February 18, 2021 Edition of the Bay Area Reporter

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Vol. 51 • No. 7 • February 18-24, 2021

California redistricting commission revs up its work

by Matthew S. Bajko

Courtesy Mark Guarino

The body of Christopher Woitel was found in his apartment building.

Police find body of missing gay SF man

by John Ferrannini

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he body of a gay San Francisco man whose family traveled from Illinois last week to look for him has been found, according to an announcement made late February 15.

The mother of Christopher J. Woitel, 50, last heard from the Guerrero Street resident January 9, according to the San Francisco Police Department.

“Today, the San Francisco Police Department and the medical examiner notified us that they have located Chris,” a statement from the Woitel family reads. “It is with a heavy heart that we must inform you of Chris’ passing. Please help us by preserving Chris’ legacy in your memories. Thank you for your love and caring support through these very difficult times.”

According to Mark Guarino, a childhood friend of Woitel who the family procured as their media liaison, Woitel’s body was found “in his apartment building.”

When the Bay Area Reporter contacted Guarino February 16, Guarino said he did not definitively know whether Woitel’s body was found in his residence, which police previously searched, or elsewhere in the building where his home was located.

Family members who had arrived on February 11 to look for Woitel left town February 14, the day before the discovery. An autopsy is expected to take place this week, Guarino said.

The SFPD confirmed to the B.A.R. that “investigators located the body of Christopher Woitel in the attic in his home. The SFPD SVU is investigating the incident. The cause of death is pending the medical examiner’s autopsy.”

When asked about the location of the attic within Woitel’s residence, Officer Adam Lobsinger stated, “I cannot confirm the exact layout of the apartment. The report described the area where Woitel was located as the attic.”

The San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has not responded to a request for comment regarding if it has received the body.

See page 8 >>

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he panel tasked with redrawing the political boundaries for California’s legislative Assembly and Senate districts, as well as the state’s 53 congressional House seats, based on the 2020 census is revving up its work as it strives to send the final maps to the secretary of state in time for next year’s elections. It is expected the Golden State will lose at least one congressional district when the census bureau releases the results from the decennial tally of the country’s population this summer.

Most of the 14 members of the 2020 Citizens Redistricting Commission have begun holding town halls in their regions of the state to educate the public about its work and how they can get involved. People can submit their own district maps for the panel to consider via the website www.drawmycacommunity.org before it tackles drawing the new boundaries in the fall.

According to the commission’s work timetable, it will hold public input meetings this summer as it waits to receive the new census figures. On Friday, February 12, the U.S. Census Bureau announced it was pushing back its timeline for doing so again, from

Courtesy CA Redistricting Commission

2020 Citizens Redistricting Commission members Ray Kennedy, Ph.D., left, and Antonio Le Mons

July 30 to September 30. But it also said it had completed the release of all states’ 2020 census geographic products needed for redistricting so that the states will be able to “redistrict promptly” when they receive the tabulation data in the fall.

There will be some lag time from when the census bureau submits the data and when the UC Berkeley Statewide Database reallocates the state’s prison population for the purpose

of drawing up the district boundaries. The commission had been aiming to release its draft maps in October, leaving time for additional public comment prior to the final boundary lines being set by December 15.

The delay in getting the census data, however, will extend the commission’s work, said spokesman Fredy Ceja.

See page 6 >>

Trans SF paramedic sues city for racial, gender identity bias

by John Ferrannini

A

trans Black man who is a San Francisco Fire Department paramedic is suing the city, alleging he has been discriminated against on the basis of his race and gender identity, harassed, and retaliated against.

Ronnie Jones, 44, has worked for the SFFD since 2006. He came out as transgender in 2015, and things at work have not been the same since, according to his attorney, Angela Alioto, who spoke with the Bay Area Reporter February 11.

Alioto, a past president of the Board of Supervisors, is also representing gay firefighter Keith Baraka in his suit against the city, as the B.A.R. reported January 25. To Alioto, Jones’ discrimination case is part of the same pattern.

“I think that the racism in the San Francisco city government is obviously literally embedded,” Alioto said. “It’s part of the policy of how people are treated. I have close to 25 city cases and in the fire department, the department of health, the sheriff ’s department – all seem to have the same issue. When it comes to gender, in Ronnie’s case, it becomes very difficult to love your job, to get up and go to work.”

(Jones could not immediately be reached for comment.)

Courtesy Law Offices Mayor Joseph L Alioto and Angela Alioto

San Francisco Fire Department paramedic Ronnie Jones is suing the city.

Lieutenant Jonathan Baxter, the public information officer for the San Francisco Fire Department, stated late February 11 that “The City Attorney’s office is handling media inquiries, which is standard, related to this inquiry.”

Shortly thereafter, John Coté the communications director for the city attorney’s office, issued the following statement:

“The city takes equal employment issues seriously and is committed to fostering a welcoming, inclusive workplace free of discrimination or harassment based on race, gender identity or any other protected characteristic,” Cote stated.

“We have not even been served with this lawsuit, so we’re not able to address it in detail. We’ll review it once we’ve been served with it.”

A copy of the civil complaint, which was filed in San Francisco Superior Court February 5, contains six counts: two of discrimination on the basis of race and gender identity, respectively; two counts of unlawful retaliation for opposing discrimination on those bases, a count of workplace harassment in violation of California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act; and a count of failure to prevent discrimination and harassment in violation of that act.

Jones works out of Station 49, which is in the Bayview neighborhood.

“As a black and queer-identified individual with a background of overcoming adversity such as homelessness as a teen parent, he was proud to join an esteemed organization where he could be in a position to help those who faced similar struggles,” the complaint states. “In fact, this was his dream job.

See page 8 >>

2/12/21 10:45 AM

<< Community News

t Bill would tighten UC contracts on inclusive care 2 • Bay Area Reporter • February 18-24, 2021

by John Ferrannini

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roposed legislation seeks to ensure that the University of California only contracts with facilities that allow the UC staff in those facilities to provide gender-affirming and reproductive health care.

Gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) introduced Senate Bill 379 February 10.

“This legislation will expand access to health care for LGBTQ people and will begin to end stigma,” Wiener told the Bay Area Reporter February 12. “I think a lot of us have strong opinions about major hospitals refusing to provide gender-affirming care and reproductive health, but this isn’t even about that. This is about a public university entering contracts where UC physicians are prohibited from providing care to our community. That’s just not acceptable.”

SB 379 would change current laws where, as Wiener said, “you can have a situation where a UC physician is treating a UC patient at a Dignity hospital, for example, and they can’t provide a service.

“No one should have to deal with that,” he added. “It’s not OK.” The bill was co-authored by gay state Senator John Laird (D-Santa Cruz), gay Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell), and Assemblywomen Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) and

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Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens).

Laird stated to the B.A.R. that SB 379 is a question of rights.

“Equal access to services paid for by public dollars is not a ‘nice to have’ – it is an absolute ‘must have,’” Laird stated in an email February 12. “This is especially true for historically highly marginalized communities. Providing completely equal access to healthcare for the trans community is a basic human right and cannot be overlooked.”

Garcia said that the legislation is meant to close a “Pandora’s box.”

“The purpose of SB 379 is simple,” Garcia stated in an email February 12. “Organizations that willingly choose to deny patients reproductive, gender affirming, or any other type of care because of religious beliefs should not receive contracts from the University of California system. It opens a Pandora’s box for violations of separation of church and state, by continuing to contract with providers that discriminate in such a manner.”

Low stated that since the UC system receives some $9 billion in state money, it “owes all taxpayers the best care possible.”

“We are seeing reproductive and LGBTQ-inclusive care continue to be limited across the country – and that’s a major problem,” Low wrote in an email to the B.A.R. “We will

continue to fight to make sure public health systems do no enter into contracts with health care facilities that subject providers to dangerous restrictions. It’s a no-brainer. We as leaders need to protect patients who need care, and that’s what this bill does.”

Wicks did not respond to a request for comment.

A news release from Wiener’s office states that the bill will end limits on care “not based on any clinical criteria” and that “disproportionately impact patients of color, LGBTQ people, and people with low incomes, who already face barriers to accessing quality, affordable, and inclusive health care.”

“Some of the harmful contracts UC Health has entered into explicitly prevent UC doctors and students from providing reproductive and LGBTQ inclusive care, including: contraception, sterilization, abortion, gender-affirming care, and urgent care, such as treatment for miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy,” the news release states. “The status quo endangers the lives of UC patients, and this legislation ensures that UC providers are able to provide this critical care wherever they practice.”

“UC Health has entered into health care facility contracts that subject UC providers to harmful non-clinical restrictions limiting the kinds of services they provide to patients,” it continues. “SB 379 ensures that, moving forward, UC Health health care facility contractors will allow UC providers to perform the full range of appropriate care.”

A representative of Equality California, which cosponsored the bill, said, “we hope that LGBTQ+ Californians are paying close attention to this bill.”

“While UC Health has refused to affirm their commitment to providing high-quality, evidence-based

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care for LGBTQ+ people at all facilities, many of us have been denied care or harmed at hospitals that restrict services for non-medical reasons,” EQCA legislative manager Tami Martin stated to the B.A.R. “We know that rural, low-income and LGBTQ+ Californians already face barriers when receiving healthcare - discrimination by a statefunded health system should not be one of them.”

The bill was also co-sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union of California and NARAL ProChoice California.

“UC Health doctors and students want to provide the highest standard of care possible for their patients, the care their patients deserve,” Elizabeth Gill, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU of Northern California, stated in Wiener’s release. “Thousands of members of the UC community have spoken out about their serious concerns with UC Health’s restrictive contracts, but UC Health has ignored these concerns or responded secretly with incomplete measures.

We thank Senator Wiener and the co-sponsors of this bill for bringing this issue to the legislature. We hope it results in transparent, accountable behavior from one of the biggest health care providers in the state that is also a part of our public

university system.”

NARAL Pro-Choice California Director Shannon Olivieri Hovis used the bill to contrast California with the anti-abortion policies of the Trump administration.

“The University of California is world-renowned for its leadership in comprehensive reproductive and LGBTQ-inclusive care – which makes contracts that limit the ability of UC doctors and students to provide basic reproductive and gender-affirming care all the more troubling,” Hovis stated in the release. “After four years of unprecedented attacks on reproductive freedom and LGBTQ+ rights from the Trump administration, SB 379 is critical to ensure that the UC lives up to its values.”

When reached for comment February 12, UC Health stated it is considering the ramifications of the proposed legislation on its responsibilities.

“On February 10, the University of California learned of state legislation that would prohibit physicians and other clinical personnel, and trainees from UC’s academic health centers from providing patient care at facilities with policy-based restrictions on care,” a statement from the working group on comprehensive access states. “We are carefully examining the implications of the bill including its impact on core areas of the university’s designated responsibilities. We strive to promote practices that maximize equitable access to health care, and agree strongly that all Californians should have access to comprehensive services without interference.

“We look forward to working with the Legislature, health professionals, and other key community stakeholders to meet our shared goals of access, quality and nondiscrimination,” the statement concludes.t

Puerto Vallarta’s LGBT center helps during COVID crisis

by Ed Walsh

P

uerto Vallarta’s LGBT center, SETAC, is helping to support workers in the tourist-dependent city who are struggling in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The resulting economic disaster shuttered businesses and forced many LGBTQs to move to Mexico City and other Mexican cities in search of work, said SETAC’s executive director, Paco Arjona.

“It’s very expensive here,” Arjona told the Bay Area Reporter last week. “Even with the tourists not coming, the rent is still expensive.”

The SETAC director added that for most, the loss of work is more concerning than the risk of contracting COVID-19.

“They say they can easily die without food, but can survive with COVID,” Arjona said. The director noted that unlike the U.S., Mexico has no government-run unemployment insurance but that Mexicans in need can apply for some assistance from the government when funding is available.

Arjona said that many LGBTQs are drawn to Puerto Vallarta from other parts of Mexico like refugees, seeking acceptance that they can’t get at home. He said some are unable to provide the proper identification to be able to get government assistance. Some transgender people, the director added, face obstacles if their name or sex does not match their birth records.

According to John Hopkins University’s list of the 20 countries most affected by COVID-19 worldwide,

Ed Walsh

SETAC PrEP counselor and psychologist Omar Ismael Rossi stands in front of the center’s van.

Mexico ranks seventh in per-capita COVID-19 deaths behind the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Italy, United States, Portugal, and Spain. The country has recorded more than 171,000 COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic began.

In mid-January, Mexico recorded its deadliest week with more than 7,000 deaths in one week. As a result of the surge last month, the state of Jalisco, including Puerto Vallarta, instituted its third lockdown, forcing nightclubs and bars not serving food to close. Those orders were lifted February 12.

SETAC’s PrEP counselor and psychologist Omar Ismael Rossi told the B.A.R. that he was diagnosed positive for COVID-19 last month but has had no symptoms other than a rash on his ankle. Rossi, 47, is originally from Argentina and has been living with HIV since 1999. His husband never contracted COVID-19.

“So I don’t have any symptoms but it’s a lottery. I know healthy people, strong people and the COVID killed them,” Rossi said.

When asked about the impact of the pandemic overall on Puerto Vallarta’s LGBTQ community, Rossi mentioned the New Year’s Eve gay party organized by White Party founder Jeffrey Sanker that was held about 25 minutes outside of Puerto Vallarta in the neighboring state of Nayarit, which had less severe restrictions for gatherings than Jalisco.

Rossi also noted the incident in which the gay party boat “Delice” capsized with about 60 people onboard on New Year’s Eve. Fortunately, everyone was safely rescued but the optics of another large group gathering was not viewed favorably by many.

“We have bad press because of the parties because you have seen See page 7 >>

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Community News>>

February 18-24, 2021 • Bay Area Reporter • 3

Frameline hires new programming chief compiled by Cynthia Laird

F

rameline, which produces the LGBTQ film festival in San Francisco, has announced that after an extensive search, it has hired a queer Black woman as its director of programming.

Allegra Madsen joins the nonprofit organization following success at San Francisco’s Bayview Opera House, a news release stated.

In the role, Madsen, 41, will oversee the curatorial vision and execution of Frameline’s signature International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, which celebrates its 45th anniversary this year. She will also direct the implementation and programming of all non-festival programs and projects.

“I am thrilled to welcome Allegra Madsen as our new director of programming,” Frameline Executive Director James Woolley stated. “She arrives at Frameline with extensive experience in arts and film programming, and has recently been curating one of the most-loved venues in the Bay Area.”

Previously, Madsen programmed the PROXY Outdoor Film Festival and, while at the Bayview Opera House, created the Black Light Cinema screening series in Bayview-

Courtesy Frameline

Allegra Madsen

Hunters Point with the goal of providing a platform for the voice of San Francisco’s last Black community, the release stated.

Woolley said that Madsen’s vision and her passion for the audience experience “makes her the perfect person to take Frameline’s programming to new heights.”

“We look forward to making the 2021 festival bigger and brighter than ever,” he stated.

Madsen said she’s looking forward to getting to work.

“I am honored and excited to be a part of Frameline, whose mission I am deeply invested in, to celebrate queer cinema and to be a part of an organization that aims to shape the world through storytelling and shared experiences,” she stated.

Frameline board President Nadir Joshua stated that Madsen has “passion and enthusiasm for ensuring inclusivity and accessibility,” which will be an asset to the organization and its supporters.

Madsen lives in the Bay Area with her wife and two kids. She declined to disclose her salary. Frameline’s annual budget is about $2 million; its 2019 IRS Form 990, available on its website, only detailed salary information for Woolley and the previous executive director.

AIDS groups unite for Brown memorials

A consortium of HIV/AIDS organizations has launched the Timothy Ray Brown “The Berlin Patient” Memorial Campaign, a community effort to memorialize Brown’s journey and life.

Brown was an American considered to be the first person cured of HIV/AIDS. He was diagnosed with HIV while studying in Germany in 1995, and later developed acute myeloid leukemia. He underwent two stem cell transplantations and discontinued antiretroviral therapy.

By the end of 2007, it appeared that the treatment worked – both for his viral infection and for his cancer.

Brown, a former San Francisco resident, was dubbed the Berlin Patient at the 2008 Conference on Retroviruses

Courtesy National AIDS Memorial Grove

Timothy Ray Brown

and Opportunistic Infections, where his cure was first announced. Afterward, he dedicated his life to supporting research to find a cure for HIV. Sadly, Brown’s leukemia returned, and he died September 29, 2020 in Palm Springs, where he had been living.

According to a news release, the goal is to establish memorials in San Francisco and Palm Springs. In the city, that would consist of a boulder with an inscription in the National AIDS Memorial Grove; in Palm Springs, plans call for a memorial bench and plaque in Wellness Park adjacent to the Desert Regional Medical Center.

The coordinating consortium working for memorials consists of the AIDS grove, Let’s Kick ASS Palm Springs, amfAR-the Foundation for AIDS Research, Desert Healthcare District and Foundation, HIV &

AIDS Research Project-Palm Springs, and Until There’s A Cure Foundation.

“Timothy Ray Brown is truly a hero and to have his name engraved upon a boulder in the memorial grove will ensure future generations will know how in life he touched so many,” stated John Cunningham, executive director of the AIDS grove.

The organizations are collaborating with Tim Hoeffgen, Brown’s life partner, in their effort. In the release, Hoeffgen said he was happy “the HIV community and family and friends are supporting to help memorialize Timothy Brown’s activism and legacy...”

A special donation website has been created at https://bit.ly/3qiOtwy for contributions, with 100% of the tax-deductible funds raised directly supporting the memorials.

San Mateo center celebrates Black History Month

The San Mateo County Pride Center will hold its Black History Month intergenerational virtual dinner Thursday, February 25, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. During this event, participants will celebrate the theme “We Are Because They Do” and learn about the important and significant contributions Black LGBTQ+ figures have made in history and culture. Interested people should RSVP at https:// tinyurl.com/BlackHistoryDinner.t

SF launches trans wellness campaign

Rimi/courtesy SF Pride; Farley/Rick Gerharter

Anjali Rimi, left, and Clair Farley are working on a new transgender wellness campaign.

by John Ferrannini

T

he San Francisco Office of Transgender Initiatives recently announced a new campaign alongside the SF Bay Area LGBTQ COVID Relief Coalition to address health disparities, particularly as they concern the pandemic.

The Trans Wellness SF campaign is also seeking to collect more data about the transgender and gendernonconforming communities, according to Clair Farley, a trans woman who is the executive director of the Office of Transgender Initiatives, in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter February 11.

“I think what’s new with this wellness campaign launch is a connected strategy of doing education about the implications of the pandemic on the community with a public health survey,” Farley said.

The survey, which is available online at www.surveymonkey.com/r/ TransWellnessSF, states that it seeks “to learn how trans, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary communities have accessed support during the COVID-19 pandemic. This information will be used to improve access to services for our communities.”

Another element of the campaign, which was announced February 10, is an advisory committee of trans and gender-nonconforming health experts.

“An advisory committee of TGNC health and wellness experts will deliver an initial assessment of existing health care, wellness and mental health services,” a news release states. “This will help identify barriers to care, gaps in services, and support the collaborative building

of a series of community recommendations that will be shared with city leadership, departments, and community organizations.”

Farley stated that there are currently 12 members on the advisory board and there is a rolling application process.

“We are open to folks who are working within organizations and other leadership levels of advocacy, and who’d like to get involved with civic engagement,” Farley said.

One member of the advisory board is Anjali Rimi, a trans woman who is the co-chair of the SF Bay Area LGBTQ COVID Relief Coalition that is spearheading the campaign alongside the transgender initiatives office.

Rimi and Farley said that the coalition formed last spring as the COVID-19 crisis led to financial strain in the trans community around the Bay Area. Now, the Trans Wellness SF campaign will seek to promote verifiable information about the importance of getting vaccinated.

“I picked up the phone and called Clair in March of last year and we came together as a formal coalition in May,” Rimi told the B.A.R. February 11. “Our goals align very much because we are trying to build economic justice and trans equity.”

The coalition provides food relief and financial support, Rimi and Farley said.

Rimi said that some 300 people indicated they needed support in the first phase of intake, totaling a need for $184,000 in assistance.

“We could only match half of that,” Rimi said. “We had to be equitable and disburse the funds as able.

There’s still a lot of need out there, and this is part two of that. ... The City of San Francisco, the Office of Transgender Initiatives, really took the word to the community and provided us with resources, helped us build a website and we just wish we could have had that support elsewhere, such as in Oakland and the rest of the Bay Area.”

All told, the coalition has been able to help 500 trans and gendernonconforming people in the Bay Area.

Farley is hopeful that the survey

will find gaps in the city’s safety net for trans people that can, in turn, be brought up to supervisors and the mayor as they work on the city’s budget, in the long term, and to connect people with COVID vaccinations, in the shorter term.

“We can use this data to con-

nect people to the vaccine: to address hesitancy and gaps,” Farley said. “And there’s a lot more we can do to support trans folks and the broader LGBTQ community in this pandemic.”

Farley said that there is no single budget figure for the trans wellness

campaign, but that it connects some $5 million in previously allocated spending from the city, including a $2 million investment in LyonMartin Health Services and $2 million in rental subsidies as part of the Our Trans Home SF initiative, as the B.A.R. previously reported.t

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<< Open Forum

4 • Bay Area Reporter • February 18-24, 2021

Volume 51, Number 07 February 18-24, 2021 www.ebar.com

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Making a mockery of diversity

T

he San Francisco Board of Education made a mockery of diversity, even as members have the right intentions. At its February 9 virtual meeting, the board’s execution in this pursuit was shoddy and resulted in a gay white man being vilified for who he is.

As many people have no doubt heard, the board was considering the appointment of Seth Brenzel to the district’s 15-member Parent Advisory Council, which was created to provide parent input to the Board of Education on policy. He’s a gay dad who is involved in his daughter’s public school and the nine PAC members unanimously recommended him. (His daughter is mixed race, a fact that was both praised and dismissed by speakers during public comment.) He would be the only man and the only LGBTQ person on the council, which presently has five regular and three alternate vacancies. The moms on the PAC include whites (3), Latinas (3) Blacks (2), and a Tongan. But it was the fact that Brenzel is white that seemingly doomed his chances – at least for now. Commissioner Mark Sanchez, a gay man who’s the only LGBTQ person on the seven-member school board, said he “didn’t want to micromanage” the selection process but that only 15% of the district’s students are white and adding Brenzel to the PAC would result in too high a percentage of white council members – 40%. He suggested that Michelle Jacques-Menegaz, the PAC coordinator, come back to the board with a slate of diverse candidates – including Brenzel.

And that’s where the discussion should have ended. Following public comment, the board actually agreed with this idea and tabled the vote on Brenzel – but not before a lot more pontificating about the issue, exhibiting an utter lack of respect for Brenzel. Per the video recording of the meeting, no board member asked him a single question, such as why having an LGBTQ person on the PAC is important, his desire to contribute to the school district, or his qualifications. They left him in the corner of the SFGovTV screen even as they talked about him. That’s unprofessional. Brenzel is involved with Decreasing the Distance,

Screengrab

Parent Advisory Council applicant Seth Brenzel, top right, was praised and criticized for the fact that he’s a gay white dad during a recent Board of Education meeting.

a collective of San Francisco Unified School District parents that advocates reopening the schools. But while some speakers were critical of the group, Sanchez said he doesn’t have a problem with a Decreasing the Distance parent on the PAC. “I want voices from Decreasing the Distance,” he said.

During public comment, one speaker representing the Chinese American Democratic Club acknowledged the group “dropped the ball” on efforts to recruit Asian and Pacific Islanders for the PAC. Another speaker urged supporting Brenzel while working to increase minority PAC members. One person charged that the board was “shaming LGBTQ parents.” Another speaker, who said they were an openly queer parent, said queer people of color’s voices should be put ahead of whites.

Still another speaker pointed out that diversity isn’t just about race, but also thought. Several people suggested adding more seats to the PAC to make it more diverse. Jacques-Menegaz told the commissioners that she’d like to see the PAC “represent all families in the district,” including those who are homeless, those who have a family member incarcerated, the Filipino community, monolingual APIs, Native Americans, and Arabs. She said she was asking for the board to approve Brenzel now “because the numbers are so low” on the PAC, due to difficulty recruiting qualified applicants willing to serve.

School board Commissioner Matt Alexander acknowledged that Brenzel “was caught in the middle” without directly soliciting feedback from him. “From what I can tell you seem

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like the kind of person we want on the PAC,” he said. Commissioner Kevine Boggess, like Alexander a new board member, said he had a lot of concerns about all advisory committees in the district but noted this was his first time really hearing about the issue.

Ultimately, the board made the right decision by tabling the vote, rather than rejecting Brenzel for the PAC seat. After concerns were raised by some board members about the PAC application itself, it’s clear a revamp is in order. (Commissioner and Vice President Alison Collins said the application “doesn’t bring up” that it holds the policies of the district students and families at the center of its work and explicitly looks at existing structures and systems.) The PAC should continue its outreach efforts, which Jacques-Menegaz said it’s doing (and not just to PTA groups, since not all schools have them, she noted). And the board should consider Sanchez’s suggestion that the district offer a stipend, perhaps means-tested, because the PAC “is overly represented with folks with means, particularly folks who are white.” But making the right decision while subjecting an applicant to humiliation is not a good look for the board. In fact, using what was said at the meeting, gay slain San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk, whose name adorns the district’s public school/civil rights academy in the Castro, wouldn’t qualify for the PAC – he was white and not even a parent.

The Board of Education has suffered from a series of self-inflicted wounds lately that have made it a laughingstock in national and international news coverage. This recklessness runs the risk of turning into a caricature of liberalism run amok.t

SF school board must repair harm

by Seth Brenzel

Bay Area Reporter

t

n February 9, the 25th anniversary of my first date with my husband, the San Francisco Board of Education considered my nomination to join the volunteer Parent Advisory Council. The PAC’s mission is to engage families to help shape education policy and represent parent voices in the district’s decision-making process. As an active volunteer in my daughter’s elementary school for the past several years, and the executive director of a youth-serving nonprofit, I was eager to join the PAC to help connect more parents with the work of the San Francisco Unified School District, and to work to increase collaboration and communication between, and among, parents and the school district.

When the appointed hour arrived, I set my laptop on my TV tray and turned on my camera. And then I sat there, Zoom-muted for two hours, as this group of seven educational leaders, themselves responsible for the education of more than 50,000 schoolchildren, discussed my candidacy and whether I, and the various identities that were assigned to me during the discussion, would bring enough diversity to the all-female committee that does not include any LGBTQ parents and has eight current vacancies. I was never invited to speak, answer a question, or even state my name for the record. The board ultimately decided, after consulting with SFUSD’s legal counsel, to table my nomination.

The board devoted precious time to a misguided and meandering discussion of a single candidate for a parent volunteer group at the expense of other critical action items on the agenda. While I fully support the goals of increasing diverse representation on advisory and governing bodies at SFUSD, my nomination to the PAC and the ensuing discussion was mishandled and one-sided. This board clearly does not see the urgency of LGBTQ

Courtesy Seth Brenzel

Seth Brenzel

parent representation. Indeed, my nomination may have been controversial because of my ongoing advocacy work for the safe reopening of San Francisco public schools. Rather than focus all its resources on the process of reopening schools safely, the Board of Education repeatedly fails to prioritize this most urgent issue. Last Tuesday was no exception.

San Francisco’s public schools remain completely closed for in-person learning. Our school district is being sued by our very own city attorney for failing in its state constitutional and legislated obligations to provide the education our children deserve and our families need. Instead of rapidly bringing back elementary school students, such as nearly all of the independent and parochial schools in San Francisco have already done, there is now limited hope that even six weeks of in-person learning might be offered to a few thousand of the district’s youngest and most vulnerable students before school lets out in early June. And currently under consideration is a district labor agreement that would extend pandemic teaching and learning modifications through the 2021-2022 school year (with as little as two days per week, mornings-only in-person instruction), and that would quite possibly delay bringing students back to full-time school until fall of 2022.

Despite this educational emergency, the

board’s discussion of the return-to-in-person learning plan came up a full seven hours into last Tuesday’s meeting. By the time the board began to discuss reopening at 10 p.m., many of the families most affected by the board’s deliberations had long since logged off, put their kids to bed, and gone to sleep. This frittering away (again) of our collective time and focus was, in the resonant words of gay Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, “educational malpractice.”

During the pandemic, my daughter has had amazing educators working on overdrive to try to accomplish the impossible: teach elementary school to children across a videoconference, for hours on end, day after day, week after week. These dedicated teachers and staff have been creative, resilient, organized, kind, focused, caring, and professional. These good people deserve better district leadership.

As to whether I’ll continue as a candidate for the PAC, that remains to be seen. The intent and impact of the individual and collective actions of our school board members at Tuesday’s meeting still require redress. Harm was done (again) at last week’s meeting, more to SFUSD students and families, and the citizens of San Francisco, than to me. As we educators teach our students, we have to acknowledge and repair the harm before we can move toward a renewed, right relationship.

The absurdity of Tuesday’s meeting has garnered the attention of international media, including a reported invitation to appear on “The Daily Show” with Trevor Noah. As exciting as it might be for me to be interviewed on his show, this is not about him – or me. This is about our families, our city’s kids, and San Francisco’s future. I implore the Board of Education to repair the harm they are doing and safely reopen our public schools. It’s been 341 days ... and counting.t

Seth Brenzel is an educator, a nonprofit leader, sings tenor with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, and has lived in San Francisco for the past 21 years in the Bernal Heights neighborhood.

t

Politics >>

February 18-24, 2021 • Bay Area Reporter • 5

LGBTQ stances trail Faulconer’s GOP CA gubernatorial bid

by Matthew S. Bajko

H

e has been described as the strongest San Diego mayor on LGBTQ issues and was one of the rare Republican elected officials to publicly support same-sex marriage. He called on Congress to adopt sweeping federal LGBTQ rights legislation and backed campaigns to honor LGBTQ luminaries with their own postage stamps.

It is a record that will trail Kevin Faulconer as he runs to lead California, whether via the effort to recall Governor Gavin Newsom this fall or during next year’s gubernatorial race, where the top two votegetters in the June primary will face off in the November 2022 election.

Should Newsom, a Democrat who was vaulted to international stardom with his decision to marry same-sex couples in 2004 when mayor of San Francisco, fend off the recall campaign, then next year’s contest could see voters given a choice between two former top municipal leaders considered strong advocates for the LGBTQ community.

While it is assured that Newsom will not shy away from his LGBTQ record – during his first two years in the Governor’s Mansion he received perfect scores on the annual legislative scorecard issued by statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization Equality California – the same can’t be said of Faulconer.

The only mention of his being “a vocal supporter of the gay community” on his campaign website at https://www.kevinfaulconer. com/ comes on Page 2 of his news clipping section if one clicks on the page for a Washington Examiner article.

After Faulconer officially announced his bid February 2, his campaign arranged interviews with local media outlets throughout the state but did not do so with any LGBTQ news outlet. It had yet to arrange an interview with the Bay Area Reporter as of the paper’s press deadline Wednesday morning, despite repeated requests in recent weeks.

Faulconer’s stance within the LGBTQ community has taken several hits in recent months, such as when he revealed that he voted to reelect former President Donald Trump in November. And last fall, when he attacked Newsom for signing into law a bill that ended the discriminatory treatment of LGBTQ young adults faced with registering as sex offenders.

In a tweet Faulconer wrote he was “appalled” by Newsom’s decision and that “an adult who commits ANY sex act on a minor 10 years younger must be registered a sex offender.” The bill did not allow for statutory rape or pedophilia, and judges maintain the discretion to require someone in such cases to register as a sex offender.

Controversy over the bill engulfed gay former Assemblyman Todd Gloria, who had voted for it, as he ran to succeed the termed out Faulconer. He was able to survive the homophobic attacks to become San Diego’s first gay elected mayor, having years ago briefly held the position on an interim basis.

Gloria had served on the San Diego City Council alongside Faulconer in the late 2000s and early 2010s, and was its president during much of Faulconer’s first months as mayor in 2014. Having worked closely with both his predecessor and the governor during his time in the state Legislature, Gloria told the B.A.R. one difference between them

Barry Schneider Attorney at Law

family law specialist*

• Divorce w/emphasis on to take on Newsom. Businessman Real Estate & Business Divisions John Cox, who lost to Newsom in • Domestic Partnerships, Support & Custody the 2018 gubernatorial race, and • Probate and Wills gay former San Diego city councilwww.SchneiderLawSF.com man Carl DeMaio, a vocal proponent of the recall, have both excoriated Faulconer for his moderate *Certified by the California State Bar record in office.

Rumors have recently circled 400 Montgomery Street, Ste. 505, San Francisco, CA that two out prominent conservatives were looking at the race: Caitlyn Jenner, a transgender woman and former Olympic athlete, and gay former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell. But Jenner, who voiced regrets DISPLAY OBITUARIES & IN MEMORIAMS about her past support for Trump, denied she was interested.

Grenell, a vocal backer of Trump, who named him acting director of national intelligence, said on Fox News over the weekend that his focus is currently on qualifying the recall effort. He sidestepped host Maria Bartiromo’s direct question if he wanted to be governor.

“We still have a long way to go to gather signatures to put this on The Bay Area Reporter can help members of the community the ballot because they are going to reach more than 120,000 LGBT area residents each week play games. They already are. So I with their display of Obituary* & In Memoriam messages. would just say we got to keep focused on getting rid of Gavin NewRATES: $21.20 per column inch (black & white) som,” said Grenell on her Sunday show. $29.15 per column inch (full color) If Faulconer has any chance of being elected to lead the Golden DEADLINES: Friday 12noon for space reservations State, where Republicans currently Monday 12noon for copy & images don’t hold any statewide office, he is going to need to court LGBTQs, a reliable bloc of voters who overTO PLACE: Call 415-829-8937 or email whelmingly cast their ballots for advertising@ebar.com Democratic candidates in California. But he will also face ques* Non-display Obituaries of 200-words or less are FREE to place. tions from the LGBTQ community Please email obituary@ebar.com for more information. about his time at City Hall.

Gay Assemblyman Chris Ward (D-San Diego), a former City Council member who succeeded Gloria in the Legislature, told the 44 Gough Street, Suite 204, San Francisco, CA 94103 B.A.R. he “worked with him were I could” but faulted Falconer for the “many boondoggles” he left behind as mayor that have put the city “in a more precarious” financial position.

“I do not want to see that failure of leadership scaled up to damage something like the size of the state of California,” said Ward.

San Diego Human Rights Commissioner Nicole Murray Ramirez, a gay Latino who cochairs the city’s mayoral LGBTQ advisory body, has long known Faulconer and his wife, Katherine.

In an interview he told the B.A.R. he was “very disappointed” with When you plan your life celebration and lasting remembrance in Faulconer’s vote for Trump last advance, you can design every detail of your own unique memorial year. and provide your loved ones with true peace of mind. Planning ahead When your celebration lasting As for the sex offender registry protectsyou your plan loved ones fromlife unnecessary stress and and financial burden, bill, some prominent Democrats When you remembrance plan your celebration and lasting remembrance in allowing themlife to focus on what will matter most at that time—you. in advance, you can design every had also voiced concerns over it, advance, you canofdesign every detail of your ownand unique memorial detail own memorial provide Contact usyour today about theunique beautiful ways to create a lasting legacy noted Murray Ramirez, who said atyour theloved Sanloved Francisco Columbarium. and ones with true peace mind.

Planning ahead its sponsors could have done a provide your ones with true peace ofof mind.

Planning better job of explaining the comprotects your loved onesProudly from unnecessary stressunnecessary and financial burden, ahead protects yourserving loved onesCommunity. from the LGBT plicated legislation to the puballowing them to focus on what will matter most at thattotime—you. stress and financial burden, allowing them lic. A former statewide chair of EQCA, Murray Ramirez told the focus on what will matter most at that time—you.

B.A.R. Faulconer’s gubernatorial Contact us today about the beautiful ways to create a lasting legacy bid has pitted him and other LGat the San Contact FranciscousColumbarium.

BTQ leaders who had worked with today about the beautiful ways to create him between a “good solid mayor” a lasting legacy at the San Francisco Columbarium. who was “outstanding” on most One Loraine Ct. | San Francisco | 415-771-0717 LGBTQ issues and the most proSanFranciscoColumbarium.com LGBTQ governor of the state.

Proudly serving the LGBT Community.

“For me, it is probably one of the FD 1306 / COA 660 most difficult situations I’ve ever been in politically,” he said. “I truly love the mayor and his wife.”t

415-781-6500

Courtesy Twitter

Former San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer

came during private conversations regarding LGBTQ issues.

“There was no cajoling of Governor Newsom on LGBTQ rights; he is right there. There is no explaining, he understands our issues,” said Gloria, pointing out that Newsom didn’t run away from his record on LGBTQ concerns when he sought statewide offices. “Governor Newsom will never do that to us. He is committed to us.”

Gloria was unequivocal in his opposition to the recall and advised people not to sign the petition to place it on the ballot. For LGBTQ Californians in particular, he argued there is no better champion of the community to have in the governor’s office than Newsom.

“While it is true Mayor Faulconer, during his time in office and his administration, was very open and supportive of our LGBTQ community, there has never been a stronger ally of our community than Governor Newsom,” said Gloria.

“I think support in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 of our community is probably expected in California. Standing up in the public square and proclaiming your support of marriage equality in the early 2000s is very different. That is a level of courage and consistency few outside of our community can claim.”

As the B.A.R.’s Political Notebook reported in early February, recent polling has registered voters’ anger at Newsom over his handling of the COVID-19 response following the statewide lockdown he imposed during the holidays and the slow rollout to vaccinate residents.

The polls led most political observers to predict the recall was likely to make the ballot but indicated there was less support for ousting the governor.

A majority of Republicans in the Legislature have endorsed Faulconer’s gubernatorial ambitions, and over the weekend the state Republican party donated $125,000 to the recall effort. By March 17 recall backers are aiming to submit close to 2 million signatures to the secretary of state. They need roughly 1.5 million valid ones, and as of the end of January had 410,087, according to the secretary of state’s office.

“This tremendous assistance from CAGOP will guarantee that we bring in enough additional signatures to hold Gavin Newsom accountable for his devastating performance as governor of California,” stated Rescue California Campaign Manager Anne Dunsmore.

GOP divided

But Republicans are divided on who would be the best candidate

PlanningAhead Ahead isisSimple Planning Simple The benefits are immense.

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Proudly serving our Community.

Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion, will return Monday, February 22.

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

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

One Loraine Ct. | San Francisco | 415-771-0717

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<< From the Cover

6 • Bay Area Reporter • February 18-24, 2021

<<

Redistricting

From page 1

“By the time the statewide database gets the cleaned up data to the commission, we are looking at an October 30 date. We are asking the Legislature for guidance,” Ceja told the Bay Area Reporter.

A statement Ceja released later February 12 on behalf of the commission said that for as many days after July 31 that it takes to get the census data then the panel will have a similar number of days after December 15 to submit its certified maps.

“We remain committed to including and involving as many Californians as possible in the redistricting process and again thank those who worked diligently last year to ensure that we would have the time we need to carry out our work,” stated the commission.

And in a reversal from the 2010 redistricting process, when maintaining the state’s LGBTQ communities intact in the various districts wasn’t taken into consideration until fairly late in the process, as the B.A.R. detailed in June 2011, this time the LGBTQ community is being considered as a community of special interest, similar to Black, Latino, Native American, and Asian communities across the state, according to three commissioners the B.A.R. spoke with this month.

“I am part of a process to help facilitate a process that has as many of those needs be met as possible,” said Antonio Le Mons, a gay, African American single father of two Latinx teenage sons who is the chief operating officer at Skid Row Housing Trust in Los Angeles.

Fellow commissioner Ray Kennedy, Ph.D., who has traveled the globe providing electoral assistance in various countries since 1990, told the B.A.R. that the contiguity of LGBTQ communities would be considered as the panel conducts its work.

“It’s not that we have proportional representation. We are talking about the LGBTQ community as individuals,” said Kennedy, whose partner of nearly four decades, Foster Tucker, was the spokesman for the San Francisco Department of Elections in 1999 when Tom Ammiano, a gay supervisor at the time, was a mayoral write-in candidate.

“When we are looking at communities of interest, we are looking for places where there are enough of a concentration of people to consider a community of interest.”

Local redistricting panels in Sacramento, Long Beach, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego are also being advised to consider LGBTQ

communities in those cities when drawing up new boundaries for city council and supervisor seats. For instance, lines of supervisor districts in San Francisco should not split the LGBTQ Castro district in half.

In a January 27 letter then-acting secretary of state James Schwab sent to the city-based redistricting commissions, he noted that the 2020 census will provide better data about married same-sex households that can be used to “draw districts that are centered around the LGBTQ population.”

He added that the panels “must ensure the LGBTQ community has the political representation it deserves” by considering it a community of interest, even though it is not specified as such in the Fair Maps Act. The 2019 law defines a community of interest as “a population that shares common social or economic interests that should be included within a single district for purposes of its effective and fair representation.”

“I respectfully urge the LGBTQ community be identified as a community of interest in the redistricting process,” wrote Schwab.

Past concerns

A decade ago, San Francisco LGBTQ leaders voiced concerns when the statewide redistricting commission initially planned to move several of the city’s LGBTQ neighborhoods from the 13th Assembly District, which had elected three out legislators, into the 12th District, which had been a launch pad for Asian lawmakers, fearing it would weaken out candidates’ chances at the ballot box.

While that did not happen, the city has not elected an LGBTQ person to the Assembly since 2012, when Ammiano was elected to his last term in the chamber, and has been represented by two straight Asian Assemblymen since 2014. (Those districts have since been renumbered and are now the 17th and 19th.)

Asked about seeing the city’s Castro district split down Castro Street into two Assembly districts, Kennedy told the B.A.R. “that is not going to fly with this commission.”

But he also said it is important for LGBTQ Californians to speak up and address the panel in the coming months on what sort of district lines they want to see be drawn.

“We want to hear from people what they are worried about,” he said. “We don’t want to assume anything or just learn from newspapers or academic works. We want to hear from people; we want to hear from communities.”

Lesbian state Senator Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton),

Courtesy CA Redistricting Commission

2020 Citizens Redistricting Commission member Trena Turner

who as vice chair of the Legislative LGBTQ Caucus is already looking for out candidates to run for legislative seats in 2022 and 2024, told the B.A.R. “it is imperative” that LGBTQ communities like racial and ethnic communities be considered when drawing up district boundaries for public offices at all levels.

“In a lot of places where the LGBT community lives, we share the same space as our African American brothers and sisters, especially in more urban areas. I think it is important to maintain our spaces,” said Eggman when determining the maps for political seats.

Commissioners bring broad perspectives

One of her constituents is serving on the statewide redistricting commission, pastor Trena Turner, whom Eggman told the B.A.R. is “fantastic” and “a fine choice” for the panel. Turner, 60, is executive director of Faith in the Valley, a faith-based, multi-denominational grassroots community organization that represents families in Fresno, Kern, Merced, Stanislaus, and San Joaquin counties.

Born in San Francisco and raised in Richmond, Turner spent most of her life in the Bay Area and went to work for the telephone company right out of high school. She and her husband of 42 years, Rufus, ended up moving to Stockton in 1995 and formed their own church, Victory in Praise.

She quit her corporate job after 25 years to focus full time on her ministry. When several faith-based nonprofits decided to merge into a larger organization four years ago, Turner was asked to lead it.

With one of her focuses criminal justice reform, Turner was invited by the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice and the Borealis Foundation to attend a conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico focused on addressing

the increased criminalization of various communities, including the LGBTQ community.

“It was such an amazing experience,” recalled Turner, adding that a main lesson for attendees was to scour their local city and county budgets to see how much funding was allocated toward public safety agencies.

Ten years ago she was unaware of the redistricting commission and its work. Hearing that it did not attract many Black applicants, Turner decided to submit an application and wasn’t sure she would be picked.

Her name ended up being the first one drawn during the random selection process held to pick eight of the seats. (Those selected then chose the other six commissioners.)

She had prayed that hers would be the first name read.

“They said, ‘Trena Turner,’ and I said, ‘Oh, God! Well, here we go,” said Turner. “True story.”

A main goal for Turner is to educate other Black people about the commission and why its work is not only important but how it will impact their communities for the next decade. Keeping communities of color and LGBTQ neighborhoods together as much as possible in the various districts is a key goal, she said.

“It is extremely important for us as a commission to be able to achieve that,” said Turner. “We have allowed another structure or system historically to water down and dilute the power of people. We have given that power over to the citizens and now it is our chance to ensure that does not occur.”

She cautioned she is “not that naïve” to know some communities may not like the outcome.

“I think we will have our work cut out for us but I am down for the hard work,” she said.

Southern California

With Southern California likely the region of the state to see one or more of its House seats be drawn out of existence, Le Mons said he is prepared to anger some politicians with the new maps.

“I can hold contradictory points and positions very comfortably. I am well suited in that regard. It is not about my personal agenda at all,” said Le Mons, who turns 58 on February 16.

Like Turner, Le Mons had been unaware of the redistricting body until last year. Inspired by the Black Lives Matter protests of recent years, he was looking for a way to become more civically engaged. He happened to hear about the commission while listening to the radio in his car.

“It just connected in my head.

This might fit the bill: something civic and high impact,” recalled Le Mons, who phoned a politically connected friend to discuss it. “I was asking if he knew anything about it. He said, ‘I do and you’d be great and I will give you your first letter of recommendation.’ I said, ‘I guess I am doing it.’ That is how the ball started rolling.”

He and his sons, the oldest at 19 is in college and the 17-year-old is a junior in high school, live in the Toluca Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Le Mons first came to California from Detroit at the age of 15, helping a great-uncle drive a car out for his daughter even though he didn’t have a driver’s license at the time.

Le Mons ended up staying for the summer but was ordered back home by his mother when school started in the fall. He vowed to return one day and has called the Golden State home since graduating from Michigan State University.

Over the last 35 years he has had a varied career, from being a therapist to serving as deputy director of the California AIDS Clearinghouse and facilitating its advisory council. Le Mons also spent five years on UCLA’s Institutional Review Board for the protection of human subjects in studies.

Having the redistricting commission build into its schedule time to educate the public about its work before redrawing the maps was critical, said Le Mons, since most people aren’t aware of it.

“We have to have an education component so people know it exists and how it works,” he said. “The people we touch this cycle, we are preparing them more importantly for applying in 2030.”

Kennedy, 62, and Tucker used to live in Palm Springs and moved to Morongo Valley last March to rehab a home on a five-acre property the couple, registered domestic partners, bought several years ago.

“Essentially, in order to be on the commission, I have had to give up my international work, so we are renovating,” said Kennedy, whose grandfather a century ago served on a county board of elections in North Carolina. “I am taking a leave from work while on the commission.”

An advocate for disability rights, Kennedy has worked for International Foundation for Electoral Systems, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., and the United Nations as a senior electoral expert. He has also collaborated with the Carter Center’s Democracy Program on elections held in Liberia, Mozambique, and by a Native American tribe in Oklahoma.

See page 8 >>

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Obituaries>>

t Gay Chinese American activist Hoover Lee dies

February 18-24, 2021 • Bay Area Reporter • 7

by Cynthia Laird

H

oover Lee, a Hawaii-born gay Chinese American activist and champion of global LGBTQ human rights, died February 11 at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. He was 83.

His friend Edgar Poma said that Mr. Lee’s death was due to several health issues but was not COVIDrelated.

Mr. Lee was a founding member of the Association of Lesbian and Gay Asians; one of the original organizers of the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance; founder of the Asian and Pacific Islander Caucus of the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club; and coordinator and community organizer for many successful progressive political campaigns and causes.

“If there was ever to be a founding father of the gay Asian movement in San Francisco it would be Hoover Lee,” Lawrence Wong, a gay man and former elected official, wrote in an email to the Bay Area Reporter. “Hoover was active as an openly gay man as a member of straight groups like the Organization of Chinese Americans and the Chinese American Democratic Club. But it was his activism in the San Francisco gay community where he has left his lasting legacy.

He was a founding member of the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance where he mentored members like me to run for political office. I became the first openly gay Asian elected to political office in the U.S. when I was

<<

Puerto Vallarta

From page 2

the boat in the sea, like the Titanic,” Rossi said.

Arjona said he knew of just two younger men, 28 and 32, who died of the virus but both had preexisting conditions. He added that many of the older people he knew who have died of COVID-19 were not even aware that they had preexisting conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure until they were diagnosed with the virus. Many of those who succumbed to the disease were obese, one of the major risk factors.

In October, SETAC received a grant from the Jalisco state government for $200,000 pesos or about $10,000 U.S. to help the population that SETAC serves, including transgender people; sex workers; men who have sex with men; and people living with HIV, including mothers with HIV who need formula because of the risk of breastfeeding for the baby.

SETAC’s main wellness center is in the Versalles neighborhood, about halfway between the city’s airport and the gay-popular Zona Romantica neighborhood, which is just south of downtown. It also has a center in Zona Romantica and a “Rapid Connect” referral booth in

Rick Gerharter

Hoover Lee

elected to the San Francisco Community College Board in 1994.”

Wong added that Mr. Lee made no apologies for who he was in the conservative world of Chinatown politics.

“Many of us who were successful in SF politics owe a debt of gratitude to Hoover Lee, who was born to lead but instead chose to mentor other gay Asians to be politically involved,” Wong stated. “Hoover Lee can truly be said to have made a difference and he will be remembered for his uncompromising vigilance in furthering the gay Asian movement.”

Gay former state senator Mark Leno said that Mr. Lee was “supportive and encouraging” of his various campaigns. (Leno is also a former San Francisco supervisor and mayoral candidate.)

“Hoover loved life and celebrated Zona Romantica’s Lazaro Cardenas Park. The centers test for and treat sexually transmitted diseases and provide COVID-19 tests. Late in 2019, SETAC was given a van by the Jalisco state government to do testing for STDs and HIV. A donation by the Beef Dip Bear Week organization helped equip the van.

SETAC is part of a successful pilot program to administer PrEP to those at highest risk for HIV. The program uses the drug Movitrem, a generic version of Truvada. The program began in 2018 and currently serves 390 people with a goal for 450 participants. The program ends in June but will be picked up by the Mexican national government.

Arjona estimates that SETAC administers about 100 HIV tests per week and that about three or four of the hundred are diagnosed HIVpositive. HIV treatment is free in Mexico and SETAC provides staff to shepherd the newly diagnosed to the city’s public hospital where the treatment is administered. SETAC’s staff includes nurses, three doctors, and administrators.

Currently, the Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Russian’s Sputnik V and China’s CanSino Biologics and Sinovac vaccines have been approved for use in Mexico and are

it everyday,” Leno said in a phone call February 16. “He was a beloved bon vivant with a serious social conscience and moral compass.

“He was very much a trailblazer, given the challenges of being out and proud in parts of the Asian communities,” Leno added. “He was fearless and unafraid.”

Lillian Sing, a retired San Francisco Superior Court judge, fondly remembered Mr. Lee. “He was such a great person who was always faithful to his conviction of fighting discrimination against Asians as well as against gays and lesbians,” Sing stated in an email. “He suffered the stings of discrimination both as an Asian and as an Asian gay man and did whatever he could to help other Asians and Asian gays, especially in the field of politics.

“He was never afraid to speak the truth and if you are his friend, he will be loyal to you for life,” she added. “I was his friend and he was always loyal to me and included me in all his great functions. I will truly miss him.”

Julie Tang, also a retired San Francisco Superior Court judge, said Mr. Lee “was an unusual man.”

“He was unafraid to be openly gay during the 1980s – the years of AIDS and gay-bashing,” Tang stated in an email. “He also could be comfortable anywhere, anytime, and with anyone.

He introduced me to the San Francisco Asian gay community when I first ran for a seat on the SF community college board in 1981. He believed in empowering the Asian

LGBTQ community by connecting them with Asian public officials.

“I became friends with many Asian gay men and women to this date through him,” she added. “His 40-plus years of a long-term love relationship with Rick is the best proof that heterosexuals do not have a monopoly on relationships.”

Eddie Chin, a former San Francisco school board member, recalled Mr. Lee helping him with his first campaign.

“When I first ran for the San Francisco Board of Education, He educated me about his community and took me to campaign a gay whip and leather bar in the Castro, while laughing his head off toward my first experience in a gay bar,” Chin said, adding that Mr. Lee and his partner treated Chin and his wife, Mimi, “like family.”

Other friends also recalled his determined spirit.

“Hoover was quintessentially San Franciscan. He was a fighter for human rights, he was opinionated, and he spoke up,” Faruq Ahmad wrote in an email. “He was also a dear friend with a big heart and an occasionally sharp tongue who loved life and lived it to the fullest. I will miss him.”

Mr. Lee worked for nearly three decades for the City and County of San Francisco, most notably as a transit manager with the municipal railway. After retirement, he became a travel consultant specializing in cruise tour vacation planning for the Chen-Martin Travel Network.

“We would prefer to remember

the few beautiful days in Vancouver we shared with him and his Rick on Rick’s 84th birthday and the time Hoover and Rick visited us in Hilo, Hawaii,” longtime friends MJ Talbot and Michael Lyon wrote, referring to Mr. Lee’s longtime partner, who requested only his first name be published. “Not only were they the only friends to visit us from the mainland, they had to endure sleeping on a mat on the floor of our unfurnished guest room! The last time we saw Hoover was during our visit in May 2019.”

Mr. Lee was the recipient of numerous honors, among them: community grand marshal of the San Francisco Pride parade in 2002; the Living Treasure Award from the Asian Pacific Democratic Club; the Unsung Hero Award from the Organization of Chinese Americans – San Francisco Bay Chapter; and a Cable Car Award for Man of the Year.

In a 2002 interview with the B.A.R. about his being a community grand marshal, Mr. Lee said he was proud to be an out Asian.

“I build bridges with the straight Asian community,” he said.

He was a professionally-trained clown, known throughout the Bay Area as Puhi, participating in numerous benefits as a volunteer for the Shriners Hospital for Children.

Mr. Lee was born November 9, 1937.

In addition to his partner of 49 years, Mr. Lee is survived by cousins and a multitude of friends. Services are pending.t

being given to health care workers and soon to people 60 and over. The vaccines come too late to save the city’s normally busy winter tourism season but it is hoped that as more people get vaccinated in the U.S. and Canada, the second half of 2021

will be the boost that will save many of the city’s struggling businesses.

Puerto Vallarta’s gay businesses that have pitched in to help raise money and food for SETAC’s clients in need including Hotel Mercurio, Piñata PV guesthouse, Almar Re-

sort, Mantamar, Industry, la Noche, Spartacus, Timothy Real State, Gay Guide, Gay PV, Angel’s Store, and Anonimo.

For more information on SETAC and to make a donation to the organization, visit setac.com.mx/.t

Safety, comfort, stability.

What does Home mean to you?

Obituaries >> Simon Sheppard February 12, 2021

Simon Sheppard moved to San Francisco in 1972 and became part of the Haight Ashbury gay hippie scene. He wrote hundreds of stories that appeared in magazines, anthologies and in 17 editions of the annual “Best Gay Erotica,” and in five of “Best American Erotica.”

There are also published collections of his stories. In 2007, he won a Lambda Literary Award for editing “Homosex, Sixty Years of Gay Erotica.” For years he and Carol Queen co-hosted and performed at the reading and performance series “Perverts Put Out.”

Simon was a gay activist and participated in many demonstrations, was active in ACT UP, and volunteered on the AIDS foundation hotline. He ushered at The Warfield.

Simon and his husband, William Atkins, camped, hiked, and crosscountry skied. They climbed Mount Whitney. Simon completed two marathons. They traveled overseas, went on 26 cruises, and traveled around the country to ride roller coasters.

Simon (born Scott Sheppard) had a sharp intelligence and wit, a wide and diverse appetite for culture, a great sense of adventure, and a strength of character that allowed him to have a big alternative life.

He is survived by his sister, Kate; and Atkins, his loving husband and life partner of 46 years.

Most of us take these words for granted - but for the youth we serve they can be the difference between achieving their goals and falling further through the cracks. You have the power to provide that safety, that comfort, that Home.

Be a Friend. Be a Mentor.

Create a Host Home.

Learn more visit: sfcenter.org/hosthomes or call: 415-852-2059

<< Community News

8 • Bay Area Reporter • February 18-24, 2021

<<

Paramedic

From page 1

Mr. Jones has worked tirelessly to achieve his status as a paramedic and has obtained and maintained nearly every certification possible for paramedics.

“In 2015, Mr. Jones took the brave step of coming out as transgender and transitioned from female-to-male while on the job,” the complaint states.

It was at that point, according to the complaint that Jones began to face what the document calls a “hostile environment.”

For example, Jones was told to switch to using the men’s locker room and other facilities at the station – but without the other people who work there being informed of

<<

Redistricting

From page 6

After earning his doctorate in Latin American studies from Johns Hopkins/SAIS in 2000, Kennedy was hired by the U.N. as a deputy chief electoral officer in East Timor for two years. He was also stationed in the Republic of Georgia, Mexico, Sudan, and Afghanistan for its 2004 presidential election.

He would have preferred to remain in the Middle Eastern country but left the following year for Liberia after three of his colleagues were kidnapped and the use of IEDs – improvised explosive devices – made it increasingly unsafe to travel in Afghanistan.

“There was a time after our colleagues were kidnapped and bombs were going off on the streets near the restaurants Westerners frequented where the only three places we could

<<

Missing man

From page 1

SFPD sent out a news release on the missing man February 10, just prior to his family’s arrival in the city. Family members had asked police to investigate the case shortly after his disappearance.

When asked why a news release was only issued last week, SFPD spokesman Officer Robert Rueca said a few days later that it was not related to family members visiting the city.

“We can’t speak to the exact investigative steps (since January 9) but coincidental? I don’t know if there was anything coincidental in that,” Rueca said. “We were requested to put out a news release for public assistance. We had no information as to whether the family was in town.”

Rueca said that the request for the news release came from the missing persons unit.

Having lived in San Francisco since his 1988 graduation from high school in Oak Park, Illinois, just outside Chicago, Woitel was known to frequent Emeryville and Sonora in Tuolumne County, according to the February 10 SFPD statement.

Two of Woitel’s sisters, and a brother, handed out fliers outside of his apartment at the intersection of Market and Guerrero streets the afternoon of February 12.

t

the transition, which created confusion and discomfort.

“Mr. Jones expressed his concerns with being put into a situation where he would just show up one day and walk into the men’s locker room after using the women’s locker room for the preceding 11 years,” the complaint states. “Mr. [John] Christy [of EMS leadership] agreed that the concerns were valid but was clear that [the department of human resources] refused to allow or sanction a communication to the members of Station 49.”

Jones faced critical comments from co-workers after moving his locker. For example, one stated, “Oh, fuck this shit. Now she has a locker in here now.”

According to the complaint, another co-worker, identified as Jona-

than Halverson, loomed over Jones and referred to him with female honorifics in what a news release from Alioto claimed was an attempt to “demean and humiliate” Jones.

“Mr. Halverson re-engaged with Mr. Jones and attempted to physically assault Mr. Jones by trying to grab his collar,” the complaint states.

Later on, Halverson would glare at Jones in the communal kitchen or stare at him, the complaint states.

Jones believed that Halverson was stalking him.

The complaint goes on to state that “despite being the target of harassment, Mr. Jones still sought out opportunities for advancement in the department because he is very passionate about the work.” Jones applied for the position of permanent Rescue Captain. Jones was not

hired for the position, but an individual of lower rank on a list of eligible employees was.

Last year, Jones reluctantly gave a presentation on how the fire department should treat trans patients.

“During his presentation, the topic of pronouns was addressed and a participant in the training (an individual seeking a Rescue Captain position) stated openly that he would not refer to transgender people with their preferred pronoun because it was ‘bad grammar,’” the complaint states.

“This comment was left to stand by the management team in the room and not challenged by anyone else.

As a result of this unchallenged statement, Mr. Jones felt that there was open hostility to treating transgender individuals with dignity and respect.”

The complaint quotes lesbian

Fire Chief Jeanine Nicholson, who said last summer that the department is “not doing a good job in terms of recruiting a good amount of diverse candidates.”

“The SFFD had and has a notorious reputation of denying employment to candidates who are not white and/or heterosexual,” the complaint states. “This fact was publicly admitted by Chief Nicholson in July of 2020.”

Alioto said that the issue was one of fairness.

“I think it’s the total inability of some people in the San Francisco Fire Department to accept people for who they are,” Alioto said. “This is someone who puts his heart and soul into his work. He loves it, and I’m proud that he is standing up for his right to be treated equally.”t

be were home, the office or the PX,” said Kennedy, referring to the store run by the U.S. military. “Compare that to when I first arrived in fall 2003. The men in the U.N. mission were allowed to walk alone at night in the streets as long as we had our radio on our belt.”

While not a member of UNGLOBE, the employee group for LGBTQ staffers, Kennedy kept in touch with colleagues who were. He said he wasn’t closeted while working for the U.N. but was reserved about discussing his personal life.

“I was me. I wasn’t waving flags or making public statements about my sexual orientation,” he said. “There were colleagues who were aware, but I wasn’t necessarily talking it up with them even. I think everybody understood the problems that could ensue. We all kept our heads down.”

At the urging of his friends and co-workers, Kennedy has contem-

plated how he could impart his experience overseas on the American electoral process. It wasn’t until he heard about the redistricting commission via his Assemblyman Chad Mayes (I-Yucca Valley) that he found the right opportunity.

Kennedy and Turner are both registered Democrats, while Le Mons is an independent. Other commission members include San Jose resident Isra Ahmad, an independent who works as a senior research and evaluation specialist with Santa Clara County’s Division of Equity and Social Justice, and Berkeley resident Jane Andersen, a Republican who was one of the first women to enter the field of structural engineering.

Fellow GOPer Russell Yee, Ph.D., a former pastor who lives in Oakland and has taught at the Fuller Theological Seminary, and Petaluma resident Pedro Toledo, an independent who is the chief ad-

ministrative officer of the Petaluma Health Center, are the other commissioners from the Bay Area.

No matter when the census data is presented to the redistricting commission, Kennedy said he is confident it will have the new maps drawn in time for the June 2022 primary races for state and federal offices.

“We do have the luxury of more time than the 2010 commission had on the front side. As of February 3, 2011 the commission barely existed,” said Kennedy. “The last six months we’ve tried to use to good effect to put staff in place, to put policies and procedures in place, and building relationships.”

Turner said she is applying her management experience with the telephone company to the work of the commission. Because it has to conduct its business via online platforms due to the COVID pandemic, Turner said it has been difficult build-

ing rapport with the other members.

“I do more listening than talking,” said Turner. “I am trying to learn. I try to understand and be wise about it.”

Living in a rural community, Kennedy is working to reach other rural residents who may not have access to the internet or a newspaper so that they are aware of the commission and can provide input.

“We know the likelihood of a district line splitting a rural community might be lower than the likelihood of a district line splitting an urban community. We still want to hear from everybody,” said Kennedy, who has seen how elections matter to people since his first mission in Haiti. “Having dedicated 30 years of my life to this, I really want to see people have their say.”t

“We suspected something was not right on January 8, January 9,” another brother, Michael Woitel, told the B.A.R. February 12. “Within a 24-hour period he’d reached out to his sister and niece looking for money, and trying to get a new phone from his sister and friends.

January 9 is the last known communication. Shortly thereafter, we filed a missing person case.”

Investigator finds East Bay connection

Last week, Emeryville Police made contact with a man who a private investigator alleged in a February 5 report was in possession of Woitel’s missing cellphone.

Private investigator Scott Williams of the Brisbane-based inVision private investigation company had been hired by the Woitel family last month to look into his disappearance.

His investigation led “to the profession of a homeless man living in a tent encampment in Emeryville who said Woitel was murdered, [and] his body deposited in the Bay at the end of Mariposa Street,” Guarino stated in a news release last week.

“Woitel had befriended the homeless man years earlier in an effort to help him off the street.

The man was in possession of Woitel’s cellphone when Williams interviewed him February 2. The

Rick Gerharter

Three siblings of Christopher Woitel, brother Frank Woitel, left, and sisters Lara Haven and Kathy Flynn, held fliers outside Woitel’s San Francisco apartment February 12, asking for help in finding their brother, whose body was discovered this week.

investigation also revealed the man is allegedly wanted for aggravated assault charges in Pennsylvania,” it continued. “Further evidence is a trail of social media and text messages that show Woitel’s frantic state of mind regarding the homeless man’s possession of his phone and anxiety over the recent U.S. Capitol insurrection in Washington. … Surveillance video shows the homeless man coming and going from Woitel’s apartment.”

According to the report, the homeless man claimed he had purchased the phone from Woitel on

January 7 for $100. (Williams left him with the phone.)

The homeless man claimed to know about the alleged murder because he has “strong psychic abilities” and had seen a vision of Woitel being “shot in the head and wrapped in plastic before his body was dumped in the water at the end of Mariposa Street in San Francisco near an abandoned warehouse.”

The man gave Williams the names of those who were “responsible for doing that to Christopher.”

Williams added in the report that “it is clear [the homeless man] suf-

FILE A-039220000

commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/27/20.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/07/21.

To learn more about the redistricting commission, visit www.wedrawthelinesca.org.

fers from mental illness and as such could be delusional.”

“I would recommend to the family that a detective from the SFPD make contact with [the man] and follow-up with the statements he has made pertaining to Christopher’s disappearance,” the report concludes. “The fact that Christopher’s bank activity has completely ceased since 01/08/21 and neither any of his family or friends have seen or heard from him since 01/09/21 warrants additional investigation by the police in my opinion.”

Emeryville Police did not respond to a request for comment.

Woitel’s mother is quoted in Williams’ report as stating that the credit card and bank accounts of Woitel were untouched. The report also states that security camera footage at his apartment last shows Woitel on January 8 at 8:38 p.m.

Woitel’s disappearance recalls the case of Brian Egg, a gay San Francisco man who went missing in 2018. In that case, SFPD officers went to Egg’s South of Market home three times but did not enter it. It was only after officers were alerted to a crime scene cleanup crew being at the property that police did enter the home, where they found Egg’s headless torso in a fish tank. Egg’s bank account was drained, but two men questioned in connection with Egg’s disappearance were never charged.t

Legals>> FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039224200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as PALM AND MILK, 1275 WASHINGTON ST #1C, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed GERALDINE LECUYER LOUVEL. 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 01/14/21.

JAN 28, FEB 04, 11, 18, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039226600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as TEMPOSITIONS HOSPITALITY, 650 CALIFORNIA ST 7TH FL, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed TEMPOSITIONS, INC. (NY). The registrant(s)

commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/07/02.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/21/21.

JAN 28, FEB 04, 11, 18, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039226500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SCHOOL PROFESSIONALS, 650 CALIFORNIA ST 7TH FL, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed TEMPOSITION, INC. (NY). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/30/04.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/21/21.

JAN 28, FEB 04, 11, 18, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SRIRACHA THAI CUISINE, 1319 9TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed SOI GOW LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/23/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/05/21.

JAN 28, FEB 04, 11, 18, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039221700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as CALIFORNIA TRANSACTION COORDINATORS; SAN FRANCISCO TRANSACTION COORDINATORS, 1686 25TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed ELLEVATE LLC (CA). The registrant(s)

OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-21-556068

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as SAN FRANCISCO TRANSACTION COORDINATORS, 1686 25TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by ELLEVATE LLC (CA). The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/12/19.

In the matter of the application of THOMAS PATRICK MCGEE, 1385 GREENWICH ST #5, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109 for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner THOMAS PATRICK MCGEE AKA PADRAIG JOSEPH MCGEE is requesting that the name THOMAS PATRICK MCGEE AKA PADRAIG JOSEPH MCGEE be changed to PADRAIG JOSEPH MCGEE. 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 9th of March 2021 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

JAN 28, FEB 04, 11, 18, 2021

FEB 04, 11, 18, 25, 2021

JAN 28, FEB 04, 11, 18, 2021 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-038901600

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT

See page 9 >>

t <<

Legals & Classifieds>>

Legals

From page 8

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-21-556069

In the matter of the application of JESUS SANCHEZ PEREZ, 1200 WALLER ST #3, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner JESUS SANCHEZ PEREZ is requesting that the name JESUS SANCHEZ PEREZ be changed to ADEMAR JESUS SANCHEZ. 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 4th of March 2021 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

FEB 04, 11, 18, 25, 2021 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-20-556055

In the matter of the application of ABDELYACINE BELKACEMI, 1222 HARRISON ST #6409, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103 for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner ABDELYACINE BELKACEMI is requesting that the name ABDELYACINE BELKACEMI be changed to YACINE BELKACEMI. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Rm. 103 on the 16th of March 2021 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

FEB 04, 11, 18, 25, 2021 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-21-556062

In the matter of the application of HARRISON PITTS, 317 29TH ST #307, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131 for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner HARRISON PITTS is requesting that the name HARRISON PITTS be changed to HARRISON PIZZI. 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 4th of March 2021 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

FEB 04, 11, 18, 25, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039225600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as ALL TIRE, 359 POTRERO AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed BENJAMIN R. SANCHEZ II. 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 01/15/21.

FEB 04, 11, 18, 25, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039229100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as INNEN STUDIO, 3 COMMONWEALTH AVE #4, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed HANA MATTINGLY. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/15/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/27/21.

FEB 04, 11, 18, 25, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-032931900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as JESSIMPORTS, 332A GUERRERO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JESSICA GASTON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/18/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/29/21.

FEB 04, 11, 18, 25, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039229300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as ROTTEN TREASURES, 1535 EDDY ST #404, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DANNY HARRIS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/02/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/27/21.

FEB 04, 11, 18, 25, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039228000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as

BOTTEGA 90 INC, 90 CHARTER OAK AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BOTTEGA 90 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 01/26/21.

FEB 04, 11, 18, 25, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039228100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as COMPASS DEVELOPMENT MARKETING GROUP, 1699 VAN NESS AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109.

This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed THE MARK COMPANY INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/14/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/26/21.

FEB 04, 11, 18, 25, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039229500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as BANK ROBBERY INCORPORATED; BANK ROBBERY INC.; HEIST INCORPORATED; HEIST INC., 1305 18TH ST #6, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BRI PRODUCTION INCORPORATED (DE). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/25/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/27/21.

FEB 04, 11, 18, 25, 2021 NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF RAYMOND C. YIN (AKA RAYMOND YIN) IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO: FILE PES-20-303725

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of RAYMOND C. YIN (AKA RAYMOND YIN), C/O MARISSA C. SMITH (SBN#275382), 4306 GEARY BLVD #301, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. A Petition for Probate has been filed by RAYMOND C. YIN (AKA RAYMOND YIN) in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. The Petition for Probate requests that JACQUELINE L. YIN be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. The petition requests the decedent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court. The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority. A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: March 1, 2021, 9:00 am, Rm. 204, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. If you object to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.

If you are a creditor or contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the latter of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined by section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. You may examine the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for petitioner: JACQUELINE L. YIN, 4306 GEARY BLVD #301, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118; Ph. (415) 742-4522.

FEB 11, 18, 25, 2021 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-21-556086

In the matter of the application of GABRIELLE ANNE HERNANDEZ, 1950 CLAY ST #301, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner GABRIELLE ANNE HERNANDEZ is requesting that the name GABRIELLE ANNE HERNANDEZ be changed to GABRIELLE HERNANDEZ LANGLEY. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do

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February 18-24, 2021 • Bay Area Reporter • 9

appear before this Court in Dept. 103 on the 23RD of March 2021 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

FEB 11, 18, 25, MAR 4, 2021 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-21-556077

In the matter of the application of ALEXIS WHITNEY OLIAN, 144 EVERSON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner ALEXIS WHITNEY OLIAN is requesting that the name ALEXIS WHITNEY OLIAN AKA ALEXIS WHITNEY MATHUS be changed to ALEXIS WHITNEY OLIAN. 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 16th of March 2021 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

FEB 11, 18, 25, MAR 4, 2021 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-21-556093

In the matter of the application of MARK RYAN SHIVERS, 3380 26TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner MARK RYAN SHIVERS is requesting that the name MARK RYAN SHIVERS be changed to MARK RYAN SHIVERS-DELGADO. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Rm. 103 on the 23RD of March 2021 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

FEB 11, 18, 25, MAR 4, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039234700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as THE BOUDOIR COLLECTION, 2021 FILLMORE ST #2013, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed GINA CORSI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/31/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/02/21.

FEB 11, 18, 25, MAR 4, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039237900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as ASIAN AMERICAN MEDICAL GROUP; ALL AMERICAN MEDICAL GROUP; AAMG, 827 PACIFIC AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed ASIAN AMERICAN MEDICAL GROUP (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/19/15. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/04/21.

FEB 11, 18, 25, MAR 4, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039232600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as ANGLIM/TRIMBLE, 1275 MINNESOTA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed SHANNON D. TRIMBLE FINE ART 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 02/01/21.

FEB 11, 18, 25, MAR 4, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039233100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as JAMAICA AFRICA YAY AREA, 1608 OCEAN AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed JAMAICA AFRICA YAY AREA LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/15/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/01/21.

FEB 11, 18, 25, MAR 4, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039235200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as ALEXANDER FIREPROOFING AND PLASTERING LLC, 275 5TH ST #408, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed ALEXANDER FIREPROOFING AND PLASTERING 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 02/02/21.

FEB 11, 18, 25, MAR 4, 2021 SUMMONS SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF MARIN NOTICE TO DEFENDANT: SUSAN WHITE, YOU ARE BEING SUED BY PLAINTIFF: LEGAL PAYMENT SERVICES LLC CASE NO. 2002695

NOTICE! You have been sued. The court may decide against you without your being heard unless you respond within 30 days. Read the information below.

You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this summons and legal papers are served on you to file a written response at this court and have a copy served on the plaintiff. A letter or phone call will not protect you.

Your written response must be in proper legal form if you want the court to hear your case. There may be a court form that you can use for your response. You can find these court forms and more information at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www. courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), your county law library, or the courthouse nearest you. If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the court clerk for a fee waiver form.

If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case by default, and your wages, money, and property may be taken without further warning from the court. There are other legal requirements.

You may want to call an attorney right away. If you do not know an attorney, you may want to call an attorney referral service. If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be eligible for free legal services from a nonprofit legal services program. You can locate these nonprofit groups at the California Legal Services Web site (www.lawhelpcalifornia.org), the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www. courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), or by contacting your local court or county bar association. NOTE: The court has a statutory lien for waived fees and costs on any settlement or arbitration award of $10,000 or more in a civil case. The court’s lien must be paid before the court will dismiss the case. The name and address of the court is: MARIN COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, 3501 Civic Center Dr., San Rafael, CA 94913. The name, address, and telephone number of petitioner’s attorney, or the petitioner without an attorney, is: RANDY WARREN, LEGAL PAYMENT SERVICES LLC, 18124 WEDGE PARKWAY #940, RENO, NV 89511; (415) 225-3258.

October 28, 2020 Clerk, by W. Simmons; James M. Kim, Deputy.

FEB 18, 25, MAR 4, 11, 2021

SUMMONS (FAMILY LAW) SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO NOTICE TO RESPONDENT: KEISHON SCOTT, YOU ARE BEING SUED. PETITIONER’S NAME IS: JANET SCOTT CASE NO. FDI-21-794347

You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this Summons and Petition are served on you to file a Response (form FL-120) at the court and have a copy served on the petitioner. A letter or phone call will not protect you. If you do not file your Response on time, the court may make orders affecting your marriage or domestic partnerships, your property, and custody of your children. You may be ordered to pay support and attorney fees and costs. For legal advice, contact a lawyer immediately. Get help finding a lawyer at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), at the California Legal Services website (www. lawhelpcalifornia.org), or by contacting your local county bar association.

NOTICE: The restraining orders are effective against both spouses or domestic partners until the petition is dismissed, a judgment entered, or the court makes further orders. These orders are enforceable anywhere in California by any law enforcement officer who has received or seen a copy of them.

FEE WAIVER: If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the clerk for a fee waiver form. The court may order you to pay back all or part of the fees and costs that the court waived for you or the other party. The name and address of the court is: SAN FRANCISCO SUPERIOR COURT – UNIFIED FAMILY COURT, 400 MCALLISTER ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. The name, address, and telephone number of petitioner’s attorney, or the petitioner without an attorney, are: JANET SCOTT, 328 ALIDA WAY #10, SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94080. January 20, 2021, Clerk, by Mechel Agustin.

FEB 18, 25, MAR 4, 11, 2021 SUMMONS (CITATION JUDICIAL) SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO NOTICE TO DEFENDANT: CLOUD OF GOODS, INC, A DELAWARE CORPORATION; PUNSRI ABEYWICKREMA, AN INDIVIDUAL; AND DOES 1 THROUGH 20, INCLUSIVE; YOU ARE BEING SUED BY PLAINTIFF: REXFORD INDUSTRIAL REALTY, L.P. CASE NO. 37-2020-00015401-CL-BC-CTL

NOTICE! You have been sued. The court may decide against you without your being heard unless you respond within 30 days. Read the information below. You have 30 calendar days after this summons and legal papers are served on you to file a written response at this court and have a copy served on the plaintiff. A letter of phone call will not protect you. Your written response must be in proper legal form if you want the court to hear your case.

There may be a court form that you can use for your response. You can find these court forms and more information at the California Courts Online SelfHelp Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), your county law library, or the courthouse nearest you.

If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the court for a fee waiver form. If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case by default, and your wages, money, and property may be taken without further warning from the court. There are other legal requirements. You may want to call an attorney right away. If you do not know an attorney, you may want to call an attorney referral service. If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be eligible for free legal services from a nonprofit legal services program. You can locate these nonprofit groups at the California Legal Services Web Site (www.lawhelpcalifornia. org), the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), or by contacting your local court or county bar association. NOTE: The court has a statutory lien for waived fees and costs on any settlement or arbitration award of $10,000 or more in a civil case. The court’s lien must be paid before the court will dismiss the case. The name and address of the court is: SAN DIEGO SUPERIOR COURT, 330 WEST BROADWAY, SAN DIEGO, CA 92101. The name, address, and telephone number of plaintiff’s attorney, or the plaintiff without an attorney, is: CYNTHIA D. STELZER (SBN 228462), KIMBALL, TIREY & ST. JOHN LLP, 7676 HAZARD CENTER DR #900, SAN DIEGO, CA 92108; (619) 231-1422. May 27, 2020, Clerk, by M. David.

FEB 18, 25, MAR 4, 11, 2021 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-21-556111

In the matter of the application of CRISTIANO DE BARROS CORREIA FACANHA, 1655 MISSION ST #841, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103 for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner CRISTIANO DE BARROS CORREIA FACANHA is requesting that the name CRISTIANO DE BARROS CORREIA FACANHA be changed to CRISTIANO FACANHA. 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 25th of March 2021 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

FEB 18, 25, MAR 4, 11, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039235500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as RUSSIAN HILL DOG GROOMING EXPRESS, 2178 BUSH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed RUSSIAN HILL DOG GROOMING EXPRESS, INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/19/08. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/02/21.

FEB 18, 25, MAR 4, 11, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039237400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as BUENA VISTA SEAFOOD LLC; 1 FISH 2 FISH MARKET; 63 BUENA VISTA TERRACE #2, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed BUENA VISTA SEAFOOD LLC. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/15/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/03/20.

FEB 18, 25, MAR 4, 11, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039252400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as TOKAIDO ARTS, 1581 WEBSTER ST #202, SAN FRAQNCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ROBERT W. HSU. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/04/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/11/21.

FEB 18, 25, MAR 4, 11, 2021

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT NOTICE TO PROPOSERS - GENERAL INFORMATION The SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, California, is advertising for proposals for Bond Underwriting Services Pool , Request for Proposals (RFP) No. 6M2080, on or about February 11, 2021, with proposals due by 2:00 PM local time, Tuesday, March 2, 2021 at the District Secretary’s Office, 23rd Floor, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, California, 94612. Proposers are responsible to ensure their proposals are received at the time and location as specified in the RFP. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES TO BE PROVIDED The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (hereinafter “District” or “BART”) intends to engage the services of qualified investment banking firms (herein referred to as “UNDERWRITER”) to assist the District in assembling an underwriting syndicate in connection with the issuance of General Obligation Bonds, Sales Tax Revenue Bonds, and/or other debt financings. Accordingly, BART is now accepting proposals from proposers (“Proposers”) for inclusion in a pool of underwriters (the “Underwriter Pool” or “Pool”). If included in the Pool, Proposer may be selected to perform the services specified in this Request for Proposals (“RFP”) under the Scope of Services.

BART intends to make multiple awards resulting from this RFP. This RFP is issued to evaluate firms for inclusion in the Underwriter Pool. As the need for services included in the Scope of Services arises, the firms in the Pool may be asked to submit additional information and/or participate in additional Oral Interviews. Such additional information will be evaluated by District staff and a firm or firms from the Pool will be selected to serve as UNDERWRITER for the assignment. The District does not guarantee that any or all of the firms in the Underwriter Pool will be selected for assignments. BART, at its option, may select one or more Senior Manager(s) and one or more Co-Manager(s) to provide services in this process.

PRE-PROPOSAL MEETING AND NETWORKING SESSION A Pre-Proposal Meeting and Networking Session will be held on Wednesday, February 17, 2021. The Pre-Proposal Meeting and Networking Session will convene at 1:30pm. local time via either a Zoom Presentation or a Microsoft Teams Meeting. All interested parties must RSVP via email to: Ron Coffey, rcoffey@bart.gov by 4:00 p.m. on Monday, February15, 2021 in order to participate in this Pre-Proposal Meeting. The email subject must include “RFP 6M2080, Bond Underwriting Services Pool.

Instructions on attending the Zoom Presentation or the Microsoft Teams Meeting will be emailed upon receipt of RSVP. At the Pre-Proposal Meeting and Networking Session, Prospective Proposers are requested to make every effort to participate in this only scheduled Pre-Proposal Meeting and Networking Session. The District may only respond to questions at the submitted Pre-Proposal Meeting and Networking Session by prospective Proposers that have RSVPed to the Pre-Proposal Meeting and Networking Session. In order for the District to consider responding to those questions at the scheduled Pre-Proposal Meeting and Networking Session, those questions shall be submitted until the day prior to the Pre-Proposal Meeting and Networking Session by 10:00 a.m. local time, via email to rcoffey@bart.gov, and the email subject must include RFP 6M2080, Bond Underwriting Services Pool.

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

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

PROPOSERS WHO HAVE NOT REGISTERED ON THE BART PROCUREMENT PORTAL PRIOR TO SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL, (OR FOR JOINT VENTURE OR PARTNERSIP AS DESCRIBED ABOVE PRIOR TO AWARD) AND DID NOT DOWNLOAD THE SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS FOR THIS SOLICITATION ON LINE SO AS TO BE LISTED AS AN ON-LINE PLANHOLDER FOR THIS SOLICITATION, WILL NOT BE ELIGIBLE FOR AWARD OF THIS AGREEMENT. Proposals must be received by 2:00 P.M., local time, Tuesday, March 2, 2021 at the address listed in the RFP. Submission of a proposal shall constitute a firm offer to the District for one hundred eighty (180) calendar days from the date of proposal submission.

Dated at Oakland, California this 8th day of February 2021. s John A. Mazza John Mazza, Director of Procurement San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District 2/18/21 CNS-3440566# BAY AREA REPORTER

CNSBI_3440566_1x15_021821.indd 1

2/9/21 1:07 PM

Miami rhapsody The cast of One Night in Miami…

I

n late 2020 and early 2021, two movies that became available on streaming platforms –Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and One Night in Miami… (Amazon Studios) – have more in common than you might expect. Both were based on plays by Black playwrights and feel theatrical and stagey in good and bad ways. Both are set in the past and deal with racist issues, making them timelier than ever. Both feature a singer among the lead roles. Both star a majority Black cast and are helmed by Black directors.

Directed by Oscar-winning actress Regina King, One Night in Miami… is a fictional dramatization inspired by true events. An adaptation of Kemp Powers’ play of the same name, it brings together four men from different backgrounds whose contributions to Black culture continues to resonate to the present day.

They are boxer Cassius Clay (Eli Goree),

before he was known as Muhammad Ali; soul singer and songwriter Sam Cooke (Hamilton’s Leslie Odom, Jr.); human and civil rights activist Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir, who also manages to channel Barack Obama at the same time); and football legend turned actor Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge).

Beginning in 1963, the introductory sequence of the movie shows each of the men in personal and professional interactions.

Fast-talking and fast-moving Clay loses a boxing match at Wembley Stadium in London.

Cooke fails to win over an all-white audience at The Copa in New York. Brown experiences an unexpected racist slur from an old family friend in Georgia. Finally, Malcolm, his wife Betty (Joaquina Kalukango), and their daughters may lose their home if he proceeds with his plan to leave the Nation of Islam.

But in 1964, the four friends’ fortunes are about to turn around. In a match against Sonny Liston in Miami Beach, Clay defeats his

opponent to become the world heavyweight champion. Before the match, Clay meets with Malcolm at the Hampton House, a segregation-era motel in Miami Beach, so they could pray together. Clay, who is seriously considering converting to Islam, is actually the trump card for Malcolm’s next step in life. As we soon discover, Clay is unaware of this.

Nevertheless, his triumph in the ring was a reason for the four men to gather. However, none of them probably anticipated the volatility of such a congregation.

Malcolm, under the watchful eye of bodyguards, the strict Kareem X (Lance Reddick) and more easygoing Jamaal (Christian Magby), is also aware that he is being observed by outsiders and is feeling pressured. So, in the midst of the celebratory atmosphere, something is boiling and brewing under the surface.

The verbal attacks they level against each other are personal and political. Their life decisions are scrutinized and judged; Malcolm for his unwav-

Barbara Sukowa and Martine Chevallier in Two of Us.

Two of Us

Lesbian feature Oscar-nominated for Best Foreign Film

by Victoria A. Brownworth

W

omen drop off the cinematic landscape after a certain age. Once menopause hits, the roles revert to background or dowager or crazy person. They are, almost uniformly, sexless. Women only several years older than protagonists are cast as mothers and grandmothers. Suspension of disbelief is a misogynist construct when it comes to women in film.

Two of Us, the French entry for Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards, defies that construct. Filippo Meneghetti’s first feature-length film, titled simply Deux in French, is a deeply sensual tale of textured, long-standing love and desire between two women over decades. Two of Us is lush, tender, realistic, fiery and haunting. The film will leave you gutted and gasping, sad and outraged.

Nina and Madeleine –Nina calls her Mado– are lovers in every sense. We watch them dancing barefoot, curled together in bed. See Mado look longingly after Nina as she heads off for the day.

Nina and Mado live like Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir lived for decades: in two apartments across from each other on the top floor of their building. The reasons for

this are manifold, but predominately it is because Mado, who was widowed years before, has been unable, for years, to bring herself to come out as a lesbian to her two grown children, Frédéric (Jérôme Varanfrain) and Anne (Léa Drucker).

Two of Us is breathtaking stuff. Sukowa’s performance is incendiary. She is gorgeous and sexy and full of fire. She has lots of dark blondish hair that is haphazardly braided or wildly cascading. She exudes a sensuality that we have come to associate with much younger women. She is passionate about Mado and not about to let her go.

Part love story, part psychological thriller, the film is also in part a deconstruction of the power children hold over their parents long after they should be living their own lives irrespective of what their parents do. There is also the truly harrowing element of what happens when the body betrays us, as Mado’s does her, and how one remakes a life when so much has been taken from it. Compelling, if shattering viewing, the acting, writing and direction are all superb. But Sukowa’s performance is something one will not soon forget.t

Read the full review on www.ebar.com

ering religious devotion, Brown for abandoning his athletic career to go Hollywood, Cooke for wanting to be embraced by white audiences.

Only man-of-the-hour Clay, who would go on to change his name to Muhammad Ali as part of his conversion, manages to remain somewhat unscathed, although the threat of physical violence hangs in the air.

All four lead actors are incredible in the embodiment of their roles. Goree and Odom are particularly riveting, each giving an Oscarworthy performance.

However, like gay director George C. Wolfe’s adaptation of the Wilson play, King’s rendition of Powers’ work is most electrified (and less claustrophobic) when it steps outside of the ‘set,’ in this case the motel room; whether it’s on the motel’s roof with the view of Miami, a nearby liquor store parking lot, in a bar celebrating Ali’s win, or on the set of The Tonight Show.

Regardless, King also deserves kudos for her impressive directorial skills. Rating: B+

San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas (music director laureate and conductor) at the SFS Media recording at Davies Symphony Hall.

Brandon Patoc

by Gregg Shapiro

SF Symphony records Alban Berg’s works

by Philip Campbell

I

t may be an acquired taste, but once music lovers develop an interest in the music of 20th-century composer Alban Berg, it can become a passionate preference. If you are timid sampling atonal music, rest assuredthere is a strong Romantic aesthetic informing even his thorniest scores. New listeners are amazed how well they stand the test of time.

SFS Media, the San Francisco Symphony’s (SFS) toprank in-house media production company releases an album of three major Berg works recorded in highresolution, available in 5.1 surround-capable SACD and for download and streaming on February 26.

The hard copy and digital download is already available to pre-order.

Violinist Gil Shaham and soprano Susanna Phillips join Michael Tilson Thomas and the SFS in a compilation of concert performances brimming with emotional insights and technical skill. The Violin Concerto and Seven Early songs are new to disc. Three Pieces for

Orchestra, op.6 has been available digitally (only) since June 2017.

Presented by MTT and the SFS in Berg’s 1929 revision, the score is endlessly astonishing. A dizzying array of marches, dances and spiky melody collide in a kaleidoscope of episodes. Berg actually thinned the orchestration for the revision, but the link to huge (and longer) Mahler works is still evident.

Here is where detractors might complain about impenetrable complexity, but each hearing yields fresh discovery and MTT is the perfect guide. He sorts it all with typical confidence. The musicians play with intense virtuosity and the excellent engineering puts just enough air around them to warm the ambience without losing the edge. The Three Pieces will always be a challenging listen, but well worth the energy.t

Read the full review on www.ebar.com sfsymphony.org/berg

t

Theatre, Drag & Books>>

February 18-24, 2021 • Bay Area Reporter • 11

Just Say Yeston! An interview with musical theatre composer Maury Yeston

by Gregg Shapiro

T

heater queens know their leading ladies and leading men. True theater queens know their librettists and composers, from Rogers & Hammerstein and Lerner & Loewe to Bernstein, Sondheim, Herman, Schwartz and Miranda. The name Maury Yeston also belongs on that list.

Yeston, the man behind Tony Award-winners Nine and Titanic, as well as Grand Hotel, Death Takes A Holiday, and what has come to be known as the “other” Phantom of the Opera, has had a fantastic career in the theater.

As if to drive home that point, we have two recently released albums; Maury Sings Yeston and Anything Can Happen in the Theater: The Musical World of Maury Yeston (both on PS Classics). The title of the first says it all; it’s a collection of demo recordings of Yeston performing songs from his canon. The second is the cast recording of the off-Broadway musical celebrating Yeston’s theatrical accomplishments.

Gregg Shapiro: I’d like to begin by wishing you a belated happy 75th birthday. Were you able to find a way to celebrate in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown?

Maury Yeston: Thanks. I’m

Composer Maury Yeston

touched and honored to have had two new albums welcomed by the public during this time…and grateful for the folks who have enjoyed my work.

In addition to Maury Sings Yeston, the original off-Broadway cast recording of the musical revue Anything Can Happen in the Theater: The Musical World of Maury Yeston (PS Classics), conceived and directed by Gerard Alessandrini, was also released in 2020. Alessandini has been spoofing you since his first installment of Forbidden Broadway. Is that how you came to work together on Anything Can Happen in the Theater?

I’ve known and loved and been a friend of Gerard’s since the early eighties when he was a participant for a number of years in the BMI Music Theatre Workshop – over which I presided. He continually would bring in gifted material, New theatrical songs for promising new shows he was writing. One day he brought in a hilarious spoof of a well-known Broadway song, and it brought down the house. He loved doing it and we all encouraged him to continue. As soon as Forbidden Broadway became a smash, both Stephen Sondheim and I immediately began the practice of sending Gerard our scores to any of our new shows just as soon as they opened! That process still continues! When Gerard branched out to directing he really showed his true mettle, directing a regional production of my In The Beginning in Maine, and of course Anything Can Happen… in NYC. One of the most fascinating aspects of your creative career is musicals such as Nine, The Phantom of the Opera and Grand Hotel, which were based on movies. Can you please say something about what is appealing about that transformation process?

Film, theater, and music all share a common remarkable and magical characteristic – they all unfold in

time. They create mood, touch the emotions, have the capacity to describe locations, vague sensations, intimations, yearnings –wordlessly.

This has always been true in music.

Whether it’s Schubert creating the sound of a galloping horse on the piano to accompany a song about a father riding desperately to the doctor with his sick child in his arms, or Debussy making you smell the salt air and feel the undulating waves of the sea with only the sound of an orchestra, or Richard Strauss musically showing you Don Quixote passionately charging against a windmill!

I loved creating the beach at the beginning of the second act of Nine: The Musical, by simply alternating two chords in the orchestra that simulated the slow wafting of the waves, gently rolling in and inexorably retreating back to the sea along the beach. Film has always seemed to me to be a natural medium that provided me an impetus from which I could gain inspiration to paint a story onstage with music.t

Read the full interview on www.ebar.com

Antonio Banderas (center) in the Broadway production of Nine.

All hail the kings

Clockwise from upper left: MC Mo B. Dick, Leigh Crow, Sexy Galexy, Fudgie Frottage, Luster Dela Virgion and Murray Hill are among the many drag kings in the Legends show.

by David-Elijah Nahmod

N

ames like Mo B. Dick and Sexy Galexy will grace your computer screens when Drag King Legends takes to Zoom on February 21 at 5pm. Kings with 25 years or more experience will be honored in a show that promises to be informative, exciting, and entertaining.

Talent includes local legends

Leigh Crow and Fudgie Frottage, as well as kings from as far away as Canada, Australia, Germany, and Sweden. A total of a dozen kings will perform. There will also be tributes paid to kings no longer with us: Diane Torr of New York City, who passed in 2017, and Dred, also from New York, who passed in 2019.

The pandemic is what forces the kings to do a Zoom show instead

of an in-person show as they usually do. There is a bit of disappointment in not being able to do an inperson show, according to Frottage, who is co-producing Drag King Legends. 2020 was the 25th anniversary of the annual SF Drag King Contest, which Frottage produces.

But Frottage and his comrades are not letting the pandemic keep them down.

“Now that we know this isn’t going to go away anytime soon, too bad we had a Nazi Orange Gasbag in charge of our country, unlike New Zealand where everyone is COVIDfree and mask-free, we are all investing in green screen and learning editing skills,” Frottage tells the Bay Area Reporter. “It’s just another hurdle in life, a minor one for us gays. But hey, the show must go on.”

Frottage promises a “cavalcade of kings” during the Zoom show.

“We are all working very hard to make this show a spectacular, smoothly run production,” he said.

“Mo will be live introducing the acts, whose videos are pre-taped to avoid technical glitches. Then immediately following the show we will have an after-party hosted by Murray Hill to recreate backstage VIP for our fans.”

“This show is full of talent,” he said. “As an OG king I feel like a godfather or grandfather to the kids; a community elder. We were the pioneers who paved the way for drag kings, not that there weren’t kings, male impersonators, or gender illusionists before us. Like Muffy St. Jacques said to Peggy Gravel in Desperate Living when they were at Flipper’s bar, boy, if you don’t like

this bar show, there is really something wrong with you!”

Tickets to Drag King Legends are $25, though there is a pay what you can option for those affected by the pandemic.t

Read the full article on www.ebar.com www.dragkinghistory.com/legends

SERVING OUR FULL MENU!!

What drives desire P

erhaps you’ve been there: a first-time event tying your lover by the wrists, binding their ankles, blindfolding their eyes and coursing through imagination with the intent to surprise the partner, now a relative object. The adventure into soft play that leaves the participants refreshed; or the shock of hardcore turned somehow embarrassing and misdirected, spoken or unspoken boundaries that were there at the outset but broken.

Arriving just in time to relieve us of our cloistered funk, Kink: Stories (Simon and Schuster), edited by R.O. Kwon and Garth Greenwell, is an anthology of fourteen blazing, vivid stories that come together and make up a collection that plunges into different definitions of embodiment, escapades and forays into the multi-layered discipline of intimacy.

“Instead of pathologizing kink, the stories in this anthology treat it as a complex, psychologically rich act of communication. Kink in these stories is a way of processing trauma, and also of processing joy, of expressing tenderness and cruelty and affection and play.”

Readers are encouraged throughout to ask themselves, Why? What drives us? How are we these bodies in space and how is it we function in the ways that we do?t

Read Mark William Norby’s full review on www.ebar.com

The new hours of Orphan Andy’s will be 10:00 am-6:00 pm, seven days a week.

and in partnership with Twin Peaks serving food at their sidewalk tables from 11:00am-6:00pm, seven days a week.

3991-A 17th Street, Market & Castro 415-864-9795

50 Writing the first draft of LGBTQ history...since 1971.

T

his April 1, the Bay Area Reporter, America’s longest continuously-published and highest circulation LGBTQ newspaper will celebrate its 50th Anniversary.

Our anniversary issue will include highlights of our five-decade history and include a timeline of our impactful coverage of LGBTQ rights from the early-1970’s to the present time.

Reserve your place in history.

Advertising space reservations for this special commemorative edition are now being accepted.t

Reserve your place in history!

Advertise in our historic 50th Anniversary edition.

Call 415-829-8937 or email advertising@ebar.com