December 22, 2022 edition of the Bay Area Reporter

SF planners OK changes at former gay burlesque venue

by Eric Burkett

While it’s been more than four years since the last time a hot, young guy strutted his stuff on stage to an appreciative audience at the Nob Hill Theatre, the San Francisco Planning Commission on November 15 approved conditional use authorization for the historic building. When all the refurbishing is completed, the old gay burlesque venue will become a retail service facility offering advanced orthopaedics and sports medicine.

Commissioners voted 7-0 to approve a measure to convert the theater space, which has sat empty since it was sold back in 2018, to a medical facility with four residential spaces sitting atop. The new facility, post renovation, will include 3,824 square feet of medical office space, 3,418 square feet of ambulatory surgery center space, and four dwelling units totaling 6,056 square feet.

The new site will maintain the facade of the original structure but will include a surgical center, with several living spaces above, in a new vertical construction of four stories to the existing ground floor, 50 feet high.

Planning Commission Vice President Katherin Moore and others congratulated the architectural team, led by John Lum, on their work to bring together the historic elements of the old theater with its planned new uses, as well as fitting into the surrounding neighborhood.

“I’m delighted to see a building that fits into context and coordinates with adjoining structures,” said Moore, who attended the meeting virtually.

Even before its 50-year run as a gay burlesque theater that closed in 2018, the building had been a popular jazz bar called Club

Happy holidays from the Castro

Li makes history as BART board president

by Cynthia Laird

COVID pandemic highlighted importance of advanced care planning

by Matthew S. Bajko

Three years ago Palm Springs resident Richard Bass went to visit a friend who was in the hospital after experiencing a fainting spell at home. The elderly gentleman lived alone and shared his concern about what would happen if he experienced a debilitating health issue and was unable to call for help.

“I said to him I am worried about living alone as well,” recalled Bass, 83, a retired educator who relocated from Los Angeles to the Coachella Valley in 2005. “During this conversation of both of us having the need for someone to check in on us, we came up with the idea of why don’t we contact each other every day.”

Each morning the two gay men will send one another an alliteration text for that day, such as Wonder Willy Wednesday, explained Bass. If they haven’t heard from the other person by noon, they will call them on the phone to make sure they are OK.

“That’s been going on now for three years. It is very rare that we have missed a day,” said Bass. “It is magical, you know.”

Such a personal care network is just one aspect of the advanced care planning people should undertake to delineate how they want to handle their personal affairs and what endof-life health care they prefer to receive prior

to such a time when they may be unable to communicate their wishes. For LGBTQ older adults, who may be estranged from their biological families, are single, or don’t have children to look after them as they age, such pre-planning is especially crucial.

“Among heterosexuals the kind of default

Happy Holidays

and what is expected is that family would be there to provide support, care, and to step in whenever it is needed. That is much

less true among LGBTQ people,” said Brian de Vries, Ph.D. a professor emeritus at San Francisco State University who is an expert on

BART Director Janice Li made history December 15 when she became the first queer woman of color to be elected president of the regional transit agency’s board.

Courtesy BART

BART director Janice Li was elected president of the transit agency’s board of directors December 15.

Richard Bass, left, has worked with Brian de Vries on end-of-life planning issues with LGBTQ seniors in Palm Springs, California.

Courtesy John Lum Architecture

An artist rendering of the proposed surgical center and residences at the former Nob Hill Theatre shows that the storied marquee will be incorporated into the site.

Courtesy Richard Bass

The nine contestants in the Sexy Elf contest take to the stage to show off their dance moves as part of the second annual Winter Wonderland in the Castro Sunday, December 18. The winner of the contest – and the $500 prize – was Jingle Nutz McTwink, in back wearing striped dress. The afternoon was sponsored by the Castro Merchants Association and featured photos with Santa, a petting zoo, and drag performances. There were some protesters but that didn’t stop the holiday spirit in the LGBTQ neighborhood.

Rick Gerharter

Newsom sets 2023 inauguration plans

by Matthew S. Bajko

Ever since California Governor Gavin Newsom easily defeated a right-wing backed recall against him last year, he has been on a roll trolling his conservative detractors and transphobic Republican counterparts in other states. Now comes word that the Democratic leader will use his 2023 inauguration to further present himself as a counterpoint to the extremism and illiberal democratic ideas that have risen across the country in recent years and been embraced by many GOP leaders.

He has chosen Friday, January 6, as the date for when he will be sworn into his second and final four-year term leading the fifthlargest economy in the world. It will coincide with the second anniversary of when supporters of former President Donald Trump broke into the U.S. Capitol Building in a failed attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election that swept Trump out of the White House.

“Friday January 6. Mark it down. It’s not only Governor Newsom’s Inauguration Day, but it’s also the two

year anniversary of the far-right’s insurrection and failed attempt to topple American democracy,” noted Newsom’s gubernatorial campaign in an invite emailed to his supporters December 15.

The plans for the gubernatorial ceremony sound like a near mirror image of what occurred in Washington, D.C. two years ago when Trump held a rally on the Na-

tional Mall where he repeated his lies about the 2020 election being stolen from him. His backers then marched to the building that houses Congress, which was certifying the election results that Wednesday, attacked law enforcement officers and desecrated the symbol of the country’s democracy.

According to the invite from Newsom’s campaign, it is “starting the day with the governor leading a march of Californians from every corner of the state through downtown Sacramento. It ends at the Capitol, where the governor will be sworn in.”

It will not be the first time that Newsom has used the bully pulpit that comes with his elected office to highlight issues of democracy and freedoms for citizens. He ran advertisements in Texas and Florida critical of those state’s Republican governors, Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis, respectively, who have both enacted anti-LGBTQ policies and laws. Both men were easily reelected in November.

Facing an easy path to reelection this year, Newsom used his campaign funds to put up billboards in

seven different states that have restricted abortion access following the U.S. Supreme Court’s rescinding a federal right to abortion earlier this year. The outdoor advertisements promoting California’s abortion services went up in Texas, Indiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Oklahoma.

And in his signing message for a bill this year that makes the Golden State a place of refuge for transgender youth and their parents fleeing persecution in their home states, Newsom called out those states that have passed laws “to demonize the transgender community, especially transgender youth and their parents.” In contrast, California believes “in equality and acceptance,” wrote Newsom in his letter to members of the state’s Senate.

State governments, such as those of Alabama, Idaho, and Texas have adopted laws that call for prosecuting parents who allow their trans children to have gender-affirming care. Families in the Lone Star State have already found themselves being investigated by state agencies and facing the possibility of being prosecuted and seeing their trans

children placed in foster care.

In Alabama, parents and physicians face being imprisoned for up to 10 years for either allowing their trans kids or providing their trans patients gender-affirming care. Both laws have been put on hold by judges as LGBTQ advocates challenge them in state and federal courts.

Newsom has long led on LGBTQ issues, such as when he was mayor of San Francisco and bucked state law by ordering city officials to marry same-sex couples in February of 2004. It supercharged the fight for marriage equality and led to successful state and federal court challenges that won the right for people of the same sex to wed in California.

During his first gubernatorial inauguration Newsom used the occasion to also send a message, one directed at Trump. In his speech, Newsom said his administration would “offer an alternative to the corruption and incompetence in the White House.”

Those interested in attending Newsom’s second inauguration and marching with him that day can RSVP online.t

CA sets 2024 debut for LGBTQ teacher training

by Matthew S. Bajko

ome Pride Month in 2024 California educational officials are set to debut an online LGBTQ+ cultural competency training course to be taken by public school teachers and other credentialed staff employed by the state’s 977 school districts. Should they meet that timeline, it would mark six years after state lawmakers first called for such a professional seminar to be created.

The California Department of Education is working with the Los Angeles County Office of Education and the San Joaquin Office of Education on developing the training. Nicholas Filipas, a spokesperson for the state agency, recently told the Bay Area Report-

er that it “will be available in June 2024.”

Such a training course was first proposed in 2018. But former governor Jerry Brown vetoed a bill calling for its creation, citing its cost.

The following year, with Governor Gavin Newsom now in office, former gay Assemblyman Todd Gloria (D), currently the mayor of San Diego, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, who had carried the bill the year prior when he served in the Assembly, introduced the Safe and Supportive Schools Act of 2019. Also known as Assembly Bill 493, the legislation again sailed through the Legislature.

This time, Newsom signed it

into law. But its then-estimated price tag of upward of $1.3 million went unfunded, and the legislation did not include a mandate that school professionals undergo the training.

In his 2021 budget proposal Newsom included $3 million to build out the online course. And state lawmakers will be taking up a new bill in their 2023 session to ensure it is utilized.

As the B.A.R. reported last week, freshman gay Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur (DWest Hollywood) introduced AB 5, the Safe and Supportive Schools Act, shortly after being sworn into his Assembly District 51 seat on December 5. If passed next year, the bill will mandate that teachers and credentialed staff at the state’s public schools take the online LGBTQ cultural competency training course when it goes live

in two years. As Zbur explained to the B.A.R. in a phone interview, he authored

AB 5 to ensure that the previous bill “is not sitting on the shelf” somewhere in Sacramento. As the former executive director for the statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization Equality California, Zbur had pressed for passage of the bill co-sponsored by Gloria and Thurmond.

“We want to make sure every school teacher, even those at school districts not LGBTQ supportive, have the benefit of this training,” said Zbur, a co-parent of a 17-year-old daughter and 13-year-old twins, who attend public schools. “The cost should be minimal because the program already is being developed and paid for under the prior budget allocation. It is just the administrative cost of implementing this program.”

A fun drag storytime in SF

Governor Gavin Newsom, shown here at a Pride Month event in June, will hold a march to the state Capitol just prior to his second inauguration on January 6.

Courtesy Governor’s Office

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and the state education agency are working to develop an online LGBTQ+ cultural competency training course that should debut in 2024.

Courtesy Tony Thurmond

Drag queen Per Sia read to an audience of children and parents December 17 at San Francisco’s Merced branch library that was sponsored by the San

Francisco Public Library’s James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center. The event was peaceful, with no protesters that have disrupted similar events in other cities.

Rick Gerharter

FDA may allow more gay men to donate blood

by Liz Highleyman

Gay and bisexual men may soon be allowed to donate blood without a fixed period of sexual abstinence, the federal Food and Drug Administration announced late last month in response to a Wall Street Journal report about the policy change. Instead, the revised policy would be based on individual risk assessment.

“The FDA remains committed to gathering the scientific data related to alternative donor deferral policies that maintain a high level of blood safety,” the FDA said in a November 28 statement. The agency added that it anticipates “issuing updated draft guidance in the coming months.”

The FDA, the American Red Cross, two other large nonprofit blood centers, and several LGBTQ community centers have been working together to assess potential alternative eligibility requirements in the ADVANCE (Assessing Donor Variability and New Concepts in Eligibility) study. The Bay Area Reporter previously reported on the study in January.

LGBTQ advocates, many medical professionals, and progressive

<< Burlesque venue

From page 1

Hangover and operated under other names, as well. Notable, too, said Brett Gladstone, lawyer and project sponsor, was the fact that the jazz clubs had operated at a time when Black musicians couldn’t perform east of Van Ness Avenue.

The city’s planning department has designated the site at 729 Bush

legislators have argued that blood donation exclusions should be based on behavioral risk, not identity. The American Red Cross, American Public Health Association, and American Medical Association all support risk-based rather than identity-based policies. The Red Cross “believes blood donation eligibility should not be determined by methods that are based upon sexual orientation,” the agency stated.

“While today’s reports of an overdue move from the FDA is an important step, our community and leading medical experts will not stop advocating for the FDA to lift all restrictions against qualified LGBTQ blood donor candidates,” Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, stated in a news release responding to the new developments.

Incremental changes

Gay and bisexual men were first prohibited from donating blood in the mid-1980s in an effort to curb HIV transmission. Initially, any man who had had sex with another man since 1977 – roughly when HIV was thought to have begun circulating in the United States –was banned from donating for life. The controversial policy has

Street a “historic resource” eligible for the California Register of Historic Places for its association with gay culture and history.

The site was purchased by Dr. James Chen, an orthopedic surgeon, for $2.7 million from owners Larry Hoover and his husband, Gary Luce, who retired to Palm Springs. Chen, a straight ally, stated he plans to “be a good steward of the history of the site,” the B.A.R. reported at

OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-557587

In the matter of the application of ALBERT ALLEN ANDRIST, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appears from said application that petitioner ALBERT ALLEN ANDRIST is requesting that the name ALBERT ALLEN ANDRIST be changed to ALEX ANDRIST. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N on the 10th of JANUARY 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

DEC 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-557567

In the matter of the application of NAKIDA FUSILIER, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appears from said application that petitioner NAKIDA FUSILIER is requesting that the name JOURNEY SIMONE-ROYCE HARRISON be changed to JOURNEY SIMONE-ROYCE WILEY. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N on the 29th of DECEMBER 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

DEC 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398743

The following person(s) is/are doing business as BRAIDS BY CAYLAMAE, 60 ROBBLEE AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CAYLA POLLARD. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/29/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/14/22.

DEC 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT

FILE A-0398836

The following person(s) is/are doing business as MINH NGUYEN, 1282 48TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MONH THANH NGUYEN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/22/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/22/22.

DEC 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT

FILE A-0398824

The following person(s) is/are doing business as CUTS BY CHICO, 483 GUERRERO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JUANCARLOS MANRIQUEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/21/22. DEC 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT

FILE A-0398849

The following person(s) is/are doing business as DISTRIBUTION WAREHOUSE CONSULTANT, 235 WESTLAKE CT, UPS STORE CT DEPT 395, DALY CITY, CA 94015. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JOSE ESCOBAR. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on

10/01/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/23/22. DEC 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398821

The following person(s) is/are doing business as VOLLIE CLOTHING, 1435 HALIBUT CT #A, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94130. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed EDWARD V. JACKSON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/21/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/21/22. DEC 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398704

The following person(s) is/are doing business as GTM ROOFING, 723 LISBON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MEYDER ELENILSON GARCIA TOBAR. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/23/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/08/22.

DEC 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398830

The following person(s) is/are doing business as FOODWISE; FERRY PLAZA FARMERS MARKET, ONE FERRY BUILDING #50, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94111. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed FOODWISE COMMUNITY (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/15/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/22/22.

DEC 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398831

The following person(s) is/are doing business as MISSION COMMUNITY MARKET, 84 BARTLETT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed FOODWISE COMMUNITY (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/15/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/22/22.

DEC 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT

FILE A-0398796

The following person(s) is/are doing business as LISA’S LASH, 600 IRVING ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed LISA’S LASH SPOT INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/17/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/17/22.

DEC 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398833

The following person(s) is/are doing business as BOARD AND DRINK, 1329 COLUMBUS AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed JOANIE’S DINER, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/22/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/22/22.

DEC 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT

been loosened over the years as blood screening technology has improved and advances in antiretroviral treatment and PrEP have enabled HIV-positive people to maintain an undetectable viral load and HIV-negative people to dramatically reduce their risk of acquiring the virus.

In 2015, the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research said that men who have sex with men could donate blood if they had not had sex for one year. The current policy – adopted in April 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic led to a severe blood shortage – reduces the waiting period to three months. The same deferral period applies to women who have sex with gay or bi men, sex workers, people who inject drugs, people who recently received tattoos or piercings, and those who recently traveled to certain countries.

Modern nucleic acid testing can reliably detect HIV and other bloodborne pathogens by three months after infection, but it is not quite as sensitive during the early part of that window. Despite current restrictions, and testing approximately 12 million units of donated blood annually, 10 units containing HIV have slipped through, according to the

the time. According to his website, Chen works with the athletic departments of several local schools and is the team physician for the San Francisco City Football Club, an amateur soccer organization. Hoover and Luce had tried for many months to find a buyer who would continue to operate the theater but were unsuccessful. They donated a large collection of items to the GLBT Historical Society’s

Human Rights Campaign.

The proposed policy revision would move away from blanket deferral periods for specific groups and would instead assess individual risk behavior using questionnaires. For example, a gay man who has had no new recent sex partners would potentially be allowed to donate, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the plan.

The United Kingdom moved to a risk-based policy in 2020, allowing gay men in monogamous relationships to donate blood. Canada’s risk assessment strategy, adopted in September, asks uniform questions about sexual activity, medical history, and travel regardless of gender

archive, including posters, performance and production ephemera, a cubicle for viewing videos, a stage set piece, a wooden sculpture of a male torso, a T-shirt, and a leather sling. These items are now part of the society’s permanent historical archive and available for researchers, a release about the sale noted.

The new owner plans to showcase the history of the site, as was mentioned at a status hearing on the

FILE A-0398851

The following person(s) is/are doing business as CASTRO RESTAURANT & BREWHOUSE, 468 CASTRO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed F&S RESTAURANT GROUP INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/28/22.

DEC 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398706

The following person(s) is/are doing business as ZOE, 577 HOWARD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by a limited partnership, and is signed 577 HOWARD STREET LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/08/22.

DEC 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398826

The following person(s) is/are doing business as THE VILLAGE, 1550 CALIFORNIA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed THE VILLAGE CAFÉ LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/21/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/21/22.

DEC 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398838

The following person(s) is/are doing business as TOLAND WORKS LLC, 200 TOLAND ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed TOLAND WORKS LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/22/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/22/22.

DEC 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398840

The following person(s) is/are doing business as M-A-D TOW, 1155 INDIANA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed M-A-D TOW LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/22/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/22/22.

DEC 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398841

The following person(s) is/are doing business as GD TOWING AUTO SERVICE, 1155 INDIANA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed GD TOWING AUTO SERVICE LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/27/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/22/22.

DEC 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398861

The following person(s) is/are doing business as GIVE ME GIFTZ, 3344 TARAVAL ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by a limited

liability company, and is signed INSPIRE DESIGNS LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/01/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/29/22.

DEC 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398860

The following person(s) is/are doing business as OUTER HAZE, 928 VAN NESS AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed CALIVERDE LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/22/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/28/22.

DEC 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398859

The following person(s) is/are doing business as BONA VADA BARBERSHOP, 483 GUERRERO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed BONA VADA BARBERSHOP LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/28/22.

DEC 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

NOTICE OF REPORT OF SALE AND PETITION FOR ORDER CONFIRMING SALE OF REAL PROPERTY FOR THE GUARDIANSHIP OF JADE KONG IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA,

COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO: FILE PGN-14-297769

Petitioner: ANDREA LEUNG is the guardian of the estate of the decedent, conservatee, or minor and requests a court order for confirmation of sale of the estate’s interest in the real property described in Attachment 2e, approval of commission of 5% of the amount of $5900.00. Description of property sold: Interest sold 100%, unimproved, located at 6806 GUNN DR, OAKLAND CA, legal description is affixed as Attachment 2e. Appraisal: Date of death of decedent or appointment of conservator or guardian: 03/10/2017, appraised value at above date $94,000.00, reappraised value within one year before the hearing $75,000.00, appraisal or reappraisal by probate referee has been filed. Manner and terms of sale: Name of purchaser and manner of vesting title ED HAMMAT, married man as his sole property, sale was private, amount of bid $118,000.00, deposit $11,800.00, payment cash, terms comply with Probate Code section 2542 (guardianships and conservatorships).

Commission: a written exclusive contract for commission was entered into with RONALD CADIGAL, Red Oak Realty, commission is to be divided as follows 5% total commission: 2.5% buyer’s agent and 2.5% seller’s agent. Bond: None. Notice of sale: published.

Notice of hearing: Special devisee none, special notice none requested, personal representative, conservator of the estate, or guardian of the estate Petitioner (consent or notice not required). Reason for sale: The sale is to the advantage of the estate and in the best interest of the interested persons.

Formula for overbids: a. original bid $118,000.00, b. 10% of first $10,000 of original bid $1000.00, c. 5% of (original bid minus $10,000.00) $5400.00, d. minimum overbid (a+b+c) $124,400.00. Overbid:

Required amount of the first overbid $124,400.00.

Petitioner’s efforts to obtain the highest and best price reasonably attainable for the property were as follows Attachment 2e: Real property commonly known as 6806 Gunn Drive, City of Oakland, County of Alameda, State of California and the legal description: Lot 1603, Forestland Heights, filed July 9, 1926,

or sexual orientation. Several European, Central and South American, and Asian countries do not restrict blood donation by gay or bi men.

“Policies and protocols which focus on targeted screening for specific high-risk behaviors, regardless of sexual orientation, are a much more scientifically rigorous and non-discriminatory approach to maintaining a safe blood supply,” Dr. Deborah Cohen and Dr. Monica Hahn of UCSF wrote in an open letter to the FDA in response to the 2020 policy revision, which was signed by more than 500 clinicians, public health professionals, and researchers.

Some advocates think the FDA’s latest proposed changes do not go far enough.

“Giving one set of rules to some people, and another set of rules to others, based purely on identity, is blatant discrimination,” stated GLAAD’s Ellis. “This fight is not over until all LGBTQ Americans who want to donate blood are met with the same protocols as other Americans. All potential blood donors, whose donations could save lives, should be treated equally. There is no excuse for choosing stigma over science in 2022.”t

project in August. Besides keeping the aforementioned sign and the auditorium, plans to acknowledge the building’s history include: creating a website about the history of the theater, including personal histories from former patrons and staff; installing a historical plaque on the exterior of the building; installing an interior historical display; and utilizing a nighttime sidewalk projection to highlight the building’s past uses.t

Map Book 10, Page 81. Alameda County Records. A.P.N. 48E-732-502-000. Signed 11/21/2022 Andrea Leung, petitioner; 11/22/2022 Marissa C. Smith, attorney (SBN 275382), 4306 Geary Blvd #301, San Francisco, CA 94118, (415)-742-4522. DEC 08, 15, 22, 2022

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF JON ERIC BRODY IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO: FILE PES-22-305860

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of JON ERIC BRODY. A Petition for Probate has been filed by EVE MARIE BRODY in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. The Petition for Probate requests that EVE MARIE BRODY be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. The petition requests the decedent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court. The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority. A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: DECEMBER 28, 2022, 9:00 am, Dept. 204, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. If you object to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. If you are a creditor or contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the latter of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined by section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. You may examine the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for petitioner: LEE L KASTER (SBN 208743), LAW OFFICES OF LEE L. KASTER, P.C., 1806 BONANZA ST, WALNUT CREEK, CA 94596; Ph. (925) 280-6701. DEC 08, 15, 22, 2022

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF RITA Y.S. CHIU IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO: FILE PES-22-305852 To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of RITA Y.S. CHIU. A Petition for Probate has been filed by KIM CHI TRAN in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. The Petition for Probate requests that KIM CHI TRAN be appointed as personal representa-

The federal Food and Drug Administration is reportedly considering a policy change that would allow more gay and bi men to donate blood.

Courtesy HealthAffairs

Tenderloin merchants want tax refund over drug crisis

by Eric Burkett

Another merchant revolt is in the works four months after small business owners in the Castro penned a letter to various city officials demanding, among other things, that 35 beds in the city’s shelter system be designated for unhoused people in the LGBTQ neighborhood. This time, business owners in the beleaguered Tenderloin are demanding a refund of last year’s taxes and fees to help them cover the costs of trying to sustain businesses amid the crime and drug dealing on the neighborhood’s streets.

A group calling itself the Tenderloin Business Coalition has issued a petition, stating that it finds “the City of San Francisco to be derelict in its duty to ensure a basic and adequate standard of safety on the streets of the Tenderloin.”

According to one of the organization’s leaders, Dan Williams, 38, “the drug market controls the sidewalk and it’s just not safe to be in the Tenderloin.”

Customers aren’t willing to come into the neighborhood, said Williams. “We won’t survive,” he explained.

The petition, which was launched December 5, has drawn more than 150 signatures from local business owners as of December 16, which was the date the Tenderloin group issued its first news release. Williams told the Bay Area Reporter that the signatures he’d collected came largely from simply going door to door, talking with business owners individually, he said. In order to overcome language barriers, Vietnamese and Spanish translations of the petition have been issued, as well.

Williams, an ally, is one of three founders of PianoFight, a live entertainment venue and bar at 144 Taylor Street, just half a block from the site of the Compton’s Cafeteria riot that was recently approved as a city landmark by the Board of Supervisors. Founded in 2007 in the South of Market neighborhood, PianoFight moved to the Tenderloin in 2014.

Drugs have always been a part of the street tableau, said Williams, and he’s gotten used to regular negotiations with street dealers.

“Usually, it’s pretty congenial,” he said. “We know who each other are and we ask them to move along when we open our business and

where I’m at, it’s pretty well understood, and we have a good relationship worked out. Other places in the Tenderloin don’t have this relationship worked out. In most places, I don’t think the business owners feel comfortable or safe engaging with drug dealers, and that’s where you’d think the police would come in.”

One of the factors that helps, Williams said, is that he’s built a working relationship with a number of the dealers who work his block.

“It’s a difficult thing,” he continued. “I understand people want drugs. I understand there’s a market for them. I don’t have anything against people who want drugs or people who deal drugs. If it causes such disruptions and such a detriment on the health and safety of residents, and scares away customers, then I don’t have a choice but to ask for some help. … We’re talking about the survival of my businesses.”

Castro also lodges complaints

Back in August, members of the Castro Merchants Association wrote a letter addressed to various city officials including Mayor London Breed, San Francisco Department of Public Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax, a gay man, and top

DPH staffer Dr. Hillary Kunins; Police Chief William Scott; City Attorney David Chiu and Director of Executive Affairs for the City Attorney Luis Zamora; Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing Executive Director Shireen McSpadden, a bi woman; and gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman in whose district the Castro lies.

Although the letter never stated the group’s intentions if their pleas weren’t met with action, CMA coPresident Dave Karraker told the B.A.R. and other media outlets that CMA members would resort to civil disobedience if they had to. Castro merchants could begin withholding the fees they pay to the city until they see action, he said at the time.

The CMA email reminded officials of the numerous efforts the group had made over the years to get help from city leaders and demanded that the neighborhood be made “a priority area for services, given its stature as one of the most visited (and photographed) neighborhoods in the city.”

“For the past four years, we have sought city help to address the rising problem of people with behavioral health/substance use disorders taking up residence on our sidewalks, dramatically impacting

the quality of life in our neighborhood and the ability to run a successful business,” the letter began.

Since then, according to Karraker, who runs the Castro business group with co-President Terrance Alan, the Castro group has had meetings with a number of officials.

“The hope was to get the mayor’s attention and I think we did that,” Karraker wrote in an email to the B.A.R. this week. ”Now, the proof will be in the pudding if her plans and all the action we hear is taking place will actually bear fruit.”

While Williams said he had heard of the Castro business owners’ efforts, there hasn’t been any communication between the two organizations. Like the Castro, in addition to the large presence of unhoused people on the street, the Tenderloin is also trying to recover from the effects of the COVID closures. Unlike the Castro, the neighborhood is ground zero for the vast majority of the city’s drug arrests and overdose deaths.

Earlier this year, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that “[i] n 2020 and 2021, about 23% of the overdose deaths have occurred in the Tenderloin district and about 18% in SOMA, with many of the deaths occurring outdoors and on sidewalks in front of buildings.”

A story published in October by the San Francisco Standard noted that the Tenderloin “has contributed nearly two-thirds of all drug crime reports in San Francisco so far this year,” while going on to point out that, overall, drug crimes in the city are down. Nonetheless, there’s little argument that drug use and dealing in the Tenderloin is pervasive and out in the open.

Press

conference canceled

Members of the TBC had hoped to make their official debut with a news conference December 13 but, “[d]ue to some last minute issues, we were unable to get everything coordinated adequately to follow through with our plans for the press conference,” the organization announced in a statement mailed out to various people and organizations that morning.

Instead, they followed up with the news release. The additional time allowed them to continue to gather signatures and “to refine our strategy for bringing this initiative to city supervisors.”

Williams hastened to point out that TBC’s efforts are in the early stages. As of yet, they haven’t had the chance to reach out to supervisors, for example. An inquiry to District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston’s office from the B.A.R. about the group went unanswered, as did inquiries to gay District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who represents SOMA, and Breed’s office. The organization hopes to begin their outreach efforts to city leaders in January. Preston now represents the Tenderloin after the city’s redistricting process earlier this year moved it into D5.

The effort the Tenderloin group is leading didn’t come together through any of the nonprofits that work in the area. The coalition, Williams said, is a group of business owners who saw the need to organize because they’re struggling “without any help from authorities to check the open-air drug market.”

“I think that when you have the businesses come together, you know it’s pretty serious,” said Williams. “It’s taking very valuable time from people trying to keep their businesses alive. We really feel like we need some attention from the authorities. There are strategies police are using in Union Square that are working, and business is seemingly booming just a few blocks away.”t

Several small business owners in the Tenderloin have issued a petition seeking a refund on city fees due to the ongoing drug crisis in the neighborhood that has impacted their venues.

Eric Burkett

LGBTQ synagogue brings Hanukkah to the Castro

by David-Elijah Nahmod

U nseasonably cold temperatures did not stop a hearty band of around 100 people from gathering in Jane Warner Plaza Monday night to celebrate Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. The event was sponsored by Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, San Francisco’s LGBTQ synagogue, and the Castro Community Benefit District and the neighborhood’s merchants.

In attendance were Sha’ar Zahav Rabbi Mychal Copeland, a lesbian; Cantor Sharon Bernstein; and local gay Jewish leaders state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco); District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman; and former city supervisor, state senator, and mayoral candidate Mark Leno.

A large electric menorah was on display in the plaza, along with a smaller menorah with traditional Hanukkah candles on a table nearby. Andrea Aiello, a lesbian who’s executive director of the CBD, welcomed attendees.

“Hanukkah has even more meaning than other years,” Aiello wrote in an emailed statement to the Bay Area Reporter. “Our Jewish and queer communities are under attack. But the Castro stands up, comes out, and celebrates. I am so proud of our community. Happy Hanukkah.”

Aiello’s sentiments were echoed by Martin Tannenbaum, a 70-yearold gay man who attended the ceremony.

“I’m very involved in Sha’ar Zahav,” Tannenbaum told the B.A.R. “It’s wonderful to have events that bring people out to celebrate their identities. It’s especially important to be visible in this time of rising antisemitism.”

Aiello took to the podium and introduced each of the speakers. Wiener was the first to speak.

“We know that there’s a lot going on in the world right now,” Wiener said. “There’s a lot of people who aren’t big fans of the Jews. We need to remember what Hanukkah is about, and really project that today, that this is a community that fights back, that we are here, that we are not going anywhere, and we’re going to continue to be strong as a community.”

Wiener has been the subject of threatening calls and emails for his support of the LGBTQ community and legislation helping expand rights for queer people. Earlier this month someone threatened to blow up his home and office.

Mandelman noted how cold it was.

“But we are warmed by this lovely event,” he said. “We’re very lucky to have so many people here who work every day, every week, to bring joy to the Castro, Andrea

and the CBD, and the merchants are here, Alex (Lemberg) from the Eureka Valley Neighborhood Association is here. Thank you, Rabbi Copeland and Sha’ar Zahav for all that you do to bring a little Yiddishkeit (Jewish tradition) to the neighborhood, and everyone have a wonderful happy Hanukkah and a wonderful 2023. We’ve had a few rough years, I think we’re ready for a really, really good one.”

Aiello pointed out that Leno continues to advocate for the Castro community even though he’s no longer in office.

“Chag Sameach,” Leno said, invoking the Hebrew words for

happy holidays. “It’s important that we bring community together. We know these are tough times. It is said that better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. But what of those who don’t even have the resources to light a candle? Just walking down the street tonight to see so many people struggling, storefronts struggling, neighborhood struggling, this neighborhood is not unique, the city is in a very challenging position right now. I just want to suggest that, for we the fortunate, to focus on all that we have and be reminded of the Jewish dictum of ‘tzedakah’ (charity) for those of us who are

able to help those who cannot help themselves right now.”

Copeland told the crowd that she had just gotten off of a plane. She was returning from Washington, D.C., where she had attended a Hanukkah celebration hosted by Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, where she sang the candle blessings. The rabbi noted that a Sha’ar Zahav Hanukkah menorah would be on display at Emhoff’s office during the week.

“Because he wanted to make sure that their home of the Bay Area was represented well,” the rabbi said of Emhoff and his spouse, Vice President Kamala Harris, who used to be San Francisco’s district attorney.

“Especially the queer community and Jewish community from their home area. May we light this sacred darkness every night of this week, Happy Hanukkah.”

Two volunteers then stepped up to the electric menorah to light two bulbs, marking the second night of the holiday. Hanukkah lasts for eight nights. This was followed by the singing of several Hanukkah songs led by Bernstein at the keyboard. Selections included “The Dreidel Song” and Tom Lehrer’s “Hanukkah in Santa Monica.”

The crowd remained gathered for around a half hour, chatting and eating the jelly donuts that were served.t

Creating Change LGBTQ confab coming to SF

compiled by Cynthia Laird

The National LGBTQ Task Force’s popular Creating Change conference will be held in San Francisco early next year, as the queer rights organization prepares to mark its 50th anniversary.

Organizers stated in a news release that the milestone year will recognize and celebrate the task force’s “rich history of driving progress within the LGBTQ community, from its early days lobbying the American Psychiatric Association to remove homosexuality as a mental illness and advocating for AIDS funding” to long-standing campaigns such Queer the Census and Queer the Vote and bringing an intersectional approach to the LGBTQ movement.

“Our anniversary comes at a time when those in power threaten to undo our 50 years of progress

APE’s lack of respect for Castro groups

I’m confused. Is it too late now for the landmark status of the Castro Theatre (that includes preserving the interior and current seats) to be what governs how Another Planet Entertainment proceeds? [“Castro Theatre hearing postponement angers supporters of landmarking movie house’s interior,” December 8.]

Another Planet Entertainment CEO Gregg Perloff has done nothing but demonstrate his asinine lack of respect for the people and community groups who were here before he entered the picture, and we’ll be here long after he’s out of the picture. He’s nothing but someone hired by the [Castro Theatre owner Nasser] family to maximize the profitability of that space, and his history of cannibalizing similar venues to accommodate concerts instead of movies is already known. He thinks extending the deadline will allow him to railroad his plans as he ignores community input. I hope the San Francisco Board of Supervisors realigns the future of the Castro Theatre to match the thousands of people who love and respect it as the important community resource for continuing to be a movie and performance venue. I performed there as part of

of the task force. “We take an intersectional, proactive approach to our advocacy, underscoring our fundamental interconnectedness. The task force is everywhere because queer people are everywhere. As we look toward the next 50 years, we will evolve and expand our work to positively impact LGBTQ folks’ ability to thrive.”

Creating Change will take place from Friday, February 17 through Tuesday, February 21, over Presidents Day weekend. The host hotel is the Hil ton Hotel Union Square, 333 O’Farrell Street. Special guests will include trans activist and “Pose” star Angelica Ross; “Jeopardy!” champion Amy Schneider; and gun violence prevention activist and LGBTQ rights advocate X Gonzalez. This year’s theme is “The State of

the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus back in the early 1980s and they’ve been doing Christmas concerts there since then. And the theater has accommodated other sold-out events like the Mr. Castro Pageant. With proper management, it would be a successful entertainment space that doesn’t have to resort to gutting seats and ruining the space permanently.

Shader

the Movement: Our Past. Our Present. Our Future.”

Daylong institutes will be held February 17-18, followed by workshops and caucuses the next two days, and then the closing ceremony.

Registration is now open and costs $600, though financial assistance is available. The Hilton has a discounted room rate of $189 until January 29, according to the task force’s website.

Meals are not included, though the task force does have a meal assistance program that includes four meals.

For more information, go to https://bit.ly/3PTd4pH.

Christmas dinners for those in need Tenderloin Tessie will provide

the layout and character of the grand movie palace into a broader entertainment venue.

Another Planet Entertainment wants to rip out the orchestra seats and flatten the sloped floors in order to accommodate dances, exhibitions, etc.

Castro Theatre charade

I have been following the ongoing issues surrounding the Castro Theatre from afar. As a former San Francisco and Bay Area resident of some 30-plus years, I am appalled that preserving the historical and physical integrity of the historic Castro Theatre has turned into a charade.

On the one hand, you have residents and activists whose only concern is to preserve the Castro Theatre as a movie house; on the other hand, you have commercial and entertainment interests that want to change

The most puzzling part of the charade is the involvement of certain elected and appointed officials who seem to be playing games with the public when it comes to dealing with this matter openly, transparently, and honestly. I’m talking about San Francisco city commissions and District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman. In recent months, the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District met with Another Planet representatives and was critical of the company, according to information obtained by gay activist Michael Petrelis.

In recent weeks, the city’s historic preservation commission postponed action on a proposal that would expand the landmarking of the theater to include the interior. Mandelman has resisted holding a public town hall on the issues regarding preserving the Castro Theatre and he simply re-

free Christmas dinners to those in need Sunday, December 25, from 1 to 4 p.m. at First Unitarian Church, 1187 Franklin Street (at Geary) in San Francisco. According to the nonprofit’s Facebook page, attendees will be served individually. They will also receive a gift bag and clothes. Free haircuts will be available through the San Francisco Pop-up Barbershop, the Facebook page stated. Entertainment will be provided by Vanessa Bousay.

For more information, visit the Facebook page at https://bit. ly/3BMd5pA.

Rainbow World Fund supports trans program in India Rainbow World Fund, an LGBTQ humanitarian organization based in San Francisco, is providing financial support to the Rainbow

fuses to acknowledge the many requests for such a town hall.

It is highly disturbing to me – as it should be to others – when appointed and elected officials are not responsive to the public they serve; it is maddening to me when those same officials seem to be working hand-in-glove with special interests and those with corporate ties and agendas.

I recently saw on a CCTV feed longtime community activist Petrelis at one of the commission meetings during public comment; he was holding a sign that simply put, says it best: SAVE THE SEATS!

I hope that the Bay Area Reporter will take a strong editorial stance on behalf of the Castro community and the larger SF area community in supporting the call to save the seats.

[Editor’s note: As the Bay Area Reporter’s December 8 article reported, the historic preservation commission postponed action on the Castro Theatre landmark expansion at the request of gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman.]

– but we’re meeting those threats with more strength, unity, and support than ever before,” stated Kierra Johnson, a bisexual Black woman who is executive director

Doug

San Francisco

Larry W. Bittner Memphis, Tennessee

National LGBTQ Task Force Executive Director Kierra Johnson

Courtesy the task force

Congregation Sha’ar Zahav Cantor Sharon Bernstein, left, and Rabbi Mychal Copeland lead the Castro Hanukkah observance in Jane Warner Plaza December 19.

Jane Philomen Cleland

Trans woman sues CA university over alleged bias

by Eric Burkett

Atrans woman is suing the University of the Pacific for alleged harassment and discrimination. While the acts she described as being perpetrated against her are notable enough, it’s the intrusive nature of the defendant’s discovery process that is, perhaps, even more unusual. The case is expected to face a motion for summary adjudication hearing December 23, and trial on February 14.

Nicole Shaw, 53, began work at UOP’s Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry in San Francisco on October 12, 2020, as a security guard. Almost from the beginning, Shaw alleges, her co-workers began harassing her, openly speculating on her gender, and referring to her as “he/him,” “dude,” and “man.” Shaw did not respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit was filed in San Francisco Superior Court in June 2021. Shaw’s employment with the university ended “on or about” February 8, 2021, according to the filing.

Shaw is being represented by attorney Oleg Albert, a straight ally, with LeClerc and LeClerc, a law firm specializing in employment law, representing employees. The private university, which has its main campus in Stockton, California, declined to comment on the case.

“Pacific does not comment on litigation out of respect for the privacy rights of the parties involved, and to protect the integrity of the legal process,” said Mike Klocke, senior director of media relations.

It was the university’s use of the discovery process to further harass Shaw that caused the court, on August 22, to issue a motion for a protective order in Shaw’s favor, Albert said.

The discovery by the university, said Albert, “fundamentally attacked her identity.”

According to a discovery order filed with the court, UOP had demanded access to information about Shaw’s genitalia; the dates she first began to identify as female; what hormone treatments and providers she was using, as well as transition medications, both prescribed and over-the-counter. Additionally, defendants demanded information about her transition-related procedures and medical providers; any prosthetics she utilized to present as female; non-surgical treatments to present as female, “such as hair removal, speech therapy, and hormonal therapy”; and the date of her “first use of the ‘Tucking Method.’”

Tucking is moving the penis, testicles, or both out of the way, explained a handout from the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland. “This makes the genital area look smoother and flatter. Tucking can reduce any concerns

you have about your body, how your clothes fit and how safe you feel in public. People of all genders can tuck,” the handout states.

The defendants’ efforts, Shaw claimed, were a misuse of the discovery process solely in order to cause “unwanted annoyance, embarrassment, or oppression, or undue burden and expense.”

These sorts of questions would never be posed to other litigants, Shaw argued, and were “nothing short of a wildly inappropriate discovery tactic.”

Or, as Albert observed to the Bay Area Reporter, “I’m Jewish. Do I have to show I’m circumcised?”

In turn, the defendants countered that Shaw “chose to place her status as a transgender female, gender identity, gender expression and marital status at issue.”

The back-and-forth led to the following observation by Superior Court Judge Curtis E.A. Karnow in his protective order: “Defendant apparently claims its employees were confused about Plaintiff’s gender and gender identity, but Defendant admitted to the referee that its employees had not seen Plaintiff’s genitalia and that Plaintiff had not displayed her genitalia.

Defendant’s employees cannot have formed any mistaken impression of Plaintiff’s gender from her anatomy that they have not seen.”

Ultimately, Karnow granted a protective order, stating that the defendants’ questions “need not be answered,” and that the information they requested is protected by a constitutional right to privacy.

“The interrogatories are a patent abuse of the discovery process,” Karnow continued, issuing an order to the defendants to pay $5,160 in sanctions.

The defendants went on to suggest that any transphobic or homophobic comments, or any statements misgendering Shaw, “may have been the result of mistake or misunderstanding.”

Other claims made by the defen-

dants were that they were not required to recognize Shaw as being part of a protected class; and that her government-issued identification and birth certificate “are not sufficient proof of transgender nor are a Court-approved change of name and gender.”

Lawsuit allegations

Because the school’s security detail modeled itself after a paramilitary organization, every employee with a higher rank than Shaw’s was her supervisor within the meaning of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, according to the lawsuit. Shaw’s title was “patrol officer” and she identified herself as a woman from the outset of her employment, the lawsuit stated. Despite that, her fellow employees almost immediately began misgendering her, even though she corrected them numerous times and asked to be referred to as a woman.

“However,” the filing stated, “the misgendering persisted.”

According to the lawsuit, Shaw spoke with one of her superiors, Sergeant Emilio Fastidio, about the

matter, telling him she did not want to be referred to as a man and asking for help. Fastidio did not return a message seeking comment.

“Sergeant Fastidio told Shaw that various employees were saying things about Shaw that are much worse,” the filing stated. ”Sergeant Fastidio told Shaw that employees were discussing Shaw’s ‘plumbing,’ in a reference to Shaw’s genitals. Sergeant Fastidio also told Shaw that co-workers were discussing what to do if Shaw ‘wanted to suck their dick(s)’. Shaw explained that these comments were unwelcome and unacceptable. Shaw also reported/ complained to Sergeant Fastidio that an employee made a harassing comment in the workplace to the effect of ‘gays are the ruin of society.’”

There were other forms of harassment, as well, the suit alleges.

There was no locker room for female employees, forcing Shaw to change in the same space as her male co-workers. Employees, the suit stated, were encouraged to change into their uniforms in the locker room, where they were also to store their university-issued handguns.

On October 26, 2020, the lawsuit states, Shaw complained again to Fastidio, saying that the rotation of her posts were being disregarded.

During the COVID pandemic, posts were limited to 45 minutes in high traffic areas of the campus to mitigate exposure to the virus, yet Shaw said she found herself being posted to high-traffic areas for up to four hours at a time.

Further complaints to Fastidio and Director John Feeney over the ensuing days were met with insistences by Feeney that Shaw not get other people involved in her problems. Feeney did not return a message seeking comment.

“In other words,” the filing stated, “Director Feeney sought to interfere with Shaw’s right to complain/report unlawful conduct.”

On October 29, Shaw reached out to human resources, where she complained about yet another coworker, Corporal Quan [no other name is given] misgendering her, even going so far as to tell Shaw he would just call her Nick. Afterward, Quan approached Shaw, and accused her of being a snitch, according to the lawsuit.

Hostile work environment alleged

Shaw described a hostile work environment, noting that other members of the security detail would use the campus’ closed circuit cameras to zero in on random women, making sexual comments about them despite Shaw’s objections. This carried over to discussions in Shaw’s presence about the sexual desirability of various women around the campus, as well. She said she heard them comment, too, about the physical appearances of another transgender woman visiting the campus, including comments such as “when she sits down [in the waiting room], she should be careful that her balls don’t fall out.”

Shaw also endured questions about her marriage to another woman, including questions about who was the top and who was the bottom in their sexual activities.

The case itself, noted attorney Albert, while not a precedent-setting one, is important.

It’s not precedent setting “in that people who choose to ignore certain things will continue to, and people who are open to recognize this as an example of why some of these things do matter in a fundamental way recognized by the process that exists in our state or country,” Albert told the B.A.R.

There is, of course, a broader lesson here, the attorney said.

“Fundamentally, what this boils down to is, don’t be a jerk to your fellow human beings,” noted Albert.t

Home of the Seven Sisters in India.

The shelter and community center serves the marginalized Hijira/kinner (transgender) community in the Joypur area of Guwahati, Assam. According to an email to supporters, in India, most transgender people endure deep prejudice and open hostility.

“Many are rejected by family and are forced to leave home,” RWF officials stated. “Transgender women face severe employment discrimination and in desperation many beg or are forced into survival sex work.”

At Seven Sisters, the women are able to bond, support one another, organize, and begin to heal, RWF stated. The women receive emergency housing, psychological sup-

port, and vocational skills training. The home was opened 18 months ago and has already served over 400 women. Many of the women have been able to leave survival sex work and become self-sufficient, the email stated.

To help the Seven Sisters home, donors to RWF should select “Transgender Aid Fund” when asked how to designate their donation online or when people mail a donation to Rainbow World Fund, 4111 18th Street #5, San Francisco, CA 94114. One hundred percent of the donation will go to the Seven Sisters program, the email stated. To donate online, go to https:// www.rainbowfund.org/.

RWF is also marking its 22nd anniversary this month and is welcoming end of the year general donations, which can also be made at the above website.t

A transgender woman has filed an employment discrimination suit against the University of the Pacific, which operates the Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry in San Francisco where she worked.

Rick Gerharter

Log Cabin goes all-in on MAGA

The old saying, “With friends like these, who needs enemies?” certainly applies to the Log Cabin Republicans. After a week in which the LGBTQ conservative group was fêted at Mar-a-Lago by former President Donald Trump and members in its San Antonio, Texas chapter took part in an anti-drag protest, it should be crystal clear that these conservative LGBTQs do not represent the broader community at all. The organization, so desperate for a seat at the Republican table, now exhibits its fealty to the MAGA crowd that includes Trump and the other promoters of the “Big Lie” that Joe Biden didn’t win the presidency in 2020. Don’t be fooled.

For years we have believed there might be a place for conservative LGBTQs in politics, but these antics of Log Cabin have left us convinced it is not the group we thought it was. It’s one thing to promote conservative policy positions on issues like defense and the economy; it’s quite another to protest your fellow LGBTQ citizens who support the community’s long affiliation with drag culture and honor anti-LGBTQ political leaders like Trump.

As usual with the former president, he used the occasion of Log Cabin’s December 15 “Spirit of Lincoln” gala at his South Florida resort to state how much he loves the LGBTQ community even as his record indicates otherwise. According to Politico, Trump gave an “enthusiastic affirmation of gay rights not often heard in the GOP.”

. “Throughout the evening, speakers praised Trump for his embrace of the gay community,” the online site reported. “They credited him for his initiatives to combat the criminalization of homosexuality, his work pushing for public health initiatives to combat the HIV epidemic, and for appointing the first openly gay Cabinet member, [Ric] Grenell, as director of national intelligence.”

While all that is true, as Politico noted in the very next paragraph, Trump’s record on

Work

LGBTQ rights is decidedly mixed. After all, he’s the one who impulsively tweeted in 2017 that the military should ban trans service members, and that policy went into effect two years later. (Biden reversed it after taking office in 2021.) And yet, LGBTQs being able to serve in the military was one of Log Cabin’s big priorities for years, and became reality when legislation to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was signed by former President Barack Obama. The same with marriage equality. Log Cabin has been an ardent supporter of samesex marriage but constantly gives Republican politicians a pass when they oppose it. The recent Respect for Marriage Act that Biden signed two days before the Log Cabin gathering at Mar-a-Largo went unmentioned at the event, Politico noted, even though the New York Times credited gay Republicans for helping secure the bipartisan vote in the Senate that pushed the bill over the finish line.

Meanwhile, gay Republican Congressmember-elect George Santos has had many questions raised about his resume, and Log

to

by Jamie Bruning-Miles and Tye Gregory

On Tuesday, December 13, a historic event – the signing in Washington, D.C. of the Respect for Marriage Act by President Joe Biden, with our own Kamala Harris, Vice President and former district attorney of San Francisco, as well as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) – brought us all together from the Bay Area. It was an afternoon filled with gratitude, emotions, reconnection, and hope. As two gay leaders of nonprofit agencies centered on elevating the communities we serve, this moment was for us and so many others like us.

Altogether over 5,000 people came together from across our nation to celebrate. Advocates, civic leaders, civil rights advocates, and activists came together with elected leaders to hold up this beacon of hope. We didn’t get here by accident, but rather thanks to decades of relentless effort by generations of activists and leaders who came before us. Many, many Bay Area luminaries have fought through the social and political challenges to land victories for marginalized people.

The roadway to liberation, security, and acknowledgment was paved by hard work and hard knocks. From the 1966 Compton Cafeteria riots three years before Stonewall to the people who lead civil rights movements, like the late gay civil rights leader Bayard Rustin, who in 1943 taught a seven-week course at the Japantown YWCA in San Francisco.

Our leaders have gone down in history, like Harvey Milk, for their many victories. Though some of their stories ended in tragedy, their legacies launched movements and made once unimaginable progress possible. San Francisco’s prominence was felt on the South Lawn as our homegrown Speaker Pelosi and Vice President Harris represented our city’s outsized legacy.

As staunch LGBTQ+ allies, Jewish organizations such as JCRC Bay Area (Jewish Community Relations Council) and civic institutions like the YMCA of San Francisco have sought social justice and equity alongside these activists.

Without the vision of San Francisco leaders past and present, we would not be here serving as proud CEOs of two storied San Francisco nonprofits. And the work, which now rests in our hands, is not done. Recent years have demanded a reckoning of racial and gender equity, and particularly today, as our transgender neighbors face a surge in hate, our community-based organizations must continue to evolve and meet the full needs of the communities we serve. We recognize and affirm that even given this, what unites us will always be stronger than what divides us – here in the Bay Area, nationally and beyond.

The Bay Area represents a multi-racially diverse, inclusive, and queer community to the world. We represent hope and progress to so many. To intentionally be that progress looks a little different, means a little more. We are able to show up openly in our roles

Cabin hasn’t called on him to answer questions about his work experience and other issues. He was an invited speaker at the group’s event last week, telling the audience “we’ve shown the radical left that there are gay conservatives who actually stand for freedom.”

Let’s take a look at some of the other Republicans who attended the Log Cabin gala. In addition to Grenell, Kari Lake, the recently defeated Arizona gubernatorial candidate, was there. On the campaign trail, Lake bashed drag queens and then a Phoenix drag queen revealed that he and Lake were good friends and he had been invited to perform at her house.

Speaking of drag queens, the right has recently become fixated on drag shows, deeming them inherently sexual or obscene, as Pew noted in an article. Republicans are dragging out the trope that kids should not be allowed to attend drag queen story hours or even see them perform at Pride events, even though those are vastly different than, say, a drag show performed in front of adults at a bar. Nevertheless, Republicans are proposing drag show legislation in numerous states, and drag artists have been the subject of threats, bullying, and intimidation, as we saw in the East Bay back in June when a bunch of alleged Proud Boys members hijacked a children’s story hour at a San Lorenzo library.

Log Cabin, apparently, doesn’t like drag queens either. The Los Angeles Blade reported this month that a holiday drag show event at the historic Aztec Theatre in downtown San Antonio was protested by far-right extremists led by the Texas Freedom Force and conservative groups, including the San Antonio Family Association and the LGBTQ+ political group Log Cabin Republicans of San Antonio among the demonstrators. A crowd of LGBTQ supporters and their allies grew to more than 150 people, outnumbering the anti-LGBTQ group. The protest re-

because of the culturally relevant diversity of the Bay Area.

For generations, San Francisco has been a beacon of hope and freedom – providing a sense of belonging to those in need. Our city must live up to its promise of a multi-racial and diverse queer community.

What does this mean for us as leaders now? It means we move forward more diligently in honor of those who came before and that we continue in the same vein of progress, and with the same intentions of equity and justice for all, and especially to protect those affected by bigotry.

We take it upon ourselves to build confidence in the world of tomorrow, and we expect there to be many more moments like the one at the White House last week to celebrate. While we hope to continue to earn the privilege to bear witness to future moments like these, what’s most critical is that we band together to advance equitable laws and confront rising hatred to improve the lives of those around us.

The past few years have put demands on leadership to take a stance and on community-based organizations to come prepared for change. And we have taken it upon ourselves to be the leaders we believe our communities are asking us to be. What unites us will always be stronger than what divides us, especially during such challenging times as these. In our respective spaces we’ve called for this change and moved for our organizations and communities to continue down this pathway of equality.

It hasn’t been easy, but we hope to continue to earn the privilege of being present at moments like these. When we know our lives and the lives of those around us will be so greatly impacted into the future. This is just one moment and one security of many more to come.t

Jamie Bruning-Miles is president and CEO of the YMCA of San Francisco. Tye Gregory is president and CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area.

Tye Gregory, left, and Jamie BruningMiles attended the Respect for Marriage Act signing ceremony December 13 on the South Lawn of the White House.

Courtesy YMCA

Screenshot/Twitter

Lesbian legislator Cervantes launches CA Senate bid

by Matthew S. Bajko

Lesbian Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes (D-Corona) has launched a bid for a state Senate seat that will be open in 2024. In making her candidacy official Tuesday, she also announced that she had the endorsement of termed out Senator Richard D. Roth (D-Riverside) to succeed him as the representative for the 31st Senate District.

Cervantes, 35, in November easily won reelection to a fourth twoyear term in the Assembly and is the new chair of the Latino Legislative Caucus. She now represents the 58th State Assembly District in Riverside County.

“I am running for the state Senate because, as one of the fastest growing regions in our state, the Inland Empire deserves a senator who knows how to get things done at our state Capitol,” stated Cervantes in her emailed announcement. “As our region grows so should state investments in our communities and families, and that is why I want to continue to deliver for the Inland Empire and build on the more than $600 million in state funding I secured these past six years to tackle housing affordability, create jobs, increase access to education and health care, and support our veterans.”

Roth stated he is backing Cervantes in the race due to her being an “unwavering partner in delivering for our Inland communities” since her election to the Assembly in 2016.

“Time and time again, she has fought for our region to finally get its fair share from Sacramento,” stated Roth. “When she succeeds me in the Senate, I know she will continue our shared mission of ensuring that the Inland Empire keeps its hard-earned seat at the table in determining the future of California.”

Of the 12-member Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, Cervantes is the first member to officially announce their campaign for the 2024 election cycle, when all of the Assembly seats will once again be on the

Courtesy the candidate

Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes announced she is running for state Senate in 2024.

ballot along with the Senate’s oddnumbered districts. Should she be elected to the Legislature’s upper chamber, Cervantes will help maintain out female leadership in it.

Lesbian Senators Toni Atkins (DSan Diego), who is the chamber’s president pro tempore, and Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton), the new chair of the affinity group for out state legislators, are termed out of office in 2024. They will be joined in the 2023 legislative session by freshman lesbian Senator Caroline Menjivar, who won election last month to the open 18th Senate District seat in the San Fernando Valley.

Three gay men now serve in the Senate: Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), John Laird (DSanta Cruz), and Steve Padilla (DChula Vista). In announcing her Senate bid, Cervantes did not name any of her LGBTQ legislative colleagues among her endorsers.

Among those lending their early backing of her in the race is gay Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, a former state legislator who just won reelection to his second and final four-year term as the only statewide LGBTQ elected official in the Golden State. Superintendent of Public Education Tony Thurmond has also endorsed Cervantes for the Senate seat, as has her Assembly colleague Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella.) Her early endorsers list also included a number of county and local officials in the

Inland Empire region.

Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis is dual endorsing in the race, as in addition to supporting Cervantes she is also backing Dr. Angelo Farooq, as Politico had reported in its December 1 California Playbook newsletter. According to the item about Farooq’s Senate bid, the Democrat is starting out with roughly $580,000 in his campaign account and also had gotten early endorsements from Attorney General Rob Bonta and Controllerelect Malia Cohen

Cervantes had reported having roughly $602,000, as of October 22, in her Assembly campaign account. Her consultants for her Senate race, Overland Strategies, released on Tuesday a poll it conducted in November gauging Cervantes’ chances in the Senate race against Farooq, a Riverside school board member, and Republican Bernard William Murphy, who ran against her this year for her Assembly seat and received 46% of the vote.

The poll of 500 likely primary voters found Cervantes leading with 45% of the vote, followed by Murphy with 29% and Farooq with 6%, and 18% undecided. It has a margin of error for the full sample of +/-4.4%.

In 2019, Cervantes made history by becoming the first legislator in the state to give birth to triplets while serving in office and also the first out member of the Legislature to give birth while in office. That December she and her wife, Courtney Downs, announced that Cervantes had given birth to two boys and one girl.

“As a working mom of triplets, I understand the concerns of working families in the Inland Empire,” stated Cervantes in her Senate bid announcement. “That is why I will keep working to fully fund our public schools, protect reproductive freedom, help small businesses create living wage jobs, provide our veterans with the support they need and deserve, and make the dream of higher education a reality for more of our students. I am proud of my record delivering for the Inland Empire and as a senator, I will continue fighting for your family just as hard as I fight for my own.”t

Sarria gets his star in Palm Springs

T he city of Palm Springs posthumously honored Latino drag icon and activist José Julio Sarria on its Walk of Stars Monday, December 12. From left, Muffy Blake Stephens (José Sarria Foundation), Mayor Lisa Middleton, Gene Brake (José Sarria Foundation founder), Nona Watson (executive director, Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce), and Jim Mangia (José Sarria Foundation) knelt by Sarria’s star during the ceremony. The event commemorated

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what would have been Sarria’s 100th birthday. Sarria, who died in 2013 at the age of 90, founded the Imperial Court System charitable organization. A veteran and prominent civil rights leader, he made history in 1961 with his unsuccessful bid for a San Francisco Board of Supervisors seat. It marked the first time an out gay person had sought elected office in the U.S. Sarria’s star is located on Museum Way near the Marilyn Monroe statue.

Courtesy Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce

LGBTQ aging and end-of-life issues. “LGBTQ people are most likely to engage our chosen family members, mostly our friends.”

As did the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, the COVID pandemic has once again illustrated for LGBTQ people the importance of planning for one’s end-of-life care, said de Vries, who has dual U.S. and Canadian citizenship. For gay men in particular, he said, the latest health crisis was a “been here before” experience.

Research he and several collaborators conducted after the start of the COVID pandemic in 2020 with a cohort of 1,143 seniors in Canada, of whom 153 identified as gay or bisexual, found that the LGBTQ participants were more likely to have engaged in advanced care planning since the pandemic than the heterosexual cisgender older persons. The research also found that LGBTQ older adults were more likely to have had care discussions with friends – 19.8% compared with 8.7% for heterosexual seniors – in light of COVID.

Another COVID-related research project de Vries was part of sampled 4,380 Canadians aged 55 and over. It also found high rates of advanced care planning among the 426 lesbian, gay, or bisexual seniors who took part.

“COVID-19 has emphasized the unpredictability of life; it is a careful balance between raising awareness of the steps needed to survive the pandemic, while also encouraging people to plan realistically for infirmity and end of life care post-COVID,” de Vries and his coresearchers wrote in a January 2021 report about their findings.

But few in the study had discussed with their physician what their preferences were in terms of end-of-life care. Most expect it is up to their doctor to broach the subject, said de Vries.

“I think it is, in part, because of the structure of the medical appointment. It is really time limited,” said de Vries. “You are there for a specific purpose or a specific ailment often. It is hard to fit in other things.”

PALS program

De Vries, 66, who is gay, lives part of the year in Palm Springs, where he helped Bass launch the Planning Ahead For LGBTQ Seniors (PALS) program in 2013.

Housed at the city’s LGBTQ community center, the program teaches LGBTQ older adults about various end-of-life planning issues, from creating a will and establishing power of attorney to settle legal matters, to filling out medical directives with their health care providers that detail such things as if they want to remain on a ventilator or other device meant to keep them alive if they are comatose.

Bass, for example, has had a will for more than a decade and last updated it in 2018. He also has filled out an advance health care directive. One change he made is going from wanting to die at home to now being OK with being placed in an assisted living community that is LGBTQ-affirming.

“I was not willing, basically, to go to a place that would not be welcoming for me as a gay man. I wanted to remain home so I could spend my days authentically,” explained Bass, who noted that there is now the LGBTQ-focused Stonewall Gardens Assisted Living facility in Palm Springs. “It is historic and just a miracle for me and for the community that we have somewhere safe where we can go.”

One realization that has come from the roughly 5,000 people who have taken part in PALS is that many LGBTQ older adults have thought about their funeral arrangements and filled out the various legal documents for dissolving their estates, but few have given any

Robert Griggs March 30, 1950December 23, 1996

There are some that bring a Light so great to the world that even after they have gone, the Light remains.

DISPLAY OBITUARIES & IN MEMORIAMS

attention to who will care for them if they become ill and need assistance navigating everyday activities like grocery shopping or taking care of their hygiene.

“People may have had legal documents done but have given very little attention to who would care for them in case of a health issue,” said Bass.

Asking a friend or friends if they will provide such assistance is one of the seven conversations PALS participants are encouraged to engage in with their friend group.

“There is a lot of resistance to having them,” Bass said of the conversations, from people being superstitious to not knowing who to talk with about the issue. “Other people said it was just too stressful to have that talk. The irony, of course, is if you do plan ahead for a real health emergency, it relieves the stress later on of not knowing what to do.”

It is why the PALS program pivoted from holding in-person seminars and meetings to doing videoconferencing after COVID hit, so that the LGBTQ older adults taking part in PALS could still connect and have an outlet for interpersonal relationships, even if conducted solely online.

“One of our strategies for connecting with people is to develop a network of people looking out for each other. We call it a PALS circle, which is a group of people you know who get together once a week and chat,” said Bass. “Getting together once a week is like going to grandma’s house.”

Jennifer Bing, 52, the director of philanthropy for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, routinely engages in conversations about estate planning and other matters related to a person’s end-of-life concerns with donors to the San Franciscobased nonprofit and those interested in including it as a beneficiary in their wills. She and her wife, Lauren Papalia, 43, have had their own conversations about advanced care planning for their family.

The women, who are both queer, are moms to two college-aged sons – Cristian, 21, and Lamont, 18 –

and to their 7-year-old Enzo. The family this year moved to Sebastopol, a more rural community north of San Francisco.

Their directives and legal documents have changed over the years as their three children have aged and there is less need to ensure they are financially cared for as they come into adulthood. After Bing’s mother, who had Alzheimer’s, passed away, she also redid her estate planning since there was no longer a need for a plan to care for her mother if she had died first.

“I think it started many years ago just in terms of who would take care of our kids. Who would have them if something happened to us?

About seven years ago we decided to do more intentional planning around creating a living trust, putting assets in a trust, and creating a process as they got older,” said Bing. “It is a document that could grow with us and do philanthropic giving as well as take care of our family and children.”

Despite her professional focus on such topics, Bing acknowledged that when it came time to personally engage in advance care planning “it was still an overwhelming process. It is huge because it poses all these questions.”

Even if a person doesn’t fear their own mortality, they may be hesitant to discuss what their wishes will be in their final days, said Bing. But those conversations are invaluable ones to engage in, she argued.

“It makes you really think about your goals. I think it is an amazing practice people should do,” she said. “It is not about your mortality. It is about how you want to live, because none of us are going to live forever.”

While living in San Francisco, the couple had cared for an elderly lesbian friend. She died right before COVID hit, and despite her having a will, implementing her estate plans was challenging, recalled Bing.

“Probate is a nightmare,” said Bing, whom the woman had named executor of her estate. “She had everything organized. She had a will and still it was a lot of work.

is in Contra Costa County.

When you don’t have a will, it is even worse.”

Self-empowering

While most people want to avoid it, taking care of one’s estate and advance care planning can be selfempowering, said Bing.

“This is your life. Being able to not leave your death to somebody else’s choices is a part of that too,” she said. “You have worked all your life to create what you have created. Even if it is just a jewelry collection, and you want it to go to a certain person that is important to you, write that down. It is not easy but just a good process to go through.”

She watched another close elderly lesbian who knew she was dying do just that in the time she had left. She didn’t have children to leave her estate to, so the woman wrote out detailed plans for how she wanted to bequeath her assets. For seniors who own homes in the Bay Area, they possess considerable wealth in their properties, noted Bing, so how they pass that on will have a substantial impact if given to a friend or a nonprofit agency.

“It was wonderful to watch her go through this process of deciding where her resources would go and giving away her assets. I think it had a positive impact, to reflect on her own life,” said Bing.

Oftentimes, the easiest end-oflife planning for people to focus on is creating a will, noted de Vries. But just as important, he said, is thinking about other aspects of what your life will be like in those final months you have left to live.

“People will say, ‘Yes, we have done our will,’ then fold their arms, sit back, and kind of be proud of themselves for having done that. As well as they should be,” said de Vries. “But then you ask the question: what happens before you die in the months, years when you are in terminal decline? Who have you enlisted to help you at that period of time? That is where they kind of start looking down now, avoiding your eye contact. They are realizing they have given very little thought about that.”

Just as the LGBTQ community rallied together to respond to AIDS and COVID, it also needs to come together to address aging issues, said Bass.

“The feeling I have about becoming a senior is we have to look out for each other as we did during the AIDS crisis. It is exactly the same thing; people are getting sick and they are dying,” said Bass.

“We are seniors with an opportunity to break down ageism and isolation.”t

This story was made possible by a grant from AARP to the News Is Out collaboration. For more stories in the Caring for Community series, go to https://bit. ly/3WbOPVM.

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Directors voted unanimously 9-0 at their last regular meeting of the year last week. Li had been serving as the board’s vice president alongside outgoing president Rebecca Saltzman (District 3), a lesbian. This year marked the first time that the BART board had been led by two out women, as the Bay Area Reporter previously reported.

Li’s term began immediately, and she was handed the gavel to finish the meeting.

Her first task was to have the board elect a vice president. Director Mark Foley, a straight ally, was elected to that position 8-1, with Director Debora Allen casting the lone no vote. An earlier motion to have District 6 Director Elizabeth Ames (Alameda County) serve as vice president was defeated 6-3. Foley represents District 2, which

Upon assuming the presidency, Li thanked the board, particularly Saltzman. “She showed me how to get things done in BART,” Li said.

Li outlined three goals for the board: unity, respect for one another and BART staff, and a willingness to “push ourselves and the district.”

During his remarks, Foley, who served as board president during the COVID pandemic in 2021, said the district has the challenge of focusing on the customer experience. He brushed aside the divided vote for vice president.

“We are a team,” he said.

Li, 35, was easily reelected by voters to a second four-year term on the BART board November 8 as she was unopposed. She represents District 8, which includes parts of San Francisco. She’s the first queer woman of color and the first Asian American woman on the transit board. Li is

the only Asian member of one of the country’s three elected transit boards.

Under the new redistricted boundaries adopted in March for the board’s nine seats, District 8 now has partial jurisdiction over BART’s Embarcadero, Montgomery Street, Powell Street, and Glen Park stations and full oversight of the Balboa Park station. It wraps around the city’s northern and western neighborhoods to cover North Beach; Chinatown; the Marina, Richmond and Sunset districts, Ingleside, and Balboa Park.

In a phone interview when she kicked off her reelection campaign in June, Li said she wanted to remain on the BART board to ensure a number of pilot programs she pushed for, and were part of her first campaign platform, became a permanent part of the transit

In Memoriam

Douglas

Jennifer Bing, right, and her wife, Lauren Papalia, have had their own conversations about advanced care planning for their family.

Courtesy Jennifer Bing

agency. They include the system’s low-income fare program and its ambassador program, where unarmed police officers assist people on BART trains who are unhoused or in some form of crisis to connect to services.

There are three LGBTQ people on the BART board. In addition to Li and Saltzman, who represents District 3 that includes parts of Alameda and Contra Costa counties, Bevan Dufty, a gay man, sits in the District 9 seat that includes part of San Francisco. Dufty was reelected in 2020 to a second four-year term and is a past BART board president. He’s also a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and, in that capacity, represented District 8, which includes the LGBTQ Castro neighborhood.

Formerly the advocacy director for the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, Li in January took over as director of the Coalition for Community Safety and Justice. She leads the coalition’s programs and AAPI community-based safety initiatives.

As of now, there are no Asian

<< Teacher training

From page 2

As it works on its own training regime, the state education department has been directing school administrators and educators interested in learning about the unique needs of their LGBTQ students, and how to address

Editorial From page 10

mained peaceful even as both sides had individuals open carrying long rifles, the paper reported. The antiLGBTQ groups shouted out homophobic slurs such as “pedophile!”

elected members on the boards of the Denver Regional Transportation District in Colorado or the East Bay’s AC Transit. Alfred Twu, who is nonbinary, did run for the AC Transit at-large seat in November but lost the race.

Lesbian honored on her retirement

In another matter at the meet-

them, to use several free LGBTQ+ cultural competency training courses offered by other organizations.

It lists three such trainings on its “Supporting LGBTQ+ Students” webpage found at https://www. cde.ca.gov/pd/ee/supportlgbtq.asp.

One is the American Psychological Association’s “The Respect Online

Charles Moran, the president of Log Cabin, later told the Washington Blade that the national group had no knowledge of the San Antonio chapter’s involvement in the protest.

We may be in the blue bubble of San Francisco and the Bay Area, but even theatergoers to “Beetlejuice the

ing, BART general manager Bob Powers announced the retirement of lesbian Paula Fraser, who has worked for the transit agency for 42 years and is stepping down from her role as assistant chief transportation officer, one of the highest ranking roles in the system. She started her career at BART in 1980 as a paramedic with BART police and rose through the ranks.

Course.”

According to the medical group, its course “aims to promote sexual health and responsibility and prevent HIV infection, other sexually transmitted infections, and pregnancy among LGBTQ students. The course teaches school professionals how to provide direct services and utilize school-based practices that

Musical,” now playing at the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco, can get a taste of how low Log Cabin has fallen. From the stage, Beetlejuice jokes about having no real power, “like a gay Republican.”

It’s going to take a seismic shift within Log Cabin’s leadership and chapters if the organization is truly

Fraser said that she decided to join BART after she found it would be impossible to be an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard due to her sexual orientation. BART had a policy that didn’t discriminate on that basis, she said. She was also impressed that BART had paid overtime holidays for Martin Luther King Jr., Chinese New Year, and Cinco de Mayo at a time when other organi-

promote sexual health and responsibility among LGBTQ students.”

Another training recommended by the state education department is The Trevor Project’s “Lifeguard Workshop.” It has a particular focus on suicide prevention and mental health for LGBTQ youth.

The third listed training course provides guidance for teachers

going to make a difference in this country’s political discourse. Sadly, bending the knee to anti-LGBTQ politicians seems to be about the only thing Log Cabin knows how to do. It certainly isn’t issuing media statements defending the LGBTQ community’s long and historical association with drag culture or de

zations did not.

Powers pointed out that Fraser used her own money to pay for BART’s first contingent in the San Francisco Pride parade in 1995.

Dufty praised Fraser’s service. “I just had the opportunity to go to the White House with my son to see President [Joe] Biden sign the Respect for Marriage Act,” he said, referring to the December 13 signing ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House. “You’re part of that continuum over the past couple of generations. Thank you for all that you’ve done.”

Li, who joked that she was not born when Fraser began working at BART, said the agency is better for the queer staff like Fraser.

Fraser was also praised for knowing how to get things done by District 4 Director Robert Raburn and Foley.

Saltzman noted that it wasn’t always easy being an out LGBTQ person at BART.

After the comments and congratulations, Powers presented Fraser with a crystal train.

“You’ll no longer need to sleep with a cellphone under your pillow,” he quipped.t

and administrators on how to implement California’s Health Education Content Standards overseeing inclusive classrooms for LGBTQ youth. It uses content developed by the Orange County Department of Education that was adapted as an online course by the Los Angeles County Office of Education. t

manding that anti-LGBTQ politicians stop attacking trans kids and same-sex marriage. Protesting drag shows and bowing to a disgraced former president might be a shortterm strategy to get Log Cabin a seat at the GOP table, but it comes at the high cost of selling out their fellow queers. No thanks.t

BART Vice President Mark Foley, left, and President Janice Li stood in the boardroom following the vote December 15.

Courtesy BART

by Jim Gladstone

Trend alert: When masked wrestler Bronco (Gorin Norquist) takes to the ring in the frisky San Francisco Playhouse production of “As You Like It” –freely adapted from William Shakespeare by Shaina Taub and Laura Woolery and running through January 14– his efforts to intimidate his rival, Orlando, include puffing out his pecs and giving himself a vigorous two-fisted nipple pinch.

“As You Like It” is one of three musicals to open in the Bay Area this month that feature machismo demonstrated through self-administered titty-twisters. (Bronco’s cohorts in areolal arrogance are the dentist, Oren Scrivello, in TheatreWorks’ “Little Shop of Horrors” and the titular character in the national tour of “Beetlejuice”).

As Jacques (played with unflappable punk panache by Deonalis Arocho Resto) explains in the “As You Like It” prologue, “all the world’s a stage.” And San Francisco is all the world’s staging ground for the evolving expression of gender and

‘As You Like It’

SF Playhouse’s gender-fluid frolic

sexuality. World be warned: Peacocking torsoonanism seems to be on the come-up.

Lest you propose I wander too far afield of the Arden path, let’s be clear that the Shakespeare-cumShaina world of “As You Like It,” too, significantly diverges from its origins, meandering into modern matters of romantic and sexual expression.

Whilst the comedy of the original hinges on mistaken identities, this inarguably trendy 21stcentury version righteously argues that traditional conceptions of gender identity are themselves a mistake.

Jim Andralis

In both iterations, Orlando pursues his crush, Rosalind, into the woods, only to find himself befriended, and inexplicably smitten, by a fellow named Ganymede (Haha! It’s Rosalind, in male disguise! Don’t worry why; he/she’s

Back in Shakespeare’s day, the notion of Orlando being attracted to another man would itself have been a screwball source of guilt-free laughter. While contemporary audiences can appreciate this humor from a historical and intellectual remove, it requires a bit of real-time mental re-

thing needed to propel me out of the Lehigh Valley. I studied abroad in Rome, Italy. I love it there so much. It felt like a place where I felt at home in a way that I never knew that I could. I moved back to Rome for two years, and it was really tough for me to make any money there. I said, ‘Here’s what I’m going to do. I’m gonna move to New York City for one year.’ We’re talking 1993. ‘I’m going to find somebody who’s Italian to bring me back with their company so I can become an Italian citizen.’ I just planted roots in New York City and, I’ve got to be honest with you, next year it will have been 30 years that I’m here, but I would say it was only ten years ago that I made the conscious decision to stay. It’s weird. I was super ambivalent about it. I was like, ‘I love this about it, but I can’t stand this about it!’ I had to really fight through my own brain.

Your multi-hyphenate husband Larry Krone, whose House of Larréon created the fashion capsule collection for  Joe’s Pub, has been a presence on all four of your solo albums. How does your life partnership coincide with your creative partnership?

by Gregg Shapiro

Sometimes, it takes a while to be able to connect, one-to-one, with an artist.

I’ve been listening to and writing about gay singer/songwriter Jim Andralis for more than six years. From his debut album “Your Dying Wish Come True” to his just released new full-length “I Can’t Stop Trying,” Andralis’ music touches me in a way that makes me want to share it with everyone. From his

emotive vocals to his effortless gift for turn of phrase, I mention him to other pop music fans every chance I get. Finally, after all this time, I got the chance to interview Jim, and it was well worth the wait.

Gregg Shapiro: Jim, you’re a Pennsylvania native. Pennsylvania’s a big state – can we narrow that down a bit?

Jim Andralis: I am from Bethlehem, which is eastern Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh is the western steel town, Bethlehem is the eastern

steel town; about an hour and a half to two hours west of New York City, and the same amount of time north of Philadelphia. Lehigh University is in Bethlehem. It’s near Allentown, which Billy Joel wrote the song about.

When did you relocate to New York and what was it that brought you there?

I went to school at Muhlenberg College, which was about 20 minutes away from my house where I grew up. Part of the way into that, I needed to get out. I really felt that some-

There was a place in the East Village called Starlight Lounge. Our friend Julian Fleisher would host a Monday night music thing there. I played there a few times with my band, with LD’s band, with our friend Kenny Mellman.

Kenny Mellman of Kiki & Herb fame?

Yes! Kenny did a solo show at Starlight Lounge and had special guests. I was one of them. I feel like that’s the first time that

a prize).

Andy (Ezra Reaves) and Touchstone (Nicholas Yenson) sing a love ballad accompanied by backup dancers in San Francisco Playhouse’s musical version of ‘As You Like It.’

Jessica Palopoli

Bob Krasner

by Jim Gladstone

Music theater lovers know that while every cast member can make a difference, some shows’ success ultimately hinges on the performance of a leading role. “Fiddler” falls off the roof without a terrific Tevye; that other matchmaker musical is folly without a great Dolly; and “Gypsy” feels like a gyp if you don’t get a fullbloomed Rose.

Add to this scenery-chewing Hall of Fame the title character of “Beetlejuice.” As played with ghoulish gusto by Justin Collette in the musical’s firstever national tour, which launched at the Golden Gate Theatre last week, B.J. is Mama Rose from the Dead.

Serving up garrulous, raunchy charisma in a green-frosted pompadour and the Tim Burton character’s signature striped suit, Collette takes the stage like an electrified, Frankensteined hybrid of Adam Lambert, Nathan Lane and Cab Calloway. He’s a ghost-rustling, fourth-wall-busting joy.

A spotlight-addicted host-with-the most, Collette’s B.J. serves as emcee for a chaotically organized evening. The

Bay Area native Eisler sings well and has strong stage presence, but Brown, King and songwriter Eddie Perfect seem distinctly less committed to their show’s sentimental aspects than what Perfect, an Aussie, might describe as its “mental” ones.

The show’s movie-derived plot, such as it is, follows Lydia, her father (a comically starchy Jesse Sharp) and his new life coach fiancée (Kate Marilley, sexy and silly with a Pebbles Flintstone hairdo) as they move into a house still

Beetlejuice, an invisible half-dead demon (whatevs) is on hand to serve as a sort of death coach for the Maitlands. I honestly didn’t understand why the title character was a part of this story, other than, well, there was a movie first, and it’s named for him.

Narrative nonsense aside, sceneby-scene, “Beetlejuice” delivers more (and bigger) laughs than an average “Saturday Night Live” show (As Adam, Burton is an undead ringer for SNL’s current cast member Mikey Day) with spot-on topical punchlines.

Asked to name their greatest sources of fear, the Maitlands point to “the Trader Joe’s parking lot” and “the electoral college.” When Beetlejuice tosses a leatherbound volume into a flickering fireplace he quips, “I thought this only happened to books that make kids gay.”

Even the smallest roles are played with delicious comic precision: In his walk-on as the mentalist Otho, Abe Goldfarb, delivers a memorable Slavic-cum-Nordic accent that recalls Steve Martin and Dan Akroyd’s wild and crazy swingers; Danielle Marie Gonzalez gleams as a green-skinned former Miss Argentina (R.I.P.) at the center of the show’s funniest musical set-piece, “What I Know Now.” And Karmine Alers does two knockout turns, as one-percenter Maxine Dean and as the larval netherworld matriarch, Juno.

The original music is jolly and rollicking though not particularly earwormy (I can’t recall another Broadway musical with a Playbill that didn’t provide a list of song titles). The show also slavishly features some unoriginal music. The Harry Belafonte hits “Banana Boat Song” and “Jump in the Line” that were featured in the Tim Burton film feel extraneous here for any purposes other than ill-advised brand-building.

In fact, for the most part, “Beetlejuice” deserves major kudos for the distance it steps away from its filmic forefather. Yes, the striped suit, finale sandworm and head-shrunken chorus boy nod to design elements from the movie. But for all his talent, film director Burton is stone-cold overdesigner, tweezing every visual detail into place and hermetically separating it from audience emotions with a gleaming auteurial veneer.

The stage director, Alex Timbers (who also helmed the similarly warmed and humanized theatrical adaptation of “Moulin Rouge”) instinctively understands live theater’s demand for an electric connection between cast and crowd and brings it on big time with his conception of Beetlejuice as impresario of a haunted house party to which every audience member is invited.

There’s a raw, busted seams sense of mayhem to “Beetlejuice” that makes it feel far more alive than most screento-stage adaptations. It’s a firehose guzzle of razzamatazz.t

‘Beetlejuice: The Musical,’ through Dec. 31. $66.50-$184.50 ($40 rush tickets available). Golden Gate Theatre, 1 Taylor St. (888) 746-1799. www.broadwaysf.com

As You Like It

Director Bill English smartly reduces this disconnect by casting willowy, twinkling Nikita Burshsteyn as Orlando and striking, square-jawed River Navaille as Rosalind. Their natural physiognomy helps undermine stereotypical gender expectations and amps up ambiguity from the getgo. Orlando’s masc mask drops even further during two giggly musical interludes in which he fronts a boybandish gang of fluffy pink woodland creatures.

But even as this production’s “Love is Love” subtext bubbles up loud and queer, adaptors Taub and Woolery double down on their messaging, taking further liberties with secondary characters. Shakespeare’s country maiden Audrey and shepherd Silvius are gender-switched to Andy (Ezra Reaves) and Silvia (Sophia Alawi), making their respective end-of-show couplings with Touchstone (Nicholas Yenson, playing it fey to uproarious effect) and Phoebe (Emily Dwyer) into

same-sex affairs.

Taub, whose similarly contemporized “12th Night” delighted on this same stage last year, exhibits a topiarist’s care in trimming and reshaping Shakespeare’s original script. If her refrain-heavy folk-pop musical numbers don’t serve to advance the plot like the best theater songs, they effectively accentuate the overall mood of

whimsy and romance. With its gender fluidity and general festivity, San Francisco Playhouse’s “As You Like It” offers a holiday season evening uniquely in sync with our city’s spirit.t

‘As You Like It’ at SF Playhouse, $15-$100. Thru Jan. 14. 450 Post St. www.sfplayhouse.org

Straining to cultivate the young female audiences that are Broadway’s bread-and-butter repeat ticket buy

Lydia (Isabella Eisler), whose mother’s funeral opens the show. Her journey to adulthood through grief (blecch) provides a wan trickle of sap running parallel to the show’s roaring comedic whitewater.

occupied by the ghosts of its former residents, the squarely suburban Barbara and Adam Maitland (Britney Coleman and Will Burton in fine mock-Rockwell fettle).

Exiles in the Arden Forest in San Francisco Playhouse’s musical version of ‘As You Like It.’

Jessica Palopoli

From page 15

Isabella Eisler and Justin Collette, with (background) Britney Coleman and Will Burton in ‘Beetlejuice’

Adina Hsu

Isabella Eisler, Will Burton and Britney Coleman read from ‘The Handbook for the Recently Deceased’ in ‘Beetlejuice’

Adina Hsu

by Cornelius Washington

The fashion and lifestyle book of the season has emerged. Mr. Ty Hunter has decided to grace the planet with “The Makeover From Within: Lessons in Hardship, Acceptance, and Self-Discovery,” an autobiography that is the must-have for anyone who is striving to create a life and career, based on passion, rigor and aesthetics.

Hunter’s book chronicles the life of a humble, young southern gentleman whose authenticity and talent, has put him into a world of unparalleled influence, influence and success, styling some of the world’s most stratospheric stars in arts and entertainment (Naomi Campbell, Beyoncé, Billy Porter)

Millions of people all over the world and in several industries, inspect every button, bowl, and bias cut he puts together. He also reveals his humanity in a direct, clean-cut manner, and is as sharp as an Yves Saint Laurent day-suit. Mr. Hunter’s glam is reality, with a tie twist.

Cornelius Washington: The book is amazing; very thorough, very moving and truly inspirational. What inspired you to write it?

Ty Hunter: I always wanted to write a book. Everyone wanted me to do a fashion book but I felt telling the story of how I got to where I am would be much more inspirational than giving people fashion advice.

Have you had a catharsis since writing the book, i.e., has the book changed how you see yourself, how others see you, how you see others and how you execute your work?

Yes, because I never had therapy sessions in my life. Writing this book has opened my eyes and let me see things for what they are. It helped me learn more about myself and made me realize I’m on the right track to who I want to be.

What is not in your book that you’d like my readers to know?

Well, I changed a lot of the names.  Maybe I’ll save those gems for another time.

In my research, I’ve heard you say that menswear bores you. Why?

Since styling Billy Porter, I’ve noticed a shift in men’s fashion and it’s becoming more exciting.

What should have been in the book, but didn’t make the cut?

Nothing. I bared my heart and soul in writing this.

Explain how you approach styling for color versus black and white photography?

Usually, I let the photographer do their thing. I meet the photographer and they usually have an inspiration and I try to follow it with a Ty twist.

What accessory have you used in your work that no photographer ever gets right?

I’ve worked with so many talented and inspirational photographers that I’ve very rarely picked over flaws in the work.

What is the most complex look you’ve ever created?

I’ve never really rated the complexity of a look. However, I have been blessed to work with a lot of iconic designers, and I’ve loved them all.  Although I have a lot of favorites, it’s hard to pinpoint one.

What were the top three achievements in your career, and how did that impact your development?

Beyoncé’s appearance at the inauguration of President Obama, the Survivor video, and all Met Galas that Beyoncé and I did together. It forced me to continually try to outdo myself. I don’t compare myself to others but I do try to keep moving up and bettering my craft.

Do you, Beyoncé and Tina Knowles create looks together?  Yes, we have.

What designer always seems to get it right with your work?

Because of my relationship with so many designers, there’s no need to pinpoint one.  I have been blessed to have a beautiful working relationship with so many, it’s not possible to just say one. So many designers have turned out so many beautiful looks.

How does a look usually begin? Is it an event, song, collection, book, film, work of art, music video?

There are different processes for different things.  It depends on the event and timing, and mostly how the client feels.

What is the most surreal moment that you’ve had as a stylist?

Visiting the White House several times during President Obama’s administration.

Who would you like to dress, male or female, that you haven’t yet, and why?

It’s not about celebrity with me. It’s just about bringing joy to the everyday woman. That’s what makes me happy.

What, for you, is the best aspect of styling? Is it the fittings, research, reactions, etc.?

It brings me joy. bringing joy to my client. It makes me happy when they feel beautiful and confident.

Have you had any fashion mishaps that have become miracles?

There is always lost luggage, wrong sizes, and ripped clothes showing up, or not showing up! I believe everything happens for a reason but thank God it’s always been in my favor! I’ve never held on to one particular event because I believe things happen for a reason, so whatever took place was always meant to be.

Is there a phrase that you use to describe a superior look?

“Yes, Bitch.”

Billy Porter has said that you turned him out! When you first met, what made you think that you could?

Just to be able to work with someone who’s open to the options that are not traditional. Billy is able to wear male or female fashion so that gives you so many places you can go with it.

Ty Hunter’s ‘The Makeover From Within: Lessons in Hardship, Acceptance, and Self-Discovery’ Chronicle Books $24.99. www.chroniclebooks.com

Larry became aware of who I was with these overlaps that we had. Larry was doing his own show at Starlight Lounge and contacted me on Friendster to ask whether I would play accordion at his show. Larry knew LD and we had a whole bunch of people in common. LD was also instrumental in us meeting, now that I think about it.

As a dog person myself, I couldn’t help but notice the presence of dogs in your life. The video for your Bridget Everett duet, “Hit The Ground Fuckin’”, featured a stellar cast of pooches. The cover photo for “I Can’t Stop Trying” is of your rescue dog Dory, and the wonderful song “Believe Me” is sung from her point of view. What do Dory and the other dogs in your life mean to you?

It’s hard for me to talk about this, but there are two songs on “Your Dying Wish Come True” about my first dog Nikko. One is called “For A Minute or Two.” After she died, I was trying to think about what it felt like. There was this time when I let her off her leash and she just took off. It’s about that moment where I couldn’t see her or hear her running. I thought, ‘This could be it. This could be the last time I ever see her.’

Then she ran back to me. She was just having her own little adventure. After her death, it was like that feeling, but forever. The other one is called “It’s Not Love,” which is about the messiness of the end of her life. I always felt like she needed something from me but I didn’t know what it was.

I got Nikko when I was in my

late 20s. When I got Nikko, I hadn’t been able to keep a plant alive. I was lonely and I had a hard time being by myself. I come from a family where we say ‘I love you’ repeatedly before we hang up. We always say, ‘I love you.’ There’s always a verbal aspect to love. Nikko was the first relationship that I had that transcended language.

In some ways, I feel like she taught me how to love in a way that had to do with presence and not words. I finished a song the other day that is also about Nikko. It’s been 10 years since she died, and she’s come back

details. I try to trust that that will translate to people. That I’m talking about a really specific thing.

I think that definitely comes through.

Thank you. In some ways, “Dead Man’s Porn,” on the most basic level, is about masturbating to the porn that belonged to a person who died of AIDS who bequeathed his porn collection to whoever the fuck wanted it. It’s also about how fucked it was, for me personally, that much of my experience of the darkest moments of the AIDS crisis was me staying closeted because I was so scared. Sneaking these tiny little erotic moments on the backs of all these people who had died. It’s something that I’d always experienced as super shameful, but it’s my story. ‘I can’t be gay! Look at what’s happening.’ In the meantime, there were people fighting for themselves, and for me, even though I was…

Help Wanted Freelance Reporters

The Bay Area Reporter is seeking freelance reporters to write about the diversity of the LGBTQ community –in news, arts, and sports.

For News, this includes local government, LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS nonprofits, LGBTQ community newsmakers, and other matters of interest.

For Arts, we are looking to increase coverage of local arts events and local nightlife, each with an LGBTQ focus.

into my brain in a way that’s really complicated. I feel like Dory we’re doing right. We are with her. We’re completely permissive [laughs].

I really love the wordplay in your songs, which I think stands out on the songs “Soloflex,” “New York City Spring,” and “Dead Man’s Porn.” Which comes first in your songwriting process, the words or the music?

Sometimes both, but usually the words. I’ll be thinking of a phrase or an experience, an emotional experience. I think the way I get to big experiences is through little

You were afraid. Yes! It was this complicated thing that when I distill it, it’s about my roommate and one of my very best friends. Mark was a volunteer for the Gay Men’s Health Crisis. He was out there helping people, living his gay life. (He would) bring back porn that I would wait until he left to watch [laughs]. It was so crazy. I was like, ‘I’ll write about that.’ It’s a way of taking the most tender, shameful thing, and just being, ‘This is a part of me, and maybe someone else out there had this experience.’ It’s like a little Morse Code to whoever else is listening.t

www.jimandralismusic.com

Read the full interview, with several music clips, on www.ebar.com

The B.A.R. also has an opening for a twice-monthly freelance sports columnist. The ideal candidate would focus in part on news leading up to the 2023 Gay Games in Hong Kong. Other issues include the ongoing fights over trans inclusion in sports nationally, and other topics of interest.

Women and people of color and others are strongly encouraged to apply. The B.A.R. is an equal opportunity employer.

For News and the sports columnist freelancers, send a resume and links to previously published articles to Cynthia Laird, News Editor, at c.laird@ebar.com.

For Arts freelancers, send a resume and online links to previously published articles to Jim Provenzano, Arts and Nightlife Editor, at jim@ebar.com

Ty Hunter

by Gregg Shapiro

With the winter holiday season rapidly wrapping up, you may be considering a last-minute yet appreciated gift. Music is always a popular and appreciated present, and with some recent exciting reissues from which to choose there’s virtually something for everybody on your list.

It’s hard to believe that this Christmas, George Michael will be gone six years. Almost as hard to fathom is that Michael only released four studio albums of original material during a solo career that began in 1987.

“Older” (Epic/Legacy/ÆGEAN), the latest in the ongoing series of George Michael reissues that began in 2010 with “Faith” and continued in 2017 with “Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1/ MTV Unplugged,” shines a spotlight on the 1996 album available in various expanded formats.

The original album, for which Michael kept fans waiting six years (due to a legal battle with a record label), opens with the ballad (and first single)

“Jesus to a Child.” The song was a good indication of the direction in which Michael was moving, as much of the album moves at a slower place, including the dance tunes (second single “Fast Love” is a good example).

Jazz and Brazilian influences dominate, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a George Michael. On the contrary, his voice remains the impressive instrument it always ways, it’s just that “Older” requires a little more patience, which was fittingly the name of his next album, released in 2004.

People are still talking about Joni Mitchell’s surprise appearance at the 2022 Newport Folk Festival, performing with Brandi Carlile and others. In her first public appearance in 20 years, following years of serious health problems, Mitchell stole the show and demonstrated why she is the ultimate diva goddess.

Further reminders of that fact can be found in the latest “The Definitive Albums” box set reissue “The Asylum Albums (1972-1975)” (Rhino/Asylum). Featuring a note by Neil Young,

remastering by Bernie Grundman, and a cover painting by Joni, the set includes “For the Roses” (1972), “Court and Spark” (1974), the live album “Miles of Aisles” (1974),” and “The Hissing of Summer Lawns” (1975). The significance of the three studio albums can’t be emphasized enough.

In addition to being audio illustrations of Mitchell’s growth as a singer/songwriter, these records also featured commercial breakthroughs including hit singles “You Turn Me on I’m A Radio” (from “For the Roses”) and “Help Me” (from “Court and Spark”). Mitchell also won her second Grammy for “Court and Spark.”

Also worth noting is Mitchell’s turn toward jazz arrangements which reached its fruition on “The Hissing of Summer Lawns.” Mitchell fans are also sure to love the way the CD box set recreates some of the distinctive aspects of the original artwork, including the matte finish of “Court and Spark” and the raised graphics of “The Hissing of Summer Lawns.”

Before we get to the musical creatures on the delayed 2022 reissue of the 2018 James Guthrie remix of prog rock deity Pink Floyd’s 1977 album “Animals” (Pink Floyd Music/Sony), it’s best to address the elephant in the room. Roger Waters is a damaged genius. Who else could have helped create dark masterworks such as “The Wall,” “Wish You Were Here,” and “Dark Side of the Moon?”

Waters was recently again in hot water for saying something inappropriate. This time it was pro-Russia/antiUkraine comments that forced him to cancel concerts in Poland. Of course, anyone the least bit familiar with “Animals” in particular, is well aware of Waters’ political leanings. A concept album based loosely on George Orwell’s “Animal Farm,” the five songs, with three clocking in between 10:20 and 17:04 apiece, are serious indictments of capitalism (which is humorous considering how well-off the members of Pink Floyd were by 1977).

Nevertheless, the album, available in a variety of formats, holds up well 45 years after its release, with the band’s members at peak musicianship. It’s also worth noting that, at the time that “Animals” initially came out, prog rock had fallen out of favor and the first-wave of punk rock was the rage. While there may not be much punk in Pink Floyd’s music, the angry messages could clearly be seen as such. Additionally, there are a few funky moments on the album that can be read as nods to the disco sound of the period.

San Francisco punk band Dead Kennedys formed in 1978 (a year after PF’s “Animals” was released). Led by Jello Biafra, Dead Kennedys released its debut album “Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables” (Manifesto), newly reissued with a Chris Lord-Alge remix and a new 28-page booklet.

Propelled by political outrage shared by their British brethren, nothing was sacred to the DKs as you can hear on songs such as “Kill the Poor,” “Let’s Lynch the Landlord,” “Stealing People’s Mail,” and of course “California Über

Alles,” all of which earned them a subversive reputation, as well as gaining them a large following. Dead Kennedys even had something of a hit single with “Holiday in Cambodia.” You can hear the DK’s influence on a cross-section of bands, from Rage Against the Machine to Pansy Division.

If ever there was a perfect example of the idiocy and ignorance of the “suits” who run major record labels, it would have to be the bungling of “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” (Nonesuch) by Wilco. Rising from the ashes of alt-country band Uncle Tupelo, Wilco stuck with that genre’s sound on its 1995 major label debut “A.M.” But on the albums that followed, especially 1999’s poppy “Summerteeth,” it was obvious that Jeff Tweedy and company were interested in greatly expanding their musical horizons.

The stunning “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot,” succeeded in doing that, earning a Wilco a 10 out 10 from prickly Pitchfork, and garnering the band almost universal acclaim. But this also resulted in the band leaving Reprise, which was in flux and being run by fools, for the more welcoming Nonesuch.

Now available in a super deluxe edition featuring the remastered original album and including 82 previously unreleased tracks, such as alternates, outtakes, and demos, as well as a deep dive into the making of the record. “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” stands the test of time, from the stunning album opener “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” to the radio-friendly pop of “War on War” and “Heavy Metal Drummer” to the retro rock of “I’m the Man Who Loves You.” t

by David-Elijah Nahmod

C

able networks like Hallmark and Lifetime abound with holiday movies designed for the whole family to enjoy. It’s an annual tradition. Now, legendary gay adult studio Falcon is tossing its hat into the ring. Falcon has released “Cumming Home for Christmas,” which the producers claim is the first gay porn Christmas movie. While many, if not hundreds of gay adult videos have capitalized on the sexy aspects of the holidays, Falcon’s feature offers a romantic narrative.

As with all Falcon films, production values are high. The film was shot in a beautiful, elegant mansion somewhere in Los Angeles. The plot is a bit threadbare. A New York lawyer comes home to spend the holiday in California with his brother, who’s struggling to keep the family bakery afloat. Naturally the characters spend only a minimal amount of time trying to save the bakery, as they’d rather have

sex. And the film is loaded with plenty of hot man-on-man action, featuring a bevy of beautiful men, including the lawyer’s ex-boyfriend and a wealthy conglomerate owner who attempts to acquire the bakery.

Cade Maddox, one of the film’s stars, said that he’s excited to be in his first X-rated holiday movie.

“I’ve been with Falcon for four years, and I don’t think we’ve ever done a Christmas movie,” Maddox said in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter. “So it was nice to have a totally different concept for a movie. For the acting, it’s nice to step out of the box sometimes.”

Maddox added that Falcon was quite helpful in getting the cast ready to recite their dialogue.

“What they did to help us get into character was, we Facetimed with Ben Rush, who wrote it,” Maddox said. “He knows better than anyone how he wants each character portrayed, so we went over the lines. So then he would tell me, ‘No, you need to be stronger

on this,’ or ‘More dramatic on this,’ so he kind of directs us.”

In addition to writing the film, Rush shared duties with veteran director and performer Steve Cruz.

“Cable television movies have become a seasonal staple,” said Rush. “And we wanted to add Falcon Studios’

signature twist to the format. With people like actress Candace Cameron Bure vowing to feature only ‘traditional marriage’ in her films, I wanted to write and direct something that is, shall we say, more inclusive, and that gives viewers the kind of action that they really want to see.”

“Fans have been asking for holidaythemed movies,” added Cruz. “We wanted to produce something highend, more than just holiday hats on naked boys. We drew inspiration from the cable TV classics but with horny guys at the center of that world.”

Fans are loving “Cumming Home for Christmas,” according to Rush. “They’ve been snatching up the limited edition holiday gift sets to prove it,” he said.

“Falcon/Naked Sword membership sites have been seeing a lot of hustle and bustle,” said Cruz. “It’s almost like Christmas. Fans seem eager to get their holiday horn on.”

Loving Porn Maddox, for his part, is loving his time in the gay porn business. He found his way into the industry after

divorcing his ex-husband. Wondering what to do next, he met a low-budget producer on Grindr who has several websites and a bit of a fan following. Maddox was asked if he had ever thought of doing porn.

“I was fucking anyway, and I thought it’d be pretty cool to get paid for it,” he recalls. “And it turned into something way bigger than what I was expecting. Best decision I ever made in my life.”

Maddox plans to stay in the business for as long as he can.

“I don’t think that’s up to me,” he said. “That’s more up to the consumers and the fans. I give myself ten years, but if it’s longer than that, great. And when my time in front of the camera is up, maybe I can be on the other side of the camera.”

And in spite of preparing for his dialogue scenes, Maddox has no illusions about pursuing an acting career.

“I’m not really an actor,” he said. “I’m more of a fucker.”t

“Cumming Home for Christmas” can be purchased on DVD or viewed at www.FalconStudios.com

Holiday cuties at The Midnight

Trevor Brooks, Dan Saxon, Dakota Payne and Deangelo Jackson in ‘Cumming Home for Christmas’

Falcon Studios

Cade Maddox and Taylor Reign in ‘Cumming Home for Christmas’

Falcon Studios Co-Director Steve Cruz

Falcon Studios