Two Castro Community Benefit District grants were spared cuts in Mayor Daniel Lurie’s proposed 2025-26 balanced budget of $15.9 billion. The spending plan, which will now be reviewed by the Board of Supervisors, closes an $800 million deficit and sets aside $400 million in reserves.
A Lurie spokesperson confirmed that the two grants – one for $100,000 that funds 40 hours of cleaning per week in Jane Warner Plaza at 17th and Castro streets, and another $415,000 grant that funds four full-time Castro Cares community ambassadors – will continue.
See page 10 >>
LGBTQ bills advance out of CA legislative chambers
by Matthew S. Bajko
Legislation aimed at protecting the rights and health care of LGBTQ Californians, particularly those who are transgender or living with HIV, is moving forward this session in Sacramento. Ahead of the June 6 deadline for the Legislature to pass bills out of their chamber of origin, 15 bills of importance to the LGBTQ community had already advanced as of June 2 and will be taken up for final passage by legislators later this summer.
See page 3 >>
Hegseth to strip Milk’s name from Navy vessel
by John Ferrannini
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has ordered the U.S. Navy to rename the ship named for the late San Francisco supervisor and gay rights icon Harvey Milk. The decision, coming during Pride Month, set off waves of criticism from LGBTQ officials and community leaders.
Military.com first reported the news June 3.
The outlet reported that the planned timing of the announcement June 13, just after World Pride wraps in the District of Columbia, is intentional, and that the move is being made to create “alignment with president [Donald Trump] and [Hegseth] objectives and [Navy Secretary John Phelan] priorities of reestablishing the warrior culture.”
A number of naval ships in the John Lewis class of ships were named for civil rights heroes such as Milk, who himself was a Navy veteran. As the Bay Area Reporter noted in February 2020, Milk was given an “other than honorable” discharge from the U.S. Navy and forced to resign on February 7, 1955 rather than face a court-martial because of his homosexuality, according to a trove of naval records obtained by the paper.
See page 5 >>
California group fosters community among LGBTQ surfers
by Matthew S. Bajko
Having skateboarded for years, Army veteran Bibi Benitez decided to apply her skills from the street to the water and take up surfing. In 2018, having recently moved to San Francisco, she made her way to the shoreline in Pacifica south of the city and rented a surf board.
“Ever since, I’ve been in the water,” said Benitez, 30, who is an analyst for the California Public Utilities Commission and also barbacks at the Edge bar in the Castro. “If you want to find, like, a connection to your body, to the environment, surfing is a huge way. And I think it’s like a spiritual practice in that kind of way.”
Just prior to learning to surf, Benitez had come out as a queer transgender woman. A Latina, as her mom is from Colombia and her father hails from Cuba, Benitez saw few surfers in the water who looked like her, as the sport has long been dominated by white, cisgender straight men.
“As a queer person, it is really hard to get into spaces like that that are usually occupied by toxic masculinity or just men in general. I think it is a little scary,” Benitez noted.
Via a friend who also surfs, Benitez was in -
troduced to the group Queer Surf about four years ago. She clicked with the other LGBTQ surfers she met at its meetups and other events, and has remained active with the nonprofit ever since.
“Queer Surf provides a huge, you know, blanket to allow you to explore something that’s very
magical, and I think can help heal you as a person, especially someone who faces microaggressions every day as a queer person,” said Benitez, who has taken part in one of the surfing camps the group hosts across California.
See page 10 >>
New LGBTQ center in Marin
Pee-Wee as Himself'
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie unveiled his balanced budget proposal Friday, May 30. from YouTube
State Senators Scott Wiener, left, and Christopher Cabaldon
Courtesy the subjects
Bianca Valenti, a big wave surfer out of Ocean Beach, San Francisco, rides a wave at last year’s SWITCH.
Courtesy Queer Surf
Matthew S. Bajko
The USNS Harvey Milk was docked in San Francisco last March after it made its maiden voyage to the city.
Pride's celebrity grand marshal
New LGBTQ center opens in Marin County
by John Ferrannini
Community leaders gathered in downtown San Rafael recently to celebrate that Marin County again has an LGBTQ center. The new facility, which is currently being run entirely by volunteers, comes following last year’s closure of the Spahr Center after it ran out of money.
There is no executive director, and “we have a lot more work before that can happen,” Bill Otton, a gay man who is president of the new center’s board, told the Bay Area Reporter, adding, “at the moment I don’t think anyone has identified a potential leader, but we will keep our eyes open to cultivating a person as we begin to grow.”
Otton added, “Fortunately, we have an incredible team of volunteers helping in the meantime.”
For now, the Marin LGBTQ+ Center is focusing on a program for transgender youth and their families. Other programs are expected to follow, officials said.
“We’re not here to duplicate,” the Reverend Jane Adams Spahr, a lesbian and retired Presbyterian minister, said at the May 16 kick-off event at its new offices at the Marin Multi-Cultural Center. “We’re here to empower our community. If you are doing something better than we are, we say, bless your heart. … We say we’re here, we’re queer, and we’re not going away.”
The Marin LGBTQ+ Center is leasing space from the Marin MultiCultural Center, located at 709 Fifth Avenue. Spahr had been the namesake of the Spahr Center, which functioned as the North Bay County’s LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS center until its closure in February 2024.
The Spahr Center itself was created in 2015 from the merger of the Spectrum LGBT Center and the Marin AIDS Project. Spahr had started those organizations in the 1980s, an article in the Pacific Sun noted last year. https:// pacificsun.com/marin-nonprofitserving-lgbtq-and-hiv-communitiessuspends-all-programs/
Bobby Moske, a gay man who had been on the Spahr Center’s board of directors in the past, said that after the center’s closure, “I called Jane Spahr and I said ‘Jane, what are we going to do?’”
“This woman is 82 years old,” he said of Spahr. “She didn’t miss a beat. She just looked at me and said, ‘We’re going to do it all over again.’ Within eight months, they had a 501(c)3 [nonprofit status], they had a website, they had a
mailing address, they had a board of directors, they had a location, and they really, really worked hard to get the word out.
“They weren’t privy to any of the email lists or anything else the old Spahr Center had,” Moske said. “This had to be grassroots, and had to be bottom up, and all the people involved in the original Spahr Center came back to put it together again.”
Moske is a community relations keyholder with the new center, he said.
Multiple sources confirmed the Spahr Center had spread itself too thin financially by quickly setting up programs during the COVID pandemic that weren’t sustainable.
“It was so sad because they had 17 staff that were multiracial, transgender,
nonbinary. It was just phenomenal,” Spahr told the B.A.R. “My heart breaks for them. It breaks for the community, and the organization, because it was serving in many different capacities people with terrific gifts.
“I think that’s probably true – that it was just too much.,” she said of the old center overextending itself. “… So on we go. We have a lot to do to make up for that loss.”
The new center has raised $50,000 thus far, Spahr said.
The center’s rent is $1,200 a month, Otton confirmed. The top expenses are rent, insurance, and program costs, Spahr stated.
“We too have basic operational expenses and will use some for community building events,” Spahr stated.
“As you know, we are all volunteers and we hope to raise enough money to be able to employ staff one day. It is a community effort.”
The new center’s board is asking other community members to also step up and assist in ensuring it is a viable endeavor.
“We’re inviting people to come and give their gifts,” Spahr said. “We invite people to come with us to build the organization, and we want to build it from a place of love and justice and inclusiveness across the board.”
HIV resources and care in Marin County are handled by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation under a contract with the county, and so the new center won’t be replicating these services. Otton explained during the kickoff what led to the new center’s modest initial programming, including some recent focus groups.
“In spring, we had meetings with stakeholders to talk about what [the]
Spahr [Center] was and what do we want the new center to be,” he said.
These discussions, which included 37 people, led to 95 suggestions, Otton said.
When they realized they had to pare those ideas down, the new center decided to prioritize people who they said were bearing the most burden in the community from the second Trump administration: transgender youth and their families.
Trump signed an executive order that, but for an injunction, would stop federal funding for providers of genderaffirming care. He also issued executive orders stating there are only two genders; ending diversity, equity, and inclusion policies; and banning trans troops from serving in the armed forces.
One of the new Marin center’s first initiatives is QNest, a space for LGBTQ youth ages 13 to 25. Mila Eliaschev, who is queer, and Iara Valencia, a lesbian, are the co-leaders. Valencia said it will be youth-led.
“It is a space for queer youth to come together and make decisions collectively about how to operate as a community,” Valencia said.
The center’s website states that QNest is, “a new program where youth can come together to work on creative projects, develop new skills, and find support in a welcoming environment.” The program is open-ended. Gatherings might be focused on advocating for trans rights, while other sessions might be dancing, the co-founders said.
People who are interested in becoming more involved can find the center participating in the Fairfax festival Saturday, June 7, at 9:15 a.m., Mill Valley Pride June 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the Pride celebration at the Marin Multicultural Center Sunday, June 8, from 1 to 4 p.m. t
City College of San Francisco board backtracks on hiring queer chancellor
by John Ferrannini
In an unexpected move, the San Francisco Community College District Board of Trustees opted not to choose the queer and nonbinary person it had announced would be its next chancellor. The board selected no one at its May 29 meeting, leaving it doubtful whether a new leader will be in place by July 1.
As the Bay Area Reporter reported May 27, the board announced to great fanfare in a news release that Carlos O. Cortez, Ph.D., the former chancellor of the San Diego Community College District, had been chosen, and that his nomination would be ratified at last Thursday’s meeting. Cortez’s tenure was to start July 1.
However, when the board emerged from closed session to discuss the matter, it removed consideration of Cortez’s candidacy from its agenda.
“No reportable action was taken during closed session,” board President Anita Martinez, a straight ally, said, according to a video of the meeting. “Therefore, we will remove item 6A from the open session agenda, and continue with the rest of the meeting.”
A district spokesperson didn’t immediately return requests for comment. Neither has Cortez, who told the San Francisco Chronicle after the fateful meeting that he is not sure where his candidacy now stands.
He did not immediately respond
to a request for comment.
Trustee Alan Wong, a straight ally, stated to the B.A.R. June 3 he is declining to comment “since this is a closed session and confidential personnel matter.”
The B.A.R. asked the district and the board why the item was removed, where Cortez’s candidacy stands, and what will happen now with no chancellor ready to go once gay interim Chancellor Mitchell Bailey’s term is up at the end of this month.
Martinez didn’t answer those questions in a statement she gave to the B.A.R. June 3.
“We remain committed to a transparent and inclusive process in selecting our next chancellor,” she stated. “We believe that broad support and shared vision are essential in choosing a leader who will guide our institution into its next chapter.”
Martinez continued that the selection process is “ongoing” and “reflects our dedication to collaborative practices and the importance of selecting a candidate who is widely supported by our community.”
“We hope to reach consensus soon and to welcome a permanent leader or to appoint an interim chancellor to oversee operations,” she continued. “We are optimistic about the future and the strength of our institution. We will keep you posted via updates on our website.”
Bailey was one of those who was a finalist for the chancellor position.
Rounding out the others in contention were Rudy Besikof, Ed.D., president of Laney College in Oakland; Kimberlee Messina, Ed.D., president of Spokane Falls Community College in Washington state; and Henry Yong, Ed.D., Ed.S., chancellor of the Yosemite Community College District.
The first openly gay male to lead the district, Bailey became interim chancellor last spring after former chancellor David Martin announced his plan to resign at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year. At that time Bailey told the B.A.R. he was not seeking the permanent position, but he changed his mind and made a run for it.
While Bailey is the college’s first gay male leader, he’s not the first out interim chancellor; that distinction belongs to lesbian Susan Lamb, who was tapped for the position in 2015, as the B.A.R. reported. The B.A.R. reached out to Bailey through a spokesperson, who stated he is on vacation and is thus unavailable for comment.
The Chronicle reported last year that layoffs and budget cuts in an attempt to achieve fiscal stability made former chancellor Martin unpopular with parts of the faculty union.
The 50-year-old Cortez, who
was the first chancellor in the state’s community college system to identify as queer and nonbinary, is an alum of the University of Southern California.
He would have been the district’s fifth permanent head since 2012. The Chronicle reported his career has not been without controversy. In 2022, while in San Diego, he was forced to cancel his welcoming ceremony after he invited “The Color Purple” author Alice Walker to speak. Walker has been dogged by allegations of antisemitism, including for a poem that referred to the Talmud, the central text of Rabbinic Judaism, as “poison.”
In January 2024, court records show he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in Florida, the paper reported. He pleaded no contest to a reckless driving charge.
The City College board is next expected to meet June 26. t
Bill Otton, center, board president of the new Marin LGBTQ+ Center, spoke to supporters at the May 16 kick-off event. The Reverend Jane Spahr, who founded the former Spahr Center, is at far left.
John Ferrannini
Carlos O. Cortez, Ph.D.
Courtesy CCSF
Engardio recall headed for September vote
by John Ferrannini
Adate was set for the recall election
of gay westside San Francisco Supervisor Joel Engardio shortly after the elections department verified the drive to oust him had enough signatures to proceed to the ballot. Registered voters in District 4, which Engardio represents, will vote in mid-September, the elections department announced.
“The petition, submitted on May 22, 2025, was determined to contain 10,523 valid signatures, above the required threshold of 9,911 signatures,” John Arntz, the city’s elections director, stated in an email May 29. “With the petition deemed sufficient, the department will proceed with preparations for a special municipal election, which will take place on Tuesday, September 16, 2025.”
Engardio has represented District 4, encompassing the Outer Sunset, on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors since January 2023. He had an upset victory in November 2022 when he defeated incumbent supervisor Gordon Mar.
sample of signatures strongly suggested the signature gathering effort would cross the finish line. The recall campaign submitted their petitions May 22.
“We’re very pleased to cross this milestone; as I said before we knew, we expected the final results to be in line with our sampling, but we are, of course, happy to see that become reality,” Pippenger stated to the Bay Area Reporter. “As to the date being set, we’re very happy to have it set, especially as this means we can get back to campaigning in earnest all the sooner. The DoE completed these [verifications] quite quickly, but as we said earlier, we aimed to save them as much unnecessary work as possible.”
Engardio called the recall a distraction.
“When I helped put Prop K on the ballot, I knew that I had passionate constituents on both sides of the issue,” Engardio stated. “The ballot measure gave them – and our city – a chance to have a say over the future of our coast. After much public debate, the voters elected to open the park. Attempting to recall me in response will do nothing to reopen the Great Highway.”
Before Prop K was approved by San Francisco voters, the highway had been open to vehicle traffic on weekdays as part of a compromise brokered by Mar between the factions warring over the stretch of road along Ocean Beach.
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency] to further improve traffic flow and pedestrian safety.”
“I know some people felt left out of the process that led to putting the park on the ballot,” he stated. “I’m committed to doing more outreach, having more conversations, and making sure everyone’s voice is part of the work moving forward. I’m encouraged that since the park opened, I’ve been hearing from many members of the community who initially opposed it, but are now happy to have this new beautiful space to enjoy the coast.”
Engardio said in a 2022 debate with Mar that he supported the compromise that left the thoroughfare open to cars on weekdays.
The recall campaign was sparked by Engardio’s support of Proposition K, which voters passed last November to permanently close a portion of the Great Highway to vehicle traffic. While the measure was approved by voters citywide, those in District 4 largely cast ballots against Prop K and were critical of Engardio’s support for it.
Of the 20 bills the Bay Area Reporter is tracking this year, nine in the Senate had been passed as of Monday. Among them was Senate Bill 59 authored by gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and known as the Transgender Privacy Act.
Otto Pippenger, a field director for the recall, was jubilant. Days ago, a random
would apply retroactively to make confidential all records relating to previous name, gender, and/or sex change petitions held by state courts, as the B.A.R. had noted in covering its introduction earlier this year.
“I’m confident that Sunset voters will see through this recall – I hear every day from residents who are tired of distractions and appreciate having a supervisor who shows up and delivers,” he stated. “I will campaign hard every day and continue to show up for District 4 so I can serve my community for my full term.”
Engardio added that the highway –now a city park called Sunset Dunes – is a done deal.
Asked about this by the B.A.R. earlier this year, Engardio said that on his campaign website in 2022, he stated he supported the possibility of a park between Lincoln and Sloat, but that he “supported the compromise in 2022 because that was the best we had in the moment.”
Engardio continued in his May 29 statement that he is “working with [the
As the B.A.R. previously reported, the signatures were submitted to the elections department May 22. At least one San Francisco voter alleged signatures were being collected under the false pretenses of reopening the highway, a charge denied by the recall campaign.
If Engardio is recalled, Mayor Daniel Lurie will pick a replacement until June 2026 – the next scheduled election –and whomever wins in June will serve the remainder of the term. There will be an election for the next four-year term in November 2026. t
out a warrant to unauthorized parties. The bill would also expand California’s transgender shield laws to prohibit health care providers from complying with subpoenas requiring the disclosure of medical information related to gender-affirming health care.
pronouns and threatens the federal funding for schools that allow trans students to use bathrooms or locker rooms that correspond to their lived gender, or take other pro-LGBTQ stances. Such policies are required in California public schools by state law.
“As the Trump administration wages all-out assault on the very existence of transgender people, this vote sends a powerful signal that they will always have a home in California,” stated Wiener, noting that “unfortunately, right-wing groups and individuals have used publicly available personal information to harass trans people in California and across the nation.” << LGBTQ bills From page 1
Passed June 2 on a 27-10 vote, it would require court records related to the gender transitions of transgender and nonbinary adults in California be sealed in order to protect their privacy in line with such protections afforded to trans and nonbinary youth under the age of 18 by a state law adopted in 2023. Should SB 59 be enacted into law, it
Wiener’s colleagues also passed his SB 497 aimed at strengthening the Golden State’s status as a refuge for transgender people and their families and protecting them from prosecution in their home states. His bill would require warrants for law enforcement requests to access sensitive medical data through the state’s healthcare database, such as who has a testosterone prescription, and make it a misdemeanor to access and knowingly share such information from the database with-
And it would make clear the Legislature’s intent is “to ensure that educators that may face retaliation or prosecution under President Donald Trump’s Executive Order on Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling for prioritizing the safety and well-being of transgender youth are protected.” Issued in January, the presidential order threatens teachers’ certifications for such things as using a student’s preferred name and
SB 497 passed out of the Senate Monday on a 28-10 vote. Should it be approved by the state Assembly and signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom (D), it would take effect immediately. Its provisions would bolster the state’s policy enacted two years ago to reject any out-of-state court judgments removing trans kids from their parents’ custody because they allowed them to receive gender-affirming health care.
State health officials are also forbidden from complying with subpoenas seeking health records and any information related to such criminal cases, and public safety officers must make out-of-state criminal arrest warrants for such parents their lowest priority.
San Francisco District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio
Courtesy the subject
Comedy writer Steele to be SF celebrity marshal
by Cynthia Laird
S
an Francisco Pride announced Friday that trans Emmy-winning comedy writer and producer Harper Steele has been named this year’s celebrity grand marshal for the 2025 San Francisco Pride parade and celebration. Steele was featured in a critically acclaimed documentary, “Will & Harper,” with longtime friend and “Saturday Night Live” alum Will Ferrell.
Steele, a longtime “Saturday Night Live” writer and co-creator of several films and digital comedy hits, received renewed acclaim as the subject of “Will & Harper,” which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. The film, now streaming on Netflix, follows a road trip across America with Steele and Ferrell, her longtime friend. The film centers on their friendship following Steele’s gender transition, celebrating queer resilience and joy, a news release from SF Pride stated.
“San Francisco Pride is honored to welcome Harper Steele as this year’s celebrity grand marshal,” stated San Francisco Pride Executive
Director Suzanne Ford, a transgender woman. “Harper’s story is one of authenticity, imagination, and connection – all values that resonate most deeply with our community. Her visibility and vulnerability are a powerful reminder that queer people can and must be celebrated in every context, including in media and entertainment.”
A native of Iowa City, Iowa, and a graduate of the University of Iowa, Steele spent 13 years as a writer on “Saturday Night Live,” eventually becoming head writer. After “SNL,” she served as creative director for Funny or Die, a comedy website and production company, where she co-wrote “Casa de Mi Padre,” “A Deadly Adoption,” and “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga,” which starred Ferrell as part of an Icelandic duo trying to win the music contest.
An email seeking comment sent to Steele’s agents was not immediately returned.
San Francisco Pride’s theme for 2025 is “Queer Joy is Resistance,” and Steele’s participation underscores the message of community,
joy and shared humanity, SF Pride officials noted.
Community grand marshals for San Francisco Pride were announced in April.
They are: queer activist Kenan Arun; Jahnell Butler, known in the ballroom scene and a trans health advocate; Jessy Ruiz, a trans woman and immigrant who has served on the San Francisco Immigrant Rights Commission; and Tyler TerMeer, Ph.D., a gay Black man living with HIV who is CEO of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.
Tita Aida, aka Nicky Calma, is this year’s lifetime achievement grand marshal. She is a trans woman who has dedicated her career to community health and serves as managing director of the San Francisco Community Health Center, which two years ago opened its Trans Thrive program.
The San Francisco Community Health Center is this year’s organizational grand marshal.
SF Pride weekend is set for June 28-29. For more information, visit sfpride.org. t
Liquor license pending for business slated for Harvey’s
by John Ferrannini
W hile progress is unknown regarding opening the Pink Swallow bar at the marquee corner of 18th and Castro streets, a liquor license for the site is pending. State records list the application status date as October 2024.
Pink Swallow, an LGBTQ restaurant and bar, is slated to occupy the prime location that formerly housed Harvey’s, which closed over two years ago. According to the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, Jam Stardust LLC applied for a license at that 500 Castro Street address.
Joshua J. Cook, a gay man who manages the Beaux nightclub at 2344 Market Street, is a member of, and the spokesperson for, the ownership group for Pink Swallow, several members of whom are listed as officers of Jam Stardust LLC. Cook has not returned multiple requests for comment from the Bay Area Reporter about the progress on the buildout of the nightlife venue and when it will open.
He had told the B.A.R. last Sep -
tember 24 that he had “no specific updates” on when that space will open, but that they’re “getting ready to go into the permit application process.”
Cook had told the B.A.R. last summer that work on Pink Swallow had been held up due to an outdated kitchen. The B.A.R. reported in February 2024 that the city’s planning commission approved a conditional use authorization that month to establish a nighttime entertainment zone on the first and second floors of the space.
“It’s still moving forward,” Cook stated last year. “There was a small pause as the owners of the building investigated, or discovered, what needed to happen to bring the kitchen to current city codes. I don’t think it’d been brought to code for decades to be honest, so it took exploration to figure out what to do.”
Pink Swallow had originally been slated to open by summer 2024 –Cook previously declined to update the timetable for opening, stressing it depended on the permitting process. The new business is supposed to also incorporate 504 Castro
That space was initially the home of the Elephant Walk, which first opened in 1974. The late disco diva Sylvester James, known simply as Sylvester, performed there. It was a site of reprisal early on May 22, 1979, when San Francisco police officers came in and attacked patrons following the White Night riots downtown. The riots were a response to the late gay San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk’s killer, Dan White, receiving only a seven-year sentence for his 1978 crimes of assassinating Milk and then-mayor George Moscone in City Hall. (White ended up serving five years and later died by suicide.)
After a fire almost destroyed it in the late 1980s, the Elephant Walk required extensive remodeling. Harvey’s was opened in the space in 1996 by Paul Langley, the property owner, who had refused to renew the Elephant Walk’s lease.
The Paul Langley Co. owns the property to this day. The company did not respond to a request for comment. t
Street, another vacant storefront.
An ABC department notice at 500 Castro Street shows Jam Stardust
LLC applied for an ownership change over the space’s liquor license. It is dated November 15, 2024.
Harper Steele was named this year’s celebrity grand marshal for the San Francisco Pride parade and celebration.
Carter Smith
A liquor license has been applied for by an ownership group that includes people associated with the Pink Swallow bar project at the site of the former Harvey’s bar at 18th and Castro streets.
Scott Wazlowski
Castro to hold Pulse memorial event Community News>>
compiled by Cynthia Laird
Amemorial vigil to remember the victims of the 2016 mass shooting at the Pulse LGBTQ nightclub in Orlando, Florida will be held Thursday, June 12, from 5 to 7 p.m. in San Francisco’s Castro district.
It was nearly nine years ago when shooter Omar Mateen opened fire in the crowded club, which was having its Latin night event. Forty-nine people were killed and another 53 people were injured.
The local event will start at Jane Warner Plaza at Castro, Market, and 17th streets, where there will be speakers. It will then proceed to the memorial wall outside Bank of America at 18th and Castro streets.
In the years since the tragedy, there had been plans for a formal memorial and museum at the Pulse site, as the Bay Area Reporter noted a few years ago.
At the time, Barbara Poma, a straight ally and owner of Pulse, said that a design team had been selected and plans were moving forward. Poma had been president and CEO of the onePulse Foundation but stepped down in February 2022.
Then, in 2023, the plans for the museum and memorial were scrapped and the onePulse Foundation was dissolved.
As Them reported at the time, the foundation cited high costs and fundraising challenges due to the COVID pandemic. A letter from the foundation proposed giving the land to the city, which the City Council approved, according to the online publication.
Now, it appears the city will erect a permanent memorial on the site, Them reported. https://www.them.us/story/ pulse-orlando-museum-plans-canceled
The museum plan had long been opposed by some of the survivors and families of victims, who maintained it amounted to little more than a tourist attraction.
In San Francisco, the Latino AIDS organization AGUILAS had commissioned a small memorial to the Pulse victims, which was displayed outside of its offices at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center. AGUILAS ceased providing direct services last year and vacated its offices, though the memorial is still on the wall on the fourth floor, Rebecca Rolfe, a lesbian who is the center’s outgoing executive director, told the B.A.R. June 2. She added that the memorial now contains the names of all the victims.
Mateen died during the shooting. In 2018, his wife, Noor Salman, was acquitted of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization and of obstruction of justice in connection with her husband’s attack.
Lyon-Martin House virtual tour updated
A virtual tour of the historic LyonMartin House in San Francisco’s Noe Valley neighborhood has been updated, officials from CyArk stated in an email.
Lewis, the late Democratic congressmember from Georgia, participated in the Nashville sit-ins, the Freedom Rides, and the March on Washington during the Civil Rights movement for Black Americans.
The Navy renaming ships is rare. Congressmember Nancy Pelosi (DSan Francisco) stated that the Navy is renaming other ships named for civil rights heroes. CBS News reports that other vessels up for consideration to be renamed include those named for the late Latino labor leader Cesar Chavez, slain Black civil rights activist Medgar Evers, and Harriet Tubman, the abolitionist and Union spy who led slaves to freedom through the Underground Railroad after she escaped from slavery herself.
The digital experience was first created in 2022 and has now been enhanced with CyArk’s platform called Tapestry, noted Katharina Marino, virtual experiences producer at CyArk, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving cultural heritage through innovative digital experiences.
The new experience launched last month.
The Lyon-Martin House was where
the late lesbian pioneers Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin lived and entertained during their decades of work on LGBTQ issues.
After Lyon died in 2020, the double lot containing their home was sold. (Martin died in 2008.) In 2021, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors then landmarked the lot that contained the small home. So far, no work has been done on the larger lot, which was purchased with the
intention of building a home. Shayne Watson, a lesbian who is an architectural historian, wrote in a guest opinion for the B.A.R. in March that the home is in danger of “demolition by neglect.”
To see the new virtual tour, go to https://tapestry.cyark.org/content/ lyon-martin
‘Aging with Pride’ webinar
The California Department of Aging will hold the webinar “Aging with Pride” Monday, June 16, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. The webinar, being held in honor of Pride Month, will highlight findings from a recent survey designed to better understand the needs, challenges, and aspirations of LGBTQIA+ older adults. It will also include personal stories shared through fo cus group discussions. The B.A.R. reported on the sur vey last November.
Webinar participants will gain insight into the lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ older adults and explore the broader policy landscape that shapes their lives, an announcement stated.
of individuals involved in the survey as they offer perspectives and recommendations to help meet the needs of California’s growing aging population through the Master Plan for Aging. To register, go to https://tinyurl. com/3e3zwwm6
ALRP to hold garden party
The AIDS Legal Referral Panel will hold its garden party benefit Saturday, June 21, from 2 to 5 p.m. at Hot Johnnie’s Smokehouse, 4077 18th Street in San Francisco’s LGBTQ Castro neighborhood.
Speakers will include gay state Senator John Laird (D-Santa Cruz), CDA Director Susan DeMarois, and a panel
Drag queen Donna Sachet, a former B.A.R. columnist who now writes for the San Francisco Bay Times, will be the hostess. Attendees can celebrate Pride Month and enjoy hors d’oeuvres, an open bar, and live auction. There will be a $100 cash prize for best summer hat, an email announcement stated. Tickets are $40, or $160, which includes ALRP’s annual reception slated for October 23. For more information, and to purchase tickets, go to alrp.org/ events/2025-garden-party. t
San Francisco’s Castro district has long remembered the victims of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, including at a memorial event in 2020.
Rick Gerharter
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Hegseth’s petty move on Milk ship
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s petty decision to strip Harvey Milk’s name from a USNS vessel is unsurprising, but still maddening. It’s all part of an orchestrated effort to rid the armed forces of diversity, which Hegseth, President Donald Trump, and others wrongly believe hinders an effective military. It is “chickenshit,” as gay former state lawmaker and supervisor Tom Ammiano, who worked with Milk, told us upon hearing of the Milk ship renaming plan. Coming during Pride Month, with an official announcement expected June 13, the day World Pride wraps up in Washington, D.C., the news is calculated to remove any notion that LGBTQ Americans are brave, courageous people who contribute to society. It was also intentional to make the announcement in June, noted Military.com, which broke the story.
Milk, of course, was the first openly gay man elected to public office in California when he won a San Francisco supervisor seat in 1977. His 11 months in office until his assassination were dedicated to representing LGBTQs and straights alike, from public transportation to equal rights. He embodied what so many LGBTQ people were thinking was all but impossible at the time – that a gay man could effectively serve in local government. Milk himself wanted more LGBTQs to join him. He called on us to come out and to seek public office. Many, many people did, and today there are more than 1,300 out elected officials across the country, according to the LGBTQ Victory Institute, the policy arm of the LGBTQ Victory Fund that works to elect out people to office.
The USNS Harvey Milk is a John Lewis-class oiler, a group of ships named after civil rights leaders. The ship, which had its maiden voyage to San Francisco last March, refuels and restocks other ships. As the Bay Area Reporter noted in February 2020, Milk was given an “other than honorable” discharge from the U.S. Navy and forced to resign on February 7, 1955 rather than face a court-martial because of his homosexuality, according to a trove of naval records obtained by the paper.
implemented, which led to even more discharges –over 13,000 – and court battles by gay and lesbian servicemembers. DADT was finally repealed by Congress in 2010, and signed by then-President Barack Obama. (It went into effect in 2011.) Fastforward to today, and now it’s trans service members who likely will soon be discharged under Trump’s executive order. The U.S. Supreme Court, dominated by conservatives eager to hand Trump whatever he wants, recently issued a ruling that the government can proceed with discharging trans troops even as the litigation continues over the president’s witch-hunt against trans servicemembers.
At the Milk ship’s christening ceremony thensecretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro had noted he wanted to be there in order “to amend the wrongs of the past” in terms of the harassment LGBTQ servicemembers had faced. And let’s not forget that. The military drummed out thousands of gay and lesbian servicemembers over the years, even before the homophobic “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was
But back to the Milk ship. Hegseth, a former Fox News host, is obsessed with what he calls the “warrior” ethos in the military. And that apparently means that trans people cannot be part of the service, or that a Navy refueler cannot be named after a gay man. “We will revive the warrior ethos and restore trust in our military,” Hegseth said in his January 25 message after being confirmed as defense secretary. “We are American warriors. We will defend our country. Our standards will be high, uncompromising, and clear. The strength of our military is our unity and our shared purpose.”
The thing is, Hegseth has it all wrong. LGBTQ people who want to serve in the military
have made that choice for a variety of reasons: a duty to serve, to honor their country. It’s not the right decision for all of us, but for those who serve, they have undergone rigorous training just like their straight counterparts. There is no credible evidence that having gay, lesbian, and trans troops hurts unit cohesion, which was debated and debunked during the yearslong debate on ending DADT. In fact, it’s now been 14 years since that policy was repealed, and the U.S. military is as strong as ever. Or, it was until Trump put Hegseth in charge. Never has there been a more unqualified person leading the Defense Department. Hegseth’s stumbles, including Signalgate, whereby military operations were revealed in an unsecure group chat over the Signal app, are more than enough for him to be relieved of duty. Instead, he picks on Milk, a deceased LGBTQ hero who served his country, and declares that he is not worthy of having a Navy ship bear his name. That’s what’s so shameful about all of this.
To LGBTQ veterans and servicemembers, we say, thank you for your service, and we’re sorry that you have to serve under a leader less qualified than you are. We’ve heard that LGBTQ veterans are heartbroken by Hegseth’s decision, and so are we. It should be rescinded.
Removing Milk’s name from the Navy ship doesn’t dilute his contributions to the world, and we won’t forget. t
Remembering history is an act of love
by Slay Latham
Imagine it’s a hot August night in 1966. The bars just closed and you head to Gene Compton’s Cafeteria, a 24-hour eatery and local favorite hangout for LGBTQ people. As you enter Compton’s, located at the corner of Turk and Taylor in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, you see queer and transgender people existing in community with each other. Amid the chatter and laughter of the evening you witness a police officer walk over and forcibly grab a drag queen. The queen throws a cup of hot coffee in the officer’s face and the cafeteria erupts. What ensues becomes known as the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot, one of the earliest known instances of collective militant queer resistance against police harassment in United States history. I carry on the hope of the Compton’s Cafeteria rioters with me in everything that I do.
To be raised in San Francisco as a queer person continues to be one of the greatest blessings of my life. As my relationship with the city that raised me continues to develop, I feel it is my duty to honor the queer and trans ancestors who came before me. Growing up in San Francisco allowed me to live in the history of my community daily. Whether it was walking up a street lined with rainbow flags as I rushed to Harvey Milk Plaza to catch the bus, learning about the AIDS Memorial Quilt in my high school art class, or celebrating Pride on the steps of City Hall the year same-sex marriage passed, I grew up believing in the audac ity of equality.
The promise of San Francisco as a safe haven is as beautiful as it is aspirational. As a young queer person unsure of so many things, I always found solace in knowing I was born in one of the gayest cities in the world. When I discovered the story of Compton’s as an adult, I felt a deep sense of rage and shame come over me. The patrons at Compton’s, mostly transgender women, street queens, and drag performers, came together to fight back against a culture of police brutality and anti-LGBTQ violence that continues to haunt this
city. I felt as though a critical part of San Francisco history was kept hidden away from me. Was the idealistic vision of my hometown I had come to know myself through a lie? I wondered why a city so proud of being an oasis for LGBTQ+ people would bury such a powerful piece of our history.
The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot is San Francisco’s Stonewall. The irony is painful. At the crossroads of Turk and Taylor stands 111 Taylor Street, the historic site of the 1966 riot. Today, one of the most historically significant queer and trans landmarks in the U.S. is a building cloaked by the contradictions of the city that surrounds it. Once a safe haven for trans women and queer youth fleeing violence, it is now operated by GEO Group, a for-profit prison corporation. For over 30 years, GEO Group has managed a carceral reentry facility inside the very structure where trans women first rose up against police violence nearly six decades ago. In a city adorned with rainbow flags, GEO’s occupation of 111 Taylor is an insult to the legacy of
this city. Removing GEO Group from 111 Taylor is a necessary step in reclaiming transgender history in San Francisco. Transforming the building into a space for trans, queer, immigrant, and justice-impacted communities is an act of resistance. Liberation is more than a possibility, it is a promise to ourselves, to those who came before us and to the young transgender people whose lives will be transformed living in a world that sees their humanity.
Against the backdrop of rising fascism and antitrans rhetoric the story of the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot offers unique insight into the ways in which transgender people have always fought for our right to be seen in a postcolonial world hostile to our existence. The current federal government has declared open season on all aspects of transgender life and the narrative of Compton’s provides a sense of ancestral hope. One day all trans people will be able to live in a world that not only sees our humanity but sets us up to live our lives free of violence. Failure to reconcile the historical significance of Compton’s plays into a much larger movement to erase transgender people from society. My love for this city runs as deep as our histories and we are more than just a footnote.
A hearing before the San Francisco Board of Appeals on a zoning determination for 111 Taylor Street is expected to be held later this month.t
Slay Latham (they/them/theirs) is a secondgeneration San Franciscan with a decade of experience serving the LGBTQ+ community. They hold a bachelor’s degree in communication studies with minors in sociology and anthropology, as well as gender and queer studies from the University of Puget Sound and a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School.
As a dynamic and innovative transgender leader, Latham is invested in ensuring the survival of their community within and outside of the confines of the law. In addition to being a writer, mediator, activist, educator, and multidisciplinary artist, Latham currently works as a notary public in San Francisco.
Activists in May hung banners on the side of the building that once housed Gene Compton’s Cafeteria.
Gooch
A lithograph containing photos of Harvey Milk adorns the captain’s quarters of the USNS Harvey Milk.
Matthew S. Bajko
SF supervisors approve bond money for Milk plaza, City Clinic
by Matthew S. Bajko
San Francisco supervisors have approved the disbursement of bond money to relocate the city’s public health clinic that treats sexually acquired infections out of its current dilapidated site. The Board of Supervisors also signed off on a portion of the bond money allocated for a redo of Harvey Milk Plaza in the LGBTQ Castro district.
The funds for the two projects were included in a $390 million bond measure for various infrastructure, public spaces, and street safety projects that city voters passed last November. As the Bay Area Reporter reported last year, the inclusion of both came after public pressure from LGBTQ advocates alarmed that the bond proposal initially had included the Milk plaza renovation but omitted City Clinic’s relocation.
The facility operated by the San Francisco Department of Public Health has been housed since 1982 in a 91-year-old former firehouse building in the South of Market neighborhood. But the property at 356 Seventh Street isn’t compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, as staff had noted to the B.A.R., plus its heating system has failed and a flood forced the clinic to close for two days.
“As much as we love our old firehouse, it’s showing its age,”
Dr. Oliver Bacon, a gay man who is the clinic’s medical director, told the B.A.R. last year.
At their June 3 meeting the 11 supervisors unanimously voted to approve $27,767,353 in bond funding for moving City Clinic. The project has a total estimated cost of $28 million but no timeline at the moment for completing the transition to a new address.
parklet above the Castro Muni Station was launched in 2016 in conjunction with the city’s plan to install a second elevator for the subway station. That project is currently under construction, with the metal support beams for the lift visible above the protective fencing surrounding the site, and set for completion by early next year.
“Funds will be used to purchase and modify a site for City Clinic’s use, providing a larger lab space, greater privacy in patient care areas, and improved accessibility. A new site is not yet identified. Timeline undetermined until a site is identified,” stated the materials shared with the supervisors.
In response to the B.A.R.’s request this week to speak with City Clinic leadership about their plans for the relocation, an unnamed spokesperson for the health department replied in an email that “unfortunately, we do not have a subject matter expert available for this so we will need to kindly decline this interview request.”
In a statement attributed to the health department, the city agency reiterated that it has yet to decide on a new site at which to house City Clinic.
According to the statement, SFDPH “has engaged City Clinic staff and stakeholders to define the needs and program space requirements for a fully functional and accessible City Clinic, including space needed for a safe and effective lab, accessible and private patients care and consultation areas, and administrative space that allows staff to properly collaborate on patient needs. The department is working to find a suitable site that meets the needs of the clinic.”
2026 start date eyed for Milk plaza
As for Milk plaza, a community-led drive to completely renovate the public
The larger renovation plans for the plaza named after the city’s first gay supervisor, who was assassinated in 1978 just shy of his 12-month mark in office, are not fully funded despite the bond allocating $25 million toward the price tag. Current estimates for all the improvements the Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza group want to see be built peg the cost at nearly $40 million.
As the B.A.R. reported in December, the friends group committed to raise nearly $8 million of the remaining funds needed, working then off a total project cost of $35 million with the expectation the city could make up the difference. So far the friends group has yet to report any significant fundraising for the project, and it does not appear Mayor Daniel Lurie included any general revenue appropriation for the plaza in his proposed budget released last week.
When asked if he had, a mayoral spokesperson responded with reference to the bond funds and said nothing about any additional city dollars for the plaza project. The partial disbursement of $894,856 from the bond money approved by the supervisors Tuesday will go toward having global landscape architecture, planning, and urban design firm SWA complete the drawings for the project so ground could potentially be broken next year.
In May, the city’s Capital Planning Committee noted it had amended the bond issuance amount for the project “as questions remain on the project scope, budget, and ability to raise private funds. The updated allocation will ensure that planning and design on Harvey Milk Plaza can continue and later project phases will be included in a future issuance.”
The approved plans for the plaza call for a new spiral podium feature built by
the intersection of Castro and Market streets in a nod to its history as a gathering place for protests and rallies. A smaller stairway leading to the underground subway station would be constructed, replacing the wider one there today that undulates downward across most of the space.
Drawings show a rose-colored, transparent overhang above the new stairs and station escalator to protect them from rainwater. The color scheme harkens to the red-and-white bullhorn Milk used during protests held at the site and marches that kicked off from it.
Friends group executive director Brian Springfield, a gay man and professional graphic designer, said this week that it has been in talks with San Francisco Public Works about what could be built sticking to a total price tag of $25 million as covered by the bond. The city agency is working with the friends and other city officials on the plaza project.
“What does that project look like? Is it something everyone can be happy with? It could potentially require … descoping is the word they use, which is where the Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza spring into action,” said Springfield. “Our role in this process and with the city is to protect the community’s vision for Harvey Milk Plaza.”
Part of that vision calls for a new en closed space below street level for mu seum-quality displays about Milk and other local LGBTQ leaders. The friends group is speaking with the San Fran cisco Municipal Transportation Agency about incorporating the subway station’s entire concourse for the installation.
In April, the friends debuted in front of the subway fare gates an installa tion featuring eight lesbians and queer women of note. It is part of its pledge dubbed “Widening History’s Lens: Toward Inclusivity & Belonging in the Castro” to tell the story of the entire LGBTQ community, not just Milk’s, as part of the reimagining for the space.
Come and see Dignity/SF, which affirms and supports LGBTQ+ folks.
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“I would share that I remain optimistic we will see a groundbreaking sometime next year,” said Springfield, meaning the redesigned plaza could debut to the public in 2028. “I am encouraged to hear the city is working with those dates. We have waited long enough.” t Jesus didn’t discriminate so neither do we.
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Trump budget would cut $1.5B in HIV/AIDS dollars
by John Ferrannini
President Donald Trump’s Fiscal Year 2025-2026 budget would eliminate HIV prevention and surveillance at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS, and other programs.
The total cut would be over $1.5 billion.
The budget, however, largely maintains funding for domestic HIV care, treatment, and PrEP programs. The news comes after a period of uncertainty of where cuts in funds to fight the epidemic would come from and how much they’d be.
“We urgently call on Congress to reject these cuts in order to ensure that states and community-based organizations have the resources to prevent HIV, which is still a serious infectious disease and results in about 32,000 new cases each year,” stated Carl Schmid, a gay man who is the executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.
“While we are reassured that the 576,000 low-income people currently accessing care and treatment through the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, along with those using PrEP at community health centers, can maintain their services, the obliteration of CDC HIV prevention and surveillance programs is an absurd proposal that will just increase HIV infections and health costs down the road,” he added.
The cuts to HIV prevention and surveillance total $800 million. Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS, run out of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, would be completely eliminated. It currently serves 55,000 households to the tune of $505 million.
Also on the chopping block is Part F of the Ryan White Program, which funds dental reimbursements, clinical training, and community-driven implementation research ($74 million); the Minority HIV/AIDS Fund ($60 million); and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Minority HIV/AIDS Initiative programs ($119 million).
National Institutes of Health research would be cut 40%. The cuts combined total $1.3 billion.
The previous Office of Infectious Diseases and HIV/AIDS Policy at the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health would be moved to Administration for a Healthy America in order to coordinate Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. and other HIV activities and funded at $8 million. Authorization of HIV and hepatitis C testing at the Indian Health Service would continue.
Trump’s budget also slashes funding for the CDC’s hepatitis prevention initiatives, which are to be replaced with a block grant to states that would also include sexually transmitted diseases and tuberculosis prevention.
“Instead of decreasing and diluting funding for hepatitis, if the Trump administration is serious about addressing chronic health conditions we should be increasing funding so that people with hepatitis can be identified through testing and linked to treatment, and in the case of hepatitis C, a cure,” Schmid continued.
PrEP initiative preserved
The budget proposal maintains $220 million for the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. initiative, announced in Trump’s first term and continued by
former President Joe Biden. The new budget transfers this to the Administration for a Healthy America. The initial leaked budget for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not include these dollars.
The goal of the initiative is to reduce the number of new HIV infections in the U.S. by 90% by 2030 for an estimated 250,000 total HIV infections averted.
“We will eradicate the AIDS epidemic in America by the end of the decade,” Trump said in the 2020 State of the Union address.
The budget also includes $165 million for the Ryan White Program and $157 million for PrEP in community health centers.
PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, refers to the use of antiviral drugs to prevent people exposed to HIV from becoming infected. The pill Truvada was first approved for PrEP use in 2012 by the federal Food and Drug Administration; since then the FDA has also approved the pill Descovy for some groups, and the drug Apretude as an injectable treatment.
“Maintaining funding for the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative, which only focuses on 57 distinct geographic areas, while eliminating nearly $800 million for our nationwide surveillance, testing, education, and outreach programs is a recipe for disaster,” Schmid warned. “The Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative, which is laid on top of, and relies on, existing programs, will just become a misnomer. … HIV is an infectious disease, and a nationwide testing and surveillance system is necessary to know where infections are occurring and to link people to lifesaving treatment and, if they are at risk of HIV, preventive services such as PrEP. With a new twice-yearly PrEP drug expected to be approved by the FDA in the next couple of weeks, now is not the time to pull the rug out from under HIV prevention.”
Local reaction
Local reaction was swift. As the B.A.R. previously reported, Schmid spoke May 21 on a panel event in San Francisco about federal funding cuts to
HIV/AIDS services alongside Tyler TerMeer, Ph.D., a gay Black man living with HIV who is CEO of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, and Lance Toma, a gay man who is CEO of the San Francisco Community Health Center. Former city health commissioner Cecila Chung, a transgender woman living with HIV, was also on the panel.
TerMeer stated, “The proposed budget released by the Trump administration would be a disaster for our nation’s response to the HIV epidemic if approved by Congress. Since the 1990s, the U.S. has made steady progress in preventing new HIV infections and ensuring that people living with HIV are connected to successful treatment and care. Those hard-won gains will be lost if we end federally-funded programs for testing, prevention and PrEP, surveillance, research, and care.”
TerMeer stated that “already in California, we are seeing the impacts of these decisions.”
Therefore, “End the Epidemics – a coalition that includes San Francisco AIDS Foundation – is urging California lawmakers to allocate $60 million in the state budget to cover cuts at the federal level,” he continued. “As the president’s proposed budget makes all too clear, state funding is desperately needed to maintain systems of care across California.”
Toma, co-chair of the San Francisco HIV/AIDS Providers Network, stated that he is “appalled.”
“Dismantling our HIV prevention infrastructure is malicious and shortsighted,” he stated. “In San Francisco, we have been prioritizing HIV prevention efforts to support people of color communities, trans communities, gay men, youth, substance users, and the homeless community. We have been incredibly effective and continue to see new HIV infections decrease year after year in San Francisco. San Francisco Community Health Center and the HIV/ AIDS Providers Network will be doing all we can to advocate to sustain federal funding and all of our efforts in our city and our country.”
A spokesperson for the San Francisco Department of Public Health stated that
the department “is currently assessing all possible impacts of the cuts to federal public health funding and remains committed to protecting and promoting the health of all San Franciscans.”
Asked about the potential for backfilling federal HIV/AIDS cuts before the $1.5 billion figure was made clear, a spokesperson for Mayor Daniel Lurie stated, “Historically, we have always made our best efforts to backfill federal cuts related to HIV/AIDS. At this time, we haven’t seen the proposed federal cuts yet and do not have information on the fund. Of course, we will continue to do whatever we can to support folks with HIV/AIDS.”
Lurie’s budget sets aside $400 million in reserve dollars, with the stated intent of addressing federal cuts to San Francisco. He has said the amount in Trump’s cuts could balloon to $2 billion.
Global cuts
All this comes on top of Trump administration cuts to addressing HIV/ AIDS overseas.
Abrupt cuts to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, and the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, have put people at risk in countries where the HIV/AIDS infrastructure relied on U.S. government assistance.
At the May 21 event, Schmid cited Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who told a congressional hearing May 20 that, “85% of PEPFAR is functional right now.”
“We’ll see,” Schmid said. “He did decimate USAID. … When American presence leaves, who do you think is going to come in? Some foreign powers we don’t want to see come in. It really destroys things and goes against our national interest.”
Schmid continued that the PEPFAR and USAID cuts caused fear domestically.
“If the U.S. government is pulling treatment from people with HIV in Africa, oh my God, that can happen here,” he said people have worried.
The New York Times has reportedabout deaths of children in Africa who could no longer access treatment. t
The Senate passed it 38-0 on May 29. It also passed on May 28 with a 30-6 vote Cabaldon’s SB 351 that would empower the California Attorney General’s office to investigate and intervene in cases where private equity firms unduly influence medical care.
In a similar vein, Wiener is again trying to rein in the costs of prescription drugs after his previous legislative efforts stalled. His SB 40 would cap monthly co-pays for insulin at $35, while under his SB 41, new regulations would be imposed on pharmacy benefit managers. Such businesses, known as PBMs, would need to follow new rules limiting how they charge fees and im-
pose greater transparency on their pricing.
The Senate passed both bills by 36-0 votes on May 28. Via this year’s state budget, Newsom is pushing to enact SB 41’s initial provision that PBMs would need to be licensed by the state.
“Today’s vote is a big step toward improving affordability and access to essential medications for all Californians,” stated Wiener. “California is finally moving to catch up with other states in containing the cost of prescription drugs, helping to make working people’s lives healthier and more affordable.”
SB 590 by Senator María Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles) would update the state’s paid family leave program so employees, beginning on July 1, 2027, can receive wage replacement benefits for up to eight weeks when taking time off to care for a seriously ill chosen family member who is not a blood relative, child, or their significant other. Several years ago, the state had expanded certain family leave provisions to include chosen family members but it did not cover the PFL income.
The Senate passed SB 590 by a 38-0 vote on May 28.
And by a 28-4 vote on May 29 the chamber passed Menjivar’s SB 450 that would ensure LGBTQ+ parents in other states can access California courts to protect their parentage rights as long as their child was born in California through adoption proceedings.
Assembly bills moving on In the Legislature’s lower chamber, gay Assemblymember Rick
Chavez Zbur (D-Hollywood) secured passage of his Assembly Bill 715, the California Attorney Protection Act, that would update the State Bar Act. It aims to protect attorneys from disciplinary action when providing legal services to patients, medical providers, and others seeking or offering health care services like gender-affirming care or reproductive services that are lawful in California but may be illegal in other states.
The Assembly passed it May 29 by a 68-0 vote. And on June 2 the chamber passed by a 62-5 vote AB 82 by gay Assemblymember Chris Ward (D-San Diego) that would allow a gender-affirming health care provider, employee, or volunteer facing threats of violence or harassment from the public because of their affiliation with a gender-affirming health care services facility to seek to ensure their residential address isn’t disclosed via public records requests to state agencies.
The bill would also make it a crime to share online the images of and the personal information for such individuals, commonly known as doxing a person. And it would prevent health providers from reporting certain medications taken by trans patients to an electronic database that monitors the prescribing and dispensing of certain controlled substances.
Also passed by the Assembly on a 54-15 vote May 15 was Zbur’s AB 309 to delete the pending January 1, 2026 repeal date of state laws that give pharmacists the discretion to furnish sterile syringes to people age 18 and up and that allow adults
to possess syringes for personal use without a prescription. Local governments since 2004 were given permission by the state to authorize pharmacies to sell syringes to adults as a measure to halt the spread of HIV, viral hepatitis and other bloodborne pathogens due to dirty needles shared by injection drug users. Should AB 309 be adopted, those rules would be extended indefinitely.
Under AB 1487 authored by Assemblymember Dawn Addis (DMorro Bay), the name of a trans health fund would be expanded so it is more inclusive and known as the Two-Spirit, Transgender, Gender Nonconforming, and Intersex (2TGI) Wellness and Equity Fund. It passed out of the Assembly June 2 by a 59-15 vote.
Meanwhile, under AB 678 by bisexual Assemblymember Alex Lee (D-San Jose) the state’s Interagency Council on Homelessness would need to coordinate with LGBTQ+ community leaders to deliver by January 1, 2027 a plan for providing inclusive and culturally competent services to LGBTQ+ people experiencing homelessness. It passed out of the Assembly June 2 by a vote of 67-0.
Lastly, AB 908 by gay Assemblymember José Luis Solache Jr. (DLynwood) would require that the annual Coordinated Compliance Review Manual provided to school districts by the Superintendent of Public Instruction includes a question on if they are offering LGBTQinclusive social science instruction as required by state law. The Assembly passed it 67-0 on June 2. t
President Donald Trump
Michael Key/Washington Blade
Former Most Holy Redeemer priest Anthony McGuire dies
by Brian Bromberger
The Reverend Anthony “Tony” McGuire, a straight ally who led Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood, died May 12. He was 85.
Reverend McGuire died at Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City. A cause of death was not released, according to the Archdiocese of San Francisco, which issued a statement on his passing.
“In his priestly ministry, Father McGuire undertook his assignments with enthusiasm, dedication and commitment—bringing hope, helping others and making each place better for his having been there,” stated the archdiocese.
Reverend McGuire took over the small Castro parish in 1982, following the death of pastor Cuchulain Moriarty, gay Jesuit priest the Reverend Donal Godfrey wrote in his 2007 book, “Gays and Grays: The Story of the Gay Community at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church.” The parish had been in decline for years. The predominantly Irish working-class families, resentful of the incursion of gay people into their Castro neighborhood and fearful for their children, were leaving the area for the suburbs. Only elderly members still remained and they were worried the archdiocese would close the church for lack of attendance. The school had closed in 1979, as had the convent, both across the street from the church.
In an interview with Godfrey, the late then-San Francisco archbishop John Quinn said he wanted someone kind, showing genuine pastoral concern for the people, yet would remain true to the church’s teachings, which were against same-sex marriage and sexual activity. Under the leadership of the man he appointed, Reverend McGuire, MHR would be reborn. McGuire would head the parish until 1990.
Frank Leykamm is still a regular gay parishioner at MHR. “I moved from New York to San Francisco in 1987 and was searching for a spiritual community,” he said in a phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter. “I found my way to MHR Catholic Church in the Castro. Fr. Tony McGuire was pastor, and he had turned a dying parish there into a vibrant welcoming community for LGBTQ+ people. He was a brave and dynamic leader who was also open to the ideas of his parishioners.”
“As a result, he helped establish the MHR AIDS Support Group, which provided loving support for people with AIDS,” Leykamm added. “He recognized a need and did something about it, when the greater Catholic Church was condemning and shaming queer people. Fr. Tony had a way of seeing the talent in others and drawing them in to participate in the parish community. As a result, I became a volunteer in the support group and in various other ministries. I am forever grateful to Fr Tony for helping me get established in my new and still current spiritual home in SF.”
In gay director Brian Favorite’s 2020 experimental short film on MHR, called “Parish,” which was a graduate thesis as part of his MFA in cinema at San Francisco State University, he interviewed Reverend McGuire.
“When I first came to MHR, I didn’t know what to do, so I formed an advisory group, 12 people, mostly oldtimers, and two gay men,” Reverend McGuire recounted in the film. “They decided the church would form a gay and lesbian outreach committee. They set up a booth at the Castro Street Fair. They sent out invitations for a potluck and 65 people attended. The next one hosted 100 people.”
Favorite deeply appreciated Reverend McGuire’s gracious and generous support of his graduate thesis film. “He shared heartfelt memories of his time as pastor at MHR during the 1980s, reflecting on that pivotal and challeng-
ing era. For the film, he lent his own voice, reading selected passages from Fr. Donal Godfrey’s book ‘Gays and Grays.’” Favorite stated in an email.
According to Godfrey, such outreach to the gay community had never been done in a Roman Catholic Church before. “The parish was exploring new territory in ministry,” he wrote in his book. “Pastor McGuire recognized that if the church didn’t change it would die.”
“He showed his great gift for bringing people from very different backgrounds together and creating something new in the process. He often spoke of the gays and grays,” Godfrey noted in his book, referring to the number of older parishioners.
There were times of friction, since Reverend McGuire didn’t want any confrontations with the archdiocese, Godfrey said in an interview. But he had a sharp sense of humor, which could ease tense situations. In the film, in one homily, he said when he first arrived at the parish, he thought “Hail Holy Queen” was just a hymn.
Reverend McGuire was confronted by people who resented his acceptance of gays at MHR, but he felt whoever or whatever they did would be easier in a supportive, loving community.
Godfrey wrote in his book that even at McGuire’s installation mass there were protesters outside the church picketing, especially against Quinn. Reverend McGuire showed them hospitality.
This welcoming attitude helped him deal not only with hostility toward gay people but hostility toward Catholicism in the gay community, Godfrey noted in his book and others recalled. When faced with an appearance by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, he didn’t panic, but called the Liturgy Committee and together they set guidelines, the chief of which was not allowing the Sisters to interrupt the service and if they caused commotion, there would be people to remove them physically. But they sat in the front row and participated in the service, receiving communion.
Godfrey’s book details how Reverend McGuire helped to negotiate Pope John Paul II’s visit to San Francisco in 1987, which followed the notorious October 1986 letter of then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) that called homosexuality an “intrinsic moral evil.” So, there were protests when the pope arrived, but they were peaceful. There was hope the pope could visit Coming Home Hospice, which the church started in the former convent, but since that couldn’t be worked out, he would meet with AIDS patients, their families, and caretakers at Mission Dolores.
The
AIDS epidemic
The chief crisis to hit Reverend McGuire and MHR was the AIDS crisis. By 1985, quite a few parishioners were dying of the disease. Meetings were held to figure out what could be done to help those afflicted with the disease.
Reverend McGuire was instrumental in helping start the MHR AIDS Support Group, which trained volunteers to give practical and/or emotional
support to people living with AIDS in their homes, he said in comments to this reporter prior to his passing. Once they finished their training, volunteers were commissioned during the Sunday mass liturgy.
Pete Toms, a gay man and longtime coordinator of the Most Holy Redeemer AIDS Support Group, praised Reverend McGuire.
“He and [Sister] Cleta Herrold were active in going out to the gay community and welcoming them into the parish; while still supporting the existing parishioners, who were mostly seniors,” Toms wrote in an email. “His kindness and sense of humor made all feel part of a family. He revived the parish, especially during the early days of the AIDS epidemic.”
The group, now in its 40th year, continues to provide support to some 60 long-term survivors, Toms added.
Reverend McGuire also started the tradition that every week at mass, during the prayers of the faithful, there would be the petition, “For persons with AIDS, let us pray to the Lord,” Godfrey’s book recounts. The Support Group’s motto is “We Care.”
Reverend McGuire was key in helping the parish establish, in the empty convent, Coming Home AIDS hospice, providing not only the building, but money, work, and enthusiasm, with parishioners volunteering not only to visit clients, but also to do maintenance work, as Godfrey wrote in his book. Quinn was a regular visitor. The late actress Elizabeth Taylor, who long supported AIDS organizations, would make private visits to each resident.
When asked by a parishioner why the Catholic Church didn’t have the 40 Hours devotion with the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament anymore, Reverend McGuire didn’t have an answer, as Godfrey wrote in his book. Then he remembered that the original reason for the devotion was to pray over a plague. Of course, he thought, AIDS was a plague. The 40 Hours, which became a yearly tradition, started with a preached retreat over several nights. Franciscan spiritual author the Reverend Richard Rohr conducted the first one. At the opening mass, the names of those who had died in the past year were read. Ministers and priests from other traditions were invited to participate.
Reverend McGuire had to conduct hundreds of funerals, which became wearying. By 1990 he needed a sabbatical. He left MHR to go to Hong Kong, where he would learn Chinese so he could better serve the Asian community in San Francisco, Godfrey recounts in his book. No one doubted that Reverend McGuire was the right man at the right time for MHR. Godfrey writes, “McGuire’s greatest gift as pastor was to allow the holiness and activity of God, already present in the neighborhood, to come to life again and become manifest in the parish. And so, MHR was renewed and reborn.”
When this reporter met Reverend McGuire about 20 years after he left the parish – as volunteers at MHR’s Wednesday Night Supper for the unhoused and low-income people – he was asked how he coped with the enormous strain of so many parishioners (young and old) dying, having to hold so many funerals.
He replied, “I looked for the calm in the storm. I found comfort in the stained-glass window over the altar, the figure of the Risen Jesus, Our Most Holy Redeemer. I felt pulled forward and drawn closer by those outstretched hands, welcoming me and everyone, including gay people and all the oppressed of the world. It is his compassion and love which sustained me when my heart felt troubled.”
Godfrey recalled Reverend McGuire’s service.
“Father Tony was the catalyst for the opening of the doors to LGBTQ folk
at MHR,” Godfrey stated in an email.
“He had a big heart that envisioned something new, yet also traditional, in the sense of the ministry of Jesus, who was always close to those whom society marginalized. And Tony was able to finesse the complex relationship, not only with the LGBTQ community, but also the institutional church.”
Parishioners recall pastor
A number of parishioners recalled Reverend McGuire after learning of his death.
Paul Erickson, a gay former parishioner, wrote in an email, “Father McGuire came to a parish which had been used to serving an SF ethnic neighborhood that was changing and becoming more LGBTQ. Father McGuire made a decision to welcome the LGBTQ community into the church, eventually fostering a ministry to those with HIV/ AIDS. MHR’s HIV/AIDS ministry was recognized nationwide. Father McGuire’s legacy is MHR today, where both straight and LGBT parishioners can worship together in a community where God’s inclusive love is proclaimed.”
Raul Salazar was a gay MHR parishioner even before Reverend McGuire’s era, living in the same block as the church. He noted that the Sunday before he arrived, there were seven people at the main 10 a.m. Sunday mass.
“He was an ally when the gay community was under attack, especially when the AIDS epidemic started decimating our community,” Salazar stated. He celebrated mass for [Catholic LGBTQ group] Dignity SF around the time he became pastor of Most Holy Redeemer, a parish that was on its last legs.”
Ed Mah, a gay parishioner, told the B.A.R., “Fr. Tony McGuire was once asked, ‘How do we deal with the refugees if they come to our
Churches,’ when he was appointed secretary of ethics and cultural affairs for the archdiocese. He said, ‘Invite all of them into your parish, let them be empowered. Have them be leaders on their own program so they feel they will belong in the parish.’ Similarly at Most Holy Redeemer, he invited the gays and let them be empowered, as they felt they had a home at Most Holy Redeemer.”
Reverend McGuire was born in San Francisco on November 15, 1939 to his parents, Anthony McGuire and Mary Ann Heaney McGuire, immigrants from Ireland, noted the archdiocese. He had three brothers, John (Elizabeth), Bernard (dec.) and Thomas (Joan).
After graduating from Mission Dolores School, Reverend McGuire attended St. Joseph’s College in Mountain View and St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park. On June 5, 1965, he was ordained at Mission Dolores Basilica by Archbishop Joseph T. McGucken.
He missioned at parishes around the Bay Area and received a Master’s Degree in Pastoral Care from the Jesuit-run University of San Francisco. For two years, he was a missionary with the Maryknoll Fathers in Hong Kong and later served for a year on the staff of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
“Family was very important to Father McGuire. He often visited relatives in Ireland and England,” noted the archdiocese. “He could always be counted on to officiate at family members’ baptisms, weddings and funerals.”
There will be a 6 p.m. Visitation for Reverend McGuire, followed by a Vigil Service at 7 at St. Matthew Catholic Church in San Mateo, 1 Notre Dame Avenue, Wednesday, June 11. The funeral service will occur at the same location on June 12 at 10 a.m. t
Charles Duncan McCreight
1/27/1959 - 3/12/2025
Duncan peacefully departed this life on March 12, 2025, in San Francisco after complications from surgery. He was a man of intellect, wit and integrity who lived a full life marked by his generosity and kindness to all who encountered him.
Born January 27, 1959 in Norfolk, Virginia to Major Israel McCreight III and Nancy Hazard McCreight, Duncan was raised as a true U.S. Navy dependent, growing up in Florida, South Carolina, Stuttgart, Germany, Naples, Italy, and New York. He graduated magna cum laude in 1981 from Florida State University with a BS in Finance and began his business career with Shell Oil in Houston.
He relocated to San Francisco in the late 1980s.
In 1993, Duncan opened Fete Catering, capitalizing on his natural curiosity about all things culinary and his boundless creativity to produce many unforgettable events throughout the Bay Area, from small dinner parties to large corporate affairs. He was known for more than 30 years as a great cook and generous host, influenced early on by his mother who was an accomplished cook and hostess herself.
“Funkin’ Duncan” was a lifelong music aficionado, finding great joy in sharing his vast knowledge of pop music with everyone, from his clever mix tapes and CDs to his time as a DJ at San Francisco’s Lone Star Saloon and his crowd-pleasing performances with Los Train Wreck at the El Rio bar in the Mission District. The San Francisco Giants also lost one of their greatest fans with Duncan’s passing. His love for baseball and dedication to his team was well known, as were his color-coordinated game day outfits, complete with his always matching bow ties. Duncan was rarely seen without a bow tie.
Duncan is survived by his loving partner Ken Christy, sister Ellen McCreight Grant (David) of Savannah, and brothers Andrew McCreight (Brenda) of Colorado Springs, and Brian McCreight (Lori Bushnell) of Tampa, as well as a host of nephews, nieces, cousins, and of course, legions of friends.
Friends of Duncan are invited to a celebration of his life beginning at noon on Sunday, June 22nd at “Lovely Day” 4269 Martin Luther King Jr Way, Oakland, CA 94609. RSVP “will attend” to okogesf@gmail.com
The Reverend Anthony McGuire
Courtesy San Francisco Archdiocese
It was what queer former professional surfer Kyla Langen and her former partner, Nic Brisebois, who is genderqueer, had in mind in 2016 when they first launched the nonprofit, whose full name is Queer Surf – All Bodies All Boards. Langen, 43, grew up in a surfing family in Carlsbad, California and began competing at age 12.
She saw firsthand how few female surfers were part of the sport compared to their male counterparts. And later, when she came out, learned how unwelcoming the surfing community could be for LGBTQ people who wanted to take up the sport.
“It’s gotten slightly better but that’s only a testament to how bad it has historically been. Where it is at now is still not where we need to be,” Langen said about seeing a more diverse array of surfers out in the water.
Benitez agreed, saying, “We need more queer people in the water and queer people ready to be out there and take up space. I think Queer Surf is a great place to learn how to do that.”
Langen and Benitez spoke to the Bay Area Reporter during a joint video interview ahead of Queer Surf’s third annual SWITCH event taking place this weekend in Pacifica. The daylong affair is a showcase for LGBTQ surfers of all levels plus a beach celebration with entertainment from musicians and drag performers.
“Different from typical elimination surf contests, SWITCH has no
<< Budget
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Andrea Aiello, a lesbian who is executive director of the Castro Community Benefit District, was relieved at the news.
“The Castro CBD board and I are thrilled these crucial public safety and cleaning services are fully funded in Mayor Lurie’s budget,” Aiello stated June 2. “These services will help the Castro continue on its path to economic recovery. I want to thank Mayor Lurie, President of the Board [of Supervisors Rafael] Mandelman, the Bay Area Reporter, the 103 merchants who signed letters of support, and the countless residents who signed our petition and wrote their own emails to the mayor in support of these services.”
Aiello had previously told the B.A.R. that the grants were on the chopping block.
“I was really worried that our public safety and supplemental cleaning services would be cut. It would’ve been awful for the neighborhood,” she added June 2. (The B.A.R. had editorialized in April that the grants are “crucial to Castro’s success.”)
City grants for nonprofits that serve LGBTQ youth also appear to be spared in Lurie’s proposed spending plan.
Last year, the LYRIC Center for LGBTQQ Youth sustained some budget cuts, as the B.A.R. reported at the time.
Larkin Street Youth Services and the San Francisco LGBT Center had initially been considered for cuts but $11 million of their Department of Children, Youth, and Their Families money was restored before the final budget was signed.
This year, the mayoral spokesperson wasn’t able to identify cuts to LYRIC and Larkin Street, but did state, “The SF LGBT Center does have impacts. There is a reduction to their workforce development work and there was an elimination of the strategy of community building at [Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development] from which LGBT center gets money, as was made public in March when they sent out preliminary RFP [request for proposal] results.”
Mandelman, a gay man who represents District 8, including the Castro neighborhood, on the board, had previously told the B.A.R. that the San Fran-
judges, winners, or losers, and is instead structured around celebrating and uplifting queer expression, talent, and joy,” notes the nonprofit.
The daylong exhibition is just one of the myriad ways Queer Surf connects LGBTQ surfers and encourages first-timers to take up a surfboard. It offers surf lessons to groups of beginners and private lessons to those at all surf levels, as well as its multiday surf camps held in different coastal regions of the Golden State.
“I am so grateful for what the community has allowed us to build,” said Langen, who shares co-director duties for Queer Surf with Brisebois.
“I am definitely proud of the work we have done and events we are able to put on. I am also grateful to the community for showing up and helping us build it.”
Until last year, Langen had been
cisco LGBT Community Center would see at least a few hundred thousand dollars in cuts.
The LGBT center didn’t return a request for comment June 2.
Layoffs expected
Overall, Lurie’s budget, which he released May 30, includes layoffs of city workers. After a news conference, a Microsoft Teams meeting between reporters and the mayor’s staff revealed that 1,400 city positions being eliminated are spread across 40 city departments. Many of these are unfilled, but those that are filled are spread across 17 departments, officials said.
The mayor’s staff was not able to give specifics, citing the need to inform those departments in a timely manner. Officials did not indicate which departments would see the most layoffs.
The Board of Supervisors needs to approve the two-year budget by August 1. (It also includes funding for 2026-27.)
Speaking on a livestream announcement the morning of May 30, Lurie said that public safety spending will be preserved, as well as legal services to help immigrants, including those from the LGBTQ community. Public safety has been Lurie’s top priority since taking office in January. He said the city will continue to invest in police officers, sheriff’s deputies, firefighters, and 911 workers, as well as other core services, such as street cleaning and Muni operators.
At the news conference, Lurie was not able to say which LGBTQ immigrant legal services he was able to spare. Asked later, a spokesperson replied that, “There is funding in both the City Administrator’s Office and MOHCD for immigrant legal services and the LGBT Asylum Project.”
The LGBT Asylum Project didn’t return a request for comment June 2.
The budget states that the San Francisco Public Defender’s office saw a 3% budget increase, and that the office helps immigrants who lack legal representation in deportation fights.
“San Francisco protects immigrant communities by investing in legal services, including establishing PDR’s Immigration Unit. This created a crucial safety net for immigrant communities and substantially reduced deportations, as represented immigrants are five times more likely to win their cases,” the budget
Coast Grants program and from the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary. It has allowed the co-directors to remain working fulltime on the nonprofit.
“It is pretty amazing work,” said Langen. “The response particularly after the surf camps, after people have some time to spend time with each other, get to know each other, and get to know the space, the response is just pretty incredible. They tell us how supportive it is of people’s well-being.”
“I say it is always needed but even more so with what we are going through. On a personal level as a trans woman, the country voted against me and that doesn’t feel good,” said Benitez, noting of last year’s presidential election results, “to have a lot of people think your life isn’t worth anything doesn’t feel good. A party always feels good, so I think this is much needed. I can’t wait.”
working as a teacher in the San Francisco Unified School District in addition to co-leading Queer Surf. Fiscally sponsored by the Green Cities Fund, Queer Surf in 2024 received grants totaling $150,000 from the California Coastal Commission’s WHALE TAIL grants program and the Marine Protected Area Outreach and Education Small Grants Program funded by the Ocean Protection Council.
It allowed Langen and Brisebois, who had been a social worker at the school district, to solely focus on overseeing Queer Surf and quit their other jobs. According to the Green Cities Fund’s 2024 tax filing, it provided $337,252 in grants and for expenses to Queer Surf.
For 2025, Queer Surf also received $150,000 in grant funding, this time from the California State Coastal Conservancy’s Explore the
book states. “The Public Defender’s Office is actively responding to the federal administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement policies. Deportation constitutes one of law’s severest penalties –causing exile, family separation, income loss, and community disconnection. Despite having legal rights to contest deportation, many immigrants accept removal simply because they lack legal representation.”
The office is currently handling between 150 and 200 cases, the budget book states.
Asked about potential cuts of federal HIV/AIDS dollars, the mayoral spokesperson replied that, “Historically, we have always made our best efforts to backfill federal cuts related to HIV/AIDS. At this time, we haven’t seen the proposed federal cuts yet and do not have information on the fund. Of course, we will continue to do whatever we can to support folks with HIV/AIDS.”
Proposal would merge civil rights agencies
The Human Rights Commission would see a cut of $16,803,083 from last year’s funding total of $44,751,345.
The Human Rights Commission oversees the troubled Dream Keeper Initiative. That department’s former director, Sheryl Davis, a friend of former mayor London Breed, resigned last year after it was revealed she approved $1.5 million in contracts to a nonprofit run by a man she shared a home with. Already, the Transgender District is out nearly $1 million because two Dream Keeper grants were canceled.
Also in the budget is a proposal to merge the Human Rights Commission with the Department on the Status of Women. That department, too, garnered headlines after its former director, Kimberly Ellis, was removed in April following reports she directed funds to friends and organizations without a fair bidding process.
The Department of Children, Youth and their Families would see a cut of $955,156 out of a budget of almost $350 million. The Office of Economic and Workforce Development would see a cut of $56,989,417 from last year’s funding total of $140,623,065.
The Department of Public Health would see an increase of $144,896,544 out of an over $3 billion budget.
As Queer Surf notes in its mission statement, its goal is to expand surf culture and connect queers “to their bodies, ocean ecology, and an inclusive surf community.” Its three main focuses are working “to foster a culture of belonging in the waves, advocating for distributed surf resources and supporting queer mental and physical health through relationship with the ocean.”
In learning how to surf, said Benitez, “I would go as far as say I found my gender through surfing, through that connection with just yourself and something else as a force of nature. It can really change how you look at the world and yourself.”
With the LGBTQ community seeing its rights attacked by the Trump White House and federal agencies attempting to erase mention of it, the support and camaraderie Queer Surf participants can find via the nonprofit’s programs and events have been even more essential this year, both Langen and Benitez told the B.A.R. They expect this year’s SWTICH event will be even more impactful due to the current political situation queer and trans people find themselves in.
‘I was elected to make hard choices’
During his livestream address, Lurie said, “Here’s the bottom line: we have to stop spending more than we can afford. The era of soaring city budgets and deteriorating street conditions is over.
“The budget I’m introducing today faces the $800 million dollar deficit head-on,” he continued. “A crisis of this magnitude means we cannot avoid painful decisions, and I am prepared to make those decisions.”
The city is putting aside $1 million for city attorney litigation efforts, but Lurie said at the news conference that how the $400 million in reserves will be spent depends on the depth of Trump administration cuts to federal services the city relies on, which is as yet unknown. That number could be as high as $2 billion, he has previously said.
“I was elected to make hard choices, and that is reflected in today’s budget,” he said.
Speaking of homeless services in his livestreamed remarks, Lurie noted that the city now has “the lowest number of encampments since 2019,” and that the city will continue to address the behavioral health crisis by “unlocking critical funds to build the type of housing and treatment we need right now.” A news release from Lurie’s office indicated that figure is $90 million over three years.
Lurie also acknowledged Mandelman and Supervisor Connie Chan, a straight ally who is the budget committee chair and represents the Richmond district.
In a statement, Chan was blunt about the fiscal situation the city finds itself in this year, warning, “We have no good options.” Nonetheless, she pledged that she and her colleagues will “fight and protect” their constituents from whatever decisions the Trump administration makes that harms the city. The San Francisco Chronicle reported Thursday that the White House may try to claw back $140 million that the city received to help cover costs associated with the COVID pandemic, while two of the city’s more prominent LGBTQ service providers could lose their federal contracts if their lawsuit against the Trump administration isn’t successful in unfreezing the funds.
“We will be faced with some very dif-
Added Langen, “I am definitely knowing that people are needing each other a little extra this year and needing community a little extra this year. I mean it is pretty intense; it is pretty awful what is going on.”
A number of participants at the surf camp that Queer Surf held on Catalina Island this spring told Langen that due to their feeling depressed and struggling to cope in recent months, they almost didn’t come on the trip. By the end of the weekend, they expressed how glad they hadn’t canceled, she recalled.
“This gives me hope; these spaces give me hope,” she said. “We need to make sure to still be taking time for ourselves and prioritizing our own joy and that we are still building out our networks and making sure we are still celebrating ourselves.”
The third annual SWITCH: An Exhibition of Queer Surfing is free for anyone to attend. It takes place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 7, at Pacifica State Beach, also known as Linda Mar Beach, 5000 CA-1 in Pacifica.
To learn more about Queer Surf and its programs, visit its website at queersurf.org. t
ficult decisions, especially given the federal government’s attacks on our critical safety net programs and threats of funding cuts to our city budget,” Chan stated. “But we will meet this moment head on. We will focus on the core mission of city government and ensure we create guardrails for our future including placing an estimated $400 million on reserve against federal cuts.”
Several unions are already planning a protest June 4 at noon at City Hall. These include the San Francisco Labor Council, Service Employees International Union Local No. 1021, and International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Local No. 21.
“This is the budget that Airbnb wants. None of these job cuts should be on the table, but the mayor has decided that tax breaks for Airbnb are more important than public services,” said Sarah Perez, San Francisco City Employee and SF vice president for IFPTE Local 21. “And, this budget is a big payday for private contractors. Cutting public jobs often means handing over important work to for-profit companies, increasing costs and inviting corruption.”
The labor groups are working in tandem with the People’s Budget Coalition, which issued a statement the afternoon of May 30.
“The mayor’s office continues to evade this accountability he himself demands by not even releasing the budget following his budget release announcement,” the coalition stated. “As of this release, we are told the budget is still hours from being publicly available. This follows an unfortunate trend of the community, service providers, and the public being the last to know the real details.
“We appreciate the mayor’s dedication to address this budget crisis head on, but we are concerned at who these cuts target and who they spare,” continued the coalition, which includes Jennifer Friedenbach, the executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness. “The city is balancing the budget on the backs of essential workers and the communities they serve. Difficult choices have to be made in unprecedented times, but the mayor is taking familiar routes: balancing the budget on the backs of working-class San Franciscans while protecting the wealthy and powerful. Someone always has to pay, and it’s always us.” t
Participants celebrated at last year’s SWITCH queer surfing event.
Courtesy Queer Surf
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Paul Reubens (in a publicity still for ‘Pee-wee’s Big Adventure’) in ‘Pee-wee as Himself’
Reverent documentary on Paul Reubens tells almost all
as Himself’
Drag Me Downtown
Steven
Underhill
t << Music
Reeve Carney
by Jim Provenzano
He’s played Spider-Man on Broadway, Dorian Gray in “Penny Dreadful,” time-warped as Riff Raff in “Rocky Horror,” and even gone to hell in “Hadestown.” Next up, Reeve Carney returns to Feinstein’s at the Nikko for two nights celebrating the music of the rock band Queen.
Born in Manhattan’s West Village into a talented performing arts
family (his great-uncle is celebrated Oscar winner, the late Art Carney of “The Honeymooners”), Carney’s childhood performing arts credits includes playing opposite actor/playwright Sam Shepard in the film “Snow Falling on Cedars,” and even playing at Lincoln Center with Peter, Paul and Mary. A gifted musician, Carney has performed in a variety of settings before and after his breakout role in the Broadway musical “Spider-Man: Turn
Off the Dark” from 2010-2013.
His natural style comes off with a very unassuming demeanor, despite such prestigious gigs like opening for Arcade Fire and U2 with his band.
After a brief discussion of our mutual reverence for Queen, in a phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter from his home in New York City, Carney talked about his upcoming San Francisco concerts as well as other musical accomplishments.
A Kind of Magic
“I grew up being obsessed with Queen, both Brian May and Freddie Mercury for many reasons,” said Carney, 42. “As a kid, he was one of the only people I could actually sing along with on the radio because of his voice. In terms of male voices –because for young boys before their voices change– guys who sing in that register, you can sing a lot more easily to Freddie Mercury than you can to Elvis. I grew up loving him, but then I started playing guitar by my twelfth birthday, and I was immediately obsessed with Brian May.”
May’s unique sound isn’t easy to replicate, as he’s known for making his own guitars.
him so much, it’s fun for me to try to do all the things that he did on the record, just because I’m a different person. And so that’s part of why I do it, as opposed to kind of veering too far from his melodies. I can challenge myself to do the things that he did.”
“During the pandemic, I started building electronic effects and pedals for myself and for other musicians with a company I have called Quarantine Effects, USA,” said Carney. “After building my first circuit, the very next thing I realized I needed to do was try to figure out how the heck I could build a pedal that would get me as close to sounding like Brian May as possible. I’ve got one of those now that I use in the show. It’s fun for me because it’s an unexpected thing for a one-man show, getting to explore both of those ridiculously talented and incredible artists. It’s really fun, and I get to control the dynamics with tempo and all of that. It’s great. I love doing this show. This will be probably my fifth time doing it.”
Some Queen fans can be critical of other performances of Queen songs, including Adam Lambert, who’s toured for years with May and drummer Roger Taylor. Carney maintains a reverence, but holds fast to allowing himself to interpret Queen, not imitate.
that category,” he said. “But yeah, people who have inspired me throughout my life in a musical way, and at the top of the list are people that happened to be gay like Freddie. I guess I just love amazing singers and people who have, I think there’s also a darkness that all of them have that I’m really drawn to. It’s not just pure sweetness. I’m drawn to that kind of combination.”
It’s Late
Speaking of darkness, singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley, who died in 1997, is the subject of a stalled biographical film project, with Carney set to portray Buckley, whom he resembles physically and vocally.
In effect, Reeve is paying homage to the late gay singer Mercury, and to guitarist May (who recently finished a world tour with Roger Taylor and Adam Lambert) at the same time.
“It’s not an excessively overdriven sound,” said Carney of his guitarplaying. “It’s such an amazing tone that allows me to get somewhere in the ballpark of what Brian’s known for in terms of his tonality while singing those songs too, which is fun.”
Flick of the Wrist
At the mention of May’s combination of accuracy and spontaneity in his solos across decades, Carney agreed.
“Every note with Queen was just, it had such a tension behind it,” said Carney. “I’m not singing every night like Adam. I can see how he might start to loosen things up over time. But for me, I play this show a couple times a year at most. If I were performing it more, I would loosen it up even more. People have told me, ‘I love the way you make it your own.’ I’m glad they think that. Because these songs are so great. I love to sing them as close to note-for-note as I can, but naturally it’s going to be a little different.”
Now I’m Here
Carney’s last concerts at Feinstein’s in October 2024 paid homage to “The Rocky Horror Show” and the film version, as he had portrayed Riff Raff in the 2016 Fox TV adaptation. This led to a discussion of Tim Curry’s vocal chops back then as Frank-N-Furter.
“It was going to start in 2021,” said Carney. “We were in pre-production for it, and then it all had to stop, partially because of the pandemic, and nothing’s happened since. I hope that they make that movie. I really don’t know. It’s really complicated with the financing, and they’ve had a lot of versions of it, different scripts. I think they haven’t fully landed on what they want. It would be great to make that movie.”
Getting back to Queen, Carney was asked which songs he most enjoys performing.
“I would probably be more inclined to open up the set list to more obscure deep cuts, because I have a few favorites that are maybe a little less known than others, but mostly they have so many incredibly well-known songs that are unique to the band.
“Yeah, and I love that,” he said. “I remember being a kid, that was kind of the beginning of my really getting deeply into the first few years of being into guitar and going to certain shows and kind of missing that sometimes. With someone like Brian May, I remember seeing other people sometimes say, ‘Oh man, I wish they would play something that was more familiar to us from the album.’ But when you write melodies as great as Brian May does, I’m glad that he decides to play them with some sense of spontaneity, but with a recognizable style with such wonderful composed solos.”
In discussing Mercury’s peak vocal technique, Carney compared studio recording to live concerts.
“I’ve watched so many interviews with him over the years,” said Carney. “If I had written these songs and some of them on the recordings originally the way he did, I would agree with his thinking that the live show is a different animal. ‘Let’s give the audience something different.’
“In a lot of cases, as singers, some nights you don’t want to try something different if you’re feeling under the weather. But I think a lot of it for him was also creative license. I’d like to keep it fresh for the audience. Because I’m not Freddie Mercury but I admire
“He’s really got a bit of Freddie Mercury and David Bowie qualities,” said Carney. “I was surprised he didn’t have a bigger career as a singer, just strictly singing, because I think his voice is amazing. For ‘I’m Going Home,’ I’m definitely inspired by his version when I do that one.”
And although he’s straight, and recently engaged to actress Eva Noblezada, his former costar in “Hadestown,” Carney is aware of the gay connection in some of his roles and song choices.
“I love that that’s a part of it, but it’s really just people that I’ve felt inspired by, and a lot of them happened to be in
“I mean, it’s shocking to me that ‘Killer Queen’ could have been their first single. I can’t picture any other band having a single that cool, especially for their first single. I’m just going for some of my favorites, which happen to be some of their biggest hits, which is really cool. But there are definitely some that aren’t on the list that maybe at some point, if I keep doing it more regularly, I’ll add those or switch things up a little bit.
“‘Love of my Life’ is really interesting, some of the chord movement is really unexpected,” Carney added. “I have to practice it a lot every time I perform it, because there are a couple of chord moves in there that make the song what it is on my levels, but they’re slightly unexpected, and I really enjoy playing it.
“I mean, I don’t know if I should give this away, but there are parts when I don’t necessarily play only one instrument at a time. So that’s pretty fun. Those particular moments are fun when I’m jumping between multiple instruments.”
What else would one expect from such a multi-talent?t
Reeve Carney
Reeve Carney in a recent solo concert
Big time Pee-wee
Cockettes offshoot The Angels of Light), he returned to CalArts, where he met and fell in love with a man named Guy, with whom he moved into a “staggering” apartment in Echo Park. This led to Paul coming out to his parents.
The relationship with Guy ended as Paul chose to focus on his performance career, which included a win on “The Gong Show,” becoming a member of improv troupe The Groundlings, and the creation of the Pee-wee Herman character.
The unexpected popularity of Peewee led Paul to pursue his alter-ego’s career rather than his own, taking him from the stage of The Groundlings to an HBO special to becoming a regular on “Late Night with David Letterman” to a 22-city concert tour and a deal to make a movie, “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure,” directed by Tim Burton, for Warner Brothers.
As his star was ascending, allowing him to hide behind his alter-ego, he was still keeping personal secrets, including his sexuality, in addition to being a “weed head.” As Reubens asks the camera, was it self-hatred or selfpreservation?
A multitude of movie and television appearances followed. Paul bought a house, from which he could see the Hollywood sign, with the check he received from “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.” And then came “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” on CBS. He wanted to inspire kids the way TV had inspired him when he was young. He made it an escape into a pop-art world (aided by designer Gary Panter), with a message about non-conformity. It was inclusive without commenting on it and
being different was celebrated. The show was a critical and ratings success.
At the height of his celebrity, a few things occurred that threatened to bring it all to a screeching halt. His 1988 movie “Big Top Pee-wee,” directed by gay filmmaker Randal Kleiser, was a flop. In 1991, while visiting his parents in Sarasota, Reubens was arrested and charged with indecent exposure in an adult movie theater. Being closeted had backfired, and he lost control of his anonymity. The entire episode became a big footnote for Reubens.
From page 13
sota Street. June 27, Drag Me to Front Street, Front Street between California & Sacramento Streets. $10 registration fee to benefit the Transgender District. www.downtownsf.org
SF Pride Band
@ Herbst Theater
The San Francisco Pride Band bids a fond farewell to longtime artistic director Pete Nowlen as he conducts one last concert before moving on to retirement. The afternoon will include the world premiere of “American Epic” by composer Carlos McMillan Fuentes under the band’s BIPOC Composition Program. $15-$20, June 8, 3pm, 401 Van Ness Ave. www.sfprideband.org
Pride Cabaret
@ New Conservatory Theater
In what can be described as a carefully orchestrated comeback, Reubens returned as Pee-wee at the MTV Video Awards in 1991. He made appearances, as himself, on late-night talk shows, and acted in “Batman Returns,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Blow.” In 2010, “The Pee-wee Herman Show” opened on Broadway and became a sensation.
The range of interview subjects is fantastic, and includes Paul’s younger sister Abby Reubenfeld (a lesbian civil rights attorney), artist and musi-
cian Ann Prim, animator and effects producer Prudence Fenton (widow of Allee Willis), Natasha Lyonne, S. Epatha Merkerson, Laurence Fishburne, Debi Mazar, David Arquette, Judd Apatow, Larraine Newman, Cassandra Peterson, Lynne Stewart (aka Miss Yvonne), Paul’s longtime assistant Allison Berry, artist Helen Whelchel, Tracy Newman (cofounder of The Groundlings), Allison Monk (aka Chairy), and visual artist Gary Panter. Without giving away too much, at a certain point in the making of “Peewee as Himself,” Reubens stopped cooperating, and Wolf had to find a way to complete the doc, which he did. Wolf, whose history of docs about celebrated queers includes “Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell,” “I Remember: A Film About Joe Brainard,” “Bayard & Me,” and “The Stroll,” should be commended for his ability to craft such a powerful, revealing, and memorable portrait. If you find yourself crying repeatedly while watching a documentary about one of the funniest people in entertainment history, know that you’re not alone. Rating: A-t
‘Pee-wee as Himself,’ HBO Documentary Films www.max.com/ shows/pee-wee-as-himself
Three weekends of music, laughter and celebration feature J. Conrad Frank (aka Katya Smirnoff-Skyy) in ‘How I Became the Countess’ (June 6, 7); Dusty Porn with Joe Wicht at the piano in ‘These Pumps Are Made for Walking’ (June 13, 14); and Cantos De Mi Tierra in ‘Orgullo,’ featuring powerful rhythms and melodies of Latin
America. $40-$55, 8pm, 25 Van Ness Ave, lower lobby. www.nctcsf.org
Drag Me to Wine Country @ Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa
The drag brunch hosted by Sister Roma features performances by Madd Dogg 20/20, Polly Amber Ross, Mercedez Munro, Ruby Red Munro, and Hera Wynn. $125 per person plus tax & service charge. Parking available. June 14, 11:30am, 100 Boyes Blvd, Sonoma. www.fairmont-sonoma.com
Castro Country Club
16th Annual Pageant @ Oasis
An afternoon of glitz, glamour, and fabulous drag performances as contestants compete for the coveted title and showcase their talents on stage; hosted by Sister Roma and Bobby Friday. Non-alcoholic beverages will be sold. $35, June 15, 1pm, 298 11th Street. www.castrocountryclub.org
Castro Night Market @ Castro Street and 18th Street
The Pride celebration will feature three stages of drag and queer performances, and thirty local vendors. Performers include Jorgeous << Pride Events
See page 16 >>
Left: Katya Smirnoff-Skyy at Pride Cabaret
Right: Castro Night Market
Steven Underhill
Left: Multiple media reports of Paul Reubens’ arrest in ‘Pee-wee as Himself’ Right: Pee-wee finds enlightenment on Chairy in ‘Pee-wee as Himself’
Both photos: HBO
Left: Guy and Paul Reubens Middle: Paul Reubens in a Cal Arts college video and Right: Paul Reubens on ‘The David Letterman Show’, all from ‘Pee-wee as Himself’
All photos: HBO
‘The Nightingale’
by David-Elijah Nahmod
Written in 1843, Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Nightingale” is about an emperor in China who captures a nightingale that lives in his garden. At first enamored by the bird’s beautiful song, the emperor decides to keep the nightingale until he is given a gift of a mechanical bird.
The emperor forgets about the nightingale, replacing her with this mechanical facsimile. The nightingale flies away to her home in the garden, but when the emperor is taken ill, the nightingale returns to sing to him.
From June 6-22, this enchanting tale comes to the stage of the Children’s Creativity Museum in a revolutionary new way, as a circus performance. The People’s Circus Theater will present the story of “The Nightingale” with
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the acrobatic choreography of local talents Evan Tomlinson of Cirque du Soleil and Maya Kesselman Cruz of “Dear San Francisco.” According to Felicity Hesed, founder and artistic director of People’s Circus Theater, this new staging is “fresh and bold.” Hesed is also the writer and director of this production. Several of the performers identify as LGBTQ.
In an interview with the Bay Area Reporter, Hesed explained how the story of “The Nightingale” will be told.
Physical theater
“You know how a musical is a play with dialogue and a storyline and sometimes people break out in song and dance?” she asked. “Well, our show is similar, but instead of breaking out in song, people break out in circus. Yes, we have dialogue. Yes, it’s a full play and story. That being said, we do a lot of the storytelling visually and physically. We use acrobatics, aerial arts, and juggling, as well as dance and physical theater. It’s all rolled in together.”
Andersen’s story, as adapted by Hesed, draws inspiration from the original text, but has been updated for a modern audience. It is set in the near future, a time when income inequality is getting worse, and tech companies are buying up impoverished towns and turning them into company towns.
“Two of the main characters in the play that are not in the original are a young couple who live in this town,” Hesed said. “The husband, Sadit, works for the emperor and helps find the nightingale for him. Distraught that the emperor is holding the nightingale captive, Sadit invents a robot bird as a replacement in the hopes of freeing the nightingale. Our show
takes off from there and goes in a pretty different direction, but you’ll have to come to the show to see.”
Hesed also spoke about the advantages of staging the show in a small theater.
“I actually love doing circus shows in a small theater like Children’s Creativity Museum, because it’s so intimate,” she said. “The audience can almost reach out and touch the performers. The audience will see them sweat and hear them breathing. I love how genuine and visceral it is. It is a great benefit for our style of work. Since our performers speak, it allows them to do so without needing microphones. I like that the audience can see the details of the acting and emotion. I love the intimate experience the audience has of watching this moving and
emotionally potent work in a small space together.”
The B.A.R. also spoke to Cruz, who addressed the challenges of choreographing one show while working in another.
“Doing seven shows a week is very demanding physically and mentally so I have been extremely grateful to the cast of ‘The Nightingale’ for making it easier on me by coming into the theater and training in between shows,” she said. “I finish one show, eat as quickly as I can so I can go back onstage to work with the cast who comes to the theater to work with me. Even though I need rest in between shows, it energizes me to work with new ideas and the cast members are always so motivated and positive it has been a joy to work with them.”
<< Pride Events From page 15 and Kylie Sonique, with a special DJ set by Lady Bunny; hosted by Sister Roma. June 20, 5pm, 18th and Castro. www.castronightmarket.com
San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus @ Curran Theatre
The chorus’ annual Pride concert takes place downtown this year, with a roster of gay favorite hits, and guest singer-songwriter Justin Tranter; Artistic Director Jacob Stensberg conducts. $36-$158, June 21, 1pm & 7:30pm, 445 Geary St. https://www. sfgmc.org/
People’s March and Rally
@ Polk & Washington Street
Drag icon Juanita MORE! and wellknown activist Alex U. Inn return with the annual People’s March. The rally begins at 11am at Polk & Washington Streets, with a march down Polk Street to Civic Center, the same route as the first Gay Liberation March in 1970. DJs, performers and artist’s booths at Civic Center. Free. June 22. www.juanitamore.com
Modern tale Cruz also spoke about the challenges of adapting a fairy tale into a circus performance.
“Getting the story to come across using body language, eye contact and acrobatics,” she said. “A lot of the time in circus performances the creators have the freedom to inject whatever emotions or story they want and allow the audience to receive that information or emotion without necessarily needing a clear storyline. Here, there is one that we want the audience to understand and to take the journey with us. That’s why I think mixing theater in with the circus helps tell the story while the circus can bring a little more whimsy.”
Hesed is recommending “The Nightingale” for ages seven and up. She pointed out that while younger children may enjoy it, it might be difficult for them to sit through the whole thing, and that some parts of the show might be scary for them. The storyline, she said, is really for teens and adults, and wants adults to know that they shouldn’t feel silly about attending a show at the Children’s Creativity Museum.
“People’s Circus Theater is working to re-envision what it means to do and see theater,” she said. “We are appealing to non-theatergoers with our innovative staging that combines the fast-paced thrill of circus with the emotional hook of stories. We are also trying to develop a sustainable model for arts creation by building the infrastructure to support working artists at a time when the arts are often left behind.”t
‘The Nightingale,’ June 6-22, Fridays at 7pm, Saturdays at 3pm & 7pm, Sundays at 2pm. $28.50-$53. Children’s Creativity Museum Theater, Yerba Buena Gardens, 221 4th St. www.peoplescircustheatre.org
Trans March @ Dolores Park
The annual march takes place June 27; more events to be announced at the event website. www.transmarch.org
Pride Shabbat
@ Congregation Shaar Zahav
Pride: A Musical Celebration @ Golden Gate Park Bandshell
The Golden Gate Park Band celebrates the season with musical selections such as ‘True Colors,’ ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ and ‘Over the Rainbow,’ as well as Broadway tunes cherished by the LGBT community or written by LGBT composers. Free, June 22, 1pm, Golden Gate Park Bandshell, Music Concourse Drive in Golden Gate Park. www.goldengateparkband.org
Join San Francisco’s synagogue for LGBTQ Jews, families, friends and allies for a very special Pride-themed Friday night service, led by Rabbi Mychal Copeland and Cantor Sharon Bernstein. The joyous celebration of the Pride season will be followed by a rainbow-themed Oneg (Social Hour with refreshments). Free, June 27, 7:30pm. 290 Dolores Street. www.shaarzahav.org
San Francisco Dyke March
@ Dolores Street & 18th Street
Join thousands of lesbians for a celebration of Lesbian Pride on a march through the Mission. Meet at Dolores and 18th Streets. Free, June 28, 5pm. www.thedykemarch.org
See page 17 >>
A scene from ‘The Nightingale’
Fernando Gambaroni
The Golden Gate Park Band
The Dyke March Instagram
Queer as folk(s) playlist for Pride
by Gregg Shapiro
Our classic Pride anthems will keep. But first, check out a quintet of new folk/rock albums from these acclaimed artists.
“Send A Prayer My Way” (Matador) is the highly anticipated musical collaboration by queer singer/songwriters Julien Baker & Torres. Individually, Baker and Torres have established themselves as singular artists. But Baker seems to be at her best when she’s collaborating, whether as a member of Boygenius (with Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus), or guesting on solo albums by Becca Mancari, Bridgers, her partner Dacus, and others.
That’s why this pairing of Baker and Torres (aka Mackenzie Scott) makes musical sense. The 12-songs on the vinyl LP are steeped in modern country. “Bottom of a Bottle” (from which the album gets its title), with its reference to checking “every honky-tonk in town” after losing her woman, earns it place among torch and twang drinking songs. Baker and TORRES never fail to remind us that this is contemporary music, especially on songs such as “Downhill Both Ways,” “Sylvia,” “Off the Wagon,” and “Tuesday.” www.julienbakerandtorres.com
When it comes to the coolness factor, it’s hard to top “Jungle Cruise” (In the Red) by Juanita & Juan, a musical duo with more history in their little fingers than most people have in their whole bodies. In addition to recording albums under his own name, queer musician Kid Congo Powers (Juan) has been a member of influential bands such as the Cramps, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and The Gun Club. Alice Bag (Juanita) was a member of the highly regarded LA punk band the Bags and also appeared in the acclaimed Penelope Spheeris doc “The Decline of Western Civilization. As Juanita and Juan, they’ve recorded a punk-folk album that draws on their combined senses of humor (the title cut, “Aftertaste”), their political mindedness (“Put Down Your Weapons”), their bilingualism (“Interruptor,” “Ven A Mi”) and, most importantly their queerness (“The Prez” and “DBWMGWD,” which stands for “David Bowie Was My Gateway Drug”).
Adding to the album’s coolness element is that it’s pressed on day-glo pink vinyl and spins at 45 RPM. www.juanitajuan.bandcamp.com
Salt Lake City’s Talia Keys is a queer multi-instrumentalist with an activist streak. You can hear it in
her brand of blues-tinged folk on her new LP “From the Ashes” (Midtopia), available on tasty orange vinyl. When Keys sings “I haven’t fought this hard in such a long time/it seems like I’m fighting everyone,” LGBTQ listeners can surely relate to that sentiment now. The same holds true for “Be the Resistance,” which encourages listeners to be their “own empire” in these troubled times.
The sizzling soul tune “Matchstick”
<< Pride Events
From page 16
Queer Prom: Twilight
@ SF LGBT Center
Dance the night away at an evening of Gothic glam, drag performances, mocktails, food, and photo booth fun. Guests are encouraged to attend in striking, dramatic attire–think queer vampires, witches and ghosts. Free, June 28, 6:30 pm, 1800 Market Street. www.sfcenter.org
San Francisco Pride Parade and Celebration @ Market Street /Civic Center
is fire and heats up with repeated listens. The strings on the soaring number “Sky Is Falling,” take the song to thrilling heights. “Find Your Own” brings the funk while celebrating feeling different and the joy of finding your own community. Keys bring it to a close with the beaming country of “Glowin’ Golden.” www.taliakeys.com
Non-binary folksinger/songwriter Olive Klug cites Adrienne Lenker and Mal Blum among their influences, something that comes through loud and clear on their exceptional second album “Lost Dog” (Signature Sounds). This is 21st-century folk at its best – from the distinctive lyrics to the arrangements, these songs sound like a long-awaited update to a timeless genre. “Cold War,” is a perfect example of this. What’s amazing is that Klug follows “Cold War” with “Train of Thought” which returns to folk’s roots, complete with a train theme. It’s this balancing act, which Klug makes sound effort-
less, that makes this record so compelling. Other examples include the title tune, “Opposite Action,” “Taking Punches From the Breeze,” and “What to Make of Me.” www.oliveklug.com
“Sprinter” (The Orchard) by queer singer/songwriter Cat Ridgeway may rock a little harder than the previously mentioned albums, but that doesn’t diminish its emotional impact. In fact, the sheer variety of musical styles found on “Sprinter” may cause many listeners to run towards it.
The album opening title track grabs you by the collar in the most persuasive manner. Then there’s that unexpected banjo on “Cursive.” “Look Ma, No Plans!” sounds like it might owe a debt to Liz Phair while Ridgeway fully embraces her folkie self on “Restless Leg Syndrome.” “What If?” is the album’s most daring track, while “Get Well Soon” and “Forced Actors” are, to quote Ridgeway, “very punk rock” of her. www.catridgeway.comt
The big event begins June 29 at 10am at Market and Embarcadero, continuing west up to Market Street and 8th Street. Queer Joy is Resistance is this year’s theme, with 250 contingents, the four-hour parade then gathers at Civic Center for multiple stages of entertainment, food, drinks, and community organization booths. www.sfpride.org
Juanita MORE! Pride Party @ 620 Jones Pride ends with what promises to be the biggest party of the year at the striking indoor/outdoor event space with two levels and four bars. DJs will include Infinite Jess, Subeaux, Page Hodel, Beverly Chills, and Sgt. Die Wies. $60 in advance, $75 at the door. June 29, 620 Jones St. www.juanitamore.comt
Happy Pride Month! Once again, we present a unique array of newly published and upcoming queer fiction and in the coming weeks. Memoirs, nonfiction, and all the family-friendly queer books under the rainbow.
“Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil” by V.E. Schwab
$29.99 (Tor)
Spanning three separate historical eras, Schwab’s brilliantly conceived newly published novel follows three interconnected sapphic vampires and their epic bloody adventures. Maria is the first character depicted where, in 16th-century Spain, she is stuck in a fruitless marriage until a mysterious herbalist becomes her only hope for escape. The novel then shifts forward into 19th-century London where Maria, now known as Sabine (she takes the
herbalist’s name after killing her) bites beautiful Charlotte, but their lesbian romance ends bitterly.
Finally, in contemporary Boston, we find Scottish Harvard student Alice who is struggling to reconnect with the woman who turned her, then disappeared. Schwab is masterful at creating sweeping backstories for each of these women and the result is an entrancing narrative that is dramatic, sexy, beautifully written and wholly immersive.
This book is huge and wonderfully atmospheric as the three women’s storylines eventually coalesce in exciting and bloodthirsty ways. Certainly, at nearly 550 pages, this one requires an investment in both time and attention, but you won’t even notice the book’s length once this epic vampire story begins. It will suck you in and hang on until the very last page. Stick your neck out for this amazing vampiric fantasy!
Victoria Schwab will sign and read
from her new novel on Friday, June 13, 7pm at The Booksmith, 1727 Haight St. www.booksmith.com
“Awakened” by A.E. Osworth
$29 (Grand Central)
Trans novelist Osworth’s fun and entertaining story about a coven of transgender witches has more than spooky October vibes embedded at its core. The story features Wilder, a 30ish trans Brooklyn dweller who awakens on his birthday with the sudden ability to speak different languages.
This secret sense has attracted the astute attentions of a coven of witches each with their own special powers, all eager to convince Wilder to join them. Coven leader Artemis is a Seer; Quibble is a time portal jumper; and Mary Margaret is a plucky telekinetic teenager; each welcome Wilder into the group, and just in time for danger to strike and put their newly expanded coven in grave danger.
The trouble stems from a malevolent Artificial Intelligence program that threatens not just the coven’s stability, unique balance, and sense of unity, but everything that is based in reality within the world at large.
There’s a meaningful message running alongside the plot encapsulating the importance of queer community, establishing one’s own identity, and the precious energy and vitality which comes from belonging to a group of like-minded individuals. Read this for the kooky magic and witchery, but remember the philosophically resonant takeaways that are the true beating heart of this book.
“It’s Not the End of the World” by Jonathan Parks-Ramage, $29.99 (Bloomsbury)
After the success of his debut modern gothic novel “Yes, Daddy,” Parks-Ramage returns with this new yarn chronicling the lives of queer men navigating homophobia, political opposition, a totalitarian government, and climate collapse in a futuristic world.
Gay couple Mason and Yunho are excited for their baby shower celebration despite the fires ravaging the LA region, their mounting money problems, and the poisonous pink gas blooming in the upper atmosphere. Both finally escape the catastrophe set out before them and head to a rural Montana communal ranch with their baby’s surrogate and her partner.
There’s an otherworldly plot development later on involving Mason and Mars, but that’s something readers will have to discover for themselves. If the story is a bit clumsy in the delivery, the details and the oddly intertwined storylines more than make up for it. This is a wild ride that spans a century in the life of two queer fathers in the future.
“Summerhouse” by Yigit Karaahmet, $28.95 (Soho Crime)
Translated from the Turkish by Nicholas Glastonbury, this crime novel, and writer Yigit Karaahmet’s first book in English, takes the form of a queer relationship melodrama between pianist Sener and his husband, Fehmi, who have decided to spend their 40th anniversary together on a retreat vacation on Buyukada, the largest of the Turkish Princes’ is-
lands. While enjoying their time away, a young teenaged boy named Deniz moves in next door to where they are staying and immediately catches Fehmi’s wandering eye.
Naturally, libidos are reignited, jealousies flare, and tensions ignite as the couple questions what the next years will be like after this development between lusty Fehmi and gorgeous barely legal Deniz. Also of note is the author’s excavation of a longtime couple’s struggle with navigating a queer relationship beneath the heavy oppression of Turkish society. This one is well worth taking to the beach.
“Amplitudes: Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity,” edited by Lee Mandelo, $18.95 (Erewhon) There are twenty-two stories in this fantastic speculative fiction collection, masterfully compiled by editor Lee Mandelo, each brimming with plenty of literary gusto and imaginative worldbuilding, with nods to the enduring plight of queer survival, rebellion, and collective resistance.
Set in futuristic lands where equality has become an unattainable goal, tales like Ramez Yoakeim’s “Fettle and Sunder” hits close to home as a gay couple become terrorized by a violent anti-gay militia, or the revenge plot hatched by trans teenagers to settle the score with their antitrans high school administration in Nat X Ray’s “Trans World Takeover.” But not all the tales are bleak and dystopian; most are uplifting and future-forward in the most promising ways.
This is particularly true in Sam J. Miller delivers “The Republic of Ecstatic Consent,” where queer communal joy takes center stage or the brighter future witnessed in Maya Deane’s “When the Devil Comes From Babylon” as a pair of trans teens stuck in a religious cult’s crosshairs manage to imagine better days ahead. This is just a sampling of what’s in store for readers of this wildly creative story collection. Don’t miss it.
“Hot Girls with Balls” by Benedict Nguyen, $27 (Catapult)
This debut novel from the multitalented Benedict Nguyen (a dancer, creative performance artist, and exercise enthusiast), pits two Asian trans girls against each other in the indoor volleyball arena. Late-twenties professional athletes Six and Green are also long-distance lovers and internet influencers who eagerly await participation in the upcoming professional volleyball championships.
They adore each other, but the competitive nature of their sport coupled with the intense requirement to garner as many followers as possible by revealing the details of their
relationship to those followers has driven a wedge between them. Green is more reserved and wants to keep different aspects of her relationship with Six private, but Six isn’t having it and wants to continue upping the number of followers she has.
A rash of Asian trans murders and the thrill of the volleyball court soon go hand in hand in Nguyen’s wild and potent fiction as Green and Six must decide whether to use the murders as opportunities for muchneeded trans visibility or just focus on the competition before them.
“Great Black Hope” by Rob Franklin, $28.99 (Summit)
This incredibly stunning and impressive debut by author Rob Franklin finds 25-year-old queer Black tech worker David Smith plunged into trouble when he is nabbed for cocaine possession while at a Hamptons house party.
The arrest and subsequent drug charges just seem to intensify the already traumatic recent death of his roommate and best friend Elle England. Smith hails from an affluent Atlanta family and when he tells his parents about his mounting legal troubles, they immediately hire a white lawyer to swoop in and save the day.
This calls into question class privilege and the messiness of racial divides and monied heritage. Franklin’s writing talents are on fine display here and the end result is a satisfying portrayal of a young man with several life choices ahead of him. Which path will he choose and why? This novel is a winner.
“Songs of No Provenance” by Lydi Conklin, $28 (Catapult)
After the success story surrounding their 2022 feel-good queer story collection, “Rainbow Rainbow”, Conklin’s debut novel concerns an indie
folk rocker who seems to become unhinged after finding great pleasure in urinating on a fan during a punk stadium gig.
Joan Vole is a favorite singer amongst her mostly lesbian fanbase, but after the self-indulgent pissing fetish exhibition at the gig, the time comes to embrace a few months away at a Virginia writing camp with lim-
ited wifi coverage and plenty of opportunities for self-reflection.
Conklin’s prose is pungent, and they delight in sharing the details of humid body odors rising up from crotches, and, of course, an odd preoccupation with piss, which will appeal to readers who prefer their queer fiction on the gritty edgy spectrum. Not for everyone, but for those inclined to partake in what Conklin has on offer here, it will satisfy and perplex in equal measure.
Lydi Conklin will sign and read from her new novel on June 19, 7pm at The Booksmith, 1727 Haight St. www.booksmith.com
“Be Gay Do Crime,” edited by Molly Llewellyn and Kristel Buckley, $17.95 (Dzanc Books)
The 16 short stories included here courtesy of co-editors Llewellyn and Buckley focus mainly on the idea that, when push came to shove, these queer characters resorted to a life of crime to settle the score or to get what’s owed to them.
It’s a devilish premise and up to the challenge are a group of queer writers who are talented enough to drum up ideas like a trans Bonnie-and-Clyde scenario to steal much-needed drugs in Aurora Mattia’s “Wild and Blue.” S.J. Sindu’s “Wild Ale” presents a queer couple supremely challenged by the Covid-19 lockdown situation as frustration strains their bond until a certain type of fight actually reunites them in different ways.
“Redistribution” by Temim Fruchter shows how a life imbalance can be righted with just the perfect amount of justified theft. This collection is predominantly satirical but it’s also feisty and fierce in the best way possible. Readers with gritty outlaw persona hiding inside them will want to run to the bookstore and snag this unconventional collection as soon as possible.t
A SASfest
Saint and Sinners Litfest
Held in the heart of New Orleans, the beloved LGBTQ literary event Saints and Sinners annually attracts writers, readers, and thinkers from across the country to celebrate storytelling in all its powerful, provocative, and poetic forms. With a full weekend of panels, readings, workshops and social events, SASFest offers space not only for craft and conversation but for true creative nourishment.
First-time attendee and author Kara Zajac stepped into this world of literary kinship with curiosity, and walked away transformed. Read about her experiences in our monthly Words column, on www.ebar.com.t
Below:
panel discussion with authors Joan Larkin, Michael Cunningham, Donna Minkowitz, Jonathan Alexander and Jewelle Gomez
