Castro neighborhood, has stopped selling Anheuser-Busch products because of the company’s decision to drop its sponsorship of San Francisco Pride.
SF LGBTQ bars mostly mum on liquor boycott
by John Ferrannini
At least one San Francisco LGBTQ bar is boycotting some alcohol sold by companies that have pulled out of sponsoring the city’s Pride festivities. The decision comes on the heels of a lesbian-owned East Bay watering hole that decided to boycott a large liquor conglomerate.
Moby Dick, at 4049 18th Street in the Castro LGBTQ neighborhood, has decided to pull Budweiser and Bud Light this week, co-owner Scott Rife told the Bay Area Reporter.
Anheuser-Busch, which produces both, was one of the companies that pulled out of sponsoring San Francisco Pride, as the paper previously reported.
Diageo, which owns over 200 alcohol brands, including Johnnie Walker, Ketel One and Smirnoff vodka, Guinness, and Captain Morgan, also pulled out of sponsoring the City by the Bay’s celebration. But the Londonbased business with a corporate office in San Francisco has stated it “will continue to appear at Pride events across the country this year through its Smirnoff brand.”
Rife said Bud Light will be replaced with Barebottle Brewing Co.’s Muir Woods Hazy IPA. He and his husband, fellow bar co-owner Joe Cappelletti, came to the decision mutually.
“We were just figuring out what to do with the extra tap,” Rife told the B.A.R. in an April 29 phone interview. He added that they will also “stop allowing any signage in our bar for any Anheuser or Diageo product,” and liquor representative-to-patron engagement as they “identify any additional related products” that the bar may also stop selling.
But Moby Dick is the only San Francisco LGBTQ bar that told the B.A.R. that it’s joining the Albany bar Ivy Room, which is owned by friends and business partners Summer Jager and Lani Torres, in reconsidering its relationship with liquor companies that’ve pulled out of San Francisco Pride. The East Bay establish-
See page 2 >>
Castro to see more police presence
by John Ferrannini
San Francisco police are beefing up law enforcement presence in the Castro LGBTQ neighborhood after a recent string of violent incidents, Police Chief William Scott and gay Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman told the Bay Area Reporter. But the news comes as grants that have helped neighborhood upkeep are under threat due to the city’s budget deficit.
Scott, a straight ally, said citywide police resources will be brought to bear to assist the efforts of Mission Station Captain Liza Johansen, also a straight ally, including motorcycle officers. The station oversees most of the Castro.
“We do hear all the concerns of [board] president Mandelman and many of the constituents he has in the Castro,” Scott said in an April 29 phone interview with the B.A.R. where he was joined by Johansen. “Some of the violent crimes … those were significant events. Not only are they traumatic, but they have a lasting impact on people. The outcomes, in terms of the arrests [in the theater beating and the Easter assault], were good. The DA is following up with prosecutions. There are consequences when someone comes into a community as beautiful as the Castro and commits these crimes.”
“If we have people being robbed, assaulted, stabbed – we’ll put resources in to address that,”
Scott continued. “Sometimes it takes away our ability to manage lesser offenses. … Violent crime across the city is down. It frees up resources to do other things.”
Mandelman, who represents the Castro as part of District 8 on the board, said he had two recent meetings with Mayor Daniel Lurie about conditions in the neighborhood. Mandelman said that Lurie promised, “more officers, more foot beats, more drug enforcement, more motorcycle cops –more of everything.”
Lurie stated the B.A.R., “In every trip to the Castro, whether I’m talking to officers on the street, outreach workers helping people who are struggling, or business owners serving the community, I hear about the importance of safe and clean streets. And that’s exactly what our administration is delivering for the community, just as we’ve done on Sixth Street and in the Mission.
“With our integrated street teams and law enforcement, we are dedicating the resources to make sure residents and visitors feel safe every day, and we will absolutely ensure this community has the tools and resources to have safe, clean and vibrant streets,” Lurie continued.
It’s all being rolled out “over the next month,” Mandelman said. He plans for a public safety meeting in July.
“I definitely hope this month we will have seen an increase in enforcement action,” he said. “If I haven’t seen that, I will be even more concerned than I already am.”
That pledge didn’t come fast enough for employees and patrons of the Blind Butcher on 18th Street, however. Another Sunday funday was just getting underway April 27 when James Nordine, a bartender at the restaurant, said he had to fend off a man wielding a knife.
It’s the latest in a string of disturbing violence in the city’s LGBTQ neighborhood in recent months. The assailant has not been found.
See page 8 >>
Palm Springs murder case nears end
by Ed Walsh
The closing chapter of more than 16 years of litigation involving the Bay Area men convicted for an infamous 2008 Palm Springs murder is playing out in Riverside County Superior Court. Daniel Garcia, 42, was sentenced on Friday, April 25, to life in prison without the possibility of parole. His former lawyer, David Replogle, 76, is expected to get the same sentence later this spring.
The victim was Palm Springs resident Clifford Lambert, 74. He was a retired art dealer.
Riverside County Senior Deputy District Attorney Lisa DiMaria, who was at the sentencing as an observer, summed up what many legal observers have said about the case.
“There had never been a case like this,” DiMaria told the Bay Area Reporter on Friday, April 25. “This is definitely a historical case in California. It’s crazy.”
The story is gaining new attention with a recently released podcast and will garner even more notoriety with a planned two-hour network TV program based on the case.
At the April 25 hearing, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Anthony R. Villalobos handed down the life term to Garcia. The hearing took place in Indio, about 20 miles south of Palm Springs.
Villalobos rejected Garcia’s motion for a new trial. He also refused to allow Garcia to represent himself. His lawyer, Peter Scalisi, told the judge
he planned to file an appeal immediately after the hearing.
Garcia asked the judge to recommend that he serve his time at either San Quentin Rehabilitation Center in Marin County, Mule Creek State Prison in Ione in Amador County, or Valley State Prison in Chowchilla in Madera County because they are closer to his elderly relatives, who live in the Central Valley. The judge agreed to make that recommendation.
In an exclusive jailhouse interview with the Bay Area Reporter on February 27, Garcia said
he was confident his conviction would eventually be overturned on appeal. He had also maintained that he was convicted with fabricated evidence. Garcia was not in Palm Springs at the time of the murder, but juries in two separate trials found him, along with Miguel Bustamante, Craig McCarthy, Kaushal Niroula, and Replogle, guilty of conspiring to kill Lambert. Bustamante is serving a life sentence and McCarthy was given a 25-year prison term. He had testified against the other men.
A jail cellmate murdered Niroula in 2022. Niroula’s parents filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit against Riverside County in 2023 stating that Niroula identified as a transgender woman and shouldn’t have been put in a cell with a violent sex offender. Denisse Gastélum, an attorney representing Niroula’s parents, stated in an email that the case is in litigation with trial set for September 23.
DiMaria, the prosecutor, attended last Friday’s hearing. She won convictions against Garcia and Niroula in 2012, but those convictions, as well as those of Replogle and Bustamante, were thrown out as a result of Garcia secretly recording the judge in the case saying he didn’t want to open envelopes with correspondence from Niroula because he was HIV-positive.
DiMaria attended Garcia’s sentencing not as a representative of the DA’s office but as an observer. The veteran prosecutor has a reputation in Coachella Valley as being tough, tenacious, and tireless. She personally investigated the case in
See page 8 >>
'Mexican Pleasures'
Moby Dick, an LGBTQ
in San Francisco’s
Courtesy Scott Rife
Daniel Garcia, left, talked with his attorney Peter Scalisi during his sentencing hearing April 25 in Riverside County Superior Court.
Ed Walsh
Mission Station Police Captain Liza Johansen, right, joined footbeat officers in the Castro April 28 as SFPD increases enforcement in the neighborhood.
From SFPD’s Facebook page
Tordillos advances to runoff in SJ race
by Matthew S. Bajko
Arecount in the contest for a San Jose City Council seat confirmed that gay San Jose Planning Commission chair Anthony Tordillos took second place by six votes. He will now face off against first-place finisher Gabriela “Gabby” Chavez-Lopez in a summer runoff race.
A single mom who is the executive director of South Bay nonprofit the Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley, Chavez-Lopez finished with 2,712 votes in the special April 8 primary for the District 3 council seat. Tordillos, an engineering manager at YouTube, finished with 2,006 votes.
It put him ahead of Matthew Quevedo, deputy chief of staff to San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who took third place with 2,000. The result is the second ballot defeat this month for Mahan, who had solely endorsed Quevedo in his race and had also backed Oakland mayoral candidate Loren Taylor who came up short in his own April 15 special election.
Because the vote difference between Tordillos and Quevedo was less than .25%, it triggered an automatic hand recount of the results. The Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters wrapped it up over the weekend, prompting Quevedo to concede on Sunday a day prior to the certification of the final vote tally.
During a brief phone interview Monday evening, Tordillos told the Bay Area Reporter he is confident of his chances in the June 24 runoff, which is coinciding with this year’s Pride week celebrations in cities around the Bay Area and across the country.
“It feels good. We were on pins and needles the past few weeks as we watched the results come in,” said Tordillos, who initially landed in third
From page 1
ment never carried Anheuser-Busch but is boycotting Diageo products.
The B.A.R. reached out (either through email, phone call, text message, Facebook message, or an inperson visit) to Badlands, 440 Castro, Lone Star Saloon, the Lookout, Beaux, Midnight Sun, the Edge, Lobby Bar, Powerhouse, the Eagle, Copper, the Mix, Mother, the Stud, and Twin Peaks, and either did not hear back, or could not get a comment on the record.
The B.A.R. also didn’t hear back from Guerneville bars Rainbow Cattle Co. and the R3 Hotel.
Ivy Room’s Jager explained in a phone interview, “We have been a little hub for the LGBTQ community for quite some time.” Its website notes that it is “an all-inclusive venue.”
District 3 City Council seat.
place on election night. “I am feeling very excited to be moving on to the runoff and excited to get back on the campaign trail.”
In an email to his supporters Monday thanking them for backing his candidacy, Quevedo noted he had reached out to both Tordillos and ChavezLopez to offer his congratulations on advancing to the runoff. Although he didn’t mention an endorsement in the runoff, Quevedo did state he “will be rooting for nothing but success from our future Councilmember.”
As for his future plans, Quevedo noted, “While I won’t have the honor of serving as your Councilmember, I will continue to serve in the Mayor’s Office and as something just as important – your neighbor.”
Tordillos said they had spoken and that he congratulated Quevedo on his mounting a well-run campaign. He told the B.A.R. he intended to seek Quevedo’s endorsement ahead of the runoff and would welcome the support of Mahan, who had indicated he would favor seeing Tordillos win if Quevedo didn’t survive the primary.
“Absolutely,” responded Tordillos, adding that although he doesn’t agree with the mayor “on every policy,” there
“We were hoping to raise awareness to the bars in the Castro,” Torres told the B.A.R. “That, I feel, that’s what’s needed.”
Jager added, “That’s where the money is and it’s hard. I just wish and I hope a stance will be taken there as well.”
The women made headlines recently with an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about their boycott.
“We didn’t think it [the decision to pull Diageo products] would be impactful necessarily, but we’ve always run our bars by the ‘Do right’ rule, and their decision to pull funds from SF Pride really hurts our community in a way with the political environment going on. …,” Jager said. “It just seemed as though it was the right thing to do to really show our community we are here for them. These are the values and morals we have.”
Jager said they’ve gotten a lot of
is overlap between them on wanting to see San Jose have a “vibrant downtown” with new housing and increased foot traffic to support retail and entertainment offerings.
The District 3 seat covers much of downtown San Jose and its Qmunity LGBTQ district. The special election is to serve out a council term that expires at the end of 2026.
It has been represented since earlier this year by engineering firm owner Carl Salas. He was selected as a caretaker of the seat by the council following the resignation last fall of gay former councilmember Omar Torres due to his arrest for allegedly molesting a cousin years prior.
As the final day of voting was underway April 8 to decide who will serve out the remainder of his term, Torres that Tuesday was in a Santa Clara County courtroom pleading no contest to child sex crimes. He now awaits his sentencing and must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
Elected in 2022, Torres was the first gay Latino and out person of color to serve on the San Jose City Council, and only its second out councilmember. The governing body had gone 16 years without a member from the LGBTQ community until Torres took his oath of office two years ago.
A candidate needed to capture more than 50% of the vote to win the seat outright earlier this month. While LGBTQ political groups had endorsed Tordillos in the race, the Santa Clara County Democratic Party split its support between him and ChavezLopez, who attracted strong support from local unions.
Campaigns get underway
Should she win the seat, ChavezLopez, 37, would be the second Latina to represent District 3 and the
positive feedback.
“We have gotten an amazing response and support from our community,” she said. “A lot of people are emailing us, writing to us on our social media pages, but they are taking time to email us even from different cities. It’s just amazing.”
SF Pride Executive Director Suzanne Ford, a transgender woman, had attributed the beverage companies’ backtracking as sponsors to the new anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion climate that is sweeping across corporate America since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January. Almost immedi-
first since 2006 when Cindy Chavez left the office. Chavez-Lopez and her 6-year-old son, Jaycius, share a home she co-owns with her family in the city’s Hensley historic district.
“Our tremendous lead is clear and the voters have spoken! I’m SO excited to invite you to our Runoff Community Kick-off!” wrote Chavez-Lopez in an Instagram post Sunday announcing the event that begins at 10 a.m. this Saturday, May 3, at the William Street Park at 16th and Williams streets in downtown San Jose. “We’ve built incredible momentum together – and now it’s time to take it even further.”
Tordillos, 33, lives with his husband, Giovanni Forcina, a cancer biologist, near the San Jose State University campus. In a statement released April 27, Tordillos thanked the other five candidates who entered the race, as well as his supporters and campaign team.
“It’s clear that voters are hungry for a councilmember who will go to bat for them, not City Hall special interests, on our urgent housing, homelessness, and public safety crises. I look forward to more conversations with voters across the next nine weeks,” he stated.
At 10 a.m. this Saturday and Sunday, May 4, Tordillos is asking volunteers to gather at the city’s Backesto Park at 551 N 13th Street to help canvass for his campaign.
“While beating the odds and the special interest spending to make it this far is something to celebrate, that also means we have just 58 days left to get the word out to our District 3 neighbors,” he noted in an email to his supporters.
The council race recount was the fourth San Jose contest to go to a recount over the past eight years. Last year, a recount of the results in the March 5 primary race for the state’s 16th Congressional District saw Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian
ately, he and his administration have gone after what they term as “woke” DEI policies and programs at businesses, universities, and in the federal government.
In March, after news of the sponsors withdrawing from SF Pride was reported, Ford had urged community members to donate to the organization. But in a brief interview in April, she said that hasn’t materialized.
“There hasn’t been a groundswell of support,” she said, among the LGBTQ community here to crowdfund money to make up for lost sponsorships, which she said totaled $300,000 in lost revenue.
(D) fail to advance to the November ballot. Initially, it looked like Simitian would do so after tying for second place with gay then-assemblymember Evan Low (D-Cupertino), with both taking on first-place finisher former San Jose mayor Sam Liccardo (D).
But a former aide to Liccardo sought a recount, claiming he was doing so on behalf of Low. While Low had cried foul, accusing Liccardo of working behind the scenes to bump him out of the race, he emerged victorious over Simitian by five votes. In the fall, Low lost to Liccardo and was just hired as president and CEO of the national LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, which had endorsed Tordillos in his race.
Low also personally endorsed him, one of a number of LGBTQ South Bay leaders to do so. Ken Yeager, the San Jose council’s first gay member who went on to serve as a county supervisor, had also backed Tordillos in his bid to return out representation to their city’s governing body.
“It is very exciting. He worked very hard in the primary, and for someone who was basically unknown, he must have been very well received at the door and was able to get the votes that he did, which was very impressive over some more well-established candidates,” said Yeager. “I think his odds look very good come June.”
Tordillos heads into the runoff as having an upper hand in securing support from voters who sided with Quevedo, and by default Mahan, Yeager told the B.A.R., as well as those who backed fourth-place finisher Irene Smith. She had lost to Torres three years ago.
“One reason it looks good for Anthony is I am not sure where the other votes go to,” said Yeager. “I don’t see Matthew’s or the mayor’s votes going to Gabby, same thing with Irene. I think he is in a very strong position.”t
Asked about the Ivy Room’s decision, Ford said April 17, “We appreciate the support.”
Reached for comment April 29 regarding Moby Dick’s decision, Ford stated, “We respect and applaud the decisions of local businesses to stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community in the ways that feel right to them.”
Diageo and Anheuser-Busch didn’t return requests for comment. Diageo had stated to Bloomberg that it will continue to sponsor Pride festivities across the U.S. this year, not referencing its decision to opt out of San Francisco’s.t
Anthony Tordillos, seen talking with supporters during his campaign, is now headed to a summer runoff for the San Jose
Courtesy the campaign
Boycott
The English Concert
Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto
Harry Bicket, conductor
Cast to include:
Christophe Dumaux, countertenor (Giulio Cesare)
Louise Alder, soprano (Cleopatra)
The celebrated British ensemble returns with a concert performance of Handel’s blockbuster heroic opera, a story of love, betrayal, family drama, and political intrigue that recounts the historic meeting of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt. It is hard to overstate the sublime performances director Harry Bicket coaxes from his brilliant soloists and his truly stellar ensemble.
Apr 27
ZELLERBACH HALL, BERKELEY
Mark Morris Dance Group Pepperland
Mark Morris, choreography
Ethan Iverson, composer
Pepperland is back! A joyous romp through the Beatles’ groundbreaking concept album
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band that is bursting with energy and buoyant creativity, neon costumes, spectacular ensemble numbers, inspired Beatles arrangements, and original music.
May 9–11
ZELLERBACH HALL, BERKELEY
Women’s Weekend aims to draw crowd to Russian River
by Lois Pearlman
Recently, Tressa Young and Jodie Goldstein were sitting at a table in Koala’s, a small restaurant in Guerneville whose marquee boasts sushi and burgers. The lesbian couple, who live in Santa Cruz but come to Guerneville frequently, were beaming over the reason for this particular visit.
“We’re here for a wedding,” Goldstein, 52, declared.
“They met at Women’s Weekend last year,” Young, 57, chimed in about their friends getting hitched.
Of course, not everybody who attends Women’s Weekend can expect to find true love, but they can anticipate four days of fun both in and out of the Russian River sun. Goldstein, a co-producer with Young of this year’s gathering, said the event is open to all.
“Everybody is welcome. We don’t turn anybody away as long as it is a safe space,” Goldstein said in a Zoom interview with the Bay Area Reporter.
The couple said they are hoping for a big turnout at the event, scheduled from Thursday, May 15, through Sunday, May 18. Last year, the weekend attracted 2,000 people from 20 states and four countries. But the women acknowledge that things are different this year, and some people might be afraid to travel, especially those who are foreign-born or who have passports that align with their gender identity. The Trump administration has made it uncertain for many people to decide if they want to travel.
Still, and maybe even because of people’s fears, they are planning a weekend where everybody can feel safe to be themselves and have a fabulous time.
“With the state of the world, we are still moving forward, still making a safe place,” Goldstein said. “It used to be a very white lady event,” she explained. “But we welcome all ages, all races, and all genders.”
Making sure everybody can enjoy
the festival means more than just welcoming women, men, trans people, nonbinary people, and everybody else who wants to participate.
One of the Women’s Weekend board members, who goes by their drag king name, Luke Modelo, explained, “There will be [American Sign Language] interpreters at the events. And we will be providing programs and other written materials with large print. There will also be both alcoholic and non-alcoholic bars at the events.”
Drag is, in fact, how Goldstein and Young became the producers of this year’s Women’s Weekend. Three years ago, former producers of the event needed a drag act for one of the shows and hired Young, who has performed as drag king Madd Dogg since 2006. Then they asked her if she would like to take over organizing the weekend, and she agreed.
Young asked Goldstein if she was willing to share the load. She said “yes,” and this is now their third Women’s Weekend production. Although the couple live in Santa Cruz, they love Guerneville and often visit twice a month.
“It is so genuine. There are so many unique individuals,” Goldstein enthused.
Goldstein also performs in drag as Miss Shugana, a “faux queen,” a woman who dresses and acts super feminine on stage. Both Young and Goldstein said that being women in drag is “challenging” because it has for years been “a man’s world.”
Young will be strutting her stuff as Madd Dogg at Women’s Weekend. There are many other events planned, such as pool parties, dancing, miniature golf, karaoke, darts, a trans meetup, Friends of Bill (Alcoholics Anonymous) meetings, hiking, biking, yoga, bingo, a scavenger hunt, and even a concert in the local bookstore.
“We love being able to take over the legacy of Women’s Weekend,” Young said.
And that legacy will be front and center at Women’s Weekend this year. Modelo, 33, is creating a database for people who want to share their memories and souvenirs of past Women’s Weekends. Called the Women’s Weekend Archiving Project, the database welcomes oral histories, films, flyers, other types of images, and anything else people might have to offer.
“We want people to have a better understanding of the generations that have gone to Women’s Weekend. Women’s Weekend has a history as big as Lazy Bear Weekend,” he said, referring to the summer party for hirsute people and their admirers. “Wouldn’t it be cool if you could see posters from every Women’s Weekend?”
at last year’s
Being loud, demanding, and proud
by Gwendolyn Ann Smith
Ithinkit is human nature, in times of crises, to try to cling to safety. No one wants to stick their neck out into harm’s way. This makes perfect, logical sense. And, let’s face it, these are times of crises.
I don’t wish to keep rehashing all that is going on, with a presidential administration that is busy targeting transgender people in the military, in schools, in sports, and, presumably, just sitting around in a coffee shop somewhere. Statehouses, too, continue to set up anti-trans bills.
Bigots are emboldened by this administration, leading to more incidents of violence and discrimination, even as the government kicks anti-transgender discrimina tion cases behind the nearest credenza.
Likewise, the United Kingdom’s Supreme Court recently ruled against transgender rights in a decision the government is opting to interpret as broadly as it can, potentially stripping trans people of the right to even exist in public life.
Like I said, crises.
pression, there are some who have taken a sharp right turn into bargaining for their safety. This is a problem.
The other day, I received an email from a retired transgender woman who has taken to podcasting.
In her missive, she has declared that it is not the administration that’s at fault for the erosion of our rights, but that the real blame is on – wait for it –transgender activists. Specifically, “the loud, demanding, and proud ones.”
She, of course, is not that sort of activist, but only wants to live in peace, and avoid those whose lives are, again, in her words, “playing a role, acting out a fantasy, or into performance art.”
I am not calling her out here by name: my response is not solely directed at her, but at all who may be echoing her sentiments. I’m sure there are plenty of others who would like our trans community to be quiet right now, to stay small, where it is safer, and not draw attention to our needs.
Frankly, in some circles, I’ve seen this belief for as long as I have been in the community.
This insistence on being nice, and quiet, and simply giving in doesn’t work.
against the wall. Make no mistake, though: you will be going up against the wall regardless.
Meanwhile, all those loud, demanding, and proud ones are out there making sure you may continue to live, often at great personal risk. They are the ones trying to make sure we maintain our unalienable rights in a time when every day brings forth new horror stories of people – trans and non-trans alike – who are seeing their rights violated.
These are the people who might have decided that the queers at Comp-
Obituaries >>
Richard Stevenson Osmon
July 23, 1955 – February 21, 2025
Long history
Women’s Weekend has a 47-year history on the Russian River, dating back to an outdoorsy event for women held at the former Fife’s Resort in 1978, organized by Santa Rosa chiropractor Ann Kaplan. Things continued low-key for several years, until the late Carmen McKay, a comedian, actor and producer, led a bunch of women from the West Coast Women’s Music Festival in Yosemite to the little village of Guerneville in 1986.
Apparently a fire had broken out at the festival, and McKay, who was attending, donned her Wonder Woman costume, jumped on her motorcycle, and brought some 600 women to the former Atlantis Resort. It turned out to be such a wonderful party that the former Woods Resort and Fife’s Resort owners asked her to do it again.
In the 1990s, McKay turned production over to the local community, and Women’s Weekend had its ups and downs. Then, in 2014, McKay took back the reins, along with Dale Jenkins, a lesbian who lived in Guerneville at the time.
“It was an amazing festival,” Jenkins recalled, “with popular lesbian performers like the comedian Robin Tyler.”
Young and Goldstein are now the 10th team to produce Women’s Weekend, and they said they hope to continue for another 10 years.
“It’s a joy for us to do a womenowned for-profit, even though it doesn’t make a profit,” Goldstein quipped. “It’s our soul work.”
Women’s Weekend is for those 21 and over. Registration ranges from day passes at $108.55 (Friday and Saturday) to $81.88 (Sunday). Other VIP and beverage packages are also available.
For more information about Women’s Weekend, a list of activities, to register, or to participate in the database, visit the website at womensweekendrussianriver.com.t
We all react to this in different ways. I know I’ve written recently about transgender people stockpiling their meds and taking any steps they can to protect their identities in the eyes of the law. Many are doing their best to lay low, hoping they can evade unjust treatment.
In the midst of all this, too, we are acting out the five stages of grief. While I think most of us are well past denial, and deep into anger and de-
Likewise, as much as her view may rankle me, I do not wish to fall into the same trap, and start attacking her in the same vein as she criticizes others. Honestly, we all are in the same fight.
That said, I know from my own experience that being quiet and playing nice doesn’t give you safety. It doesn’t keep your life peaceful. It only makes you a useful tool in your own oppression. At best, you’ll be the last one up
Richard Stevenson Osmon, 69, died on February 21, 2025 of multiple complications at his home in El Sobrante, California. Rick, as he was known, is survived by his husband, Ric Pielstick; sister, Robin Dell; brother, Orin Osmon; nephew, Orion Delwaterman; and previous husband,
ton’s Cafeteria and the Stonewall Inn deserved to be harassed by the police. If only they hadn’t been demanding, after all, then the lives of those playing it safe elsewhere would not be at risk.
Frankly, the right was always going to come after us. It will be coming after the rest of the LGBTQ community as well. Conservatives are busy tearing down decades of civil rights progress, and trying to return us to the era of Jim Crow and internment camps, and a time when women did not have the right to vote, let alone body autonomy.
They have made their agenda clear, and they will not rest until we all suffer.
Meanwhile, I’ll stay over here with the loud, demanding, and proud ones. Being quiet never got me anything in this world. I wish to secure my rights, not surrender them.
The activists of today who are on the front lines, pushing back against unjust laws in an era where the gov-
John Burkett. Rick’s first husband, Charlie Ridlon, predeceased him. Rick carried a deep affection for San Francisco, moving to the city in 1978. He contributed to his community as an activist, organizer, and fundraiser including the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in 1979, San Francisco AIDS Foundation in 1984, Alamo Square Neighborhood Association, Bay Times/Coming Up! contributor, and president of the Leathermen’s Discussion Group. Rick was a vice president at Wells Fargo and a Zephyr real estate agent. Rick attended the University of
ernment could just as easily ship them to a prison camp in El Salvador without even a veneer of due process are the bravest people I can imagine, and I will always stand by them.
As should we all. The worst thing we can be doing right now is attacking each other. Like I said above, I didn’t name the person in question: I can only hope that she, too, might realize that there are multiple paths to a goal and, rather than attacking those who are trying to improve their world, she should consider what she could be doing right now to help out in her own way.
If you don’t like the “loud” trans activists, don’t attack them. Do your own work to improve the world – for if the goal is peace, work toward those who are truly standing in the way. Else, I fear, the only peace we’ll find is in the graveyard.t
Gwen Smith still wishes for a harmony of voices. You’ll find her at www.gwensmith.com
Chicago and graduated from UC Berkeley. A man of broad intelligence, depth, and compassion, he was a political junky, filmmaker, second-level sommelier, mixologist, and outstanding cook. He was quick to burst with laughter while his sensitivity could bring him to tears. Above all, his commitment to relationships was awe-inspiring. A service will be held at the National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park, Saturday, May 17, at 5 p.m.
Please email KentRic100@yahoo. com to attend.
Christine Smith
Jodie Goldstein, left, and Tressa Young are co-producing this year’s Women’s Weekend at the Russian River.
Courtesy Jodie Goldstein
Attendees
Women’s Weekend at the Russian River enjoyed a pool party at the R3 Hotel.
Courtesy Women’s Weekend
SF Pride names grand marshals
compiled by Cynthia Laird
San Francisco Pride officials named this year’s grand marshals, a diverse set of people who have contributed to the LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS communities. Additionally, a San Francisco health nonprofit that has expressed concern and sued over decreased federal funding under the Trump administration was named organizational grand marshal.
In a news release, SF Pride officials noted that the individuals and organization underscore this year’s theme of “Queer Joy is Resistance,” and reflect the strength, diversity, and resilience of the LGBTQI+ community.
“Grand marshals play a vital role at San Francisco Pride by embodying the spirit of the mission to educate the world, commemorate our heritage, celebrate our culture, and liberate our people,” stated Joshua Smith, president of the San Francisco Pride Board of Directors.
Kenan Arun was selected by the SF Pride Board of Directors. A queer activist, artist, and co-executive director at the Center for Immigrant Protection, Arun advocates for LGBTQI+ immigrant communities while uplifting queer vis ibility through art and per formance, the release noted.
community, and power,” Butler stated. “It’s a moment to reflect on how far we’ve come while continuing to push for the future we all deserve.”
Jessy Ruiz was named by the SF Pride board. She is a transgender woman originally from Michoacan, Mexico, and immigrated to the United States in 1996 to flee the violence in her country, and particularly her state due to drug cartels. In 2016, she decided to move to San Francisco.
“As both an immigrant and a queer person, this city represents the possibility of safety, expression, and community,” Arun stated.
Jahnell Butler was chosen by public vote. Known as “Jahnell Chanel” in the ballroom scene, Butler is associate director of trans services at San Francisco Community Health Center and a fierce advocate for transgender health and visibility, particularly within Black and Brown communities, the release stated.
“For me, Pride means visibility,
For the last four years she has served on the San Francisco Immigrant Rights Commission. She works at the Mission Neighborhood Resource Center.
“I am filled with pride to be able to represent all those people who, like me, have fought to be seen, to live authentically, and to create a world where we can all be who we are without fear,” Ruiz stated.
Tyler TerMeer, Ph.D., is a gay Black man living with HIV who is CEO of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. He was selected by SF Pride members. He is passionate about supporting and empowering Black-led organizations and Black Indigenous and people of color leaders and improving the health of people living with HIV, ensuring that LGBTQI+ people have access to affirming care, the release noted.
“Pride has always meant protest
wrapped in glitter and joy in this city,” he stated. “We know how to celebrate – and how to resist. It’s humbling to be named grand marshal at a time when our very existence is being legislated.”
Tita Aida, aka Nicky Calma, was chosen by the SF Pride board as this year’s lifetime achievement grand marshal. A trans woman, Aida 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 work at SF Pride gives me that octane of humility, unconditional kindness, and the ability to grow to do what I do and serve my community,” Aida stated.
The San Francisco Community Health Center is the organizational grand marshal. It’s a critical lifeline for the city’s LGBTQ and Asian American Pacific Islander communities. Earlier this year, the health center joined the AIDS foundation and other nonprofits in suing the Trump administration over diversity, equity, and inclusion policies the federal government is dismantling. The suit was filed as the federal government was terminating funding for things like gender-affirming care, which the center provides.
CEO Lance Toma, a gay man, stated, “Every aspect of our work is grounded in queer joy and liberation,
and we will fight tooth and nail for the health and justice for our LGBTQ+ communities.”
SF Pride takes place June 28-29. For more information, visit sf.pride.org
LGBTQ papers launch survey
The Bay Area Reporter is now conducting a short reader survey as part of the National LGBT Media Association. The association of LGBTQ publications is looking to gauge LGBTQ+ consumers’ sentiment and purchasing behaviors, particularly in light of recent corporate actions around diversity and inclusion initiatives.
The brief three-minute survey is live through Thursday, May 8. To take the survey, go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SR25QG9.
SF YMCA festival
The YMCA of Greater San Francisco will hold a family-friendly community festival Saturday, May 3, from noon to 4 p.m. at the Dogpatch YMCA, 701 Illinois Street, at Crane Cove Park. The event also celebrates the official grand opening of the Dogpatch Y, an announcement stated.
Attendees can explore the new YMCA’s offerings and activities, from youth development and teen mentorship to sports and summer camps.
The festival will include food and refreshments, live music, fun activities for kids and kids at heart, and an appearance by Clifford the Big Red Dog.
Admission is free and open to all. People who register can get a free community ticket or have the option of making a donation.
To register, go to https://tinyurl. com/yc7runr7
Civic Joy Fund launches block party initiative
San Francisco is home to night markets and Downtown First Thursdays. Now, the Civic Joy Fund, which
spearheads many of those efforts, wants to see neighbors come together through block parties.
The fund recently announced a brand new initiative aimed at bringing neighbors together and energy to city streets, one block party at a time. The Block Party Fund will invite San Franciscans to host the block party of their dreams. Successful applicants will receive an initial $1,000 grant and can be reimbursed for additional expenses.
Alongside financial support, block party hosts will also receive technical assistance including permitting support, connections to vendors, and promotional support, to help bring their vision to life, the release stated.
This program aims to bring 50 block parties to life by the end of 2025, with at least one in every neighborhood in San Francisco. These gatherings offer a chance to reimagine public space and strengthen the social fabric of the city, one block at a time, the release noted.
“Block parties are a way for us to get to know our neighbors,” stated Manny Yekutiel, a gay man who is executive director of the Civic Joy Fund and owns the eponymous cafe in the Mission District. “They create safe spaces for families to play in the street. They make room to bust out the BBQ. Block parties encourage us to dance, drink and play with those we are nearest to. They open the door for us to build a better San Francisco, one block at a time.”
The application is open to all San Franciscans. Applicants are asked to identify the block where they’d like to host their event, describe what their dream block party looks like, and share how it will nurture civic joy by engaging and inspiring their neighbors.
Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. To learn more and apply, visit civicjoyfund.com/projects/ theblockpartyfund.t
Left to Right: Kenan Arun, Jahnell Butler, Jessy Ruiz, Tyler TerMeer, Ph.D., and Tita Aida, aka Nicky Calma, have been selected as this year’s San Francisco Pride grand marshals.
Courtesy SF Pride
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2 SF grants are crucial to Castro’s success
The Castro is finally starting to show signs of recovering from the COVID pandemic-era shutdowns and the accompanying economic turmoil. It’s been a long slog, from any perspective. The LGBTQ neighborhood is now activated with regular night markets; and an entertainment zone that was recently approved by the Board of Supervisors will benefit local bars and restaurants during specific events. These are in addition to the annual Castro Street Fair in the fall, and the expected increase in foot traffic in June for Pride Month festivities.
It would be a shame if all this progress is abandoned and cast aside. Yet, that is exactly what could happen if two crucial city grants that are awarded to the Castro Community Benefit District become victims of the city’s budget ax. The first one, which provides cleaning and other services for Jane Warner Plaza at Market, Castro, and 17th streets, would be especially hard to fund through other means. The second, for the CBD’s Castro Cares program, is in line with Mayor Daniel Lurie’s goals of maintaining public safety in San Francisco neighborhoods.
Lurie and his staff are in the midst of preparing his first budget proposal, due to the Board of Supervisors by June 1. Already, we know that the city has at least an $800 million deficit to address. As we reported, the San Francisco LGBT Community Center will see cuts of a few hundred thousand dollars. We know that additional cuts are coming to most city departments and that they will have an impact on people’s lives. But the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and Lurie must retain these CBD grant funds in the city budget. If the Castro LGBTQ neighborhood is to become more vibrant, these two grants need to be fully funded in the coming fiscal year.
Let’s take a look at each.
Jane Warner Plaza
construction for a new elevator (and after that, likely the plaza’s renovation itself due to passage of the Proposition B infrastructure grant last November), Jane Warner Plaza has been the de facto spot for neighborhood rallies. Just last Saturday, nearly 200 people showed up to demand the release of gay makeup artist Andry Jose Hernández Romero from a prison in El Salvador. The CBD currently has a grant of $100,000 that funds 40 hours of cleaning per week for the plaza, as well as to manage the tables and chairs. Andrea Aiello, a lesbian who is executive director of the Castro CBD, said the 40 hours is spread over 12 hours a day, seven days a week. The CBD is funded through a fee on parcels in the district’s footprint. Aiello pointed out that because the plaza is not a parcel, under state law the CBD cannot clean it without the grant funding.
Years ago, when the plaza was established in 2009, then-mayor Gavin Newsom, who once donated tables and chairs, promised to keep the plaza clean. But of course, Newsom is now governor and things change. Nevertheless, Aiello said that without the grant funding, the plaza space would be “an absolute disaster.” We concur.
ing unhoused people to city services. The ambassadors wear bright yellow-green uniforms and have radios, acting as an extra set of eyes and ears in the district. Importantly, the ambassadors also divert low-level calls that otherwise would go to the San Francisco Police Department.
“Often, just by walking the district, they deescalate situations,” said Aiello.
“They are connected with the city’s street teams,” Aiello added. In the mornings, for instance, the ambassadors will wake people up if they are sleeping in the entrances to businesses. Merchants have the dispatch number and can call if there is negative street behavior, Aiello said.
Significantly, Castro Cares is in line with Lurie’s own goals of making San Francisco cleaner, safer, and more welcoming.
“At a time when the mayor says he wants to revitalize downtown and make San Francisco safer, this is a perfect example of how this helps,” Aiello said. “This is another piece of the puzzle to work with police to further the mayor’s mission.”
Grants should be funded
The Castro CBD is looking at a total of $515,000 for the two grants. This is a small part of the city’s budget, which last year was $15.9 billion.
The Castro CBD has reached out to gay Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman. It also sent a packet to Lurie with 103 letters signed by Castro businesses asking him to fully fund the two grants. A petition with 174 signatures of residents from across the city was also sent to the mayor to keep the grants fully funded.
As Lurie prepares his budget, and as the Board of Supervisors reviews it in the coming weeks, it’s imperative that the two grants for the Castro CBD be included. Jane Warner Plaza will quickly fall into disrepair if it’s not cleaned everyday, and the Castro Cares teams provide a vital service at a fraction of the cost of having SFPD respond to these low-level situations, which officers don’t want to do anyway. It would be a far more responsible course of action.
Jane Warner Plaza, at the entrance to the Castro, is a small public parklet that is carved out of a side street adjacent to a gas station and built around the terminus for the city’s trolley line featuring historic streetcars from around the globe. The space, named in honor of the lesbian San Francisco Patrol Special Police officer and Bay Area Reporter columnist who died of cancer in 2010, has always been a challenging one to transform from a roadway to an outdoor neighborhood amenity. But with Harvey Milk Plaza across the street under
One of the great things about the plaza is that families often stop by. “When people bring their children into a public space, it is a real indication that they feel comfortable and safe,” Aiello noted.
Castro Cares
The CBD’s grant for Castro Cares is $415,000. It funds four full-time community ambassadors and is the district’s public safety service. Community ambassadors are highly visible and trained in de-escalation techniques, outreach, and connect-
The Castro is a beacon to LGBTQ people from across the country – and other nations as well – for its bold message that everyone is welcome. With the LGBTQ community, especially trans people, under assault from the Trump administration, having a safe space to gather in Jane Warner Plaza, and having community ambassadors present to de-escalate situations, is in line with the LGBTQ community’s desire to have a thriving Castro district that benefits the entire city.t
Questions surround trans and nonbinary IDs
by Julien Swanson
In the 100-plus days that have followed the inauguration of President Donald Trump, we have been witness to this administration’s brutal assault on the fundamental, core principals of society and decency.
A fire sale of civil rights, due process, asylum, accessibility, international diplomacy, scientific research, disease prevention, immigration, peace, and making it policy to devalue diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. The policies accomplishing this horror show are having a direct and devastating impact on real people – immigrants, women, children, people of color, the queer community, people living with disabilities, and more. At risk is literally anyone who benefits or needs federal programs designed to lift up, rebuild, prevent/put out fires, warn of extreme weather, feed students and kids, farm, ensure disabled students have access to services, have clear air and water.
Everything must go. Fear, greed, and a fascist, authoritarian model are instead replacing such rights.
I have practiced law for over 25 years. Over the last decade, California and the federal government have opened doors for trans and nonbinary people. We fit into discrimination statutes, we can demand protections afforded other groups, and we can get government issued identity documents that align with our identity (birth certificates, driver’s licenses, immigration documents, and passports).
passports, etc.) from people seeking to renew or receive a new passport that had a gender marker change evidenced at any point in their record. The idea being that we are actually liars and we are dangerous to women (and apparently women’s sports).
Let’s be clear, trans and nonbinary people have been receiving passports in their preferred gender, or with an “X” marker, for years and without harm or consequence to literally anyone else. Consider that we make up less than 1% of the population, and contrast that with the amount of negative press and attention we receive.
Of course, the administration’s attempt at articulating the science of “sex” as binary and set at conception is laughable and completely wrong. Nonetheless, the effects are in full force and effect – and not at all funny.
I was proud to participate on a panel on April 17 at the amazing Diving Swallow space in Oakland, with my colleague Eric Bass. We opened the floor to trans and nonbinary people, as well as those that care, to ask questions about how to legally protect themselves, to travel safely (if at all), to secure or maintain identity documents, and ultimately to resist and survive.
passport on the basis of sex was unconstitutional (which it is), and order the issuance of passports.
The following morning, federal District Judge Julia E. Kobick of U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, did just that. She told the administration it had to issue passports to six of the suing plaintiffs. We expect the American Civil Liberties Union to certify a class, which could extend the relief to others. (Kobick was appointed by former President Joe Biden.)
So, as we protest and resist all the injustice this administration is perpetuating, there is a window of potential relief for the trans and nonbinary community.
Anyone that wants or needs to act with regard to correcting or renewing their passport should note: if the court ruling holds, and it is extended to us all, there is a real chance that the State Department will be under order to issue passports that reflect the applicant’s chosen gender.
We need to be ready. This means having certified name and/or gender change orders done and in hand (it generally takes four to five months to get a ruling on an application).
If you need help securing a name and gender change order, or have questions, call us – we will do what we can to help. This is not a guarantee that we can represent you or that you will qualify for any relief. Moreover, this type of decision is a personal choice, to be made after weighing the risks of telling this federal government that you are gender-nonconforming, if you have not already done so.t
However, in reliance on Trump’s Executive Order dated January 20, issued under the misnomer of “defending woman” and “restoring biological truth,” the Department of State began confiscating identity documents (birth certificates,
I told the group about a judge in Boston, who was at that moment considering issuing a temporary restraining order that could do one of many things, the most notable of which would be to find the plaintiffs who would likely succeed on the merits of their argument that the denial of a
This column should not be construed as legal advice. Julien Swanson, a trans man, has been a lawyer in the Bay Area for 25plus years. He is managing attorney at the Austin Swanson Law Firm PC. For more information, go to austinswansonlaw.com.
Attorney Julien Swanson
Courtesy Austin Swanson Law
People enjoy a sunny day in Jane Warner Plaza, located at the entrance to the Castro LGBTQ neighborhood.
Courtesy Castro CBD
Bi San Diego Councilmember von Wilpert eyes state Senate seat
by Matthew S. Bajko
Bisexual San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert aims to return out female leadership from her city to the state Senate in 2026. She is seeking the open Senate District 40 seat, as Senator Brian Jones (R-San Diego) will be termed out of office next year.
Should she survive next June’s primary and be elected to the Legislature’s upper chamber next November, von Wilpert would be the third Democratic LGBTQ female leader from San Diego County to serve in it. The first, lesbian former senator Christine Kehoe, was elected in 2004 and termed out in 2012.
Lesbian former senator pro tempore Toni Atkins was the second. She termed out last year and is now running for governor in 2026.
Like von Wilpert, Atkins and Kehoe both had served on the San Diego City Council before being elected to the Statehouse, though they began their legislative tenures in the state Assembly. The former state legislators have both early endorsed von Wilpert’s Senate bid, as has the Legislative LGBTQ Caucus.
“One of the reasons I am running is I think we do need strong LGBTQ leadership in this part of San Diego,” von Wilpert, 42, told the Bay Area Reporter during a recent phone interview.
She pointed to the ongoing legal fight state officials have waged against the Cajon Valley Union School District after it removed mention of LGBTQ people from its sex education materials last year in violation of state law. It is part of the 40th Senate District, which includes the cities of Escondido, Poway, San Marcos, and Santee, along with various northern San Diego neighborhoods and northeastern unincorporated parts of the county.
for the state Senate race by state elections officials. A trio of GOP candidates have done so, including former state Assembly candidate Kristie Bruce-Lane and San Marcos City Councilmember Ed Musgrove Von Wilpert acknowledged that “heavy on my mind in this campaign is I am running in a very purple district and I know that.”
It remains to be seen what impact, if any, her being an out bisexual elected official will have on her Senate chances. Last November saw voters in parts of the Senate district elect gay Assemblymember Carl DeMaio (R-San Diego) to his District 75 seat, making him the first out GOP elected member of the Statehouse.
DeMaio is expected to seek a second term next year, while gay Assemblymember Chris Ward (D-San Diego) is also expected to run for reelection to his District 78 seat. Gay state Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego) also plans to seek another term representing Senate District 18, with the three out legislators favored to win due to their incumbency.
“I didn’t see the incumbent, who is a Republican, do anything about this,” said von Wilpert.
Two years ago, von Wilpert had gotten involved when two conservative patrons of the San Diego Public Library branch in Rancho Peñasquitos, where she grew up, checked out all of its LGBTQ books during Pride Month and refused to return them. As it is in her council district, von Wilpert put out a public call for help in replacing the books.
The successful effort led to a story that July in the New York Times in which von Wilpert came out publicly for the first time. But the article only identified her as being “a member of the LGBTQ community,” leading to some local media outlets incorrectly referring to her as a lesbian.
“I am openly bisexual and very proud of it,” von Wilpert told the B.A.R., adding that she has not felt discriminated against since coming out.
“I know, unfortunately, the history and experience of many bi people. I have not felt that at all.”
While currently single, von Wilpert has dated both men and women. She recalled how her showing up to events with people of different sexes has caused some confusion for people due to the misreporting about her sexual orientation.
“I have felt wholeheartedly embraced by the LGBTQ community here in San Diego. But the funny thing is I find, for myself, I have to keep coming out over and over again,” said von Wilpert.
She first won her council seat in 2020, flipping it from being held by a Republican to a Democrat. Last year, in seeking a second term, von Wilpert was unopposed and won outright on the March primary ballot.
As of Tuesday, she was listed as the lone Democrat to have pulled papers
hitting the ground in San Diego like they were intended to,” said von Wilp ert, noting they also carry fiscal impacts for cities that need to be addressed. “It is not their budget being hit by this; it is mine. I want to make sure our local voices are heard and the great ideas they have are improved upon.”
LGBTQ candidate list continues to expand
Fifteen out of California’s 120 state legislators hail from the LGBTQ com munity. The Statehouse is now at 12% out representation, an increase from the 2022 election that saw the Golden State’s Legislature become the first to have 10% of its membership be queer. (There are no transgender state lawmakers.)
It could continue to see its LGBTQ ranks increase come December next year when the winners of the 2026 contests are sworn into office. The list of LGBTQ legislative candidates across the state continues to grow ahead of next March’s filing deadline.
The B.A.R. is aware of at least 17 out candidates who have pulled papers to seek either an Assembly or Senate seat in 2026. Ten are incumbents expected to seek reelection, including the cur rent lone bi male legislator, Assembly member
Looking to join him is bisexual Corte Madera Town Councilmem ber Eli Beckman, who is seeking the open Assembly District 12 seat straddling Marin and Sonoma counties in 2026. As the Political Notebook column reported in early April, seat he would be the first out state legislator from the North Bay.
Along with the trio of out male lawmakers from San Diego County, von Wilpert if elected also would serve alongside Senator Sasha Renée Pérez (D-Alhambra), whose election last November to a four-year term made her the first bisexual woman to serve in the upper chamber. The election of Assemblymember Sade Elhawary (D-South Los Angeles) last year made her the first bi female serving in the lower chamber.
“I guess I just have a screw loose to want to keep running for office in this day and age,” quipped von Wilpert when asked why she wanted to serve in the Legislature.
A 2005 graduate of UC Berkeley, where she earned a degree in peace and conflict studies, von Wilpert entered the Peace Corps and cared for people living with HIV and AIDS in rural Botswana. She later received a law degree from Fordham University in New York in 2011.
“I will come to San Francisco,” she said when asked about having a fundraiser in the Bay Area.
Her career has spanned a federal appellate court clerkship and being an attorney for the National Labor Relations Board and the Economic Policy Institute to six years with the San Diego City Attorney’s office. She left after winning her council seat, which includes her hometown’s northern neighborhoods of Rancho Bernardo, Scripps Ranch, Torrey Highlands, and Rancho Peñasquitos.
“It is an honor to serve the people that I love and raised me,” she said.
Part of her wanting to now represent them in Sacramento stems from seeing how laws enacted in the Statehouse oftentimes negatively impact cities despite based on good intentions, von Wilpert told the B.A.R. She wants to be able to raise those concerns in order to ensure legislation assists local officials in tackling myriad issues, from housing and homelessness to public safety and drug addiction.
“There are big ideas coming out of Sacramento that are good but are not
Riverside City Councilmember Clarissa Cervantes, who is queer and bisexual, is again seeking the 58th Assembly District seat. She lost by less than 600 votes in 2024 to Assemblymember Leticia Castillo (RCorona), who will be seeking a second two-year term.
The seat was formerly held by Cervantes’ lesbian older sister, Sabrina, elected last November to the state Senate’s District 31 seat. Her colleague, lesbian Senator Caroline Menjivar (D-San Fernando Valley), will be seeking reelection to her Senate District 18 seat in 2026.
The race for the open Senate Dis trict 24 seat in Los Angeles County has already drawn two out Democratic candidates. Gay West Hollywood City Councilman John Erickson len Evans, a lesbian who co-founded the Doheny/Sunset Plaza Neighbor hood Association, are among the more than half dozen running to suc ceed termed out Senator Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica).
Having begun exploring a pos sible Senate bid last year, von Wilpert officially announced her campaign March 17. She just had her campaign kickoff event in late April.
Running in a purple district with close to 1 million people, von Wilpert told the B.A.R. it is necessary for her to start early and begin talking to voters. She does have the advantage of her City Council constituents comprising the biggest voting bloc in the Senate district.
And should she remain the sole bold-faced Democratic candidate in the race, von Wilpert could also benefit from multiple GOP candidates splitting the vote. Under the state’s open primary system, the top two vote-getters regardless of party affiliation move on to the general election.
“It is going to take a lot of ground work and a lot of time to flip it,” noted von Wilpert. “My city council bloc is the biggest voting bloc in the district, so I have a big leg up in the race. It is still going to be a very competitive race, though, since a lot of folks will be running for the open seat. I have a lot of work to do to get my message out.”
To learn more about von Wilpert’s candidacy, visit her campaign website at marnivonwilpert.com.t
San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert is seeking a state Senate seat next year.
Courtesy the candidate
“He ran behind the bar, he went to the cash register, and I was shoving him back,” Nordine, a gay man who has worked in the neighborhood for several years, told the B.A.R. “He was trying to open it, but we were fighting him off. He went straight to the register, so that’s what he was going for. It’s not like he walked in and looked around.”
After he could not get into the cash register, the assailant “ended up getting past me and got to the end of the bar, grabbed the bar knife, and started waving it at me and the customers,” Nordine said. “I grabbed a bottle and was holding it in case he turned at me.”
Nordine said the man then dropped the knife and he chased him out, at which point the assailant got on a bus. The whole thing took “literally a minute or two,” he said.
San Francisco Police Department Public Information Officer Paulina Henderson stated to the B.A.R. that at 12:53 p.m. that day, “Officers arrived on scene and contacted employees of the business who advised the suspect fled the scene prior to police arrival and they retrieved the knife from the suspect. There were no injuries as a result of the incident. Officers searched the area to no avail and were advised by management no further police assistance was requested at this time.”
The incident was one week after a man was hit in the face and reportedly had a seizure at the intersection of Castro and Market streets on Easter Sunday, That came five and a half weeks after a Walgreens employee and an alleged thief were both arrested after an early morning fight at 18th and Castro streets, and seven weeks after a beloved bar doorman was beaten in front of the neighborhood’s iconic Castro Theatre.
The B.A.R. also reported that three other alleged incidents have occurred in the area as well, but these were not reported to police.
Perception of safety is down
It was after the Easter Sunday assault that Mandelman in a public statement linked deteriorating street conditions in the Castro to efforts to improve street conditions elsewhere in the city. “I have supported and continue to support Mayor Lurie’s efforts to restore order in some of our more troubled neighborhoods,” he stated. “However, it seems plain to me that these efforts have led to the displacement of people with severe mental health and substance abuse challenges to the Castro. This cannot continue.”
Dave Burke, a straight ally who is the public safety liaison for District 8, wanted to distinguish between correlation and causation vis a vis the violent incidents that’ve happened, and unhoused people, or people using narcotics publicly.
“I would not want to link up the instances of violence we’ve had because they’re all very different,” Burke said. “What they have in common is they share the geographic area – it’s not like a series of burglaries where you can tie a pattern together. Each of these instances of violence is extremely different.”
Burke gave, for example, the circumstances behind the Castro Theatre attack, which was reportedly “precipi-
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the field and methodically laid out the evidence on poster boards to guide the jury to a guilty verdict in the first trial.
Her tenacity for helping to bring justice to Lambert’s murder was evident as she spoke to the B.A.R. outside court.
“There are no words to explain the amount of blood, sweat, tears and time I put into that case and making sure it was solid,” she said. “And the thing that really gets to me is that the reversal never had anything to do with his guilt or the evidence. It was some
tated by an incident at the bar” where the victim was a doorman, and the Easter Sunday attack, which was reportedly random.
“These are two acts of violence completely unrelated to one another,” Burke said. “What I would say is we are seeing more people in the Castro. We are seeing more unhoused people being pushed up due to efforts in places like the Tenderloin and South of Market. … It’s hard to say one causes the other. Violence is still very rare in this neighborhood – which is underlined with how upset we all get when it happens.”
Castro residents and workers feel that things have not been safe and are getting worse.
“I would say things in the Castro have gotten worse,” Mark Bowen, a gay man who is a manager at Midnight Sun, told the B.A.R. “Not exponentially, but definitely worse. Downtown has gotten better.”
Bowen expressed frustration that it can be difficult to get in touch with law enforcement, or others who may be able to help, particularly in situations where “people … may not have a weapon but are threatening people.”
“You call 311, it takes forever, then they tell you to call 911,” he said. “It should be easier to report.”
Michael Moreno lives in the Castro and used to work at the Mix bar with the victim in the theater beating, who has been identified only as Tony.
“It’s just patrol of the area,” he told a B.A.R. reporter at Midnight Sun. “The response time from the police department is horrible – something that should take 15 minutes is already over and done with.”
Nordine said the police responded pretty promptly to the incident April 27, but that this hasn’t always been the case.
“This isn’t the first time I’ve had someone threaten me with a knife,” Nordine said, adding after a past incident at Moby Dick, where he used to bartend, “it took police over an hour to arrive.”
Police chief weighs in Scott said he faces a problem with resources. Asked why foot beats are almost always during the daytime, Scott replied that, “We are still short with officers.”
Indeed, the city has a shortage of about 500 police officers.
“Some of the work we do, we do on an overtime basis,” Scott said. “We have to backfill on overtime. Unfortunately, managing that means we can’t deploy officers 24 hours a day, seven days a week in some locations, so we try to be very strategic, whether it’s citywide response or Captain Johansen, who has to manage her budget on overtime, knowing we don’t have enough.
“The waking hours most people are out … even in the Castro, where there’s a thriving nightlife, the daytime, is the swing watch hours of 12 to 8 [p.m.], 11 [a.m. to 7 [p.m.], those are the hours when most people are out,” Scott said. “We’ve researched this.”
Queer District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder held a hearing April 30 on the SFPD’s overtime practices. A city audit released in December revealing overtime spending doubled over five years to more than $108 million in the 2022-2023 fiscal year has sparked criticism from city leaders
flippant comment from a judge, but there was never a question about innocence. There was never a question about whether or not he did it.”
When asked how she felt about seeing Garcia in court again after winning a conviction more than a decade ago, DiMaria told the B.A.R. that seeing Garcia just caused her more frustration.
“I wish I had a synonym for frustration. I really do,” she said. “Seeing him and the fact he was in court just frustrated me that we’re doing this all over again. There are no personal feelings about it, just aggravation. Aggravation that we are in 2025, and he is just
and the public.
As they deploy more police resources to the Castro in the coming weeks, both Scott and Johansen stressed to the B.A.R. that they are trying to be unpredictable in doing so.
“We try not to be predictable,” Scott said. “We just don’t have enough officers to fill all the shifts we’d like to at this time.”
Scott said the first thing to do when balancing a neighborhood’s needs with those of the city’s, given the resources, is to “listen.”
“We definitely hear everybody, but then we have to prioritize,” he said. “And I will say this: we’ve had some success in terms of our outcomes.”
Scott touted that violent crime is at a generational low-point in the city.
Asked what she would do given the resources, Johansen said it’s time to see what results these latest interventions will have first.
“We just got resources from other parts of the city, so I hope that is going to make a significant impact,” she said, adding she’ll reassess in 30-60 days.
“I try not to be predictable with our resources,” Johansen added. “Changing when and how we do enforcement is vital. If, for whatever reason, there’s a different population moving into a neighborhood, we try to be creative in our approach.”
Scott is optimistic about the reorganization of street crisis response.
“We believe these street teams will make a big difference and will work nicely with our plans,” he said.
SFPD Sergeant Stephen Tacchini gave a preview of enforcement operations at the April meeting of the Castro Merchants Association, where he stated that undercover officers and California Highway Patrol will be “going out in the community and grabbing everyone that’s wanted,” as well as doing blitz operations to combat organized retail theft.
City street teams reorganized Santiago Lerma, a straight ally, is conductor of the city’s street team in the Mission neighborhood. Lurie’s office recently reorganized nine previously siloed organizations across seven departments – police, fire, sheriff, public works, public health, Homelessness and Supportive Housing, and emergency management – so that neighborhoods will have a unified street outreach team. Lerma’s team, like the police precinct, covers both the Mission district and much of the Castro.
“The large city teams were dissolved and smaller neighborhood teams were created with all the components that made up the teams before. … One of the benefits of the neighborhood model is we have our own team that can do small resolutions of encampments,” as well as other issues that may be reported to 311, such as graffiti, Lerma told the B.A.R. “It can be nimble. We can respond to 311 calls in real time.”
This has led to improvements in preventing tent encampments from springing up on sidewalks, said Lerma, who used to work for Hillary Ronen as a legislative aide when she was District 9 supervisor.
Lerma said that the change was announced March 25. “One thing I do want to make clear is the Castro did not lose any resources with this restructuring,” he said.
finally getting sentenced for a murder that occurred in 2008.”
Scalisi, Garcia’s attorney, told the B.A.R. that a sentence of life without the possibility of parole was what he and Garcia had expected. He filed an appeal immediately after the sentencing but he said that a successful appeal would be challenging in part because Garcia took to the stand in his own defense.
“As a general rule, and this is not hard and fast, when a client testifies in his own trial and is convicted, it’s far less likely that the Court of Appeal is going to grant an appeal and reverse a conviction,” he said.
“What was already in place is still in place, but with this model we can shift more,” Lerma added. “We’re working a lot in the 16th and Mission [streets] area. Those alleys are really, really bad. If we see things moving, we can shift those resources and we work in conjunction with police down there, too, so we try to stagger our outreach. Go in first, offer services, make sure people have choices, then the police go through and enforce any laws.”
An SFPD mobile command unit has been at 16th and Mission streets, near the BART station.
Patrick Batt, a gay man who owns AutoErotica on 18th Street, told the B.A.R. that on different visits to the Roxie Theater nearby 16th and Mission streets he has seen a marked difference.
“The day before they put the police substation in there, I went to the Roxie,” Batt said. “While waiting for the 49 [bus], I thought, ‘If I were a tourist and saw what was going on here, I would have a negative reaction about San Francisco.’”
Asked what was going on, Batt said people were asking for money to buy narcotics, as well as exhibiting “odd behavior.”
“Last night [April 24] it was just a world of difference,” Batt said.
Asked how the neighborhood teams would know when resources should be shifted – if it’s a combination of objective statistics, observation from team members, or word-of-mouth complaints – Lerma answered, “I think it’s a combination of all those things.”
“I personally spend a lot of time out on the street watching it, looking at the street, figuring out what’s going on, and then we do have metrics,” he said. “We can look at 311, look at 911, I communicate with the precinct captain [Johansen] pretty often. If there’s an uptick in criminal behaviors, she’ll let me know anyway, so a combination of various metrics and just also the feeling on the street.”
Lerma said that there are three neighborhood teams up and running – covering the Mission, Tenderloin, and Northern police station precincts – and others will launch in early May.
CBD grant money threatened
That being said, the city may have some trouble holding the line where it is currently amid a budget deficit approaching $1 billion – and possibly more, as the city reckons with cuts in federal funding from the Trump administration.
Lurie told the B.A.R. April 17 that no decisions have been made about where the budget will be cut, but that if the city has “to do more with less, we will.”
Andrea Aiello, a lesbian who is the executive director of the Castro Community Benefit District, warned that the CBD could lose over a third of its funding. A $100,000 annual grant to clean Jane Warner Plaza, the public parklet at 17th, Castro, and Market streets, and a $415,000 grant for four full-time Castro Cares community ambassadors both may be on the chopping block.
Aiello said the plaza grant was promised by then-mayor Gavin Newsom when the intersection became a public space. Since it’s not a parcel, the CBD doesn’t have authorization to take care of it otherwise. The CBD
The defense attorney noted that Garcia had a different belief of his appeal chances.
“It’s a stretch, but he is hopeful. He is optimistic,” Scalisi said.
The attorney told the B.A.R. that Garcia is dealing with health challenges in court and suffers from porphyria, also known as the vampire disease, making him overly sensitive to light. Scalisi said that Garcia’s father died of the disease.
‘Gay grifters’
Prosecutors say Niroula and Garcia were involved in a number of cons. Niroula was from Nepal and falsely
is funded through parcel fees on residents and businesses in the footprint of the district.
Asked what would happen if the plaza grant fell through, “Jane Warner Plaza would be just full of trash,” she said.
“It would be a blight-ridden problem,” she warned, adding cutting the funds “is certainly not in line with the mayor’s vision of revitalizing the city and revitalizing public spaces.”
The ambassadors, Aiello said, help with street conditions in the Castro generally.
If that grant didn’t get renewed, “There would be less of our team available to help the merchants when they need some help. … Oftentimes they don’t call the police, they call us,” Aiello said. “I believe the ambassadors, because they’re so visible, add a sense of security or whatever to the neighborhood because it makes it feel like a well-cared for neighborhood and it makes people feel safer.”
Between January and March, for example, ambassadors intervened in cases of 231 people “trespassing” in businesses’ doorways, Aiello told the B.A.R.
Lookout bartender Michael Breshears stated, “Cutting funding for Castro Cares would be harmful to the community and the individuals it serves. The mayor’s campaign centered on humane solutions to the very problems that Castro Cares addresses. Underfunding this program would run against his promises.”
Aiello said the CBD sent 103 letters signed by Castro businesses to Lurie’s office.
Public safety meeting coming in July
Lurie and Mandelman have been hyper-focused on driving home the message that urban governance has to deliver for residents, and improve people’s quality of life, after half a decade of bad headlines, often from San Francisco.
While downtown has been a focus as the city moves to improve its image, it’s District 8 that has the highest voter participation within the city, and city leaders have conceded they are balancing various needs with limited resources to try and accomplish the best result.
Mandelman said he is aiming to have some kind of public safety meeting in the Castro in July, in consultation with community organizations, such as the CBD.
Asked why so far out, Mandelman said, “I think we’re heading into Pride season and, as a practical matter, I think trying to organize something – not just me but the other organizations – I feel like July probably makes the most sense.”
Nordine at Blind Butcher said changes can’t come fast enough for him and other workers and residents.
“I am OK,” he said about how he is doing two days after the Sunday incident. “I was a little shaken up, but what’s concerning is how OK I am, how desensitized everyone who works in this industry is to these things. That’s just really not OK.”
Henderson stated that regarding the Blind Butcher case, “Anyone with information is asked to contact the SFPD at 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 and begin the message with SFPD.”t
claimed to be a member of the Nepalese royal family. He was dubbed the “Dark Prince.” A Japanese woman visiting Hawaii said Niroula conned her out of more than $500,000. He was granted a student visa to study at the now-closed New College in San Francisco’s Mission District. He promised the school a $1 million donation. The donation never came. New College eventually closed in 2008, months before Lambert’s murder. Niroula was connected to a real estate con for over $2 million in connection with falsified
by Jim Gladstone
Charming, funny, and eager-to-please,
“Simple Mexican Pleasures,” the world premiere comedy now on stage at the New Conservatory Theatre Center, finds playwright Eric Reyes Loo folding a mercado’s worth of ingredients into a delicious serving of a show.
Mixed race ancestry, femme shame, sibling relationships, parental approval, a break-up, a road trip, ghosts, lots of gay sex jokes, and a never-ending quest for delicious food are all stuffed into the play’s tightly packed single act.
A narrator-driven show with scenes that play like sketches, the play’s throughline finds a successful but newly single gay Los Angeleno licking his wounds, getting in his feelings, and connecting with deeper truths on a shake-it-off vacation to Mexico City.
Performed by a superb cast of four on Kate Boyd’s inviting, Crayola-bright set and directed by Evren Odcikin, who reliably balances intellect and entertainment in his work throughout the Bay Area, the show is immediately satisfying. But it gets served up and gobbled down in short order.
Despite a script that repeatedly name-checks Michelin-starred Mexico City restaurant Pujol, writer Loo leaves little time or contemplative space for audiences to savor the play’s component ingredients or appreciate the nuances of their interplay.
“Simple Mexican Pleasures” feels like it’s been oversimplified; trimmed to the bone in the workshopping process. It’s plenty good, but it’s potentially glorious.
While less is often best, I’m tempted, in this case, to make a request of writer Loo: Please sir, may I
See page 14 >>
‘Simple Mexican Pleasures’
‘Select Thine Own Journey…In Space!’
Pby David-Elijah Nahmod
repare yourselves for a journey beyond the stars like no other. For six performances beginning May 1 at Oasis, immersive events company Media Meltdown will present “Select Thine Own Journey…In Space!,” which the producers are calling an interactive science fantasy drag show.
Media Meltdown has been around for a while. They host film screenings at the Balboa and 4 Star Theaters in the Richmond District. According to Piranha Psychotronica, who is one half of Media Meltdown’s producing team, the films shown are usually cult or underground films which have a following or deserve to have a following.
“We show a lot of really low budget stuff,” Psychotronica said in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter. “Underground foreign films, made-for-TV movies, straight-to-video films, VHS and DVD games, and more. Our whole thing is that in this era of studio-driven, big budget, computer-generated slop, we want to celebrate things that are truly independent and hand-
made or homegrown or just represent something unique.”
But Media Meltdown didn’t stop at film screenings. Most of their screenings include live performances featuring Psychotronica, Kafka X, the other half of Media Meltdown, and other drag performers doing numbers. They have even included bands.
Fantastical comedic shows
Among many other projects, Media Meltdown has also produced immersive live parties at venues such as The Stud, Make Out Room, and Oasis. And now they’re doing “Select Thine Own Journey…” a series of interactive plays.
“‘Select Thine Own Journey’ is our baby and we’re so proud of what we’ve been doing on these shows,” said Psychotronica. “They’re these fantastical comedic interactive stage shows that combine traditional theater with drag, improv, music, dance, and more. The show gives the power of choice to the audience, making them a character in the show.
“At key points in the story, Kafka X, who plays the Storyteller, our host and an important charac-
ter in the show, stops the action and the audience gets to make a choice that will direct the outcome of the performance. Each show usually has three or four endings, but every path is a really fun and wild ride.”
Psychotronica promises that the show will feature a cornucopia of drag performances.
Besides Kafka X as the Storyteller, the supporting cast includes musical artist Another Bard, circus performer Landyn Endo, burlesque superstar Edie Eve, Emily France, Dot Comme, Heiress Throttle and Lucinda Puss.
There will also be a special guest star each night, such as Coco Buttah, Lisa Frankenstein, KaiKai Bee Michaels, Mudd the Two Spirit, Nicki Jizz and Snaxx, in that order.
“They’ll find out live in front of the audience what’s in store for them,” Psychotronica said. “We brief each of them with only the bare minimum amount of information, mostly guidelines to follow and to keep them and the other performers safe during dance and fight sequences. But they’re all extremely funny people so I know they’ll kill. Plus, all our guest stars from the first weekend are returning cast members from prior shows, so
they know the score. The rest of us are working extremely hard behind the scenes to be as ready for them as possible.”
Psychotronica hopes that the show’s humor will help people forget, at least for a little while, the horrors going on in the country right now.
“Things are really scary in the country right now,” she said. “People have a real immediate threat to their safety by our own government. With ‘Select Thine Own Journey…In Space!’ our number one goal is to bring some laughter and joy to our audiences because that is how we all recharge and build the strength needed to resist.
“The show has clear anti-fascist themes, and, with ‘Select Thine Own Journey’ one of the things we really honed in on from day one was that everyone should have the freedom of choice and that, by inviting the audience to be characters in these fantastical shows, we hope they remember they have the power to change their reality and resist the powers that seek to oppress them.”t
‘Select Thine Own Journey…In Space!’ May 1-3, 8-10, 7pm, $35-$50, Oasis, 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com www.mediameltdown.tv
Ricardo Cortes and Alex Rodriguez in ‘Simple Mexican Pleasures’
Left to Right: Dot Comme, Coco Buttah, Vanilla Meringue, KaiKai Bee Michaels, and Piranha Psychotronica in a previous production of ‘Select Thine Own Journey’ at Oasis.
Drag queens save the galaxy at Oasis
Nicole Fraser-Herron
Queer as folktales
by Jim Gladstone
It was Holy Saturday, and a big-ass bunny was shaking her tail outside Theatre Rhinoceros on 18th Street, trying to fluff up an audience for opening night of “Gumiho.”
The play, written by Nina Ki and directed by Crystal Liu, is not about Haribo candies shaped like sex workers (Though you’d be excused for that assumption, given the popularity of penis cookies around the corner).
You’d also be wrong in supposing that the ratchet rabbit on the sidewalk was an Easter promotion. In a preshow curtain warmer and some later hotter interludes, this lewd, lumpen anti-Harvey stepped inside and onto the Rhino stage for battle scenes and erotic dances alongside a vulpine fellow Furry.
The sex-edged clowning by Kitty Moon, as Rabbit, and Kitty Me-Ow, as Fox (in fantastic-beyond-mascot animal costumes by Christina Linskey and Liu) serves as far more than a garnish for “Gumiho”’s human characters and dialogue: It establishes the cultural lens and light tone that buoy the script’s occasional tilts toward melodrama.
Rewarding role-play
In traditional Korean tales, the gumiho is a trickster figure, a cunning nine-tailed fox that can transform into a beautiful woman. The rabbit, tokki or doltokki, is symbolic of innocence and gentleness. When a fox and a rabbit interact in traditional tales from East Asian cultures, their antics generate both friction and humor.
In playwright Ki’s autobiographical rondelay, a bedhopping odyssey of
t << Theater & Cabaret
‘Gumiho’ plays with fables at Theatre Rhinoceros
self-realization in queer Los Angeles, her fictionalized avatar, Kam (Raye Goh), is on an ego-dystonic downslide after a brief period of notoriety from appearing on “Loose Lips,” a queer reality TV program.
Having split with Janette, her partner of three years, and on the verge of turning 30, Kam puts on a foxy front
to protect her inner rabbit as she ricochets through a series of one-night stands and brief situationships.
Six paramour roles are played, three apiece, by Zolboo Namkhaidorj and Annie Wang, who deftly etch a half dozen distinctive personalities despite each character’s limited stage time. Even within her individual roles,
Wang expertly toggles from tender to tart, languorous to venomous. Her disciplined nonchalance and sharp comic timing merit more frequent appearances in Bay Area productions.
Hastily heartwarming Kam’s misguided, ever-darkening sexcapades are punctuated by heart-
to-heart gab sessions with her lifelong friend Hyun-Joo (Dom Refuerzo), a graduate student of folklore whose dialogue neatly provides context for the animal-skinned sidebars.
While Ki’s smooth deployment of Hyun-Joo as an interpreter for the audience demonstrates real playwriting smarts, her development of HyunJoo as a character is one of “Gumiho”’s weak spots.
Amidst this showcase for realistic characters whose personalities transcend fox-rabbit binaries, HyunJoo (who, ironically, is written as nonbinary) comes off as 100% bunny. She’s spent years being slowly steamrolled into roadkill by oblivious, selfcentered Kam. In coupling them up for a romantic conclusion, “Gumiho” slides from folk tale influence toward fairy tale goo.
Still, while revision may improve future productions, this is clever and necessary work. “Gumiho” successfully represents –and centers– AsianAmerican AFAB (assigned female at birth) queers with sharp wits and strong libidos. It’s welcome and refreshing to see on stage.
Also refreshing to see, on the ceiling, were Colin Johnson’s inventive video projections, including images from the perspective of a sex partner lying on their back. Olivia Vazquez’s immersive sound and Aaron Simunovich’s intimate in-the-round setting further added to the latest demonstration of Theatre Rhinoceros’ transformative black box magic; this time replete with rabbit.t
‘Gumiho,’ through May 11. $17.50$50. Theatre Rhinoceros. 4229 18th St. www.therhino.org
Mother’s Day with Brock and Spencer
by David-Elijah Nahmod
Powerhouse vocalist Jason Brock is back doing concerts in San Francisco after a five-year sojourn in Japan. On May 11 he’ll celebrate Mother’s Day with a concert at the Chan National Queer Arts Center as part of this year’s SF International Arts Festival. Brock and accompanist Dee Spencer will put a queer twist on the Great American Songbook.
Among the selections chosen for the evening are tunes by such great songwriters as George Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Rodgers & Hart. Stories from the lives of legendary LGBTQ performers who brought these songs
to life over the years will be shared, and there will be contemporary numbers as well.
In an interview with the Bay Area Reporter, Brock spoke about this upcoming performance and about his life in Japan. Brock noted that while it’s safe to be out in Japan, there is some discrimination.
“There could be consequences to being out,” he said. “I’ve heard that you’re less likely to be promoted if you’re gay. I’ve also met so many gay/ bi/pan guys that don’t tell anyone in their lives about it, but they are comfortable going to a bathhouse for sex. You can’t go to most ‘love hotels’ as a gay couple. Love hotels are basically
hotels for couples to have sex in. I have personally been turned away by several love hotels when I tried to go with my boyfriend.”
Five years
But for the most part, Brock loved living in Japan. There was a bar that he liked going to, the Aiiro Cafe in Shinjuku in Tokyo, a mixed bar where gays and straights are both welcome, though he prefers to call it a gay bar. But after five years, he had no choice but to leave.
“My Visa was expiring and I couldn’t get a new one,” he explained. “I wasn’t deported as many people seem to believe. I left of my own volition and am free to re-enter and leave as often as I please. I could even move back if I wanted to, and I do want to, one day. So many hot guys waiting for me!”
One of the songs that Brock will be singing at the Mother’s Day concert is Gershwin’s “Summertime” from the classic musical “Porgy and Bess.”
“Gershwin was rumored to have been gay, but there’s really no one who’s sure about it, “he said. “The song takes place at the beginning of the musical, with a mother singing to her child. It seemed like a good fit for the Mother’s Day theme.”
Another song scheduled to be performed is “Night and Day” by Cole Porter, who was most definitely gay.
“We chose this song not only because he was gay, but because it’s one of the greatest and most famous songs he ever wrote.”
Song styles
Brock also spoke about some of the LGBT performers he’ll be sharing stories about during the concert.
“One is Billie Holiday, who was bisexual,” he said. “She was an incredible performer whose voice I fell in love with. She also happens to be San Francisco politician Bevan Dufty’s godmother, I think. There are great stories about her to share. We’ll also
talk about the gay Lorenz Hart, of Rodgers and Hart, and Cole Porter, the more modern queer-ish singer Whitney Houston, and the queer-adjacent legend Judy Garland.”
The B.A.R. also spoke to Spencer, who recalled her first encounter with Brock. She was playing an open mic gig in the Fillmore District when Brock walked in and said he wanted to sing. He brought down the house and was asked to sing a few more songs.
“We immediately hit it off and the rest is history,” Spencer recalled. “Jason says this was 20-plus years ago. I’ve lost count. Guess I could look it up if I had too. As for chemistry, it’s hard to explain. It’s just a vibe. I get him and can read where he’s going vocally most of the time. Ha!” Spencer added that she loves the Great American Songbook and thinks that it’s quite special.
“The Great American Songbook is so accessible,” she said. “Everyone can recognize the songs and appreciate the history that the songs represent. No two people sing ‘Summertime’ the
same way and that’s fine. In fact, it’s a requirement. Singers get the chance to express themselves and can make each song a personal story. I just love putting my own spin on the harmonies and rhythms.”
Brock said that the concert will not be in a traditional theater, but rather in a cabaret setting with bar service.
“This will be my first time performing at the Chan National Queer Arts Center,” he said. “It was established as a place where LGBTQ performers can feel at home. I’ve heard a lot about it, and I know that the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus is connected to the space. I’m looking forward to singing there.”t
‘Brock and Spencer: Celebrating Mother’s Day with a Queer American Songbook,’ May 11, 7:30pm, Chan National Queer Arts Center, 170 Valencia St. $25-$50. www.sfiaf.org www.jasonbrockvocals.com www.deespencer.com www.sfgmc.org/chan-nationalqueer-arts-center
Left: Jason Brock Right: Dee Spencer
Left to Right: Kitty Me-Ow! and Raye Goh in Nina Ki’s ‘Gumiho’ at Theatre Rhinoceros
Aaron Simunovich
<< Film & TV
‘On Swift Horses’
by Brian Bromberger
Dreams, desires, and secrets sum up the 1950s and the new uneven film, “On Swift Horses” (Sony Pictures). This “epic” old-school style film strives to be a romance, a gambling story, domestic melodrama, even a hard-boiled film noir. Gay director Daniel Minahan (“Halston,” “Fellow Travelers”) presents us with a queer reimaging of the American dream in California and Nevada during the Eisenhower years represented by the key line, “We are all just a hair’s breadth from losing everything all the time.”
Yet even as a critique on the repressive nature of that era, the film remains flat as the suffocation of pentup desires is merely suggested rather than passionately enacted.
Military man Lee Walker (Will Poulter), on leave from service in the Korean War, tries to convince his girlfriend Muriel (Daisy Edgar-Jones) to marry him. Lee’s handsome, rebellious younger brother Julius (Jacob Elordi) visits, having been discharged from the military. There’s an instant mutual spark with Muriel when she sees him shirtless resting on the hood of his pickup truck. Muriel and Julius slow dance in front of an oblivious Lee who can’t see their attraction.
Despite being more interested in Julius, Muriel agrees to marry Lee as they head out to San Diego to fulfill their dreams. Unbeknownst to Lee, Muriel writes Julius asking him to join them, as the brothers originally envisioned creating a new life.
The newlyweds struggle financially with Muriel employed as a diner waitress and Lee a factory worker. Muriel sells her family Kansas home, sending money to Julius, so he can
page 11
have some more.
Characters worth embracing
The protagonist of “Simple Mexican Pleasures,” shares the playwright’s name, occupation (writer), and ethnic background (Mexican mother, Chinese father; see, already not so simple).
When handsome square-jawed Alex Rodriguez appears on stage solo as Eric, then breaks the fourth wall to address the audience directly, it feels like we’re in autobiographical monologue or spoken-word cabaret terri-
Handsome Jacob Elordi
travel to California, but he opts to move to Las Vegas. Muriel overhears customers giving horse-betting tips. She makes a bet at the racetrack, starting a long winning streak through her gambling addiction, giving her enough money so she and Lee can buy a house, as well as fund her double life.
Making moves Julius secures a job as security worker at a casino, spying on cheating customers in a secret room. He describes himself as a “thief, a faggot, and alone.” He meets scheming drifter Henry (Diego Calva). Henry makes a move on Julius and they become lovers. They reinvent themselves as con artists, cheating at card games at other casinos, based on their on-the-job
tory (Rodriguez’s resemblance to comedian Mario Cantone underscores that impression).
And, indeed, while each of the three other cast members –Marcia Aguilar, Ricardo Cortes, and Edric Young–has one extended showcase scene in which they bring a richly realized character to life, they spend most of their onstage time as a wisecracking Greek, Mexican and Chinese chorus of Eric’s ancestors. They’re brilliant, but they’re backup singers to his lead.
That’s a shame, because when each of the trio takes their featured turn, they’re every bit as magnetic as Rodriguez.
training. They hope to amass enough money to build a life together. Disaster ensues with Julius trying to locate a missing Henry.
Muriel meets androgynous Sandra (Sasha Calle), a neighbor who sells olives and eggs. There’s a flirty scene in which you’ll never look at olives the same way again. Sandra falls in love with Muriel, who sees it more as a fling, though she realizes how unhappy and sexually unfulfilled she is with Lee.
The film revolves around the secrets Julius and Muriel conceal based on their real fears of being outed. Their attraction isn’t really sexual but more recognizing each other’s pain and loneliness. They ignite more passion non-sexually than Julius/Henry and Muriel/Sandra conjure in their tepid
First, Aguilar does a Carol Burnett-worthy scene as Eric’s daffy-butlovable overprotective mother. Soon after, Cortes gives us Mauricio, an architect who Eric flirts with at an art museum, so gently and soulfully rendered that I was sad to see him go.
And in a stirring scene toward the show’s end, Young unexpectedly manifests Eric’s straight older brother, Pat. Through some quicksilver thespian magic, this character, who until then has barely been mentioned, instantly becomes the play’s emotional anchor.
erotic encounters. There’s more excitement at the race track or casino than there is in the bedroom.
This plodding film only comes alive when Edgar-Jones and Elordi are together. Both gamblers and queer, they yearn for each other even though they can’t be a couple. Unfortunately, they only share a few scenes with little screen time together, but apart the film suffers from sluggish pacing and an all-pervasive staid tone.
Coded queers
Minahan uses gambling as a code for queer love, with money as a source for freedom for Muriel and Julius. Ultimately, they can’t avoid facing who they are. It’s hard to root for either character because they are selfserving, don’t care if they hurt other people, interested only in their own pleasure and making money. Still despite their dubious actions and keeping their true selves hidden, they yearn to love whom they want, following their own hearts.
The real hero is caring Lee, who gives unconditional love to Muriel and Julius, both of whom betray him. Sadly, the character is underwritten, only hinting at his complexity below the surface. As the film progresses, his presence (and that of the sultry Sandra) get short shrift, almost forgotten by the contrived ending, which leaves several loose ends.
Based on the bestselling debut novel by Shannon Pufahl, the film could have been a steamy romantic drama or a study on suppressed desire, but fails on both accounts. Actually, “On Swift Horses,” feels like two separate movies that never unite, with the Julius/ Henry story more gripping than the stale Muriel/Sandra tete-a-tete, which seems doomed from the get-go.
Nonchalant ennui
As daring as queer romances were then, you would expect a sense of tension or danger, but neither materializes. There’s a kind of flatness, even nonchalant ennui that pervades the whole film. The idea is to portray Muriel and Julius as representing two different ways of dealing with the stifling suburban conformity that is hostile to fulfilling their dreams through their respective romances. Yet the social critique is muted, though it does spotlight the fringe spaces relegated to queer people in the 1950s.
However, the film boasts excellent performances from the five major protagonists. Gay men will be lusting after the gorgeous Elordi. If only the screenplay matched the talents of the actors.
The film is also adept at recreating a strong sense of time and place with its stunning, lovely-to-look-at-photography, so we can feel the melancholy and frustration endemic to the 1950s.
This bumpy, inert film echoes the themes of Minahan’s first half of the fiery “Fellow Travelers,” also a study of homophobic 1950s mores, which engendered much more passion even as those tortured characters were more persecuted. The main actors in “Travelers” were both gay, which is assuredly not the case in “On Swift Horses,” which might account for the uninspiring ardor. The movie has noble intentions but flails in its execution and insular characters. Yearning for volcanic emotions, but instead we’re treated to detached ambiguous frustration in a tale of woe lacking any joy or sense of liberation.t
“On Swift Horses” plays locally at AMC Metreon 16. www.onswifthorses.com
With just a subtle rocking of his lanky frame, some delicate vocal modulation, and a few shifts of his limpid eyes, Young made brotherly love palpable; not only creating an indelible scene himself, but also boosting Rodriguez to a new peak in his performance.
Given Eric Loo’s ability to build the foundations and write the voices for such funny, distinctive, and deeply felt
Will Poulter, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Jacob Elordi in ‘On Swift Horses’
Sony Pictures
characters, I’d love to see “Simple Mexican Pleasures” grow into the complex dramatic treasure one can see shimmering beneath its surface.t ‘Simple Mexican Pleasures,’
ready. “Hacks” returns for its fourth season. Martha Stewart cohosts a new cooking show. “Elsbeth” ramps up the murder mystery camp, plus reality shows and recent news are covered by our prolific Lavender Tube columnist Victoria A. Brownworth.
Mexican Pleasures
Max
Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder in ‘Hacks’
Alex Rodriguez and Marcia Aguilar in ‘Simple Mexican Pleasures’
Lois Tema
t Music & Books >>
Nicky Spence, troubadour
by Tim Pfaff
Musical anniversaries can be mixed gifts. Composer “Years,” which carry the possibility of deeper exposure to music less often heard, also have a way of creating program overkill. Tenor Nicky Spence just ushered out the “Gabriel Fauré Year” with an illuminating new recording of the composer’s song cycle, “Le bonne chanson” and other songs (Hyperion), and now has joined a distinguished group of colleagues to record, anew, the complete songs of Maurice Ravel under the matchless leadership of pianist Malcolm Martineau (Signum Classics).
The Fauré Year, “celebrating” the 100th anniversary of the composer’s death, has proved ideal, showing listeners rightly ensorceled by the pastel beauties of the Requiem and the “Pavane” with the works that reflect the “big” later music and the composer’s ventures into what could be called modernism, its adventurous chromaticism in particular.
While Spence’s program includes music from all the Fauré “periods,” it begins with a version of “La bonne chanson” that will likely be new to most listeners.
It will also give Spence’s adoring audience a deeper sense of his way with accompanied songs. They have always been central to his work, but of late they have been somewhat overshadowed by the out, versatile tenor’s recent exploits with the title roles of Benjamin Britten’s “Peter Grimes” and Edward Elgar’s “The Dream of
‘My
Talented tenor records Fauré and Ravel
Gerontius.” The latter has received particular praise for the tenor’s creation of a character who, for once, you don’t have to be British yourself to understand.
ano version but in the composer’s own
subsequent arrangement for voice, piano, and string quintet (1898), here the Patti Quartet with the outstanding pianist of the CD as a whole, Julius Drake. The arrangement put the already much-loved song cycle in the most creative period of the Parisian salon years.
The revised version relocates the songs on a cushion of softer, more variegated sound than is achievable with piano accompaniment alone. Among the many smaller changes it works on the originals, it imparts an enhanced eroticism to this cycle. The music reflects and is a product of the married Fauré’s love for –and affair with– the soprano Emma Bardac, who worked on the songs with the composer before singing their premiere.
Such secreting of an illicit affair within a larger composition is found throughout the history of music, most memorably that of Wagner and Janáček. What it unleashes in “La bonne chanson,” and the song “Le secret” in particular, is material of startlingly individual character and treatment of aspects of love from the heroic to the tragic.
Ordinary Life’
Bright story poems from dark times
Author Franklin Abbott
by Michele Karlsberg
Franklin Abbott’s newest book,
“My Ordinary Life,” is more than a collection of story poems. It’s a quiet reckoning with the extraordinary weight of recent years. With a gentle yet unflinching voice, Abbott captures the arc of the COVID-19 pandemic as it unfolded: the eerie stillness of lockdown, the bewildering ebb and flow of hope and fear, and the intimate, often invisible toll it took on individuals and communities.
But woven through that shared global trauma are deeply personal threads: the deaths of Abbott’s parents, the realities of aging, the ache of isolation, and the unexpected gifts found in slowing down.
In “My Ordinary Life,” the poettherapist’s lifelong commitment to introspection and healing is on full display. Small, seemingly mundane moments –birds and frogs in his garden, the loyal presence of cats, or
a fleeting exchange with a grocery clerk– become vessels for grief, gratitude, and grounded wisdom. Abbott’s poems do not shy away from pain, but they do offer pathways toward resilience and recovery. In his world, trauma is not denied but tenderly acknowledged, affirmed, and allowed to breathe.
Raised and educated in the Deep South, Abbott has called Atlanta home since the 1970s, where he maintained a psychotherapy practice for over four decades. His work spanned three national crises –the AIDS epidemic, 9/11, and the COVID-19 pandemic–and he specialized in medical trauma, spiritual inquiry, and group healing.
A pioneer in the pro-feminist men’s movement and early Radical Faerie circles, Abbott’s influence reaches far beyond the therapy room or the page. He has edited anthologies on masculinity, served as poetry editor for “RFD” and “Changing Men” magazines, and founded the Atlanta Queer
Literary Festival.
Abbott’s newest collection is his third volume of poetry, following “Mortal Love” and “Pink Zinnia,” and arrives alongside a rich legacy of advocacy, music, and cultural exploration.
Whether composing music from the words of Rumi and Shakespeare, interviewing civil rights icons and queer artists, or tracing spiritual truths across continents, Abbott is always listening –closely, reverently– to the human heart.
As he returns from India with fresh stories and perspectives, Abbott reminds us that even amid loss and uncertainty, there is wonder to be found in the ordinary. And in that, perhaps, something like healing.t
Read Michele Karlsberg’s Q&A with Franklin Abbott on www.ebar.com.
tenminutemuse.wordpress.com
the 150th anniversary of his birth, is well underway. Malcolm Martineau’s new look at the composer’s songs augurs to be one of its highlights. Spence joins a cadre of vocal colleagues in important re-examinations of the composer’s significant output of songs.
The “Bizet Year” marking the 150th anniversary of his death, has now ventured a three-CD set of the complete songs of the composer of “Carmen.” If the anniversary accomplishes nothing else, it will be its highlighting of the treasures to be found elsewhere in this famous composer’s work.t
Gabriel Fauré, La bonne chanson, Nicky Spence, tenor, Julius Drake, piano, Hyperion Records. hyperion-records.co.uk
Maurice Ravel, Complete Songs, Nicky Spence and others, Malcolm Martineau, piano, Signum Records. signumrecords.com
Georges Bizet, The Songs, various artists, Hyperion Records. harmoniamundi.com
Spence’s singing eats it up. His robust tenor encompasses a range of expression from the fervidly passionate to the more delicate, yearning, and evanescent expressions of intimacy. By the time you’ve heard his way with the music as a whole, you’ve really been somewhere. For a dip into the complexities of love as understood by Fauré and Spence, look no further than the magical “La lune blanche luit dans le bois.”
A bounty of chansons
The “Ravel Year,” marking
People>>
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The good song Set to poems by Paul Verlaine, “Le bonne chanson” is performed here not in the more often heard voice-and-pi-
