December 2, 2021 Edition of the Bay Area Reporter

SFFD chief speaks

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Vol. 51 • No. 48 • December 2-8, 2021

Newsom taps out judge for appellate bench

by Matthew S. Bajko

Courtesy Jimmie Lopez

Marco Chavez, left, and his husband, Jimmie Lopez, in a photo taken before Chavez was shot.

G

overnor Gavin Newsom has tapped an out judge with Bay Area ties for a vacant seat on the state’s 3rd District Court of Appeal. If confirmed, Judge Laurie M. Earl would be the fifth LGBTQ person serving Courtesy Governor’s office on one of the state’s six Judge Laurie M. appellate courts and the Earl first on the 3rd appeal court bench.

Earl, 60, has served on the Sacramento County Superior Court since 2005, where she has also served as presiding judge. In 2013, she received the Judicial Council’s Ronald M. George Award for Judicial Excellence, its highest honor for a judge, and the Sacramento County Bar Association that year also named her its Judge of the Year.

This summer she made headlines in several cases dealing with the recall attempt against Newsom.

Earl ruled in August that Newsom could brand the effort to oust him from office as being orchestrated by supporters of former President Donald Trump.

In July, Earl overruled the decision by the secretary See page 16 >>

Hearing set for housing project on site of former Sparky’s Diner

by Matthew S. Bajko

A

t its first meeting in December the San Francisco Planning Commission will take up the redevelopment project proposed for the Church Street site of the former Sparky’s Diner. It is the first major housing proposal to move forward in the upper Market Street corridor of the city’s Castro LGBTQ district in five years.

Property owner Ty Bash first revealed plans to demolish the brick building that for years had housed the 24-hour, LGBTQ-friendly eatery two years ago, as the Bay Area Reporter first reported. Sparky’s had operated at 242 Church Street and closed in February 2016, while Thorough Bread and Pastry at 248 Church Street has remained open.

Initially set to be a 22-unit housing development, Bash is now seeking permits for a 24-unit building at 240-250 Church Street that would house the bakery business in a brand new 1,992 square foot retail space.

“We have a housing shortage in our city, and we should encourage construction of affordable-by-design homes,” Bash had told the B.A.R. in June 2019.

See page 16 >>

Gay Oakland couple faces long road after shooting

by John Ferrannini

J Rick Gerharter

Castro welcomes the holidays

S

anta joined Mayor London Breed and other local notables to greet the crowd at the annual lighting of the Castro holiday tree November 29. The Castro Merchants Association organized the event, which returned after a hiatus in 2020 due

to the COVID-19 pandemic. (There was a tree last year, but no public ceremony.) Merchants hope for a bustling holiday shopping season in the LGBTQ district.

immie Lopez didn’t think much of it when around 7:40 p.m. on October 30 he saw a strange car sitting idle in front of the Oakland home he shares with his husband, Marco Chavez, and their two children.

“It was definitely an older model – 1990s or early 2000s. I’m not exactly a car buff,” Lopez, a 43-year-old gay man, told the Bay Area Reporter.

“Maybe a Buick, Oldsmobile, or an older Dodge.

Silver or cream; it was dark outside.”

As he went back into the house, the car pulled closer to the front of the couple’s home. Chavez was holding their 5-week-old baby girl behind the living room’s bay windows. Their 4-year-old daughter was also in the room.

See page 8 >>

Hanukkah celebration returns to the Castro

by David-Elijah Nahmod

A

fter canceling the public Hanukkah celebration in the Castro last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, about 100 people turned out November 30 for the return of the large menorah in Jane Warner Plaza.

Hanukkah is the Jewish Festival of Lights.

The menorah lighting was organized by Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, San Francisco’s LGBTQ synagogue; the Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit District; and the Castro Merchants Association. The majority of attendees were members of the synagogue and there were also allies to the Jewish community present, as well as dignitaries such as gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who are both Jewish. Also on hand was gay former District 9 supervisor David Campos, who is currently running for state Assembly.

The festivities were led by Sha’ar Zahav’s leader, Rabbi Mychal Copeland, who is a lesbian, and Cantor Sharon Bernstein.

“I’m thrilled to be out here this year,” Copeland told the Bay Area Reporter. “Two years ago it rained and last year we were canceled due to COVID, so we have been waiting for the community to be together in the Castro again. This is our favorite event of the year. Our congregation only opened up to in-person services a few weeks ago so it’s especially delightful to see everyone out here tonight.”

Rick Gerharter

Congregation Sha’ar Zahav Rabbi Mychal Copeland, right, spun a dreidel during a menorah lighting ceremony November 30 in Jane Warner Plaza that included music, singing, and jelly doughnuts.

Attendees were also happy to be back. The menorah celebration has taken place for several years, up until last year’s hiatus.

“I feel great about being here,” said congregant Ora Prochovnick, a 64-year-old queer woman.

“It’s wonderful to be together again. Hanukkah is about rededicating so it feels great that we can be together and celebrate this rededication again.”

Music for the evening was provided by GayIz-Mir, Sha’ar Zahav’s in-house Klezmer band, and by Bernstein, who stood at the keyboard and sang traditional Hanukkah melodies.

“It is the third night of Hanukkah,” Copeland noted as she addressed the crowd, as the weeklong festival began at sundown November 28. “I’m glad that it has not passed you by because many in our community are just waking up to the fact that it is indeed Hanukkah already. So good for you, you not only knew, but you got out here, and it is wonderful to see you. It is the third night that we are bringing some light into the world, and this is the perfect place to get to do it.”

See page 16 >>

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Your healthcare provider will test you for HBV. If you have both HIV-1 and HBV, your HBV may suddenly get worse if you stop taking BIKTARVY. Do not stop taking BIKTARVY without first talking to your healthcare provider, as they will need to check your health regularly for several months, and may give you HBV medicine.

ABOUT BIKTARVY BIKTARVY is a complete, 1-pill, once-a-day prescription medicine used to treat HIV-1 in adults and children who weigh at least 55 pounds. It can either be used in people who have never taken HIV-1 medicines before, or people who are replacing their current HIV-1 medicines and whose healthcare provider determines they meet certain requirements.

BIKTARVY does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS. HIV-1 is the virus that causes AIDS. Do NOT take BIKTARVY if you also take a medicine that contains:  dofetilide  rifampin  any other medicines to treat HIV-1

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Your healthcare provider will need to do tests to monitor your health before and during treatment with BIKTARVY.

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GET MORE INFORMATION  This is only a brief summary of important information about BIKTARVY. Talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist to learn more.  Go to BIKTARVY.com or call 1-800-GILEAD-5  If you need help paying for your medicine, visit BIKTARVY.com for program information.

BIKTARVY, the BIKTARVY Logo, GILEAD, the GILEAD Logo, KEEP ASPIRING, and LOVE WHAT’S INSIDE are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc., or its related companies. Version date: February 2021 © 2021 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. BVYC0367 04/21

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<< Community News

t Chief addresses SFFD discrimination allegations 4 • Bay Area Reporter • December 2-8, 2021

by John Ferrannini

I

n her first public comments about three pending lawsuits against the department alleging anti-LGBTQ discrimination, lesbian San Francisco Fire Chief Jeanine Nicholson told the Bay Area Reporter she has made it clear such behavior is unacceptable.

Nicholson had declined an interview with the B.A.R. earlier this year after lesbian Assistant Fire Chief Nicol Juratovac became the third – and highest ranking – member of the LGBTQ community to publicly accuse the department of discrimination in 2021.

The B.A.R. was able to pose a question to Nicholson – the city’s first LGBTQ fire chief – at an event she attended at Manny’s, a gayowned cafe and event space in the Mission neighborhood. She took part in a conversation November 30 facilitated by Precious Green, Manny’s director of programming.

During the question-and-answer period, Nicholson was asked: “The city has faced three lawsuits from LGBTQ firefighters alleging discrimination since the pandemic. Considering this, what are you doing to make the SFFD a safer place for LGBTQ firefighters to work, and to recruit within the LGBTQ community?”

Nicholson responded that as far as recruitment goes, “we are building our recruitment through our diversity, equity, and inclusion office.

That will be part of it; it’s not a racial equity only. We just started to staff that office with a captain of recruitment, and are working intently with others about how to build that out.”

With regard to the lawsuits and anti-discrimination measures in the workplace, “I can’t get into particulars about that, but I have encouraged all of our members if they have

John Ferrannini

San Francisco Fire Chief Jeanine Nicholson, left, appeared at Manny’s and was interviewed by Precious Green, the director of programming at the gay-owned cafe and event space in the Mission.

an issue to come forward. I’ve been very clear about being queer, being out, and what is acceptable behavior in the department but I can’t comment on the lawsuits.”

The three lawsuits

Gay firefighter Keith Baraka was the first to file suit against the city back in January, as the B.A.R. reported, on the basis of racial and sexual orientation discrimination.

Baraka alleged he was disciplined after speaking out, and compared Nicholson to Roy Cohn, long said to be gay himself, yet who targeted federal officials based on real and suspected homosexuality while serving as chief counsel to the late Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-Wisconsin) during the 1950s Red Scare.

“That’s how bad she is,” Baraka said.

Baraka did not immediately respond to a request for comment December 1. His attorney, former city supervisor and mayoral candidate Angela Alioto, a straight ally, is also representing Ronnie Jones, who as the B.A.R. reported back in February is suing the city alleging he was discriminated against on the basis of his race and gender identity.

Jones, a paramedic for the fire department, claims he faced a hostile environment after coming out as transgender in 2015 and was passed over for a promotion.

After being read Nicholson’s remarks, Alioto said that Nicholson being an out lesbian isn’t relevant to whether the department is practicing discrimination.

“The misconception that because one is gay, other gay people are treated equally, is a problem I see on

a regular basis throughout the city, but also all the corporations we sue,” Alioto said. “There’s a sense that ‘I’m gay. How can I discriminate against you?’ Her comment has that she’s gay in it but me being gay, or you being gay, isn’t relevant. You can see from her comment [that] she’s coming from an unequal place.”

“It’s something I have to address in front of a jury,” she continued.

Alioto said that “the concept of treating everyone equally is lost on the city” and that “the way Keith and Ronnie were treated is despicable.”

Alioto said that both cases are currently in the litigation process and that trial dates are about six months away. “We’re trying to get documents back and forth and it’s a process,” she said.

Juratovac sued in May, alleging both discrimination and whistle-

blower retaliation. Her attorney, Mark P. Fickes, a gay man, told the B.A.R. that the suit has been scheduled for trial in December 2022.

Fickes said Nicholson’s remarks were “not surprising.”

“I’m sure the city attorney wouldn’t want her to comment,” Fickes said. “The lawsuit is pending.

I don’t want to get into the details of our suit.”

In a statement late January 25, after Baraka filed his suit, then-San Francisco City Attorney communications director John Coté stated, “The city takes equal employment issues seriously and is committed to fostering a welcoming workplace free of discrimination or harassment based on race, sexual orientation or any other protected characteristic.

“Privacy protections in personnel matters limit what we can publicly say, and we’re not going to try this case in the press,” Coté added. “Mr. Baraka brought this complaint in a court of law, so that is where we will address it.”

Coté reiterated those comments after Jones filed his lawsuit.

After Juratovac filed her lawsuit, an SFFD spokesman commented but declined an interview request with Nicholson.

“The city and the Fire Department take equal employment issues seriously,” SFFD spokesman Lieutenant Jonathan Baxter stated. “We are committed to fostering a welcoming, inclusive workplace free of discrimination or harassment based on race, gender, sexual orientation, or any other protected characteristic. We are also committed to a workplace free of retaliation for any protected activity. As this involves a personnel matter, we are unable to comment on it at this time.” t

<< Open Forum

6 • Bay Area Reporter • December 2-8, 2021

Volume 51, Number 48 December 2-8, 2021 www.ebar.com

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Another reason to get vaxed

I

n much of the early coverage of the new Omicron coronavirus variant, one thing is key – people should get vaccinated, or get a booster if they were vaccinated at least six months ago.

While Omicron is cause for concern, scientists and researchers don’t yet know a lot about this newest mutation of the virus. But we’d rather have leaders take the initiative – as was evidenced by the institution of travel bans from some countries in Africa where it was discovered and others – than wait like politicians did nearly two years ago. The problem is that countries are doing the same mishmash of travel restrictions that they’ve done throughout the pandemic, which have proved to be unsuccessful. There should be a consistent policy. The first Omicron case was reported in California – in San Francisco – December 1, and it’s been reported in Canada.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, previously said he wouldn’t be surprised if the variant is already on U.S. soil. So people need to be prepared.

The best way to do that is to get the shot. It is long past time to put politics aside, especially in red states, but also locally. There have been various reports of municipal workers refusing to get vaccinated in cities across the Bay Area.

One of them was Susannah Greason Robbins, executive director of the San Francisco Film Commission. After 11 years on the job, the San Francisco Chronicle (https://www.sfchronicle. com/bayarea/article/Director-of-S-F-FilmCommission-forced-to-resign-16626907.php) reported in mid-November that Robbins’ last day will be December 31. She apparently had religious objections, but her request for a waiver was denied, the paper reported. There are still many law enforcement officers throughout the state who are refusing to get vaccinated, which is something that’s hard to fathom because they are often put in situations where they deal with the public and could easily be exposed to the virus. Then again, many officers tend toward the political right. San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa, who recently announced he’s running for Congress to replace Jackie Speier, wants people throughout the Bay Area to be prepared. “It’s inevitable that Omicron reaches our shores despite these

photoCourtesy Reuters

People should get the COVID vaccine or booster, especially in light of the new Omicron variant.

new travel restrictions,” Canepa stated November 29. “The Bay Area is leading the nation in ending COVID but we can’t let this new variant take us backward. We know what to do. If you haven’t gotten the booster shot yet, get it today. Do not wait. Get your children vaccinated and continue to please wear your damn masks.

It will be a very long winter if we do not brace for the inevitable that Omicron cases will soon show up here.”

He’s right. It was nearly a year ago that the Bay Area endured another shutdown – though it was not as severe as the first shelterin-place order that started in March 2020 – and that was before the highly transmissible Delta variant emerged this summer. We don’t anticipate the state or region locking down again; thankfully, there are so many people who are vaccinated. However, those who have not yet done so put themselves and others at risk. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention swiftly updated its COVID booster advice this week to state that all adults “should” get one. Previously, the CDC had stated that Americans over 50 and those 18 or older living in long-term care facilities should get a booster while others “may” get one. Not anymore. This speaks

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to the growing concern among government officials about Omicron.

Biden on Monday gave remarks on Omicron, reiterating the importance of vaccinations and booster shots – children as young as 5 can now get inoculated – and the president said that Fauci believes that vaccines will offer at least some protection against the new variant.

The president also addressed what is a major problem: poorer countries are struggling to get any vaccines. According to the New York Times, just over 10% of people in Africa have received one dose of the vaccine, compared to 64% in North America and 62% in Europe. South Africa itself has a better vaccination rate than most countries on the continent, and its scientists were the first to announce that the Omicron variant was found in four people from Botswana, the paper reported. On Tuesday, it was reported that the variant was first in Europe before the South African researchers flagged the Botswana cases, which just shows how quickly information is being learned about it. Meanwhile, countries like the U.S. are being criticized for hoarding the vaccines at the expense of other nations. “To beat the pandemic, we have to vaccinate the world as well,” Biden said, according to a transcript.

“And America is leading that effort. We’ve shipped – for free – more vaccines to other countries than all other countries in the world combined: over 275 million vaccines to 110 countries. Now we need the rest of the world to step up as well.”

The U.S. as a whole has a vaccination rate of about 60%. That is too low – the shots are free and widely available. Here in the Bay Area, the rates are much better, ranging from 83% in Santa Clara County, 81% in San Francisco and Contra Costa counties, and 77% in Alameda. Marin and San Mateo counties have higher rates. But health officials report that there is a lag in people getting their booster shots. Don’t delay. With the holiday gatherings only a few weeks away, it’s vital that people protect themselves. Last year at this time we were struggling with a surge and the vaccines weren’t yet widely available. Today, that has all changed. It appears that COVID is not going away – be part of the solution and get vaxed. t

A tribute to Stephen Sondheim

by Marc Huestis

Bay Area Reporter

t

n 1971, at the age of 17, I ventured (by myself) from my Long Island home to New York City to see my first live musical: Stephen Sondheim’s “Company.” In an instant I was hooked. When Elaine Stritch belted and brayed “Ladies Who Lunch” I knew I wanted to grow up to be her. It was a revelation, and changed my life.

After that, I became a Broadway baby, largely because of Sondheim. I saw the Hal Prince production of “Follies” at least 10 times. I became a “Follies” groupie, and a teenage stage-door Johnny. After the show, I waited for the stars so many times that both Alexis Smith and Dottie Collins took a shine to me, telling me that I was just the most adorable thing they had ever laid eyes on.

Through the years, even after moving to San Francisco, I made the pilgrimage to New York to see the original Broadway casts of “A Little Night Music,” “Into the Woods,” “Sweeney Todd,” “Pacific Overtures,” “Passion,” and my absolute favorite, “Sunday in the Park With George.” After that show’s song “Move On” I was shaken to the very core, and one of the show’s lyrics taught me the profound life lesson that the two things you leave behind are children and art.

That wisdom has stayed with me almost 30 years after the original opening. I come from a generation where gay people having children was more of a rarity and, to be quite honest, I never for a moment wanted one. In my dark days, as a partnerless and childless queer, I questioned my purpose in life. Thus, I felt great affinity for Sondheim’s lyric. In writing this song I think he was acknowledging that

Courtesy Reuters

Stephen Sondheim, a master of musical theater, died November 26.

those of us, like he and me, who are childless can at least leave behind our art.

Moments like this exist everywhere in his work and get to the crux of why Sondheim was so important to many gay men. Though he never (to my knowledge) actually had any openly gay characters, and was quiet as an openly gay man himself, his work brims with a gay sensibility and subtext. And in a world where the obvious has to be stated, and identity is worn like a badge, his characters are alive with a common humanity. He champions the lonely, the outsider, the unmarried, the queer, the ugly, the sensitive, the artist, the angry. And everyone who sees a Sondheim show, from whatever background they come from, can take away deep empa-

thy and an enriched understanding of themselves and the world around them.

This is why his death November 26 at age 91 has had such a profound effect on so many of us, who flooded social media with deeply heartfelt tributes not only praising his work, but honoring him as a human being. To paraphrase again the song “Children and Art” – isn’t he beautiful, there he is, there he is, Sondheim was everywhere.

The night of his death I watched “Sunday In The Park” in tribute. As the song “Move On” played, I again broke down in tears and remembered that kid who went to see “Company,” his first Broadway show, who was wide-eyed, open to life’s possibilities, and in love with life and art. Though that person is now world weary, sadder, and wiser, and scared and unsure of where he will go as an artist, Sondheim’s profound lyric serves as a guiding star: “Stop worrying where you’re going Move on If you can know where you’re going You’ve gone Just keep moving on” Stephen Sondheim has now moved on. He was a genius, an important part of so many lives. His passing is an incredible loss. But his work will live on in theaters, cinemas, and opera houses for centuries. He left behind no children but great art. God bless Stephen Sondheim. t

This piece was expanded from a Facebook post Marc Huestis wrote. Huestis, a gay man, is an award-winning filmmaker and stage producer. A documentary on his life, “Impresario,” will premier in 2022.

t

Politics >>

December 2-8, 2021 • Bay Area Reporter • 7

Gay attorney to join Alameda court

by Matthew S. Bajko

W

hen attorney Peter E. Borkon takes his oath of office as a judge sometime in early 2022, he will bring the number of LGBTQ people serving on the Alameda County Superior Court to 10. His joining the East Bay bench will further cement it as having the largest contingent of out jurists of any superior court in Northern California.

Borkon, 50, is the second gay man Governor Gavin Newsom has appointed to fill a vacancy on the county court. Last December, Newsom tapped former law clerk Keith Fong, who was enrobed in March.

Newsom this year also named his former chief deputy legal affairs secretary, Kelli M. Evans, to the Alameda bench. A queer Black woman, Evans took her judicial oath in early October.

In a rare post-holiday release about his latest judicial appointments, as news about judge picks often comes on a Friday prior to a holiday weekend, Newsom announced Monday, November 29, that he had chosen Borkon to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Patrick J. Zika. It came in addition to the news that Newsom had nominated lesbian Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Laurie M. Earl to be the first LGBTQ person to serve on the 3rd District Court of Appeal. (See story, page 1.)

In a November 30 phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter, Borkon said, “It is quite the honor and deeply humbling to serve the people of Alameda County. I am grateful for the opportunity.”

A graduate of Southern Illinois University Law School, Borkon first arrived in the Bay Area in 1998 after being hired as a civil research attorney at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A year later he became a senior motions attorney for the federal appellate court.

“It is a stunning building,” Borkon said. “Working in that building is like working inside a piece of art.”

In 2001, he became a principal at law firm Cotchett, Pitre, Simon & McCarthy. He joined Schubert & Reed LLP as an associate in 2005 and, two years later, became a partner and associate at Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP in Berkeley. In 2019, Borkon became a partner at the Oakland office of Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP. The San Francisco resident has yet to decide if he will relocate to Alameda County, as his not residing in the court’s jurisdictional geographic area could become problematic if someone from the county decides to challenge Borkon for his judicial seat. Noting he has practiced law and worked in the East Bay county since 2007, Borkon told the B.A.R.

Courtesy Governor’s office

Peter E. Borkon

he doesn’t believe his living elsewhere should be a problem.

“I have been doing the cross-bay commute 15, 16 years, I think,” said Borkon, who told the B.A.R. he expected to be fully apprised of the rules for judges and the details of his swearing-in ceremony in the coming weeks.

“These are bridges we will cross when we actually get sworn in and actually start a courtroom assignment.”

After a San Francisco Superior Court judge ruled in 1999 that a longstanding residency requirement for judges was unconstitutional, judges no longer must live in the county where they serve. A 2020 fact sheet about the state judiciary by the Judicial Council of California says nothing about where superior court judges, who serve sixyear terms, need to reside.

They do need to be an attorney admitted to practice law in California or have served as a judge of a court of record in the state for at least 10 years immediately preceding their appointment or election, as their county’s voters elect them on a nonpartisan ballot at a general election. It is exceedingly rare for a sitting judge to face a contested election in the Golden State.

Borkon had first applied for a judicial appointment with former governor Jerry Brown and reapplied with Newsom’s administration in December 2019. He is the second former board member of the AIDS Legal Referral Panel to be named to the Alameda court, as Brown had appointed Jenna M. Whitman, a lesbian, to it in 2018.

Told of Borkon’s appointment by the B.A.R., ALRP Executive Director Bill Hirsh said it was “great news.”

Borkon served on the legal nonprofit’s board, including as its co-chair, in the mid-2000s.

“He is such a lovely guy. He is really bright. He is very dedicated and hardworking, and he is very compassionate,” said Hirsh. “I think having somebody who understands some of the issues our folks wrestle with, and I think Peter has a good sense of what those issues are and how our clients struggle, I think will make for a great judge.”

Having to leave his law firm and curtail his philanthropic work by becoming a judge is “bittersweet,” said Borkon, who currently sits on

the board of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. He does expect to be able to help select the agency’s new permanent CEO before having to resign from his seat.

“I love my practice, my law partners, and my teams. Having to consider which charities to depart from and those things is very bittersweet for me,” said Borkon.“I have built very deep and lasting friendships in those circles. I think very highly of the work that is being done, so it is a loss for me in some ways to step down from those roles.”

In the 2000s he co-chaired the Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom’s Judicial Nominations and Endorsements Committee. After applying to be a judge himself, Borkon found himself being interviewed by the LGBTQ bar association about his having the temperament to serve as a jurist.

“I strive to be curious, even-handed, neutral. I have seen a lot of good judges in my career; I’ve been at this quite a long time,” said Borkon. “Listening, trying to understand and apply the law in a neutral manner to the facts of any given case is the cornerstone of what makes our judicial system great. I will certainly endeavor to try to be one of those judges.”

As a child in Carbondale, Illinois, Borkon had his first introduction to the legal system when his parents divorced.

No longer close with his father, Borkon and his younger sister have remained close with their mother and stepfather, who legally adopted them last year.

“The difficulty I saw in their interactions in the judicial system taught me, at an early age, that justice and how the courts manage their cases directly impacts the lives of people in the community,” he said. “That sense of justice is something I have had a very long time in my life. I attribute a lot of that to those moments in my early childhood.”

His entire legal career, said Borkon, has been about righting wrongs.

“While I have done that in a civil litigation context, I will be excited to hear the cases of the people who come before me in whatever courtroom I am assigned to and apply the law in an unbiased and diligent manner to the facts of those cases,” he said.

Borkon has been with his husband, Kristofer Konietzko, who works at Salesforce, for nearly 12 years. He will earn $223,829 as a judge.

The first gay man to join the Alameda bench was Judge Tom Reardon, who has served on it for 23 years. The other four out female judges are Kimberly E. Colwell, Tara M. Flanagan, Karin S. Schwartz, Elena Condes, and Victoria S. Kolakowski.

Condes, who is Latina and became the first LGBTQ woman of color on the Alameda court in January, was elected last year to an open seat. Kolakowski is the state’s lone out transgender jurist and is married to B.A.R. news editor Cynthia Laird. t When

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<< Commentary

8 • Bay Area Reporter • December 2-8, 2021

Gift giving that matters

by Gwendolyn Ann Smith

I

n the earliest days of what would eventually become my transition, within weeks of my first coming out to the person who would become my spouse of 29 years and counting, I was handed a gift box.

In it was a small item of jewelry, presented both to show her love for me, but also to acknowledge my gender.

I don’t wear it often – to be honest, I would fear losing something that precious to me – but it remains one of the best gifts I have ever been given. It was a simple but very powerful gesture that helped show that I was cared for, no matter how I chose to express my gender.

We have, at long last, reached the holiday season. It’s that final month or two of the year when the right tells us that the left is somehow going to ban Christmas while Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” magically manifests itself in every speaker across the nation.

For many of us who may be trans or nonbinary, too, this can be a difficult time of year, when we remember being disinvited from long-cherished family get-togethers as a result of our transitions or whatnot. It can be a painful re-

<<

Oakland couple

From page 1

“I told Marco and the girls to get ready for dinner,” Lopez said. “Within a couple of seconds, I started hearing the sound of firecrackers, then the clinking of metal, so I started screaming ‘get down, get down, get down.’ Then, I heard Marco let out a ruffled moan.”

Christine Smith

minder that, within some families, unconditional love doesn’t exist.

I want to speak to those in my audience who may have friends who identify as some form of trans. I want you to take a moment and think of them, the things you love about them, the days you wish you could help lighten their spirits, and make them feel just a little better. As this is the season of gifts given as a token of friendship and camaraderie, now is the time to reach out and show others that you appreciate them.

Much like my own partner did for me, maybe some form of adornment may be in order. Consider their taste, and find something that might enhance their look and elevate their feelings.

Provide something that says that you find them a valuable and won-

Lopez grabbed the couple’s older daughter and “put her under the kitchen island.” Chavez slid the baby over to Lopez, who placed her under the kitchen island as well, telling the couple’s older child that “I need you to be a big girl right now; I need you to take care of your sister.”

When Lopez got to Chavez, he saw

t

derful part of your life, because much of the world likes to tell us otherwise 365 days a year.

Remember, too, that this need not be jewelry. That’s not going to be right for everyone. Again, consider the style of your friend, and seek to accent it – not change it. I can assure you that there’s no end of people who would like to do that, whether we wish it or not.

Likewise, you can do what you can to aid in one’s environment. Provide items of use to your friends, or things they could use to make their world a little bit better. Again, for some this might be something worn, but it could be something for the place they lay their head at night or what have you. Share a little something that will make a hard life just a bit easier this holiday season – and points for flair: consider a gift that will not only be useful or practical, but will also add a touch of beauty or style.

Oh, and let’s not forget that there are countless people on sites like Etsy who may be able to provide something at least a bit unique and special, and who may, themselves, be a struggling trans

artisan. You can elate those you care about while elevating an artist in need.

With that in mind, I also note that I am a big fan of music of practically any genre. If you know your friend’s taste, consider something along similar lines. I’d say the same about books, and add that in both cases, there are any number of really excellent trans musicians and authors who would be worth considering.

I don’t feel like naming too many specifics here, though I will note that I recently finished reading S. Bear Bergman’s “Special Topics in Being a Human” and would recommend it to darned near anyone.

Rather than just my recommendations, however, I would suggest that asking to know more about your friend’s musical or literary tastes might be, itself, a gift.

Your time and attention has value, too.

Let’s talk about that a bit more, though. Yes, this is harder in the times of COVID-19, where going out somewhere public can be all that more extra of a production, but consider ways you can make yourself available to your trans

friends during the holiday season. Arrange some time to hang out, spend some time virtually, do what you can to provide a little of your time, which may be one of the more precious gifts you can provide.

As I alluded to before, many trans and nonbinary people may not have a family to go home to for the holidays. For a lot of us, the holidays are just a particularly lonely day as one’s few friends themselves become scarce, participating in the rituals of the season that many trans folks have been locked out of.

It is a harsh reality that for many of us, a warm meal, a friendly smile, and even being asked just how we are can be more valuable than the stereotypical sedan wrapped in a comically oversized bow. Even the smallest gestures may mean the world to us – all the more given the rest of the world may have turned against us.

For myself, that small pendant I received one year was worth more than I could ever imagine, and not because of any price tag.

It showed it was I that had worth in this world, and that matters. t

two to three puddles of his husband’s blood. He’d been shot in the mouth.

“I was trying to flip him over, but he wouldn’t let me,” Lopez said, explaining he wanted to check if Chavez had also been shot elsewhere.

Lopez called 911. An ambulance and the fire department showed up, followed by Oakland police.

Unexplained act of violence

make some sense of that, but this is not what that was.”

In a statement to the B.A.R., the Oakland Police Department stated that it is investigating the shooting.

“A victim was struck by gunfire and transported to a local hospital, where they were last listed in stable condition,” a police spokesperson stated.

“There were two ShotSpotter activations associated with this incident. This investigation is ongoing and we do not have any other details to release at this time.” (ShotSpotter is a gunfire locator service that Oakland police use.)

Chavez had been standing in front of the bay windows with the “blinds up and lights on,” according to Lopez.

Lopez said that 12 bullet casings were recovered by police in front of the couple’s home.

“Police gave a couple of scenarios but none made sense to me,” Lopez said. “They said maybe they [the people in the car] saw someone who was a target and that person was being shot at and they missed, and I said ‘with all due respect, they shot 12 rounds at someone in front of our home that wasn’t hit, and no other home had any disturbance?’ If you fire 12 shots and you miss someone, I imagine you keep shooting. It doesn’t make sense.”

Lopez added, “I cannot for the life of me understand why someone would do this,” but speculated that “the first thing in my mind is maybe, you know, some people in the Bay Area don’t like people who are gay. I’d hate to think that’s the reason for the crime. If it was a stray bullet, I could

Gwen Smith just wants to know she helped others this holiday season. You’ll find her at www. gwensmith.com

Couple moved to West Oakland

The couple moved to their house near the West Oakland BART station three years ago after many years in San Francisco’s Mission neighborhood, Lopez said. They met in 2006 at the Bar on Castro, which was at the location where Q Bar is today.

See page 9 >>

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Paying tribute to those lost to AIDS

A

smaller crowd than usual gathered at the National AIDS Memorial Grove in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park November 30 for Light in the Grove. Held on the eve of World AIDS Day, the event was a benefit for the grove and paid tribute to those lost to HIV/AIDS over the last 40 years. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the grove, a living memorial and the nation’s federally designated memorial to AIDS. Panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, which is now overseen by the grove, were displayed in lighted cases, as seen at left, and there was a short program featuring remarks by grove CEO John Cunningham, gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, and other officials.

t HIV/AIDS News>>

December 2-8, 2021 • Bay Area Reporter • 9

Report finds lack of ‘leadership’ at state Office of AIDS

by John Ferrannini

The Sacramento Bee reported on the Deloitte report in November when it obtained it as part of a Public Records Act request. Checks intended for the agency were sent to a UPS mailbox possessed by Iwamoto and addressed to a fake consulting firm, the paper reported. Court documents state that the money was used for “season tickets to Sacramento Kings games, suites at [San Francisco] Giants and [Oakland] Raiders games, trips to Disneyland and a boat cruise for [Flores’] daughter’s birthday,” the paper reported. The Disney-related expenses alone totaled over $184,000.

A

2019 third-party report in the wake of a fraud scandal at the California Office of AIDS found that there was a “lack of checks and balances” as well as a lack of “direction, leadership, oversight and mentorship,” and gave recommendations as to how the state agency should move forward.

As the Bay Area Reporter reported November 3, there have been two guilty pleas from former Office of AIDS employees as a result of the scandal, which saw the agency – tasked with coordinating state services, programs, and activities related to the HIV/AIDS epidemic under the aegis of the California Department of Public Health – defrauded out of approximately $2.7 million between December 2017 and November 2018.

While reporting on the two federal cases, the B.A.R. inquired of the Office of AIDS how it will prevent fraud schemes in the future. The agency told the B.A.R. that an independent contractor made a number of recommendations and that these had been implemented.

According to the agency, these recommendations included establishing “clear roles and responsibilities of staff and [establishing] desktop policies and procedures;” developing “a more comprehensive invoice process;” and improving “structured approval processes of contracts.”

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The California Office of AIDS has tightened up financial operations since a fraud scandal.

When the B.A.R. asked for a copy of the full report, it was told it would receive a response in 10-14 days in accordance with the state’s Public Records Act. Several weeks later the California Department of Public Health handed over the 64-page document, which was compiled by San Francisco-based Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP. As part of the scheme, according to federal prosecutors, five people and their families and friends obtained millions of dollars “in personal benefits, including but not limited to cash and purchased items.” These included Christine M. Iwamoto, 47, of Sacramento, and fellow Office of AIDS employee Schenelle M. Flores, who pleaded guilty October 28 and February 11, respectively, and are awaiting sentencing.

ISO 12647-7 Digital Control Strip 2009

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Oakland couple

100 60

From page 8

“I’d just moved there [to San Fran100 100 60 100 100 Marco 70 70 30 100or 100 60 cisco] and I met a 30 month two later,” Lopez said, adding that they were married in 2014 and had both of their children via surrogacy: the first in 2017 and the second just weeks before the shooting.

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Courtesy Office of AIDS

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Recommended changes

The report was based on Fiscal Years 2017-2018 and 2018-2019. It made two broad observations, the first of which was a “lack of processes and tools in place to manage budgets.”

“Based on process walkthroughs performed, we learned that the processes for managing budgets, account balances, and invoices were not being performed on a consistent basis,” the report states. “For example, trackers for maintaining starting budget amounts, encumbrances, and remaining contractual obligations were not kept up to date. In addition, invoice logs were not routinely or timely updated to record third party invoices received therefore, actual expenditures incurred for each contract and encumbrance was inaccurate.”

The second broad observation was a “lack of checks and balances in place to ensure fiscal changes made are appropriate.”

The recommendations were listed after more particular observations, called the “detailed findings” of the report.

The first of these was a “lack of coordination and communication between Program and related parties.” The recommendation was that the Office of AIDS leadership should conduct one-on-one meetings with individuals and to ensure “matters related to budgeting, fiscal position, and any other operational topics that require management attention” are discussed at the office’s monthly meetings.

The second observation was that the program “lacks direction, leadership, oversight and mentorship from [HIV] Prevention Branch management and OA [Office of AIDS] leadership.” The recommendation was that the role of prevention branch chief should be filled “with an individual who has both a strong fiscal and administrative background to lead the branch.”

The third observation was that there were “no established roles and responsibilities or policies or procedures in place.” The recommendation was that the duty statements needed to be overhauled so they matched management’s current expectations for each role within the agency.

The fourth observation was that there was a “lack of comprehensive invoicing process and controls over invoice approval within Prevention Branch.” The recommendation was that there be a “central point of contact within Prevention Branch” for invoices.

The fifth observation was that there was “apparent mismanagement of fiscal budget, fiscal position of contracts, funds, grants[,] etc.” The recommendation was that leadership should establish “an internal audit program for review of contracts, budgets, and fiscal reporting.”

The sixth observation was that there was a “lack of ability to track accountability, document performance and prioritize needs.” The recommendation was that bi-annual meetings to account for performance be implemented.

The seventh observation was that there was a “lack of structured approval and due diligence process for contracts.” The recommendation was that there needed to be a “formal policy and procedure” for reviewing contracts.

The Office of AIDS, which has been overseen by Marisa Ramos, Ph.D. since summer 2018 (and in a permanent capacity since early 2020), and the California Department of Public Health did not return followup requests for comment on the report’s observations.t

3%

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Relocating across the bay from the one-bedroom condo they’d lived in, the couple was excited to move to what they saw was “a nice neighborhood.” Still, 100 100 didn’t 70 70 spend 30 30much 100 100 60 100 they time in100 Oak-70 70 land since they commute to San Francisco daily and “most of our friends and family live outside of Oakland.”

Lopez said that since the shooting he’s “just getting through the day.”

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“It’s been hard,” Lopez said. “I think if you’d asked me in the first couple days, I was a disaster.”

Chavez is looking at “a two-year 30 30 before 100 40 he100 40 reach 40 100 normal,” 10 40 40 period can Lopez said. After a surgery to flush out the wound, another surgery removed bullet fragments, and still more procedures were required to install a plate in his jaw.

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“They left a piece of bullet in his neck because it’s too close to an artery,” Lopez said. “Tissue will grow around it and it’ll become part of his body.”

10.2 7.4 20 70 70 Lopez 70 70 40 said 70 40that 40 0 000 3.1has 2.2 2.2lost Chavez a 7.4 considerable amount of weight. He is now out of the hospital but will have to have dental implants and reconstructive surgery.

“He’s OK but he has a very different

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physical appearance,” Lopez said. “He never lost consciousness and is always worried about other people and his family. He always has a positive de25meanor.

19 19 50 40 40 If 75 66 66talk 100 to 100 100 80 70 70 100 … you anyone who knows him, he’s the kindest, most positive person. He will always pull you out of the dark. He’s continued to do this every day now.”

See page 16 >>

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<< HIV/AIDS News

10 • Bay Area Reporter • December 2-8, 2021

HIV inequity persists at home and abroad

by Liz Highleyman

Global inequalities

D

espite overall progress in reducing HIV among men who have sex with men, Black and Latino gay and bisexual men are not seeing the same improvements as white men, according to a new report released by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for World AIDS Day. Black and Latino gay and bi men have not experienced the same decline in new HIV cases as white men, viral suppression and PrEP use are lagging, and queer men of color are more likely to experience HIV-related stigma. But innovative approaches could help close the gap. (The report only discusses Black and Latino men.)

“Several innovative and culturally appropriate strategies have successfully reduced barriers to access of services and might help achieve national goals of improving prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of HIV infection among [men who have sex with men],” Marc Pitasi of the CDC’s Division of HIV Prevention and colleagues wrote.

Pitasi’s team analyzed national HIV surveillance data from 2010 to 2019, the decade before the implementation of the federal “Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S.” initiative, which aims to reduce new HIV cases by 90% by 2030.

Men who have sex with men accounted for two-thirds of new HIV cases in 2019, despite making up just 2% of the population. Overall, new cases declined from approximately 25,100 in 2010 to 23,100 in 2019. But while white gay and bi men saw a substantial drop, the number remained relatively stable among Black men and rose slightly among Latino men.

Cases also increased among young men ages 25 to 34.

San Francisco’s latest HIV epidemiology annual report, released in Au-

t

Courtesy CDC

HIV testing and treatment in the U.S. are not reaching all men who have sex with men equitably, as this graph from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows.

gust, also shows that Black and Latino gay and bi men have disproportionately high HIV incidence rates relative to their share of the city’s population.

Looking at care indicators in the CDC report, Black and Latino gay and bi men were less likely to know their HIV status and to reach an undetectable viral load after starting treatment, which halts disease progression and prevents sexual transmission. An estimated 62% of Black men and 67% of Latino men diagnosed with HIV achieved viral suppression, compared with 74% of white men.

In San Francisco, 77% of gay and bi men newly diagnosed with HIV in 2020 had an undetectable viral load, though this was down from the year before, likely due to disruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact of COVID is not yet reflected

in the latest CDC report.

Also on the prevention front, the CDC researchers found that just 27% of Black men and 31% of Latino men who could have benefitted from PrEP were using it in 2017, compared with 42% of white men. Men ages 18 to 24 or 55 and older were less likely to use PrEP than those in between.

Reaching the Ending the HIV Epidemic goal by 2030 would require that at least 95% of new infections are diagnosed, 95% of people who are diagnosed achieve viral suppression, and 50% of eligible HIV-negative people are on PrEP. But in 2019, just 85% of gay and bi men with newly acquired HIV were diagnosed, 68% of those had an undetectable viral load, and a third of those eligible were taking the prevention pills.

Pitasi and colleagues suggested some

innovative approaches to expand HIV prevention, testing, and treatment, particularly for Black, Latino, and young gay and bi men, including long-acting antiretrovirals, HIV self-testing, telehealth, integrating PrEP into existing clinical settings, and ensuring that PrEP providers are available in the communities most affected by HIV. “Right now, with the federal Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. initiative and effective prevention and treatment tools at our disposal, we have a decadesin-the-making opportunity to end our nation’s HIV epidemic and erase the glaring health disparities highlighted in this report,” co-author Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, a gay man who is director of the CDC’s Division of HIV Prevention, told the Bay Area Reporter. “But working to achieve equity for gay and bisexual men of color requires tearing down barriers to testing, prevention, and treatment.”

A community you can connect with.

On the global level, persistent inequalities could lead to 7.7 million AIDS-related deaths over the next 10 years, according to a new UNAIDS report. Entitled “Unequal, unprepared, under threat,” the report maintains that bold action against inequalities is needed to end AIDS, stop COVID-19, and prepare for future pandemics.

“Pathogens ranging from HIV to the virus behind COVID-19 invade the cracks and fissures in our society with startling opportunism,” Paul Farmer of Partners in Health, a nonprofit dedicated to treating AIDS in settings of poverty, said in a statement.

As of June 2021, an estimated 28.2 million people worldwide had access to HIV treatment – up from 7.8 million in 2010 – but progress has slowed.

The global AIDS response is not on track to meet the UNAIDS targets for 2030, which call for 95% of people living with HIV to know their status, 95% of those to be on treatment, and 95% of those to have an undetectable viral load. Gay men, sex workers, people who use drugs, and young women are at particularly high risk for HIV acquisition and poor care outcomes.

As seen in San Francisco, COVID-19 is undercutting HIV care in many countries, including testing, treatment, and prevention and harm reduction services.

“Progress against the AIDS pandemic, which was already off track, is now under even greater strain as the COVID-19 crisis continues to rage, disrupting HIV prevention and treatment services, schooling, violenceprevention programs, and more,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima. “We cannot be forced to choose between ending the AIDS pandemic today and preparing for the pandemics of tomorrow. The only successful approach will achieve both. As of now, we are not on track to achieve either.” t

50 years in 50 weeks:

2005: Badlands

Courtesy B.A.R. Archive

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I

n 2004, LGBTQ activists began a sustained effort accusing gay Badlands owner Les Natali of discriminating against Black patrons of the Castro bar. The Bay Area Reporter extensively covered the case, including protests outside the bar, the investigation by the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, and interviews with Natali and activists with And Castro For All, the group that filed the complaint with the HRC. After a 10-month investigation, in 2005 the HRC blasted Natali in a report, finding that he discriminated against both staff and patrons based on race. Later that year, Natali agreed to mediation with former mayor Willie Brown, and the state Alcoholic Beverage Control upheld Natali’s liquor license.

Through it all, Natali denied the charges, which he continues to do today. The executive director of the HRC at the time, Virginia Harmon, never signed off on the final report, and the complainants and Natali reached a confidential settlement through the mediation.

Badlands closed in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Natali announced at the time that a new bar under new ownership would open at the 18th Street space. It is not known when that will happen.

Natali owns Hamburger Mary’s in the Castro, which remains closed, and the bar Toad Hall, which has reopened. To view the issue, go to https://archive.org/details/ BAR_20050428

t Community News>>

December 2-8, 2021 • Bay Area Reporter • 11

ONE to offer encore streaming of ‘The Normal Heart’ compiled by Cynthia Laird

I

Kehoe was an established LGBTQ and AIDS activist when she was elected to a seat on the San Diego City Council in 1993, becoming the first out elected official in the county. She was then elected to the California Assembly and later, the state Senate. Jenkins is the first out Black transgender woman to win elected office in the U.S. Prior to her election to the City Council, she served as a council staffer for 12 years.

The Victory Institute stated that the four will be inducted during its 30th anniversary gala December 4 in Washington, D.C. Earlier this year, the institute announced the launch of the hall of fame and inducted 20 former LGBTQ elected officials, appointed officials, and candidates as the founding class. U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin), a lesbian, was the Lifetime Achievement Inductee.

Panel to reexamine Angela Davis’ work

n observance of World AIDS The National Underground RailDay, the ONE Archives Founroad Freedom Center, in partnerdation, in collaboration with the ship with The Ohio State UniverInvisible Histories Project, will sity and Wright State University, present an encore and final prewill reexamine prominent – and at sentation of the virtual reading times controversial – out educator, of Larry Kramer’s Tony Awardscholar, and civil rights activist Anwinning play “The Normal Heart.” gela Davis. The virtual discussion It will take place Saturday, Decemwill take place Tuesday, December 7, ber 4, at noon and 5 p.m. (Pacific at 2 p.m. Pacific Time.

Time). A new question and answer See page 17 >> session will follow, according to a news release.

This presentation of the play was first done in May to high acclaim, reaching audiences nationwide and in 19 countries across the globe, the release stated. The reading marked the first time that Courtesy Laverne Cox the play featured a cast that is preLaverne Cox is one of the stars dominantly BIPOC and LGBTQ. in the virtual reading of “The “This presentation of ‘The Normal Heart.”

Normal Heart’ and its extraordinarily talented, diverse cast made SFPD, Walgreens toy drive an incredible impact earlier this The San Francisco Police Deyear,” stated director Paris Barclay. partment is asking for the public’s “We all felt it was important to help to bring holiday cheer to chilWednesday, December 1st @ 6 pm in person re-stream the historic reading to dren in need with its annual toy bring more awareness not just to World AIDS Day Candle Vigil drive.

World AIDS Day, but to the mesThis commemorative day is an opportunity where people worldwide unite in the fight against HIV, According to a news release, this sage of Larry Kramer’s landmark show support for the estimated 38 million people living with HIV, and lastly, honor the more than is the department’s sixth year colplay – which feels even more rel36 million people who have died from an AIDS-related illness. Santa Clara County will honor the laborating with Walgreens. SFPD evant today.”

33rd year of World AIDS Day by hosting both in-person and virtual public events, which are free and will be accepting donations ofLGBTQ new come and introductions from Thomas Kingery, Programs Coordinator/Community Liaison.

Kramer died in 2020. open to everyone to attend. All event details can be found on our World AIDS Day 2021 website here. unwrapped toys at over 40 San The cast includes Laverne Cox, Please use hashtag when youunique post or share your stories,into photos, and experiences on y Supervisor Joe Simitian, an advocate of the LGBTQ Initiative, will#WADSV21 provide his insights the Francisco Walgreens locations.

Sterling K. Brown, Jeremy Pope, social media platforms.

The toy drive ends December 21.

TQ movement.

Vincent Rodriguez III, Guillermo Individuals can purchase or Diaz, Jake Borelli, Ryan O’Connell, Thursday, December 2nd @ 3pm on Zoom drop off a new toy at a Walgreens; Daniel Newman, Jay Hayden, and the police department will collect ‘StayingDanielle SaneSavre. in These Crazy Times’ by Dr. Fred Luskin, Stanford Forgiveness Project.

Wonder Women Lesbian Social Group It will include an the items and distribute them to Socialize with our lesbian community.

We meet virtually twice a month and host open conversations introduction by Martin Sheen. ow to do our best work throughchildren. honoring physical and mental health. He offers easily practiced skills Last year, our approximately on news, trends, festivals, relationships, home projects, and what matters to you. Share your unique Tickets range from $20 to $100 2,000 toys were donated through ace of danger, real perceived. flair with this group as we strive to become the best social group for lesbian women in north Santa and proceeds will or benefit ONE the program. People can also Clara County. Join us in planning our upcoming meet-up on Sunday, December 11th Archives’ LGBTQ initiatives, the make a donation via Venmo or release stated. Student tickets are GoFundMe by scanning the QR Home Instead! available for $10 for the noon Thursday, December 9th @ 3pm on Zoom code on the event poster and then performance only. Tickets can be contributing.

Men’s Walking Group (virtual meeting) purchased at https://www.oneThe Gay Men’s Walking Group is a great way to get out of the house and make new friends in a safe rkshop 1 or Workshop 2) archives.org/normalheart/.

Maitri pet calendars on sale and responsible way. The group meets for lunch, exercise, and social engagement each month at Maitri Compassionate Care’s various locations around the Bay Area. The Thursday meeting on Zoom is the planning meeting for Santa visits SOMA 2022 pet calendars are now availthe upcoming walk on the following weekend. If you cannot make the zoom group but want to walk When the Leather & LGBTQ able. The Mutts and Meows calthat is ok. Register for the group and we will email you meet-up information regardless if you attend USING Cultural District ended its popu- endars feature pets ofLEGAL ISSUES Maitri’s the Zoom meeting. lar Second Saturdays earlier this supporters, volunteers, staff, and of Supportive Housing Attorney Diana Dean Gendotti year, officials said they had plans clients plus Kodi, the hospice’s Thursday, December 9th @ 4pm on Zoom for activities during the winter therapy dog. use share their provide Diana Gendotti is an estateGroup: planning andDuet trust administration months and journey that time has to come.

Song Appreciation Favorite According to an email, 100% of The inaugural Santa Second Satng options in San Francisco. attorney who has been licensed for 31 years, andviahas Submit your song recommendation in advance of the meeting email an to the group facilitator the proceeds go directly to support urday will be held December 11 Thomas Kingery at tkingery@avenidas.org.

During the group meeting we will low-income people living with in Los Altos. She will highlight the critical aspects Office of from Supportive Housing will office ofplay your song and we 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Accordencourage participants to discuss the personal meaning of their song submission and how it relates HIV/AIDS in need of 24-hour ing to be a news release, theto kinkwhat could coming the County estate planning, especially as it relates to LGBTQ issues. to the theme/topic of the day. nursing and attendant care. themed indoor holiday fair – There is a requested $20 dona- any burning questions!

Bring co-sponsored by Folsom Street tion each for either the mutts or Saturday, December 11th @ 11am – 2pm Events and the SOMA West Commeows calendars. For more inforMen’s Walking Group (Meet-Up) at Central Park in Santa Clara munity Benefit District – will mation,Standing go to https://www.maid by Care Indeed!

Jenni Castaldo, STRONG Instructor, willgroup leadforeveryone in aPark quick and Come join our men’s a meet up at Central in Santa Clara located at 969 Kiely Blvd. in feature the best of local leather trisf.org/ and click on “Mutts and and kink artists, craftspeople, and Santa Clara. We will be meeting at the Arbor Center Picnic tables. We will be walking through the we can feel energized for the next workshop.

Meows” at the top of the page. businesses to kick off the holiday park and participating in group activities together before having lunch at Grub Burger Bar on Lawseason. rence Expressway. For more information Register for the group via email, LGBTQ@avenidas.org, or LGBTQ Victory Institute will take place at on our website www.Avenidas.org rkshop 3 The or fair Workshop 4)mul- hall of fame expands tiple locations throughout the The LGBTQ Victory Instileather cultural district in San Tuesday, December 14th, 4-6pm tute, an arm of the LGBTQ VicFrancisco’s South of Martory Fund, has announced Avenidas Rainbow Collective Holiday Mixer at Avenidas 450 Bryant St. ket neighborhood. four new inducteesBUILD into its YOUR MINATION Come VILLAGE join the Avenidas Rainbow Collective in celebrating the Holiday Season. We will be hosing a There will be a free LGBTQ Victory Hall of Holiday Mixer/White Elephant Gift Exchange at Avenidas in Palo Alto. We will be providing fun, food, hop-on, hop-off Facilitators:andJenn Chan and Loretta Austin, Avenidas , Thomas Kingery and Keenan Murray, Fame. togetherness to all those who attend. Bring a gift valued under $25 to participate in the gift exshuttle from FogcutThe new honorees change.

Check out the Avenidas Knittingright groups gift fair while at the event for great gift ideas. Bring ter Tours running conCommunity is especially important now.

Building and are Irish Tánaiste Leo food a donation to be donate to local food bank. Registration requested but not required. LGBTQ@ tinuously between the Varadkar, astrengthening gay man; your village will help you thrive. Discover nt formslocations of discrimination, how to overAvenidas.org from noon to Oregon Governor 6 p.m. opportunities for new connections with our intergenerational be an advocate for change. Discussion Kate Brown (D), a Tuesday, December 21st @ 7pm on Zoom The release stated bisexual woman; forpen pal program and social groups. Learn where to find nhouse that andpeople review some people need why to Wonder Women Lesbian Social Group mer California state proof Orientation of COVresources and how to build safetwice space.

SOGIE bring (Sexual Gender Senator community Socialize with our lesbian community.

We meet a virtually a month and host open conversations Christine ID-19 vaccination and wear masks on news, trends, festivals, relationships, home projects, and what matters to you. Share your unique Kehoe, a lesbian; and Minneapolis why you should answer honestly! at all indoor venues, except when flair with this group as we strive to become the best social group for lesbian women in north Santa City Council Vice President Andrea actively eating and drinking.

Clara County.

Jenkins, a Black trans woman.

Listed participants include San Varadkar is the fourth out perFrancisco Fetish andCounty Wicked rtínez, Director ofFlea the of inSanta Clara Office son modern history to serve as a of Grounds, 289 Eighth Street; Art head of government, which he lude the a Ninth reflection on the significancedidof andday Artisanwith Fair, 145 Street, from 2017-2020. He is now deputy Suite 105; Leatherand Etc., 1201 Fol- more about the County’s niors Conference share head of government. Brown made som Street; Mr S Leather, 385 history 2016 as the first out LGLGBTQEighth seniors as a way to build ainstrong, vibrant Street; Azucar Lounge, 299 BTQ person elected governor of Ninth Street; and the SF Eagle, 398 d tomorrow. any state when she won a special 12th Street. Hours may vary at the election to serve out the term of businesses.

(650) 289-5400 • www.avenidas.org former governor rt from the County of Santa Clara, OfficeJohn ofKitzhaber.

LGBTQ Affairs With support from the County of Santa Clara, Office of LGBTQ Affairs For more information, check She was reelected to a full term in out the Leather & LGBTQ Cultur2018. Due to term limits she canal District’s Facebook page. not seek another term in 2022.

Avenidas

December 2021 Calendar of Events

WORKSHOP 2

WORKSHOP 4

www.avenidas.org

(650) 289-5433

for more information or sign up at www.avenidas.org

<< Community News

12 • Bay Area Reporter • December 2-8, 2021

Women sue state over trans prisoner law

by John Ferrannini

F

our women who are incarcerated filed a federal lawsuit against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation November 17, seeking the courts to declare gay state Senator Scott Wiener’s Senate Bill 132 unconstitutional under both the state and federal constitutions.

As the Bay Area Reporter previously reported, SB 132 was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom last year and went into effect in January. Authored by Wiener (D-San Francisco), it allows incarcerated transgender people to ask for a transfer to a state prison or detention center that matches their gender identity.

The law requires that the CDCR record each individual’s self-reported gender identity, gender pronouns, and honorifics. It also requires CDCR to house transgender people at correctional facilities based on their preference, whether that be by their gender identity or sex assigned at birth. All CDCR staff, contractors, and volunteers must consistently use the gender pronouns and honorifics that the individual has requested in all communications with or regarding them, according to the law.

The suit, filed in United States District Court for the Eastern District of California in Fresno, is on behalf of four women who are incarcerated and Woman II Woman, a nonprofit by formerly incarcerated women. Woman II Woman published an open letter to “Stop SB 132” earlier this year. The two listed attorneys are Lauren Adams of the Women’s Liberation Front and Candice Jackson of Freeman Mathis and Gary, LLP, a San Rafael-based firm.

Adams, the legal director for the Women’s Liberation Front, stated

Courtesy ABC30

The Central California Women’s Facility is in Chowchilla.

that “our four individual plaintiffs are incarcerated at Central California Women’s Facility and all have suffered harm from being housed with men, including sexual assault and infringement on civil liberties.

WoLF accepted the case because we are dedicated to the rights of women and girls, and we strongly believe that justice-involved women have a right to single-sex prison housing.”

Jackson stated, “Women’s Liberation Front has been a client of mine since mid-January of this year, and I’m pleased to represent them in their pursuit of law and public policy advocacy for women and girls, including through the claims on behalf of female prisoners raised in this lawsuit.”

The civil complaint alleges that SB 132 violates parts of the federal Constitution: the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment; the First Amendment’s protections of freedom of speech and religion, because of the pronoun and honorific requirements; and the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause, because the law allegedly “imposes on

female offenders increased risks of physical assault.”

The suit also alleges violations of the California Constitution’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment; the protection of freedom of speech; the protection of freedom of religion; the equal protection clause; and protections of the right to privacy.

“There is no application of SB 132 that avoids violating the constitutional rights of the individual plaintiffs, and the other incarcerated women on whose behalf plaintiff Woman II Woman advocates,” the civil complaint states.

The complaint refers to transgender women as men.

“SB 132 converts ‘women’s facilities’ into facilities housing a collection of women, and men with any self-declared ‘identity’ that is not exclusively male even though such men may (and most do) retain the anatomy, genitalia, and physical characteristics that define them as male-sexed humans,” the complaint states. “The reality that men and women are factually, materially, immutably different, in ways that disadvantage women and necessitate attention to women’s unique needs, supports protection of incarcerated women by providing women-only correctional facilities.”

One of the plaintiffs claims that she was a victim of sexual assault “by a man transferred to her unit under SB 132.” Two others, one Roman Catholic and another Muslim, claim that “being placed in an intimate setting with unrelated men” (in the former case) and that being “housed in facilities with men” (in the latter case) violate their rights to practice their religions.

In a statement to the B.A.R. November 23, Wiener blasted the suit, stating that it is part of an effort to

attack the legitimacy and rights of trans people.

“We passed SB 132 so that trans people who are incarcerated can be safer and can be who they are,” Wiener stated. “SB 132 is about respecting the basic dignity and agency of trans people. The proponents of this lawsuit have a long history of attacking trans people – trying to erase them, denying their existence, and classifying them as scam artists and rapists.

“The bogus rationale for this lawsuit – that trans people are faking it so they can rape cisgender women – is no different than the bogus rationale for the North Carolina trans bathroom bill,” he added. “These attacks fuel violence against trans women and the high suicide rate among trans youth. I’ll continue to support our trans siblings and will always fight for them.”

The CDCR turned down a request for comment November 23.

“CDCR has not been served with this lawsuit, nor can it comment on pending litigation,” Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman, stated. “However, the department is committed to providing a safe, humane, rehabilitative, and secure environment for all people in its custody. Federal and state laws impose legal obligations related to the treatment of people in custody with specific provisions for gendernonconforming people. CDCR is deliberate in its review of genderbased housing requests, and they go through a thorough review process.”

Slow transfer of prisoners

This spring, CDCR told the B.A.R. that only 26 requests from transgender and gender-nonconforming incarcerated people to move to gender-appropriate facilities had been approved as of May 12, out of 271 requests. Sixteen people had been transferred.

t

The CDCR stated that as of November 17, there have been 291 requests from people housed in male institutions to be moved to female institutions. Six requests were denied and 10 changed their minds.

Twenty people have been transferred. All remaining requests are under review. As of the same day, seven people in female institutions have requested to be housed in male institutions. All of these requests are under review.

(People who had had gender confirmation surgery were able to transfer “many years” before SB 132, Thornton said.)

When asked for comment, the office of Attorney General Rob Bonta, which will have to defend the state prisons agency in court, stated to the B.A.R. November 23 that “CDCR is our client in this matter.

They are best positioned to respond to any related inquiries.”

Woman II Woman could not be reached for comment.

This is the second of Wiener’s bills aimed at helping the LGBTQ community that is facing a legal challenge. As the B.A.R. reported last week, the California Supreme Court agreed to review a case about the constitutionality of a provision of Wiener’s LGBTQ Senior Bill of Rights that requires employees at senior care facilities to address residents by their preferred names and pronouns. A three-judge panel of the state’s 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento came to a unanimous decision in July, in the case of Taking Offense v. California, that the requirement is unconstitutional under the First Amendment’s protections of freedom of speech and religion.

A hearing date has yet to be set by the state’s highest court. t

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<< Obituaries

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14 • Bay Area Reporter • December 2-8, 2021

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eteran progressive activist and TV, film, and stage producer Scott Robbe died November 21, according to a statement by Paul Algiers, a longtime friend and the executor of Mr. Robbe’s estate.

Mr. Robbe was in hospice care at the home of his sister, Angela, in Hartford, Wisconsin. He was 66. The cause of death was complications from myelodysplastic anemia, a blood cancer he had battled for more than a year.

He had undergone stem cell treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston in April of this year.

Jay Blotcher, who compiled this obituary, noted that Mr. Robbe was a gay man and a prominent member in the founding of two direct-action groups in New York City: ACT UP and Queer Nation. Mr. Robbe was a member of an ACT UP undercover team, led by activist Peter Staley, that secretly gained access to the New York Stock Exchange in September 1989.

Their goal was to protest and publicize the record high price of AZT, then the sole approved treatment for HIV/AIDS. Drug maker Burroughs Wellcome eventually bowed to this nationally publicized activist pressure and lowered its drug price – then the highest in medical history – by 20%.

“Scott was a fearless activist, always on the front lines, whether he was protesting pharmaceutical company greed or homophobia at the Oscars,” said ACT UP/New York veteran Ann Northrop.

“And he was a total sweetheart.”

Staley said Mr. Robbe was fearless.

“Scott was one of those activists who didn’t flinch when our lawyers would warn us of all the possible charges and maximum sentences we’d face for infiltrating a powerful institution,” said Staley, who chronicled his ACT UP days in the new memoir, “Never Silent.” “When it came to fighting for his dying gay brothers, he’d always reply, ‘I’m in.’”

In 1991, Mr. Robbe relocated to the West Coast and co-founded Out in Film, a Los Angeles-based group to battle homophobia in Hollywood filmmaking. At the time, several high-grossing films offered stereotypic and unflattering depictions of gay characters, including Jonathan Demme’s “Silence of the Lambs,” Oliver Stone’s “JFK,” and Paul Verhoeven’s “Basic Instinct.”

Out in Film demanded equity for LGBTQ people on both sides of the camera, Blotcher noted. Mr. Robbe and Lesbian Avengers member Judy Sisneros created a pioneering protest

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Courtesy Scott Robbe Estate

Scott Robbe stands in front of art depicting Che Guevara.

at the Oscar awards in March 1991, during which demonstrators outside the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion called for increased queer visibility and fairness in career opportunities.

The Oscars protest was one highlight of a life devoted to progressive activism. It began in his teen years, when Mr. Robbe took part in 1960s marches for the environment, for civil rights, and against the Vietnam War. Over the four decades that followed, Mr. Robbe’s career encompassed both community organizing and producing dozens of works in theatre, film and television.

Scott Douglas Robbe was born on February 16, 1955, in Decorah, Iowa, to Helen, a homemaker, and James Robbe, a construction supervisor. The family relocated to Hartford, Wisconsin, the following year. Mr. Robbe was a graduate of Hartford Union High School in Hartford and entered the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1974, where he majored in theater arts. Located in the state capital, the college was known for its progressive student population, and Mr. Robbe took part in numerous protests.

After he graduated in 1978, Mr. Robbe moved to New York City, where he met his first boyfriend, a Bennington College student. They lived together in the East Village from 1978 to 1984. At the time, Mr. Robbe was helping to renovate the Orpheum Theatre on Second Avenue in the East Village. At the same time he produced at the neighboring Entermedia Theatre his first theatrical production, “False Promises,” by the San Francisco Mime Troupe. At the famed La MaMa ETC, Robbe workshopped Harvey Fierstein’s “Fugue in a Nursery,” which forms the middle segment of “Torch Song Trilogy.” That production won wide acclaim both there and after it moved to the Orpheum Theater. Mr. Robbe also produced several plays offBroadway, followed by the Fierstein play “Safe Sex” on Broadway.

Mr. Robbe joined ACT UP/New York after seeing the group protest at the White House in October 1987 during the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay

Rights. He joined the group’s media committee and took part in numerous protests. He also joined the newlyformed Queer Nation in March 1990, helping to mount demonstrations across New York City aimed at queer visibility. Mr. Robbe was diagnosed as HIV positive in the early 1990s.

In late 1990, Mr. Robbe relocated to Los Angeles to produce TV commercials for Japanese television. His first film job was an associate producer role for 1982’s “In the King of Prussia,” depicting the Berrigan Brothers’ pioneering anti-war efforts and starring Martin Sheen.

Mr. Robbe’s extensive television credits include the first-ever LGBTQ comedy special for Comedy Central in 1993, called “Out There,” and hosted by Lea DeLaria. Mr. Robbe was on the creative team for the groundbreaking 2003 series “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.” He also produced shows for Lifetime, Comedy Central, VH1, Children’s Television Workshop and American Playhouse.

In 2005, Mr. Robbe was named executive director and film commissioner for Film Wisconsin Inc. During his tenure, Mr. Robbe brought 28 TV and film projects to the state, including the 2009 film “Public Enemies” by Michael Mann, starring Johnny Depp and Channing Tatum. Most recently, Mr. Robbe worked with activists in Cuba to bring pressure on the American government to distribute the COVID vaccine in the country. Mr. Robbe was also involved in grassroots activism in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where he had a second home.

Mr. Robbe is survived by his mother, Helen; and his siblings and their spouses, Royce (Donna), John (Ken Hall), Jay (Francine), and Angela.

Also surviving him are his uncle Peter Coffeen (Steve Getz); as well as several nieces, nephews, and cousins.

There will be no funeral. A celebration of Mr. Robbe’s life will be broadcast online early in 2022. Donations in Mr. Robbe’s memory may be made to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (https://broadwaycares.org/) and ACT UP/New York (https://actupny. com/). t

Obituaries >> Susan Ortiz Taylor April 27, 1936 – November 22, 2021

Visual artist Sandra Ortiz Taylor was born April 27, 1936 in Los Angeles and died peacefully November 22, 2021 at the Frank Residences in San Francisco. Even as she taught and inspired hundreds of artists at City College of San Francisco for 35 years, she produced her own widely viewed assemblages and collages. She loved jazz, singing, cats, travel, and the dedicated artist friends who comprised her salon after she retired. On a trip to Hawaii, she wrote in her jour-

nal: “The places that hold me most are places of solitude, where we stand as very mortal beings in the face of our own mortality and the mystery that is human life and contemplate a nature which is beautiful and bountiful, beyond description, powerful and awesome ... where we get away from our everyday existence and take the time to listen to the waves, trees, feel the breath of the mountains on our faces and feel our links with life and death.”

She is survived by her cherished partner, Dianne O’Connell; her sister, Sheila Ortiz Taylor, and Sheila’s wife, Joy Lynn Lewis, of Tallahassee, Florida; and nieces Jessica Kimball (Guilford, Connecticut) and Andrea C. Young (Atlanta).

t

Community News>>

December 2-8, 2021 • Bay Area Reporter • 15

Cannabis dispensaries ask Oakland for more police

by Sari Staver

R

eeling from an estimated $5 million in losses from recent burglaries, East Bay cannabis activists and business leaders rallied outside Oakland City Hall November 29, demanding additional police protection and a two-year tax break.

The news conference was organized by two queer industry leaders, Amber E. Senter, founder of Supernova Women, a group promoting Black and Brown women in cannabis, and Nara Dahlbacka, a partner in the LGBTQ cannabis consulting firm the Milo Group.

Senter, a lesbian who owns and operates cannabis businesses in manufacturing, distribution and cultivation, said she called for the news conference after more than 25 cannabis businesses lost over $5 million in a spate of targeted robberies the weekend of November 15, when people also burglarized downtown San Francisco shops and at least one dispensary, Bay Area Safe Alternatives, located at Grove and Divisadero streets.

Senter said the cannabis industry is now facing more dangers than before marijuana was legalized in 2016.

The industry is asking for “real time response” by the Oakland Police Department, she added, and a reduction on Oakland’s city taxes as well as state cultivation and excise taxes.

Mayor Libby Schaaf’s office did not return the Bay Area Reporter’s inquiries about police department staffing, but Schaaf held a news conference that same day where she said Oakland believes in a “comprehensive and effective approach to gun violence.”

Acknowledging shortages in police staff, Schaaf promised to bring a “revised hiring plan” to the City Council. “We will be presenting an analysis to reverse the cuts planned for eight months from now, making a case that

Screengrab

Amber Senter spoke at a news conference November 29 outside Oakland City Hall.

additional staffing is necessary because of this violence spree,” she said.

“There is nothing progressive about unbridled gun violence.”

Although he didn’t specifically address the cannabis industry crimes, Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong held a news conference November 30 to discuss the surge in violent crime as well as police staffing issues. A gay father was shot in the mouth inside his West Oakland home by what police say was a stray bullet, as the B.A.R. noted in a story this week.

Armstrong claimed the department was “prepared” for the recent spate of caravan robberies throughout the area, but acknowledged that current levels of staffing must be increased. With 676 sworn officers on staff, the department has the lowest staffing levels in several years, with 740 on board a year ago, he said.

Some of those shortages will be alleviated by two classes that will graduate from the police academy in coming months, 26 this month and another 39 in January.

Armstrong also called for improved use of technology to prevent and solve crimes. The fact that Oakland doesn’t have a citywide surveillance program “puts us behind the 8 ball,” he said.

Tax relief requested

In terms of taxes, Oakland has one

of the highest tax rates in the state, at 10%, while neighboring Berkeley is 5% for non-medical and 2.5% for medical. Emeryville has a 3% tax, according to a 2019 San Francisco Chronicle article where the City Council voted to phase in a tax reduction. (https://www.sfchronicle. com/bayarea/article/Oakland-council-approves-tax-break-to-cannabis-14899814.php) Senter, whose equity manufacturing business was burglarized and damaged, said in an interview with the B.A.R. that the crime spree had been going on in the East Bay for several months.

Dahlbacka said previous pleas for a tax cut have fallen on deaf ears. Oakland’s high rate of taxation is threatening the viability of cannabis businesses because shoppers can drive a few minutes from Oakland to other cities.

Senter emphasized the immediate need for tax relief. “Cannabis equity businesses (which are owned by individuals who have been harmed from the war on drugs) need more money and resources,” she said. “Small businesses and small farmers need help.

Piling on and increasing taxes, and now the threat of robberies and violence, is proving to be unbearable for most cannabis operators. When we are faced with targeted attacks, the effects are magnified. Our communities do not have the runway for robberies and tragedies of this kind.

We need more protection and we need more money for security so that we can protect ourselves.”

In addition to stolen merchandise and money, the alleged thieves damaged and destroyed equipment at a number of dispensaries, including Senter’s shared manufacturing equity kitchen. “We’ll have to close for at least

a week,” she said. That business is a training ground for equity applicants to learn the business, she said. While insurance will cover losses at some businesses, “that can take forever,” she said. In the meantime, cannabis businesses may not have the capital to tide them over.

“In a year where the pandemic and global logistics has disrupted business growth and sustainability, additional robberies mark another significant barrier,” she added.

J. Henry Alston Jr., co-founder of cannabis brand James Henry said, “This is just so heartbreaking and stomachturning. We employ 14 people and we have been trying to grow our business since we first started in 2017.”

Alston, who identifies as queer, said the damage and stolen goods represent significant losses that they have to find a way to cover. This includes local and state taxes on the inventory that has been stolen.

“This one might be too much for us to overcome,” Alston said, adding that his business was robbed five times during the week before Thanksgiving. “We need help from the Oakland Police department to come up with real solutions.”

Chaney Turner, an activist who is chair of the Oakland Cannabis Regulatory Commission, said neither the mayor’s office nor the city administrator’s office has been willing to prioritize safety.

Police “shouldn’t take hours to respond to a violent burglary,” he said. “Business operators have spent years building their businesses,” he added, with many giving back to the community with compassionate medicine.

“They don’t deserve to be treated like this by the city supposed to be the

champion of cannabis equity,” he said.

FLYT Lounge and delivery service in Oakland owner Paul Semonian, who grew up in the East Bay where his parents taught school, said the city is “neither a safe place to live or to work.”

With the police claiming that they don’t have resources to adequately protect the community, Semonian asked, “Where are the voices of the mayor and (vice mayor Rebecca) Kaplan?”

Oakland City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan, a lesbian who serves in the at-large seat, did not return a message seeking comment.

SF supes OK tax break

Speaking of taxes, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on November 30 unanimously approved an ordinance suspending the city’s cannabis business tax for the 2022 tax year.

Gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman authored the legislation amid concern about ongoing illegal cannabis sales in the city.

“Cannabis businesses create good jobs for San Franciscans and promote safe, regulated products to their customers,” Mandelman stated in a news release. “Sadly, the illegal market is flourishing by undercutting the prices of legal businesses, which is bad for our economy as illegal businesses pay no taxes while subjecting workers to dangerous conditions and customers to dangerous products. Now is not the time to impose a new tax on small businesses that are just getting established and trying to compete with illicit operators.”

The legislation must be voted on a second time by the board at its December 7 meeting and then sent to Mayor London Breed for her signature. t Bay Area Cannasseur runs the first Thursday every other month.

To send column ideas or tips, email Sari Staver at sfsari@gmail. com

<< Community News

16 • Bay Area Reporter • December 2-8, 2021

<<

Sparky’s Diner

From page 1

Designed by Schaub Li Architects Inc., the housing will be a mix of 18 two-bedroom units and six onebedroom units. Three of the units, a one-bedroom and two units with two bedrooms, will be sold as affordable and priced at 80% of the area median income. All of the residential units will have access to a shared roof deck, and although there is no vehicular parking provided, the project will have 30 bicycle parking spaces for the residential and retail components, according to the plans.

Due to the decision to now include the required affordable units on-site, the project is entitled to a 24.5% density bonus, or approximately 4,997 gross square feet, for residential uses.

But in order to include the four additional units, the project is seeking a height waiver for the seven-story building, which is planned to be 74 feet, 11 inches tall.

After a November hearing was pushed back, it will now take place before the planning commission Thursday, December 2. City planning staffers are recommending the oversight body approve it, and the staff report indicated there has been no opposition registered against the proposal.

<<

Judge

From page 1

of state’s office to block conservative radio host Larry Elder as a candidate on the recall ballot.

Speaking to the Bay Area Reporter by phone Tuesday, November 30, Earl said her time handling those cases and others dealing with civil writs of mandate in recent years has prepared her for the appellate bench. The lawsuits involve litigants seeking a court order mandating an action be taken by an entity such as the state government or a corporation.

“I think I just had some time, about three years, to dig into some of these cases. It gave me a broader perspective of civil law,” said Earl.

Before being assigned such cases Earl had sought appointment to the appellate bench under former governor Jerry Brown but was not selected.

She reapplied with Newsom’s administration in December 2019.

“So it was a long haul,” noted Earl.

As a lesbian poised to make history

<<

Oakland couple

From page 9

For a while, “texting was the only way” Chavez could speak because his jaw was wired shut. It is still difficult for him to speak. He told the B.A.R. November 30 over the phone that “I’m good; I’m doing OK” but requested to subsequently answer questions via text message.

In a text, he stated that morning he’d met with his surgical team at the Highland Hospital dental clinic.

When asked how the experience of the past month has been, Chavez wrote “a roller coaster ride.”

<<

Menorah

From page 1

Bernstein then led the crowd as people said the blessing for lighting the Hanukkah candles.

“One of my favorite Hasidic commentators said that we’re not just supposed to light the candles,” said the rabbi. “That’s not necessarily the end of what we’re supposed to do at Hanukkah, we’re actually supposed to be a candle, we’re supposed to ourselves bring light into the world. So my intention for myself and for all of you tonight is, how can we be that? Individually, each one of us this week, in general, how can we go into this season bringing a little bit of light to the people we see in our lives, to the greater world, to helping in the act of ‘Tikkun olam,’ of repairing the world in all the

Courtesy SF Planning

An artist’s rendering of the housing development planned for the former Sparky’s Diner site at 240-250 Church Street.

t

the condo units to be sold as affordable. Initially to be completed in early 2021, the homes are now slated to begin selling toward the end of the year.

Construction on Prado’s project began right around the time that the apartment building at the corner of Market, Church, and 14th streets began leasing out its 60 units, eight of which were set aside as affordable. Local contractor Brian Spiers’ decision to initially use San Francisco-based startup Sonder to oversee leasing of the furnished market-rate apartments was met with controversy. (Last summer, during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sonder sued Spiers to exit its agreement early.)

Several other redevelopment proposals on that same block of Market Street have languished in recent years.

The former Open Bible Church at 2135 Market Street, which abuts in its rear yard Bash’s development on Church Street, has long been eyed for housing, as has the former Lucky 13 straight dive bar across the street at 2140 Market Street.

Plans submitted to the planning department prior to the pandemic called for both sites to make use of the State Density Bonus Law in order to build at least 30 units on the church site and 90 units on the bar site. But

both housing plans had faced neighborhood opposition due to the height of the buildings and limited belowmarket-rate units.

Developer Kent Mirkhani has retained Macy Architecture to design the buildings for both sites. The project at 2135 Market Street would set aside three of its 30 units as affordable.

Revised plans for the building were submitted to the planning department in January, and Mirkhani and his architects have been meeting with community groups in recent months to seek their support.

In May, plans for the Lucky 13 site were submitted to the city that called for a new brick building with 70 units, 10 of which would be below-marketrate, as the pro-housing group SF Yimby noted at the time.

It is unclear when either of Mirkhani’s projects will go before the planning commission. As for Bash’s Church Street project, it is the first item on the planning commission’s regular calendar for its December 2 meeting, which begins at 1 p.m.

For more information about the project and how to watch the hearing, visit https://sfplanning.org/sites/default/files/agendas/2021-11/20211202_cal.pdf t

“The project would provide 24 dwelling units helping alleviate San Francisco’s severe housing crisis,” wrote planner Bridget Hicks in her report to the planning commission, noting the inclusion of the below-market-rate units on site and retention of the existing commercial tenant. “The proposed dwelling units are located on a transit heavy corridor and in a neighborhood that will benefit from the increase in foot traffic and consumers who will inhabit these units.”

Other projects

as the first LGBTQ judge on the 3rd District Court of Appeal, Earl told the B.A.R. she is “incredibly grateful” to Newsom for making a judicial pinkceiling breaking appointment. Having a diverse judiciary matters, argued Earl.

“It feels pretty incredible,” said Earl, noting that she has had “a lot of experience in my life that informed me as both a judge and an individual, including my work on the trial court and my time as a lawyer, my experiences as a member of the gay and lesbian communities, and my experience as a parent and being married to a woman. I am just so grateful we have a governor who recognizes the importance of diversity in the judiciary, so the people who appear before us identify with the person on the bench.”

Seeing someone who looks like them and has similar life experiences has an impact, said Earl.

“I think it brings more humanity to our decisions and to our job, and more trust and confidence for the people who appear before us,” she said. “I am just thrilled.”

Prior to her judicial appointment by then-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), Earl served roughly a year as a senior assistant inspector general at the Sacramento County Office of Inspector General. Between 1995 and 2004 she was a deputy district attorney at the Sacramento County District Attorney’s office.

A Modesto native, Earl graduated from UC Berkeley then earned her law degree at Lincoln Law School in Sacramento; she was named the law school’s alumnus of the year in 2005 and 2012. In 1989, she joined the Sacramento County Public Defender’s office as an assistant public defender.

Because of her professional experience, Earl has spent the majority of her time as a judge hearing criminal cases and spent four years assigned to juvenile dependency cases. Switching over to presiding over writs of mandate cases allowed Earl to gain experience in reading previous cases and writing decisions, skills she will need as an appellate justice.

“I really liked it. It gave me an idea of what appellate work is about,” she said. “I decided that was where I wanted to head in my next chapter of my career and why I pursued it again.”

In a rare post-holiday release about his latest judicial appointments, as news about judge picks often comes on a Friday prior to a holiday weekend, Newsom announced Monday, November 29, that he had nominated Earl, a fellow Democrat, to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of appellate jurist M. Kathleen Butz. The State Bar’s Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation must first review Earl for the position then it will be up to the Commission on Judicial Appointments to confirm her to the seat.

Earl’s confirmation hearing will be held virtually at 10:45 a.m. January 6 by the commission, which is comprised of California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani CantilSakauye, Attorney General Rob Bonta, and the 3rd district appellate court’s Senior Presiding Justice Vance W. Raye. If confirmed, Earl

would earn $256,138 as an associate justice on the appellate bench.

Earl would bring the number of out women on the state appellate court bench to three, as already serving are lesbians Therese M. Stewart in the 1st District and Marsha G. Slough in the 4th District. Two gay men serve as state appellate justices: James M. Humes in the 1st District and Luis A. Lavin in the 2nd District.

Earl lives in Sacramento with her partner of nearly three decades, Jody Cooperman. The couple married in 2008 and have two adult sons: a 25-year-old in law school in Portland and a 22-year-old in college in San Francisco who works at a vintage clothing store in the Haight.

“I loved the Bay Area. I loved Berkeley. I loved the school and loved living in Berkeley. At times I wish I hadn’t left, but I love Sacramento and loved raising a family here,” said Earl. “It is incredibly hard to get back to the Bay Area if you moved out and now can’t afford it due to the housing costs. I am truly a Northern California girl.”t

“Shocking to have our home and foundation for three years be shaken and crumble right underneath us in a blink of an eye,” Chavez wrote.

“Grateful for the opportunity to see another day with my family. Overwhelming amounts of support from our friends, colleagues, family, neighbors and strangers all pulling together and helping lift us up. I’m thankful for our angels.”

A friend is providing 24-hour care, involving multiple medications and feedings per day, Lopez said.

“He gets really tired,” Lopez said.

“His body is regenerating.”

None of the family is staying at the couple’s Oakland home, which they

hope to sell. The couple set up a GoFundMe (https://www.gofundme. com/f/crime-against-the-chavezlopez-family) to help with expenses.

So far it’s raised nearly $88,000 of a $100,000 goal.

Lopez said that initially “our 4-yearold insisted that she hadn’t seen anything,” but subsequently “she started talking about daddy, ‘his ouchie,’” and details of the shooting.

“I don’t want that trauma to be there,” Lopez said.

Chavez wrote that “the most difficult and heartbreaking struggle is being separated from my husband and two beautiful girls.”

“No amount of pain management

helps you deal with the separation, and now as we begin our therapeutic journeys, the struggle of helping a 4-year-old make sense of this,” Chavez wrote. “How do you do that?”

Police have not been able to connect the bullet casings to other crimes, Lopez said. Police said they’d also investigate if there is video footage in the area that can help identify the shooters, but the police have not contacted Lopez in weeks, he said, and neither have they determined a motive or released suspect descriptions.

Lopez is imploring anyone with

knowledge to come forward.

“Especially in the Bay Area, you see a lot on the street and think ‘that’s none of my business,’ but if you see anything, call it and report it,” Lopez said. “At 7:40 at night near BART, I don’t believe somebody didn’t see something.”

Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

Police can be reached at (510) 2383426 and Crime Stoppers at (510) 777-8572.

Marco Chavez, left, and his husband, Jimmie Lopez in a photo taken before Chavez was shot. Photo: Courtesy Jimmie Lopez t

ways it desperately needs right now.”

Copeland then lit the first light on an electric menorah.

“I want to thank my rabbi, and my cantor, and my shul [synagogue] for being here again,” said Mandelman as he took to the microphone. “It’s wonderful to be back. Yesterday we got to do the Christmas tree down the block, it was a great night and thank you to the merchants for doing that and thank you for being back today. And of course to Andrea [Aiello] of the Castro Community Benefit District.”

The Castro holiday tree was lit during a ceremony November 29 that marked a return of the popular event.

While there was a tree at 18th and Castro streets last year there was no public ceremony because of the pandemic.

Mandelman also announced the presence of Jeffrey Tumlin, a gay man

who is director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.

“As we stand here at this great transit place my intention for the new year as your county transportation authority chair is for us to restore all of the service that we had pre-pandemic, and actually have better service than we had pre-pandemic,” Mandelman continued, referring to his role on the transportation body, the board of which is made up of all 11 supervisors. “I know that Jeff is working on that every day, so from my lips to God’s ears.”

Jane Warner Plaza includes the Castro terminus of the F-Line street car at Market, Castro, and 17th streets.

Mandelman lit the second light on the menorah. Wiener then stepped up to the microphone.

“I am so excited that we’re all here,” Wiener said. “The Castro is alive, and

we’re still here after everything that’s happened in the last year and a half.

And frankly, for this community, after everything that’s happened for the past 40 years with HIV, this community is so strong, and it’s such an honor to be a part of it. This pandemic revealed many, many things – good, bad, and ugly, and one of them revealed and made worse is the food insecurity in this community and the number of people in San Francisco and elsewhere who don’t have enough food and didn’t before the pandemic and really don’t now. So in the spirit of Tikkun olam we have to make sure that everyone always has enough food to put on the table, let’s recommit to that.”

The crowd applauded as Wiener lit the third light on the menorah.

Song sheets were handed out and Bernstein, still standing before the keyboard,

led everyone in the singing of traditional Hanukkah melodies, both in Hebrew and in English. Among the tunes was Tom Lehrer’s comical “Hanukkah in Santa Monica.” Some people danced as Aiello handed out jelly doughnuts.

“I’m so excited to be doing this again,” Aiello told the B.A.R. “We missed it last year and it’s wonderful to be collaborating with the Castro Merchants and Sha’ar Zahav.”

The crowd was obviously enjoying themselves.

“I’ve made attending the Castro Menorah lighting an annual observance to support my Jewish siblings and always leave smiling,” said John Brett, a 44-year-old queer man who is a faithful and fabulous minister with the San Francisco Night Ministry. “How can someone not enjoy themselves with this music?” t

The upper Market Street corridor has seen a number of mixed-used developments with housing above ground floor retail be built over the last decade. The newest will be the 44unit condo project at 2238 Market Street by the Prado Group Inc. It broke ground in July 2019 and is repurposing a former mortuary and its parking lot into housing and sidewalk-fronting storefronts, with five of

‘I don’t believe somebody didn’t see something’

t

HIV/AIDS News>>

December 2-8, 2021 • Bay Area Reporter • 17

Lee introduces bill to end bias based on HIV status

by John Ferrannini

O

akland Congressmember Barbara Lee took the occasion of World AIDS Day to introduce a bill that, if passed, would facilitate a review of federal and state laws to determine whether they add “unique or additional burdens upon people living with HIV.” “This is an important bill to end the stigma and the terrible punitive consequences of people being penalized by having a virus,” Lee said.

Lee, a Democrat, spoke to the Bay Area Reporter late November 30. She said that she has been introducing this legislation for a decade.

“The first time was in 2011,” Lee said. “I was appointed to the United Nations Commission on HIV and the law in 2008, maybe, and we went around the world to look at laws criminalizing HIVpositive people. We had four to five roundtable meetings, and it dawned on me that I was the only American on the committee and I said ‘wait a minute, why not look at the United States?’”

Upon research, Lee said she found out “we were one of the bad actors.” Indeed, as of 2021, 35 states criminalize the behavior of people with HIV through HIVspecific laws, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These include 14 states that criminalize behavior at low risk of transmitting HIV, such as biting or oral sex, and 14 states that have a maximum sentence length of over 10 years (or even life) even if people with HIV took measures to prevent transmission.

“The bill didn’t pass,” Lee said, but some of it was repurposed for technical assistance to states provided by the U.S. Department of Justice during the Obama administration.

At the time, under California law HIV-positive persons could be prosecuted and imprisoned for up to eight years for engaging in unprotected sexual intercourse

<<

News Briefs

From page 11

According to a news release, Davis has been at the forefront of several social justice issues, including the second-wave feminist movement of the 1960s, the anti-

Liz Highleyman

Congressmember Barbara Lee, shown at an AIDS 2020 news conference, on World AIDS Day introduced the Repeal HIV Discrimination Act of 2022.

with the intent to transmit HIV, even if no actual viral transmission occurred.

Lee said she approached state lawmakers to ask for any takers who’d want to change the law but didn’t find any until the 2016 election of gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco).

“I went and talked to many of the California legislators and I was with the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, and I found nobody in the Legislature who would take it up till I talked to Scott,” Lee said.

“He was very brave and bold. ... It was incredible it took Scott that long, because many members thought it wasn’t important.”

Wiener’s Senate Bill 239, which requires proof that transmission of HIV did occur in order for a person to be prosecuted for intentionally transmitting the virus to a sex partner, passed and was signed by then-Governor Jerry Brown in 2017. It went into effect the following year.

Wiener told the B.A.R. December 1 that he is supportive of Lee’s

federal legislation.

“Barbara Lee is an extraordinary leader in the fight to end discrimination against and criminalization of people living with HIV. I fully support her legislation and applaud her for taking this on,” he said.

Lee’s Repeal HIV Discrimination Act of 2022 states, “Not later than 90 days after the enactment of this act, the attorney general, the secretary of health and human services, the secretary of defense, and the director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, acting jointly, shall initiate – a review of federal laws, policies, regulations, and judicial precedents and decisions regarding criminal and related civil commitment cases involving people living with HIV/AIDS, including in regard to the Uniform Code of Military Justice; and an updated national review of state laws, policies, regulations, and judicial precedents and decisions regarding criminal and related civil commitment cases involving people living with HIV/AIDS.”

No more than 180 days later, a report of the review is to be published. This report is to contain judgments of whether laws, policies, regulations, and judicial precedents and decisions create undue or additional burdens on people living with HIV, and determine whether these are “public health-oriented” and “evidencebased.”

Finally, the law states “the designated officials shall develop and transmit to the president and the Congress, and make publicly available, such proposals as may be necessary to implement adjustments to federal laws, policies, or regulations, including to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, that reflect the reports and guidance required under this Act either through executive order or through changes to statutory law.”

However, “nothing in this act shall be construed to prohibit the prosecution of individuals who act with the specific intent to do harm to another person by trans-

war campaign during the Vietnam War, advocating for gay rights, and, most prominently, abolishing the American prison system. She has also been an active member of the Communist Party USA, running as a vice presidential candidate for the party on two occasions. In 1970, she

was imprisoned for over a year in connection to an armed takeover of a courtroom before she was finally acquitted of the charges.

“Reconsidering Angela Davis: Reflections on Engagement and Societal Transformations” will look at Davis’ legacy and the complicated

dynamics of protest. Panelists are Kimberly Nichele Brown, Ph.D., from Virginia Commonwealth University; Kimberly Lamm, Ph.D., from Duke University; Jo-Ann Morgan, who has a doctorate in philosophy and is from Western Illinois University; and Robyn Spen-

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039535800

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039532100

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039536700

mitting HIV through means likely to result in actual transmission, and who in fact transmit HIV.” Lee said she is confident this bill will become law if it can get through the Senate, which is split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans. Vice President Kamala Harris serves as a tiebreaker.

“You know the politics of the Senate,” Lee said. Nevertheless, “I’m certain if we got it to the president’s desk, he’d sign it.”

Lee said she’s “cautiously optimistic” about the bill’s prospects in both houses of Congress because there has been some bipartisan cooperation on it. Representative Jenniffer González-Colón (R-Puerto Rico), co-chair of the Congressional HIV/AIDS caucus, was the lead co-sponsor.

(González-Colón is a non-voting member of Congress, since she represents a U.S. territory.)

González-Colón’s office did not respond to an immediate request for comment December 1.

Lee said “it took a while to get the White House on board,” but the Biden administration has been helpful with the parts of the legislation relating to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

A senior Biden administration official, speaking on background during a press call early December 1, said in response to a question posed by USA Today about state laws that discriminate against HIV positive people, that the administration will be working with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice to support efforts to reform and eliminate those laws, because they don’t reflect the most up-to-date science.

Also on World AIDS Day, the CDC released a report showing that Black and Latino gay and bisexual men are not seeing the same improvements as white men, as the B.A.R. also reported.

(See story, page 10.)t

cer, Ph.D., from Lehman College of the City University of New York.

The event is free, but registration is required. To sign up, go to https://bit.ly/3o1JuSr t

Legals>> ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-21-556723

In the matter of the application of HANH THI MY NGUYEN, 344 HOLLOWAY AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner HANH THI MY NGUYEN is requesting that the name HANH THI MY NGUYEN be changed to ARIEL HANH NGUYEN. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Rm. 103N on the 16th of DECEMBER 2021 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-21-556729

In the matter of the application of SAFWAN OLAIBAH, 3122 CESAR CHAVEZ, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner SAFWAN OLAIBAH is requesting that the name SAFWAN KHALED OLAIBAH be changed to SAMMY TYRA COONEY. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Rm. 103N on the 21st of DECEMBER 2021 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039533000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as K3 FIRST AID AND CPR SERVICES, 1029 KEYS AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KURA COHEN. 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 11/01/21.

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

The following person(s) is/are doing business as HOLISTIC PSYCHIC THERAPY, 631 HAIGHT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LORETTA TENNIS. 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 11/02/21.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as CASTILLO VALTIERRA & ASSOCIATES, 1284 S VAN NESS AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ANTHONY VALTIERRA. 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 10/29/21.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039531900

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039534700

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

The following person(s) is/are doing business as BINGO TRAVEL, 937 HAIGHT ST #1, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JOPHIE LEUNG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/16/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/29/21.

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039526500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as TJK AND ASSOCIATES, 501 DELANCY ST #106, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed TIMOTHY J. KORZEP. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/01/95. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/25/21.

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039539500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as ON THE GROUND CATERING, 957 CONNECTICUT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JOY WILLIAMS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/05/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/05/21.

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

The following person(s) is/are doing business as TURNING HEADS COLLECTIVE, 520 HAMPSHIRE ST #216, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed JEANETTE AU, DIOANNA DEEM & DARON SESSION. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/29/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/02/21.

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039537700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as JASON’S ANTIQUES, 2157 CLEMENT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed CHENGJUN ZHANG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/01/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/04/21.

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039534100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as MOSSER HOTEL, THE, 54 4TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed MOSSER VICTORIAN HOTEL INC (CA).

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/02/07. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/02/21.

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

The following person(s) is/are doing business as THE FINERIE, 2591 26TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed PROJECT MO LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/03/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/03/21.

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039541400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as NAMASTE SF INDIAN CUISINE, 1968 LOMBARD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed NAMASTE SF 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 11/08/21.

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039534000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as MOSSER TOWERS, 350 TURK ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed CENTRAL TOWERS JOINT VENTURES (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/02/07. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/02/21.

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039534900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as RAVENPICTURES PHOTOGRAPHIC LLC, 630 EDINBURGH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed RAVENPICTURES PHOTOGRAPHIC 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 11/02/21.

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039538900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as FIDDLE FIG CAFÉ, 790 LOMBARD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed FIDDLE FIG CAFÉ LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/04/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/04/21.

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-039404700

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as VEO OPTICS, 1799 UNION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123.

This business was conducted by a limited liability company and signed by RESTUA VISION (CA). The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/12/21.

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039529800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as POTA SF, 2125 BRYANT ST #101, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SHUZHEN ZHANG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/02/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/28/21.

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039543400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as CB CONSULTING AND MANAGEMENT, 405 DAVIS CT #2306, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94111. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LUN JUNG HSU. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/01/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/09/21.

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

<< Legals

18 • Bay Area Reporter • November 18-24, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039545300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as KEY MAN, 916 CLEMENT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed EKATERINA ZHULANOVA. 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 11/10/21.

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039544100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as FAWKSTALES RECORD LABEL, 1222 HARRISON ST #6611, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CHRISTOPHER GILIC. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/03/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/09/21.

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039546800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as VMEI1.COM, 625 LEAVENWORTH ST #302, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed VILMA ANG. 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 11/12/21.

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039539700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as BOSWICK ENTERPRISES, 1359 8TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DAVID MAGIDSON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/06/88. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/05/21.

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039547500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as CALIFORNIA VETERANS FOOD BANK, 520 GEARY ST #104, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed AMBER NICOLE FREDERICK. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/12/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/12/21.

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039542800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as FROME, 2298 PACIFIC AVE #1S, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KACY CATHERINE DAPP. 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 11/09/21.

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039548900

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-21-556749

In the matter of the application of MARGARET SEVERANCE MUNN, 1315 4TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner MARGARET SEVERANCE MUNN is requesting that the name MARGARET SEVERANCE MUNN be changed to MARIC SEVERANCE MUNN. 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 30th of DECEMBER 2021 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-21-556751

In the matter of the application of ALEJANDRO ALEGRE MENDEZ, 3018 MISSION ST #23, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner ALEJANDRO ALEGRE MENDEZ is requesting that the name ALEJANDRO ALEGRE MENDEZ AKA ALEX MENDEZ AKA ALEJANDRO A. MENDEZ be changed to ALEJANDRO ALEGRE MENDEZ. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Rm. 103N on the 30th of DECEMBER 2021 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-21-556752

In the matter of the application of MINHO LEE, 1330 BUSH ST #2D, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner MINHO LEE is requesting that the name MINHO LEE be changed to NATHAN VINCENT MINHO LEE. 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 30th of DECEMBER 2021 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039554100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as LAHORE DI KHUSHBOO, 4445 3RD ST #310, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MUHAMMAD ALI RAZA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/19/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/19/21.

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039547800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as LE HARDWOOD FLOORS, 325 FRANKLIN ST #3, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MAI V LE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/30/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/15/21.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as A AND B SEAFOOD OF CALIFORNIA, 279 8TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed GILBERT CHOW. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/97. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/12/21.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039549000

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039553500

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SUMIWARE CERAMICS, 578 26TH AVE #11, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed BRIANNA SANTO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/04/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/15/21.

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039545700

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SPARKS REMIT, 953 MISSION ST #108, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LOIDA I. FALCIS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/11/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/18/21.

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039533700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as ALMADURA, 1022 BUSH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed CHARLIE’S EATS AND DINING INCORPORATED (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 11/10/21.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as JOVINA’S CUSTOM UPHOLSTERY; JOVI’S CUSTOM UPHOLSTERY, 1345 17TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JORGE JIMENEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/18/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/01/21.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039547400

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039539600

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

The following person(s) is/are doing business as OPERATION ELF, BAY AREA, 915 NAPLES ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed CARING HEROES, 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 11/12/21.

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039545600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as HONEY AND STARDUST, 1843 UNION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed HONEY AND STARDUST LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/01/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/10/21.

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039546100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as PROTOFY, 130 COLLINS ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed FY768 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 11/10/21.

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039548700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as UNIQUE CONCEPT, 2400 YORBA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed YIP ENTERPRISES LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/12/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/12/21.

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039549400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as O-MEGALICIOUS, 5698 3RD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed POUNCIL LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/15/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/15/21.

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

The following person(s) is/are doing business as THE UPS STORE, 182 HOWARD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105-1611. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SAN FRANCISCO MAIL BOXES CORPORATION (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/14/03. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/05/21.

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039526900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SAN FRANCISCO OTOLARYNGOLOGY MEDICAL GROUP, INC.; SAN FRANCISCO ALLERGY ASTHMA & IMMUNOLOGY; SAN FRANCISCO VOICE & SWALLOWING; SAN FRANCISCO MEDICAL AESTHETICS; 450 SUTTER ST #1139, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108.

This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SAN FRANCISCO OTOLARYNGOLOGY MEDICAL GROUP, INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/22/71. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/26/21.

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039527000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SAN FRANCISCO OTOLARYNGOLOGY MEDICAL GROUP, INC.; SAN FRANCISCO ALLERGY ASTHMA & IMMUNOLOGY, 180 MONTGOMERY ST #2370, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94104. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SAN FRANCISCO OTOLARYNGOLOGY MEDICAL GROUP, INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/22/71. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/26/21.

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039527900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SAN FRANCISCO OTOLARYNGOLOGY MEDICAL GROUP, INC.; SAN FRANCISCO ALLERGY ASTHMA & IMMUNOLOGY, 2100 WEBSTER ST #329, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SAN FRANCISCO OTOLARYNGOLOGY MEDICAL GROUP, INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/22/71. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/26/21.

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039534500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SAN FRANCISCO OTOLARYNGOLOGY MEDICAL GROUP, INC., 2100 WEBSTER ST #202, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 95115. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SAN FRANCISCO OTOLARYNGOLOGY MEDICAL GROUP, INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/22/71. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/02/21.

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039535000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SAN FRANCISCO OTOLARYNGOLOGY MEDICAL GROUP, INC.; SAN FRANCISCO VOICE & SWALLOWING; SAN FRANCISCO ALLERGY ASTHMA & IMMUNOLOGY; 450 SUTTER ST #933, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SAN FRANCISCO OTOLARYNGOLOGY MEDICAL GROUP, INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/22/71. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/02/21.

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039535100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SAN FRANCISCO OTOLARYNGOLOGY MEDICAL GROUP, INC., 2250 HAYES ST #612, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SAN FRANCISCO OTOLARYNGOLOGY MEDICAL GROUP, INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/22/71. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/02/21.

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039535200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SAN FRANCISCO OTOLARYNGOLOGY MEDICAL GROUP, INC., 450 SUTTER ST #1404, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SAN FRANCISCO OTOLARYNGOLOGY MEDICAL GROUP, INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/22/71. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/02/21.

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SAN FRANCISCO

Prepared by The Office of the Clerk of the Board Pursuant to Admin. Code 2.81 Prepar

COMMUNITY OUTREACH PUBLIC NOTICE DECEMBER 2021 REDISTRICTING TASK FORCE

Tell the Redistricting Task Force where to draw the San Francisco Supervisorial District lines!

Visit the Redistricting website for directions on how to virtually attend their meetings.

Website: www.sf.gov/public-body/2020-census-redistricting-task-force Contact the Clerk, John Carroll, at (415) 554-4445 or rdtf@sfgov.org for more information.

ASSESSMENT APPEALS BOARD VACANCIES

Help resolve legal and value assessment issues between the Assessor’s office and property owners. Board vacancies are as follows: Board #1 – two; Board #2 - three; and Board# 3 – five. Hearings are quasi-judicial, conducted in a manner similar to a court setting, with evidence and testimony presented by the parties. The Board then evaluates the evidence and testimony and renders its decision. To be eligible for seat appointment, you must have a minimum of five years professional experience in California as either a: (1) public accountant; (2) real estate broker; (3) attorney; or (4) property appraiser accredited by a nationally recognized organization, or certified by either the Office of Real Estate Appraiser or the State Board of Equalization.

WOMEN, INFANT & CHILDREN (WIC) NUTRITION PROGRAM

San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) WIC Nutrition Program provides healthy foods, nutrition tips, breastfeeding support, health care referrals and community information. To learn about California WIC Program, visit www.MyFamily.WIC.ca.gov or call 1-888-942-9675. To enroll in SFDPH WIC Program visit, www.sfdph.org/wic to start your application or call 628-217-6890 to make an appointment. Newly pregnant individuals, working families, including military and migrant families are encouraged to apply! WIC welcomes dads, grandparents, foster parents, or guardians who care for eligible children.

CHILD SUPPORT MATTERS

Child support matters can be complicated, stressful, and confusing. The Department of Child Support Services helps parents understand the process so they know their rights and options for making and receiving support payments. We are available to assist you in person or by phone. Call us today at (866) 901-3212 or visit us online at www.sfgov.org/dcss to learn how we can help you. Schedule an appointment to open your case at https://sfgov.org/dcss/opening-case. https://sfgov.org/dcss/opening-case

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039535300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SAN FRANCISCO OTOLARYNGOLOGY MEDICAL GROUP, INC.; SAN FRANCISCO ALLERGY ASTHMA & IMMUNOLOGY; 45 CASTRO ST #325, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SAN FRANCISCO OTOLARYNGOLOGY MEDICAL GROUP, INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/22/71. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/02/21.

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039535400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SAN FRANCISCO OTOLARYNGOLOGY MEDICAL GROUP, INC., 1 SHRADER ST #578, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SAN FRANCISCO OTOLARYNGOLOGY MEDICAL GROUP, INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/22/71.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/02/21.

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039546200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as SAUCY ASIAN, 3801 17TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SHINN & SONS, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/26/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/12/21.

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039534600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as FRESH HOME STAGING, 175 BARNEVELD AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BLUE IMPERATOR INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/02/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/02/21.

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039550200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as RED WINDOW, 500 COLUMBUS AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed 500 COLUMBUS LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/30/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/16/21.

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039554000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as THE MOCHI DONUT SHOP, 2126 IRVING ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed IRVING ENTERPRISES 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 11/18/21.

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-21-556747

In the matter of the application of CONNOR PAUL FANNING, 1537 10TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner CONNOR PAUL FANNING is requesting that the name CONNOR PAUL FANNING be changed to JACK CONNOR CALDERA FANNING. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Rm. 103N on the 30th of DECEMBER 2021 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

DEC 02, 09, 16, 23, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039556500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as TRENDING SOCIAL, LLC, 4629 CALIFORNIA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LUIS QUIROZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/19/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/22/21.

DEC 02, 09, 16, 23, 2021

The City and County of San Francisco encourage public outreach. Articles are translated into several languages to provide better public access. The newspaper makes every effort to translate the articles of general interest correctly. No liability is assumed by the City and County of San Francisco or the newspapers for errors and omissions.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039556700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as LITTLE FEET DOULA SERVICES, 1256 28TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ANA CELENIA MUELLER MARTINEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/15/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/22/21.

DEC 02, 09, 16, 23, 2021

SF.GOV

CNSB#3533387

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039560300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SAA JANITORIAL SERVICES, 483 MADRID ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed SKARLET AMAYA AVILES LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/29/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/29/21.

DEC 02, 09, 16, 23, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039559300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as QUEERLY COMPLEX, 2690 20TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JASON WYMAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/30/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/24/21.

DEC 02, 09, 16, 23, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039432000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as US-CHINA REAL ESTATE; US-CHINA LAW COUNSEL, 425 DIVISADERO ST #209, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed YING NATALIE ZHANG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/01/08.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/28/21.

DEC 02, 09, 16, 23, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039560100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as POPULATION, 1459 18TH ST #155, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed POPULATION LIGHTS, INC. (DE).

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/29/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/29/21.

DEC 02, 09, 16, 23, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039552400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as STUDIO GALLERY; STUDIO, 1641 PACIFIC AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a married couple, and is signed J TERRY & J FARRIS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/12/99. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/17/21.

DEC 02, 09, 16, 23, 2021

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Caleb Teicher Dancing a new path

by Philip Mayard

A

lthough Caleb Teicher has been called “a tap prodigy” (The New York Times) and “one of the most innovative tap dancers around” (Toronto Star), it would be a great disservice to categorize Teicher as simply a post-modern tap dancer.

Over the past decade, Teicher – who uses the pronouns they, them, their – has quietly redefined themselves, their place in the dance community, and some would say the dance world itself.

Teicher began their professional career in their teens, as a founding member of Michelle Dorrance’s acclaimed tap dance company Dorrance Dance. Teicher’s first appearance with Dorrance in 2011 earned critical raves and a Bessie Award. But just as they

Caleb Teicher

Caleb Teicher & Company perform More Forever

were starting to earn a reputation as one of the brightest young tappers in the business, they pivoted to a huge variety of new dance experiences, including intense ballet studio work, a year-long stint with the international touring company of West Side Story, and the pursuit of choreography. For Teicher, it was critical to not be defined by tap dance.

Indeed, since forming their own ensemble in 2015, Teicher has become a powerful voice in the world of interdisciplinary performance, collaborating with artists from across the movement and musical spectrum, from jazz and classical, to beatboxing and ballet. Teicher’s collaborative works have wowed audiences across the U.S., but Caleb Teicher & Company are making their Bay Area debut at Zellerbach Hall on December 5 with More Forever, a jazz/tap/Lindy Hop ensemble work, performed in a 24-foot sand box with a live original score, composed and performed by virtuoso pianist Conrad Tao.

In More Forever, which was created in 2019, Tao says, “the physical and musical gestures are responding to one another, and because it’s live and there’s a lot of improvisation deliberately baked in, this piece is really about us, and the audience finding that electric thread between all of that. When we last presented More Forever, it felt like it was about growing up, about time, about the fluidity of life. With everything that’s happened this last year and a half, I’m excited and curious to see what new layers reveal themselves to us and to other people.” t

Teicher is looking forward to bringing the company’s work to Bay Area audiences, saying, “Hopefully, More Forever will be visually and sonically adventurous and eye-opening, regardless of your previous connection to music or dance. What Conrad does is so expansive. Even if you’ve heard a lot of music, I think your mind is going to be blown a little bit. Mostly what we’re trying to do is go beyond an intellectual reaction; we’re trying to evoke a visceral, emotional, physical response from the audience.”

Tao –who has appeared as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Russian National Orchestra, and the Baltimore, Dallas, Detroit, and San Francisco Symphonies and given solo recitals around the globe– has been a close friend and frequent collaborator with Teicher since they met ten years ago as finalists at the National Foundation for the Advancement of Artists’ multidisciplinary Young Arts competition.

Caleb Teicher & Company; Sunday, December 5, 3pm, Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley campus. www.calperformances.org www.calebteicher.net/company Read the full article, with video clips, on www.ebar.com

Your play Rose, which starred Olympia Dukakis on Broadway, was a fierce dive into the Holocaust and the 20th century through one Jewish women’s memory and feels very connected to Gently Down the Stream. This new play marks the journey of a gay elder Beau and lives in that spark-filled sexy fugue terrain of how his stories, his gay histories, are communicated in intergenerational relationships. What pulled you to the memory space of Gently Down the Stream?

Lois Tema

Martin Sherman: I suppose I don’t think of it as memory space, but rather, as you said, a conversation with history, which is somehow different, but a history that is very personal to me, although not necessarily autobiographical. A history, it should be stated, of a gay white cisgendered man in the 20th century; there are many other histories that are now finally being written.

Martin Sherman The acclaimed playwright discusses his new and classic works

See page 20 >>

(L-R) Daniel Redmond, Donald Currie and Sal Mattos in Gently Down the Stream at New Conservatory Theatre Center.

M

artin Sherman changed the direction of theatre in the U.S., the U.K. and all over the world in so many remarkable ways. Since the late 1970s his work’s embrace of the full heat of queer and Jewish identity and the larger swirl of history that his plays explore created so much new space for theatre to stretch its legs and grow into. As a young performance artist, newly arrived in NYC at 19, the

first play I saw on Broadway in 1979 was Martin Sherman’s Bent, which famously introduced the world to the hidden history of gay men sent to concentration camps by the Nazis and forced to wear the pink triangle.

In one night at the New Apollo Theatre, I was bequeathed an amazing gift of queer history, anger and the potential of gay love and sexuality that has sustained me and my work in the four decades since. Sherman’s work has consistently explored history even while he was making history with the

audacity of his plays. I have known Martin since the mid-1980s and I had the pleasure of speaking with him about his new play, Gently Down the Stream.

Tim Miller: Martin, I am struck by how much of your work (Bent, Messiah, When She Danced and your fantastic film with Judi Dench, Mrs. Henderson Presents) is a conversation with history, memory and love. As your character Rufus says in Gently Down the Stream, “The past is sexy!”

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<< Film

20 • Bay Area Reporter • December 2-8, 2021

Robin de Jesús from Camp to the Heights to Boom

by Gregg Shapiro

T

here are few things more thrilling than watching a young actor coming into his own. Not that Robin de Jesús hadn’t already grabbed our complete attention in his debut film performance as sensitive Michael in Todd Graff ’s cult-favorite indie Camp. After that, de Jesús went on to acclaim in high-profile Broadway musicals including Rent and In the Heights.

But the last few years may, in fact, be the point of de Jesús’ ascension.

In 2018, he returned to Broadway as Emory in The Boys in the Band (for which he earned a Tony Award nomination) and recreated the role for the 2020 Netflix movie version.

Now, de Jesús is playing another Michael, in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s movie version of Jonathan Larson’s tick, tick…BOOM! also for Netflix. Co-starring with Andrew Garfield, de Jesús is nothing less than riveting. Robin was gracious enough to make time for an interview in advance of the November 2021 premiere of tick, tick…

BOOM!.

Gregg Shapiro: Your latest movie project is the film adaptation of Jonathan Larson’s tick, tick…BOOM!. Your connection to Larson precedes this by a few years when you were a cast member of Rent on Broadway. What is it about Larson’s work that speaks to you and appeals to you as a performer?

<<

Martin Sherman

From page 19

I don’t want to pass mine off as anything other than what it is. But as what it is, it becomes part of the mosaic of past experience and past lives that have shaped our lives today, and are often unspoken or forgotten.

I wrote a play in 1999 called Rose about Jewish life in the 20th century as seen through the eyes of one woman. I wanted to create a companion piece about gay life in the 20th century as seen through the eyes of one man. But I didn’t know how. Rose is a monologue; I didn’t want to repeat that.

I tried to write it as an epic; but that was frankly dire. I wrestled with it for seemingly forever. I had

Robin de Jesús

Hands down, the humanity. It’s the humanity because Jonathan, even in Rent, there’s no real bad person. Yes, Benny’s annoying.

But it’s society, it’s the system. It’s crack and the AIDS epidemic. It’s like going back to “Are you being present? What are you focusing on? Fear? Love?” They’re all themes that are universal and that we all know. But, to me, he writes them in a way that is so vulnerable and so unabashed; it’s almost borderline cheesy.

But it’s not because you can’t run away from the truth that he’s spilling. He was such an honest artist. He was a true artist and his work, to me, pulled at the heartstrings in the simplest ways, because it’s about basic wants and needs. Jonathan wasn’t only responsible for my Broadway debut, but he’s responsible for the second show, as well, because without Rent, Lin wouldn’t have given a title, I always had the title, Gently Down the Stream, but I had no play.

And then after about fifteen years, I was crossing a street in London one afternoon, and it was as if a pigeon was flying overhead and just dropped an idea plop onto my head, absolutely unrequested and seemingly out of nowhere. The pigeon’s idea was an intergenerational affair.

And literally in that moment, I had my play. I suppose the lesson is, never turn your subconscious off when crossing a street.

TM: It feels so human-scaled and intimate as it tackles the queer history and memory that fills the play.

I was struck by the sense of generational knowledge-passing in Gently Down the Stream: from older lover

himself permission to write In the Heights. He’s always said that. Jonathan’s responsible for my Broadway shows, one and two [laughs], and now this.

I’m glad you mentioned him, because the movie adaptation of tick, tick…BOOM! was directed

by Lin, someone else with whom you have a connection as you played Sonny in the off-Broadway and Broadway productions of In the Heights.

What I love about working with Lin is the shorthand and the trust.

Sometimes when you’re learning a new director, it’s like you’re learning a new dictionary. You both obviously want to do great work, but you’re learning (about) each other. With Lin, we have shorthand, it’s established.

What that allows me to do is just do my work. Lin can trust me and knows that I know what I’m doing, and I’m going to handle it and do what I’ve got to do. It allows me to do the work and give the best performance possible because we discussed the scenes beforehand, we discussed what we’re going for, and I marinate on that and then I get to set, and he comes in here and there and gives me a couple of notes. His gift with me is that he lets me do my thing.

Your multi-layered portrayal of Michael in tick, tick…BOOM!, a character who brings both humor and heartbreak to the story, is one of the movie’s highlights.

What was it about Michael that made you want to play him?

MS: It’s important to hand down stories, the stories of us. Gay people in particular tend to lack generational knowledge. Our biological families can only provide the stories of blood ancestors, which are important, but gay lives have been informed by gay lives that preceded them, and we need to know about them.

That’s beginning to change; we are beginning to learn; the largest information gaps are now about trans history, but that too will change. Now that I am very old, I realize that one of the most profound fears about dying is the thought that we will not be remembered.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH SEASON PRODUCERS: NORMAN ABRAMSON, MICHAEL GOLDEN & MICHAEL LEVY, ROBERT HOLGATE, LOWELL KIMBLE, TED TUCKER EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: GARY DEMYEN & LES PARTRIDGE, WILLIAM GREGORY, JORGE R. HERNÁNDEZ & RON JENKINS, DAVID E. MEDERS PRODUCERS: ANDY LEAS & BONG VILLA-LEAS, JEFF MALLOY & DEAN SHIBUYA, KEN PRAG & STEVE COLLINS

PRESENTS

Writer of Bent and The Boy from Oz

Directed by Arturo Catricala

Yes, that’s true.

That is kind of funny. Puerto Ricans with the name Michael.

That does happen, as opposed to Miguel. I know I summoned this Michael. I brought him to me. I knew after The Boys in the Band, that there’s an accumulation of really large roles in my resumé, and I love that. All the characters that I played, I feel like they have meat on the bone, they’re great, dense characters with so much to play with.

But I was very intentional about the next film I made, that it be a quieter performance, something

more subtle. I knew that by being showcased in a role that was subtle, and perhaps at times is the “straight man” in terms of the jokes, that that would allow me to showcase maturity.

As a man who’s navigating this career, I’m always trying to showcase myself differently. I knew that would really have a currency for me. When I saw Michael, I instantly thought, “Yo, this is it!”

This is the perfect showcase that I’ve been looking and the perfect transition into me being like, “Yo, I’m a grown-ass man now!”t Read the full interview on www.ebar.com.

Robin de Jesús with Andrew Garfield in tick, tick…BOOM!

to younger, from gay elder to a baby in the beautiful final scene. How important is this passing of memory?

N E W C O N S E R VAT O R Y T H E AT R E C E N T E R

By Martin Sherman

I didn’t know that it was going to be Michael. It is funny that it’s the same name as the character from Camp.

t

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photo James Hamilton

Richard Gere and David Dukes in the 1980 Broadway production of Bent

TM: Your work has claimed so many spaces –queer, Jewish, big historical personalities– but the hugeness of your claiming theatre space for gay men in their complexly human and sexual selves is such an important achievement and continues so strongly in Gently Down the Stream.

Broadway was never the same after the wildly sex-positive second act of Bent, gay desire made present even in the horror of a concentration camp. How well that lesson served young gay men like me just two years later as AIDS arrived in New York City. How did you come to bring queer identity so strongly forward in your work? What were the rewards and consequences?

MS: I probably discovered my queer identity by mischance. I was professionally (and personally, for that matter) going nowhere. I had nothing to lose. Successful writers, on the other hand, had a lot to give up by being openly gay. I wrote a play called Passing By (in the early ’70s) about a loving affair between two men who happened to be homosexual. The queerness was never an issue in the play, it just was, and the relationship was a healthy one, and I suppose that made it groundbreaking.

I wasn’t trying to break ground, however, as ground wasn’t something I had to stand on; I just thought

what the hell, no one will produce me anyhow, so I might as well tell the truth. It wasn’t brave. It came out of a kind of golden desperation.

In 1975, the play was produced in London by a new radical theatre group, The Gay Sweatshop, and they politicized me, so that my personal gay identity was able to become public. And Bent came out of that.

Once the Gay Sweatshop entered my life, I knew intellectually what I had already discovered instinctively, that it was folly to be anything other than who I was.

I suppose that then there might have been career consequences. But really, how can you harm a career by being openly queer if that career only exists because you are openly queer? Everything I write comes from an inner core that is both queer and Jewish. As the immortal Zaza says, I am what I am. t Martin Sherman’s Gently Down the Stream premieres at New Conservatory Theatre Center Dec. 3, through Jan. 9; 25 Van Ness Ave. www.nctcsf.org Tim Miller is a performer and author of five books including A Body in the O and 1001 Beds. He has performed at NCTC many times. www.timmillerperformer.com

t

Theater >>

December 2-8, 2021 • Bay Area Reporter • 21

Stephen Sondheim

March 22, 1930-November 26, 2021

by Brian Bromberger

S

tephen Sondheim, the legendary American musical theater composer-lyricist and with the possible exception of Cole Porter, the greatest gay American lyricist, died suddenly November 26 at the age of 91.

It is no exaggeration to say he reinvented the Broadway musical and became the quintessential musical dramatist of our age, a genius proficient at both words and scores. He was the most influential composerlyricist of the second half of the 20th century, but only in this century has his brilliance been appreciated and celebrated.

At his death there is a new offBroadway revival of his musical Assassins and opening on December 9, and a reimagined Broadway revival of 1970’s Company. The Steven Spielberg-Tony Kushner film adaptation of the classic West Side Story will be released on December 10.

Recently Sondheim had praised the film’s imaginativeness. And next May, New York City Center as part of its Encores! program, is planning a relaunch of Into the Woods.

Last year, to commemorate Sondheim’s 90th birthday, a virtual concert, Take Me to the World, was streamed on YouTube, featuring Broadway stars singing his songs. He remained busy until his final hours, even conducting his last interview with the New York Times just four days before his death, noting how lucky he had been throughout his career.

His other original most successful works were: Gypsy, A Funny Thing

Happened on the Way to the Forum, Follies, and A Little Night Music. Other works include Pacific Overtures, Sweeney Todd, Passion, and Sunday in the Park with George.

Sondheim considered his songs as short dramas set to music, labeling himself more a playwright than a songwriter, which was why actors loved to perform his work. The intricately crafted songs were characterdriven, literate lyrics expressing emotional ambivalence or discord.

Unlike traditional Broadway musicals with popular tunes in a threadbare often hackneyed plot, his lyrics provided insight into the psychological complexity of the protagonists. He was the maestro of melancholy and wistfulness. His verbal agility gave him staggering versatility as to the breadth of songs he composed, not to mention his elaborate rhymes. His serious subject matter stretched what was then deemed suitable material for a musical.

His musicals, while often critically praised, in their original runs rarely made any money or ran for very long.

Sondheim musicals never had happy endings or could be described as feelgood, but were often grim in their outlook. He was never in sync with the times and often critiqued social mores, but artistry, not popularity, was always his goal.

ter his parents divorced when he was ten. Hammerstein encouraged him to work as lyricist along with librettist Arthur Laurents, composer Leonard Bernstein, director/choreographer Jerome Robbins, in their modern version of Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story.

All these participants, along with the star Larry Kert, were gay and their collective virtuosity created a groundbreaking show. Sondheim later commented they were the only openly gay men he had met up until that time.

The same team (Jule Styne replacing Bernstein) would generate another hit musical Gypsy two years later.

However, it was Company (1970), with its depiction of modern marriage/relationships and openness about sexuality, that became Sondheim’s landmark achievement. The plot centered on 35-year-old Bobby and his brief affairs with women, but whose attraction lay with married couples, suggesting a ménage-a-trois. Many commentators thought Bobby was a closeted gay or bisexual, a notion vigorously denied by Sondheim.

Sondheim’s coming to terms with his sexuality was a decades-long rather torturous process. His emotionally unbalanced mother was called Foxy. Just before major heart surgery in the early 1970s, knowing he was gay, she wrote a letter to Sondheim saying, “The only regret I have in life is giving you birth,” despite him having financially supported her for decades.

He disclosed to a confidante at age 19 that he was attracted to men. But his close friend Arthur Laurents in his memoir Original Story wrote that Sondheim in the 1950s and ’60s was frightened of his sexuality and at one point even contemplated marriage to actress Lee Remick. From a Freudian perspective, perhaps he sublimated his (closeted) sexuality into his creative oeuvre.

Witty and gay

Born in 1930, through his mother, as a teen, he met the preeminent lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II, who was his greatest professional mentor, but also served as a surrogate father af-

(Clockwise from top left)The West Side Story original cast recording; Mandy Patinkin in the original cast of Sunday in the Park With George; Playbill for Company; Angela Landsbury and Len Cariou in Sweeney Todd

Sondheim confessed he was a late bloomer sexually and didn’t have his first serious boyfriend till age 41 and his first live-in partner until age 61 with Peter Jones, a man thirty years younger. It was this love affair that inspired Sondheim to write Passions (1994) featuring his most romantic score. It was his last great musical.

Sondheim formally came out publicly at age 68 to Meryl Secrest in her 1998 biography of him. It’s only been in the last decade that he embraced his gay identity, such that in 2013 he was willing to rewrite the lyrics for the Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of Company as a gay version, though they decided not to perform it. In 2004 he started a new relationship with actor Jeff Romley, fifty years his junior. They married in 2017.

Finishing the hat

Sondheim might be the most lauded composer/lyricist ever. He won five Tony Awards for best musical, six for original score, and three more for revivals of his shows. His Sunday in the Park (generally appraised his greatest musical, though some argue for Sweeney Todd) was given the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for drama. He received both the 1993 Kennedy Center and 2008 Tony Award for lifetime achievement. President Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. And in 2010 the ultimate accolade, a Broadway theater was renamed in his honor.

On November 28, more than a hundred performers gathered in Times Square to sing “Sunday,” from Sunday in the Park With George.

But one suspects Sondheim would have been most pleased by the tribute given him at Marie’s Crisis Café, a primarily gay piano bar in Greenwich Village with a passion for show tune music.

On November 26, fans gathered there to process and mourn his passing by celebrating his life and work.

For five hours only Sondheim tunes were played.

At Friday’s Assassins revival and Company Broadway previews, announcements were made to the audiences about Sondheim’s death, commenting what a sad day it was for the American theater and dedicating those evening performances to him.

Like his character Carlotta Campion in Follies bellowing out her famous survival anthem, “I’m Still Here,” Stephen Sondheim lived long enough to journey from cultural curiosity to cultural icon. t

Poetic points of perplexion

by Jim Gladstone

R

arely has a play about gender identity and sexual orientation felt so disorienting.

Writer Miranda Rose Hall’s Plot Points in Our Sexual Development, now making its regional debut in a polished production at the New Conservatory Theatre Company, is a superficially familiar hour-long relationship drama with a surprising grenade toss of an ending.

The play largely consists of intimate anecdotes told in alternation by two lovers; Cecily (Akaina Ghosh), a cisgender woman, and Theo (Ezra Reaves), a trans man.

The two share stories of childhood experimentation, bumbled tween and teen relationships and, in Cecily’s case, emotionally harrowing adult dating experiences.

The pair’s often humorous recollections will undoubtedly resonate with queer audience members. Their stories of crushes, kissing games and early forays into masturbation offer bittersweet nostalgia more than outright trauma. These are the

Lois Tema

Theo (Ezra Reaves) and Cecily (Akaina Ghosh) in Plot Points in Our Sexual Development at New Conservatory Theatre Center.

kind of ‘autobiographical greatest hits’ narratives that each of us has a small storehouse of, and it’s a credit to both Hall –whose unornamented language throbs with underlying poetry– the actors, and director Leigh Rondon-Davis that they land in a believably engaging sweet spot between casual conversation and over-polished perforance.. t

Plot Points in Our Sexual Development, through Dec. 19 at New Conservatory Theatre Company, 25 Van Ness Ave. $25-$65 (415) 861-8972 www.nctcsf.org Read the full review on www.ebar.com.

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22 • Bay Area Reporter • December 2-8, 2021

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t’s officially the holiday season! We are immersed in holiday baking shows on the Food Network. These are the gayest hours on the TV landscape right now and we are here for it.

We recommend the Holiday Baking Championship, the Christmas Cookie Challenge and the Holiday Gingerbread Showdown, all on Hulu.

And of course we got that early Christmas gift of JoJo Siwa’s Dancing With The Stars finale. JoJo’s butch-out in the freestyle to Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” was an iconic TV moment.

All over America teens of all sexual orientations were having Those Feelings over seeing hot girl-on-girl action right there in prime time on their parents’ TV sets. Oh the things we would have loved to have seen on TV when we were a queer teen!

Meanwhile, Advent has barely begun, yet the naughty list is already in play with coal being ladled into a few stockings.

Soap stupid

Sad news for General Hospital fans, as we are. Steve Burton, made for a tight-fitting black T-shirt, has played sexy, hot, hunky Jason Morgan on the long-running ABC soap since 1991, when he was only 19. But tragically, Burton has come out as an anti-vax, anti-science Flat Earther. He just got fired from the show for refusing to vaccinate, per the show’s policy.

Honestly, why would you throw your career away for some misguided ideology that is dangerous to you and everyone around you? Especially now, with the latest wild variant in the mix? We don’t get it.

In other TV bad guy news, Kevin Spacey was ordered to pay almost $31 million to the studio behind House of Cards for violating the company’s sexual harassment policy.

Wow. That’s as much as Bill O’Reilly was forced to pay a female co-worker at Fox in 2017 for “non-consensual sex,” or as the rest of us call it, rape.

Spacey served as an executive producer of Netflix’s wildly popular House of Cards and was the main character of the series from 2013 through 2017. In the sixth and final season of House of Cards, actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of making sexual advances toward him in 1986, when Rapp was just 14 and Spacey was 27. When Rapp spoke out, more men made allegations against Spacey, including crew members of House of Cards. Spacey was fired.

On Nov. 22, MRC, the studio that produced House of Cards, filed a petition in Los Angeles Superior Court to confirm the sum would be delivered.

Jasmin Savoy Brown, Melanie Lynsky, Juliette Lewis and Christina Ricci in Yellowjackets

Colton’s call

Coming Out Colton drops on Netflix December 3 and you just know you have to watch. Former NFL player and The Bachelor star Colton Underwood “embarks on a journey to embrace his new life as an out member of the LGBTQ community.” The reality series includes friends and mentors such as Olympian Gus Kenworthy, NFL’s Michael Sam, actress Fran Drescher and country music’s Cody Alan.

Coming Out Colton is Underwood’s coming out story is laid out over six episodes of his journey to his authentic self and how he got from the NFL to The Bachelor to now.

Underwood came out in April in an interview on Good Morning America with Robin Roberts, herself a lesbian and former basketball star. There was mixed response to Underwood’s reveal as many felt he had been duplicitous on The Bachelor about his true self.

But Underwood is no angel. He ‘dated’ Cassie Randolph, one of the show’s contestants. In September 2020, she filed a restraining order against Underwood, alleging that he stalked her outside her Los Angeles apartment and her parents’ Huntington Beach house, sent harassing text messages using an anonymous number, and installed a tracking device underneath her car.

We all come out at different stages and Underwood explores that in this series, which is bound to raise eyebrows.

Crash landing

Nothing screams holiday spirit like a plane crash in the snow. Set your DVR now for Showtime’s Yellowjackets which is the best Lost-alike since, well, Lost. This plane-crash-in-themountains will remind you of the plane crash season of Grey’s Anatomy where Arizona lost her leg and Callie almost lost Arizona and Lexie and Mark died and we all sobbed for 13 weeks.

A girl’s high school soccer team flies from New Jersey to Seattle for a national tournament and then plummets into the Ontario wilderness. For 19 months the survivors try to survive.

It’s not pretty. Assume cannibalism, tribalism and maybe tribadism.

The soundtrack is pure ’90s riot grrl rock; Liz Phair, PJ Harvey, Hole. The girls themselves are electric.

What happens to this team of deeply interconnected alpha girls with a thirst for being number one tells us a lot of what happens when we are removed from the context of our lives.

Yellowjackets explores the confluence of all the things we have been told in popular culture about teenage girls: that young women are basically feral, just differently so from boys. It takes place in 1996 – the year of the crash– and now. The show’s four principles are played as adults and teens as the show shifts back and forth between high school, the crash and now.

Shauna (Melanie Lynskey and Sophie Nélisse), Misty (Christina Ricci and Sammi Hanratty) and Natalie (Juliette Lewis and Sophie Thatcher) are differing degrees of unhappy in their adult lives. Misty was at her best in the wilderness.

Shauna feels there is nothing exciting in her life with her problematic teen daughter and wandering husband. And Natalie; well, she’s got some serious issues and Juliette Lewis knows how to play Serious Issues.

Taissa (Tawny Cypress and Jasmin Savoy Brown), a lesbian mom married to another woman and running for office, is the one member of the group who is settled in her life. The layers of interaction and revelation between and among these women and girls is what makes this series so exceptional.

Also, it’s a taut thriller in addition to everything else. t Read the full column, with trailers and video clips, on www.ebar.com.

Holiday concerts of note

by Philip Campbell

T

he holidays are here and ready to celebrate in person. Opportunities to attend concerts and seasonal music events are plentiful and most performance venues are back to full capacity. San Francisco Opera presents final performances of Cosi fan tutte this week, wrapping a triumphant comeback season.

December at Davies Symphony Hall and the San Francisco Symphony starts Dec. 5 with two showings of Deck the Hall at the Drive-In, a digital holiday program presented on the big screen at Fort Mason Flix; Holiday Soul, Dec. 8; plus many more concerts including Capathia Jenkins in A Cool Yule ChristmasHoliday Favorites of Frank & Ella, and New Year’s Eve with Darren Criss Dec. 31.

Ben Bliss in Cosi fan tutte; Capathia Jenkins in A Cool Yule Christmas-Holiday Favorites of Frank & Ella; New Year’s Eve with Darren Criss

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale and vocal ensemble Chanticleer return a to perform their traditional concert, A Chanticleer Christmas, with eleven per-

formances in specially decorated churches and missions across the Bay Area, December 10 through 23.

Read Philip Campbell’s roundup on www.ebar.com t

t

Holidays >>

December 2-8, 2021 • Bay Area Reporter • 23

Rizo’s holiday extravaganza

by David-Elijah Nahmod

T

he fabulous Rizo will bring her unique style of performing to a holiday themed show on the stage of the Great Star Theater in Chinatown on December 10 and 11.

When she comes to San Francisco, Rizo won’t be alone. Joining her onstage will be international belly dancer Zoe Jakes, along with Fou Fou Ha, the Bay Area’s very own surrealist clown troupe. The show promises to appeal not only to celebrants of Christmas, but also to those who observe Hanukah and Kwanzaa.

“Don’t expect to hear any Frosty the Snowman or gospel songs,” says Rizo.

“I’m just a hippy, witchy Jew who celebrates Solstice whose need to be free translates into expression, into my art.”

Rizo sometimes refers to herself as the “High Priestess of Cabaret.”

“I like to mix secretly, in a surreptitious way, feelings of cultivating the church of glitter in a nightclub space,” she said. “So using the nighttime performance with glamour, drag and performance and song, is a way to talk about bigger issues that we are all facing; mainly to cultivate the connection to the Feminine Divine for us all to gain a greater sense of actualization.”

Showgirl tips

Rizo says that she got through the pandemic with a lot of sighs and tears. As she points out, her livelihood is built around gathering people in close quarters indoors. She has no interest in doing livestreamed shows, so she launched a Patreon account in order to connect with her audience when live performing was not an option. She also started a podcast in which she chatted with writers, artists, performers, singers, comedians, and novelists. And to top it all off, she is working on a book, tentatively titled Showgirl Tips For Survival.

“My audience is 40 percent women and 40 percent gay men,” she said.

“I’m not sure if the women are gay, straight or in between. And 20 percent of my audience is other. There are some dapper hetero men in my audience. As for age, I’m really proud to say there’s a very wide split. I like to think of myself as an alt-cabaret performer. I mainly thrive on intimate audiences of under 500 that are lubricated–people who are drinking, or they’ve smoked a joint outside.”

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Rizo

Gay men, she feels, understand the power of worshipping and acknowledging the feminine divine.

“Because they’ve experienced homophobia, and at the root of homophobia is misogyny,” Rizo explains.

“So they are more able to champion that kind of feminine power themselves. And as an external projection of that they see me stepping into the light of this diva. I mean I come from a long lineage of like Shirley Bassey, Judy Garland, Bette Midler, Edith Piaf, Nina Simone; powerful women who are performers who have always had a deep connection with homosexual men. And my closest circles are homosexual men, I’m a radical fairy. I love drag in the woods. It’s who I feel most comfortable around.”

The holiday season, according to Rizo, is a time of light.

“We’re acknowledging the great powerful sun as it fades,” she said.

“It’s a time of introspection and can be dark for people. Especially if you don’t have a super solid relationship with your nuclear family. It’s a time to gather with those who are the chosen family. And so I want to hold space for that, and I’m welcoming my chosen family, as in these other performers (appearing in the show with her) but also the audience; people that connect to the same values as I do, the values surrounding joy, and choosing joy in a time that’s tough.”t www.greatstartheater.org/rizo www.rizo.love Read the full column, with trailers and video clips, on www.ebar.com.

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SHOP OLD SCHOOL: SHOP LOCAL.

50 years in 50 weeks:

The Gangway ‘still here’

By Jim Provenzano

A

classic neighborhood bar, The Gangway was a tiny yet cozy tavern noted for its exterior décor of a boat’s bowsprit. Inside, colorful locals drank from the early hours, occasionally served by the Bay Area Reporter’s gossip columnist Sweet Lips, aka Richard Walters.

As shown in the Janury 6, 2005 feature by the late Mike Sher and Mark Des Jardins, The Gangway welcomed an eclectic array of ‘Polkstrasse’ patrons.

Owner Suki Lee’s “motherly” style included occasionally making pots of Korean noodles for patrons.

This is just one of hundreds of articles in the B.A.R.’s five decades of coverage about bar and nightlife openings and closings.

Join in for a trip down memory lane with many other gay bars of yore on December 9, when BARchive columnist Michael Flanagan and myself welcome author and former bartender Mark Abramson, plus special guests, for an online chat about the historic connection between the Bay Area Reporter and its 50 years of writing about, and being distributed to, the many long-gone and still-thriving Bay Area LGBT bars.

Watch “B.A.R. Talks 8: The B.A.R. in the bars,’ Thursday, December 9, 6pm on www.youtube.com/c/bayareareportersf and www.facebook.com/BayAreaReporter

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