08
'Cocktails for a Cause'
Dual combo HIV drug OK'd
ARTS
02
13
19
Hole in the Wall 25th
Peter Paul Rubens
The
www.ebar.com
Serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities since 1971
Vol. 49 • No. 15 • April 11-17, 2019
Trans office wants $700K for housing by Alex Madison Courtesy SFO
Revised drawings for the Harvey Milk Terminal exterior signage at San Francisco International Airport renewed community complaints for showing the gay icon’s name would not be used at all of the facility’s entrances.
SF supes back Milk SFO signage rules
by Matthew S. Bajko
R
ules outlining how the signs for the Harvey Milk Terminal should appear at San Francisco International Airport won unanimous backing from the Board of Supervisors Tuesday. After the board votes a second time April 16, the ordinance will be sent to Mayor London Breed to sign into law. Breed’s office has told the See page 10
>>
O
ur Trans Home – San Francisco, a new project of city and community leaders, has requested $700,000 from the city to provide rental subsidies for transgender people who they say face homelessness at a rate 18 times more than the general population. In an effort to secure support for the budget ask and other recommendations made by the Office of Transgender Initiatives’ Transgender Advisory Committee, community leaders met last week with members of the Board of Supervisors. About 25 people participated in the April 4 meetings including representatives from the Trans Activists for Justice and AccountabilJerry Thornhill ity Coalition, or TAJA for short; El/La Para eader Jerry Thornhill snapped this photo of noted Aparton, and suppresses the growth of the TransLatinas; and trans community mema green patch where the annual pink triangle plants under it. bers, some currently facing homelessness. is installed atop Twin Peaks each June. He “Those conditions result in bare/sparsely vegetatAfter one-on-one meetings with superviwanted to know what happened. The Bay Area Reed soil, which is ideal habitat for grasses to grow in. sors, some of the participants gathered in porter reached out to the San Francisco Department The green triangle is the fresh new growth of annual the mayor’s conference room in City Hall of Recreation and Parks for an answer. grasses,” she wrote. “This happens every year, with Spokeswoman Tamara Barak Aparton explained in this year’s rains perhaps resulting in more grasses to debrief about their discussions, in which an email, “The green triangle is the result of the pink than a typical or drought year.” campaign recommendations were shared triangle installation. In order to install the Los pink triangle, Thornhill tookcovers the photo March from Romain and California along with personal stories of the challenges The Angeles Blade Los24Angeles news, the shrubs are cut back to the edges of the triangle.” Street near Grand View Avenue. and barriers trans people face during San arts and entertainment and features national and While in place, the pinkpolitics, triangle acts opinion, as a tarp, See page 8 >> international coverage from the Blade’s award-winning reporting
2017 0 Media a Kit
R
Mission Statement
team. Be part of this exciting publication serving LGBT Los Angeles from the team behind the Washington Blade, the nation’s first LGBT newspaper. From the freeway to the Beltway we’ve got you covered.
After delays, SF LGBT history projects move forward
by Matthew S. Bajko Courtesy CBS5
Chick-fil-A plans to open a restaurant at Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport.
LGBTs say no to Chick-fil-A at SJ airport
by Alex Madison
S
an Jose LGBT advocates have voiced their strong disappointment and are asking the City Council and Mayor Sam Liccardo to stop a Chick-fil-A restaurant from operating at Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport. The plans for the eatery, set to open in June, came as a surprise to many. The national chain has for years sparked outrage for its owners’ anti-LGBT views and the company foundation’s financial support of organizations whose mission is to undermine LGBT rights. A coalition that includes the Bay Area MuSee page 11 >>
A
trio of projects aimed at preserving and promoting San Francisco’s LGBT cultural heritage is set to move forward after encountering bureaucratic delays for months. The Board of Supervisors in the coming weeks is expected to take up landmarking a historic LGBT bar and restaurant space in North Beach best known as the location of the Paper Doll. Drag queen Juanita MORE! is eying the property as a potential site to open her own eatery since shuttering her first place in the Tenderloin. During Pride Month in June city leaders are expected to finalize a citywide LGBT cultural strategy that initially was expected to go before the supervisors earlier this year. A draft version of the document, which the Bay Area Reporter first reported on last fall, has been circulating through various city departments and agencies for feedback prior to being presented to the supervisors. And at Tuesday’s board meeting gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman introduced an ordinance to create a Castro LGBTQ Cultural District. Mandelman, who represents the city’s gayborhood, had been working with the city attorney’s office for the past month on finalizing the language for the ordinance, which must first be passed by the city’s historic preservation
Rick Gerharter
The intersection of 18th and Castro streets, long considered the heart of the San Francisco LGBT community, would be part of the Castro LGBT Cultural District.
commission before going to the supervisors. Mandelman hopes to see it be approved by the supervisors and mayor come July in order for it to be eligible for the next round of hotel tax money designated for cultural districts. Due to the passage of Proposition E last year, nearly 1.5 percent of the money from the 8% base hotel tax that the city already collects is dedicated
{ FIRST OF THREE SECTIONS }
to arts and cultural functions. “A lot of good work has been done in other parts of the city to establish cultural districts. It makes sense to have a Castro LGBTQ Cultural District and be able to access the resources available in the city for cultural districts,” said Mandelman. “It is important to get this district done and get it on record and start thinking See page 10 >>
Marking the historic 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising.
Celebrating World Pride 2019 Space reservations for our June 27, 2019 edition are now being accepted. Call 415-829-8937 or email advertising@ebar.com for more information or to reserve your space.
<< Community News
2 • Bay Area Reporter • April 11-17, 2019
Scott W. Wazlowski Vice President of Advertising
! e s i t ver
advertising@ebar.com
Ad The
44 Gough Street #204, San Francisco, CA 94103 (415) 829-8937 • www.ebar.com
BE PART OF THE ENERGY TRANSITION A professional graduate degree program with evening classes downtown.
usfca.edu/energy
VALENCIA CYCLERY
We’ve got more bikes in stock & ready to ride than anyCYCLERY shopuntil in SF Now open Thursdays 7. MANY ONaccessories SALE! 20% all parts, and We’ve gotoffmore bikes in stock & ready
VALENCIA
clothing to ride every than Thursday any shopininApril! SF
MANY ON SALE!
Hybrid/City Hybrid/City
Kid’s Kid’s
Road
Mountain
Road
Mountain
Your one-stop shop for the whole family! 1065 & Your 1077 Valencia (Btwn 21st & 22nd one-stop shop for the St.) SF
SALES 415-550-6600 REPAIRS 415-550-6601 whole•family! Mon-Sat 10-6, Thur 10-7, Sun 11-5
1065 & 1077 Valencia (Btwn 21st & 22nd St.) SF valenciacyclery.com
SALES 415-550-6600 • REPAIRS 415-550-6601 Mon-Sat 10-6, Thur 10-7, Sun 11-5
t
PrEP pharmacy bill amended with 1-month prescription limit by Matthew S. Bajko
A
bill to make it easier for people to access PrEP via their local pharmacy survived its first committee vote April 8 after California lawmakers amended it to restrict the supply of the HIV prevention medication to one month. After 30 days the person would need to have a prescription from a doctor in order to obtain additional pills of Truvada (tenofovir/emtricitabine) for PrEP. The Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee voted to approve the revised legislation, Senate Bill 159, Monday afternoon. “In regard to PrEP we are dealing with people in crisis, a moment of crisis, and it makes no sense to try to create barriers. We should do the opposite, which this bill provides,” said committee chair Senator Steven M. Glazer (D-Orinda). “We do put parameters on that crisis with a full 30day supply and with strong encouragement that they see a physician. We put limits on it.” Glazer worked with advocates and gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), the bill’s lead author, on amending the legislation. In addition to PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, pharmacists would also be allowed to furnish PEP, or post-exposure prophylaxis, to patients without a physician’s prescription. “We are making it easier for people at risk of HIV to access these medications and removing barriers to that access will make California a healthier place,” said Wiener, who has taken PrEP for years. Gay Assemblyman Todd Gloria (D-San Diego) is a co-author of the bill, and Equality California, the statewide LGBT advocacy organization, has made the bill one of its top legislative priorities this session. Just as people do
Rick Gerharter
A bill by state Senator Scott Wiener to make PrEP available at pharmacies without a prescription cleared its first legislative hurdle Monday.
not need a prescription to obtain birth control pills from a pharmacist, neither should they need one to obtain the HIV prevention medications, contend the lawmakers and advocates. “Pharmacists are already well equipped with the core skills needed to safely furnish PrEP and PEP,” said Dr. Carolyn Chu, an HIV primary care physician with UCSF who is the clinical director for the National Clinician Consultation Center. Despite the changes made to the bill, powerful interest groups continue to oppose it mainly due to objections about allowing people to access PrEP through a pharmacist and not a doctor. As the Bay Area Reporter first reported in March, the California Medical Association will only support the bill if it solely applies to allowing PEP to be furnished by pharmacists. It does not agree that pharmacists should be allowed to furnish PrEP. And a CMA representative informed lawmakers Monday that the lobbying group’s concerns remained even with the 30-day limit on a PrEP prescription. Kaiser Permanente and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation also
oppose the amended legislation. The bill would require pharmacists to undergo training devised by the California State Board of Pharmacy to learn about both HIV prevention medications and how patients are supposed to take them. They would have to screen patients for HIV and ensure they have received a negative HIV test within the last seven days. They would also be required to counsel patients about the side effects of the medications and “the importance of adhering to the drug regimen, testing and treatment, as applicable, for HIV and sexually transmitted diseases, behavioral risk reduction support, and pregnancy testing.” Pharmacists would also have to document the use of PrEP or PEP in the patient’s health record and notify the person’s primary care provider or, should they not have one, inform them where they can go to receive health care services. A similar bill is currently before lawmakers in New York state that would allow pharmacists to furnish a 28-day supply of PrEP to people. The state currently allows for pharmacists to furnish a seven-day supply, but advocates argue the restriction has hurt efforts to increase use of the drug. California lawmakers contend that enacting the legislation in the Golden State will remove barriers to usage of both PrEP and PEP because prior approval from one’s insurance company will no longer be needed. They see it as a necessary strategy in ensuring that the state can end the transmission of new HIV cases. “This is something that affects people in all communities. It affects men, it affects women,” said Senator Connie M. Leyva (D-Chino). “It is about access as I see it. If this can help prevent the spread of AIDS, I am all for it.” t
FDA OKs HIV combo pill by Liz Highleyman
T
he U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week approved Dovato, a two-drug combination pill that provides a complete once-daily antiretroviral regimen for people starting HIV treatment for the first time. Dovato, from ViiV Healthcare, contains the HIV integrase inhibitor dolutegravir (sold separately as Tivicay) plus the nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor lamivudine. “With this approval, patients who have never been treated have the option of taking a two-drug regimen in a single tablet while eliminating additional toxicity and potential drug interactions from a third drug,” said Dr. Debra Birnkrant, director of the FDA’s Division of Antiviral Products. “Having a drug-sparing treatment available that uses fewer drugs is beneficial to patients who may have issues taking multiple medications over a long period of time.” Dovato is the first dual-drug single-tablet regimen approved for previously untreated people with HIV. ViiV’s earlier two-drug combo pill containing dolutegravir plus rilpivirine, sold as Juluca, is only approved for those currently on treatment with an undetectable viral load who want to switch to a simpler regimen. Dovato is expected to sell for about $2,300 per month, according to ViiV. FDA approval of Dovato was based on findings from a pair of Phase 3 clinical trials that compared the two medications in the combination pill against a standard three-drug regimen of dolutegravir plus tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and emtricitabine (the drugs in Truvada) for
Courtesy ViiV Healthcare
The FDA has approved the HIV drug Dovato.
first-time treatment. The studies, which together enrolled more than 1,400 people, showed that both regimens led to a high rate of viral suppression after a year on treatment (91 percent versus 93 percent, respectively). Treatment failures were uncommon in both treatment groups and no new drug resistance was seen. Treatment was generally well tolerated. The most common side effects were headache, diarrhea, nausea, insomnia, and fatigue. Only 2 percent of people taking either regimen stopped treatment because of side effects. “For the last 15-20 years, the standard of care for HIV has revolved around three-drug regimens. Now that we have more potent drugs, the focus is shifting to tolerability and convenience,” lead study investigator Dr. Pedro Cahn said when he presented the findings last summer at the International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam. “The GEMINI studies show that we can get the efficacy of three drugs in a two-drug regimen with the tolerability and drug interaction profile of [dolutegravir] and [lamivudine].”
The lamivudine in Dovato is active against hepatitis B virus as well as HIV. Experts said that people with both viruses should take additional medications for hepatitis B because they could develop drug-resistant HBV and experience worsening liver problems when they stop Dovato. The dolutegravir in Dovato has been associated with a very small risk of neural tube birth defects in infants born to women who used it during early pregnancy. The FDA said that Dovato should not be used at the time of conception through the first trimester of pregnancy. Advocates said that Dovato offers a safe, easy-to-use option for people with newly diagnosed HIV who face a lifetime of treatment. In particular, it avoids the potential kidney and bone problems associated with tenofovir, an ingredient in several other available single-tablet regimens. “The approval of Dovato is a welcome paradigm shift, as it brings an innovative treatment approach to newly diagnosed adults with HIV,” said longtime advocate Jeff Berry of the Test Positive Aware Network. “By exposing patients to fewer drugs at the start of treatment, the hope is to help address concerns arising from overall management of prolonged antiretroviral therapy.” t
Correction Due to an editing error, the April 4 article, “Castro’s Firewood Cafe closes,” had the incorrect given name for Bart Snowfleet. The online version has been updated.
t
Community News>>
April 11-17, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 3
LYRIC to highlight programs at open house by Sari Staver
M
ore than 100 people are expected to attend the 31st annual open house for the Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center set for Thursday, April 25. This year’s theme is “Bloom: Revolutionary Power from the Margins” and is free and open to all. LYRIC’s mission is to “build community and inspire positive social change through education enhancement, career training, health promotion, and leadership development” with LGBT, queer and questioning youth, their families, and allies. At the event, LYRIC opens the doors of its Edwardian home in the Castro to introduce its programs and services to community members,
said Natalia M. Vigil, 35, communications and development manager. Vigil, who identifies as queer, joined the agency five years ago, following other positions working as a youth advocate in the city. The evening will feature art galleries and performances by LYRIC youth and an opportunity to meet the staff and learn about the organization’s history. “I like to think that at LYRIC, we have created the container where youth can highlight their voices and stories,” Vigil said in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter at her Castro office. She is the co-founder of Still Here, a performance and community dialogue project that explores the experiences of LGBT and queer youth raised in San Francisco. Several years ago, Araceli Nunez,
25, was introduced to the agency at the open house. They became a client, then an intern, and then joined the agency full-time as its communications coordinator. Nunez, who identifies as queer and nonbinary, said LYRIC gave them “a space where my experience and identities did not have to be left at the door” as they did in other parts of their life. Nunez also said the organization was a “space where I could learn about other peoples’ experiences and where I could make connections and build community.” At the upcoming event, LYRIC staff will recognize three of its community partners: the Asian Women’s Shelter in San Francisco; the Young Women’s Freedom Center in Oakland; and the San Francisco
AIDS Foundation. LYRIC was founded in 1988 as “an anchor institution where vulnerable, predominantly low-income LGBT youth of color collaborate with peers and adult allies to promote social justice in their communities.” Last year, LYRIC engaged 500 youth in direct services and reached 2,418 youth through its outreach efforts. Its annual budget is about $2.4 million, according to its financials that are posted on its website. t The open house takes place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at 127 Collingwood Street in the Castro. Food and drinks will be served. For more information, visit www. lyric.org.
Sari Staver
LYRIC’s Natalia Vigil, left, and Araceli Nunez encourage people to attend the organization’s annual open house.
SF State dean to receive Phoenix Award compiled by Cynthia Laird
Asian and Pacific Islander experiences and activism from the 1960s to 1990s. At this year’s banquet, the benefiting organization will be the Asian Prisoner Support Committee. It provides direct support to API prisoners and works to raise awareness of the growing numbers of APIs being imprisoned, detained, and deported. Tickets for the banquet are $50. For more information, visit http:// www.apiqwtc.org/.
A
my Sueyoshi, interim dean of the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University, will receive the Phoenix Award from the Asian Pacific Islander Queer Women and Transgender Community at its Lunar Banquet Saturday, April 20, from 5 to 11 p.m. at the Ed Roberts Campus, 3075 Adeline Street in Berkeley. APIQWTC was formed in 1999 as a means of networking and communicating among the Bay Area Asian and Pacific Islander queer women’s and transgender organizations. Officials said it is the largest Asian lesbian/ trans organization on the West Coast with over 800 members. Sueyoshi, a longtime LGBTQ scholar, is a founding co-curator of the GLBT Historical Society Museum. In 2017, she was the first Japanese Ameri-
Phoenix Award honoree Amy Sueyoshi
can to be a community grand marshal in the San Francisco Pride parade. She is also known for initiating the Dragon Fruit Project, an intergenerational oral history that explores LGBTQ
Give OUT Day coming up
Horizons Foundation will again coordinate Give OUT Day, the only national day of giving for the LGBTQ community. The 24-hour online fundraising event takes place Thursday, April 18.
Last year, Give OUT Day raised nearly $1 million. The event, which began in 2013, brings together thousands of people making gifts to support a diverse cross-section of LGBTQ nonprofits, the majority of which leverage social media for support and outreach. The technology platform is provided for free and hundreds of organizations have utilized it to attract new donors, motivate their boards and other supporters, and raise their visibility. “We are thrilled to be working with over 600 organizations on Give OUT Day,” Roger Doughty, president of Horizons, said in a news release. “Participating organizations rely on the support of our community and this year we hope that Give OUT Day will
make history and break the $1 million mark for the first time.” People should check social media accounts or websites of queer nonprofits they support to make donations.
Spring egg hunt in Duboce Park
Friends of Duboce Park will hold a spring egg hunt on the upper lawn of the park Sunday, April 14, from 9 to 10 a.m. Organizers said that 1,000 plastic eggs will be “hidden” for kids to find. Gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman will be on hand to start the event. The free egg hunt is for children under 10; it will be divided into three different sections based on age. Contents of the eggs will range from candy to small prizes. The Easter bunny will be there for photos, and free coffee See page 10 >>
Join us For FREE Lunch, Raffles and tips on how to live a healthy lifestyle
4 • Bay Area Reporter • April 11-17, 2019
Volume 49, Number 15 April 11-17, 2019 www.ebar.com PUBLISHER Michael M. Yamashita Thomas E. Horn, Publisher Emeritus (2013) Publisher (2003 – 2013) Bob Ross, Founder (1971 – 2003) NEWS EDITOR Cynthia Laird ARTS EDITOR Roberto Friedman BARTAB EDITOR & EVENTS LISTINGS EDITOR Jim Provenzano ASSISTANT EDITORS Matthew S. Bajko • Alex Madison CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Ray Aguilera • Tavo Amador • Race Bannon Roger Brigham • Brian Bromberger Victoria A. Brownworth • Brent Calderwood Philip Campbell • Heather Cassell Belo Cipriani • Dan Renzi • Michael Flanagan Jim Gladstone • David Guarino Liz Highleyman • Brandon Judell John F. Karr • Lisa Keen • Matthew Kennedy Joshua Klipp • David Lamble • Max Leger David-Elijah Nahmod • Paul Parish Sean Piverger • Lois Pearlman Tim Pfaff • Jim Piechota • Bob Roehr Adam Sandel • Jason Serinus • Gregg Shapiro Gwendolyn Smith • Tony Taylor • Sari Staver Jim Stewart • Sean Timberlake • Andre Torrez Ronn Vigh • Charlie Wagner • Ed Walsh Cornelius Washington • Sura Wood ART DIRECTION Max Leger PRODUCTION/DESIGN Ernesto Sopprani PHOTOGRAPHERS Jane Philomen Cleland • FBFE Rick Gerharter • Gareth Gooch Jose Guzman-Colon • Rudy K. Lawidjaja Georg Lester • Dan Lloyd • Jo-Lynn Otto Rich Stadtmiller • Kelly Sullivan • Fred Rowe Steven Underhil • Dallis Willard • Bill Wilson ILLUSTRATORS & CARTOONISTS Paul Berge • Christine Smith
<< Open Forum
t Isbell should continue on rent board W
e support Mayor London Breed’s appointment of Reese Aaron Isbell to the San Francisco Rent Stabilization Board. Some tenant groups – and the tenant representative who Isbell replaced on the panel – are upset and oppose Breed’s decision and the way it was handled. Polly Marshall, a tenants rights lawyer who was not reappointed, had served on the commission for more than 30 years. Perhaps Isbell, a gay man, will bring a fresh perspective to the job. Isbell, who was named to a tenant seat on the panel, says he is able to live in San Francisco because he has a rent-controlled apartment. He writes about his experience in this issue’s Guest Opinion. Tenants groups oppose Isbell because he is not a tenant attorney, they were not consulted during the selection process as they had been in the past, and they argue it’d be more appropriate he be named to an alternate seat on the panel to gain experience. But those objections are beyond Isbell’s control or responsibility; and apart from that his personal and professional experience qualifies him for the position. He knows the challenges of a longtime tenant who struggles to pay the rent in San Francisco. He has a master’s in public policy from Rutgers University, as a staff member he did policy work for years for gay former state lawmaker Mark Leno, and ran one of the most powerful LGBT Democratic clubs in the country. The city charter gives the mayor power to make appointments to city commissions. We may not always agree with the mayor’s actions, like last year when we criticized then-mayor Mark Farrell for booting lesbian Leslie Katz from the port commission. In this case, Isbell makes an excellent addition to the panel, which oversees how much property owners can annually raise rents on rent-controlled units and resolves tenant complaints against landlords. Next week, Supervisor Hillary Ronen, chair of the rules committee, is expected to hold a hearing on Isbell’s appointment and forward a recommendation to the full Board of Supervisors for a vote. The supervisors can’t make Breed reappoint Marshall, but they can, with eight votes, remove Isbell.
by Reese Aaron Isbell
VICE PRESIDENT OF ADVERTISING Scott Wazlowski – 415.829.8937
“C
LEGAL COUNSEL Paul H. Melbostad, Esq.
Bay Area Reporter 44 Gough Street, Suite 204 San Francisco, CA 94103 415.861.5019 • www.ebar.com A division of BAR Media, Inc. © 2018 President: Michael M. Yamashita Director: Scott Wazlowski
News Editor • news@ebar.com Arts Editor • arts@ebar.com Out & About listings • jim@ebar.com Advertising • scott@ebar.com Letters • letters@ebar.com Published weekly. Bay Area Reporter reserves the right to edit or reject any advertisement which the publisher believes is in poor taste or which advertises illegal items which might result in legal action against Bay Area Reporter. Ads will not be rejected solely on the basis of politics, philosophy, religion, race, age, or sexual orientation. Advertising rates available upon request. Our list of subscribers and advertisers is confidential and is not sold. The sexual orientation of advertisers, photographers, and writers published herein is neither inferred nor implied. We are not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or artwork.
Support for Navigation Center
The debate over Navigation Centers in the city continues to be a flashpoint for all the wrong reasons. Hardly anyone is opposed to the concept of the centers, where homeless people can stay with their partners, pets, and possessions while receiving services. The issue is always where to put them. The city currently has five centers up and running and the mayor has proposed one along the Embarcadero. Of course, some nearby residents are opposed – and even started a crowdfunding campaign to hire a well-known land use attorney. Some shouted down the mayor at a meeting last week when she unexpectedly showed up to talk about the plan. That was disrespectful and counterproductive, though given the polarized times we live in, not surprising. Any attempt to open a Navigation Center runs a risk of opposition by wary residents. However, this approach to get people temporarily housed actually works. In 2011, neighbors fought against locating a program in Cow Hollow for youth – including LGBTQs – at risk of becoming homeless. Now, the program overseen by the Community Housing Partnership and Larkin
Street Youth Services is running smoothly and provides long-term supportive housing. It’s not good enough to merely object to a Navigation Center without suggesting what else can be done. Absent any good reason, except not wanting the homeless there, the Embarcadero proposal seems sound. The land is available and the people who would likely use the center are already there. These centers have to be located somewhere. Breed and her predecessors have tried a variety of locations. There’s one under the freeway, at Division and South Van Ness, which makes sense because that’s where tent encampments were. There are others in Dogpatch, the Mission, and near Civic Center. It’s all part of the city’s effort to provide help where the need exists. Ideally, there should be a Navigation Center in every supervisorial district. It certainly is not efficient to locate all centers in the Tenderloin. There, many people seen on the streets during the day actually have places to sleep at night, usually a single-room-occupancy hotel unit. We give Breed credit for showing up at the meeting and attempting to explain her plan to residents. She should move ahead with it. The city’s homeless population is very complex, and officials have been trying new ideas and programs for years. Some work, some don’t. Finally, when we have a concept like Navigation Centers that have proved to be successful, it should be expanded. Every resident should be working toward a constructive solution to address homelessness. After last week’s contentious meeting, Cecilia Chung, a trans woman who sits on the San Francisco Health Commission, posted on Facebook: “Wish shelters in every district and people who are homeless can either call 311 or use an app to locate where available beds are.” That’s an idea that should be explored. But to be successful, there need to be more beds available. That’s what the mayor is trying to accomplish.t
I owe my life in SF to rent control
ADVERTISING/ADMINISTRATION Colleen Small Bogitini
NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Rivendell Media – 212.242.6863
The supervisors should refrain from using Isbell to oppose the mayor. Isbell should be allowed to finish his term.
ongratulations! Now, we need to talk to you about increasing your rent.” These were the words I heard upon calling my landlord three years ago when I notified her I had just gotten married and my new husband, Sheng “Bruce” Yang, would be moving in with me. I had hoped simply to give her an update, along with a request to put his name on my lease. Instead that frightening response was instantaneous. I said, “No, I don’t think that’s legal. He’s my husband, and we just got married. He’s a family member.” She hung up by saying she was going to have her lawyer look into the issue and she’d get back to me. Being someone who’s been involved in policy work my whole career, I had the wherewithal to read the code around renter’s rights before I made that call. I also had called the San Francisco Rent Board just to clarify the law. So I knew I had the upper hand and I knew I was in the right to have my new husband move in. A few days later I got a call back from the landlord telling me that they had found out they couldn’t raise my rent. But they wondered if I might agree to an increase for water usage of another $40. I said no. How about $25? I said no. How about $10? I said no. Finally, they agreed that my rent would not be increased and asked for me to send them a copy of our new marriage license. Victory! Or so I thought. They still have not put his name on my lease. That’s important to us because my husband, who was born in China, has his green card sponsored through our marriage. And in all those myriad pieces of paperwork that we need to show proof of our real loving marriage, they request a copy of our lease with both our names on it. I’ve been fighting for that accommodation for the three years since without success. The reason they don’t want to put his name on the lease is because of the statewide CostaHawkins Rental Housing Act. Costa-Hawkins prohibits “vacancy control,” meaning that if a tenant moves out or dies, the apartment can then be rented to a new tenant at market-rate. Because
Courtesy Reese Aaron Isbell
Reese Aaron Isbell, left, lives with his husband, Sheng “Bruce” Yang.
my husband’s name is not on the lease he would not be eligible for the rent-controlled rate we currently have should I die or otherwise leave the apartment. We’re married. We’ve got our lives built around each other now. What is mine is his, at least in theory. It is unfortunate that Proposition 10, the Affordable Housing Act, last November did not pass because it would have repealed Costa-Hawkins. The historic wrongs Costa-Hawkins has done to local rent control capabilities now unfortunately continue. My story is a simple one, but there are far worse CostaHawkins stories of people forced out by speculators, intimidated by landlords or the process, or who never gained rent control at all because they live in newer buildings. When I moved here 20 years ago, I drove a U-Haul truck across the country with all my belongings, put them all in storage, and couchsurfed for a while. I had no income, no job, and barely knew anyone. But it was one of the happiest times in my life – because I was here, in San Francisco. Just like many other young LGBTs who dream of living here, I gave up everything to get here. However, today, I don’t know how I would be able to do it if I was in the same situation. Young LGBTs looking for the hope that is San Francisco are confronted now with a city that
is outrageously expensive. The cost of just living day-to-day in San Francisco is out of control. The cost of housing in San Francisco is horrifying. When I got my first job in San Francisco, I quickly realized I could not afford my dream to live in the Castro. I eventually found a small studio in the lower Nob Hill/upper Tenderloin area of town, thinking I might move into the Castro once I could afford it. Twenty years later, I not only couldn’t afford a move to the Castro, but I can’t even move to an open one-bedroom in my own building without having to deal with exorbitant market rates. As a former co-chair of the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, I have spoken out on strengthening rental laws in our city. As a former staffer for former gay state Senator Mark Leno, I had the chance to work on his tenants rights legislative initiatives and work directly with constituents and community groups. Through his office I was able to host an AIDS Housing Resource Fair at the LGBT Community Center with such groups as the AIDS Housing Alliance (now Q Foundation), San Francisco AIDS Foundation, AIDS Legal Referral Panel, Black Coalition on AIDS, AIDS Emergency Fund, and others. Upon swearing me onto the rent board March 29, I told Mayor London Breed that I wanted to use this new platform as a way to speak out on the struggles that others in our LGBT community, especially those living with HIV/AIDS, are having just trying to stay in the city they call home. I told her we have an unfortunate outmigration of longtime residents because of these costs and the new LGBTs trying to move here, like I once did, are priced out. I hope to do my part through this new role as a commissioner on the rent board in trying to solve the crisis we have before us. t Reese Aaron Isbell is a commissioner on the Rent Stabilization & Arbitration Board (rent board). In addition to his prior service listed above, he served as a member of the Community Advisory Group with Bridge HIV and the international HIV Vaccine Trials Networks on outreach to the HIV/AIDS community in San Francisco, and participated in early medical studies in what would eventually become PrEP.
t
Letters >>
April 11-17, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 5
Supports Isbell for rent board seat
I am writing to add a positive response to Matthew S. Bajko’s April 4 article on Reese Aaron Isbell’s appointment to the San Francisco Rent Board by Mayor London Breed [“Mayor criticized over gay SF rent board pick”]. I have had the pleasure of working with Isbell for a number of years, primarily in our work as community advisers with a local San Francisco Department of Public Health HIV prevention research site, Bridge HIV. Isbell was always professional and open in our meetings. He was known for listening fully, asking pointed questions, and exploring options. As a community adviser, Isbell often displayed sensitivity and concern to vulnerable communities regarding HIV and sexually transmitted infection research. This is the same outlook and approach I have seen Isbell show in work with gay former state lawmaker Mark Leno and the activities with the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club. I would expect he would carry the sensitivity, openness, and integrity into his new role as rent board commissioner.
Enjoyed review
I write to say that I very much enjoyed the review, by Tim Pfaff, of Martin Duberman’s “Luminous Traitor” [“Promiscuous living comes to light,” April 4.] I look forward to running to the nearest independent bookseller and immersing myself in the story of one of my heroes, a truly great man, if one conflicted like the rest of us. Reading the review, I could not help but wonder if Pfaff is familiar with Nobel Prizewinning Mario Llosa’s treatment of the same subject. The copyright is held by Llosa and the translation by Edith Grossman was published in 2012 by Picador, a trademark used by Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux. I smiled as Pfaff characterized the different treatments of Roger Casement’s life he had read and I would appreciate reading his views as they pertain to Llosa’s work. I have read Llosa’s novel and the short biography by Angus Mitchell and now, thanks to your paper and Plaff ’s taste, I am saving my pennies for this new addition. Thank you for the review. Christopher Ingraham San Francisco
Derrick Mapp San Francisco
SF supervisors to vote on trans women commissioners
by Matthew S. Bajko
T
wo transgender women are up for seats on a pair of important oversight bodies in San Francisco that advise local lawmakers on a number of policy concerns. The Board of Supervisors is expected to vote on both appointments at its meeting Tuesday, April 16. The women received unanimous recommendations from the three-person rules committee when it met Monday, April 8. San Francisco SRO Task Force commissioner Jordan Davis is seeking to serve another term for an indefinite time period. She is the only LGBT person on the body that addresses issues in the city’s singleroom-occupancy hotels. Jessy Ruiz Navarro is seeking to join the Immigrant Rights Commission and serve through June 6, 2020. According to District 9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen, who chairs the rules committee, Navarro would be the first transgender person to serve as an immigrant rights commissioner. Navarro would also be the first person whose dominant language isn’t English to serve on the body, said Ronen, who nominated her for its Seat 1. Born in Mexico, Navarro speaks Spanish. “We need your experience being a limited English speaker,” said Ronen in explaining why she supported seeing Navarro serve on the commission. In seeking the position, Navarro informed the supervisors of her work on behalf of other transgender Latinas with El/La Para TransLatinas. She is the nonprofit’s 2018 Miss El/La Para TransLatinas titleholder and twice a month volunteers at the local Mexican Consulate on behalf of the agency. “I consider myself an activist, active, and always available woman to represent my trans and LGBTQ community,” wrote Navarro, who is a driver with Lyft, in her application. “I am part of a community that is at the frontlines every day because of who we are and where we come from.” She also pointed out the attacks against the transgender community President Donald Trump has waged since taking office in 2017, in addition to his anti-immigrant policies, as for why she would bring a unique voice to the commission. “Now more than ever with the new administration’s constant attempts to demonize and deport immigrants and to erase transgender people from existence spaces like El/La are key to our survival,” wrote Navarro. Speaking through a translator, Navarro told the rules committee mem-
Courtesy Jordan Davis
Jordan Davis is seeking another term on the city’s SRO task force.
bers that she immigrated to the U.S. 18 years ago, initially to the southeast, and has been in San Francisco for several years now. “The reason I am here and like to join the commission is out on the streets what we see are a lot of transgender Latina women who don’t have access to dignified health care,” said Navarro, who also doesn’t have health insurance and is at risk of becoming homeless. “And all of the members of the immigrant community have many needs, but we have particular vulnerability in the immigrant community ... There are many rights we need, and I want to fight with all of you. We have a lot of trans women who live on the streets.” Should she be re-appointed, Davis would remain the lone LGBT person on the SRO task force. Two years ago she successfully fought for a policy requiring there be gender-neutral bathrooms and shower facilities in the city’s SROs. “We deserve to be taken seriously,” she said of her fellow queer SRO tenants. Following the committee vote Monday, Davis had posted on Facebook that District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin would move to see that she was not given another term. Peskin’s office did not respond to the Bay Area Reporter’s request for comment by deadline Wednesday. Gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, the lone LGBT person on the board, told the B.A.R. he plans to support both Davis and Navarro next week. Davis had formed a slate with two other queer people seeking to join the SRO task force. Christopher Mika, a gay man who was homeless and now lives in an SRO, and Courtney Brown, a queer woman and the associate director of support services at Tenderloin Housing Clinic, had both sought to join the oversight panel.
While noting how qualified Mika and Brown are, the rules committee members decided to advance two other people who brought different representation to the SRO task force. Along with Ronen, Supervisors Gordon Mar and Shamann Walton serve on the committee. They also failed to advance Larry Saxxon, a gay black man, who had sought a seat on the Immigrant Rights Commission. Noting that more seats on both oversight bodies will be up this summer, the supervisors urged all of the candidates not selected for the panels to reapply.
Barry Schneider Attorney at Law
family law specialist* • Divorce w/emphasis on Real Estate & Business Divisions • Domestic Partnerships, Support & Custody • Probate and Wills www.SchneiderLawSF.com
415-781-6500 *Certified by the California State Bar 400 Montgomery Street, Ste. 505, San Francisco, CA
Rules to review gay rent board pick
At its meeting Monday, April 15, the rules committee is expected to review the appointment of gay Democratic Party activist Reese Aaron Isbell to the city’s rent board by San Francisco Mayor London Breed. As the B.A.R. reported last week, tenants rights activists have questioned Isbell’s credentials for serving on the body, which oversees how much property owners can annually raise rents on rent-controlled units and resolves tenant complaints against their landlords. Isbell’s first meeting was Tuesday, April 9, and Breed is standing by her decision to appoint him. He replaced rent board commissioner Polly Marshall, who blasted how the mayor’s office handled her desire to be nominated for another term in an interview with the B.A.R. She did not find out about Isbell being given the seat until reading about it in a B.A.R. story posted online March 29, the day he was sworn in. It led to Ronen calling for a hearing on the matter. Although the board can’t force Breed to reappoint Marshall, it can reject Isbell with a super-majority vote of eight supervisors.t Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http:// www.ebar.com Monday mornings for Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion. This week’s column reported on a CA bill aimed at opening hospital contracts to LGBT-owned firms. Keep abreast of the latest LGBT political news by following the Political Notebook on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/politicalnotes. Got a tip on LGBT politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 8298836 or e-mail m.bajko@ebar.com.
LGBT PROGRESSIVE CATHOLICS † OUR FAMILIES & FRIENDS
Celebrating our Sexuality and Love as Gifts of God Liturgy & Social: Every Sunday 5pm First Sunday Movie Night Second Sunday Potluck Supper Third Wednesday Faith Sharing Group 1329 Seventh Avenue † info@dignitysanfrancisco.org Follow us on Facebook!
<< Commentary
6 • Bay Area Reporter • April 11-17, 2019
Being seen by Gwendolyn Ann Smith
I
grew up in a southern California suburb in the 1970s, a short distance from the smog-filled skies of Los Angeles. It was a time of Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumors” album, a veneer of patriotism brought forth thanks to the bicentennial celebrating the United States’ Declaration of Independence, and the era of mood rings and bell-bottoms. I cannot tell you for sure when in those days of avocado green and harvest gold that I first heard of the existence of transgender people. I remember, for example, hearing about one woman’s newly out trans daughter over the static of the AM radio in my parents’ Dodge Dart, but I also recall hearing about Renée Richards – then making waves in tennis circles as a transgender woman – taking on self-proclaimed male chauvinist Bobby Riggs. I recall, too, seeing an article or two in my dad’s Playboy magazines, including the
somewhat infamous coming out interview with classical moog composer Wendy Carlos in 1975. There were other examples in popular media too: it seemed like most of the more “socially conscious” sitcoms of the era had a trans episode in the mix, alongside all their other “issue du jour” episodes. Archie Bunker gave mouthto-mouth to a trans woman, Beverly LaSalle, and his wife, Edith, questioned her own faith when LaSalle was later killed. George Jefferson dealt with his own feelings when an army buddy of his transitioned. The theaters showed films about Christine Jorgensen and Myra Breckenridge, while Al Pacino robbed a bank for his lover’s genital reassignment surgery in “Dog Day Afternoon.” Pop music told many trans tales at the time too. David Bowie, deep in his androgynous Ziggy Stardust years, sang about “Rebel Rebel” and “Lady Stardust,” the Kink’s shared an encounter with “Lola,” and Lou Reed took a “Walk on the
We are Your Local Experts helping Exceptional Clients Buy and Sell Beautiful Homes in San Francisco. Call Us for a Free Valuation of Your Property.
Mike Ackerman & Oliver Burgelman LIC# 01388135 | 01232037 415.307.5850 ABZ@ZephyrSF.com BuildingTrust4Life.com
Wild Side.” Then, of course, there was the matter of a certain musical film called “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” A lot of miles have passed since those days. I’m far from that child who played in the streets of the suburbs, who felt they had a secret they couldn’t possibly share with the world, and assumed they would eventually end up dead as a result of it. In all those years have been a lot of additional trans stories. Caroline Cossey was outed in the 1980s, while movies like “The World According To Garp” hit the silver screen. “The Crying Game,” “Orlando,” and even “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” took their places a decade later – for good or ill – even as transgender activism began to kick into high gear with groups like the Transexual Menace and others. Heck, by then, I was out there doing my own early work. The 2000s saw even more visibility with more transgender stories and more transgender people being out and seen. Now, today, as the 2010s wane, there are dozens of transgender celebrities, elected politicians, and others. Trans characters are slowly beginning to populate televisions and theater screens like never before – sometimes, even played by transgender people themselves. In all this, I’ve only scratched the surface of trans visibility over the last 50 years, a pop culture veneer that sits atop so many others who have scratched and toiled in ways big and small over this time, building on a legacy that can be counted back over millennia. We’ve been here for ages, and transgender people have lived in this society since it has existed, but
Christine Smith
if you listened to those on Capitol Hill during the recent hearings on the Equality Act, transgender people are some new contagion, fresh to the scene. To give those people the benefit of a doubt, perhaps they may not have been alive before then, or may have missed out on what was going on under their very noses as the transgender movement grew after the disaster that was the destruction Nazi Germany wrought upon so many, transgender people included. They could merely be ignorant of the bigger picture, of these layers of pop culture and real stories behind it all. Nevertheless, the reality of things is this: It’s not that the transgender community is a new thing, but it’s that transgender people are now being seen in this society. We’ve always been here, but even when we are on the big screen, we
t
have been comedic relief, threats, victims, or – at best – lessons to propel the main characters to be better people. Those few who have become household names of sorts – our Renées, and Christines, and so on – are briefly known, then tumble back into obscurity once people decide to stop and stare at someone else for a while. Furthermore, those who have achieved some small amount of fame, up until very recent years, have tended to be white, somewhat wealthy, and otherwise easily painted with a brush of “respectability” that has made them palatable to pop culture. You will also note that it is the trans women who tend to get noticed: aside from Chaz Bono and a handful of others, you might think that there only are transgender women. With that in mind, I also feel that while trans men are forgotten, trans women remain targeted. As we gain visibility, as people begin to notice our existence and wonder when we arrived, many have begun to view us as a threat, as if our existence somehow infringes on theirs. I’ll leave you with this thought: we are now being seen by culture at large. We must keep momentum going forward, and strive to rise up the rest of our community. It is either this or once again face the same forces that have held us back. t Gwen Smith talked about the 1970s and didn’t mention macramé. You’ll find her at www. gwensmith.com.
Wiener’s intersex bill san francisco ColumbariuM dead for the year THIS IS THE
and
Funeral Home
by Cynthia Laird
formerly the Neptune Society
G
ay state Senator Scott Wiener announced Monday that his bill to ensure intersex individuals can provide informed consent before any medical treatments or interventions was pulled from this year’s legislative calendar amid strong opposition from medical groups. In a news release, Wiener (DSan Francisco) said he and advocates for intersex youth would try again in January. After a hearing last week, the Senate Committee on Business, Professions, and Economic Development at first postponed a vote to see if consensus could be reached between the bill’s supporters and medical associations that had previously refused to negotiate with Wiener. It was pulled from the agenda April 8. Senate Bill 201 would have banned most intersex surgeries on infants. Intersex people, who account for 1 to 2% of the population, are defined as those born with any variation of reproductive or sexual anatomy characteristics including genitals, chromosome patterns, and sex hormones. While some intersex people also identify as transgender or nonbinary and members of the LGBT community, not all do. Intersex advocates said they understood the chance’s of the bill’s passage were dim but praised Wiener for his effort.
We’ve expanded our services and kept the spirit and tradition.
Call (415) 771-0717 One Loraine Court between Stanyan & Arguello
FD 1306
SF_Columbarium_2x7.625_033017.indd 1
COA 660
8/11/17 12:30 PM
Courtesy Sen. Wiener’s office
State Senator Scott Wiener
“SB 201 has not only already raised tremendous intersex visibility in California and national media, it has given our entire community hope that compassionate and ethical care for children born with intersex traits is on the horizon,” said Kimberly Zieselman, executive director of interACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth, and an intersex woman herself affected by the surgeries. But SB 201 faced opposition from the powerful California Medical Association and the Societies for Pediatric Urology. “We’ve made significant strides in California to protect the right of sexual minorities to determine our lives and make decisions about our own bodies, but much work
clearly remains to raise awareness and educate about this important civil rights issue, both in the Legislature and in the medical profession,” Wiener said in a news release. “Progressive California should not be denying individuals the basic human right to decide what happens to their own bodies, yet that is exactly what is happening as surgeons and parents assign genders to babies without any actual input from the child.” Writing in an op-ed in the Bay Area Reporter last month, Dr. Lane Palmer, president of the Societies for Pediatric Urology, stated that Wiener’s bill eliminated the choices available to parents. “The bill constitutes an aggressive abrogation of parental rights,” Palmer wrote. The CMA also came out against SB 201 in March. “The bill makes an exception for any procedure or treatment that is deemed medically necessary, which is defined in such a way that cannot properly address the complexity of [disorders of sex development] cases and potentially endangers the physical and emotional health and future of the patient,” wrote Brandon Marchy, legislative advocate with the CMA’s Center for Government Relations, in a letter to state Senator Steven Glazer (D-Orinda) chair of the Senate Committee on Business, Professions, and Economic Development.t
CLOSED SUNDAY, APRIL 21ST IN OBSERVANCE OF OUR EASTER HOLIDAY
y, In! nda rry Mo Hu ds 2nd En il 2 ! le pr pm Sa A at 9
Get it Today... No Credit Needed!
On purchases with your Ashley Advantage™ credit card from 4/2/2019 to 4/22/2019. Equal monthly payments required for 35 months. Ashley Furniture does not require a down payment, however, sales tax and delivery charges are due at time of purchase. *See below for details.
SAN JOSE LOCATION COMING SOON!
1082 Blossom Hill Road San Jose, CA 95123
#1 IN CALIFORNIA, #1 IN AMERICA, 55 LOCATIONS TO SERVE YOU!
NOW HIRING! Sales Associates
Get it Today! No Credit Needed!
DUBLIN
FAIRFIELD
7885 Dublin Blvd., Dublin, CA 94568 925-660-0480
Exit Green Valley 4865 Auto Plaza Ct Fairfield, CA 94534 707-864-3537
facebook.com/AshleyHSDublin
facebook.com/AshleyHSFairfield
CONCORD Exit at Concord, next to Trader Joe’s 2201 John Glenn Dr Concord, CA 94520 925-521-1977
facebook.com/AshleyHSConcord
EMERYVILLE In the East Baybridge Shopping Center 3839 Emery St., Ste. 300 Emeryville, CA 94608 510-292-4339
facebook.com/AshleyHSEmeryville
FOLSOM Located in the Broadstone Plaza 2799 E Bidwell St Folsom, CA 95630 916-986-9200
LATHROP OUTLET STORE 18290 Harlan Rd. Lathrop, CA 95330 209-707-2177 facebook.com/ AshleyHSOutletLathrop
MILPITAS In McCarthy Ranch 128 Ranch Dr Milpitas, CA 95035 408-262-6860
facebook.com/AshleyHSFolsom
facebook.com/AshleyHSMilpitas
FRESNO
MODESTO
7502 N. Blackstone Ave Fresno, CA 93720 559-283-8251
facebook.com/AshleyHSFresno
3900 Sisk Rd., Ste B Modesto, CA 95356 209-248-6152 facebook.com/AshleyHSModesto
REDDING
SACRAMENTO
VISALIA
1405 Dana Drive Redding, CA 96003 530-222-7707
Located at the Promenade in Natomas 3667 N Freeway Blvd Sacramento, CA 95834 916-419-8906
3850 S. Mooney Blvd Visalia, CA 93277 559-697-6399
facebook.com/AshleyHSRedding
ROHNERT PARK
facebook.com/AshleyHSVisalia
facebook.com/AshleyHSSacramento
Exit Rohnert Park Expwy, across from Costco 6001 Redwood Dr Rohnert Park, CA 94928 707-586-1649
707 Bayshore Blvd. San Francisco, CA 94124 415-467-4414
Follow us at @AshleyHomeStoreWest
facebook.com/AshleyHSRohnertPark
facebook.com/AshleyHSSanFrancisco
ROSEVILLE
STOCKTON
OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK: Monday - Sunday 10am - 9pm
Highland Reserve Marketplace 10349 Fairway Dr Roseville, CA 95678 916-953-5757
facebook.com/AshleyHSRoseville
SAN FRANCISCO
In the Park West Place Shopping Center 10904 Trinity Parkway, Stockton, CA 95219 209-313-2187
“Se Habla Español” www.AshleyHomeStore.com
facebook.com/AshleyHSStockton
*Offer applies only to single-receipt qualifying purchases. Ashley HomeStore does not require a down payment, however, sales tax and delivery charges are due at time of purchase if the purchase is made with your Ashley Advantage™ Credit Card. No interest will be charged on promo purchase and equal monthly payments are required equal to initial promo purchase amount divided equally by the number of months in promo period until promo is paid in full. The equal monthly payment will be rounded to the next highest whole dollar and may be higher than the minimum payment that would be required if the purchase was a non-promotional purchase. Regular account terms apply to non-promotional purchases. For new accounts: Purchase APR is 29.99%; Minimum Interest Charge is $2. Existing cardholders should see their credit card agreement for their applicable terms. Promotional purchases of merchandise will be charged to account when merchandise is delivered. Subject to credit approval. ‡Monthly payment shown is equal to the purchase price, excluding taxes and delivery, divided by the number of months in the promo period, rounded to the next highest whole dollar, and only applies to the selected financing option shown. If you make your payments by the due date each month, the monthly payment shown should allow you to pay off this purchase within the promo period if this balance is the only balance on your account during the promo period. If you have other balances on your account, this monthly payment will be added to the minimum payment applicable to those balances. §Subject to credit approval. Minimum monthly payments required. See store for details. ‡‡Previous purchases excluded. Cannot be combined with any other promotion or discount. Discount offers exclude Tempur-Pedic®, Stearns & Foster® and Sealy Posturepedic Hybrid™ mattress sets, floor models, clearance items, sales tax, furniture protection plans, warranty, delivery fee, Manager’s Special pricing, Advertised Special pricing, and 14 Piece Packages and cannot be combined with financing specials. Effective 1/1/2018, all mattress and box springs are subject to a $10.50 per unit CA recycling fee. SEE STORE FOR DETAILS. Stoneledge Furniture LLC., many times has multiple offers, promotions, discounts and financing specials occurring at the same time; these are allowed to only be used either/or and not both or combined with each other. Although every precaution is taken, errors in price and/or specification may occur in print. We reserve the right to correct any such errors. Picture may not represent item exactly as shown, advertised items may not be on display at all locations. Some restrictions may apply. Available only at participating locations. ±Leather Match upholstery features top-grain leather in the seating areas and skillfully matched vinyl everywhere else. Ashley HomeStores are independently owned and operated. ©2019 Ashley HomeStores, Ltd. Promotional Start Date: April 2, 2019. Expires: April 22, 2019.
t CA biz leader connects gay, Latino communities Business News>>
April 11-17, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 8
by Matthew S. Bajko
business community and the state’s LGBT community are working collaboratively is key for Latino-owned firms to meet their hiring needs and for LGBT Californians looking for financial security, argues Novello. His ability to bring both communities together has not gone unnoticed, with the Golden Gate Business Association, the LGBT chamber of commerce in San Francisco, honoring him at its Power Lunch event in February. “A dreamer in every sense of the word, both politically and philosophically, Juan has been a man of action in building bridges, uniting the Hispanic and LGBT communities,” said GGBA board member John Henning, the chief marketing officer of Granite Solutions Groupe, a San Francisco-based recruiting and consulting firm founded by his husband, Daniel L’Abbe. “The adopted son of two amazing fathers and the husband of an incredible designer, Juan is here today to tell his story and give us the inspiration to build bridges to make our community safer, economically stronger and more prosperous for all.” Born in Mexico City, Novello moved to San Diego at age 12 with his younger sister to reunite with their mother and an older sister. His
supervisors even got teary eyed at the meetings. “The meeting today with the representatives was great,” said Shane Zaldivar, also a member of the TAC. “It was kind of getting them to open their knowledge of what the transgender experience is as a whole and the reality is that we face obstacles every minute.” Our Trans Home – SF aims to provide trans-specific housing resources and strengthen safety and trans inclusion at existing shelters
and housing programs. The budget request for subsidies was one of several recommendations. “Subsidies are helpful because people can use those to pay first and last month’s rent,” Clair Farley, director of the Office of Transgender Initiatives, said at the debriefing. “It gives that flexibility to meet anybody where they are at. We are saying housing first then we can talk about all these wraparound services.” Farley, a trans woman, men-
tioned that one of the community members who attended the meeting was late because they had to move all their belongings from one single-room-occupancy hotel unit to another that morning. “It was just such a reminder of why we are all here, but also recognizing [that] in order to have community be able to show up there has to be a certain level of stability to be an advocate,” Farley added.
Multi-year approach
Gordon Reeve Gould
gay man for the rest of his life. He was loyal to his friends to the last. Reeve’s incredible eye for detail, beauty, and elegance was manifest in all he touched, from his beautiful home in the Berkeley Hills to the many private homes and public buildings he designed throughout the Bay Area. He was committed to architectural preservation. A lover of the arts, Reeve was a lifelong supporter of San Francisco and Oakland ballets, San Francisco Opera, San Francisco and Berkeley symphonies, San Francisco and Cal performances. He was a founding board member of the Oakland Museum of California and served on the boards of many of these cultural arts institutions. As a naval communications officer in the Pacific theater in World War II, Reeve was on the USS Missouri for the signing of the Treaty of Surrender in Tokyo Bay. Always dedicated to international peace and understanding, he served on the board of International House and was a proud Rotarian for 60 years.
Reeve will be remembered for his elegance and kindness. A true bon vivant, he dressed impeccably, knew the best restaurants in town, drove the nicest cars. Various celebrities rode atop his red Jaguar convertible in San Francisco Pride parades. He was a consummate and gracious host. We will miss his warm, sweet smile. Donations may be made to Rotary Foundation International, Oakland Museum, or UC Berkeley International House. Memorial arrangements are pending.
ness,” a sentiment that held true even after his being diagnosed with brain cancer in 2017. His poems were often inspired by his beloved San Francisco, New England, and Italy. Rol was devoted to his partner, Ken Charles, a clinical psychologist who passed in 1996. During the worst years of the AIDS crisis, Rol volunteered at the Shanti Project. He was a generous donor to many causes in the city. He also provided solace and joy to those that knew him simply by being himself: thoughtful, insightful, caring, wise, and wry. An alumnus of Bates College and Northern Arizona University, his career was in public affairs and fundraising at San Francisco State University. Rol is survived by his father, Rolvin Risska, and wife, Marjorie; sisters Regina Booth, Christy Guerra, and their families; Madra Christian; David Clapp; the Charles family; and a loving group of close friends all of whom he left too soon. Memorial donations may be made to a charity of choice.
O
pening doors for Latino business owners as well as LGBT Hispanics in California drives Juan P. Novello’s work, whether with his local chamber of commerce or at his current job as the chief operating officer of the California Latino Economic Institute. At a time when the White House vilifies immigrants, especially those from Spanish-speaking countries, Novello is playing a powerful role in countering the negative narratives about Latinos in today’s political discourse. “It is important for people to know what we contribute to our community. With Latinos being a majority in the state of California, we are the backbone of our economy. Not only due to Latinos owning businesses but because of our purchasing power and labor,” said Novello, 29, who lives in Sacramento with his husband, Josh Novello. “It is necessary for us to have a clear picture and understanding of what the numbers are for Latinos in California.” According to the U.S. census, Latinos accounted for 39.1% of the Golden State’s population of more than 39.5 million people as of July 2018. Their share of the state’s population is likely to increase when the census bureau releases updated population estimates next week. In terms of their economic output, Latino-owned businesses are a key driver of the country’s economy. According to a recent report by Bank of America, 74% expect to see their revenues increase this year, compared with just 57% of non-Hispanic small business owners. And 87% of Latino-owned businesses plan to expand this year. “Today, the Hispanic business community is the fastest growing sector of the California economy,” notes the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco. “The Bay Area and California Hispanic market alone produces revenue of billions of dollars a year.” Thus, ensuring that the Latino
<<
Trans office
From page 1
Francisco’s housing crisis. “It’s not easy to live the transgender experience,” Melanie Ampon, who sits on the TAC, said at the debriefing. “I definitely think our experiences and storytelling is one of our greatest tools. People are not going to understand us unless we share what we go through with them.” Ampon added that some of the
creating in honor of Boitano. He would only say that the gold-medal winning Olympian would be behind the bar himself from 8 to 9 p.m. Monday, April 22, to help mix the $15 drinks, with $5 from each going to his foundation. “My big thing is using the venue for my nonprofit, philanthropy work,” said Mayclem, who lives a few blocks from the restaurant. “So, once a month we have a ‘Cocktail For A Cause’ and one of my celebrity friends, if you will, comes in.” The owners have been tweaking the restaurant’s menu since it opened in late December. It currently features tacos served on a soft tortilla – or a lettuce shell by request – made to order with pork, sautéed Portobello mushrooms, or chicken ($5 each) or shrimp or fish ($6 a piece). Fajita plates can be ordered with pork, chicken, steak or Portobello mushroom (for $18) or shrimp or salmon ($20) with choice of two sides. There is also more traditional pub food available, such as baby back ribs ($15), an 8 oz. burger or chicken sandwich (both $12), or a vegan Beyond burger ($14). All but the ribs come with fries. Since he has been overseeing Monday dinner service, Mayclem has observed more LGBT families coming in those nights with their kids. Known for his gregarious nature, Mayclem likes to treat his younger guests to churros. “I am there every Monday from 5 p.m. I am wanting that to be the night for English folks and also my LGBTQ friends looking for a new spot to hang out on a Monday,” said Mayclem, a British ex-pat himself. “Noe’s was a bar I went to for 20 years. When it disappeared, I lost my watering hole. I lost my hangout.” Helping Basso to revive it “was a no brainer,” said Mayclem. “I not only got my bar back, it comes with even better food as we are serving Mexican food that I love.” Noe’s Cantina is open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. t
parents divorced when Novello was 5 years old and he has not seen or talked to his father since. He graduated from San Diego State University with a degree in business management. Accepted into the Chicano Youth Leadership Project, Novello met Eric Astacaan, a gay legislative staffer at the time, and his husband, Michael Butler. He moved into their home the day after Barack Obama was elected president in 2008. The couple considers Novello one of their three adoptive sons, though they did not legally adopt him. Befriending them helped Novello come out as gay. “For a Latino Catholic guy who grew up in a conservative household, being gay was not an option,” said Novello, who still speaks with his mother and considers his dads to be his “fairy godmothers ... They are so loving, positive people.” In 2012 Novello applied to Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program for those youth, known as Dreamers, brought to the country illegally by their parents. As of September, Novello is a permanent resident. He had been working for the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce as a senior vice president until switching jobs this winter. He is the nonprofit institute’s first full-time employee and sees the position as furthering his advocacy on behalf of Latino entrepreneurs. “It is something I am really passionate about,” he said. “There is a lot of need for a voice for the Latino community. But, at times, it doesn’t get heard.” And he aims to continue building connections between Latino business leaders and the LGBT community for the betterment of both communities. “If you are so close-minded, and if people are still so culturally inept per se, then how do they do their job? Our community is so diverse; California is extremely diverse,” said Novello. “If we are representing our community we need to do so in a way that is inclusive and truly reflective of our constituency. If we don’t do that we shouldn’t be at the table.”
Courtesy Juan P. Novello
Juan P. Novello
Liam Mayclem
Liam Mayclem serves up a burger at Noe’s Cantina.
Noe Valley eatery teams with gay ice skater for a good cause
A restaurant in San Francisco’s Noe Valley neighborhood with gay minority investors will be helping to raise money next week for gay ice skater Brian Boitano’s nonprofit foundation Youth Skate. It helps introduce inner city youth to the sport. The special cocktail event will be hosted by Noe’s Cantina, 1199 Church Street at 24th Street. The hybrid Mexican restaurant and local bar is co-owned by Tommy Basso, whose family formerly operated a tavern there called Noe’s, and husbands Liam Mayclem and Rick Camargo. Mayclem is a well-known local media personality whose nickname is the Foodie Chap. In addition to hosting his KCBS Radio food program of the same name, Mayclem serves as an emcee and auctioneer for nonprofit fundraising galas and other events. One Monday night a month he has invited one of his famous friends to be feted at Noe’s Cantina by having a special drink named after them. A portion of the beverage sales goes to the nonprofit of their choice. The March “Cocktail For A Cause” featured a drink named after SF Giants announcer Renel Brooks-Moon and raised money for Black Girls Code. Mayclem, who mans the restaurant most Monday nights, was tight-lipped about the specialty cocktail the bar staff is
Got a tip on LGBT business news? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 829-8836 or e-mail m.bajko@ ebar.com.
The trans initiatives office is also looking at establishing a dedicated trans and gender-nonconforming housing program to address service navigation, emergency housing, and long-term housing stability, although the team does not have a budget proposal for this yet. The introduction of the campaign is the first step toward a multipronged approach to helping end See page 9 >>
Obituaries >> Procession for Ernie Asten A Mardi Grasstyle procession to honor and remember Ernie Asten, the retired fourth generation patriarch of Cliff ’s Variety, will be held Sunday, April 14. Mr. Asten, 71, died March 15, after a 14-year battle with Parkinson’s and multiple systems atrophy, or MSA. Terry Asten Bennett, Mr. Asten’s daughter, previously told the Bay Area Reporter that he wanted a New Orleans-style procession upon his passing. People should meet at 19th and Collingwood streets at 1:45 p.m. The procession will end at Jane Warner Plaza, where there will be remarks and a remembrance from 2 to 4 p.m. For the B.A.R.’s obituary on Mr. Asten, go to https://www.ebar.com/ news/news//273776.
November 23, 1920 – March 13, 2019
Gordon Reeve Gould, 98, passed quietly in his sleep March 13, 2019. He is survived by children Victor Gould and Diana Gould Bonyhadi; grandchildren Benjamin, Philip, and Elsa Bonyhadi; and numerous cousins and dear friends. Reeve, as he was known, was born and raised in San Diego, surrounded by an extensive and loving family. He attended Francis Parker School, San Diego State University, and UC Berkeley School of Architecture, where he met his wife of 25 years, Nancy Evelyn Lawson – also of San Diego – while living in International House. Reeve later married Charles Kulke, who died in 1993; they were out to the world, and Reeve lived as a
Rolvin Reid Risska January 13, 1952 – March 29, 2019
Rol Risska was a genteel writer, poet, and art and opera lover. His writing reflected a personal philosophy encapsulated in a line from one of his poems, “Everywhere a bright-
April 11-17, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 9
Jane Philomen Cleland
Maceo Persson, left, discusses the new Our Trans Home – San Francisco campaign with Melanie Ampon, JM Jaffe, Akira Jackson, Jessy D’Santos, Rexy Amaral Tapia, Shane Zaldivar, and Clair Farley during an April 4 debriefing in the mayor’s conference room at City Hall.
the trans community and to identify gaps in services. An aspect of this includes shelter and Navigation Center employee trainings, the first of which was conducted earlier this year by TAJA and the trans initiatives office. The trainings will occur monthly and include general cultural competency. “We are definitely trying to make existing shelters more trans inclusive and prioritize safety in those spaces,” Jackson said at the debriefing. Persson said the trainings just touch the surface on what needs to be accomplished. “I think it’s a great start,” Persson said. “I think there needs to be a lot more funding for programming put into it because I think the effort doing organizational change work for nonprofits is a lengthy effort for any organization to change.” Another official, District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney, said he fully supports Our Trans Home – SF and its budget request. A large number of trans and gender-nonconforming people live in Haney’s district that includes the Tenderloin, Civic Center, and South of
®
99
$
Drain Clean Special* Call us 24/7
415-993-9523 Main line service up to 100’, with access point. Warranty included. May not be combined with other offers. Service limited to San Francisco County resident, 8am to 7pm.
A locally owned and operated franchise. Lic# 974194
www.MrRooter-SFO.com
Oak
ple
tt rbe Co
Castro
or
rie
ket MarConstruction Area 18th St
N Judah Bus Eureka Valley N Judah Thorp Train Rec. Center Bus / Rail Transfer Eag Sew le Bus Turnaround Loop ard Alternate Routes to Downtown
ice
ks
tt rbe
nk
Pe a
Mo
o Sutr lph
r
Ado
Co
Ac me
erv ne Beh
T
Rac in coo n
(NX, 6, 7, 7X, or 43/44 via Forest Hill metro)
Hartford
endon Clar
Tank Hill
Lamson
er S
St
17th
St
Roa
d
n yto
Uranus
Upp
t
Flin
elt ev
Castro
Randall Jr. Museum
th
Farnswor
Villa Graystone wn Cro w
무료 언어 지원 / การช่วยเหลือทางด้านภาษาโดยไม่เสียค่าใช้จา่ ย / خط املساعدة املجاين عىل الرمق
Corona Heights
us
Cl a
311 Free language assistance / 免費語言協助 / Ayuda gratis con el idioma / Бесплатная помощь переводчиков / Trợ giúp Thông dịch Miễn phí / Assistance linguistique gratuite / 無料の言語支援 / Libreng tulong para sa wikang Filipino /
elt
Parnass
Cole
Grand View
ltrain
to Ca
ev
os
Ro
Duboce Pacific Med Center Davies Campus
Angel
Hill Point y waway HillHill
Ave
7th Ave
9th Ave
11th Ave
Funston
15th Ave
17th Ave
Mt Sutro
to Ocean Beach
va
Ja
Carl
Lloyd
Duboce
Moe
k
UCSF
Kirkham
Haight
Buena Vista
Frederic
Arguello
3rd
Judah
2nd Ave
Ave
4th Ave
5th
6th Ave
8th Ave
10th Ave
12th Ave
14th Ave
16th Ave
18th Ave
20th Ave
22nd Ave
Irving
Lyon
ar
Page
Waller
Waller
Kez
Lincoln Way
Masonic
Shrader
s Over Cros
Academy of Sciences
Ashbury
Kennedy
Cole
John F .
DeYoung Museum
Clayton
idio Bypass
Central
dle
Panhan
Stanyan
Park Pres
Cross Over
Pierce
St. Mary’s
Fulton
Ro os
trans homelessness. In the future, the team would also like to establish a trans-specific homeless shelter with wraparound services. “This is going to be a multi-year approach,” said Maceo Persson, a queer trans man who is civic engagement and operations manager at the trans initiatives office. “We are going bold and saying our community is in crisis. When we are facing housing instability our community is facing violence and very severe violence.” This violence oftentimes happens in homeless shelters. JM Jaffe, who is the trans health manager at Lyon-Martin Health Services and identifies as nonbinary, talked about the issues that surround the gender-segregated systems of the current shelters. Many trans women are forced to stay in men’s shelters and vice versa. As well, the systems are often outdated, which can result in misgendering of trans clients. The safety of the trans community in current shelters and programs is what struck gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman
the most when he spoke with the community members. “They showed that a lot of transgender people feel quite unsafe in shelters and also in various types of housing options,” Mandelman told the Bay Area Reporter this week. “They made a very compelling case for the need to specifically address the needs of transgender people around shelter and housing.” Mandelman added that, from his experience talking with trans folks, they also face significant obstacles when seeking mental health and substance abuse treatment. Akira Jackson, a transgender woman of color and director of TAJA, which provides resources and support to the trans community, is heading a project focusing on this issue. As the B.A.R. previously reported, the trans initiatives office is working with TAJA, which received a two-year $150,000 grant from the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development last year. A portion of the grant is dedicated to surveying local homeless shelters, Navigation Centers, and SRO hotels to better understand how they are serving
For more information or to sign the petition, visit ourtranshomesf.org/.
Tem
Trans office
From page 8
Joh
<<
campaign include, TAJA, El/La Para TransLatinas, Lyon Martin Health Services, St. James Infirmary, and the Transgender Gender Variant & Intersex Justice Project. One person who participated in the meeting chose not to be identified. They are currently homeless. “I don’t have a place where I can live. I hope one day I can have one room that is for me,” they said. “I hope the city can help us because unfortunately, we don’t all have the money to live a better life.” t
Market neighborhoods. He also said he would fully support a trans-specific shelter or Navigation Center in his district. “They raised very important issues and put forward solutions that I support and told them I would advocate for,” Haney told the B.A.R. “Clearly our city needs to do more robust and specific strategies to meet the housing needs of transgender and gendernonconforming residents.” One of the first steps in the campaign will be creating a task force dedicated to implementing it. The campaign leaders are also asking people to sign a petition in support of its goals. Some of the organizations partnering with the
nsto
t
Community News>>
<< Community News
10 • Bay Area Reporter • April 11-17, 2019
<<
News Briefs
From page 3
will be available. Kids are encouraged to bring their own baskets to collect eggs. Bags will be available for those who forget. Children will be encouraged to take no more than five eggs and that the plastic eggs be recycled in designated containers after they’ve been opened. Duboce Park is located at Noe and Duboce streets. For more information, call Guillemette Brouillat-Spiegel at (415) 515-0956. The N-Judah Muni Metro line stops right at the park.
Oakland Zoo to celebrate Earth Day
The Oakland Zoo will celebrate Earth Day early Sunday, April 14, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with more than a dozen local and global environmental organizations onsite to help visitors learn ways to be more eco-friendly and save wildlife animals, plants, and pollinator species. This year’s theme is “Planting for Pollinators,” which are impacted by habitat loss, climate change, and toxic
<<
Milk SFO signage
From page 1
Bay Area Reporter that she will do so once it lands on her desk. It will end a monthslong font fight between airport officials and LGBT advocates over the signage. Last fall, airport officials revealed plans for the signs to focus on Terminal 1 and play down its new name as the Milk terminal. That led to complaints from Milk’s family and LGBT leaders that the signs should be reversed, with Milk’s name given more prominence. District 9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen introduced an ordinance that would require as much. Yet, in March, airport director Ivar C. Satero unveiled a mockup of the exterior signage for the terminal that included Milk’s name at only one of its entrances. Due to concerns about passengers being able to navigate through the airport, Satero said SFO staff preferred using just Terminal 1 and drop-
<<
SF LGBT history
From page 1
about how to more effectively protect and preserve LGBTQ arts and culture in the Castro.” The boundaries for the district would be Market Street to the north and west, Grand View Avenue to the west; 22nd Street to the south between Grand View Avenue and Noe Street; Noe Street to the east between 22nd Street and 19th Street; 19th Street to the south between Noe Street and Sanchez Street; and Sanchez Street to the east between 19th Street and Market. It would also stretch down Market Street to Octavia and include the blocks of Laguna Street where the LGBT senior services agency Openhouse has its offices and housing development. The Castro cultural district would be the third in the city focused on LGBTQ history, with ones in the Tenderloin and South of Market already established. The Castro LGBTQ district has been talked about for years, with efforts to establish it formally launched in February last year. “For many people around the world the Castro neighborhood is known as the center of the queer universe. And it has played a critical role in the advancement of LGBT culture and political power. It has also been a place of sanctuary and fellowship for LGBTQ residents and businesses and visitors,” said GLBT Historical Society Executive Director Terry Beswick, who has been facilitating the community meetings to form the district. “But the neighborhood is experiencing many of the same challenges as the rest of the city and other gayborhoods around the country.”
t
Funding renewed for San Mateo Pride center
East Bay park district offers free Fridays
The National Center for Lesbian Rights will honor freshman Congresswoman Deb Haaland (D-New Mexico) and Pennsylvania state Rep-
resentative Malcolm Kenyatta, the first African American gay man elected to state office there, at its anniversary celebration Saturday, May 18. Additionally, the organization will recognize Stefany Galante, Danny Zins, and Kate McCobb, three clients who won significant victories in immigration, trans rights, and the campaign to end conversion therapy. Cindy Myers, NCLR’s interim executive director, will also be on hand. Haaland is a member of the Pueblo of Laguna and is one of the first Native American women in the House of Representatives (the other is lesbian Democratic Congresswoman Sharice Davids of Kansas). Kenyatta won election last year to his state House seat. NCLR’s party consists of a reception and dinner starting at 5 p.m. at the Marriott Marquis, 780 Mission Street. Immediately following the dinner is an after-party down the street at Metreon CityView, 135 Fourth Street. Tickets are $400 for dinner and the party, or $125 for the party only. For tickets and more information, visit http://www.nclrights.org.
ping Milk’s name on most of the signage so as not to confuse travelers. The airport’s stance elicited a new round of condemnation and prompted statewide LGBT advocacy organization Equality California to rescind an award it had planned to bestow on SFO at its local gala fundraiser in May. Ronen also amended her ordinance to force the airport to use Milk’s name on all signs for the terminal throughout the airport. Due to the change having a fiscal impact for the airport – replacing all of the existing Terminal 1 signs is estimated to cost $1.3 million – Ronen’s ordinance was sent back to committee for further review. Along the way it gained three co-sponsors: Supervisors Gordon Mar, Matt Haney and Rafael Mandelman. In introducing her ordinance Tuesday, Ronen said the legislative fight over the aviation accolade for Milk has been “frustrating,” especially the need to dictate “such details as the size of the signage” for the terminal.
“But the truth of the matter is it has been an uphill battle and a fight to the end every step of the way to name this terminal after Harvey Milk, one of the most important civil rights leaders whose political career and life and legacy was born and raised right here in San Francisco,” said Ronen. After moving to the city’s then-burgeoning gay Castro district in the early 1970s, Milk made history by becoming the first out gay person elected to public office in both San Francisco and California in November 1977. Tragically, he was killed 11 months after being sworn in as a supervisor inside City Hall along with then-mayor George Moscone by disgruntled former supervisor Dan White. The naming honor for Milk at the airport has been an arduous bureaucratic slog, as gay former San Francisco supervisor David Campos, whom Ronen had worked for, first proposed in 2013 naming all of SFO after Milk. When that proposal didn’t
fly with much of the public, Campos and the late mayor Ed Lee compromised on naming one of SFO’s four terminals after the beloved gay leader. It wasn’t until last year that the choice of Terminal 1 was finalized. Considering the rollback of LGBT rights by President Donald Trump over the last two years, the enactment of anti-LGBT laws by a dozen states during that time, and a hostile environment for LGBT people in many countries, Mandelman said this week that Campos had been right to propose naming the entire airport in honor of Milk. “I will confess I find this measure before us frustrating. It feels a little bit like we are arguing over the crumbs,” said Mandelman, the lone LGBT person serving on the board. “I think Supervisor Campos was correct in 2013 in believing it was right and appropriate and significant for San Francisco to put Harvey Milk’s name on the airport in a way travelers coming from around the world,
and from countries where LGBT people are being killed and their lives are at stake, confront the reality it was named after a gay man who changed the world.” At one of the committee hearings held last month, a number of LGBT people spoke about the importance it will mean for them to fly into the Milk terminal. “The city should be proud to have him as our first openly gay supervisor,” said Robert Goldfarb, who has lived in the city for 21 years and chairs the committee overseeing the leather and LGBTQ cultural district South of Market. “I am delighted the city is displaying that pride by placing his name on Terminal 1. His name should be proudly displayed.” The first travelers to use the Milk terminal, currently undergoing a yearslong $2.4 billion renovation, are expected to do so this summer when a portion of the facility reopens. The project is slated to be complete by 2024.t
Beswick pointed to gentrification, homelessness, income inequality, and a loss of cultural and racial diversity as just some of the issues confronting the Castro neighborhood and leading to the concerns about its longevity as a gayborhood. Otherwise, it could go the way of other neighborhoods in the city that were once gay havens, like the Polk and North Beach, but over time saw their LGBT residents move out and LGBT-owned businesses shutter. Already in the Castro, said Beswick, “we are increasingly losing our LGBTQ people and businesses and queer diaspora. It is harder and harder for young people to live here.”
opened the Paper Doll Restaurant and Bar there and, three years later, it had become a favorite hangout for lesbians and other queer patrons. By the mid-1950s gay men had claimed the space as their own, leading to a court fight over the suspension of its liquor license waged by then owner Dante Benedetti, a straight man. He lost his legal battle and later sold the bar; in the late 1960s and early 1970s the late B.A.R. founding publisher Bob Ross had two stints operating restaurants there. By the 1980s the restaurant space lost its gay affiliations and was home to a number of establishments that catered to mostly straight clientele. It has been vacant since 2012 when the French bistro Le Bordeaux closed. Due to the length of time the restaurant space has sat dormant, it lost the right to operate as an eatery. The Smucha family has been fighting with the city’s planning department to be able to rent it out to a restaurant operator. Ironically, North Beach residents upset over how long the site has been vacant raised objections to the landmarking request, concerned it would provide a benefit that the Smucha family didn’t deserve, according to the office of District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin. The dispute delayed his sponsoring the landmark request at the board. His aide, Lee Hepner, told the B.A.R. that the landmark request should go before the board’s land use committee later this month. He said there is no question based on the research done by the Smucha family that it deserves such recognition. “The report on this site, we are of the opinion, is a pretty brilliant
report. Obviously, it justifies the landmarking,” said Hepner. “It inspired us to look at this as a tool to landmark other significant LGBT historical sites in North Beach.” Hepner added that, whatever business ends up moving into the space, “we think it would be awesome” if it nods to the history of it being an LGBT eatery and hangout. MORE! told the B.A.R. that several people have suggested she seriously consider doing so. “I am currently looking for a restaurant space. And Paper Doll is on my list. I’ve also been seriously considering some spots in the Castro,” she told the B.A.R. “Hell, I have four murals – why can’t I can have two restaurants? One in North Beach and one in the Castro!”
was met with unanimous praise when first presented in September to the city’s Historic Preservation Commission. The oversight body must adopt the final version before it goes to the Board of Supervisors for adoption. “The planning department has been meeting with additional departments who would be engaged with components of the report to support future implementation,” explained Clair Farley, who heads the Mayor’s Office of Transgender Initiatives and would oversee its implementation. One of the strategy’s recommendations is to expand the scope of Farley’s office into more of an LGBTQ affairs office since she and her staff handle numerous issues impacting the city’s LGBT residents and not solely the transgender community. Other suggestions in the document include LGBTQ cultural competency training for public and private organizations, development of LGBTQ focused heritage and arts programming, and more affordable housing and workspace options for LGBTQ residents and artists in the city. LGBT advocates told the B.A.R. they don’t expect to see major changes to the document from what was released in the fall. Farley said that both her office and Mayor London Breed “are still in support of the strategy.” Planning department spokeswoman Gina Simi told the B.A.R. that the working group is now reviewing revisions to the draft plan and that the agency expects “the strategy to go before the board for approval in June.” t
pesticides, zoo officials noted. The zoo is taking action in this regard by implementing methods to help preserve and create migration corridors essential for helping plant species reproduce and thrive. According to a news release, the zoo has three dedicated blooming butterfly gardens, a variety of native plants, and is in the planning stages for ecological recovery zones around its California Trail. At the Earth Day event, guests will have the opportunity to learn about different ways to save pollinator species and take a pledge to grow pollinator-friendly plants. All ages are welcome. The Earth Day event is included with regular zoo admission, which is $20 for children/seniors and $24 for adults. Parking is $10. The zoo is located at 9777 Golf Links Road. For more information, visit http://www.oaklandzoo.org.
NCLR to honor clients, member of Congress
North Beach LGBT landmark
In October, the historic preservation commission signed off on making 524 Union Street a city landmark due to its being the home of several LGBT restaurants, most famously that of the Paper Doll, since the 1940s. In 2017, the Smucha family that owns the building sought to have its historical significance be officially recognized by the city. It would be the city’s fourth property to be landmarked for its association with LGBT history. It would also be the first landmark in the country to focus on an early queer restaurant. According to research done by the Smucha family and Shayne E. Watson, a lesbian and architectural historian hired to assist with the city landmark request, the site has housed bars and restaurants since the late 1840s and was rebuilt after the 1906 earthquake. Their report noted that Tom Arbulich in 1944
The San Mateo County Pride Center has announced that its state funding was approved for two more years. In an email to supporters, center officials said they went to Sacramento to make a presentation to the Mental Health Service Oversight and Accountability Commission to seek the funding extension. About 50 supporters of the center also made the trip. Lisa Putkey, program director of the Pride center, wrote in an email that the funding amount is $1.55 million, which includes $700,000 a year for services and $150,000 for evaluation and development of a replicable tool. In other center news, it is looking for artists and performers for its queer open mic night that is planned for Friday, May 24, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Pride center, 1021 South El Camino Real, San Mateo. May is Mental Health Awareness Month and the center plans an evening of love, laughs, and joyful tears. Interested people can email andres.loyola@sanmateopride.org.
LGBT cultural strategy advances
Assisting LGBT entrepreneurs to open businesses throughout San Francisco is one of the many suggestions contained in the proposed LGBTQ+ Cultural Heritage Strategy the city is set to adopt this year. Since 2017 a working group has devised the strategy in order to preserve the city’s LGBTQ cultural heritage. As the B.A.R. has previously reported, its formation came in response to community concerns about the shuttering of LGBT bars, businesses, and entertainment venues throughout the city. It dovetailed with the separate initiatives to form the trio of LGBT cultural districts, landmark various LGBT historic sites throughout the city, and create public spaces that honor the local LGBT community’s history. A draft version of the strategy
To celebrate the East Bay Regional Park District’s 85th anniversary, the district has planned a number of special events and programs, including free park Fridays and free concerts. Beginning this month, park entry and other fees will be waived every Friday until December. Fee waivers include entrance, day-use parking, swimming, dogs, horse trailers, boat launching, and fishing permits. The fee waiver does not apply to special event permits/reservations, camping, or state fees such as fishing licenses and watercraft inspections. Free concerts are planned from June through September at regional parks in Alameda, Castro Valley, Antioch, and Oakland. All will be familyfriendly music events with food and beverages available for purchase. The park district oversees 73 regional parks that draw over 25 million annual visitors per year. For more information, including concert dates and locations, visit http://www.ebparks.org. t
t <<
From the Cover>>
April 11-17, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 11
Chick-fil-A
From page 1
nicipal Elections Committee, Billy DeFrank LGBTQ+ Community Center, LGBTQ Youth Space, Silicon Valley Stonewall Democrats, Silicon Valley Pride, and the Rainbow Chamber of Silicon Valley wrote a letter April 8 to the mayor and City Council expressing their concerns and asked that a public meeting be held with airport officials to discuss the situation. “To millions of visitors every year, Norman Y. Mineta International Airport is their front door to this city, and we want all of them to feel welcome. Chick-fil-A does not represent San Jose’s values,” states the letter posted on BAYMEC’s Facebook page. “It is not worthy of being the company that visitors first see, and it does not make for a more inclusive environment. ...We further request that, at the earliest legal opportunity, Chick-fil-A leave Mineta San Jose International Airport and be replaced with an organization that shares our values of inclusivity and diversity, and that welcomes all visitors to San Jose.” According to the letter, in March 2018, the San Jose City Council ex-
Jo-Lynn Otto
BAYMEC Community Foundation Executive Director Ken Yeager speaks at a Tuesday news conference about the planned Chick-fil-A restaurant at San Jose’s Airport. Joining him were San Jose City Councilwoman Devora Davis, left, Vice Mayor Chappie Jones, and Councilwoman Pat Foley.
tended its contract with Host International Inc., the airport’s provider of food and beverage companies, to 2026. The contract included a “refresh” to its food program, which included partnering with Chick-fil-A. “I was saddened last week when I was at the airport and saw the logo for Chick-fil-A on a construction wall,” Ken Yeager, a gay man who is a former San Jose councilman and county supervisor, said in a BAYMEC news
Classifieds Cleaning Services>> CLEANING PROFESSIONAL
33 Years Exp. (415) 794-4411 Roger Miller
FEELING DIRTY? – Housecleaning Richard 415-255-0389
GREAT BASIC CLEAN $55 –
Home, Apt Wkly $40. Fast, Cheap, 20yrs+ Exp, Pro. Call/Text John 415-205-0397
Travel>>
Celebrating 34 Years of Fabulous Travel Arrangements! 4115 19th Street San Francisco, CA 94114
11am-5pm (PST) M-F, Closed on Weekends
415.626.1169 www.nowvoyager.com
Notices >> DISCOUNT INSURANCE –
30+ Years Exp. 415-850-1779 David Tsao Lic#0465906
Hauling>>
HAULING 24/7 – (415) 441-1054 Large Truck
Tech Support>>
Tech Support Ralph Doore 415-867-4657
Professional 30+ years exp Virus/Malware GONE! Device setup Mobile Support Network & wireless setup Discreet
Yelp reviews
MACINTOSH HELP •Home OR OFFICE •28 YEARS EXPERIENCE
SFMACMAN.com RICK
415.821.1792
Notices >> NOTICES - THANK YOU ST. JUDE –
May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, glorified, loved and preserved throughout the world now and forever. Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us. St. Jude, worker of miracles, pray for us. St. Jude, helper of the hopeless, pray for us. Say prayer nine time a day. Publication must be promised. B.K.
Legal Notices>> ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-554694
In the matter of the application of: KAORU OGURA, 40 MULLEN AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner KAORU OGURA, is requesting that the name KAORU OGURA, be changed to KAORU OGURA BULLARD. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 30th of April 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.
MAR 21, 28, APR 04, 11, 2019
release issued Tuesday, April 9. “It sends a signal to visitors that San Jose supports businesses that actively work against equal rights for the LGBTQ community.” Yeager is now the executive director of the nonprofit BAYMEC Community Foundation. Advocates held a news conference at San Jose City Hall Tuesday afternoon to address the community’s concerns regarding the fast food res-
taurant’s opening. “This is a question of public property that taxpayer dollars created and continue to support,” BAYMEC President Paul Escobar said in the release. “We would expect that the businesses that open in such public spaces to be reflective of our community and values.” Chick-fil-A is owned by a Southern Baptist family and is based in Atlanta. Its CEO is Dan Cathy, a relative of the founder. For years, the company, through its foundation, has funneled millions of dollars to organizations fighting same-sex marriage, as well as supporting conversion therapy, which is aimed at changing people’s sexual orientation. Fifteen states, including California, and Washington, D.C. have banned conversion therapy for youth. The coalition’s letter stated that the restaurant, which has over 2,000 locations nationwide and 13 in San Jose, “has become a symbol of intolerance for our community.” Chick-fil-A Inc. told the B.A.R. in an emailed response that it embraces all customers. “Our licensee partners and local Chick-fil-A representatives are in continued conversations to clarify misperceptions about our company, and we look forward to serving all
IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO CALIFORNIA BARREL COMPANY LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, Plaintiff, v. All Person Claiming Any Interest, or Lien Upon, the Real Property Herein Described or, Any Part thereof, Defendants. CASE NO. CGC-19-574377 AMENDED SUMMONS [CCP § 751.05] The people of the State of California, to all persons claiming any interest in, or lien upon, the real property herein described, or any part thereof, defendants, greeting (See Memorandum Disclosing Adverse Interest [CCP § 751.07] attached.): You are hereby required to appear and answer the complaint of CALIFORNIA BARREL COMPANY LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, plaintiff, filed with the clerk of the above-entitled court and county, within three months after the first publication of this summons, and to set forth what interest or lien, if any, you have in or upon that certain real property or any part thereof, situated in the City and County of San Francisco, State of California, particularly described as follows: REAL PROPERTY, SITUATE IN THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, COMPRISED OF SIX (6) PARCELS, DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: BEING A PORTION OF PARCEL A, AS SAID PARCEL A IS DESCRIBED IN THAT CERTAIN GRANT DEED RECORDED SEPTEMBER 26, 2016 AS DOCUMENT NUMBER 2016-K334613 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS, IN THE OFFICE OF THE RECORDER OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: PARCEL ONE BEING ALL OF MARYLAND STREET, AS SAID STREET EXISTED PRIOR TO THE VACATION THEREOF, LYING WITHIN SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: BEGINNING AT THE INTERSECTION OF THE NORTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613) WITH THE WESTERN LINE OF SAID MARYLAND STREET; THENCE, FROM SAID POINT OF BEGINNING, ALONG SAID NORTHERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), EASTERLY 80 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID NORTHERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613) WITH THE EASTERN LINE OF SAID MARYLAND STREET; THENCE, ALONG SAID EASTERN LINE OF MARYLAND STREET, SOUTHERLY 279 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID EASTERN LINE OF MARYLAND STREET WITH THE SOUTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613); THENCE, ALONG SAID SOUTHERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), WESTERLY 80 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID SOUTHERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613) WITH SAID WESTERN LINE OF MARYLAND STREET; THENCE, ALONG SAID WESTERN LINE OF MARYLAND STREET, NORTHERLY 279 FEET TO SAID POINT OF BEGINNING. PARCEL TWO BEING ALL OF LOUISIANA STREET, AS SAID STREET EXISTED PRIOR TO THE VACATION THEREOF, LYING WITHIN SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: BEGINNING AT THE INTERSECTION OF THE NORTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613) WITH THE WESTERN LINE OF SAID LOUISIANA STREET; THENCE, FROM SAID POINT OF BEGINNING, ALONG SAID NORTHERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), EASTERLY 80 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID NORTHERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613) WITH THE EASTERN LINE OF SAID LOUISIANA STREET; THENCE, ALONG SAID EASTERN LINE OF LOUISIANA STREET, SOUTHERLY 279 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID EASTERN LINE OF LOUISIANA STREET WITH THE SOUTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613); THENCE, ALONG SAID SOUTHERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), WESTERLY 80 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID SOUTHERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613) WITH SAID WESTERN LINE OF LOUISIANA STREET; THENCE, ALONG SAID WESTERN LINE OF LOUISIANA STREET, NORTHERLY 279 FEET TO SAID POINT OF BEGINNING. PARCEL THREE BEING A PORTION OF GEORGIA STREET, AS SAID STREET EXISTED PRIOR TO THE VACATION THEREOF, LYING WITHIN SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: BEGINNING AT A POINT ON THE WESTERN LINE OF SAID GEORGIA STREET, SAID POINT BEING THE SOUTHWESTERN CORNER OF PARCEL 1, AS SAID PARCEL 1 IS DESCRIBED IN THAT CERTAIN JUDGMENT RECORDED FEBRUARY 1, 2001, AS DOCUMENT NUMBER 2001-G897578 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS, IN SAID OFFICE OF THE RECORDER OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO; THENCE, FROM SAID POINT OF BEGINNING, ALONG THE SOUTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL 1 (DN 2001-G897578), EASTERLY 80 FEET TO A POINT IN THE EASTERN LINE OF SAID GEORGIA STREET, SAID POINT BEING THE SOUTHEASTERN CORNER OF SAID PARCEL 1 (DN 2001-G897578); THENCE, ALONG SAID EASTERN LINE OF GEORGIA STREET, SOUTHERLY 406.42 FEET TO THE NORTHEASTERN CORNER OF PARCEL 3, AS SAID PARCEL 3 IS DESCRIBED IN THAT CERTAIN JUDGMENT QUIETING TITLE RECORDED MAY 26, 1960 IN BOOK A127 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS, AT PAGE 596, IN SAID OFFICE OF THE RECORDER OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO; THENCE, ALONG THE NORTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL 3 (A127 OR 596), NORTHWESTERLY 18.79 FEET TO A POINT ON THE WESTERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613); THENCE, ALONG SAID WESTERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), THE FOLLOWING TWO (2) COURSES: 1) NORTH 03°10’16” WEST 125.39 FEET, AND 2) SOUTH 86°49’44” WEST 63.85 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID WESTERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2001-K334613) AND SAID WESTERN LINE OF GEORGIA STREET; THENCE, ALONG SAID WESTERN LINE OF GEORGIA STREET, NORTHERLY 271.42 FEET, MORE OR LESS, TO SAID POINT OF BEGINNING. PARCEL FOUR BEING A PORTION OF MICHIGAN STREET, AS SAID STREET EXISTED PRIOR TO THE VACATION THEREOF, LYING WITHIN SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: BEGINNING AT A POINT ON THE EASTERN LINE OF SAID MICHIGAN STREET, SAID POINT BEING THE SOUTHEASTERN CORNER OF PARCEL 2, AS SAID PARCEL 2 IS DESCRIBED IN THAT CERTAIN JUDGMENT RECORDED FEBRUARY 1, 2001, AS DOCUMENT NUMBER 2001-G897578 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS, IN SAID OFFICE OF THE RECORDER OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO; THENCE, FROM SAID POINT OF BEGINNING, ALONG SAID EASTERN LINE OF MICHIGAN STREET, SOUTHERLY 157.42 FEET, MORE OR LESS, TO THE NORTHEASTERN CORNER OF PARCEL 4, AS SAID PARCEL 4 IS DESCRIBED IN THAT CERTAIN JUDGMENT QUIETING TITLE RECORDED MAY 26, 1960 IN BOOK A127 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS, AT PAGE 596, IN SAID OFFICE OF THE RECORDER OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO; THENCE, ALONG THE NORTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL 4 (A127 OR 596), NORTHWESTERLY 2 FEET, MORE OR LESS, TO A POINT ON THE WESTERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613); THENCE, ALONG SAID WESTERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), THE FOLLOWING TWO (2) COURSES: 1) NORTH 03°10’16” WEST 9.01 FEET, AND 2) SOUTH 86°49’44” WEST 11.12 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID WESTERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2001-K334613) AND SAID NORTHERN LINE OF PARCEL 4 (A127 OR 596); THENCE, ALONG SAID NORTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL 4 (A127 OR 596), NORTHWESTERLY 6 FEET, MORE OR LESS, TO A POINT ON SAID WESTERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613); THENCE, ALONG SAID WESTERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), NORTH 03°41’19” WEST 143.4 FEET, MORE OR LESS, TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID WESTERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613) WITH THE SOUTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL 2 (DN 2001-G897578); THENCE, ALONG SAID SOUTHERN LINE OF PARCEL 2 (DN 2001-G897578), EASTERLY 18.62 FEET TO SAID POINT OF BEGINNING. PARCEL FIVE BEING A PORTION OF HUMBOLDT STREET, AS SAID STREET EXISTED PRIOR TO THE VACATION THEREOF, LYING WITHIN SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: BEGINNING AT THE INTERSECTION OF THE SOUTHERN LINE OF SAID HUMBOLDT STREET (33 FEET WIDE) WITH THE EASTERN LINE OF MICHIGAN STREET, AS SAID MICHIGAN STREET EXISTED PRIOR TO THE VACATION THEREOF, SAID POINT BEING THE NORTHEASTERN CORNER OF PARCEL 2, AS SAID PARCEL 2 IS DESCRIBED IN THAT CERTAIN JUDGMENT RECORDED FEBRUARY 1, 2001, AS DOCUMENT NUMBER 2001-G897578 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS, IN SAID OFFICE OF THE RECORDER OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO; THENCE, FROM SAID POINT OF BEGINNING, ALONG THE NORTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL 2 (DN 2001-G897578), WESTERLY 18.62 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID NORTHERN LINE OF PARCEL 2 (2001-G897578) AND THE WESTERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613); THENCE, ALONG SAID WESTERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), THE FOLLOWING TWO (2) COURSES: 1) NORTH 03°41’19” WEST 1.31 FEET, AND 2) NORTH 87°24’17” EAST 18.63 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID WESTERN LINE OF PARCEL A (DN 2001-K334613) AND SAID EASTERN LINE OF MICHIGAN STREET; THENCE, ALONG SAID EASTERN LINE OF MICHIGAN STREET, SOUTHERLY 1.12 FEET TO SAID POINT OF BEGINNING. PARCEL SIX BEING A PORTION OF HUMBOLDT STREET, AS SAID STREET EXISTED PRIOR TO THE VACATION THEREOF, LYING WITHIN SAID PARCEL A (DN 2016-K334613), MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: BEGINNING AT THE INTERSECTION OF THE SOUTHERN LINE OF SAID HUMBOLDT STREET (33 FEET WIDE) WITH THE EASTERN LINE OF GEORGIA STREET, AS SAID GEORGIA STREET EXISTED PRIOR TO THE VACATION THEREOF, SAID POINT BEING THE NORTHEASTERN CORNER OF PARCEL 1, AS SAID PARCEL 1 IS DESCRIBED IN THAT CERTAIN JUDGMENT RECORDED FEBRUARY 1, 2001, AS DOCUMENT NUMBER 2001-G897578 OF OFFICIAL RECORDS, IN SAID OFFICE OF THE RECORDER OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO; THENCE, FROM SAID POINT OF BEGINNING, ALONG THE NORTHERN LINE OF SAID PARCEL 1 (DN 2001-G897578), WESTERLY 80 FEET TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAID PARCEL 1 (2001-G897578) AND THE WESTERN LINE OF SAID GEORGIA STREET, SAID POINT BEING THE NORTHEASTERN CORNER OF SAID PARCEL 1 (DN 2001-G897578); THENCE, ALONG SAID WESTERN LINE GEORGIA STREET, NORTHERLY 33 FEET TO THE NORTHERN LINE OF SAID HUMBOLDT STREET; THENCE, ALONG SAID NORTHERN LINE OF HUMBOLDT STREET, EASTERLY 80 FEET TO A POINT ON THE EASTERN LINE OF SAID GEORGIA STREET; THENCE, ALONG SAID EASTERN LINE OF GEORGIA STREET, SOUTHERLY 33 FEET TO SAID POINT OF BEGINNING. PARCELS ONE THROUGH SIX BEING PORTIONS OF APN 4175-017. ATTACHED HERETO IS AN ILLUSTRATIVE INDEX MAP, AND BY THIS REFERENCE, MADE A PART HEREOF. And you are hereby notified that, unless you so appear and answer, the plaintiff will apply to the court for the relief demanded in the complaint, to wit: quiet title to the Property consistent with the legal description above, against all adverse claims of all claimants, known and unknown, as of the date the Complaint in this case was filed. Witness my hand and the seal of said court, DATE: MAR 11 2019 Clerk, By CAROLYN BALISTRERI, DEPUTY [SEAL], CLERK OF THE COURT Memorandum Disclosing Adverse Interest [CCP § 751.07] The following persons are said to claim an interest in, or lien upon, said property adverse to Plaintiff: 1. 1. PG&E, 245 Market Street, N10A, Room 1015, P.O. Box 770000, San Francisco, CA 94177; 2. City and County of San Francisco, Office of the City Attorney, Room 234, City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco, CA 94102, 3. Trans Bay Cable LLC, One Letterman Drive, C5-100, San Francisco, CA 94129; 4. San Francisco Port Authority, Pier 1, The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94111; 5. California Regional Water Quality Control Board for the San Francisco Bay Region, 1515 Clay Street, Suite 1400, Oakland, CA 94612; 6. NRG Potrero LLC, c/o GenOn, 1360 Post Oak Boulevard, Suite 2000, Houston TX 77056 SUMMONS.indd 1
ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-554697 In the matter of the application of: MALAIKA MARIE DREBIN, 2009 DIVISADERO ST #3A, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner MALAIKA MARIE DREBIN, is requesting that the name MALAIKA MARIE DREBIN, be changed to MALAIKA MARIE DREBIN SMYTH. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 14th of May 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.
MAR 21, 28, APR 04, 11, 2019
travelers who pass through the airport,” the statement read. “Our 13 San Jose-area restaurants and nearly 1,000 local team members have embraced customers from all walks of life in the community for the past seven years.” The company also stated, “Recent coverage about Chick-fil-A continues to drive an inaccurate narrative about our brand. We want to make it clear that our sole focus is on providing delicious food and welcoming everyone – not being a part of a national political conversation. We do not have a political or social agenda. More than 145,000 people from different backgrounds and beliefs represent the Chick-fil-A brand, including members of the LGBTQ community. We embrace all people, regardless of religion, race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity.” Think Progress, a progressive advocacy group, reported recently that the Chick-fil-A Foundation donated more than $1.8 million to three groups with a history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination in 2017, according to recently released tax filings it analyzed. Liccardo, Host International Inc., and multiple members of the city council did not return messages from the B.A.R. seeking comment.t
ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-554685 In the matter of the application of: ADAM GERALD RAMADAN, C/O WENDY MARIE GIBSON, GIBSON LAW OFFICES, 394 BEL MARIN KEYS BLVD #3, NOVATO, CA 94949, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner ADAM GERALD RAMADAN, is requesting that the name ADAM GERALD RAMADAN, be changed to ADAM GERALD STOCKWELL. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, on the 23rd of April 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.
MAR 21, 28, APR 04, 11, 2019
3/13/19 11:24 AM
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038552700
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TRANS AMERICA REALTY, 30 SAN JOSE AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MARIO SANCHEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/08/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/08/19.
MAR 21, 28, APR 04, 11, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038565900
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BLISSFUL HAIR SALON, 872 WASHINGTON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed YONGHONG YU. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/18/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/18/19.
MAR 21, 28, APR 04, 11, 2019
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038563500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HEALTHMAX MANGOSTEEN CAPSULE, 935 ULLOA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed RENELEE SO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/15/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/15/19.
MAR 21, 28 APR 04, 11, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038558500
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LEAN AND MEAN PRODUCTIONS, 885 25TH AVE #202, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LUCY HUDSON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/13/19.
MAR 21, 28, APR 04, 11, 2019
<< Legals
12 • Bay Area Reporter • April 11-17, 2019
t
Legal Notices>> FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038561600
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PROPEL REAL ESTATE GROUP, 555 GROVE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ROGER PEREZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/14/19.
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038567900
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038559600
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SUBTRACTION, 940 GEARY ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed RAMSEY WEST ARMSTRONG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/18/19.
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MIN DESIGN, 2325 THIRD ST #203, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed MIDDAY INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/14/19.
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BAY CITY SOUL PRODUCTIONS, 985 INNES AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MARIA VICTORIA AHEARNE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/14/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/14/19.
MAR 28, APR 04, 11, 18, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038571600
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: COLDWAR, 850 SOUTH VAN NESS #45, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed NITA D. RICCARDI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/20/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/20/19.
MAR 28, APR 04, 11, 18, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038572100
MAR 21, 28, APR 04, 11, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038550700
MAR 28, APR 04, 11, 18, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038572400
MAR 28, APR 04, 11, 18, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038566300
MAR 21, 28, APR 04, 11, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038560600
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SUPER APPLIANCE REPAIR, 364 JOOST AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ILDAR TELYAKOV. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/06/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/06/19.
MAR 21, 28, APR 04, 11, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038557300
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DISCRETION, 27 SEARS ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed NICHELLE EMELIA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/20/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/20/19.
MAR 28, APR 04, 11, 18, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038572200
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SOWL BOWLS THAI STREET FOOD, 138 6TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed GLAGHOA LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/12/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/12/19.
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GARCIA CONSTRUCTION, 2804 GONZAGA AVE, RICHMOND, CA 94806. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CARLOS MAURICIO GARCIA LOPEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/20/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/20/19.
MAR 21, 28, APR 04, 11, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038556400
MAR 28, APR 04, 11, 18, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038563400
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE LITTLE CHIHUAHUA MEXICAN RESTAURANT, 475 6TH ST K16, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed TLC SOMA LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/12/19.
MAR 21, 28, APR 04, 11, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038547800
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TRIPLE J LAUNDROMAT SF LLC, 517 O’FARRELL ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed TRIPLE J LAUNDROMAT SF LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/06/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/05/19.
MAR 21, 28, APR 04, 11, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038565200
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ANGELINA LEE, 588 SUTTER ST #333, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed LUXE CAPITAL CONSULTING, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/18/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/18/19.
MAR 21, 28, APR 04, 11, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038564200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: JAMIN JANTZ, 15 KENWOOD WAY, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed FATHER GRAYBEARD LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/01/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/15/19.
MAR 21, 28, APR 04, 11, 2019 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-038209800
The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: MIND YOUR VIBE, 1630 CALIFORNIA ST #407, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by KIMBERLY KHUNARAKSA. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/05/18.
MAR 21, 28, APR 04, 11, 2019 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-18-554496
In the matter of the application of: SARA ANGELICA MATUTE, 850 RUTLAND ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner SARA ANGELICA MATUTE, is requesting that the names DIEGO SANCHEZ be changed to DIEGO SANCHEZ-MATUTE & ESTEFANIA SANCHEZ be changed to ESTEFANIA SANCHEZ-MATUTE. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 2nd of May 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.
MAR 28, APR 04, 11, 18, 2019 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-19-554704
In the matter of the application of: HEATHER MARIE HAMPTON, 190 CERVANTES BLVD #201, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner HEATHER MARIE HAMPTON, is requesting that the name HEATHER MARIE HAMPTON, be changed to MAYA STERIN. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 2nd of May 2019 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.
MAR 28, APR 04, 11, 18, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038574100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FLYNNSPACE TRAVEL CONSULTING, 320 TURK ST #108, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed FLYNN DOMINGUEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/01/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/22/19.
MAR 28, APR 04, 11, 18, 2019
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HUNGERART GALLERY, 1222 SUTTER ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CHRISTOPHER LEE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/15/19.
MAR 28, APR 04, 11, 18, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038570000
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: 535 47TH AVENUE, SAN FRANCISCO, 535 47TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed HENRY WILLIAM VOGE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/19/19.
MAR 28, APR 04, 11, 18, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038570700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: JAIME’S JANITORIAL SERVICES, 1732 POST ST #14, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed FRANCISCO JAIME. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/19/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/19/19.
MAR 28, APR 04, 11, 18, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038566000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE BOYS WHO SAID NO!, 139 CORBETT AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CHRISTOPHER C. JONES. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/18/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/18/19.
MAR 28, APR 04, 11, 18, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038569500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BUENA LANE PHOTOGRAPHY, 3150 18TH ST #246, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed EILEEN ROCHE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/18/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/19/19.
MAR 28, APR 04, 11, 18, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038576800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE CLUB DONATELLO; CLUB DONATELLO; CLUB DONATELLO OWNERS ASSOCIATION, 501 POST ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed CLUB DONATELLO OWNERS ASSOCIATION (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/31/94. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/26/19.
MAR 28, APR 04, 11, 18, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038574800
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PACIFIC BAY ASSESSMENTS & COUNSELING, 1300 CLAY ST #600, OAKLAND, CA 94612. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed EILEEN COLORADO LICENSED CLINICAL SOCIAL WORKER PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/22/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/22/19.
MAR 28, APR 04, 11, 18, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038576600
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BLIND BUTCHER, 4058-A 18TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed CHEFSGROUP INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/25/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/25/19.
MAR 28, APR 04, 11, 18, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038575600
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CHANCE REAL ESTATE, 2309 NORIEGA ST #78, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed COOCRR INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/25/19.
MAR 28, APR 04, 11, 18, 2019
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HDA CONSULTING, 718 LONG BRIDGE ST UNIT 1604, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94158. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed HELENE T. ROOS, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/24/96. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/20/19.
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LOCAL CATERING; TAMALITOS CATERING, 1566 CARROLL AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed CUEVAS LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/06/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/18/19.
MAR 28, APR 04, 11, 18, 2019 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-037063000
The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: THE COTTAGE BAKING COMPANY, 780 WISCONSIN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by ARLENE NAOMI KATO. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/26/16.
MAR 28, APR 04, 11, 18, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038587800
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: RZ MANDARIN STUDIO, 436 CLEMENT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LIQIONG ZHU. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/01/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/01/19.
APR 04, 11, 18, 25, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038587900
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: WE GO, 1214 POLK ST #308, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SANG IN PARK. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/01/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/01/19.
APR 04, 11, 18, 25, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038576000
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: KORINDIAN PRODUCTIONS, 1834 GREAT HIGHWAY, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed GAUTAM BAKSI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/01/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/25/19.
APR 04, 11, 18, 25, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038582600
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: WUSU TRAINING, 1770 NORTH POINT ST #4, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed TOLULOPE WUSU. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/28/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/28/19.
APR 04, 11, 18, 25, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038580900
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MASTERPIECE TATTOO, 766 GEARY ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual and is signed BRAHIAN MARTINEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/27/19.
APR 04, 11, 18, 25, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038579000
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: META MATTERS, 563 DONAHUE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MONICA G. PADILLA-STEMMELEN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/19/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/26/19.
APR 04, 11, 18, 25, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038580200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SELVAVISION, 2261 MARKET ST #292, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KRISTIN TIECHE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/30/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/27/19.
APR 04, 11, 18, 25, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038576500
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CHICKEN N WAFFLES PLACE, 1968 LOMBARD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed RAMENYA (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/25/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/25/19.
APR 04, 11, 18, 25, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038581000
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SENIORE’S PIZZA, 2415 19TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SENIORE’S PIZZA SF INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/27/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/27/19.
APR 04, 11, 18, 25, 2019
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038560200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ARCFLUX STUDIO, 350 BRODERICK ST # 205, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed J.TOBIAS ARCHITECTS, INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/08/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/14/19.
APR 04, 11, 18, 25, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038578000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SF CULTIVATORS; SAN FRANCISCO DISTRO; BULK WEED COMPANY, 1125 REVERE AVE A, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124-3422. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed GSFCA LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/26/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/26/19.
APR 04, 11, 18, 25, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038581100
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HAL HARPER, 240 CHATTANOOGA ST #24, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed IN AMERICA PRODUCTIONS LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/27/19.
APR 04, 11, 18, 25, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038580800
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CUIA ACAI & POSITIVE FOOD, 1 MARKET ST #8, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed BOSSA NOVA GROUP, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/27/19.
APR 04, 11, 18, 25, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038582200
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CAFE ALMA, 888 INNES AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed HUDSON VENTURES LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/01/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/28/19.
APR 04, 11, 18, 25, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038578200
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FIAT LUX JEWELRY, 3169 16TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed FIAT LUX LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/26/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/26/19.
APR 04, 11, 18, 25, 2019 SUMMONS (FAMILY LAW) SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO NOTICE TO RESPONDENT: JULIO CESAR CAAMAL ARGUELLO, YOU ARE BEING SUED. PETITIONER’S NAME IS MARIA MAGDALENA LUNA GODOY CASE NO. FDI-19-791286
You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this Summons and Petition are served on you to file a Response (form FL-120 or FL-123) at the court and have a copy served on the petitioner. A letter, phone call, or court appearance will not protect you. If you do not file your Response on time, the court may make orders affecting your marriage or domestic partnerships, your property, and custody of your children. You may be ordered to pay support and attorney fees and costs. For legal advice, contact a lawyer immediately. Get help finding a lawyer at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courts.ca.gov/selfhelp), at the California Legal Services website (www.lawhelpca.org) or by contacting your county bar association. NOTICE – RESTRAINING ORDERS ARE ON PAGE 2: These restraining orders are effective against both spouses or domestic partners until the petition is dismissed, a judgment is entered, or the court makes further orders. They are enforceable anywhere in California by any law enforcement officer who has received or seen a copy of them. FEE WAIVER: If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the clerk for a fee waiver form. The court may order you to pay back all or part of the fees and costs that the court waived for you or the other party. 1. The name and address of the court are: SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, County of San Francisco, 400 McAllister St, San Francisco, CA 94102; 2. The name, address, and telephone number of petitioner’s attorney, or the petitioner without an attorney, are: Maria Magdalena Luna Godoy, 320 Turk St, San Francisco, CA 94102 415-947-9899 March 8, 2019 Clerk of the Superior Court by Damon Carter, Deputy
APR 11, 18, 25, 2019 IN SUPERIOR COURT, STATE OF WASHINGTON, COUNTY OF KING IN RE THE INTEREST OF: ABRAHAM J. M. GRIBBON, A MINOR. NO. 19-5-00312-1 SEA SUMMONS AND NOTICE OF HEARING RE TERMINATION OF PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP TO: JOHN DOE (UNKNOWN)
A Petition for Termination of Parent-Child Relationship asks that the parent-child relationship between the above-named parent and child be terminated. You may respond to the Summons and Notice by filing a written response with the Court Clerk and serving a copy on David Andersen. If you do not serve your written response within thirty days after the date this Summons was served on you, the court may, without further notice, enter an Order of Default against you, enter an order relinquishing the child to the Petitioners, permanently terminating your parent-child relationship, and approving the adoption of the above-named child. The child was born on Dec 28, 2016, in Bellevue, WA; The natural mother is Elisabeth Gribbon. The court hearing on this matter shall be on May 13, 2019, at 1:30 p.m. in Rm W325, King County Courthouse, 516 3rd Ave, Seattle, WA 98104. Any indigent alleged father has the right to be represented by an attorney if so requested; and, upon such request one will be appointed. Your failure to file a claim of paternity under chapter 26.26 RCW or your failure to respond to the Petition within thirty days of the date of service of Summons and Notice upon you, is grounds to terminate your parent-child relationship with respect to the child. WITNESS: The Hon. Henry H. Judson III, Court Commissioner of said Superior Court and the seal of said court hereunto affixed this date: Apr 08, 2019 Barbara Miner, King County Superior Court Clerk, For King County, WA. K Rich, Deputy Clerk FILE RESPONSE WITH: Superior Court Clerk, King County Courthouse, 516 3rd Ave, Rm W325, Seattle, WA 98104, 206-296-9300 SERVE COPY OF RESPONSE ON: David Andersen, 5507 35th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98105, 206-547-1400
APRIL 11, 18, 25, 2019
NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF IMELDINE BLAIR AKA IMELDINE PARTRICIA BLAIR IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO: FILE PES-19-302649
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of IMELDINE BLAIR AKA IMELDINE PARTRICIA BLAIR. A Petition for Probate has been filed by RICHARD WILLIAM BLAIR II in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. The Petition for Probate requests that RICHARD WILLIAM BLAIR II be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. The petition requests the decedent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court.. A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: May 01, 2019, 9:00 am, Rm. 204, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. If you object to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. If you are a creditor or contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the latter of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined by section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. You may examine the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for petitioner: Mr. Gary R. Lieberman, Esq., 7 Mt. Lassen Drive, Suite A-150, San Rafael, CA 94903 (415) 897-2226.
APR 11, 18, 25, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038560900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THOUSANDFOLD, 1946 36TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DAHEE HAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/16/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/14/19.
APR 11, 18, 25, MAY 02, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038588200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: WALLFLOWER, 4018 24TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SAMIR SALAMEH. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/01/19.
APR 11, 18, 25, MAY 02, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038574500
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MANGOLOTE, 41 THOMAS AVE #9, BRISBANE, CA 94005. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed VICTOR J. VILLAMONTE VENEGAS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/22/19.
APR 11, 18, 25, MAY 02, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038595000
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DIMPLES COCKTAIL LOUNGE, 1700 POST ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed 1700 DIMPLES INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/04/19.
APR 11, 18, 25, MAY 02, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038591000
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SUPREME BUILT, 2754 GREENWICH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed TALBCO DEVELOPMENT CORP. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/02/19.
APR 11, 18, 25, MAY 02, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038586100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: AL’S DELI, 598 GUERRERO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed FIRST DELI LLC (DE). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/29/19.
APR 11, 18, 25, MAY 02, 2019 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038580000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GAME OF BUDZ, 1355 TAYLOR ST #A, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed VERDAMPFER ENTERPRISES LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/14/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/26/19.
APR 11, 18, 25, MAY 02, 2019 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-038212900
The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: L’AMOUR DE SAIGON, 321 W. PORTAL AVE #A, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127. This business was conducted by a corporation and signed by TFLH CORP (CA). The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/09/18.
APR 11, 18, 25, MAY 02, 2019
15
Jungle read
15
House hold
17
16
Chicago hope
Handel man
Vol. 49 • No. 15 • April 11-17, 2019
www.ebar.com/arts
Rick Gerharter
Peter Paul Rubens thinks big by Sura Wood
V
oluptuousness fills nearly every inch of the massive paintings by Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens, a multi-talented man who knew a thing or two about thinking big. His action-packed, busy canvases, crowded with fleshy, bodacious women and creatures both human and beast, are the opposite of minimalist, which is another way of saying they’re unfashionable and out-of-tune with our modern sensibilities. See page 18 >>
Courtesy SFFILM
The earliest known self-portrait of Peter Paul Rubens (ca. 1602-05), “Self-Portrait in a Circle of Friends at Mantua” is part of the exhibit “Early Rubens,” now showing at the Legion of Honor.
International intrigues on film by David Lamble
T
he 2019 edition of the San Francisco International Film Festival unspools from April 10-23 at a record number of venues: the Castro Theatre, Oakland’s Grand Lake Theatre, Berkeley’s Pacific Film Archive, SF’s Victoria Theatre, Roxie Theater, SFMOMA, YBCA, Dolby Cinema and the Theater at Children’s Creativity Museum. Now in its 62nd year, the festival features a significant number of artist tributes, several with special appeal to LGBTQ filmgoers.
Robert Pattinson stars in director Claire Denis’ sci-fi drama “High Life,” playing the 2019 San Francisco International Film Festival.
See page 18 >>
{ SECOND OF THREE SECTIONS }
<< Out There
14 • Bay Area Reporter • April 11-17, 2019
When the editor is a boldface name
Courtesy Putnam
“The Editor” author Steven Rowley.
by Roberto Friedman
“T
he Editor,” a new novel by Steven Rowley (Putnam), takes off from the most promising of premises. What if a first-time novelist discovers that the book editor at Doubleday who signs on to shepherd his book through publication turns out to be Jackie? Yes, that Jackie, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who did in fact do a stint as a book editor at Doubleday in the early 1990s, when this writer’s fantasy takes place. By and large, Rowley gets away with the conceit. We are privy to writereditor conferences where Jackie suggests to the author, James, that his ending is weak and needs revision. James is invited on a working visit to Jackie’s compound in Gay Head, Martha’s Vineyard. But there are
also some scenes that test our suspension of disbelief, such as when James and Jackie sit down to watch Bill Clinton’s acceptance speech at the 1992 Democratic National Convention together. Still, every time Jackie enters the story, there’s delicious fun to be had. The flip side of this gambit is that the chapters when Jackie is offstage inevitably feel flatter, more mundane. Since his novel is autobiographical, in order to find his ending, James must revisit his family, dysfunctional in ways we have seen before. A family secret is spilled in an altogether unconvincing way at Thanksgiving dinner. James is gay, and although he’s thriving in a happy relationship with a struggling young theatre artist in the novel’s present day, we get flashbacks to his uncomfortably closeted youth in the suburbs that are not much different
Write for America’s highest circulation LGBTQ weekly Write for the best! The Bay Area Reporter, the leading LGBT newspaper in San Francisco, has immediate job opportunities.
Assistant Editor, News. Full-time. Position primarily covers LGBT crime, LGBT and HIV/AIDS nonprofits, and some election coverage. Benefits include health and dental insurance, paid vacation. Person must be detail-oriented and able to meet deadlines. Reporting experience preferred; newspaper background a plus. EOE. Send cover letter, resume, and writing samples to Cynthia Laird, news editor at c.laird@ebar.com.
Freelance reporters, News and Arts sections. Part-time. The News and Arts departments are seeking free-lance reporters. Responsibilities include attending assigned meetings or events; covering City Hall, nonprofits, breaking news; covering arts-related news and/or organizations. Availability is flexible: day, evening, or weekend. Candidates should be detail-oriented and able to meet deadline. For news, send cover letter, resume, and writing samples to c.laird@ebar.com. For arts, send the information to editor Roberto Friedman, r.friedman@ebar.com.
from many similar portrayals in gay fiction. Finally, there is the uncomfortable fact that a novel about the struggles a novelist has coming up with a resolution to his novel may be thrillingly meta, but doesn’t stir up much narrative interest among the general populace. So Out There raced through the chapters concerned with family dynamics to get to the juicy parts, which almost all revolved around James’ awe at his editor’s poise, charisma, intelligence and work ethic. Late in the book there’s a scene where Jackie takes James to lunch at the Carlyle, to deliver his galleys. We learn that JFK “was such a frequent guest” at the hotel as a senator in the 1950s that “they installed a private phone line just for him.” After the tragedy of his assassination, “Jackie moved the children into a suite on the 31st floor as she hid from the world; the children would play in the lobby.” We also learn that the hotel’s Bemelmans Bar was named for its murals by Ludwig Bemelmans, who illustrated the Madeline series of children’s books. In a narrative aside, James confides, “I’ve read he also painted a private mural on Aristotle Onassis’ private yacht, the Christina, but I know better than to mention that.” James (and by extension, Rowley) has done his homework. Passages like this are the cherries atop an altogether more workaday fruit salad. Boy, are we lucky that Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis is not our editor, as she would have raised an eyebrow at that clumsy metaphor, and promptly struck it out. The book’s publisher is doing full-court press for the rollout, and publicity materials include testimonials from publishing veterans who worked with Jackie in her time as an editor. Our favorite of these anec-
dotes recalls an editorial meeting in which someone opined that a book cover illustration looked too much “like cone-heads. Jackie leaned over to me and asked, ‘What’s a conehead?’ I explained about the characters on ‘Saturday Night Live.’ A few weeks later, when I saw Jackie in the hallway, she leaned in and said, ‘Now I see cone-heads everywhere.’”
Hostess party
Since producing the triumphant Kim Novak Castro comeback last year, we’ve heard nary a peep from the normally loquacious impresario Marc Huestis. Until now. We’re pleased to be the first to announce that Huestis’ showbiz memoir, aptly titled “Impresario of Castro Street,” will hit the streets on June 18. The 360-page tome features 100 gorgeous color pix. The Kindle version is now available for presale on Amazon, where it is already the #1 Bestseller in theatre biographies. The paperback will be available soon.
t
Huestis’ book is chock-full of dish, featuring memories such as a knock-down, drag-out political argument with Harvey Milk, a dinner with Ann Miller in which her pricey ring slipped off her finger right into her mashed potatoes, Sandra Dee enjoying a foot message from a homeless woman in front of the Baghdad Cafe, Debbie Reynolds getting smashed in the private room at the 2223 Restaurant, and daughter dearest Christina Crawford ordering Huestis to get down on his knees to pick a few stray kernels of popcorn off the theatre carpet (“Christina, clean up that mess!”). Other celebs and stars receiving the full-on Huestis treatment in the memoir are John Waters, Karen Black, Tony Curtis, Jane Russell, Ann Blyth, and Patty Duke. Huestis is planning a star-studded launch event in the last week in June. It’s still hush-hush, but check these pages for the full 411. It’s going to be yuuuuge!t
Steven Underhill
“Impresario of Castro Street” author Marc Huestis.
Cold in Key West by Tim Pfaff
I
n a recent interview the master of the American short story (I’m not naming names) said there should be no reason to read the stories in a collection sequentially. The observation bore in on me as I read my way sequentially through Michael Carroll’s new short story collection, “Stella Maris and Other Key West Stories” (Turtle Point Press). It felt like making it out of the swamps to terra firma when I reached “Key West Funeral,” third from last of the collection’s eight stories. The story is as mercurial as the others, but its meander among the consciousness of its characters coheres, if in the way a cyclone does. Despite his stated intentions to the contrary, Carroll’s writing in these stories is exhibitionist. Perhaps because by then I was trained, I was moved by the story as much as by its author’s manifest skills as storyteller. Key West is to these stories what Houston is to Bryan Washington’s “Lot.” The stories are interwoven and characters interact across them in a way that creates a world even for those who have never visited these places. Carroll gives a more kaleidoscopic view of the gay getaway on the other side of the Gulf, with more frequent changes of reference both within stories and among them. Most of the changes are whiplash, leaving the reader to make transitions or just hold on for the ride. The gang all there for the beachside funeral celebrating the life, and glossing over the suicide, of Douglas Harlan, known to some only as the drag queen Cherry de Vine, includes
a stable of principal players and a gallery of walk-bys who pause to wonder and walk-ins who stay to drink. Carroll tips his authorial hat by beginning the second sentence with the words, “Dead Douglas.” The celebrant, Father Bill, is one of Carroll’s most sympathetic characters, a kindly drunk right out of Malcolm Lowry who observes the lives of others, viewing them compassionately through the bottom of a glass. Before the wake has run its hallucinatory course, Dead Douglas had also earned our sympathies, and Sandrine, an alcohol-abstinent French ex-pat caterer extraordinaire who “rarely was seen snacking or doing anything else with food but arranging it,” our admiration. Nearly to a one, the characters spark a wince of recognition, and the closety men and straight women get particularly harsh scrutiny. The few, always young, gay characters
Jeff Bond
“Stella Maris” author Michael Carroll.
with consistently held and actedupon values, not to say innocence, are depicted as those whose time in gay hell has merely not yet come. The value of reading the stories sequentially is that Carroll invokes the sense of psychic fracture from the opening lines of the first story, “Sugar and Gold,” where “four cuties, naked by the pool except for their striped towels,” sit around the pool and hot tub, drinking and complaining. That fact that the scene is all-too-familiar does not make their conversation any easier to follow. No one’s ennobled by the goings-on, including “an older guy at the bar with his back to them.” “Stella Maris” is no country for old men, at least if they’re looking for meaning in what remains of their lives, or even consolation. The cuties profit from their parodied See page 15 >>
t
Theatre>>
April 11-17, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 15
Refugee camp drama by Jim Gladstone
Y
ou will find yourself in a crowded, unfamiliar place, a Babel of languages shouted all around you. Strangers will push past, elbowing you aside, and others may try to pick your pockets. Countercurrents of music and dust and impassioned oratory will fill the air, spinning your head, making you uncertain what to listen to, where to look, how to act. “The Jungle,” now at the Curran theater, is a flight simulator: It places you amidst the mass migration of thousands of refugees fleeing poverty, misogyny, terrorism and religious fanaticism. Performers and audience members share space in set designer Miriam Buether’s crowded international shantytown. Playwrights Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson have specifically set their script in the Calais, France encampment where thousands of UK-asylum-seekers from the Middle East and Africa created a makeshift city in 2015-16. But their characters’ stories will deepen your understanding of refugees everywhere, of the harrowing physical and emotional conditions they endure in seeking better lives for themselves and their children. Cannily directed by Stephen
Daldry and Justin Martin, “The Jungle” theatrically compresses the experience of its subjects for the audience, forcing us to feel the jarring chaos of displacement before allowing us to connect with individual characters, listen to their stories and reengage our empathy. We are dehumanized then rehumanized, but left rattled and raw. The refugees’ stories, based on accounts the playwrights heard firsthand while volunteering in the Calais camp, are heartbreaking. Salar (Ben Turner), the Afghan whose ad hoc restaurant becomes the camp’s de facto town hall, recalls the repeated destruction of his own hometown by the Taliban. Eritrean Helene (Nahel Tzegai) speaks of traveling by foot across thousands of miles of barren desert, scorching by day, freezing by night. Okot (John Pfumojena), a haunted-eyed Sudanese teenager, tells of witnessing his mother’s rape, then being set adrift at sea by human smugglers, literally piled with 700 others in a boat built for a third as many. The intimate sharing of these narratives alone would make “The Jungle” a powerful experience, but the playwrights complicate matters considerably through another group of characters: a crew of British aid workers whose mix of po-
Salar (Ben Turner) and Mohammed (Jonathan Nyati) in “The Jungle,” now playing the Curran.
bring his patience to a boiling point. When Azell recalls his own failings, including physically abusing his wife, Jones shows us a two-tiered fury: the drunken rage of his past overlaid with a newfound anger at himself. Moricette’s Abasiama is less nuanced. She swings from an almostcomatose recessiveness to howling fury. The audience needs more middle ground if she’s to win empathy for her character rather than pity. The set design by Andrew Boyce is handsome and poetic. Abasiama’s living room, with its huge windowed porch, flows almost seamlessly into a front yard full of leafless trees, the visual blend of interior and exterior echoing the porous boundary between the old woman’s inner turmoil and her physical living space. In one scene, Azell stands in the yard during a violent rainstorm watching through the windows as Abasiama rages through the house. Sara Hud-
aspect of “In Old Age,” Mfoniso Udofia’s latest installment of her “Ufot Cycle” of nine plays following the lives of an extended NigerianAmerican family, now playing the Magic Theater. Udofia has said that while the plays have linkages, each should be able to stand on its own. Considering only the excellent recent A.C.T. production of “Her Portmanteau”
and this Magic world premiere as evidence, I’d agree, but with a caveat: Each play can also stumble on its own. That’s unfortunately the case with “In Old Age,” a muzzily structured psychological hauntedhouse tale that’s all mood and little narrative energy or logic. “In Old Age” finds Abasiama (Nancy Moricette), the Ufot family matriarch, living in the drafty, battered Wooster, Massachusetts house she shared with her late second husband. Her grown children rarely visit, but they have pooled funds to hire Azell, recommended as trustworthy by a local church, to refinish their mother’s hardwood floors and make any other necessary repairs to the house. Unbeknownst to either her children or to her gentleman caller at first, Abasiama is far more damaged than her home. The audience is made privy to the sounds in her head, oppressive creaks and booming thumps that seem to emanate from the house itself, as if the walls have absorbed and are now regurgitating the worst of her marriage and memories. Azell arrives each morning to wrangle with this cantankerous woman. Their superficially oppositional repartee reveals glimmers of commiseration and a common loneliness. Their covert flirtation is a crotchety, hunchbacked ballet. Jones turns in a terrific performance. His face is a bubbling mudpot of emotion. We can see Azell straining to be a good Christian gentleman even as Abasiama’s unreasonable demands repeatedly
bitter, Carroll’s got you covered. Few readers will come to this book unaware that Carroll is the husband of Edmund White, both committed enthusiasts of their open relationship. In the final story, “The Book about Perry,” characters who bear noteworthy resemblance to both take center stage in a bleak drama about the perils of aging and the bittersweet nature of the mentor-mentee relationship. Carroll’s line about an earlier couple serves here: “Their lives together were couplets, a good line being just everything.”
These stories are as complex as they are bluntly profane. Sex is everywhere, but you only watch it once. Characters bob in and out like specters, and time is as bent as it is cruel. While he never lets you forget his authorial agility, Carroll stints on transitions and is so promiscuous with pronouns and their antecedents that keeping up requires a discipline from the reader not a single character evinces. Any impetus to stop and figure it out is dulled by the author’s hints that it is all, to steal a phrase from “Key West Funeral,” “more of a feathery sideswipe.”t
Jennifer Reiley
Nancy Moricette as Abasiama in “In Old Age” at the Magic Theatre.
“T
here’s a taste between us,” handyman Azell Abernathy tells his reluctant client, Abasiama Ufot. “Sweet-sour. The taste between us is pickle.” Indeed, the piquant relationship and tart-tongued dialogue between its two cantankerous septuagenarian characters is the most appealing
<<
Stella Maris
From page 14
vacuity, but the dead, of whom Douglas is only one, are less painful to watch than the aging, middleaged, and decrepit old, a largely unsavory bunch of wannabe artists, failed writers and other left-overs depicted in prose with the writhing grotesquery of Hieronymus Bosch. Nothing like “The Divine Comedy” will come out of this boozy hell, sketched with a poisoned pen. Whether your taste in gay selfhatred runs toward the sour or the
Little Fang
The Jungle, through May 19 at the Curran, 445 Geary St., SF. Tickets ($25-$165): (415) 3581220, www.sfcurran.com.
Phantom pain
by Jim Gladstone
litical outrage and utopian idealism ingeniously plays with theatergoers’ sense of noble self-regard. Ginger-haired, wire-rimmed 18-year-old Sam (Tommy Letts) enters the camp shooting video from a selfie-stick, documenting the scene like the Mark Cohen character in some dire, global version of “Rent.” In a moment, it reframes that show, adored by many as a serious take on major social issues, as a callow firstworld-problem play. When English tutor Beth (Rachel Redford) delivers a complicated speech about whether privileged NGO workers are earnest devotees to their causes or indulging in “virtue signaling,” it makes you wonder the same about privileged “Jungle”goers. “The Jungle”’s unusual staging and production design have been touted as providing a unique, immersive experience. In fact, it shocks us into recognizing our pre-existing immersion. There’s a devastating refugee story at play on the world stage. It’s a choice to cast oneself as a spectator or to take on a more significant role.t
dleston’s thunderous sound design and the eerie shifts and blinks of York Kennedy’s lighting do a marvelous job enhancing the threatening ambience. “In Old Age” is directed by Victor Malana Maog, who also helmed the beautifully detailed “Her Portmanteau.” He struggles here with Udofia’s far less developed characterizations and a scenario that’s both vague and repetitive. The show ends with a headscratcher: Abasiama and Azell snuggle like lovebirds while telepathically reading each other’s memories. Until that point, having adored Udofia’s work in “Her Portmanteau,” I’d kept struggling to make sense of this play. But this was one too many sour notes. It was time to give up the ghost.t In Old Age, through April 21, Magic Theatre, Fort Mason, Bldg. D. Tickets ($15-$75): (415) 441-8822, magictheatre.org.
StevenUnderhill PHOTOGRAPHY
415 370 7152
StevenUnderhill.com StevenUnderhillPhotos@gmail.com
<< Music
16 • Bay Area Reporter • April 11-17, 2019
April brings star turns, musical riches by Philip Campbell
run are performances Fri., April 12, 7 p.m., Herbst t’s spring, and the GiTheatre in San Francisco; ants are back in Oracle and Sat., April 13, 7:30 pm, Park. But sports fans are First United Methodist arts-lovers, too, and PhilharChurch in Palo Alto. The monia Baroque and the San PBO debut of counterFrancisco Symphony are also tenor Aryeh Nussbaum drawing crowds to Herbst Cohen as David in “Saul” Theatre and Davies Symhas created extraordinary phony Hall to cheer musical buzz. He is breaking out players in damp and drizzly on the national scene and April. has even made his Vienna Philharmonia Baroque debut, but Bay Area audiOrchestra & Chorale (PBO) ences can claim an exciting recently announced “Reflecearly star-sighting. The tions 2019-20,” programs minute he appears, that and events scheduled and unmistakable quality is designed to look back on and clear. His participation celebrate the legacy of Music with the Merola Opera Director Nicholas McGegan, Program 2016 and subsewho is stepping down at the quent selection as a 2019 end of the season. ComAdler Fellow alerted evCourtesy PBO missions, Grammy Awarderyone to an exceptionally winning performers, the West Countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen will sing promising talent. Coast Premiere of the praised David in “Saul” with Philharmonia Baroque The countertenor voice NY production of Handel’s Orchestra & Chorale. may be an acquired taste “Aci, Galatea e Polifemo” with to many listeners; the adult star countertenor Anthony practice. Conducting Bach from male alto voice, either natRoth Costanzo, and a fully staged the harpsichord, his concert “The ural or falsetto, is often an acquired production of Leclair’s “Scylla et Well-Caffeinated Clavier” includes range for many singers with a higher Glaucus,” which PBO will take on Johann Sebastian’s upbeat “Coffee vocal register, but Aryeh has been a tour to Versailles, highlight McGeCantata.” true countertenor from the get-go. gan’s versatility and expertise over For now, PBO ends the current The uncommon strength and soulmore than 35 years on the podium. season with an exciting presentation ful expressivity of his remarkable In February 2020, English of Handel’s magnificent oratorio instrument may well stem from his keyboard player and conductor “Saul.” At Davies Hall, the SFS powseven years serving as a cantor for Richard Egarr returns for his first ers through April with three guest High Holiday services at a Conserperformances as PBO’s Music Diconductors and three stellar guest vative synagogue, starting when he rector Designate. Like McGegan, pianists. was just 15. he is internationally admired for “Saul” will tour to LA’s Disney If anyone is destined to win new historically informed performance Hall on April 10, but finishing the fans for countertenors, place your
I
bets on the Brooklyn-born kid who won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2017, and prestigious awards from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation and the George London Foundation. He makes his San Francisco Opera debut this summer as Medoro in Handel’s “Orlando.” Sopranos Sherezade Panthaki and Yulia Van Doren, tenors Aaron Sheehan and Jonathan Smucker, baritone Daniel Okulitch, bassbaritone Christian Pursell, and the Philharmonia Chorale, Bruce Lamott, director, join conductor Nic McGegan for Handel’s powerful Biblical epic, a perfect PBO season finale. philharmonia.org. The subtle auditioning of conductors at Davies Symphony Hall ended when Esa-Pekka Salonen was announced new Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony, beginning in 2020. The brilliant choice has satisfied just about everyone, but MTT still has one more season to go, and the parade of accomplished guest conductors continues at DSH. Artistic and Music Director Designate of the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and Music Director of Artis-Naples, Andrey Boreyko appears April 11-12 & 14 with pianist Emanuel Ax, essaying the mighty Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2. Boreyko takes the spotlight with the Orchestra’s first performances of Zemlinsky’s “Die Seejungfrau” (“The Mermaid”), a lush symphonic treatment of Hans Christian Andersen’s dark fairy tale. Wild and
t
sumptuously romantic, Zemlinsky’s take is decidedly un-Disney-like, which should prove an exciting revelation. Australian conductor Simone Young makes her SFS debut April 18-20 with marvelous FrenchCanadian pianist Louis Lortie performing two works by Maurice Ravel, the haunting “Pavane pour une infante défunte” (“Pavane for a Dead Princess”) and the captivating, jazz-inflected Piano Concerto in G Major. Young continues the fairy-tale theme started by Boreyko with Rimsky-Korsakov’s irresistible “Scheherazade.” It may be one of the world’s most familiar classical hits, but like the fabulous storyteller, it is worth 1,001 listens. James Gaffigan leads concerts April 25-27 that include Mozart’s delightful Symphony No. 31, “Paris” (his first to include clarinets), Wagner’s “Good Friday Spell” from “Parsifal,” and Samuel Barber’s Neo-Romantic Symphony No. 1. If you thought he was a one-hit wonder with the famous Adagio, prepare for a bracing surprise. Poetic, adventurous, and technically dazzling pianist (and noted animal conservationist) Helene Grimaud has been compared to the iconoclastic Glenn Gould for her willingness to explore unconventional practice. She performs Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto in her welcome return to DSH. Expect her instinctive taste to yield fresh results.t
Faster, citizens, faster! by Jim Gladstone
O
h, the irony. There’s a terrific 45-minute show to be excavated from the two hours of material in “Time Sensitive,” a good-humored takedown of contemporary capitalism’s devotion to acceleration. Presented by Ragged Wing Ensemble at the Flight Time black-box theater in downtown Oakland, the performance piece, written and directed by Amy Sass, is at its best in snappily choreographed ensemble pieces: a phalanx of office workers marching in lockstep as their fingers fly over invisible keyboards, chanting, “Eat. Shit. Work. Fuck”; a cabal of caffeine fiends placing orders at Starbucks in rat-a-tat rhythm; a swarm of morti-
Since 1977
cians promoting the snarkily overefficient notion of life as “a drive-thru funeral parlor.” These routines take aim at easy targets, but that’s not a problem because the targets are worthy and the shooting style unique. Evocative, staccato movement combines with wordplay delivered at such a rapid clip that Dad jokes alchemize into poetry. The notion of “a full plate” is visually rendered by workers carrying teetering towers of dishes. An office manager tells her crew that “we must be informed in advance of unplanned events.” Interspersed with these large numbers, though, are smaller, slower vignettes in which the dozen-member cast breaks into smaller groups and takes on recurrent characters in a loose, impressionistic plot that’s sort of cross between Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis” and “Pinocchio.” One of these recurrent bits is particularly
resonant. Akaina Ghosh plays a businesswoman purchasing the ability to conceive and deliver a baby in a single month so she won’t have to miss work. But the bulk of these pieces aren’t nearly as successful as the full-ensemble work. The theme of “Time” isn’t rendered specifically or tightly enough to give the whole of the show much backbone. Time is money, time is a lifecycle, time is industrialization, time is a manmade fiction – theme is flabby. Sass’ work is crisp when it focuses on the modern urban workplace, but gets diffuse and distended when it drifts into other realms. One fable-like throughline, featurSerena Morelli ing a terrifically controlled performance by Keith Davis as Keith Cory Davis as the Kid set in motion by a robot child, is given far more Simone Bloch in “Time Sensitive.” prominence than it deserves.
Open 24/7 3991-A 17thSt Market & Castro, San Francisco
415-864-9795
Time Sensitive plays Fri.-Sun. through May 4 at Flight Deck, 1540 Broadway, Oakland. Tickets ($25$45): (510) 858-7383, www.raggedwing.org.
Vexed veteran by Jim Piechota
Serving Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner all day
Costume designer Lauren Ann Tannous makes her biggest mark with the swooping, silvery robes worn by “Ice Monks” in the show’s opening and closing numbers. But the notion of geologic time and the meditative aspect of watching ice melt that these scenes are intended to convey (per the printed program) seem tacked on and excessive. When “Time Sensitive” is quick on its feet, it’s a pleasure. Too often it moves at a glacial pace.t
Men Touching by Henry Alley; Chelsea Station Editions, $20
E
ugene, Oregon author Henry Alley’s four previous novels and immaculate 2017 collection of short stories “The Dahlia Field” demonstrate him as a commanding presence on the gay literary scene. His latest, the astute literary examination of the enduring trauma of wartime military service “Men Touching,” is set in the mid-1980s and follows Robb Jorgenson, a Seattle biology professor in his 40s. Robb is a Vietnam veteran haunted by the memory of his time in Saigon. A hit-and-run accident there is preventing him from finding peace in the present with his partner Bart, and fueling fever
dreams, panic attacks, and a benzodiazepine pill-popping habit. Daily life becomes complicated by harsh memories as he tries to function beneath the shadow of addiction, deep
depression, and post-traumatic stress. Robb’s sister Olivia consoles him and attempts to relate to his situation, but she is struggling with her own recovery issues and messy interpersonal melodrama with her family. Bart also struggles with his sexual identity and the entanglements involved in coming out to his family in the face of homophobia, bigotry, and misunderstanding. Author Alley has a firm grasp on the timeframe in which his fifth novel is set. The AIDS epidemic was a hovering specter inflicting fear, horror, disbelief, and paranoia on an unsuspecting community and anyone connected to it. Alley nails the tragedy with palpable grief and agony, yet with unity and the solidarity of love and friendship. Robb is an engaging character, but his strength diminishes as the novel progresses. He is depressive
and glum, making the reader look for other characters in the novel to bring some levity to the story. Robb also has a temporary dalliance with heterosexuality. Because the development isn’t fully fleshed out, it becomes an awkward tic in an otherwise entertaining novel about a gay man recovering from his time in war and the scars he attempts to heal. Intermingled with it all are Alley’s descriptions of men in many forms and motions, which his main character can’t help but admire. From the opening page, the male body is featured as an art-form. Whether clothed in black Lycra tights or a purple polo shirt, massaging him, driving a jeep or running in the street, men are front-and-center in Robb’s field of vision. Alley captures this physical adoration and primal desire to see and connect with the same sex brilliantly.t
t
TV>>
April 11-17, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 17
The Lavender Tube loves Lightfoot by Victoria A. Brownworth
T
he best thing we saw on TV this week was Lori Lightfoot kissing her wife, Amy Eshelman. Lightfoot was elected as Chicago’s first black woman and first out LGBTQ mayor in a landslide victory. An outsider candidate, Lightfoot ran against the infamous Chicago Democratic machine as a strong progressive. So Lightfoot’s win, with 70% of the vote across all 50 of the city’s wards, was declarative. Watching her tour the networks on the morning shows after her win was the best political moment since the midterms. We haven’t had many wins in the Trump era, and this was definitely one of them. Lightfoot told CNN’s Don Lemon (how cool was it to have the country’s only out black gay anchor interviewing the country’s first out black lesbian mayor?) that her win was “historic, and it’s very gratifying.” She said, “Being the first black woman and first lesbian to lead the city is monumental. This is something obviously that we’ve been talking about, the historic nature of the election, for some time.” Lightfoot said, “It would’ve been a remarkable thing to see a black lesbian leading the city” when she was a child. She grew up in Ohio and attended universities in Michigan and Chicago. “It would’ve been something that I talked about with my parents and my classmates, and I hope our children are watching. I want to make sure that kids all over the city and all over the country understand that they can do anything that they set their minds to do, as long as they’ve got good, strong support from adults and love.” The last out big city mayor was former Houston mayor Annise Parker, now president and CEO of the Victory Fund and Institute, which works to elect LGBTQ candidates. Parker, who was in Chicago campaigning for Lightfoot on Election Day and at her victory party, spoke to NBC about Lightfoot’s win. “A black lesbian taking power in the nation’s third-largest city is a historic moment for so many communities that are too often ignored in American politics.” Parker said, “Lori will certainly remain focused on the issues facing Chicago, but as the highest-ranking LGBTQ person ever elected mayor of an American city (a title she takes from me) she is also now a key leader in the movement to build LGBTQ political power nationwide.” We take these wins when and as they come. This was a big one. Seeing Lightfoot, Eshelman and their 11-year-old daughter Vivian at the victory party was a moment we got to share and savor.
Eye spy
The “Queer Eye” guys went political April 4 & 5 in the surge to try and finally get the Equality Act passed. Four of the show’s Fab 5 (minus Karamo Brown) went to Washington and dropped in on some folks at Capitol Hill to advocate for the passage of the Equality Act, legislation meant to ensure federal protections for LGBT people. On April 4, Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeted out a selfie with the guys and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from her office with the message, “@ QueerEye: Feel free to let us know when you want @RepAOC & me to fill in next. #Fab5” AOC sent out several pics of herself and the four “Queer Eye” celebs, noting, “On Capitol Hill, we wear pink!” and, “Justice happens together!”
Along with Pelosi and drama. The 8-episode series, Ocasio-Cortez, “QEs” Antoni just greenlit for a second Porowski, Tan France, Bobby season, follows the journey Berk and Jonathan Van Ness of an extraordinary young met with several members girl raised in the forest as she of Congress. Antoni posted evades the relentless pursuit a pic of himself with AOC of an off-book CIA agent on Instagram with the mesand tries to unearth the truth sage, “Both of us previously behind who she is. Deeply waiters. Today, one of us is interior and atmospheric, championing for the Vio“Hanna” has “The Killing”’s lence Against Women Act, Mireille Enos (Marissa), and ending the privatization of Esme Creed-Miles as Hanna. prisons, enacting gun control Hanna was part of a govpolicies and abolishing U.S. ernment experiment with Immigration and Customs the usual super-race stuff. So she has skills. She’s been Enforcement, while the other living in the forest and off regularly contemplates what kind of cheese to end the day the grid with her pseudo-dad with. Guess who’s who?” Erik (Joel Kinnaman). It’s Berk posed with AOC for been a childhood of the suran Instagram pic. He offered vivalist arts as well as honCourtesy CNN to help AOC style her D.C. ing her super-race abilities. apartment after she admit- Lori Lightfoot, Chicago’s first black woman and first out LGBTQ mayor, on CNN. Enter Marissa (Enos), using ted she still hadn’t furnished the entire compendia of init yet, and was sleeping on a telligence-agency resources Bond-esque secret agent. Yes. The to Ye Olde Radical Fairy days with mattress on the floor. to track Hanna and end her. series is the baby of producer Mike his in-your-face queer styling. We Van Ness shared a video on InstaBut Hanna has that eerie skill-set, Schur (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”), hope those skirts and boots set the gram of himself wearing a hot pink so she can hear a leaf turn from a so he already does gay, and Hayes. GOP swooning. sweater, pleated tie-dye skirt and mile away and hear birds breathing. The half-hour project is “about We are so ready for a Netflix AOC fabulous shin-high boots a shiny There’s some faltering as the series a handsome secret agent and his and “Queer Eye” special, with a magenta metallic on one side and adds a subplot that is the comingteam of fellow LGBTQ superspies. cameo from Pelosi. Mostly, though, black-and-white polka dot matte of-age part, but hopefully that gets Constantly underestimated by their we appreciate “QE” traveling to D.C. on the other. Van Ness was walkexcised in the second season. colleagues, the members of Q-Force on behalf of all of us. We really were ing with AOC, who was wearing If you aren’t watching FX’s new have to prove themselves time and left Verklempt by it all. a fuchsia pantsuit and series “What We Do in the Shadagain as they embark on extraorAnd we were Verklempt from black V-neck. Van Ness ows,” why not? This hilarious, dinary professional (and personal) the April 4 season finale of “Will & declared, “Never been deeply queer, super dark comedy adventures,” per Netflix, which deGrace” as well. A five-hankie event more proud.” We so apabout a bunch of vampires and their clined to tell us whether Hayes will (spoilers ahead), Jack & Estefan’s prove that message and friends is killer. We’ve re-watched voice the lead character. Big Gay Wedding got re-routed to that outfit. the first two episodes 10 times and All these fabulous moments the airport when their flight was The Equality Act catch more nuance each time. The notwithstanding, the world really grounded. Fortunately, legendary would introduce an players are magnificent, the sethas been waiting for the return of drag queen Miss Coco Peru was amendment to the tings spectacular and every time the “Game of Thrones” for its final flying through and could officiate. Civil Rights Act progroup decides to just turn into bats season. If you’re a “GoT” devotee, She greeted Jack with “You big, gay hibiting discriminaand fly off, it’s truly surprising and this is your time. Relish it, feel the bitch!” tion based on sexual LMAO funny. dragon breath and hope that there Grace came to the conclusion or gender identity. On a panel at Written, created and produced can be something else in your future she and Noah were not meant to be the Library of Congress, Van Ness by New Zealand comedians Taika that will measure up to the sheer right before a chance meeting with said, “Depending on the state in Waititi and Jemaine Clement, the monumentality of the Lannisters a handsome stranger. McCoy’s job this country you can be fired for all series is based on their 2014 film of and Starks or life in Westeros and offer to be an anchor in London sorts of things, you have discrimithe same name. It’s is set in Staten Essos. While it often feels as if we made Will worried that a long-disnation at jobs, you have discrimiIsland and follows three vampires are living a real-life “GoT,” it will tance relationship would break the nation in school. We have the most who have been roommates for hunbe hard to let the series go after lo couple up, but McCoy (Matt Bomer, diverse American Congress ever, dreds of years. After an unexpected these many seasons. So enjoy while devastatingly handsome) was way I’m lifted up in seeing that a United visit from their ancient Master of you can. And gird your loins for the ahead of Will on that and proposed States that values equality and prothe Old Country, they must find finale to end all finales. to Will during the wedding. And tection for all is currently fighting a way to conquer Staten Island for While the dark doings of “GoT” advice from Smitty made Karen refor that.” He hinted at his choices the vampire race before he awakens consider her commitment to Nikki play out on HBO, “Killing Eve” refor president, noting, “We’re makfrom his slumber. The description and her own sexual orientation. turns for a second season on BBC, ing it rain pantsuits and equality in of how the lead vampires missed the There were some adorable moand we are so here for it. Sandra 2020.” Yes. dictate to conquer Staten Island is ments with Jack & Estefan, who are Oh’s Emmy-winning eponymous Van Ness also posted a photo of beyond hilarious. This is an utterly sweet together and so, so queeny. We performance in the dark comedyhimself in front of the Washington fabulous series that is pitch-perfect. love that. And since we hated how thriller lesbo-erotic series is reason Monument with the caption, “There Check out the trailers. Grace was being treated by Noah, enough to be waiting for season two. is currently no legal protection at “Better Things” is also back on we were glad to see that relationship But there is so much more. Jodie the federal level for LGBTQ people FX for another season, this one end. Comer’s charmingly sociopathic asin the United States. Learn about & darker, more sexual and more deepBut we really wanted Karen & sassin, Villanelle, is riveting. Pass the #EqualityAct.” ly invested in Sam’s (Pamela Adlon) Nikki to be a thing. The previous This show really is female-badassSeveral lawmakers posed with the attempts to have a life separate from week Karen had said of her sexual driven. While there are substantive four queer celebs, including House her mother and kids. Can it happen? experiences with Nikki, “Presidensecond-tier male characters, it’s the Majority Leader-Maryland ConA tragi-comic sexual encounter with tially speaking, I prefer Bush to two principles, along with Fiona gressman Steny Hoyer. Hoyer, tweether ex at his hotel room suggests the Johnson.” It will be painful to let Shaw’s acerbic Carolyn Martens, ing a pic from the balcony outside the path may be rocky. “Better Things” genius lines like that go. head of the Russian section of Capitol with the Washington Monuis one of the most consistently real Kudos to the writers who posiMI6, that propel all the action. It’s ment in the background said, “Proud comedy-drama series we know. We tioned Karen in front of the PA sysfabulous. The second season began to be part of the #Fab5, even briefly. never come away from it not thinktem to tell Nikki (and the entire airApril 7, with lots of repeats. You can Thanks to the cast of @QueerEye for ing about the issues Adlon continport) “I’m straight,” in a reprise of watch season one on Hulu and BBC. stopping by today to urge support ues to raise about how we achieve Ellen’s coming out to Laura Dern 25 “Killing Eve” was developed by the for the #EqualityAct. As Majority (or don’t) intimacy with others, and years ago the same way. As the statespectacular Phoebe Waller-Bridge Leader, I look forward to bringing how hard it is to land in one’s 40s ment echoes throughout the place, (“Fleabag”) and is truly one of the #HR5 to the Floor to ensure #LGBT without crashing. Miss Coco sashays in and says, “Oh best series available. Americans are fully protected under So for all the good things and no, children could hear that!” So too is “Hanna,” a new original our civil rights laws.” trying not to think about the bad The wedding itself was jubilant series from Amazon, based on the California’s own Rep. Judy Chu ones, the end of days on “GoT,” but and joyful. On Twitter, Miss Coco 2011 film. Feral kids continue to be posted several photos of herself hopefully not our nation and a little wrote an emotional coda to how we a big draw, and in this year of the spy with the “Queer Eye” contingent. touch of fantasy to keep us thrivfelt. “When I created Coco, it was thriller, “Hanna” is equal parts highOn Twitter she said, “The @Queering, you know you really must stay unimaginable that TV would have concept thriller and coming-of-age Eye Fab Five have taught us to love tuned.t gay leads, gay marriage would be a ourselves. Today in DC we talked reality, and a queen from the Bronx about needing to love others as well, could be on a network show! Lucky through legislation like the Equality to be back on @WillAndGrace! Act to promote LGBT rights, VAWA Delights me that this Bronx girlboy to protect women, and ending the ‘performed’ a gay marriage on a gay war in Yemen to protect lives.” show on TV.” Delights us too, Miss The “Queer Eye” group also Coco! posed with Rep. Sean Maloney, who Sean Hayes isn’t leaving “W&G,” tweeted their pic with, “Outfit: @ but he is part of a new Netflix QueerEye approved.” Van Ness had project. The streamer has greenlit his hair pulled back and was wearing a 10-episode series order to “Qa different skirt in a black-and-white Force,” an adult-themed animated pattern, with a gray turtleneck. We comedy centered on a gay James loved seeing Van Ness harken back
<< Fine Arts
18 • Bay Area Reporter • April 11-17, 2019
<<
Peter Paul Rubens
From page 13
“Early Rubens,” a survey of 50 paintings and prints, now on view at the Legion of Honor, won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but it does highlight a chapter in art history worth revisiting, if only to partake of the ambition and immense scale, psychological drama and shocking, theatrical narratives that helped the ambitious Rubens forge a Northern European Baroque style all his own, while revitalizing the artistic fortunes of his hometown, Antwerp. The first truly international artist, he was also a shrewd diplomat, canny businessman and friend to intellectuals and people in high places; the connections contributed to his success and a workshop with a legion of assistants to produce commissioned projects and works on spec collected by aristocrats and European royals. Radical for his time, Rubens demolished prevailing conventions of storytelling. In an era deprived of cinema or Netflix, what could be better than the trio of larger-thanlife-sized, emotionally charged history paintings that magnificently dominate the entry to the exhibition? Among them is “Daniel in the Lions’ Den” (1613/14), where the terrified Jewish exile, punished for refusing to pray to the Babylonian king, is surrounded by a pride of ferocious hungry animals contemplating the next entrée on the dinner menu. He’s clearly a man who stumbled into the wrong party.
flesh of his naked daughter, Nearby is “The Boar Hunt” who appears willing or com(1615-17), crammed with pliant. The reclining posture adrenaline and multiple playof Lot is based on that of Miers: fancily attired equestrian chelangelo’s Leda seduced by women mounted on excited Zeus, who assumed the guise steeds, snarling hunting dogs, of a swan. and center stage, a fellow Rubens didn’t shy away pointing a wooden spear at from visceral renderings of a vanquished boar that has death, mutilation and the grobreathed its last. tesque designed to shock and The exhibition’s main incite reaction. The approach focus is the artist’s early career was taken to a new extreme and ascent to prominence, in “The Massacre of the Inbeginning in 1608, when he returned to Antwerp after nocents” (1611-12), a spectraveling through Italy and tacle of slaughter with blue studying the masters. He arbabies, piles of dead bodies rived to find a thriving city in and blood-spattered marble search of art to decorate pubpillars. According to the Goslic buildings and the grand pel of Matthew, the carnage homes of politicians and ensued when King Herod, wealthy burghers who craved upon learning a new “king wall coverings and portraits of the Jews” would be born reflecting their status. in Bethlehem, dispatched his Sean Weaver, Art Gallery of Ontario, courtesy FAMSF The show’s earliest piece, soldiers to murder all male likely inspired by Michelan- Peter Paul Rubens, “The Massacre of the Innocents” (ca. 1610), oil on panel. children under the age of two. gelo, “Conversion of St Paul” The painting, which quoted (1601/02), with a shaft of works by Renaissance and celestial light beaming down Baroque artists who used the waves. A flash of lightning in an drawn from 16th-century painton mortals from the heavens, is subject as an exercise in mediating ings by Antwerp artists Joos van ominous sky illuminates Rubens’ oddly enough the smallest. But horror and beauty, is included in Cleve and Quentin Massys. Among frightening scene, where naked sea most works from this period tend a group of gruesome, admittedly Rubens’ other early proclivities are nymphs ferrying Leander’s dead toward epic proportions with wellmagnetizing pictures. In Rubens’ stark contrasts of light and dark, body to shore are tossed by roiling defined contours, heroic figures disembodied “Head of Medusa” exemplified in the apocalyptic seas into which the inconsolable and tales from mythology, classical (1617/18), the defeated monster of high drama of “Hero and Leander” Hero has hurled herself. literature and Biblical texts, and a Greek mythology, whose infamous (1604). It portrays the tragic myth Rubens took a troubling subremarkable intensity and clarity of gaze could turn a man to stone, is of forbidden love between Hero, a ject of religious origin and made color. Note the irrefutable orange ashen with a bloodied neck, wrigpriestess of Aphrodite, who placed it at once sensuous and repelof the billowing robe in “Annungling snakes detached from their a lamp in her window as a beacon lent in “Lot and His Daughters” ciation” (1610) and the positively host, and a hundred-yard stare.t for her lover Leander, who swam to (1613-14), a scene that depicts a brilliant blue background for “Pormeet her each night. One evening, prelude to incest following the fall trait of Paracelsus” (ca. 1615-20), a Through Sept. 8. of Sodom and Gomorrah. The faa violent storm snuffed out the composition thought to have been Info: legionofhonor.famsf.org ther leers at the sumptuous golden flame and Leander perished in the
Courtesy SFFILM
Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman star in director Tamara Jenkins’ 2007 film “The Savages.”
<<
SFFILM
From page 13
“High Life” Director Claire Denis’ biggest art-house hit, 2000’s sexy men-in-the-desert saga “Beau Travail,” an homage to Melville’s “Billy Budd,” was long on homoerotic visuals, but rather stingy on plot. With “High Life,” the desert has moved to deep space, as a father (terrific Robert Pattinson) and daughter strive to survive aboard a prison ship. Very little occurs in just under two hours in a drama that visually recalls “2001” and the “Alien” franchise, but which dawdles so much over pedestrian details that its appeal is limited to the hard-core sci-fi crowd. (A Tribute to Claire Denis, Victoria, 4/11) “Trial by Fire” Laura Dern stars in this death-row drama focusing on the fate of an inmate, Cameron Todd Willingham (Jack O’Connell). Convicted of the arson murder of his three kids, Willingham develops a pen-pal relationship with playwright Elizabeth Gilbert (Dern), who leads a battle to save him from execution. Director Edward Zwick’s drama, based on David Grann’s 2009 New Yorker article, delves into the legal dilemmas of securing justice for people with violent repu-
t
tations. (A Tribute to Laura Dern, Castro, 4/14) “The Savages” (2007) Tamara Jenkins provides a comic but farfrom-light treatment of a family torn by caring for a dying parent. Laura Linney, the late Philip Seymour Hoffman and theater veteran Philip Bosco are riveting as the guilt-riddled sister, self-absorbed brother and irascible dad. Linney, who normally plays the responsible one, is terrific as the disgruntled sibling juggling an extracurricular affair with a long-denied passion to win a Guggenheim. Hoffman appears in the uncustomary role of family scold. Bosco stretches his scene-stealing powers down to the reprobate’s last breath. (A Tribute to Laura Linney, SFMOMA, 4/11) “The Sisters Brothers” Sublime character actor John C. Reilly stars as one of two brothers (with Joaquin Phoenix) hired to kill a veteran gold prospector. Cesar award-winning French director Jacques Audiard stirs the dramatic pot, complete with black humor touches. (Castro, 4/12) “One Child Nation” Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang’s personal look at the suffering due to China’s infamous population-control policy on co-director Wang’s family.
(BAMPFA, 4/14; Creativity, 4/15) “A Faithful Man” Handsome French leading man Louis Garrel makes his directorial debut as well as starring in this comic triangle. Abel (Garrel) is dumped by his girlfriend, choosing to be with his best friend, Paul. Garrel stirred many a gay heart in the 2008 musical “Love Songs,” where after the death of his girlfriend he hooked up with a beautiful young man. (Roxie, 4/12; YBCA, 4/17) “Booksmart” Actress Olivia Wilde tries her hand at feature directing with this high school grad comedy. The fun kicks off when Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein) abandon their studies for a night of nonstop teen debauchery. (Castro, 4/16) “Knock Down the House” As timely as today’s headlines, Rachel Lears profiles a quartet of women who beat the odds and won seats in Congress, unseating well-funded male opponents. The 95-minute doc follows the 2018 campaign trail, including the upset win of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the brash young woman who won New York’s 14th Congressional District, which straddles working-class and middle-class hoods in the South Bronx and Northern Queens. (Castro, 4/13) “Photograph” From India comes this quirky social comedy: a street photographer asks a girl way above his station to pretend to be his main squeeze in order to get his marriageobsessed grandmother off his case. From Ritesh Batra, director of the unlikely 2013 art-house hit “The Lunchbox,” with his leading man Nawazuddin Siddiqui. (Castro, 4/14) “Q Ball” Bay Area director Mike Tolajian brings us the inspiring story of a b-ball squad made up of guys from San Quentin Prison. (Castro, 4/11) “Raise Hell: The Life & Times of Molly Ivins” Back when Texas was firmly in the grip of good-ol-boy pols Dolph Briscoe, John Connelly and LBJ, the best place to get the scoop on what oil money was up to was the Austin-based Texas Observer. Molly Ivins, born into a rich family, gleefully became a class traitor with columns whose appeal
included the state’s nascent LGBTQ communities. (BAMPFA, 4/13; Victoria, 4/14) “Red Joan” British stage director Trevor Nunn presents a spy thriller dramatizing the UK’s quest to become a nuclear power. Joan (played in her 20s by Sophie Cookson, and as an older woman by Dame Judi Dench) is a scientist seduced by a German Communist into turning over atomic secrets to the Soviet Union. (Castro, 4/13) “Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool” Stanley Nelson delivers the ultimate tribute to mainstream jazz’s main man. The bio-doc features chats with pioneers Quincy Jones, Carlos Santana and Juliette Greco. (BAMPFA, 4/12; Victoria, 4/14) “Nothing Fancy: Diana Kennedy” Elizabeth Carroll’s fine-food lover’s doc explores the life and cooking skills of this 95-year-old who stays youthful through her recipes and culinary friends, including Alice Waters and Gabriela Camara. (SFMOMA, 4/12; Roxie, 4/15) “Premature” Fans of the New York-set “Gun Hill Road” will recall how deftly its creator dealt with issues of home, ethnicity, gender and inner-city violence. Rashaad Ernesto Green returns with the romantic misadventures of a young poet who spends her last summer before college in Harlem. She meets
and falls for Isaiah (Joshua Boone), a sexy young man who may threaten her carefully laid plans. (SFMOMA, 4/12; Creativity, 4/16) “Belmonte” Uruguayan director Federico Veiroj’s drama explores the complicated midlife crisis of a handsome painter whose happiness about a new exhibition is tempered by his ex-wife’s plans to raise a baby with a new boyfriend. He’s also trying to re-establish ties with his fiercely independent daughter. (YBCA, 4/12, 16; Creativity, 4/14) “In My Room” German director Ulrich Kohler’s end-of-life-on-earth black comedy concerns the fate of a lonely guy. Armin dozes off in his car only to awaken to the discovery that all other humans appear to have vanished. (BAMPFA, 4/13; SFMOMA, 4/14) “Ramen Shop” A foodie sensibility dominates this Singapore-set comedy from director Eric Khoo. A talented chef wrestles with a complicated culinary legacy. (YBCA, 4/12; Creativity, 4/14) “What We Left Unfinished” Filmmaker Mariam Ghani uncovers Afghanistan’s violent recent history through an exploration of film negatives preserved from destruction by terrorists. (Creativity, 4/11; BAMPFA, 4/14; YBCA, 4/16)t Info: sffilm.org
Courtesy SFFILM
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is one of four women profiled in director Rachel Lears’ documentary “Knock Down the House.”
21
22
Disco Coalition
23
Leather
Shining Stars
www.ebar.com
Hole in the Wall
Vol. 49 • No. 15 • April 11-17, 2019
Hole in the Wall’s 25th Celebrating a quarter century of beer, bikers and rock & roll
by David-Elijah Nahmod
O
n Saturday April 13, the Hole In The Wall Saloon will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a party. The bar is best known for its colorful (some say surreal) decor, and for its rock music. See page 21 >>
The Hole in the Wall’s “trippy” décor.
Henry Leleu. Courtesy GLBT Historical Society
Fickle Fox’s founder, Don Cavallo The multi-talent also created community by Michael Flanagan
D Photographer unknown, courtesy Denis Moreen
on Cavallo, a multi-talented restaurateur, actor and singer was also one of the first writers for the Bay Area Reporter. He seized the scene in San Francisco and made it his own from his 20s on. Cavallo was not an immigrant to the Bay Area, but a native. He was born Domingo Don Carabello in Oakland’s Highland Hospital in 1933 and grew up in the East Bay. See page 20 >>
The Fickle Fox, 1971.
A Fickle Fox dinner in 1975. Henry Soares (Don’s lover #1) second person in from front, Denis Moreen third person in, Rob Tackes fourth person in, plus other Fickle Fox staff and singers.
{ THIRD OF THREE SECTIONS }
<< BARchive
20 • Bay Area Reporter • April 11-17, 2019
Don Cavallo in a review of Wonderful Town, Bay Area Reporter, February 1973.
<<
Fickle Fox
From page 19
Don’s Restaurant (1192 Pine), Cavallo’s first business venture, captured the heart of San Francisco when it opened in 1957. Often called Coffee Don’s, the GLBT Historical Society’s newsletter referred to it as a “notorious gay afterhours club.” GLBT Historical Society founding member Gerard Koskovich explained how a 24-year-old could afford to open a restaurant in San Francisco. “The barriers to entry in businesses were much lower then. You could start a business with just a couple of hundred dollars.” Cavallo excelled as an entrepreneur and in 1958 joined forces with José Sarria to form El Club Internacional, which used Don’s Restaurant’s address and put on a Halloween Masquerade Ball at California Hall in 1958. Don’s Restaurant served a vital function for restaurant and bar workers as well.
In James (Robbie) Robinson’s self-published memoir, My Story, One Gay’s Fight From Hate To Acceptance, Robinson, a bartender from the Hideaway, wrote, “The Hideaway was close to Don’s Coffee Shop on Pine and Leavenworth. It was an after-hours place where bartenders, waiters and other nighttime workers would gather after their shifts. Don’s was a safe place to socialize and be oneself … Don’s was, in some ways, a substitute for the emotional support of a family.” Cavallo’s restaurant lasted until January 1, 1962. Closing night served as a benefit for the League for Civil Education (publisher of the L.C.E. News) and, perhaps coincidentally, there was a fight outside of the restaurant. Cavallo was arrested for disturbing the peace, but was cleared of all charges. It was not Cavallo’s first brush with the law. On Halloween 1961, Cavallo threw a party at Primrose Lane (567 Sutter) with Keno Clark, a vaudevillian who had run the underground nightclub Keno’s 47 Club
(47 Golden Gate) which closed in 1956. The party at Primrose Lane was raided and some attendees were arrested, including Cavallo. After closing Don’s Restaurant, Cavallo opened another venue which lasted for about a year. Original Don’s (226 Embarcadero) was a restaurant that Cavallo ran out of the Edgewater Hotel with George Bauman, former proprietor of Jack’s Waterfront Hangout. Original Don’s was open from 1963 to 1964. As Bauman was one of the primary accusers in the city’s “Gayola” scandal (which revealed police bribery) it was a gutsy move for Cavallo to start a new business with him. Before opening the Fickle Fox, Cavallo worked for a number of years as the host at Jackson’s (2237 Powell). This period at Jackson’s brought a new discovery for Cavallo, but it wasn’t business-oriented. It was at Jackson’s that he met a popular busboy and waiter, Henry Soares, who became Cavallo’s lifelong partner. In November 1967, Cavallo opened the Fickle Fox (842 Valencia), for which he is perhaps best remembered. It was the kind of restaurant that had reviews in the San Francisco Chronicle from other restaurant owners. In 1980 the Owl ran a review in his After Nightfall column mentioning that the owners of longtime Mission restaurant Bruno’s dined there, and he praised the prime rib and the service. The Underground Gourmet (R.B. Read) often ran reviews of the Fickle Fox in his Thanksgiving Day options column. In a book derived from his columns, Read said of the restaurant in 1980, “A total remodeling of the dining area has added a very handsome back garden room with working fireplace, the whole done in French antiqued wood paneling with a gallery-sized collection of 19th-century prints – as charming an ambience as any in the city. The personable host, PortugueseAmerican Don Cavallo, is genial to all; so long as they behave decorously….There’s a piano bar, well removed from the dining area.” The piano bar was one of the big draws of the business as well. I spoke with Denis Moreen, who performed there for 14 years, from 1971 to 1985. He met Cavallo and Soares when they worked together on the musical revue Spoonful of Sugar, for which Moreen arranged the music and Cavallo was the choreographer. Cavallo and Soares were also involved with a theatrical troupe known as the City Players. The Fickle Fox was known for their open-mic nights and also for the group of entertainers who performed there as well (many of whom became known as The Fickle Fox Chorus). Moreen remembers Cavallo as “an extremely generous employer who took pride in looking after his staff.” Moreen performed there for 14 years, from 1971 to 1985 and continues to perform in Palm Springs. Beginning with the first issue of the Bay Area Reporter, Cavallo was a regular columnist. In the first year he wrote Auntie Mildred’s Gourmet Capers, which began as a campy restaurant review column. As the column evolved, Cavallo started offering opinions. In the second year of the paper he began to write editorial content. He wrote a column, “Why You Should Support Your Local Restaurant” on how hard it was to keep a restaurant profitable and why readers should therefore support their community’s restaurants. Another column, “The Politically Lazy Homosexual,” noted how political apathy was the enemy of the community. Perhaps the most surprising was “Where Do Homosexuals Come From,” in which he took on objections to gay sex educators (which was going on in 1972 San Francisco). His point was that the families who were objecting should be aware
t
Fickle Fox’s grand opening ad in Vector 1967
Photos: Rob Tackes, courtesy of Denis Moreen
Above: Fickle Fox staff in the 1976 Gay Freedom Day Parade. Below: The Fickle Fox Chorus in 1985.
that gay people come from straight families. Cavallo was the subject of articles as well as an author. In a review of the City Players, Jay Noonan wrote, “Don Cavallo as Bob Baker was the surprise of the evening – and a pleasant one too … Mr. Cavallo made the best of a poorly-written part and sang well. “ Cavallo remained co-owner of the Fickle Fox with Soares through 1981, when he sold the business to Read Gilmore. Gilmore would ask him back to act as host even though Cavallo moved to the Russian River in the early 1980s with boyfriends Soares and Rocky Bradford. Cavallo worked at the Woods and ‘Bout Time in Guerneville. Soares died in 1991 and Cavallo in 2003. The Fickle Fox became the Crystal Pistol in 1986.
It may be difficult to understand the importance of gay restaurants from the 1950s to the 1980s, but R.B. Read gives a good idea in his book The Underground Gourmet. “The whole point of these places – what has brought them into being – is that here is a subculture that feels itself, not without justification, to be discriminated against and that they may have ‘a place of their own’ where members may relax and act naturally.” If only for providing that space, Cavallo deserves to be remembered. That he did so much more for so many years makes him all the more remarkable.t Special thanks to Denis Moreen for his input and photos. For more on his musical story, see www.butchie.com.
Rob Tackes courtesy Denis Moreen
Surviving Fickle Fox Chorus members Denis Moreen, Ray and Barry in 2003.
t
Hole in the Wall>>
The Hole in the Wall’s eclectic décor.
<<
Hole in the Wall
From page 19
Don Baird has been spinning tunes at “The Hole” for most of the bar’s run. In a phone interview, he spoke about what a fun watering hole it is, noting that he and the bar’s other DJs don’t spin the standard dance tunes which are usually heard in gay bars. At Hole in the Wall, patrons are treated to good old-fashioned rock and roll. “That’s been consistent for the whole life of the bar,” Baird said. “I think this has a great deal to do with the bar’s popularity, I think it’s mainly the music.” Baird pointed out that people don’t dance at Hole in the Wall. It’s a place for listening to the music, for talking, and for playing pool. He spoke about the kind of people who are attracted to Hole in the Wall. “I think we draw a crowd that is a
DJ Don Baird
very mixed variety of ages,” he said. “There’s been a bit of a focus on bikers, moreso at the bar’s first location and during the first decade. But I’d say the music is the main draw. And the bar has a kind a freewheeling air about it. It’s a fun bar. It’s comfort-
April 11-17, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 21
able, and people get to know the bartenders.” Baird added that Hole In The Wall does get clientele from the leather community, given South of Market’s popularity among the leather crowd, though he did say that leather people remain focused primarily on The Eagle. “For the most part, all the bar owners in SoMa are friendly with each other,” he said. “It’s not a competitive scene. There are only fourfive gay bars around there, and we all get along.” Hole in the Wall began its life in April 1994 on 8th Street, but closed that location in 2006. They reopened at their current location, on Folsom Street, in 2008, in a building the owners bought. At first they faced opposition from the city’s Entertainment Commission regarding the relocation, but received support from openly gay former District 8 Supervisor and State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, as well as from former supervisor Carole Migden, a lesbian. “There were a lot of complex issues regarding licensing,” Baird said. “We had a bit of a fight, but it all worked out.” The name Hole in the Wall was chosen because owners John Gardner and Joe Banks wanted a “hole in the wall” biker bar where they could play the rock music they liked. The couple has been together for 32 years. “They’re good people to work for,” said Baird. The anniversary party, Baird promises, will be fun, with the owners going all out to ensure that patrons have a good time. There will be no cover charge (Baird said that there’s never a cover charge at the bar) and that food will be served during the earlier part of the evening. All attendees will receive a
Disco Coalition’s grooves
Outside the Hole in the Wall on Folsom Street.
commemorative pin featuring the bar’s logo. “On the night of the party, we’ll feature small sets from all three of our DJs,” Baird said. “I’m very excited about my set for that night. I’ll be playing hard rock and roll, and it’ll be fun. I’ve been shoving rock down the gay community’s throat for years, and people have grown to like it.” Baird hopes to be at Hole in the Wall for a long time to come. “There’s not a lot of things in my life that I’ve done for twenty-four
Playmates and soul mates...
San Francisco:
1-415-692-5774 Megamates.com 18+
C.J. Knight
(left-right) Disco Coalition’s Chris Hastings, Juanita MORE, Emperor Terrill Grimes and Aaron Wessels at Disco Coalition’s premiere event at Lookout.
By C.J. Knight
W
hile fundraisers and drag queens are commonplace in the Castro, it’s rare that 100 percent of the proceeds from a three-hour Friday event goes to a great cause. But, that’s exactly what The Disco Coalition, a new series of happy hour nights leading up to San Francisco Pride, is all about: shining a spotlight on the queer community and raising funds for nonprofits. The debut Disco Coalition event on March 29 at the Lookout honored queer hero Juanita MORE, a matriarch of the House of More, who’s known for her tireless fundraising, fabulous events and food and worldclass SF Pride parties. The event benefited the venerable GLBT History Society, which operates its museum in the Castro, with archives downtown. In addition to the proceeds from the jam-packed patrons ‘drinking for good,’ Titos Vodka will match monies raised, up to $1,000, for each of the events through June.
Disco Coalition co-founders Chris Hastings and Aaron Wessels want to raise money and bring attention to issues and causes that impact queerkind and humankind. The weekly happy hour event will raise money for a different LGBTQ+ nonprofit, including organizations such as the Castro Country Club, Immigration Equality, Queer Lifespace, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and TRUTH. The first event raised a total of $4,750. Judging from the turnout of the first Disco Coalition party, the money raised for those nonprofits could be significant. The drinks were flowing and the crowd –a friendly mix of all ages, genders and sexual persuasions– grooved to the music from Disco’s Golden Age spun by DJ Sergio Fedasz and San Francisco legend and party partner Steve Fabus, the cofounders of Go Bang. “Historically, gay bars in this country have acted a keystone for the community, whether for celebrating, socializing or activating,” said Hastings,
who is also owner of the Lookout. “We wanted to honor that legacy and simultaneously build upon it with something that could live beyond a single charity event at a gay bar.” Known as Queeros, the Disco Coalition’s queer hero honorees have driven and inspired positive change through their vision, sacrifices, dedication and activism. Patrons of the party can ‘come off the streets and back into the bar’ this spring to drink for a good cause and celebrate other ‘queeros’ at future events including Dennis Peron, Diane Jones, Jose Sarria, Sylvester and David Glamamore, who was in attendance at the debut event. To learn more about upcoming events, visit https://www.discocoalition.org/t C.J. Knight is a San Francisco nightlife photographer and the co-producer of Glitter Bomb TV. You can follow his work at www.instragram.com/ LeftCoastScenesSF
years, and I feel very fortunate to have been able to play music in this place for so long,” he said. “In many ways, it’s the perfect job. Every time I go in, I’m always thinking how grateful I am that I get to do this thing I love in this bar. It’s great.” Join Don Baird and the bar’s patrons at the Hole in the Wall anniversary party on Saturday, April 13. The party begins at 6pm and will continue until 2am. t 1369 Folsom Street. http://hitws.com
<< Leather
22 • Bay Area Reporter • April 11-17, 2019
What about the sex? Combining social and sexual scenes
t
Rich Stadtmiller
A flogging demo at the SF Eagle; sexy and sociability in synch?
by Race Bannon
M
y visibility in the leather communities means people ask me questions, often daily, and sometimes from total strangers. They also offer unsolicited commentary on topics usually spawned by some social media churn. Recently, a young gay man messaged me, stating, “I’ve tried the leather scene. It’s not for me.” I asked why. He said, “It’s not about sex anymore. It’s not even about anything erotic anymore.” We chatted a bit. He seemed nice, intelligent and genuinely interested in kinky sex and was highly experienced with much of it. He was not a newcomer. After tossing around some ideas
together, I convinced him to give the scene another shot, but the exchange made me think. After our chat, I had a lot of my own questions. Why did this young man feel this way? Was he correct? Were his expectations misguided? Do we all see the ‘scene’ differently, and what do we mean specifically when we reference leather, or is it an amorphous term? Yeah, I know. That’s a lot of questions. I’m likely to not do full justice to any proposed answers, but this is a topic that emerges on a consistent basis. After gathering my thoughts, I now know better what I would have said to him. I pondered what I mean when I utter the phrase ‘leather scene.’ That
Personals Massage>>
SEXY ASIAN $60 Jim 415-269-5707 SENSUAL FULL BODY MASSAGE 415-350-0968
People>> PLAYMATES OR SOULMATES
Browse & Reply FREE! SF - 415-692-5774 1-888-MegaMates Free to Listen & Reply, 18+
Models>>
FABULOUS F**K BOY
Model looks 6’ 150# 27yrs, 8” uncut beautiful tight yummy ass. Smoky sexuality erotic male nympho. Hndsm hedonist. Str8, gay, married men at yr apt, hotel, mansion! Greek god Nick 415-290-2639. Leather fetish fantasy roleplay kink dom sub group scenes mild to wild. Pretty boy with a dirty mind, romantic & unforgettable! $400/hr, $2000 overnight negotiable.
ASIAN PORN STAR
33, 5’8, 140#, Massage & Play 415-845-8588
TO PLACE YOUR PERSONALS AD, CALL 415-861-5019 FOR MORE INFO & RATES
seemed foundational to answering all those questions. Surprisingly, when I got honest with myself, I had a hard time defining it. Is it about leather itself, the garb? Sometimes, but not always. Is it about BDSM or power exchange? Sometimes, but not always. Is leather a shared culture? Yes, but that culture is remarkably diverse and fractured. Ugh, this wasn’t going well. After 47 years being deeply into this stuff, I couldn’t pinpoint a definition for the scene I love so much. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed that my questions were answered, at least partly, by the fact that I couldn’t arrive at a satisfactory definition. This made me realize that I, and I think others, need to become comfortable with the notion that when we say ‘leather’ we’re describing something imperfectly. Words are always an approximation of what it is they’re intending to describe. With leather morphing and adapting to whatever someone in a certain ballpark of sexuality experiences, maybe the young man was seeing leather from but one perspective. Many sectors of leather don’t have much to do with sex. I’ve seen people from all walks of the leather scene who don’t consider their involvement particularly sexual. Do I fully understand that? Admittedly, I do not. But to not face reality seems like folly. I can point to a bevy of leatherfolk who have disconnected the sexual from leather. For them, it might be a community of people they’ve aligned with for other reasons, but the sex isn’t ‘the thing’ for them. What we could once have accurately pointed to as the leather scene is now somewhat indefinable. Ultimately, what I would now say to that young man is that he’s partly correct. For many, and likely the venues, events and people he initially tried to explore, sex isn’t at the forefront. It might be a social network people navigate within because they share other commonalities beyond sex. Anyone who’s
not –nor should they– sync exactly with anyone else’s. He should create his own personal sphere of erotic adventurers. Perhaps treat the rest as a passing fun diversion to meet his own needs. Just treat others with respect and kindness as you do. If you feel like the sex has been pushed out of the leather scene, you’re not alone. However, I’d urge you to not harp on the fact too much. Change happens. Leather changes. Everything changes. Seek out the sex you want and only embrace the leather scene to the extent it suits you. Just do what you do. Be who you are. Find those who share your sexual perspectives. And maybe, just maybe, some of those people are indeed within the leather scene.t
For Leather Events, visit www.ebar.com/events Race Bannon is a local author, blogger and activist. www.bannon.com
Sun 14
Easter Bonnet Sale @ 440 Castro
Joe Mac
Rich Stadtmiller
Attendees at the March 2019 Mr SF Leather contest prove that an event can be both cruisy and community-focused.
spent any significant time within the leather world knows many who seem to not only eschew the sexual from their leather life, but oddly even denigrate it. Again, this isn’t something I fully understand, but it is what it is. I’d tell the young man that no one should bully him into accepting a scene that doesn’t make him happy. I’d tell him that while some in leather might not elevate sex to the highest priority, others do. He just needs to find them. They’re there. I’d tell the young man that leather is but a word. It will never fully describe anyone or anything. He should not feel compelled to blend into a scene that doesn’t sync with his own sexual needs. I’d tell the young man to possibly attend leather events, contests, bars and classes, but to use them as fishing grounds for sexual partners and friends who share his prioritization of sex over the other trappings of the scene. Mostly, I’d tell the young man that our individual sexualities do
Nightlife Events
April 11-18, 2019 Easter Bonnet Sale @ 440 Castro Don’t celebrate Easter without a fab bonnet. Buy one from Gays in the Millinery, aka Joe Mac ‘The Mad Hatter of the Castro.’ $20-$30 each; portion of proceeds benefits SF AIDS Foundation. 12pm-6pm. 440 Castro St. http://www.the440.com/
For full listings, visit www.ebar.com/events
t
Arts Events>>
April 11-17, 2019 • Bay Area Reporter • 23
Arts Events April 11-18, 2019
Murder She Wrote (in Drag) @ PianoFight Campy parody of the Angela Lansbury mystery show. $25-$30. 10pm. 144 Taylor St. www.pianofight.com
Porchlight Storytelling @ CIIS Stories exploring the understanding of self and the fluidity of identity, inspired by the Contemporary Jewish Museum exhibit Show Me as I Want to be Seen, with Kelly Beardsley, India Marie Chakraverty, Eddie Jen, Juliana Delgado Lopera, and Donna Persona. $20. 7pm. California Institute of Integral Studies, 1453 Mission St. www.porchlightsf.com
Thu 11
Rosie Kay Dance Company @ Taube Atrium Theater
For full listings, visit www.ebar.com/events
Thu 11 Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre @ Zellerbach Hall Residency and 4-program concert series by the acclaimed NY dance company. $38-$145. Thru April 14. Bancroft Way at Dana, UC Berkeley campus. calperformances.org
Annalee Newitz, Charlie Jane Anders @ SF Public Library
Rosie Kay Dance Company @ Taube Atrium Theater
The Gentleman Caller @ NCTC
San Francisco Performances presents 5 Soldiers: The Body is the Frontline, a riveting dance about the physicality of modern-day warfare. $65. Thru April 13 (April 12, also 2pm, free for veterans; call 415-677-0325.) War Memorial Veterans Bldg., 4th floor. www.sfwmpac.org
Philip Dawkins’ play explores the relationaship between gay playwrights Tennessee Williams and William Inge. $28-$44. Thru May 5. 25 Van Ness Ave, lower level. www.nctcsf.org
FRI 12 April Fowls Day @ PianoFight
The two queer authors discuss their new books (Anders’ The City in the Middle of the Night, Newitz’ Autonomous. 6pm. 100 Lartin St., 3rd floor. www.sfpl.org
Sat 13
Comedy show with the Chicken Scratch group, at the theater/ restaurant & bar. $12-$15. 7pm. Also April 13. 144 Taylor St. www.pianofight.com
Helen @ NOHspace Theatre of Yugen performs Ellen McLaughlin’s updated contemporary tragicomic version of Euripedes’ Helen of Troy. $15-$40. Fri-Sun thru April 27. 2840 Mariposa St. www.theatreofyugen.org
Home @ Berkeley Repertory Geoff Sobelle’s amazing immersive play, where a two-story house is constructed as its residents tell their stories. $30-$91; thru April 21. Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison St. www.berkeleyrep.org
Mark Foehringer Dance Project @ Cowell Theater Alice in Wonderland, the choreographer’s dance adaptation of the classic children’s book, is performed. 11am & 2pm thru April 14. Fort Mason, 2 Marina Blvd. https://fortmason.org/
Sun 14 Amaranth Quartet @ Center for New Music The women’s strong quartet performs D. Riley Nicholson’s Break and parts of Philip Glass’s Bent. 2pm. $10-$20. 55 Taylor St. https:// centerfornewmusic.com/
Remembering James @ Boxcar Theatre Dedrick Weathersby plays the R&B king James Brown in this dramatic musical. $37-$63. 4pm & 7pm. (Also May 9, June 9). 644 Broadway. www.boxcartheatre.org
Wed 17 Lest We Forget @ Civic Center Plaza Luigi Toscano’s outdoor photo exhibit of 78 large-scale portraits of Holocaust survivors. Opening 12pm; thru May 19. https://bit.ly/2uSNrfO
The Wolves @ Strand Theater
Women’s Open Mic @ Plymouth Jazz and Justice Church
American Conservatory Theatre students perform Sarah DeLappe’s Pulitzer Prize finalist play about the pressures of a girls’ soccer team. $25. Thru April 20. 1127 Market St. www.act-sf.org
Elaine C. Brown and Kelliane Parker are featured at the reading night. $7-$10. 424 Monte Vista, Oakland. http://plymouthoakland.org/
Thu 18
Writers With Drinks @ Make Out Room Mike Chen, Peng Shepherd, Arkady Martine and host Charlie Jane Anders read and tell stories. $5-$20. 7pm-9:30pm. 3225 22nd St. www.makeoutroom.com
Darious James, Val Jeanty @ Poetry Center, SF State A workshop performance and conversation with James ( Negrophobia: An Urban Parable ) and Jeanty a.k.a. DJ Val-Inc. 7pm. Humanities Bldg., 1600 Holloway Ave. www.sfsu.edu
Shining Stars Steven Underhill Photos by
Queer Bowling @ Mission Bowling Club
T
he second monthly Queer Bowling night at Mission Bowling Club was a strike, er, hit! On March 25, LGBTQ folks enjoyed tasty beer, beverages and bar food, DJs Marke B and Siobhan Aluvalot played fun grooves, and colorful bowling balls matched the festive gear and rental shoes. The next nights are April 22 and May 27; fourth Mondays. 6pm-10pm; 3176 17th St. www.missionbowlingclub.com See plenty more photos on BARtab’s Facebook page, facebook.com/lgbtsf.nightlife. See more of Steven Underhill’s photos at StevenUnderhill.com.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
For headshots, portraits or to arrange your wedding photos
ads call (415) 370-7152 or visit www.StevenUnderhill.com or email stevenunderhillphotos@gmail.com
GRAB A COFFEE. TAKE A SURVEY. GRAB A COFFEE. TAKE A SURVEY. CHANGE THE WORLD.
CHANGE THE WORLD. M A K I N G A D I F F E R E N C E I S E A S Y.
Take the 13th Annual LGBTQ Community Survey ®
M A K I N G A D I F F E R E N C E I S E A S Y.
Take the
Join 45,000 LGBTQ citizens from 150 countries to take the largest survey Community of its kind! 13th Annual LGBTQ
Survey ®
LGBTQsurvey.com www.bit.ly/2JWD6di LGBTQsurvey.com GRAB A COFFEE. TAKE A SUR Join 45,000 LGBTQ citizens from 150 countries to take the largest survey of its kind!
CHANGE THE WORL
Community Marketing & Insights is Proudly LGBTQ-Operated, Founded in 1992. Your survey information is confidential and secure, used for research only. an the Scwww.CMI.info You will not be contacted for marketing purposes. Learn more:
Take it on the go!
QR code
Community Marketing & Insights is Proudly LGBTQ-Operated, Founded r on yoinu1992. Your survey information is confidential and secure, used for research only. phone to You will not be contacted for marketing purposes. Learn more: www.CMI.info
MAKING A DIFFERENCE IS EA
Take the 13th
take the ! Annual survey nowLGBTQ
Community Su
Join 45,000 LGBTQ citizens from 150 countries to take the largest survey of its kind!
LGBTQsurvey.com Community Marketing & Insights is Proudly LGBTQ-Operated, Founded in 1992. Your survey information is confidential and secure, used for research only. You will not be contacted for marketing purposes. Learn more: www.CMI.info