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New mural in SOMA
Michael Morgan dies
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The
www.ebar.com
Serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities since 1971
Vol. 51 • No. 34 • August 26-September 1, 2021
Amid Delta COVID surge, some LGBTQ centers delay reopening their doors by Matthew S. Bajko Courtesy Alvin Orloff
Alvin Orloff points to the new name he will christen Dog Eared Books in the Castro next month.
Gay manager buys Castro’s Dog Eared Books
by Matthew S. Bajko
A
longtime manager at Dog Eared Books has bought the locally owned bookstore’s second location in San Francisco’s LGBTQ Castro district. It will be rechristened as Fabulosa Books next month. Alvin Orloff, 59, a gay man who has worked for the bookseller for 21 years, is buying the store location from Dog Eared Books’ queer owner Kate Rosenberger Razo, who will continue to operate the store’s first location on Valencia Street. She opened the Castro store in the summer of 2016, taking over a vacated clothing store space. The storefront at 489 Castro Street had previously been the home of beloved LGBTQ-focused A Different Light Bookstore from 1986-2011. After a slight remodel of the space, Orloff will officially open Fabulosa Books September 15 on his 60th birthday. “I figured 60 is a good age to start assuming adult responsibility,” Orloff joked in a phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter. At a time when many booksellers are struggling – two other Castro district bookstores Aardvark Books on Church Street and Books Inc. on Market Street closed their doors – Orloff continues to believe in the necessity of a neighborhood bookstore. “A Castro Street without a bookstore is like a day without sunshine,” said Orloff. “I can’t even imagine how horrible it would be for Castro Street not to have a bookstore. I love bookstores; I want there to be more of them. It is a calling, say.” He has no plans to retire anytime soon, said Orloff, who began discussing purchasing the store from Razo in 2019 prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the health crisis, which caused the bookstore to close its doors for four months last year and put its future in doubt, postponed the sale talks until recently. “Because of my misspent youth, I am not in a position to retire anytime soon,” said Orloff. “For me personally, I plan to keep working at least another 10 years. This is not the end of my career or my swan song yet.” Razo, 60, who close to four years ago married a man she met from Mexico, told the B.A.R. that it is “amazing” to have reached a deal for Orloff See page 10 >>
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he latest surge in COVID-19 cases in the Bay Area due to the Delta variant has led some LGBTQ community centers in the region to push back offering indoor programming. Instead, they continue to offer services virtually or in outdoor venues. Both the Rainbow Community Center in Concord and the San Mateo County Pride Center are delaying their plans to reopen their doors as the latest wave of coronavirus cases has brought about a return of mask mandates and other policies to stem the increase. In the case of the Peninsula center, it is taking the time to remodel its space at 1021 South El Camino Real in the city of San Mateo. It announced in July (LINK: tinyurl.com/ SMCPC-reopeningfall2021) that it was adding a meeting space to its main room that will be accessible for folks who cannot use stairs and making additional changes to the layout of its offices. The Pride Center also revealed it had acquired Owl Technology so it will be able to offer hybrid meeting options going forward. Any group hosting an in-person meeting will also be able to have people participate remotely from their home or other location. The system includes a built-in speaker, mic, and 360-degree camera that the center noted will help “remote callers feel present and fully integrated into the group meeting.”
Cynthia Laird
The Rainbow Community Center in Concord is one of several in the region that remains closed to in-person events, opting to offer online services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Since the Pride Center’s physical space has been closed, our intention is to capitalize on this opportunity to redesign the layout to be more accessible for both community members and staff when we reopen,” stated the center. Francisco “Frankie” Sapp, the center’s program director who is on vacation until August 26, had told the Bay Area Reporter last month he was still working on an exact timeline for when the center could welcome people back.
An August 6 email sent out by the center to its constituents noted it would likely do so sometime on or after September 23, which marks the start of fall. “As the state has opened up and many businesses have reopened their doors, we’ve received a lot of questions about when the Pride Center will reopen ours. Since shelter-in-place began, the Pride Center has been effectively offering See page 10 >>
1st pandemic-era Bay Area Pride parade to kick off in San Jose
by John Ferrannini
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his weekend Silicon Valley Pride is hosting the Bay Area’s first in-person Pride parade and festival since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The theme this year is “Standing for Love and Liberation.” A lineup of events was planned to precede the parade and festival – including a flag-raising at San Jose City Hall by San Jose City Councilmembers Pam Foley and Dev Davis, both straight allies. The two were to raise the Pride Progress flag at 5 p.m. August 24, and light the building in rainbow colors, but in a sign of the times, the event had to be canceled at last minute after demonstrators protesting a proposed COVID-19 vaccine mandate shut down a City Council meeting. The proposed mandate, proposed by the San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, would require proofof-vaccination to be shown at events of over 50 people at city-owned facilities. “Due to unsafe and aggressive actions and language observed today at San Jose City Hall of protesters concerned with the potential vaccination mandate, we are postponing the flag raising and lighting ceremony until a later date and time,”
Jo-Lynn Otto
Maribel Martínez, right, director of the Santa Clara County Office of LGBTQ Affairs, marched with the office’s contingent in the 2016 Silicon Valley Pride parade.
Foley stated via Twitter, who added that the decision was made in consultation with members of the Silicon Valley Pride board. “Starting tonight, however, the City Hall Tower and Rotunda will be illuminated in bright rainbow colors and the rotunda in trans-themed colors.” Saldy Suriben, a gay man who is the chief marketing officer for Silicon Valley Pride, stated via
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email August 25 that “We didn’t expect protesters will be present during the City of San Jose Council meeting.” “Yesterday, we were asked to move with the Mayor, councilmembers, and city staffs to a secure room during the event that took place,” Suriben continued. “We all agreed not to proceed.” See page 6 >>