April 16, 2020 Edition of the Bay Area Reporter, America's highest circulation LGBTQ weekly

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PAWS remains unleashed

No 4/20 event this year

SF HRC outreach

Culture

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Remembering Esta Noche

The

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Vol. 50 • No. 16 • April 16-22, 2020

Lesbian pioneer Phyllis Lyon dies

SF Pride cancels 2020 event

by Cynthia Laird

by John Ferrannini

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earless lesbian activist icon Phyllis Lyon died peacefully at her home in San Francisco Thursday, April 9, of natural causes. She was 95.

Few individuals contributed more to issues impacting LGBTQ, Joyce Newstat women’s, civil rights Phyllis Lyon, and the rights of elder shown in 2016 Americans than Ms. Lyon and her partner of 58 years, Del Martin. Ms. Lyon and Ms. Martin were the first same-sex couple to marry in California on June 16, 2008. Weeks later, on August 27, 2008, Ms. Martin died in San Francisco, with Ms. Lyon at her side. Ms. Martin was 87.

The couple’s wedding in 2008 was not their first. In 2004, when then-San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom determined to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in California, Ms. Lyon and Ms. Martin agreed to be the first couple to receive such a license. Their story, 54 years together and a lifetime of love and commitment, reverberated around the world. While that marriage was invalidated by the California Supreme See page 7 >>

he 2020 San Francisco Pride parade and festival has been canceled, according to an April 14 news release from the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee, which puts on the annual commemoration of the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall riots that kicked off the modern LGBT rights movement in the United States.

“Uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified in recent weeks, and the organization has concluded that the risks to public health of a large-scale gathering such as Pride preclude this year’s production of the annual event,” the release stated.

As the B.A.R. previously reported, SF Pride officials announced last week that celebrations “will look very different” in light of the novel coronavirus outbreak, which by press time had killed over 25,000 Americans since its emergence in late 2019. That announcement came after the B.A.R. reported growing calls from community members that the celebration be canceled or postponed.

“Since the coronavirus first emerged, we have held out hope that the situation would shift and we would be able to gather later this year,” SF Pride Executive Director Fred Lopez stated in the release. “Well before the first

A contingent marched in the 2019 San Francisco Pride parade.

shelter-in-place order, our team began to balance our excitement for Pride 50 and evaluate possible alternatives. With heavy hearts, we have decided not to go forward with the Parade and Celebration in 2020.”

Lopez stated the decision was a difficult one. The annual parade boasts an attendance of one million people, and the weekend festivities put millions of dollars in the coffers of local nonprofits and community groups, not

With local businesses shuttered, the Bay Area Reporter is mostly distributed in San Francisco news racks like this one in the Castro.

B.A.R, other LGBT media, fundraise to stay afloat

by John Ferrannini

A

s the economy reels from the effects of the novel coronavirus outbreak, LGBT news organizations aren’t just covering other companies facing closure – they are trying to stay in business themselves.

Michael Yamashita, the publisher of the Bay Area Reporter, said that he has had to launch an Indiegogo fundraising campaign, which he called “a sort of necessary and sort of desperate move.”

“We were late to asking readers to support us financially,” Yamashita said in an April 14 interview. “A lot of publications have been doing it a long time.”

See page 7 >>

to mention the city’s LGBT businesses, LGBT districts such as the Castro, and the city’s tourism sector.

“This was not a decision we arrived at lightly,” he stated. “Far from it: Our staff has been in frequent talks with our board, our production team, our partners at many departments of City Hall, officials at other Pride organizations worldwide – and most See page 8 >>

Newsom outlines 6 steps to reopen California amid health crisis

by John Ferrannini John Ferrannini

Rick Gerharter

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here are six criteria that the state government will look at when considering modifications to the stay-at-home order brought about by the coronavirus outbreak, California Governor Gavin Newsom said in an April 14 news conference.

Newsom did not unveil a specific timeline as to when his statewide stay-at-home order, which does not have an expiration date, will be lifted. The Bay Area’s specific shelter-inplace order is set to expire in early May. “We can’t get ahead of ourselves,” Newsom said. “Let’s not make the mistake of pulling the plug too early.”

The criteria are based on how well the state can do the following six things: monitoring COVID-19 cases through testing and contact tracing; preventing infections in people at greater risk for adverse outcomes; preventing surges in the hospital and health systems; developing therapeutics at a rate to meet demand in the absence of a vaccine; ensuring that schools, child care facilities, and businesses can support safe social distancing; and determining when some of the more restrictive orders can be re-introduced if the health systems are overwhelmed.

Screengrab via Facebook

Governor Gavin Newsom speaks about benchmarks that are needed to reopen the state.

Newsom said that how well the state can meet these criteria will be re-evaluated in two weeks and he will make any further decisions about the stay-at-home order at that time.

The governor said these criteria were formed in conjunction with the states of Oregon and Washington, which announced a coordinated coronavirus response pact April 13. Seven northeastern states – including New York, which is experiencing the worst coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. – similarly an-

nounced plans to work together on reopening the economy there.

Newsom stressed that even after the easing of current orders life will still look very different than before the outbreak, which had killed more than 25,000 Americans at press time. In California, 758 had died at press time.

The governor said that reopening the economy would be more like the steady raising or lowering of a dimmer rather than like turning on a light switch.

“It’s more like a dimmer – this toggling back and forth between more restrictive and less restrictive measures,” he said.

When now-shuttered public spaces reopen, there will be changes from life before midMarch: restaurants will have less seating to allow for social distancing and schools may be more regularly sanitized and have smaller cohorts of students. Face masks may become ubiquitous.

Large gatherings such as sporting events or concerts are very unlikely until a vaccine is created, which realistically is not expected for 12 to 18 months.

“We are not out of the woods yet. We are not spiking the ball,” Newsom said, referring to the fact that 71 COVID-19 deaths were reSee page 7 >>

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2 • Bay Area Reporter • April 16-22, 2020

Help preserve

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SF aid program for pet owners remains unleashed

by Matthew S. Bajko

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as an historic and important community institution for the future.

or Park Merced resident Thomas Francis Jones the program Pets Are Wonderful Support has been a godsend for nearly two decades. Over the years PAWS, as it is known, has helped him care for his beloved late cat Astro and his two dogs Petey and Klay.

After Astro died in 2006, Jones a year later adopted Petey, a McNab Collie now 13 years old. Last year, Jones adopted Klay, a Yorkshire terrier now 3 years old.

PAWS helps cover the dogs’ medical care and provides Jones 30 days worth of food for them each month. A longtime HIV survivor, diagnosed in 1990, Jones would be unable to financially care for his pets if it weren’t for the aid he receives from the nonprofit program.

“I’ve been a client of PAWS a long time,” said Jones, 62, a gay man who lost his partner in 2001.

“It makes a world of difference.”

In addition to the vet care and food he receives through PAWS for his two pugs, Bernie, 14, and Juanito, 11, Tenderloin resident Stephen Eisland also relies on the program’s volunteer dog walkers to help him get his pooches out of the house for daily walks. Eisland, 78, a gay man who is single, suffers from sciatica and finds it difficult to walk long distances.

“Thank god for PAWS,” said Eisland, a client for more than a decade, after adopting his first set of pugs, Bailey and Foster, on the advice of his doctor. “It is a fan-

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tastic organization. They really have done everything to make life easier for me.”

With many nonprofits moving their services to virtual platforms due to the stay-at-home orders issued as an attempt to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus, that wasn’t an option for PAWS. Now part of the nonprofit Shanti Project, the 33-year-old aid program for pet owners in the city made the decision to keep its services ongoing through the pandemic.

“It has certainly changed a lot of what we do, but we have worked very hard to ensure no essential services are being stopped for any of the PAWS clients,” Executive Director Kaushik Roy told the Bay Area Reporter in a phone interview from his home in Petaluma, where he has been working re-

motely while sheltering in place with his wife, their 5-year-old daughter, and the family’s dog.

As the B.A.R. has previously reported, pets are an especially vital source of emotional support for LGBT seniors who often live alone and are isolated from their families. Dogs, in particular, help get their owners out of the house to socialize and exercise.

“Especially now that none of us can go beyond our houses,” noted Roy, “the power of a pet is really helping our folks.”

The one cutback PAWS had to make was suspending its free dog washing for client’s canine charges.

“It is not possible with the protocols,” Roy explained. “It is not as essential as some of the other serSee page 8 >>

Mayor names trans woman to SFMTA board seat

by Cynthia Laird

M

ayor London Breed on Thursday appointed Jane Natoli to a seat on the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency board of diride than any shop in SF! MANY ON SALE! rectors, making her the first out trans person to serve in that capacity.

Natoli, 39, had run for a seat on the Fitness/Commuter Kid’s San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee in March but came up short in that effort.

SFMTA is a city department that’s responsible for all ground transportaFitness/Commuter Kid’s Fitness/Commuter Kid’s tion. It has oversight of Muni, as well as bicycling, paratransit, parking, traffic, walking, and taxis. It is lead by JefRoad Electric frey Tumlin, a gay man Breed hired in November.

In a statement to the Bay Area Reporter, the mayor said Natoli would be Road Electric an effective director.

Road Electric “I’m proud to appoint Jane Natoli We are limiting our contact with the public during to the SFMTA board of directors,” the this Covid-19 pandemic for the well you only if it is mayor stated. “As a leading advocate for safer streets and reliable transit, safely possible. We will sell essential products and and the first trans person to ever serve do some limited repairs. Our front gates will in this role, I am confident that her remain closed but our inner doors will be open perspective will benefit the city as we from 10am until 4pm on Monday, Wednesday and work to achieve our Vision Zero goals Saturday. We can show products at a safe and create a more equitable transpordistance however customers will not be allowed tation system for all of our residents.” to enter nor handle products before purchasing.

In an email, Natoli wrote that she’s a former board member of the San FranAll sales will be final. cisco Bicycle Coalition and is still an active member with the organization.

“My background in transportation is through my advocacy,” she added.

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Rick Gerharter

PAWS volunteer Kristen Sinch walked pugs Bernie, left, and Juanito for Stephen Eisland April 12.

Courtesy Jane Natoli

Jane Natoli

was flattered to learn the mayor was considering me for this board.”

Natoli added that the coronavirus outbreak has significantly changed the public transportation landscape.

Muni is currently only operating core bus lines; its Metro subway system was shuttered due to stay-at-home orders that saw a plunge in its ridership.

Several SFMTA employees have tested positive for the virus.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty about what public transportation will look like as we deal with coronavirus, but I also think that ties into many opportunities and pressing issues we face in San Francisco,” Natoli wrote. “How do we create more safe and equitable ways for people to get around San Francisco? How do we create more car-free spaces that open up more reliable transit and safer biking and make it more realistic to get people out of cars like Better Market Street has? But most importantly, how do we support the staff of SFMTA who are doing all of this work?

“Unfortunately, it’s too expensive for many of our operators to live in the city they serve. It’s tough to be a transit-first city when we don’t have enough operators to ensure robust service, and we

need to keep focusing on how we can support them,” she added.

As to her being a member of the LGBT community serving on the SFMTA board, Natoli wrote that “visibility matters.”

“It’s important that we see ourselves reflected in our local government,” she wrote. “So it’s a huge honor to be considered. I want to bring my experience as an advocate for better public transit and biking and as an out trans woman because my experiences riding the bus or biking around San Francisco are intertwined with who I am.”

The SFMTA is governed by a board of directors who are appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. The SFMTA board provides policy oversight, including budgetary approval, and changes of fares, fees, and fines, ensuring representation of the public interest, according to the website.

According to the mayor’s office, Natoli is replacing SFMTA board member Malcolm Heineke. Another SFMTA board member, Christina Rubke, is pending reappointment, according to the mayor’s office.

The mayor has asked SFMTA board member Cheryl Brinkman to stay.

The mayor’s spokesman said that Breed will be appointing another person in a couple of months as current SFMTA board member Art Torres, a gay man, was recently named to the UC Board of Regents as an alumni regent. (He graduated from UC Santa Cruz in 1968.)

According to UC Santa Cruz, at any given time, the Board of Regents has two alumni regents, and two alumni regent designates. UC Santa Cruz gets to appoint an alumni regent every eight years. t

t

Coronavirus News>>

April 16-22, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 3

SF will cite or arrest 4/20 Golden Gate Park revelers

by John Ferrannini

C

ity officials have a message for potential 4/20 revelers: you may be cited or arrested.

“We have been very welcoming to the people who have come here in the past,” Mayor London Breed said during a virtual news conference April 13.

“This year we will not allow it. We will be prepared if people show up.”

The annual unofficial celebration at Robin Williams Meadow in Golden Gate Park drew more than 14,000 marijuana enthusiasts last year, according to KPIX-TV. “We will be there in full force,” Police Chief William Scott said at the news conference. “If you celebrate at all, we encourage people to Zoom [video conference] to do this in the privacy of their own homes. If you do it at all, do it safely.”

Breed said that Robin Williams Meadow will be fenced off, that the police will set up roadblocks, and both she and Scott confirmed people may be cited or arrested if they try to defy the public health shelter-in-place orders intended to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus to celebrate the annual cannabis celebration.

“We will not tolerate anyone coming to San Francisco for 4/20 this year,” Breed said.

The unequivocal announcement came after a weekend where more people were visibly outside of their homes on San Francisco streets, presumably due to sunny weather and the Easter and Passover holidays – but both Breed and Scott pointed out that most San Franciscans were apparently following public health orders, and many people who were out were observing proper social distancing.

“I want to thank everyone for complying this weekend – especially our religious communities,” Breed said. “I want to thank you so much for what you did to host congregations online.

It made a real difference.”

Scott said that officers will warn people before citing them for violating the shelter-in-place order, which is a misdemeanor. He said that the police engage small groups of people to ask if they are in the same household, but don’t hesitate to warn people engaging in larger group activities such as team sporting competitions.

Police issued 67 warnings last Sunday alone at city parks, Scott said, adding that warnings have by and large been effective.

“For the most part, we saw more people at parks, more people exercising. We anticipated this” Scott said.

“After warnings are given, people

Courtesy 420hippiehill.com

People enjoy a previous 4/20 party at Robin Williams Meadow in Golden Gate Park.

comply, and that is what we’re after.”

Nevertheless, police had to cite two non-essential businesses that remained open despite warnings: a salon, and a liquor store operating after the city curfew of 8 p.m.

Clandestine nightclub closed

By far the business shutdown that garnered the most publicity was of an alleged illegal after-hours nightclub in the Bayview neighborhood.

After being tipped off to the nightclub at 2266 Shafter Avenue, police stationed outside April 10 told people anticipating entry to leave. The following day the police executed a search warrant.

“Officers from SFPD’s Tactical Unit and Bayview Station executed the warrant, entered the building, and seized DJ equipment, two fog machines, nine gambling machines with $670 in cash inside, two pool tables, bins of liquor, cases of beer, bar furniture, and other nightclub-related items,” a news release from the city attorney’s office stated.

“On two different nights in March 2020 more than 100 people a night entered and exited the building,” the release continued. “At that time, loud music was heard and strobe lights were observed within the building when the door was opened. Security guards were also seen frisking each visitor at that time.”

The police are also investigating gunshots heard in the vicinity of the club around 3:15 a.m. on the morning of March 15. The landlord of the property is evicting the tenant responsible for the club, which the landlord claimed to not know existed, Scott said.

(Both the landlord and tenant’s names were redacted from search warrants, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.)

“This action indicated a willful and reckless disregard for the health order,” Scott said.

The mayor touted the San Francisco response as a “model for the

rest of the country” for addressing COVID-19. Indeed, the East Coast magazine the Atlantic published a glowing story about Breed’s response to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

But that profile faced criticism in much of the San Francisco press, such as Mission Local, which wrote that it downplayed the city’s challenges in preventing an outbreak among the city’s thousands of unhoused people.

Indeed, last Friday it was announced that over 70 people in the city’s largest homeless shelter had tested positive for the virus.

Breed seemed to address those criticisms during the news conference.

“If I could open up every hotel room in the city, there’s no question,” Breed said, before citing logistical challenges and obstinacy in some sectors of the homeless population as reasons that couldn’t be done.

“I’m hopeful there will be a light at the end of the tunnel,” she added.

Support Corporation, or LISC. “We know that the need is so much deeper and so much greater,” Torres said.

Torres encouraged business owners to reach out to the economic and workforce development office at (415) 554-6134 and for workers to reach out at (415) 701-4817.

SF LGBT webpage

The city has a dedicated webpage for LGBT people to consult before seeking COVID-19-related assistance.

Torres, like other public officials, hinted that the shelter-in-place orders may be extended beyond May 3. The state stay-at-home order has no expiration date.

Torres also asked business owners to report vandalism.

Harvey’s – the restaurant at the 18th and Castro street location of the iconic former Elephant Walk – had a case of vandalism last week when a three-inch rock shattered a window April 9. The Walgreens across the

street also had a broken window.

Steve Porter, the general manager of Harvey’s, told the B.A.R. by phone April 13 that he had it repaired within 24 hours.

“I haven’t boarded up and I’m staying open even though I am losing money every day I do. I don’t want to contribute to the apocalyptic aesthetic,” Porter said.

Porter said that he expected a case of vandalism, and expects further in the future, but he cited advice gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) gave in a Castro Merchants virtual town hall several weeks ago not to board up.

As the B.A.R. previously reported, the city will not be enforcing restrictions on putting plywood on windows and doors, though it will not respond to complaints of graffiti, either.

“It breaks my heart to see all these other places in the neighborhood we love boarded up,” Porter said. t

Town hall highlights SF efforts to help business

Joaquin Torres, the director of the city’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development, spoke to the Castro Merchants earlier Monday in a virtual town hall.

Torres, the son of gay former California Democratic Party chair Art Torres, touched upon city efforts to help small businesses that have been affected by the shelter-in-placer orders.

One is a cap on the fees that thirdparty food delivery services charge restaurants, in an effort to help the city’s beleaguered restaurant industry.

Announced April 10, a 15% cap on third party commissions will last until the end of the state of emergency, or until restaurants can allow customers to dine-in again, whichever comes first.

“That was a big win for us here,” Torres said. “I’m glad we can provide another level of relief.”

Another initiative is the small business emergency loan fund, which provides small businesses up to $50,000 in zero-interest loans. The fund has $9 million to work with and comes on the heels of a city resiliency fund, which will provide grants of up to $10,000 and that has a budget of $2 million.

There were over 2,000 applicants to the resiliency fund, Torres said, but not all of them will be able to get a grant.

Torres also pointed business owners to relief funds being set up by private companies such as Facebook and Verizon, the latter of which is in partnership with the Local Initiatives

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4 • Bay Area Reporter • April 16-22, 2020

Volume 50, Number 16 April 16-22, 2020 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 CULTURE EDITOR Jim Provenzano ASSISTANT EDITORS Matthew S. Bajko • John Ferrannini CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Ray Aguilera • Tavo Amador • Race Bannon Roger Brigham • Brian Bromberger Victoria A. Brownworth • Philip Campbell Heather Cassell • 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 Tim Pfaff • Jim Piechota Gregg Shapiro • Gwendolyn Smith Sari Staver • Charlie Wagner Ed Walsh • Cornelius Washington • Sura Wood

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Bay Area Reporter 44 Gough Street, Suite 204 San Francisco, CA 94103 415.861.5019 • www.ebar.com A division of BAR Media, Inc. © 2020 President: Michael M. Yamashita Director: Scott Wazlowski

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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.

<< Open Forum

t Help needed for ailing CA newspapers I

n the attempt to “bend the curve,” as Governor Gavin Newsom has repeatedly stated, stay-at-home orders may be working. But many are frightened and frustrated that achieving this goal could require extending the deadline, intensify the economic effects tearing the fabric of our communities, and endanger vital institutions like local news media that strive to provide information amid the confusion.

News outlets of all kinds have been decimated by the loss of almost all advertising. The Bay Area Reporter relies on advertising to provide LGBT news to you every week. It’s no small matter that journalists who disseminate news are deemed essential workers under these public health orders.

To support the work of journalists, some help may be on the way for California newspapers.

The Associated Press reported April 10 that the California News Publishers Association has asked Newsom and state legislative leaders to direct aid to the industry. CNPA asked for tailored grants and loans, sales tax exemptions for local papers (which wouldn’t apply to free papers like the B.A.R.), and tax deductions for subscribers and advertisers.

“The COVID-19 virus has left the newspaper industry, already struggling financially, gasping for air,” wrote the group’s president, Simon Grieve, the publisher of Gazette Newspapers in Long Beach, AP reported.

The dire state of the industry comes at a time when residents have come to rely on local news outlets even more.

As the leading LGBT-focused publication in San Francisco – and the Bay Area – the B.A.R. has reported myriad ways the virus and COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by it, have altered daily life in the community, upended nonprofits, and shattered the economy, leaving thousands of queer employees without work.

John Ferrannini

The Bay Area Reporter is one of many community newspapers that are struggling due to a drastic drop in advertising because of stay-at-home orders to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

We strongly support CNPA’s effort, and especially urge that our LGBT lawmakers and allies in Sacramento will too. A spokeswoman for lesbian state Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) said she “is looking at the request,” AP reported.

CNPA’s effort mirrors one at the federal level, where at least 19 senators have signed on to a letter to Senate leadership urging support for local journalism in the next coronavirus relief package. “The current public health crisis has made the already vital role of local news even more critical,” the senators wrote. “Some of the most important guidance for families and businesses during this crisis has been highly localized. Local journalism has been providing communities answers to critical questions, including information on where to get locally tested, hospital capacity, road clo-

sures, essential business hours of operation, and shelter-in-place orders. During this unprecedented public health crisis, people need to have access to their trusted local news outlets for this reliable and sometimes life-saving information.” One of those letters co-authors, Senator Angus King (I) of Maine, was on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” over the weekend and explained the importance of local newspapers, pointing out the dearth of advertising from industries that are closed now. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin), one of the only two out members of that chamber, also signed the letter. We were surprised that the letter does not include the names of California’s two Democratic senators, Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris; they should add their names.

More federal stimulus funds specifically for local newspapers are necessary because there is a limited amount of federal loans currently available and so numerous businesses will not get the help they need. The Small Business Administration’s rollout of the Payment Protection Program, or PPP, has been dismal; it’s very difficult for small businesses to sign up, and it’s vague when money will arrive.

The loss of any newspaper is devastating to its community. Readers are deprived of important stories about their cities or towns, but more importantly a watchdog on local government.

Newspapers often provide in-depth reporting on issues that merit only a minute or two on TV news broadcasts. It’s unusual for TV news bureaus to report consistently on the LGBT community – which is why the B.A.R. must continue.

To support local journalism, sign on to the CNPA’s website at https://cnpa.com/legal/ab5/ Local newspapers need state and federal resources if they are to ride out the pandemic. State lawmakers must consider the CNPA’s proposals; federal lawmakers must include local papers in the next virus relief package. t

Out of anger, Gay Teachers forms

by Tom Ammiano

A

fter a while, I hooked up with somebody. He was a teacher too. We moved in together. It was a furnished apartment on 16th Street between Market and Divisadero. The rent was $145 dollars for both of us, furnished. It was owned by an old semi-alcoholic retired fireman. Apparently, they had a lot of real estate in those days. He never said shit to us. I mean it was so obvious, right, we were gay? He was always slow to fix the toilet and I was angry about that. I thought, for $145 a month you should fix the damn toilet! Now $145 a month in San Francisco barely pays for toilet paper.

I found a lot of racism in the bars in the Castro.

They had three rules. One was no hats. What? Yup. Believe it or not that rule was somehow supposed to keep out black people. Another rule: No open-toed shoes. That rule was supposed to keep out women.

Another rule: Triple-carding. If they didn’t like the way you looked, they would ask for three forms of ID. What lunatic carries around three forms of ID? I used to do a joke: “I was in the Castro, you know – one thousand fags, one hundred stories.

I saw somebody get hit by a car. Before deciding whether to care the queens asked, ‘Is he white?’”

Some people didn’t like that I did that joke. A little too on the money perhaps? Another one – “The Elephant Man tried to get into Toad Hall Bar in the Castro. They said ‘three forms of ID please.’ He said, ‘I am not an animal! I am a human being!’” In today’s world it would be, “I am not an algorithm!”

That’s the kind of thing that fed my comedy really. I was like, this is gay liberation? Because I’m not feeling it.

One day I was walking down the street and saw a flyer. It said, “Are you tired of racism and discrimination in the Gay Community?”

The flyer said, “Come to this meeting.” I went. The meeting was organized by a white man named Howard Wallace and an AfricanAmerican guy, Claude Winn. That’s where I met Hank Wilson and all these other incredible justice warriors. The meeting was in a church. The topic was, “are you tired of being treated this way in San Francisco gay bars?” I just connected to it.

I didn’t know what I was getting into. A lot of it was sectarian, very left. I didn’t know shit about any of that. I didn’t know about Prairie Fire or the ones with the newspapers at the time, the Revolutionary Communist Party. They had, for lack of a better term, infiltrated that group. Howard and Claude – we used to call them Harold and Maude – were very charismatic.

Rick Gerharter

Then-Assemblyman Tom Ammiano enjoyed a laugh following his December 1, 2008 swearing-in in Sacramento.

Out of that organizing came something called BAGL: Bay Area Gay Liberation. It only lasted one year because there was too much sectarianism. I had no idea. And I would make jokes like “Tight Trotsky butts and broad Stalinistic shoulders.” But BAGL did inform me a lot. People like Hank Wilson and I eventually got shunned. Some were not gay, they were just there to propagate ideologies. Then they had study groups – I hated that. I left and went to a bar. Then they had “self-criticism time.” I spent about two minutes there and left. I just said, “Sorry I can’t do this” and left. People would come up to me later and say, “We’re so glad you said it. We were feeling that too.”

I had no idea about the issues with the left.

I didn’t even know if I was left. I didn’t know what I was. But the issues that were identified resonated with me, especially the class stuff.

What I found out – a friend told me this and it just clicked – was that a lot of people are very threatened by smart working-class people. I didn’t know that was the case. I didn’t even think I was smart. So we formed the Gay Teachers out of that anger. Other gay teachers were the worst – they were terrified of us.

Ron Lanza, Hank Wilson, and I were the founders of the Gay Teachers. We only had about eight people. Ron quit teaching. He was like Mr. Cool, the teacher with the ponytail out in Walnut Creek. His students loved him. But he took a stand about them not allowing a gay speaker and he quit. Hank had taught school down south.

It was just us. Hank had no shoelaces in his shoes. Ron had his ponytail. I was me. I asked my

friend Yvonne Goldin, an activist teacher who was very political and media savvy, “The school district won’t let me advertise a Gay Teachers meeting in their newsletter. How do you have a press conference?” She said, “You write ‘who, what, when and where’ and you give out flyers.” I didn’t know how to do any of that.

We had mimeographs in those days. There were no Xeroxes. So we got covered in ink from the flyers. The flyers had misspellings. I went to the Chronicle, I went to the Examiner. I went to the TV stations. We just dropped all the press advisories off. Then we had our press conference.

Well, some of the mainstream press did call us up. They were assholes, totally snide. The only one who gave us a decent interview was Belva Davis, a TV newsperson. She was one of the only black women on TV then.

I was so shocked by my first TV interview. I didn’t know what I was doing but it’s like a lot of times with teaching – if you have high expectations of kids they’ll get there. Belva interviewed me like I was a real person and I responded to that.

Hank later said to me, “You know you were really good.” Because usually what I did when I was upset about something was rant: “Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you.” Instead, because Belva treated me like a human being in the interview, I said, “I know that a lot of people are disturbed by this issue, but I’ve been a successful teacher for seven years so why does my sexual orientation matter?”

Then Jim Wood from the Examiner interviewed me. He was a nice guy but I was nervous about the interview. The next day the Examiner didn’t come out until the afternoon. After it did, my friend John Patrick Quinn, who had been a teacher too, called me and said, “Holy shit! You’re on the fucking front page of the Examiner!” I said, “You’re kidding!” We lived at 29th and Mission and I couldn’t find a newsstand anywhere in the neighborhood. I had to go all the way down to the Financial District. When I finally got one I opened it and there I was on the front page of the newspaper with a bad perm. I thought I was Abbie Hoffman or something. The headline read: “Gay, Closeted, and Proud.” Pretty good, right? The article was favorable. God love Jim Wood. I said to nobody in particular, “Well, I guess I’m out now?” t An exclusive excerpt from Chapter 3 of Tom Ammiano’s new memoir, “Kiss My Gay Ass: My trip down the Yellow Brick Road through activism, stand-up, and politics,” published

by Bay Guardian Books in April 2020. Used with permission. To order a copy, go to www.kissmygayass.com.

t

San Francisco

Politics >>

April 16-22, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 5

SF rights commission surveys LGBT needs

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city agency is surveying the needs of San Francisco’s LGBT population stemming from the novel coronavirus outbreak in order to better direct relief efforts in the community. Already, it has directed $80,000 in emergency relief grants to assist those LGBTQ people who have been impacted by the health crisis.

The San Francisco Human Rights Commission has posted a link to the survey on the main page of its website at https://sf-hrc.org/. Responses will be collected through next Thursday, April 23, but the agency is reviewing the answers in real time as it helps develop policies, prioritizes needs, and works to provide additional emergency grants to LGBT community groups and service providers.

“We are making sure we can provide adequate resources,” said Tuquan Harrison, the HRC’s LGBTQI policy adviser, in an April 13 phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter.

The city also has compiled specific resources for LGBT residents onto one website it launched last week at https://sf.gov/information/get-lgbtqcommunity-services-during-coronavirus-outbreak. It is grouped under various headings such as housing, youth, and legal services and lists the contact information for specific agencies and service providers offering assistance under those categories.

“Here are community specific services for you with people who know how to handle your specific issues,” said Joseph Sweiss, a queer man who is vice chair of the Human Rights Commission and works on policy and public affairs at the city’s Department of the Environment.

The HRC’s survey is a series of eight questions geared toward agencies and nonprofits providing services to the LGBT community, but individual community members can also take part in the survey and provide answers relating what issues they are personally experiencing due to the virus outbreak.

“For the HRC to proactively support communities it’s been in touch with so long and be able to give them immediate assistance while at the same time finding ways to expand access to city resources for them is pretty remarkable,” said Sweiss.

Many industries that have historically hired numerous LGBT people, from the arts, travel, and nightlife sectors to restaurants and retailers, have been severely impacted by the shelterin-place orders that were implemented in mid-March.

It is “a vital way for us to stay on top of what the concerns are,” said Harrison, a queer, cisgender man. “We want to respond quickly and fast.”

The needs are numerous and diverse within the LGBT community, he noted. Especially impacted have been sex workers, incarcerated individuals, undocumented immigrants, people of color, and transgender and nonbinary people. The money the HRC has already distributed to community groups, said Harrison, has helped pay for such things as hotel rooms, groceries, and protective gear for LGBT people.

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San Francisco City Hall was lit in rainbow colors Friday, April 10, to honor the life of lesbian pioneer Phyllis Lyon, who died April 9.

“We want to make sure government resources are accessible to community-based organizations,” he said.

Like many of their city colleagues Sweiss and Harrison have been reassigned to assist with the city’s emergency response to the pandemic. Sweiss is helping with media outreach while Harrison is working with other HRC staffers and employees from other city departments to ensure the city’s plans are equitable and include various minority and underrepresented communities.

“It’s been extremely difficult honestly and very challenging. This has been a heavy task and load,” said Harrison. “We are working nonstop on these topics and things people need. We are making sure our community is being uplifted and supported.”

For decades the city’s HRC, currently led

by Executive Director Sheryl Evans Davis, has helped funnel city resources and funding toward the needs of the local LGBT community. It traditionally has had an LGBT advisory committee helping to guide those efforts, but as the B.A.R. reported in 2018 that body had been unable to regularly meet due to a lack of a quorum and was put on hiatus.

HRC staff and its commission members have been working on a plan to revamp the advisory body, and dozens of LGBT leaders took part in a roundtable discussion in early March about how to move forward.

The already planned meeting coincided with the growing concern about the coronavirus hitting the Bay Area.

One idea discussed at the meeting was the need for an LGBTQ-specific resources page where people could easily get up-to-date information about services; such a one-stop-shop database was included in the draft version of the LGBTQ+ Cultural Heritage Strategy released in 2018 and yet to be officially adopted by the city.

“We want to make sure we are keeping track of LGBTQ resources that the city and community groups are providing,” explained Harrison.

And the survey results will help city officials know where the gaps in services are for the LGBT community, noted Sweiss.

“We hope to see patterns and trends of what are the needs,” he said.

“We can then work with the Department of Emergency Management to help meet those needs.”

SF gay Dem chair set to be re-elected

When the body that runs the San Francisco Democratic Party meets virtually next Wednesday, April 22, gay party chair David Campos is expected to be elected to a full four-year term. Campos, a former District 9 supervisor, took over as chair in summer 2017.

In February, the Bay Area Reporter first reported that he would seek to remain in the chairmanship should he win reelection to his seat on the Democratic County Central Committee. Commonly called the D-triple-C, the DCCC’s 24 elected seats split between the city’s two state Assembly districts were all on the March 3 primary ballot.

Democratic voters in the 17th Assembly District elected 14 DCCC members, while Democratic voters in the 19th Assembly District elected the other 10. Campos was part of a slate of progressive candidates that swept nearly all of the body’s elected seats.

Because Campos was elected from AD 17, the party’s first vice chair is traditionally given to someone from the other Assembly district. At press time Wednesday, April 15, Campos did not know who would seek the position, nor did he know the candidate for the second vice chair position.

District Attorney Chesa Boudin will virtually swear in the DCCC members. Among them will be the woman he unseated in November, Suzy Loftus, who had been appointed the city’s interim D.A. by Mayor London Breed weeks prior to the election but lost to her progressive opponent.

Also taking her oath of office will be Honey Mahogany, the first transgender woman to win election to the Democratic Party’s oversight body.

Campos had appointed her to a vacant seat two years ago, and her victory in March also marked the first time a drag queen won any type of elected post in San Francisco and the first time a black transgender person won an elected post in California.

People can register to join the DCCC’s Zoom meeting, which will begin at 6:30 p.m., online at https:// us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/ WN_5dLSIlSRR-2wfZ4eRomFqQ t

Letters >>

Missing sports columnist

I always start reading my Bay Area Reporter each week with Roger Brigham’s sports column, but I’ve noticed that it has been missing the last few weeks. I understand that the paper is going through difficult times, so I hope that you will continue to publish his work (or bring him back?)

Keep on publishing!

[Editor’s note: Unfortunately, we have had to temporarily suspend Mr. Brigham’s column, Jock Talk. We hope it can eventually return.]

Stay Safe!

We’ll be back soon!

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<< Community News

6 • Bay Area Reporter • April 16-22, 2020

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Cannabis firm releases Peron video trailer in time for 4/20 compiled by Cynthia Laird

I

n honor of what would have been gay marijuana activist Dennis Peron’s 75th birthday, a cannabis firm has released a trailer of a new video about him.

PAX Labs Inc., a vaporizer company that specializes in cannabis, released “Dennis: The man who legalized cannabis” online April 8.

Peron died in January 2018 after a long battle with lung cancer. His passing came just a few weeks after California’s law allowing recreational use of marijuana, Proposition 64, went into effect.

John Entwistle, Peron’s husband, sent an email to supporters announcing the release.

He wrote that PAX conceived and funded the project and the team at Bone + Gold produced the video.

“I did what I could to support them,” Entwistle wrote.

He added that the release of the full 20-minute video is planned for July at the

Professional headshots / profile pics Weddings / Events

StevenUnderhill 415 370 7152 • StevenUnderhill.com

Rick Gerharter

Dennis Peron, shown in a 2006 photo

Roxie Theater in San Francisco.

“We will make an evening of it with a panel discussion and a party, but first we must get past this coronavirus thing,” he wrote, referring to the pandemic that has led to stay-at-home orders in the Bay Area and many other locales.

With the annual 4/20 cannabis party in Golden Gate Park canceled this year due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, the video might make for fun viewing to celebrate Peron’s long involvement with medical and recreational marijuana.

To view the trailer, visit https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NOybN63-Q&feature=youtu.be.

IRS extends US tax deadline

The Internal Revenue Service has extended to July 15 the deadline for Americans to file their federal income tax returns. While the agency announced last month that the filing deadline would be extended for most individuals due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, an April 9 news release clarified that the new due date

WE’RE HERE FOR YOU We’re thinking of you and your loved ones as we navigate these unpredictable times together. Rest assured, our commitment to helping you thrive remains unwavering, and no question is too big or too small.

You can always reach us, and we look forward to providing guidance and support via phone, text, email, and virtual chats – whatever platform works best for you. We’re here to help, ready and equipped with a list of several additional resources for seniors. Whether you or a family member are in urgent need or just need to talk, we’re here for you.

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includes Americans who live and work abroad, individuals, trusts, estates, corporations, and other non-corporate tax filers.

There will be no late-filing penalty, late-payment penalty, or interest due, the release stated.

In California, state Controller Betty Yee has announced that the new deadline for state personal income taxes is also July 15, in conformity with the IRS. For more information on federal taxes, visit http://www.irs.gov.

For information on California taxes, go to https://www.ftb.ca.gov/.

The IRS unveiled the new Get My Payment link with features to let taxpayers check on their Economic Impact Payment date and update direct deposit information.

For info, go to https://www.irs.gov/ coronavirus/get-my-payment.

Virtual town hall on COVID-19 for HIVers

The Getting to Zero SF Consortium is co-hosting a virtual Town Hall meeting with Ward 86 at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital Thursday, April 23, from 6 to 8 p.m. Pacific time, about COVID-19 for people living with HIV. (COVID-19 is the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus.)

According to organizers, the forum is an opportunity for people to learn how to maintain health during this time, hear personal testimonials, and to ask questions.

The agenda includes presentations by Dr. Monica Gandhi, from UCSF/SFGH Ward 86; Andy Scheer, LCSW, from SF City Clinic; and Bill Hirsh, executive director of the AIDS Legal Referral Panel.

Other community-based partners who provide direct services will be available during the meeting to answer questions as they arise, See page 7 >>

Obituaries >> Joseph Saunders

Nick Shelbi

November 11, 1960 – April 4, 2020

February 4, 1963 – March 8, 2020

Joseph Saunders passed away unexpectedly Saturday, April 4, at the home he shared with his partner, Randy. Joe was the kindest, sweetest man you could ever know, a true angel. He was always such a positive person that others wanted to be around; he was magical. He always put everyone else first. He had a zest for life, loved to host parties, and always made you feel welcomed. He had a great sense of humor, enjoyed music, singing, gardening, hiking, and cheering on the local sports teams at 440 and the Mix. He had a lucky touch and loved to gamble be it slots, craps, horses, or lottery scratchers that he shared with so many. He was always a winner. Joe touched so many lives with his kindness, generosity, and compassion. He will be deeply missed by all who were fortunate to have known him. Joe is survived by his partner of 19 years, Randy; sisters, Donna and Judy, and brother, Jim; as well as best friends Angie, Donna, Francis, Mark, and Miguel.

Nick Shelbi of San Francisco, California and Zurich, Switzerland passed away on March 8, 2020 in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, where he had been traveling. He was 57.

Born in Los Angeles on February 4, 1963 to Emma and Mike Shelbi, “Nicky” was raised in Glendale with his beloved sister, Elaine, and attended elementary school at the Pokrov Russian Orthodox Church. Later, he attended Herbert Hoover High School in Glendale and the San Francisco Art Institute.

Nick was a part of many different communities and had a wide and diverse circle of friends throughout the world. Proudly gay, he was loved for bringing joy and laughter to even the darkest of situations. Nick was active in the leather community and was named San Francisco Mr. Drummer 2000.

Nick’s spirit lives on in the loving memory of his partner, Marco Regotz, of Zurich; sister and brother-in-law, Elaine and Peter Adams of Pasadena, California; Jesse DeGuia and Bruce Weinberg of Los Angeles; Terry Beswick, Jeff Cilione, and Arlen Lasater of San Francisco; and many other friends.

A memorial will be planned in San Francisco when possible. Details will be provided on Nick’s Facebook memorial page.

t <<

Community News>>

News Briefs

From page 6

organizers said.

There will be an hour for Q&A and discussion following the presentations and testimonials.

To RSVP and submit questions for the Q&A, visit https://bit. ly/2RAwqmn. A link to the Zoom meeting will be sent after registration.

SF Pride Meet canceled

The San Francisco Track and Field Club has announced that the Pride Meet scheduled to be held June 20 has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Arun Bordoloi, the club’s president, wrote in an email that the club has also paused all official training practices for both track and field events until San Francisco

<<

Phyllis Lyon

From page 1

Court, the ability to marry in 2008 meant a great deal to Ms. Lyon.

“I am devastated to lose Del, but I take some solace in knowing we were able to enjoy the ultimate rite of love and commitment before she passed,” she said, according to an obituary submitted by Kate Kendell, a longtime friend of the couple.

“Phyllis Lyon is truly an iconic figure in the history of LGBTQ and women’s rights,” Kendell wrote in an email statement to the Bay Area Reporter. “Her life was marked by courage and the tenacious belief that the world must and could change. She and her love of over 50 years moved from the shadows to the center of civil life and society when they became the first couple to marry in California after Proposition 8 was struck down in 2008. Few individuals did more to advance women’s and LGBTQ rights than Phyllis Lyon.”

<<

LGBT media

From page 1

The move, announced in a publisher’s letter April 2, came after the B.A.R. lost much of its advertising revenue due to coronavirusrelated business closures. The B.A.R. had to lay off two longtime employees.

“We wanted to make sure we have enough funds to tide through this period because, like other publications, advertising dried up suddenly when businesses were forced to close,” Yamashita said.

The paper had raised $13,846 of a $30,000 goal by April 14.

“We’re surprised at what has been raised so far in just two weeks,” he said. “Even if we don’t meet our final goal, it’s a boost of confidence and encouragement.”

Yamashita said that he is applying for local and federal loan and grant programs. The paper hopes to get advertising from city agencies as well.

LGBT media outlets are important to ensuring that queer voices are heard in the broader culture, according to Yamashita.

“We have a special mission to cover our community and it’s by us, for us, and about us,” Yamashita said. “Nobody can recognize stories not told by the mainstream media like we can. That’s true of LGBT people and it’s true of all minorities. These stories fall through the cracks, don’t get told, and people’s lives are affected.”

<<

Newsom

From page 1

ported in the state in the 24 hours prior to his announcement.

But Newsom wanted to assure the public that shelter-in-place is not “a permanent state of affairs” and that while residents are in “the most dif-

officials lift the stay-at-home order that also bans public gatherings.

“We will determine in the next few months if we will be able to reschedule the Pride Meet for a later date this year or completely cancel the Pride Meet for this year,” Bordoloi wrote.

For more information, visit http://sftrackandfield.com/.

April 16-22, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 7

BXJ/view.

Lesbians Who Tech moves confab to fall

Lesbians Who Tech + Allies has again moved its San Francisco conference, this time to the fall, according to an announcement from founder Leanne Pittsford.

The annual gathering of LGBTs and allies in and around tech had announced in March that it was moving the April conference to August, but last week Pittsford wrote in an email that the date has

again changed due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. She said the decision was based on conversations with the event’s partners, attendees, and speakers.

“Over the course of this month, it has become clear the likelihood that our community can gather safely in August is extremely low,” Pittsford wrote.

Meantime, she also noted that the organization is on track to lose more than $2 million – more than half its annual budget. As a result, the group is finding innovative and creative ways to provide value to its community, she said. To that end, Lesbians Who Tech has launched a new Roadmap, which includes a virtual Pride Summit Week June 22-26. For more information, see the pdf at https:// drive.google.com/file/d/1glOX5Rkkiu-OpQIssn3puynAPhDM-

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (DSan Francisco) issued a statement saying she was “heartbroken” to hear the news.

“Phyllis, together with her beloved late wife, Del Martin, was on the vanguard in the fight to make real the promise of equality for LGBTQ Americans since the earliest days of this struggle,” Pelosi stated. “As a journalist, community organizer, and clarion voice for justice, Phyllis fought always to hold our nation accountable to its Founding values – whether working to decriminalize homosexuality, promote women’s health, outlaw employment discrimination in San Francisco or ensure that our city respected the dignity of all people.”

In a tweet, Newsom wrote that the couple were “the manifestation of love and devotion.”

“Phyllis – it was the honor of a lifetime to marry you & Del. Your courage changed the course of history,” he added.

San Francisco Mayor London

Breed called Ms. Lyon “a true champion of LGBTQ rights.”

“Phyllis changed countless lives for the better,” Breed stated. “She was at the forefront of the LGBTQ rights movement – fighting for a world in which people can marry who they love and live without fear of discrimination. Through decades of organizing, activism, and writing, Phyllis helped advance civil rights protections, created robust support networks for LGBTQ people, and established political and advocacy organizations that continue her work to this day. Importantly, Phyllis was a symbol of hope and courage for San Franciscans and people around the world.”

David Campos, a gay man and former San Francisco supervisor, called Ms. Lyon’s passing “a tragic loss.”

“She was a pioneer for LGBTQ rights when that was a dangerous thing to be,” said Campos, who’s chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party.

“I think that the community owes her a great deal of debt for what she did. It

is a sad day for us.”

Gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), also expressed his condolences.

“We lost a giant today,” he said in a statement. “Phyllis Lyon fought for LGBTQ equality when it was neither safe nor popular to do so. Phyllis and her wife, Del Martin, played a crucial role winning the rights and dignity our community now enjoys. We owe Phyllis immense gratitude for her work. Rest in power.”

Out state Senate President pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) praised Ms. Lyon’s legacy.

“The world, and the LGBTQ community, has lost one of its most fearless leaders in the passing of Phyllis Lyon,” Atkins stated. “She and her partner, Del Martin were, both separately and as a couple, icons as gayrights activists and as feminists. They were both critical individuals in my early years as a college student seeking positive role models for me as a lesbian and as a young feminist. They

will long be remembered as incredible women who made an indelible mark on history.”

In 2009, Ms. Lyon spoke with the B.A.R. about the couple’s involvement in the fight for marriage equality. Though the couple participated in every pivotal moment of California’s same-sex marriage fight, Ms. Lyon said that nothing in their activist history suggested that they would turn to the state to legitimize their relationship.

“A lot of women thought that marriage was a big fart,” Ms. Lyon said at the time, recalling the mindset of feminists working in the 1970s who viewed marriage as an institution that kept women trapped in traditional roles. Before the couple’s February 2004 nuptials, Ms. Lyon said, she placed marriage low on her list of priorities in the struggle for gay rights.

“We hadn’t given it much thought,” Ms. Lyon said. “We were much more

Yamashita said that an example of that is the prevalence of methamphetamine addiction in the LGBT community.

“One of the stories people don’t like to talk about is meth in the community,” Yamashita said. “But we report on the help that’s being offered, what the government is doing, what agencies are doing.

We help foster the discussion.”

Yamashita said that sometimes the B.A.R.’s reporting has made people uncomfortable, but that the paper must think about what is best for the LGBT community at large.

“We try to improve community institutions like nonprofits and the business community,” Yamashita said. “Sometimes it’s hard to be a watchdog for your own.”

Physical copies of the B.A.R. that used to be sent to now-shuttered bars and other queer spaces are now distributed via kiosks “in the neighborhoods,” he said.

The B.A.R. isn’t the only legacy LGBT newspaper, of which there are 12, fundraising and seeking the small business assistance that local, state, and federal governments have made available.

The B.A.R. reached out to seven LGBT news organizations last week to see how the outbreak was affecting them. Three responded.

The refrain was similar: online traffic is up as people seek reliable information about how coronavirus is affecting their local LGBT communities, but the drop in print and online advertising

has made the situation that much more precarious.

Mark Segal, who founded the Philadelphia Gay News (https:// epgn.com/) in 1976 and is its publisher, said that he has been “applying for every possible grant offered that I know of,” and has received a few.

His paper’s advertising has decreased 80%, he said.

“Without people going to restaurants and shops, advertising dries up,” Segal said.

Still, he is trying to identify coffee shops and other locations where people can pick up a copy of PGN “to-go.”

“We have never missed a deadline and have no intention of doing so now,” Segal said. “We will do what it takes.”

Segal said that LGBT media offers people a “lifeline,” citing HIV/ AIDS news and the fact that runaway youth and the trans community often look toward LGBT papers for needed community information.

The Windy City Times in Chicago is applying for grants.

“In addition, we have made a call for donations, and we are joining with the Chicago Independent Media Alliance for a 40-outlet fundraising campaign online in late April,” Andrew Davis, the Times’ executive editor, wrote in an April 9 email. “We have seen a dramatic loss in advertising revenue, so we are seeking any and all options to keep publishing in

print and online.”

Davis said that the Times has not had to lay off staff, and it is continuing its print edition but in a limited capacity.

Troy Masters, the publisher of the Los Angeles Blade, wrote that it is continuing with its print edition. (It is part of the media organization that owns the Washington Blade in D.C.) “We are not unlike any business that relies on other businesses for revenue support. When one party’s revenue streams stop it affects everyone in the chain. And when frontline recovery begins, it will take us a while to get back up to fully funded speed. But we will if we are mindful of the plight of others. We have to be of service and we have to believe that will be appreciated,” Masters wrote April 8.

“Traffic is up online, distribution is complicated by COVID-19 but we are doing it in new ways, and we have shifted some of our online reporting to be more inclusive of the general area community.”

Masters wrote that he hasn’t gotten the kind of governmental help from the city or county of Los Angeles “I had imagined we might get,” but that he understands government entities are “directing a crisis response.”

“West Hollywood has been very good to us,” Masters wrote. “Our contributors are supportive of the paper and will be as long as they can be.”

Masters declined to comment

about if there were any layoffs because “that could change and is private.”

Gay City News in New York City has had to temporarily cut its budget for freelancers, according to its founding editor in chief and associate publisher, Paul Schindler.

“Though all non-essential businesses in NYC have been shuttered since the third week of March, leading to a decline in local business advertising, we still have support from national pharmaceutical companies and several health-related local government agencies have been newly-advertising regarding the health crisis,” Schindler said. “As well, (New York State) instituted a special Obamacare enrollment period and so some managed care companies have come in to advertise for that.

Our staff remains in place, but we have cut out our freelancer budget for the time being.”

The Washington Blade sent a March 25 email to subscribers stating that its “mission continues amid crisis.”

“The Blade will publish in print as long as is feasible as well as online,” the email stated.

The Blade Foundation is also fundraising (https://www.washingtonblade.com/), and had raised $6,430 as of April 14.

The San Diego Gay and Lesbian News, and Outward in Sacramento did not respond to requests for comment. t

ficult and challenging phase of all,” Californians have helped to flatten the curve.

California Public Health Officer Dr. Sonia Angell said that if all restrictions were lifted now, then the state’s health systems would be overwhelmed.

“Because of all of you in Cali-

fornia, we have started to bend the curve,” Angell said. “But that does not mean we can let everyone back in the streets.

“The conversation right now is how to modify existing orders but protect our communities,” she added.

Newsom said that science, and

not politics, will guide his decisionmaking, but the six criteria he announced may put him on a collision course with President Donald Trump, who said (falsely, according to constitutional experts) that he has unilateral power to override gubernatorial orders.

Trump created a Reopening

the Country Council in the White House, according to press reports, and will share guidelines this week on how to “reopen” America. Two of the people on the council are the president’s family members: daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner. t

API LGBT clinic gets federal funds

The San Francisco Community Health Center, formerly known as the Asian Pacific Islander Wellness Center, was one of several agencies to receive funds from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as part of the federal government’s response to COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus.

The agency, which closed for now, its clinic at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center, received $511,685 as part of HHS’ $192,480,867 that was awarded to 180 health centers in California.

Other LGBT-related clinics that received funds were: APLA Health and Wellness in Los Angeles, $694,205; Desert AIDS Project

in Palm Springs, $687,455; and the Los Angeles LGBT Center, $915,920. All receive funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration, which is part of HHS. An HHS news release noted that the funds may be used to help their communities detect coronavirus; prevent, diagnose, and treat COVID-19; and maintain or increase health capacity and staffing levels to address the public health emergency.

The funding is made possible because it’s part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) that was signed into law by President Donald Trump March 27. t

See page 8 >>

<< Community News

8 • Bay Area Reporter • April 16-22, 2020

<<

Phyllis Lyon

interested in making sure that gays and lesbians could have jobs and not get fired from them just because they were gays and lesbians. And the same with housing and the same with almost everything.”

Still, when Newsom and Kendell, then the executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, asked Ms. Lyon and Ms. Martin to be the first couple to marry during the Winter of Love, they agreed.

“Well, sure,” Ms. Lyon remembers saying in response to Kendell’s request, shortly before the ceremony took place on February 12.

NCLR officials mourned the passing of Ms. Lyon.

“Phyllis Lyon was a giant. She was an icon, a trailblazer, a pioneer, a role model, and a friend to the many of us who looked up to her,” said NCLR Executive Director Imani RupertGordon. “Her activism changed what we thought was possible, and her strength inspired us. Her vision helped forge our path and made organizations like NCLR possible. And although the path is lonelier without her, we know the way because of her.”

Added NCLR legal director Shannon Minter, “Our country has lost a civil rights icon and one of the most legendary figures in the LGBTQ movement. I was proud to represent Phyllis Lyon and her longtime partner, Del Martin, in the historic 2008 California Supreme Court case that struck down California’s marriage ban. Getting to know Phyllis and Del was the honor of a lifetime. Our movement would not be possible without their unflinching courage and willingness to live openly and proudly as lesbians, even at a time when doing so subjected them to vicious stigma and persecution.”

Early life

Ms. Lyon was born on November

<<

SF Pride

From page 1

of all, our LGBTQ communities. We have heard from people who urged us to cancel, and from those who implored us not to.”

The decision was made by the SF Pride board of directors, the news release stated. The 2020 parade would have been the 50th annual iteration of the celebration for San Francisco and other major cities such as New York.

“While the board and staff are disappointed not to showcase the physical celebration so many had hoped for, SF Pride plans to join a constellation of Pride organizations worldwide in a ‘Virtual Global Pride’ on Saturday, June 27,” the release stated. “SF Pride will be announcing additional collaborations, primarily in digital formats, to commemorate Pride throughout the summer. These alternate celebrations, presented alongside other community organizations and supporters, will roll out throughout the coming weeks and months.”

After SF Pride stated an announcement would come the week of April 12, several prominent

<<

bians to join the National Organization for Women and helped form the Council on Religion and the Homosexual in Northern California to persuade ministers to accept lesbians and gay men into churches. They pushed to decriminalize homosexuality in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

From page 7

Pet owners

From page 2

vices we provide.”

One expansion the agency was able to undertake, said Roy, was teaming with the mobile pet care service Full Belly Bus to provide free pet food to homeless and marginally housed people in the Tenderloin. All PAWS staff and its upward of 700 volunteers were instructed to adhere to the new safety protocols health officials have instituted due to the pandemic, such as remaining six feet away

SF activism

Jane Philomen Cleland

Phyllis Lyon, right, cuts the wedding cake after her June 16, 2008 marriage to Del Martin, left. In back is then-San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom

Ms. Lyon and Ms. Martin became active in San Francisco’s first gay political organization, the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, which influenced then-mayor Dianne Feinstein to sponsor a citywide bill to outlaw employment discrimination for gays and lesbians, the obituary noted. The two backed Pelosi when she was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1987. Today, Feinstein (D) is the senior U.S. senator from California In 1979, activists established LyonMartin Health Services named in honor of the two lesbian pioneers. Today, the clinic is part of HealthRIGHT 360, which announced in March that it was moving it from a Mission Street location to the agency’s headquarters a short distance away. Officials acknowledged there would be service reductions as a result of the move, which is being made for financial reasons.

In 1989, Ms. Lyon and Ms. Martin joined Old Lesbians Organizing for Change. They were honored by the ACLU of Northern California in 1990, reflecting their decades of commitment to civil rights and civil liberties locally and nationally. Both were named delegates to the White House Conference on Aging in 1995. At that conference, they successfully lobbied to have lesbian and gay issues on the agenda.

Because of their historical importance and engaging personalities Ms. Lyon and Ms. Martin were featured in many documentary films. “No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon,” tells their life story and is available on many plat-

10, 1924, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She spent her formative years in Sacramento, California and graduated from UC Berkeley in 1946 with a degree in journalism. As an undergraduate she served as editor of the legendary Daily Californian student newspaper. During the 1940s, she worked as a reporter for the Chico Enterprise-Record, and during the 1950s, she worked as part of the editorial staff of two Seattle magazines.

Ms. Lyon later worked as an administrative assistant to the Reverend Cecil Williams at Glide Memorial Church. She is credited by Williams with helping him shape a more inclusive vision for Glide. Ms. Lyon and Ms. Martin were a pivotal part of Glide’s inclusivity for LGBTQ people, according to the obituary.

Ms. Lyon was a co-founder of the National Sex Forum, where she served as a director for 19 years. She was a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, where she was an innovator in sex education.

The couple met when Ms. Martin joined the staff of the Seattle magazine where Ms. Lyon was working and the two became lovers in 1952. The

couple relocated to San Francisco and moved into a flat on Castro Street together on Valentine’s Day 1953.

In San Francisco, the women embarked on a lifelong career of activism. In 1955, along with three other lesbian couples, they co-founded the Daughters of Bilitis. Known as DOB, it was the first political and social organization for lesbians in the United States. Shortly after founding DOB, the couple began publishing The Ladder, the first monthly lesbian publication focused on politics, fiction, poetry, and connecting lesbians across the country. The founding of DOB and the publication of The Ladder, continuously from 1956-1972, were acts of immense political courage at a time of unchecked harassment and violence directed at “homosexuals,” largely at the hands of law enforcement and political officials, the obituary noted.

The publication of Ms. Lyon and Ms. Martin’s book, “Lesbian/Woman” in 1972 changed countless lives. Many lesbians found a positive description of lesbian lives for the very first time when they discovered this book.

The women were the first open les-

LGBT nightlife and business leaders issued an open letter to the SF Pride board, as well as civic leaders such as Mayor London Breed, gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, asking that the public portions of Pride be postponed to October or November rather than canceled outright.

Cecil Russell, a gay man who is the head of Cecil Russell Presents and Gloss magazine, was involved in the effort. He told the B.A.R. via phone shortly after the cancellation that the open letter was a way to “get an answer” from SF Pride leaders.

“We thought this was going to happen. We agree (June) is too early,” Russell said. “We know this can come back strong and what we wanted was to get an answer. We definitely get it from a public health perspective.”

For their part, those to whom the open letter was addressed supported SF Pride’s move in the release.

“No one wants to celebrate with the entire community more than I do,” Breed said. “However, we are in an unprecedented public health emergency with an uncertain future, and we must do everything we can to protect our entire community

and put public health first.”

Wiener said it was a “very tough” decision.

“I have no doubt that SF Pride will put together a terrific slate of virtual events for this year’s celebration,” Wiener said. “Pride is my favorite part of every year.”

Mandelman struck a similar chord in his statement.

“While I am of course disappointed that we can’t celebrate in person this year, I’m excited to see the virtual alternatives that our LGBTQ communities come up with,” Mandelman said. “We know how many people Pride brings to San Francisco, and we hope to welcome everyone back soon.”

Larry Nelson, who created the 2018 “Generations of Strength” SF Pride theme that was spun off to create the 2019 “Generations of Resistance” and the 2020 “Generations of Hope” themes, was an early proponent of SF Pride being rescheduled or canceled.

“One day, we will look back and we will know that the measures taken by our community along with all others around the world were the correct measures,” Nelson said in a phone call with the B.A.R. April 14.

“For decades, ‘the Movement,’ as

we call it, has led the way in our historic struggle for unaltered and equal civil rights, not special rights, but equal rights and expression. … We still have much to be proud of much and much to accomplish. Together, we keep the Movement alive.”

The virtual global pride that San Francisco’s event will be subsumed into will be livestreamed Saturday, June 27.

“The unprecedented challenges of COVID-19 mean that most Prides will not take place as planned in 2020, but we’re determined that this won’t stop us from coming together as a united, strong LGBTQIA+ community to celebrate who we are and what we stand for,” Kristine Garina, the chair of Baltic Pride (in Riga, Latvia), wrote in a news release announcing that event.

San Francisco’s is one of the last of the major Pride celebrations to be canceled or postponed. Los Angeles Pride was postponed in early March, but organizers have not announced an alternative date yet.

from people, wearing masks, and using hand sanitizer.

Of upmost importance was continuing to deliver pet food for the roughly 800 pets, mainly dogs and cats, owned by PAWS’ 600 clients. Also provided is cat litter for those with feline companions.

The agency had to suspend its Saturday pickups for its 175 clients who normally would be able to drop by on their own to get their pet supplies. They are now receiving deliveries.

“The biggest issue we had to address was the vast majority of our

clients rely on us for pet food,” said Roy. “Unless you have a pet, you may not understand that the pet food issue is also a human food insecurity issue. What a lot of folks do, and why PAWS got started during the crisis years of the AIDS epidemic 33 years ago, is people will feed their pets instead of themselves. We want to make sure we are continuing all food drop off for all of our homebound clients.”

How those deliveries are done has changed, however, with clients receiving a phone call to let them

know their pet food is at their front door. The delivery people will then wait to make sure it is picked up before moving on to their next stop.

“We have insisted volunteers not go into people’s homes right now,” said Roy. PAWS costs roughly $1 million per fiscal year for Shanti to run, and its biggest fundraiser for the program is scheduled for June 4.

Called Petchitecture as it features designer dog houses and other pet habitats for auction, the agency has yet to decide what changes it

Smaller Pride events may still occur

SF Pride board of directors President Carolyn Wysinger discussed the decision and its ramifications in

t

forms. “One Wedding and a Revolution” looks at the backstory of their 2004 union. Their lives and contributions were also chronicled in the award-winning 2006 book “Different Daughters: A History of the Daughters of Bilitis and the Rise of the Lesbian Rights Movement” by Marcia M. Gallo.

Ms. Lyon and Ms. Martin donated their papers to the GLBT Historical Society. Terry Beswick, the society’s executive director, wrote in an email that the materials are invaluable.

“Phyllis Lyon’s contributions to LGBT equality are immeasurable and trace the history of modern San Francisco,” Beswick wrote. “Going back 65 years to the 1955 founding of the homophile organization, Daughters of Bilitis, and through her historic marriage to Del Martin at City Hall in 2004, with Phyllis’s passing, it is truly the end of an era. At 83 linear feet, the Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin Papers, 1924-2000, are among our most extensive and treasured collections in the archives of the GLBT Historical Society.”

The family wishes to thank the devoted caregivers and community members whose commitment gave Ms. Lyon joy and security in her final years.

Survivors are her beloved sister Patricia Lyon, called Tricia by Phyllis; her devoted daughter, Kendra Mon and son-in-law Eugene Lane, dubbed

by Phyllis an honorary lesbian; granddaughter Lorri Mon; grandson Kevin Mon, his wife Ellen, and Ms. Lyon’s great-granddaughter, Kexin Mon. In addition to her family, a community of millions mourns the loss of this fierce “Lyon” who made the freedom of women and LGBTQ people her life’s work, the obituary noted.

The family requests that gifts in honor of Ms. Lyon be made to the Lyon-Martin Health Clinic at https:// bit.ly/3b4077a.

A celebration of life honoring Ms. Lyon is being planned. t

a talk via Zoom with Manny Yekutiel, a gay man who owns a cafe and event space at 16th and Valencia in the Mission district.

Wysinger said she was a proponent of postponing SF Pride, but determined within the last week – she would not specify a day – that since health officials don’t have an exact timetable of when the outbreak will end, it is impossible at this point to pick a specific date later in the year.

Wysinger said that canceling the event was “one of the saddest, hardest decisions I’ve had to make,” but told viewers that events such as the raising of the LGBT flag and the installing the pink triangle atop Twin Peaks may take place in-person with limited levels of attendance. Wysinger added she did not know the current status of the Trans March or the Dyke March.

She also encouraged historical retrospectives such as those television stations broadcast during Black History Month.

“A virtual Pride is the most important thing to come out of this because we wouldn’t have been forced to think of these things before,” Wysinger said.t

needs to make to the event in light of the pandemic.

“We have not made a final decision, but the more I hear, it is highly unlikely we will have it on June 4, unfortunately,” said Roy. “In terms of how that impacts the PAWS funding, we are not sure. It is too soon for a lot of nonprofits to know how donors and funders are going to respond, not just in the moment but over the next six to 12 months.”

In the meantime, Shanti has See page 9 >>

t <<

Community News>>

Pet owners

From page 8

teamed with San Francisco officials to coordinate volunteer opportunities during the health crisis via the website http://www. shanti.org/cerv.

One of the options for the 400 people who have already signed up is to provide dog walks, and because they do need to go inside people’s homes to pick up the dogs, the volunteers are instructed to cover their face with a mask, scarf, or bandanna.

“Those who can take the precautions and are comfortable are doing the dog walks. It is another important one, because if you are a homebound client, your dog still

needs to go out,” said Roy. Longtime PAWS volunteer Kristen Sinch, 40, who just moved from Oakland into San Francisco’s Cathedral Hill district to live with her boyfriend, continues to help walk Eisland’s two pugs.

“For me, it is important. I know Steve really does struggle with taking his dogs out for longer walks,” said Sinch, who works for Berkeley-based pet food company Wild Earth. “Giving him insurance he can rely on someone is really important in a time like this.”

One of several volunteer dog walkers assisting Eisland, she usually takes Juanito out Saturday mornings for a 20-minute walk as Bernie oftentimes won’t go out.

“I come in and grab the dog and

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039016000

April 16-22, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 9

wouldn’t be able to care for them.

“You can’t say enough about how good they are. I wish they would get more volunteers and more people financially helping out,” said Eisland, who praised his volunteers for continuing to help him and his dogs. “I was concerned. I wasn’t sure if my walkers would leave me for their own welfare.”

To learn more about PAWS, or to sign up as a client or volunteer, visit its website at http://www. shanti.org/programs-ser v ices/ pets-are-wonderful-support/t

when I drop them off, we usually chat a good 15, 20 minutes,” she

said. “This last time, we talked from different rooms and for a shorter time.”

Sinch hopes people will continue to volunteer and financially support PAWS as it is providing critical services to its clients.

“Honestly, for me, it brings me a lot of joy and helps with my mental health to be able to focus on something else,” she said. “It puts things in perspective.”

Eisland, who lost his right eye after being shot during a homophobic attack in the mid-1980s when he lived in New Hampshire, has survived five heart attacks and prostate cancer.

His boys, as he refers to his dogs, are his children, and if it weren’t for PAWS and its volunteers, he

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039030700

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039029200

LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/28/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/09/20.

Courtesy Thomas Francis Jones

Thomas Francis Jones relies on PAWS for his dogs, Petey, top, and Klay.

Legals>> NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF MIKE ANGEL LEON IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO: FILE PES-20-303566

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of MIKE ANGEL LEON. A Petition for Probate has been filed by EVELIA ROJAS LEON in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. The Petition for Probate requests that EVELIA ROJAS LEON 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. The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority. A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: APRIL 15, 2020, 9:00 am, Dept 204, 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: Nicole C. Kelly, (SBN#320379), The Kelly Law Firm, 345 Franklin St, San Francisco, CA 94102; Ph. (415) 552-0059.

MAR 26, APR 2, 9, 16, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039022600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ADVANCED DENTAL LABORATORY, 756 LA PLAYA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LEV SHAPIRO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/01/05. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/09/20.

MAR 26, APR 2, 9, 16, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039029000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: D.A.C.LANDSCAPE: SF, 167 CAINE AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by a married couple, and is signed DAVID ADAM CASELLA & AIMEE BETH GOLANT CASELLA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/06/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/12/20.

MAR 26, APR 2, 9, 16, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039022300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ARKATOPIA, 3279-B 21ST ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ROBERT LAWRENCE WILSON III. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/14/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/09/20.

MAR 26, APR 2, 9, 16, 2020

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL NO. 6M8176 EXTENSION OF TIME FOR RECEIPT OF PROPOSALS NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the General Manager of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District has extended the time for receipt of Proposals until the hour of 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, May 12, 2020 at the District Secretary’s Office, 23rd Floor, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, California 94612, TO PROVIDE CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT SERVICES, Request For Proposal No. 6M8176.

Dated at Oakland, California, this 9th day of April 2020. /s/ Patricia K. Williams Patricia K. Williams, District Secretary San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District 4/16/20 CNS-3359313# BAY AREA REPORTER

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GEM JOY, 2200 SACRAMENTO ST #1603, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed MAGINOT TECHNOLOGIES LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/04/20.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PRACTICALLY EVERYTHING, 210 POST ST #1121, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed PRACTICALLY EVERYTHING. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/16/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/16/20.

MAR 26, APR 2, 9, 16, 2020

MAR 26, APR 2, 9, 16, 2020

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039012600

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039028800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ROW HOUSE MISSION BAY, 1375 4TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94158. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed MT. EVEREST VENTURE LLC (CA).

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/10/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/03/20.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CHENERY STREET ASSOCIATES, 654A CHENERY ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed VICENTE VIRAY. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/10/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/12/20.

MAR 26, APR 2, 9, 16, 2020

APR 2, 9, 16, 23, 2020

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039012800

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039030600

MAR 26, APR 2, 9, 16, 2020

APR 2, 9, 16, 23, 2020

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: X2 GREEN CARPETS, 101 CALIFORNIA ST #2710, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94111. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed WYSE DELIVERY LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/03/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/03/20.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CAFÉ 550, 550 15TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ESAID ZAWAIDEH. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/16/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/16/20.

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT NOTICE TO PROPOSERS - GENERAL INFORMATION The SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, California 94612, is advertising for proposals to provide Detailed Station Cleaning Services, Request for Proposal (RFP) No. 6M8173, on or about April 7, 2020, with proposals due by 2:00 PM local time, Tuesday, April 28, 2020 at the District Secretary’s Office, 23rd floor, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, California 94612.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that sealed Proposals will be received until the hour of 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, April 28, 2020 by one of the following methods:

By Hand Delivery to the Lakeside Drive main entrance to the Lobby at 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, California, 94612. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the building has restricted access.

In order to ensure that Proposals are received prior to the 2:00 p.m. deadline, Proposers must call 510- 464- 6088 well in advance of the 2:00 p.m. deadline to submit Proposals to the District Secretary’s Office. By Special delivery to the District Secretary’s Office, 300 Lakeside Drive, 23rd Floor, Oakland, California, 94612.

Proposers are responsible to ensure their Proposals are received at the time and location specified.

DESCRIPTION OF WORK TO BE PERFORMED The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (hereinafter referred to as “BART” or “District”) is a California Rapid Transit District intends to engage the services of one (1) or more firms (“CONTRACTOR”) to provide services hereinafter described in the in the Scope of Services of the abovementioned RFP. The District presently intends to enter into up to three (3) separate Agreement(s) with up to three (3) CONTRACTOR(s) selected. The term of the Agreement entered into pursuant to this RFP will be for three (3) years, subject to termination as provided for in the Agreement. It is anticipated that the total cost for up to three (3) Agreement shall not exceed the amount of One Million Eight Hundred Thousand Dollars ($1,800,000), and each Agreement value shall not exceed Six Hundred Thousand Dollars ($600,000). However, the Contractor may receive a lesser amount depending on the District’s actual need for Contractor’s services.

Pre-Proposal Conference: A Pre-Proposal Meeting and Networking Session will be held on Tuesday, April 14, 2020. The Pre-Proposal Meeting will convene at 10:30 a.m. local time via Zoom Presentation. All interested parties must RSVP via email to: bartprocurementsupport@ bart.gov by 10:30 a.m. on Monday, April 13, 2020 in order to participate in this Pre-Proposal Meeting. The email subject must include “RFP 6M8173, Detailed Station Cleaning.

Instructions on attending the Zoom Presentation will be emailed upon receipt of RSVP. At the Pre-Proposal Meeting, the District’s Equity Program(s) will be explained. Prospective Proposers are requested to make every effort to participate in this only scheduled Pre-Proposal Meeting and Networking Session. The District may only respond to questions at the submitted Pre-Proposal Meeting by prospective Proposers that have RSVPed to the Pre-Proposal Meeting. In order for the District to consider responding to those questions at the scheduled Pre-Proposal Meeting, those questions shall be submitted until the day prior to the Pre-Proposal Meeting by 10:00 a.m. local time, via email to bartprocurementsupport@bart.gov, and the email subject must include RFP 6M8173, Detailed Station Cleaning.

At the conclusion of the Pre-Proposal Meeting, participants will be given the opportunity to share their contact information to facilitate networking offline.

All questions regarding the District’s Equity Program(s) should be directed to Fei Liu, Office of Civil Rights, at: (510) 874-7348, email: FLiu@bart.gov; FAX (510) 874-7470.

REQUIRED REGISTRATION ON BART PROCUREMENT PORTAL In order for prospective Proposers to be eligible for award of an Agreement being solicited on the BART Procurement Portal, such Proposers are required to be currently registered to do business with BART on the BART Procurement Portal on line at https://suppliers.bart.gov and have obtained Solicitation Documents, updates, and any Addenda issued on line so as to be added to the On-Line Planholders List for this solicitation.

If a prospective Proposer is a joint venture or partnership, such entity may register on the BART Procurement Portal with the entity’s tax identification number (TIN) and download the Solicitation Documents so as to be listed as an on-line planholder under the entity’s name prior to submitting its Proposal. If such entity has not registered on BART Procurement Portal in the name of the joint venture or partnership prior to submitting its Proposal, provided that at least one of the joint venturers or partners registered on line on the BART Procurement Portal and downloaded the Solicitation Documents so as to be added to the On-Line Planholders List for this solicitation, such entity will be required to register with the entity’s TIN as an on-line planholder following the submittal of Proposals, in order for the entity to be eligible for award of this Agreement.

PROPOSERS WHO HAVE NOT REGISTERED ON THE BART PROCUREMENT PORTAL PRIOR TO SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL, (OR FOR A JOINT VENTURE OR PARTNERSHIP AS DESCRIBED ABOVE PRIOR TO AWARD) AND DID NOT DOWNLOAD THE SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS FOR THIS SOLICITATION ON LINE SO AS TO BE LISTED AS AN ONLINE PLANHOLDER FOR THIS SOLICITATION, WILL NOT BE ELIGIBLE FOR AWARD OF THIS AGREEMENT. Any questions regarding this Notice to Proposers should be directed to the BART Procurement Department, Attention: Jeanet Moore, 300 Lakeside Drive, 17thFloor, Oakland, CA. 94612, email address: JMoore3@bart.gov, telephone (510) 287-4730.

Dated at Oakland, California this 7th day of April 2020. \s\ Gloria Abdullah-Lewis Gloria Abdullah-Lewis Acting Manager of Contract Administration San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District 4/16/20 CNS-3358987# BAY AREA REPORTER

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE CANLAS BROTHERS OF STELNICK, 188 KING ST PH7, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed JSL REALTY INC (CA).

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/01/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/13/20.

APR 2, 9, 16, 23, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039021800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ALEENK TECHNOLOGIES, 2 BEACH ST SPACE I-01, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed NV BAY GROUP

APR 2, 9, 16, 23, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039040100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: WINDSOR AND LACE; KINDLEWOOD FILMS; WEDDING VIDEO EDITING, 3202 BUCHANAN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed LUMA CREATIVE LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/31/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/08/20.

APR 16, 23, 30 MAY 07, 2020

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT NOTICE TO PROPOSERS - GENERAL INFORMATION The SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, California, is advertising for proposals to provide Independent Audit Services, Request for Proposal (RFP) No. 6M2073, on or about April 8, 2020, with proposals due by 2:00 PM local time, Tuesday, May 19, 2020 at the District Secretary’s Office, 23rdfloor, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, California 94612.

DESCRIPTION OF WORK TO BE PERFORMED The District intends to engage the services of a firm (Consultant) to provide Independent Audit Services and enter into a five (5)-year Agreement with the firm selected, more particularly described in the Scope of Services, Exhibit 1 Sample Form of Agreement, Attachment A of the RFP. A Pre-Proposal Conference Call will be held on Tuesday, April 21, 2020 via WebEx or Zoom.

The Pre-Proposal Conference Call will convene at 10::00 A.M., via WebEx or Zoom. At the Pre-Proposal Conference Call, the District’s Non-Discrimination Program for Subcontracting policy will be explained. All questions regarding MBE/WBE participation should be directed to Mr. Fei Liu, Office of Civil Rights at (510) 874-7348 – FAX (510) 464-7587. Prospective proposers are requested to make every effort to call in for this only scheduled Pre-Proposal Conference Call and to confirm their attendance by contacting the District’s Contract Administrator, Rhonda Lockhart, telephone (510) 874-7318 or email at Rlockh2@bart.gov, prior to the date of the Pre-Proposal Conference Call.

REQUIRED REGISTRATION ON BART PROCUREMENT PORTAL In order for prospective Proposers to be eligible for award of an Agreement being solicited on the BART Procurement Portal, such Proposers are required to be currently registered to do business with BART on the BART Procurement Portal on line at https://suppliers.bart.gov and have obtained Solicitation Documents, updates, and any Addenda issued on line so as to be added to the On-Line Planholders List for this solicitation.

If a prospective Proposer is a joint venture or partnership, such entity may register on the BART Procurement Portal with the entity’s tax identification number (“TIN”) and download the Solicitation Documents so as to be listed as an on-line planholder under the entity’s name prior to submitting its Proposal. If such entity has not registered on BART Procurement Portal in the name of the joint venture or partnership prior to submitting its Proposal, provided that at least one of the joint venturers or partners registered on line on the BART Procurement Portal and downloaded the Solicitation Documents so as to be added to the On-Line Planholders List for this solicitation, such entity will be required to register with the entity’s TIN as an on-line planholder following the submittal of Proposals, in order for the entity to be eligible for award of this Agreement.

PROPOSERS WHO HAVE NOT REGISTERED ON THE BART PROCUREMENT PORTAL PRIOR TO SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL, (OR FOR A JOINT VENTURE OR PARTNERSHIP AS DESCRIBED ABOVE PRIOR TO AWARD) AND DID NOT DOWNLOAD THE SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS FOR THIS SOLICITATION ON LINE SO AS TO BE LISTED AS AN ONLINE PLANHOLDER FOR THIS SOLICITATION, WILL NOT BE ELIGIBLE FOR AWARD OF THIS AGREEMENT. Any questions regarding this Notice to Proposers should be directed to the BART Procurement Department, Attention: Rhonda Lockhart, 300 Lakeside Drive, 17th Floor, Oakland, CA. 94612, email address: Rlockh2@bart.gov, telephone (510) 874-7318.

Dated at Oakland, California this 8th day of April 2020. /s/ Gloria Abdullah Lewis Gloria Abdullah-Lewis Acting Manager Contracts Administration San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District 4/16/20 CNS-3359062# BAY AREA REPORTER

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by John Ferrannini

G

Clay Geerdes

Patrons at Esta Noche weeks before it closed in 2014

Remembering Esta Noche as queer, POC spaces shutter and people who supported me, and we made our case that there wasn’t any reason. Nobody could explain it. People in the room applauded for me and were on my side. They didn’t want any minorities to have permits to open bars. If you were Irish, fine. All the police were Irish, basically, so they didn’t want anybody else to have a license.

“My attorney suggested that this was unconstitutional, that I had the right since I wasn’t a criminal, and they let me have the permits and the rest is history. But I never would have gotten them without the support of the community,” Lopez added.

Esta Noche finally opened in 1979 at 3079 16th Street, on the block between Mission and Valencia streets. The bar was open from noon to 2 a.m.

Open for 35 years, Esta Noche became a hub for San Francisco’s Latino LGBT community, with a regular lineup of drag shows, competitions, and other events.

The bar hosted Mr. and Miss Gay Latino, a Mr. Latin Leather contest that started in 2007,

Cockettes member Wally

Bedazzlers

The Cockettes

The Cockettes in Print: Acid Drag & Sexual Anarchy 1969-1972

by Jason Victor Serinus

H

alf a century ago, a bedazzled assortment of psychedelically-influenced, collective-living, sexually experimental, and inherently theatrical gay men and straight women forever transformed the Bay Area’s cultural landscape. With genderfuck

high drag spontaneity and an abundance of glitter as their bottom line, the members of this ever-expanding assemblage of lavender post-hippiedom somehow managed to find each other in the Haight.

Brought together, in part, by the alchemical powers of New York experimental theater veteran Hibiscus, who within a week of his arrival declared, “We are all so beautiful, Angels of the

Georg Lester

rowing up, Anthony Lopez already knew something of the bar business – his parents owned two bars, one in San Leandro and one in Hayward.

“I used to do the inventory for them, so I had some experience with that,” Lopez said.

With that in mind, when he came to San Francisco during the heady 1970s, Lopez, a gay man, had an idea when he experienced discrimination in the newly emerging gay mecca.

“I used to go to the Castro and I didn’t like the vibration, the vibes,” Lopez said. “They were discriminatory. So, I said, ‘I think I’ll open my own bar,’ because I didn’t like the way I was treated.”

Lopez’s partner, in business and in life, is Manuel Quijano. Quijano, 59, who had come to the United States from El Salvador, said that it was hard to find a space where one could feel comfortable being both Latino and gay.

“At that time, Latinos were asked for two pieces of ID in the Castro in order to get in a bar,” Quijano said. “You couldn’t see gay people even in the Mission district. It was under a cloud. You couldn’t go in the streets and hold hands. It was horrible even to get a liquor license, let alone a permit for a place of entertainment.”

Lopez, who declined to share his age, said he had the idea for his bar, Esta Noche – or, “Tonight” – in 1976, but couldn’t get it opened for three years because of a protracted fight with the city establishment.

Quijano said that the police put up unnecessary barriers to make things harder for them, so the pair hired an attorney.

“They had no reason to deny us, so I got an attorney,” Lopez said. “I brought all my friends

and Selena impersonator competitions.

“I started the first drag show at Esta Noche at a very, very critical time because Latinos couldn’t perform anywhere else,” Quijano said.

“The police would harass them.”

Quijano said that tensions with the police remained even after the bar was finally permitted.

The bar played a particularly important role in the AIDS crisis; HIV was already spreading in the gay communities of San Francisco and other major cities as the bar was opening.

“When we started seeing the first cases of AIDS, it was dramatically a shock, especially for the Latinos, because how do they tell their parents? How do they tell their families?” Quijano said. “The other thing was that nobody knew that much. There was no education. The Latino culture is very private and people felt they couldn’t tell anybody.”

The bar started Miss and Mr. Safe Latino to call attention to safe sex practices; titles which continue to be awarded today.

“Esta Noche was a place where if you were a

gay Latino you went there. When I first came to San Francisco, it was a place I felt both sides of my identity were represented,” gay former San Francisco supervisor David Campos said in a phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter. “It allowed us to connect with two sides of who we are. It was a very special place.”

In 2013, Esta Noche announced it needed $9,000 to stay open due to an increase in city licensing fees.

An Indiegogo campaign raised several thousand dollars, and a fundraiser featured DJ Steve Fabus, who used to work with the late disco star Sylvester, among other big names.

Then the supervisor for the district that included Esta Noche, Campos said he was involved in the fundraising effort.

But in spring 2014, Esta Noche did close. It is now Bond, which is not a gay bar.

“We were very sad but we had to close the doors,” Quijano said.t

highest order, we must put our brilliant lives on the stage,” this little band set out to share their wonders with the world.

As told by original Cockette Fayette Hauser in a magnificently assembled 352-page tabletopsized book overflowing with enough eye-popping color and black and white photos to induce hypoglycemia, the group set its collective sight on a New Year’s Eve 1969 debut at North Beach’s Palace Theatre.

The former vaudeville palace at Columbus and Powell had become the setting for the Nocturnal Dream Show, a weekend late night showcase of experimental and vintage film that drew a loyal crowd of stoners and avant-garders.

The goal was to satirize New York’s high-kicking Rockettes with a genderfuck Can-Can the likes of which had little precedent. Introduced as The Cockettes, out came 13 wildly bedecked cultural pioneers led by Hibiscus, who carried a portable wind-up Victrola. As Fayette relates: “When the scratchy 78 came on with its small, low, shrillish mono tinny old french music hall sound, the audience was momentarily held spellbound…Then Hibiscus grabbed my hand and we rushed forward to the front of the stage.

There was nothing demure or polite about this Can-Can. We got wild, led by our Shaman Hi-

biscus who was kicking, shaking and flinging his beautifully bedecked body everywhere. We followed his lead. The energy skyrocketed. The Palace was on its feet, screaming. When the record ended, the audience was shrieking, stomping and not about to stop.”

With a surge of energy that paralleled, in many respects, the far less flamboyant but equally determined Gay Liberation Front (GLF) movement that built upon the proud and defiant energy of New York’s Christopher Street Stonewall Rebellion of June 28, 1969, the Cockettes mounted show after show. To their ranks were drawn John Waters, who contributes an introductory essay to the book, Divine, pianist Peter Mintun, Sylvester, and more.

As Fayette explained by phone, “After the first show, I’d have a boyfriend, bring him home, and he would end up in a dress and some lipstick and be in shows. In the early photos I can see all these different boyfriends whom I brought home. They loved it. My early romance history is in these photos.”

The Cockettes were catapulted into the open big time after the very gay New York critic Rex Reed, along with Truman Capote and Joanna Carson (Johnny Carson’s wife), caught one of the shows at the Palace. t

{ THIRD OF THREE SECTIONS }

For a longer version of this article, go to www.ebar.com

Read more about the troupe’s infamous New York City premiere online at www.ebar.com The Cockettes: Acid Drag and Sexual Anarchy, 1969-1972 by Fayette Hauser 8.5x11, 352 pages. $42.95 https://processmediainc.com/

t

Music/Books >>

Moment by moment Kristin and Desereé of Dance Loud

by Gregg Shapiro

T

here are two sides to every story.

That holds true in the case of The Moment, the debut 180-gram audiophile LP, also available via digital download, by Chicago-based queer electronic duo Dance Loud.

Romantically and creatively linked, Kristin Sanchez and Desereé Fawn Zimmerman are each represented individually (and collectively) by a side on the LP. Like the best electronic music, the album features both up-tempo and down-tempo tunes, giving listeners the chance to work out and chill at their leisure.

Kristin and Desereé were gracious enough to answer a few questions in advance of The Moment’s June 2020 release.

GS: You just released your debut album The Moment, which is available in a limited vinyl edition. The LP has cool cover artwork featuring a speaker, with a changing 3D image in the center of a mirror ball bursting out of the dust cap. Please say something about the concept.

Kristin Sanchez: The cover art has two meanings. It is a speaker cone with a dented dust cap hiding behind a shiny disco ball. We may appear shiny on the outside but have been dented or damaged on the inside.

The speaker itself represents “Loud”

Above: Dance Loud cocreators Kristin Sanchez and Desereé Fawn Zimmerman Right: Dance Loud’s LP, The Moment.

and the disco ball represents “Dance,” together making Dance Loud.

GS: What can you tell me about Dance Loud’s songwriting process?

DFZ: Typically, the chord progression comes first, written on the guitar and sometimes converted to the piano/synths. I usually come up with the first basic notation while Kristin writes most of the lyrics. Everything is a joint process throughout the entire songwriting. I’ll come up with a very basic layout and then Kristin comes in, chops it all up and makes it more fun. We take turns engi-

In our solitude

by Brian Bromberger

W

ith shelter-in-place extended till at least May 3, Fenton Johnson’s new book on what it means to be solitary, whether chosen or not, befits these days of city and state-imposed isolation. Johnson offers the hope that despite becoming temporary secular hermits we can learn from those artists who saw it as a calling, and that it might serve as a fountain spring for creativity in our lives.

Johnson believes solitude can be learned from the silent disciplines of reading and writing, so stuck at home the virtues of being a solitary can be accessed, not only through spiritual/psychological practices, but also via your nearest book.

For Johnson, his vocation as a solitary began early growing up in the rural Kentucky hills near the Trappist Gethsemani monastery, the home of famed monk/author Thomas Merton. Johnson in his seventh grade Catholic school class

Lunch and Din er al day

April 16-22, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 11

neering it. Sometimes Kristin will scratch my ideas and come up with better ones and vice versa. I am very anal about keeping a clean work session within the DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) while Kristin is a bit more messy like a painter. If it were a painting, it would look like a little explosion on the canvas, but that’s how she gets her off kilter drum beats. We are very much opposites all around.

GS: Chicago has a long history of prominent lesbian DJs, including DJ Psycho Bitch and Teri Bristol. Would you consider Val or Teri to be influences on what you do?

KS: I wasn’t able to get into Crobar and Red Dog because I was too young. I used to stand outside of those clubs and dance on the streets.

I do feel that the Chicago women DJs were role models for me. Other DJs like Colette, DJ Heather, Lady D and Dayhota were huge influences of mine. We were really happy when the day came that we shared a show with Teri Bristol.

GS: What role, if any, did music play in bringing the two of you together as a couple?

DFZ: I met Kristin at first in a club called Circuit where she was breakdancing in front of me. Nervously, I walked up and asked her name. Every question I asked had one-word answers from her and I felt she was not interested. That fol-

Fenton Johnson discusses ‘At the Center of Beauty: Solitude and the Creative Life’

was the only one to pick single as his vocation depicting it in a picture with the caption ‘Party Time.’

He defines solitaries as “individuals who through a combination of temperament, chance, and choice, of discipline, fate, and free will, chose solitude as their means of giving themselves to others.” Johnson claims his married parents were solitaries.

Despite little money they created sacred space where they could each retreat, his father pursuing carpentry and wood sculpture, while his mother tended her greenhouse growing orchids and cactuses. He suggests they were good parents to nine children and provided service to the Trappist community, because they spent quality time alone.

When I emailed Johnson for a definition of solitude, he replied, “Solitude is not loneliness, but the opposite of loneliness. Solitude arises from mindfully cultivating a rich, complex interior life. It goes hand in hand with silence. A

lowing Monday we ran into each other at school (Columbia College Chicago, where Kristin studied Audio Engineering and I went for Music Business), outside of the elevator. We had classes right next to each other and didn’t know it. Finally, we ran into each other again and Kristin asked me if I wanted to go to a four-a.m. bar called Exit. When I got into her Jeep, she had her own song, “Take Me Home”, playing. I melted when hearing her production and thought, “OMG! I’m a musician and she’s an audio engineer.

We are meant to be!”

GS: Are you planning to do more Facebook Live shows during the COVID-19 lockdown?

KS: Sure are! Just announced, we are performing for a Curve Magazine virtual concert. We recently got another offer and are currently working out the details. We just got a box that lets our DSLR camera work as our webcam and are running the audio in via firewire with a mixer. When we go forward with a project, we go all in. Quality always comes first!t

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Read much more with Dance Loud on our website, www.ebar.com www.danceloudmusic.com

39 1-A 17th Market & Castro, San Francisco St

solitude their homeland. He grew up thinking he was the only gay person in the world, with reading and writing becoming acts of survival, but claims this suffering solitude prepared him in realizing the importance of friendship and love.

He found refuge in San Francisco, a home for ‘bent’ solitaries who comforted and supported each other in their solitude. For Johnson solitude teaches LGBTQ people to say to themselves, “I’m happy being quiet with you,” and from this foundation of self-respect, one can learn to love others.t Author Fenton Johnson

solitary practice –meditating, praying, memorizing poetry, studying the natural world, studying other people, studying oneself– provides consolation and stability in difficult situations, especially in a crowd. On a gurney in a hospital

emergency room, standing in line amid passengers fighting for seats after a cancelled flight, sitting with a dying friend, or stranger, driving long distances alone, solitude teaches us to value silence.”

Johnson believes writers/artists must develop some relationship to solitude, with their final goal not the end product but the process to devise visionary strategies as they traverse their own originative path.

He excavates the work of Thoreau, Paul Cezanne, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Henry James, Eudora Welty, Rabindranath Tagore, Zora Neale Hurston, Rod McKuen, Nina Simone, and Bill Cunningham, for clues on how these role models cultivated the interior life.

It’s not surprising that 80% of these ‘case studies’ are LGBTQ people, with Johnson noting a long history of queer isolation that made

Personals Online Events Nightlife and community gatherings are a big part of queer culture, but all that has gone away with the advent of the COVID-19 shutdown. Undaunted, many of the Bay Area’s most beloved performers, party promoters and events producers have found a new way to bring their magic to the masses. Thanks to the internet, you can still party with your favorite drag queens, or even attend a virtual religious service. For ongoing and updated events, visit www.ebar.com.

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Read more about Johnson’s book at www.ebar.com.

At the Center of Beauty: Solitude and the Creative Life by Fenton Johnson. W.W. Norton & Company, $26.95.

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