BayTimes 01.16.25

LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES Est . 1978

Leadership Change Heralds SF Inflection Point

Presiding Judge Rochelle C. East, Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman, Mayor Daniel Lurie

Rafael Mandelman’s Life in Photos

Images by Rink (1970s–1980s Photos Provided by Rafael Mandelman)

Rafael Mandelman, a former San Francisco Bay Times columnist, on January 8, 2025, was elected unanimously as the President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He is the third LGBTQ+ Board President, and the first such president in over two decades.

Mandelman was first elected to the SF Board of Supervisors in June 2018. It was a special election that had him replacing incumbent Jeff Sheehy for the duration of the term. Mandelman later that year won the November general election for a full term.

The role of president of the board is one of the most important in the city. The president, for example, is the first in the line of succession for mayor. Former mayor London Breed served as president of the board when mayor Ed Lee died. She became mayor for a brief time before later winning the 2018 mayoral elec tion.

The president of the board also presides over meetings. Perhaps most important ly, the president can assign members to board committees. This can have a pow erful impact on legislation.

At a time of great leadership change, both locally and nationally, Mandelman is a leader of compassion, integrity, and dedication whom many are looking to now for guidance. Those of us who worked with him at the Bay Times can attest to his thoughtfulness and professionalism—qualities that go hand in hand. Here, via images, we look back on Mandelman’s life and career as we look forward to following his work in the months ahead.

For several years, Rafael Mandelman was a San Francisco Bay Times columnist. His column was entitled “A San Francisco Kind of Democrat.” With fellow columnist Sister Dana Van Iquity, he attended the opening of the exhibit Bay Times Pride Kiss

images of couples kissing at the 2014 Pride Parade) at Sweet Inspiration

Café on Market Street on Valentine’s Day,

Rafael Mandelman was among the out LGBTQ+ community leaders who were with the marriage equality movement from the very beginning. In September 2013, with David

in him a desire to work to solve problems related to addiction, mental illness, homelessness, and more.

The photos of Rafael Mandelman with his mother Ellen Mandelman and grandmother are bittersweet, given that Ellen for years battled mental illness and homelessness. Young Rafael put his energies into his academic life, attending UC Berkeley, Harvard, and Yale, and being a model student. His upbringing helped shape his empathy for those facing personal challenges and instilled

Before and during his political career, Rafael Mandelman has continued to support multiple LGBTQ+ nonprofits. One year he even wore a onesie at the Santa Skivvies Run, a benefit for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. He was one of over 150 participants that year. After the run, they celebrated at the Lookout in the Castro.

The late great Jane Morrison, a legendary progressive leader in San Francisco, was a staunch supporter of Rafael Mandelman. In May 2010, she even hosted a benefit brunch for him at her home. As shown here, the event was attended by other well-known political influencers such as Aaron Peskin (then the Democratic Party Chair) and Tom Ammiano (then a California State Assemblyman).

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2015.

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Chiu, Scott Wiener, and Mark Leno, he helped celebrate the wedding of marriage equality activists Kris Perry and Sandy Stier.

The Inauguration of Rafael Mandelman as a San Francisco Supervisor took place at City Hall on July 11, 2018. Dennis Herrera, then City Attorney of San Francisco, was among those who participated in the swearing in ceremony.

Rafael Mandelman for years has supported both the Harvey Milk and the Alice B. Toklas Democratic clubs. With Sister Roma, Honey Mahogany, and Carolina Morales, he was photographed at the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club Dinner & Gayla at the Grey Area in July 2018.

San Francisco Bay Times founding contributor and renowned activist Cleve Jones thanked Rafael Mandelman for attending his birthday party at the Mix bar in October 2017. The event benefited the Rainbow World Fund. Mandelman has attended many Jones birthday parties since, with all serving as important LGBTQ+ community fundraisers.

Shown with Mark Leno, Donna Sachet, and Paul Tan, Rafael Mandelman attended the Human Rights Campaign Dinner at the St. Francis Hotel in October 2016.

Daniel Lurie Inaugurated as San Francisco’s 46th Mayor

Democrat Daniel Lurie—a philanthropist, founder and former CEO of the Tipping Point Community, an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, and a relative newcomer to elected politics—was sworn in on January 8, 2025, as San Francisco’s 46th mayor. The well-attended ceremony was held in front of City Hall and extended into Civic Center Plaza. With his family by his side, Lurie was sworn in by Deputy Public Defender Jessie A. Peterson.

From the podium in front of City Hall, Lurie delivered the following inaugural remarks:

“Today, I am deeply honored to begin serving as your mayor. This is the city where I was born, the city I call home, and the city I believe in with all my heart.

I entered this race not as a politician, but as a dad who couldn’t explain to my kids what they were seeing on our streets. San Francisco has long been a beacon of compassion and progress, and it’s time for us to be at the forefront of change once again. The crises of addiction, homelessness, and public safety are immense, but they are outweighed by our collective will and determination to heal our city and restore a sense of safety and hope for all San Franciscans.

Inauguration Day marks the beginning of a new era of accountability, service, and change at City Hall. Starting today, my administration will take bold, unapologetic action to tackle our most pressing challenges. We will treat the fentanyl crisis as the emergency it is, revitalize downtown and our economy so that businesses large and small can thrive, and ensure that every San Franciscan shares in our recovery and prosperity.

San Francisco has faced hard times before, and we always rise to the challenge. I am proud to work in partnership with the members of the Board of Supervisors, city departments, and the thousands of city workers who work tirelessly on the front lines every day. But every San Franciscan must do their part to help to turn around our city.

It can be as simple as picking up litter on

your street, shopping and dining locally, visiting a museum, taking in a performance or sporting event, joining your local Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT), or working downtown an extra day per week.

I’m asking you to join me as we reclaim San Francisco’s rightful place as a global symbol of innovation and compassion. No one else gets to define who we are. When we are at our best, we are the greatest city in the world.

It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to work. This is where our comeback begins.”

In the evening, Mayor Lurie attended a community-led celebration held in San Francisco’s Chinatown. He addressed a large crowd gathered on Grant Street prior to attending a dinner at the Far East Cafe hosted by Chinese community organizations including the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, the Chinese Hospital, API Council, the Asian Justice Movement, and others.

https://www.sf.gov/profile/daniel-lurie

Since announcing his intention to run for election in late 2023, Daniel Lurie has signaled his support for San Francisco’s LGBTQ+ community. A large contingent of supporters escorted him on Market Street in the Pride Parade on Sunday, June 30, 2024.

Shortly after he won the election in November 2024, Lurie wanted to highlight his administration’s support and did so by scheduling his first visit to a reception at Openhouse that was attended by representatives from leading LGBTQ+ organizations.

Southern California’s LGBTQ+ Community Unites to Support Victims, First Responders of Devastating Wildfires

Photos courtesy of Cal Fire Official/Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/calfire/

Southern California’s LGBTQ+ communities, skilled at organizing and fundraising, were among the first to raise funds and collect essential items for victims of the Palisades, Eaton, and other fires ravaging Southern California.

On January 12, 2025, for example, the Los Angeles LGBT Center held an LA Wildfire Relief Drive at Pride Hall, where individuals donated essentials such as nonperishable foods, new or gently used clothes, new or unwrapped toiletries, cleaning and pet care supplies, and much more.

Music superstars from the queer community are expected to participate in a benefit concert later this month for the fire victims. The fundraiser is scheduled for January 30 at the Intuit Dome and is being organized by Irving Azoff and his family. Music manager Azoff has worked with Elton John, Harry Styles, Lady Gaga, Brandi Carlile, and too many other well-known performers to mention.

Such efforts of support and unity are countering the baseless accusations that the far right has been hurling against prominent out leaders such as Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) Chief Kristin Crowley, who is a lesbian.

As Joe Hollendoner, the CEO of the Los Angeles LGBT Center, said: “Chief Crowley has been the subject of senseless and relentless homophobic attacks by bad actors in the media, despite her proven track record and leadership that have won her the support of this great city. The Center is proud of the LAFD and Chief Crowley.”

Hollendoner also expressed support for other first responders who have been battling the blazes. On January 10, 2025, he said, “This week we witnessed the absolute heroism of Los Angeles’ finest— our first responders and Fire Department. Their courage and skill was on full display when the Sunset Fire blazed in the Hollywood Hills, drawing near to many of the Center’s locations, including our affordable housing facility for LGBTQ+ seniors. As these individuals worked tirelessly via land and air to control the blaze, our employees and clients waited, as many Angelenos have over these past few days, for the worst.”

He added, “Times like these remind us of the good that is pervasive in our humanity. That when we are confronted by the fragility and ephemerality of our lives and our world, our instinct—our truth—is to help one another. After all, it’s the City of Angels for a reason. Some of those angels are our firefighters, while others are everyday people like the Center’s staff, who work tirelessly to make sure the most vulnerable members of our community are cared for.”

“While some of our services were temporarily interrupted, the Center remains committed to playing our part in the urgent recovery process of the city we serve—ensuring that the LGBTQ+ community has the access to the essential resources it needs in the aftermath of this crisis,” he continued. “When the time comes for LA’s new beginning, I have no doubt that, together, we will make our beloved home shine once more.”

To sign up for updates on the January 30 FireAid Relief Concert, go to: https://intuitdome.com/fireaidrelief

A list of other ways you can help the Southern California fire victims, compiled by The New York Times, is at: https://bit.ly/3Whvuom

Palisades Fire

Eaton Fire

LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley was honored as Community Grand Marshal of the 2024 Los Angeles Pride Parade

Joe Hollendoner

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

In Case You Missed It

Joanie Juster

The social media landscape as we know it has been in turmoil for quite a while, especially since a certain multibillionaire turned Twitter into “X,” which quickly degraded from the go-to platform for sharing news and ideas into a hate-filled free-for-all.

On January 8, in a craven concession to pressure from the incoming administration and conservative activists, Mark Zuckerberg announced that his company, Meta—home of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads— would be ending its long-standing fact-checking program, claiming that professional fact-checkers showed a liberal bias, and were silencing conservative voices. But even Zuckerberg had to admit that leaving fact-checking up to Facebook users would result in an increase in the spread of

both disinformation and hate speech. Meta has said they would be replacing professional fact-checking with a “community notes” program, where users themselves would report on perceived breaches of the platform’s policies. He claimed that Meta was making the move to community notes after “seeing this approach work on X.”

Uh huh.

The reaction on Facebook to Zuckerberg’s announcement was swift and furious. Many people immediately declared they were leaving Facebook, no longer feeling safe. Many posted that anyone looking for them on social media could find them on Bluesky, finding that platform to feel safer and kinder.

I understand their fears and concerns. I find Zuckerberg’s kowtowing to the far right reprehensible. But I also know that Facebook, like any other platform, is a tool that, at least for the time being, we can customize to a large extent for our own purposes. Over the years it has become an invaluable tool for staying in touch with people, communicating ideas, sharing information, and building community. It is where we celebrate when times are good, and console each other in times of sorrow. And, like any tool, it can be used for good, or for evil.

At least for now, I’m going to stay on Facebook (and yes, I’m on Bluesky as well, at @jjinsf). Using social media to lift each other up is a form of day-to-day resistance against those who would spread hate and division. I feel it is my duty to counter hatred with

kindness, and disinformation with truth. I’m not letting them win without a fight.

January 20, 2025

Monday, January 20, will mark Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, a national holiday commemorating the life and legacy of the leading proponent for nonviolent activism in the civil rights movement. The holiday, which was first celebrated on January 20, 1986, is observed on the third Monday of January. In 1994, President Bill Clinton signed into law a bill co-authored by Congressman John Lewis and Senator Harris Wofford, designating the holiday the “Martin Luther King, Jr., National Day of Service.” Since that time, service opportunities have been coordinated nationally by AmeriCorps, the federal agency that provides grants to organizations that coordinate service activities on MLK Day. Throughout the country, countless Americans perform acts of community service each year on MLK Day.

every sign of being antithetical to everything Dr. King stood for. The confluence of these two divergent events offers interesting opportunities on how to commemorate the day, and to reflect on what kind of country we want to live in.

Why this little history lesson? Because in 2025, for only the third time since its inception, MLK Day also coincides with the presidential inauguration. This year that means the inauguration of a president, and the beginning of an administration that shows

No matter where you sit on the political spectrum, I think we can all agree that Monday, January 20, 2025, will mark an historic change in our country and its direction. In a peaceful transfer of power, a president and his team will be taking the reins of our government—a team that has signaled their intention to dismantle and reshape much of that government, and which is threatening retribution and harm to anyone who doesn’t toe their line. The United States, as we have known it, is going to change dramatically as

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President Bill Clinton signed the King Holiday and Service Act on August 22, 1994, in a Rose Garden ceremony at the White House. The bill established the Martin Luther King, Jr., National Day of Service.

CREDIT: WHITE HOUSE PHOTO

San Francisco Supervisor Jackie Fielder, who identifies as queer, celebrated with friends and supporters in her office at City Hall after her Board of Supervisor swearing in ceremony held on January 8th. Elected to office in the November general election, she represents the city’s 9th District that includes the Mission District, Bernal Heights, and Portola.

Photos by Rink

(continued

of that day. Brace yourself, and prepare to resist.

Here are some suggestions on how to spend inauguration day. First, live up to the spirit of the National Day of Service. Volunteer in some meaningful way to uplift your community, especially those who have the most to fear from the incoming administration. Be an ally, and support those who need a friend.

https://tinyurl.com/MLKVol25

Second, join in San Francisco’s annual MLK March. Each year, the MLK March commemorates the historic Selma to Montgomery marches and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The march begins promptly at 11 am from San Francisco’s Caltrain Station, concluding 1.5 miles later at the Yerba Buena Gardens, where an interfaith commemoration, in partnership with the San Francisco Interfaith Council, will emphasize the need for unity and action, inspiring marchers to continue Dr. King’s work in the struggle toward justice and equity.

Jan 20, 2025

Watch Trump’s Inauguration + PostEvent Discussion at Manny’s

The MLK March is free and open to all, but groups of over 10 are encouraged to march together and register here:

https://tinyurl.com/MLKreg25

In addition to the MLK March, there are many other events and activities commemo-

rating King’s legacy, both on January 20 and in the days before. Concerts, art, service opportunities, and community gatherings are scheduled throughout the Bay Area. The San Francisco Chronicle compiled a list; find something here to inspire you:

https://tinyurl.com/MLKEvents25

But if you absolutely feel compelled to watch

the inauguration, don’t worry, we get it. No matter what, it’s an historic moment, and you might want to be around other people on that day to share thoughts and emotions. Once again, Manny’s has you covered. Information about Manny’s inauguration watch party and discussion is here: https://tinyurl.com/47Watch

Women’s March: Update

In January 2017, the Women’s March electrified people around the world, as individuals everywhere marched to support the rights and autonomy of women.

This year, while women’s rights are very much under attack, so are the rights of many others, and we must all stand united to protect each other. Therefore, the Women’s March has rebranded as the People’s March.

And while the main event will be in Washington, D.C., satellite marches are being scheduled all over the country, including several in the Bay Area. Marchers and volunteer peace ambassadors are needed for marches in Alameda, Berkeley, Marin, Pacifica, and San Francisco. For more information, to volunteer, or to march, go to: https://map.peoplesmarch.com/local

A Final Thought for Now

We are going to need our communities more than ever in the days/months/years ahead. The communities we have built are the lifelines that will protect us. Others want to divide us; we resist by building unity. Please stay safe, and look out for one another.

Joanie Juster is a long-time community volunteer, activist, and ally.

The Stones of Manzanar

6/26 and Beyond

Stuart Gaffney and John Lewis

The setting was both beautiful and haunting. The jagged snow-capped peaks of the Eastern Sierra gleamed against the clear blue sky. A warm winter sun shone on the barren high desert at the foot of the mountains. For millennia, the native Nüümu (Paiute) and Newe (Shoshone) peoples had lived in harmony on this land they called Payahuunadü. Today, on a large plot of that land, lies the ruins of the notorious Manzanar detention camp, one of ten such camps in which the American government during World War II imprisoned approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans, over 60% of whom were American citizens, for no reason other than their race and ancestry.

Over the New Year’s holiday, we visited the impressive Manzanar National Historic

Site, run by the National Park Service with the help of numerous non-profit organizations and volunteers. The site contains what remains of the actual camp. Housed in the old auditorium building is an extensive museum that recounts unflinchingly what took place during the Japanese American internment, gives voice to those detained there, and preserves artifacts from the camp. In addition, some parts of the camp, including representative barracks, a mess hall, a guard tower, and even the basketball court and baseball field, have been reconstructed. Further restoration is underway.

Just over two months after the Japanese military’s attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which authorized the forced removal of all Japanese Americans from the West Coast. As the April 6, 1942, edition of Life magazine on display at the museum put it, the expulsion would continue until “every individual of Japanese descent—whether friend or foe—is banished from the strategic areas of the coastal States.”

Although national security was the purported purpose of the evacuation, many Japanese Americans had built successful farms and businesses before the war, and wartime hysteria pro-

vided those who resented Japanese Americans’ success the opportunity to take away their land, businesses, livelihoods, and homes.

Fumiko Hayashida described how when she was forced to depart her home “[w]e could only carry what we could carry,” her own luggage filled with her young children’s diapers and clothes. Kay Sakai Nakao recalled: “We didn’t even know where we were going, to the Arctic or to the desert or in between. Nobody said anything. We were just leaving, period.”

Upon arrival at the site, Amy Uno Ishii recounted: “There were no trees, nothing green, it was all brown ... .” The area was “in the middle of a dust storm. You couldn’t open your mouth because all the dust would come in ... . It was a horrible feeling and there was total confusion.”

Mary Suzuki Ichino summed up the ordeal

of being imprisoned at Manzanar as “like going from a human being to an animal.”

Despite all of this, Life characterized Manzanar as a “scenic spot of lonely loveliness,” while at the same time reminding readers that “Manzanar was a concentration camp, designed eventually to detain at least 10,000 potential enemies of the U.S.” The magazine reported that everything had gone smoothly so far, but it emphasized that “the Army would not shrink from using force to complete evacuation, if other methods failed.” Another purported justification for the camps was to protect Japanese Americans from the hostility of other Americans, causing one prisoner to wonder aloud: “If we were put there for our protection, why were the guns at the guard towers pointed inward, instead of outward?”

Nothing was more evocative for us on our visit to Manzanar than the ruins of traditional Japanese gardens that detainees had constructed throughout the camp to provide places of peace and comfort under such difficult circumstances. In some ways, the gardens constituted quiet acts of resistance—“radical acts of joy” in the vocabulary of our fellow Bay Times columnist Joanie Juster— with the largest one even named “Pleasure Park” for a period of time.

Large stones and gravel are an integral element of many Japanese gardens, and the gardens’ exposure to decades of harsh weather stripped away all else except their stones and the cement skeletons of the ponds, exposing their elemental existence and pointing to what Zen Buddhism describes as their “suchness.” At the same time, the garden ruins seemed to resemble a type of post-apocalyptic scene, where little remained except tumbleweeds drifting (continued on page 9)

Reconstructed guard tower at Manzanar

Entry sign of Manzanar detention camp

Children’s village, Manzanar

Ruins of traditional Japanese garden at Manzanar

against rocks and dry ponds where once verdant gardens grew and water flowed. Of course, the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II left actual nuclear nightmare landscapes.

As we stood reflecting on the remains of the gardens, a provocative, counterintuitive observation by the twentieth-century writer Walker Percy came to mind. During the height of post-World War II, Cold War nuclear anxiety, he wrote: “what people really fear is not that the bomb will fall but that the bomb will not fall.” Percy’s words have been interpreted to speak of people’s deep yearning for release from their feelings of alienation from each other

and the frustrations of everyday life.

World War II, which cost over 70 million people their lives, taught us that hypernationalism, anti-immigrant hysteria, racism, discrimination, and authoritarianism—although initially attractive to many in times of uncertainty—provide no solution to our feelings of separation from others and the unsatisfactoriness of life itself. Given the rise of nationalism today in many parts of the world, including the U.S. with the return of Donald Trump to the White House, Manzanar stands as an important historical reminder close to home of what can go wrong when such forces dominate.

As 2025 unfolds, we will derive strength from the fortitude and resilience of Japanese Americans confined at Manzanar, as well as from the actions of all those who stood up against this deprivation of human rights. And we will remember the stillness we experienced as we stood in the warm sun amidst the garden stones that remain where they were placed by Japanese Americans over 80 years ago, likely never imagining they would continue to provide comfort generations later.

John Lewis and Stuart Gaffney, together for over three decades, were plaintiffs in the California case for equal marriage rights decided by the California Supreme Court in 2008. Their leadership in the grassroots organization Marriage Equality USA contributed in 2015 to making same-sex marriage legal nationwide.

Grandfather and grandchild at Manzanar

Reconstructed mess hall and women’s latrine at Manzanar

Orphans and infants in the nursery at Manzanar

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CONTRIBUTORS

WRITeRS

Rink, Sister Dana Van Iquity, Ann Rostow, Patrick Carney, Leslie Sbrocco, Kate Kendell, Gary M. Kramer, Joanie Juster, Robert Holgate, Eduardo Morales, Dennis McMillan, Tim Seelig, John Chen, Rafael Mandelman, Jewelle Gomez, Phil Ting, Rebecca Kaplan, Philip Ruth, Bill Lipsky, Elisa Quinzi, Liam Mayclem, Donna Sachet, Gary Virginia, Derek Barnes, Marcy Adelman, Jan Wahl, Stuart Gaffney & John Lewis, Brandon Miller, Jamie Leno Zimron, Howard Steiermann, Fernando Camino, Honey Mahogany, David Landis

PhOTOgRaPheRS

Rink, Paul Margolis, Bill Wilson, Michael Kirschner, Sandy Morris, Karina Patel, Abby Zimberg, Joanie Juster, Debra Reabock

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IN MEMORIAM

Rink Remembers

Allan Baird

The passing on January 8, 2025, of labor leader Allan Baird, age 92, touched the hearts and minds of LGBTQ+ community members who recalled his role in the uniting of the labor and gay rights movements starting in 1973. That year, he led a boycott of Coors beer due to the company’s homophobic stances at the time. The boycott made national and even international headlines. It also helped forge the friendship between Baird and Harvey Milk, and led to Baird’s subsequent involvement as an ally of the gay community in the fight against the Briggs Initiative in 1978 that would have banned LGBTQ+ individuals from working in California schools.

LGBTQ+ activist and San Francisco Bay Times founding contributor Cleve Jones and colleagues organized a celebration honoring Baird in June of 2021 that included a rally at Harvey Milk Plaza and march through the Castro to Baird’s home, where he received a commendation presented by District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman.

Richard Bolingbroke

Close friends and chosen family of Richard Bolingbroke are grieving his loss following his unexpected death on December 28, 2024. He was a beloved friend, leather community member, and accomplished artist. A member of Artists Guild San Francisco, Bolingbroke was a former board president at ArtSpan and held key leadership roles at other nonprofit organizations.

His husband, Steve Gaynes, announced that a celebration of Bolingbroke’s life is planned for 1 pm on Saturday, March 1, 2025, at his studio (#1508) at Building 101, Hunters Point Shipyard.

Anita Bryant

The first issues of the San Francisco Bay Times in the 1970s highlighted the anti-LGBTQ+ efforts of singer and Christian activist Anita Bryant (1940–2025). At a time when LGBTQ+ individuals were fighting damaging ballot measures such as the Briggs Initiative, Bryant fueled homophobia via organized campaigns such as through her leadership of the Save Our Children coalition.

Although her anti-gay efforts were later mocked and resulted in dramatic career loses, she remained undaunted. In 2011, she defended her “activism,” saying: “I did the right thing,” and, “I never regretted what I did.”

https://bit.ly/3PzrJGT

Cleve Jones, accompanied by Teamsters Tizoc Arenas and Ruben Bustillos, were photographed with Baird at his home in June of 2021 following a march in his honor through the Castro.

Anita Bryant’s image was captured by Rink in his iconic Market Street photograph from the 1977 San Francisco Gay Parade where she was included adjacent to Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, the Ku Klux Klan, and Ugandan Idi Amin in a poster protest.

Watch “The Downfall of Anita Bryant” at

Allan Baird with Harvey Milk in a photograph by Richard Weiss taken at Island Restaurant in 1974.

JAMES C.

San Francisco Bay Times photographer Rink, who met Baird in the 1970s, captured images on Castro Street during the 2021 march in his honor.

During his regular Castro stroll on January 3, 2025, Rink photographed the memorial for Richard Bolingbroke, artist and leather community member, on the memorial grill at Hibernia Beach.

PHOTO BY RINK

PHOTO BY RINK

GLBT Fortnight in Review

By Ann Rostow

We’re Back!

It’s always tough to jump into the icy GLBT news pool at the start of the year. Not only did we have a week or so off for the holidays, but I used the last issue of December to print my news quiz. That means I haven’t actually written a news story for ages and ages. Not only have I forgotten what might have been going on in December, but I probably didn’t follow things in the first place given that I abandoned myself to despair in early November.

Some years, the delay allows me to stockpile extra news stories and breeze through the first issue of the year with effortless confidence. Not this year. As I said, I’ve ignored everything; political news, gay news, trans news, fun news, and weird news. Oh, but wait! My cousin recently sent me an item from The Daily Mail about a man who was killed while trying to rape a cow.

One might wonder why such a topic would find its way into a GLBT news column. Well, it’s partly because our community has long been associated with kinky sex, usually to our detriment. As such, this column has regularly featured non-gay people involved in offbeat erotic adventures as a backdrop to these unfair stereotypes. That said, we’ve also not hesitated to highlight GLBT people getting up to naughty tricks as well, because as many readers will agree, this subject matter is often more compelling than another injunction from a federal appellate court. Let’s take our cow rapist. The man, a 40-something farmer from Brazil, was found dead in his cow pasture, wearing a condom. I gather the man spent the previous night drinking at home with a friend. The friend got up early to milk the cows, after which the farmer went out to “collect even more milk from the cows” (the Mail reports). A couple of hours later, the friend and a group of workers went out, found the farmer unconscious, and noticed he was wearing a condom (so he must have been naked). He died shortly afterwards. Had he discussed the prospect of abusing his cows with the friend? Was this a well-known habit? I’m guessing there was additional evidence, perhaps too salacious for the average Daily Mail subscriber.

Meanwhile, we also learned that a Russian tourist was gored by an angry cow in Thailand when he “stripped off” and tried to molest the animal. The 26-year-old man had been dumped by his girlfriend, understandably I’d say given his outre proclivities. She was a “Casablanca-born flight attendant from a major international airline,” we learn. Woo hoo!

Why strip for a cow? Just asking. According to The Daily Mail, the man recovered and might be sent to fight in Ukraine.

Cable News Beckons

I suppose I could scour the world wide web for half a dozen more scandalous entries and fill up my column in entertaining style. But

duty calls us back to our titular responsibility, news of interest to the GLBT community and her faithful allies.

It’s just so depressing!

I’m not just talking about GLBT news. We’re watching Los Angeles devastated by fire while Republican politicians point the finger at Democratic administrators and suggest that federal disaster relief might be contingent on reviewing California’s blue state policies. We’re watching lunatics prepare for Senate confirmation and listening to our incoming president speculate about invading Greenland or Panama.

I pledged to avoid political news until January 20, but now I’m considering extending that deadline. I see that Rachel Maddow is stepping back into her daily time slot for the first 100 days of the Trump administration, but I’m not sure I have the heart to listen to Rachel’s alarming observations and scary warnings about the end of Democracy in America.

We have four years of this ahead of us! With any luck, we can improve the balance of power in Congress in 2026, but since when have we had any luck? It just feels as if throwing up our hands is less of a cowardly retreat and more of a reasonable option.

In Comes Company!

Among the demoralizing headlines are several stories about major corporations that have turned their backs on diversity training and other “woke” strategies. According to the Human Rights Campaign, a record 1,449 businesses were part of the Corporate Equality Index this latest period, including 765 that earned a score of 100. One of those top performers was Meta, who just announced the termination of their “Diverse Slate Approach,” which I guess had been used to effect diversity in hiring. Meta is also “sunsetting our supplier diversity efforts” and “cancelling” the team that focused on DEI. Will they be able to keep their 100 percent rating on the HRC’s index? If so, just what are they measuring?

Joining Meta in rolling back GLBT outreach are other big players. According to The Christian Post, companies that have recently dropped DEI and stopped participating in the HRC index include Tractor Supply, John Deere, Harley Davidson, Jack Daniels, Lowes, Ford, Nissan, Coors, Black and Decker, Caterpillar, Toyota, and Walmart. I’ve heard other names bandied about, but we don’t need to track down every single company to understand that the trend away from supporting GLBT rights is clearly underway. Ironically, American corporations have been some of our most solid and effective allies over the last couple of decades and they’ve supported us based on their analysis of the near-term future.

That future mostly came to pass. We won marriage equality, and solid majorities of Americans see sexual orientation is a neutral

(continued on page 14)

As we enter a brand-new year, let’s look back at 2024 and its many ups and downs.

By Donna Sachet

January 2024 included many of the expected events, such as the Imperial Crown Prince and Princess Ball, this time at the Cat Club with King Khalil Munro and Nicole Duminic, and Krewe de Kinque’s Bal Masque XXI, celebrating at The Cafe on Market Street the successful year of King Robert “Mez” Tucker and Queen Moxie Penn, and introducing King Robert Makowka and Queen Vivianne Vixen. In addition, Artistic Director Jake Stensberg of the SF Gay Men’s Chorus conceived of the Memory Keepers Initiative, an opportunity to reflect on the unique stories from a variety of groups within our larger LGBTQ+ Community. He invited us to host the first panel discussion at the new Chan National Queer Arts Center and we invited Derek Barnes, Selisse Berry, and Alexis Miranda to serve as panelists. It was a lively discussion, covering origin stories, personal challenges and triumphs, and audience engagement.

February too held many of the annual events we’ve come to enjoy but several brand new or once-in-a-lifetime events stood out. Mark Rhoades hosted a screening of Pursuit of Equality: The Unfinished Work of American Freedom, the 2005 documentary about the ultimately successful fight for marriage equality that started right here in San Francisco; the screening was attended by Governor Gavin Newsom himself.

“Don’t say, ‘Unlucky am I, because this has befallen me.’ Nay, rather:

‘Lucky am I, because, though this befell me, I continue free from sorrow, neither crushed by the present nor fearing what is to come.’”

—Marcus Aurelius

Kelley Wagg & Charles Sanderson were married at Beaux in one of those onlyin-San-Francisco gatherings, bringing together their families, friends, and associates from far and wide. Marilyn Levinson continued her revival of the Venetian Room with her Bay Area Cabaret shows, this time featuring Max von Essen, Tony, Drama Desk, and Grammy nominated singer, taking a short break from his starring role in Chicago on Broadway. The month ended, as it has for as long as we can remember, with Imperial Coronation, a grand spectacle worthy of this nearly 60-year-old philanthropic organization, started right here in San Francisco by José Sarria. Emperor Michael Anthony Chua and Empress Cameron StiehlMunro completed their reign at Imperial Coronation 59: Seasons of Love, where touching anniversary productions were a highlight of the evening, most notably the 30-year anniversary presentation by Empress XXIX Anita Martini and 25-year by Empress XXXIV Sheba. The culmination of the night was the crowning of the new Emperor and Empress of San Francisco, Bob Glas and Linda Summers.

pm at the Hyatt Regency SF, 50 Third Street. (For tickets and more information: https://bit.ly/4jkqIAr ) Pictured with Donna, in this throwback photo, is Sachet’s longtime friend, Absolute Empress XXIX Anita Martini.

March drew our attention to several smaller events, but events with particular meaning. We attended a special party at 440 to honor visiting Rita Rocket and a personal good-bye event with Sanjay Gujral as he announced the closing of the popular Castro restaurant Catch. We spent delightful evenings at New Conservatory Theater’s production of Jewelle Gomez’ Unpacking in P-Town and watching the Academy Awards at The Academy SF on Market Street. And we threw our energy behind a Krewe de Kinque fundraiser at Midnight Sun and another at 440 for America Legion Post 448. But the surprising and disappointing news was the resignation of the Reigning Emperor, the first in our nearly 60-year history, leaving Empress Linda Summers to reign alone. Many opinions abounded, but we have been pleased to see the community’s and particularly the Empresses’ support for Linda and her determination and resilience.

April led us to a number of major events, including a fundraiser for OUTWORDS, another in the Memory Keepers Initiative series, Equality California’s gala, Imperial Investiture, Community Health Center’s gala, and the LGBT Community Center’s Soirée.

But before this annual review moves much further along, let us mention those ongoing and thoroughly delightful monthly events at The Academy SF ... Divas & Drinks! For years now, we have been hosting a party with this publication to celebrate our entire community with live entertainment, special guests, fun and games, etc. and every month they show up! What fun! And finally, in April, we celebrated our own milestone birthday at a private party hosted by our dear friend and former roommate Michael Loftis in Santa Barbara with a five-course French homecooked dinner under the stars. It was magical!

May saw us once again joining the SF Gay/Lesbian Freedom Band for their spring concert Spotlight on Animation & Video Games and enjoying the final Memory Keepers Initiative of the SF Gay Men’s Chorus. After great debate, the Castro Theatre began its extensive refurbishing under the expert stewardship of Another Planet Entertainment and we got a private tour behind the scenes of the careful and artistically sensitive work being done. The Castro is sadly diminished without an active Castro Theatre, but wait until you see the results of the months of restoration in process now!

June is always a month full of events and 2024 was no exception! We took in all our favorite annual events, including the Pink Triangle Ceremony atop Twin Peaks, Broadway Bares with the Richmond/ Ermet Aid Foundation, the SF Giants Pride Game, Business of Pride at the Westin St. Francis, and various events at City Hall. In addition, we headed to Yoshi’s in Oakland to see Taylor Dayne live and in concert, hosted Maitri’s Heels for Hope at the Marine Memorial Theatre, welcomed Vice President Kamala Harris to San Francisco at a Manny Yekutiel-organized fundraiser, and joined the throngs in the Castro for the lighting of the Castro Theatre blade. We finished the month first at the SF Pride Parade, riding for the first time in ages in the parade in a car along with Khmera Rouge announcing the upcoming Sunday’s a Drag at Club Fugazi and then in Washington, D.C., at the Pride Party at the White House hosted by First Lady Jill Biden. This was a June for the history books!

July featured the Richmond/Ermet Aid (continued on page 14)

PHOTO BY SHAWN NORTHCUTT

In 1995, Donna Sachet was elected by the Imperial Court System as the XXX Absolute Empress of San Francisco. On February 22, 2025, a 30th Anniversary celebration of that milestone event will take place at the SF Imperial Coronation 60, beginning at 6

PHOTO COURTESY OF GARY

DONNA

SACHET (continued from pg 13)

Foundation’s 30th annual Help Is on the Way and it was splendid. Stars enthusiastically participated and the audience was entranced, securing the position of this event as one of the premier fundraisers of the year in San Francisco. Sunday’s a Drag entered a new chapter as we began performances at the legendary Club Fugazi in North Beach produced by Patrick Rylee, who brought such enthusiasm and joy to the project.

August saw several new events, including a collaboration between Opera Parallèle and the Transgender District called Expansive at A.C.T.’s stunningly refurbished Strand Theater. This show opened our eyes and ears to an incredible form of artistic expression. We also hosted a Garden Party fundraiser for AIDS Legal Referral Panel at Hot Johnnie’s on 18th Street. This has long been one of our favorite organizations and we were happy to have the opportunity to help out Executive Director Matt Forman in this way.

Early September, we spent some wonderfully relaxing time at the Russian River, again enjoying the hospitality of the r3 Hotel. Daddy Ray Tilton outdid himself organizing and overseeing this reunion weekend with many friends. Much later in the month, we again embraced our Leather roots at the Folsom Brunch at the home of Briggs Hawley, where a hardworking committee made sure hundreds of Leather folk were fed and provided libations in a low-key ambiance. And, yes, Ray Tilton had much to do with the success of this event as well. In between these two highlights, we joined Michael Loftis for Opening Night of the SF Opera, once again enjoying a night of fantasy among San Francisco’s elite. He was the perfect escort and it was a perfect night! Both the GAPA Runway Pageant and the Mr./Ms./Miss/Mx. Pageant of the Imperial Council provided evenings of fierce competition and amazing creativity.

October was full, as always, of annual galas for many of our favorite organizations, doing important charitable work and throwing incredible events. PRC’s Mighty Real at The Pearl amazed us all with its creative setting and meaningful program, awarding some stellar individuals for their tireless work. The Horizons Foundation’s gala at the Academy of Sciences also provided a fresh setting and presented awards to outstanding recipients. But the event of the month, if not the year, was a fabulous birthday celebration at the Hibernia Bank Building for Cleve Jones, attended by nearly every mover and shaker in the city and setting a new bar for birthday parties. Cleve felt the love of a community to which he has dedicated his life and we all felt honored to be included.

November took us to Palm Springs for Pride, a trip that has become a welcome respite, especially in the excellent care of our host Tom Ray and in the company of so many long-time friends. We returned to San Francisco to be faced with a devastating federal election result, but a distinct honor at The Academy SF, where we were named a Legend, joining a handful of fellow designees in an evening of love and support. As you all know by now, then things became hazy, as the beginning symptoms of a stroke reared their heads and sidelined this intrepid columnist, ending our 2024 on an unexpected note, but with a myriad of reminders of the love and support that has always surrounded us here in our beloved San Francisco. As we begin to emerge from these recent surprises, the only thing certain is that nothing is certain. We’ll see you soon and face 2025 with gratitude for all your continuing support. Happy New Year!

Donna Sachet is a celebrated performer, fundraiser, activist, and philanthropist who has dedicated over two decades to the LGBTQ Community in San Francisco. Contact her at empsachet@gmail.com

ROSTOW (continued from pg 11)

attribute rather than a perversion. But another near-term future is turning business away from social politics. That’s the future where transgender men and women are rejected and our larger GLBT community is isolated in solidarity. How long will it last, and what will reverse it? Who knows?

Silly Season

The next state legislative sessions are right around the corner, and I already see that Idaho has introduced a non-binding resolution calling on the Supreme Court to reverse its 2015 marriage equality ruling in Obergefell v Hodges. I think we reported last time that Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas introduced the “Defining Male and Female Act of 2024,” which purports to define sex as male or female throughout the federal code. And we’ll be sure to encounter a long list of surreal motions and filings before our time expires.

Most of these usually come to naught and can easily be ignored right from the start. Others, particularly the antitrans efforts, may land on fertile ground and make it to a red governor’s desk. That said, most of the low-hanging anti-trans fruit has already been enacted into law. Some red states, late off the mark, will pass their own antisports or anti-health laws. But others will surely come up with new weapons with which to damage our transgender brothers and sisters.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court recently heard arguments in the challenge to Tennessee’s ban on health care for transgender youth. Tennessee’s law was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. But Biden’s Justice Department and others appealed and the High Court accepted review of the government’s petition. At oral arguments on December 4, it sounded as if the Court conservatives were sympathetic to the Tennessee side. But what will happen once Trump and company take charge a few days from now?

On the one hand, Trump could simply withdraw the case, rendering the whole thing moot and allowing Tennessee to enforce its anti-trans law. On the other hand, the Court seemingly wants to rule on this subject, which is the source of conflict on the appellate courts and general debate around the country. Given that the case is briefed and argued, the Court might just signal the administration to leave it be, and allow them to issue a broad anti-trans ruling in June.

Neither option seems pleasant.

Bigots Without Borders

In other bad news, anti-gay laws are going into effect or being strengthened in various countries around the world including Ghana, which is working on a prison sentence of up to five years for the “willful promotion, sponsorship, or support” of GLBT activities. Russia already punishes even the vaguest support for gay civil rights, while Erdogan told an audience that the Year of the Family will highlight Turkey’s “common responsibility to protect our children and youth from harmful trends and perverse ideologies.”

“Neoliberal cultural trends,” he warned, “ ... lead to LGBT and other movements gaining ground.”

I see that authorities in Malaysia confiscated 172 Swatch watches that were produced with rainbow colors to celebrate pride. A court just ordered the government to return the watches to Swatch, because they were taken

away from the Swiss company prior to the start of some antigay legislation that was used to justify their removal. Honestly, that’s what I remember from reading about this several hours ago, and I don’t feel like a lengthy search for the original source right now. The bottom line is that Malaysia’s Muslim overlords decided they hated rainbow watches and preemptively rounded them up. Now they have to give them back on a technicality, but they’re still jerks.

I could just throw a dart or two at a world map and likely land on another antigay and/or anti-trans horror show. Then I could look up the country’s history and give you a run down on various frightening laws and maybe a hair-raising anecdote or two. Instead, I like to wait until a specific headline hits my inbox. This way, I can provide a random smattering of anti-GLBT foreign news each week rather than a deluge.

Thanks For Nothing

We haven’t had the opportunity to discuss the 2025 budget process in any detail. Did our holiday festivities interfere with our professional agenda? So sorry!

I see that Biden was obliged to sign off on the $900 billion (give or take) defense budget. The National Defense Authorization Act included a ban on “medical interventions for the treatment of gender dysphoria ... that could result in sterilization [for] a child under the age of 18,” a little last-minute surprise from Speaker Mike Johnson, slipped in at a time when the must-pass bill met its dropdead deadline. True, it sounds as if the ban only applies to drastic surgeries or heavy-duty pills. But, in fact, the notion that a therapy “could” result in sterilization is enough to outlaw puberty blockers and hormones for transgender military kids.

According to The Washington Post (citing the ACLU), in 2017 there were 2,500 minor kids receiving this kind of care through the military’s health care system. That’s actually more than I would have expected, given that transgendered individuals represent about half of one percent of the population. But then I looked up the number of kids in the military health system: 1,600,000. One percent is 16,000 and you can do the math from there; maybe 10,000 trans kids, of which a quarter are seeking treatment. Or shall we say were seeking treatment, because that opportunity is over, thanks to Mike and company.

Speaking of transgender numbers, did you read about Charlie Baker’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee? Baker, the former governor of Massachusetts, is the head of the NCAA. Asked by Senator Dick Durbin how many NCAA student athletes currently played in U.S. colleges, Baker said 510,000. When asked how many transgender athletes Baker was aware of, Baker replied “ten.” So much for the horrifying possibility of muscle-bound transgender girls kneecapping their frail competitors and sending them to the ER, as suggested by our friendly GOP political campaigns.

I’m not sure what was buried in the other budget bills, and I’m not going to dig around for information at this late date. It’s done, it’s finished, there are worse things ahead of us, I’m guessing, and the holiday festivities are not over quite yet.

I’m ringing for the butler right now. Mulled wine! arostow@aol.com

‘Ask Dr. Tim’ Debut

Ask Dr. Tim

It’s 2025. We face it with mixed emotions shrouded with varying degrees of dread. This past week, I stepped into the first day of my 75th year. I did so kicking and screaming. OK, I’m 74, I was just screaming. My high kicks are not what they used to be. Speaking of legs and getting old, I was scheduled to have a knee replacement on New Year’s Eve. That was to be a cruel ending to 2024. At my pre-op appointment, I donned the lovely one-size-fits-all blue hospital shorts.

When the doctor took one look at my legs, he postponed the surgery. He couldn’t bear defacing such beautiful specimens the likes of which have not been seen since Ann Miller, Juliet Prowse, or Burt Reynolds’ 1972 spread in Cosmopolitan

If we had proceeded, this article would have been all about my new joint. Since it didn’t, I will proceed with my original plan for the new year: Ask Dr. Tim. I received a wide range of questions on topics from gays, sex, tattoos, work, and grief. I only have space to answer some of the questions. Please keep them coming.

Disclaimer: The only qualification I have is 74 years of living! I hold the same license for counseling as Dr. Phil: none. Here we go: As an overachiever and people pleaser, what is your process of finding “balance” in your life (family, husband, father, guncle, chosen family, work, spiritual connection, sex life, and your “me time”)? How can I implement those things to achieve balance?

Balance is one of the most difficult things anyone can find in life. For me, it all comes down to setting priorities. There is no way people can do all the things perfectly. Setting aside the expectations you put on yourself is key. In your question, you made a list of the things that vie for your time. It is daunting. Being retired, I do have a better view of how I would have done things differently with different priorities. I would have put biological/ chosen family higher in the pecking order.

They are going to be with you the rest of your life. Some things can be temporarily put near the bottom of the list. Some things can be combined. Your “me time” may have to be shared with family. Sex life can also be “me time.” It’s just shared with someone who is also having their “me time.” Write it down. Put percentages to each item on the list as to what you feel best serves you. It will change, but it’s a start.

How do I decide which is the best way to approach life, as a milk cow or a racehorse?

This question obviously comes from someone who has been at one of my workshops. Some years ago, I lost a job I wanted badly. They said, “We are looking for a milk cow. You are a racehorse.”

I’d never heard this, but they were right. I was young and needed the nudge to work on my milk cow self. This is what Myers Briggs teaches us. We fall naturally into one set of letters, but to be successful at life, we must develop the skills of the opposite letter. I am a racehorse, a dreamer. But without the daily work to support the dream, it will never come true. On the reverse side, it is great to do the routine work, but you must also step back and dream from time to time.

How does a recently divorced 54-yearold gay man find love? I prefer men in their 30s–40s and have gone on a few dates, several of which have ended with “you’re amazing, but you’re too old.” Please help.

I have three thoughts. All of these are “do as I say not as I have done.”

1. Date yourself for a while. Light some candles and listen to Bernadette Peters sing “Making Love Alone” for further instructions.

2. Stop looking. You don’t need a date. Lean into friends, hobbies, having fun. Let potential dates come to you.

3. Before you ask anyone on a date, tell them

you are 54 with all the rights thereunto appertaining. If they accept the date and then say you’re too old, they are creeps. You will have wasted time and money and sustained another bruise to your ego. Being honest up front will save you the pain. There are most definitely 30-year-olds looking for 50-year-olds! Trust me on that.

Some of the questions may have been partially answered in previous articles: I want to know about being in an age gap relationship. We are 61 and 40. https://sfbaytimes.com/may-to-december/

Are you the new Ann Landers or Dear Abby? Answer: Emily Post. https://sfbaytimes.com/obituary-for-decency/ I’m also saving some for next time. Among those:

With your decades of work in the LGBTQ+ space, how DO you deal

with all those gay egos?

I don’t know anyone else who has had the front row seat to death that you did. What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned from death and grief, and what has kept you going?

Of all your tattoos, which one or ones would you like to have fixed or wish you had never gotten?

I’m going to wait until you graduate to taking phone calls! (That won’t happen. I hate the phone. Maybe Zoom.)

This has been so much fun. Hopefully all the questions and answers have been fodder for thought. Keep sending your questions to askdrtims@gmail.com

Dr. Tim Seelig is the Conductor Laureate of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. http://www.timseelig.com/

Emily Post

Ann Landers/Esther Pauline Friedman Dear Abby (Abigail Van Buren)

For Women & Their Friends in the Castro ...

Introducing

Mimosa

The San Francisco Bay Times and Catch French Bistro are presenting a new monthly brunch and tea dance series in the Castro for women and their friends.

Dates for the first three in the series: Sundays: February 9, March 9, April 13 View the Super Bowl wtih us on February 9!

Event Schedule

12 noon–2 pm Brunch with Live Music

3 pm–5 pm Tea Dance with DJ

6 pm onwards Optional Dinner

A New Sunday Brunch & Tea Dance for Women in the Castro

Acclaimed musician Dr. Dee Spencer, founder of the Jazz Studies program at SFSU and an LGBTQ+ community favorite, will be playing her iconic “Red Piano” during brunch.

At 3 pm, guests can enjoy cocktail specials, mingling, and dancing to beats by the Catch house DJ.

Along with special brunch menu items, guests can indulge in the Catch French Bistro Bottomless Mimosa service. A full bar will also be available at all times. Members of the San Francisco Bay Times team are especially fond of the Bloody Marys, Margaritas with or without jalapeños (petit piment piquant in French), Martinis, and much more. Oysters on the half shell with champagne is yet another bar service favorite, along with fritto misto, beet salad, and many other select offerings.

Catch French Bistro, at 2362 Market Street, near the intersection of Castro and Market, is located in an historic building that originally housed the Jose Theater, which opened in 1912. Films such as A Wild Ride made it a welcoming community destination, and it has retained that quality ever since. Later it became the original home of The Names Project workshop where thousands of panels were created for the AIDS Memorial Quilt.

Following the March 2024 closure of the original Catch that had been in business since 2002, a Grand Reopening Party was held in September of last year to introduce, under new ownership, the venue’s French-themed menu and décor. Catch in the Castro has for over two decades been a neighborhood beacon, especially for weekend brunches, and Mimosa will enrich that tradition on select Sundays in the months to come.

Dr. Dee Spencer

The Profit Was Love

As the official biographer of Alice Walker, I spent nearly a decade researching the art and activism of a writer whose signature work, The Color Purple (1982), has sold more than five million copies and been translated into more than thirty languages. Moreover, The Color Purple has been adapted for two Hollywood movies and multiple stage productions in the U.S. and abroad.

Set in segregated Georgia, the release traces the life of Celie Johnson, a Black, sexually exploited teenager who, in an effort to understand her plight, writes letters to God.

In my exploration of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel’s reach (and Alice’s ascent as the first Black author to claim the award for fiction), I conducted scores of interviews with figures from her personal and professional life.

Among them: Alice’s first-grade teacher in her rural birthplace, Eatonton, Georgia; the Japanese translator of The Color Purple, in Tokyo; admirers of Alice’s books in Cuba; an HIV positive woman from Uganda who, at a health conference in Brazil, told me (with tears in her eyes) that Alice’s stance against female genital mutilation gave her hope.

I traveled to Kenya where Alice had crafted some of the poems in her debut release, Once (1968). Continuing, I connected with her “rainbow coalition” of lovers. I snacked on cashews with her brother Bill and later accompanied Alice to his funeral in Boston. I helped Alice’s sister Ruth find dry ice when a blackout in Atlanta imperiled the hams she’d stockpiled in her freezers.

During a trip to probe Alice’s support of traditional Hawaiian healers, I was chased by wild moa kāne (roosters) on Molokai. In Berkeley, I savored Thai coconut soup with one of Alice’s literary peers (herself a celebrated Black poet, now deceased).

By Evelyn C. White

This brings me to my late 1990s sojourn (accompanied by my partner, Joanne) at the Garden of the Heavenly Rest in Fort Pierce, Florida. For it was at the cemetery that Alice had purchased, in 1973, a headstone for the then unkempt, unmarked grave of Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960). Among other works, the writer published the now famed novel Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937).

But when Alice, then age 29, made her pilgrimage to Hurston’s gravesite, all of her books were out of print and her achievements largely forgotten; an offense that Alice lamented in her piece “In Search of Zora Neale Hurston,” first published in Ms. magazine, in 1975 (later reprinted as “Looking for Zora” in Alice’s 1983 essay collection In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens).

And thus did Alice, almost single-handedly, resurrect the life and legacy of a woman who’d once declared: “I do not attempt to solve any problems [in my novels]. I know I cannot straighten out with a few pen-strokes what God and men took centuries to mess up.”

Former “San Francisco Chronicle” reporter Evelyn C. White is the author of “Alice Walker: A Life.”

Alice Walker

Evelyn C. White

Special thanks to Evelyn C. White from the San Franciso Bay Times

Zora Neale Hurston’s grave has a stone installed by author Alice Walker that includes the inscription, “A Genius of the South.”

Zora Neale Hurston

PHOTO BY

Honoring the Legacy of Zora Neale Hurston on the 65th Anniversary of Her Passing

By Evelyn C. White

January 28, 2025, will mark the 65th anniversary of Zora Neale Hurston’s death. Here’s an excerpt from my book, Alice Walker: A Life (2004) that recounts Alice’s reclamation of the author that she, now 80, celebrates as a literary foremother.

“Today, visitors to the Garden of the Heavenly Rest will find a well-manicured cemetery ... . But on the sweltering day when Alice first visited the site, it was choked with waist-high brambles and weeds. Following the crude map she’d been given by the mortuary that oversaw Hurston’s funeral arrangements ... Alice made her way through the tangle of brush. But finding any grave in the wild morass masquerading as a cemetery was a challenge, and Hurston lacked a headstone.

Frustrated, Alice finally called out Hurston’s name for ‘divine help.’ She moved forward and promptly found herself standing in a sunken rectangle ‘about six feet long and about three or four feet wide.’

Paying heed to the diagram, but more importantly, to her intuition and respect for ancestral spirits, Alice was confident that she’d found [Hurston’s] final resting place. She marked the location and fending off swarms of insects and sandspurs, marched back through the brush to buy a memorial plaque.

Unable to afford the majestic black headstone (‘Ebony Mist’) that she felt best reflected Hurston’s achievements, Alice instead chose a plain gray marker, for which she paid about $250. For the inscription, she selected ‘A Genius of the South,’ from the poem ‘Georgia Dusk’ in Jean Toomer’s Cane. Beneath that, she directed the engraver to carve. ‘Novelist. Folklorist. Anthropologist.’—testaments to Hurston’s genius in each realm.

‘It was what I could do, and what I could do was just what was required,’ Alice later remarked about an effort she considered ‘neither grand nor historic ... . The profit was love.’

We are a people. A people do not throw their geniuses away. And if they are thrown away, it is our duty as artists and as Witnesses for the future to collect them again for the sake of our children, and, if necessary, bone by bone.”

Fort Pierce has since commemorated Hurston’s gravesite with an official Heritage Marker and created a public trail that features other notable places from her final years in the city.

Former “San Francisco Chronicle” reporter Evelyn C. White is the author of “Alice Walker: A Life.”

The correct date of Hurston’s birth has been verified to be 1891.

Photo courtesy of Zora Neale Hurston Papers, Special And Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida

Zora Neale Hurston posed with her suitcase to symbolize her travels through Florida collecting African Ameircan songs, dances, stories, and sermons.

Zora Neale Hurston at her typewriter photographed by The Saturday Evening Post in Melbourne, Florida, circa 1956

Zora Neale Hurston beating a hountar “mama drum” (1937)

U.S. Postal Service stamp issued Janaury 23, 2003 The New York Times, February 5, 1960

Trans Masc Series at BAMPFA Features Rare Queer Films

Local film curator Jenni Olson has assembled another program of Trans Masc films that will screen January 17 through February 23 at BAMPFA (Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive) in Berkeley.

The series opens with Paul B. Preciado’s celebrated documentary, Orlando, My Political Biography (2023; January 17, 7 pm). “Freely adapted” from Virginia Woolf’s 1928 novel, Orlando: A Biography, this film features twenty interviewees recounting a collective history of their trans experiences. The subjects read from Woolf’s book and talk about their non-binary identities and gender dysphoria. They meet with a psychiatrist (portrayed by Frédéric Pierrot), have surgeries, take hormones, and discuss other health issues. The various episodes reflect and illuminate the trans experience, destigmatizing it while also calling attention to oppression, inequality, colonialism, and the patriarchy. This is a cogent documentary about how members of the trans community want and need to be seen.

Stranger Inside (2001; January 19, 5 pm) is out director Cheryl Dunye’s riveting sophomore feature, made for HBO, about 18-year-old Treasure (Yolonda Ross) being transferred to the State Women’s Facility. Once inside the penitentiary, she hopes to meet Brownie (Davenia McFadden), her mother, whom she has never known. As Treasure navigates life inside, her initial meeting with Brownie is fraught. Eventually, the two butch women bond—Brownie inks a matching tattoo on Treasure’s arm— and Treasure wants to move into Brownie’s cell. However, situations, such as trouble with Kit (Rain Phoenix), Brownie’s “adopted” in prison daughter, spark epi-

sodes of violence that have consequences. Stranger Inside makes the mama drama compelling because Ross and McFadden are both superb. The film also provides insights about race and women in prison that add texture and shading to the story. Dunye will appear in person for a post-screening talkback.

Vera (1986; January 29, 7 pm) is a sensitive portrait of transmaculine Vera renamed Bauer (Ana Beatriz Nogueira), who was raised in an orphanage. (Scenes depict Bauer’s experiences that range from tough to tender, including a request for Bauer to “stop the tomboy business.”) Now 18, Bauer gets a job with the help of Professor Paulo (Raul Cortez), who warns Bauer that folks may show prejudices because of Bauer’s gender identity. At work, Bauer falls for Clara (Aida Leiner) and dedicates a poem to her. However, Clara, a single mother, is not queer. Yet things become complicated as Bauer expresses jealousy when Clara connects with a man, or during a moment of intimacy, when Clara unbinds Bauer’s breasts. Vera is a slow, stylized film that shows the difficulties its transmasculine title character faces. When Bauer claims he is “fed up,” it is quite powerful. This landmark Brazilian film was ahead of its time.

Pariah (2011; February 6, 7 pm) is out writer/director Dee Rees’ outstanding feature debut based on her 2007 short of the

same name. Alike (Adepero Oduye) is a teenager who hides her AG (aggressive) butch identity from her religious mother Audrey (Kim Wayans), while also grappling with her desires for her classmate, Bina (Aasha Davis). The dazzling cinematography reinforces images of Alike’s gender, sexuality, and identity, and Rees allows her characters to have quiet, revealing moments. The drama comes to a head in a searing, shattering episode with Alike and her mother, but Alike’s articulation of her desires and frustrations never seem cliché. Rees shows incredible sensitivity as a filmmaker and Oduye delivers an incandescent performance.

Summer Vacation 1999 (1988; February 14, 7 pm) is a hothouse Japanese drama set in and around an empty boys’ school. Significantly, all the male roles are played by young girls, which adds an extra layer of meaning when one character expresses his fears about not being able to live authentically. The film opens with Yu (Eri Miyajima) committing suicide because he is smitten with Kazuhiko (Tomoko Ôtakara), who does not love him back. When Kaoru (Miyajima in a double role) arrives as a new student, the classmates, including Norio (Eri Fukatsu) and Naoto (Miyuki Nakano), are struck by the fact that Kaoru looks just like Yu and wonder if it is really him. As Kazuhiko is haunted by dreams about Yu, Summer Vacation 1999 presents intriguing ideas of resuscitation and reincarnation. As the characters express their longings and loneliness and discuss how they feel like outcasts, this provocative drama casts a real spell.

Something Special aka Willy/ Milly (1986; February 20, 7 pm) is a teen coming-of-age

comedy about Milly (Pamela Adlon as Pamela Segall), who wishes she were a boy so she can be taken seriously. After her best friend Stephanie’s (Mary Tanner) brother Malcolm (Seth Green) gives her a potion that will make her “deepest darkest heart’s desire” come true, Milly wakes up with male genitalia and becomes Willy—much to the consternation of her mother (Patty Duke) and the appreciation of her father (out actor John Glover), who teaches him “how to be male.” Willy enters a new school where he befriends Alfie (Eric Gurry) and soon falls for him (creating a gay panic for Alfie). The trans masc plotting provides an opportunity to comically address gender roles, pronouns, and deadnaming, as well as Willy determining which bathroom to use. Although Something Special is dated and can feel a bit amateur at times, this scrappy little film is oddly endearing and will satisfy curious viewers.

Rounding out the program is a non-masc film, Muchachas de Uniforme (1951; February 23, 7 pm), which was unavailable for preview. The film is a rarely screened Mexican remake of the 1931 lesbian classic, Machen in Uniform

Masc II: Mascs plus Muchachas: Butch Dykes, Trans Men, and Gender Nonconforming Heroes in Cinema will take place January 17–February 23, 2025, at the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive, 2155 Center Street, in Berkeley. For tickets and more information, visit https://bit.ly/3WivEvP

© 2025 Gary M. Kramer

Gary M. Kramer is the author of “Independent Queer Cinema: Reviews and Interviews,” and the co-editor of “Directory of World Cinema: Argentina.” He teaches Short Attention Span Cinema at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute and is the moderator for Cinema Salon, a weekly film discussion group. Follow him on Twitter @garymkramer

Film

Gary M. Kramer

Pariah Muchachas de Uniforme

Orlando, My Political Biography Vera

Castro Night Market

The Castro came alive with neighbors, friends, vendors, and civic leaders who filled 18th Street on Friday, December 20, 2024, during the second in the series of Castro Night Market events coordinated by the Castro Merchants Association. San Francisco Bay Times volunteer coordinator Juan R. Davila staffed the Bay Times booth. Dressed as The Grinch, he posed for photos with visitors throughout the evening.

The Castro Night Market features local food vendors, merchants, and live entertainment on the 3rd Friday of select months. The schedule for 2025, so far, includes the following dates: March 21, May 16, July 18, and September 19. For more information: https://castronightmarket.com/

A Few Good Films and Some Like It Hot!

Off the Wahl

Jan Wahl

Ever play that game around a table full of friends asking, “What is your one favorite character trait of your own?” It is a good question to start us off on a positive during these challenging times. Answering the question myself, my first thought is enthusiasm, something I was glad to have after long, slow, ridiculous movies. Thankfully, adventurous is another great adjective for some of us, including three fabulous movie stars who came forward this year with sensational, courageous performances. Pass on the flat, one-dimensional women of Nicole Kidman (the derivative Babygirl ) and Angelina Jolie (Maria, which turns the remarkable Maria Callas into an ad for anti-depressives). Instead, meet gutsy Kate Winslet in Lee. Lee Miller was a leading model in 1920s Paris, basking in an avant-garde life. She needed more, and when World War Two began, she found her way to the front, becoming a war photographer. We see what Lee sees, her photos taking us with her, from battlegrounds to Hitler’s private bathtub.

Winslet wears her insides on the outside, sending me straight to a 2020 documentary, Capturing Lee Miller, and googling everything I can find about this woman who broke taboos and defied expectations. This is an Oscar-worthy performance.

At the same time, I am rooting for two men who took on unforgettable characters. My favorite movie of 2024 was A Real Pain, a story of two mismatched cousins who travel to Poland in search of family roots. Directed, written, and starring Jesse Eisenberg, it is Kieran Culkin who steals the show in this perfect 90 minutes of hopeful, healing, and honest filmmaking. How about a new rule? If you can’t tell it in around 90 minutes, don’t tell it!

The other good news concerns the actor I never miss: Adrian Brody. The Brutalist is made for those of us interested in architecture, and at 3 hours and 35 minutes, gives this wild actor a workout. He’s up for it, as is Ralph Fiennes in a better film, Conclave

So, now I’m asking: Where’s the comedy? We need light as well as profundity, and fortunately Twisters and Wicked let in some cinematic thrills. Wicked was disappointing, but worth seeing to find the fuss, and who knew that a new disaster movie, Twisters, would make storm chasing a bit of scientific fun?

Sing Sing lets a sliver of light in prison, reminding us of the value of theatre no matter where it lives. Blitz, like Wicked and Twisters, delivers on amazing special effects and doesn’t feel like it came from a computer. Timothée Chalamet learned to (continued on page 36)

Leave Signs

I grew up listening to AM radio in Boston in the 1960s; every day I heard the widest variety of popular songs from three decades. I came to love, not just the music of Sam Cooke, Patti LaBelle, Dean Martin, and Patsy Cline, but also the lyrics that were poems. They told stories, which led me to storytelling myself and to poetry.

Most English teachers in the 1950s and ‘60s simply taught the “literary canon”—writing they thought was good for you, like cod liver oil. Few knew how to convey the passion

Jewelle Gomez

Don’t Be Afraid of Poetry

and impact of the ideas and images a poem conveys, leaving generations of students dreading the word “poetry” as if it were code for incomprehensible boredom.

Black Arts Movement poets like Audre Lorde (who proclaimed, “Poetry is not a luxury”) cracked open the code. I understood; Smokey Robinson’s lyrics ignited

something inside of me, and a lyric poem could do the same. Adrienne Rich wrote: “This impulse to enter, with other humans, through language, into the order and disorder of the world, is poetic at its root as sure as it is political at its root.”

So, to start this disordered new year, I’m bringing some poets into my everyday reading, starting with Cheryl Clarke (@ bdpoet), whose classic book of poems Living as a Lesbian and her essay “Lesbianism: An Act of Resistance” opened new pathways in literature and Black feminist politics. An old friend and comadre, she has been

Top of your stack

RECOMMENDATIONS FROM BOOK PASSAGE

Playworld: A Novel (fictionhardcover) by Adam Ross

In Playworld, 14-year-old actor Griffin Hurt navigates fame, family turmoil, and a dangerous affair in 1980s Manhattan. As the adults around him spiral into excess, Griffin struggles to find his footing.

Aflame: Learning From Silence (non-fiction - hardcover) by Pico Iyer

In Aflame, Pico Iyer reflects on decades of retreats to a Benedictine hermitage, finding clarity and joy in silence amid life’s upheavals. Iyer reveals how stillness can guide us to live, love, and face life’s deepest challenges with grace.

I Might Be in Trouble (fiction - hardcover) by Daniel Aleman

In this darkly comedic thriller, a struggling writer wakes up to find his date dead beside him and seizes the chaos as potential inspiration for his next novel. With the help of his quick-thinking agent, he must unravel the mystery, cover his tracks, and decide just how far he’s willing to go to reignite his career.

Upcoming Events

Saturday, January 18 @ 4 pm (non-ticketed - Corte Madera Store) Schuyler Bailar, author of He/She/ They: How We Talk About Gender and Why It Matters

He/She/They by trans activist Schuyler offers a compassionate guide to understanding gender identity, addressing critical issues like pronouns, healthcare, and trans rights while celebrating trans joy and humanity.

Sunday, January 19 @ 4 pm (non-ticketed - Corte Madera store) Eleanor Vincent, author of Disconnected: Portrait of a Neurodiverse Marriage

Disconnected follows Eleanor and Lars as their late-life romance is tested by job loss, health crises, and the challenges of a neurodiverse marriage. Struggling to bridge the gap in understanding, Eleanor must decide whether to fight for their love or let go of her dream of happiness. Vincent will be joined in conversation by Elizabeth Styx.

Tuesday, January 21 @ 6 pm (non-ticketedCorte Madera store) Senator Ron Wyden, author of It Takes Chutzpah: How to Fight Fearlessly for Progressive Change

In It Takes Chutzpah, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden reclaims the bold spirit of “chutzpah” to inspire meaningful change. Sharing “12 Rules of Chutzpah,” he shows how courage, persistence, and alliances can protect values like free speech, healthcare, and the environment. Senator Wyden will be joined by Lisa Kay Solomon.

https://www.bookpassage.com/

publishing for more than 40 years, and her new poetry collection was published by a mainstream press for the first time. It’s called Archive of Style: New and Selected Poems ( https://bit.ly/3DUHC8l ) and it reflects Clarke’s decades of political activism and thinking about the value of Black women in our culture.

Clarke’s poems, which occasionally focus on musical heroes such as Billie Holiday or Sam Cooke, often have a rhythm and syncopation that are palpable. We see it in her eruptions of desire threaded through her work from a new poem, “Make me a habit of you,” to one of her classics, “Mavis writes in her journal,” which opens: “ ... I know Geneva loves me/more than the man she sleeps with every night ... .”

The profound emotion Clarke elicits from political observations is raw and mythic, whether she’s telling the story of Sandra Bland’s murder by the police or invoking women to help show the way to the future as in “leave signs,” an invocation that shapes all I do. Clarke’s erudition, political analysis, and passion make her writing

(continued on page 34)

Lit Snax

This is a queer, Iranian-American coming-of-age story that stretches the bounds of the genre to include a meditation on, you guessed it, martyrdom and the meaning of death. We predict people will be talking about Martyr! for a long, long time to come.

M. Lavery

This novel follows the funny and fun goings on in a 1960s Manhattan hotel for females only. The author is a former Dear Prudence advice columnist!

is a wonderfully researched and fair

the

and his

https://www.fabulosabooks.com/

about

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

A WIlder Shore by Camille Peri

This

dual biography

two artists:

Scottish eccentric genius author, Robert Louis Stevenson,

frontiers-woman wife Fanny.

Jewelle Gomez

Women’s Hotel by Daniel

Andrea Gibson Cheryl Clarke

The Changer and the Changed 50th Anniversary Concerts

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the iconic album The Changer and the Changed, legendary singer/songwriter Cris Williamson presented two sold-out concerts at the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley on January 11 and 12, 2025. The album, originally released by Olivia Records in 1975, became one of the best-selling independent albums of all time and is considered a seminal work of the women’s music genre. http://www.criswiliamson.com

Barbara Higbie Wows Freight & Salvage Audience and Prepares for New Release Dreams

By Irene Young

Barbara Higbie, one of the Bay Area’s most prolific composers, has carried on the tradition of Solstice concerts begun by her former record label, Windham Hill. The photos shared here depict her Solstice concert at The Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, where she warmed and wowed a sold-out crowd with: Vicki Randle (voice/guitar), Mia Pixley (cello), Michaelle Goerlitz (drums), Kofy Brown (bass), and Jasper Manning (mandolin). Singer-songwriter Lisa Koch (pictured solo) opened the 2nd set with her hilarious Beatles parodies. After a captivating evening, everyone joined in for a stunning rendition of “Silent Night.”

Higbie has released five instrumental albums in 6 years, an astonishing creative achievement. Her “Chillogy” of 3 albums—Resonance (2019), Murmuration ( 2021), and Presence ( 2023)—was followed by 2024’s Solstice and this year’s Dreams Dreams (2025) was expressly composed to guide the listener into deep sleep. With an overactive world around us, a restful night has become a common quest. The intention of this restorative music is to transmit a sense of peace, comfort, and release. Dreams will soon be available at Higbie’s website ( https://barbarahigbie.com/ ).

With the support of producer Vogel, and stellar musicians such as Jami Sieber, Randle, Goerlitz, and Pixley, each of Higbie’s instrumental projects is grounded by the amazing sound of a $200,000 German “Steingraber” piano that resides in a Berkeley recording studio. Continuing the Windham Hill approach of super high fidelity recording techniques and instruments, the sound is incomparable, as is Higbie’s boundless creativity. For more information about Barbara Higbie and to purchase her CDs, go to: https://barbarahigbie.com/

Acclaimed photographer Irene Young has captured iconic images of artists on CD covers, for promotional photos, and more. She is the author of “Something About the Women: Five Decades of Seeing by Irene Young.” https://ireneyoungfoto.com/

Photos by Irene Young

Barbara Higbie

Lisa Koch

Photos by Irene Young

Cris Williamson performing at the Freight & Salvage, January 2025

Cris Williamson in 1975 (top, image by Cynthia McAdams) and (bottom) at a January 2025 concert.

Cris Williamson reacts to the sold-out audience response at the Freight & Salvage, January 2025

LGBTQ+ Dedicated Volunteers Celebrate Their Birthdays in Community

LGBTQ+ community volunteers and key leaders of the San Francisco Bay Times distribution operation, Juan R. Davila and Ahmed Shalabi, were joined recently by family, friends, and colleagues in observing milestone personal birthdays. As such, we are celebrating them as well and expressing our gratitude for the important roles they serve as veteran members of our team and dedicated contributors to multiple LGBTQ+ fundraisers, projects, and much more.

Shalabi, who is the Owner/Operator of the Mail Access store located at 2166 Market Street, and his associates have provided critical San Francisco Bay Times distribution services, helping to make sure that copies of each issue produced are efficiently sent to subscribers located throughout the Bay Area and other regions of the U.S.

Noted for his courtesy and effective customer service, Shalabi welcomes Castro residential neighbors as well as business personnel who rely on Mail Access for mail, shipping, packaging, deliveries, and other services. Many a day the sentiment, “Where would we be without Ahmed?” has been expressed when he has gone above and beyond to make things happen from his reliable location on Market Street between Noe and Sanchez streets.

Davila, in turn, is one of the most recognizable personalities of the San Francisco Bay Times team who is known for his eye-catching attire and charismatic presence at locations all over San Francisco and other parts of the Bay Area.

Through his exuberantly designed costumes; information tables and street booths at events, festivals, street fairs; sports activities; and more; Davila boosts the visibility and positive impact of the San Francisco Bay Times. Many readers and supporters, as well as members of other media outlets, have praised his leadership of the team of dancers who escort the Bay Times contingent annually at the San Francisco Pride Parade. He also regularly assists at Divas & Drinks @ The Academy events and other events presented by the Bay Times

Davila’s 45th birthday was celebrated at the First Unitarian Universalist Church as part of the Tenderloin Tessie Christmas Dinner. Host Michael Gagne led participants, staff, and attending dignitaries in acknowledging Davila’s birthday, which he celebrated in character as “The Grinch.”

Davila, with his volunteer colleague Marta “Leticia” Ramos, enjoyed continuing the birthday festivities through their community service activities during the holidays in the Castro, Union Square, the Embarcadero, and other parts of San Francisco. During the holiday season, Davila assisted coordinators at the SF AIDS Foundation’s Santa Skivvies fundraiser, Castro Merchants Holiday Block Party and Night Market, and at other fundraisers.

Big thanks are in order and much gratitude to both Ahmed Shalabi and Juan R. Davila from the San Francisco Bay Times

Photos courtesy of Marta “Leticia” Ramos

Sister Dana Sez: Words of Wisdumb from a Fun Nun

By Sister Dana Van Iquity

Sister Dana sez, “I know many of us democracy-loving citizens are extremely anxious about the upcoming Presidential Inauguration aka ‘In-Aggravation’—including the cruel and vindictive Administration to come. But let’s keep hoping and fighting for truth and valor!”

Convicted felon Trump will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States on January 20, and outgoing President Joe Biden has promised a peaceful transfer of power. T-rump never had such a peaceful transfer, while he STILL insists he won his second term. But before he is actually installed, the Grand Grift-meister has been hawking his signed guitars, footwear, and fragrances—as well as getting more than a dozen big companies to spend a million bucks each toward his Inauguration. Sister Dana sez, “The White House is for sale! And like his perfume, something really STINKS about all this greedy grifting!”

That convicted felon was officially sentenced on January 10 by Judge Merchan and was declared on that desperate day by Prosecutor Steinglass as having “caused enduring damage to public perception of the criminal justice system.” So, of course, Trump will hold a self-declared “victory rally” in Washington, D.C., at Capitol One Arena on January 19, the day before his inauguration. We should remind him of the last time they held a rally ahead of inauguration day in 2021—and the horrifying results of his deadly insurrection that caused seven deaths and the Congresspeople to be locked-down in fear for their lives. It also needs to be noted that the Commander-in-Cheat held a mostly secret meeting at Mar-A-Lago on January 5, 2025, (one day before the 4th anniversary of the notorious January 6, 2021, Capitol riots) to praise Election Denial architect John Eastman along with fellow co-conspirators. That event just helped to keep affirming “The Big Lie.”

Sister Dana sez, “Four years after the January 6th Insurrection, the stakes for democracy couldn’t be higher. This is a reminder that one party believes in democracy while the other does not. Let’s stay vigilant, stay informed, and keep fighting to protect the future of our democracy!”

In just a few days, we are facing what we thought unthinkable: the Orange Autocrat back in the White House, armed with a dangerous economic agenda and a thirst for vengeance. President Biden will step down, but he wrote an important reminder in a recent op-ed in The American Prospect, stating, “When I took office, the economy was in chaos. Thousands of businesses were shut down, and millions of Americans were out of a job. As soon as I came to office, I signed the American Rescue Plan that vaccinated the nation and got our economy going again. As a result, America returned to full employment faster than other advanced economies, and has seen the lowest average unemployment of any administration in 50 years.” He wrote about his vital legislation such as the infrastructure law, CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act, which “together mark the most significant investment in the United States since the New Deal.”

President Biden has been inducted into the DEPARTMENT OF LABOR’s HALL OF HONOR , acknowledging his amazing pro-union record with his chief accomplishments during his term: workers seeking to join a union doubled , 16 million jobs were created, unemployment hit its lowest level in 50+ years, and pensions were secured for 1.2 million workers and retirees. In addition, under Biden’s administration, small business boomed: there were 20 million new business applications, business ownership doubled among Black households, it was at a 30-year high for Hispanic households, and new businesses created by Asian Americans hit a 30-year high Sister Dana sez, “Let’s see Trump top ALL THAT!”

Before leaving office, President Joe Biden approved $4.28 billion in additional student loan relief for 54,900 borrowers who work in public service—including teachers, servicemembers, nurses, first responders, and other public servants. Hopefully this action will lead to badly needed student loan reform.

And on January 9, 2025, while the Southern California catastrophic, apocalyptic fires were raging, President Biden showed true leadership in pledging 100% of firefighting needs for 180 days of Federal assistance—including pay and healthcare for first responders, temporary housing, clearing of debris, help for people to rebuild, and all necessary measures to protect life and property.

Meanwhile, Trump’s “Retribution Tour” has kicked off, even before he takes office. He has been saying that lawsuits are necessary to “straighten out” press that is or has been unfavorable to him. He has already sued The Des Moines Register and ABC News (the latter having caved to the intimidation and settled). This has a frighteningly chilling effect on legitimate journalism. Before and after his election, Trump has spoken about plans to subpoena news orgs, to prosecute journalists and their sources, to revoke networks’ broadcast licenses, and to eliminate funding for public radio and TV. Trump

recently stated, “I feel I have to do this. It costs a lot of money to do it; but our press is very corrupt—almost as corrupt as our elections.” He continues to believe he won his second election and plans to pardon the January 6 insurrectionists while jailing the committee members who rightfully, successfully helped to jail those domestic terrorists.

The tragic shooting in Madison, Wisconsin, was the 83rd school shooting last year alone. That made 2024 the deadliest year for school shootings since 2008. Sister Dana sez, “Way too many lawmakers will only offer thoughts and prayers, but their moments of silence on sensible gun control in the face of tragedy are absolutely not acceptable!”

can thrive, no matter who they are,” Simpson said.

The first out transgender school board member in California history, Bobbie Simpson , has been sworn in at Shasta County’s Gateway Unified School District. “I am proud to serve my community and create a future where every student

At a recent far-right convention in Phoenix, Arizona, organized by Turning Point USA, Trump made sweeping, horrifying promises to end transgender rights in several areas—including education, healthcare, and military service—all on his first day

(continued on page 34)

Dennis McMillan (aka Sister Dana) with emcee Jason Brock at the Toast to the Season Holiday Party at The Academy SF held on Decmeber 12, co-hosted by the San Francisco Bay Times and the Golden Gate Business Association.

Bay Times Dines

The Resilient Sip: A Toast to 2025

Cocktails With Dina

There is magic in a well-crafted cocktail. It’s like a drinkable fairytale, except instead of a happily ever after, you wake up with a hangover and a vague sense of regret.

But Kaitlin Ryan’s “Baller” cocktail is more than just a boozy bedtime story. It’s a love letter to the Bay Area, a region known for its bold creativity, respect for craft, and a fusion of local pride with international influences. Her drink features St. George Baller Whiskey, a homegrown gem that embodies the Bay Area’s artisanal spirit. It is a spirit that’s been finished in umeshu casks with umeboshi wine made from fruit sourced in California.

Umeshu is a Japanese liqueur made from ume fruit, which is like a plum, but angrier. The result is a unique whiskey with a light maple-smoke flavor, perfect for those who like their drinks with a toasted twist. And with a name like Baller, you know it’s not messing around. It’s not just a drink; it’s a lifestyle encapsulated in a drink. A lifestyle that involves sipping expensive liquor and dreaming of a world where we can try to escape thoughts of a world aflame, and instead relax around a campfire.

In a time where the line between artisanal and pretentious has blurred beyond recognition, the “Baller” cocktail stands tall as a beacon of hope. Gold flakes represent the promise of a brighter future—a future where our neighbors to the south can live without fear and loss. A mere cocktail will not solve our problems, but it can help distract us for a while. And in a world where the planet is on fire, isn’t that all we can really ask for?

Drink up, my friends. The end is nigh, and the Santa Ana winds relentless, but at least we have artisanal whiskey to keep us company on the way down. Cheers to the “Baller” cocktail, the hero we never knew we needed. It’s a drink that says, “I may be paying $20 for a cocktail, but at least the gold makes it look fancy.” It’s a liquid embodiment of the California spirit: a little bit gaudy, a little bit quirky, and always ready to embrace the next big trend. So, raise a glass to Kaitlin Ryan and her cocktail. It can’t put out any fires, but maybe it can provide some hope while the heroes around us do their best. And isn’t that what drinking is all about?

If you have the means, I encourage you to give to the California Fire Foundation ( https://bit.ly/4hahIf2 ), to provide aid and resources for both fire crews and residents.

San Francisco-based Dina Novarr enjoys sharing her passion for fine wines, spirits, non-alcoholic craft beverages, and more with others.

Baller

1.5 oz St. George Baller Whiskey .75 oz Byrrh .5 oz chamomile syrup

Expressed [and discarded] lemon twist Garnish: dried chamomile flowers tossed in edible gold glitter

Kaitlin Ryan

Bay Times Dines

Restaurant Favorites for 2025

The Gay Gourmet

At the beginning of a new year, one is bombarded by “best of” and “top ten” lists for every type of activity—including restaurants. But yours truly thought I’d rather give you a list of my personal favorites to try this year: some are new, some are old, but all of them are dependable, delicious, and delightful. So here goes:

Abacá: Abacá serves innovative Filipino cuisine in a contemporary setting in the unlikely neighborhood of

Fisherman’s Wharf. Don’t miss the ube piña colada.

Santeria: This is a Castro highlight for top-tier Mexican food. Favorites include: tacos birria, al pastor tacos, queso fundido, and enchiladas verdes. Santeria’s margarita bar serves a variety of tequila and mezcal-based drinks. They’re killer, and The Gay Gourmet recommends enjoying them served up with a salt rim.

Little Original Joe’s: This immensely popular Italian American eatery in the Marina is phenomenal—if you can get in! From the same family as Original Joe’s, Little Original Joe’s offers some of the best zucchini fritti, pastas, negronis, and more. This is the casual sister restaurant to its more formal North Beach counterpart.

Elena’s: Another newcomer from the Duggan family (of Original Joe’s fame), this also hard-to-reserve Mexican restaurant in West Portal showcases one of San Francisco’s most beautiful interior designs. You can enjoy great margaritas, crab tostadas, enchiladas, and homemade chips— all at an affordable price.

Ginger’s: This Financial District gay bar down an unlikely alley has made a comeback, and we’re glad they did! It is only open Wednesdays–Fridays, but it has a fun, young crowd with strong drinks, drag shows, and special events.

setting with craft cocktails, good food, and a lively crowd.

The Dolls SF: Some of the transgender ladies of the now-shuttered AsiaSF have opened their own spot downstairs from a straight, country and western bar in the Marina. When you get past the mechanical bull, you descend to the lower level where The Dolls entertain on an expansive bar and also dance their way through the crowd. You can munch on quite decent bar food, and sip imaginative cocktails to boot.

Perbacco: You’ll taste some of San Francisco’s best Piemonte cuisine at this Financial District restaurant that has stood the test of time (as well as the pandemic). Favorites include: agnolotti del plin, tajarin with pork and porcini mushroom ragu, and the most tender vitello tonnato in town.

The Keys Jazz Bistro: This is one of my new favorite haunts in North Beach for cool jazz in an upscale, intimate

Cotogna: You’ll dine on some of the best Italian food at this Jackson Square mainstay, the sister restaurant to Michelin-starred Quince next door. If the weather is nice, choose to eat in Cotogna’s gorgeous parklet, resplendent with private booths, olive trees, and much-needed heaters for foggy San Francisco. The tortelli with butternut squash and sage, as well as the pappardelle with veal ragu and horseradish crème fraîche, are not-to-be-missed.

The Academy SF: This Castro LGBTQ social club might be members-only, but they welcome all with sliding scale fees that accommodate starving artists as well as those who are just starting out in uber expensive San Francisco. The events at this beautifully designed space include everything from wine tastings, to figure drawings, to yoga classes, to cabaret, and more.

Florio: This Pacific Heights bar/restaurant feels like your own neighborhood Cheers, but with great food. Bartender John (Sundays–Tuesdays) seems to know everyone by name; he’ll likely have your drink ready as you walk through the door.

The pappardelle bianco is a star, but don’t forego the wagyu hamburger—one of the best in the city.

La Mar: It’s been around for years and has outposts in other cities, but La Mar still boasts some of the best Peruvian cuisine—and bay views—in town. Since it’s Peruvian, you must try their Pisco Sour, and this one doesn’t disappoint. Beyond that, their version of a Dungeness crab paella is one for the books.

Le Parc Bistrobar: Chef Bruno Chemel has closed his Michelin-starred Baume in the South Bay. Lucky for us, he has chosen to open a more casual French bistro in the city at the Galleria Park Hotel downtown. The artichoke soup is out of this world and I loved the Petrale sole as well as the extremely tender oxtail served on a bed of yummy mashed potatoes.

Early To Rise: This is one of San Francisco’s best brunch spots, located near the Divisadero corridor in Nopa. You’ll have to wait in line, since they don’t accept reservations. But it’s worth it for the samosa

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David Landis

Interior at Ginger’s

Drinks at Santeria

Elena’s

Exterior of Little Original Joe’s

Bay Times Dines

potato pancake, bananas foster pancakes, shrimp and grits (with bacon, no less)— and some of the best bagels around.

North Beach Restaurant: Just recently reopened, this venue still has much of its beautiful art collection. The menu items, including Petrale sole and a variety of house-made pastas, don’t break the bank. Plus, you’ll likely see former Mayor Willie Brown dining at the fourtop in the window.

Z&Y Peking Duck: This is a newish eponymous Chinatown offering from the folks at Z&Y Restaurant around the corner. It has a modern vibe and, true to its name, is known for its succulent Peking Duck. Insider’s tip: don’t just show up— you have to order that delicious duck in advance, and reservations are highly recommended.

Hilda and Jesse: This LGBT-owned eatery has received numerous accolades (including a Michelin star), and there’s a reason why: the brunches are unlike any other you’ve ever had (duck leg karaage with fermented pepper sauce, anyone?).

The design is modern, colorful, and inviting, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the always-happening North Beach neighborhood. I haven’t yet been for dinner, but I understand their tasting menus are worth the splurge.

Bits and Bites

The annual Mostly British Film Festival is coming back to the Vogue Theatre February 6–13, 2025. My pal Ruthe Stein, who has been instrumental with that festival, wanted to give me a foodie reminder. Turns out that Ismail Merchant—in addition to being half of the great gay filmmaking team Merchant & Ivory—was also a gourmet cook. He was famous for cooking fabulous meals for the cast and crew of films that he and James Ivory produced and directed. He also has numerous cookbooks (all of them available on Amazon), including Filming and Feasting in France (with 40 recipes). The Merchant-Ivory tribute screens February 10 as part of the festival.

David Landis, aka “The Gay Gourmet,” is a foodie, a freelance writer, and a retired PR maven. Follow him on Instagram @GayGourmetSF or email him at: davidlandissf@gmail.com Or visit him online at: www.gaygourmetsf.com

Interior at The Academy SF

Agnolotti at Perbacco

Sisig Fried Rice at Abacá

in office. He said it will be official policy that “there are only two genders, male and female.” He also said he would sign an executive order to “end child sexual mutilation.” He shockingly declared, “With a stroke of my pen on day one, we are going to stop the transgender lunacy.” Sister Dana sez, “The real, true LUNACY we need to STOP is this disgusting dictator’s presidency!”

With a multi-faceted career as an Emmy-winning comedian, actor, and jazz musician that began in San Francisco’s Mission District in 1982, Lea DeLaria holds the distinction of being the first openly gay comic on television in America, and earned a place in our hearts from her three-time SAG Award Winning role as Carrie “Big Boo” Black in the hit Netflix series Orange Is the New Black In OUT RAGE Cabaret, DeLaria takes aim at what’s happening in the world today, bringing her Sicilian rage, sharp tongue, and musical prowess to the Chan National Queer Arts Center, 170 Valencia Street on January 18, 6 pm and 8:30 pm. This will be an unforgettable evening of song and dance.

https://www.sfgmc.org/

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy had no experience previously with the Postal Service, and he was given his position by Trump as a reward for the tens of millions of dollars he gave to support Republicans running for office. Many Representatives (from both Parties!) have blasted DeJoy for the on-time delivery of mail in some states dropping below 40%, for his proposals to cut access to rural areas, for his charge to eliminate tens of thousands of USPS jobs, and for his many conflicts of interest (DeJoy is heavily invested in USPS competitors, for example). And he managed to mangle many of the mail-in ballots during election time. Sister Dana sez, “Why didn’t President Biden fire DeJoyless when he had the chance?!” Are you a fan of the Dracula character? And also enjoy a drag show? Then hold the garlic, because OASIS nightclub is giving us a bloody good DRAGCULA to celebrate the vampire at the heart of Bram Stoker’s original text while incorporating the kink subcultures of the SoMa Historic Leather District. Featuring Goth and Rock hits from the 1980s, this Drag-sical breaks the boundaries of a fourth wall to invite us all into the debauchery. Oasis, 298 11th Street, is 21+ for all events, so bring a valid ID. Get bit January 16–31, doors 6 pm, show 7 pm. https://www.sfoasis.com/

It was Government Shutdown drama debacle Part 2 last month. During Prez Trump’s first term we had the longest Government Shutdown ever—34 days. And it would have been another disaster last month had not DEMOCRATS prevailed. Democracy was at stake. Elon “Mess” and T-rump tried to interfere with big bonuses for themselves and billionaire boys while seriously hurting the middle class and others in need. Democrat Congresspeople fought for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and so many other critical needs. And they kept the Country open—at least for a few months until March 14—when the Muskmobile will again try to run over everything while the orange president sits in the back seat pretending to be driving and absolutely agreeing with the insanely inaccurate roadmap. But DemoCongress will continue to fight and hopefully win! And good news: 170 House Republicans had already defied Trump! Also, amidst all that

government funding chaos, the Senate managed to confirm President Biden’s 235th Federal Judgeship.

RICHMOND/ERMET AID FOUNDATION will present another one of their fabulous fundraising cabarets at their ONE NIGHT ONLY star-studded shows with the cast of Some Like It Hot on January 20 at the Marines’ Memorial Theater, 609 Sutter Street. Music, dance, and comedy with special guests Jason Brock and Paula West . This will also benefit beautiful HIV non-profits Broadway Cares and Equity Fights AIDS https://www.reaf-sf.org/

After January 20, when the alt-right takes over, drag will be under even more attack. But the NORMAL ANOMALY INITIATIVE is fighting back with DRAG UNIVERSITY, a Houston-based program—open to anyone —that will teach students not just how to do drag, but also how to be an effective voice on behalf of the entire queer community. “At its core, Drag University is more than a program; it is a movement,” Joelle Bayaa-Uzuri Espeut , Advocacy Director of The Normal Anomaly Initiative, told LGBTQ Nation. “We are bringing together art, education, creativity, activism, and healthcare to nurture a new generation of drag performers in the South.” Sister Dana sez, “Why stop in just the South? Let’s have DRAG UNIVERSITY everywhere in the East, West, and North as well! Drag U!”

Join Club75 and Openhouse for their annual WINTER DANCE on January 31, 2–4 pm, 75 Laguna. They’ll have food, music, dancing, and a special drag performance! Be sure to get your photo taken at the photo booth. RSVP at 415-231-5871.

https://www.openhousesf.org/

President Biden awarded Denver, Colorado, philanthropist Tim Gill with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House on January 4 for his advocacy on behalf of LGBTQ Americans. “He has helped lead the fight against HIV/AIDS, laid the groundwork for marriage equality, and so much more,” Gill’s medal citation reads. “His strong character, unwavering resolve, and indisputable effectiveness in fighting for love and equality for all make him a key figure in our nation’s story of freedom.” Gill proudly joined 18 other recipients for this high honor.

President Biden also honored marriage equality activists Mary Bonauto and Evan Wolfson with the Presidential Citizens Medal —the second highest honor that can be awarded to civilians.

Sister Dana sez, “I am ecstatic that progressive former California Representative BARBARA LEE has put in her bid to run for Mayor of Oakland! Her amazing résumé says it all!”

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., DAY is a Federal Holiday in the United States observed on the third Monday of January each year. King was chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, which protested racial discrimination in federal and state law and civil society. Sister Dana sez, “On January 20, you might want to skip the ‘In-Aggravation’ of T-rump and instead celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr., Day. It might be your last chance!”

necessary bread for lesbians and non-lesbians alike.

Andrea Gibson (@andreagibson) is a poet/performer/recording artist and the current poet laureate of Colorado. Like Clarke, they imbue their work with the power of desire and intellect. In their new collection, You Better Be Lightning, Gibson has deep insight, even when writing a two-line poem: “Silence rides shotgun/wherever hate goes.”

Naturally, I was first drawn to their poem entitled “Aliens Explain Why They Are Visiting Earth.” The lines are amusing at times, but more often sly and wrenching: “Because if the heart/of the earth is in Arizona,/the Grand Canyon is proof/of how badly it is breaking.”

In another complex, tender piece about the clash of a political impulse with

their lover’s reunion with her estranged parents, the poem resolves the moment by declaring that, for now, “everything but I love you is small talk.” Gibson has an exquisite way with words as they tell their stories in a musical rhythm that’s irresistible.

It’s exciting to discover new work by familiar writers and new work from writers new to me. I can’t unequivocally say queer poets might save the world ... but I will.

Jewelle Gomez is a lesbian/feminist activist, novelist, poet, and playwright. She’s written for “The Advocate,” “Ms. Magazine,” “Black Scholar,” “The San Francisco Chronicle,” “The New York Times,” and “The Village Voice.” Follow her on Instagram and Twitter @VampyreVamp

Let’s Go Home!

Persephone: Meet Persephone! This 7-month-old, 45-pound German Shepherd puppy is a bundle of energy and joy. Smart and treat-motivated, she’s eager to learn and ready to thrive with some structure and training.

Persephone loves zoomies, playful chases, and gets along great with other dogs. While she’s a bit jumpy, her playful, loving nature makes her a perfect match for an active family ready to guide her puppy enthusiasm into positive behaviors.

Cardamom: Cardamom is a gorgeous girl with a playful spirit. She’s all about munching on kale (her favorite veggie treat) and loves chewing cardboard and foraging for snacks. After her adventures, Cardamom enjoys snuggling up in her very own cozy hideout to relax and recharge.

She is tidy, social, and wellbehaved, making her a great candidate as a free roam friend in the home. Cardamom has done an excellent job learning the ropes of home life during her foster time and would make a great companion to someone looking for a sweet and curious bunny!

Persephone Cardamom

Round About - Holiday Season Round Up

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Photos by Rink

Holiday Ice Rink at Union Square

Kwanzaa at SF Main Library

Winter Walk at Union Square

Union Square

Union Square Union Square

Union Square

New Year’s Eve at Cinch Saloon

New Year’s Eve at Cinch Saloon

Heartbreak and Hope Amidst the Southern CA Wildfires

See related content on Page 5

Readers of the San Francisco Bay Times and supporters have been sharing moving stories of friends and family members based in Southern California who are affected by the wildfires, which continue to blaze as this issue of the paper goes to press. These include stories of first responders, including those who are rescuing wildlife and pets. Several of these accounts have been especially touching, such as an Instagram reel ( https://bit.ly/4jdRIkZ ) that was the source of the screenshots included here.

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sing and play the guitar as Bob Dylan for A Complete Unknown, sending me to the 2005 documentary by Martin Scorsese, No Direction Home. Chalamet gives us the male leading performance that will win the Oscar.

Just when we need it the most, the frothy musical Some Like It Hot is in San Francisco, quenching our thirst in this Chicago prohibition musical comedy. Escape with two musicians as they go underground with a girls’ band. We all know Billy Wilder’s 1959 comedy classic, often called the greatest movie comedy of all time. The stage musical is different, changing circumstances to fit perfectly with the jazzy songs and Tony-winning choreography. Get some

needed razzle dazzle at the Orpheum Theatre with Sugar Kane, Spats Columbo, and Sweet Sue at Some Like It Hot, now through January 26, 2025!

Fasten your seatbelts for what promises to be an unusual Oscar race; the 97th Academy Awards ceremony will be held on March 2, 2025. It’s an odd year, so get the engines revved: start your viewing.

Jan Wahl is a Hollywood historian and film critic on various broadcast outlets. She has two Emmys and many awards for her longtime work on behalf of film buffs and the LGBTQ community. Contact her at www.janwahl.com

JAN WAHL

Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club

Holigay Party

The Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club’s annual Holigay Party, co-hosted this year by the California Working Families Party, was emceed by club member and former San Francisco supervisor Jane Kim. The celebration was held on Thursday, January 9, 2025, at Bissap Baobab, a popular West African-themed community gathering spot in the Mission.

Current and past club leaders attending, in addition to Kim, included Tom Temprano, Gary McCoy, Michael Nguyen, Vince Crisostomo, Peter Gallotta, and many others.

The annual event is a fundraiser for the club. Members are gearing up for a busy rest of January that will include participation at the National Day of Solidarity Action on the 16th and the General Membership Meeting on January 21st. https://www.milkclub.org/

http://sfbaytimes.com/

Recycled Cotton Woven Throws

Feel like staying home and hiding under a blanket? Get cozy with our selection of woven throws made from recycled cotton. We have assorted colors and styles for $34.99 each.

Zafferano America

Cordless Lighting

The Theta Pro lamp is made from durable die-cast aluminum with a painted finish suitable for indoor and outdoor use. Offering 9 hours of cordless illumination and a dimmable and tunable LED light, the Theta lamp is perfect for placing bedside or on a dining table. An induction charging base and power cord are included. It is available in matte black or matte white for $144.99.

Keep up with Cliff’s Variety news at Facebook ( https://www.facebook.com/CliffsVariety ) & Instagram ( https://www.instagram.com/hilario_sf/ )

Photos by Rink