August 2, 2018 Edition of the Bay Area Reporter

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Kaplan seeks MTC job

Trans chorus starts

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ARTS

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SF Mime Troupe

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Vol. 48 • No. 31 • August 2-8, 2018

Supes ban pot dispensaries in Chinatown

by Sari Staver

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Kelly Sullivan

Donald Branchflower, aka Logos Branchflower, left, joined by Jennifer Emperador; William Carmichael, aka Lucille Carmichael; Richard Padilla, aka Renita Valdez; and Fredy Miranda, a.k.a. Alexis Miranda, stand outside their longtime home, where the landlord is trying to evict them via the Ellis Act.

Castro drag queens sue to stay in their home

Python draws a crowd

by Alex Madison

I

n an ongoing legal battle, three drag queens, one gay man, and another tenant who live in the Castro are suing their landlords after receiving an Ellis Act eviction notice.

Under California law, the Ellis Act allows landlords to evict residential tenants if the landlords are going “out of the rental business.” The owners are offering $50,000 to be split among all five tenants as compensation for their eviction.

The tenants are claiming LGBT discrimination, unfair treatment, and are fighting to stay in their home at 1779-1781 15th Street.

Three of the plaintiffs are drag queens: Richard Padilla, aka Renita Valdez; Donald Branchflower, aka Logos Branchflower; and Fredy Miranda, a.k.a. Alexis Miranda. The other two plaintiffs are William Carmichael, aka Lucille Carmichael, and Jennifer Emperador, a straight woman and niece to Padilla.

The lawsuit was filed in October 2017 in San Francisco Superior Court against the property owners, married couple Leslie Wan and Brian Keller. It went to mediation last month, but was unsuccessful and is now scheduled for trial in November.

It alleges the tenants have faced unfair treatment because of the “disgust and disapproval of [the] plaintiffs ... because of their sexual orientation, sexual expression, and practice of dressing in drag.”

Padilla, 59, has lived in the apartment for 22 years and said he gets dirty looks from his landlords on a daily basis, particularly Wan. “She has looked at us in disgust when she sees us coming out of the house or going back in the house in drag,” Padilla told the Bay Area Reporter in a recent phone interview. “When we’re coming up the stairs, either as a man or a woman, and she has her little boy with her, she shields his eyes and says, ‘Don’t look.’”

Regarding that specific incident, Wan, 34, told the B.A.R. “That never happened.” She also said her 4-year-old son says “hi” to the tenants See page 15 >>

M

ichael Staley, with top hat, and his 30-foot albino Burmese python attracted a sexy crowd at the annual Up Your Alley street fair Sunday, July 29, in San Francisco’s South of

Rick Gerharter

Market neighborhood. The leather- and kink-themed event is a warm-up to Folsom Street Events’ main attraction, the Folsom Street Fair, which takes place September 30.

he San Francisco Board of Super visors voted 8-3 Tuesday to ban cannabis in Chinatown.

District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin Rick Gerharter sponsored the orSupervisor Aaron dinance. The dense Peskin nature of Chinatown and fears of gentrification he said compelled him to seek a carve-out from the city’s marijuana regulations that the board passed last December ahead of legal recreational use of cannabis.

“I was very clear in December that I’d be back,” Peskin said at the board meeting.

Many Asians also have a cultural aversion to the drug, something that played out last year when the board voted against a dispensary proposal in the Sunset.

Gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, in his first vote on the issue, opposed the Chinatown exemption. Joining him in voting See page 12 >>

Two years on, Castro Pulse vigil continues

by Charlie Wagner

E

ver since the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida over two years ago, a small group of people have been holding weekly vigils in the Castro.

It was June 12, 2016 when Omar Mateen gunned down 49 mostly LGBT people of color and wounded 53 others before being killed by police at the gay nightspot. In the hours after one of the worst gun massacres in U.S. history, thousands of LGBTs and straight allies held vigils in cities across the country.

A crowd turned out in Harvey Milk Plaza that day to mourn the lives lost and those who were injured.

Shortly afterward, five members of the Companions of Dorothy the Worker met to discuss a longer-term response.

“Our group talked about doing an ongoing vigil of some kind,” one of those people, the Reverend Diana Wheeler, recalled.

The group organized its first weekly vigil Friday, June 17, and attracted a dozen people, including members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and Castro Community on Patrol.

That vigil continues to this day, every Friday from 6 to 7 p.m. on the southern side of Market Street, just west of Castro. It is now officially known as the Companions of Dorothy the Worker Weekly Vigil: Stop the Violence. It is managed by the Companions.

About four to eight people usually attend, organizers said.

Charlie Wagner

KDK Queen (Miss Chief), left, the Reverend Diana Wheeler, Leandro Gonzales, Sister Chola de Dah, and Paul Brown join in the weekly Companions of Dorothy the Worker Weekly Vigil: Stop the Violence in the Castro.

From the start, the activists invited and encouraged the public to join them and they still do. They provide signs for all who do stand with them.

Wheeler observed that public reaction has always been very positive and said many cars honk their horns in support as they drive by on Market Street.

During the July 13 vigil, a passerby, Monica, who declined to give her last name, said, “I support this vigil because I’m against violence.”

Her comment prompted Wheeler to recall,

“About two weeks ago, a young man came off the bus, asked what we were doing, and kissed me on the cheek.”

Several vigil founders were Companions of Dorothy the Worker, “an ecumenical Christian community ... [that] strives to make God’s love felt in the queer community, which has been marginalized by the church and the world,” according to the Companions’ website.

“Many, but not all, are members of the queer

{ FIRST OF THREE SECTIONS }

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Supported, in part, by a Cultural Affairs grants from the City of San Jose.

See page 14 >>

<< Community News

2 • BAY AREA REPORTER • August 2-8, 2018

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I

n a bow to the demands of the city’s planning commission, the owner of a former LGBT church in the heart of San Francisco’s gay Castro district now plans to partially preserve the building.

The decision led the oversight body to unanimously approve the project’s environmental impact report by a 5-0 vote at its meeting last Thursday, July 26, after months of delaying its decision in order to pressure developer David R. Papale to alter his initial plans.

He had sought to demolish the dilapidated structure at 150 Eureka Street, which for four decades was the home of the LGBTQ-identified Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco.

“We very much appreciate their willingness to choose the partial preservation alternative. Not only did they get their project and the square footage it entails, but the community wins by retaining an historic asset,” gay Planning Commissioner Dennis Richards, who had pressed for the change in the plans, told the Bay Area Reporter. “We all win. We all won on this one.”

Prior to the hearing, Papale’s lawyer Andrew J. Junius, a partner in the firm Reuben, Junius & Rose, LLP, sent an email to the planning commissioners informing them of the decision to change the project.

“In response to commissioner comments at prior hearings, it is evident that the commission would like to see more ‘in exchange’ for the demolition of the historic building. As such, at this time, the project sponsor is willing to commit to pursuing the partial preservation alternative, which would retain a significant portion of the front of the building,” wrote Junius.

At the hearing, Junius told the commissioners, “I think we have hopefully turned a corner here.”

Papale bought the property for $2.325 million in February 2015, at which point MCC-SF moved in with the First Congregational Church at 1300 Polk Street, where it remains today.

He had proposed razing the two-story, 5,550-square-foot church building in order to construct two new buildings each with two units of housing with garage parking for four automobiles.

The project, slated to total roughly 13,174 square feet and not exceed 40 feet in height, would have complied with the zoning for the site and not need to be approved by the city’s planning commission. Although the new plans still call for only four units

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to be built, it will require conditional use approval from the oversight body.

“The conditional use would allow a maximum of four dwelling units on this site under the existing zoning.

The project sponsor would also commit to diligently pursuing any possible accessory dwelling unit options that are available under current or future zoning,” wrote Junius.

Preserving history

In a phone interview with the B.A.R. following the hearing, Richards said he was surprised by the decision and applauded Papale for agreeing to preserve a portion of the building.

“I am amazed it happened, honestly. But when you believe in something, you stay firm,” he said. “They realized this was something that was not going away.”

As the B.A.R. noted in a story last month, the planning commissioners first took up the matter in January, and at the time, several members expressed disappointment in the small number of units that would result from demolishing a building considered eligible for listing as a state historical resource. They had pointed out that incentives provided by the city and state for maintaining a historic property would allow the developers to build upwards of 21 units, albeit smaller ones, on the site.

They postponed voting on the matter to give Papale and his architectural team time to review their proposal and return with alternative plans that incorporated keeping the existing building. At the second hearing on July 12, however, Papale and his architects did not return with additional proposals.

Their doing so infuriated Richards, the panel’s lone gay member. He expressed exasperation with both the project sponsor and planning staff for not reworking the EIR to include

plans for how to construct housing within the framework of the existing church building.

Other commissioners shared Richards’s disappointment in the proposed plans for the site and signaled they were unwilling to certify the EIR as written. Both Junius and Gary Gee, the architect on the project, said they had looked at ways to preserve the building and incorporate more units into the development, but doing so was not allowed under the current zoning for the site.

Having already spent three years seeking approval for the project, Junius said Papale did not want to prolong the process even longer in pursuit of seeking a zoning change that may not be approved. He reiterated that point in his email to the commissioners last week.

“As we have explained, higher density is not possible without re-zoning the site. Rezoning the site requires significant legislative efforts and adds a high level of uncertainty and risk going forward,” he wrote. “After three years of process whereby the sponsor has diligently tried to comply with the existing zoning and planning policies, we believe the project sponsor should be allowed to move forward without being forced to try and rezone the site.

The project sponsor simply is not in a position to restart the process in an attempt to increase the density.”

In addition to incorporating a portion of the existing façade into the new development, Papale has also agreed to install a plaque or other commemorative element on the new building recognizing its historical significance as the former home of MCC-SF. He also has agreed to work with a local tour guide company on developing content for a stop at the building during historical walks of the neighborhood.

See page 14 >>

Man charged with elder abuse

by Alex Madison

Your one-stop shop for the whole family!

Rick Gerharter

The façade of the former Metropolitan Community Church-San Francisco will be preserved when new housing is built on the site.

33-year-old man has been charged with elder abuse, criminal threats, and vandalism after multiple incidents involving a 63-yearold man he was allegedly caring for.

Natthakarn Laohacharoensombat, who goes by Ray, was arrested in late May, according to the complaint, and eventually charged with eight misdemeanors, the most serious of which include one count of inflicting injury on an elderly man.

“The defendant ... did willfully cause and permit an elderly and dependent adult ... with knowledge that he/she is an elder and a dependent adult, to suffer and inflict unjustifiable physical pain and mental suffering,” the complaint states.

Relating to his other charges, the complaint states that on May 21, Laohacharoensombat attempted to steal a watch from the victim and made death threats. On May 23, the defendant allegedly vandalized

the victim’s property by defacing his eyeglasses with graffiti, resulting in less than $400 worth of damage.

That same day, Laohacharoensombat allegedly committed false imprisonment against the man, according to the complaint.

Laohacharoensombat also stole $950 from the man by using his ATM card and bank account information, the complaint claims, throughout a six-month period.

At the defendant’s May 30 court hearing at San Francisco Superior Court, at which point he remained in custody, he was issued a stay away order as a condition of bail, which required him to stay at least 150 yards away from the man. Laohacharoensombat was also required to wear an electronic monitoring device. He was released on bail.

On June 3, however, Laohacharoensombat was arrested for violating his stay away order. According to police reports, Laohacharoensombat attempted to enter the man’s

home around 3 p.m. Laohacharoensombat first knocked on the front door, but was unsuccessful in entering. He then went around to the backdoor, where he attempted to gain entry. The man called the police, but Laohacharoensombat fled before police arrived. Three hours later, Laohacharoensombat returned to the home, where he was eventually arrested.

The victim “appeared to be fearful and shaken by the presence of Laohacharoensombat at the time of the interview,” stated the police report.

Laohacharoensombat was charged with two counts of violating his stay away order. At his latest court hearing July 9, Laohacharoensombat’s request to remove his electronic monitoring device was denied. His next court hearing is August 16.

The San Francisco Public Defender’s office, which is representing Laohacharoensombat, did not respond to a request for comment by press time. t

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Community News >>

August 2-8, 2018 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 3

AIM gets funds for low-income food access compiled by Cynthia Laird

T

he Agricultural Institute of Marin has received a second year of funding for the California Nutrition Incentive Program, or CNIP. The nonprofit will receive $122,632.87 over the next year in Market Match funds, which officials said was an increase from the previous year’s award.

Market Match supports participants in CalFresh, the state’s name for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly called the food stamp program. CalFresh participants who use their EBT card at AIM’s seven farmers markets are eligible to receive a one-to-one match, up to $10 in Market Match tokens, which can be used to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables.

“Access to healthy foods is an important social determinant of health,” Andy Naja-Riese, a gay man who’s AIM’s CEO, said in a news release. “My commitment is to ensure our farmers markets and programs promote community food security, so all people can reach their full health potential. The California Nutrition Incentive Program allows nutrition benefit clients to stretch their purchasing power to buy more fruits and vegetables directly from California farmers.”

In the past 12 months, CalFresh participants have purchased nearly $148,000 in EBT tokens to shop at AIM’s farmers markets, while receiving $95,000 in Market Match incentives. Over time, AIM has distributed $812,000 in CalFresh benefits since 2010 and $272,000 in Market Match incentives since 2014. Market Match funding is provided through the Ecology Center, a nonprofit organization that oversees the California Market Match Consortium.

AIM has also entered into a partnership with the Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative to increase enrollment and redemption of nutrition benefits and to increase fresh produce to older adults in Marin County. Using an award of $19,000, AIM will lead Diggin’ the Market educational tours with older adults who receive Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program benefits, and offer them “bonus bucks” to purchase more produce at AIM’s farmers markets.

Naja-Riese, who took over as AIM’s CEO earlier this year, was profiled in the Bay Area Reporter’s recent Pride issue. The organization manages two farmers markets in San Rafael at the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Marin Civic Center; two in San Francisco on Clement Street and at the Stonestown Shopping Center; and three in the East Bay at the Hayward City Hall Plaza, the NewPark Mall in Newark, and on Lake Park Avenue in Oakland.

It plans to soon launch mobile farmers markets called the Rollin’ Root. It is partnering with the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank to provide CalFresh outreach to older adults at Rollin’ Root stops.

For more information, visit https:// agriculturalinstitute.org/.

LYRIC history walking tour

Interested people can join the young people of the Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center for its Castro History Walking Tour Saturday, August 4. There are two tours, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Jamil Moises, program coordinator for the tour, wrote in an email that it will highlight local LGBTQQ histories written by LYRIC interns, who will also share how their personal stories connect to local queer and trans histories.

The theme of this year’s walk is “Visible Resistance.”

“Join us as we dive into the unseen histories of the Castro through personal storytelling that weaves together

themes of LGBTQ mental health, the Trans March and Youth Elder Brunch, the Dragon Fruit Project, and more,” Moises wrote. (The Dragon Fruit Project is an intergenerational oral history project by API Equality Northern California.)

The 1.5-mile walk takes about 90 minutes.

It will start at LYRIC, 127 Collingwood Street, and end at Mission Dolores Park. The group will then

return to LYRIC for discussion and refreshments.

There is no cost to attend. To RSVP, go to www.tiny.cc/LYRICtour2018.

For more information, contact leadership@lyric.org.

legislative agenda, and the meeting is a chance for people to ask questions and share their priorities.

For more information or to RSVP, visit www.sen.ca.gov/9627/events or call (415) 557-1300.

Scott Wiener town hall

Civic Center block party

Gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) will hold a town hall Saturday, August 4, from noon to 2 p.m. at the Village, 1099 Sunnydale Avenue in San Francisco.

Wiener will discuss this year’s

The San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department has announced that a First Sundays Block Party will be at Civic Center, on Fulton Street at See page 14 >>

Charlie Wagner

AIM CEO Andy Naja-Riese

2018 LGBTQ

Seminar Dates: August 11 November 3

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<< Open Forum

4 • BAY AREA REPORTER • August 2-8, 2018

Volume 48, Number 31 August 2-8, 2018 www.ebar.com PUBLISHER Michael M. Yamashita Thomas E. Horn, Publisher Emeritus (2013) Publisher (2003 – 2013) Bob Ross, Founder (1971 – 2003) NEWS EDITOR Cynthia Laird ARTS EDITOR Roberto Friedman BARTAB EDITOR & EVENTS LISTINGS EDITOR Jim Provenzano ASSISTANT EDITORS Matthew S. Bajko • Alex Madison CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Ray Aguilera • Tavo Amador • Race Bannon Erin Blackwell • Roger Brigham Brian Bromberger • Victoria A. Brownworth Brent Calderwood • Philip Campbell Heather Cassell • Belo Cipriani Christina DiEdoardo • Richard Dodds Michael Flanagan • Jim Gladstone David Guarino • Liz Highleyman Brandon Judell • John F. Karr • Lisa Keen Matthew Kennedy • Joshua Klipp David Lamble • Max Leger Michael McDonagh • Juanita MORE! David-Elijah Nahmod • Paul Parish Sean Piverger • Lois Pearlman Tim Pfaff • Jim Piechota • Bob Roehr Adam Sandel • Jason Serinus • Gregg Shapiro Gwendolyn Smith • Tony Taylor • Sari Staver Jim Stewart • Sean Timberlake • Andre Torrez Ronn Vigh • Charlie Wagner • Ed Walsh Cornelius Washington • Sura Wood ART DIRECTION Max Leger PRODUCTION/DESIGN Ernesto Sopprani PHOTOGRAPHERS Jane Philomen Cleland • FBFE Rick Gerharter • Gareth Gooch Jose Guzman-Colon • Rudy K. Lawidjaja Georg Lester • Dan Lloyd • Jo-Lynn Otto Rich Stadtmiller • Kelly Sullivan Steven Underhil • Dallis Willard • Bill Wilson ILLUSTRATORS & CARTOONISTS Paul Berge • Christine Smith ADVERTISING/ADMINISTRATION Colleen Small Bogitini

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Dellums led on progressive ideals F

ormer Oakland mayor Ron Dellums, who died Monday at age 82 of cancer, leaves an enduring political legacy in the East Bay. Decades before he became mayor, Dellums was a prominent member of Congress, where he opposed the Vietnam War and fought for free speech rights, among many other progressive causes. In his first run for Congress in 1970, he withstood critics like Vice President Spiro Agnew, who branded the then-Berkeley city councilman as “an out and out radical” who needed to be “purged from the body politic.” Dellums went on to serve 27 years in Congress, rising to chair the Armed Services Committee, where he led the fight to curtail production of the B-2 bomber. In 1986, he sponsored economic sanctions to protest apartheid in South Africa.

In 2006, nearly a decade after he had retired from Congress, Dellums ran for Oakland mayor and won. And while he only served one term, it coincided with one of the biggest equal rights battles the LGBT community had undertaken: marriage equality.

In 2008, after the state Supreme Court ruled that barring same-sex couples from marriage rights violated the state’s constitution, cities around the state began preparing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. On June 16, the day the ruling went into effect, most of the media attention was focused on Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, who were the first same-sex couple to wed in San Francisco at a ceremony in City Hall officiated by then-mayor Gavin Newsom.

But across the bay, Oakland was also making history. Dellums presided over the weddings of about a dozen samesex couples, including this paper’s news editor and her wife. It was a magical moment, as same-sex marriage was an unbelievable achievement. Five months later, state voters passed Proposition 8, which immediately ended same-sex nuptials in the Golden State for five years. (The state’s high court ruled that weddings performed between June 16 and the November election remained valid.)

Today, same-sex marriage is legal in all 50 states. But in 2008, when the spotlight was on California, and Prop 8 was slated for the fall ballot, it was inspiring to see Dellums take a principled stand by marrying same-sex couples in City Hall that June night. Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland), who won Dellums’

Lydia Gonzales

Oakland mayor Ron Dellums, center, looks on after officiating a same-sex couple’s marriage in Oakland City Hall on June 16, 2008. He was joined by Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland, second from right, and then-Oakland City Councilwoman Jean Quan, right.

congressional seat after he had stepped down, served as a witness to those weddings and carries on the late mayor’s fight for social justice.

Dellums leaves a record of accomplishment that made the East Bay a better place, by championing the ideals of his constituents.

Go boldly, Gov. Brown, in high court pick

It’s been almost a year since California Supreme Court Justice Kathryn Werdegar announced her retirement, leaving one of the state’s most important posts unfilled because Governor Jerry Brown has not yet named a replacement. We have editorialized about this critical vacancy twice before and we’re not the only ones who have noticed. In February, Los Angeles Times Sacramento bureau chief John Myers wrote a piece noting Brown was asked about the vacancy at the sixmonth mark. How was the search going, the governor was asked. “It’s going very well,” Brown said cagily, Myers wrote. “I’m searching my mind very carefully.”

Nearly six months later, Brown apparently is still searching – whether it be his mind or something else.

But as the U.S. Supreme Court is about to have a solidly conservative majority for the first time in decades with the likely confirmation of President Donald Trump’s nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, it’s worth noting that, Brown, who

is winding up his fourth term as governor, could enhance his legacy by naming an out LGBT person to the open state Supreme Court seat. Such a move would send a powerful message to the rest of the country at a time when the judiciary faces enormous pressure from conservatives.

This would be Brown’s fourth appointment to the state high court. As we wrote earlier, California does not have any out justices on the state Supreme Court, but has qualified LGBT jurists ready to be elevated. The two that come to mind are out appeals court judges Jim Humes and Therese Stewart. Humes, before being named to the appellate court, served as Brown’s longtime top legal aide.

A state’s judiciary should reflect the people it serves. Brown has named diverse judges to state trial courts – including gays and lesbians in recent months – so we think he is aware of the importance of a bench that mirrors the community it serves.

The state Supreme Court is considered moderate at the moment, and with a fourth pick, Brown could tip the majority on the sevenmember bench Democratic for the first time in a generation. Former Republican governors stacked the courts with conservative judges, and to Brown’s credit, he has been working to counter that by naming mostly Democratic judges to the lower courts.

We’re confident Brown will fill the seat and not leave it vacant for the next governor. So in that vein, we urge Brown to make a bold move and appoint an out LGBT person to the high court. t

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Census must drop citizenship question

LEGAL COUNSEL Paul H. Melbostad, Esq.

by Sandy Close

VICE PRESIDENT OF ADVERTISING Scott Wazlowski – 415.829.8937

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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. © 2018 President: Michael M. Yamashita Director: Scott Wazlowski

News Editor • news@ebar.com Arts Editor • arts@ebar.com Out & About listings • jim@ebar.com Advertising • scott@ebar.com Letters • letters@ebar.com Published weekly. Bay Area Reporter reserves the right to edit or reject any advertisement which the publisher believes is in poor taste or which advertises illegal items which might result in legal action against Bay Area Reporter. Ads will not be rejected solely on the basis of politics, philosophy, religion, race, age, or sexual orientation.

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he U.S. Census Bureau is seeking public comment on its 2020 census plan, which includes a citizenship question on the census form all households must answer. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross directed the bureau to add the untested question in March, after misleading stakeholders and Congress about the Justice Department’s need for citizenship data from every person.

In our view as an ethnic media center, collecting citizenship status data from every resident for the first time in 70 years will jeopardize any serious effort to achieve a complete count. We join dozens of ethnic media outlets across the country in demanding that the Department of Commerce withdraw the question. We will also urge people to use the public comments period, which ends August 7, to explain why the decision to add the question is so misguided.

Ethnic news media are acutely aware of the high stakes our audiences have in a successful census. The 2020 census ranks as one of the top civil rights issues of our time, underpinning how federal dollars are allocated to our communities and who represents us at almost every level of government. It tells us who we are and who we are becoming as a society. The 2020 census is the one and only act of civic engagement in which literally every person counts – equally.

But all that hinges on people’s willingness to trust the government to rigorously adhere to the strict legal protections for census confidentiality and to ensure an equitable distribution of benefits to historically underserved communities of color. As media leaders serving many of the hardest

Ethnic media organizations are urging people to oppose the inclusion of a citizenship question on the 2020 census.

to reach populations in the U.S., we know that public trust in government has eroded sharply, replaced by pervasive fear in the face of anti-immigrant policies and racist rhetoric.

We have a long history of informing, engaging, and advocating on behalf of our communities. But when people are paralyzed by fear or alienated by anger and distrust, not even trusted intermediaries will be able to convince them to participate in the 2020 census. In this climate, adding the citizenship question sends exactly the wrong message and puts the 2020 census at risk of an historic undercount.

Here is a sampling of comments from ethnic media leaders: “It’s a cynical ploy to diminish the influence of people of color,” said Yawu Miller, editor of South Bay Banner, an AfricanAmerican publication.

“Recent immigration policies have created

a climate where immigrants, both legal as well as those who are undocumented, live in fear. Self-identifying as non-citizens in today’s times is a risky proposition and those who are not citizens will not participate. It’s as simple as that,” said Darek Barcikowski with White Eagle News that serves the Polish-American community.

“Definitely adding the citizenship question will hurt participation. Even legal immigrants now have fear. Those who are not citizens will evade the questionnaire,” noted Myong Sool Chang, editor of Korean Boston.

“People in the Turkish community don’t want to share their status with anyone outside their own relatives. The question feels threatening to all immigrants, regardless of their status,” observed Orhan Akkurt, publisher of Zamen Anerika.

“The citizenship question will suppress the count which will defeat the very purpose of the census,” said Vandana Kumar with India Currents.

“The biggest undercount will be of 0 to 5 year olds, which means we won’t be able to distinguish the identities of the next generation,” said Amar Gupta, with Siliconeer, which serves the South Asian community.t Sandy Close is the director of Ethnic Media Services. To submit public comment, visit https://www.federalregister.gov/ documents/2018/06/08/2018-12365/proposedinformation-collection-comment-request2020-census. For tips on submitting public comment, visit https://fairimmigration.org/ resources/census-2020-public-comment/.

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Letters >>

August 2-8, 2018 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 5

Vacant storefronts

I am really glad to see someone finally writing about this [“Castro housing projects add to retail concerns,” July 26]. I was with the Market Street Association for years and I started commenting about this years ago. I have even asked the planning commission to

inventory this retail to see how much is leased to a viable entity. (I was at a hearing testifying on something else.)

Those empty spaces are blight in the making and do nothing to add to street life. They need a better plan.

Lynn Valente San Francisco

Kaplan seeks to lead Bay Area transit agency

by Matthew S. Bajko

L

esbian at-large Oakland City Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan is seeking to be hired to lead the Bay Area’s regional transportation agency, the Bay Area Reporter has learned.

Last week, Steve Heminger revealed he intends to step down as executive director of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission on February 28, 2019. It will mark the end of a two-decade-long run leading the agency, which oversees planning and financing of transit projects throughout the region’s nine counties.

Governed by a board comprised of 21 appointed officials representing cities, counties, and transportation and planning agencies around the Bay Area, the oversight body for the MTC will conduct a search to hire Heminger’s successor. MTC Chair and Rohnert Park City Councilman Jake Mackenzie, along with six other MTC members, will serve on the committee that will guide the selection process.

Kaplan did not respond to a request for comment from the B.A.R. by press time Wednesday. As she noted on her resume for the MTC job, Kaplan has several decades worth of experience addressing transit issues.

“Many years of experience in transportation, including; policymaking, project conceptualization and implementation, and developing multi-jurisdictional transportation projects and programs, including work at the Bay regional level (and county),” noted Kaplan.

Prior to winning her seat on the Oakland council, Kaplan spent seven years as an elected member of the board that oversees the AC Transit District, which provides bus service in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

After joining the Oakland City Council in 2009, Kaplan helped oversee the merger of the Alameda County Transportation Improvement Authority with the Congestion Management Agency to create the Alameda County Transportation Commission. For the last nine years she has represented Oakland on the county transit planning body and served as its immediate past chair.

She served for two years, from 2011 to 2013, on the executive board of the Association of Bay Area Governments, which last year merged with the MTC and shares the same executive director. Kaplan also served on the Bay Area Air Quality Management District Board, between 2016 and earlier this year, working on such issues as the promotion of carpooling and better transit shuttle connections.

Between 2001 and 2002 Kaplan worked as the policy outreach director for the Transportation and Land Use Coalition, now known as Transform, where she advocated for an “environmentally sound and equitable” transit plan for the Bay Area region. And in 2000 she played a leading role in the crafting and passage of

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Rebecca Kaplan is seeking to head the Municipal Transportation Commission.

Measure B, Alameda County’s sales tax for transportation.

Should she be hired to lead the MTC, Kaplan likely would have to resign from her Oakland council seat two years prior to when her current term ends. She was re-elected in 2016 to a four-year term that ends in early 2021.

Gay SF planning commissioner reseated

San Francisco Planning Commissioner Dennis Richards, the lone gay member of the oversight body, and three of his colleagues have won new four-year terms on the powerful oversight committee. The Board of Supervisors voted 11-0 at its meeting Tuesday, July 31, to reseat the quartet.

Richards, who spent three decades working in the tech industry, and Kathrin Moore, an urban designer and architect, are two of the board’s three appointees on the seven-person commission. Board President Malia Cohen, who represents District 10, reappointed them to terms expiring on July 1, 2022.

The mayor appoints the other four members on the panel. In late June, former mayor Mark Farrell had nominated Rodney Fong and Milicent A. Johnson to new terms that expire June 30, 2022.

Fong, a fifth generation San Franciscan, is president of the Fong Real Estate Company, which oversees the Wax Museum Entertainment Complex in the heart of Fisherman’s Wharf. Johnson is the community impact manager for the Women Donors Network.

BAYMEC endorses trans candidate

Adam Spickler, a gay married transgender man seeking a seat this November on the Cabrillo Community College Board of Trustees in Santa Cruz County, secured an early endorsement last week from BAYMEC, the Bay Area Municipal Elections Committee. The group works to elect LGBT candidates in several South Bay counties.

Spickler, who lives in Santa Cruz and works for the county, could become the first transgender man to be elected to public office in California should he win the race. He also would be only the second known

LGBT person to serve on the community college’s oversight body.

In a statement to the B.A.R., BAYMEC Vice President Paul A. Escobar said the group was “overjoyed” to support Spickler’s candidacy.

“His experience and knowledge make us confident that he would be an outstanding member of the Cabrillo College Board who will work to ensure all students get the education they deserve,” stated Escobar. “Adam is thoughtful, effective, and dynamic, and he has been a champion for the Santa Cruz County LGBTQ community for years.”

Spickler was a student at Cabrillo for eight years, prior to transitioning, and graduated in 2002 with an associate degree in early childhood education. The community college is based in Aptos and serves all of Santa Cruz County.

A preschool teacher while in school, he landed a job after graduation as the childcare center director at a local nonprofit preschool. He then went to work for gay former Assemblyman John Laird, the first and only out person to serve on the Cabrillo college board, in his district office in Santa Cruz.

When Laird, currently the California secretary for natural resources, was termed out of office, his successor, Bill Monning, retained Spickler on his staff. One of the areas Spickler focused on for the assemblyman was K-12 and higher education issues.

In a 2013 interview with the Bay Area Reporter, Spickler spoke publicly for the first time about his transitioning while working for Monning. As the paper reported, he was one of two transgender legislative staffers to transition their gender identities after being hired. t Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http:// www.ebar.com Monday mornings at noon for Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion.

This week’s column reported on the Lambda Democrats early endorsement of five out candidates running this fall in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

Keep abreast of the latest LGBT political news by following the Political Notebook on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/politicalnotes.

Got a tip on LGBT politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 8298836 or e-mail m.bajko@ebar.com.

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6 • BAY AREA REPORTER • August 2-8, 2018

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recently happened upon a photo from 1921. In it, a quartet of people stands outside an imposing stone structure. All four look as if they were in conversation with each other moments before the camera came out, and now they face the lens. One wears an immaculate three-piece suit and tie, while the other three wear fashionable frocks, hats, and heels befitting the time.

Willie Römer took the photo in front of the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft in Berlin, Germany, during the First International Congress for Sex Reform on the Basis of Sexology, pioneered by Magnus Hirschfeld. The four people in the photo are, in modern parlance, transgender.

Hirschfeld was a pioneer in the study of both homosexual and transgender people and his institute was well known. It was a refuge for both, and a place not only of scientific study, but also of community and support. It even led to a lot of great advances in trans rights for the time, including the first modern examples of trans identity documents.

Yet, just 12 short years after this photo was taken, another, more famous one was snapped. In it, a large assembly of Germans, many wearing uniforms of the Nazi party, stand at attention, giving the infamous straight-armed salute. In the foreground, a large pile of books and papers burns.

These books were the remains of the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft. Four days earlier, the staff had been beaten and the windows smashed. Hirschfeld himself was on a speaking tour outside of the country. He never returned and died in exile in France.

Those identity passes that allowed transgender people to exist publicly in Germany, too, were made obsolete.

I’ve had that first photo sitting on my hard drive. These four people, and their resolute expressions, strike me as they stand along the street.

Aside from clothing nearly a century out of date, the people themselves feel oddly contemporary.

After the election of Donald Trump, a mad dash started to get one’s paperwork in order. People feared swift changes on the part of the incoming administration. There was a push to quickly correct passports, which allowed an updated gender marker that would be valid for the next few years, hopefully longer than

Courtesy Bildarchiv preußischer kulturbesitz

Willie Römer’s 1921 photograph taken in front of the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft in Berlin, Germany.

Trump might cling to power.

I was one of those who hurriedly got my papers in order, begging my mother and sister to get notarized letters on my behalf, acquiring the services of a friendly local physician to do the appropriate consultation, and spending a couple months on high alert, wading through the various layers of bureaucracy.

My passport finally arrived on January 17, 2017 – three days before Trump’s inauguration.

I don’t know how many other trans people did the same, but there were enough that massive crowd-funding sources popped up overnight, helping people to get their paperwork in order as quickly as they could.

Yet nothing happened.

Passports seemed forgotten, as the administration instead led a fight against our military fitness, in between despicable attacks on immigrants and non-whites. Then, in July, that shaky peace was shattered.

One friend of mine was told that paperwork of hers from 20 years ago would need to be reviewed before she could use her passport, while another friend got a call from the State Department, saying that the letter from her doctor was, seemingly, in error. As of this writing, some 10 trans people have had their passports challenged.

Tucked in between tweets asking for donations and a call supporting transgender health care for veterans, the National Center for Transgender Equality has a notice. It has been investigating the issue and says that all of the challenges so far feature “unusual circumstances” and “bureaucratic mistakes,” while reminding the community that the rules haven’t changed. I hope that’s true.

Nevertheless, people are scared and – to be honest – I’m among them.

The president is continuing to attack transgender people, and his whole administration has worked to chip away at our rights little by little. After all, the executive branch isn’t just one person, and this one is chock full of those willing to do the bidding of some of the most vile people imaginable.

On top of that, the actions of this administration have emboldened other citizens to revel in their bigotry.

In short, the monsters are revealing themselves, as they have no fear of being seen as such.

I look at that photo from 1921, at those proud, resolute transgender people from nearly 100 years ago.

How many of them were able to escape what was happening around them, or were they forced into hiding? Were any of them among those beaten when the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft was destroyed? Dare I even ponder if these folks enjoying a nice day in the sun would, just a few years later, be forced to wear the pink triangle and live out their remaining days in a concentration camp?

It would be too easy to think I’m being melodramatic, and that we’ve come too far to see such horrors revisited. Then I remember that this is an administration that is more than willing to lock young children in cages with nary a flinch, and I feel far less assured.

So now, we need to fight back. In just under 100 days, we need to vote in the midterm elections – and every day we need to be willing to fight back, arm-in-arm, with immigrants, people of color, sex workers, Muslims, and everyone else combatting these same struggles.

I don’t want – a century from now – for some future someone to view a photo of the transgender activists of today and have to wonder what happened to our proud faces.t Gwen Smith wishes to spend more days in the sun. You can find her at www.gwensmith.com.

Harbor leader won’t seek re-election

by Matthew S. Bajko

R

obert Bernardo, a gay man on the San Mateo County Harbor Commission, has ruled out seeking re-election this November to his seat.

Elected eight years ago as the first out LGBT member on the oversight panel, which oversees two harbors on the Peninsula, Bernardo is currently serving as vice president of the five-person commission. He will step down at the end of this year rather than seek a third four-year term.

“It’s been an incredible journey into public life. I have decided to not run for re-election,” Bernardo, 50, informed the Bay Area Reporter on Tuesday. “I am ready to take a break and go back to private life once again. I feel that

Courtesy Facebook

Robert Bernardo

I have accomplished all of my campaign promises during my tenure.”

In a statement to the B.A.R., Bernardo pointed to his helping the district pay off the debt it had when he first was elected in 2010 and creating a reserve fund.

He also noted how the board had boosted personnel at the district and moved its headquarters to a new coastal location in order to better serve the public.

He also included the district earning a “Clean Marina” certification for its environmental efforts. The district is in charge of the Oyster Point Marina in South San Francisco and Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay. “I say ‘we’ because no elected official does it all by himself or herself. It takes a board, a staff, and a public that cares,” wrote See page 9 >>

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<< Election 2018

8 • BAY AREA REPORTER • August 2-8, 2018

Uphill fight for Dems to retake Senate analysis by Lisa Keen

T

o take control of the U.S. Senate in the November midterm elections, Democrats need to hold onto all their existing seats and pick up two more.

Picking up two more doesn’t sound so big, but it’s misleading in the larger picture.

Polls in mid-July show Democratic Representative Kyrsten Sinema is doing well in her campaign to win the Arizona Senate seat being vacated by Jeff Flake (R). And polls look decent, too, for a Democrat try at booting Republican Senator Dean Heller in the blue state of Nevada.

But Sinema, as popular and moderate as she is, can’t take anything for granted in such a Republicanprone state. And hanging onto all 24 seats currently held by Democrats who are up for re-election this year is going to be tough. Add to this that LGBT political action committees seem less equipped than in the past to contribute financially, and the LGBT community clearly has a lot of work to do to make a meaningful contribution on the midterm outcomes.

At least four Democratic Senate seats are in real peril – and that doesn’t count Wisconsin’s Senator Tammy Baldwin, who is the target of a well-funded effort by the rightwing Koch Brothers and others to push her out. All polls right now show that race “leaning” in favor of her re-election. And an NBC-Marist poll in mid-July showed 52 percent of voters in Wisconsin disapprove of President Donald Trump’s performance in office (only 36 percent approve). That’s important, given that Wisconsin voted for Trump in 2016.

But with three months to go of heavy spending by both sides, polls could shift again before November.

The four Democrats whose

Courtesy Sinema for Senate campaign

Arizona Senate candidate Kyrsten Sinema

re-elections appear most vulnerable all have high scores on LGBT issues, according to the Human Rights Campaign Congressional Scorecard. So their defeats would be a double blow for the community: an ally would be lost to an opponent, and the pro-LGBT Democratic Party could not win a majority in the Senate – a critical requirement for stopping anti-LGBT legislation and judicial appointees.

All four Senate Democrats whose seats are in peril – plus Baldwin and Sinema – are in states that Trump won in 2016. Their prospects will almost certainly ride on the voting public’s opinion as to Trump’s performance in, and fitness for, office.

Here, according to the latest polls, are the closest races right now for control of the Senate in November.

Florida

Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson will win his party’s nomination in the August 28 primary, and he already knows who he’ll face: Republican Governor Rick Scott.

Nelson earned a 94 on LGBT issues on HRC’s most recent Congressional Scorecard. Equality Florida says Scott promised an executive order against discrimination against LGBT people following the Pulse nightclub attack in 2016, but hasn’t followed through. The group says Scott has also been “conspicuously silent” about a rash of violence targeting transgender women in Orlando. All polls show the two candidates either tied or with Scott slightly ahead. Scott has raised $22.5 million to Nelson’s $16.3 million.

Indiana

Democratic incumbent Joe Donnelly won his primary in May and is facing a strong challenge from Republican state representative and businessman Mike Braun, who founded a national auto parts distribution company, Meyer Distributing. Donnelly has an 80 score with HRC and expressed support two years ago for a state bill to prohibit discrimination against LGBT people. Braun is a pro-Trump

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Courtesy Baldwin for Senate campaign

Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin

conservative. The latest polls show the race is tied. And the candidates are virtually tied in how much money they’ve raised: Donnelly $8.8 million, Braun $8.4 million.

Missouri

Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill is facing six challengers in her primary August 7. Her expected Republican opponent, state Attorney General Josh Hawley, is hitting her hard for being a liberal. McCaskill’s score with HRC is 95. Hawley has been supportive of county clerks refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, saying “we need new legal protections for people of faith and we need them now.” McCaskill has raised $20 million, Hawley $5 million.

North Dakota

Democratic incumbent Heidi Heitkamp won her primary and Representative Kevin Cramer won the Republican nomination. Heitkamp has an 85 score with HRC, Cramer has a zero. Heitkamp won office in 2012 by 1 percentage point; six out of eight polls say this race is a toss-up and two polls say it leans Republican. North Dakota voted for Trump in 2016. Heitkamp has raised $9 million, Cramer $3.2 million.

Cramer says, “every life is precious,” he’s against allowing women to have abortions and says he intends to “reinforce our Christian foundational values.” CNN reported in June that the anti-LGBT group Public Advocate posted survey responses from Cramer that indicate he opposes school curricula including mention of gay history and other anti-LGBT responses. The survey is no longer on Public Advocate’s website.

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It pays for advertising, campaign staffing, events, and personal appearances to get the candidate and his or her message to the voters. It can even pay for buses and phone banks to get voters supporting the candidate to the precincts on Election Day. At one time, there were more than a dozen LGBT-specific political action committees – from the national, like HRC and the National Lesbian PAC, to the local, like Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club in San Francisco and the Dallas Lesbian and Gay Alliance PAC in Texas.

Today, only three national LGBT PACs have filed reports of campaign activity this election cycle: LPAC is a six-year-old organization dedicated to electing candidates “who champion LGBTQ rights, women’s equality, and social justice.” The Federal Elections Commission identifies LPAC as a “hybrid” PAC. That means it both makes direct contributions to candidates and, through a wholly separate bank account, pays for non-campaign-related activity.

t

During the current election cycle, its report to FEC indicates L PAC has raised $1.2 million and contributed $19,500 to candidates.

Human Rights Campaign PAC has been around in one iteration or another since the 1980s and is designated as a Lobbyist/Registrant PAC. That means it is affiliated with an organization (Human Rights Campaign) that is registered to lobby Congress. FEC reports indicate the HRC PAC has raised $1.2 million this election cycle, has given $381,014 to other PACs and has made $150,922 in independent expenditures on campaigns.

When asked several times for details about which candidates it has supported this cycle and which senate races specifically, HRC provided this response: “HRC has contributed to, and is working to, turn out the vote for a multitude of pro-equality candidates across the country, including Senators Bill Nelson, Claire McCaskill, and Heidi Heitkamp,” said HRC Communications Director Chris Sgro.

“As we rapidly approach 100 days out from the election, HRC is kicking our unprecedented grassroots campaign – HRC Rising — into high gear. We are working harder than ever to ensure voters send a pro-equality majority to both houses of Congress and pull the emergency brake on Donald Trump and Mike Pence.”

HRC’s latest reports to the FEC indicate its Equality Votes program has also raised $1.5 million for election activities.

According to http://www.

OpenSecrets.org, an organization that collects and summarizes reports submitted by political action committees and candidates to the FEC, HRC, and its affiliates have contributed $235,158 to candidates, up through June 30, 2018. Of the $235,158, OpenSecrets states that $32,147 has gone to a dozen Senate candidates, all Democrats.

Among them are Baldwin ($3,457), McCaskill ($4,800), Heitkamp ($1,000), and Nelson ($1,000).

LGBTQ Victory Fund Federal PAC is an affiliate of what used to be called the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, now the LGBTQ Victory Fund. It is also a long-standing political action committee. Its strategy is to both contribute to and “bundle” individual contributions and direct them to openly LGBTQ candidates who the organization has determined have a good chance of winning.

FEC reports show it has raised $264,563 thus far this cycle, contributed $34,420 to other committees, and made $118,000 in other disbursements. Spokesman Elliot Imse said the Victory Fund has contributed the maximum allowable under FEC regulations, $5,000, to Baldwin, and $1,500 to Sinema. It has also bundled $107,798 for Baldwin’s re-election campaign since January 2016 and has raised $38,680 for Sinema since July 2017.t

Online content returns

The Bay Area Reporter announces the return of its two regular online columns.

Political Notes, an online companion to the Political Notebook in the print edition, returned July 30 after a brief break. A new column, LGBTQ Update, debuted July 24 and runs every Tuesday. Additionally, check out www.ebar.com for breaking news and other online content.

t

Health News >>

August 2-8, 2018 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 9

Kaiser doctor receives leadership award

by Sari Staver

A

gay Union City Kaiser Permanente physician has been awarded the LGBTQ Leadership Award by the California chapter of the National Diversity Council for his longtime advocacy work.

Dr. Jay Bachicha, an OB-GYN, received the award June 20 at the inaugural LGBTQ-plus Allies Diversity Summit in Oakland for “his work in the community, as a physician and in his role as national co-chair of KP Pride, Kaiser Permanente’s business resource group that represents Kaiser’s LGBTQ staff members,” according to the council.

In a telephone interview with the Bay Area Reporter, Bachicha talked about his advocacy work at Kaiser.

Bachicha, who declined to give his age (“You can say I’m ageless,” he quipped), said that despite recent victories, “there are still lots of barriers for many people to be accepted at work and at home as their authentic and true selves.”

In addition to his advocacy work at Kaiser Permanente, Bachicha has also served as a board member for the National Board of Medical Examiners, the organization that writes the examinations that all physicians in the U.S. and Canada must pass in order to be licensed.

Bachicha said he was “instrumental” in creating NMBE’s diversity and inclusion task force, which is responsible for “ensuring diversity and inclusion practices and processes” be incorporated in the NBME workplace, in the recruitment of volunteer MD test writers, and in the writing of the exam questions.

Bachicha said his work on medical missions to Ghana, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Haiti,

<<

Courtesy Kaiser Permanente

Dr. Jay Bachicha received his leadership award in June at a ceremony in Oakland.

and Panama was also cited in the recent award.

In a video about Bachicha, Gloria Wilson, a practice specialist for Kaiser’s northern California region, talked about his work.

“I nominated Jay for this award because he brings attention and awareness to the LGBTQ community,” Wilson said. “He also encourages others to support full equality and acceptance.”

Dr. Ronald Copeland, chief equity, inclusion, and diversity officer for Kaiser, also praised Bachicha in the video.

“Jay is a tremendous leader,” he said.

Before joining Kaiser, Bachicha held a faculty position at Northwestern University in Chicago, where he helped to open several primary medical care clinics, including one in a public housing development.

Within Kaiser, Bachicha served as co-chair of KP Pride Northern California, an employee group, in 2017 and 2018. This year, he was named a national co-chair of KP Pride, one of Kaiser Permanente’s multicultural business resource groups, which represents all LGBT employees nationally.

Of all the activities of KP Pride, Bachicha said he was “most proud” of Kaiser’s decision to file a “friend of the court” brief in the case of Gavin Grimm, a transgender former high school student in Virginia who sued his school district after it refused to allow him to use the boy’s restroom while he was a student.

Grimm has since graduated from high school and is now living in

Berkeley. The court case is still in limbo – the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing Grimm, is waiting to hear from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals whether it will hear the case.

In 2011, Bachicha married his longtime partner, Jim Fane. The couple live in South San Francisco.

Although he was born and raised in a small town in Wyoming, Bachicha said that “coming out was never an issue,” for him.

“It would be more accurate to say I was never in,” he said. “There was never a moment when I decided to let everyone know I was gay.

Fortunately, I felt very accepted” while growing up.

The job offer to join Kaiser in northern California was “a great opportunity” for him to work at an organization that shared his values.

“It filled a spot for me that academic medicine did not,” he said.

Kaiser, he said, “is very supportive and very inclusive of various underserved populations.”

Management at Kaiser has been proactive in helping minorities to access care in the health care system, he said. Gays and lesbians looking for an LGBT provider can get assistance from staff in member services

to find a doctor whose background meets their needs, he said.

Currently, the hospital system is reviewing a proposal that would make it even easier for members and potential members to identify physicians who are LGBT or allies who have an interest in serving LGBT members, he said.

“We’re working toward making the system more seamless,” he explained.

“Kaiser is very supportive of the LGBT community, which has been recognized by the Human Rights Campaign for a number of years,” he said, referring to the national LGBT organization. “We’re always a very visible part of gay Pride.

Not just in San Francisco and in Oakland, but also in Sonoma, Santa Cruz, and Silicon Valley.”

Bachicha said Kaiser’s support for LGBT people includes a scholarship program the hospital sponsors, in collaboration with a number of other local corporations, providing funds for high school, nursing school, and medical school students who have served the LGBT community.

“The winners have been some very amazing people,” he said.t

Harbor leader

From page 6

Bernardo, who also served a term as president of the commission. “My heartfelt thanks to San Mateo County residents for giving me this rare opportunity to serve you. Thanks especially to the 70,000 voters across 20 cities and 18 towns who first elected me in 2010.”

A communications manager at the Port of Oakland, Bernardo previously worked as an investigator at the San Francisco District Attorney’s office and in the crime prevention unit of the San Francisco Police Department. Jewish and Filipino-American, Bernardo in 2006 was named a community grand marshal of the San Francisco Pride Parade.

Prior to being elected to the harbor commission, Bernardo served on both the South San Francisco Planning Commission and personnel board. He also has been a member of the San Mateo County Democratic Central Committee for over a decade.

He “strongly encouraged” others interested in seeking public office to run.

“We need more civically engaged residents. We need greater diversity in American politics,” wrote Bernardo. “We need to make a difference on the local level. This openly gay, FilipinoAmerican Jewish elected official is truly grateful. In America, anything is possible.”

Bernardo’s departure from the harbor panel leaves it with one remaining LGBT commissioner, Sabrina Brennan. The lesbian graphic designer and vocal advocate for female surfers is currently serving in her second term, which expires in 2020.t

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<< Community News

10 • BAY AREA REPORTER • August 2-8, 2018

Music center launches genderqueer chorus

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he choral world to date has been – and still is – very gender specific. There tend to be male, female, or mixed choirs typically offered.

Many in the genderqueer and transgender community have felt neglected when it comes to singing in an ensemble, said Reuben Zellman.

Zellman, who identifies as a transgender man, is the director of New Voices Bay Area TIGQ Chorus, a free community chorus welcoming all who self-identify as transgender, intersex, or genderqueer. The first rehearsal is Sunday, September 16, at the Community Music Center Mission Branch, 544 Capp Street, at 7 p.m.

“There is no textbook on choral conducting that even considers the possibility that singers don’t fall into one of those [gender] categories,” Zellman, 39, told the Bay Area Reporter in a recent interview. “A lot, not all, but a lot of choruses still today tend to be quite strictly segregated by gender and are not a very comfortable environment for someone who is transgender, intersex, or genderqueer.”

Zellman is a lecturer in the music department at San Francisco State University, where he also directs the Treble Singers, formerly known as the Women’s Chorus. At the university Zellman said he would often get students who were transgender males and females, or those who did not identify as women, who wanted to sing in the women’s chorus.

“A lot of trans and genderqueer singers are not ever approaching those ensembles because they don’t have a place where they feel safe. It’s time to create a place they do,” he said.

And that’s exactly what Zellman did. He reached out to the Community Music Center and proposed his

Salma Salman

New Voices Bay Area TIGQ Chorus members Toyomi Yoshida, left, and Reuben Zellman are set to begin rehearsals next month.

idea of creating a choir where people whose gender didn’t fit into traditional male or female roles could sing soprano, baritone, or tenor regardless of their gender identity or transition status.

The Community Music Center jumped at the idea. The mission of the music center is to make highquality music accessible to all people regardless of their financial means.

“We were excited about the opportunity to create a safe space through a musical community,” CMC program director Sylvia Sherman wrote in an email. “We saw how important this project would be. New Voices Bay Area is a way to address challenges transgender, intersex, and genderqueer people face in vocal music.”

Sherman and others worked for almost two years to secure funding for the project. Eventually, with help of many individual donors and a contribution from James C. Hormel’s Hallelujah Fund, one of the first donors, the New Voices Bay Area TIGQ Chorus was born. Hormel, a gay man and former ambassador, is also the founder of the James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center at the San Francisco Public Library

Although the first rehearsal isn’t until September, Zellman said he’s already received a lot of interest and even has a few members.

Elliot Franks, 55, a transgender man, is one of those members. He sang professionally for many years with the San Francisco Opera Chorus and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, but after his transition, found it challenging to “fit in vocally” and find a place where he felt free to use the voice he had after transitioning.

“The chance to be a part of a group that has no preconceived notion of how I previously sang and has no judgment as to how I should sound is a gift,” Franks said.

“I am most looking forward to seeing what we can create from a diverse group of individuals coming together to explore our voices and true identities.” t New Voices Bay Area TIGQ Chorus is open to anyone regardless of their singing background. To register, visit https://sfcmc.org/ new-voices-bay-area-tigq-chorus/.

Registration is due by August 7, but those interested, who may not want to register yet, are welcome to attend the rehearsal.

Legal experts: Path forward is with faith

by Heather Cassell

L

egal experts believe that if the LGBT movement continues to pit itself against the religious right in an “us versus them” scenario, the gays will lose unless the debate is reframed with religion in mind.

Elizabeth Gill, a bisexual woman who’s senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California Foundation, was one of the lawyers who argued against the Alliance Defending Freedom in the Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Gill is also head of the National ACLU’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and HIV Project.

The Supreme Court justices, led

by Justice Anthony Kennedy, ruled 7-2 in June in favor of Colorado Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips, who refused to make a wedding cake for gay couple David Mullins and Charlie Craig.

The incident happened before same-sex marriage was legal in Colorado.

At a panel discussion at the Legal Aid at Work offices in San Francisco July 23, Gill was joined by lesbian activist Ssenfuka Joanita “Biggie” Warry and queer transgender activist Sam Ames to discuss legal battles for LGBT rights in the U.S. as well as the affect the American LGBT movement’s wins and losses and the current

Rick Gerharter

Ssenfuka Joanita “Biggie” Warry, second from left, speaks at the panel Cake, Faith and Resistance: Reflections on Masterpiece Cakeshop and Faith-Based Resistance. Other members of the July 23 panel were from left, moderator Michael Vargas, attorney Elizabeth Gill, and attorney Sam Ames.

administration has on LGBT movements around the world.

Warry is executive director of Freedom and Roam Uganda.

Ames is interim executive director of Trans Lifeline. Ames, who is an attorney, is also the founding coordinator for the BornPerfect Campaign to end conversion therapy and is working toward a degree at Harvard Divinity School.

The discussion was moderated

by Michael Vargas, a Silicon Valley business and securities lawyer at Rimon P.C.

Gill told the audience that the Supreme Court’s decision in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case sent a “very confusing message about the role that religion is going to play” going forward.

The court ruled that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission violated the baker’s free exercise rights when it ordered that he sell cakes to same-sex couples the same as he sells to heterosexual couples.

Gill explained to the estimated 30 See page 14 >>

t

AIDS 2018>>

August 2-8, 2018 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 11

Research suggests policies are barrier to ending HIV

by Liz Highleyman

G

overnment policies can work against achieving an end to HIV by limiting access to prevention and treatment for the most heavily affected groups, according to research presented at the 22nd International AIDS Conference last week in Amsterdam.

An estimated 1.8 million people were newly infected with HIV in 2017 and nearly 1 million people still die of the disease annually. While the number of people on antiretroviral therapy has risen dramatically – reaching 21.7 million last year – an estimated 15.2 million still go without treatment.

Despite remarkable gains in HIV treatment and prevention, many barriers stand in the way of universal access. These include policies that criminalize or promote discrimination against people due to their HIV status, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex work, or drug use.

“The biggest barriers now to ending the epidemic are ideologically and politically driven,” said International AIDS Society president and conference Co-Chair Linda-Gail Bekker.

“Together, we will hold policy makers and donors accountable to the evidence – the end of AIDS will only come from prioritizing science-based policies, ensuring adequate funding and working hard together to be certain that no one is left behind.”

The conference, which brought together more than 15,000 delegates, featured sessions devoted to the detrimental effects of the U.S. global gag rule, laws that harm sex workers, and criminalization of people living with HIV. The global gag rule, also known as the Mexico City policy, prohibits funding of organizations that inform clients about the full range of reproductive options, including abortion, even if they do not use the money directly for abortion services. A growing

Liz Highleyman

Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) spoke at the 22nd International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam.

body of evidence shows that HIV services for women are best provided in conjunction with reproductive and maternal health services, which is hampered by the policy.

Originally put in place under President Ronald Reagan, the policy has been rescinded and reinstated as Democrats and Republicans trade places in the White House. Advocates say hundreds of organizations that receive President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, funding will be affected.

“The Trump-Pence global gag rule is an ideological crusade that denies lifesaving care to women around the world and threatens decades of progress in the global HIV response,” said Congresswoman Barbara Lee (DOakland), who spoke at the conference. “The health care of women and children shouldn’t be used as a pawn to placate right-wing extremists.”

2020 confab controversy

Lee also addressed the continuing controversy around holding the next International AIDS Conference in July 2020 in San Francisco and Oakland. As reported last week, activists from the Bay Area and around the

scientific evidence refutes the rationale for laws criminalizing HIV transmission. At least 68 countries – and some U.S. states – criminalize HIV nondisclosure, exposure, or transmission.

“Simply put, HIV criminalization laws are ineffective, unwarranted and discriminatory,” said Bekker, a co-author of the statement. “In many cases, these misconceived laws exacerbate the spread of HIV by driving people living with and at risk of infection into hiding and away from treatment services.”

The statement – a joint effort of IAS, the International Association of Providers of Care, and UNAIDS – stresses that there is no possibility of HIV transmission through biting or spiting, no possibility of transmission during vaginal or anal sex when the HIV-positive partner has an undetectable viral load, and no way to establish proof of HIV transmission from one individual to another.

“With all the new scientific advances now available, we need to continue to use science as evidence to deliver justice,” UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé said. “No one should face criminalization because of a lack of information or understanding by the justice system about the risks of HIV transmission.”

As the world makes strides towards controlling the epidemic, experts stressed the importance of integrating care to address all the needs of people living with HIV. “We have not truly helped a child if we treat her for HIV, but do not vaccinate her against measles. We have not truly helped a gay man if we give him PrEP but leave his depression untreated. We have not truly helped a sex worker if we give her STI screening but not cancer screening,” said World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus. “Universal health coverage means ensuring all people have access to all the services they need, for all diseases and conditions.” t

San Francisco,” he said to a mixed chorus of applause and boos.

Clinton, who started the Clinton Health Access Initiative after he left office, also stressed the importance of not cutting back on global funding for HIV and tuberculosis in order to increase resources for non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and cancer.

“There are still areas of this challenge that aren’t really being addressed. We have to fight for more oral PrEP and continue development of promising tools like long-acting injectable PrEP,” he said. “I’m somewhat perplexed at the opposition to this, which is part of the attempt to relitigate questions of sexual orientation and sexual identity in the context of a new politics of division that is sweeping the world. All I know is the only really pro-life answer is to save as many lives as possible.”

Sex worker activists interrupted Clinton’s speech to protest SESTA, the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act, a recent federal law that makes websites, social media networks, and other online platforms liable for user content related to sex trafficking.

But SESTA also expands federal law to cover online content intended to “promote or facilitate” consensual adult prostitution.

In the wake of the law’s passage in March, several sites that sex workers use to find and screen clients have already shut down, which advocates say is driving people to street prostitution.

Advocates also fear that “facilitation” could be deemed to include sites offering HIV prevention information, peer support, and “bad date” lists that warn workers about dangerous clients.

world are demanding that the confab be moved, citing President Donald Trump’s recent policy barring people from certain countries as well as longstanding U.S. exclusion of sex workers and people who use drugs.

“Even within the same country some people have the best care and treatment and others are falling through the cracks. In the U.S. your health care is determined by the color of your skin or the dollars in your bank account, or the ZIP code in which you live,” Lee said at the conference’s closing session.

“In 2000, we brought the fight to South Africa under an AIDS denialist government and we can’t shy away now,” Lee added, referring to the 2000 AIDS conference in Durban. “My district is the heart and soul of the resistance movement against these terrible policies.”

Delivering the conference keynote address, former president Bill Clinton also addressed the 2020 controversy.

“For those of us who care about this issue in the United States, San Francisco is a sacred place, where many people died and some of the first battles were fought. ... I think when you get there, you’ll be glad to have the conference in

HIV criminalization

With multiple studies now showing that people on treatment with suppressed HIV cannot transmit the virus, 20 leading experts issued a consensus statement declaring that

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<< Community News

12 • BAY AREA REPORTER • August 2-8, 2018

t

Underground cannabis parties pop up in SF

by Sari Staver

D

espite the 2016 legalization of recreational cannabis in California, the state still bans the use of pot in, or with, food served in restaurants or other public spaces.

Some people are working to change that.

Voila: the Cannaisseur Series is a twice-monthly underground popup where you can enjoy a gourmet meal with seasonal California ingredients paired with intermezzos of cannabis flowers, edibles, and extracts offered by chef Coreen Carroll and her husband, cannabis entrepreneur Ryan Bush.

While the menus vary, the events always begin with small infused bites served as hors d’oeuvres, followed by four-course meals paired with flowers provided by local cultivators. Throughout the event, the chef and the cannabis producers explain the passion and process that go into what they serve.

At the sumptuous brunch I attended in June for LGBT Pride, four drag queens entertained during, and after, the meal, and we each went home with a gift bag. The brunch began with delicious coffee mocktails made with Somatik’s cannabis-infused coffee

Sari Staver

Ryan Bush and his wife, Coreen Carroll, operate an underground cannabis pop-up dinner event.

and THC-infused beet quail eggs with pea shoot pesto. A salad topped with infused olive oil preceded the main course, cabernet braised buffalo short ribs with gorgonzola polenta. Dessert was a sweet garbanzo crepe with fresh fig jam and Ghirardelli chocolate.

The exquisite presentation and fresh ingredients in each course reminded me of Berkeley’s Chez Panisse or San Francisco’s Zuni Cafe.

The parties, which cost $175 per person paid in advance, have sold out

each time they’ve been held, Carroll said in a telephone interview with the Bay Area Reporter. She advised people who are interested in attending to check out the website and add their name to the mailing list.

The couple came to San Francisco from Florida seven years ago “to get involved in the cannabis industry,” said Carroll. Bush had previously operated a digital marketing business while Carroll worked in medical device regulation.

But when they arrived in San Francisco, Carroll wanted to fulfill her longtime interest in cooking and enrolled in the San Francisco Cooking School. Bush enrolled in Oaksterdam University to learn about the cannabis industry. The couple soon launched an edibles company, Madame Munchie, which produced infused macarons – French-style macaroons – which were quickly picked up by dozens of dispensaries.

“I found myself baking 3,000 cookies a day,” she said. The company is still operated by the couple’s former business partners.

In the meantime, Bush began working as director of business development at a cannabis start up, Meadow, and Carroll itched to begin a catering business. Soon, the couple were cooking full course meals at home, which they served to a dozen people at a time, through the dining website, Eat With.

Before long, their ambitions outgrew their tiny San Francisco apartment, and the couple decided to find a larger commercial space where they could serve a sit down meal for 40.

The couple attended a number of pop-up food events, where chefs often cooked with ingredients – such as foie gras – that were banned in retail commercial kitchens, said Carroll, who added, “We said to ourselves, ‘why don’t we do the same with cannabis?’”

On May 3, 2015, the Cannaisseur Series was born. From the very first event, the parties sold out in advance without any advertising beyond their mailing list and circle of Facebook friends. Events are held in private locations and disclosed to reserved guests the day before the event.

“We thought we were onto something people really wanted,” said Bush.

“Yes,” agreed Carroll, “we’ve gotten wonderful feedback” from guests.

Several, she said, come to each party and a handful of others come frequently.

“I think the fact that we sell out shortly after each event is announced says people are enjoying themselves,” she added.

The couple plan to continue throwing parties at least twice a month, depending on what other commitments they have. Nothing has been See page 14 >>

Putting the ‘gay’ in gay Paree

by Roger Brigham

W

hen 10,000-plus athletes and artists march into Stade Jean Bouin Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Paris time, it will be a triumph of persistence and stamina on every level.

There is the persistence of the Parisians themselves. Paris’ first bid to host the Gay Games ended in a loss, with Cologne being selected to host 2010’s Gay Games VIII, causing the Paris delegation to walk out in anger and disappointment. But their bid in 2009 to host this year’s event, informed by years of volunteer involvement in the Federation of Gay Games, was selected over Limerick and London by the FGG. There is the stamina shown by the FGG, which for the past decade faced the greatest struggle of its existence, having to fend off the threats of a rival event, as well as suddenly declining participation numbers and efforts to wed the two events together. The FGG restructured itself, stuck to the mission rather than watering it down to seek more participants, the rival event and organization collapsed and disappeared – and this will be the biggest LGBT sports and cultural festival in a dozen years.

Most important, of course, is the stamina of the athletes themselves.

Some are only recently introduced to sports, many more have been devoted athletes for years – and all

Courtesy Facebook

Former Long Beach Rebels player Mark Chambers has organized a reunion of sorts for players who were in the 1998 gold medal match at Gay Games against the San Francisco Rockdogs.

are coming together to celebrate and compete in the most inclusive sports event on planet Earth.

The Gay Games are an inclusive sports and cultural festival for adults 18 years of age and older that were started in San Francisco in 1982 and have been held every four years since.

Although the majority of participants are LGBT athletes, no one is barred on the basis of sexual orientation or expression, gender, nationality, religion,

medical status, or physical challenge.

There are no competition qualifiers.

Some participants are casual recreational athletes; others have won world or national championships or may set national records at the Gay Games themselves.

A few notes on this year’s event: • Gert McMullin of San Francisco and Paul Oostenbrug of Albuquerque will be recognized at opening ceremonies as winners of the FGG’s highest honor, the Tom Waddell Award. McMullin is one of the original volunteers with the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt and supplies the FGG’s Memorial Run with its AIDS quilt panels; Oostenbrug is a former Team Chicago leader and former membership officer of the all-volunteer FGG. • There should be a great deal of attention on the delegation of athletes from Taiwan when they enter the stadium. Gay Games social media blew up last week with criticism of the Paris organizers’ declaration that Taiwan would be identified as “Taipei” on the sign that announces the team during the march of athletes. The Taiwanese athletes registered as Taiwan with Paris, but the Chinese government has been pressuring major events

Obituaries >> Jim Lechleitner

Cindy Lee (“Samantha” or “Tornado”) Terhune

1947 – 2018

July 14, 1956 – July 23, 2018

Jim Lechleitner moved to San Francisco from Washington, D.C. in 1989 and was a retired personnel manager for the National Park Service and Presidio Trust.

Sadly, he passed away unexpectedly in his Castro home last week with his faithful dog, Tucker, at his side. Jim was a dedicated Park Service employee and loved to spend time in Yosemite and Glacier parks. He will be missed by all who knew him. He is survived by his longtime partner, Wade Woodworth, and a brother and sister in Indiana. A memorial service is being planned for late August.

Cindy Lee (“Samantha” or “Tornado”) Terhune passed away at her mother’s home in Willmar, Minnesota, surrounded by family and friends.

Born in Redwood Falls, Minnesota, the daughter of Jimmy L. and Judith R. (St. John) Terhune, she was the eldest of four siblings. After graduating from Willmar High School in 1974, she studied Chinese history at the University of Minnesota. She lived in New York, Paris, Greece, Las Vegas, and – for 18 years – San Francisco, before returning to Minnesota.

Terhune led a very colorful life and was a positive force of nature, a free spirit. As a shaman, she performed weddings and healing ceremonies. As a lifelong student and teacher, she taught yoga for many years. Believing in the importance of living in beauty, she started a successful small business called Paint Goddess, earning a reputation as a highly skilled painter of trompe l’oeil murals and faux marble finishes. Among her other accomplishments she worked at many San Francisco nightclubs, at the San Francisco Public Library, and appears in Monika Treut’s documentary “Gendernauts.”

She is survived by her mother, a brother and two sisters, her adopted godson, Texas Starr, and a wide network of family and friends.

and corporations to refer to Taiwan as Taipei – the name under which it claims the island nation as one of its provinces even though the People’s Republic of China has never ruled Taiwan. Many of the commentators on the Gay Games Facebook page noted Taiwan is relatively progressive and is in the process of legalizing marriage equality.

Yuan Zhi, one of dozens of people protesting the labeling of Taiwan as Taipei on the Gay Games Facebook page, wrote, “I’m not even Taiwanese and I’m sick by your actions. It’s easy to plead for people to show you equality, to show no discrimination, but when it comes to others, you choose to turn a blind eye to it. #TaiwanNotTaipei.”

• A reunion of sorts will be held for some of the players in the men’s 35-and-over basketball competition, with some of the players from the 1998 gold medal match in Amsterdam between the Long Beach Rebels and the San Francisco Rockdogs (which the Rebels won) joining forces this go round to play on X Rebel.

“About three months ago, I contacted my former Rebels teammates to go to Paris and only two committed,” said Mark Chambers, one of the veterans of the 1998 game. “I then reached out to a couple former

<<

Chinatown

From page 1

no were District 5 Supervisor Vallie Brown, also casting her first vote on the issue, and District 9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen, who last year voted against the Sunset dispensary.

Board President Malia Cohen voted for the Chinatown exemption after initially saying she would oppose it. Cohen, who is termed out of her District 10 seat this year, is running for state Board of Equalization in November.

Peskin, whose district covers Chinatown, first introduced the legislation in May, with Supervisors Jane Kim, Ahsha Safai, Sandra Lee Fewer and Katy Tang signing on as cosponsors. The ban was unanimously

Rockdogs and a couple of the ones that said yes just happen to be players we competed against in the 1998 gold medal game. The Rockdogs still have younger players in the open division, but we older guys are going to enjoy the spirit of the Gay Games and not try to crush others. I think.”

• Berlin’s Mitch Ertel will be honored later in the week by Wrestlers WithOut Borders as winner of the Dermody Citizenship Award for his work to establish and run an annual wrestling weekend in Berlin. Sydney’s Barry Webb, who saw Harbour City Wrestling Club through a lot of lean times to emerge as a rising powerhouse, will receive the WWB’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Being inducted into the Hall of Fame will be Josh Watkins of San Francisco; Cameron Inthapangna of Melbourne; Gus Scheerbaum of Philadelphia; Rob Smitherman of Chicago; and Nick Zymaris of New York City.

For the first time at a Gay Games, sailing will be held on the open sea.

One hundred participants are registered for the competition in La Havre, west of Paris between the North Sea and the Atlantic.

The Gay Games flame will be passed on to the Hong Kong organizers at the closing ceremonies in front of Paris City Hall August 11.

Hong Kong is scheduled to host Gay Games XI in 2022 on the 40th anniversary of the Gay Games.t

recommended earlier last month by the board’s land use and transportation committee.

In a letter to the planning department, the sponsoring supervisors argued that the booming recreational and medical cannabis industry would drive up commercial and rental prices in the densely populated neighborhood, potentially causing many of the Chinese-owned and -operated businesses to be displaced.

On June 14, the Planning Commission voted 5-2 to reject the proposal.

Commissioners objected to taking a piecemeal approach to cannabis regulations and emphasized the importance of having an equitable approach for all neighborhoods.

See page 15 >>

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Rx Only Manufactured by Patheon, Inc. for Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. San Francisco, CA 94105 Copyright © Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Mytesi comes from the Croton lechleri tree harvested in South America.

<< Community News

14 • BAY AREA REPORTER • August 2-8, 2018

<<

Castro Pulse vigil

From page 1

community,” Wheeler, a straight ally who is a Companion, said.

Left-wing Catholic activist Dorothy Day, who started the Catholic Worker Movement in 1933 during the Great Depression, is the “Dorothy” in the Companions’ name. The movement was, and continues to be, known for actively supporting labor unions, human rights, cooperatives, and the development of a nonviolent culture.

“Companions ... have the opportunity and obligation to witness to their faith communities the realities, needs and concerns of the LGBTQ

<<

News Briefs

From page 3

Larkin Street, Sunday, August 5, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Sponsored by Civic Center Commons, the free family-friendly event will feature recreational activities for all ages, a selection of bar and street food offerings curated by Off the Grid, music and promotional appearances

by Bonneville San Francisco KMVQ 99.7 FM, an open-air bazaar, do-ityourself arts and crafts, and more.

For more information, visit http://www.civiccentercommons.

<<

Bay Area Cannasseur

From page 12

scheduled yet for this month, because Carroll and Bush will have a booth at the upcoming Outside Lands Music and Art Festival, in Golden Gate Park August 9-10, which will have a section of cannabis booths, although consumption at the event is barred.

At the recent cannaisseur brunch, two LGBT-owned startups took part in the event.

Christopher Schroeder, the founder and chief executive officer of Somatik, provided the low-dose coffee mocktails. The beverage consisted of fresh squeezed grapefruit juice and a rosemary-infused sugar syrup poured

<<

Legal experts

From page 10

people who came to the discussion that the justices’ decision didn’t necessarily ban discrimination of LGBT people, but it didn’t give businesses free reign to claim religious beliefs to discriminate either.

“Opponents of LGBT equality are arguing that the Masterpiece Cakeshop decision gives them a license to discriminate based on religion. While it did not do that – and the decision included strong language supporting non-discrimination laws – we will need to continue fighting back against efforts by the Trump administration, Congress, and in the states to use religion to discriminate against LGBT people,” Gill clarified in an email to the Bay Area Reporter in a follow up statement.

Gill and Ames told the audience that the Masterpiece Cakeshop case signals a pivotal moment for the LGBT movement in the current political climate, especially with President Donald Trump’s nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to replace Kennedy, who retired last month.

They also warned that if the LGBT movement doesn’t change the “us versus them” mentality and start working with communities of faith that, “We are going to lose. Religion will win

<<

LGBT church

From page 2

According to the EIR, Papale has also agreed to give $12,500 to the

t

community outside the institutional church,” according to its website.

Wheeler said Companions were inspired by, but not formally connected with, the Catholic Worker Movement.

Other consistent vigil attendees are members of Stop the Violence, an activist group founded over 20 years ago as a project of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Currently co-chaired by Sister Chola de Dah and Sister Roma, Stop the Violence is supported by CCOP, Community Patrol USA, and the San Francisco Police Dept.

“Businesses want to get involved, display our sign and get whistles,” Sister Chola said.

The whistles, long handed out in

the Castro, are used to attract attention when an act of violence is witnessed.

The “Stop the Violence” sign that was conceived by Sister Roma is one that is usually used at the Friday vigils, said Sister Guard N. O’Pansies.

Another sign used at the vigil is a reprint painting by artist Roger Hutchison. It depicts a bloody handprint with the word “Enough” printed on it.

Hutchison told the B.A.R. that his handprint painting first appeared on the cover of “Reclaiming the Gospel of Peace: Challenging the Epidemic of Gun Violence,” edited by Sharon Pearson.

“Since the publication of this book and my sharing the image on social

media, the image of the hand with the word ‘Enough’ has been shared tens of thousands of times – maybe more,” he wrote in an email. “When I learned that it was being used in the weekly Pulse vigil in San Francisco, I was brought to tears.”

On Friday, June 15, almost exactly two years since the Pulse mass killing, the weekly vigil group met and rang a bell 49 times to commemorate those lost in the tragedy.

Vigil participant Paul Brown emphasized that consciousness is an important aspect of the vigil. Brown believes regular meditation can, in itself, lower the level of violence in a city, based on studies published by the

Maharishi International University.

He has a background in meditation practice and education.

Brown encouraged vigil participants to join him for a mantra-based meditation on the last Sunday of every month in the community room of Bank of America at 18th and Castro streets. He also encourages all meditators to join the vigil.t

org/attraction/2018-block-partyon-1st-sunday/.

Participants who want to sign up should visit www.bit.ly//QueerSlamSF. The deadline is August 3.

People can also talk with local AI experts and researchers and meet young women who are taking part in the 2018 Technovation Challenge finals, a competition that invites teams of girls worldwide to solve real-world problems through technology.

There is no cost to attend. To register, visit www.technovationchallenge.,org/ world-pitch.

540 San Pablo Avenue.

Organizers said it’s a great opportunity for LGBTQ Democrats to join the club, as the $35 new membership fee would include bowling.

Registration is $25 for members or $50 for non-members. Other sponsorship levels are available. Proceeds benefit the club’s Campaign for Equality PAC. To RSVP, contact the club’s political action committee chair John Bauters at jbauters@gmail.com or (415) 9997932, or visit https://secure.actblue. com/donate/2018brunchandbowl. t

Queer Slam at LGBT center

For more information about the vigil, contact Wheeler via the Companions of Dorothy the Worker at http://www.companionsofdorothy. org. For more information on Stop the Violence, visit http://www.facebook.com/StopTheViolenceSF.

The San Francisco LGBT Community Center will hold Queer Slam, an event for poets and authors, Thursday, August 9, at 1800 Market Street.

People are invited to stop by for an intergenerational dialogue that will explore storytelling through literary elements and artistic expression, with a focus on diversity and bridging the gap between LGBTQ generations.

The event is free. Doors open at 6 p.m., Queer Slam starts at 6:30.

Family-friendly tech event

into the iced coffee, topped with sparkling water. Schroeder and his partner, Clayton Coker, also created espresso contannas, served after the meal.

Schroeder, who brought his father as a guest to the party, said the events “are a unique opportunity to mix with all kinds of people who love food,” he said.

He brought his dad, a local psychotherapist, “because he’s the person who originally introduced me” to cannabis.

The drag show at the brunch “was a great addition, especially because the performers joined us for the meal,” he added.

Andrea Brooks, a lesbian who founded Sava, a local cannabis delivery company, also attended the brunch and provided pre-rolled

flowers from her Mendocino farm, Sunrise Gardens.

“I had such a blast at the party,” said Brooks. “I loved starting the day with a group of people in a wonderful mood.”

Brooks hopes the city will eventually relax its strict regulations to enable people to legally sponsor similar events.

“San Francisco is lucky to have so many talented cannabis entrepreneurs who are ready, willing, and able to provide” similar celebrations when the legal restrictions are removed, she said.

Recently, Carroll and Bush have been involved in the formation of a new organization, the Crop to Kitchen Community, spearheading the movement to legalize cannabis

cuisine. The group, which met in June at Terrance Alan’s restaurant Flore, meets again Monday, August 6, at Uma Casa. (Further information and tickets for the event ($20) are available at https://www.facebook.com/cannacooks/photos/a.587697418282637.10 73741828.585722501813462/647729 795612732/?type=3&theater).

Carroll foresees the twice-monthly meals to continue for the next couple of years. Then, depending on what the law allows, “who knows?” she said.

“We hope this sort of thing will become more mainstream,” she said.

In November, Carroll’s first book, “Edibles: Small Bites for the Modern Cannabis Kitchen” will be published

by Chronicle Books.

The book will include 30 recipes, both savory and sweet, with an emphasis on low dose recipes.

“It’s for the soccer mom,” Carroll said. t

here. We need to change,” said Gill.

Ames agreed, adding that lawyers are also important, calling them “our first line of defense.”

From Ames and Gill’s perspective the radical right has done a bait-andswitch by co-opting progressives’ language and refocusing it through a religious lens in their messaging.

“They’ve taken our rights-based language from us and put it in a religious focus,” Ames said, using the example of “religious accommodations.”

“That’s our language. That is not the language of the religious right,” Ames continued, stating, they “shifted the playing field. We are on theirs instead.”

However, Ames has faith that the LGBT movement can reclaim the playing field again.

Ames told a story about survivors of conversion therapy who didn’t give up their faith despite the harm their family, community, and religious leaders did to them. Ames was surprised to find that the survivors didn’t believe that God hated them and that their experience brought them closer to God. They came out wanting to “reclaim this part of themselves,” they came out of their experience “wanting to go to seminary” and becoming religious leaders, Ames said.

Ames and Gill both noted that the battleground LGBT activists might be

working on is health care. They told the audience that hospitals are increasingly becoming religiously affiliated. The effect of being under a religious affiliation is denial of reproductive health care for women and sex-reassignment treatment and surgeries for transgender individuals, Gill said.

to highlight and integrate religious voices into that work to challenge the perception of LGBT people versus religious people.”

Warry, a Catholic, agreed with Ames that it was important to take back religion from the religious right and the way to do that was to remind people that “God is love,” she said.

In Uganda, religion is very important to her and to the community, she said.

“In my struggle, and the struggle of the entire community, it’s so important,” said Warry, who called religion “spiritual food” for the community.

She told the audience how anti-gay pastor Scott Lively and other American evangelicals made “Uganda misinterpret love.”

“They fueled, promoted, and preached hate toward gay people,” she said, telling her story about her personal struggle to reconcile her faith and being a lesbian.

She eventually concluded, “God is love. I was born in God’s image and remind members of community,” of this.

That’s how Uganda’s LGBT

community is fighting the resurgence of anti-gay sentiment and a new push to reintroduce and pass the “jail the gays” bill that is again being fueled by American evangelicals.

She is “preaching love for everyone,” regardless of what happens with the pending fight against the potential new bill and other emerging anti-gay laws.

However, she said one piece of the battle is for Americans to work on stopping the religious right at home, so it can’t spread its anti-gay agenda abroad.

“Whatever happens in America has a very, very big impact on Africa, most especially Uganda,” she told the audience.

Ames and Gill believe LGBT activists can turn the tide, but it’s going to take working with religious communities.

“The good news is that we can reframe this debate,” Ames said. “If we let them set the agenda ‘gay versus God’ we lose, and we are not living up to our values.”

“Religion will be the roadmap,” added Gill, but she noted the reality will change if Kavanaugh becomes the next Supreme Court justice.

“I think we need to be prepared to lose some of our cases,” she said. “So, now, more than ever, we need to be focused on our movement-building work. Now, more than ever, we need

Horizons Foundation to cover the cost of replicating the commemorative bricks in the sidewalk in front of the former church, known as the Yellow Brick Road, at a new site. MCCSF had sold the bricks, which honor

members of the church and others from the city’s LGBT community and Castro neighborhood, as a fundraiser for the congregation.

A community group has been working to find a new location to

recreate the bricks. The original bricks are to be donated for use at the Pink Triangle Park and Memorial, the triangular site at Market and 17th Streets that honors the gay victims of the Holocaust.

“As long as we can find storage for them,” said Gary McCoy, president of the park’s oversight body, which will determine how to utilize the bricks at the site. t

Families can attend the Technovation Innovation Celebration and Tech Expo Thursday, August 9, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the California Theater, 352 South First Street in San Jose.

Attendees can complete familyfriendly hands-on activities exploring artificial intelligence and machine learning and celebrate a global community of women in technology and business.

The path forward

Bowl with Stonewall Dems

The East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club will hold its annual Brunch and Bowl event Saturday, August 18, from noon to 2 p.m. at Albany Bowl,

For further information about upcoming pop-up dinner events, visit http://cannaisseurseries.com.

To pre-order Carroll’s new cookbook, visit https://www.amazon. com/Edibles-Small-Modern-Cannabis-Kitchen/dp/1452170444.

Bay Area Cannasseur runs the first Thursday of the month. To send column ideas or tips, email Sari Staver at sari@bayareacannasseur.com.

Not convinced

Not everyone in the audience was convinced. Some audience members raised concerns from their own personal experiences with religion and questioned the panelists’ strategy to enter religious territory.

Najwa Alsheikh, a second-year law student at UC Berkeley, appreciated hearing from Gill about her experience and thoughts of working on the Masterpiece Cakeshop case.

“I think that this is going to have very negative ramifications across our society for many years,” she said, speculating if businesses, especially in small towns, begin denying LGBT people service.

However, she was apprehensive about the religious strategy going forward to win current and future legal battles for LGBT rights.

Alsheikh, a lesbian atheist, expressed she appreciated churches like the Unitarian Universalists that are “willing to step up and lead the fight.”

“I am a little worried about relying too heavily on religion to win these battles,” she said. “I think that we need to really center this in human rights, civil rights and equal rights.” t

t <<

Community News >>

August 2-8, 2018 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 15

Drag queens sue

Richard Padilla are among those having to fight to stay in their homes.”

He continued, “As with anyone at risk of displacement in the district, our office is exploring every available option to help them. This includes connecting them with community organizations like MEDA, as well as the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development. We’re going to fight to keep these tenants, and all tenants, in their homes, and work with elected leaders at the state and local level to bring abuses of the Ellis Act to an end.”

the building into their family home.

“This is a three level building with three different kitchens, bathrooms, etc. What do they plan to do – cook in three different kitchens?” Fox wrote in an email.

access to the backyard,” she said.

The owners also had Miranda’s friends’ cars towed after being in the driveway for a short period of time, without asking the tenants to move the cars first, Miranda said.

In an email, Wan wrote that she had no idea which car belonged to Miranda’s friend.

“I am not sure if we are the ones that requested the tow,” Wan wrote. “We have experienced ongoing instances of cars blocking our driveway and our car is therefore stuck in the garage.”

Miranda is the manager of DivasSF, which he said is the city’s only transgender bar. Due to having epilepsy, he told the B.A.R. he cannot drive and needs to live close to work. His home is less than two miles from the bar.

Padilla also lives close to his work.

Both tenants want to stay in their home and be able to live comfortably, something they haven’t been able to do since the owners took over three years ago, they said. Both men told the B.A.R. – and stated in the lawsuit – that their health has also suffered

from the stress this experience has caused, including sleep deprivation and weight gain.

With skyrocketing rents in San Francisco, the tenants are scared of the outcome if they are forced to move.

“I want to live in my house. It’s my house. I have been there for 22 years.

This is my community,” Padilla said.

Miranda said, “I have lived here for 15 years and the last three years here have been hell. I want to remain here, this is my home.”

One of the tenants’ landlords denied she has bias against them.

“I am not at all discriminatory against any groups,” Wan said in a phone interview with the B.A.R. “I never have been like that and it’s hard for me to hear when people accuse me of that.”

Referring to the tenants, she also said, “We have different points of view on stuff that’s happened.”

She continued, “Their accusations are baseless.”

Keller did not respond to a request for comment.

Wan said she and her husband bought the property when she was pregnant and have always planned to make it their family home without tenants. Wan and her husband now have two small children.

“We bought this house to live in with our family. We are not developers,” Wan said. “Everything we have done has been working toward the goal of gaining possession of the house for our family.”

Zacks, Wan’s attorney, also noted that some of the tenants smoke, which he said was “a threat to the health and safety to their family.”

Noting that the building has three levels, Raquel Fox, one of the tenants’ attorneys, questioned Wan’s claim that the couple wants to turn

the concerns around the gentrifying impact dispensaries could have on a neighborhood fighting to retain its unique character and its significant stock of affordable housing.

“But I am also keenly aware that I sit here today as the sole LGBTQ member of this body; the inheritor of decades worth of political activism by LGBTQ and cannabis activists working together to rationalize our drug laws and save lives; that I am the immediate successor of this body’s first out HIV-positive supervisor, Jeff Sheehy, who spoke often about the importance of medical cannabis in

saving his life and in saving the lives of countless others; and that though his body may have died earlier this year, Dennis Peron’s spirit is strong in my district, and I remain and must remain true to that legacy.

“Given all that, and given my strong belief that it is long past time to bring cannabis out of the shadows and to eliminate the stigma attached to its use, and notwithstanding my great respect for Chinatown and my great personal affection for the author, I cannot support this legislation.”

Mandelman said that neighbors would still have the opportunity to

oppose proposals for particular cannabis businesses, with or without the ordinance approved Tuesday.

“I simply cannot vote for a blanket ban on such businesses in any portion of this city,” he stated.

Brown said at the meeting that 75 percent of city voters, and the vast majority of voters in her district, supported Proposition 64, the statewide initiative that legalized adult recreational use of marijuana.

“The board worked long and hard to craft a balanced conditional use policy that respects our neighborhoods while also preventing clustering,” Brown said

in a statement. “This policy needs to be given time to work. It’s for that reason, and because my constituents approved Prop 64 at a higher rate than any other district in the city – almost 85 percent, that I voted no.”

Ronen said in a statement that she was “concerned by a legitimate threat that cannabis business could drive up commercial rents in Chinatown.

However, the fact that there are no pending applications in the neighborhood and that we built protections into our carefully crafted very new law, this legislation is premature and may not be needed at all.”t

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038210200

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038211800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ARDEN HOME, 336 HAYES ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed CAN AUSSIE INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/01/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/06/18.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038214900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MC REMODELING, 415 DELANO AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MANLIO GONZALEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/26/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/10/18.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038214700

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038212900

JULY 12, 19, 26, AUG 02, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038209800

JULY 12, 19, 26, AUG 02, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038212800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: AIRAM, 1156 SHAFTER AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed AIRAM INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/02/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/09/18.

JULY 19, 26, AUG 02, 09, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038217500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: VICTORIA’S HAIR STUDIO, 3410 GEARY BLVD #218, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DAO KHUU. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/12/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/12/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: OMA SAN FRANCISCO STATION, 1737 POST ST #337, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed MONSTER CHEF CORPORATION (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/11/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CONCENTRIQ, 3159 23RD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed CONCENTRIQ PERSONNEL SERVICES LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/11/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/11/18.

JULY 12, 19, 26, AUG 02, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038194100

JULY 12, 19, 26, AUG 02, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038205600

JULY 19, 26, AUG 02, 09, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038209600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SAN FRANCISCO ACTING ACADEMY, 1050 SANSOME ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94111. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed PAUL GHIRINGHELLI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/05/18.

JULY 19, 26, AUG 02, 09, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038216700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ITZ NETWORKS, 3327 24TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110.

This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed ITZ NETWORKS, INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/18/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/11/18.

JULY 19, 26, AUG 02, 09, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038216200

JULY 19, 26, AUG 02, 09, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 038207900

JULY 19, 26, AUG 02, 09, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038216800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MOKUKU, 332 CLEMENT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed MOKUKU INVESTMENT INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/11/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/11/18.

JULY 19, 26, AUG 02, 09, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038217800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NOVELA, 662 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed N662, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/12/18.

JULY 19, 26, AUG 02, 09, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038199200

JULY 19, 26, AUG 02, 09, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038216000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EL PORTENO EMPANADAS; EL PORTENO; EL PORTENO RESTAURANT, 1 FERRY BUILDING, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94111. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed EL PORTENO INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/11/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/11/18.

JULY 19, 26, AUG 02, 09, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038217900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: KAIYO RESTAURANT & BAR, 1838 UNION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed UNION STREET HOSPITALITY GROUP, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/01/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/12/18.

JULY 19, 26, AUG 02, 09, 2018

JULY 19, 26, AUG 02, 09, 2018

JULY 19, 26, AUG 02, 09, 2018

From page 1

anytime he sees them.

Padilla also stated in the lawsuit that his drag clothes, along with Miranda’s, were thrown out by the landlord when they were being held in a communal storage unit on the premises.

According to Wan, who spoke to the B.A.R. on the phone this week and was joined on the call by her attorney, Andrew Zacks, she asked both Padilla and Miranda permission to throw away the items that she claims were “collecting dust for two years” in the storage space. She said she has text messages on her phone that prove this communication exchange.

Though the landlords never used derogatory terms to refer to the LGBT tenants, Padilla said he feels the number one motivation of the owners to kick the tenants out is their LGBT identity.

Among other unfair treatment the suit alleges is illegal entry by the landlords into the tenants’ homes. The landlords also barred the tenants from using the communal backyard and the storage and garage space.

“I know discrimination when I feel it,” said Miranda, 51, who has lived in his home for 15 years. “We used to have barbecues five, six times a year and sit outside. I haven’t had anyone over at the house for two years.”

Miranda’s barbecue, table with four chairs, and umbrella were thrown out by the landlords, he said.

Wan said she asked the tenants, via text message, permission to throw out the table, chairs, and umbrella. She said she also has texts that prove Miranda had given his barbeque away to a friend and says she never barred the tenants from using the communal space.

“They completely have always had

<<

Chinatown

From page 12

In a prepared statement emailed to the Bay Area Reporter Tuesday, Mandelman noted his “long record of supporting the right of communities to have a say in the type of development that happens in their neighborhood, going back to my days as one of thenboard President Peskin’s appointees to the Board of Appeals.

“And I have heard Chinatown’s concerns on this issue. Cannabis carries a complicated history for the Chinese community. And I have heard

Kelly Sullivan

Fredy Miranda, aka Alexis Miranda, stands in her backyard, from which he said the landlord threw out patio furniture and a barbecue.

Land trust idea floated

The tenants’ lawyers, Fox and Michael Zitani with the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, are working with gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman in hopes of getting the city to buy the property. Zitani said Mandelman has reached out to the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development, which has a small sites acquisition fund, as well as the Mission Economic Development Agency.

“These five men and women are dealing with a situation no one should be subjected to, but, unfortunately, is all too common in San Francisco,” Zitani wrote in an email to the B.A.R. “Their landlord is trying to unjustly evict them from their decades-long home out of greed, prejudice toward homosexual and transgender individuals, and willful ignorance of the lasting damage eviction causes.”

Zitani also hopes to work with the San Francisco Community Land Trust, a nonprofit whose mission is to create permanently affordable, resident-controlled housing for lowto moderate-income people in San Francisco through community ownership of the land.

Mandelman said his office was exploring options for the tenants.

“In the few weeks since taking office, I’ve heard from a disturbing number of residents throughout District 8 facing Ellis Act evictions. I’m especially disappointed to learn that LGBT community leaders like Fredy Miranda and

Previous dispute

The tenant-landlord dispute has been ongoing for more than two years.

Wan and Keller bought the property for $1.45 million in April 2014.

They previously tried to evict Padilla, Branchflower, Carmichael, and Emperador, in October 2014 on the basis of an owner move-in, which allows a landlord to evict a tenant if the landlord plans to move into the property.

After renting out the top unit for $5,000 a month to another tenant, the owners served the current tenants an eviction notice with a “bad-faith” owner move-in, the current lawsuit states. The tenants sued, represented by the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, and the owners dismissed the eviction notice on the eve of the trial.

The tenants also previously sued the owners over substandard living conditions, including roach infestation, insufficient heat and plumbing, and mold and electrical problems, among other things. It was only after the city issued notices of violations in 2018 and orders of abatement that the defendants made repairs. The suit claims the repairs were of substandard condition. t

Legal Notices>> The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LAST WAVE FILM, 156 RISE ST, SAN FRANCISCO CA 94102.

This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KINDRID PARKER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/03/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/05/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MIND YOUR VIBE, 1630 CALIFORNIA ST #407, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KIMBERLY KHUNARAKSA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/05/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: IMPRINT DISTRIBUTION, 350 TOWNSEND ST #140, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SANJEEV RAI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/20/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/20/18.

JULY 12, 19, 26, AUG 02, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038203400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HANDY GLASS GUY, 990 FULTON ST #206, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed YUNUS AKBAG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/27/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/28/18.

JULY 12, 19, 26, AUG 02, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038200100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HERRERA ESCOBAR SERVICES, INC, 3327 24TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed HERRERA ESCOBAR SERVICES, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/14/18.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/26/18.

JULY 12, 19, 26, AUG 02, 2018

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SHAMROCK CHILDCARE, 1900 17TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed CATHERINE NAUGHTON FLYNN LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/01/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/29/18.

JULY 12, 19, 26, AUG 02, 2018 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-037719400

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: SUSHI SHOH, 406 DEWEY BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business was conducted by a general partnership and signed by ALICE HO & YUNRONG CEN. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/10/17.

JULY 12, 19, 26, AUG 02, 2018 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-037438900

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: BUSINESS BRA’S, 1415 7TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business was conducted by a general partnership and signed by MELANIE GARCIA & TRISHA HEIGL. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/24/17.

JULY 12, 19, 26, AUG 02, 2018

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: S&K PRODUCTION, 2321 GALWAY DRIVE, SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94080. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JIN GUO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/02/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/02/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: OOVY STUDIOS, 590 6TH ST #206, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed OOVY STUDIOS INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/04/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/25/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TANCCA, 776 BROADWAY ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed TEA KEY, INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/10/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/10/18.

JULY 19, 26, AUG 02, 09, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038216500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: L’AMOUR DE SAIGON, 321 WEST PORTAL AVE #A, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed TFLH CORP (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/09/18.

JULY 19, 26, AUG 02, 09, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038215900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE HOMESTEAD, 2301 FOLSOM ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed GCBC LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/11/05. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/11/18.

<< Classifieds

16 • BAY AREA REPORTER • August 2-8, 2018

Legal Notices>> FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038209700

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038227200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: VALVOLINE INSTANT OIL CHANGE IH0004, 1799 19TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed HENLEY PACIFIC SF LLC (DE). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/05/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/05/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GLOBAL EPICURE, 175 BLUXOME ST, UNIT 129, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JOINA LIAO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/16/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/20/18.

JULY 19, 26, AUG 02, 09, 2018 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-18554088

JULY 26, AUG 02, 09, 16, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038227500

In the matter of the application of: TAO LIANG, 519 39TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner TAO LIANG, is requesting that the name TAO LIANG, be changed to JEAN QINGFENG NALAN. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 23rd of August 2018 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

JULY 26, AUG 02, 09, 16, 2018 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-18-554047

In the matter of the application of: LISA FARMER AKA MELISSA MARIA FARMER, 2800 LAKE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner LISA FARMER AKA MELISSA MARIA FARMER, is requesting that the name LISA FARMER AKA MELISSA MARIA FARMER, be changed to MELISSA MARIE FARMER. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 23rd of August 2018 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

JULY 26, AUG 02, 09, 16, 2018 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-18-554059

In the matter of the application of: JOSEPHINE LEE, 248 27TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner JOSEPHINE LEE, is requesting that the name JOSEPHINE LEE, be changed to JOSEPHINE LEE WON. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 28th of August 2018 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

JULY 26, AUG 02, 09, 16, 2018 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-18-554075

In the matter of the application of: HUIJUAN HUANG CHUNG, 630 BURROWS ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner HUIJUAN HUANG CHUNG, is requesting that the name HUIJUAN HUANG CHUNG, be changed to SHELLY HUANG CHUNG. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 30th of August 2018 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

JULY 26, AUG 02, 09, 16, 2018

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NEW GENERATION, 48 HAIGHT ST #1, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed PEDRO J. SHAPIN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/20/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/20/18/18.

JULY 26, AUG 02, 09, 16, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038224500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TCR CONSULTING, 3012 CESAR CHAVEZ ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed TARA CHAFFEE ROBINSON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/04/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/18/18.

JULY 26, AUG 02, 09, 16, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038220400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NATALIE BLAIR SKIN STUDIO, 301 MAIN ST UNIT F31, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed NATALIE BLAIR MORRIS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/16/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/16/18.

JULY 26, AUG 02, 09, 16, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038222200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: OYE MANAGUA, 3385 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed GABRIELA D. RIVAS SOZA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/18/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/17/18.

JULY 26, AUG 02, 09, 16, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038224400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: INTREPID RIGGING AND WRANGLING; ANOMALY EVENTS, 140 FILLMORE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SCOTT RICHARD CAMERON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/18/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/18/18.

JULY 26, AUG 02, 09, 16, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038228200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: 5-7-9 MARS HOA, 7 MARS ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114.

This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed SEAN GRANT & RAMON PERAZA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/23/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/23/18.

JULY 26, AUG 02, 09, 16, 2018

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038216400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: B & M STUDIO, 3412 25TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed BENJAMIN GUERRA ESQUERA & MINERVA A. HALLACY . The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/11/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/11/18.

JULY 26, AUG 02, 09, 16, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038203000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: REVAMP SALON, 2164 MARKET ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114.

This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed RE: GROUPE INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/28/2018. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/28/18.

JULY 26, AUG 02, 09, 16, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038202900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: REVAMP SALON, 3167 16TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed RE: GROUPE INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/28/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/28/18.

JULY 26, AUG 02, 09, 16, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038223100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CALIFORNIA CUSTOM METALS INC., 1321 EVANS AVE #C, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed CALIFORNIA CUSTOM METALS INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/17/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/17/18.

JULY 26, AUG 02, 09, 16, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038219600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LA CUISINE CAFE, 1145 MARKET ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed LA CUISINE CAFE LLC (CA).

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/10/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/13/18.

JULY 26, AUG 02, 09, 16, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038224100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: WHITE RABBIT, 3138 FILLMORE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed PIERCE PARTNERS LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/18/18.

JULY 26, AUG 02, 09, 16, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038220800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EMPIRE JIU JITSU, 2356 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed EMPIRE JIU JITSU LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/09/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/16/18.

JULY 26, AUG 02, 09, 16, 2018 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-035677300

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: REVAMP, 2164 MARKET ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by HUY R. LE. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/24/14.

JULY 26, AUG 02, 09, 16, 2018

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The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ORIGIN, 745 CLEMENTINA ST UNIT A, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed ORIGIN PROTOCOL, INC (DE). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/20/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/23/18.

AUG 02, 09, 16, 23, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038234800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HOWA ASSOCIATES, 551 37TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed J. HANA TORRISI HOWA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/27/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/27/18.

AUG 02, 09, 16, 23, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038231100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: 1667 GREEN STREET APARTMENTS, 1667 GREEN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by a trust, and is signed JOHN H. KIRKWOOD. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/25/18.

AUG 02, 09, 16, 23, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038233000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BILLYGOATS / CABRITAS CHILD DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, 330 MADRID ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ANGELICA GUERRERO HERNANDEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/26/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/26/18.

AUG 02, 09, 16, 23, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038234300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ROBINS TERRACE, 158 DOWNEY ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a married couple, and is signed KAYKO WATANABE ROBINS & DONALD BRUCE ROBINS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/27/18.

AUG 02, 09, 16, 23, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038226000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: KATLETKI, 2948 FOLSOM ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed HANNA KERNAZHYTSKAYA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/19/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/19/18.

AUG 02, 09, 16, 23, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038230000

AUG 02, 09, 16, 23, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038230300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ENDLESS SOLUTIONS CO.; TAXPROS365.COM, 345 15TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed HUNG C. LY. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/23/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/24/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE SHOESHINE GUILD, 555 CALIFORNIA ST, CONCOURSE LEVEL, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94104.

This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed A SHINE & CO, LLC (CA).

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/18/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/24/18.

AUG 02, 19, 16, 23 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038235100

AUG 02, 09, 16, 23, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038223400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CIRCLES OF DETERMINATION, 280 NEWHALL ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed HOUSE OF THE ORISHAS CULTURAL CENTER (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/26/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/27/18.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: KATHERINE MICHIELS SCHOOL, 1335 GUERRERO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed KATHERINE MICHIELS SCHOOL INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/01/84. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/17/18.

AUG 02, 09, 16, 23, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-038233200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: URBAN CURRY, 523 BROADWAY, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133.

This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SANGAMSTAR FOOD INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/25/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/26/18.

AUG 02, 09, 16, 23, 2018 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-037687200

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: AB CLEANING SERVICES, 899 HILLSIDE BLVD #5, DALY CITY, CA 94014.

This business was conducted by an individual and signed

by ANIBAL RODAS. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/18/17.

AUG 02, 09, 16, 23, 2018

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August 2018 Outreach INVITATION FOR BIDS The Port of San Francisco, a department of the City and County of San Francisco announces the following contracts for bid: Contract #2797R, PIER 29 UTILITY UPGRADE & BELTLINE BUILDING SEWER RE-ROUTING RE-BID consists of water, gas, sewer, electrical and lighting improvements at Pier 29, and gravity sewer re-routing to the City sewer in the Embarcadero Street at the Beltline Building.

Contract #2810R, HAZARDOUS MATERIALS ABATEMENT - BUILDING 49, CRANES 14 & 30, PIER 70, PORT OF SAN FRANCISCO consists of abatement of hazardous materials and disposal of abatement waste; application of specified sealant on interior and exterior of Building 49; application of specified sealant to surfaces of the tower, boom, and cab of Crane 14 and/or 30 and two artifacts from historic shipbuilding operations; and disposal of other specified equipment from historic shipbuilding operations.

35 PUC # 176618

•Home OR OFFICE •27 YEARS EXPERIENCE

For additional details and bid dates please refer to www.sfport.com and www.sfgov.org/oca.

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In the matter of the application of: KYLE GEORGE SPORLEDER, 1845 LINCOLN WAY #2, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner KYLE GEORGE SPORLEDER, is requesting that the name KYLE GEORGE SPORLEDER, be changed to KYLE MAGALLANES CASTILLO. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 13th of September 2018 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CHUN MAK DDS-PHD INC, 929 CLAY ST #205, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed CHUN MAK DDSPHD INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/01/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/19/18.

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AUG 02, 09, 16, 23, 2018

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20

SFB in Stern Grove

21

24

22

Stripper tale

Gay dad

Puzzle me

Vol. 48 • No. 31 • August 2-8, 2018

Mike@mikemelnyk.com

www.ebar.com/arts

Agitprop comedy al fresco

by Jim Gladstone

“T

here’s a standard criticism that people make about us,” says Joan Holden, a member and leader of the San Francisco Mime Troupe since 1967. “They say we’re preaching to the converted. Well, don’t the converted need to be inspired and animated? Evangelists don’t just try to convert nonbelievers to the gospel – a big part of what they do is hold revivals.”

See page 17 >>

Barihunk Hadleigh Adams will play Valmont, and soprano Heather Buck will play Merteuil, in West Edge Opera’s “Quartett.”

Courtesy Bedford Gallery

Yan Inlow, “Frida with Birds” (2016), embroidery, part of “The World of Frida.”

Keiko Shimosato Carreiro (Kat) in San Francisco Mime Troupe’s “Seeing Red: A TimeTraveling Musical.”

Frida’s world

Music-lovers’ August

by Sura Wood t’s remarkable but not altogether surprising that over 3,000 people attended the opening of “The World of Frida,” an expansive new exhibition now at the Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek. The Mexican artist has achieved near-mythic status as a feminist icon, among other things, and has been elevated – or is it reduced? – to a brand.

See page 24 >>

F

or Bay Area opera-lovers or anyone curious about the state of the art, August is full of promise. Whether your taste runs to the traditional or contemporary cutting-edge, local companies are offering an exciting variety of musical events.

See page 18 >>

{ SECOND OF THREE SECTIONS }

West Edge Opera

I

by Philip Campbell

<< Out There

18 • Bay Area Reporter • August 2-8, 2018

House on the hill

StevenUnderhill PHOTOGRAPHY

t

by Roberto Friedman

Our guestroom offered antique furnishver the years, Out ings, elegant decor, There has made a study pillow-top mattresses, of perfect “staycation” spots feather soft linens for exhausted San Francisand thick terry-cloth cans within day-trip range robes. A gas-fired fireof the city. In our continuplace took the chill off. ing survey we’ve visited cute We contemplated our little boutique inns, classic mountain and garden grand hotels, seaside spots, views. Soon enough and quirky-charming B&Bs. our dinner reservation We’ve stayed at “6-star” time arrived. Artisanal hostelries with personal gin and tonic on the concierges. Last week we reveranda served to whet turned to the wine country our appetite. We had for an overnight stay, visita view of the newly Courtesy Madrona Manor ing a historic estate set amid planted, dry-farmed Madrona Manor, in the hills above Dry Creek Valley in landscaped grounds. vineyard that sits on Madrona Manor is a Sonoma County, was built in 1881. the hill just in front lovely grand old house surof the Mansion overrounded by eight acres of looking the valley and Reader, do you know the extent wooded and well-tended landscape the mountains of Northern Sonoma. of a traffic jam that results from a and gardens in the hills above Dry The mansion’s restaurant well detwo-hour freeway closure? Highway Creek Valley in Sonoma County. serves its Michelin star. Chef Jesse patrol directed all northbound and The mansion, built in 1881, hosts an Mallgren has been creating stylish southbound traffic off the highway acclaimed restaurant that has recuisine there since 1999. Extensive at the nearest exit. After sitting ceived a Michelin star for dinner menus are inspired by the in a standstill on a service 10 consecutive years. estate gardens. We ordered around road, we took off for We headed over the the menu, sampling appetizers like country roads that Golden Gate Bridge Hokkaido Scallop Crudo, Wagyu we thought might go early one afternoon.

Tartare, Charcoal Grilled Duck through to our destinaThe trip to the Manor, Yakitori, and Foie Gras Torchon. tion, and promptly got mostly a straight shot For entrees we enjoyed the Local lost. By the time we found up Highway 101, typiHalibut with morels and smoked the freeway again, it had cally takes about one mussels, and a burger with dry-aged reopened. and a quarter hour. chuck and Australian black truffles.

So we didn’t arrive at News flash from We followed our attentive waiter’s the Madrona until after 6 The Santa Rosa suggestion of a locally produced p.m. And here is when the Democrat: “An explosion involving pinot noir to wash it all down, and healing properties of the place really a tanker truck delivering liquid oxywere glad we did, as the wine was kicked in. We guided ourselves in a gen Wednesday afternoon outside a light and refreshing. “self-tour” around the amazing garKaiser Permanente medical office We survived traffic from hell to ardens and grounds, and soaked in the building prompted the evacuation of rive at a type of heaven, this grand esview over the valley from a promonpatients and employees at the campus tate in an elegant vineyard setting. We tory. Vineyards and the hills beyond north of Santa Rosa. Nearby Highway can recommend it as a staycation spot beckoned. The peace and quiet was 101 was shut for about two hours.” unreservedly. madronamanor.com.t exactly what the doctor ordered.

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August music

From page 17

West Edge Opera, the bold East Bay organization led by General Director Mark Streshinsky and Musical Director Jonathan Khuner, presents three productions for Summer Festival 2018, Aug. 4-19. Two modern operas and a rarely performed 20th-century masterpiece are given three performances each in repertory at the Craneway Conference Center, a former Ford assembly plant on the Richmond waterfront.

Known for offbeat venues, West Edge is proud to announce indoor plumbing for the first time. That is good news, as beer and wine are free at the site. Shuttle buses from Richmond BART ensure easy access to and from the Richmond Marina.

Claude Debussy’s shadowy “Pelleas and Melisande,” adapted for chamber ensemble by WEO’s Jonathan Khuner, who will also conduct, opens the season. Director and choreographer Keturah Stickan makes her WEO debut. Her impressive work in Jake Heggie’s “Moby Dick” at San Francisco Opera signals an imaginative staging. Mezzosoprano Kendra Broom (discovered by none other than Frederica von Stade) is Melisande, tenor David Blalock sings Pelleas, and former SFO Adler Fellow baritone Efrain Solis sings the role of Golaud.

Composer Matt Marks’ and librettist Paul Peers’ “Mata Hari” opens next, on Aug. 5. Premiered at New York’s Prototype Festival in January 2017, WEO keeps the original production’s actress and dancer Tina Mitchell in the title role, and Peers reprises his stage direction.

Mezzo-soprano Molly Mahoney and tenor Samuel Faustine as Mata’s lover Vadime flesh out the story of the legendary WWI temptress and spy. Emily Senturia, Bay Area native with a national conducting career, leads an orchestra that includes accordion and electric guitar.

West Edge Opera

Scene from West Edge Opera’s “Mata Hari.”

Opening Aug. 11, Luca Francesconi’s “Quartett,” directed by Elkhanah Pulitzer (first Director of Programming for SF Opera Lab, and a big hit with WEO’s 2016 “Powder Her Face”), is based on the play by Heiner Muller using characters from “Les Liaisons dangereuses.” The Marquise de Merteuil and the Viscount de Valmont engage in a viciously seductive game, taking on the parts of the lovers Tourvel and Volanges themselves in role-playing scenes. No holds are barred, and no prisoners will be taken.

Returning WEO favorite barihunk Hadleigh Adams is Valmont, and “lithe and impactful” soprano Heather Buck is Merteuil. John Kennedy conducts the daring score, which features a live chamber orchestra with electronics, and a recorded full orchestra and chorus created for the La Scala Premiere in 2011. Tickets for individual operas or packages are available. westedgeopera.org

The Bay Area’s beloved Lamplighters Music Theatre presents Gilbert & Sullivan’s classic comic opera “The Pirates of Penzance, or The Slave of Duty” in Walnut Creek (Aug. 4-5), Mountain View (Aug. 11-12), San Francisco at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (Aug. 18-19), and Livermore (Aug. 24-25). Nicolas Aliaga Garcia directs his first Lamplighters production with a nod to #MeToo, highlighting the late-19th-century model of the “New Woman.” Spirited young “ladies,” equal to any male, face endearingly inept buccaneers in some of Sullivan’s best melodies and Gilbert’s wittiest lyrics. Colorful period sets, luxuriously detailed costumes, and full orchestral support maintain the Company’s award-winning tradition. The deadpan British humor (think Monty Python) and instantly hummable tunes are timeless, too. lamplighters.org Merola Opera Program 2018 presents a fully-staged “The Rake’s Progress” by Igor Stravinsky, W.H. Auden and Chester Kallman at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Aug. 2 & 4. Mark Morash (Merola 1987) conducts, and Robin Guarino, who has staged opera and theatre, and produced and directed independent films, is director.

Merola’s 61st season closes with the annual Grand Finale, Aug. 18 at the War Memorial Opera House.

Conducted by Nashville Opera’s Music Director Dean Williamson, directed by 2018 Merola Apprentice Stage Director Marcus Shields, the evening showcases the extraordinary talent of this year’s bumper crop of Merolini. More on the grand night of singing: merola.orgt

On the Web This week, find Victoria A. Brownworth’s TV column, “Going through ‘Pose’ withdrawal,” online at www.ebar.com.

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20 • Bay Area Reporter • August 2-8, 2018

SF Ballet brings joy to the fog belt

by Paul Parish

A

midst reports of the hottest summer on record – Paris sweltering, Greece burning, wildfires all over our own state – San Francisco last Sunday afternoon was as cold as Mark Twain ever claimed. For the picnickers who went to Stern Grove for the San Francisco Ballet’s annual outing on the amphitheater stage of that sublime local park, we sat under towering redwoods and a milky afternoon sky. As our world-famous dancers gave it their all, I kept thinking, “They must be cold!” – we sure were – and only in the wide-open spaces of Aaron Copland’s wonderful music for “Rodeo” did the dancers really open up. They ended the show with a joyous finale, which built from strength to strength.

It had been spotty all afternoon until then. But in “Rodeo,” everything was right at last. The tan wood-paneled backdrop stood in for the Western desert perfectly – that landscape Copland’s music conjures, a wide-open, cheerfully lonesome expanse. It’s a ballet for men, though Dores Andre, the only woman, cuts an unforgettable figure that evokes the spunky cowgirl of

<< Music

t

Agnes deMille’s iconic heroine from 50 years ago. Her spirit presides even as the new choreography (by Justin Peck) sets new action in this landscape.

San Francisco Ballet’s superb men darted and cavorted like kids on skateboards, or cowboys cutting up. Then they’d also team up in tableaux, leaning on each other to create formations that echo the enduring sculptures of Monument Valley.

All the men were vivid and thrilling, dancing with expansive personalities – none more so than corps dancer Diego Cruz, whose smile alone made up for the lack of sunshine. Max Cauthorne, Wei Wang, and Hansuke Yamamoto seemed to belong in this world as Audie Murphy used to. Ulrik Birkkjaer, who comes to us from Denmark and is wizardly at the Courtesy SF Ballet sparkling Danish footwork, Men of the San Francisco Ballet danced at Stern Grove last Sunday afternoon. cut some Western figures of incredible brilliance. And Andre took over the stage like only Yuan Yuan Tan and Vitor Luiz lift after lift that Edwaard Liang has derful vehicle for a star ballerina.

Marlene Dietrich. Diva! managed to project continuous arranged for her to float through, in Everybody loved it.

Three pas de deux took up the radiance, in the endlessly tender the strong, capable hands of Luiz.

Sasha de Sola and Esteban Hermiddle of the program, though reconfigurations of Tan’s limbs in It’s not a great piece, but it’s a wonnandez showed lots of fire in Balanchine’s “Tarantella” at first, but lost steam. It’s a bravura piece that requires irrepressible temperament and stamina. De Sola is a radiant young ballerina, but hilarity is not her forte – and ultimately, that’s what this ballet requires, not just indomitable warmth. Hernandez, a young Mercury, held on longer, but even he started to shrink.

The Soviet-era Grand Pas de deux that forms the climax of the Helgi Tomasson/Yuri Possokhov “Don Quixote” (coming next season on Program 1) is a magnificent display of the indomitable style. The ballerina Anna Sophia Scheller had a superb outing in the adagio, partnered by the newcomer soloist Vladislav Koslov, from the Bolshoi, where Possokhov used him in “Nureyev.”

Unfortunately, Kozlov is a tall, hyperextended specialist in the contemporary style and – at least on this outing – did not look right at all in the old Soviet manner, which suits compact, super-strong dancers like Baryshnikov. The luster of their opening number faded as they had to move faster. Scheller, who is a strong turner, lost her placement, and had to finish early.

I’d been looking forward to seeing the classic “Serenade” outdoors, since it was first shown outside in the park on the Warburg estate in White Plains, New York, in 1934.

Balanchine’s first ballet in America, it was designed to show young dancers how to use the stage, and it still, despite many revisions, uses many of the easier steps – running, posing, the easier balances and turns on pointe – to tremendous effect, creating wave upon wave of movement that evokes young energy, exile, life moving forward through new worlds. Even the end – maybe especially the end, where the heroine is born aloft in a sublime procession into another world – seems like a new beginning.

The ballerinas Sarah van Patten, Jennifer Stahl, and Frances Chung were each amazing in their ways, the corps danced like the ocean, with rushes of movement coming forward and around stationary dancers like waves around rocks, or water pouring through the sluices in a dam. And yet they were hard to see – the composition looked like an A&F plaid in sky-blue and tan plaid amidst the diffuse glare under the milky sky.

Still, it was our only chance to see them until November. It was wonderful to see them. The capacity crowd left happy.t

t

Books>>

August 2-8, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 21

Stripping with suspense

Courtesy the subject

Author Matt Converse.

by Sari Staver

T

he fictionalized story about the life and loves of a Nob Hill Theatre stripper became an Amazon bestseller last month, the very first day it was released. “Obsexion,” by local writer Matt Converse, is based on the author’s seven years as a dancer at the iconic San Francisco club, which has been in the news recently after it announced it was closing this month.

Priced at $2.99 on Amazon, the 144-page downloadable novella was the #1 seller in the LGBT horror category when the B.A.R. went to press last week. For Converse, a 46-yearold gay man, the bestseller repeats the popularity of his first three books, “Behind the Velvet Curtain,” “Strip Shot” and “Leather Head.”

“I’m thrilled,” said Converse. “My goal was to bring diversity to the publishing world, and I think I’ve succeeded.” His success came as a

“real surprise” after more than 20 publishers said “no, thanks” to his first manuscript.

The new book is a great read, even for a middle-aged lesbian who has never gone to a strip show. It’s a fast-paced erotic thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat til the very end. The action ranges from passionate and sexy to hilarious, and ends as a horror story.

Matt is a young gay man in San Francisco who stumbles into a job at the Nob Hill Theatre after an employee at the front desk repeatedly encourages the regular customer to come back from the weekly contest, where the winner lands a job. Matt wins his first time out, and begins his adventure at the club. Life is rosy at first, with Matt’s young boyfriend supporting his new career. The tips are generous.

But when a middle-aged customer dressed in all-black takes an interest, then an obsession, with Matt, the dancer finds the attention uncomfortable and scary.

When Matt notices the customer following him home one evening, the suspense moves up a notch.

Sorry, no spoilers, the twists and turns are all part of the fun.

The story keeps you guessing til the very end. Will the couple’s love survive? Will Matt continue his stripping career? What happens to the creepy stalker? I asked Converse how much of the book was fact, and how much was fiction.

“I embellished,” he said. “I

worked at the Nob Hill, and there was a guy I called ‘the creeper’ who was a regular customer. And yes, in real life, it was scary.”

In real life, Converse moved to San Francisco in the late 1980s with a boyfriend, but the two broke up shortly after they arrived. “I didn’t know a single person in San Francisco.” He began working at the front desk at a gay hotel, then got a job at a bank. He lived nearby the Nob Hill Theatre, and enjoyed their shows.

When an employee told Converse he’d make a great dancer, “Of course I was flattered” and thought

about the possibilities. When the front-desk staffer repeated his encouragement, “I was in.” After weeks of practicing at home to carefully choreographed music, Converse went to a tryout, where he came in first and was offered a job on the spot.

“It turned out to be the best job of my life,” he said. He kept the job at the bank for a short while until he realized this “dream job” was turning into a reality. After seven years, Converse retired but continued to dance at private parties for several years, until he took an early retirement.

The quiet life agreed with Converse, but the memories of working at the Nob Hill ran through his head. “For the most part, the customers were fantastic.” A journalism major in college, Converse decided to try his hand at writing. He wrote a story about a stripper. In 2015, Comet Press said they loved it, and two months later, the ebook was for sale on Amazon, becoming one of the publisher’s top-selling books that year.

Despite the first-time success, the publisher declined Converse’s next manuscript. But a Michigan publisher, Encompass Ink, said yes, and has published Converse’s last three books.

What’s next for Converse? “I have a full-length horror novel that’s ready to go” to a publisher, he said, “as well as several other worksin-progress.”t

Gay liberation: a performance review

by Tim Pfaff

T

here are less loaded ways to ask the question “Has the Gay Movement Failed?” than making it the title of your new book from the University of California Press, as the eminent gay historian Martin Duberman just has. His proposed title inserted “Status Report:” before the question, and his book is no jeremiad. It addresses anyone with ideas more inflected than “Gay is good,” with which Duberman would certainly agree, if with 250 pages to add.

Duberman’s memoir “The Rest of It,” published and reviewed here just months ago, rests his personal case in 1988, abbreviating his evolving views of the movement in which he has been an active participant from the beginning.

Ad hominem score-settling and sour grapes made the memoir unpleasantly acidulous. “Has the Gay Movement Failed?” is not a gentler book but a vastly more considered one, which conscientiously gives credit where it is due.

It’s critical at the core, in its close inspection of evidence and trends without withholding hope – which, un-ironically, is the book’s third-to-last word.

I can imagine its being tossed, unread, into a fire of its burning fellows at the corner of Castro and Market the night of the Supreme Court’s decision on Obergefell.

It seems like only yesterday – in jurisprudence time, it was – that Justice Kennedy, whose swing vote bestowed legal marriage equality on American LGBTQs, made his suspect, unsavory departure from the Court. Roe is not the only decision now looking down the barrel of the Federalist Society’s pick to

replace him.

Duberman’s roots were in the lefty Gay Liberation Front, and such as he rides a hobbyhorse in this book, it’s today’s “faith and family” Human Rights Campaign (HRC).

He rails against its tilt toward assimilation – into not just the marriage compact but also the military, and latterly, its embrace of church membership.

To condense Duberman’s abiding concerns to preposterously simplistic terms, they are anti-assimilationist – while simultaneously being critical of the barriers queer and heterosexual “lefties” put between themselves to their mutual disadvantage. With no lack of appreciation of the civil rights advances of marriage and military-service equality, he sees the hazards – increasingly apparent since January 2017 – of thinking that either one means we’ve won.

Another throughline – in my

words, not Duberman’s – is the gentrification and boutique-ing of the gay movement. It’s a rebuke to present-day gay politicos for looking at, but too often past and away from, the deep tribulations of queer people of color, the immense challenges facing increasingly out transsexuals and the plight of the LBGTQ poor and imprisoned (who, he comments, say the rest of us live in “minimum custody”).

We speak of the benefits that would accrue from teaching LGBTQ history in public schools. LGBTQ adults’ reading Duberman’s latest book would yield more.

It is level-headed in its deep consideration of all aspects of gender and sexual orientation and their respective implications for policy, medical and legal.

Its third chapter spills over with science, none of it dreary – primarily because Duberman maps the faultlines in all the research, irrespective of the researchers’ attitudes about queer people, and sees their implications in policy and law.

He is polemical in his exposition of the ways “science,” that most protean of human enterprises, can land people – and in particular the ones it doesn’t “study” – not just in boxes but also in cells and coffins. “Like Alice in Wonderland, we’ve fallen down a rabbit hole,” he comments in a chapter dense with explications of the changing and dueling studies of gender and sexual orientation and their etiology. “But we need to get out of it fast.”

His prescription is that, despite the bi-lateral aversion, queer activists would do well to join their straight counterparts in addressing, together, their shared concerns about social injustice. “We need to show up for their issues if we expect them to show up for ours.”

He sees particular promise in

Courtesy the subject

Author Martin Duberman.

“the younger generation of radical gay local organizations … focused on survival issues – like how to provide for homeless youth, how to combat brutal deportation policies and an inhumane criminal justice system, and how to cope with violence against trans people… . Their primary concern is with the least privileged members of the LGBTQ community, the people most desperately in need of help. And the need is great.”

Without a word of it changed, this book might read significantly differently now than it would have before Trump’s nomination of Brett

Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court – a month ago! Duberman notes that as he wrote – last February – the president signed a “religiousfreedom” executive order.

It was only in 1995 that the word “Pride” inserted itself into the name of the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade. Like happiness, pride is something one can – at least in principle – feel in whatever circumstances. Freedom is another matter; ask our counterparts elsewhere in the world. Right now is the time to give Duberman’s book a close read, and listen to this 87-year-old, gaymarried guy.t

<< Film

22 • Bay Area Reporter • August 2-8, 2018

Jigsaw relationship

by David Lamble

T

he new social comedy “Puzzle” begins with might be dubbed “scenes from the life of a female doormat.” Our heroine, Agnes, is selflessly laboring away for the men in her life. As played by the veteran Scottish-born actress Kelly Macdonald, Agnes borders on a 1950sstyle “happy homemaker,” a woman so corseted by promises to hubby and the Catholic Church that she almost doesn’t exist as a soul with her own special destiny.

That all changes one day when Agnes is gifted one of those enormous jigsaw puzzles that is designed to wile away rainy weekends and help overcome personal funks.

Agnes is doubly surprised: one, that she enjoys the challenge, and even more, that she’s finally good at something that has nothing to do with housework or her bullying hubby Louie (David Denman) or her demanding teen sons Gabe (Austin Abrams) and Ziggy (Bubba Weiler).

The hardest leap to accept with

“Puzzle” is the personal ad that brings Agnes to the doorstop of a champion and temporarily mentally depressed puzzle-solver, the Indianborn Robert (Irrfan Khan). If you can’t buy this odd-couple match, the movie crumbles and is essentially a 102-minute waste of time.

Adapted by Israeli-born heavyweight screenwriter Oren Moverman (who gave us the military death-notification buddy drama “The Messenger” and “Love and Mercy,” backstory to Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson’s mental challenges) from Natalia Smirnoff ’s Argentinian original “Rompecabezas,” this version can seem to strain for some “feel good” space that will win accolades from the potent “Me Too” movement. But given the insanely long lead times for fiction films, “Puzzle” should be received as a timely gift from the always-fickle cinema gods.

Robert is presented as a wealthy inventor for whom the world of competitive puzzle-solving fills a gap others fill with marathon cableTV binges, gourmet cooking classes or online gambling. Some will approach a film rated R for language with the hopes that its sexual game will titillate. Here the leads overcome the unlikely premise of their meeting with a workman sexual chemistry, but no more. The real reason for catching “Puzzle” (opening Friday at Embarcadero Cinemas in SF, Aug. 10 in Berkeley, Pleasant Hill and San Rafael) is the oldfashioned pleasure of experiencing a meeting of two unusual minds.

As their relationship progresses at various puzzle meets, Robert con-

<<

SF Mime Troupe

From page 17

Holden and her colleagues at the famously left-leaning agitprop troupe feel that if there was ever a time for their old-time non-religion to stir up existing believers and inspire them to action, it is now.

Where the recent production of David Henry Hwang’s “Soft Power” at the Curran Theater imagined an America that, in wake of the 2016 Trump election, descended further into petty materialistic hubris, this year’s SF Mime Troupe show “Seeing Red” reaches into the American past to find potential for a more promising future.

“Seeing Red,” which begins on Ohio’s midterm election night in 2018, tells the story of Bob (Lisa Hori-Garcia), an unemployed lesbian steelworker who voted for Trump after he promised to bring industrial jobs back to Ohio. Disillusioned by politicians’ broken promises, she vows never to vote again, and submerges herself in floodtides of beer.

But then along comes Joe (Andre Amorotico), a time-traveling musical mystery man who exposes her to the little-discussed big successes of the International Workers of the World in early-20th-century America.

Any prescriptive, medicinal qualities of the show are tempered by a spade full of sugar: the Mime Troupe’s traditional commedia dell’arte mix of carnivalesque music, giant masks, corny jokes and physical slapstick.

“I had been reading a lot about grassroots American politics in the early 1900s,” says Nigerian-born Rotimi Agbabiaka, a performer in past Mime Troupe shows whose personal research inspired him to write this year’s script. “I had never known that there had been this incredible movement through which people really made change happen in the U.S.: women’s right to vote, overtime pay, child labor laws.

“In Nigeria we felt the effects of

fides to Agnes what little in the way of philosophy “Puzzle” offers. “Life is messy, there’s no way to control

t

anything. When you complete a puzzle, you know you’ve made all the right choices.”t

Sony Pictures Classics

Kelly Macdonald as Agnes in director Marc Turtletaub’s “Puzzle.”

politics in our daily life,” says Agbabiaka, whose family immigrated to Texas when he was a teenager. “We had been under a military dictatorship, there were riots in the streets, coups happening. Political engagement was always seen as part of artists’ responsibility.

“We were always asked to give input as performers,” says Agbabiaka about his past years’ work with the Mime Troupe. “So I thought I’d propose writing a show based on what I’d been learning on my own this year.”

Holden, who had been the head writer on several troupe shows in the past, took him under her wing, helping him crystallize his ideas into a format that would work for the Mime Troupe.

“I needed to understand that to make a show work outdoors in the parks, the presentation needs to be big and broad and simplified,” he recalls. “I had been doing so much research and uncovering so many interesting stories. But to connect with audiences in these public situations, I had to make everything sim-

pler and clearer, to have really big characters in zany situations with comedy and music.”

Further development, casting and rehearsal began back in January, with “Seeing Red” finally rolling out across the Bay Area earlier this summer.

Between now and Sept. 9, when the troupe’s season wraps up in Santa Cruz, free weekend shows will take place throughout the Bay Area, with three performances in San Francisco over the leftist high holy days of Labor Day Weekend: Saturday in Golden Gate Park, Sunday and Monday in Dolores Park.

“We get out there and tell the truth and have some fun,” says Joan Holden. “After the election in 2016, I thought it was the end of the world.

But then I went to the Women’s March in D.C., and that changed my outlook. There was a lot of anger, but there was also a lot of joy and solidarity. That’s similar to what seems to happen at these shows.”t Full schedule of upcoming performances: visit sfmt.org.

Cody Williams

“Seeing Red” playwright Rotimi Agbabiaka, a performer in past San Francisco Mime Troupe shows.

t

Film>>

August 2-8, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 23

August offerings at the Castro Theatre

by David Lamble

T

he Castro Theatre observes the dog days of summer with a calendar highlighted by a rare screening of the noir thriller “Miracle Mile,” and two of the most exceptional classic films ever to grace the 96-year-old theatre’s screen, David Lean’s “Lawrence of Arabia” and Alfred Hitchcock’s once-neglected late1950s San Francisco-set masterpiece “Vertigo.”

“Miracle Mile” (1988) 30th anniversary screening, with Steve De Jarnatt and Eddie Muller in conversation. Director De Jarnatt’s apocalyptic thriller stars Anthony Edwards and Mare Winningham. Plus a rare screening of De Jarnatt’s 1972 short “Tarzana,” a love letter to noir genre shot in 35mm B&W, starring Michael C. Gwynne as the Chandleresque private detective. (both 8/9) “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962) With David Lean’s ageless and intimate epic’s homo content deftly understated, “Lawrence” is a mustsee to understand our most perilous foreign-policy hot spot. It’s also a human spectacle that plays to all the Castro’s assets. Almost four hours with an intermission. With Peter O’Toole (screen debut), Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Arthur Kennedy and Omar Sharif. In 70MM. (8/10-12) “Sorry to Bother You” In an alternate reality of present-day Oakland, telemarketer Cassius Green’s (Lakeith Stanfield) career takes off while his friends and co-workers organize protests against corporate oppression. But Cassius falls under the spell of Steve Lift (Armie Hammer), a cocaine-snorting CEO who offers him a salary beyond his wildest dreams. Making his feature

debut, writer-director Boots Riley’s bold satire co-stars Tessa Thompson, Terry Crews, Danny Glover, and the voices of David Cross, Steve Buscemi, and Patton Oswalt. (8/13-14) “Down by Law” (1986) Jim Jarmusch’s portrait of loners and misfits in the American landscape.

When fate brings together three hapless men – unemployed DJ Tom Waits, small-time pimp John Lurie, and strong-willed Italian tourist Roberto Benigni – in a Louisiana prison, a madcap adventure begins.

Part nightmare and part fairy tale, with sterling performances and crisp black-and-white cinematography by the esteemed Robby Müller.

“Mystery Train” (1989) Indie minimalist Jarmusch plants young foreigners in the Country Music capital Memphis for quirky hijinks.

With Steve Buscemi and blues star Screaming Jay Hawkins. (both 8/15) “Paris, Texas” (1984) Nearly mute drifter Travis (Harry Dean Stanton), living with his brother in

LA, tries to reconnect with his young son and find his missing wife. New German Cinema pioneer Wim Wenders and cinematographer Robby Müller bring their keen eye for landscape to the American Southwest in this moving character study, written by playwright Sam Shepard.

Co-stars Nastassja Kinski, Dean Stockwell, and Ry Cooder’s indelible music. Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes.

“Repo Man” (1984) Clean-cut Emilio Estevez’ ambitionless path leads him into the company of car repossessers, UFO fanatics, Latino revolutionaries, and an atomic scientist with deadly cargo in the trunk of a hot Chevy Malibu.

With Harry Dean Stanton, Dick Rude, and a classic LA punk rock soundtrack. (both 8/16) “Yellow Submarine” (1968) 50th anniversary 4K Restoration!

Fab Beatles score combined with cutting-edge animation. (8/17-21) “The Smallest Show on Earth” (1957) A young married couple inherit a rundown cinema, and turn it into an unlikely success. From veteran director Basil Dearden, and boasts wacky characters played by comedy stalwarts including Peter Sellers, Margaret Rutherford, and Bernard Miles. (8/19) “Blade Runner: The Final Cut” (1982/2007) Harrison Ford is Rick Deckard, an ex-cop forced out of retirement to hunt four renegade android slaves on the acid rain-swept streets of dystopian LA, 2019.

“One from the Heart” (1982) Director Francis Ford Coppola gave everything he had to create this visually striking musical. A couple (Teri Garr, Frederic Forrest) split on their fifth anniversary, chasing dreams in the arms of ideal lovers (Raul Julia, Nastassja Kinski). Oscar-nominated score by Tom Waits and Crystal

Gayle. (both 8/22) “Alphaville” (1965) Eddie Constantine stars as intergalactic hero Lemmy Caution, on a mission to kill the inventor of fascist computer Alpha 60, aided by the scientist’s daughter (Anna Karina). Jean-Luc Godard’s irreverent fusion of science fiction, pulp characters, and surrealist poetry, in French with English subtitles. (8/23) “Vertigo” (1958) 60th anniversary! Early-retired SFPD detective James Stewart is asked to tail a friend’s wife prone to mysterious absences. Hitchcock allows us to experience Scotty’s growing obsession with the object of his detecting. Hitch’s masterpiece is his most powerful and personal work. With Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes and Bernard Herrmann’s indelible music score. (8/24-26) “Die Hard” (1988) 30th anniversary! Bruce Willis is John McClane, an off-duty Gotham cop who tackles German terrorists holding a holiday party for ransom atop an SoCal skyscraper. Four sequels and many imitations followed, but this one still stands tall. Alan Rickman, Alexander Godunov, and Bonnie Bedelia co-star.

“The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3” (2009) Recently demoted NYC

subway system dispatcher Denzel Washington draws on his extensive knowledge of the world’s largest underground transit operation to outflank wily mastermind John Travolta, who has hijacked a train and is holding all of the passengers hostage for ransom. Director Tony Scott’s brash take on the John Godey bestseller is pure fun. With James Gandolfini, John Turtrurro, and Luis Guzman. (both 8/29) “Stop Making Sense” (1984) Post-punk band Talking Heads were at the peak of their powers when lead singer David Byrne designed this theatrically striking concert.

Director Jonathan Demme gives the viewer a front-row seat for some of their greatest, most danceable hits, from New Wave to New Funk.

“True Stories” (1986) Virgil, Texas citizens come together for the Celebration of Specialness, a pageant celebrating the 150th anniversary of their offbeat home.

Assembling the story from tabloid articles, writer-director David Byrne narrates, and Talking Heads provide the whimsical songs. Virgil’s eccentric residents are brought to life by a colorful cast including John Goodman, Swoozie Kurtz, Spalding Gray, and Pops Staples. (both 8/30)t

<< Film

24 • Bay Area Reporter • August 2-8, 2018

Gay man’s road to fatherhood

by David-Elijah Nahmod

A

sian filmmaker Quentin Lee has worked independently in Hollywood since 1993. Best-known for the gay-themed crime thriller “Ethan Mao” (2004), Lee has also produced several horror films that have a queer twist. In 1997 he codirected “Shopping for Fangs,” a chiller about a sexually confused young man who might be a werewolf. More recently he directed the horror film “The Unbidden” (2016), among his many other projects.

Lee loves everything about working in the film industry. He generally casts Asian actors in leading roles because he feels that visibility is important. He says that too often Asian characters are pushed into the background of mainstream films.

Openly gay, Lee is living his dream, though he’s often felt that something was missing from his life. A single guy, Lee wanted a child, a goal he achieved through surrogacy. In 2017 he chronicled his journey to fatherhood in “Gay Hollywood Dad,” a six-episode web series. Now “Gay Hollywood Dad” has become Lee’s latest film. A feature-length version of the series premiered at the New York Asian

Quentin Lee

Quentin Lee and Casper Lee in “Gay Hollywood Dad.”

American International Film Festival on Thurs., Aug. 2. It debuts nationally on Amazon Instant Video on Fri., Aug. 3.

It’s a straightforward film that begins with Lee rushing to the hospital room where his son is about to be born. Both the surrogate mom and

her mother agreed to participate in the film. The birth mom speaks eloquently regarding her feelings about carrying a child for nine months, then having to give him up because the child was never hers.

Lee names his son Casper. After they return home to Los Angeles,

he begins the daunting responsibility of being a single dad while juggling a busy film career. Lee introduces Casper to his friends and brings Casper home to Hong Kong, where most of the family is. Viewers also see Lee shooting his latest project, the short film

With over 200 pieces in a range of media by nearly 140 international artists inspired by Kahlo’s themes and the woman herself, this is the Her image, distinctive uni-brow and largest show the gallery has ever all, is immediately recognizable even mounted. It’s divided into roughly to those who know little or nothing three parts: a juried exhibition about her art. One can only wonder comprised of artworks chosen from what this ardent Communist would among 500 submissions; contribuhave thought about having her tions by a large roster of invited image plastered on tchotchkes and artists; and a third section featuring marketed as a commodity.

“Frida Kahlo: Through the Lens of The 2002 biopic, produced by Nickolas Muray,” a traveling show and starring Salma Hayek in the title that includes intimate photographs role, helped fuel rumors of her biof Kahlo and her circle taken by the sexuality, and the legend of Kahlo’s Hungarian-born photographer in childhood bout with polio, which the 1930s, as well as their affectionleft her with a withered leg, and the ate correspondence. The two were gruesome traffic accident at 18 that smitten when they met in Mexico broke her pelvis and spinal column. in 1931, and though both were Illness and traumatic injuries left married, they developed a decadeher body and psyche wounded, and long friendship that blossomed her struggles with chronic pain and into a love affair. (Kahlo’s roving perceived deformity would figure husband, the lionized muralist into numerous self-portraits fused Help24-BAR-ad.qxp_Layout 1 7/27/18 11:42 AM Page 1 Diego Rivera, certainly had his with Mexican folk art traditions.

share of extra-marital dalliances.)

An appreciation of Kahlo and at least a passing familiarity with her work and biography are assumed, but brief statements from participating artists and some context from curators would have enhanced this fine exhibition and made it even better. By design and intent, Frida’s spirit and iconography dominate the show, and while it may skate perilously close to allFrida-all-the-time, the contents of this spacious gem of a gallery will reward the curious and the persistent. They’ll discover plenty of imaginative pieces, from irreverent cartoons and tiny ceramic Frida & Diego sculptures to mini-shrines and pop, streetwise paintings like Cherine Mendoza’s “Vivo Arte,” where “fearless” is scrawled in red on Kahlo’s forehead. High on the list is Patti Goldstein’s folksy, twosided Raggedy-Ann-style “Frida Doll.” Hand-crafted with spindly red- and white-striped legs, black shoes and raw stitching, it turns this way and that inside an embroidery loop suspended from above.

Peter Langenbach gives us a sixfoot-tall Frida on wheels, fancifully rendering the icon on a carnival wagon platform decorated with red

chili peppers. A birdcage is located where her ribcage ought to be, parrots are perched on her shoulders, and Day of the Dead motifs, omnipresent in the show, take the form of a monkey skeleton in a glittery sombrero and a likewise longdeparted pet Chihuahua.

Kahlo is often presented as a jungle goddess, sometimes embellished with butterflies symbolizing a transformation that would release her from the prison of a painriddled body. In Juan Solis’ Frida’s Heart,” she’s backed by tropical orange foliage, her innards exposed within a gnarled transparent torso.

Francisco Franco’s “Deer Frida’s Martrydom,” an oil painting referencing a recurrent Kahlo theme, depicts her as a wounded animal with a human face. Its body pierced by arrows, the hybrid creature lies on the mossy forest floor, one leg lame and shorter than the others.

Kat Reilly addresses that infirmity head-on with her wood-framed, cut-paper collage “What Held Her Up,” a miniature showcase for the stylish red platform boot, attached to a primitive prosthetic, that Kahlo wore to give extra height to her damaged limb.

Several intriguing contemporary

<<

Frida Kahlo

From page 17

THE RICHMOND/ERMET AID FOUNDATION PRESENTS

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★

HELP IS ON THE WAY XXIV

★

★ ★

CELEBRATING MUSIC LEGENDS & ICONS

ALL-STAR CONCERT & GALA

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“On Halloween,” in which Casper makes a cameo. The little tyke even accompanies his dad to a film festival in San Diego.

In spite of his busy schedule, Lee is a very attentive dad. He puts Casper’s needs above all. The film becomes a fascinating look into the day-to-day lives of father and son, though there are a few unanswered questions. When Lee plans a party so his friends can meet Casper, Lee’s close friend Dorian fails to show up.

Lee is noticeably hurt by this slight, yet we’re never told how this incident affects their friendship.

The film also offers no insight into Lee’s personal life beyond Casper. Throughout the film he refers to himself as a gay Hollywood dad, yet no mention is made of whether or not he dates. How will raising Casper affect Lee’s future dating prospects?

Shot on video with hand-held cameras in real time, the film’s images are shaky, and the sound is often difficult to hear. In spite of these flaws, “Gay Hollywood Dad” is worth watching if you’re a gay parent or want to be one. Raising a child is an enormous if richly rewarding responsibility. Here is a textbook illustration of what prospective parents can expect.t takes on the artist, visualizing how she might comport as a modern 21st-century woman, includes a stunning 2002 woodcut by Rupert Garcia, in which Kahlo resembles a moody chanteuse taking a time out from the band. Her strong features and jet-black hair are offset by auras of shocking pink and Kelly green, while a dark shadow falling across the side of her tilted face accentuates her fierce yet plaintive expression.

Buff, defiant, covertly masculine and stridently casual in Yhoshua Gutierrez’s “Frida de Rey,” she’s a rebel with a cause, brandishing a cigarette in T-shirt and jeans.

Sometimes an artist can’t resist inserting himself into the picture.

As if snapping a selfie with a celebrity, Don Hall painted a portrait of his rotund, balding personage in overalls and drafted Ms. Kahlo, who didn’t have a say in the matter, to pose next to him.

“I hope you will forgive my trespass into Frida’s space and enjoy this painting,” he writes. OK, I guess. But for his subject, who looks detached – or is it nonplussed? – it might be a different story.t Through Sept. 16. www. bedfordgallery.org

Benefiting Meals on Wheels San Francisco & Positive Resource Center

SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 7:30PM Herbst Theater & Green Room

MARY WILSON: Grammy winner, original member Supremes KIMBERLEY LOCKE: American Idol & Recording Star DAVIS GAINES: Broadway (Phantom of the Opera) Star CAROLE COOK: Broadway & TV Star DEBBY BOONE: 3-time Grammy Award winner VALARIE PETTIFORD: Tony-nominated Broadway/TV star DEBBY HOLIDAY: Billboard Top 10 Recording Artist JAI RODRIGUEZ: Broadway/TV Star PAULA WEST: Jazz & Cabaret Star LEANNE BORGHESI: Cabaret and Performance Star

AND MORE!!!

DAVID GALLIGAN: Director • MICHAEL SOBIE: Musical Director

Tickets & Information: www.reaf.org

Courtesy of the Nickolas Muray Photo Archives

“Frida with Olmeca Figurine, Coyoacán” (1939), carbon process print, by Nickolas Murray.

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Kim Nalley

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MORE! Stuff

Nightlife Events Vol. 48 • No. 31 • August 2-8, 2018

www.ebar.com V www.bartabsf.com

Lands’ sakes!

‘Pink’ choices among Outside Lands’ packed lineup

by Jim Gladstone

N

ext weekend, the west end of Golden Gate Park plays host to the eleventh edition of Outside Lands, our city’s annual festival of music, food, comedy and dramatic temperature shifts (Do yourself a favor and slip some sweats into your backpack if you’re planning on sticking it out through the evening acts).

While Sunday night closer Janet Jackson is an obvious draw for queer audiences, we went panning for pink and came up with a handful of other nuggets for LGBTQ festival-goers to seek out.

See page 26 >>

Janelle Monae

Arts Events August 2-9

Sat 4

Bal Anat @ El Cerrito Performing Arts Theater

Listings on page 28 { THIRD OF THREE SECTIONS }

LGBTQ Parade and Festival

August 25-26 Downtown San Jose

svpride.com #svpride

Ride to Pride with VTA

Supported, in part, by a Cultural Affairs grants from the City of San Jose.

<< Festival

26 • Bay Area Reporter • August 2-8, 2018

t

Andrew Jorgensen

The iconic windmills at the 2016 Outside Lands.

<<

Rainbow Kitten Surprise’s Sam Melo at SXSW.

Outside Lands

From page 25

No Shape, the most recent album

by Seattle-based Mike Hadreas, better known as Perfume Genius, adds dense layers of studio gimcrackery to the spare keyboardcentric sound that is still at the heart of his raw, emotionally open music. Openly gay from the beginning of his career, Hadreas is also outspoken about his harrowing past experiences as a gay-bashing victim and drug abuser. While his intimate oeuvre –think Rufus

Wainwright meets Jeff Buckley– seems an odd match for open fields and broad daylight, he’s pulled off oddball juxtapositions before, whipping out a throbbing David Lynchian version of Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling In Love” for a Prada campaign. http://perfumegenius.org/ Friday, 3:40. Also Aug 11 at Bimbo’s 365 Club.

Despite selling over 20 million copies of her first hit single, “Call Me Maybe,” worldwide and making a major gay-supportive statement with that song’s delicious boycrazy video, Carly Rae Jepsen has yet to build the mass pop audience she deserves. Listen to her latest albums, E•MO•TION, E•MO•TION Side B, and 2017 single “Cut To The Feeling” this week for an irrefutable sonic sugar rush.

Then head to her set so you can beg her to help you clean off your head. It’ll be completely crawling with earworms.

Friday, 5:15.

Above: Tiffani Faison & Below: Shangela Laquifa Wadley

Former Top Chef-testant Tiffani Faison, who owns Boston barbecue restaurant Sweet Cheeks Q, will bring a capital Q sous chef to the GastroMagic stage this year as she welcomes fellow reality TV runnerup –from RuPaul’s Drag Race– for a session of cookery and bitchery.

Born D.J. Pierce in Paris, Texas, Shangela Laquifa Wadley, will be dishing up the double-entendres as she and Faison cook up a supper of –wait for it– fish and tea.

Saturday, 6:10.

Clockwise from top left: Janet Jackson; Perfume Genius’ Mike Hadreas; Jonathan Van Ness; Carly Rae Jepsen

Jonathan Van Ness, the luxurious locked grooming guy from the Queer Eye reboot, was actually building a cable-adjacent career long before Netflix came knocking. Since 2013, he’s been offering barbed pink commentary on the world of Westeros on his Funny or Die video serial Gay of Thrones. At the Barbary comedy tent, Van Ness will be doing a live version of his quirky podcast, Getting Curious, and later appearing in a standup showcase hosted by one of the funniest young comics currently

working, Phoebe Robinson, of Two Dope Queens.

Saturday, 2:40 and 4:10.

It’s no surprise at all that a band called Rainbow Kitten Surprise is fronted by a gay dude. What is a bit unexpected though, is that Sam Melo and his North Carolina quintet make rootsy, tuneful music a far cry from the anime electronic bloopery implied by their moniker. The band’s recordings offer a mix of southern Americana, jam band and hypnoacoustic freak folk. It’s rumored to

work like a charm live and outdoors.

Inhale deeply. You may leave with a new favorite act. Pre-game by checking out RKS’ touching drag-umentary video for “Hide.”

Sunday, 2:00.

Eight years ago, Janelle Monáe was playing the All Shook Down music festival in North Beach. Not chopped liver, but not Outside Lands by a long shot. Three acclaimed albums, two Oscar-celebrated films (Moonlight, Hidden Figures) and much public attention to her sexuality later, Monáe –who has at various times declared herself “queer,” “bisexual,” “pansexual,” and “a free-ass motherfucker”– has earned a prestigious late afternoon slot to showcase tunes from Dirty Computer, along with hits from her prior two albums. Monáe’s June gig at the Masonic had some of Pride Month’s most elaborately choreographed showmanship, so expect a set to rival that of the night’s big closer, Miss Jackson, on the same stage just a few hours later.

Sunday, 4:40.t SF Outside Lands, August 10-12. $150-$795. Includes dozens of concerts, comedy and food demos, with drinks, more food, bicycle parking, shuttles to and from Civic Center ($48). Golden Gate Park (Polo Field, Hellman Hollow, Marx & Lindley Meadows). https://www.sfoutsidelands.com/

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Cabaret>>

August 2-8, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 27

Kim Nalley Acclaimed jazz vocalist’s at Feinstein’s

Kim Nalley

by Jim Gladstone

T

he free flow of lateral thinking, a sense of artistic freedom, the time to refine one’s craft: these are among the elements that make for a fertile scene, says Kim Nalley, the acclaimed Bay Area jazz vocalist, who begins a rare a ten day residency at Feinstein’s at the Nikko tonight.

And not just a jazz scene, emphasizes Nalley, who owned the late lamented Jazz at Pearl’s in North Beach from 2003 to 2008.

“Some of the same ingredients that are essential for a healthy jazz community are also critical for a

comedy scene,” says Nalley, who brings a particularly sophisticated perspective to her take on the trajectory of local nightlife.

In addition to her lauded musical career –she’s played the Tokyo, Monterey and Lincoln Center Jazz Festivals– Nalley is currently in the history Ph.D. program at UC Berkeley.

“I’m ABD; all but dissertation,” she says with a laugh. “You know how that goes.”

A gentlewoman and a scholar, Nalley interprets changes in the San Francisco entertainment scene with the same degree of nuance and sophistication as she brings to her takes

on the Gershwins and Etta Jones.

“Stand-up and jazz were both such a big part of San Francisco nightlife before the 2000s,” says Nalley. “But the influence of tech has really turned out to be a problem.”

But, unlike many longtime locals who simplistically bemoan Silicon Valley for its economic impact on the local scene, Nalley brings different arguments to the table.

“Sure, it’s difficult to run a club and keep cover charges down with rents the way they are,” she says.

“But the new wealth in the Bay Area has also let us have an amazing institution like SF Jazz Center.”

More pernicious than tech’s effects on the cost of doing business, says Nalley, is its often overlooked impact on the artistic development process.

“This is where jazz and comedy are both really effected,” she laments. “They’re both very dependent on artists having a chance to work on new material over time, to improvise and to make mistakes in order to get better.

“When people bring their smartphones to shows, make videos and post them online immediately, it has a really chilling effect.

“Whether you’re a young person starting out or you just want to explore something new, having your experiments –your personal exercise– put up on YouTube or Facebook can be really discouraging.

Performers need space to grow and explore.”

And, says Nalley, even once their acts are well-polished, performers deserve an audience that’s fully present.

“If you come to my shows at Feinstein’s,” she says, “I want you to put your iPhones away and get into the music. Stand up, shout, dance!

This is about having a good time, not making a video or going to a museum.”

The annual August Feinstein’s residency (prior years have featured Paula West) is a prize gig for local luminaries, a chance for them to show their full range of repertoire over a long stretch of nights, unlike the club’s typical one- to three-night engagements.

“I’m going to do a different show every night,” says Nalley, who will be joined throughout her run by 83-year-old saxophone legend Houston Person and (next Thursday only) by Denise Perrier for an all-blues night featuring tributes

to Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday and Nina Simone among others.

Again, no videotaping please.

And Nalley would also be perfectly happy if you’d refrain from asking when her dissertation will be finished.t Kim Nalley performs with Houston Person at Feinstein’s at the Nikko, 222 Mason St. August 2-12, Thu-Sat 8pm, Sun 5pm. $30-$60 ($20 food/drink min.) www.feinsteinsatthenikko.com

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<< Arts Events

28 • Bay Area Reporter • August 2-8, 2018

Thu 2 Classic and New Films @ Castro Theatre Aug. 2: Sing-Along Mary Poppins (3pm & 7pm) thru Aug. 5. Aug 6 & 7: Whitney, the new documentary (6pm, 8:30). Aug. 8: That Summer, the new Grey Gardens documentary (3:30, 7pm) and Grey Gardens, the original (5:05pm, 8:35pm). Aug. 9: 30th anniversary screening of the cult apocalyptic thriller Miracle Mile, with writer-director Steve De Jarnett.

429 Castro St. castrotheatre.com

The Hunchback of Notre Dame @ Victoria Theatre Bay Area Musicals’ acclaimed new production of the Disney Menken/ Schwartz/Parnell Broadway musical based on the novel and animated film. $35-$65. Thu-Sun 7:30pm, 8pm, 2pm. Thru Aug. 5. 2961 16th St. www.bamsf.org

King of Cuba @ Central Works Cristina Garcia’s stage adaptation of her acclaimed novel features Marga Gomez as Fidel Castro, Grammywinning ‘bongocero’ Carlos Caro and a cast of Latinx characters who portray Cuba’s political landscape. $15-$38. Thru Aug. 19. 2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. centralworks.org

Michelle Meow Show @ Commonwealth Club Meow and cohost John Zipperer discuss LGBT issues with guests.

Weekly, 12pm. 110 Embarcadero. commonwealthclub.org

except where noted. Wed-Fri 8pm.

Sat 6pm & 9pm. Sun 2pm & 5pm.

678 Beach Blanket Babylon Blvd.

(Green St.). 421-4222. www.beachblanketbabylon.com

J Norreno

For full listings, visit www.ebar.com/events

LezWrites @ Z Below Showcase of lesbian-themed and penned short plays and monologues. $10. 7:30pm. 470 Florida St. www.zspace.org

Oth Kothsimeuang @ Strut Opening reception for Love is Love is Love!, the artist’s exhibit of cute gay illustrations. 8pm-10pm. Thru August. 470 Castro St. strutsf.org

Thu 2

Radical Classical Composers @ New Valencia Hall

Marga Gomez as Fidel Castro in King of Cuba @ Central Works

Oboist and scholar Sandra MacKay discusses how composers like Haydn, Mozart, Betthoven and Chopin used their art to oppose tyranny. $2-$7; light supper.

6:30pm, 747 Polk St. at Ellis. www.socialism.com

Exhibit 2018 @ Harvey Milk Photo Center

Queer Tango @ Finnish Hall, Berkeley

Opening reception for a group exhibit of prints. 1pm-4pm. Thru Sept 16. 50 Scott St. harveymilkphotocenter.org

Walking the Line @ GearBox Gallery, Oakland

Diez Fridas @ Mission Cultural Center

Same-sex partner tango dancing, including lessons for newbies, food and drinks. $5-$10. 3:30pm6:30pm. 1970 Chestnut St, Berkeley. www.finnishhall.org

Opening reception for a group exhibit of works; 6pm-9pm. Part of Oakland’s First Friday Art Murmur and other outdoor events. Thu-Fr 12pm-6pm. Sat 11am-5pm. 770 West Grand Ave., Oakland. www.gearbocgallery.com

White @ Ashby Stage, Berkeley Shotgun Player’s production of James Ijames’ comic play about a white male artist, snubbed for arts funding, who hires a Black woman as his front. $8-$40. Thru Aug. 5.

1901 Ashby Ave., Berkeley. https://shotgunplayers.org

Fri 3

Sat 4

Beach Blanket Babylon @ Club Fugazi

Bal Anat @ El Cerrito Performing Arts Theater

The musical comedy revue celebrates its 43th year with an ever-changing lineup of political and pop culture icons, all in gigantic wigs. $25-$160. Beer/ wine served; cash only; 21+,

The world’s longest-running belly dance company celebrates its 50th anniversary, with a dazzling music and dance concert. $18-$30. 8pm.

540 Ashbury Ave., El Cerrito. www.balanat50year.com

Intimate exhibit of interpretations on Frida Kahlo. Tue-Sat 10am-5pm. Thru Sept. 5. Chin Kana Gallery, 3rd floor.

2868 Mission St. www.missionculturalcenter.org

Live in the Castro @ Jane Warner Plaza The outdoor entertainment series returns, with musicians and MC Donna Sachet. 12pm. Castro St at Market. www.castrocbd.org

Plant Collections @ SF Botanical Garden Visit the lush gardens with displays of trees, flowers and shrubs from around the world. Monthly plant sales, plus art exhibits and gift shop. Free entry with SF proof of residency. $5-$10 for others.

7:30am-closing. 9th Ave at Lincoln Way. https://sfbotanicalgarden.org/

San Francisco Mime Troupe @ Dolores Park The acclaimed theatre company returns with Rotimi Agbabiaka, Joan Holden and composer Ira Marlowe’s new political satire, Seeing Red: A Time-Traveling Musical, where a disgruntled Trump voter goes back to the Socialist movement of 1912. Free ($20 donations). At parks and venues throughout Northern California, thru Sept. 9. www.sfmt.org

Sunday in the Park With George @ SF Playhouse Stephen Sondheim & James Lapine’s fascinating musical about painter Georges Seurat and his sculptor grandson gets a local production. $20-$125. Tue-Thu & Sun 7pm. Fri & Sat 8pm. Also Sun 2pm. Thru Sept.

8. 450 Post St. 2nd floor, Kensington Park Hotel. www.sfplayhouse.org

Sun 5 In That Case @ Contemporary Jewish Museum In That Case: Havruta in Contemporary Art—Oxossi Ayofemi and Risa Wechsler, thru July 2019.

Lew the Jew and His Circle: Origins of American Tattoo, thru June 9.

2019. 736 Mission St. thecjm.org

Paint Congress Blue @ Mercury20, Oakland Art & Action festival, with Bandaloop aerial dancers, Youth Speaks poets, Batala SF percussion band, Johnny Harper Carnival Quartet; postcard writing, phone banking, text banking, district canvassing, voter registration and more. Speakers including Central Valley House candidates; silent auction, art, food (BBQ and vegetarian), MC Josh Kornbluth. 3pm-7pm. Also, Fernando Reyes and Kathleen King (Aug. 2-Sept. 8). Thu-Sat 12pm-6pm (Fri til 9pm). 475 25th St. at Telegraph, Oakland. www.facebook.com/ paintcongressblue

Respect: Hip-Hop Style & Wisdom @ Oakland Museum New exhibit that visualizes the movement and sound of the music genre, with many live events through the run, including Friday night parties and performances. Aug 5 is a special day of readings, dance performances, kid and adult games and more. 11-3pm. Free-$16. WedSun. Thru Aug. 12. 1000 Oak St., Oakland. www.museumca.org

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Various Events @ Oakland LGBTQ Center Social events and meetings at the new LGBTQ center include film screenings and workshops, including Bruthas Rising, trans men of color meetings, 4th Tuesdays, 6:30pm. Film screenings, 4th Saturdays, 7:30pm. Game nights, Fridays 7:30pm-11pm. Vogue sessions, first Saturdays. 3207 Lakeshore Ave. Oakland. www.oaklandlgbtqcenter.org

Wed 8 Anniversary! @ Z Space Word for Word presents staged versions of short fiction by authors Tobias Wolff and George Saunders.

(Benefit event with the two authors Aug. 15, $125) $20-$50.

Wed & Thu 7pm, Fri & Sat 8pm, Sun 3pm. Thru Sept. 2. 450 Florida St. www.zspace.org

The Clyde Always Show @ The Marsh The Bard of the Lower Haight’s comic monologue solo show. $20$100. Wed, 8pm thru Aug. 29. 1062 Valencia St. www.themarsh.org

Truth and Beauty @ Legion of Honor

Stern Grove Festival @ Golden Gate Park

Truth and Beauty: The PreRaphaelites and the Old Masters, an exhibit of 100 Victorian works alongside six Renaissance masterpieces that inspired them; thru Sept. 30. Also, other exhibits of classical and modern art. Free/$30.

Lincoln Park, 100 34th Ave. https:// legionofhonor.famsf.org/

Weekly live outdoor music concerts in various genres. Thru Aug. 19. http://www.sterngrove.org/

Urinetown: The Musical @ Rueff, Strance Theater

Mon 6 Empowerment in Print @ GLBT History Museum Empowerment in Print: LGBTQ Activism, Pride & Lust, a mini-exhibit of periodicals from the collection.

Angela Davis: OUTspoken, and Faces of the Past: Queer Lives in Northern California Before 1930, part of the Queer Past Becomes Present main exhibit. $5. 4127 18th St. www.glbthistory.org

Expedition Reef @ CA Academy of Sciences Exhibits and planetarium shows with various live, interactive and installed exhibits about animals, plants and the earth; Deep Reefs, Giants of Land and Sea, Gems and Minerals, and more. $20-$35. MonSat 9:30am-5pm. Sun 11am-5pm. 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park. 379-8000. calacademy.org

William Blake in Color @ William Blake Gallery Exhibit of classic plates in the gallery of historic art by the 18th- and 19thcentury poet/illustrator. Mon-Fri 10am-5pm. Sat 11am-5pm. 49 Geary St. #205. williamblakegallery.com

Tue 7 Dan Bern, Garrin Benfield @ Freight & Salvage, Berkeley The folk singer-composers perform, with Jane’s Great Dane. $22-$26.

8pm. 2020 Addison St., Berkeley. www.thefreight.org

Peter Hujar: Speed of Life @ BAM/PFA, Berkeley Exhibit of photos by the New York 1970s-’80s art/celebrity scene gay photographer who died of AIDS in 1987; thru Nov. 18. Also, Way Bay 2; thru Sept 2. Cecelia Vicuna: About to Happen, thru Nov. 18.

Ongoing film series at the Pacific Film Archive. Berkeley Art Museum, Pacific Film Archive, 2155 Center St. Berkeley. www.bampfa.org

Conservatory student production of Mark Hollman and Greg Kotis’ hit satirical musical about a town without pee-ty. $25-$38. Wed-Sat 7pm. Sat also 2pm. Thru Aug. 18.

1127 Market St. www.act-sf.org

Thu 9 After the Thrill is Gone @ MOAD Fashion, Politics and Culture in Contemporary South African Art. Also, Digitalia: Art & the Economy of Ideas, and Emerging Artists exhibit, each thru Aug. 26.

Free/$10. Wed-Sat 11am-6pm. Sun 12pm-5pm. Museum of the African Diaspora, 685 Mission St. www.moadsf.org

Comedy @ Ashkenaz, Berkeley SF native Dan St. Paul, Milt Abel, NYer Jill Maragos, and MC Lisa Geduldig perform smart and funny stand-up comedy. $15-$20. 8pm 1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. www.ashkenaz.com

Queer Slam @ LGBT Center Intergenerational event of spoken word and open mic for queer poets and authors. 6pm-9pm. 1800 Market St. www.sfcenter.org

Radar Reading @ SF Public Library Show Us Your Spines, a reading with QTPOC authors DeWayne Dickerson, Jacq Greyja and Kevin Simmonds.

Free. 8pm. James Hormel Center, 3rd floor. www.sfpl.org

Tenderloin Neon A-Z @ Tenderloin Museum Screening of a new film about neon art in San Francisco, plus historic films Gay San Francisco (1965-1970) and Drugs in the Tenderloin (1966). $10. 6:30pm. 398 Eddy St. www.tenderloinmuseum.org To submit event listings, email events@ebar.com Deadline is each Thursday, a week before publication.

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MORE! Stuff>>

August 2-8, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 29

Keeping house

The story of the MOREboys, and being a drag mother

Playmates and soul mates...

San Francisco:

1-415-692-5774 18+ MegaMates.com

Gooch

Kent Taylor

Left: Second and third generation MOREboys with Juanita MORE! (center) on New Year’s Eve 2015 at The Stud. Right: House of MORE! staged a mini-Juanita fashion show as a performance in 1998, at Union Square on Grant Street.

by Juanita MORE!

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Kevin Quach

he recognition and representation of queer family on Ryan Murphy’s FX series Pose is so important. This transhistory-making television show is letting the world see what chosen black and latinx queer family roles look like, and it is really exhilarating.

Though ballroom culture has been around for decades, it was never directly a part of my queer upbringing, especially because I am a West Coast baby gay. I moved to New York City in 1987 around the same time that Murphy’s series takes place, living just a half a block away from the West Side Highway where the documentary Paris Is Burning was filmed.

I loved what was happening in the ballroom culture. It was pushy, empowering and original. I especially loved when a battle would spontaneously break out in the middle of a dance floor at 4 AM. I’ve always been a mother. I’ve always taken care of, taught and inspired people that come into my life, including wallflowers, loners, and those that felt invisible. In the mid1990s, my family started to grow with a flock of boys. The MOREboys. They got their title when I was in production for a big show here in San Francisco. The boys were becoming popular being seen with me at various benefits, clubs, and events.

It was at that time that I felt they needed to have the recognition they deserved for all their support with my philanthropic efforts. I remember sitting with Mr. David over an

evening gown, trying to figure out how we were going to bill them for this one specific event we were participating in. We threw a lot of ideas around that day; the one that kept coming back was MOREboy.

And it stuck. There are unspoken generations of MOREboys. They loved and were excited about the art, people, and culture that surrounded us. The MOREboys were constantly a part of my entourage and participated in my artwork, lifestyle, and helped to create and communicate my persona to the larger San Francisco queer communities.

In 2005, Jennifer H. Dworkin wrote a thesis titled: MOREboys: Generating and Expending Social Capital. It won her an award in the field of Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology.

She said: “I have to get to know this woman, Juanita MORE! Not only does she have MOREBOYS, men who trail behind her in the spotlight in absolute devotion to her and her cause, but Juanita has men who are training to devote their lives to her. This is incredible! Her closet is an extravaganza of couture, in hues of rich colors, shapes, intricate patterns and designs. The range of wigs, jewels, bags, and make-up punctuate this dreamland. Her closet reflects the personality of her world; each costume tells a different tale, and each accessory is as beautiful and original as the men who surround her. This world is a hidden jewel in the chaos of a cold city. It is the glittery mask of a modest humanitarian, someone who devotes her life to her art, her friends, and to charity.

“This is the world of Juanita MORE! Each item of Juanita’s comes together perfectly to weave a history of a glamorous fantasy.

This fantasy is a public story, yet it is deeply personal and respected by those who have helped to imagine and produce it, by those who have stood by it, supported it, and learned from it. They are the devotees of this dreamland.

They are the MOREboys.”

What Jennifer was witnessing was the formation of a chosen queer family. She spent a lot of time interviewing the boys and understanding their roles and purpose in my life.

Almost always, the conversations circled back to their love for the person I am, whether it was in or out of drag. My tiny apartment has been a place where we have shared family dinners, birthdays, holidays, and some very late night parties. It’s been filled with laughter and inspiration but also a place of refuge, and emotional support. A lot of people consider it home base.

Said MOREboy Jason, “MORE! is my chosen family. I fell into this family at a time in my life when my given family was either out of my life or very far away. When I think about it, I would say Juanita found me. I didn’t know what she wanted when she sat next to me at the bar, but I immediately felt at ease. She was soft but confident and so easy to talk to. We went to Trannyshack that Tuesday night at The Stud and I carried the train of her dress throughout the crowded bar, never letting it touch the ground. We’ve been family for almost 20 years now.

We’ve performed together, we’ve partied together and we have dinners together - though not often enough. Juanita was the officiant for my wedding in 2014, which took place a little over seven months after my mom died. On that day, she was more of a mother to me than she could have ever known.”

I see a lot of myself in Mj Rodriguez’s character Blanca in Pose. I didn’t necessarily start off wanting to create a “house” but found myself very comfortable in the role of Mother. Like her, I have supported and nurtured many people that have come into my life. And I haven’t taken that role lightly. My family has grown in so many ways over the years and now includes drag daughters, granbabies, nieces, nephews and many boys without titles. We live in a rapidly changing city filled with people who sometimes need some motherly advice. I know that whether they are near or far, they all will never forget the chosen family that we created together.t

Farika

Above Left: MOREboys David and Jason’s wedding, with Juanita MORE! officiating, in 2014 at Bull Valley Roadhouse, Port Costa CA. Below Left: MOREboys’ dress rehearsal in 2004 for the Miss Trannyshack Pageant at Lines Dance Center. Below Right: Juanita MORE! the 1999 Miss Trannyshack Contest, held at City Nights. It was Juanita’s first time wearing the faux-nude bodysuit by Mr. David.

<< Nightlife Events

30 • Bay Area Reporter • August 2-8, 2018

Nightlife Events

August 2-9

Renaissance Faire & Fantasy Fest @ Discovery Meadow Park, San Jose Eighth annual two-day event with costume-clad knights, knaves, rogues, wenches and royals, jousting warriors in shining armor, plus live music, food, ales, artisan marketplace, entertainment and general frivolity. $12-$140 (10-pack). 10am-6pm.

Also Aug. 5. 180 Woz Way, San Jose. https://www.facebook.com/ FolsomRenFaire

River Whyless @ The Chapel

Sun 5 DJ Page Hodel at Unleash @ Ivy Room, Albany

For full listings, visit www.ebar.com/events

Thu 2 Junk @ Powerhouse MrPam and Dulce de Leche cohost the weekly underwear strip night and contest.. $5. 10pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. powerhousebar.com

Karaoke Dokey @ Flore Monty Quilla hosts the new weekly amateur singing night. 9pm-12am.

2298 Market St. www.flore415.com

The Monster Show @ The Edge The weekly drag show with host Sue Casa, DJ MC2, themed nights and hilarious fun. $5. 9pm-2am. 4149 18th St. at Collingwood. www.edgesf.com

Picante @ The Cafe Lulu and DJ Marco’s Latin night with sexy gogo guys. 9pm-2am. 2369 Market St. www.cafesf.com

Queer Karaoke @ Club OMG KJ Dana hosts the weekly singing night; unleash your inner American Idol; first Thursdays are Costume Karaoke; 3rd is Kinky Karaoke 8pm.

43 6th St. www.clubomgsf.com

Rice Rockettes @ Lookout Local and visiting Asian drag queens’ weekly show with DJ Philip Grasso. $5. 10:30pm show. 3600 16th St. www.lookoutsf.com

Sex and the City Live @ Oasis Enjoy more drag parody episodes of the hit series about four women in Manhattan, with D’Arcy Drollinger, Sue Casa and others. $27-$250 (VIP tables). 8pm. Fri & Sat 7pm. Thru Sept. 8 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Sundance Saloon @ Space 550 The Country-Western line-dancing two-stepping dance event celebrates 20 years. Free thru April 29; $5 after.

5pm-10:30pm. Also Sundays. 550 Barneveld Ave. sundancesaloon.org

Vivvy’s Faces @ The Stud Drag night with VivvyAnne ForeverMore; Celtic diva lipsynch night. $5-$10. 10pm-2am. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

Fri 3 La Bomba Latina @ Club OMG Drag show with DJ Jaffeth. $5. 9pm2am. 43 6th St. www.clubomgsf.com

Desperate Living @ The Stud Yves Saint Croissant debauched night of fun, with Mama Celeste, Lola Lewdovico and Bretchen Towers performing; live set by Btch Please. $5-$10. 10pm-3am. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

Friday Night Live @ El Rio Enjoy the weekly queer and LGBTfriendly live acoustic concerts. $5pm.

3158 Mission St. www.elriosf.com

Gaymer Night @ SF Eagle Video, and board games galore. $5.

8pm-2am. 398 12th St. sf-eagle.com

Latin Explosion @ Club 21 The popular Latin club with gogo guys galore and Latin music. $10-$20.

9pm-3am. 2111 Franklin St., Oakland. www.club21oakland.com

Prism @ Qube Bar & Grill, San Mateo New weekly LGBT night at the Peninsula restaurant and bar. 8pm11:30pm. 4000 South El Camino Real, San Mateo. https://qubelyfe.com/

Red Hots Burlesque @ The Stud The saucy women’s burlesque show will titillate and tantalize. $10-$20.

7pm-9pm. 399 9th St. studsf.com

Soda @ Oasis Future-pop with DJs Adam Kraft, Kahtuada and Black Unicorn, drag acts Tye, Blair Witch and more. $8.

10pm-2am. 298 11th St. sfoasis.com

Stank @ Powerhouse Leon Fox and mrPam’s sleazy fun night where body odor is a plus! $5.

10pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

Toto @ Fox Oakland The 80s pop-rock band (“Hold the Line, “Africa”) returns. $45-$95. 8pm.

1807 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. www.apeconcerts.com

Sat 4 La Bota Loca @ Club 21, Oakland Banda Los Shakas performs live at the LGBT Latinx night. $10. 9pm-4am.

2111 Franklin St. club21oakland.com

Drag Brunch @ Hamburger Mary’s Food, bottomless mimosas and drag shows with Kylie Minono, Patty McGroin and other talents., Seating 11am, show 12pm. 531 Castro St. www.hamburgermarys.com

The acclaimed new folk-rock band performs; Adam Torres opens. $18$20. 9pm. 777 Valencia St. https:// www.thechapelsf.com/

Well Well Well @ Ivy Room, Neck of the Woods San Diego experimental art rock duo performs. Aug 4, 3pm, 860 San Pablo Ave., Albany (www.iveyroom.com), Aug 5, 8pm, 406 Clement St. www.neckofthewoodssf.com

Sun 5 Dark Meat @ Powerhouse Cyanide and DJ Jim Collins’ dark, goth rock night, with rockin’ grooves and odd performers. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

Dirty Musical Sundays @ The Edge Sing along at the popular musical theatre night, with a bawdy edge; also Mon/Wed (but not dirty). 7pm2am. 2 for 1 cocktail, 5pm-closing.

4149 18th St. at Collingwood. www.edgesf.com

Inverts, Seasxn of the Bytch, Water Sign @ The Stud Live music show and benefit for St. James Infirmary. $5-$10. 5pm-9pm.

399 9th St. www.studsf.com

Jessica Coker, Christopher Winslow @ Oasis The award-winning cabaret singer performs a Burt Bacharach song tribute with the pianist. $20. 7pm.

298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Unleash @ Ivy Room, Albany DJs Page Hodel and Mysdefy play at the longest-running monthly dance party at the fun women-owned nightclub. Free/$10. 2pm-8pm. 860 San Pablo Ave., Albany. ivyroom.com

Mon 6 Piano Bar 101 @ Martuni’s

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Gigante @ Port Bar, Oakland Juanita MORE! and DJ Frisco Robbie’s new weekly event, with Latin, Hip Hop and House music, gogo gals and guys, and a drag show. $5. 9pm-2am. 2023 Broadway, Oakland. www.portoakland.com

Miss Kitty’s Trivia Night @ Wild Side West

Underwear Night @ 440

The weekly fun night at the Bernal Heights bar includes prizes, hosted

by Kitty Tapata. No cover. 7pm10pm. 424 Cortland St. 647-3099. www.wildsidewest.com

Strip down to your skivvies at the popular men’s night. 9pm-2am. 440 Castro St. 621-8732. the440.com

Queeraoke @ El Rio

Sing-along night with talented locals, and charming accompanist Joe Wicht.

9pm. 4 Valencia St. at Market.

Tue 7 Naked Night @ Nob Hill Theatre Strip down with the strippers at the clothing-optional night. $20. 9pm.

729 Bush St. at Powell. 397-6758. www.thenobhilltheatre.com

Pixies, Weezer @ Shoreline Ampitheatre, Mountain View Two amazing alt-rock bands. $20$85. 7:30pm. 1 Ampitheatre Parkway, Mountain View. www.livenation.com

Vice Tuesdays @ Q Bar Queer femme and friends dance party with hip hop, Top 40 and throwbacks at the stylish intimate bar, with DJs Val G and Iris Triska. 9pm-2am. 456 Castro St. www.QbarSF.com

Wed 8 Club 88 @ Flore New weekly piano bar sing-along night with alternating hosts Maria Konner, Kitten on the Keys and Alan Choy. 9pm-12am. 2298 Market St. www.flore415.com

Gideon @ The Stud Kosmetik and Honey Soundsystem spin with the UK DJ. $5-$10. 10pm2am. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

Dulce de Leche and Rahni NothingMore, Beth Bicoastal, Ginger Snap and Thee Pristine Condition perform weekly, plus karaoke for queens. 9pm. 3158 Mission St. http://www.elriosf.com/

Thu 9 Comedy @ Ashkenaz, Berkeley SF native Dan St. Paul, Milt Abel, NYer Jill Maragos, and MC Lisa Geduldig perform smart and funny stand-up comedy. $15-$20. 8pm 1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. http://www.ashkenaz.com/

Nightlife @ California Academy of Sciences Rap, old school soul and funky R&B are featured at the museum’s Outside Lands-cosponsored night. $12-$22. 6pm-10pm. 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park. www.calacademy.org

Nu-Blu @ Freight & Salvage, Berkeley The Bluegrass quartet performs lively music. $20-$24. 8pm. 2020 Addison St., Berkeley. www.thefreight.org

Thursday Night Live @ SF Eagle Rock bands play at the famed leather bar. $8. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

Personals Massage>>

SEXY ASIAN $60 Jim 415-269-5707

Go Bang! @ The Stud Guest-DJs Michael the Lion and Kenneth L. Kemp join Steve Fabus, Sergio Fedasz and Joe Prince Wolf at the monthly disco retro night. $5-$10.

9pm-3am. 399 9th St. studsf.com

Green Eggs and Bam! @ Flore Drag shows and brunch at the central restaurant-café, with hostess Camille Tow. Shows at 12pm, 1pm, 2pm. 2298 Market St. www.flore415.com

Love Hangover @ Lone Star Saloon DJs Gay Marvine, Justime and Lotus Disco spin, with Dulce De Leche performing. $5-$10. 3pm-9pm. 1354 Harrison St. www.lonestarsf.com

MEN TO MEN MASSAGE

I’m a Tall Latin Man. If you’re looking, I’m the right guy for you. My rates are $90/hr & $130/90 min. My work hours are 10 a.m. to midnite everyday. 415515-0594 Patrick call or text.

See pics on ebar.com

Mother @ Oasis Heklina’s popular drag show, with special guests and great music themes; DJ MC2 plays grooves. Aug. 4 is a Kylie Minogue tribute night. $10$15. 10pm-3am (11:30pm show). 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com

Powerblouse @ Powerhouse JuanitaMORE and Glamamore’s monthly drag makeover night, where a drag ‘virgin’ gets glam.

August’s subject is Joey Allegier; DJ John F#cking Cartwright. $5.

9pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com

“Everything is negotiable.

Whether or not the negotiation is easy is another thing.” ­­— Carrie Fisher

TO PLACE YOUR PERSONALS AD, CALL 415-861-5019 FOR MORE INFO & RATES

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Shining Stars>>

August 2-8, 2018 • Bay Area Reporter • 31

Shining Stars Steven Underhill Photos by

Flagging in the Park @ Nat’l AIDS Memorial Grove

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he festive and colorful Flagging in the Park flowed forth at the National AIDS Memorial Grove on Saturday afternoon, July 28. DJ Randy Bettis played dance grooves and folks whirled fabric, hoops and more, while others relaxed and watched while picnicing. Donated proceeds went to the Grove. www.flaggercentral.com See plenty more photos on BARtab’s Facebook page, facebook.com/lgbtsf.nightlife. See more of Steven Underhill’s photos at StevenUnderhill.com.

Read more online at www.ebar.com

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For headshots, portraits or to arrange your wedding photos

call (415) 370-7152 or visit www.StevenUnderhill.com or email stevenunderhillphotos@gmail.com

TAKE THE LEAD

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