May 11, 2023 edition of the Bay Area Reporter

A San Francisco Board of Supervisors committee has approved amending the interior landmarking ordinance for the Castro Theatre to include the fixed orchestra seating.

Supe panel advances fixed seats for Castro Theatre

by John Ferrannini

With little fanfare and hardly any public comment, a San Francisco Board of Supervisors committee on May 8 advanced an amendment that would see the fixed orchestra seating remain in place at the Castro Theatre.

The amendment is to an interior landmarking ordinance that is expected to go to the Board of Supervisors May 16. The board has final approval over the landmark request, which was initially made by gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman last year.

The city’s Historic Preservation Commission in February recommended the interior landmarking, but without specifying that the orchestra seating remain fixed. Hence, the amendment that was recommended May 8 and offered last month by District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston, a straight ally and vice chair of the land use committee. (The exterior of the Castro Theatre was designated a historic landmark in 1977.)

The committee’s vote, should it be adopted by the full board, could be a blow to Another Planet Entertainment, which manages the historic movie palace and had sought to replace the orchestra seating with a motorized floor that would make both raked seating and tiered standing arrangements possible.

On behalf of APE, gay spokesperson David Perry stated, “This was no surprise.”

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ Land Use and Transportation Committee forwarded the Castro Theatre interior landmarking ordinance – including an amendment that would landmark fixed, orchestra-style seating – to the whole board on the same 2-1 vote it preliminarily voted on last month.

Preston brought forth the fixed seating amendment April 17, as the Bay Area Reporter previously reported, in a major victory for the forces who seek to stop the changes APE wants to make to the theater.

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SF supervisors ask DA Jenkins to release video in Brown killing

by John Ferrannini

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to approve a resolution urging District Attorney Brooke Jenkins to “release police reports, witness accounts and video information” in the death of Banko Brown, the 24-year-old unarmed Black trans activist shot outside of a downtown Walgreens by a store security guard last month.

The resolution, which is nonbinding, came about after Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin (District 3) first asked Jenkins to reconsider her May 1 decision not to file charges against Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony, 33, who was initially charged with one count of homicide. Jenkins dismissed that charge May 1 because she said the evidence showed self-defense.

Gay District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio, a moderate from the westside who’s been a major backer of Jenkins, was one of the co-sponsors of the board’s resolution. Engardio told the Bay Area Reporter Tuesday that he worked with Peskin to amend the resolution “to remove a line that called for the district attorney to reconsider and reevaluate her charging decision.”

“It was premature to call for a different decision when we had not seen all of the evidence,” Engar-

dio stated. “There is also the question of administrative interference, which supervisors are not allowed to do under the city charter. It’s important for each branch of government to respect the other’s process and autonomy.”

Engardio stated that in spite of those concerns, transparency has to win out in such a contentious case.

“At the same time, I believe that an open government is an accountable government,” Engardio continued. “I worked as a journalist for many years and I fundamentally believe in transparency. This is an extraordinary case, and I believe it is in the public interest for supervisors to call for the release of the video and evidence.”

As the B.A.R. reported last week, Brown – an unhoused, unpaid intern with the Young Women’s Freedom Center – was fatally shot the evening of April 27 as he walked out of the Walgreens at 875 Market Street.

District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton, a straight ally who is the only Black person on the board, also co-sponsored the resolution. He sent a letter of inquiry to Jenkins’ office asking for the tapes’ release.

“I disagree with the district attorney’s opinions and have been informed by our deputy city attorney that my request has no interference with the investigation and it is not at all unethical,” Walton stated ahead of Tuesday’s board meeting. “I also know that videos are released all the time during investigations and in some cases even required. We are asking for transparency around the killing of Banko Brown and release of this video will most certainly help with that transparency.

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Queer African-centric retreat coming to Big Sur

by Heather Cassell

Aqueer African-centric retreat is coming to California’s central coast area later this month.

The Rainbow Serpent retreat, titled “Harnessing the Power of Creation through African Ritual,” will be hosted at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur May 19-21.

This is the second time the retreat will be hosted at the center. The first event was held in October 2022.

The retreat is focused on African cosmological traditions using imagery, movement, writing, and rituals to help participants transcend personal blocks to move forward in their lives, according to organizers.

Marques Redd, Ph.D. and Mikael Owunna, cofounders and co-organizers of The Rainbow Serpent, are leading the retreat. The two recently talked about it with the Bay Area Reporter over a Zoom interview.

Redd, a 39-year-old gay Black man, earned his doctorate in English literature from UC Berkeley and an undergraduate degree in African and African American studies from Harvard University. He returned to UC Berkeley professionally, first working at the School of Public Health and then as dean of students at the College of Natural Resources from 2015 to 2020. He is an instructor at the Esalen Institute.

Owunna, a 32-year-old Nigerian genderqueer person, is a photographer and the author of “Limitless Africans: Photographs and Interviews,” as the Bay Area Reporter previously reported.

“Rainbow Serpent and Dr. Redd have infused the Esalen community with fresh energy and innovative perspectives,” wrote the Esalen Institute educational team in an email statement to the B.A.R.

The Esalen Institute educational team added, “Dr.

Marques Redd’s impact at Esalen is profound and exciting,” and they were thrilled to have Redd and the popular Rainbow Serpent retreat return for another “memorable, soul-stirring journey.”

The Rainbow Serpent takes its name from multiple African traditions that have rainbow serpent deities that create the universe, Redd told the B.A.R. He said the serpent represents the “source of creative power.”

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Marques Redd, Ph.D., left, and Mikael Owunna, are co-founders and co-organizers of The Rainbow Serpent, which will have a retreat in Big Sur in May.

Courtesy Rainbow Serpent, Inc.

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins is under pressure to release video in the shooting death of Banko Brown.

Eric Burkett

Courtesy Castro Theatre Conservancy

Tense meeting topples Alan as Castro Merchants’ prez

by John Ferrannini

Last month, the merchants’ association voted to endorse APE’s plans but with conditions.

he did not feel competent to ascertain whether APE’s economic impact report was sufficient.

Terrance

Alan, president of the Castro Merchants Association, was ousted May 4 in a leadership shakeup following a tense meeting that saw tempers flare and even threats of a lawsuit.

A gay man who is the proprietor of Flore Dispensary, Alan ran for the board but was not reelected.

When asked for a statement, Alan stated to the Bay Area Reporter that he will “need some time.”

Alan had been under fire in recent weeks from merchants who said he was not accurately representing their views on the Castro Theatre. But disagreement over the association’s own governing rules also played a role. Earlier in the meeting Alan had proposed moving the election to another time, which was opposed with shouts and boos from association members present at the meeting.

The association’s new officers, who were elected to the merchants’ board the same meeting, include both familiar and fresh faces – Cliff’s Variety co-owner Terry Asten Bennett, a straight ally and past president, was elected president; Local Take owner Jenn Meyer, a straight ally, was elected vice president; Academy SF owner Nate Bourg, who is gay, was elected treasurer; and Eureka Sky coowner Desmond Morgan, who is gay, was elected secretary.

Asten Bennett told the membership at the meeting that she wants to focus more on “things we can do,” like addressing street conditions block-by-block, as opposed to things she said the association can’t, like forcing reluctant landlords to rent empty storefronts.

“I can’t change the police presence or laws that impact [street conditions] but I can make sure we have a loud voice in the places where those things can be changed,” Asten Bennett told the B.A.R. after the meeting. “We can keep clean storefronts and cameras. I want to encourage that. … I really want to move forward with positivity and getting good results for all the merchants.”

She noted in her first address as president that the association’s good relations with City Hall and police are jeopar-

Castro Theatre

From page 1

Preston and straight ally board President Aaron Peskin, who represents District 3, voted in favor Monday; committee Chair District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar, a straight ally, was opposed.

“I support landmarking the interior,” Melgar said before the vote. “Unfortunately, I cannot support the amendment

dized if the board’s public statements don’t reflect the membership’s views.

“Regardless of whether I agree or disagree, my job is to represent you,” she said to the membership.

Dispute over bylaws

Dissatisfaction with Alan had grown in recent weeks. Asten Bennett, Meyer, gay Auto Erotica owner Patrick Batt, gay MX3 Fitness owner Dave Karraker, and others accused Alan of trying to change the organization’s bylaws in an April 26 board meeting that the members had not been notified was happening.

Alan was also accused, by his former co-president Karraker, no less, of giving prospective board candidates less than 12 hours to reply to an email to be listed as candidates for the election. Alan said he’d made a verbal announcement at the prior month’s meeting.

Alan initially was not going to allow any write-in candidates, or any members to declare their candidacy the day of the meeting.

“Changes in bylaws … need to be sent to the members,” Asten Bennett said. “I’m prepared to file a lawsuit.”

Alan questioned the assertion that members had to be notified, saying these were not “significant changes.”

Terry Beswick, a gay man, who until Thursday served as treasurer, agreed, saying “previous bylaws do not require a notification of a special meeting.”

or the legislation as amended. We are not approving and we do not have the authority to approve the lease with APE or any other; this sets a precedent I don’t want to support.”

The vote brings the labyrinthine battle over the theater to its grandest stage; though as Mandelman, who represents the Castro, noted April 17, “Ultimately even if made, it is not clear the amendment would prevent the city approving or APE not moving forward with their

Attorney Alex Lemberg, a nonbinary person who is president of the Eureka Valley Neighborhood Association and an attorney, said that in any case, state law supersedes the bylaws, and California Corporation Code 7150 requires that members approve the bylaws.

Asten Bennett and Batt, also a former president, argued that the long-standing precedent of the organization is to allow people to declare their candidacy at the time of the election.

“In past elections the membership could stand up and say ‘I want to be on the board,’” Batt said.

Karraker argued that the absence of a secretary made any bylaw changes null and void.

Castro Theatre

When Beswick said, “the reason we are having this conflict is the Castro Theatre,” the room swelled into an uproar.

As the B.A.R. previously reported, the Castro Community Benefit District circulated a petition among neighborhood business owners unconditionally endorsing Another Planet Entertainment’s plans. The CBD did so without informing the merchants’ association.

APE, which took over management of the theater in January 2022, wants to, among other changes, remove the orchestra seating and replace it with a movable floor to allow for film screenings and dancing at concerts.

plans for the theater.” Mandelman opposed the amendment at the time.

Preston made similar remarks before Monday’s vote.

“I don’t think we are deciding in this committee or at the whole board whose plan goes forward and whose doesn’t,” Preston said, referring to dueling plans by APE and the Castro Theatre Conservancy, which issued its revised plan late last month. “There are ways either of these plans could work with the pro-

“We do not see eye-to-eye on APE,” Lemberg said to Beswick, referring to a difference of opinion on the Castro Theatre with Asten Bennett, who supports APE. “But we are completely 100% aligned” on the bylaws issue.

Asten Bennett told Alan that in the face of overwhelming support for allowing people to declare their candidacy that day, he had no choice but to yield.

“If you don’t allow it, you push us to go to a no confidence vote, which you don’t want,” she said.

After the membership voted sweepingly to allow the election to move forward with write-in and same-day candidates, Masood Samereie, a straight ally and former president, nominated himself and made a plea to the members to unify.

“I miss the community we had – the camaraderie – and the support in the pandemic,” said Samereie, who was the group’s leader at the onset of COVID-19. “Everyone was there to make it happen. … We can make it happen again.”

The process to change the bylaws will start from scratch with the new leadership, Asten Bennett said.

“For a change that massive, particularly things that change how the members vote, that has to be vetted by the membership, so we are going to go back to the drawing board,” Asten Bennett told the B.A.R. after the meeting. “Bylaws are literally a contract between the membership and the board and when there’s such a massive overhaul there has to be membership buy-in.”

‘Peace in our time’

Regarding the Castro Theatre, one of the merchants’ conditions was that gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman’s office accept an economic impact report from APE and that APE complete another one if the first report is found unacceptable.

But last week, Mandelman said that while he “appreciates the confidence and trust placed in my office by this august gathering of small business leaders,”

posed landmarking.”

Some speakers at the hearing derided the conservancy’s plan, stating that it has no funding mechanism. The plan calls for the Nasser family, which owns the theater, to sell or lease it to the conservancy, which the Nasser family is not interested in doing, as the B.A.R. previously reported.

Long road

The imbroglio over the theater began in January 2022, when Another Planet –

OKELL’S FIREPLACE

The other condition was “APE’s goodfaith participation in negotiations convened by Supervisor Mandelman.”

This was the result of a compromise between Alan, who’d proposed three conditions initially, and Asten Bennett, who had signed the CBD petition of unconditional endorsement for APE.

“I did not say I would do this,” Mandelman explained.

Alan said, “It would be my hope your office would forward” the report to San Francisco Controller Ben Rosenfield; Karraker argued that because Mandelman excised himself, the conditions should be stricken.

When asked if both sides in the theater imbroglio were negotiating in good faith, Mandelman said, “Yeah. I asked them to come and they did.” Then he seemed to backtrack when he was informed that was a condition of the merchants’ approval.

“It’s a hard thing to say,” he said.

Mandelman said there is an “existential” disagreement between the Castro Theatre Conservancy, which supports the orchestra seats remaining fixed, and APE. An agreement was close but the gap could not be bridged, he added.

“I want us to have peace in our time, but it’s where we have an existential disagreement,” he said.

Nonetheless, “we’re still a democracy that does not control all private actors,” Mandelman said.

The merchants will reconsider the APE endorsement decision at its next meeting, June 1, the first day of Pride Month, Asten Bennett said.

The remainder of the new merchants’ board consists of Aria Properties owner Samereie; Art House SF owner Max Khusid; Skin on Market owner Leon Shannon; Castro Street Chevron President David Shagun; and PO Plus owner Steve Martel.

The board has a maximum of nine slots, all of which were filled in Thursday’s vote. t

which runs the Outside Lands music festival in Golden Gate Park, the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium near San Francisco’s Civic Center, and the Fox Theatre in Oakland – was announced as the new operators of the 101-year-old Castro Theatre.

Some Castro neighborhood, LGBTQ, and film groups – such as the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District and the Castro Theatre Conservancy – formed

See page 11 >>

Valor LX2 3-sided gas fireplace shown here with Murano glass, and reflective glass liner

Castro Merchants Association President Terrance Alan, right, fielded a question from Alex Lemberg, far left, during a tense meeting May 4 that saw Alan ousted from his leadership position.

John Ferrannini

Gilead

Oakland LGBTQ Community Center & Gilead

East Oakland Youth Development Center & Gilead

San Francisco Community Health Center & Gilead

Supe panel advances 1st Arab American for ethics seat

by Cynthia Laird

An Arab American attorney was unanimously recommended by a San Francisco supervisors’ panel for a seat on the city’s ethics commission, likely bringing an end to the service of a gay man who has served on an interim basis for the last two years.

Yaman Salahi was recommended on a 3-0 vote by the supervisors’ rules committee May 8. He will go before the full board for approval at its May 16 meeting. The term expires February 1, 2029.

Larry Bush, who served on the ethics commission, was praised for his experience, but the committee decided to increase the commission’s diversity. Bush’s term expired February 1. The seat is filled by the Board of Supervisors. The mayor, city attorney, district attorney, and assessorrecorder each appoint other members.

“I think this is one of the most critical commissions,” said committee member District 11 Supervisor Ahsha Safaí. “I thank Larry Bush for his service but today I support Yaman Salahi, who would be the first Arab American on the commission. Immigrant rights are constantly under attack, and Yaman has walked that walk.”

Appearing via phone, Bush said that he has served for the last two years on an interim basis. He was the only applicant to apply in 2020, as the Bay Area Reporter previously reported.

Bush himself helped establish the ethics commission by assisting with drafting the charter amendment in 1994. He served on the Friends of Ethics citizen’s group before resigning in 2018 and has served on the civil grand jury. Bush discussed three priorities he

would have if reappointed: improving interaction with the public, getting a secretary for the commission who could serve as a liaison between the panel and the public, and possibly forming an advisory panel for the ethics commission, similar to the elections department.

In an email to the B.A.R. after the meeting, Bush stated, “I wanted greater and broader public involvement, which is why I was involved in new definitions of family that included families like ours, for a full time commission secretary, and better minutes and an advisory panels that make use of former commissioners and staff, and other resources.”

During his remarks, Salahi, an attorney who represents plaintiffs in litigation, pointed to his work for members of the Yemeni community and his work at the Asian Law Caucus. He also said that he has represented members of the LGBTQ community in workplace sexual harassment cases.

“My goal is to bring my experience to this role,” Salahi said. Salahi said he has reviewed ethics commission materials and said a priority would be clearing the panel’s backlog of work.

During public comment, both men had supporters speak on their behalf. One man said Salahi worked with the Yemeni community during the days of the Muslim ban imposed by former President Donald Trump. A woman who identified herself as Miriam said that Salahi “has widespread support in our community.”

Paul Melbostad, a gay attorney and former ethics commissioner, pointed to Bush’s experience and said that most of the panel is relatively new. “Larry Bush has been an integral part of the ethics commission for some time,” he said.

Charles Head, president of the Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods, also supported Bush. Head said that both he and Bush served on the civil grand jury.

Safaí said that the ethics commission is critically important in maintaining a check on city government. “We’ve had top officials plead guilty to federal crime,” he said, an apparent reference to former San Francisco Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru, who was sentenced last year to seven years in federal prison after pleading guilty to bribery and kickbacks, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release at the time.

Rainbow Railroad leader coming to SF

compiled by Cynthia Laird

The executive director of Rainbow Railroad, Kimahli Powell, will be in San Francisco Tuesday, May 16, at 6:30 p.m. at the LGBT Community Center, 1800 Market Street.

Rainbow Railroad is a nonprofit based in Toronto, Canada that helps LGBTQ+ people around the world through emergency reloca -

tion, financial assistance, and crisis response.

Powell’s upcoming visit will be to talk about Welcome Corps, a program it is partnering on with the U.S. State Department. The program is modeled on Rainbow Railroad and allows Americans to help LGBTQ+ people to safety in the U.S. through private sponsorship.

To RSVP, go to https://bit. ly/42nkTsP

co-counsel with Lambda Legal and other organizations, a news release stated. Strauss was a top leader of the Lesbian Rights Project of Equal Rights Advocate and was instrumental in its growth and transition into the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the release stated. She then served for many years as a top leader of the San Francisco Public Library’s main branch.

“Karen and Ruth set a standard of civic leadership, generosity, and personal courage – standing up for our communities in contentious litigation, in their work lives, and as lifelong volunteers,” Pizer added. “We are honored to honor them at this year’s Spring Soirée.”

Lambda Legal has for decades defended and advanced the civil rights of LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV.

Safaí also pointed out that the ethics commission will be hiring a new executive director, which is something Bush also noted during his remarks.

In his email, Bush stated he did not want to see commissioners become too beholden to an executive director.

“The danger is that executive directors run the commission instead of the reverse and the commissioners become puppets,” he stated. “This denies the public real representation on policy and priorities. That would be regrettable.”

The ethics commission appointment has been continued since March, as Dorsey noted at the top of the meeting. At a recent rules committee meeting when it was continued, Dorsey said it was so that more people could apply. At that time Bush was the only applicant. While Bush was on the phone to speak to the committee then, Dorsey continued the matter without hearing from him.

A third man, gay attorney David Tsai, a former chair of the San Francisco Bar Association, had also applied this time, but Dorsey said Monday that Tsai had withdrawn from consideration. t

SF DPH holding mpox vax events

San Francisco Department of Public Health officials have announced there will be upcoming mpox vaccination clinics and encourage people to get both the first and second shots.

As the Bay Area Reporter recently noted, local health officials are being vigilant after the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the U.S. could see a worse mpox outbreak this year. Last year’s outbreak primarily affected men who have sex with men and their sexual partners. Several news outlets reported this week that Chicago has seen an uptick in mpox cases.

Lambda Legal to celebrate 50th anniversary in SF Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund will celebrate its 50th anniversary with its Spring Soirée in San Francisco Wednesday, May 24, and honor the plaintiffs in the Strauss v. Horton lawsuit, the 2008 legal case that challenged Proposition 8, California’s same-sex marriage ban.

Prominent attorney and pro bono counsel to Lambda Legal Ruth Borenstein and her spouse, longtime community leader Karen Strauss, were plaintiffs in the California Supreme Court case that protected the marriages of the 18,000 same-sex couples who tied the knot before Prop 8’s passage in November 2008. (In separate litigation, Prop 8 was later ruled unconstitutional by a federal court, which an appeals court upheld. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 decided that the ruling against Prop 8 could go into effect, which resulted in same-sex marriage becoming legal in the Golden State two years before the high court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision did the same thing nationwide.)

The Strauss v. Horton case “established essential due process rights of all Californians, and it took great courage for these women and our other plaintiffs in that high-profile case to be public about how Prop 8 denied them and their loved ones happiness and legal security in the face of health threats and other vulnerabilities,” stated Jennifer Pizer, Lambda Legal’s chief legal officer.

As a partner in the Morrison & Foerster law firm, Borenstein dedicated thousands of pro bono hours to advancing legal rights of LGBTQ+ people as

The upcoming event will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Pearl, 601 19th Street. Tickets start at $275. To purchase tickets or for more information, go to https://bit.ly/3nIxU16

Oakland has openings on commissions

Lesbian at-large Oakland City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan is urging residents to apply for openings on various boards and commissions.

“The city of Oakland has over 40 boards and commissions that play a vital role in city government,” Kaplan stated in an email announcement. “Boards and commissions serve as a mechanism for community members in Oakland to bring issues of concern to the attention of the general public and the City Council.”

She added that councilmembers can suggest the appointments of community members and urged interested people to take a look at the various advisory bodies. Accord ing to the city’s website, the planning commission cur rently has four vacancies, as does the homelessness commission. The Com munity Policing Advisory Board has seven vacancies and the Children’s Fairyland Board has two vacancies. For a listing of all the boards and commissions, including vacancies, and to apply, go to https:// bit.ly/3powk57

Interested people can also contact Kaplan’s office at atlarge@oaklandca.gov.

In San Francisco, mpox vaccines will be available at the SOMA Second Saturdays events that are cosponsored by the Leather & LGBTQ Cultural District. The first one will be Saturday, May 13, with the second one occurring Saturday, June 10. Both will be from noon to 5 p.m. on 12th Street between Folsom and Harrison streets. If people get the first shot in May, they can get the second one in June, officials stated in a news release.

Drag for Democracy event

The League of Women Voters San Francisco and the League of Women Voters of California have announced a Drag for Democracy event Saturday, May 20, from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Commonwealth Club, 110 The Embarcadero in San Francisco.

The event will bring together the vibrant drag community and advocates for democracy for an evening of entertainment, education, and advocacy while honoring Bay Area leaders Honey Mahogany, a Black queer trans person who is chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party; gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco); lesbian El Cerrito City Councilmember Carolyn Wysinger; and Matt Foreman, a gay man who’s with the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Foundation. (The foundation announced in 2022 that it was ending all of its LGBTQ nonprofit grants in 2023, as the Bay Area Reporter previously reported.) Entertainment will be provided by some of the city’s most talented drag performers, organizers said.

Attorney Yaman Salahi was recommended by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ rules committee for a seat on the city’s ethics commission.

Screengrab via SFGovTV

Rainbow Railroad Executive Director Kimahli Powell

Courtesy Kimahli Powell

Guerneville beating victim decries sheriff response

by John Ferrannini

What began as an Easter weekend getaway ended as a traumatizing, unsolved battery at a widely-known gay resort in the North Bay.

Isaac Featherston, 40, was in Guerneville at the R3 Hotel with two friends: Celso Dulay, 53, and Chris Knight, 57, who are married. All three are gay men from San Francisco.

Dulay said that after hanging out by the pool at R3 April 9, they decided to go to McT’s Bullpen to play pool.

“Chris and I ended up leaving, and Isaac was going to stay and play pool with a person he just met,” Dulay told the Bay Area Reporter.

Featherston and the man – who he remembers gave his name as Jordy or Jordie, though he’s uncertain of the spelling – proceeded to Rainbow Cattle Company, a gay bar, to continue their pool match.

“We were basically the only people there – they closed the bar down early, at 1 [a.m.] – he was adamant about being straight and married with kids,” Featherston told the B.A.R. “I literally was there to play pool so that was fine; it didn’t matter. For me it was ‘I’m here to play pool with you.’”

Featherston then invited the man to his room at R3 for a nightcap, he said.

“There’s video of us coming in together,” Featherston said. “I poured us a shot and I had to pee, so I went to the bathroom and, as I came back, he was pouring another drink – and that’s the last thing I remember, having that drink, sitting on the bed clothed having an amicable normal conversation.”

The next thing Featherston remembers is “the sound of something hitting my head,” he said.

“I couldn’t even fend it off,” Featherston explained. “I was in the fetal position defending my head. I know it was just him, though it felt like ‘how can this be just one person?’ … I ran – he had been holding me down, he grabbed my throat and said ‘I’m going to kill you.’ It was life or death. Running for my life, I didn’t realize till I got outside and was on the deck screaming that I was naked.”

Featherston ran over to Dulay and Knight’s room.

“When we got Isaac in the room, it was obvious he didn’t realize what was going on,” Knight said. “He was very disoriented and upset. I was afraid he had a concussion.”

Sonoma County Sheriff’s deputies and “four to five medical people” showed up, Knight said.

Mistreatment alleged

It was at that point that all three men contend Featherston was mistreated at every level of emergency response. They said that the line of questioning from the man they describe as the lead sheriff’s deputy was trying to get at “rough sex gone wrong,” as Featherston put it.

The deputy asked Featherston “what were you doing for two hours?” he said.

“I was like ‘I don’t know dude, I got fucking drugged. I don’t know what he was doing,’” Featherston said. “And he’s like ‘Oh, well at some point someone spoke to someone in a room nearby and he said maybe he [the assailant] was bitten on the shoulder,” to which Featherston responded “‘Are you serious right now? I bit him in self-defense. Good for me.’” Dulay said that the tone of the sheriff’s deputies was “callous and rude.”

“When [sheriff’s deputies] got there they were speaking with Isaac, we were on the bed, and they were callous and removed,” he said. “I think it was a sheriff or whoever was in charge who was like ‘You need to cover yourself up,’ without compassion, so we gave him a sheet, and they were very kind of callous and rude.”

The sheriff’s office report, provided by Featherston to the B.A.R., describes what happened as “simple assault” involving “hands, feet, teeth, etc.” The summary states that “an unknown suspect battered the victim inside a hotel room.”

Featherston’s mother, Carla Featherston, 63, of Springdale, Arkansas, took issue with that.

“From the report, it seems downplayed,” she said. “He should have noted from the wounds on him that a weapon was used. Isaac thinks it was probably a broken piece of furniture.”

Carla Featherston said in subsequent weeks she has wanted to give the sheriff’s office “the benefit of the doubt” but is concerned there has not been meaningful progress in finding the assailant.

“Basically his answer … was ‘I want to find out who it was but right now I don’t know,’” Carla Featherston recounted.

She replied, in emails, “Did you talk to people in the area? Take pictures of the room?’ His answers were always very brief and it took days in-between for him to get back to me. The last time he basically said, ‘The report says only hands and feet were used,’ but if you see a picture of Isaac you can see fists couldn’t have done that. When I asked the deputy, he said, ‘I don’t know because Isaac doesn’t remember anything.’ My answer was ‘Yeah, because he was drugged.’ He never replied to that email.”

While the sheriff’s office has returned a call from Carla Featherston since, she isn’t sure if it’s worth calling back.

“I’m just disappointed. I’m very dis appointed,” she said. “It seems like there was no effort.”

To top it off, Dulay said that a sher iff’s office is “across the street” from McT’s Bullpen.

“A lot of this is very suspect,” he said. The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to a request for com ment for this report as of press time.

Medical response

Featherston was taken to Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital, where his lips were stitched and he was given a CT scan. However, his vitals were not taken, a rape kit was not ad ministered, and the results of the CT scan were not explained, he said.

“I assumed they got results be cause someone said ‘OK you can go now,’” Featherston said. “At no point did anyone come and explain the re sults. I had to get out of my bed and roam the halls to ask for ibuprofen. Saying to me ‘You can go’ doesn’t mean I know how to go. I don’t even know where I am in the hospital.”

Then, a staff member told Featherston, “We don’t mean to rush you but we really just need this room right now.” He recalled replying, “I’m happy to go but can you tell me how to get out of here. I don’t work here.”

In a statement, a Sutter spokesperson stated the company could not speak on specifics.

“Safe and compassionate patient care is at the core of our mission. While our commitment to patient privacy and related legal requirements prevent us from speaking to specifics, we always want our patients to feel well-informed throughout their experience and that they received the care they need. When we receive a complaint, we work to fully resolve any concerns,” the spokesperson stated.

“Additionally, we identify opportunities for improvement that can help enhance future patient care experiences,” the spokesperson added. “Sutter is proud to be a nationally recognized leader in health care quality and, in pursuit of our community-focused mission, we are committed to providing our patients comprehensive, high-quality care.”

Dulay said they’ve gotten “no outreach from the sheriff’s office,

The R3 Hotel did not respond to a request for comment for this report.

“I’m glad we witnessed the bad police work and bad medical assistance,” Dulay said.

Featherston said that, “in the moment, I couldn’t appreciate how I was being treated” because of the trauma of having been drugged and beaten.

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homophobia

“It’s even worse than I thought it was,” he said. “Especially only being only an hour from San Francisco. We have a luxury of living in a bubble where we’re judged on our character and nothing else, so being treated in such a way so close to home – based on assumptions and ideas – was kind of shocking.” t

nothing from R3; the whole thing is a pile of utter shit dripping with

and discrimination, in my opinion.”

Isaac Featherston shared this photo that was taken when he got back from the hospital the morning after he was attacked.

Courtesy Isaac Featherston

Volume 53, Number 19 May 11-17, 2023

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Whenyou’ve got two gay elected leaders who were among your staunchest supporters calling for the release of video in the Banko Brown shooting, as San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins has, it’s time to disclose the footage. Brown, an unhoused trans man, was fatally shot by a Walgreens security guard outside of the store at 875 Market Street last month. While the guard, Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony, was arrested by police and charged on suspicion of one count of homicide, Jenkins announced last week that her office dismissed the charge because evidence showed that Anthony was acting in self-defense. That has drawn intense criticism because Brown was unarmed, according to San Francisco police.

Jenkins told us during a 10-minute phone interview May 4 that based on the video she has seen, the incident began as shoplifting and escalated to a robbery. She told us police continue to investigate the case. One of Brown’s friends and supporters, Julia Arroyo, the co-executive director of the Young Women’s Freedom Center, told us it looked like Brown was allegedly stealing about $14 worth of candy. (Brown had been an unpaid intern at the center.)

This case touches on the ever-present issues of race, class, homelessness, alleged shoplifting, and the LGBTQ community, as we noted in our report. Last week, Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, who represents District 3, called on Jenkins to reconsider her decision not to press charges against Anthony. This week, that was changed to the supervisors now calling for the release of the video. As the San Francisco Standard reported, gay District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio co-sponsored that resolution, which is nonbinding. Nevertheless, it’s significant that Engardio, who is more of a moderate and represents the Sunset on the city’s westside, signed on. He strongly backed Jenkins in last year’s election and supported the recall of former district attorney Chesa Boudin.

Gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), another high-profile supporter of Jenkins in the 2022 election, has changed his position in the Brown case. Significantly, Wiener pointed to comments

Anthony made, also in the Standard, that result in his believing there is “significant doubt” that Anthony acted in self-defense. Wiener has also called for video and witness statements to be released. Initially, Wiener had stated that he was closely monitoring the case and called for transparency, but stopped short of supporting the release of video and other materials.

We, too, believe that Jenkins should release the video. Transparency is critical, and this case has been full of murky information that later turned out to be inaccurate, such as that Brown was armed (as initially reported in the Standard).

This case is a crucial test of Jenkins’ leadership. She has received good marks from many city residents since she revised some of her predecessor’s policies regarding prosecuting drug dealers and cut back on diversion programs. And the DA’s office seems to have a better working relationship with the San Francisco Police Department. But all that progress threatens to unravel with this case.

On Monday, Jenkins released an update about the ongoing investigation, but stopped short of stating

the video would be released anytime soon. “I hear and understand the concerns from people calling for transparency, but releasing any evidence before the investigation is complete could compromise the investigation and is unethical,” she stated. She added that if her office does end up charging Anthony, “all evidence will be presented in the courts.” If Anthony is not charged, Jenkins stated her office will “publicly release a comprehensive report that provides a full accounting of the evidence reviewed and how the decision was made...”

There is precedent for officials releasing video footage before a criminal case has been adjudicated. In Memphis, Tennessee earlier this year, the police chief within three weeks released lengthy and disturbing bodycam video of officers brutally beating Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who died days after the January 7 incident. Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis’ decision was widely praised by civil rights groups and others, as her action helped show people what transpired during this horrific incident. (Five ex-Memphis police officers have pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and other charges in the case.)

We appreciate that Jenkins wants to be careful, but in this case, Jenkins is being too cautious and may have already undermined the case since she initially cited self-defense, as Mission Local reported. Jenkins should release the video and continue to investigate Brown’s fatal encounter with the security guard. And Arroyo has a point when she told us another reason why the video should be viewed by the public: It’s because of the fearmongering around Black and LGBTQ people, particularly those who are unhoused, that has marked much public discussion of Brown’s death and the events that led up to it.

Mayor London Breed previously committed to ending trans homelessness in San Francisco by 2027. There are many unanswered questions about why Brown did not benefit from the myriad housing programs the city operates or supports with financial resources. That, too, deserves investigating. But at this moment, when emotions are high and the LGBTQ community is hurting, Jenkins releasing the video could help provide much-needed context that is missing in some of the discussion about this case. t

It’s time for CA to take LGBTQ health seriously

by Scott Wiener

Whenthe COVID-19 pandemic hit, I told my team to pause everything we were working on to focus on providing whatever direct services we could to our community. We set up town halls, helped organize food drives, and worked with thousands of our constituents one-on-one in multiple languages to connect them with unemployment benefits, health care, food benefits, and anything else we could.

Bay area reporter

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That’s what public servants are supposed to do –no matter someone’s age, income, or background, we figure out what they need and get it to them. But I quickly realized that there was one group about whose experience in the pandemic we were completely in the dark: LGBTQ people. My community.

Despite a 2015 law authored by then-Assemblymember David Chiu (D-San Francisco) and a 2020 law that I authored, the California Department of Public Health does not systematically collect data on people’s sexual ori entation and gender identity, also known as SOGI data. And the problem isn’t that people don’t want to report that information – the department literally doesn’t even ask the question in the overwhelming majority of situations.

The problem isn’t confined to California – federal health agencies don’t systematically collect SOGI data either. So even though we were hearing anecdotal reports that LGBTQ people were being disproportionately impacted by COVID, we had no way to know for sure. That’s unacceptable because without that data, we’re helpless to tackle these disparities with an approach targeted to our community’s specific needs. Just as the state Department of Public Health collects demographic information about gender and race in order to better target resources where they are most needed, it should already be collecting SOGI data.

Our experience with COVID led me to ask the question of how the state collects health data about LGBTQ people. I asked the California state auditor to take a deep look at what SOGI data the health department collects and what it doesn’t collect. The

resulting audit is absolutely startling: The department is failing its duty to collect SOGI data the way it collects other demographic data like gender and race, and, as a result, the state lacks a clear picture of how to address our community’s unique needs.

Eight years after Governor Jerry Brown signed the LGBT Disparities Reduction Act and three years after Governor Gavin Newsom signed an LGBTQ health data law I authored, the state Department of Public Health asks patients for sexual orientation and gender identity on only 17 of the 124 forms it uses to gather demographic data. Of the 129 forms reviewed by the auditor, 105 were exempt from requirements to collect SOGI data, mostly because those forms are administered to patients by third parties. Because of the technical limitations of its current software, the department is not even able to export SOGI data to be shared or analyzed for over 100 of the 128 reportable disease conditions in their system.

In other words, the department has not implemented a system that globally asks these questions in order to gather health data about our community. These failures are disturbing for what they may conceal about the health of LGBTQ people. What we do know about LGBTQ health disparities is alarming – recent studies have found that, compared with our cisgender and heterosexual counterparts, LGBTQ people experience worse cardiovascular health, higher reported incidence of cancer, and a high prevalence of conditions associated with severe COVID-19. We are also in the midst of a mental health crisis among LGBTQ youth, with 44% of LGBTQ youth in California contemplating suicide in 2022 amid an atmosphere of rising antiLGBTQ hate across the country.

Because our health care system is failing so badly on SOGI data collection, we’re in the dark about why these disparities exist. Some survey data finds that LGBTQ people are more likely to report inadequate insurance as a barrier to accessing health care, and in some cases health care providers may not be providing culturally competent care. For some conditions, experiences of marginalization may also be

driving worse health outcomes.

We cannot achieve health equity while SOGI data continues to go unreported, but the experiences of other government agencies show that there’s a lot we can accomplish once we have it. After the San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing began collecting substantial SOGI data, it launched a series of LGBTQ-targeted initiatives that led to a 33% increase, from the previous year, in LGBTQ households accessing permanent housing solutions. The same results are possible in the health care arena – but only once we put systems in place to collect the data.

There is a clear set of steps the California Department of Public Health must take to correct its oversight and begin collecting SOGI data. It must make a comprehensive plan, under centralized authority, to add SOGI questions to all forms that collect demographic information – especially those administered by third parties. It must develop guidance and adequately train its staff and third parties acting on its behalf in how to collect this data, and follow up to ensure compliance. It must also overhaul its software system known as CalREDIE to allow public health programs to analyze SOGI data.

California Department of Public Health Director Dr. Tomás Aragón has said that the department plans to finally get it together and collect SOGI data on all of its forms by April 2024, with progress reports to the public in 60 days and again in six months. I’m heartened to see this concrete commitment from Aragón, and I’ll be monitoring closely to ensure this happens.

Though it is too late in the legislative cycle for the Legislature to address the issue this year, I, along with gay Assemblymember Rick Zbur (D-West Hollywood), will introduce legislation to address these issues next year if the department falls short on its commitment.

By moving to address this longstanding oversight, California can continue to serve as a model to other states and to the federal government of how best to champion the LGBTQ community. My hope is that SOGI data collection, like same-sex marriage, soon moves from being a California idiosyncrasy to an accepted practice nationwide. t

State Senator Scott Wiener (D) is a gay man who represents San Francisco.

A memorial to Banko Brown was on view Monday, May 1, before the start of a rally and vigil in support of the trans man who was killed by a Walgreens security guard last month.

John Ferrannini

State Senator Scott Wiener

Courtesy Sen. Wiener’s office

CA Senate candidate Middleton undeterred by anti-trans attacks

by Matthew S. Bajko

Across the country conservative lawmakers are trying to legislate transgender people out of public existence, from banning their access to genderaffirming care and ability to use the restroom that corresponds with their gender identity to censoring mention of them in school classrooms and on public library shelves. In Montana, a transgender state legislator was barred last month from the chamber floor for the remaining days of the legislative session.

The national discourse around trans issues, rather than deter Palm Springs City Councilmember Lisa Middleton from seeking higher office and the spotlight it will shine on her and her family, is increasing her drive to be elected in 2024 as the first transgender member of the California Legislature.

“I have an absolutely firm resolve to stand up for my community and the larger LGBT community,” said Middleton, 70, who was first elected to a citywide council seat in 2017. (The city later switched to districts and Middleton currently represents District 5.)

She was the first transgender person in California elected to a non-judicial position. Middleton is now seeking the 19th Senate District seat that includes the LGBTQ tourist and retirement mecca of the Coachella Valley.

It will be vacated in late 2024 by termed out state Senator Melissa Melendez (RLake Elsinore). Middleton had initially launched her campaign for the legislative seat in October 2021. But she suspended her bid later that year after the seat was given an odd number due to the 2020 redistricting process, landing it on the 2024 ballot instead of last year’s.

The respite from the campaign trail afforded Middleton more time to focus on serving as her city’s ceremonial mayor in 2022 after being elected to it by her council colleagues in late 2021. It marked the first time a transgender mayor had led a California city.

“We did have to put it on ice when the map got totally redrawn. It did give me an opportunity to totally concentrate on all of my other jobs,” said Middleton about hitting pause on her state Senate candidacy.

But it corresponded with Republicans ramping up their culture war attacks against the transgender community. Even in the Bay Area, transphobia and homophobia marred a number of local races on the 2022 ballot.

“It has exploded in the last two years. It has convinced me, even more, that we need to see committed, strong, capable candidates are in these races,” said Middleton of the current political landscape. “Those folks who are passing this legislation today, most of them will live to regret what they have done.”

Middleton spoke to the Bay Area Reporter in late April while in San Francisco to fundraise for her campaign and attend the local award dinner held by statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization Equality California. She serves on the board of its educational arm, the Equality California Institute.

Over coffee at a coffeehouse in the city’s LGBTQ Castro district, Middleton said she has received a few death threats in the last year. Only one that was unrelated to her being transgender, and had more to do with her being a civic leader, required follow-up by authorities, she said, but didn’t result in any legal action.

She does limit her exposure to social media, saying she is not personally active “at all” on such platforms. Her campaign does maintain a social media presence that is overseen by staff, explained Middleton.

LGBTQ seniors. Palm Springs currently has a small assisted living facility focused on LGBTQ people, called Stonewall Gardens, and a market-rate development of apartments called Living Out Palm Springs under construction. While that facility will be “fabulous,” said Middleton, more affordable housing is needed.

Her mantra for addressing the state’s expensive cost of living is “more housing, more housing, more housing,” said Middleton. The state’s housing stock is not meeting the needs of the LGBT community, she said, let alone the graying population of California.

“We have got to build,” said Middleton, noting that, “Despite the cost of living, California is still the state of choice for so many people.”

“I take my family and personal security very seriously,” said Middleton, who married her wife, Cheryl O’Callaghan, in 2013 two years after the now-grandmothers had moved to the Coachella Valley. “We will make sure we keep ourselves safe as we move forward in the campaign.”

A native Californian, having grown up in East Los Angeles, Middleton graduated from UCLA and received a master’s in public administration from the University of Southern California.

She moved to San Francisco in 1994 when she was working for California’s State Compensation Insurance Fund. It was at that time that she came out as transgender.

“It is a place for hundreds of thousands of us to come to to finally step up and step out for who we truly are. The support I have received here is something I will never forget,” said Middleton.

Her potential to break through another political glass ceiling by being elected to the Legislature means her race is sure to attract intense attention, both from the public and the press. While understanding of the outsize interest in her candidacy, Middleton said her focus is fighting for the needs of the people she hopes to represent.

“I will never apologize for who I am,” she said, “but I am running to respond to the issues of the 950,000 people who live in the 19th District and address the concerns of the nearly 40 million people who live in California.”

Top concerns include the “significant” transportation and infrastructure needs throughout the Inland Empire region, said Middleton, where many residents have long commutes to Los Angeles or Orange counties. She is a champion of the Coachella Valley-San Gorgonio Pass Rail Corridor Service Program, projected to cost $1 billion and would provide twicedaily train service between Palm Springs and Los Angeles.

“I am running on issues critical to the Inland Empire as a growing region,” said Middleton, who serves on the Riverside County Transportation Commission that is working with Amtrak on the rail project.

Aging issues

Middleton told the B.A.R. she would also want to take a lead role on aging issues in Sacramento.

“For the LGBT community gay men and trans women disproportionately enter their senior years without a life partner. We are still seeing seniors have a strained to poor to nonexistent relationship with their biological family,” noted Middleton. “A partner or bio family, for most of us, is our primary source of support, even for something as simple as a trip to the doctor’s office.”

In particular, she noted there is a growing need for affordable senior housing not only in her region of the state but throughout California, especially projects that are affirming of, and welcoming to,

One repercussion of the anti-trans laws being adopted in other states is more trans people and families with trans children looking to move to the Golden State, noted Middleton.

“The states that double down on hateful legislation, they are pushing more and more of their families and youth to move to places like California,” she said.

As for lesbian state Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) moving to end California’s ban on using taxpayer money to cover travel to states that have rolled back LGBTQ rights since 2015, Middleton said she agrees it is time to sunset the policy, similar to San Francisco supervisors voting in recent weeks to repeal the city’s similar travel ban ordinance.

“I think Senator Atkins is correct. It has not achieved what we hoped they would achieve and have been more symbolic than effectual,” Middleton said of the travel bans. “One of the things folks like about me, or won’t like, is I care about policies that will have an impact. Doing something for symbolic sake, sometimes we have to do that, but I want to do practical things that help people live their life day to day.”

For example, she defended the actions Palm Springs leaders took to address the COVID pandemic, such as having the city be one of the first to enact strict masking requirements. Doing so not only protected residents’ health but also benefited the city’s tourist sector, which is an important driver for the local economy, argued Middleton.

“I am proud of the things we did to fight COVID,” she said, especially for the city’s seniors and older gay men living with HIV. “They took this health crisis with urgency, and we wanted to respond to their needs.”

Not everyone agreed, and made their feelings known to Middleton during her mayoralty.

“I got a lot of angry emails saying, ‘I am never coming back because you made me wear a mask.’ At the same time our hotels, restaurants were full,” she said. “During COVID people were reluctant to fly, so what we call the ‘drive market communities’ in Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego flocked to the desert.”

It is another example of how residents of the Senate district have seen her address various issues over the last decade, from serving on the City Council and prior to that the Palm Springs Planning Commission, noted Middleton. It is why she doubts her being transgender will be much of a factor in her race.

“There will always be questions that come up about identity. Anytime someone is a ‘first’ there will be extra questions about that,” she acknowledged. “This campaign will be won or lost on if people believe I am the best person to represent them on the issues that are of concern to them. I was elected overwhelmingly in Palm Springs and ran unopposed in my district because people believe in the work I do for them.”

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Palm Springs City Councilmember Lisa Middleton is running for state Senate in 2024.

Courtesy the campaign

Gay vintner couple readies Napa events venue

by Matthew S. Bajko

Over the course of a Monday afternoon in mid-April at their Yountville home, husbands Joe Wolosz and Jeff Durham showed off their culinary skills as they discussed how the dishes they prepared paired with their Gentleman Farmer wines. The former San Francisco residents have been presiding over such affairs for members of their wine club and other guests since 2018.

They had invited the Bay Area Reporter to experience their hospitality and sample their wines ahead of their annual Pride Month fundraiser for the It Gets Better Project. For the last four years they have donated 10% of their wine sales throughout June to the nonprofit focused on assisting LGBTQ youth.

This year is the first time they have promoted the philanthropic effort more broadly to the public and have teamed up with San Francisco nightlife promoter and drag queen Juanita MORE!, whom they befriended last year, for it, with part of the money raised this year going to Queer LifeSpace, the nonprofit mental health services provider she chose as this year’s beneficiary of her annual Pride party. As for how much they hope to raise this year, the couple told the B.A.R. that “is up to the consumer.”

When the COVID pandemic hit in 2020, they decided to stop their retail sales in the select stores that carried their wines and focus solely on directto-consumer sales via their online store.

Today, such purchases account for 95% of their business.

“We do very little retail,” said Wolosz, who had soaked chicken livers in chardonnay overnight and turned them into a mousse served with homemade brioche bread and spiced nuts he had glazed with a pomegranate molasses.

The couple works directly with vineyard owner Michael Hanna, a great-great-grandson of John Muir, on when to pick the rows of grapes they lease that will become bottles of their chardonnay, rosé, pinot noir, and cabernet sauvignon wines. (Prices range from $37 for their 2021 Rosé to $169 for their Almanac blends.)

Their winemaker, Jérôme Chéry, is also gay and hails from France. Late last year, Wine Enthusiast awarded 91 points out of 100 to their rosé.

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“When we got rated on it, we were surprised. Usually rosés don’t get reviewed or scored,” said Durham, who owned the Halcyon Hotel in San Francisco from the late 1990s until 2003.

For six years he had served on the Yountville Town Council until losing his reelection bid in 2020 over his support of a local measure that would have allowed a cannabis dispensary to seek approval to open in the town. Durham told the B.A.R. he has no plans to seek elective office again and is now focused solely on the couple’s business ventures and his weekly activist newsletter The Yountvillian.

Wolosz, 55, and Durham, 56, both graduated from Cal Poly Pomona in 1985 but never met on campus. It wasn’t until a chance encounter on April 10, 1999, at the former Bar on Castro (now Q Bar) that they would begin dating and eventually marry in 2017.

“We both went into hotels and restaurants,” said Wolosz, a member of the band Phat Ankle. (“We call our groupies the Cankles,” he said.)

Eventually, Wolosz enrolled at UC Davis and earned a winemaker’s certificate. The couple started off making wine in the garage of a friend the year they met, while living in the Castro.

They relocated to Yountville in 2003 and released their first public vintage in 2005. A certified LGBTQ business enterprise by the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, Gentleman Farmer is the only gay-owned family winery in the Napa Valley.

“The one thing we never wanted to be was the gay wine or rainbow wine. Now twenty-something years into this, it is OK to be gay,” said Wolosz, who grew up in Arroyo Grande south of Pismo Beach along California’s central coast.

Added Durham, who grew up in Napa, “I am proud of what we make. People are responding to it.”

Residing along Hopper Creek, they tend to vegetable and herb gardens in raised beds near the coop that houses their Polish chickens. When they launched their food and wine pairing experiences five years ago, they would travel to the homes of Gentleman Farmer wine club members. A 50th birthday trip to Bordeaux, France, had sparked the idea.

“We were at a chateau winery for lunch. I just thought it was super cool,” said Wolosz, who served up a plate of homemade pierogies with chives from the couple’s garden.

COVID brought an end to their dining pop-ins, so they started inviting friends to their home to cook for and eventually opened up the guest list as the pandemic came under more control. Of the 280 people who are

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members of their wine club, the couple believes they have now hosted all but 20 for one of their lunches.

“This is how we would want you to enjoy the wine when you got home,” explained Durham, who had made malfatti, Italian spinach ricotta dumplings, with spicy sausage in a marinara sauce in honor of his grandparents who used to serve the dish when his family would visit them in the East Bay city of Crockett.

Their culinary gatherings, a few of which have been dinners, are free to attend with membership in the wine club and quickly fill up. Due to their success, the couple purchased a 1929 California Craftsman Bungalow in downtown Napa last year they are turning into an event venue that should open this fall named The Bungalow by Gentleman Farmer.

Napa event space

Billed as their “new studio for gustatory well-being,” the building’s three main rooms will be themed to different motifs symbolizing areas of the Golden State meaningful to the couple: sand for the coast, fog for the bay, and forest for the protected woodlands near the Oregon border. The front door will sport stained glass featuring the state flower, the California poppy, while the entry vestibule will evoke Tijuana in honor of migrant farmworkers.

Their plan is to host the private tasting events for upward of eight wine club members and their friends at the new venue, which will also allow them to organize larger gatherings for upwards of 50 people on occasion.

They haven’t decided if they will start charging for the tasting experiences at The Bungalow; for now they do plan to continue only offering it to their wine club members.

“This experience is for people who have been to the valley before and know how wine works. This is to get to know the industry better,” explained Durham.

Earlier this year Durham sold off a hotel in Humboldt County that he had been overseeing the management of since first purchasing it 15 years ago. He no longer wanted to make the four-hour commute and instead decided it was time to devote his attention fully on the winery brand and its expansion.

“It was just time to focus on Gentleman Farmer. With both of us being involved in Gentleman Farmer, we can focus on this brand,” said Durham.

They had wanted to open their event venue in Yountville, but Sonoma County zoning rules don’t allow the type of food preparation they intend to provide.

“It can be a bite of food, but I want it to be a full meal. The only thing that had what I wanted was Napa,” noted Wolosz, who is working on a Gentleman Farmer cookbook and publishes a magazine for their wine club members filled with his recipes and interviews he conducts with the couple’s newsmaker friends and acquaintances.

A magician himself and accordion player, Wolosz envisions hosting monthly salons at the new venue, where attendees can eat, drink wine, and enjoy musicians and other performers they invite. Durham learned how to play the clarinet and also takes part in musically entertaining their guests.

With an outdoor patio space, The Bungalow will be a dog-friendly venue, as will be their guesthouse they plan to open next door with five rooms. They finalized their purchase of the adjacent 1888 Victorian building the same day in early April that Durham completed the sale of the hotel in Fortuna known as The Redwood Riverwalk

“We get to blend what we do with what we love to do,” said Wolosz, who also served a cioppino with shrimp, mussels, scallops and crab before the dessert course.

As for the name Gentleman Farmer, the couple connected with the reference to a gentleman’s farm located outside the city limit that was tended to for one’s pleasure and not for commercial purposes.

“This is for my satisfaction, pleasure, and what I want to do,” explained Wolosz, adding that he doesn’t view running the winery as work. “Everyday is my vacation.”

The winery will be hosting an event June 9 as part of this year’s weeklong Yountville Pride celebration.

To learn more about Gentleman Farmer and order its wines online or join its wine club, visit https:// gentlemanfarmerwines.com/ t

The Business Briefing column for Pride Month will run in the Bay Area Reporter’s June 15 issue.

Got a tip on LGBTQ business news? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 829-8836 or e-mail m.bajko@ ebar.com

Elwood “Woody” Miller, a much-loved longtime Castro resident, prominent nudist activist, friend, lover, and artist, passed away at sunrise on May 4, 2023. He was 67.

His advanced leukemia had been diagnosed less than two months before.

Notoriously familiar to residents and tourists alike as the bearded, kilted waiter at Orphan Andy’s Restaurant, and as one of “the naked guys” along the Castro corridor, Woody was a delight to many and a consternation to the inhibited. Viewed so publicly and intimately, he embraced the city fully and exquisitely with his very skin and personified a profound commitment to the promise of San Francisco as a beacon of personal liberty and the naked truth.

Woody pursued his education at City College of San Francisco and

at San Francisco State University, where he focused his graduate work on gay and lesbian history. He was an avid collector of antique phonographs and art, and established the Naked Nude Art Show, which drew widespread international media attention.

Woody is survived by his husband, John Wilson, with whom he resided in the Castro since 1988, by longtime boyfriend Denton Smith, and by his sister and other relatives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he was born.

David Rowinski

April 28, 1936 – February 5, 2023

Berkeley resident David Rowinski died in his home on February 5, 2023. Cause of death was “an expired lifetime warranty.” Surrounded by friends and neighbors, David remained jovial, snarky, and predictably indecent until the very end. Per his wishes, his body will be

composted and returned to Berkeley to nourish flowers and gardens.

David was born in Connecticut on April 28, 1936. Of hearty Polish stock, he grew up on a dairy farm and graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology. Upon arriving in San Francisco, he worked as an artists’ model by day and reveled in the freedom of the Castro by night.

David moved to Berkeley in the 1980s and met the love of his life, William Blackburn. The 1907 pink cottage where they settled in West Berkeley was a major reclamation project. David’s urban garden was his pride and joy; filled with flowering plants of all kinds, it bursts with color and scents.

While he earned his living in a variety of ways, including as a photographer, river guide, gardener, and plantsman, his real calling was as the “yenta” of his neighborhood. A celebration of life garden party is scheduled for Saturday, May 20. For information, email schmidrenate@gmail.com.

David Rowinski. Photo: Courtesy Sarah Klise

Joey Wolosz, left, and Jeff Durham stand in their home kitchen in Yountville, where they operate the Gentleman Farmer.

Jak Wonderly

Support grows for renovation at Castro dog park

by Sari Staver

Community support is gaining steam for proposed renovations at the Eureka Valley Dog Play Area.

The park, located at 100 Collingwood Street adjacent to the Eureka Valley Recreation Center, is one of 35 dog parks in San Francisco, according to the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, which operates them.

Members of the Eureka Valley Dog Owners Group, a nonprofit offshoot of the Eureka Valley Neighborhood Association, has been convening a series of meetings to discuss renovations to the dog play area. At the first meeting in March, as the Bay Area Reporter previously reported, many attendees commented on the stench as a major issue to be addressed.

Other complaints include the lack of separate space for small dogs, whose owners often worry that their pooches will be injured by much larger dogs; safety and security; access for disabled people; shade protection; improved plantings and foliage; and clean, easily accessed water.

While still in the planning stages, drawings presented by the Eureka Valley Dog Owners Group have brought hope for change. The architectural renderings were done by J. Lee Stickles, a landscape architect whose firm TS Studio has offered volunteer help to get the proposal off the ground.

Community enthusiasm was apparent when over 60 people, mostly local dog owners and neighbors, met for the second community meeting April 25 at the park clubhouse to offer input on the project.

When new drawings of proposed models for park improvements were unveiled, attendees seemed pleased.

Stephanie Kastner, who lives around the corner but doesn’t bring her two terriers to the park, said, “Wow! Looks great. I’m impressed.” Kastner, a professional fundraiser, said she was interested in learning about volunteer opportunities for the project.

One of the preliminary designs shows a grassy area for all dogs and another area for small dogs. There’s a native grassy area with dog safe edible grass and boulders with dog safe plantings. There is a water source, accessible security gate, and shade trees in the design.

The second preliminary design shows dog play areas, fixed seating with lighting, stabilized granite surfacing, micro-clover with eco-lawn mix or non-toxic Astroturf, water source, accessible security gate, edible grasses, and canopy trees.

Some skeptics doubt whether EVDOG will actually be able to put together the money needed, estimated to be up to $1 million. The funds would probably be a combination of private fundraising and grants.

One dog owner, who has been coming to the park with a dog twice a day for several decades but asked that her name not be used, told the B.A.R. she has “heard this all before” and doubts that the current group will succeed.

“Who are these people?” she asked. “They don’t use this park so how do they know what we need?” She added that similar proposals have been made over the years, but all fizzled for lack of funding.

Another anonymous dog owner, who attended the recent meeting, expressed her displeasure by placing several Post-it notes on the proposed drawings, urging others to “boycott” the proposed changes. One of the notes nixed the idea of artificial turf.

Several people complained that a renovation would mean the park would have to close as long as four to 12 months. But MRocket, a vol-

unteer for EVDOG, pointed out that one possibility would be to do construction in phases, which would be more expensive but would enable parts of the park to remain open during the build out.

The proposals unveiled at the meeting were suggestions of “what is possible,” said Rocket, a lesbian who founded Bay Woof (https://www. baywoof.org/) in 2007. Rocket said

her organization isn’t involved with EVDOG but she helps the group with community outreach. The Bay Woof Foundation, a nonprofit, publishes a free monthly emagazine and a directory of local dog parks. Support for community-funded projects such as this came from Rec and Park, which cited similar projects that have been done at other dog parks in the city.

Commenting on the role of community fundraising to improve San Francisco’s parks, Tamara Barak Aparton, director of communications and public affairs at Rec and Park, stated in an email to the B.A.R., “Many of the city’s great public spaces are the result of a community vision brought to life through philanthropy.”

“Neighbors raised about $27 million for Francisco Park, which opened a year ago. In the case of India Basin Waterfront Park, fundraising is a key part of transforming a formerly dilapidated shoreline in the Bayview into a vibrant public space that reflects the needs and values of local residents,” Aparton wrote. “We regularly work with nonprofits and community groups to renovate parks and playgrounds all over San Francisco, in every neighborhood, from Hilltop Park in the Bayview to playgrounds all over the city through the LetsPlaySF! initiative.”

Aparton cited two comparable projects to the dog play area with similar fundraising goals. One is the children’s playground in Sue Bierman Park, which opened in 2013 “thanks to neighborhood groups raising about $1 million in private

funding to design and build it,” she wrote.

“They started off with zero public funds. They also applied for and were awarded a $250,000 Community Opportunity Fund grant, she wrote. “Another is the Presidio Heights playground renovation; a neighborhood group raised about $1 million in private funding to renovate the playground, which reopened in 2010.”

Rocket urged neighborhood residents and dog owners to offer their feedback and ideas by filling out the park user survey accessible through EVDOG’s website.

In a Facebook post, Rocket wrote, “The more people who participate, the better and stronger the dog community becomes in the process of working together.”

For more about the proposals, visit the EVDOG website or its Facebook page, which has the same name. t

The third and last community meeting in this series will be held on Wednesday, May 24, at 6 p.m. at the Eureka Valley Rec Room, 100 Collingwood Street.

A preliminary design showed lots of play areas for dogs as well as shade trees and a water source.

Courtesy TS Studio, SF Rec and Park

“I hope the district attorney will reconsider her decision and I hope that her initial decision on May 1 and subsequent change of mind on May 8, does not compromise the prosecutorial integrity of the case,” Walton added.

The supervisors have an ally in gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), another Jenkins backer, who on Sunday called for the release of the video evidence after not doing so in an earlier statement last week.

What changed was an interview with Anthony in the San Francisco Standard. In that interview, Anthony did not elaborate on anything Brown had done to threaten him.

“In recent days, a steady stream of information has become public regarding the shooting death of Banko Brown, resulting in significant public doubt about the security guard’s claim of self-defense,” Wiener stated. “This shooting has caused profound and growing concern in the community, particularly among Black and transgender San Franciscans. Transparency with the public is critical. Therefore, I am calling for evidence concerning Banko Brown’s death – including video and witness statements – to be released to the public.”

Changing tacks

Jenkins herself has changed tacks, though that doesn’t mean the videos will be forthcoming anytime soon. In her first statement May 1, she emphasized that “the evidence clearly shows that the suspect believed he was in mortal danger and acted in self-defense. We cannot bring forward charges when there is credible evidence of reasonable selfdefense.”

When she spoke to the B.A.R. May 4 during a 10-minute phone interview, she emphasized the ongoing nature of the investigation.

“While we opted not to charge this case earlier this week when we discharged it, we asked SFPD to conduct further investigation,” Jenkins said at that time. “It’s still an ongoing investigation, still an open case, so I’m not yet at the point [when] I can publicly reveal all of the facts.”

Jenkins issued another statement May 8, stating, “Last week, I announced that charges were not being filed as careful review of all of the evidence gathered at that point did not meet the prosecution’s burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the suspect in the case was guilty of a crime.

“Although the investigation was ongoing, we had to make a charging decision by 4:00PM on May 1st because the suspect was being held in custody,” Jenkins added. “By law, a suspect that is in custody must be charged within 72 hours and can not be held indefinitely as that would violate due process. At that time, we

John

discharged the case, and asked the San Francisco Police Department to gather more evidence before making a final decision.”

Jenkins was set to appear at a meeting of the Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club at Manny’s in the Mission neighborhood May 8 for a discussion, featuring Engardio and others, about the “crisis in our streets.” The event was postponed at the last minute – but not before protesters from the Young Women’s Freedom Center showed up. The agency has been facilitating vigils and rallies regarding the case.

“Due to last minute scheduling conflicts, we are unfortunately rescheduling this evening’s program,” Alice stated in an email sent out 18 minutes after the event had been scheduled to begin. “We are currently working on a new date for this important conversation.”

The club told the B.A.R. that the event’s postponement was not due to Jenkins but to another speaker they didn’t want to identify.

Jenkins describes videos

Jenkins did agree to speak to the videos during her call with the B.A.R.

“I can say that this began as an ordinary shoplifting, and at the point when the security guard indicated that the things didn’t need to leave the building, it escalated to a robbery,” Jenkins said.

The DA then claimed it was an Estes robbery, referring to People of the State of California v. Estes (1983). This is a type of robbery where someone attempting to shoplift is approached by security at a store and the shoplifter uses force to get away. This led to an altercation, Jenkins said.

“During the altercation there were threats and the security guard, at a point, articulated that he believed he needed to act in self-defense,” Jenkins said. “That’s the most I can say with respect to the facts.”

said that in her experience, conflict between alleged shoplifters and security guards happens frequently.

“Young people go in, something is taken out of the store, and it’s a tussle with loss prevention, and they get battery charges or robbery charges,” she said, adding that she can’t speak to this particular case because the video has not been released, but did note that “it’s not Banko going in there, holding up the place.”

“We have to create legislation that armed security guards should not exist in San Francisco,” Arroyo said. “There’s nothing of so much value in Walgreens to rationalize taking a person’s life. It looks like it was $14 worth of candy and there’s no excuse for a murder even, especially, if there was no weapon.”

District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston, a straight ally, introduced legislation May 9 to limit the use of guns by security guards. Engardio told the B.A.R. that while he’s not yet read it, “so I can’t speak to it directly,” he does not believe that security guards should be allowed to carry lethal weapons.

“They haven’t had the rigorous training of police officers who follow strict protocols overseen by an independent police commission,” he said. “There is no item worth protecting at the cost of human life. A non-lethal taser could be considered for extreme cases when someone needs to be subdued after posing a physical or lethal threat to people in the store.”

Gay District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who represents the district where the killing happened, told the B.A.R. he also had not had the chance to read it yet as of May 9.

Jenkins told the B.A.R. that she’s open to society figuring out whether armed security in stores is appropriate.

“I believe it’s a discussion we, as a society or a community, need to engage in,” Jenkins said.

“We’ve seen the tragedy that results on all ends of the spectrum,” she added, before making a reference to the killing of gay security guard Gavin Boston in the city’s Japantown in January, on which the B.A.R. also reported.

“I don’t feel I’m in a position to articulate at this moment what should happen but I’m willing to engage in a conversation as a community.”

‘I’m not deferring’

Jenkins told the B.A.R. May 4 the community should trust her decision not to charge Anthony, one which has become a lightning rod in the city, touching on the already salient issues of race, class, homelessness, alleged shoplifting, and the LGBTQ community.

In the phone interview, she noted that the investigation into Brown’s killing is ongoing and didn’t rule out making a different decision on bringing charges.

When asked about demands she change her mind, Jenkins told the B.A.R., “I’m not deferring to someone else’s expertise or judgment call.”

Jenkins had stressed to the B.A.R. last week that her office “ethically” cannot release the security camera video that relatives and colleagues of Brown’s are demanding be released.

“It’s not about me being open or willing – ethically that’s not appropriate for me to do,” she said. “It’s an open case, an ongoing investigation. We don’t release evidence to the public. … Should we charge that case, I will open myself up to the defense saying we’ve tainted the jury.”

Arroyo told the B.A.R. that the tapes need to be seen because of the “fearmongering” around Black and LGBTQ people, particularly those unhoused, that has marked public discussion of Brown’s death and the events that led up to it.

“Folks are saying very mean, nasty, hurtful things that have no fact to it, and so by people not seeing the video, it’s perpetuating violence against the trans and LGBTQ community and Black young people, people navigating poverty or houselessness,” Arroyo said, when informed of Jenkins’ remarks.

Jenkins said she has a record of supporting the LGBTQ community and asks for its trust, noting she spent over two years in the DA’s hate crimes office. She was appointed to lead the office last summer by Mayor London Breed after Jenkins helped spearhead the recall of self-styled progressive prosecutor Chesa Boudin – and elected by the voters in November to a term of her own.

“I certainly believe we, as a city, have to do more to be more supportive and to engage,” Jenkins said. “You can’t know what someone needs unless you engage with them.”

Meeting with Brown family

Jenkins said she had a “long meeting” with Brown’s father, Terry, and his stepmother, and that they were informed before the decision to drop the charge was publicly announced.

“I have had the opportunity to meet with Banko’s father and stepmother. We had a long meeting. Prior to the decision being announced I made sure the office made contact with them over the phone,” said Jenkins. “We could not get them into the office; we had trouble getting in touch initially. But we did not release anything about our decision till members of my office had spoken directly with the family.”

John Burris, the family’s lawyer, told the B.A.R. May 4 that Brown’s relatives strongly disagree with Jenkins’ decision and are also upset at being denied access to the security camera footage.

When asked if a lawsuit will happen, Burris replied, “The family hired me to look into the case and that’s what I’m doing.”

First things first, he said that he wants the videos to be made available for viewing.

Community responses

Brown’s killing touches on a number of issues San Francisco has been grappling with in recent years, with people on many sides of the issue agreeing the city has to do better.

His death has received responses from the city’s LGBTQ organizations and leaders.

The Alice and the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic clubs released statements in recent days expressing outrage at the death of Brown. The Alice club called his death “a tragic loss” and “preventable.”

“Banko Brown experienced far too many failures of systems that were built to support marginalized communities,” the Alice club stated. “These systems must be reimagined to truly serve the people they purport to help, Banko Brown cared about his community, and despite his own struggles, was an advocate for improved access to housing and supportive services for his community.”

Its statement issued May 3 did not directly address Jenkins’ charging decision in the case. But Alice leaders did state, “The call to action is clear – Black San Francisco residents, especially Black trans community members –deserve better.”

Milk club leaders also called Brown’s murder “tragic and senseless.” The more progressive political group had issued its statement May 1 just prior to news breaking about Jenkins’ discharge decision.

“We are outraged [to] see the targeted violence against the trans community continue even in San Francisco a historically safe space for the LGBTQ community,” the club posted to Facebook. “We demand change NOW! Rest in Power, Banko Brown.”

Misgendering

The Milk club also blasted city agencies, including the police and medical examiner, along with the media, for initially misgendering and deadnaming Brown. It called on city officials and reporters “to do better” and issue apologies for making such “hurtful mistakes.”

Owunna added they use the “creative forces as a way to really unleash and connect to their higher potential.”

Participants at the retreat do many exercises involving imagery, movement, and ritual “to really hone in on that creative power,” Redd said.

Founding Owunna and Redd founded The Rainbow Serpent as a Black LGBTQ book club during lockdown in the early days of COVID-19 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

“We really started to think about the world and our place in it,” Redd said.

Owunna and Redd chose to name the organization The Rainbow Serpent because it holds multiple meanings. For example, the rainbow represents the colors of the chakras (a Sanskrit word that means wheel or cycle) and the Pride flag. The serpent, which is present in many African traditions, is a “spiritual evolutionary energy that’s embedded in the body,” Redd said.

Julia

Arroyo,

co-executive director of the Young Women’s Freedom Center,

“We thought that rainbow serpent would help evoke the energy work that we’re hoping to do with really harnessing power, connecting to power, and using it to shift and change things,” Redd said. “We thought that the rainbow serpent would be the icon or symbol that would help us do that.”

The book club quickly grew, with people participating across the United States, England, and Nigeria, which inspired them to create The Rainbow Serpent to do bigger projects. One of those projects was the film “Obi Mbu (The Primordial House),” a 30-minute experimental dance film inspired by Nze Chukwukadibia E. Nwafor’s teachings and book “Leopards of the Magical Dawn: Science and the Cosmological Foundations of lgbo Culture,” about the lgbo tribe and culture in southeastern Nigeria, and the late Malidoma Somé, a spiritual teacher from Dano, Burkina Faso, Africa.

Somé’s 1993 interview for M.E.N. magazine, “Gays: Guardians of the Gates,” explores the issue of queer African spiritual traditions in depth. The story and the film are “a retelling of a

“What I would ask is that this city trust that because I have a dedication, and I’ve demonstrated dedication to victims of crime for years, that they would know if I believe someone is guilty of a crime and we can prove it, I would proceed with charging that case,” said Jenkins.

Nigerian myth about the origin of the world,” said Redd. Completed in 2021, the film continues to tour the U.S.

The collective, which has a core of 20 members, went on to produce public art shows, exhibits, and curations of artists’ works at galleries, museums, and events and works in the U.S.

In addition to the core members, The Rainbow Serpent is also a decentralized group of artists who come together to work and support each other, Owunna and Redd said. Each artist brings a different artistic specialty to The Rainbow Serpent.

They estimate the organization has produced about 200 different events in three years by participating artists. The artwork projects and retreats are supported by grants, private donations, and commissions and sales of artworks, prints, and tickets to events, including this summer’s forthcoming live performance, “The Four World Ages,” at The Yard in Martha’s Vineyard in July, they said. Redd declined to disclose the organization’s annual budget. The organization operated under a fiscal sponsor 1Hood Media Academy until it was granted nonprofit

“The family is not happy at all with her decision,” Burris said. “They’re disgusted with her. … They thought her explanations and justifications for not charging were not supported by the evidence and they were disappointed that they didn’t let her see the videos, which doesn’t make a lot of sense since she decided not to charge the case.”

status as Rainbow Serpent Inc. by the IRS this year, Redd said.

Importance of the work

Redd believes the work that he, Owunna, and the artists are doing at The Rainbow Serpent are not only important spiritually, but politically too.

“It’s important politically for us to be doing this work,” he said, putting it into context of the current “intense backlash against LGBTQ people and LGBTQ rights.”

Redd pointed to the more than 470 anti-LGBTQ bills across the U.S. attacking queer and transgender people and Uganda’s current anti-gay bill passed by the East African country’s parliament.

“I think it’s important to have people who are standing up to say, ‘No. We have an important place in this culture. We have an important place in this world. We have an important lesson that we have to teach,’” Redd continued.

The Esalen Institute educational team explained, “As Pride Month approaches in June, this event holds even greater significance in light of the troubling antiLGBTQ legislation and the persistent

David Serrano Sewell, the executive director of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, told the B.A.R. May 3 that Brown was initially not known to be transgender; hence the deadnaming in the agency’s first news releases about the incident.

However, his death certificate has since been updated. Serrano Sewell said. He said upon time of death “we look at medical records, drivers licenses and any other ID.” Upon learning Brown’s first name from media reports, it was added to their report. t

shadow of anti-Black violence sweeping the nation. By creating a space for healing, empowerment, and unity, we reaffirm our commitment to fostering inclusivity, understanding, and love.”

Redd said, “I think it’s important for our example, to remind people, even on the continent, that LGBTQ people were an important part of history, an important part of all kinds of community contexts, and an important part of the spiritual life in many different places around the continent.”

In the traditions of African, Native Americans, and other Indigenous queer people Owunna and Redd see themselves as “Black LGBTQ modern-day healers.”

“African rituals are certainly an important but overlooked part of our global spiritual heritage,” said Redd, who was invited by the Esalen Institute to bring his teachings to the center. “As we thought about this mission of how to bring these traditional knowledge systems to the world, retreats seem to be a natural part of that development.”

Messages urging the recall of San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins were written in chalk outside Manny’s May 8, where the DA was scheduled to appear at a public safety meeting that was postponed at the last minute.

Ferrannini

Owunna added they are using African cosmological traditions “as a way to heal our community, other communities, and hopefully the world in a much larger sense.”

The retreat attracts a diverse community of people interested in African cosmology and spirituality. About 30 attendees participated in the first retreat, Redd said.

Some participants, speaking to Redd in a recorded testimonial after the October 2022 retreat, marveled at the connectedness, healing, community, and digging deeper into America’s connection to Africa.

Patrick McCallum said in the recording he appreciated how Owunna and

<< Castro Theatre

From page 2

the Friends of the Castro Theatre Coalition in opposition to the proposed changes, which would allow the theater to sometimes operate as a concert venue.

At issue at the hearing was whether the supervisors should change the Historic Preservation Commission’s recommended interior landmarking to give further protection to the current seats – protection that had been argued could

<< News Briefs

From page 4

“We are excited to bring together the dynamic drag community and passionate LGBTQ+ advocates for this fun and important event, especially with the increased attacks on the trans community, drag performers, and efforts to undermine our democracy,” stated Alison Goh, president of the League of Women Voters San Francisco. “Our goal is to engage

Notebook

Another advantage to having the election be delayed is it is now coinciding with a presidential election year, likely to draw more progressive and younger voters to the polls. They could give Middleton an advantage over her GOP opponent, state Senator Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh (R-Yucaipa).

“Frankly, with this district the way it was actually drawn, it is better to be running in an election year,” said Middleton.

Last year, two out candidates seeking seats that overlap with the Senate seat fell short. In the case of bisexual Palm Springs City Councilmember Christy Holstege, she lost her bid for an Assembly seat by 85 votes and will again be running against Assemblymember Greg Wallis (R-Palm Springs) in 2024.

Gay U.S. House candidate Will Rol-

Legals>>

Redd demystified African rituals.

“People are frightened of Africa, and you are opening [it] up,” said McCallum, whom Redd and Owunna identified as a 69-year-old straight man. “I think it’s a gift for all of us to experience it.

“We have such a rich African connection in this country,” he continued, pointing to blues, jazz, art, and dance and that generally, many Americans don’t go deeper into the connection to Africa. “There is somewhere back in there, kind of the African traditions that have luckily come to this country.”

Afi Shepard-Staley, whom Owunna and Redd identified as a 49-year-old straight Black woman, said in the recording that she didn’t know what to expect but that the weekend exceeded her expectations. She spoke about how Owunna and

effectively halt APE’s plans.

The hearing had five public comments; three were supportive of the amendment, one was opposed, and one was critical of the conservancy and the cultural district.

“We would ask you to move this on with the revised language we requested and thank you for adding that,” Stephen Torres, one of the executive co-chairs of the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District, said during public comment. “There have been conversations, some hopeful

and educate voters on the importance of continuing to fight for a more just and equitable community for all Californians, and encourage them to participate in the democratic process.”

Tickets are $125 for league members and $225 for non-league members and can be purchased at dragfordemocracy.org.

Local Audubon group to change name

The Golden Gate Audubon Society’s

lins lost to conservative Congressmember Ken Calvert (R-Corona) by 11,100 votes in the 41st District that includes a large part of Palm Springs. The former federal prosecutor is expected to announce this month if he will run again in 2024.

Banner year for out candidates

Having all three on the same ballot could boost their chances, bringing even more attention to their respective races in the Coachella Valley. Next year is shaping up to be a banner year for out federal and statehouse candidates throughout Riverside County, with five already seeking legislative seats and gay Congressman Mark Takano (D-Riverside) set to run for reelection.

“I think we will have some really strong enthusiasm in our community,” said Middleton.

Adding to the electoral interest from LGBTQ voters will be the expected re-

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Redd created a space for “letting go of things that don’t serve us anymore and stepping into these visions of what our higher selves are calling us into.

“It’s really powerful,” she said.

Marsalis Gibson, whom Owunna and Redd identified as a 27-year-old queer person, said in the recording, “I do want to bring back a couple of original practices and I will incorporate those into my everyday.”

Owunna and Redd said they hope people will leave the retreat excited to learn more about African rituals, explore the questions raised at the retreat, and how they can apply what they learned in their own lives.

“I would like people to be just more aware of the energy and power that surrounds them at all times,” Redd said.

in our estimation, in addressing some of the other concerns raised by Supervisor [Aaron] Peskin and Supervisor Mandelman in terms of trying to find a compromise, or alternatives.”

Mike Murray, a gay Castro resident, called in during public comment to criticize the conservancy’s plan.

“The cultural district and the conservancy are not engaging the community and their comments don’t represent the community,” Murray said. “This plan is not new. It is an old plan repackaged as

membership has voted in favor of dropping “Audubon” from its name and selecting a new name that better conveys its mission to protect birds and their habitat. The move mirrors actions taken by other independent Audubon chapters after a reevaluation of John James Audubon’s suitability as a figurehead for a 21st century organization given his history as a slave owner, opponent of abolition, and robber of Native American graves, according to a news release from the local organization.

peal on the November 2024 ballot of Proposition 8, the constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2008 that defined marriage in California as between a man and a woman. Although later ruled unconstitutional by a federal court, which was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013, LGBTQ advocates want to strike Prop 8’s language from the state’s constitution should a federal right to same-sex marriage be overturned.

“We will not lose that race,” predicted Middleton of the Prop 8 repeal campaign.

While the 19th Senate District sprawls from the I-10 corridor to the Nevada border – “There is a whole lot of desert there,” noted Middleton – 75% of the population lives along the freeway. The voter makeup is 37% Democrats, 35% Republicans, and 28% decline to state, she said, though former President Donald Trump would have won the new district by a few thousand votes in 2020, according to an analysis Middleton’s campaign did.

Owunna said he hopes retreat participants leave with a toolkit with some practical rituals that they can “implement in their own daily lives and ritual practices.”

Future Due to the rainbow serpent’s prevalence in Indigenous cultures, such as Australia’s aboriginal people, Redd hopes to revive “Indigenous heritage and traditions that have been lost or minimized,” as well as recognize the “many ways in which LGBTQ people” are “marginalized in our contemporary world,” he said.

“We think the work we’re doing can have a true global impact and can be picked up in many different places,” he continued. “We hope to participate in that.”

To date, Redd said 20 people have registered for the retreat. There are 15

a press release. It includes no funding. They have made no progress on their goal of raising $20-$40 million to restore the theater. The plan demands the owners sell their property to the conservancy or give them a 60-year lease without any money. The owners have said they are not interested in the offer.”

On behalf of the cultural district, Torres told the B.A.R. that he approves of the committee’s decision.

“We hope this illustrates to the board that drastic and irrevocable changes to

The National Audubon Society has decided to keep the name, that group announced in March.

“The challenges facing Bay Area birds in the 21st century are greater than ever and we need a name that will help us build the broadest coalition possible to protect them,” stated Glenn Phillips, president of the Golden Gate chapter.

It was announced that 65% of the local group’s membership favored the name change, according to the release.

“I expect this race in 2024 to be extremely close,” predicted Middleton. “I would be very surprised if this race gets called on election night.”

Beckles kicks off East Bay Senate bid

Lesbian AC Transit board member Jovanka Beckles, a former Richmond city councilmember, will officially launch her campaign for the East Bay’s open 7th District Senate seat this weekend. She is vying to become the first out Black woman to serve in the Legislature.

Renumbered during the 2020 redistricting process, the district spans western Contra Costa and Alameda counties from Rodeo south to the San Leandro border. It largely mirrors the one now held by Senator Nancy Skinner (DBerkeley), who will be termed out of her 9th Senate District seat next year.

Also seeking the seat is queer union leader Kathryn Lybarger. Either of the

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0399941

The following person(s) is/are doing business as JILLY BING, 447 SUTTER ST #405, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed JILLY BING LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/28/2023. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/29/2023.

APR 20, 27, MAY 04, 11, 2023

STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-0398087

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as TLR INSPIRATIONS, 5214F DIAMOND HEIGHTS BLVD #3301, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by TRANESS LA.JEAN ROBINSON. The fictitious business name statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/26/2022. The abandonment of fictitious business name statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/06/2023.

APR 20, 27, MAY 04,

more spaces available. The entry fee is $625 to $4,885 per person, depending on accommodation, for the all-inclusive retreat. Some scholarships are available. To register for the retreat, visit https:// tinyurl.com/yse3ucke.

Registration for the Rainbow Serpent October 21-23 retreat is not open yet.

Redd will also teach a workshop, “Energizing Your 9 Bodies: An Exploration of Ancient Egyptian Myth-Science,” on May 22, from 7 to 9 p.m., at The Berkeley Alembic, 2820 Seventh Street. To reserve a space, visit.

Check The Rainbow Serpent website or follow the organization on Instagram for updates about events and retreats. For more information, contact rainbowserpentcollective@gmail.com. t

the Castro Theatre are not necessary for either the theater or the community’s future or vitality and the revised landmark language should be acceptable terms by which any vendor can operate beneficially and in good faith to our community’s needs,” he stated.

“We look forward to being in front of the full board and appreciate the thoughtful consideration of all the supervisors,” Torres stated.

Mandelman and the conservancy did not respond to requests for comment.  t

Golden Gate Audubon leaders believe a new name will better communicate the work of the organization and the opportunities available to Bay Area residents to engage in protecting birds, the release stated. The organization will now launch a process to select a new name. It plans to solicit pro bono services and resources for the process of rebranding.

For more information on the Golden Gate Audubon Society, visit goldengateaudubon.org.  t

women would be the first LGBTQ state legislator from the East Bay should they be elected.

Other Democrats in the race are Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin, Oakland City Councilmember Dan Kalb and former Assemblymember Sandré Swanson. The top two vote-getters in next March’s primary race will face off on the November 2024 ballot for the legislative seat.

Among those joining Beckles to kickoff her bid Saturday, May 13, are gay Pinole Mayor Devin Murphy, Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez, and Alfred Twu, a nonbinary queer Democratic Party leader who backed Beckles when she ran for an Assembly seat in 2018.

The event will begin at 11 a.m. in Richmond’s John F. Kennedy Park near the intersection of Cutting Boulevard and South 39th Street. RSVPs are being accepted at https://www.mobilize.us/jovanka4casenate/event/562724/t

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-23-557891

In the matter of the application of ZHI LI HONG & PIN CHIA HSIUNG, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appears from said application that petitioners ZHI LI HONG & PIN CHIA HSIUNG are requesting that the name KAYLAN HONG be changed to KYLAN HONG. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N on the 15th of JUNE 2023 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

APR 27, MAY 04, 11, 18, 2023

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-23-557900

In the matter of the application of JUAN FRANCISCO VERAMENDI ARBOCCO, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appears from said application that petitioner JUAN FRANCISCO VERAMENDI ARBOCCO is requesting that the name JUAN FRANCISCO VERAMENDI ARBOCCO be changed to JUAN FRANCISCO VERAMENDI ARBOCCO FERRER. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N on the 18th of JULY 2023 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

APR 27, MAY 04, 11, 18, 2023

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/12/2023. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/12/2023.

APR 20, 27, MAY 04, 11, 2023

CA 94124. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SENDAS CORP (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/28/2023. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/13/2023. APR 20, 27, MAY 04, 11, 2023

103N on the 25th of MAY 2023 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

APR 27, MAY 04, 11, 18, 2023

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-23-557904

In the matter of the application of ALEXIS ASONYA MAFNAS, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appears from said application that petitioner ALEXIS ASONYA MAFNAS is requesting that the name ALEXIS ASONYA MAFNAS be changed to ALEXIS ASONYA GASPERECZ. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N on the 8th of JUNE 2023 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

APR 27, MAY 04, 11, 18, 2023

by Heather Cassell

Oakland’s newest gay bar, Town Bar & Lounge, is a family affair.

“I’m so happy because I’ve been a longtime Oakland resident and we didn’t have very many options,” Joshua Huynh, a gay Vietnamese American man, said about his dream of opening a gay bar and lounge fashioned in an updated 1920s style that is now a reality.

“I’ve always been drawn to Art Deco. It’s a little bit over the top, but it’s also modern. It’s timeless,” he said.

Town opened April 20 and it’s already creating a buzz.

The Bay Area Reporter went to Town to check out Oakland’s newest gay nightlife spot April 29. It was clear: the word was spreading fast.

“It has been such a huge outpouring of support,” Huynh said about the community’s response to Town. “Like they just never thought a queer space would be so elevated.”

Additionally, he feels LGBTQ people and allies are out supporting gay businesses. People are embracing queer spaces.

Style, taste, and community

DeAndre Sloan, an Oakland native, who was at Town for his second time since it opened, was also glad to see a new gay bar in the “bright side of the Bay.”

“I’m glad to see it because growing up we didn’t have a lot of this going on,” said Sloan, a Black gay man.

Oakland’s LGBTQ nightlife scene took a deafening blow in 2019. Uptown’s anchor gay clubs Club BNB and Club 21 closed. Then COVID-19 turned the struggling gay nightlife into a ghost town overnight.

Town Bar adds style to Oakland’s nightlife

“It’s good to see the community building back up,” Sloan said. Orlando Ayala, who was out enjoying happy hour with a friend, said, “It’s a great place to just come and have a cocktail and enjoy people’s company.” Ayala also lives in Oakland.

A group of friends stopped by the bar to have a cocktail after a day in Napa. They said they appreciated the bar’s style and cocktails.

“It’s a little small, but it’s beautiful. It’s got a unique style,” said Michelle Kim, an ally.

Her friend Lawrence Bunchen agreed the bar was “cozy,” but that “It’s got a lot of style.” He added the drinks were “approachable.”

Town’s seven signature cocktails are fashioned after the colors of the rainbow. Mixologist Oscar Sinisterra of Hello Stranger crafted the drinks that are delicious. They also have fun names: Afternoon Delight, Fashion Forward, and Green

Eyes Envy Me, to name a few.

Tyree C, a gay Black man who was hanging out at the bar with Sloan, sipping their Ami-Gos, was excited about Town. He said he liked that there wasn’t a cover charge and the drinks were good and priced well.

Sloan also noted the music was decent coming from the state-of-the-art sound system.

LGBTQ Oaklanders are coming out of years of the pandemic into a hostile anti-gay environment. They are craving community and some sign of good times. They are also giving queer San Franciscans a reason to cross the bridge.

Huynh is excited about the rebirth of Oakland’s gay nightlife and to be a part of it. He listed off the LGBTQ bars currently open and new ones set to open soon: The White Horse, The Port Bar, Que Rico, Summer Bar & Lounge, Fluid510, and Feelmore Social.

“I’m excited to open around the corner from The Port. Last night, we had people going back and forth, which I love,” he said.

It’s exactly what Huynh envisioned, reminding him of his bar-hopping days in his 20s in the Castro. He wants that for Oakland’s Uptown neighborhood.

“It is turning into more of a gay district, and I love that I’m bringing something different to that.”

Town is located near the 19th Street BART Station near The Port. Que Rico, a gay Latinx bar that opened during the pandemic, is about a tenminute walk from Town. Summer Bar & Lounge is near the 12th Street BART Station.

Feelmore Social, a sex-positive lounge, founded by adult shop owner Nenna Joiner opened May 5. The Port owners will officially open Fluid510 May 20.

Oaklash is back

Festival of drag and queer performance returns

by David-Elijah Nahmod

Founded in 2018 by Mama Celeste and Beatrix LaHaine, Oaklash is a celebration of drag and queer culture that takes place primarily in Oakland. But it’s more than just a drag show.

“Our flagship event is our annual festival that brings together over 100 queer and trans performers to celebrate the history and future of drag in Oakland, San Francisco, and beyond,” Mama Celeste, a co-founder who serves as Executive Director, said in a brief interview with the Bay Area Reporter. “We are going on our sixth year of putting on this event and as always we have bigger plans than ever, with bigger stages, bigger names, and more activities than ever before.”

Organizers seek to create a safe and accessible environment for the queer community, particularly for queer and trans people of color. According to Mama Celeste, it has year-round programs and resources, such as the Oaklash Disability Fund that offers grants to chronically ill queer and trans performance artists in need of critical support.

Grants are in the amount of $500 or $1000 and are awarded to people dealing with an illness or pain flare-up, the loss of a job associated with an illness or a disability, loss of funds associated with illness or disability, a lack of accessible work or performance space, or an inability to meet basic needs associated with being unable to work full time. Queer or trans BIPOC people are prioritized.

But it’s also about fun drag shows.

Some of the names lined up for this year’s festival include Mercury Divine, Tater Tatas, Kochina Rude, Mr. David Glamamore, Nicki Jizz, and two “Drag Race” alumni, Jax (season 15), and Naomi Smalls (“Drag Race All Stars” season 4), among many others.

“Our goal at Oaklash is to give people a taste of everything the Bay Area has to offer,” said Mama Celeste. “We have events throughout the month of May ranging from drag lip sync performance workshops to panel discussions featuring local Black femme musicians. Our weekend of shows is no different with our Friday night kick-off party at Thee

Stork Club featuring queer and trans music acts, such as the supergroup Commando, our Saturday block party showcasing over fifty diverse drag performers, and our Sunday takeover of

Fairyland closing out the weekend with an adults only grand finale.”

In addition to celebrating diversity, the Oaklash events promise to offer a good time for all. “Whenever we curate our event, we make sure there is something for everyone and that everyone can see themselves represented up on our stage,” Mama Celeste said.

Some of the more notable Oaklash events include Holla if Ya Hear Me: Black Femmes in Music at Wolfe Pack Studios in Oakland, and Going Deeper: the Search for New Meaning in the Same Old Lyrics at Oakland’s Temescal Art Center, both on Wednesday May 10. On Monday May 15 San Francisco’s Queer Arts Featured in the Castro will offer Oakcash: Grant Writing for Drag. The big event, the Oaklash Block Party, happens on May 20 in Old Oakland, 9th Street and Broadway, while the Grande Finale will take place on May 21 at Children’s Fairyland in Oakland.t

Heather Cassell

Aldonna Watts

Oaklash performers in 2021

‘1776’

A new, queer take on an old classic

by David-Elijah Nahmod

It’s been more than fifty years since the musical “1776” opened on Broadway. This rollicking show tells the tale of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and has traditionally featured a primarily male, cisgender cast.

But a new production coming to San Jose’s Center for the Performing Arts takes this old chestnut and turns it on its ear. This touring company, which was first seen on Broadway at the American Airlines Theater, is cast entirely with female, transgender and non-binary actors.

Furthermore, the performers are multi-racial. Among the cast members are Ariella Serur, who uses the pronouns they/she and identifies as non-binary, who plays Judge James Wilson. Also featured is Sav Souza, who uses they/them pronouns and is queer and transgender, as Dr. Josiah Bartlett. Serur and Souza are a real life couple.

“I thought it was really exciting,” said

From page 13

Tyree C was sold on the fact that Town was near other gay bars.

“It is exciting,” he said. “It’s summertime. I wish more bars would open because I like to go out.”

A family affair

Huynh’s dream started in 2019 when he realized that he wasn’t happy

Serur, when asked by the Bay Area Reporter how they felt about being part of this production. “The concept of our show is having a cast made up of folks who were not allowed in the room when the Declaration of Independence was written and created. Telling this story from more diverse and various points of view makes you really think twice about who it was that created the rules of our country in the first place and how if this country was written into existence, can’t we just keep rewriting?”

“I was really excited about this reframe of the show,” added Souza. “I personally have no interest in reviving old material when we could be putting money toward new, queer work, unless we are going to investigate it through lenses that made us consider the work and its context differently.

I’m so grateful to be part of a show that’s doing just that.”

Souza finds the biggest challenge of working on stage with their partner is having to work hard not to break each other out of character.

as an interior designer for homes and some restaurants.

“I don’t know if it’s called a midlife crisis [in your] late 30s,” he said. “I realized I wasn’t happy. Something had to change. I thought about, ‘When was I the happiest?’”

He reviewed his careers, which included time at Contra Costa County’s District Attorney’s Office and bartending. His happier years were when he bartended in the Castro from

They point out that their and Serur’s characters are on opposite sides in the fight for independence and that they have a great deal of fun antagonizing each other in character.

Serur has their own take about being in a show with their character.

“The biggest challenge is that when one of us is sick, the other person can’t be a hands-on caregiver in a way that we would if we weren’t in a show together since we can’t get each other sick,” they said. “It just feels counterintuitive from a partnership perspective to me. But most of the time it is so rewarding and fulfilling to look across the stage and see the person I love acting their face off. We also spend a lot of the opening number next to each other and have two solo lines back to back toward the end of the show. It’s a blast.”

Serur sees their character as being two different people, a combination of two historical figures. They also see Judge James Wilson as someone who is thoughtful and kind, someone who doesn’t like to ruffle feathers.

2005 to 2012.

“I started tiptoeing around the idea of opening a spot and everything just fell into place.”

His family got behind his vision for the Oakland gay bar going all in with him in financing and building Town.

“They support me 1,000%,” Huynh said. He expressed how lucky he is to have a supportive, close-knit family that accepts him for who he is. He never had to come out. They already knew and didn’t care.

Huynh and his family survived the City of Oakland’s notorious licensing and permitting process to transform the space. COVID-19, supply chain failures and soaring construction costs only added to the challenge, but his family and he worked through it. His brother and father, who owns a contracting businesses, took his ideas and made them a reality.

“What can you do, right? You just gotta keep going with it,” he said. “The building ownership was excited that we were going to open an Art Deco bar here.”

Black flags with ‘Town Bar & Lounge’ written in metallic gold lettering, along with the Progressive Rainbow flag, now mark the bar.

Huynh’s sole focus is to keep people coming back to Town. He hired longtime Oakland resident Diana Maduli, a self-described “hella gay” woman, as the Town’s bar manager.

Huynh doesn’t currently offer food at the bar. He’s still working out the logistics for bar bites as well as programming, he said. He’s just happy to be open and welcoming guests. t

Town Bar & Lounge, 2001 Broadway, Oakland. (510) 350-8569. www.goingtotownoakland.com

“We worked with an amazing dramaturg on our production, Robert Duffley, who made character packets for each of us which taught us about our character’s history and how what we’re reading in the script might be different from the way things played out historically,” Serur said.

Souza notes that their character was a delegate in the Second Continental Congress for the colony of New Hampshire. They see Bartlett as a humble man who cares to stay connected to his morals around building a new nation.

“But he struggles with the question of what he is willing to sacrifice to help start a new nation,” Souza said.

Souza’s favorite shift in this version of the show is in the orchestrations. The songs have been reimagined but still remain faithful to the source material. The show’s music team rearranged the score for voices it wasn’t written for, and Souza feels that the end result is quite powerful.

“If you’re someone who, like me,

has never seen anyone who looks like them in the United States government, this is an incredible chance to feel seen and celebrate the gorgeously diverse bodies that make up the real America we see on the street everyday,” they said.

“The talent on this stage is truly unmatched,” added Serur. “If you’re someone who loves the original version of ‘1776,’ come to hear the new orchestrations. See if you interpret the show in a new way on these bodies. If you’re new to the show in general, this piece is really effective in encouraging the audience to hold multiple realities at once: what happened historically and how that relates to what’s happening in our country today. It’s a beautiful, funny, heartbreaking piece that we’re really proud of.”t ‘1776’ at Broadway San Jose, San Jose Center for the Performing Arts, 255. S. Almaden Blvd, San Jose, May 16-21, $38-88. www.broadwaysanjose.com www.ariellaserur.com www.savsouza.com

Cast members in the touring production of ‘1776’

Joan Marcus Ariella Serur and Sav Souza Instagram

New Town Bar & Lounge customers Tyree C and DeAndre Sloan, enjoyed the Ami-Go, one of the signature rainbow cocktails crafted by Oscar Sinisterra.

Heather Cassell

A group of friends relax on a Saturday evening at Town Bar & Lounge in Oakland.

Heather Cassell

Tales of Taylor Ann

Talman’s musical memoir at Feinstein’s

been the subject of an award-winning short documentary film.

“In 2018, he took his last breath in my arms,” Talman remembered. “And then I realized that I still have some time left for me.”

A new chapter

After her brother’s death, Talman began work on a book-length memoir and began to craft her Taylor show.

“I just dedicated myself to my writing and my singing,” she said. “It was the first time in my life I had a chance to just focus on what I wanted to do. After my mother died, I couldn’t go to graduate school, so I decided that now it was time to do my own self-study program in cabaret.”

by Jim Gladstone

Ann Talman first met Elizabeth Taylor in January 1981.

The writer-performer, who brings her musical reminiscences of La Liz, “The Shadow of Her Smile,” to Feinstein’s at the Nikko on Friday, May 12, was 22 at the time, but the Hollywood legend’s name had played like a refrain in her ear since childhood.

Talman bore a striking resemblance to the young Taylor and, for better or worse, was frequently reminded of it by strangers.

After a series of auditions for a Taylor-headlined production of Lillian Hellman’s “Little Foxes,” including two command performances in the playwright’s own Park Avenue apartment, Talman, a native of West Virginia who had just recently moved to New York, was cast as the 50-year-old leading lady’s daughter.

“When Elizabeth arrived for the first read-through,” recalled Talman in a recent interview with the Bay Area Reporter, “she came up and gave me a huge hug. She kissed my cheek and

by Joshua Polanski

Saim Sadiq delivers a remarkable directorial debut in “Joyland,” the first Pakistani film to premiere at Cannes Film Festival. In addition to its Cannes

then whispered in my ear, ‘Oh my God, I feel like I’m looking at myself in ‘National Velvet.’’”

Spending time together nearly every day of the play’s nearly two-year journey from Fort Lauderdale’s Parker Playhouse to the Kennedy Center, to Broadway and finally the West End, the pair formed a unique friendship that would last for decades. (“Little Foxes” was both women’s Broadway debut).

“It felt like destiny,” said Talman. “There was something very eerie about it all.”

Mother figure

“My mother, who I didn’t have a very good relationship with, had died in a terrible car accident two years earlier,” Talman recalled. “People had been telling me I looked like Elizabeth and now my mother was gone, and I was playing Elizabeth’s daughter.

“Years later, Elizabeth and I talked about her having a sense that I was motherless. From day one, she just took me under her wing in this maternal fashion that lasted until the day she

died and, I think, still exists for me in many ways.”

Talman’s touching and surprisingly funny tribute includes plenty of show business anecdotes, Taylor verbatims delivered in a pitch-perfect vocal impression, and a carefully curated selection of songs with thematic ties to the stories, including “Send in The Clowns,” “Ship in A Bottle,” and a particularly resonant “That’s What Friends Are For,” accompanying a look back Taylor’s pioneering work on behalf of AIDS research.

Added Talman, “It means a lot to me that I’m doing my show in San Francisco on Mother’s Day weekend.”

Brother’s keeper

Following her Broadway debut alongside Taylor, Talman pursued a successful acting career in theater, film, and television (including a guest spot on “Seinfeld” that led to a romance with Michael Richards), but her love of performing often took a backseat to her dedication to a brother, Woody, eight years her senior.

“He was so bright and handsome

and hilarious,” explained Talman. “He also had cerebral palsy and was a nonverbal quadriplegic. When my mother died, I knew that I was immediately going to take on her role in his life. And then my father got Alzheimer’s disease about six years later.”

“In my twenties and thirties,” she noted, with a remarkable absence of rue, “When most of my contemporaries were focused on worrying about their careers, I was taking care of my brother and father.”

“From the moment I have memory,” recalled Talman, “I adored my brother, and I loved being his sister. I just took on the role and ran with it, which might not have been everybody’s story. But it was mine. And even taking chunks of time off from work to help care for him, I managed to have a successful career. But I knew that he needed me and that I would be there for him.”

In addition to regularly winning featured roles, Talman dug into her own story to write her first one-woman show, “Woody’s Order,” about her relationship with her brother, which has enjoyed multiple productions and

With the arrival of the pandemic, the show took on a new dimension, providing a release from grieving and an outlet for productive social interaction as Talman worked with her director, Lina Koutrakos and music director, Alex Rybeck, via Zoom. Once again, her relationship with Elizabeth Taylor helped lift Talman out of a difficult time.

Following its premiere at Manhattan’s 54 Below last year, “The Shadow of Her Smile” went on to win Mac and Bistro awards, high honors for New York cabaret performers.

Talman has performed the show in Chicago and Southern California and will take it to Florida, Arizona and possibly London in the year to come. She has also committed herself to do a performance on Taylor’s birthday each year.

“People are going to come because they’re curious about Elizabeth,” Talman said. “But I hope the show also takes them to places they didn’t expect to go.”

In its portrait of Taylor and of Talman herself, it’s first and foremost about generosity of spirit.t

Ann Talman’s ‘The Shadow of Her Smile,’ May 12, 8pm at Feinstein’s at the Nikko. 222 Mason St. $59. (866) 663-1063. feinsteinssf.com

acclaim, Sadiq’s film is the country’s first-ever Oscar-shortlisted film in the international category and, according to The Guardian, “the first major Pakistani motion picture to feature a trans actor in a lead role.”

Whether or not it’s the first, I’m too ignorant to say for sure but it’s undoubtedly the most prominent and impactful movie ever released centered on the Pakistani transgender community, who were enshrined with civil if not social rights in 2018. (See “Poshida: Hidden LGBT Pakistan” for a documentary on the community.)

Monday 8am (last seating 9:45pm)

Tuesday 8am (last seating 9:45pm)

Wednesday 8am (last seating 9:45pm)

Thursday 8am Open 24 Hours

Friday Open 24 Hours

Saturday

Open 24 Hours

Sunday 7am (last seating 9:45pm)

Open Daily!

New Adjusted Hours

Great as these accolades and token claims may be, “Joyland” (Khoosat Films) transcends mere representational interests. As a piece of cinematic art, even with a few mandatory cuts demanded by the Pakistani government, there’s not a single frame where the camera is in the wrong place, nor is there a single moment where the streets and characters of Lahore don’t feel alive. It might even be impeccable.

The Urdu and Punjabi-language film begins with the birth of a baby girl, continuing the perceived feminine-colored curse for the Rana family patriarch, Rana Amanullah (Salmaan Peerzada). His older son Saleem (Sohail Sameer) and daughter-in-law Nucchi (Sarwat Gilani), to their own regret, have failed to keep the patrilineal name alive with a boy of their own. Interesting as the dynamics of the family are, Saleem’s younger brother Haider (Ali Junejo) is the heart of the film.

Proudly serving the community since 1977.

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

Haider has a complicated and somewhat cold yet still respectful relationship with Mumtaz (Rasti Farooq), his wife. The problem – if that’s even the right word – with their marriage has more to do with Amanullah’s demand that Mumtaz stop working in order to care for the extended family once Haider finds a job at the local

exotic dance theatre. At the theatre, Haider falls in love with Biba (Alina Khan), his transgender dance instructor and the star of the intermission show. Biba and “her boys” only perform at intermission of larger shows with more traditional, i.e. heteronormative, acts.

Despite the situation with Haider’s marriage, “Joyland” avoids one very important trope in queer cinema: the destroyer. Too often in movies featuring queer romances, sexual awakenings and relational happiness come at the expense of heterosexual partners. In the most harmful iterations of the trope, queer romance destroys heterosexual marriages and partnerships. With some clever maneuvering, Sadiq’s film avoids all of this. Biba doesn’t destroy anything at all; in

fact, she somehow ends up clarifying precisely where Haider and Mumtaz’s marriage ended up murky. If anything destroys relationships in “Joyland,” it’s the pre-established gender and sexual norms.

The relationship between Haider and Biba is certainly the film’s primary attraction, but it wouldn’t be the masterpiece it is without the film’s other compelling, boundary-pushing, and occasionally devastating depictions of sexuality and gender performance.

“Joyland” opens May 19 at the Roxie in San Francisco.t www.roxie.com www.instagram. com/khoosatfilmsofficial

Read the full review on www.ebar.com.

‘Joyland’

Queer Pakistani film is transcendent

Alina Khan and Ali Junejo in ‘Joyland’

Left: Ann Talman Middle: Elizabeth Taylor and Ann Talman in ‘Little Foxes’ on Broadway, 1981.

Right: Ann Talman and Elizabeth Taylor in a 1981 press photo for ‘Little Foxes’

Martha Swope

Q-Music: rolling in retro t

by Gregg Shapiro

The sonic transformation of gay pop music legend Elton John (who officially came out in 1988) was in full swing with the release of 1972’s “Honky Chateau” (Rocket/Mercury/ UMC), newly reissued in expanded 180-gram vinyl double LP and double CD editions. This evolution would play out to even greater effect on 1973’s double-whammy of “Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only The Piano Player” and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” but the roots of it can be traced back to “Honky Chateau.”

The hit singles “Rocket Man” and the title tune, as well as a popular album cut such as “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters,” sound like a concerted effort to enter a new phase. Even the presence of legendary fiddler Jean-Luc Ponty (listen to him on “Amy”) is a kind of musical signal to his growing fan base that Elton John was having a creative growth spurt. The generous helping of bonus material on the double disc set includes the “Honky at the Chateau (Session Demos)” – also on the double vinyl – in addition to eight live tracks from a 1972 London concert at Royal Festival Hall. It might be hard to believe it, but Elton John and New Wave forebears A Flock of Seagulls were on the same pop charts in 1982. Elton for his album “Jump Up!” (containing the singles “Blue Eyes” and “Empty Garden”) and A Flock of Seagulls for its eponymous debut album now reissued by BMG in an expansive triple CD version that includes the original album as well as two discs featuring singles, B-sides, session, and live recordings.

By this point in time, A Flock of Seagulls’ singles, including “I Ran,” “Telecommunication,” and “Space Age Love Song,” were far outpacing those of Elton’s. While A Flock of Seagulls didn’t have the staying power of an established artist such as Elton John, they managed to make a lasting impression both musically and visually at a time when music videos were essential. Front-person Mike Score’s hairstyle became the stuff of legends inspiring both praise and parody (A Flock of Haircuts, anyone?). Regardless, the self-titled debut album by A Flock of Seagulls deserves a place in music history, as well as in your music collection.

In between Elton John’s 1970s chart domination and the arrival of new wave music, yacht rock came sailing in on the airwaves. Australian outfit Little River Band was at the forefront of the scene, even sharing

via the 1977 hit single “Help Is On Its Way” (with its light disco beat and bass line).

Over the course of the next couple of years, catchy singles “Reminiscing,” “Lady,” “Lonesome Loser,”

a pleasant reminder of its musical contributions.

The early 2023 passing of David Crosby not only reminded us of the aging of the musicians who played a part in their formative years, but also

Stephen Stills also enjoyed a successful solo career. “Live at Berkeley 1971” (Omnivore), a previously unreleased Stills album includes his huge hit single “Love The One You’re With,” as well as “For What It’s Worth” and “Bluebird Revisited,” songs he recorded with Buffalo Springfield, among others. Speaking of Crosby, he joined Stills on “You Don’t Have to

SF Pride 2023!

Left

Right: Box sets from Elton John, A Flock of Seaguls, and Stephen Stills

Spring books round-up, part 3

by Jim Piechota

O ur final installment of Spring books includes some titles you won’t want to miss. We have Edmund White’s provocative latest novel, a collection debut from a local Bay Area poet, memoirs from a former meth dealer, an outspoken queer female cultural critic, and a queer Black nurse.

FICTION

“The Humble Lover”

by Edmund White

$27.99 (Bloomsbury)

In White’s latest novel – a superb study in the delicious dynamics of an illicit, age-disparate romance – a wealthy, aging New Yorker becomes obsessed with returning the attentions of a much-younger ballet dancer. When octogenarian Aldwych West becomes enamored by handsome 20-year-old French Canadian New York City Ballet dancer August Dupond, it’s a given that, especially in White’s nimble literary hands, it will be hot, sexual, desirous, and disastrously doomed.

There are plenty of delicious dalliances, social comedy, desperation, melodrama, and more sex, described in intricate and explicit language, to be enjoyed here, even allusions to “spit-roasting.” Naturally, there is a cinematic plot, a narrative arc, and a scandalous conclusion driving this showstopper, but White’s uniquely freaky unrestrained creativity is the main reason to buy a front row seat.

“Uranians”

by Theodore McCombs

$25 (Astra House)

This imaginative debut story collection from McCombs interweaves

fantasy, science fiction, and speculative fiction into five stories that create universes of their own populated with gay characters struggling with identity and liberation. The space opera of the title follows a gang of queer scientists, artists, thinkers, and even a lusty trans priest named Father Leo, all embarked on the Ekphrasis expedition to the planet Qaf.

Elsewhere, relationships are factored in terms of quantum mechanics, a Berlin rave club promises a multiverse of identities for a sullen gay man disillusioned by love, and a spectacular re-imagining of a futuristic, flattened San Francisco complete with Wi-Fi eyewear, “no hills,” and, of course, a man frustrated with his job and his marriage in “Lacuna Heights.”

Wildly creative speculative fiction awaits readers who love this wondrously innovative genre.

POETRY

“Diving at the Lip of the Water”

by Karen Poppy

$20 (Beltway Editions)

Non-binary Bay Area poet Karen Poppy’s first full-length collection examines themes of gender and queer identity and they convey these ideas through a lush assemblage of words and phrases. Lyrical and relevant, Poppy’s poems, divided into five parts, address childhood crushes and cloaked sexuality, their Jewish heritage and family lineage, their appreciation for Walt Whitman, and reflections on the environment as in particularly resonant verses on flowers, roots, pollination, and the shimmery pearlescent nautical life of a “Badass Mermaid.”

The titular poem, also the collection’s longest work, probes the meanings be-

hind gender borders and restrictive identifiers while rejoicing in the reclamation of oneself as a free spirit unbeholden to monikers or societal “reins” and restraints. Poetry fans have a lot to savor in this debut volume.

MEMOIR

“Fat On Fat Off: A Big Bitch Manifesto” by Clarkisha Kent

(The Feminist Press at CUNY)

Nigerian-American cultural critic Clarkisha Kent delivers a raw, unfettered glimpse into her life as a self-described fat, Black, and queer woman of color. As witty as she is on social media, this book sweeps away the big-girl shame, the colorism, and the internalized fat-phobia many marginalized women experience on the daily in favor of embracing a pattern of self-love and an eternal cycle of female bravado that is contagious and liberating for any and every reader.

She takes time to brazenly spill the beans on her upbringing as the child of immigrant parents raised in a dysfunctional, often abusive, tight-lipped Southern family. Once she realized that her use of humor was stunting her emotional growth as a person, she strived toward achieving a balance between the jokes and the road to personal self-confidence. Kent has aspirations to write a Black western one day, but for now, this timely, self-assured journey toward her true self is brilliant enough to garner her even more fans than she already has.

“Tweakerworld” by Jason Yamas

$28 (Unnamed Press)

This memoir, set in the 2010s, chronicles author Jason Yamas’s descent into becoming a drug dealer and immersing himself into the San Francisco gay scene where he relocated to from Los Angeles in 2015. It was a life where scoring crystal meth was as easy as opening an app on your smartphone. Frequent Adderall usage morphed into nights overdosing on GHB, then full-on meth dealing, purchasing his stockpile from the dark web and other shadowy sources.

Eventually the mess that becomes his everyday life crumbles and Yamas makes a choice not every drug addict gets to make independently: he works hard at coming clean. His vivid journey toward sobriety in 2017, complete with a departure from the Bay Area, is as remarkable as his dark initial descent into the gay meth circuit. Written with raw honesty and crisp detail, this moving memoir that ultimately finds its place in the Southern California sunshine is well worth the trip.

“Anything That Moves”

by Jamie Stewart

$26.95 (Dial Books)

Dynamic openly bisexual member of the alternative rock band Xiu Xiu, Jamie Stewart has penned a debut memoir like no other. Instead of stacking painful family history on top of humorous anecdotes and a handful of liberating epiphanies, Stewart had decided to compile the essence of his life thus far through a series of graphically-depicted sexual experiences and how they defined (and delivered) him as a man.

Voyeuristic readers will find themselves obsessed with the perverse rapture of his dalliances, from one-night stands with both men and women, to rejecting the advances of a perverted priest, to sexual bliss and erotic adventure on every page. Alternatingly enlightening, distressing, thrilling, arousing, and utterly original, Stewart cracks open his little black book to expose a cornucopia of graphically portrayed carnal delights. Be prepared to be engrossed from beginning to end.

“Daddy Boy” by Emerson Whitney $26 (McSweeney’s)

Creative writing professor Whitney exposes his life then and now in this engrossing autobiography that demonstrates how identity shifts can radically alter a life and everyone around it. When the author was 31, they felt life changing and a shift away from the previous decade spent as a sub needing to happen.

They ended up divorcing their wife in 2017, who was also a dominatrix named “Daddy” Jo, then staying in a tent outside of the duplex previously shared with Jo. Whitney further probed their urgent need for liberation and took up storm-chasing first as a one-time hobby with a group for a few weeks, then as a lifestyle which affords plenty of opportunities throughout the book to meditatively reflect on identity, their transgender journey, love, belonging, and embracing the courage to make drastic life changes, even when it’s terrifying and painful.

NON-FICTION

“Journal of a Black Queer Nurse” by Britney Daniels

$16.95 (Common Notions)

As the title plainly states, Daniels is a Black nurse who shares the enlightening and often shocking anecdotes of her livelihood and her life as a queer woman in the pages of this moving memoir. The author spotlights her struggle with her white co-workers who exhibit cloaked biased behavior, her frustration with the state of healthcare in America, and how systemic racism permeates nearly every aspect of her life and career as a nurse.

These issues don’t define her, they

just shape her everyday perception, and throughout the book, Daniels reiterates what it takes to be a successful nurse in today’s frenetic world of medicine. Her important perspective is meaningful, touching, motivating, upsetting, and ultimately inspiring, all at once.

“Park Cruising: What Happens When We Wander Off the Path” by Marcus McCann

$17.99 (House of Anansi Press)

Toronto attorney Marcus McCann thoroughly probes the nature and the allure of public sex in Canada in this thought-provoking collection of provocative essays. He first became interested in the subject after opposing Toronto’s “Project Marie,” which was a high-profile police sting operation maliciously entrapping and targeting gay men in Marie Curtis Park, a known cruising area, while heterosexual couples can openly engage in sexual activity anywhere and have it hypocritically be considered “a harmless lovers’ lane scenario.”

He examines the urgent need for legal reform that removes contemporary gay culture as a direct target for scrutinous police raids and explores the connective nuances occurring between gay men beneath the shady canopies of parks and forests. He shares the surprisingly lengthy history of park cruising and indecency laws, personally experiences the awkward and unclear social expectations of park cruising, and references the works of Patrick Califia, John Rechy, and Tony Kushner.

Ultimately, while the author can’t say for certain in today’s tech-savvy culture whether or not park cruising is gaining or losing popularity, “parks in Toronto continue to be sites of pleasure and exchange.” This is a terrific exploration of a classic and mostly forgotten queer male pastime.

“Why Tammy Wynette Matters” by Steacy Easton

$23.95 (University of Texas Press)

Nonbinary Ontario author and journalist Easton debuts with this exemplary deep-dive into the life of Tammy Wynette, the “First Lady of Country Music” who died in 1998. They explore the country music star’s poverty-stricken childhood in northeastern Mississippi and move through her young life as a beautician, and onward toward a Nashville record deal with Epic records, and a troubled personal life overstuffed with drugs and abusive spouses. Throughout it all, Easton writes, Wynette persevered while laying her heart bare in songs about heartbreak and the melodrama of challenging relationships. Country fans will be delighted with this short but incisive and fond remembrance.t

Ana Castillo’s ‘Dona Cleanwell Leaves Home’ t Books

by Laura Moreno

“DonaCleanwell Leaves Home” is the latest collection of short stories by literary legend Ana Castillo. It features seven beautifully told stories that come to life as they seamlessly straddle the cultures and move between locations in the US and Mexico.

The prologue, although brief, strikes just the right chord, inviting the reader to slow down and step into Castillo’s world because we are all on this journey together, inching toward wisdom and understanding: “It starts with the journey; as ever, whether Quixote or Kerouac, you are in search of the Divine. In search of Light... Does an ant recognize the elm by the single root it so industriously scurries around?”

In “Cuernavaca,” when an architect travels to Mexico and ends up visiting the house his father’s musical band The Heartbreakers had rented one summer in their youth, they discover that a ghost story he often retells points toward a disconcerting true event. Familiar tales passed down

were only partly told with the most important parts left out, like the imprisonment in Mexico of the band’s handsome lead singer.

The reader is left pondering the enormous well of undeveloped and underdeveloped talent in the Hispanic community. The promising band The

Heartbreakers in the story, for whatever reason, despite their charisma, reached a certain level of success and no further. Like the hit singer Freddie Fender of the 1970s, to succeed at the time they had to break through so many levels stacked against them, and although Fender was featured singing

with Dolly Parton on her TV Show, he still can’t get into the Country Music Hall of Fame to this day.

In “Ven,” a gay man retraces the life of his accomplished sister, a professor in Chicago, after she dies suddenly. Everyone assumes she was single with no children, but the truth is far more complex. We are astonished to learn otherwise. In reading through her papers, her brother pieces together clues into her secret life in Mexico, and he encounters a secret child she had given birth to and was raising.

The title story, “Dona Cleanwell Leaves Home,” set in Chicago in the 1970s, centers around an intelligent, down to earth character. Although alienated, even within her own family, the 18-year-old main character attends a dictatorial school in working class Chicago and must deal with equally dictatorial immigrant parents. In a family devoid of affection and with no real allies, she has just graduated from high school the first person in her family to do so. She takes part in the graduation ceremony in borrowed shoes painfully

small for her to meet the school’s strict dress code for the event. None of her guests bothered to attend.

After graduation, her emotionally distant father sends her to Mexico to try to bring back her runaway mother. In the squalor of an affordable tenement her grandmother calls home, she discovers her mother is living with the love of her life: another woman. In just a few months they have built a secret life together and have found acceptance in an LGBTQ enclave in Mexico City.

At times almost satirical, the story arc takes sharp turns and bends as we get to know their community of friends as they market their Dona Cleanwell cleaning products.

These are timeless tales of unmet potential, family secrets, hardships, insecurities, acceptance, judgmental gossip, and true love that insure that “Dona Cleanwell Leaves Home” will surely stand the test of time.t

‘Dona Cleanwell Leaves Home’ by Ana Castillo. $22.39 www.harpercollins.com

Christine Barker’s ‘Third Girl from the Left’

by Brian Bromberger

In the introduction to her enthralling, gorgeously written memoir, Christine Barker attempts to describe what happens between a dancer and the audience.

“With the music in us, our job is to translate it with every spinning step or hurtling leap, so someone sitting in the orchestra or balcony can feel its power, too…engaging unselfconsciously as if we are figments inside their heads singing in a language akin to prayer. Some people go to church to experience grace, others go to the theater.”

A few pages later, commenting on the changing zeitgeist in late fall 1984, she now observes, “We were dancing in a graveyard.” These two observations, bookended from 1971 through 1986, cover the gamut of her experience from the eventual thrill of becoming a Broadway dancer in one of the hottest, transformative musicals of the 20th century to the devastating repercussions of AIDS that derailed her life and career.

Barker’s personal story, intertwined with cultural history, joins Alysia Abbott’s memoir “Fairyland,” about her San Francisco gay father, as unique searing testimony about the impact of AIDS from the straight perspective of families and friends.

A chance to dance

From a very young age, Barker knew she was destined to be a dancer.

“A dancer knows the world through her body, a portal to a wholly liquid space where music sent me swimming through the air… an order that filled me with presence, an affili-

ation to something like religion, but not religious.”

Her father was a U.S. Navy Commander, so they moved continually until he retired and they moved to Santa Fe. Her great-great-grandfather founded The Sacramento Bee newspaper and her grandfather worked on it as a journalist.

After graduation, she moved to New York City, lived at the Salvation Army Evangeline Home for Girls, studied at the American Ballet Theater School and apprenticed with Alvin Ailey. It was Ailey who suggested her talents were better suited as a Broadway – rather than a ballet or modern – dancer.

Her life could be characterized as a joyous struggle, complete with jobs in summer stock, dinner theater, and national tours, But in 1975 she hit the jackpot when gay director/ choreographer Michael Bennett (an unflattering portrait) hired her for the London production of “A Chorus Line” as one of the dancers; third girl from the left. A year later she would join the Broadway cast where she remained until 1985, which provided stable employment, along with numerous TV commercials. The cast, alongside the stage managers and producers, became her family of choice, mostly gay men, most of whom later died of AIDS, decimating a generation of the creative theatrical community.

Her older brother Laughlin, exmilitary, a corporate lawyer, eventually a divorced father, confided to her he was gay. He also traveled to New York to build a queer life and met his significant other, rising fashion designer superstar Perry Ellis. Barker

spent much of her leisure time at their Upper West Side brownstone and Water Island retreat, enjoying the couple’s financial success. However, a few years later, Laughlin divulged to her he had AIDS, but she couldn’t tell anyone, not her parents or his daughter, especially when Ellis was diagnosed. If word spread they were gay and ill, it would destroy the company, leaving hundreds of people unemployed.

What I did for love

Barker goes into unflinching, emotionally wrenching detail about the bleak decimation as AIDS claimed Laughlin painful inch by inch as well as the tensions created within their family, who could neither acknowledge or cope with the truth of his illness. It became Baker’s heartbreaking task to help her brother die, which was the reason she left “A Chorus Line.” She would play a lesser but still

pivotal role with the death of Ellis less than five months later.

When Laughlin died, his personal relationship with Ellis wasn’t noted in either his or Ellis’ New York Times obituaries. What especially irked Barker was that Laughlin’s role in initiating licensing deals as President of Perry Ellis International was not acknowledged, even when those deals quadrupled the value of the Perry Ellis label.

She writes, “For more than twentyfive years, no reporter or biographer ever contacted anyone in my family to provide information or verification about anything reported on Laughlin’s life or Laughlin and Perry’s relationship. The result was that Laughlin and Perry as a couple don’t exist in history, as is true for many

gay couples of that era. As Laughlin feared, he’d been erased.”

To her credit, Barker isn’t bitter, but she’s intent on setting the historical record straight.

While AIDS overshadows the second half of Barker’s memoir, the book works equally well as an honest behind-the-scenes examination of the grit and perseverance required to succeed in the dog-eat-dog world of glamorous New York theater: working odd jobs at odd hours, walking 35 blocks instead of taking the subway, enormous wait times between auditions, and living on one’s own when women’s equality was still being constructed (i.e. she couldn’t get her own credit card for years). Ironically, Barker’s life mirrors the story told in “A Chorus Line.” Her memoir should be required reality-based reading for anyone thinking about becoming a professional actor or dancer.

Barker never fulfilled the success she dreamed, and eventually pursued a Master’s of Fine Arts degree at Sarah Lawrence College, developing her writing skills, which are proficient. Her memoir is a gift in spite of the tragedy she endured. She’s a survivor and readers will be grateful she did, rejoicing that she found her own artistic path to follow.t

‘Third Girl from the Left: a Memoir’ by Christine Barker, Delphinium Books, 334 pp., $28 www.delphiniumbooks.com www.christinebarkerwriter.com

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Author Ana Castillo

Author Christine Barker

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