May 25, 2023 edition of the Bay Area Reporter

The San Francisco Giants plan to have drag artists as guests for the team’s Pride Night June 10.

Tribute to Heklina to highlight Giants’ Pride Night

by John Ferrannini

In the aftermath of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ invitation, disinvitation, and reinvitation of the Southern California chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence from its Pride Night next month, the Bay Area Reporter has learned the San Francisco Giants Pride Night will feature local drag queens.

Sister Roma of the San Francisco Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence told the B.A.R. on May 23 that she and Peaches Christ (Joshua Grannell), a close friend of Heklina’s, will be presenting an “exclusive VIP Heklina Experience” in honor of the late drag queen, who died suddenly April 3 in London at the age of 55.

The Giants Pride Night is scheduled for Saturday, June 10, with a 4:35 p.m. game against the Chicago Cubs at Oracle Park. It will take place six days prior to the team playing the Dodgers during the latter’s Pride Night.

“This year the SF Giants are more committed than ever to their annual LGBTQ night. Peaches and I are thrilled to be working very closely with them to create an exclusive VIP Heklina Experience,” Roma stated to the B.A.R. “I don’t want to give too much away but trust us, it’s going to be an event fit for a queen!”

The Giants had no comment May 23, saying that more details will be announced soon.

“We haven’t announced anything because we wait till we get into June,” Shana Daum, vice president of communications and community relations for the Giants, told the B.A.R.

The Giants did not answer a question about whether it would invite San Francisco’s new drag laureate, D’Arcy Drollinger, another close friend of Heklina’s, to be part of Pride Night. Drollinger co-emceed with Sister Roma and Peaches Christ Heklina’s memorial service that was held at the Castro Theatre Tuesday.

See page 12 >>

SF says goodbye to Heklina

by John Ferrannini

Thousands descended on San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood May 23 for what one speaker called “a fucking state funeral for drag royalty,” as friends and fans alike said goodbye to Heklina.

“Heklina changed the face of drag,” San Francisco drag laureate and Oasis nightclub owner D’Arcy Drollinger told the crowd in the Castro Theatre, filled to its 1,400-seat capacity. “Not on purpose, but she did, and you can see her effect around the country, on TV and around the world. I do want to reframe that – we changed the face of drag, but she gave us the opportunity.”

The event – “Heklina: A Memorial (She Would Have Hated This)” – went overtime – three-and-a-half hours – and those who couldn’t secure a ticket watched outside, or in the queerville’s bars. One of those was Lizzy Dierken, a queer woman.

“Heklina was larger than life in the drag community and in the gay community, and I want to honor her as best I can,” Dierken said.

“She’s inspirational.”

Heklina was the drag persona of Stefan Grygelko, who died in London April 3 at the age of 55. She had been in London with her good friend Peaches Christ (Joshua Grannell), as the two were set to star in “Mommie Queerest.”

“There was a glamour to that she would’ve appreciated,” Peaches quipped. The crowd was hushed as she recalled their final days together. Heklina was brimming with ideas for the future, Peaches said, as they took a walk to Buckingham Palace the Friday before Heklina’s passing.

“We were having fun,” Peaches said. “The

two of us had one of the best talks we had in years. I’m so grateful for that night. This was someone excited about life and this would’ve been a shock to her.”

Foul play or assault are not suspected, according to a post mortem conducted by London officials, as the Bay Area Reporter previously reported.

See page 2 >>

CA AG Bonta to investigate DA Jenkins’ Banko Brown decision

by John Ferrannini

California Attorney General Rob Bonta

will be investigating whether San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins made the right call in opting not to prosecute the killer of Banko Brown, the 24-year-old unarmed trans man killed by a security guard at a Market Street Walgreens.

“We can confirm that our office has agreed to review whether the San Francisco District Attorney’s decision not to file charges was an abuse of discretion,” Bonta’s office stated to the Bay Area Reporter.

Attorney John Burris, who is representing the Brown family, told the B.A.R. on Wednesday that the family is pleased with Bonta’s decision.

“I wrote him a letter requesting he do it and he responded to the letter by indicating they were going to look into the case,” Burris said.

“We made an urgent request and explained why we thought it was, and he responded and said they’d take a look at it and review it as abuse of discretion.”

Jenkins issued a statement of her own, saying “we welcome the attorney general’s review and will assist and cooperate as needed.”

“I heard the public’s concerns and we released a comprehensive analysis and report that in-

cluded investigative records, witness statements and video evidence, so the public could see all of the facts and details and understand how we

arrived at our decision,” Jenkins stated. “We provided the highest degree of transparency possible that we could with this case.”

In the hot seat

Jenkins has been in the hot seat since she announced her office would not prosecute the case against the security guard, Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony, 33. While police arrested Anthony on suspicion of one count of homicide following the April 27 shooting, he was released after Jenkins decided not to charge him.

“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,” Jenkins told the B.A.R. on May 4.

Later, Jenkins stressed the ongoing nature of the investigation. Finally, on May 15, her office declared that “Anthony is not criminally liable for the death of Brown,” alienating ideological and political allies who, seeing the security camera footage released last week still question her judgment.

See page 12 >>

Banko Brown

Faux queen Fauxnique, center, and her ensemble pay tribute to Heklina during the memorial event May 23 at the Castro Theatre.

Gooch

Ballparks of Baseball

SF drag ‘Golden Girls’ holiday shows to return

by Matthew S. Bajko

S ince premiering in 2007 inside the parlor of a historic Victorian in San Francisco’s Western Addition neighborhood, the drag stagings of beloved TV sitcom “The Golden Girls” have starred Heklina as the buttoned-up substitute teacher Dorothy Zbornak. Over the years the Christmastime productions have become a Bay Area holiday tradition.

The sudden death last month of Heklina, the drag persona of Stefan Grygelko, raised questions on if her surviving castmates would bring back the production this December. The answer is “The Golden Girls Live! The Christmas Episodes” shows will go on, according to D’Arcy Drollinger, who since 2015 has played the dimwitted Midwesterner Rose Nylund and has directed the yearly yuletide offerings.

“We haven’t really started planning of anything, but we are going to con-

<< Heklina

From page 1

Pushing boundaries

Heklina pushed the boundaries of drag from female impersonation to more multifaceted and creative expressions through her transgressiveness, as multiple speakers attested to.

“Sometimes she’d say something so wrong – so wrong – and I’d start laughing and the whole room would explode,” Drollinger said. “I’d say ‘if some people could hear you you’d be canceled forever.’”

Heklina had moved to San Francisco from Reykjavík, Iceland in 1991, where she went after a stint in the U.S. Navy based in San Diego. She’d been born in Minneapolis.

“I met Heklina in 1991 and we bonded over our mutual love of alcohol,” said longtime friend and drag queen Pippi Lovestocking. “Once we realized alcohol plus drag equals straight men, the party was on and it wasn’t long before Trannyshack.”

Heklina’s drag career began to take off when she founded Trannyshack (the name of the show was later changed to Mother) at the old Stud bar in 1996, though her persona was first thought up for a Club Uranus pageant at the End Up nightclub.

In so doing, she tore down some of the guardrails of the drag of the era, inviting female performers and drag kings to share the stage. Some

tinue,” Drollinger, named last week the city’s first-ever drag laureatep, told the Bay Area Reporter. “I had joked many times with Heklina that

the show, at this point, has gotten bigger than any of us.”

Drollinger noted that they recast Holotta Tymes in the part of Sophia

Petrillo, Zbornak’s widowed mother, after Cookie Dough (aka Eddie Bell) died in January 2015 after becoming ill during a trip to Mexico.

“We soldiered on when Cookie passed away,” said Drollinger. “Heklina would never want us to stop. It brings too much joy to too many people.”

The sitcom aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992.

Reruns of its 180 half-hour episodes continue to be shown on cable, while the entire series is available to watch via streaming service Hulu. For the drag Christmas performances, two episodes are paired together for the run each year.

It has become a staple of the schedule at the Victoria Theatre in the Mission district. In 2020, the cast livestreamed their production without an audience due to the COVID pandemic. The following year they were able to bring it back for live performances, with Heklina telling the newsite 48Hills,

“Dorothy is the closest to my actual personality: dry, sarcastic, and she suffers no fools.”

Over the years the other two lead roles have also seen cast changes. Drag queen Pollo Del Mar initially portrayed Rose Nylund prior to Drollinger taking on the part.

Also from the start Matthew Martin has played Southern belle Blanche Devereaux, the most promiscuous of the roommates. The late drag queen Arturo Galster, who died in 2014, briefly took over the part for several performances the first year the shows were staged.

By September, Drollinger hopes they will have recast the role of Dorothy and will be able to announce this year’s run dates. Drollinger told the B.A.R. that Heklina didn’t have someone in mind to take over the part.

“None of us had our ‘Golden Girls’ wills put together. I think she expected to be doing this for years to come,” Drollinger said of Heklina. t

she didn’t want to be known for that. She wanted to be a bitch.”

San Francisco’s queer political luminaries also spoke; beginning with Honey Mahogany, a Black queer trans person who’s the chair of the city’s Democratic Party and district director for Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco).

“She inspired so many of us long before there was a ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ to put on a wig and show the world who we were,” said Mahogany, a former contestant on RuPaul’s reality drag competition series.

who went on to national and international drag stardom got their starts at Trannyshack.

“Heklina was part of a larger group of people who created something new and vibrant and exciting while our community was going through a tough and challenging time full of grief and misery,” longtime gay activist Cleve Jones, who attended the memorial, told the B.A.R. “We throw around the word icon so much, but Heklina was an icon and I’m so glad

I made it to the city to attend. I loved the old clips because I didn’t go to see any of those in person, so it was new for me.”

The memorial was full of that same mischievousness. BenDeLaCreme – who said Heklina “left a gaping hole in our community” –sang a song about Heklina’s love of rimming and made an homage to Heklina’s trademark habit of inviting a young man on stage for the act.

“She would approach straight guys

and harass them in a way that’d have gotten the rest of us queers decked in the face,” Peaches said. “She’d ask them to show her their dick and they would! She was a real charmer.” In addition to being funny, Heklina was sweet and kind – but only secretly, Peaches said. “She didn’t want people to know she was kind,” Peaches said. “She was quiet about it. She gave people money, helped them with rent, but

Gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) spoke on the resurgent homophobia and transphobia on the right; the administration of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R), for example, has used obscenity laws to threaten businesses that host drag performances, as the B.A.R. has reported, and some Pride celebrations in the Sunshine State have been canceled on account of a new law signed by the presidential aspirant last week.

“People are afraid of drag because they say it’s subversive,” Mandelman said. “It is.”

Said Wiener: “Here in California, in San Francisco, we lift up drag queens.”

Wiener said he’d be honoring Sister Roma, of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, at the state Legislature

See page 12 >>

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

The late Heklina, left, as Dorothy Zbornak, and Holotta Tymes as Dorothy’s mother, Sophia Petrillo, during the 2019 production of “The Golden Girls Live! The Christmas Episodes.”

Gooch

Grace Towers performs outside of the Castro Theatre during Heklina’s memorial May 23.

Gooch

Oakland LGBTQ Community Center & Gilead

East Oakland Youth Development Center & Gilead

San Francisco Community Health Center & Gilead

compiled by Cynthia Laird

Former executive director and longtime lesbian leader Leslie Ewing will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Pacific Center for Human Growth at the nonprofit’s 50th anniversary celebration Saturday, June 3, from 6:30 p.m. to midnight at the Berkeley Panoramic Building, an outdoor space located at 2539 Telegraph Avenue.

The Berkeley LGBTQ community center is the oldest in the Bay Area and the third oldest in the country. Ewing led the organization from 2008 to 2019. Prior to that, she served on the board of the former AIDS Emergency Fund (later merged with PRC) and worked as a buyer for the old Under One Roof organization that raised funds for HIV/ AIDS nonprofits.

In an email, Ewing stated that it was “humbling” to be receiving the honor.

“Fifty continuous years of supporting LGBTQIA+ and QTBIPOC people, and their families, is an accomplishment that only three community centers in America can claim,” Ewing wrote, referring to queer, trans, Black, Indigenous, and people of color. “Pacific Center is one of them, and it was a personal highlight and honor to have served 10 years as the organization’s executive director.”

The oldest continuously operating LGBTQ centers in the U.S. are in Albany, New York, which opened in 1970, according to its website, and the Los Angeles LGBT Center, which started in 1969, its website states.

“I do think I understand why the organization has thrived throughout the years, even in the face of daunting challenges,” Ewing added. “The Pacific Cen-

ter community has always embraced anyone and everyone who’ve crossed its threshold. The organization does not take the position of ‘There is room for you at our table,’ but rather, ‘This table was built just for you!’ It has sometimes been challenging to stay true to that value, but doing so is a core value and why today Pacific Center celebrates 50 years.”

Other people the Pacific Center is honoring will be therapist Taunya Black, M.A., who will receive the Organizational Culture Shift Award; Horizons Foundation, which will be recognized with the Community Partnership Award; and Henry van der Voort III, who will receive the Volunteer Service Award.

One of the unique things about the center is that it operates the only sliding scale mental health clinic for LGBTQIA+ and queer Black, Indigenous, and people of color and their families in Alameda County, according to its website.

“Golden Dreams” is the theme of the upcoming gala. It will feature emcee Sister Tilda NexTime of the drag nun group Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence; the Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus; and So Lauren as musical entertainment.

There are several things the center is working on for its next 50 years, its website notes. One is that it will be moving into a new building this year. As the Bay Area Reporter previously reported, the center’s longtime home at 2712 Telegraph Avenue was sold last year. Plans call for the building and another one on the lot to be demolished and replaced with a five-story, mixed-use building containing 35 apartments.

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<< Community News

orchestra seating and replace it with a motorized device that would allow for theater-style seating or standing for concerts. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is expected to vote on the matter June 6, as the B.A.R. previously reported.

In a news release, the Berkeley-based Art Deco Society praised the groups’ efforts to preserve the fixed seating, stating that with movie theaters being endangered across the Bay Area, the local preservation groups working to keep them alive are being recognized.

The cultural district did not respond to a request for comment.

Executive Director Lasara Firefox Allen, a nonbinary pansexual person who took the helm at the center a year ago, noted that the new facility will enable the agency to expand service programs. The agency also wants to prioritize equity across its programs and increase outreach to LGBTQ seniors and queer and BIPOC youth.

Tickets for the gala are $250 and include the after-party at Que Rio Nightclub, 381 15th Street in Oakland, owned by gay nightlife promoter Valentino Carrillo. It will feature a show on the outdoor stage and dancing into the early morning hours. Tickets for the afterparty only are sliding scale $25-$50. For tickets and more information, go to pacificcenter.org

B.A.R. takes prizes in CNPA contest

The B.A.R. received three prizes in the recent California News Publishers Association contest. The entries were in the weeklies circulation 11,001-25,000 category.

The paper took third place in the general excellence category. “The Bay Area Reporter provides a wide range of LGBTQ-centered content through compelling writing across a wide range of verticals,” a judge’s note stated. “I found the political content to be graspable and compelling, and particularly enjoyed the profiles presented on the front pages.”

Entry credit went to Michael Yamashita, publisher; Cynthia Laird, news editor; Matthew S. Bajko, assistant editor; Jim Provenzano, arts editor; and Scott Wazlowski, vice president of advertising.

The B.A.R. also took third place in election coverage for Bajko’s article on the San Jose mayor’s race.

Finally, the paper’s arts section won third place. Entry credit went to Provenzano, Gregg Shapiro, Brian

Bromberger, Philip Mayard, and Jim Gladstone.

Yamashita praised the staff and contributors.

“I’m extremely proud of our team for this distinction by our fellow California news publishers, especially since there are many other deserving publications in the state,” he stated. “I am very pleased that Matthew Bajko has been individually recognized for his excellent reporting on LGBTQ politics, as well as Jim Provenzano for his editorial oversight of our Arts & Nightlife section.”

Carnaval San Francisco

Carnaval San Francisco is expected to fill the streets in the city’s Mission neighborhood Saturday and Sunday, May 27-28. This year’s theme is “Celebrating 45 Years of Music and Movement,” and people can enjoy the two-day festival as well as the Grand Parade on Sunday, which starts at 9:30 a.m. at Gray Area/ Grand Theater, 2665 Mission Street.

The free festival runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days and encompasses Harrison Street and adjacent streets between 16th and 24th streets. The website notes that there will be multiple stages throughout the 17-block festival footprint, as well as DJ block parties. Highlights also include a lowrider car show, skate jam, and plenty of food vendors.

Carnaval is a project of the nonprofit Cultura y Arte Nativa de las Americas. For more information, including the festival entertainment schedule, go to carnavalsanfrancisco.org.

Groups involved with Castro Theatre to receive award

The Castro Theatre Conservancy and the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District will receive a joint award from the Art Deco Society of California for their efforts as Friends of the Castro Theatre Coalition fighting to save the fixed orchestra seating in the historic movie palace.

Another Planet Entertainment, which took over management of the theater last year, wants to remove the

The award will be presented at the 37th annual Art Deco Preservation Ball that takes place Saturday, May 27, from 7 p.m. to midnight at the historic Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway in Oakland.

Other honorees will include The Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum, which will receive the Michael Crowe Award; and Greg King, who will be recognized with the Art Deco Technology Award. Preservationists being honored include the Film Noir Foundation, the Los Gatos Theatre, and the Paramount Theatre. The Friends of the California Theatre and architectural historian Daniella Thompson will be recognized for their work on landmarking the California Theatre in Berkeley.

A special legacy award will go to Jack Bethards, who envisioned the original restoration of the Paramount in 1973, the release stated.

Tickets are $165 for society members and sister society members and $195 for non-members. For tickets and more information, go to artdecosocietyofcalifornia.org.

SF Pride Run coming up

The San Francisco Front Runners annual Pride benefit run will take place Saturday, June 24, at 9 a.m. in Golden Gate Park. The 5K/10K run is open to walkers and casual and avid runners, a news release stated.

Organizers said that this year’s beneficiary is the Oakland-based Transgender Law Center, which works on laws and policies so that people can live safely and authentically.

Early registration for the run is $40 through May 31; the cost increases to $45 through June 23 and is $50 on race day. Registration includes a T-shirt, subject to availability for those who sign up on the day of the event.

Awards will be presented to the female, male, and nonbinary overall top finishers and in each age group. Bag storage will be available.

To register or for more information, go to https://bit.ly/2JzoRtB t

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Drag storytime for Milk Day

San Francisco drag queen Per Sia read stories during Drag Story Hour as part of the Harvey Milk celebration block party at Jane Warner Plaza in the Castro LGBTQ neighborhood on Saturday, May 20. The afternoon activities also included live music by DJ Nico and a performance by the Queer Chorus of San Francisco. Harvey Milk Day, a day of special significance in California, is officially May

22, which would have been the late gay San Francisco supervisor’s 93rd birthday. Governor Gavin Newsom issued a proclamation and lesbian Oakland at-large City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan issued a statement calling for people to honor Milk’s life and fight for equality and justice.

Christopher Robledo

Leslie Ewing will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Pacific Center for Human Growth.

Courtesy Leslie Ewing Entertainers performed at the 2019 Carnaval San Francisco.

Kyle Adler

LYRIC planning inaugural ‘Pride Pour’ event

by Cynthia Laird

L YRIC, the queer youth organization in San Francisco’s LGBTQ Castro neighborhood, is planning its inaugural “Pride Pour” benefit and organizers hope that people turn out to support the nonprofit.

The event, consisting of small bites and wines from 30-plus wineries, is set for Saturday, June 10, at Pier 27.

Laura Lala-Chávez, LYRIC’s executive director and a San Francisco Pride community grand marshal, told the Bay Area Reporter in a recent Zoom call that the benefit is the organization’s first what they termed “elevated fund-raising event.” In years past, LYRIC, short for Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center, had an annual open house that served as a more informal fundraiser.

Lala-Chávez, a nonbinary, firstgeneration Mexican American, officially took over leadership of LYRIC in the fall of 2021. Since then, they have weathered some financial struggles at the agency and the pivoting to online services during the COVID pandemic. LYRIC had planned the Pride Pour for last June, but a series of bomb threats last spring, as the B.A.R. reported at the time, forced the postponement of the event, they said.

“We experienced those bomb threats last year and out of an abundance of caution [decided] we couldn’t have a public-facing event at that time,” Lala-Chávez said.

For this year, LYRIC has created a safety plan for the fundraiser, they said.

In spite of the threats and ongoing concern over the COVID pandemic, Lala-Chávez said LYRIC has remained open and serving queer youth; LYRIC operates on a budget of about $3 million.

Two youth will share their stories at the fundraiser, Lala-Chávez said. Additionally, they explained that the bans on gender-affirming care in states across the country provide an important reason for supporters of trans and gender-nonconforming youth to come together to help the agency.

“It’s really important to uplift queer and trans youth,” Lala-Chávez said.

One LYRIC youth, who only wanted to be identified by their first name, stated that the organization has been essential to them in an email forwarded by Lala-Chávez.

“LYRIC has been a consistent and gentle space for me in my youth and transition to adulthood, for me to practice and cultivate skills and relationships,” wrote Leif, 22, who has been coming to LYRIC for six years.

“Their programs have been full of amazing people and have been able to provide me with financial stability in the city I grew up in. I was able to give more to my community because there was a sustainable ex -

change and support in all ways. LYRIC helped me get access to gender-affirming care, mental health services, friends and purpose.”

Another program participant who was formerly unhoused now lives in a studio, according to LYRIC staff. That person, who identified only as Sandy, also praised the agency.

“Not only did I find my tribe at Lyric, I also found my potential to shine and grow in all ways so that I

could be the best version of who I truly am,” Sandy wrote in an email. “I found my potential to be happy, safe, and successful with the most supportive people possible. Thank you, LYRIC!”

The Pride Pour will include a short program. Honey Mahogany, a queer trans person who’s chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party and district director for Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco),

will be the event’s emcee and gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman will attend, Lala-Chávez noted.

Mahogany did not respond to a request for comment.

In a text message, Mandelman wrote, “I’m happy, of course, to support one of our community’s essential organizations doing great work with and for queer youth.”

Lala-Chávez said that they were honored to be selected as a SF Pride community grand marshal and that the LYRIC contingent would be behind them in the June 25 parade.

Changes

For the past few years, as the B.A.R. has reported, LYRIC has been in the midst of a construction project to improve its offices, located in the widely-known “purple house” on Collingwood Street in the Castro. Lala-Chávez said that the organization has temporarily relocated to two Castro storefronts now that work has started.

Lala-Chávez said that a garage in back of the property that had been used for storage has been removed for a new structure. A reception area will also be created, something LalaChávez said the house never had.

LYRIC now operates temporarily out of two locations. One is the old Daddy’s Barbershop at 4012 19th Street, the other is the space at 566 Castro Street next to Fable, said Lala-Chávez.

“We’re still very much in the Castro,” they said. “Young people are coming in.” t

For more information about LYRIC, go to lyric.org. The June 10 Pride Pour takes place from 4 to 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $175 and can be purchased at https://bit. ly/3IvGeZa

Rollins relaunches congressional bid

by Matthew S. Bajko

In his race last year gay U.S. House candidate Will Rollins lost to conservative Congressmember Ken Calvert (R-Corona) by 11,100 votes in California’s 41st Congressional District that includes a large part of Palm Springs. The former federal prosecutor expects to do much better in 2024 running in a presidential election year that typically draws out younger, more progressive voters.

Rollins officially announced his candidacy May 16. It had been widely expected, particularly since the LGBTQ retirement and tourist mecca of the Coachella Valley had been drawn into Calvert’s district during the 2020 redistricting process.

Among the eight California House seats Democrats have already announced they aim to pick up in 2024 is the 41st District. And Calvert, who last year voted in support of a marriage equality bill after years of opposition to same-sex marriage, has already reverted to opposing LGBTQ rights, casting a vote last month in support of a federal ban against trans women and girls playing on female sports teams.

“I’m running for Congress because it’s time that 41st Congressional District residents have a representative who rejects the corruption and extremism in Washington and has the courage to put people over politics and profits,” stated Rollins, who had been called into jury duty last week, in announcing his decision on May 16. “Having worked in law enforcement, I know that the threats facing our democracy and our communities still loom large. But Ken Calvert doesn’t have the backbone to stand up to his own party, let alone keep our communities safe or put the needs of working families first.”

Rollins is the third out congressional candidate who lost last year to relaunch a bid in 2024. As the Bay Area Reporter’s online Political Notes column reported in April, Derek Marshall is once again challenging Congressmember Jay Obernolte (R-Hesperia) for his 23rd Congressional District seat in the High Desert east of Los Angeles. The gay progressive Democrat also believes he will have a stronger shot at victory with 2024 being a presidential election year.

He had fallen short by roughly 35,000 votes last November but believes he can gain ground next year in what is shaping up to be a presidential election cycle favorable to Democrats due to the incumbent, President Joe Biden, seeking reelection likely against his former opponent, Republican President Donald Trump, whom Biden defeated in 2020. Abortion rights are also expected to be a major focus of next year’s campaigns, which Democrats see as benefiting their candidates amid an ongoing rollback to access to abortion services being pushed by Republicans.

“Without a doubt,” Marshall had told the Bay Area Reporter about his electoral chances next year.

With Congressmember Adam Schiff (D-Los Angeles) vying to succeed U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, who opted not to seek reelection next year, voters in his 30th Congressional District could elect an LGBTQ person to represent them on Capitol Hill.

Mounting a third bid for the seat is Maebe A. Girl, a nonbinary drag queen elected in 2019 as the at-large representative for the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council in Los Angeles. She didn’t survive the primary for the House seat in 2020 and lost to Schiff last year in the general election.

Queer West Hollywood Mayor Sepi Shyne is also running for the seat and would be the first queer Iranian in Congress if elected.

The Golden State’s two current gay Democratic congressmembers, Mark Takano of Riverside and Robert Garcia of Long Beach, are both expected

to easily win reelection next year. They both represent House districts that favor Democrats, with Takano in the 39th District and Garcia in the 42nd District.

In the Bay Area gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) has opened an exploratory committee for a possible bid in 2024 to succeed Congressmember Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco). The former House speaker has yet to say whether she plans to seek reelection next year or retire after serving 37 years in Congress.

The filing deadline for candidates who wish to seek offices on the March 5, 2024 primary ballot is December 8. If the incumbent officeholder opts not to run for reelection, then the deadline will be extended to December 13.

Strong show of support

When Rollins launched his first House bid in 2021, he was seen as the underdog and was initially dismissed by many Democratic Party officials as having no chance against an entrenched incumbent like Calvert.

Those views of his candidacy began to change once Palm Springs and its bank of LGBTQ voters were drawn into the seat, forcing Calvert to address his anti-LGBTQ voting record.

This time Rollins is starting off with a strong showing of support from Democratic leaders, with Pelosi, Takano, and Garcia among the 30 members of the Golden State’s congressional delegation endorsing his rematch against Calvert. So is Schiff, along with Congressmembers Katie Porter (D-Irvine) and Barbara Lee (DOakland), who are also seeking to succeed Feinstein in the Senate.

Others from the Bay Area backing Rollins include Congressmembers Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael),

John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove), Mark DeSaulnier (D-Walnut Creek), Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin), Kevin Mullin (D-San Mateo/San Francisco), Anna Eshoo (D-San Jose), Ro Khanna (D-San Jose), and Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose).

“National Democrats have already made it clear: #CA41 is a top priority to flip in 2024, tweeted Rollins with a link for people to donate to his campaign.

He is the second out candidate from the Coachella Valley to relaunch their campaign after falling short last year. Bisexual Palm Springs City Councilmember Christy Holstege, who lost her bid for an Assembly seat by 85 votes last November, is running again against Assemblymember Greg Wallis (R-Palm Springs) in 2024.

Joining them on local ballots in the area will be Palm Springs City Councilmember Lisa Middleton, who is seeking the 19th Senate District seat that also includes the Coachella Valley. If elected in 2024, she would be the first transgender member of the California Legislature.

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 the two congressional races of Rollins and Takano, along with five LGBTQ community leaders seeking legislative seats in Sacramento that include parts of the county.

“I think we will have some really strong enthusiasm in our community,” Middleton recently told the B.A.R. about next year’s election. t

LYRIC Executive Director Laura Lala-Chávez

Courtesy Laura Lala-Chávez

Construction is underway at LYRIC’s purple house in the Castro, where a former garage has been removed.

Courtesy LYRIC

Will Rollins has announced he will run again for the 41st Congressional District seat that includes Palm Springs.

Rick Gerharter

Shanti Project transitioning to new CEO

by John Ferrannini

The Shanti Project is in the midst of transitioning to a new CEO.

Kimberly Scrafano, of Alameda, told the Bay Area Reporter May 15 that she will be starting full time over the next two weeks, but is already acting head of the nonprofit.

“I’m very excited about Shanti,” Scrafano said. “I’ve heard of Shanti many times, was familiar with their mission, and I felt like this focus of reducing isolation and the importance of human connection and wellbeing spoke really strongly to my personal and professional beliefs.”

Scrafano, 50, replaces Charlie Meade, who has served as interim executive director since August 2022 and will be stepping back into the role of chief development officer. The most recent permanent executive director was Kaushik Roy, a straight ally who stepped down that same month after 14 years in the role.

The Shanti Project, founded in San Francisco in 1974, is a nonprofit that provides services to people with life-threatening conditions such as cancer and HIV/AIDS. It offers case management, client advocacy, and practical support, among other services. According to its website

(https://www.shanti.org/), Shanti “reduces isolation and improves lives by providing compassionate care, community, and connection to San Franciscans in great need of support.”

It also runs Pets Are Wonderful Support, which is designed to keep people and their animal companions together and merged with Shanti in 2015.

When asked about how she identifies under the LGBTQ umbrella, Scrafano said, “I’ve used different sorts of descriptors – I was in New York when the Lesbian Avengers were being created. I’ve used the word queer, I have a wife and kids and have done work around queer families, so it’s a big part of our lives.”

The Lesbian Avengers was a direct action group of lesbians founded in the Big Apple in 1992, known for its heterodox tactics. Some of the co-founders had been involved in ACT-UP, the AIDS direct action group active around the same time, and felt queer women’s issues weren’t being properly addressed in other community groups. There were several chapters of the Avengers over the years, including in the Bay Area.

Shanti won’t be Scrafano’s first time working with the LGBTQ community in a professional capacity, either. She also worked with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation as a state and local policy manager from 20012002, and with Gay Men’s Health Crisis when she lived in New York City.

“I’ve done HIV work,” she said. “I worked at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and Gay Men’s Health Crisis in New York, so I’ve had experience in those areas. I’m also a licensed acupuncturist and have treated people as a health care provider.”

The AIDS foundation and GMHC did not return requests for comment as of press time.

Most recently, Scrafano had been CEO of the Mechanics’ Institute since 2019. The institute is a private club, library, chess club, and cultural

events center at 57 Post Street in San Francisco. However, the vast majority of her time between her stint at the AIDS foundation and now had been spent with Goodwill Industries of the Greater East Bay, where she did “programming and leadership work as well,” she said.

Dr. Micki Klearman, Shanti’s board chair, announced Scrafano’s appointment April 24.

“Kimberly will be a strong steward of Shanti’s values and mission. She has proven depth as an authentic and inclusive leader, serving most recently as the CEO of the Mechanics Institute,” Klearman stated.

“Her professional and personal experience aligns with Shanti’s breadth of work in our community,” Klearman added. “She has worked as a consultant for youth services at one of the country’s oldest and largest HIV/AIDS organizations (Gay Men’s Health Crisis in New York City) and as a state and local policy manager at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.”

Scrafano said that Shanti’s mission of reducing isolation and connecting the vulnerable is particularly important in light of recent years, with the COVID-19 pandemic leading to increased social isolation and particularly impacting those with pre-existing conditions.

“Shanti, I think, really did a lot during COVID,” Scrafano said. “Given their mission and their work, reducing that isolation and keeping connection in that lockdown was instrumental. Even though the lockdown is over, there is an impact and it’ll take us a while to figure out what that impact is.”

Scrafano said that she felt the impacts within her own family.

“I have two young children – their social development was really disrupted, as everyone’s was – and I was also visiting older family members trying to be careful taking care of them,” Scrafano said. “Someone in my family passed away and the person left was alone, trying to grieve in this lockdown era, so Shanti’s mission is even, in a lot of ways, more sort of vital in the community right now because we are collectively recovering from what that meant. I go back and think ‘did we really stay inside our house for two years? It seems unreal to me.’”

Scrafano is using the current transition time to learn what she can improve at Shanti.

“I’m not sure,” she said when asked what is the biggest challenge Shanti faces at the moment.

“Honestly, I’m in this learning process of trying to connect and do outreach to understand what are the biggest sorts of challenges,” Scrafano said. “In general, looking at it as a nonprofit leader, the economy is going to be a challenge as we have a significant downturn. … Shanti has really generous, wonderful donors, and as the economy is down, it impacts the donations an organization receives.”

According to the most recent IRS Form 990 that’s publicly available, covering Fiscal Year 2021, Shanti had $8.8 million in revenue and spent $7.9 million, with $936,019 left over.

Scrafano declined to state her salary. Roy’s total compensation that fiscal year was $261,767.

“Again, I feel really excited about this opportunity. I feel it brings together a lot of professional and personal interests and experience,” she said. “I’ve been so impressed with the staff, the board and everyone else and am so excited to come to this incredible organization that has such a legacy and history in San Francisco.”

For more information about Shanti, go to shanti.org. t

Incoming Shanti CEO Kimberly Scrafano Courtesy Shanti Project

Marin LGBTQ center welcomes new ED

by John Ferrannini

The Spahr Center – Marin County’s LGBTQ community center and HIV care and prevention hub – has a new executive director who started at the beginning of this month.

Joe Tuohy, a 57-year-old gay man, of San Francisco, comes to the role from the San Francisco LGBT Community Center, where he worked as senior director of operations. His longest stint recently was at PRC for about seven years, where he was both chief strategy officer and chief operating officer.

“I was at the SF LGBT center for six months, where I received a solid grounding in services to the LGBTQ+ community and the operations of an LGBTQ+ community center, in addition to my more than seven years of experience working with HIV community service provider PRC,” Tuohy stated to the Bay Area Reporter May 11. “The Spahr Center’s amazing programs serve youth, families, adults and seniors … the entire spectrum of the community.

“Also, in this political moment, the opportunity to take a leadership role in fighting hate, especially against the trans community,” he added, referring to the numerous anti-LGBTQ and anti-trans bills and laws being debated and passed in many states.

Tuohy stated he plans “to advocate on behalf of the Spahr Center

Obituaries >>

Lee Terry Chandler

October 9, 1956 – April 16, 2023

Our friend, Lee, passed away on April 16 after an extended illness. A native of Kentucky, Lee captivated all who came into his orbit with his southern charm and wit. After a stint with Indiana Bell, Lee transferred to San Francisco in 1980 and quickly established a wild menagerie of friends, lovers, and others. He loved TCM, Patsy Cline, fried pickles, and his longtime canine companion, Mooney Loretta. During his illness, his partner, Matt, was a constant by his side. So here’s to you, Lee. Let’s hope we can all blow bubbles together someday.

Memorial set for David Hurles

A celebration of life for gay pornographer David Hurles will be held Saturday, June 3, at the Bob Mizer Foundation’s headquarters in downtown San Francisco.

As the Bay Area Reporter previously reported,

Mr. Hurles died April 12 at a nursing home in Los Angeles. He was 78.

Mr. Hurles was best known for using drifters, hustlers, criminals, and addicts as models, creating still unique photos, videos, and audio tapes, the Mizer foundation stated in a news release. He founded his Old Reliable media company in the 1970s in San Francisco.

The memorial will include remarks by Dian Hanson, a writer-editor and longtime friend of Mr. Hurles. Hanson will read excerpts from her profile of Mr. Hurles for the Mizer foundation’s upcoming volume of “Physique Pictorial.” Drummer magazine founder Jack Fritscher and sex-positive feminist Susie Bright will also attend and share their memories of Mr. Hurles.

The memorial, which will take place within the foundation gallery’s first Bob Mizer show, will start at 6 p.m. at 920 Larkin Street. Attendees are asked to RSVP at info@bobmizer.org to be added to the list.

for trans-affirming legislation and policy, more trans-focused funding sources, and to continue providing and creating programs that give the transgender community of Marin the support they need to thrive.”

He also wants to “make space for the transgender community to be leaders.”

“This means allowing transgender people to shine in the spotlight while I support them however they need me,” he continued. He will be

“actively seeking opportunities to learn, such as professional development, workshops, transgender-led panels and forums, and literature written by transgender people, as well as being mindful in my everyday life about how my words and actions affect the greater community,” he said.

When asked why he was only at the San Francisco LGBT center for six months, Tuohy responded that “the opportunity with the Spahr Center presented itself and it was something I couldn’t pass up.”

Dani Siragusa, the director of development and communications at San Francisco LGBT center, thanked Tuohy in a statement to the B.A.R.

“We sincerely thank Joe for all his contributions to the SF LGBT center during his tenure and wish him all the best in his new endeavor,” Siragusa stated.

Started in arts fields

Born and raised in the Bay Area, Tuohy began his career with the San Francisco Ballet, where he was director of the Bay Area Dance Series. He spent a decade in New York, working with the School of Visual Arts and Second Stage Theatre.

From 2005 to 2009, he was trea-

surer of the board of directors of Visual AIDS, a New York City-based arts organization that “utilizes art to fight AIDS by provoking dialogue, supporting HIV+ artists, and preserving a legacy,” according to its website.

From January 2015 to December 2017, Tuohy was development chair of the Castro County Club’s board of directors.

Billy Lemon, the executive director of the Castro Country Club, a sober space in the LGBTQ neighborhood, told the B.A.R., “I wish Joe all the best in his new role. He was helpful to the development of the Castro Country Club.”

When asked how Tuohy was supportive, Lemon stated, “Joe was helpful in developing strategies for reaching new kinds of funding and support that are still being utilized by the CCC today.”

Chuan Teng, CEO of PRC, congratulated Tuohy and thanked him for his service in a statement to the B.A.R.

“Congratulations to Joe Tuohy for becoming the new executive director for the Spahr Center. He has dedicated many years of service to the health and human services sector, impacting the lives of many

people who have benefited from behavioral and mental health services. I wish him the best!”

PRC experienced its own fiscal issues last year, when longtime CEO Brett Andrews resigned. That followed 11th hour requests to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for emergency funding; the board approved $1.25 million though the agency had asked for $3.2 million, as the B.A.R. reported.

Tuohy left the organization in June 2021, before Andrews resigned during the shakeup.

Amy Schroeder, the president of the Spahr Center’s board of directors, stated to the B.A.R. that the center, which is in Corte Madera, 15 miles north of San Francisco, is happy to have Tuohy.

“We are excited to welcome Joe into our organization and our community,” Schroeder stated. “We know that Joe’s experience, passion, and vision will ensure that the Spahr Center reaches the goals outlined in our Strategic Plan: securing a comprehensive safety net for all LGBTQ+ and HIV-affected individuals, increasing community connection, and showing up for racial justice within Marin County.”

See page 13 >>

Help Build Meaningful, Compassionate Connections in Your Community

Shanti’s LGBTQ+ Aging & Abilities Support Network (LAASN)

Since 1974, Shanti has trained over 20,000 Bay Area volunteers to offer emotional and practical support to some of our most marginalized neighbors. LAASN offers emotional and practical support to LGBTQ+ older adults and adults with disabilities who face isolation and need greater social support and connection.

Shanti LAASN peer support volunteers:

Go through the internationally recognized training on the Shanti Model of Peer SupportTM

Make a commitment of 2-4 hours a week for a minimum of 6 months

Get matched with one client, for whom they serve as a non-judgmental source of emotional support and reliable practical help

Have one of the most rewarding volunteer experiences of their lives!

To learn more about how you can be a Shanti volunteer, contact Volunteer Services at 415-674-4751 or email acone@shanti.org. For more information about LAASN services, call 415-979-9950 or email djohnson@shanti.org.

Courtesy Bob Mizer Foundation

Spahr Center Executive Director Joe Tuohy

Courtesy Spahr Center

Volume 53, Number 21 May 25-31, 2023

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Los Angeles Dodgers get a save

Like a thrilling baseball contest that goes down to the ninth inning, a team that is only a couple of runs ahead needs a pitcher who can save the game, preferably with a wicked fastball. This week, the Los Angeles Dodgers saved their reputation – or at least minimized the damage – after an unforced error team executives made May 17 when they disinvited the L.A. chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence from their June 16 Pride Night game against the San Francisco Giants. On Monday, the team formally apologized and reinvited the Sisters to the game, and the Sisters accepted.

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence have been a mainstay in LGBTQ culture since they made their first appearance on Easter Sunday in San Francisco in 1979. Since then, the group has established orders all over the world, including Los Angeles, where that chapter was set to receive a Community Hero Award during a pregame ceremony from the Dodgers for all the work it has done raising funds for charity and highlighting awareness of drag and LGBTQ life.

It was the San Francisco Sisters who produced one of the first safer sex pamphlets in the early years of the AIDS epidemic. In short, they promote a serious message of acceptance, equality, and staying healthy while having a lot of fun doing it and raising money to help other queer groups. Everyone likes the Sisters, except, that is, the Catholic Church.

Indeed, it was Catholic organizations that raised a ruckus with the Dodgers, leading the team to disinvite the drag nuns. Both the Catholic League and CatholicVote protested, along with U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida), who sent a letter to Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred complaining about the Dodgers inviting the Sisters and writing that the group mocks Christianity. Rubio was seconded by San Francisco’s own Catholic Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone. Rubio also made reference to the Sisters dressing in “lewd imitation” of nuns.

And there you have it – conservatives once again trying to equate drag with lewdness, just like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) did by signing a law banning children from attending drag shows. (By the time you read this, DeSantis likely will have formally declared himself a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination.) Drag is a culture of its own, playfully satirizing all sorts of institutions, religious and otherwise. That’s free speech. Of course, a backlash quickly ensued. The Los Angeles LGBT Center and LA Pride, which collaborates with the Dodgers on Pride Night, threatened to pull out of the event. After the team’s reversal, LA Pride is again working with the Dodgers on the event. The Dodgers’ statement indicates that the organization had heard the criticism of its initial action.

“The Dodgers would like to offer our sincerest apologies to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, members of the LGBTQ+ community and their friends and families,” the Dodgers said in a statement. “We have asked the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to take their place on the field at our 10th annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night.”

Helping foster youth

by David Ambroz

Standing at the center of New York City’s Grand Central Terminal’s main concourse bedraggled and rank in filthy clothes, I watched as the commuters ignored my pleas begging for “just a dollar, sir.” I begged in the morning because people were more generous before they had a bad day. This day, though, the crowd parted a few feet in front of me, without even seeing me.  As a homeless child, living with my family on the streets, we were invisible. Today, there are more than 100,000 children homeless or housing insecure in the same city where I barely survived. These children are part of more than 10 million American children living in poverty in 2019, with half of those in extreme poverty.

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All around us as homeless children were other homeless children. We bedded down in corners of the city, among other children – usually with their mothers. In quiet corners of libraries, we slept. In bathrooms at fast-food restaurants, we bathed ourselves or did our laundry in sinks. Freezing, we children would ride public transit from one end of the line to the other to stay warm. At 5, 6, and 7 respectively, my siblings and I would always enter bathrooms together – to ensure we got out unmolested. These were thoughts we had as children – to survive another day.

At the Methodist food pantry, or the uptown Presbyterian Church’s free meals, we’d wait in the long, long lines, absolutely aching for sustenance. There around us in line, the children were not lively. We children, deprived of sufficient calories, were shadows of the efflorescent “normal” child.

As the debate in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision rages – the ruling overturned the right to abortion in Roe v. Wade – children are already falling through the vast holes in our social welfare safety net. They, like my brother and sister, are roaming with no roof, not enough food – never enough food, fearful with parents that cannot care for them.

Outcomes for foster children are abysmal, with too few graduating high school, too many becoming young mothers that are ill-equipped to parent, and far too many becoming incarcerated. Today, more foster youth will go to jail as adults than will graduate college. By their 25th birthdays, 81% of males in the foster care system had been arrested and one in three incarcerated, according to a 2019 study.

More than 30% of foster youth identify as LGBTQI+, triple our representation in the general population. Additionally, as the West Hollywoodbased Trevor Project has reported, about 40% of foster youth identify as LGBTQ.

The kids are not all right.

Surely, we can do better for the children we’ve taken away from their families. We know this, and have come together in the past – left and right – to bipartisan bills like the Chaffee Independence Act (1999) that for the first time provided support for foster youth emancipating out of the system.

At the front line of foster care are the foster parents, social workers, and the youth themselves. What if we recruited middle-income foster parents by allaying some of the main concerns of the middle class – retirement, college for their kids, and health care. Make foster parents county or state employees for retirement and health care benefits for life after a period of good service. Perhaps we can waive tuition at state colleges and universities for their own biological children. The numbers we are talking about are small, the impact potentially huge.

Foster youth are emancipating woefully unprepared to contribute to society. One of the main barriers is housing. In America, over 50% of homeless have experienced foster care. Let’s build dorms at community colleges, so that foster youth emancipate into a vocational degree, two-year degree, skill-certificate or transfer student. The public owns

The Southern California LGBTQ organizations weren’t the only groups condemning the Dodgers. L.A. City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, whose district includes Dodger Stadium, wrote on Twitter: “Los Angeles must be a place where everyone feels empowered to express themselves, and this move undermines that.” Thirty-nine members of the L.A. state legislative delegation expressed support, stating that the values espoused by the Sisters – diversity, inclusion, and promoting human rights – “should be celebrated, not suppressed,” as the Los Angeles Times reported.

Not to be outdone, Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken tweeted last weekend that she was inviting the Sisters to be her guests at the Angels Pride Night on June 7; so now it appears that the Sisters will be guests at two Pride Nights instead of one. How fitting.

Suffice it to say that had it not been for the condemnation by LGBTQ organizations and activists, political leaders, opinion columnists, and many others, the Dodgers probably would not have reversed course. There was no excuse for the Dodgers’ initial action, and we’re glad the team recognized its mistake. By now, these Pride games in major professional sports, which have been taking place for years, are a no-brainer.

There is a gay history with the Dodgers, though it’s not a pretty one. The team traded gay baseball player Glenn Burke in the early 1970s, after he became friends with then-manager Tommy Lasorda’s gay son, Tommy Lasorda Jr., who died of AIDSrelated complications in 1991, though his father denied it at the time, as Poz magazine reported in a 2021 article. Burke was traded to the Oakland A’s, where his homosexuality was an open secret before he retired from the sport and came out publicly in 1982. He died of AIDS-related complications in 1995. Today, there are still no active professional baseball players at the major league level who are out of the closet.

Overall, we’re glad the Dodgers did the right thing, but they shouldn’t have rescinded the invitation in the first place. t

the land, the institution, and these are the public’s children. With dorms, we might have more than one student per room, and shared kitchen and bath facilities – dramatically driving down costs.

As I contemplate a post-Roe world, I wonder if both sides might agree that the very system which will see an onslaught of more unwanted children can be one thing we together might fix. This is not a Pollyannaish thought. Often, opposite political parties have come together to invest in expanding support for foster youth, their biological families, and preventing the need for breaking up families in the first place.

Foster Care is a boat with holes, staying afloat because of the diligent efforts of front-line social workers, foster parents, nonprofits, judges, and communities bailing water. Those efforts are not enough to keep these children, and future children, safe.

When I close my eyes, I can’t see your political party. When you close your eyes, I ask you to imagine if you had to place your child in foster care. What does that system look like – let us create that together. t

David Ambroz is a national poverty and child welfare expert and advocate, Emmynominated, and best-selling author. He was recognized by President Barack Obama as an American Champion of Change. He currently serves as the head of community engagement (West) for Amazon. He also served as a California child welfare councilmember, and helped author and advocate numerous laws and policies, including the extension of foster care to 21, Chafee Independence Act, efforts to protect LGBTQ foster youth, and policies to ensure access and success in higher education – including founding the Guardian Scholars in Los Angeles. After growing up queer, homeless, and then in foster care, he graduated from Vassar College and later from UCLA School of Law. He is a member of the Television Academy, board member of Equality California, and now lives in Los Angeles.

David Ambroz will appear with Amy Lemley, executive director of John Burton Advocates for Youth, at the Commonwealth Club of California Thursday, May 25, at 6 p.m. For information about online or inperson tickets, go to https://bit.ly/3WqsNj6.

David Ambroz

Courtesy David Ambroz

The Los Angeles Dodgers have reinvited the L.A. chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to the team’s annual Pride Night game June 16.

Courtesy KTLA-TV

Fielder aims to return out female leadership to SF supes

by Matthew S. Bajko

It has been 27 years since an out female won election to a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Lesbian supervisor Leslie Katz was elected in 1996 when candidates ran citywide and opted not to run in 2000 when the supervisors reverted back to being elected by district.

And it has been a decade since an out female served on the board, as appointed bisexual District 5 supervisor Christina Olague stepped down on January 8, 2013. She lost her bid for a full four-year term in the November 2012 election to London Breed, now the city’s mayor.

With District 9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen termed out of her seat representing the Mission district come January 2025, Jackie Fielder is running to succeed her on the November 2024 ballot. Should the queer progressive be elected, she would return out female leadership to the board chambers in City Hall.

There are currently three gay, white men serving on the board, which marks the first time such a trio has served together in San Francisco. The dearth of LGBTQ women on the board over the last 23 years “is pretty shocking, especially for San Francisco,” Fielder told the Bay Area Reporter during a recent interview about her candidacy.

She would be the third out supervisor to serve in the District 9 seat since 2001. Gay supervisors Tom Ammiano and David Campos both served two fouryear terms as the district’s representative, with Ammiano elected to it in 2000 and Campos first elected in 2008.

“I am pretty proud to be a queer woman,” said Fielder, 28, who since 2021 has worked as a co-director of the Stop the Money Pipeline coalition focused on addressing climate change. “It is why I have dedicated my life to public service in this city. I am proud to represent and would be proud to represent on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.”

Fielder’s family roots trace back to the Lakota and Hidatsa tribes of South and North Dakota, and Monterrey, Mexico. Thus, she would be the first Latina elected to the District 9 seat and only the second Latino/a community leader to serve in it over the last 23 years, after Campos.

She also would be the first American Indian elected supervisor in the city’s history, according to the American Indian Cultural Center San Francisco. The San Francisco History Center also told the B.A.R. it could find no record of an American Indian being elected to the board.

The first person with American Indian ancestry known to have served on it was former District 5 supervisor Vallie Brown, who is of Paiute and Shoshone descent. Appointed by Breed in July 2018 as her successor after winning a special mayoral election, Brown lost her bid the following November to serve out the remainder of Breed’s term.

According to the cultural center, Brown has been the only board member it is aware of that was of American Indian descent. Following last year’s redistricting process, the District 9 seat now includes more of the city’s Ameri-

Milk and Disneyland

can Indian Cultural District within it. The rest of the cultural district west of Guerrero Street is part of the District 8 supervisor seat.

“I am glad to be and proud to be a Latina candidate in this race, as there has not yet been a Latina to represent this district,” said Fielder. “And I am also Native American and proud to represent both of these communities and potentially serve them on the Board of Supervisors.”

Early endorsements

Ronen has dual endorsed Fielder and her legislative aide Santiago Lerma, who is also planning to seek the seat, as the San Francisco Chronicle reported last month. Roberto Hernandez, known as the mayor of the Mission, is also planning to run.

Two gay men have already pulled papers to seek the District 9 seat. Trevor Chandler, who serves on the advisory board for statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization Equality California, launched his bid in mid-April, as the Political Notebook reported at the time.

Longtime AIDS and LGBTQ rights activist Michael Petrelis also pulled papers in early April. While known more for focusing on issues in the Castro and a past candidate for the District 8 supervisor seat, Petrelis’ Clinton Park home is now part of District 9.

Ammiano and Campos are both supporting Fielder in the race, though she told the B.A.R. she couldn’t say if they had solely endorsed her. While Campos has yet to respond to a request for comment, Ammiano told the B.A.R. that for now, he has only endorsed Fielder’s candidacy for the board seat.

“Most generally, progressive women have been pretty marginalized in our elections. I think we need to pay attention to that and focus on that,” said Ammiano, adding of Fielder, “specifically, she is a tremendously hard worker. She did great work on the public bank. I have seen her in action and think her background has informed her on the real life issues here in San Francisco.”

Noting that “these things are fluid,” Ammiano said he could dual endorse in the race should Fielder team with other candidates as part of a rankedchoice slate. Due to the city’s instant voter runoff system, voters can pick their top three choices for supervisor.

It’s nice to know Harvey Milk felt that we could all learn something from the design of Disneyland’s Main Street: people living and working and shopping and gathering together in clean, well-lighted, human-scaled places with easily accessible public transportation and few, if any, cars [“At Disneyland, Harvey Milk saw inspiration for urban design,” Political Notebook, May 18].

If no candidate wins the race outright with 50% of the vote, then the candidates with the least votes are eliminated in order, and their voter’s next choice is then tabulated, until a candidate emerges with a majority of the vote and is declared the winner.

Politically aligned candidates can choose to team up, urging their voters to rank them first on their ballot and the other candidate second. Fielder told the B.A.R. she hasn’t considered such a strategy at the moment.

Originally from Long Beach, California Fielder attended Stanford on a partial scholarship and graduated in 2016 with degrees in public policy and sociology. She then joined the protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline, whose route runs through her ancestral tribal lands.

She returned to the Bay Area in 2017 and lived in Alameda while volunteering at a youth detention center in San Mateo County and a continuation school in Oakland. In 2018, having moved to San Francisco, she joined the efforts to launch a public bank in the city and helped lead the successful No on H ballot measure campaign to defeat the police union’s attempt to set policy for the use of tasers.

While she ran unsuccessfully in 2020 against gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) for his legislative seat, Fielder notes she “won a clear majority” of votes from residents of the ninth supervisorial district. As a co-founder of the San Francisco Public Bank Coalition, Fielder continues to advocate for its establishment.

“We do need a public bank to support small businesses of all kinds all around the San Francisco Bay Area and to provide low to no interest loans,” argued Fielder.

Since 2021, she has served on the San Francisco Local Agency Formation Commission, which among its oversight is the city’s clean power program, and is its current vice chair. That year she also launched her Daybreak Political Action Committee focused on electing progressive candidates for public office and fundraising for various causes.

She had also taught in the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University. Her work now with the Stop the Money Pipeline coalition pushes for the divestment from the fossil fuel industry, and holds companies and other entities accountable to their climate commitments and for honoring Indigenous rights.

Her supervisor campaign is currently in a beta mode phase, as Fielder plans to hold 100 meetings in the coming months with residents and community leaders throughout District 9 to hear from them what their concerns and needs are, which she will use to inform her campaign platform.

“For me, it is about having enough time to talk to folks in the district,” said Fielder, who lives in an apartment near the Valencia Corridor not far from the Women’s Building with her nearly 2-year-old cat she adopted in 2021. “I want to hear from neighbors and small business owners about their best ideas for economic recovery, public safety, affordable housing, and so many other things.” t

Planning Ahead is Simple

Planning Ahead is Simple

The benefits are immense.

Planning Ahead is Simple

The benefits are immense.

The benefits are immense.

When you plan your life celebration and lasting remembrance in advance, you can design every detail of your own unique memorial and provide your loved ones with true peace of mind. Planning ahead protects your loved ones from unnecessary stress and financial burden, allowing them to focus on what will matter most at that time—you.

Wouldn’t it be lovely if we had that going on in the Castro. Instead, we have boarded-up shops, boarded-up restaurants, boarded-up bars, boarded-up grocery stores and, sometimes, the uncared fr and untidy homeless.

Walt Disney would be turning in his grave. Urban studies expert Jane Jacobs would be turning in her grave. Milk would be turning in his grave.

When you plan your life celebration and lasting remembrance in advance, you can design every detail of your own unique memorial and provide your loved ones with true peace of mind. Planning ahead protects your loved ones from unnecessary stress and financial burden, allowing them to focus on what will matter most at that time—you.

Mike Zonta San Francisco

Jackie Fielder has announced her candidacy for the District 9 supervisor seat in San Francisco.

Courtesy the candidate

Rainbow Railroad launches Welcome Corps program

by Heather Cassell

Samuel arrived in the United States on March 15, 2022. His two-year journey from Kenya to the U.S. was long and treacherous. He was alone, jobless, homeless, and depressed when he made it to New York City. He was only halfway through his journey.

A 26-year-old gay man who wanted to be identified only by his first name, Samuel told about 40 people who came out to the San Francisco LGBT Community Center May 16 that Rainbow Railroad’s new Welcome Corps (https:// www.rainbowrailroad.org/welcomecorps) program would have changed his life if it existed when he fled Kenya.

“It could have made all the difference,” he told the audience, who came to learn about how they could help LGBTQ asylum seekers and refugees, like him, fleeing persecution, violence, and even death to find safety in the U.S. with Rainbow Railroad’s support.

Welcome Corps will be a game changer for LGBTQ refugees once the program ramps up and gets underway, explained Rainbow Railroad CEO Kimahli Powell, a gay man. The intent is to avoid LGBTQ people spending years in refugee camps and taking dangerous journeys crossing borders to get to safety in the U.S., as Samuel took.

Rainbow Railroad’s Welcome Corps program, run with the support of the U.S. State Department, allows Americans to support refugees to resettle in their communities as private sponsors. The program removes financial and legal barriers, and risks, such as being responsible if a crime happens, that previously kept individuals from sponsoring refugees, according to Powell’s presentation.

Instead, Welcome Corps creates a community of care that includes the U.S. government, community organizations, and groups of Americans. The U.S. government vets and processes the LGBQ refugees, taking care of the legal, and some financial, responsibilities. The organizations take care of other financial responsibilities and manage the program. The volunteers guide the refugees in settling into their new homes.

Rainbow Railroad launched its Welcome Corps program simultaneously with the State Department’s Welcome Corps (https://welcomecorps. org/) January 19, according to separate news releases from the organization (https://www.rainbowrailroad.org/ the-latest/announcement-welcomecorps-a-new-program-that-will-allow-lgtbqi-people-to-resettle-in-theunited-states), the State Department, (https://www.state.gov/launch-of-thewelcome-corps-private-sponsorshipof-refugees/), and Welcome Corps (https://www.prnewswire.com/ news-releases/200-organizations-signal-support-for-the-welcome-corpsnew-service-opportunity-for-privaterefugee-sponsorship-301725913.html).

It’s illegal to be gay in Kenya. LGBTQ people, mostly gay men, face 14 years in jail if convicted under penal code articles 162 and 165. In 2019, the East African country’s high court upheld its colonial-era anti-sodomy laws (https:// www.ebar.com/story.php?276843), the Bay Area Reporter previously reported.

While the laws are rarely enforced, according to Human Rights Watch, LGBTQ Kenyans live in fear of being harassed, arrested or worse. In January, gay fashion designer, model, and activist Edwin Chiloba was murdere, the B.A.R. previously reported.

Samuel described his homeland as being rife with discrimination, blackmail, and violence against LGBTQ people, even by the police. He was subjected to violence, which is why he left, wandering from country to country with Rainbow Railroad’s support.

Rainbow Railroad is a consultative partner in the development of the new refugee resettlement program, and it is one of more than 200 organizations that signed on with the State Department. It is also the only LGBTQ organization

currently participating in the program, Powell said.

Added Dane Bland, head of development at Rainbow Railroad, “Programs like Welcome Corps help us to do the work of helping more people faster and more efficiently so that we can stretch dollars further and ultimately help more individuals.”

Rainbow Railroad is based in Toronto, Canada, though it does have a presence and board members in the U.S., according to its 2021 annual report. The organization operates on about $4.7 million (CAD) in Canada and about $2.2 million in the U.S., according to the report.

It specializes in helping LGBTQ people fleeing dangerous situations in countries find pathways to safety, and is supported by about 30 staff and 12 Canadian and four U.S. board members. Founded in 2006, it is best known for helping LGBTQ people flee persecution, wars, and imminent death in Chechnya and Russia in 2017, and Afghanistan and Ukraine in 2022, which the B.A.R. previously reported.

Rainbow Railroad receives 10,000 requests for help from LGBTQ people from more than 100 countries every year, Powell, who took the helm of the organization in 2016, said during his presentation.

Last year, the organization was able to safely resettle 324 LGBTQ people, many Afghans, and supported 4,457 queer people.

Rainbow Railroad is currently gearing up for an influx of Ugandans fleeing the country following Uganda’s parliament’s passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023, the B.A.R. previously reported. Uganda President Yoweri Museveni has yet to take action on the bill.

Powell said the organization has received 2,759 requests for help from LGBTQ people in 111 countries to date in 2023. This year, Rainbow Railroad has been able to resettle 53 LGBTQ people and has supported 310 queer people out of 3,000 requests for help as of May. The requests for help include nearly 600 from Uganda since the beginning of the year, 400 of which were received in March, Powell said.

The organization is also working on bringing more than 600 LGBTQ Afghans to safety this year, he added.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates the number of displaced people around the world is going to get to 110 million, Powell said.

Powell explained he’s been searching for an opportunity like Welcome Corps since former President Barack Obama’s administration. Rainbow Railroad operates “under a cloud of secrecy” because it was “built to subvert systems” [which

is] “why we want to do this work legally, but under the radar,” he said.

The U.S. hopes to mobilize at least 10,000 Americans to step forward as private sponsors and offer a welcoming hand to at least 5,000 refugees from around the world in its first year, according to the Welcome Corps release. Building a pathway to safety Powell and some of Rainbow Railroad’s team members were in San Francisco recruiting volunteers to join the program. San Francisco is one of three U.S. cities the team identified, along with Chicago and Washington, D.C., to test and create models for the program.

“San Francisco, in particular, is really culturally and operationally important and symbolic,” Powell told the B.A.R. after the meeting about why the city was selected as a testing ground for the program.

Powell told the audience the goal is to resettle 50 LGBTQ refugees this year. San Francisco is slated to welcome 20 queer refugees.

The refugees will be vetted by UNHCR and the State Department, and placed on the path to permanent residency and eventually U.S. citizenship. The refugees will be provided with a small stipend to cover living expenses, and will be provided with health care and other supportive services as they get settled, according to Rainbow Railroad.

A total of 100 volunteers are needed in the San Francisco Bay Area. A total of 250 volunteers are needed in all three U.S. cities. The volunteers will form teams of a minimum of five members who will be registered with the program and are committed for 90 days to welcoming LGBTQ refugees.

The presentation slides and brochure for the program state that the groups would need to raise the $2,375 per refugee, to maintain the refugee’s benefits, which was rounded up to $3,000 in the brochure. The organization will also provide teams with training and other support.

After the online publication of this article, Bland reached out to clarify how the funding will work. The program stipulates that the groups must raise $2,375 – that is what the government is mandating, Bland wrote in an email.

“To make the program more diverse, Rainbow Railroad is asking all groups to help fundraise generally, but we are guaranteeing this minimum ourselves,” he wrote. That means Rainbow Railroad will providing the $2,375 for each refugee on behalf of the groups, and asking the groups to participate in general fundraising to help cover the costs if they are able to do so, he stated.

The groups will help the refugees

elsewhere are cautiously optimistic about the new program.

“It is another pathway towards resettlement and that excites people,” Craig Paris, a gay Ugandan LGBTQ refugee activist in Kenya, told the B.A.R. in a Facebook Messenger interview May 17.

The B.A.R. previously reported on the protests and violence perpetrated against LGBTQ refugees in Kenya, particularly at Kakuma Refugee Camp, that resulted in the 2021 death of Ugandan gay refugee and activist Chriton “Trinidad” Atuhwera and severe injuries to fellow Ugandan gay refugee activist Jordan Ayesigye, who is still waiting to be resettled and is among the hundreds who have applied for the program, Paris said. The attackers were never identified.

find housing, navigate getting around, help with job searches, and other needs as the refugees familiarize themselves with their new city and the American way of doing things. Powell acknowledged the high cost of housing in the Bay Area.

“We’re very mindful that it’s also three cities where housing is not very affordable,” Powell said, stating the stipend should cover some of the housing cost. “We want to start in cities because there’s a lot involved. We want to make sure we pilot it right and then scale afterward.

“You really just need to be nice,” Powell told attendees, explaining they should treat the refugees similar to “what you would do if a friend moved to the city.”

The first cohort of refugees from Africa is anticipated to arrive sometime in the summer.

Powell and Bland acknowledged that the San Francisco Bay Area has several strong organizations, such as Oakland’s Jewish Family and Community Services of the East Bay (https:// jfcs-eastbay.org/lgbt-refugee-services/) and the International Rescue Committee (which is also a part of the Welcome Corps), that help LGBTQ refugees resettle in the U.S.

What sets the Welcome Corps apart from previous programs is that the program is a partnership between the U.S. government, community organizations, and groups of five or more ordinary Americans, noted Powell and Bland. The other difference is that the program is not a pilot program, it is a permanent program that is expected to evolve.

“That’s something Rainbow Railroad has been signaling the need for is a durable, sustainable program that is empowering LGBTQI+ refugees within the existing system to get to safety in meaningful ways in perpetuity,” said Bland, a 30-year-old queer man.

Both men expect to be able to scale the program after its initial test year to be able to help more LGBTQ people from more than 100 countries that ask for the organization’s help. Eventually, Powell hopes the program will be able to process direct referrals for LGBTQ refugee sponsorship from the organization.

Welcome Corps is the closest the Rainbow Railroad has gotten to responding to donors’ questions of how they can do more to help LGBTQ refugees, the two men said.

“This is literally the opportunity that we have to build a program that we hope will last, and we are looking for people to sign up,” Powell said.

Cautiously hopeful LGBTQ refugees who have been languishing in Kenya either at the infamous Kakuma Refugee Camp or hiding out in Nairobi, the capital, or

The incident prompted reports by the Black LGBTQ+ Migrant Project (https://transgenderlawcenter.org/ programs/blmp/), a program of the Oakland-based Transgender Law Center, documenting the violence, as the B.A.R. previously reported, and the Organization for Refuge, Asylum & Migration examining LGBTQ refugees’ reality at the camp, as the B.A.R. also previously reported.

“They can’t wait to be resettled at least through this route, but they are scared it will be a disappointingly long wait,” Paris wrote, stating the LGBTQ refugees are concerned about the severe backlog. “They’ve experienced a lot of disillusionment.”

When asked if there was anything Rainbow Railroad and other organizations working with the State Department in the program could do to reassure LGBTQ refugees in Kenya, he simply wrote, “Having someone familiar reassuring them [and] supporting them with the whole journey.”

Paris wrote he is assessing his refugee application status with UNHCR before he applies for the program.

Signing up

Event attendees were excited and felt the meeting was very informative. Many told the B.A.R. they already registered, while others said they were bringing the information back to their communities and organizations.

“I’ve always been really hungry for something that I can do,” said Gabrielle Lochard, a 32-year-old queer person who is a Rainbow Railroad donor. They saw the email about the program as an opportunity to step up and signed up to volunteer.

Cassie Brighter, a pansexual woman with a transgender experience, who is founder of Empower Trans Women (https://empoweredtranswoman.com/), said she was interested in helping transgender women, but still wanted to learn more about the program.

Brooke Nuwati, community engagement manager at IRC in Oakland, called Welcome Corps “more than one could ever wish for.”

The 40-year-old ally originally from Ghana said her organization has many LGBTQ refugees they help resettle in the Bay Area and plans to see how her team at IRC can work with Rainbow Railroad.

Nuwati explained that adjusting to American life coming from a different country can be challenging. Coming into a space where there are “nice smiling faces welcoming you, making you feel accepted, and helping you to navigate your every day, it’s more than one could ever wish for,” she said.

“Who can help us if not us?” Samuel asked the audience. “LGBTQ people, we understand each other. That’s why I think it is important for us to help each other.”

To apply, go to https://bit. ly/3WegPZT

Got international LGBTQ news tips? Call or send them to Heather Cassell at WhatsApp/Signal: 415-5177239, or oitwnews@gmail.com. t

Rainbow Railroad Executive Director Kimahli Powell spoke about the organization’s Welcome Corps program that is in partnership with the U.S. State Department during a May 16 presentation at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center.

Rick Gerharter

Pride events are coming up in Nor Cal

compiled by Cynthia Laird

Pride Month is rapidly approaching, and several Northern California cities and counties will be holding festivities to celebrate the LGBTQ community.

Sonoma County

Sonoma County will hold its 38th annual Pride Month, with many events taking place June 2-4, including the Pride parade and festival on Saturday, June 3. This year’s theme is “Community.” There will be a Pride flag-raising June 1. Most of the weekend events take place at or near the Old Courthouse Square in downtown Santa Rosa. The parade kicks off at 11 a.m. at Fourth Street and Mendocino Avenue in Santa Rosa.

Other activities that weekend include a movie night, after-party, and the Wigs and Waffles brunch. Later in the month there will be the Outwatch LGBTQI film For more information, go to coastpride.org.

and the afternoon will be hosted by Kaikai Bee Michaels and feature DJ Sir Ellis. There will be art, drag, and music,

On Friday, June 30, at 6 p.m. there will be Pride Night at Jazz and Blues by the Bay at Gabrielson Park at Anchor Street and Humboldt Avenue along the waterfront. People can enjoy live music by Banda Sin Nombre.

Sausalito Pride is co-sponsored by the city, the arts center, the Spahr Center, the Sausalito Chamber of Commerce, and Gene Hiller Menswear.

For more information, go to sausalitopride.org.

San Mateo County

San Mateo County’s 11th annual Pride event will be held Saturday, June 10, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at San Mateo Central Park, 50 E. Fifth Avenue in the city of San Mateo. “Free to Be Me in 2023” is the theme for the event that will feature resource and vendor booths, food trucks, DJ China G, and more. The emcee will be Manang.

Organizers expect over 20,000 people during the two-day event. Festivities kick off that Saturday with performances, including headliner Rebecca Black, known for her chart-topping hit “Friday.” The festival runs from noon to 9 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 Sunday. Single-day adult festival tickets are $15 if purchased by May 31; prices increase afterward.

In addition to the stages, the festival will feature DJ booths with dance areas, youth and family activities, a wide range of local vendors, food trucks, beverage stations, and a 21+ VIP lounge.

Entertainers include Sacramento-area drag performers and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” stars Naomi Smalls, Plastique Tiara, and Mistress Isabelle Brooks bringing their talent and energy to the stage.

Santa Cruz will hold its 48th annual Pride parade Sunday, June 4. This year’s theme is “Waves of Pride,” and the event starts at 11 a.m. at the corner of Pacific Avenue and Cathcart Street. A festival

The county this year is hosting its first-ever Pride parade ahead of the celebration. It will kick off at Second and B Street at 10 a.m. with marchers taking a route that leads to the park. A full route map and a way for groups that want to march to sign up for the parade can be found at https://www.smcpridecelebration.com/parade

Sponsors for the celebration include Coast Pride, the San Mateo County Pride Center, San Mateo County Pride Initiative, the County of San Mateo LGBTQ Commission, San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, Outlet, and the San Mateo County Fair.

Admission is free to this familyfriendly and sober event.

The Sunday march, which is free, begins at 11 a.m. South Side Park, located at Eighth and T streets, and winds its way to the Capitol, culminating at the entrance to the festival.

Organizers noted, “Sacramento Pride weekend serves as a reminder of the progress made in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights while acknowledging the work that remains. It is an opportunity for people from all walks of life to come together, learn from one another, and build a stronger, more inclusive society.” For more information, go to sacramentopride.org.

Concord

Finally, the Rainbow Community Center will present Pride in the Plaza Saturday, June 17, from noon to 6 p.m. at Todos Santos Plaza, 2175 Willow Pass Road in Concord.

In Marin County, Sausalito will hold tion beginning June 9 and continuing Events include a multi-exhibit, “Pride Not Prejudice,” in celebration of Pride Month at the Sausalito Center for the

Sacramento Sacramento Pride weekend returns to the Capitol Mall June 10-11. Organized by the Sacramento LGBT Community Center, it will feature a Pride march and festival, as well as a weekend of entertainment, education, and a vibrant sense of community, a news release stated.

The family-friendly event will include vendor and information booths, food and beverages, and LGBTQ+ entertainment. There is no charge for admission but donations are welcome.

To register, visit the EventBrite page at https://bit.ly/3WleSuz t

The LGBTQ Connection contingent marches at a Sonoma County Pride parade.

Courtesy Sonoma County Pride

New HIV cases decline, CDC report says

by Liz Highleyman

Annual new HIV infections in the U.S. fell by 12% in recent years, with the greatest declines seen among young gay and bisexual men and people in the South, according to the latest HIV surveillance report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Increased PrEP use played a role in this decline, experts say.

While everyone did not benefit equally, all groups saw some improvement.

“We see some bright spots in the data – our nation’s HIV prevention efforts are working, especially for young people,” Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, said during a May 23 media briefing. “While we are on the right track, progress is not happening quickly enough or equitably among all people or in all areas of the country.”

The CDC estimates that HIV incidence fell from about 36,500 new infections in 2017 to about 32,100 in 2021. But at this rate, “at least three people in the U.S. get HIV every hour,” according to Dr. Robyn Neblett Fanfair, acting director of the CDC’s Division of HIV Prevention.

About two-thirds of people with new infections were gay or bisexual men and more than half lived in the South. According to the CDC, 87% of the estimated 1.2 million people living with HIV have been tested and know their status.

The decline in incidence was driven by a 34% drop among people ages 13 to 24, from about 9,300 new infections in 2017 to about 6,100 in 2021.

Banko Brown

From page 1

Supes ask for state, federal involvement

Among those calling for outside agencies to investigate the DA’s ac -

<<

Giants

This age group accounts for the second largest number of HIV cases, after people ages 25 to 34, of which 80% are among young gay and bisexual men. While HIV incidence dropped by 45% among young white gay and bi men, the declines were smaller – 36% and 27%, respectively – for young Latino and Black men.

Just under 20% of new HIV infections in 2021 were among women, more than half of whom were Black.

The good news is that the United States has met its goals for eliminating perinatal HIV, with the mother-tochild transmission rate falling below 1% for the first time in 2019 and continuing to decline.

In 2021, the South saw more new infections (16,700) than the West (6,600), Midwest (4,400) and Northeast (4,400) put together, but it was the only region to see a statistically significant decrease, falling by 12%.

Turning to HIV care, the portion of people with diagnosed HIV who were on antiretroviral treatment with an

tions are the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, which voted unanimously Tuesday for a resolution asking Bonta as well as the United States Department of Justice to investigate. The resolution was introduced last week by board President Aaron Peskin and co-sponsored by District

undetectable viral load rose slightly, from 63% in 2017 to 66% in 2021. But here, too, everyone did not benefit equally: Viral suppression rates ranged from 62% for Black people to 72% for white people.

The drop in HIV incidence and the rise in the proportion of people on treatment in the United States pales in comparison with some other highincome countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia. In the U.K., efforts to curb HIV among gay and bi men have been so successful that they now account for fewer new cases than heterosexuals. The differences can be attributed to “deeply entrenched social determinants of health that drive disparities and make progress elusive,” Mermin said.

Treatment

The most successful countries have gotten more people with HIV on treatment, which reduces onward transmission. According to Neblett Fanfair, people who receive care through the federal Ryan White HIV/AIDS program have outcomes rivaling those of other countries, showing that lack of health insurance and access to care is contributing to disparities.

SF data

Some American cities have done better than the nation as a whole but still face challenges. San Francisco, for example, is struggling with HIV among people experiencing homelessness, who accounted for 24% of new diagnoses in 2021.

New diagnoses in San Francisco fell from 240 in 2017 to 138 in 2020, before rising to 160 in 2021, according

10 Supervisor Shamann Walton, District 9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen, and District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston.

“I am heartened that the state attorney general has agreed to investigate whether District Attorney Jenkins abused her discretion,” Pe-

to the Department of Public Health’s most recent HIV epidemiology annual report. But health officials say the uptick could have been due to changes in testing in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Preliminary year-end numbers from 2022 suggest new diagnoses are again on the decline, DPH said in a statement to the Bay Area Reporter.

The role of PrEP

The nationwide decline in HIV incidence mirrors an increase in PrEP use. Among the 1.2 million people the CDC estimates could benefit from prevention pills or shots, about 30% had a prescription in 2021, up from 13% in 2017. But Black and Latino people are less likely to use PrEP even though they account for a majority of people at risk for HIV. According to the new report, 78% of white people at risk were taking PrEP in 2021, compared with 21% of Latinos and 11% of Black people.

President Joe Biden’s FY2024 budget proposal includes $850 million to accelerate efforts to end the HIV epidemic, and he has also proposed $237 million for a national PrEP program. But these requests may not be met as some legislators have called for deep cuts in federal spending to balance the national budget.

“It appears that our investments in HIV prevention are providing some positive results, but the persistent high number of new diagnoses and the low usage of PrEP among the communities most impacted by HIV point to the need for increased resources, particularly for a national PrEP program,” Carl Schmid, executive director of the

skin told the B.A.R. “The fair and equitable dispensation of justice will make San Francisco safer.”

Mayor London Breed said during a downtown news conference last week that she supports Jenkins’ decision and also that “I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with

HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, said in a statement. “While there have been some increases, they have not been at the level needed to put the U.S. on a path to end HIV.”

The availability of generic versions of Truvada has helped increase PrEP access, Mermin noted. More people are now insured than in 2017, thanks in part to the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion during the pandemic. But these gains could be reversed now that the national COVID-19 public health emergency has ended. Likewise, mandatory insurance coverage of PrEP is also in jeopardy due to a Texas judge’s ruling in March that is currently on hold pending appeal.

At the current rate, the country is not on track to meet the goals of Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative, which calls for a 90% decrease in new infections and for 95% of people diagnosed with HIV to be on treatment with viral suppression by 2030.

To get there, CDC officials stress the need for increased investment in proven prevention programs, maximizing innovation—such as expanding self-testing, greater use of long-acting injectable treatment and PrEP, and offering services in more settings—and centering equity to better reach people disproportionately affected by HIV.

“In prevention, patience is not a virtue,” Mermin said. “A challenging task that once seemed impossible –to end the HIV epidemic in America – is possible. We need the will, the resources, and the resolve to make it happen.” t

welcoming our California attorney general, or anyone else, to review the case.”

United States Attorney for the Northern District of California Ismail J. “Izzy” Ramsey has not commented on the case. t

SF archbishop joins row over drag nuns

The Dodgers have been the subject of controversy for the past week after the team decided to invite the LA chapter of the Sisters to be honored with a Community Hero Award at its June 16 Pride Night game. The Southern California National League team then disinvited the drag nun group after criticism from conservatives, who accused the group of being anti-Catholic.

The Sisters have poked fun at religion ever since first publicly appearing in San Francisco on Easter Sunday in 1979. Since then, the group has established orders in other cities with members raising funds for charitable groups and elevating awareness about LGBTQ rights.

Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred asking, “Do you believe that the Los Angeles Dodgers are being ‘inclusive and welcoming to everyone’ by giving an award to a group of gay and transgender drag performers that intentionally mocks and degrades Christians –and not only Christians, but nuns, who devote their lives to serving others?”

The Sisters, for their part, denied being anti-Catholic, and highlighted their charitable causes.

“The Sisters were among the first to raise money to help care for people with AIDS and to create and distribute safer-sex information,” the San Francisco chapter stated. “They support other groups, including several mainstream churches, in their work. Sisters are regularly called upon to minister to the sick, the dying, and the mourning.”

Sister Unity of the LA chapter tweeted the group’s statement after being reinvited by the Dodgers.

“We, the Los Angeles Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, are proud to accept the Community Hero Award from the Los Angeles Dodgers for our 27 years of service to the LGBTQIA2S community,” they tweeted.

In a statement issued May 22 Los Angeles LGBT Center CEO Joe Hollendoner called the Pride Night controversy a “debacle” that also highlighted the need for the LGBTQ community to remain united as drag queens and transgender individuals come under attack.

“The Dodgers’ course correction and the conversations we have had with the organization’s leadership since last week demonstrates the version of allyship we have come to expect from the team over the years,” he added. “The center will always strive to hold our corporate partners accountable – which means so much more than waving a rainbow flag.”

The archdiocese did not return a request for comment about the Giants’ Pride Night by press time.

Gay softball league anniversary

Meanwhile, the San Francisco Gay Softball League – celebrating its 50th anniversary this year – had told the B.A.R. that it was expecting to be a part of this year’s Giants Pride festivities.

The Giants had no comment about the Dodgers imbroglio when asked by the B.A.R.

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) wrote a letter to Major League

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The Dodgers’ decision to disinvite the Sisters led the Los Angeles LGBT Center and LA Pride to step away from the event. The Dodgers reinvited and apologized to the Sisters May 22 and the group accepted.

“Last week’s debacle underscores the dangerous impact of political tactics by those who seek to stoke the flames of anti-LGBTQ bias at a time when our rights are under attack. We must continue to stand together as a community in defense of the rights and recognition of LGBTQ+ people in Los Angeles and beyond,” stated Hollendoner, a gay man who formerly led the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

After the Dodgers reinvited the Sisters, Rubio wrote on Twitter that “our great country is controlled by sociopolitical ruling elites who don’t just tolerate anti-Christian bigotry, they encourage & celebrate it.”  He was followed by none other than Salvatore Cordileone, the Roman Catholic archbishop of San Francisco, who wrote on Twitter, “Our Catholic sisters devote themselves to serving others selflessly. Decent people would not mock & blaspheme them. So we now know what gods the Dodger admin worships. Open desecration & anti-Catholicism is not disqualifying. Disappointing but not surprising. Gird your loins.”

Orlando Diaz, a gay man who is the softball league’s director of business development, told the B.A.R. in a March report that while details were in the works, “we’re definitely going to be a big part of their [the Giants’] Pride night.”

Heklina

From page 2

Sister Roma and Peaches Christ will be celebrating Heklina again at the San Francisco Giants’ Pride Night June 10, Sister Roma told the B.A.R. (See related story.

Tom Temprano, a gay former City College trustee who was promoted this week to managing director of external affairs for the statewide LGBTQ rights group Equality Cali -

fornia, reflected on the significance of the event, which saw a block of Castro Street closed to accommodate mourners.

According to Steven Bracco, a gay man who is the director of communications for the league’s board, the league hasn’t “received any more details from the Giants” as of May 23. Daum reiterated to the B.A.R. that more details will be announced soon.t next month during Pride, and that they’d be bringing in a portrait of Heklina.

“This is more than a memorial,” he said. “This is a fucking state funeral for drag royalty.”

In 2015, Heklina opened the Oasis nightclub with Drollinger. She also helped found “The Golden Girls Live!” holiday show, wherein she played Dorothy Zbornak.

In 2019, Heklina bought a home in Cathedral City, near Palm Springs, and sold her ownership stake in Oasis.

“In the last two hours, I’ve talked to so many people I haven’t seen in years,” Roma said. “Here she [Heklina] is, living through our community, living through everyone who’s watching outside.”

Added Lovestocking: “If she had known her memorial would be such a huge hit, she’d have died three times a month.”

San Francisco drag laureate D’Arcy Drollinger, left, Sister Roma, and Peaches Christ take the stage at the Castro Theatre May 23 for the Heklina memorial.

Gooch

Dr. Jonathan Mermin of the CDC Courtesy CDC

by Gregg Shapiro

It’s been a few years since queer comedian, actor, and activist Margaret Cho has done a stand-up comedy tour. In the interim, she’s been acting in a variety of well-received movies (including “Fire Island”) and TV shows (such as “Hacks” and “The Flight Attendant”). In other words, she’s never far from our sight. That’s a good thing!

For 2023, Cho will embark on a multi-city comedy tour, “Live and Livid,” and it promises to be the live performance event of the year (sorry, Madonna). Margaret was kind enough to answer a few questions before heading out on the road.

Gregg Shapiro: Margaret, I interviewed you last spring just before the movie “Fire Island” premiered. Since that time, the movie won the Gotham Awards’ Ensemble Tribute, and was named on several end-ofthe-year “best of” lists. Additionally, “Fire Island” is Certified Fresh on RottenTomatoes.com with a 94% rating. What does it mean to you to have been associated with such a well-received project?

Margaret Cho: I love it! I loved making it. I love the cast. I love Joel Kim Booster’s vision. I love Andrew Ahn’s directing. We are a family, and we’ve got to make sequels, prequels, a whole cinematic universe. I think that would be so valuable. Hopefully, we’ll get to see that. I love them. They’re my babies. I knew that everybody would love this movie. I loved this movie so much. I’m very proud of it and proud of everybody that worked on it

The Lifetime sitcom “Drop Dead Diva,” on which you played Terri Lee, has been brought back and is airing on the Hallmark

SF native returns for Palace of Fine Arts show

Channel. How do you feel about the possibility of a whole new generation of viewers getting to see the show?

I’m very proud of the work that I got to do on that show. It’s really exciting that everybody gets to discover it again. I love that we get to show everybody what we did. It’s so fun and it’s a triumph.

Do you have any favorite memories to share from “Drop Dead Diva”?

I loved working with Liza Minnelli. My very favorite episode was all the stuff I got to do with Patty Duke. She was a legend. I kept trying to get

Margaret Cho

her to come to a screening of “Valley of the Dolls” where we would interview her. She was like, “Oh, nobody wants to see that movie!” I’m like, “What? Are you crazy [laughs]? Everybody loves that movie.” She was such a person to get to know and to work with. What an incredible actor and a lovely woman.

You play Nurse Nina in the Apple TV+ educational children’s series “Helpsters.” What do you like best about that?

The creatures. All of the puppets are so cute. I love working with puppeteers because they’re

actually very animated people. They’re so charming and beautiful and fun, and fun to be with. I love (out actor) Rebecca Henderson (who plays Farmer Flynn). We played girlfriends, and now we’re married on the show, we’re married on “Helpsters.” When I see her, I’m like, “We’re doing so good in our relationship!” She was my girlfriend in the (2022) movie “Sex Appeal” on Hulu, and she and I are married on “Helpsters.” She’s my most successful relationship.

by Brian Bromberger

The 22nd San Francisco DocFest will be held June 1-11 with 39 features and 47 shorts at the Roxie Theater. Artist Q & A sessions will be both in-person and virtual ondemand. The festival has come a long way from its premiere as a three-day event in an empty church in Union Square to its present 11-day incarnation presenting “the most weird and wonderful aspects of real life to the big screen.” DocFest always offers a smattering of LGBTQ-related films this year with six features plus nine short films.

Colombian filmmaker Theo Montoya’s hybrid doc, “Anhell 69,” opens with the 2016 signing of

a peace agreement that ended decades of Colombian civil war, yet the country remains a violent place of despair for LGBTQ and young people despite legalized same-sex marriage. We witness a hearse being driven down a deserted highway and the corpse seems to be the director setting the film’s grim mood.

In 2017 Montoya wanted to direct a feature movie, a gory zombie/vampire tale, and interviews Medellion queer street kids for the roles. Their answers to questions such as, “What do you do,” are depressing such as the reply “scrounge around for money.” Sex, drugs, and doing drag in clubs provides respite from all the gloom.

Before shooting starts, two of the actors have

died from suicide and narcotic overdoses, including the lead Camilio, who was known by his Instagram name Anhell69. The film is transgressive, angry, bleak, brutal, nihilistic, where there’s nothing else to live for but the here and now, since there’s no future. Still “Anhell69” is a must-see film because it shows the dire results when marginalized people are ignored or persecuted.

“The Ruth Brinker Story” is a 23-minute love letter to the now legendary local founder of Project Open Hand which has provided meals for HIV/AIDS patients since 1985. At age 63 and a retired food-service worker, she started cooking meals in her own kitchen, then delivered them to ill neighbors. Many of her clients weren’t dying

so much of AIDS as malnutrition and loneliness. She moved her base of operations to Trinity Episcopal Church but the late gay Ambassador Jim Hormel found a more accessible building for her on Market Street. Other volunteers and gay bars raised money for its operation. This short eulogizes a compassionate caring hero who deserves to be celebrated.

“Sean Dorsey Dance: Dreaming Trans and Queer Future,” fuses dance and documentary in a profile of the local trailblazing transgender choreographer and activist. Dorsey moved to San Francisco in the early 2000s attracted to the city’s history of trans and queer resistance

Sergio Garcia

‘The Ruth Brinker Story’

‘Sean Dorsey Dance: Dreaming Trans and Queer Future’

Magic Theatre’s ‘The Ni¿¿er Lovers’ t << Theater

loud bawdy simulated encounter, Willie begs Ellie to wear a topcoat that belongs to the plantation owner’s son. This is a fetish with wildly tangled subtexts, given that Ellie has routinely been raped by the boy’s father.

Things get even further perverted when an eavesdropping sharecropper played by Mitchell, wearing a big cardboard sign to indicate that he’s “WHITE” and doing a perfect take on Orson Welles in “The Long Hot Summer,” mistakenly believes that he’s actually caught Willie in flagrante with the boss man’s son. His reaction is not to raise hell with the patriarch, but to coerce Willie into “another” romp of sodomy.

by Jim Gladstone

Ladies and gentlemen! Hurry! Hurry!

This weekend is your last chance to catch the runaway slaves!

(Oh no, he didn’t.)

Oh yes I did, with a tip of the hat to Marc Anthony Thompson.

If you’re uncomfortable with satire that takes a showbizzy scalpel to America’s original and ongoing sins, by all means shuffle off and shy away from the final performances of “The Ni¿¿er Lovers,” Thompson’s excruciatingly humorous playwriting debut, which concludes its extended premiere run at the Magic Theatre this Sunday.

A vaudevillian vilification of racism, and of the often mawkish ways it’s addressed in entertainment, “The Ni¿¿er Lovers” is smart as a whip, and smarts like one, too.

Performed by an all-POC cast in a series of blackout sketches that nod to minstrelsy and burlesque, the show opens with a prologue that’s reminiscent of the Mel Brooks film “History of the World, Part I” but stings as much as it tickles.

After the theater darkens, the audience is briefly set adrift in a soundscape of turbulent seas and distant screams (The immersive sound design is by Christopher Sauceda). Then the lights come up on two men, minimally clad in traditional African garb (Rotimi Agbabiaka and Aejay Marquis Mitchell who, along with their castmates, play multiple roles).

Though we quickly realize that they’re in the hull of a slave ship, en route to America, the gents are oblivious to their fate. They chit-chat in plummy British accents about the imagined job opportunities that lie ahead, having signed on for this trip without reading the fine print. The standard office water cooler they stand by reminds us that this is business as usual.

Swooping in to disabuse the soonto-be-slaves of their happy fantasies is a time-traveling soothsayer (Donald E. Lacy, Jr.) whose double-edged catchphrase, “Black to the future!” proves anything but soothing.

Race riot

The scenes that follow largely center on Willie (Agbabiaka) and Ellie

(Aidaa Peerzada), enslaved sweethearts (based loosely on real historical figures) who dream of fleeing the Georgia plantation where they live and head for a better life in…Boston (Ba-dum-bummer!)

Until, then, their short-term form of escape is a very active sex life. During the pair’s first laugh-out-

Which leads Willie to kill him (M.O.: Hard stroke with a yoke). It also inspires an escape plan: Ellie, wearing that sexy topcoat as a disguise, will pose as Willie’s owner as they make their way north.

Further murders ensue, including a death by dildo and a Papal smear, all played in a broad slapstick style that keeps the audience laughing, even when aghast. Playwright Thompson’s M.O.is using a comic style to keep us

from experiencing the easy, self-indulgent empathy delivered in so many dramatic representations of American slavery.

In that genre, tearjerking melodrama and horrific scenes of violence often encourage audience members to identify with individual victims. Particularly when the audience members are white, this sort of shell-shocked immediate emotion can elicit easy tears and a sense of personal honor— Well, I never! —while letting them slip off a larger historical hook.

Heady humor

By rendering characters as comic tropes, Thompson and his co-director, Magic Theatre’s Artistic Director Sean San José, invites audiences to engage intellectually more than emotionally, to see the complex systemic psychological distortions and manipulations that characterized American slavery and still mark its ongoing repercussions. The noxious interplay of power, race and sex is laid bare to serve as the butt of joke after joke.

Wednesday, June 7, 2023 Noon-1:30 p.m. Register

This critically acclaimed documentary explores why LGBTQ older people are going back into the closet to survive an often hostile care system. Join us the first week of Pride Month for a free screening of this documentary to honor our elders’ and their stories.

Tanika Baptiste in Magic Theatre’s production of Marc Anthony Thompson’s ‘The Ni¿¿er Lovers’ Jay Yamada

See page 22 >>

Left: Rotimi Agbabiaka in ‘The Ni¿¿er Lovers’ Right: Marc Anthony Thompson’s ‘The Ni¿¿er Lovers’

Both Photos: Jay Yamada

SPECIAL KIDS PRICING

DocFest

From page 15

and culture, yet discovered he was the only openly trans modern dancer and no one was showcased or hired trans artists on stage. He sought to remedy that lack and created the artistic vision he envisioned by forming his own

<< Margaret Cho

From page 15

“Helpsters” is from the makers of “Sesame Street,” and being someone who was in her formative years when “Sesame Street” first started airing, would you say that it was a show that had an impact on you?

Absolutely! In the ’90s, I got to work with Kermit the Frog. I mean, talk about an NDA! If you work with a Muppet, like Kermit the Frog, in particular, you have to sign so many NDAs. I’m probably breaking an NDA right now. We had gone to this thing, and Kermit was my partner. We were doing shots with Gorbachev, Mikhail and Raisa Gorbachev were in the United States and they were being hosted by Jane Fonda and Ted Turner, to whom she was married at the time. I had not drunk alcohol in a long time, and they forced us to do shots. Kermit was like (in Kermit’s voice), “Drink it! Drink it!” I couldn’t not do a shot if Kermit’s right there telling me to drink it. I’ve worked with a lot of Muppets, and I’ve had a lot of Muppet drama [laughs].

Your 2023 North American tour is titled “Live & Livid.” We certainly have a lot to be livid about, especially in the years following the 45th President, as well as the events of January 6, and the deadly rise of White Nationalism. Were these sources of inspiration, and what else are you livid about?

Yes! Also the attacks on drag queens, the attacks on queerness, the attacks on trans folks, the continual attacking of different parts of our community who are so important to us. Whether it’s our athletes, like Brittney Griner. Whether it’s trans kids. Drag queens, to me, who are front and center, the heart and joy of our community. It’s where we celebrate, with drag. That’s the most heartbreaking part of this is. They’re taking down the really important part of community; the cheerful ones, the ones that we need. Well, not Bianca Del Rio [laughs]. Bianca’s my favorite! They should be scared of drag queens! They will get read to filth. They should be afraid! Children are way safer at a drag show than they are in church!

As of now, when we’re talking, “Live & Livid” is scheduled to run through September with stops in 20 cities, including San Francisco. What does it mean to you when you get to perform for the hometown crowd?

Oh, I love it. It’s sort of still my hometown in a lot of ways. I have deep roots there. I spent so much time there, so it’s still home in a lot of ways. It’s meaningful and a cherished thing. But, also, I think I’m a citizen of everywhere. I’ve been everywhere, so it’s all my home.

It’s been six years since you launched your previous tour, “Fresh Off the Bloat.” What are you most looking forward to

about returning to performing live again?

I think we had a really difficult time throughout the pandemic and through this resetting of this idea of what the world is. It’ll be great to greet people again in this new space. The gratitude that I have for live performance, and going to live shows and performances as it is, is a really special thing. I’m very excited.

Are there any upcoming projects about which you’re excited that you’d like to mention?

Nothing that I can mention, as yet. But I’m really looking forward to this year. I have things that I’m working on that I’m really thrilled about. Things that are starting to come up that I’ll be able to talk about soon. I’m working a lot, so I’m really happy about that.

This interview is taking place on Friday the 13th. Are you superstitious, and if so, what superstitions do you observe?

I love Friday the 13th! I love black cats. I love this whole notion of the cursed film or cursed TV show. There’s something about it, whether it’s “The Exorcist” or “Poltergeist.” Any of these ideas of things being ill-willed or bad omens. “The Omen!” I love horror, so to me it’s a very special day. It’s my happy day, my holiday.t

Margaret Cho performs June 2, 10pm at the Palace of Fine Arts Theater, 3301 Lyon St. $49-$59. www.margaretcho.com

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)

company. This entrancing short serves as a kind of infomercial for his latest project, “The Lost Art of Dreaming,” which Dorsey imagines as a political act of resistance promoting cultural change, a show the company will tour internationally through 2024.

“Kenyatta: Do Not Wait Your Turn” introduces us to Malcolm Ke-

Open Daily!

New Adjusted Hours

nyatta who as the first queer Person of Color elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (in one of its poorest districts), at age 31 entered the primary to become the Democratic Party’s 2020 candidate for U.S. Senator in perhaps the most important battleground state. He would have become the first LGBTQ POC in the U.S. Senate. In his campaign he stressed wanting to advocate for the working class.

This is a standard-format documentary but presents a full-bodied portrait of a politician vying to be a force for change. The most stirring scenes are the one with his husband Dr. Matt Miller as we follow their courtship (they met on Instagram), marriage ceremony, and media presence as spouse of the candidate. Kenyatta is clearly a rising Democratic Party star. Despite his third-place loss, with his drive and ambition, his is a name you will be hearing in the near future. This film is a festival highlight.

“Satan Wants You,” the closing night doc, seeks to dissect the 1980s/1990s Satanic Panic as being instigated by the bestselling memoir, “Michelle Remembers.” Co-written by Michelle Smith and psychiatrist Dr. Lawrence Pazder, it details Smith’s childhood ritual abuse (i.e. animal/fetal sacrifice, mutilation, cannibalism) at the hands of devil worshippers, given to them by her mother. Supposedly all these recovered grisly memories were unearthed during intensive hypnotic sessions, which were then written up by Pazder and later endorsed by the Roman Catholic Church.

Proudly serving the community since 1977.

Most disconcerting is the film’s suggestion we haven’t learned the lessons of this moral panic and conspiracy-mongering, because the same rumors and implausible stories

relating to Pizzagate and QAnon are occurring today with similar horrendous results. While there’s no LGBTQ-related material in the film, it’s directed by Steve Adams and Sean Horlor, a gay Canadian filmmaking team. Also, the theme of scapegoating and blaming groups for ethical/ social decline is familiar territory for queer folk. Chilling, gripping yet entertaining, this doc should serve as a contemporary warning.

Shorts of note

The short “Right to Joy” follows trans man Izzy Sederbaum as he overcomes anxiety and prejudice, after surviving a nearly fatal cougar attack while cycling in Washington state, despite still experiencing facial trauma. An accompanying friend on the ride was killed. Worse than the extreme physical pain was the emotional anguish engendered by the horrible comments on the internet following articles on the assault. These 14 minutes might give you the inspiration and bravery to face whatever issue might be weighing you down.

“Krush the Wrestler” explores the fetishization of submission wrestling which is both primal and cathartic. A lifelong wrestler, Krush turned his talents into an on-demand video service, including scenes of nude wrestling. This is not porn and there’s no sexual contact, but he does cater to the customer’s fantasies. Krush sees himself as a work of art with his intense wrestling a homoerotic sight to behold.

“Chokehole: Drag Wrestlers Do Deutschland” explores a phenomenon that began in New Orleans in which drag queens, in a choreographed contest, wrestle each other

with no holds barred. It uses a queer lens on a traditionally macho sport, bringing out the inherently flamboyant and camp elements of professional wrestling. Technically illegal in New Orleans, they are invited to bring their show to Germany where they are a hit.

“Before Us,” is a doc by lesbian filmmaker Hedia Maron, who discovers two older sisters who were born on a California commune in the 1960s and later placed for adoption.

“Cisco Kid” details young, solitary maverick nonbinary Eileen, who is the sole resident of a desert ghost town, after she has walked away from mainstream society, living in a place left behind by a changing world.

“Sweetheart Deal” is a cinemaverité style production about four sex workers caught in the spiral of addiction, who turn to a self-proclaimed healer offering friendship and a path to salvation from the streets inside his roadside RV.

“Tony & Denise: Cinematic Memoir of Denise D’Anne” tells the life of pioneering San Francisco transgender labor activist Denise D’Anne based on her autobiography. She launched one of the first organized recycling programs with the SF Department of Human Services.

“Undetectable Wrestler” relates the bio of Joshua Simmons, who retired from professional wrestling after testing HIV+. He maintained his undetectable status for seven years before deciding to enter the ring professionally again.t

22nd San Francisco Documentary Festival, Roxie Theater, 3125 16th St. and online, June 1-11. $20, $90 (online pass) $225 (full pass) www.sfdocfest2023.eventive.org www.roxie.com

Margaret Cho

Sergio Garcia

Left to Right: ‘Kenyatta: Do Not Wait Your Turn’; ‘Satan Wants You’; ‘Krush the Wrestler’; ‘Chokehole: Drag Wrestlers Do Deutschland’

Camera Obscura’s ‘Virtue’

by Michael Flanagan

“We’rein the middle of the most profound technological event to hit humanity since the capture of fire. Is fire a good thing or a bad thing?”

— John Perry Barlow,

in “Virtue”

The late 1990s were a period of massive change, both technologically and culturally. In the face of that change, filmmaker Camera Obscura’s “Virtue” comes to us like a latter day version of James Whale’s “Frankenstein” to assure us that indeed, “Fire bad!”

The film follows Hundée, who loses her husband in an autoerotic accident early in the film while he is watching virtual porn on VR goggles. Her search for a virtual substitute to her husband (a “man-chip” as she calls it) leads her into the world of VR chip pusher Trip (Phillip R. Ford) and his supplier Dr. Pluto (Timmy Spence).

Notably the film casts “real world” events in black and white while scenes seen through the VR goggles are in color. It’s also worth noting that the black and white world that the film depicts is the hollowed out South of Market area (hollowed out at the time because of the death and bankruptcy that followed many dur ing the AIDS crisis). One of the VR addicts in the film lives in a makeshift home under the freeway, which has a dystopian ring to it but hits rather close to reality, and points out that our current housing crisis has been with us for some time.

Prescient but panned

The film was not well received when it was initially released. Peter Stack accused the film of being “essen tially a form of voyeurism” and called it a “virtual mess.”

In 1999, The Examiner’s Wesley

Morris wrote that the film conservatively imparts that “perhaps all that’s available in a techno culture is Dgrade porn and phantasmagoria.”

Perhaps the naiveté of the reviewers is explainable when you remember that X-rated streaming vendors like Xtube weren’t online until the middle of the decade after the film was released, so perhaps they believed the internet would be not be used for porn as much as it is in the film. If they believed this, they were wrong. A 2018 Business Insider article pointed out that porn sites were accessed more that Twitter, Netflix or Wikipedia.

Admittedly, the phantasmagoria elements are a bit difficult to take, and I did have to glance away at some of the more graphic surgical and piercing scenes. But it is important to remember that this film happened in the midst of the “Modern Primitive” era, which makes this element a bit more understandable.

The cast is amazing and includes the late Arturo Galster as Patsy Cline, Miss X as an assistant to Trip in the VR den, Deena Davenport as a VR Wait

Rarely-seen cautionary tale at the Roxie

a discussion that will also include Leigh Crow (Elvis Herselvis), Phillip R. Ford, Lu Read (Fudgie Frottage), Alvin Orloff, Beth Custer, R.U. Sirius and others.

I recently interviewed Camera Obscura for the June 5 showing of the film.

Michael Flanagan: I’m wondering about the set of the club where Phillip R. Ford as Trip and Timmy Spence as Dr. Pluto meet. Was that an actual club and if so where was it filmed?

Camera Obscura: Yes, that was filmed in the back room at DNA Lounge. The Star Spangled Banner scene was filmed at The Marsh in the Mission. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence scene was filmed at Club Townsend.

There are a number of local luminaries in the film including members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Miss X, Alvin Orloff and Elvis Herselvis/Leigh Crow. Were there performances

around the time of the filming that you found inspirational?

Oh my gosh, yes! These people were diving into their own humanity and exploring, with great detail and inquisitiveness, every nook and cranny, no matter how divergent from the mainstream. It was so incredibly liberating and inspiring! They led the community in modeling how life is lived with joy, humor and authenticity.

What was perhaps more inspiring than individual performers was how the city itself supported a network of clubs that were spaces into this creative exploration. Club Uranus, the EndUp, Pleasuredome, Colossus, the Eagle, the Stud, DV8, Klubstitute; I mean, the list goes on and on. The scene itself was the inspiration.

At the time the film was released, there were reviews in both the Examiner and the Chronicle and neither of them seemed to understand the film. Do you think that’s because they just didn’t understand non-narrative structure or was it because they

logical changes happening at the time that they couldn’t hear a dystopian voice?

I’m sure it’s because they had no clue how much our lives and society would be so comprehensively disrupted by digital technology. Like everyone else, they believed all the sales pitches that technology would somehow “empower” us, “level the playing field,” “democratize” society and give us more leisure time.

I remember sitting in the back of the cinema as the audience was filing out at the end of the movie, and I could hear people mumbling, in very superior tones, things like, “How ridiculous. That could never happen,” “No need to demonize technology. It’s just a tool,” and “Those goggles are just plain silly.” Well, well, well! Look who’s the silly one now!

‘Virtue,’ June 5, 6:30pm at The Roxie, 3125 16th St. Free (members)-$10. www.roxie.com/ film/virtue

Read the full article

‘Virtue’ director Camera Obscura in a 1994 portrait by Howard Schatz

Left: A scene from Camera Obscura’s ‘Virtue’ Middle: Leigh Crow as Elvis Herselvis in ‘Virtue’ Right: Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence in the wedding scene in ‘Virtue’

Women in summer operas, symphony concerts

by Philip Campbell

Women’s History Month has come and gone. It ought to last all year. The San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Opera are both trying to extend the celebration by presenting a number of concerts and productions through May and June primarily focused on women.

May 25 and 27

The San Francisco Symphony and guest conductor Giancarlo Guerrero join with Lorelei Ensemble for the West Coast premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winning “folk/rock/classical mixologist” Julia Wolfe’s “Her Story.” Director Anne Kauffman stages the two-part oratorio with scenic, lighting, and production designer Jeff Sugg.

A quote from a letter by Abigail Adams to husband John in 1776 reminds him “the ladies,” if overlooked, “are determined to foment a rebellion.” “Her Story” riffs on that theme.

June 1, June 2 & 3

Conductor Manfred Honeck and pianist Beatrice Rana share a traditional musical bill with the SFS premiere of Gloria Isabel Ramos Triano’s “Amazon.” Inspired by the Amazons of Greek mythology the composer says, “We all have images of those high-spirited women, as strong and tough as men, who also show their feminine emotions.”

June 8 – 11

Kaija Saariaho’s “Adriana Mater” makes its SFS premiere with conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, director Peter Sellars, mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron as Adriana, plus soprano Axelle Fanyo, tenor Nicholas Phan, baritone Christopher Purves, and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus.

A new staging of Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s second opera, envisioned by famed theatrical innovator Sellars and SFS Music Director Salonen (himself a gifted composer) is an exciting prospect.

The story: a mother and son bond in a hostile and violent country facing civil war. They attempt to find a better future, torn between revenge and forgiveness.

Resonant for contemporary audiences, it offers an opportunity to experience Saariaho’s transcendent music.

Jun 29-30 & July 1

SFS Collaborative Partner soprano Julia Bullock is etched in memory from her pivotal role in the John Adams/Peter Sellars collaboration “Girls of the Golden West” at the San Francisco Opera.

A well-chosen program of songs celebrating the American story in works by George Gershwin and Margaret Bonds includes Reena Esmail’s “Black Iris,” which takes its name from the Georgia O’Keeffe painting, and examines the #MeToo movement.

June 3–July 1

San Francisco Opera’s Summer Season includes a tragically abandoned woman in Puccini’s “Madame Butterfly,” valiant wives in Richard Strauss’

“Die Frau Ohne Schatten” (“The Woman Without a Shadow”) and an iconoclastic artist in the Bay Area premiere of “El ultimo sueno de Frida y Diego” by Berkeley-born composer Gabriela Lena Frank and Pulitzer

Prize-winning librettist Nilo Cruz. For “Madame Butterfly,” SFO Music Director Eun Sun Kim conducts a new co-production directed by Amon Miyamoto (the first Japanese director on Broadway for the revival of “Pacific Overtures”). Costumes are by the late Kenzo Takada, who made a brilliant career in Paris. Set designer Boris Kudlicka provides background for Miyamoto’s novel take, told from the viewpoint of the title character’s son Trouble.

Adler Fellow Moises Salazar plays the cruelly insensitive Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton in the final performance on July 1. Out and proud American tenor Michael Fabiano (an SFO favorite and international star) sings the role in all other performances. Korean soprano Karah Son makes her Company debut as the heartbreaking Cio-Cio-San.

June 4–28

For “Die Frau Ohne Schatten,” acclaimed interpreter of German epics and former SFO Music Director Sir Donald Runnicles conducts his first, “The Woman Without a Shadow” with Roy Rallo directing. The new-to-San Francisco Opera production features artist David Hockney’s legendary sets.

The libretto is a murky mixture of legend, myth and questionable psychology, but the music is divine, orchestrated in Straussian everything but the kitchen sink mode, chock full of memorable motifs. The composer wrote ecstatically for women and the cast is rightfully dominated by Swedish soprano Nina Stemme as the Dyer’s Wife, Finnish soprano Camilla Nylund as the Empress and San Francisco-born Linda Watson as the Nurse.

June 13–30

With “El Ultimo Sueno de Frida y Diego” (“The Last Dream of Frida and Diego”), Mexican director Lorena Maza’s production is brought to colorful life with sets by Jorge Ballina, costumes by Eloise Kazan and lighting by

Victor Zapatero. Roberto Kalb makes his Company debut conducting the SFO co-commissioned work, the first Spanish-language opera in the Company’s 100-year history.

Argentine mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack plays Frida Kahlo, the painter whose life has become legend. Mexican baritone Alfredo Daza is Diego Rivera, her famous husband. In composer Gabriela Lena Frank and librettist Nilo Cruz’s imagining, they reunite on El Dia de los Muertos for a final reconciliation.

Opera Parallèle

Soprano Kearstin Piper Brown is related to the San Francisco Opera by her stage debut in “It’s a Wonderful Life” by Jake Heggie and Gene Sheer in 2018. She portrayed the angel Clara in the final performance.

Now she portrays a terrified and very human wife in the West Coast premiere of Paul Moravec’s opera, “The Shining,” at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) June 2, 3 & 4. Opera Parallèle, with Conductor Nicole Paiement and Director & Concept Designer Brian Staufenbiel, presents a revised version, with a libretto by Mark Campbell based on the novel by Stephen King.

Composer Tobias Picker made King’s “Dolores Claiborne” an opera at the San Francisco Opera in 2013. It was not a success, but comparisons end there. Moravec’s setting has legs and his newly created chamber music orchestration sounds intriguing.

A colleague wonders if the doorsmashing “Heeeere’s Johnny!” sequence from the Kubrick film is included. I do, too.t

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Left: “El último sueño de Frida y Diego” by Gabriela Lena Frank and Nilo Cruz

Right: David Hockney’s set design for SF Opera’s “Die Frau Ohne Schatten”

Karli Cadel/San Diego Opera

Daniela Mack plays Frida Kahlo in “El último sueño de Frida y Diego”

Shervin Lainez

Nina Stemme plays Dyer’s Wife in “Die Frau Ohne Schatten”

Neda Navaee

Julia Bullock in ‘Black Iris’

Karah Son in SF Opera’s “Madame Butterfly”

Kearstin Piper Brown in Opera Parallèle’s ‘The Shining’

by Gregg Shapiro

Even though it only spans two years in the life of immigrant Pearl, Aaron Hamburger’s third novel “Hotel Cuba” (Harper Perennial, 2023) has the feel and weight of an epic. Opening in 1922, as Pearl and her kid sister Frieda set sail for a better life in America from their home in Russia, only to be waylaid in Havana, Cuba, with their futures hanging indefinitely in the balance, Hamburger paints a vivid picture of time and place. While the novel is sure to appeal to a wide audience, gay writer Hamburger has made sure to feature significant queer characters in the storyline.

Gregg Shapiro: Aaron, your new novel “Hotel Cuba” is arriving at a moment when LGBTQ historical fiction is having a resurgence along with the novels “The New Life” by Tom Crewe and “In Memoriam” by Alice Winn. Why do you think this is occurring at this time?

Aaron Hamburger: I read somewhere about “presentism,” meaning this bias we have, thinking of ourselves as so modern and enlightened in comparison to people of the past. And yet,

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in the writing of this book, I was struck by the many links I found between life in the past and our present.

Just as an example, I was inspired to write this story when I came across a picture of my grandmother in full male drag from 1922. As my good friend and LGBTQ literary legend, Leslea Newman, said when I showed her the photo, “Your grandmother looks like a butch lesbian! I have such a crush on her!”

As I delved into the research, I was surprised to read about a raucous gay bar in Havana from the late 1800s. And I was struck by the fact that the conversation about immigration one hundred years ago was almost exactly the same as that of our time, just with different immigrant populations.

How much of your own family’s immigrant story is in the pages of “Hotel Cuba”?

Quite a bit of it is in there in the broadest outlines. My grandmother was desperate to escape the chaos of Russia after the Russian Revolution and join a sister in America, but new and discriminatory immigration laws closed the borders to her, and she decided to go to Cuba instead.

We have recorded interviews with

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my grandparents about their immigration stories, mostly focused on my grandfather’s story, and a small part about my grandmother, who appears as the protagonist, Pearl, in the book. She was a woman of few, but choice, words, and while she left a lot of hints about her time in Cuba, I was intensely curious to fill in the details. I wanted to know what it felt like to go from a wartorn wintry sheltered shtetl to sultry Havana with the music, the food, the language, all of it so unfamiliar to her. The novelist in me got the chance to flesh out that picture.

Were you able to travel to Cuba for research?

Yes, I went to Havana and immediately noticed the heat, the intensity of the sunlight, the atmosphere. Many people who were in my grandmother’s situation, European immigrants, came across the ocean in their best woolen clothes and struggled to adjust to the tropical weather, often getting awful heat rashes, for example.

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Also, when I was in Havana, I had a wonderful guide who told me stories about her grandmother strolling down Havana’s main street and looking at the fashions in the high-end department store windows, which made me imagine my fashion-loving main character Pearl, based on my grandmother, taking that same walk.

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Antisemitism is at the heart of the novel. It’s the driving force behind Pearl and her sister Frieda’s departure from their homeland in Turya, and it’s something they continue to encounter in other

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places. Can you please say a few words about writing about antisemitism at a time when it’s on the rise?

It is sad that we can’t quite seem to shake our addiction to all sorts of hatreds, and antisemitism is one of the most persistent and pernicious of those hatreds. More than anything, Pearl, as well as my grandmother, simply wanted to live her life in peace. However, then, as now, political figures have found that stoking fear of Jews, LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, and on and on is a convenient way to accrue power. Even more tragic is that they find a willing audience for their hate. That’s one thing we can do, resist vigorously any leader who might try to appeal to us through the language of division.

Anti-immigrant sentiment is also woven throughout. In chapter eight, one character says “Republicans hate the immigrants.” Is this a way of saying that not much has changed since the early 1920s?

It’s actually that character’s opinion of the politics of that time, as eerily familiar as that might sound to some contemporary readers. The Republicans in the 1920s were advocating for a tough stance on immigration. By the way, the immigration laws of the early 1920s laid the foundations for much of the debate we’re having now. Back then, many Americans worried that the people fleeing Communism (many of them Jewish) were actually Communist infiltrators coming to bring chaos and revolution to our

<< Ni¿¿er Lovers

From page 16

Thompson’s approach to the topic at hand is a daring one, a cousin of Jeremy O. Harris’ “Slave Play.” Some audiences may balk at the boldness, unable to see that, in this case, humor allows a more rigorous examination of this subject matter than yet another puddle of tears or yelp of oversimplified outrage. So be it.

As “The Ni¿¿er Lovers” evolves on its way to future productions, which it absolutely merits, the show would benefit from some structural tinkering. A series of interstitial monologues from a crowd-pleasing Tanika Baptiste as a ringmaster-esque emcee provide moments of relief from the historical excoriation, but feel oddly disconnected from the main comic narrative and somewhat duplicate the earlier function of the time-travelling character.

Likewise, while Thompson’s original songs (Though a first time playwright, he’s well known as a musician) offer spot-on parodies of performers like Al Green, James Brown and the

Stylistics and are expertly sung by the cast, they don’t feel of a piece with the old-timey burlesque style of the characters who sing them; they might themselves be more effective as interstitial performances.

That said, I’d be thrilled to see this show again, even unrevised. Refusing to trade in sentimentality and betting

shores. Compare that to the plight of Syrian refugees fleeing ISIS. I also read in the National Archives letters from everyday citizens demanding that the government do more to keep out immigrants in order to “protect the blood pool.” Disgusting.

In chapter 11, Pearl pays a visit to a bar in Havana called the Gold Dollar where she encounters “inverts and hussies.” There she encounters butch dyke Señora Martin and Martin’s associate, the “Queen of England.” Later, in New York, she works for Safaya, who introduces Pearl to her lesbian social circle. Being a gay writer, why was it important to you to include queer characters in what is primarily a straight story?

I would say it’s important not only for gay writers to do this but for any writer who wants to write accurately about human beings. I see Pearl as bisexual, though she would not have had the language to label her feelings or identity in that way.

Because of that, I wanted Pearl to meet people who would have been more open about their same-sex attractions, which would show her a different way of life from what she might have known back home. It’s part of the theme of the book, this idea that coming to Cuba was an accidental stop on her journey to America, a “hotel,” as many Jewish immigrants called it. But that experience turned out to shape the rest of her life in ways she couldn’t have expected.t

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the farm on smarts, “The Ni¿¿er Lovers” offers tough love in the form of sharp art.t

‘The Ni¿¿er Lovers’ through Sunday, May 28. $30-$70. Magic Theatre at Fort Mason. 2 Marina Boulevard, Bldg. D. (415) 441-8822. www.magictheatre.org

Aaron Hamburger

AeJay Marquis Mitchell in ‘The Ni¿¿er Lovers’ Jay Yamada

Heklina memorial in the Castro

Photos by Steven Underhill

Fans of the late drag performer and producer Heklina (Stefan Grygelko) celebrated his life in the blocked-off Castro Street outside the Castro Theatre on May 23, where a capacity crowd watched tributes from local nightlife luminaries. After the quick sell-out of theater tickets, friends and event organizers Nancy French, Peaches Christ and others had arranged for projection screens and online access in bars (and even for those at home) to the onstage memorial via Oasis nightclub’s Twitch channel. ‘She would have hated this’ was the memorial’s sardonic subtitle, but somewhere above, we can hear that distinctive Heklina cackle.

See plenty more photos on BARtab’s Facebook page, facebook.com/lgbtsf.nightlife. See more of Steven Underhill’s photos at StevenUnderhill.com.

Steven Underhill

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