Love and Cinema Win 10 LGBTQ+ films from the past decade worth seeing for Pride Month
The Creamery’s Hook Land & Sea likely to reel in seafood lovers
Los Barrios restaurant group closing La Hacienda Scenic Loop
The Black Angels talk about the enduring power of psych rock before San Antonio show
Photo Courtesy / Anthony and Uriel Diaz
AUTO AUCTION
HThe demand on the already-troubled Texas power grid is expected to double over the next six years, with the state’s growing population and businesses like data centers and oil and gas operators demanding an increasing amount of energy. Grid operator ERCOT estimates that demand, which reached a record high 85 gigawatts in 2023, will climb to 150 gigawatts by 2030. Just the same, state Republicans continue to oppose connecting the grid to the rest of the country.
President Joe Biden last week unveiled a new set of protections for the spouses of U.S. citizens and DACA recipients. The new policies will allow undocumented spouses of citizens who have been married and lived in the U.S. for at least a decade to apply for permanent residency and be eligible for 3-year work permits. The White House is expecting applications to open by the end of the summer.
HThe Texas National Guard is shooting pepper balls at migrants in an attempt to deter them from crossing the border. The Texas Tribune last week reported that migrants interviewed in Mexico say they have suffered welts and bruises from the pepper balls, which also release chemical irritants. Major General Thomas M. Suelzer of the Texas Guard told a state Senate committee that soldiers are trained not to shoot directly at migrants.
HA Travis County judge last week tossed a lawsuit from Attorney General Ken Paxton that sought to block voter-approved marijuana decriminalization ordinances adopted by five Texas municipalities. Judge Jan Soifer ruled there was no legal basis to try the case and dismissed it with prejudice, siding with municipalities who argued the ordinances allow them to set their own law enforcement priorities, as allowed under state law. — Abe Asher
YOU SAID IT!
“Tell you what — I do want to ‘ethnic cleanse’ by deporting white progressive Democrats — with a special bonus for rich ones with an Ivy League degree,” Roy tweeted. “I really do not like ‘those people.’”
— RepublicanU.S.Rep.ChipRoy
Republican U.S. Rep. Chip Roy responding via tweet to a criticism of Donald Trump’s plan to deport 20 million migrants if elected president
Making empty threats about the Ten Commandments with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick
Assclown Alert is a column of opinion, analysis and snark.
For all of Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s power to run the Texas Senate with an iron fist, he’s had a harder time forcing his whims on the Texas House.
Which makes it all the more puzzling that Patrick last week tweeted that the Texas Legislature would follow in Louisiana’s footsteps and pass a bill forcing public schools to display the Ten Commandments.
In a string of tweets, Patrick bragged that such a bill passed his Senate last year but failed to move forward in the House. He lamented that Texas didn’t beat Louisiana to the punch in forcing the Christian religion down kids’ throats.
“Texas WOULD have been and SHOULD have been the first state in the nation to put the 10 Commandments back in our schools,” Patrick said.
He went on to blame House Speaker Dade Phelan for the bill’s death, adding that the Beaumont Republican caved because “the Democrats who put him in power opposed it.”
“Every Texas Republican House member would have voted for it. But, SPEAKER Dade Phelan killed the bill by letting it languish in committee for a month assuring it would never have time for a vote on the floor. This was inexcusable and unacceptable.”
It’s certainly possible that a Ten Commandments bill will pick up steam when the House
meets next year. Bad ideas have a way of picking up momentum in the Texas Lege.
However, it’s doubtful Phelan will show any more inclination to let such a bill move forward. Relations between he and Patrick are at an all-time low.
After all, Patrick this spring endorsed and campaigned for Phelan’s now-vanquished primary challenger, David Covey. Not exactly a great way to win favors from the guy who heads the other chamber.
It’s also possible the Republican-controlled House may vote in a new leader, but if that happens Dems will still have a hand in who that is. It seems likely they’ll do everything in their power to ensure it’s not someone who’s willing to be the lieutenant governor’s puppet.
Someone needs to tell Patrick that as much power as he’s carved out for himself in Texas Senate, someone else wields the gavel in the House. But good luck with that. Patrick is an assclown who’s repeatedly demonstrated he’s unwilling to listen to anyone but himself. —
Sanford Nowlin
A former Castle Hills councilwoman who sued her city for political retaliation has won a victory at the U.S. Supreme Court. Sylvia Gonzalez, the first Latina elected to the San Antonio suburb’s council, spent a night in jail five years ago after being charged with a misdemeanor for mishandling a petition accusing the city manager of failing to do his job. The complaint now goes back to the lower courts.
A new poll released last week found U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz with a comfortable lead over U.S. Rep. Colin Allred as the incumbent Republican looks to hang onto his Senate seat. With just over five months to go until election day, Cruz holds an 11-point lead over his Democratic challenger, according to the University of Texas/ Texas Politics Project. Even so, 14% of voters remain undecided.
The family of a San Antonio man who died while he was being booked into Bexar County’s Justice Intake and Assessment Annex has filed a federal lawsuit against two county deputies. The suit alleges Joseph Hernandez and Bobby Santo-Domingo unnecessarily used lethal force to restrain Emmanuel Mora by handcuffing his hands behind his back and using a chain to tie his legs together even though they knew Mora was suffering from a drug reaction. — Abe Asher
Wikimedia Commons / Gage Skidmore
Courtesy Photo / Institute for Justice
Suits and Shame
Tracking the fallout from Texas’ anti-LGBTQ+ laws
BY MICHAEL KARLIS
San Antonio’s Pride Bigger than Texas event at Crockett Park on Saturday, June 29, is expected to draw thousands.
The name of the city’s long-running pride gathering is a reference to Texas’ rep for doing things larger than life. Unfortunately, that same approach applies to the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature’s continued war on the LGBTQ+ community.
In 2023 alone, Lone Star State lawmakers introduced 55 anti-LGBTQ+ bills, six of which were signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott, according to a tally by the ACLU. Indeed, Texas ranks No. 38 in this year’s Out Leadership equality report, which helps companies weigh the risks of opening offices in states that may be unfriendly to LGBTQ+ workers.
The spate of new laws seeking to punish queer Texans includes cracking down on drag shows, banning gender-affirming care, barring transgender athletes from competing in sports and requiring public universities to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies.
Fortunately, many of those laws are now under court challenge. Here’s a rundown on where some of those stand.
Senate Bill 12: Drag performance ban
Last June, Abbott signed four anti-LGBTQ+ bills into law, including Senate Bill 12.
Initially, SB 12 aimed at preventing those under 18 from watching drag performances by defining all drag shows as sexual, as reported by the Texas Tribune. However, lawmakers significantly altered that language during the legislative process.
The law, which went into effect in September, states that business owners caught hosting sexually explicit performances or that appeal to the “prurient interest in sex” can be fined up to $10,000.
The vague language in the bill’s final draft led to civil rights groups including the ACLU of Texas to file a federal lawsuit arguing that the legislation
violates people’s right to free speech and due process.
In September, U.S. District Court Judge David Hittner declared SB 12 unconstitutional and blocked Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from enforcing it.
Paxton appealed to the notoriously conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, motioning for a stay on the lower court’s ruling.
The New Orleans-based court ruled that Hittner’s stay would carry with the case, meaning that drag performers are free to do their thing in Texas — at least while the case continues to wind its way through the courts.
Senate Bill 14: Gender-affirming care ban
On June 2, 2023, Abbott signed Senate Bill 14 into law, joining 17 other states in banning minors from accessing puberty blockers and hormone therapy. The measure also barred Texas healthcare providers from conducting gender reassignment surgery to minors — an extreme rarity even before passage of the law — at the risk of losing their medical license.
That law was supposed to go into effect in September. However, a group consisting of five Texas families, three medical professionals and two civil rights organizations sued the state, arguing that SB 14 is unconstitutional.
Travis County District Court Judge Maria Cantu Hexsel agreed and blocked the legislation from going into effect. However, Paxton appealed that decision to the Texas Supreme Court.
The all-Republican Texas Supreme Court denied the plaintiffs’ request for emergency relief while awaiting oral arguments, which allowed the law to take effect in as planned. In January, the court began hearing arguments about SB 14, and it’s yet to render a ruling.
Even so, the Biden Administration issued rules in March stating that federally funded Medicaid programs must pay for some gender care procedures, citing a provision in the 2016 Affordable Care Act.
However, Paxton last week sued the
MSenate Bill 15: ‘Save Women’s Sports Act’
In August, Abbott signed Senate Bill 15, which requires collegiate athletes at public colleges and universities in Texas to compete on teams and competitions that align with their sex at birth.
Known as the “Save Women’s Sports Act,” the law went into effect in September and comes two years after Texas banned student athletes in K-12 schools from competing on teams that align with their gender identity.
Despite ACLU Texas’ description of SB 15 as “unfair, unconstitutional, and just plain cruel,” neither it nor any other civil rights or advocacy group has sued to overturn the legislation.
Texas is one of 24 states with laws banning transgender athletes from competing on teams that align with their gender identity, according to the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Movement Advancement Project.
However, in response to the growing number of anti-trans athlete laws, the Biden Administration last year expanded Title IX, the sweeping anti-discrimination civil rights law passed in 1972, to include explicit gender identity and sexual orientation protections.
Paxton sued the Biden administration over those changes in April.
Senate Bill 17:
Anti-DEI legislation
Senate Bill 17, which requires Texas’ state-run universities to close their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices, went into effect in January. The effects have been striking.
By April, more than 100 jobs at state-funded universities across Texas had vanished, according to multiple media reports. The University of Texas at Austin shuttered its DEI office entirely, and more than 60 staffers were laid off, the Associated Press reported at the time.
However, it’s not just DEI officers’ jobs that are being lost.
More than 130 college scholarships targeted at specific demographics, including minorities and the LGBTQ+ community, have been put on hold or rescinded due to Texas’ DEI ban, the Dallas Morning-News recently reported. The problems for public colleges in the state could become more complicated as institutions of higher education work to renew their accreditation status, which they are required to do every 10 years, the Texas Tribune reports.
Senate Bill 17 hasn’t yet been challenged in the courts.
White House over that issue, asking a federal court for injunctive relief, which would temporarily prevent that provision from taking effect.
Instagram / @governorabbott
Gov. Greg Abbott shakes the hand of House Speaker Mike Johnson, another GOP politician with an abhorrent record on LGBTQ+ rights.
Cruzin’ for Cash
Ted Cruz’s controversial podcast deal keeps raking in the camaign loot
BY SANFORD NOWLIN
As much as U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, wants the media to stop reporting on the controversial deal he inked for distribution of his podcast, federal filings continue to shine light on just how much cash it’s raking in for his reelection efforts.
A super PAC that lists its primary goal as helping Cruz win a third term has reaped another $156,186 in revenue from a deal San Antonio-based iHeartMedia struck to distribute the senator’s The Verdict With Ted Cruz podcast, new Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show.
Since reaching the deal in late 2022, radio group iHeartMedia has now funneled a total of $786,000 into the coffers of the Cruz-linked Truth and Courage PAC. A spokeswoman for the company described the payments as being “associated with” ad sales on the podcast.
Cruz has faced intense scrutiny over that arrangement. Critics argue the pact is structured to skirt federal campaign contribution laws, and experts also have raised questions about whether it will prompt an investigation by the IRS.
In April, two watchdog groups asked the FEC to review the legality of the distribution deal. The filing by the Campaign Legal Center and End Citizens United argues that, by appearances, the senator directed iHeartMedia to flow corporate dollars to Truth and Courage in violation of federal law.
Super PACs can accept direct corporate donations under existing campaign finance rules, but federal candidates can’t “solicit, receive, direct, transfer, or spend funds” on behalf of those fundraising entities.
“This type of funding risks putting the priorities of wealthy special interests above everyone else and makes our political process more vulnerable to corruption,” Erin Chlopak, senior director of campaign finance for the Campaign Legal Center, told the Current in April.
The Cruz camp continues to say the deal is above board because the senator makes no direct money from The Verdict, which airs three times a week. Even so, during a session of the podcast, Cruz himself described his deal with iHeartMedia, which has 850 stations nationwide, as a “big damn deal.”
How big? For now we’ll have to rely on the senator’s hyperbole.
With interest building in the podcast deal’s murky details, the senator in April requested a delay in making a significant federal financial filing that could shine light on its structure.
Cruz filed for a three-month extension to submit his U.S. Senate Financial Disclosures for the 2023 calendar year, which would have been due May 15. The extension gives him until Aug. 13 to file the paperwork — a point when Congress is likely to be on recess and many Capitol Hill reporters take vacations, according to observers.
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A 1/3-POUND GROUND LAMB PATTY TOPPED WITH PROVOLONE CHEESE, SLICED TOMATOES, A FRIED EGG AND A GENEROUS SPREAD OF HARISSA AIOLI, DELIVERING A DELIGHTFUL KICK OF SPICE
Wikimedia Commons / Gage Skidmore
Time to switch off the hysteria about teens and their cellphone use
BY KEVIN SANCHEZ
Editor’s Note: Bad Takes is a column of opinion and analysis.
The free access which many young people have to romances, novels, and plays has poisoned the mind and corrupted the morals of many a promising youth. Parents take care to feed their children with wholesome diet, and yet how unconcerned about the provision for the mind, whether they are furnished with salutary food, or with trash, chaff, or poison?
— Reverend Enos Hitchcock, 1790
If the screen time statistics compiled by my iPhone are to be believed, I’m on this gadget about 35 hours a week - essentially, a full-time job’s worth. I spend 3 or 4 hours every week playing chess via an app, I spend about 4 or 5 hours watching movies and Astros games, a few hours using email and reading the news, a combined hour Shazaming songs, and another hour or so writing notes which, with any luck, turn into snarky, award-winning columns. That leaves about 20 hours split between so-called social media: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and, picking up the rear, Threads. Last week I utilized the actual phone feature for all of 14 minutes.
Perhaps this classifies me as an addict in the judgment of a growing anti-smartphone movement. Its unofficial leader, psychologist Jonathan Haidt, has been making the rounds on talk shows promoting a book in which he claims the scourge of social media has precipitated a youth mental health crisis.
No writer’s ever gone broke catastrophizing the sorry state of “kids these days.” Earlier this year, on the business end of the crackdowns such sentiments inspire, hundreds of students walked out of Houston’s James Madison High School to protest administrators’ ban on cellphones. Cue all the ageist stereotypes about hormonal juveniles versus the olds who just don’t understand. In the kids’ defense, it’s not always clear whether critics’ problem is with social media in particular or screen time as such, and at least some of the
available literature on the subject has been badly misrendered. As an example, take the poster child for Old Men Shouting At Clouds, comedian Bill Maher, on whose HBO show Haidt has been a guest.
As recently as last Father’s Day, Maher, an outspoken non-parent, bandied about a scary-sounding American Psychological Association finding: “The average high school kid today has the same level of anxiety as the average psychiatric patient in the early 1950s.”
Quite a punchy quotable.
“That’s directly related to social media,” Maher declared.
One tiny fly in the ointment: the meta-analysis he cited was talking about schoolchildren in the 1980s — more than a decade before Myspace was a twinkle in Tom’s eye. Indeed, the chief factor the authors gave for increased anxiety was a lack of social connectedness, which web-based communities may potentially assuage.
“As a queer teen growing up in rural Pennsylvania, the internet was my lifeline,” dannah boyd, a social media researcher averse apparently averse to capitalization, told tech reporter Taylor Lorenz on the Power User podcast.
“It was the thing that kept me alive in those darkest of days,” boyd confided, thanking the anonymous online well-wishers who helped convince her that she had her whole life ahead of her.
After the US Surgeon General issued an advisory on the risks of networking platforms last summer, Express-News columnist Nancy Preyor-Johnson published an opinion piece in which she admitted “spending too much time midnight doomscrolling.”
However, ”I see social media for what it is,” she added. “Children do not.”
Odd then that our clear-eyed elders, incensed by the sensationalized rightwing clickbait flooding their newsfeeds, elected a self-professed “very stable” threat to democracy named Donald Trump. If those under the age of 40 had been entrusted with
choosing the president, either Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders would be finishing up their second term about now and reproductive choice would still be the law of the land in all 50 states.
“There’s nothing here that isn’t present in any of the past panics about video games, Dungeons & Dragons or silent movies,” Andrew Przybylski, a psychologist at the University of Oxford who studied possible negative psychological outcomes for teenagers with broadband access in 200 countries over 20 years, told Vox Media. “You have a new technology, a vulnerable group and a new mechanism. It’s always ‘This time it’s different,’ but there’s nothing in these claims that actually distinguishes it in terms of scientific evidence.”
An alternate explanation for high anxiety, if we set aside worsening worries about economic precarity and climate breakdown, may be young people’s loss of independence. A summary of the relevant data published in the Journal of Pediatrics last year theorized that “a primary cause of the rise in mental disorders is a decline over decades in opportunities for children and teens to play, roam and engage in other activities independent of direct oversight and control by adults.” Such autonomy is both “a direct source of satisfaction” and builds resiliency “for dealing effectively with the stresses of life,” the article notes.
“I can’t tell you how many parents won’t let their their kids go to a movie theater because of mass shootings,” social media researcher boyd said during her podcast appearance. “You see kids not being able to go to festivals of any form, like parades, because of
that anxiety.”
Not to mention, the public’s confidence in police officers’ willingness to avoid the use of excessive force declined from 54% in 2014 to 39% by 2023, according to surveys by polling firm Langer Research. Doesn’t exactly make the kiddos feel safe hanging out at the local sweet shop anymore.
Sociologist Mike Males has dedicated his career to calling out youth-bashing.
“If schools gave the tiniest iota about student mental health, they’d start schooldays later to accommodate youthful circadian rhythms instead of grownup convenience, end the mind-warping stresses of high-stakes standardized testing and diligently pursue abuse reports against school staff instead of covering them up,” he wrote last year.
To my knowledge, the U.S. Surgeon General has yet to issue any statements on those immediately actionable reforms.
Something boyd said, herself a mother of three, also stuck out to me: “We’re projecting onto kids our own anxieties.”
Maybe the title of Haidt’s anti-smartphone bestseller, The Anxious Generation, more accurately refers to parents.
Let’s forgive all student debt, fund tuition-free college, universalize healthcare, pass common sense gun control and end child poverty in this decade. If there’s still a youth mental health crisis after that, we can talk about the stupid cat videos and comic books and grunge attire and pinball machines and Elvis’ hypnotically gyrating hips.
But perhaps that’s just the screen time talking.
THU | 06.27
SPECIAL EVENT
LETTERS TO JAMES BALDWIN
To close out Pride Month, San Antonio literary nonprofit Gemini Ink is hosting a reading, discussion and open mic celebrating the life and legacy of writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin (1924-1987). Although best known for his novels Go Tell It on the Mountain, If Beale Street Could Talk and Giovanni’s Room as well as the seminal essay collection Notes of a Native Son, Baldwin’s profundity extended to short stories, plays, poems and essays. He was also a prolific orator who made history as one of the only openly queer Black public figures in the American civil rights movement. Interweaving the personal and political, his work engages themes of race, class, sexuality, masculinity and gender expression. Attendees will discuss the bravery, candor and longterm impact of Baldwin’s work on the page, on bearing witness to major events in American history and his legacy on the front lines of social justice. Featured authors Georgie Lee, Aminah Decé and Aaron Deutsch will share Baldwin-inspired works and a community discussion and open mic will follow. For those unable to attend in person, Gemini Ink will livestream the event on its Facebook page. Free, 6:30-8 p.m., Gemini Ink, 1111 Navarro St., (210) 734-9673, geminiink.org. — Caroline Wolff
exception. At some point, why fight it? It’s much more fun to join in and sing along. After all, Swift’s tunes are uplifting and her fandom’s sense of community is righteous. More than anything, though, it’s a testament to the power of music that so many people are so moved by what Swift creates. While some detractors seem bothered that she’s become so beloved, the reality is the world needs a dozen more musicians like her. For this show, expect a crack band delivering the best possible versions of her expansive catalog. $25, 3:00 p.m., Tobin Center for the Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle, tobincenter.org. — Bill Baird
THU | 06.27 -
THU | 07.25
CORNYATION RELICS FROM CORNYATION RELICS
If you’ve been to Cornyation, Fiesta San Antonio’s notoriously raunchy happening that pokes fun at local and national celebrities and newsmakers, then you might know a few of the hard-working folks who donate their time and talents each year to produce this capricious theatrical fête. An entirely volunteer effort, Cornyation has raised more than $4 million for charity over the years, donating to organizations that fund and serve youth theater programs, the LGBTQ+ community and the San Antonio AIDS Foundation. An installation of ephemera from years past is currently on display at La Zona, Centro San Antonio’s newest placemaking space. The exhibition will give San Antonians an up-close and personal look at the treasures created to make the production a Fiesta highlight. Expect costumes, props and stage backdrops. The show will be up through July and is open to the public each Thursday evening as part of the Texas Public Radio’s Summer Night City series. Free, By appointment and Thursdays at 5 p.m., La Zona, 333 W. Commerce St., (210) 225-3862, centrosanantonio.org/zona-cultura. — Annele Spector
enough, DJs will provide the tunes and food trucks will offer sustenance. The pool will be open for public swimming from 1-8 p.m. The fireworks finale will take place over Woodlawn Lake, sending radiant reflections of red, white and blue across the water. Free, 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Woodlawn Lake Park, 1103 Cincinnati Ave., (210) 207-7275, saparks. org. — CW
THU | 07.04FRI | 07.05
ART
TIM OLSON AND LUCIA LAVILLA-HAVELIN
Taylor Swift has taken over the world, and San Antonio is certainly no
THU | 07.04
THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO’S OFFICIAL 4TH OF JULY CELEBRATION
On July Fourth, Woodlawn Lake Park will once again stage a bountiful birthday party for the Stars and Stripes. All activities are family-oriented and will take place outdoors. San Antonio Parks & Recreation personnel encourage guests to bring reusable water bottles, sunscreen and umbrellas or hats for protection along with lawn chairs and towels for seating. The city is partnering with the San Antonio Parks Foundation and H-E-B on the event. No pre-registration is required, and guests of all ages are welcome to join in the fun, which will include carnival games, jump rope, Lotería and giant Jenga contests. As if that’s not
Artist Tim Olson is known for incorporating text into his drawings and paintings on found objects, often the pages of discarded books. As an educator, Olson frequently works with special needs students and finds the simplicity of one of the basic tools of learning — alphabet flash cards — to be helpful. A few months back, Olson was inspired to do a series of work based on the combination of these practices. After he began posting images of the series online, he was approached by fellow San Antonio artist Lucia LaVilla-Havelin to exhibit their respective self-reflexive alphabets in tandem. The result is a simple yet lovely take on the basic blocks of communication, filtered through the minds of two celebrated creators. Part of the proceeds will benefit the San Antonio Public Library’s Literacy Caravan program. Additionally, the artists are running a book drive for Haven of Hope. Free, 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Flax Studio (Upstairs Studios at Blue Star), 1414 S Alamo St., #208, (909) 518-2245, bluestarartscomplex.com/at/flax-studio — Anjali
Gupta
Creative Commons / Allan Warren
Shutterstock / Brian Friedman
Courtesy Photo / Chris Sauter
Oscar Moreno
Courtesy Photo / Tim Olson
BASILICA HERITAGE TOURS AT LITTLE FLOWER BASILICA
Do you know the difference between a basilica and a cathedral? An undercroft and a crypt? If you’re eager to find out, the good news is San Antonio has one of Texas’ four basilicas, which in a pinch can function as a papal seat. Why? Roman Catholic motives, liturgy and terminology are a difficult maze to navigate for the initiated, let alone the general public. Facts: the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Little Flower on Zarzamora Street is an architectural gem, finished during the Great Depression and the first shrine in the country dedicated to St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Discalced Carmelite friars escaping Pancho Villa’s army ran the basilica, and it’s said that the KKK burned crosses on its front lawn following the church’s completion. Little Flower Basilica, as it’s commonly known, is offering free guided tours of the church, insight into its history, a glimpse at its stained-glass collection and an “opportunity to venerate” the myriad relics in its collection. Registration isn’t required but is encouraged. Free, 1-3 p.m., Little Flower Basilica, 1715 N. Zarzamora St., (210) 735-9126, littleflowerbasilica.org — AG
TUE | 07.09
TEXAS PUBLIC RADIO CINEMA TUESDAY SERIES: “OSCAR SHORTS”
The Oscar nominated short films in live action, animation and documentary often pass unnoticed even by avid cinephiles because of the considerable difficulty of accessing them. Fortunately, the excellent Texas Public Radio Cinema Tuesday series will present all five documentary shorts nominated for this year’s Oscars. The films cover a wide range of topics including a meditation on Taiwanese identity as it relates to the US and China, a love letter to filmmaker Sean Wang’s charmingly eccentric grandmas, an investigation into the frightening increase in book bans in America and a penetrating look at the widening racial economic gap through the frame of a barber shop in Little Rock, Arkansas. The winner, The Last Repair Shop, takes viewers inside an instrument repair shop that ensures students in Los Angeles have working musical gear on which to learn and perform. These films are labors of love made outside the expectation of box office success or fame, and they are deeply invested in conveying stories that deserve to be told. Suggested donation $12 (members), $17 (non-members), 7:30 p.m., Santikos Northwest, 7600 I-10, (877) 691-0734, santikos.com/san-antonio/ northwest/theater-info. — Neil Fauerso
Robert Valdez
Courtesy Image Texas Public Radio
Thank You For Being a Friend
Members of San Antonio’s LGBTQ+ community celebrate their chosen families
BY BRYAN RINDFUSS
Blood does not family make. Those are relatives,” late ballroom legend Hector Xtravaganza once said. “Family are those with whom you share your good, bad, and ugly, and still love one another in the end. Those are the ones you select.”
Xtravaganza (1965-2018) was one of the many brilliant souls immortalized by Jennie Livingston’s groundbreaking 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning Exemplified by the “houses” that fostered much of the cast of Livingston’s film — numerous runaways among them — chosen family can be a vital lifeline for members of the LGBTQ+ community. While coming out and living one’s truth may be easier than it was in decades past, parental acceptance is not something to be taken for granted.
With all this in mind, we reached out to members of San Antonio’s LGBTQ+ community and asked them to weigh in on the concept of chosen family. A total of 13 were kind enough to collaborate on this community-based Pride feature. Touchingly, more than a few shared that they were lucky enough to come of age with accepting parents, which allowed them to be there for others in need of support.
In light of the fact that many members of the LGBTQ+ community come of age — and come out — without much support from family members, who are the biggest champions of your chosen family? What did they do or say to encourage you or give you the strength to live your truth?
Penelope Boyer, PhD (she/her)
My dad came out at 70, in 1995. In Tijuana, to my relatively new girlfriend and I, over margaritas. Very strong margaritas. He was with Robert, who had been his lover and martini partner at the University of Chicago in the 1950s. They hadn’t seen each other in 50 years when Daddy, on his 70th birthday, decided to go to San Diego and contact Robert in La Jolla. We had been driven to the Mexican border town by Michael, who made the couple a ménage à trois. A retired military nurse in his 50s, Michael cooked and
chauffeured them but also loved them, taking care of their every need. Repeated over and over again that afternoon were the words, “We all love each other,” words whose many meanings were clearly manifest among these three men. Daddy was family, but he also became a big part of my chosen family with my now longtime companion.
David Zamora Casas, tree hugger, humanitarian, surrealist (earth/wind/fire)
The San Antonio grassroots artist community was nurturing, inclusive and unified during my coming out/formative identity-structuring jotería days. Important liberal voices were encouraged through publications like the Current and the San Antonio Light newspapers. The pioneering Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center’s Kathy Vargas and Centro Cultural Azlan’s Ramón Vásquez y Sánchez opened up hearts and minds and helped many of us navigate through the devastation of the AIDS pandemic through art and ceremonies like Día de los Muertos. San Antonio Museum of Art contemporary curator Don Bacigalupi and arts patron Linda Pace nurtured collective and individual queer artists. The fledging Esperanza Peace and Justice Center and its co-founder Susan Guerra were also at the core of building a rainbow coalition, which included Jo Long from the Carver Community Cultural Arts Center. Many others have helped build community while taking on the struggle for civil liberties and using art as a loving tool, including Graciela I. Sánchez, Gloria Ramirez, Isabel and Enrique Sanchez, Steve Bailey, Sterling Houston, Sandy Dunn, Kim Corbin, Myrna Von Nimitz, Michael Marinez, Robert Tobin, Al Rendón and Rawny Valdez.
ported us for almost two decades and have uplifted us countless times. For example, this Pride season when we got our very first float for the River Walk Pride Parade, many of them showed up and cheered us on — and those who couldn’t make it out showed their support on social media. Having that continuous unwavering support is what makes a chosen family, family.
Marcy Fernandez, ailurophile and server (she/her/misfit)
After sneaking into my first gay bar at age 14 or 15 — I believe it was the Copa, which later became the Saint — that turned into my first time bringing a girl home while still living at home with my father. Early the next morning, we were interrupted when my father opened the door to let me know breakfast was ready. I was busted! I was embarrassed for two reasons: getting caught doing the dirty but mostly because I hadn’t come out. He immediately shut the door and knocked and said, “Breakfast is ready and your friend is invited as well.” I was still feeling uneasy so I asked the girl to leave. Shortly afterwards, my father asked if he could talk to me. I said to myself, “Oh no, here comes another lecture.” He then proceeded to apologize for the intrusion and told me how much he loved me. He followed that by telling me whatever made me happy made him happy. That was the day I came out. I felt such a relief and because of that, this made my journey in truly finding my queer community a lot easier. My father has since passed away and my mother passed away when I was 10 years old. My father started my journey and my queer community will stand with me till the end. I never feel alone. I’m definitely one of the lucky ones but proud to have helped others who are just starting their own journey without the support at home.
Anthony Diaz & Uriel Diaz, co-owners of Karolina’s Antiques (they/them) (he/him)
Chosen family is such a vital part of our community. It can come in different forms and in many different ways. For us, one of our biggest champions would be our Karolina’s customers and friends. They’ve sup-
Penelope Boyer
Al Rendón
Anthony and Uriel Diaz
Marcy Fernandez
Anel I. Flores, artist, speaker, healer and coach (she/them)
So much of my chosen queer art and writing familia poured like a brilliant rain from the stage, the pages, the doors and the walls of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center in the early ’90s: Lourdes Perez, the Olguins, Maricela, Aurora and Guadalupe, Gloria Ramirez, Sharon Bridgforth, Graciela Sánchez, Maria Salazar, Norma Cantú and so many more! If I didn’t meet them there for the first time, it means the world to me to see them annually at so many celebrations and events they queerate so beautifully all the time. When I met Erika and our daughters, Jessica and Klarissa, I felt like I had a queer familia of my own to share with them, and still we grow, we evolve, we love and we provide safe places to land and thrive together!
Dino Foxx (aka Foxxy Blue Snacks), drag queen, burlesque dancer, poet and activist (she/they)
What is life like when your chosen family are actual icons and legends? It is pretty legendary. When my burlesque mother S.T. Shimi (aka Miss Black Orchid) passed away almost four years ago, we learned too soon the impact she had on the theater and burlesque world, not to mention the countless other spheres she reached with her influence as an educator and choreographer. My drag mother Kipper Snacks is not only an iconic drag performer — known for her time in San Francisco at the historic Divas Nightclub or Aunt Charlie’s Lounge — but also the masterfully skilled couturier behind many of the looks worn on the RuPaul’s Drag Race main stage by Lady Camden and Eureka (not to mention the looks Eureka wore out of drag on HBO’s We’re Here). One of her custom gowns was even immortalized on the cover of the Current in last year’s Pride edition.
My closest burlesque sibling happens to be none other than the baddest blossom from the barrio, the reigning Queen of the Noire Pageant, Chola Magnolia. In between eating tacos at my house in our workout clothes that we don’t work out in, she is headlining stages across the United States, and just competed for the highest title in burlesque, M. Exotic World (formerly Miss Exotic World), at the Burlesque Hall of Fame weekend in Las Vegas.
Her most recognizable costume — which she has worn across San Antonio, performing at the Emerald Ball and the San Antonio Burlesque Festival — is currently on display at the Burlesque Hall of Fame Museum in Las Vegas in an exhibit celebrating Latinx/é burlesque innovators.
My burlesque daughter Kristi Waters is the current reigning Countess of the Riverwalk and has been named San Antonio’s Best Drag Performer more times than any other San Antonio queen cares to admit! I also am honored to have so many other drag and burlesque siblings moving and shaking all over the country at the moment.
I also have to mention that my chosen family to me is an addition to my amazingly supportive born family, led by our matriarch Nana Foxx, who has literally taught me most of the professional practices I have. She taught me how to care for people with kindness, creativity and attention to detail that most others don’t even think about. She gave me her love for beautiful things like fresh flowers and good jewelry and she always taught me never to let my “tail” hang out for other people to step on. In other words, she taught me to keep my head down and work. “Nunca dejes una cola para que te piquen,” she would always say.
What did my chosen family teach me? Mostly that the accolades above mean nothing if you don’t continue to show up, show out and shine any chance you are given. They taught me to always be prepared by carrying crushed red pepper in your purse in case you encounter poorly seasoned food — and to make sure you have a full kit of all the supplies you will need to complete your job like a skilled professional. They taught me to always make family birthdays and celebrations special, around a table with delicious food, lots of laughter and lots of chisme. They taught me that opportunities to shine on the stage don’t often come to folks like us, so we take every opportunity given to us to crack open the earth, summon our ancestors and leave everything on the stage every time. They taught me the importance of an entrance,
striking a fierce final pose and the importance of good lighting. They also, in their own humble, hardworking ways, taught me that no matter how many titles you earn or shows you headline, you always stay behind and help put the folding chairs away, leave the dressing room cleaner than you found it and always eat tacos with the production squad after the show.
David Garcia, president and creative director of Statue of Design (he/him)
Coming out at age 18 was a bit of struggle for myself. While I was fortunate to have the support of my immediate family, I felt that moving away made the transition easier. While on my self-discovery journey in Orlando, I made friends with a great circle of friends that embraced me. I was very impatient in my 20s and my circle was a few years older than I. I remember having deep conversations with a good friend, Nathan, about learning to control my expectations and not pressure myself to try and chase all the things relating to love life, career and relationships.
Jimmy James, award-winning singer-songwriter and voice impressionist (Venmo/PayPal/Cash App)
My very Catholic family was very slow to come around to support me. Eventually they came around. Thank God I was never thrown out because I would not have been able to handle it. My close friends Kathy, John and Tony encouraged me to continue honing my craft in female impersonation. They gave me the support to persevere. I cherished their honest opinions and critiques because, of course, I could never ask my family. From being born on a dirt road in Laredo and raised in San Antonio, I eventually embarked on a fruitful career as an impersonator and impressionist. From Texas to New York’s Times Square, I landed a modeling gig on a giant billboard in drag as Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland and Bette Davis alongside supermodel Linda Evangelista. Years later I also evolved into a recording artist, writing and recording a Find more arts coverage every day at sacurrent.com
Anel I. Flores
Dino Foxx
David Garcia
global hit called “Fashionista.” Eighteen years later, queens are still performing my song everywhere. It’s a sweet full-circle moment for me.
Julián P. Ledezma, storytelling manager at San Antonio Food Bank (he/him)
This is a quote from a recorded interview I did with San Antonio drag legend Erica Andrews four months before she passed away: “Look around, find your people. What you see in the mirror, look for those characteristics in your friends. Then hand-pick your friends and when you’re surrounded by your friends, you’ll find that nothing was wrong with you. Remember you’re art — you’re a masterpiece.”
Rebel Mariposa, owner of La Botánica (she/they)
This is an interesting question for me because I have Moms (two-spirit/Xicana lesbianas). For my generation that is rare. My Moms are the chosen family to many of my friends. They offer a glimpse into a possible future, an example of a strong and safe partnership and something to strive for. Sharing my Moms with others is something I am used to and I am happy to do it. This world can feel so heavy and, for many of us, imagining a future is not something we often practice. I want my friends to know that a healthy loving relationship in this lifetime is possible. It takes time and work and it means healing from current and generational trauma. Yet I believe in us.
This world needs us to live in our truth, to open our hearts and to love and be loved.
My mother Viviana Enrique has told me and others when taking about self doubt: “It’s only natural to not want to endanger yourself. Yet when you take a step back and really view the bigger picture, you realize it’s actually less risky to self-actualize than it is to not. If you don’t, you will get distracted from your connectedness and your inherent responsibility, which is to grow into your true essence and conduct yourself without doubt and live in balance.”
Lika Torline, owner of In The Weeds Premium Botanical Products (she/her)
Though I had come out several years before meeting my best friend Jennifer Triance, also known as T, when she came into my life, I truly started living as my authentic self. I met T on the Plenty of Fish dating app almost 10 years ago. I often tell people she was the best thing that ever came out of that dating app for me! Although a romance did not blossom after our initial dating, we became incredibly close and supportive of each other’s goals. She would call me LT (my initials) and quickly became the biggest cheerleader in my life. Her mantra was always, “You gotta make it happen, LT. Gotta make it happen.” This phrase, repeated countless times, was not just encouragement but a powerful reminder that I had the strength and capability to achieve my dreams. T’s unwavering support was a constant as I continued to build my small business, making her a cornerstone of my journey.
Finding someone who truly understands and speaks your language is rare in life, and T was that
first person for me. She ingrained in me the belief that while I might not always make everyone happy, my happiness was equally important. This perspective was revolutionary for me, reshaping how I viewed my worth and my right to prioritize my well-being. T often talked about the concept of an individual home team. She explained that my team comprised myself and all the people who come in and out of my day-to-day life. According to her, if something wasn’t going well, it was detrimental to the “home team.” She would say, “Gotta take care of that MVP, LT,” referring to me. This idea of being the most valuable player in my own life resonated deeply. T let me know that regardless of who comes and goes, it is crucial to check in with myself and ensure my needs and happiness are met.
In a world where familial support can often be lacking for LGBTQ+ individuals, finding champions like T is invaluable. Her encouragement, wisdom, and unwavering belief in me gave me the strength to live my truth. T showed me that my chosen family could provide the love and support necessary for living authentically. Her presence in my life has been transformative, allowing me to embrace my identity with confidence and pride. T played a vital role in fostering self-acceptance and empowerment. T’s encouragement and belief in my potential have been instrumental in my journey, making her an irreplaceable part of my life and a true champion of my chosen family.
Unfortunately, T passed away on November 6, 2021, after a sudden accident, and she is deeply missed by her chosen family. However, she frequently sends signs to let me know she is still with me in spirit. In her honor, I tattooed “Make It Happen” on my forearm in her handwriting. I know she would be thrilled to know that her “home team” advice is being shared with others in the LGBTQ+ community, especially if it can provide a beacon of support, encouragement and love to those seeking guidance on their personal life journeys. Though I had her only for a short time in my life, she has impacted me for the entirety of my lifetime.
Julian Tovar, senior vice president of Human Rights Campaign San Antonio (he/him)
The biggest champion of my chosen family has never been one individual person. My champion is the collective of each person that has lifted me up, inspired
Greg Gorman
Julián P. Ledezma
Rebel Mariposa
Lika Torline
Julian Tovar
me to live authentically, shown unconditional love, allowed me to be vulnerable, given me grace, stood with me through incredible wins and immeasurable losses, and taught me that the strength to live your truth is done one day at a time. Happy Pride!
José Villalobos, visual/performance artist (he/him)
I have had the opportunity to grow with many locals of the artist community, however I would have to say that my closest of friends are Chris Vasquez, Victor Mendoza, Austin Alegria and none other than Rigoberto Luna and Jenelle Esparza. They created a safe space for me to be able to express myself, but more importantly to exist.
LES MAESTRES BY ANEL I. FLORES
My Secrets Didn’t Have Language Until Dad said Abuelita Maria wrote poetry The librarian waived my late fee so I could check out Nikki Giovanni Carol Mengden wrote Your words are yellow flowers and You are a writer, Anel then she died
Monica secretly signed me up at open mic with Trinidad Sanchez at the original Twig Bookstore Naomi Nye invited me over read my poems from sheets of loose leaf we ate cookies drank tea I was eighteen
When Mrs. Sanchez hugged me my mother hugged me my dead grandmothers hugged me Mrs. Sanchez hugged all of me broken me ex-Catholic me raped me queer me writer me messy me lover me Eres como mi hija, mija
Nickie Valdez said church was everywhere Erica Andrews taught me how to keep the monsters away how to move with grandeur in our queer bodies every day
Mira honey, a good red lipstick, will take the pain away I am still lit from her club light on the stage
Gloria Anzaldúa asked me where is your tree your snake your water your home then she said, write for Coyolxauhqui Martha Prentiss gave me WomanSpace told me to move into the gayborhood we were neighbors until she retired to the sky Fr. Greg let me fly
Norma Cantú wrote my novel outline on the back of El Regio Cafe menu over breakfast
Liliana Wilson asked me if I loved my art then proceeded to teach me how to properly pack each painting like a wine glass Jovita Idar printed the page
Sharon Bridgforth asked me to erase my mother’s name from my over-worried brain then asked me to say her name on the page on the stage with my body
Gertrude Baker said, I want to feel your voice on my hand from a twenty foot scaffold over two hundred feet away
Arturo Madrid said our ancestors knew they would never see the city done so keep on building
In the grocery store aisle
Sr. Martha Ann Kirk held my hands in hers said, keep inspiring women, Anel Sr. Dot taught me there are people who perverse god and people who channel godliness
Lauryn Farris raised her fist and raised us like her own kids
Shimi scaled building walls studded in leather spikes shiny stones stilettos Showed me how queerness shows up In hetero-partnerships
Once she whispered thank you in my ear Backstage and I never had a chance to ask why
Maria Ibarra and I ate an enormous amount of empanadas around a kitchen island she whispered lesbian jokes in my ear all night
it was her last Christmas it wasn’t a surprise but I’d do anything to get back that night
She taught me stage right stage left all love is worth the fight the dead don’t only come out at night our stories never get old always should be told secrets cause cancer and friends are made of gold.
José Villalobos
Illustration by Anel Flores
Love and Cinema Win
10 LGBTQ+ films from the past decade worth seeing for Pride Month
BY KIKO MARTINEZ
Hollywood has come a long way since 1934 when it implemented the Motion Picture Production Code, also known as the Hays Code, to set specific industry guidelines for content in films. The code enforced a ban on any insinuation of “sexual perversion,” which was understood to include homosexuality.
Ninety years later, LGBTQ+ movies have their own film festivals and regularly win prestigious awards. According to GLAAD, of the 350 films released theatrically and on streaming services in 2022 by 10 particular distributors, 28.5% were LGBTQIA-inclusive. That marked the highest percentage ever in the advocacy group’s annual Studio Responsibility report.
To put it simply: Love is love, and good cinema is good cinema. The more people are introduced to diverse LGBTQ+ films, the more these stories are viewed as important aspect of cinematic expression. Below are 10 LGBTQ+ films from the past decade that are worth seeing during Pride Month — or anytime.
Carol
The 2015 Academy Award-nominated drama directed by Todd Haynes tells the story of an aspiring photographer (Rooney Mara) who begins an intimate relationship with an older woman (Cate Blanchett) in New York during the 1950s. While the film was nominated for six Oscars, many awards pundits were shocked when it didn’t get a nod in the Best Picture category.
Moonlight
Based on the semi-autobiographical play titled In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue, the 2016 Academy Award-winning film is told in three stages of the life of the main character, Chiron, (Alex R. Hibbert, Ashton Sanders and Trevante Rhodes) as he explores his sexual identity. Written and directed by Barry Jenkins, the drama won the Oscar for Best Picture and is considered by many critics as one of the best films of the 21st century.
Disobedience
Directed and co-written by Chilean filmmaker Sebastián Lelio, this romantic drama follows Ronnie (Rachel McAdams), a New York photographer who returns to her childhood
home in London after the death of her father. Years have passed since Ronnie was banished from her Orthodox Jewish community, but when she reunites with a love interest from her past (Rachel Weisz), they realize what’s been missing from their lives.
AFantasticWoman(Unamujerfantástica)
Another Lelio film from 2017 makes the cut. The Spanish-language drama tells the story of Marina (Daniela Vega), a transgender woman living in Chile whose life is destroyed after her older boyfriend, Orlando, unexpectedly dies. Marina is made to feel less than human by Orlando’s family, who don’t want her to attend his funeral. A Fantastic Woman won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.
CallMebyYourName
Directed by Luca Guadagnino and adapted by screenwriter James Ivory, this 2017 drama follows the romance between 17-year-old Elio (Timothée Chalamet), and Oliver (Armie Hammer), a 24-year-old graduate-student who works for Elio’s father. The film is sometimes ignored these days because of the real-life sexual abuse allegations against Hammer, but taken at face value, the comingof-age narrative is thematically rich.
PortraitofaLadyonFire
Written and directed by Céline Sciamma, this 2019 French romance is set in the late 18th century and follows the lesbian relationship between a young aristocrat named Héloïse (Adèle Haenel) and a painter named Marianne (Noémie Merlant), who’s been commissioned to paint Héloïse’s portrait. In the past, Héloïse has refused to pose for a painting because she doesn’t want to get married, so her mother tells Marianne that she must paint her subject in secret by spending time with her daughter and memorizing her features.
Parallel Mothers
Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar’s 2021
drama centers on two pregnant women – Janis (Penélope Cruz) and Ana (Milena Smit) – who share a hospital room during the birth of their babies. Years later, Janis and Ana reunite and find out the children, one of whom is now dead, were switched at birth. Their friendship soon transitions into a sexual relationship that might not be viable for either of them.
ThePoweroftheDog
Set in Montana in 1925, two brothers, Phil and George Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemons), meet a widow named Rose (Kirsten Dunst) and her son Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee), whom Phil taunts because of his effeminate nature. It turns out Phil is a closeted gay man himself, and his relationship with Peter slowly evolves into something entirely different. The film, adapted by Thomas Savage’s novel of the same name, was written and directed by Jane Campion.
Saltburn
In the 2023 psychological dark dramedy, a college student named Oliver (Barry Keoghan) befriends a popular student named Felix (Jacob Elordi) and is invited to spend the summer at his family’s country house for the summer. Spoiler alert: Things are not as they seem. Oliver becomes increasingly obsessed with Felix and develops a plan that turns the young man and his family into victims of his deceit.
AllofUsStrangers
The 2023 British romantic fantasy film follows Adam (Andrew Scott), a London-based screenwriter, who experiences an incredible phenomenon where he’s able to visit with his dead parents at his childhood home. He begins a relationship with his neighbor Harry (Paul Mescal) who also has emotional scars from his own unstable family life. Harry begins to question Adam’s mental state when Adam invites him to his parents’ home to meet them.
Find more film stories at sacurrent.com
Bleecker Street
Hook, Line & Sinker
The Creamery’s Hook Land & Sea likely to reel in seafood lovers
BY RON BECHTOL
My first experience with Hook Land & Sea was, let’s say, inauspicious.
But let’s also say that it wasn’t long after the seafood-focused spot’s appearance on the near-Pearl scene. The airy dining room was mostly empty, the kitchen hadn’t yet learned its way with classic fish and chips — the flounder was mushy, the batter coating slippery — and it also appeared to be trying too hard to be different with an escabeche take on calamari frito mixto.
That’s why we wait. Return visits sometimes reinforce the debut encounter, but they also can transcend it. Hook’s case was one of transcendence. The dining room was still mostly vacant, but the kitchen was apparently working with all hands on deck, starting with an order of fish chicharron tacos.
Fish chicharron at a conventional Mexican seafood joint can come across close to jerky — and be bony, at that. At Hook, it’s a little more user-friendly. The boneless fish pieces are more gently fried, the tamarind mustard sauce which sounds a little too tony is tangy and right-on, and the pickled pineapple pico — try saying that out loud three times — was exactly what was needed to complete the picture.
Yes, I still like the chewy-bony version with a whiplash of Valentina, but I will happily add this one to the lexicon, tender corn tortillas and all.
The opposite of a fresh and pliant corn tortilla is a crisply fried one, especially if it’s tinted red. Such is the foundation for the salmon ceviche tostada, which Hook Land & Sea served on a blue plate for punchy color contrast. The kitchen also likes playing with tweezers and tiny micro-greens, which add to the color palette.
Don’t be afraid of the ceviche aspect of the salmon here. The lime-based marinade just tames the salmon’s fattiness a tad. Tobiko, or flying fish roe, wasn’t much in evidence, but it you look carefully bits of cured egg yolk can be uncovered. The curing is usually done on a bed of salt and sugar followed by a drying in a very low oven. The addition isn’t something that would have occurred to me, but the egg does add unexpected notes of subtle umami. Noting, just for the record, that unlike cured eggs, octopus is becoming as ubiquitous on menus of late as pork belly has been for some
time, I’ll nevertheless gladly revisit Hook’s grilled version. The dish manages to hit that perfect sweet spot of just-tender-enough. Is the fresh-tasting corn puree on which the artfully curled tentacle is bedded strictly necessary? Well, why not? It plays suave to some scattered bits of chorizo and drizzles of chili oil and was a fine foil for some fancy “marbled” potatoes. All in all, another win.
Given good mussels and a little white wine, it’s almost impossible to mess up a bowl of the mollusks. Hook does more than merely not mess up with its mezcal-scented rendition. Pro tip: ask for more of the good, toasted bread from the get-go. You’ll want it for sopping and mopping the complex sauce that inevitably follows pulling the plump mussels from their shells. Winner number four.
There’s a perfunctory wine list complemented by a few beers and cocktails, but, as Hook is part of The Creamery, a larger food and nightlife complex centered on the former Borden Dairy near Pearl, here’s a thought: drink judiciously at dinner and follow up
HOOK LAND & SEA
with a visit to one of the new bars.
Your choices are Amelia and its rooftop annex Lunatique or the subterranean “ultra-lounge” that is Easy Baby.
Easy Baby seemed like more of a commitment than a coda, so Amelia, an apparent homage to the long-lost aviatrix of the same name, it was. The space, with its echoes of Hotel Emma’s steampunk-styled Sternewirth, is moodily stylish and sports a few vestiges of the old Borden’s in the form of enshrined equipment. But if we’re to take the name as a suggestion, two of the menu’s cocktails are obvious choices, the Paper Plane and the Aviation.
When I make the gin- and maraschino-based Aviation at home, it turns out a little more lavender from the crème de violette, but there were no complaints about the taste. The bourbon and amaro-based Paper Plane was equally well executed.
Earhart’s final resting place may never be known, but both Hook and Amelia are easy to find and worth the modest effort do so.
841 E. Ashby Place, Building 3 | (210) 201-3027 | hooksatx.com
Best Bets: grilled octopus, fish chicharron tacos, salmon ceviche tostada, mezcal mussels
The Skinny: Hook is part of a collection of food and drink establishments at The Creamery, a newly opened development on the San Antonio River just north of the Pearl. The airy, open dining room is pleasant and thankfully free of fish-themed décor. Though the menu does offer the likes of a burger, duck tacos and a carnitas bowl, seafood is the mainstay. There’s no obvious order to anything, so start with the fish chicharron tacos or salmon ceviche tostada, graduate to the hefty grilled octopus and don’t ignore the earthy mezcal mussels. Drinks afterwards at the nearby bar Amelia will round out the evening swimmingly.
Find more food & drink news at sacurrent.com
Ron Bechtol
Construction Casualty
Los Barrios restaurant group closing La Hacienda Scenic Loop
BY SANFORD NOWLIN
San Antonio’s Los Barrios Family Restaurants group is shutting down La Hacienda Scenic Loop, citing construction and staffing woes.
The restaurant, located at 25615 Boerne Stage Road near Leon Springs, will end regular service at the end of June but continue running its private event space through Nov. 30, according to a statement from the family-owned business known for its Mexican cuisine.
La Hacienda Scenic Loop opened in 2017 and became a popular spot for parties and events. However, the owners said the departure of skilled staff during the COVID crisis coupled with ongoing construction along I-10 made the restaurant unsustainable.
“We extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has been a part of the La Hacienda Scenic Loop family,” said Louis Barrios, a partner in the Los Barrios group. “Your support has meant the world to us.”
Los Barrios Family Restaurants will continue to operate flagship eatery Los Barrios along with La Hacienda de Los Barrios and Viola’s Ventanas.
The late Viola Barrios launched the family’s first restaurant in 1979 and it soon became a San Antonio fixture, eventually gaining attention on national TV and from food writers from far outside South Texas.
Sunday, June 30, will be La Hacienda Scenic Loop’s last day of service. It will be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Courtesy Photo / Los Barrios Family Restaurants
Texas Trip
The Black Angels talk about the enduring power of psych rock before San Antonio show
BY SANFORD NOWLIN
Pairing the sonic abandon of ’60s garage rock with wall-of-sound shoegaze aesthetics, The Black Angels emerged at the tail end of the aughts as one of the guiding lights of the modern psychedelic revival.
The Austin-based outfit developed a rapid underground following thanks to acid-kissed releases such as Passover (2006) and Directions to See a Ghost (2008). The group further cemented its legacy by performing alongside legendary figures such as Texas psych pioneer Roky Erickson and Anton Newcombe of The Brian Jonestown Massacre.
Amid all that, the members of The Black Angels somehow found time to start and curate a music festival called Austin Psych
Fest, which grew into an even more expansive cultural gathering called Levitation.
The band is performing Friday, June 28, at San Antonio’s Stable Hall with fellow Austin mind travelers Diastarr.
The Current caught up with Black Angels vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Alex Maas and guitarist Jake Garcia, a San Antonio native, ahead of the show to talk about the band’s musical evolution, its motives for launching Levitation and why musicians and fans continue to seek out psychedelic sounds.
Being in a band that records and tours is pretty demanding on its own, what is it that possessed you guys to complicate your lives further by starting a festival?
Alex: Well, it’s a really good question. One of the reasons why is there just wasn’t anybody else doing it, at the time, really — at least not with the focus on … psychedelic rock ’n’ roll. That’s kind of how it started. So, that’s where the idea came from: to have this psychedelic musical gathering in Austin. That’s why we did it. …
Jake: It strengthens the scene, and it brings people — even people who travel internationally — to the area, to our neighborhood, Austin, Texas, and I think it’s good for everybody. Alex: In the beginning, I don’t think we were really thinking too much about what it could be. We never thought it would be something like this. … So, just in the beginning, it was just kind of like no one else is doing it, and it’s one of those if-you-build-it-they-willcome type of things. But, yeah, it’s kind of where it should be. We turned over a lot of the control to people who actually know what they’re doing, but we’re still researching bands and constantly adding this master list of bands that we want to eventually try to make it up to like Portishead and Massive Attack. We’re just inching our way up there, year by year.
Courtesy Photo / The Black Angels
Some critics dismissed psychedelic music in the late ’60s as being this goofy stuff that would turn out to be a flash in the pan. Why you think psych has endured all these decades?
Alex: I think because it broke the rules, and it broke the barriers of the norm. It was also just a very spiritual type of feeling and writing.
Jake: Yeah, that’s a good point. I agree with that.
Alex: Bands started using fuzz pedals, singing in strange harmonies and having these creative arrangements. They had no rules. There’s a lot of great San Antonio bands who were part of that: the Pandas, the Laughing Kind. So many great ’60s bands, but even in the ’80s, psychedelia still continued. I think people are drawn just to the freedom of the sound, really.
Your past two albums, DeathSong and Wildness of Mirrors, strike me as being harder edged than some of the earlier stuff. They also seem to be more overtly political or at least touching on current events. I wonder if those evolutions happened concurrently. Does commenting on the situation we’re in right now, as a nation or as a society, demand a harder edge, maybe an angrier sound?
Alex: I’d like to think from the beginning that we’ve been a band who is a mirror of society, reflecting what’s happening. That’s what art is, right? It’s just a reflection of what’s happening in the world. So, yeah, me being on the inside, it’s hard for me to say that it’s one way or the other, but it’s interesting to hear your perspective on that. I think it’s definitely become more pointed as we become more evolved songwriters. Due to that, I think, there’s maybe more edge to it, or whatever. But I think it’s about what you do with the power that you have, so what are you talking about? Where’s this going? Where’s this leading? A lot of people have songs about partying and riding around on lowriders, and stuff, which is fun too — which is great. I would never tell somebody what kind of lyrics they need to put in their music. Sometimes we just feel there’s a need to comment on things.
Jake: I think it was just a reflection of what we see, and what we feel, and the world’s been through a lot lately — and it always has, yes? But I also think not only has our music gotten a little bit harder, it’s also gotten more dynamic. I think we’re growing as a band.
Alex: Yeah, it’s interesting to see the
evolution from where we were back in the day to where we are now. I think we are just a lot more open in terms of where we want to be. We don’t want to be pigeonholed or anything like that. That might sound kind of silly because we’re sitting here calling ourselves psychic rock and roll, but I think— Jake: Yeah, we’re outgrowing that, probably, and playing with no rules.
Alex: Nobody wants to be making the same album every time, and yeah, we want to evolve as people and as artists.
Alex, you put out a solo album. I know Jake and others in the band have got projects they do beyond The Black Angels. When you guys are writing, how do you know what’s a Black Angel song or what’s a solo project song?
Alex: That’s a really good question, I don’t really know. I think part of it is, hopefully, it will all just become one thing.
Jake: I think, generally, if I write for The Black Angels, I’m particularly writing
for them, and I’ll bring it to the rest of the band, and if they all agree they like it, then we’ll further develop the idea. And sometimes it just doesn’t fit, and that can [go somewhere else]. That’s why we started other projects, because a lot of times if it doesn’t fit with The Black Angels, and we can use that idea for another project. But everybody really has to approve in the band. We work together that way.
Alex: Yeah, we’re definitely a democracy. We kind of vote on everything, probably to a fault, sometimes.
You’re approaching 20 years as a band. How do you keep things fun?
Jake: Well, that’s with songwriting, kind of pushing the boundaries, and coming up with new ideas, and solving these little puzzles. The puzzle of the song. It keeps it exciting. It keeps it fun. It keeps evolving.
Alex: We all like each other still. That helps.
Collaborating, having creative differ-
ences and touring together can really weigh on people. It’s good to know you still like each other. How do you avoid getting on each others’ nerves?
Alex: Well, I don’t know. I think that’s just going to happen, inherently. I know that in the beginning, we all lived with each other, so if you can live with each other in a house, and you tour with each other, you know which buttons to push, and which ones not to push. It’s just like any other marriage, so I think having open communication is one thing, that’s really the most important thing, right? Definitely communication. If something’s bothering you, don’t keep it in. Just basic marriage rules.
Jake: Giving each other space is important too. We know each other so well that we know when to touch on the point, or leave it alone.
Alex: Yeah, basic marriage rules.
Courtesy Photo / The Black Angels
RINGLING JULY 12 - 14
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critics’ picks
Wednesday, June 26
Dirty River Jazz Band
Dirty River Jazz Band plays traditional jazz in the spirit of San Antonio legend Jim Cullum Jr. The group specializes in infectious Dixieland with nary a hint of the dissonant phrasing and freeform exploration that turns some listeners away from jazz. With the SA Botanical Garden — one of SA’s most cherished nature areas — as the setting, attendees will take a prohibition-style drink class. Seems perfect for a musical date night. $48, 6:30 p.m., San Antonio Botanical Center, 555 Funston Place, (210) 536-1400, sabot.org. — Bill Baird
Thursday, June 27
Sound Cream Sunset Sessions: Boyblk Civic Park at Hemisfair is a wondrous reimagining of our shared downtown space, with springs to splash in, ample seating, shady trees and an expansive lawn. To help activate this newly opened space, a series of evening concerts has emerged, promoted by mobile DJ unit Sound Cream, which have been throwing dance party events for a few years now. For this installment, house music DJ Boyblk will rev up the crowds with a creative electronic approach. Dallas Magazine even recognized Boyblk as its 2023 DJ of the Year. Free, 7:30 p.m., Civic Park at Hemisfair, 210 S. Alamo St., hemisfair.org. — BB
Friday, June 28
Red Clay Strays
The Red Clay Strays burst onto the scene in the last few years with a country rock sound delivered with a heaping helping of soul. The Mobile, Alabama quintet got its start as a cover band trio in 2016 and started performing its own songs after a lineup addition. The band’s momentum was broken by the pandemic, but the single “Wondering Why” went viral on Tik Tok last year. $34.50-$75.00, 8 p.m., Boeing Center at Tech Port, 3331 General Hudnell Drive, (210) 600-3699, boeingcentertechport. com. — Danny Cervantes
Saturday, June 29
Dexter and the Moon Rocks
Fans of Abilene’s Dexter and the Moon Rocks have dubbed the group’s sound “Western space grunge,” which is certainly appropriate. A fusion of alt-rock and red-dirt country, the band draws from diverse influences including Turnpike Troubadours and Arctic Monkeys. Dexter and the Moon Rocks also boast an aesthetic that leans into pulpy ’50s-era sci-fi. The group’s latest single, “Sad In Carolina,” is an upbeat ditty that will get toes tapping. $25-$85, 8 p.m., Stable Hall, 307 Pearl Parkway, stablehall. com. — DC
Tuesday, July 2
Victor Wooten and the Wooten Brothers, Bluprint
Bassist and songwriter Victor Wooten is one of the modern greats. He’s racked up five Grammy wins, Bass Player Magazine has named him Bass Player of the Year three times and Rolling Stone praised him as one of the 10 best bassists of all time. If that’s not enough, he’s written two books, The Music Lesson: A Spiritual Search for Growth Through Music and The Spirit of Music: The Lesson Continues. Playing with Béla Fleck, Wooten gained recognition for his virtuosic precision and improv prowess. For this show, he’ll be with the Wooten Brothers, a legendary group fusing jazz, funk, soul, R&B and more. $39, 8 p.m., Stable Hall, 307 Pearl Parkway, stablehall.com. — BB
Wednesday, July 3
The Trad Police
Local favorites the Trad Police will help music fans cool off with hot jazz in the Pearl’s favorite basement haunt. Years of gigging at Jim Cullum Jr.’s sadly closed Landing built the Trad Police into a tight-knit unit that can work magic with material from early 20th century masters including Fats Waller and Louis Armstrong. $25, 7:30 p.m., Jazz, TX, 312 Pearl Parkway, (210) 332-9386, jazztx.com. — DC
Thursday, July 4
Pochos Chidos, Volcán
Pochos Chidos are part of a rising crop of San Antonio musicians embracing Mexican-American heritage with a modern approach. The word pochos signifies expressing pride in having both Mexican and American heritage, while chidos means “cool.” The group’s psych-tinged cumbia pairs well with showmates Volcán,
Victor Wooten
whose explosive big-band sound will rock your socks off. This free show is part of Texas Public Radio’s Summer Night City series. Free, 7:30 p.m., Texas Public Radio, 321 W. Commerce St., tpr.org/summernightcity. — BB
Friday, July 5Saturday, July 6
Bailey Zimmerman, Josh Ross
Bailey Zimmerman’s raspy voice propelled his rise from sharing songs on social media to country-rock stardom. After working jobs that included meat packing and pipefitting, Zimmerman began sharing his songs on TikTok. From there, he jumped to big career breaks including opening for Morgan Wallen last year. Now, he’s headlining his own Religiously: The Tour in support of his like-named debut album. $65.10$162.97, 8 p.m., Whitewater Amphitheater, 11860 FM 306, New Braunfels, (830) 964-3800, whitewaterrocks.com. — DC
Courtesy Photo / Victor Wooten
EMPLOYMENT
Technology Engineer III sought by Capital Group Companies Global in San Antonio, TX: Establish, improve, & maintain solutions leveraged by multiple product teams. Hybrid work permitted - when not working from home must report to San Antonio, TX office. Must have unrestricted right to work in U.S. To apply, send resume to: Global Mobility Team - cgapplications@capgroup. com. MUST REF. JOB CODE: SA0322KA.
Solutions Engineer III sought by Capital Group Companies Global in San Antonio, TX. Leads & personally contributes to solution delivery through SDLC activities (incl analysis, dvlpmt, testing, deployment, support, etc.) for one or more business capabilities &/or products. Standard co. benefits. Hybrid work permitted - when not working from home, must report to San Antonio, TX office. Must have unrestricted right to work in U.S. To apply, send resume to: Global Mobility Team - cgapplications@capgroup.com. MUST REF. JOB CODE: SA0223MB.
