November 25, 2021 Edition of the Bay Area Reporter

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Milk-Moscone vigil

Prop 8 tapes ordered released

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ARTS

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Michael Urie

Since 1971

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Vol. 51 • No. 47 • November 25-December 1, 2021

Low bumped as chair

by Matthew S. Bajko

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See page 14 >>

Cynthia Laird

The former 24 Hour Fitness Center at 2145 Market Street is being eyed as a potential gay bathhouse.

Sisters saint Sa’id

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ria Sa’id, left, president and chief strategist of the Transgender District, expressed surprise as she was named Saint Aria the Golden by Sister Vina Sinfurs, right, mistress of saints for the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence during the district’s Transgender Day of Remembrance observance at CounterPulse in the Tenderloin.

The November 20 event was, at times, somber as attendees paid tribute to the

Former Castro gym space eyed for new gay bathhouse

Rick Gerharter

now 47 trans people killed in the U.S. this year, many of them Black trans women.

Globally, 375 trans people lost their lives, Sa’id had noted in a news release ahead of TDOR. District officials also called on the government to address the discrimination and violence against the trans community. To learn more about the Transgender District, go to https://www. transgenderdistrictsf.com/

by John Ferrannini

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s the Castro neighborhood loses its only gay sex club and sauna, a would-be proprietor told the Bay Area Reporter he is interested See page 14 >>

Some World AIDS Day events returning to in-person this year

Newly engraved names in the Circle of Friends were read during activities on World AIDS Day in 2019 at the National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park.

Rick Gerharter

by John Ferrannini

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GBTQ and health organizations are commemorating the 33rd annual World AIDS Day Wednesday, December 1, with in-person and hybrid events.

Founded by the World Health Organization and the joint United Nations Programme on

AIDS, World AIDS Day seeks to call attention to the global epidemic that has killed 36 million people since it was first discovered 40 years ago in 1981. The WHO’s theme this year is “End inequalities. End AIDS.” The 30th anniversary of the National AIDS Memorial Grove will be celebrated at its Light

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in the Grove benefit Tuesday, November 30, at 6 p.m. at the tranquil dell in Golden Gate Park.

Tickets are available online at EventBrite starting at $250.

The event will be open air this year and “magically illuminated with artistic features See page 15 >>

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he leader of the California Assembly is facing criticism after he bounced a gay Asian committee chair and replaced him without warning with a straight white colleague. The decision has outCourtesy ABC7 News raged LGBTQ and Assemblymember Asian Pacific Islander community leaders. Evan Low Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Los Angeles) removed Assemblymember Evan Low (D-Campbell) November 17 as both chair and a member of the Assembly’s Business and Professions Committee.

In a terse letter Wednesday to the Assembly’s chief clerk, Rendon revealed he was naming Assemblymember Marc Berman (D-Palo Alto) as chair and that Low’s removal from the committee had resulted in a Democratic vacancy on it.

Low had served as the committee’s chair the last five years. It is responsible for oversight of the California Medical Board, the nursing profession, and the pharmaceutical industry among other business concerns.

Berman and Low both traveled to Washington, D.C. this week to meet with federal officials as part of the Legislative Technology & Innovation Caucus delegation. The two Silicon Valley lawmakers are both members of the group, which Low co-chairs according to its website.

The Bay Area Reporter could not reach Low for comment. In a statement released by his office, Low said he looked forward to his continued service “in any capacity” with the committee and its work.

“It has been an honor to serve as chair of the Assembly’s Business and Professions Committee, where my colleagues and I crafted legislation to help small businesses, combat the opioid crisis, implement a system to regulate legal cannabis, and work with Governor Newsom to protect patients and health professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic,” stated Low, who chairs the Legislative LGBTQ Caucus.

Rendon issued his own statement regarding the leadership switch after the news broke.

He said Berman’s “service in the Assembly has demonstrated his commitment to the Democratic Caucus. As a B&P committee member, he has shown mastery of the subject matter and I know I can depend on him to dedicate his time and focus to leading the work of this important committee.”

Meanwhile, Berman expressed his gratitude “to Speaker Rendon for the opportunity to chair the Assembly Business and Professions Committee. It has been an honor to serve on the committee, and I look forward to taking on this new role in the upcoming session.”

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<< Community News

2 • Bay Area Reporter • November 25-December 1, 2021

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9th Circuit panel rules for release of Prop 8 trial tapes

by John Ferrannini

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apes of the 2010 San Francisco federal trial that first struck down California’s same-sex marriage ban as unconstitutional can be released to the public, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal ruled in a 2-1 decision November 18.

The saga over the tapes has lasted longer than the saga over Proposition 8 – the same-sex marriage ban approved by Golden State voters in 2008 – itself.

KQED-TV, the Bay Area affiliate of the Public Broadcasting System, has been fighting for access to the tapes for documentary purposes.

9th Circuit Judge Carlos F. Lucero joined Judge William A. Fletcher’s majority opinion; Judge Sandra S. Ikuta dissented.

Fletcher ruled that proponents of Prop 8, who’d wanted the tapes to remain under seal, failed to show sufficient injury. They had appealed a July 9, 2020 decision by Judge William H. Orrick of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ordering the release of the tapes.

The root of the saga over the tapes began in 2010. The constitutionality of Prop 8 was challenged in Hollingsworth v. Perry, a federal lawsuit that appeared in the court of Judge Vaughn Walker.

The idea was floated about televising the trial, which attracted national public interest, in other courthouses. The California Supreme Court issued a stay of the proposed broadcast, but Walker continued to tape the proceedings in case the stay was lifted. Subsequently, Walker stated that the tapes were being made in order to aid in his consideration of the testimony and evidence during the trial, saying at the time “it’s not going to be for purposes of public broadcasting or televising.”

Walker, a federal judge appointed by former President George H.W. Bush, ruled that Prop 8 was indeed unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that Walker’s ruling could go into effect, two years before the nation’s highest court legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges. Walker came out as gay after his ruling, and retired from the bench in 2012.

The Northern District of California placed the tapes under a 10-year seal in accordance with its rules.

Trial transcripts, however, formed the basis of both a stage production and a network television docuseries.

That seal expired in 2020. Prop 8 proponents sued to stop the release of the tapes, alleging that they may

Rick Gerharter

Clergy members and supporters, totaling more than 200 people, marched to Civic Center on March 26, 2009, following a negative decision on Proposition 8 by the California Supreme Court.

be subject to harassment or intimidation as a result, and that releasing the tapes ever would be a violation of Walker’s statement they’d not be used for broadcast. Last summer, Orrick ruled that the tapes should be released, but the proponents appealed to the 9th Circuit, which as the B.A.R. reported last August kept the tapes sealed while it could consider the case.

The 9th Circuit found that the Prop 8 proponents hadn’t proved they’d be victims of harassment or intimidation, and that Walker’s statements shouldn’t be read as a perpetual promise.

“Appellants allege two kinds of injuries that would result from unsealing the recordings,” Fletcher wrote. “First, the unsealing would result in a ‘palpable injustice’ to appellants themselves. Second, the unsealing would harm future litigants’ ability to rely on judicial ‘promises,’ and would thereby injure both the judicial system and future litigants. Neither alleged injury is sufficiently concrete.”

Ikuta disagreed in a blistering dissenting opinion.

“This is yet another sad chapter in the story of how the judiciary has been willing to bend or break its own rules and standards in order to publicize the proceedings of a single high-profile trial,” Ikuta wrote.

Ikuta argued that the injustice is that the Prop 8 proponents’ expectations, based on Walker’s statement, had been dashed.

“The breach of a contract or binding promise is an injury tradi-

tionally recognized as a violation of a private right, whether or not the injured party suffers economic or other damage,” Ikuta wrote.

Reaction

Thomas Burke, an attorney for KQED-TV, stated to the B.A.R. that he is pleased with “a hard fought and important victory for the right of access to court proceedings.”

“For over a decade, KQED has led the fight for the public to be able to see the video recordings of this historic federal trial over same-sex marriage,” Burke stated. “The 9th Circuit appropriately rejected the proponents of Prop 8 – who failed to offer evidence that anyone would be injured by this unsealing.”

When asked if he expects an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, or when he expects the tapes will ultimately be released, Burke stated, “I don’t have any insights into what the proponents will do next. There is no certainty (at the moment) as to when the videos will be released – any deadline will be affected by any number of potential next steps that the proponents may exercise.”

Andrew Pugno and Charles J. Cooper, attorneys for the proponents, did not respond to requests for comment as of press time. That said, John Ohlendorf of Cooper & Kirk told Reuters that he plans to seek further review, stating that the decision is a “breach of Judge Walker’s promise that they would never be made public.”

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which is

headquartered in Washington, D.C., filed an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief May 13, 2020 stating that the tapes should be released.

The brief was joined by 36 media organizations, as the B.A.R. reported at the time.

Shannon Jankowski, a senior legal fellow with the Reporters Committee, stated to the B.A.R. that the

nonprofit is pleased with the ruling.

“The landmark Perry decision is a part of American history, and there continues to be great public interest in the events of the trial,” Jankowski stated. “We’re pleased that, after more than 10 years, these recordings may finally be made available to the public, journalists and historians.”t

17 new “Below Market Rate” homes for sale at 1288 Howard St 4 studios, 6 one-bedrooms and 7 two-bedroom homes priced from $376,190 – $517,196 with parking and $339,333 – $466,068 without parking.

100% of Area Median Income 2021 One person - $93,250; 2 persons - $106,550; 3 persons - $119,900; 4 persons - $133,200 etc.

Applications must be received by 5PM on Thursday, December 30, 2021.

Apply online through DAHLIA, the SF Housing Portal at https://housing.sfgov. org. Due to COVID-19, applicants will apply online as we are not accepting paper applications. Applicants must complete first-time homebuyer education and obtain a loan pre-approval from an approved participating lender. For more information or assistance with your application, contact HomeownershipSF at (415) 202-5464 or info@homeownershipsf.org. For questions about the building and units, contact the sales team at https://1288howard.com/ Units available through the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development and are subject to monitoring and other restrictions.

Visit www.sfmohcd.org for program information.

Courtesy B.A.R. Archive

50 years in 50 weeks: 2004, DA Harris S

eventeen years before she was sworn as the first woman and first Black and first Asian American U.S. vice president, Kamala Harris was district attorney in San Francisco. In our July 8, 2004 issue, we sat down with Harris to talk about her first six months in office. Harris, long an ally to the LGBTQ community, said her office was working to recruit LGBTQs to work in the office. “It’s important to me to make sure this office reflects the communities that are impacted by the work we do,” she told is. Harris’ time as DA was not without controversy.

An opponent of the death penalty, she received withering criticism from the San Francisco Police Officers Association and others for her refusal to seek it against the man accused of shooting and

killing San Francisco Police Officer Isaac Espinoza as he stepped out of his car in the Bayview neighborhood. At the time of our interview, she claimed that tensions between the DA’s office and SFPD had “dissipated,” though those strains have continued through every DA since then. Harris later served as California’s attorney general before becoming a U.S. senator. President Joe Biden tapped her to be vice president after her own presidential campaign ended in December 2019, beset by a lack of funds.

The Biden-Harris administration has championed LGBTQ rights, supporting the Equality Act, which is stalled in the Senate, and other issues. To view the issue, go to https://archive.org/details/ BAR_20040708/page/n17/mode/2up

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Featuring leaders of Faith, Activism & Change

Featuring Pose Co-Creator Steven Canals

Featuring Experts from the Hemophilia Community

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A Magical Evening Light Display in the Memorial Grove

Ceremonial Reading of Names

Features speakers from 9-11, Covid-19 and AIDS memorials

A Special Tribute Marking 30 years of Hope and Light

Honoring Newly Engraved Names in the Grove and on the Quilt

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<< Open Forum

4 • Bay Area Reporter • November 25-December 1, 2021

Volume 51, Number 47 November 25December 1, 2021 www.ebar.com

Breed moves forward to combat overdoses

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ast week, San Francisco Mayor London Breed said that she and the city are taking steps to potentially open a safe consumption site by next spring. The mayor introduced legislation to the Board of Supervisors November 16 that, if approved, authorizes the purchase of a site in the Tenderloin that could be used for that purpose. “The legislation is not prescriptive about what kind of services would be provided on the site,” Breed spokesperson Jordan Wilson stated, but its purchase is “an initial step toward [the] possibility” of opening a supervised consumption site there. Wilson added that the city was in discussions with potential nonprofit partners and exploring the creation of a program to allow those partners to operate the facility.

Supervised consumption sites – also called overdose prevention sites or supervised injection facilities – are places where drug users can consume pre-obtained drugs under the supervision of trained staff. Advocates argue that these facilities are necessary for San Francisco, where the number of accidental drug overdoses dramatically rose from 259 in 2018 to 712 in 2020 – and is on track for a similar death toll this year. This city’s grim statistics mirror what is a national crisis. The New York Times recently reported that Americans died of drug overdoses in record numbers as the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the country, according to federal researchers. “In the 12-month period that ended in April, more than 100,000 Americans died of overdoses, up almost 30 percent from the 78,000 deaths in the prior year, according to provisional figures from the National Center for Health Statistics,” the paper reported. “The figure marks the first time the number of overdose deaths in the United States has exceeded 100,000 a year, more than the toll of car crashes and gun fatalities combined. Overdose deaths have more than doubled since 2015.”

Locally, District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney’s nonbinding resolution urging Breed to declare

Liz Highleyman

San Francisco Mayor London Breed checked out an injection station at the Safer Inside demonstration in August 2018 that was set up to show the public what a safe injection facility might look like.

a state of emergency regarding overdoses was passed unanimously by the board in October.

He told us he thought the resolution had an impact on Breed’s decision to pursue the legislation. He noted that people continue to die on the streets, particularly in the Tenderloin, which he represents. He was inspired to write the resolution at the urging of Gary McCoy, a gay man who once battled addiction himself. McCoy, a co-chair of the Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club, is also director of policy and public affairs for HealthRIGHT 360; in August he staged a hunger strike outside City Hall to bring attention to the overdose issue.

HealthRIGHT 360 praised the mayor’s move. “We know these sites work, and we look forward to our continued work with Mayor Breed and the San Francisco Department of Public Health to ensure these sites are effective and well-resourced,” stated Vitka Eisen, president and CEO of the agency.

HealthRIGHT 360 has been advocating for safe consumption sites for years, and supports legislation by gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-

A

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San Francisco) to establish pilot projects in San Francisco, Oakland, and Los Angeles. Unfortunately, that bill has been held until next year; Wiener’s previous efforts were also delayed, with one vetoed by then-Governor Jerry Brown.

Wiener is supportive of Breed’s recent action.

But first, there are legal questions that must be resolved. As we reported, supervised consumption sites could run afoul of federal law (the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986). State law could also be a problem, which is why Wiener has proposed his legislation. David Chiu, the new San Francisco city attorney, voted in favor of the pilot programs when he was in the state Assembly, and we suspect his office would mount a robust legal defense of the city when it moves ahead with the program. His office couldn’t directly comment, as it provides confidential advice to the mayor, city departments, and the Board of Supervisors, but his spokesperson did tell us the office is working with the city on the purchase of the site, which would be used for behavioral health services that “could potentially include a safe consumption site, among a number of other uses.”

Here in San Francisco, we are all too aware of the overdose emergency. Earlier this month we reported on the medical examiner office’s death reports for two gay San Francisco men – both died of accidental drug intoxication – one in 2021 in his home and one in 2020 on the street. Hundreds of other city residents have met similar fates. While a safe consumption site would not be a sobering center, it could provide an entry into harm reduction services for people. But more importantly, it would take some drug users off the street and provide supervision, potentially lessening the possibility of an overdose death. With 511 overdose deaths in San Francisco so far this year, according to an analysis by the San Francisco Chronicle, a safe consumption site is long overdue.

We appreciate Breed’s recent proactive efforts on state legislation and for pursuing this opportunity for the city to purchase property in anticipation of opening the first site.t

SF needs to increase spending on LGBTQ public health, homelessness

by Megan Rohrer

Bay Area Reporter

t

s the first trans bishop in a mainline Christian church since the council of Nicaea (325 CE), I am proud to be one of many trans individuals living faithfully in this world.

I hope and pray that my service as bishop will serve as a strong counternarrative to those who have limited their imagination of transness to things they deem unfaithful.

Across the country trans awareness is rising and some trans individuals thrive at work, home, and in their communities. As a white bishop, I experience the world with more privilege than my Black trans children. Even still, I have encountered discrimination and fear.

We live in a time when hate is expressed publicly while the nation holds our breath wondering if there will be legal consequences.

Sometimes consequences come. Far too often they do not. Transphobia is growing legislatively and anti-trans laws continue to propagate across the country, making it hard to know when I am safe and when I am not.

As a bishop, I travel a lot to provide guidance and support to the 180 congregations under my care. Each time I travel, I research my ability to access restrooms and health care.

When I travel with my children, I bring a binder with letters of support in case, due to my transness or theirs, a stranger decides to report our family to child protective services.

The discrimination and laws that occasionally affect my travel, continually affect LGBTQ individuals and communities living in unsafe families, communities and cities around the globe. Dreaming of a safer life, countless individuals travel to San Francisco and find the cost of living beyond their means.

If there is transphobia and homophobia in other parts of the world, there will be LGBTQ homelessness in San Francisco.

In September, I met a gay couple who had

Gooch

Bishop Megan Rohrer looks up in Grace Cathedral’s sanctuary shortly before they were formally installed on September 11.

an adorable little dog they treated like their child. Their landlord had kicked them out of their housing without notice because they were gay. They tearfully talked about why they did not want to report the incident, because they were unsure if it would be safe to live with a landlord who hated their family. I told them about Jazzie’s Place, a homeless shelter dedicated to the care of LGBTQ individuals and suggested they might feel safer there. They told me that Jazzie’s place had been closed due to the pandemic and no one knew when it would reopen. So, as they looked for a new place one slept in his wheelchair with the dog. The other slept on the sidewalk next to his husband.

Why is the city’s only LGBTQ shelter for adults still closed? When will it reopen? What LGBTQ-specific resources has the city provided in its absence?

Jazzie’s Place was a good first step, but it only cares for a small number of LGBTQ individuals. The city has known about these issues for decades, yet spending on public health and homelessness does not prioritize the Black and LGBTQ individuals who experience homelessness at a disproportionate rate.

For those living in unsafe places around the globe, or in families that disrespect and abuse them, winter storms are more than a change in the weather. As countless individuals dream of finding safety in San Francisco, I hope political and civic leaders are dreaming of new and innovative ways to welcome and care for them.

If, like me, you have privilege to spare, please contact your local, state, and federal representatives. Tell them: Now is the time to live into our commitment to be a global model for the treatment of LGBTQ individuals of all socio-economic statuses. Now is the time to reopen and expand Jazzie’s Place. Now is the time to demand that spending on public health and homelessness match the percentage of people who identify as LGBTQ. If you do not have privilege to spare and you are having a hard time spiritually, emotionally, or economically during these fragile times: Make the safest choices you can, so that you can live to see tomorrow. Your value is so much more than the rhetoric of those who seek political gain by demeaning you. Many of your housed LGBTQ neighbors have risen from the lowest sidewalks. In addition to praying for you, I am working to help you get the support you deserve.t Bishop Megan Rohrer was installed earlier this year as the first openly transgender bishop in a mainline Christian denomination and leads the Sierra Pacific Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

They oversee 180 congregations in Northern California and Nevada.

Editor’s note: The Bay Area Reporter published an article in May on Jazzie’s Place, noting that city officials were uncertain when it would reopen. The shelter for LGBTQ adults opened in 2015, and at a Board of Supervisors hearing in October, the city’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing stated the facility would reopen sometime in 2022.

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Politics >>

November 25-December 1, 2021 • Bay Area Reporter • 5

Photo at Milk terminal encapsulates a city’s rage

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lthough surrounded by other protesters, the denim jacket clad man seems solitary as he hoists into the night sky with his right hand a protest sign written in all caps, as if silently screaming its message. It reads, “PITY FOR THE PRIVILEGED, DEATH PENALTY FOR THE POOR.” It refers to the jury verdict earlier that day of May 21, 1979 for Dan White, the disgruntled former San Francisco supervisor who assassinated gay supervisor Harvey Milk and then-mayor George Moscone inside City Hall the year prior on November 27. White was convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter instead of first-degree murder for assassinating the two progressive politicians.

The outcome of the trial, famous for White’s “Twinkie defense” that overeating sugary foods had diminished his capacity and therefore the killings were not premeditated, particularly enraged the city’s LGBTQ residents. Many had gathered in front of, and on, the steps of City Hall that evening in protest of the leniency shown to White by the jurors.

Among them was David Patrick Stucky, a gay man who felt compelled to join in the public demonstration at the city’s Civic Center. He ended up atop the steps to City Hall carrying the protest sign immortalized in a black-and-white photo taken by photographer Daniel Nicoletta, a gay man who was friends with Milk and documented the era through the lens of his camera.

“It was such a travesty that slap on the wrist they gave Dan White,” Stucky, 77, told the Bay Area Reporter in a recent phone interview. “There wasn’t a single gay human being or sentient human being who wasn’t outraged by that, as far as I am concerned.”

Nicoletta captured an entire city’s rage in the eyes of Stucky, as they are wide open and appear to glare at the camera.

Stucky’s bearded mouth looks tensely drawn shut with his lips pursed tightly together. His entire visage drips with fury, while his left hand is nonchalantly placed inside the front pocket of his denim jeans.

“I didn’t make that sign. I met someone who thought I was taller than them and gave me the sign,” recalled Stucky. “I stood there holding that sign.”

Shortly after the photo was taken, the first moments of what became known as the White Night riots occurred. People in the crowd in front of City Hall began throwing rocks at the building, hitting those gathered on the building’s entrance staircase.

Raised in the Mennonite faith to be a pacifist, Stucky said he tried to convince the people to put down their stone ammo to no avail. One rock struck him in the forehead.

“I had blood streaming down my face,” he recalled. “The cops started chasing us, so I made off and got to the Castro. I knocked on the door of the Midnight Sun.” Stucky took refuge at the gay video bar as police officers had gone into the LGBTQ neighborhood and started attacking people on the street and inside the bars, most famously at the former Elephant Walk

Matthew S. Bajko

David Patrick Stucky, holding sign, was captured in Daniel Nicoletta’s photo at the May 21, 1979 protest outside San Francisco City Hall shortly after the verdicts were announced in the trial of Dan White for killing supervisor Harvey Milk and mayor George Moscone.

now known as Harvey’s at the corner of 18th and Castro streets.

“They let me in and locked the door behind me. All the bars were asylums for getting away from the cops,” recalled Stucky, who lived in the Castro and the night after the riots started bartending at the Midnight Sun.

Unaware of photo

For decades, he was unaware of the powerful photo that Nicoletta had captured of him that evening.

Despite Stucky being a self-described “foot soldier” on Milk’s various campaigns for public office in the 1970s, he didn’t personally know Nicoletta.

So when Nicoletta submitted the image to be part of a temporary photographic installation in the concourse of Harvey Milk Terminal 1 at San Francisco International Airport, he did so without the name of the man in the photo. SFO Museum curators initially displayed the photo with an accompanying identification panel that simply said an unidentified man “expresses his outrage at the sentencing of Dan White to a voluntary manslaughter sentence of seven years and eight months.”

Unveiled to the public in July 2019, Gwenn Craig went to see the tribute to the terminal’s namesake.

A Black lesbian, Craig had worked closely with Milk and the late Bill Kraus in 1978 to defeat Proposition 6, which would have banned gays and lesbians and their straight allies from working as public school teachers in the Golden State. A photo of the trio on Election Night was among the 100 photos, correspondence, and campaign materials related to Milk’s life chosen for the massive retrospective.

She also had been good friends with Stucky in the 1970s, often meeting up with him on Sundays in the backyard patio of a Castro business to work on crosswords in that day’s newspaper. As soon as she saw Nicoletta’s photo, Craig recognized the man at the center of it.

“Gwenn took a photo of it and sent it to me on Facebook,” recalled Stucky, “so then I thought I like that picture

and wanted to get a copy of it.”

He reached out to Tim O’Brien, assistant director and curator of exhibitions for the SFO Museum, who worked on the Milk exhibit. O’Brien connected Stucky with Nicoletta, who sent him a silver plate copy of it.

The photo of Stucky from 42 years ago was one of the roughly 70 images used in the concourse exhibition repurposed for a new exhibit about Milk’s life hanging on the walls of the Milk terminal’s Federal Inspection Services Corridor. It ferries passengers disembarking from international flights assigned to one of seven gates at what is known as the A side of SFO’s International Terminal to passport control.

The new exhibit also includes the photo of Craig with Milk and Kraus.

After Craig told the B.A.R. in October she doubted she would ever see it, O’Brien reached out and invited her and her partner, Esperanza Macias, to come to the airport to peruse the installation.

“It was such a great moment to see the new international terminal named after Harvey Milk and the wonderful exhibit of Milk’s life and work. Big props to the curating team who were incredible and gave Gwenn and me such a wonderful tour,” Macias wrote afterward in a Facebook post. “I was moved nearly to tears and very, very proud to see Gwenn’s fabulous photo. I have always felt her role has never received the recognition it should have in books and films.”

During an exclusive look at the new exhibit O’Brien provided the B.A.R. last month, he recounted the story of how Stucky’s name came to be added to the identification panel for the striking photo of him found toward the end of the customs corridor. Subsequently, the B.A.R. was able to reach Stucky in Provincetown, Massachusetts where he is currently living due to being unable to renew his visa in the United Kingdom.

Born and raised in Kansas, he fled the Sunflower State in the 1960s and enrolled at California State University, Fresno. A tuition hike for out-of-state students sent him back to his home state for college, but Stucky soon dropped out to enter the Peace Corps.

He was stationed in Thailand and spent several years in the Southeast Asian country. A registered conscientious objector in the Vietnam War draft, Stucky was assigned to a military hospital in San Francisco instead of being sent to fight. By 1969 he had completed his service and moved to London, where he modeled and waited tables at a West End restaurant frequented by stars of the nearby theater stages.

“For a brief moment in the sun it was famous, famous, famous,” said Stucky, who met actors Maggie Smith and Laurence Kerr Olivier, among others, at the exclusive eatery. “I was just a starry-eyed farm boy from Kansas.”

A love interest resulted in his jumping back across the pond, and after the relationship ended, Stucky was again living in San Francisco by 1973. Proudly out during the height of the gay liberation movement, Stucky volunteered his time to help elect Milk to public office.

With his fourth candidacy, Milk became the first out elected official See page 14 >>

Letters >> Housing hope in D8

Good to hear Matthew S. Bajko mention the “renewed talk of seeing [Safeway’s] upper Market Street site be redeveloped to bring in housing. Previous discussions of such a possibility faltered due to the property being owned by different parties” [“Report flags housing issues

in Castro, neighboring communities,” November 18].

Hopefully our fine supervisors will renew talking as well. I’m sure they can resolve whatever issues were unresolved before.

Mike Zonta San Francisco

Barry Schneider Attorney at Law

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<< Community News

6 • Bay Area Reporter • November 25-December 1, 2021

San Mateo Pride center slowly reopens

by Matthew S. Bajko

C

losed for much of the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the San Mateo County Pride Center is slowly reopening to the public. It is one of several LGBTQ community centers in the Bay Area to relaunch in-person services indoors.

While it was shuttered to clients for 18 months, the Peninsula center took the time to remodel its space to make it more accessible and userfriendly. Furniture easier for older adults and people with disabilities to get out of replaced the former furnishings.

“You don’t have to hire a crane to get you out of it,” joked Francisco “Frankie” Sapp, the center’s program director, as he showed off the changes to the Bay Area Reporter earlier this month.

Since its meeting room space is only reachable via several stairs, the center set up a conference table in the middle of its main room composed of individual sections that can be moved around into various configurations.

And in light of the ongoing pandemic and expectations that some in the community will continue to want to remotely access its programs or meetings that outside groups hold there, the Pride center plans to offer virtual access via Meeting Owl Pro technology it acquired. The system is easy to set up and allows those joining in meetings online to not only see the person speaking but also wider views of the room.

“We will maintain a hybrid of in-person and virtual moving forward. It is the new reality,” said Sapp. “Some older adults don’t have access to online. Everyone needs something different, so we are going to be offering both, and you can decide what works best for you.”

Sapp had only been in the job

Matthew S. Bajko

Francisco “Frankie” Sapp stands in the main room at the San Mateo County Pride Center, which recieved a refresh.

for a month when county health officials ordered nonessential businesses and service providers to shut down due to the health crisis. A disabled, biracial, queer, transgender man with more than two decades of experience in crisis management and harm reduction, Sapp quickly worked with the center staff to offer what services they could online.

“We had the best year ever during the pandemic,” Sapp told the B.A.R., noting the center was able to offer 2,700 hours of clinical services despite its brick-and-mortar location being off-limits to the public.

The center is a program within StarVista, a $12 million social services organization in San Mateo County. It receives one of its major grants from San Mateo County Behavioral Recovery Services and partners with various agencies in the area.

Its staff has been allowed to decide on their own when they want to work from home or on-site. The center is located at 1021 S. El Camino Real in San Mateo, with a fully accessible entrance from its parking lot in the rear.

“I can just feel who was here,” said Marilyn Fernando, who is queer and the center’s community engagement lead. “Absolutely, we prefer to be in person with each other. You vibe off

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people’s energy.”

Sapp, who has Tourette syndrome and mobility issues, has been managing the center mostly from his Fairfield home, where he resides with his parents. He’s been commuting into work when needed but will do so outside of the morning commute to cut down on his drive time.

“Everyone is all over the map,” said Sapp in terms of how people are feeling about the return of inperson services at the center. “Some people aren’t ready and some are testing the waters. Others are so over this pandemic they are just diving into the deep end.”

Monday, October 18, the Pride Center opened to resume limited in-person services that day of the week for older adults between 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. Clients are required to make an appointment and when they arrive must have their temperature checked. Everyone is required to wear masks inside the building.

Currently being offered is assistance with applying for affordable senior housing for people who are 62 years of age older and free weekly peer counseling for people at least 55 years old.

“It has been slow going. We have not seen a lot of people on Mondays,” said Ellyn Bloomfield, the Pride cen-

ter’s older adult coordinator.

With Thanksgiving being celebrated this week, the center is hosting a Friendsgiving lunch but at a local San Mateo restaurant at 11:45 a.m. Wednesday, November 24. People need to RSVP. It is the first such social gathering it has organized for its older adult clients during the pandemic, noted Bloomfield, who is employed by one of the center’s partner agencies, Peninsula Family Service, as its LGBTQ+ senior peer counseling coordinator.

“We don’t have an oven in the Pride center itself, so we are meeting at a restaurant in downtown San Mateo where we can sit outside and be together,” said Bloomfield, a lesbian who lives in Foster City and formerly worked for Openhouse, the LGBTQ senior service provider in San Francisco.

In 2016, Bloomfield wrote the first grant to seek funding to launch the Pride center, which is now in its fourth year of operation.

Walking back into the building this fall and seeing the remodel, Bloomfield knew it would be transformative for its clients.

“What I walked into was something that looked almost completely different than when I left. Serious thought was put into the safety for the community and staff of course, and accessibility,” she said. “We want every person, even people with differing abilities, to be able to come into the center if they want to come into the center and feel comfortable in the space.”

The Billy DeFrank LGBTQ+ Community Center in San Jose also recently reopened its building for indoor programs, with attendees required to show proof of vaccination and wear a mask inside. It, too, is offering various services Monday nights from 4 to 9 p.m. from HIV testing and discussion groups to game nights in its library depending

t

on the week.

San Francisco’s LGBTQ community center just resumed renting out various rooms and spaces to outside groups for events and meetings.

To lure event organizers back to its upper Market Street building, the facility is offering 15% percent off its rates.

More services planned

The Pride center expects to roll out additional services in the coming weeks. Its youth drop-in programs run by Outlet are likely to restart in December, but the dates and times are still being finalized.

PFLAG monthly support meetings will begin at the Pride center starting at 7 p.m. Monday, December 13. Participants will be able to take part either in-person or by Zoom.

As for when the center will fully reopen to five days a week, it remains an open question, said Sapp.

Now that booster shots are being made widely available to people 18 years of age and older, he predicted it would likely be sooner than later.

“I think we all hope it is not too far off,” said Sapp.

One issue the center is confronting is that the five rectangular windows that line its main room, along with a sixth window on a different wall fronting the area, do not open.

To provide air circulation the staff has been propping open several doors on either ends of the space.

“We are going to address it by having windows that open,” said Sapp, who has yet to get an estimate for how much it will cost to replace the fenestration.t

For more information about the Pride Center’s older adult programs, email Bloomfield at ellyn. bloomfield@sanmateopride.org or call 650-403-4300, ext. 4383.

For more information about the center, visit sanmateopride.org

<< Election 2022

8 • Bay Area Reporter • November 25-December 1, 2021

t

Alice club fails to endorse in SF Assembly race

by Matthew S. Bajko

W

ith its members’ loyalties divided in the special election for San Francisco’s vacant 17th District Assembly seat, the Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club was unable to rally around one candidate in the contest. Thus, its official position on the race is no recommendation.

The club has endorsed Assessor Recorder Joaquin Torres’ bid to serve out the remainder of former assessor-recorder Carmen Chu’s term through early January 2023.

After Mayor London Breed named Chu as the new city administrator, she appointed Torres as her successor. He is expected to retain the position next year and will need to run for a full four-year term next November.

As for the recall against three San Francisco school board members, Alice is backing the removal of board President Gabriela López and Commissioner Alison Collins, who was ousted as vice president earlier this year by her board colleagues. But the club is taking no position on the recall of Faauuga Moliga, the school board’s new vice president.

All three of the special elections have been combined on one ballot, with the election set for Tuesday, February 15. If no Assembly candidate receives more than 50% of the vote that day then the top two

Haney, Chris Robledo; Campos, Rick Gerharter

Neither Matt Haney, left, nor David Campos were able to clear the 60% threshold of the vote to secure an endorsement from the Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club.

vote-getters will advance to a runoff election April 19.

The jockeying for support in the Assembly race from Alice, historically the more moderate of the city’s two LGBTQ Democratic clubs, centered on District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney, a straight ally, and gay former District 9 supervisor David Campos. Both contenders are part of the city’s more progressive wing of the local Democratic Party.

Campos in October was able to secure the endorsement of the more progressive Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club. But with Haney’s top legislative aide, Honey Mahogany, co-chair of Al-

ice’s political action committee, it had been considered unlikely that Campos could also receive Alice’s endorsement.

Those doubts were borne out Friday, November 19, when the Alice PAC voted for “no recommendation” in the race. The club’s members approved the stance during a virtual meeting Monday, November 22, and also sided with the PAC’s recommendations in the other two races.

(At its December membership meeting the Milk club will be holding its endorsement vote on the assessor-recorder race and the school board recall.)

“Both David Campos and Supervisor Matt Haney have worked with the Alice club and San Francisco’s queer community, so neither candidate was able to clear our 60% threshold for an endorsement last night,” Alice co-chairs Catie Arbona and Gary McCoy stated to the Bay Area Reporter. “The club will still be active in the race – we hope to hold a debate with our sister club Milk at a date to be determined – and will be out promoting our endorsed candidates and positions in the assessor-recorder and school board recall races.”

Two other candidates, both straight, are also seeking the Assembly seat that covers the city’s eastern neighborhoods, including LGBTQ districts in the Castro, Tenderloin, and South of Market neighborhoods. City College of San Francisco trustee Thea Selby and former Obama administration staffer Bilal Mahmood are seen as being the more moderate of the quartet of Democratic contenders to succeed former assemblymember David Chiu.

Chiu resigned this month in order to become San Francisco’s first Asian American city attorney. Also a Democrat, he is expected to remain neutral in the contest to succeed him in the Legislature.

As the Bay Area Reporter’s Political Notebook detailed last week, the LGBTQ vote in the Assembly race is seen as key to winning. Campos

and Haney have both located their campaign headquarters in the heart of the Castro. Mahmood and Selby plan to open their campaign headquarters early next year, though it remains to be seen if they, too, will choose Castro locations.

For Campos, this is his second bid for the seat, having lost to David Chiu in 2014. Should he win the race Campos will not only return LGBTQ leadership from San Francisco to the Legislature’s lower chamber, he will be the first Latino assemblymember from the city.

“The voters of District 8 should expect a whole lot of campaigning in the next few months and a lot of knocking on their doors,” said gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who is personally backing Campos in the Assembly race.

As of now, Mandelman told the B.A.R. he doubts most residents realize there is a special election for the Assembly seat. Nor should anyone think that LGBTQ voters would all cast their ballots for Campos, Mandelman added, because he is the only LGBTQ candidate running.

“I am not sure people even know there is a race,” he said. “I think LGBT people generally, in the abstract, understand the importance of queer representation in elected office. But I do think they always view every election separately and, as voters, they don’t always vote that way.”t

Biden nominates 2nd lesbian to federal bench

by Lisa Keen

P

resident Joe Biden on November 17 nominated a second lesbian to serve on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

As the Bay Area Reporter previously reported, the U.S. Senate on November 1 confirmed Biden’s first lesbian nominee to the 2nd Circuit: Beth Robinson of Vermont. The 2nd Circuit includes Vermont, New York, and Connecticut. That confirmation marked the first time an openly LGBTQ woman had been appointed to a federal appeals circuit seat.

This week, the Biden administration announced the president is nominating current U.S. District Court Judge Alison Nathan, who has served 10 years in the Southern District of New York, to the 2nd Circuit.

Courtesy NYU.edu

Federal Judge Alison Nathan has been nominated to a federal appeals court.

Nathan was an associate counsel to former President Barack Obama

and then special counsel to New York State Solicitor General Barbara Underwood. Obama named her, in 2011, to the federal district court in Manhattan. The Senate vote in 2011 was 48-44, and several of the Republicans who opposed her then are still prominent in the Senate.

Among them is Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), who said Nathan was too inexperienced (she was 39 at the time).

A native of Philadelphia, Nathan attended Cornell University for both her bachelor’s and law degrees. She clerked at the 9th Circuit and for former U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. She entered private practice with the large corporate law firm of Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale and Dorr. In 2004, she served on the campaign

of then-Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry.

According to the New York Times, Nathan has been presiding over the trial of sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein’s associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, on sex trafficking charges.

Reuters reported that the trial requires Nathan to question more than 200 prospective jurors. Epstein died by apparent suicide in 2019 while in federal custody on sex trafficking charges.

Nathan is married to a New York University Law School professor, Meg Satterthwaite, and they have two children. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-New York) recommended Nathan for the nomination.

Robinson, who is expected to be sworn in soon, was confirmed

by the Senate on a 51-45 vote. Although there was no floor debate, Republican senators posed a long series of challenging questions to the nominee through behind-thescenes questionnaires.

Among other things, they asked Robinson, “How many biological sexes do you believe there are?” and “Do you think it is appropriate for an individual to threaten a sixyear-old girl with a box cutter by telling her that he would kill her in her sleep?” In Robinson’s televised confirmation hearing, Republicans claimed the nominee exhibited “marked hostility toward religious liberty,” although they offered no evidence of such hostility.

It is not known when the Senate Judiciary Committee will take up Nathan’s nomination.t

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<< Community News

t Tenderloin Tessie serves dinner on Thanksgiving 10 • Bay Area Reporter • November 25-December 1, 2021

compiled by Cynthia Laird

Frank LGBTQ Community Center will be open on Thanksgiving for those who want to stop by. People can bring their own food or packaged food, water, or juice to share from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. November 25. The center is located at 938 The Alameda in San Jose. People should enter from the back, according to a note in its newsletter.

C

haritable nonprofit Tenderloin Tessie will serve dinner to those in need on Thanksgiving Thursday, November 25, from 1 to 4 p.m. at First Unitarian Church, 1187 Franklin Street in San Francisco.

Board President Michael Gagne told the Bay Area Reporter that there will be indoor seating for those who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. For those who are not, they will be able to sit in the outside courtyard. Tables will seat fewer people whether inside or out, he said.

In another change, volunteers will be serving lasagna and garlic bread rather than the traditional holiday fare.

Gagne said that the organization is working with the Department of Public Health and will provide the Johnson & Johnson single-dose COVID vaccine to people waiting in line if they want it. People will be required to wear masks except while eating or drinking, he said.

Tenderloin Tessie has been feeding the hungry in San Francisco for over 40 years. Last year it provided meals to-go due to the pandemic, so Gagne is pleased the event is inperson again.

Castro holiday tree, menorah events return

The Castro holiday tree lighting and menorah ceremonies will return this year, after missing 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A tree was displayed last year but without the public being invited to welcome its arrival.

The Castro Merchants Association will host the in-person tree lighting ceremony Monday, November 29, at 6 p.m. in front of Bank of America at 18th and Castro streets. In an email the merchants

Turkey Waddle Hike in Sonoma Valley

Courtesy retailcurbside.com

Tenderloin Tessie will be serving dinner to those in need on Thanksgiving.

group noted the event will bring festive flair to the neighborhood for residents and visitors alike. Special guests will be on hand as well as entertainment.

Merchants in the LGBTQ neighborhood hope for a better holiday shopping season; last year was difficult because of the stay-home order that went into effect in early December to help combat a COVID surge. This year, vaccines are widely available, and while local cases have ticked up, health officials are cautiously optimistic there won’t be another surge.

“The holiday shopping season has always been a critical time for businesses in the Castro,” Castro Merchants board President Masood Samereie stated in an email. “With so many consumers turning to online shopping during the pandemic, Castro Merchants is doing everything we can to bring foot traffic back to the neighborhood to support these businesses that were

able to weather the storm over the past two years. Bringing the famous Castro holiday tree back with a big lighting ceremony that includes Mayor London Breed, the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, San Francisco Lesbian/ Gay Freedom Band, the incomparable Donna Sachet, and many more is a great way to remind people to shop local this season.”

The San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band is the city’s official band.

Castro Merchants has no plans to install the red bows along Market Street as it has done in the past, the organization stated.

The day after the holiday tree lighting, Castro Merchants will partner with Congregation Sha’ar Zahav and the Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit District for a menorah lighting ceremony Tuesday, November 30, at 6 p.m. at Jane Warner Plaza at Castro and Market streets. (Last year’s event was similarly canceled.) There will be singing, sufganiyah (jelly donuts), and more at this lighthearted event to celebrate Hanukkah, which formally starts at sundown November 28.

DeFrank center celebrates Thanksgiving

In the South Bay, the Billy De-

Those wanting to get outside after Thanksgiving can trek through Jack London State Historic Park for the annual Turkey Waddle Hike Friday, November 26. A news release stated that “waddlers” should meet at 10 a.m. in the ranch parking lot to the right after the entrance kiosk. The 4.5-5-mile hike ends at noon.

Jack London State Historic Park is in the heart of the Sonoma Valley. It is operated and funded by Jack London Partners, a nonprofit organization that is entrusted with management of the park on behalf of the people of California. Funding is generated from visitors, annual passholders, and donors, according to the release.

The release stated the event is great for all ages. Participants should wear sturdy shoes and bring water. The hike is free with the $10 per car parking fee. The event will be canceled in the event of rain. Reservations are required and can be made at https:// bit.ly/3cqgUmW. For more information about the park, go to https:// jacklondonpark.com/.

Horizons ‘State of the Movement’ program

San Francisco-based Horizons Foundation will hold its annual “State of the Movement” program virtually on World AIDS Day Wednesday, December 1, from 5 to 6:30 p.m.

“2021 has been a year of new beginnings and continued challenges,” the foundation stated in an email announcement. “A new, more open administration took office. We saw battles waged over abortion access, transgender rights,

and the teaching of America’s racist history in classrooms. We’ve seen a major push for a federal Equality Act for LGBTQ people – and so much more. As we wrap up the year, where do we –in the LGBTQ movement – go from here?”

To help answer that question, the foundation has assembled a panel of LGBTQ leaders including Kevin Jennings, CEO of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund; Kierra Johnson, executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force; Andy Marra, executive director of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund; and Maria Sjödin, acting executive director of OutRight Action International. Roger Doughty, president of Horizons, will moderate.

The event is free. To register and submit questions, go to https://bit. ly/30K1Rm3.

East Bay relief fund will help artists

In response to the ongoing economic crisis due to the COVID pandemic, the Kenneth Rainin Foundation and Walter & Elise Haas Fund announced a second year of funding totaling $337,500 for artists and other arts and culture workers living in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

The East Bay Relief Fund for Individuals in the Arts will make grants directly to artists, teaching artists, culture bearers, and nonprofit arts workers, a news release stated. The fund will place a priority on individuals from cultural communities that are historically underserved and are particularly financially vulnerable, especially people who are Black, Indigenous, Latino/a, foreign-born immigrants, transgender people, and people with disabilities, the release noted.

The fund is administered by the Center for Cultural Innovation.

Individuals may apply once for up to $2,000. The release stated that funds are unrestricted and can be used in any way that alleviates financial hardship.

See page 11 >>

Obituaries >> Mark Richard (Rick) Ashworth aka K.C. Dare December 6, 1954 – June 17, 2020

PlanningAhead Ahead isisSimple Planning Simple The benefits are immense.

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A celebration of life gathering will take place on Sunday, December 5, from noon to 3 p.m. at 440 Castro

When in Gary Mitchell Lang advance, you can design every detail of your own unique memorial detail ofusyour owntheunique memorial andlegacy provide October 9, 1951 – October 26, 2021 Contact today about beautiful ways to create a lasting atyour theloved San Francisco Columbarium. and provide loved ones with true peace mind.

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Planning Gary Mitchprotects your loved onesProudly from unnecessary stressunnecessary and financial burden, ahead protects yourserving loved onesCommunity. from the LGBT ell Lang, 70, a San allowing them focus on whatburden, will matter most them at thattotime—you. stresstoand financial allowing Francisco graphic and industrial defocus on what will matter most at that time—you. signer and aficionaContact us today about the beautiful ways to create a lasting legacy do of the performat the San Contact FranciscousColumbarium. ing arts, died from today about the beautiful ways to create renal cancer October 26, 2021. a lasting legacy at the San Francisco Columbarium.

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ated with a degree in industrial design from Pratt Institute in 1973. He

Street to honor Rick Ashworth (K.C. Dare), who passed at age 65 on June 17, 2020. A native of Kansas City, Kansas, K.C. was a longtime resident of San Francisco since 1984 and worked as a materials assistant manager at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center and Laguna Honda Hospital. After retiring in 2011 he moved to Cathedral City, California. Active in the social and

fundraising circles of San Francisco, he was Queen I of Krewe de Kinque and Princess to the Ruby Red Heart Emperor of the Imperial Court of San Francisco. K.C.’s relatives and many friends will remember him for his compassion, generosity, and unending sense of humor.

Celebration link: www.facebook. com/events/659782502061485. Inquiries to: Gary Virginia (415) 867-5004.

moved to San Francisco in 1973 and opened his own graphic design business focusing on Bay Area performing arts groups. For 40 years he attended almost all seasons of the San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Ballet, and San Francisco Symphony.

In 1988, during the AIDS crisis he volunteered at Shanti Project where he met Adam Blum, the man who would become his husband. In 2008 they planned a commitment ceremony, which ultimately became a wedding when the timing coincided with the California Supreme Court ruling that

it was unconstitutional to deny samesex marriage.

He was an active board member of the Northern California Wagner Society for 20 years and traveled to Wagner festivals in Germany, Finland, England, and in the U.S. In 2015, Lang became director of operations of the Gay Therapy Center, the largest private provider of psychotherapy to the LGBTQ+ community. The company was founded by his husband.

In addition to his husband, Lang is survived by three brothers, six nieces, and six nephews.

he earned a master’s degree in library science. In 1972, he moved to San Francisco, where he was employed at the public library for 25 years. He was soon joined by his partner of 20 years, Matt Lowman, who died of AIDS in 1992. Upon retirement, he moved to Forestville in Sonoma County, and in 1999 met his longtime domestic partner, Rane Richardson. In 2006, they moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico; they enjoyed many years of traveling,

concert going, gardening, a wonderful life together, and so much more. Carse loved swimming. In adulthood, he often swam a mile four or five times a week, continuing until he reached age 80. Music played an important role in his life – from opera to classical to rock ’n roll to country. What a wonderful life he experienced.

Carse passed away on November 12, 2021. There will be a memorial service at a later date in San Francisco.

FD 1306 / COA 660

Carse McDaniel April 25, 1941 – November 12, 2021

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

SanFranciscoColumbarium.com FD 1306 / COA 660

Carse McDaniel was born April 25, 1941 in Shelby, North Carolina. He grew up in Ellenboro, North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina, where

t

Sports>>

November 25-December 1, 2021 • Bay Area Reporter • 11

Thank you, sports world

by Roger Brigham

Mendy (a back for Real Madrid) with news stories about unrelated Benjamin Mendy (a back for Manchester), who is awaiting trial on six counts of rape. That’s not just stupid incompetence: that’s stupid indifference.

Yet we give thanks that the European soccer federation saw fit to order Hungary to play two matches with no fans in the house after racist fan abuse during the 2020 European championship. Lest we get too excited by this indication of possible spine regeneration, we must note that this month the federation re-

duced that punishment to just one match but, hey, at least there was some gruel in the bowl. And FIFA ordered Hungary to play two World Cup qualifiers behind closed doors and barred fans of the team from an away qualifier for other incidents of racial abuse and violence.

• We also thank the NFL for leaking us so many racist, sexist, and homophobic Jon Gruden emails from years past that not only triggered his resignation as coach of the Las Vegas Raiders following public outcry over his general scumbaggery,

but also will likely produce our best chance to learn more about exactly how bad things were in the toxic workplace culture of the Washington Football Team, whose initials are appropriately an anagram for WTF. (The NFL uncovered the emails as part of a workplace misconduct investigation into former Washington president Bruce Allen.)

Not long after Gruden resigned as head coach of the Raiders, he filed a lawsuit against the NFL, saying it was targeting him by releasing his emails with the owner of the league’s D.C. franchise in a deliberate attempt to ruin his career and distract from its bungled investigation into the Washington Football Team’s workplace culture. As the suit progresses, it is likely his attorneys will subpoena other emails uncovered in the WFT investigation, then use those in his case to show that other people were writing, doing, and saying far worse things that the NFL never leaked.

Since the league concluded its investigation by issuing slap-on-thewrist sanctions and a tepid summary but never released the report of that investigation, there is the potential that the release of more emails from more individuals will reveal actions of the WFT and NFL that would make Gruden’s bigoted views seem pretty tame.

And hey, maybe that can buy a bit more justice to victims of the WFT workplace toxicity and increase pressure on the NFL to make deep changes, not just superficial, PRdriven ones.

for artists of color,” stated Ted Russell, director of arts strategy and ventures at the Rainin foundation. “While a number of funders stepped forward with support, recent research shows that only

14% of the emergency funds that were created to support artists are still active. That’s why we are urgently launching this second round of relief funding for artists.”

The application deadline is Wednesday, December 8. For eligibility criteria, other information, and to submit an application, go to https://centerforculturalinnovation.submittable.com/submit.

A

s our extended families gather together for annual (not counting pandemic social distancing breaks) feasts, carefully and respectfully divided into whatever table sections seem most appropriate – adults and kids, smoking and non-smoking, vaccinated/masked and unvaccinated/unmasked – let us bow our heads like a shot putter preparing for a throw to give silent thanks for the blessings the sports world bestowed upon us this year.

• Give thanks to the Grand Poobahs of international soccer for proving they have a third of a brain, a third of a heart, and a third of a spine among them.

Sure, we might be tempted, like Oliver Twist, to ask for more, but having witnessed wretched, corrupt ugliness running things in the beautiful sport for so many years, we’ll take what we’ve got.

After all, we realized soccer’s international governing body was spine-challenged when FIFA awarded next year’s men’s World Cup to Qatar, despite that country’s notorious history of human rights abuses and laws against homosexuality.

Weird choice for an organization that says it wants to root out discrimination in its events.

The stupidity of that move has been shown in the reluctance of major corporations to sign on to the world’s biggest sports event and growing calls for a boycott. It’s a stupidity matched only by French and British soccer news media that repeatedly have run pictures of cousins Édouard Mendy (goalkeeper for Chelsea) and Ferland

<<

News Briefs

From page 10

“The pandemic has been extremely tough on the arts community, and especially difficult

Composite illustration

The European soccer federation saw fit to order Hungary to play two matches without fans – later reduced to one match – after racist fan abuse in 2020.

Now that’s something to be thankful for.

• We are genuinely thankful that Federation of Gay Games voters chose Valencia, Spain to host the 2026 Gay Games. This would be the first time the Gay Games are held in a Spanish-speaking country. Pingponging around north European countries and former British colonies has done much to spread the Gay Games movement in those cultures, but it has left Latin America and Africa largely outside the sphere of that influence. Here’s hoping the presumptive hosts are able to focus marketing efforts in Africa, Central America, and South America to bring a more diverse, representative, and inclusive group of LGBTQ+ athletes together.

• On a most personal note, I’d like to give thanks to all of the people who have welcomed me into the sports realm the past five decades as I pursued, with widely varying success, my roles of athlete, coach, fan, supporter, organizer, official, activist, advocate, and journalist in a rainbow of disciplines.

Your support, training, and encouragement gave me the strength to survive AIDS, renal failure, and open heart surgery. In another week or so I am scheduled to have an aortic valve replacement procedure intended, knock on wood, to restore needed vitality for my efforts.

The sidelines suck. I want to be back in the arena. For that, I would be exceedingly thankful.t If people want to donate to the fund, they should contact Laura Poppiti, CCI program director, at grants@cciarts.org. Contributions are tax-deductible.t

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Your healthcare provider should do blood and urine tests to check your kidneys. If you develop new or worse kidney problems, they may tell you to stop taking BIKTARVY.  Too much lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious but rare medical emergency that can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: weakness or being more tired than usual, unusual muscle pain, being short of breath or fast breathing, stomach pain with nausea and vomiting, cold or blue hands and feet, feel dizzy or lightheaded, or a fast or abnormal heartbeat.  Severe liver problems, which in rare cases can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow, dark “tea-colored” urine, light-colored stools, loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, or stomach-area pain.  The most common side effects of BIKTARVY in clinical studies were diarrhea (6%), nausea (6%), and headache (5%).

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

HOW TO TAKE BIKTARVY Take BIKTARVY 1 time each day with or without food.

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

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

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<< Community News

14 • Bay Area Reporter • November 25-December 1, 2021

<<

Low bumped

From page 1

According to a source, Low was given no heads up about Rendon’s decision nor did he receive a courtesy call from the speaker to explain why he was being removed.

Reportedly, over the summer, Low had been approached by entities upset with Rendon’s leadership over the last two years during the COVID-19 pandemic about waging a campaign to take over the speakership position.

But Low declined their entreaties, according to the source, preferring to wait until Rendon steps down.

In the fall Low hosted a fundraiser on Rendon’s behalf that brought in $120,000.

A spokesperson for Rendon did not respond Thursday to the B.A.R.’s questions on if Low being approached this summer to take over the speakership played into his decision to remove him as chair or if the speaker is concerned his doing so could result in a vote to remove him from the Assembly’s

<<

Bathhouse

From page 1

in opening a gay bathhouse nearby at a former gym location.

But before either can open again, adult business zoning rules are going to have to be changed.

“My eyes are set on the former location of 24 Hour Fitness,” Curtis Chude, a gay man, told the Bay Area Reporter, referring to the site at 2145 Market Street between Sanchez and Church streets that permanently closed last year at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.

Chude’s revelation about a potential bathhouse comes as Eros, the Castro’s only sex club and sauna, announced it’d be moving to a location closer to downtown early next year after close to three decades in its current location. As its website states it caters to gay and bisexual men, whether they are cisgender or transgender.

Currently, Steamworks in Berkeley is the only traditional gay bathhouse open in the Bay Area. Part of a chain with locations in Chicago and Seattle, it has been open since the 1970s.

Chude, a 35-year-old IT director, told the B.A.R. that he doesn’t want to open Steamworks 2.0. There will be no gym area, he said.

“For me, it’s about bringing a mix of a Turkish bathhouse and a European bathhouse to San Francisco,” he said, adding that there will be a “sauna, Jacuzzi, and play area” as well as testing for sexually transmitted diseases.

Chude said he wants it to be “more than just a bathhouse.”

“I also want it to be a community-type place people can go to, like a place with Wi-Fi where you can sit down and meet new people,” Chude said. “That’s one aspect of this.”

Saying that he wants to “bring a luxury to it,” bathhouse patrons would be given “a nice robe and nice shoes” and would pay a monthly fee through an app.

If that location doesn’t work, Pier 1 on the Embarcadero or a warehouse elsewhere might do the trick, Chude said. Chude stated that, wherever it is, the bathhouse would “be an inclusive space,” and so “both trans men and women would be invited.”

Chude contacted gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman’s of-

<<

Political Notebook

From page 5

in California with his 1977 supervisor race victory.

“He was very gregarious,” recalled Stucky. “He was such an extraordinarily generous human being personally.”

Eventually, Stucky moved back to London and, at age 60, started an act-

manded an accounting of his actions against Low “and an explanation of how less diversity in leadership positions makes California a better place.”

The national LGBTQ Victory Institute also weighed in via a tweet from its president and CEO Annise Parker. It is affiliated with the LGBTQ Victory Fund, which endorses LGBTQ candidates, like Low, across the country.

“Speaker Rendon has the right to replace any committee chair, but he also has the responsibility to explain why... To remove Evan Low – the only out LGBTQ AAPI committee chair in the Assembly – from his position without explanation is problematic, especially with no other LGBTQ people serving as chairs,” Parker wrote. “At a time when the LGBTQ community and the AAPI community face increasing harm, we need more bold leadership like (Low’s) not less.”

OCA SACRAMENTO – Asian Pacific American Advocates said in a tweet it too was “deeply disturbed”

by Low’s removal and said it “is

t

top leadership post in the coming weeks.

A number of LGBTQ and API groups have voiced their criticisms of Rendon’s removal of Low as the committee chair. But their statements have stopped short of calling for his being removed as speaker.

Equality California, the statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization, stated Wednesday it is “deeply disappointed” that Low was removed as committee chair “without any explanation.”

It noted that “at a time when the API community faces a surge in hate, violence and discrimination, and state legislatures across the country relentlessly attack the LGBTQ+ community, Assemblymember Low has provided critical representation for our communities in Sacramento. He has chaired the B&P Committee for the last five years with policy-driven and solution-oriented leadership.”

His removal, added EQCA, “is an unfortunate example of people of color – especially API people – being sidelined from leadership roles

despite demonstrated success and a commitment to strengthening and diversifying the Legislature.”

In a series of tweets Thursday BAYMEC, the Bay Area Municipal Elections Committee that seeks to elect LGBTQ candidates and allies in the South Bay, said it was “shocked and outraged” by Rendon’s decision and said removing “the only openly LGBTQ AAPI committee chair in the Assembly is deeply troubling.”

It also demanded a response from Berman.

“Assemblymember Low’s leadership has been crucial in responding to the crisis of hate and attacks against AAPI and LGBTQ+ people.

To talk about elevating leaders that represent our communities while doing the opposite is mere lip service,” tweeted BAYMEC. “Assemblymember Low is a consistent champion for equal rights and the inclusion of all LGBTQ+ people and represents the kind of leadership we hope to see from the Democratic Party now and in the future.”

As for Rendon, BAYMEC de-

fice in June to inquire about opening an adult sex venue, according to emails obtained by the B.A.R. via a California Public Records Act request. The request asked for “any communications with would-be proprietors of a bathhouse in San Francisco between January 1, 2020 and October 18, 2021.”

Mandelman’s office responded to Chude with the minimum standards set by the San Francisco Department of Public Health for an adult sex venue that were set after the passage of an ordinance last year that as the B.A.R. reported lifted restrictions on operating a bathhouse in the city.

The city had placed these restrictions in the mid-1980s because of the AIDS epidemic. The rules required adult sex venues not have private rooms with locked doors, and mandated that patrons’ sexual acts be monitored by staff.

Due to advances in preventing HIV transmission, such as antiretroviral therapy and PrEP, Mandelman and community leaders came to see these restrictions as anachronistic and pushed for their removal. However, as the B.A.R. reported September 3, zoning restrictions on where a socalled adult business can operate have proved to be problematic for wouldbe proprietors who are now interested in the business possibilities.

There are three zoning categories: permitted, conditionally permitted, and not permitted. Conditional permission allows a business to open after a hearing and the opportunity for community feedback.

Right now, according to Mandelman aide Jacob Bintliff, a gay man and former planning department staffer, adult businesses are not permitted in the Castro.

According to a San Francisco Planning Department map, they are conditionally permitted on Market Street from Church Street to Van Ness Avenue. They are permitted at Civic Center, the Financial District, and along most of the waterfront. They are also permitted or conditionally permitted in parts of the Mission, Dogpatch, and Bayview neighborhoods.

Mandelman disclosed that in January he became aware of a wouldbe bathhouse proprietor near the leather-themed Eagle Plaza parklet in the South of Market neighborhood. Before the publication of the

Adult Businesses

September story, Mandelman’s office would not disclose to the B.A.R. who this was, and no communication regarding this location is included in the emails released as part of the Public Records Act request.

Chude told the B.A.R., “SOMA has come up, near the Eagle, but that’s one of the areas not on the map now to open something like this.” He also said that he started his inquiries in the summer, which is confirmed by the emails that’ve been released.

After the Public Records Act request, Mandelman’s office gave the B.A.R. the contact information for Chude, as well as for D. Stephen Haynes, who also reached out to Mandelman’s office over the summer regarding potentially opening a bathhouse. Haynes, who stated in a July 7 email that he is representing “a team to establish a bathhouse in San Francisco,” did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Jack Komar made an inquiry a month before; Mandelman’s office did not give the B.A.R. contact information for him.

Chude told the B.A.R. that his effort is separate from Haynes and Komar’s inquiries.

Bintliff stated to the B.A.R. that Mandelman would “like to get legislation introduced before the end of the year” to open up adult business zoning. He is currently pursuing similar legislation on bar zoning, as the B.A.R. reported.

The would-be bathhouse propri-

etors would be breathing life into a once-prominent feature of the urban gay male scene that has declined in prominence due to the AIDS crisis, the rise of hook-up apps, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Just last year, the Watergarden bathhouse in San Jose and Blow Buddies sex club in SOMA both closed.

While adult sex venues with closed doors, such as Steamworks in Berkeley, were prohibited by the city, venues where people can have sex in open spaces have opened in San Francisco. Eros at 2051 Market Street, between Church and Dolores streets, was one of those. As Broke Ass Stuart first reported, Eros has signed a lease to move “closer to downtown,” though it has not as of yet disclosed where.

Eros’ final day in the upper Market location it has occupied since 1992 will be Wednesday, December 15.

On Sunday, December 12, Eros will be hosting an open house from 6 to 9 p.m. to celebrate the business.

There people can “hear about our exciting new space opening in 2022,” according to a Facebook event page, which also states, “if you want to stay after 9, we’ll give you a towel!”

Eros co-owner Ken Rowe stated to the B.A.R. that he is working with the city on zoning rules, which will have to be approved before the new

space can open.

“We are sad to be leaving our place in the Castro for the last 30 years, but understand landlords change as do economics,” Rowe stated to the B.A.R. “We are excited to have located a great place, closer to BART and [a] nearby parking garage, in a historic building. We hope to have all the permits and approvals in place early in 2022, so there will be a hiatus. We will be busy building out the new place and building a new website, but we will be available at the same number and email to connect with the community.”

Rowe left another puzzle piece as to the new location in his statement to the B.A.R. “Instead of one Muni station away, we should only be three stations away,” he said, referring to the present location and the potential new site. Its upper Market Street location is a short walk from the subway system’s Church Station.

Rowe did not respond to a query asking about reports the new Eros location will be on Turk Street.

Rowe stated that the move is due to “a generational shift in [building] ownership, like much of the city.”

“Our landlord passed away a few years ago and the family trust that owned the building had a fiduciary agent tasked with selling it,” Rowe stated. It sold about [a] year and a half ago to a team of property investors. They have been great and supportive during the pandemic and we wish them well. Our rent was pretty low compared to some property in the area, and they do need to cover their investments. We weren’t able to consider the higher rate, but we were able to get an extension till now at our old rate.”

In spite of the move, Rowe wants the club to continue as a Castro institution.

“We hoped to stay in the immediate area and had assistance from Supervisor Mandelman and his great staff. ... We tried to see a number of properties in the Castro, but could only view those that were interested in us as tenants,” Rowe stated. “We aren’t leaving the Castro, since we hope to be more involved in the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District, Castro Street Fair, and support all our friends and family that reside and visit the area.”t

ing career. He has appeared in several movies, “a lot of fringe theaters,” he joked, and Duane Mazey’s one-man play about Mark Twain, which Dale Schierholt turned into a short film that can be seen at https://daleschierholt.com/twain-at-70 Thinking back to the night of the riots, Stucky told the B.A.R. it was a “line-in-the-sand moment” for those who were there signaling

they weren’t going to be treated as second-class citizens any longer.

“We did think we were changing the world and thought we would succeed because we had justice and love on our side. It was very hard to think we wouldn’t succeed,” he said.

“Why that night was so profoundly unsettling and moving is because we didn’t believe we would lose.”

This year’s annual Milk-Moscone

vigil will begin at 7 p.m. Saturday, November 27, at Harvey Milk Plaza above the Castro Muni station at the corner of Castro and Market streets.

Organizers invite the public “to remember two icons of San Francisco and to make their vision of a city of hope come alive.”

For more information about the event, visit https://www.facebook. com/events/636355014040966t

Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion, will return Monday, December 6.

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

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

Permitted Conditional Use Permit Required Not Permitted Redevelopment Areas

$ 0 0.25 0.5

1 Mile

Courtesy SF Planning Department 13 January, 2021

A San Francisco Planning Department map shows that adult businesses are prohibited in much of the city.

Eros moving closer to downtown

counter to California’s commitment to equity.”

A spokesperson for the Victory Institute did not respond to the B.A.R.’s query on if it supported seeing Rendon be removed as speaker. Samuel Garrett-Pate, EQCA’s managing director of external affairs, demurred when asked by the B.A.R. the same question. As for if Rendon’s decision would play into EQCA’s endorsement process next year when it reviews supporting non-LGBTQ members of the Legislature seeking reelection, he said it would be up to EQCA’s political action committee to decide.

“As you know, we have lots of factors we look at it,” said Garrett-Pate.

The Sacramento Bee first reported about Low being stripped of his chairmanship. His being removed means he no longer chairs any committees, as per Assembly rules its members are only given one chairmanship per legislative session. Low remains a member of the communications and conveyance; elections; governmental organization; and higher education committees.t

t <<

From the Cover>>

World AIDS Day

From page 1

and performances,” according to the caretakers of the grove. Kevin Herglotz, the chief operating officer of the AIDS grove, told the B.A.R. that “we were planning to do everything in the tent at the grove,” like in prior years, “but then we pivoted” after the rise of the Delta variant of COVID-19 in the summer. There were no in-person events during World AIDS Day 2020 due to COVID. “As a virus-based organization, it’s critical we ensure the safety of our stakeholders,” John Cunningham, a gay man who is the CEO of the AIDS grove, told the B.A.R. “What we’re also doing is we will have Light in the Grove illuminated for the community writ-large.”

What Cunningham is referring to is a free, public display of the lighting being set up for Light in the Grove that will begin the next day at 4:30 p.m.

“The public is invited to stroll through the beautifully lit memorial grove, experience a candlelight reflection in the Circle of Friends, and watch the traditional reading of the newly engraved names added to the memorial and stitched into new panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt,” the release states.

The reading of the names the night of December 1 will be livestreamed, Herglotz said, with Cunningham adding that “this year, as opposed to last year where everything was 100% virtual, will be a bit of a hybrid.”

Therefore, the in-person events will be supplemented by a World AIDS Day Virtual National Observance.

This event will begin at 8:30 a.m. Pacific Time at https://www.aidsmemorial.org/, and will include “a series of conversations with national leaders on important topics about HIV/AIDS and health and social justice.”

Among these leaders are Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser

to President Joe Biden; White House National AIDS Policy Director Harold Phillips; U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock (D-Georgia); Congressmember Barbara Lee (D-Oakland); NMAC (formerly National Minority AIDS Council) Executive Director Paul Kawata; “Pose” co-creator and executive producer Steven Canals; “Pose” co-executive producer Our Lady J; Black AIDS Institute interim CEO Toni Newman; National Hemophilia Foundation President and CEO Dr. Leonard Valentino; and COVID-19 National Mall Installation curator Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg.

Firstenberg back in September installed over 660,000 miniature white flags on the National Mall to commemorate those lost to COVID. It was reminiscent of the displays of the AIDS quilt that have taken place on the Mall and was recently replicated in Foster City.

Conversations during the virtual program will include a look at the state of HIV and AIDS four decades into the epidemic and how the show “Pose” impacted viewers’ thinking about the disease through its storytelling. Other panels will examine how HIV/AIDS has impacted the Black community, youth, older adults, and hemophilia survivors, while another will discuss how AIDS memorials like the grove have helped the country heal.

“This year’s World AIDS Day observance will inspire people young and old, as we remember those we’ve lost, provoke thoughtful conversations about health and social justice, and bring hope to our nation with light and reflection,” Cunningham stated. “As we look back at the past four decades, while there has been tremendous progress, it is time as a nation to come together and finally find a cure.”

Other SF events

The San Francisco AIDS Foundation will be holding a march and candlelight vigil in front of City Hall

November 25-December 1, 2021 • Bay Area Reporter • 15

Rick Gerharter

Michael Kerner, a volunteer at the Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy, took advantage of the curve of the sidewalk at Castro and 18th streets to commemorate World AIDS Day for the Inscribe project in 2016.

at 4 p.m. December 1.

“We will have a series of speakers to lift up the voices of people living with HIV and to visibilize the challenges our communities still face 40 years after the onset of the HIV/AIDS epidemic including a lack of HIV and aging services, housing insecurity, the overdose crisis, racism, transphobia, sexism and more,” AIDS foundation senior community mobilization manager Ande Stone stated. “You’re welcome to bring photos of loved ones you’d like to remember. We’ll provide candles and signs.”

Though this is an outdoor event, all participants are asked to wear a mask. Event organizers will provide masks to anyone without one.

Inscribe, a sidewalk art event, will be held on the 400 and 500 blocks of Castro Street from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

December 1 for the seventh consecutive year.

“Inscribe honors the millions of people who died of AIDS globally, and it pays a special tribute to the men and women who died of AIDS that called the Castro home,” according to a statement from the Castro Merchants Association. “At 9 a.m., Inscribe will strategically place containers of chalk on the sidewalks on both sides of Castro Street.

Throughout the day, they will watch

for anything inappropriate, like graffiti that has nothing to do with Inscribe, and they will remove it. At 9 p.m. Inscribe ends, and they will remove the containers of chalk. As in times past, the sidewalks are left with a patchwork of names and colorful sidewalk chalk art.”

NOV 04, 11, 18, 25, 2021

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF GARY HOIUM IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO: FILE PES-21-304904

Bay Area events

On the Peninsula, CoastPride Inc. will be displaying a panel of the AIDS memorial quilt “with a local connection” at the organization’s center at 711 Main Street in Half Moon Bay. “CoastPride supporter and local business owner Christopher Childers will be there in person November 29 and 30 to share a first-hand perspective of the early AIDS epidemic and present a video interview with his sister, Soozi Childers, who designed the personal quilt panel,” a CoastPride news release states.

“Also, to honor his commitment to AIDS advocacy, we have created a display of the T-shirt and memorabilia collection of the late Dr. Alvan E. Fisher, who in 1983 treated the first Rhode Islander diagnosed with AIDS, going on to become a pioneer in the treatment of people with the disease. Dr. Fisher’s wife, Pamela Fisher, will be there in person on

December 1 to share her experience during those days.”

Vintage T-shirts, posters, and hats will be available to purchase with a $35 or more donation per item.

There’s a limited quantity and items cannot be released until December 3, after the exhibit ends December 3.

The panel and T-shirt and memorabilia collections will be displayed beginning Monday, November 29, through Thursday, December 2.

In the South Bay, the San Jose City Hall rotunda will be lit for World AIDS Day from November 30 through Monday, December 6.

That first day there will also be a proclamation at the San Jose City Council at 1:30 p.m. by Councilmember Raul Peralez, who represents downtown. The proclamation will be livestreamed.

The next day, December 1, at 1 p.m. will be a flag-raising ceremony at 70 W. Hedding Street at McEntee Plaza.

This event will also be livestreamed and will feature speakers from the Santa Clara County Department of Public Health’s STD/HIV prevention and control program.

Rounding out the commemorations in the heart of Silicon Valley will be a candlelight vigil at San Jose City Hall December 1 at 6 p.m., hosted by Nicole Altamirano of Silicon Valley Pride. This event will be livestreamed on the Facebook and YouTube pages of the Pride organization.

In the East Bay, the Rainbow Community Center of Contra Costa County will be holding a vigil December 1 at 6 p.m. at gay dance bar Club 1220, located at 1220 Pine Street in Walnut Creek. On the event’s Facebook page, people are asked to bring a candle if possible.

People who want to volunteer are asked to contact the center.

In the North Bay, there will be “food, a speaker, a memorial tree, and the AIDS quilt” at an event December 1 at 5 p.m. at 150 Nellen Avenue in Corte Madera. This event is being hosted by the Spahr Center and the Marin County Care Council.t

Legals>> ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-21-556698

In the matter of the application of CHERRY MARY SHEEDY, 391 ELLIS ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner CHERRY MARY SHEEDY is requesting that the name CHERRY MARY SHEEDY be changed to SHANNON MARY OBERPRILLER. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N on the 9th of DECEMBER 2021 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

NOV 04, 11, 18, 25, 2021

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-21-556577

In the matter of the application of SLAWOMIR MACIEJ LIGUS, 875 VERMONT ST #101, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner SLAWOMIR MACIEJ LIGUS is requesting that the name SLAWOMIR MACIEJ LIGUS be changed to OOZIE LIGUS. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N on the 11th of JANUARY 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

NOV 04, 11, 18, 25, 2021

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-21-556718

In the matter of the application of RALEIGHA SAMUELLA GARCIA, 750 HARRISON ST #804, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner RALEIGHA SAMUELLA GARCIA is requesting that the name RALEIGHA SAMUELLA GARCIA be changed to MARICELLA SAMANTHA MAXWELL. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Rm. 103 on the 16th of DECEMBER 2021 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

NOV 04, 11, 18, 25, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039522700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as G AND G CUSTOM ART AND STUDIO, 437 CAMPBELL AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed GUILLERMO FLAMENCO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/01/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/19/21.

NOV 04, 11, 18, 25, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039526100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as 380; FREE PRESS MUSIC, 850 OAK ST #5, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CHRISTIE HARBINSKI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business

under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/14/15. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/25/21.

NOV 04, 11, 18, 25, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039527300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as LADIES FIRST NAILS, 601 TARAVAL ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed THOA THI NGUYEN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/14/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/26/21.

NOV 04, 11, 18, 25, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039531600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as E YE’S PLUMBING, 335 VERNON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94132. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed EUGENE JIAN WEI YE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/29/21.

NOV 04, 11, 18, 25, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039527100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as VALE JUICE CO., 2769 BRYANT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DOMINIC ALLING. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/28/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/26/21.

NOV 04, 11, 18, 25, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-093527400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as BSR EATS, 50 CLEMENT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BSR EATS INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/20.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/26/21.

NOV 04, 11, 18, 25, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039529700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as MARKIEDOODLE, 273 SUSSEX ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed STARFISH LIBERATION ARMY (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/28/21.

NOV 04, 11, 18, 25, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039525700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as GURUNG KITCHEN, 1033 IRVING ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SOLTI RESTAURANT INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/25/21.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039532800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as THE G SPA, 490 POST ST #1703, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed OFFICE MD (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/01/21.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/01/21.

NOV 04, 11, 18, 25, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039512300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as D&R KITCHEN, 2368 3RD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed MERAKII MANAGEMENT LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/28/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/06/21.

NOV 04, 11, 18, 25, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039524900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as NUEVO ARGENT, 5880 3RD ST #517, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed DNAP LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/11/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/22/21.

NOV 04, 11, 18, 25, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039518900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as HEY BEAUTIFUL, 2500 POLK ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed HEY BEAUTIFUL LCC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/01/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/14/21.

NOV 04, 11, 18, 25, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039534400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as ALLUVIUM ESTATE, 201 MISSION ST #2350, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed VIGNA DEI GATTI PARTNERS LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/04/18. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/02/21.

NOV 04, 11, 18, 25, 2021

STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-039209100

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as THE NAIL PLACE, 2500 POLK ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109.

This business was conducted by an individual and signed by NGOC TUYET THUY TRAN. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/01/20.

NOV 04, 11, 18, 25, 2021

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of GARY HOIUM AKA GARY ROBERT HOIUM, C/O DIANE KAER, KAER LAW PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION, 14665 GALAXIE AVE #120, APPLE VALLEY, MN 55124. A Petition for Probate has been filed by BARBARA J. KEREAKOS in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. The Petition for Probate requests that BARBARA J. KEREAKOS be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. The petition requests the decedent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court. The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority. A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: December 01, 2021, 9:00 am, Rm. 204, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. If you object to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.

If you are a creditor or contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the latter of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined by section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.

You may examine the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for petitioner: DIANE KAER, KAER LAW PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION, 14665 GALAXIE AVE #120, APPLE VALLEY, MN 55124; Ph. (952) 432-4131.

NOV 11, 18, 25, 2021

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

In the matter of the application of HANH THI MY NGUYEN, 344 HOLLOWAY AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner HANH THI MY NGUYEN is requesting that the name HANH THI MY NGUYEN be changed to ARIEL HANH NGUYEN. Now therefore, it

is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Rm. 103N on the 16th of DECEMBER 2021 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

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

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

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039533000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as K3 FIRST AID AND CPR SERVICES, 1029 KEYS AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KURA COHEN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/01/21.

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039535800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as HOLISTIC PSYCHIC THERAPY, 631 HAIGHT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LORETTA TENNIS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/02/21.

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039531900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as BINGO TRAVEL, 937 HAIGHT ST #1, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JOPHIE LEUNG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/16/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/29/21.

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039526500

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

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039539500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as

<< Legals

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

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

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039532100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as CASTILLO VALTIERRA & ASSOCIATES, 1284 S VAN NESS AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ANTHONY VALTIERRA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT NOTICE TO PROPOSERS - GENERAL INFORMATION STRATEGIC ADVISING AND PROGRAM MANAGEMENT SERVICES (ROUND 2) FOR BART’S LINK21 (NEW TRANSBAY RAIL CROSSING) PROGRAM RFP NO. 6M6155 The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (“BART” or “District”) intends to engage the services of a consulting firm or joint venture (“CONSULTANT”) to provide Strategic Advising and Program Management services for BART’s Link21 Program.

Accordingly, BART is now accepting proposals (“Proposals”) from proposers (“Proposers”) for consideration for the selection of a CONSULTANT to perform the scope of services specified in this Request for Proposals (“RFP”).

Proposals must be received by BART by 2:00 PM local time on Tuesday, January 11, 2022. Proposals shall be submitted to the following address: District Secretary’s Office San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District 2150 Webster Street, 10th Floor Oakland, CA 94612 REQUIRED REGISTRATION ON THE BART PROCUREMENT PORTAL In order for prospective Proposers to be eligible for award of an Agreement being solicited on the BART Procurement Portal, such Proposers are required to be currently registered to do business with BART on the BART Procurement Portal on line at https://suppliers.bart.gov and have obtained Solicitation Documents, updates, and any Addenda issued online so as to be added to the Online Planholders List for this solicitation.

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

PROPOSERS WHO HAVE NOT REGISTERED ON THE BART PROCUREMENT PORTAL PRIOR TO SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL, (OR FOR A JOINT VENTURE OR PARTNERSHIP AS DESCRIBED ABOVE PRIOR TO AWARD) AND DID NOT DOWNLOAD THE SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS FOR THIS SOLICITATION ONLINE SO AS TO BE LISTED AS AN ONLINE PLANHOLDER FOR THIS SOLICITATION, WILL NOT BE ELIGIBLE FOR AWARD OF THIS AGREEMENT. PRE-PROPOSAL MEETING and NETWORKING SESSION A Pre-Proposal Meeting will be held on December 7, 2021. The Pre-Proposal Meeting will convene at 1:00 p.m. local time via Zoom Presentation. All interested parties must RSVP via email to: eelking@bart.gov in order to participate in this Pre-Proposal Meeting. The email subject must include “RFP 6M6155”.

Instructions on attending the Zoom Presentation will be emailed upon receipt of RSVP. At the Pre-Proposal Meeting, the District’s Equity Program(s) will be explained.

Prospective Proposers are requested to make every effort to participate in this only scheduled Pre-Proposal Meeting and Networking Session.

NETWORKING SESSION: On a separate date from the Pre-Proposal Meeting referenced above, the District’s Office of Rights will be facilitating a teleconference Networking Session for interested firms to meet with Potential Primes for subcontracting opportunities. The Networking Session will last for 8 hours (cumulatively) and interested firms will be given 5-minute time slots to introduce themselves to the participating potential Primes. The date of the Networking Session and participating Primes’ RSVP contact information can be found in BART’s Procurement Portal under the applicable RFP. Interested firms are requested to RSVP directly with participating potential Primes.

Additionally, each participating potential Prime will present a Networking Session RSVP schedule to the District for confirmation prior to the Networking Session.

Firms interested in participating in the Networking Session as a potential Prime are advised to contact Fei Liu, Office of Civil Rights, via email at fliu@bart.gov. /S/ John Mazza John Mazza, Director of Procurement 11/25/21 CNS-3530680# BAY AREA REPORTER

business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/29/21.

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039534700

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

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

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

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039534100

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

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

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039536700

FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed VILMA ANG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/12/21.

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

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

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039547500

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

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039542800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as FROME, 2298 PACIFIC AVE #1S, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KACY CATHERINE DAPP. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/09/21.

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

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

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039548900

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039541400

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

The following person(s) is/are doing business as NAMASTE SF INDIAN CUISINE, 1968 LOMBARD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed NAMASTE SF INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/08/21.

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039534000

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

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039534900

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

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039549000

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

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039545700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as ALMADURA, 1022 BUSH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed CHARLIE’S EATS AND DINING INCORPORATED (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/10/21.

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039547400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as RAVENPICTURES PHOTOGRAPHIC LLC, 630 EDINBURGH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed RAVENPICTURES PHOTOGRAPHIC LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/02/21.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as OPERATION ELF, BAY AREA, 915 NAPLES ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed CARING HEROES, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/12/21.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039538900

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039545600

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

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

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

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

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039546100

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

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

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

The following person(s) is/are doing business as PROTOFY, 130 COLLINS ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed FY768 LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/10/21.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039529800

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039548700

NOV 11, 18, 25, DEC 02, 2021

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

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039543400

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

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039545300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as KEY MAN, 916 CLEMENT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed EKATERINA ZHULANOVA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/10/21.

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039544100

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

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039546800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as VMEI1.COM, 625 LEAVENWORTH ST #302, SAN

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

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

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

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

NOV 18, 25, DEC 02, 09, 2021

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

In the matter of the application of MARGARET SEVERANCE MUNN, 1315 4TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner MARGARET SEVERANCE MUNN is requesting that the name MARGARET SEVERANCE MUNN be changed to MARIC SEVERANCE MUNN. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N on the 30th of DECEMBER 2021 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

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

In the matter of the application of ALEJANDRO ALEGRE MENDEZ, 3018 MISSION ST #23, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner ALEJANDRO ALEGRE MENDEZ is requesting that the name ALEJANDRO

t

ALEGRE MENDEZ AKA ALEX MENDEZ AKA ALEJANDRO A. MENDEZ be changed to ALEJANDRO ALEGRE MENDEZ. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Rm. 103N on the 30th of DECEMBER 2021 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

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

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

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039535300

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

In the matter of the application of MINHO LEE, 1330 BUSH ST #2D, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner MINHO LEE is requesting that the name MINHO LEE be changed to NATHAN VINCENT MINHO LEE. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N on the 30th of DECEMBER 2021 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

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

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039547800

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

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039553500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as SPARKS REMIT, 953 MISSION ST #108, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LOIDA I. FALCIS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/11/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/18/21.

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039539600

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

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

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

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039535400

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

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

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

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

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039550200

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

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039554000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as THE MOCHI DONUT SHOP, 2126 IRVING ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed IRVING ENTERPRISES LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/18/21.

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039526900

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

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

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039527000

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

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039527900

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

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039534500

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

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039535000

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

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039535100

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

NOV 25, DEC 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039535200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as SAN FRANCISCO OTOLARYNGOLOGY

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415.821.1792

by Gregg Shapiro

S

ome of us first fell in love with Michael Urie when he played the lead character in Brian Sloan’s movie adaptation of his play WTC View, about a gay man’s search for a roommate in the wake of 9/11.

Many others first laid eyes on him in the popular ABC sitcom Ugly Betty in which he played Marc, the put-upon assistant to fashion magazine creative director Wilhelmina (Vanessa Williams). More recently, Urie could be seen on Broadway in the Torch Song Trilogy revival as well as alongside Udo Kier in gay filmmaker Todd Stephens’ acclaimed 2021 movie Swan Song.

In December, Urie stars as Peter, the romantic lead in Netflix’s entry in the gay holiday movie Single All the Way. Michael was gracious enough to answer a few questions about movie before its premiere.

Gregg Shapiro: I’d like to begin by apologizing for asking the most obvious question first, but what was it about Peter that made you want to play him in Single All the Way? Michael Urie: As soon as I read the script, I was completely charmed and delighted by it. I’m a big fan of Christmas movies, and I actually knew the writer, Chad Hodge, a little bit. I’d seen his TV shows and we knew each other socially.

So, I was excited to read it, and then I found it so charming, really funny, and also very romantic. Every time I read it, I would get choked up and laugh out loud. But I think specifically the role of Peter was really enticing to me because his problem was not being gay.

Michael Urie

The ‘Single’ sensation on his new holigay film Philemon Chambers and Michael Urie in Single All the Way

It wasn’t about coming out. It wasn’t about any kind of shame or any kind of trauma or any kind of homophobia. His problem was the same kind of problem that straight people have in Christmas movies. And I really liked that, I really appreciated that, because it’s still extremely gay and [laughs] as somebody who plays a lot of gay characters and is in a lot of gay projects, it was really meaningful to me to be in a project where the joy and the love and the comedy came not out of overcoming anything or hiding from anything, but from other normal ways. His conflicts are not unlike the conflicts of any old straight person.

mantic. I loved Christmas when I was a kid.

I loved the presents, I loved not having to go to school.

Then when I left home and was single, I lost interest in Christmas. It seemed like a chore to me to have to get presents and tell people what I wanted. Then I met my partner, Ryan Spahn, and he comes from a family that loves Christmas. My family does, too, but his family really loves Christmas. And he loves Christmas.

Speaking of romance, in Single All the Way you are playing a romantic leading man. What are the rewards, aside from having Philemon Chambers and Luke Macfarlane as your love interests, and challenges of such a part?

Playing the romantic leading man is great because you have most of the lines [laughs], and you’re the guy with the problem. What’s also great about doing it in a movie is that when you’re prepping a movie, at least in my

As winter holidays go, where does Christmas fall on your list of favorites?

Oh, I love Christmas! Of that season, I would much rather make a to-do for Christmas than, say, Thanksgiving or even Valentine’s Day. I mean I love Valentine’s Day and Thanksgiving, but Christmas is also very ro-

experience…I haven’t done that many movies that I’m in all the way through. I’ve done a few movies that I was a lead of, and I had lots of scenes. But you don’t shoot in order, and if you’re a supporting character you only come in and out.

But when you’re the lead, when it’s your story, as you’re preparing it, you can really get a sense of the whole thing. So, I read the whole script. I wouldn’t just jump around to my scenes, because I was in almost every scene. So, I got a real sense of the arc and it made shooting it so much easier, actually.

Single All the Way is the second 2021 movie, along with Swan Song, in which both you and Jennifer Coolidge appear. In Single All the Way you get to have considerable screen time with Jennifer. What was that experience like for you?

See page 23 >>

A Christmas Carol on Air American Conservatory Theatre’s annual popular performances of Carey Perloff and Paul Walsh’s stage adaptation of the classic Charles Dickens short story is this year a radio play. Dec. 5-31. www.act-sf.org

Holigay events

Choral, cabaret, comedy, and more December fun

San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus Holiday Concerts Members of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus will perform ‘Holigays Are Here Again,’ with fun seasonal songs and sketches.

Special guests include cellist Andres Vera, soloist Marcus J. Paige and nine-year-old drummer Enrique Carreon. Dec. 10, 8pm; Dec. 11, 3pm & 7:30pm. Sydney Goldstein Theater, 275 Hayes. $25-110. Also join the Chorus on December 24 at 5, 7 and 9pm at the beautiful Castro Theater, 429 Castro for Home for the Holidays. $35-45. 429 Castro St. www.sfgmc.org

Nightlife & Cabaret The Golden Girls Live

I

t’s the most wonderful time of the year, and now that the Bay Area has reopened, there’s plenty to do in December. Here are several ways you can celebrate and have a joyous holiday.

Theater, Dance & Music

The Golden Girls Live: The Christmas Episodes Those sassy retired Florida gals are back, live on stage at the Victoria Theater. Brought to you by four legendary drag queens, Blanche (Matthew Martin), Dorothy (Heklina), Rose (D’Arcy Drollinger), and Sophia (Holotta Tymes) will parody two hilarious Christmas episodes of the legendary TV show. $30-60.

Nov. 26-Dec. 23. Victoria Theatre, 2961 16th St. www.sfoasis.com Help is On the Way For the Holidays Gay funnyman Bruce Vilanch, cabaret legend Sharon McNight, Shawn Ryan (possibly donning his Christmas tree outfit?), Leanne Borghesi, Paula West, Steve Knill will take

to the stage. It’s the latest holiday fundraiser from the Richmond/Ermet Aid Foundation, this year benefiting Project Open Hand. Silent auction in the lobby starting at 6pm. $452500. Dec. 5, 7:30pm at Brava Theater Center, 2781 24th St. www.reaf-sf.org

all ages. $23-$45. Dec 4-19, Cowell Theater, Fort Mason, 2 Marina Blvd. www.mfdpsf.org/ nutcracker-sweets San Francisco Ballet’s Nutcracker Helgi Tomasson’s dazzling San Franciscoinspired production is accompanied by a brilliant live orchestra performing Tchaikovsky’s beloved score. $19-$325. Dec. 10-30 at the War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave. www.sfballet.org

Mark Foehringer’s Nutcracker Sweets The unique 50-minute version of The Nutcracker, specifically designed for families with young children, is a treat for people of

Steven Underhill

By David-Elijah Nahmod

Brüt SF

Mango at El Rio

Brüt SF The Xmas edition of the popular circuit party for men should be up to its cruisy sexy reputation, with DJs Tedd Patterson and Dan Darlington. $25-$35. Dec. 10 at Great Northern, 119 Utah St. www.thegreatnorthernsf.com Ginger Minj’s Winter Wonderland Tour Join Drag Race’s Ginger Minj and her bestie Gidget Galore for a non-denominational musical romp through the holidays. Experience See page 18 >>

<< Dance

18 • Bay Area Reporter • November 24-December 1, 2021

Veteran dancer Brian Fisher’s new steps

by Philip Mayard

F

ew careers are more taxing than that of a professional dancer. A 2020 study conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor found that professional dancing ranked number one on their list of the twenty most physically demanding jobs, outpacing oil derrick operators, steel workers and commercial divers.

So it’s not surprising that the average dancer’s professional career typically ends around age 35. But thankfully, Brian Fisher’s life didn’t work out that way. With a dance resumé spanning an astounding 40 years, 2021 marks the first year since the early 1980s that Fisher hasn’t been on stage. Having originated and performed the role of Drosselmeyer in Mark Foehringer’s Nutcracker Sweets for the past thirteen years –never once missing a show– this December, Fisher will step down as a performer to serve as the production’s Artistic Associate and Rehearsal Director.

When he moved to San Francisco in 1991, Fisher was 30 and planning for retirement. He had already achieved considerable success, performing on Broadway in La Cage Aux Folles and touring with The

Music Man and The Wizard of Oz. But personally, he was struggling with the grueling life of a dancer in New York City during the tumultuous first decade of the AIDS crisis.

“When I moved to New York in 1981, it was the year that first article came out in The New York Times about ‘the gay cancer,’ Fisher recalled in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter. “So there was always this terror weighing on you, on top of being in such a competitive field. You’re going to auditions and seeing many of the same dancers every time, then there were people you suddenly wouldn’t see.

And you were just hoping, hoping, they had gotten work and they would come back. But you knew that they were probably not going to come back ever again.”

In 1985, Fisher met his life partner Kevin Paulson; the couple moved to the Bay Area in 1991 when a friend of Paulson’s offered him a job at a tech start-up. Fisher says, “I was becoming increasingly unhappy in New York and I knew a little bit about San Francisco from being on tour, so I was ready. I honestly thought I would retire from dancing when we moved.”

Fisher’s first job in the Bay Area

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was working at a dancewear store in Berkeley.

“I had always loved taking ballet class, so I decided to take few classes nearby at Berkeley Ballet Theater and well, they offered me a guest artist job. The next year I joined ODC Dance/San Francisco.”

California dance

From there, the next chapter of Fisher’s dance career took off and didn’t let up for three decades.

“Once I was in ODC, I had the great fortune of never having to audition for another dance company again,” he said. “People from companies would call me and want to work with me. I know how lucky I was to land that job at ODC, and honestly, I never thought I was good enough to be in that company, so I just kept working really, really hard to be better.”

Fisher’s resumé includes 20 years with Berkeley Ballet Theater, 24 years with Mark Foehringer Dance Project SF (as a founding member), 15 years with ODC/San Francisco, numerous productions with Sean Dorsey Dance, Man Dance and many others. He’s also taught at the San Francisco Ballet School, ODC and San Francisco Dance Center.

Paulson has worked for the San Francisco Sheriff ’s Department since 1992, and he’s made a name for himself as a writer.

He’s authored two books and, in recent years, he’s penned a popular column for the San Francisco Chronicle, in which he often writes candidly about the triumphs and challenges of his life with Brian and their two teenage sons.

Unfortunately, life took a frightening turn for the Fisher-Paulson family this past summer. Following an exam for what Fisher thought was a foot infection, an ultrasound showed a blockage in his leg, cut-

ting off the flow of blood to his foot. Doctors prepared him for the possibility of a foot amputation.

Ultimately Fisher lost only his big toe, but for a lifelong dancer, it was a devastating loss.

“When I got out, I was limited to moving around in my chair for a while,” Fisher said. “That was hard.

For forty years I danced; that was my life and my livelihood. It could have been so much worse, but my natural impatience made me a little crazy.

I’m so grateful to the doctors and nurses, and Kevin needs to be beatified. And the local dance community came together and sent us meals for a month. People I had never even worked with stepped up and took care of us. It was just extraordinary.”

Now, as the Mark Foehringer company prepares to bring Nutcracker Sweets – their kid-friendly, 50-minute retelling of the holiday classic – back to the stage for live in-person performances, Fisher is ready and excited to pass the Dros-

Shawn Ryan at a recent Help is On the Way For the Holidays concert.

San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus

Brian Fisher as Drosselmeyer in Mark Foehringer’s Nutcracker Sweets

selmeyer torch on to a new dancer, saying, “I’m the only person who’s ever danced that role. I’m excited to see what Carlos [Venturo] brings to the character. I don’t want him to imitate me, I want to see who his Drosselmeyer is going to be.”

About Nutcracker Sweets, Fisher said, “It’s really special because it is truly made for younger audiences.

There is wonderful live music by an orchestra, and at the Cowell Theater you can be so close to your audience, you really see and feel what they are experiencing. They talk to us on stage! Every year, I can hear a little boy or girl say, ‘Is he really dead?’ and I just want to say, ‘No, just wait a minute, he’s coming back to life!’ They’re just so sweet and earnest.”t Mark Foehringer’s Nutcracker Sweets, December 4-19, at the Cowell Theater at Fort Mason Center, 2 Marina Blvd. $23-$45. (415) 3457575 www.nutcrackersweets.org

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Holigay events

From page 17

all of the nostalgic, wintry and cozy feels as they create magic on-stage. $30. Dec. 6 & 7 at 7pm at Oasis, 298 11th Street. $30. www.sfoasis.com

Professional headshots / profile pics Weddings / Events

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San Francisco Krampus Pageant Join the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence for the scary side of Christmas. Enjoy a pageant where the naughty creatures of San Francisco will parade before a panel of judges for a chance to be crowned the Krampus of 2021. The winner will receive a special effects makeup gift from Kryolan Cosmetics.

Proceeds benefit True Colors United, Cyndi Lauper’s organization which seeks to end homelessness among LGBTQ youth. $10-20 donation. Dec. 4, 3pm-7pm, El Rio, 3158 Mission. www.elriosf.com Jackie Beat: Under the Tree Join the undisputed queen of crass Christmas Carols for her nativity-knockin’, Santa smackin’, menorah manglin’ live holiday show.

Jackie promises to stuff your stocking with a delightfully deranged mix of her classless classics, plus some brand new material. $25-50 Dec. 17, 7pm at Oasis.

Also at Oasis, RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 5 and Allstars Season 2 winner Alaska Thunderfuck and musician Jeremy Mikush bring you an evening of entertainment celebrating the winter season. Dec. 22, 7pm. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com Katya: A Holiday Spectacular Party with Countess Katya Smirnoff-Skyy as she offers a night of stories, songs, and strong cocktails sure to make the Yuletide gay! The vodka will flow, the band will play and gifts will be given. Expect to hear everything from classic holiday tunes to Disco Klezmer. $65. Dec. 17 and 18 at 8pm, Feinstein’s at the Nikko, 222 Mason. www.feinsteinssf.com

Franc D’Ambrosio’s Christmas in New York The star of the long-running San Francisco production of The Phantom of the Opera will “Ring Those Christmas Bells” while performing his own special version of “Jingle Bells” and “Silver Bells,” and then invite you to imagine peeking into New York’s iconic window displays

Katya Smirnoff-Skyy

See page 19 >>

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Film>>

November 24-December 1, 2021 • Bay Area Reporter • 19

Fashion’s fall Lady Gaga leads ‘House of Gucci’s scene-stealing cast

ion empire from the Gucci family.

Patrizia, slowly engulfed in a raging madness, concocts a ruinous, murderous retribution.

Godfather figures

The cast of House of Gucci

by Brian Bromberger

“H

appy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,” wrote Leo Tolstoy in Anna Karenina, though even he might have been shocked by the antics of the Guccis. The Italian fashion dynasty are the stars of the new Ridley Scott film House of Gucci, based on the Sara Gay Forden nonfiction book. Heralded potentially as one of the best movies of 2021, it is decidedly not that, though neither is it a disaster.

Envisioning itself as a baroque Italian opera, it instead resembles a trashy tabloid soap akin to Dynasty in the 1980s, produced on a gorgeous elegant visual canvas with flashy costumes. The Gucci story is one of glitz, glamour, greed, and intrigue, a chronicle of the rise, decline, and near miraculous resurgence of the multi-generational Italian luxury label. The film is a wild adventure reflecting the tempera-

mental roller coaster of its subjects, that manages to be entertaining for two-thirds of its far too-lengthy 2-hour 38-minute run time.

Famiglia fatale

The story begins in the late 1970s when the beautiful, aggressive, and ambitious Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga) seduces the nerdy Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), scion of father Rodolfo (Jeremy Irons) one of the two powerful overseers of the Gucci empire, along with his wily fraudulent brother Aldo (Al Pacino). But Maurizio would rather study law than take his place as heir of the global fashion empire. Against his father’s wishes, he marries Patrizia. Uncle Aldo realizes he has an ally in the cunning, manipulative Patrizia and together they convince Maurizio to join the company.

Meanwhile, Aldo son’s Paolo (an unrecognizable Jared Leto) who imagines himself a fashion designer, resents Maurizio’s intrusion. After

A Very Liberace & Liza Christmas

<<

Holigay events

From page 18

both 8pm. Feinstein’s at the Nikko, 222 Mason St. www.feinsteinssf.com

as you sing along to “Let It Snow,” “Deck the Halls,” “Frosty the Snowman” and his playful “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.” $70. Dec 21 & 22 8pm, Feinstein’s at the Nikko, 222 Mason St. www.feinsteinssf.com

Mango at El Rio The soul and funk women’s dance party takes place on December 25 –yes, Christmas Day– from 3pm to 8pm. 3158 Mission St. www.elriosf.com

Meghan Murphy’s Holiday Cheers In a blend of naughty and nice, powerhouse songstress Meghan “Big Red” Murphy performs an evening of non-traditional holiday songs, stories and spirits. with songs ranging from Irving Berlin to Destiny’s Child. $48-$60. Dec 23 at 8pm. Feinstein’s at the Nikko, 222 Mason St. www.feinsteinssf.com

Kung Pao Kosher Comedy Join lesbian comic Lisa Geduldig, her mom Arline, and comics Ophira Eisenberg and Jessica Kirson for the 29th annual night of Kosher Comedy in a (this time) virtual Chinese restaurant. What else are Jews to do on Christmas? Presented on Zoom and YouTube December 24 and 25 at 5pm, and Dec. 26 at 2pm. $25-50.

Partial proceeds to benefit Shalom Bayit and the Marin Food Bank. www.koshercomedy.com

A Very Liberace & Liza Christmas David Saffert & Jillian Snow Harris share the stage as Liberace and Liza Minnelli, creating an exhilarating night of musical and comical fireworks. Delighting in the costumes, music, and glamour of show business’s wildest entertainers in a holiday-cabaret extravaganza with upbeat tunes, and Christmas carol sing-a-longs. $52-$65. Dec 28 & 29,

And planning ahead for New Year’s Eve, also at Oasis, Baloney, the male comedy burlesque revue, performs their new New Year’s Eve shows, Dec. 29 through Jan. 1; yes, even a New Year’s Day show. $35-$70. 298 11th Street. www.sfoasis.comt

Rodolfo dies and leaves half of his fortune to Maurizio, Patrizia goads him into staging a coup to seize control of the business, turning the family against each other. They scheme to convince Paolo to sell his shares in the company after Aldo is sent to prison for tax evasion.

Maurizio begins enjoying his power and privilege as Gucci’s head, becoming more cynical and ruthless, eventually turning on Patrizia and starting an affair with a childhood friend Paola (Camille Cottin). Her ambitions thwarted after Maurizio files for divorce, Patrizia becomes desperate, forming a dangerous alliance with psychic Pina Auriemma (Salma Hayek).

Maurizio rescues the declining Gucci name by hiring the up-andcoming gay American designer Tom Ford (Reeve Carney), whose success revives the company’s reputation. However, Maurizio is facing a power struggle with his investors trying to wrest control of the fash-

Even from this summary plot description, you wouldn’t be mistaken to detect a Godfather vibe here.

Maurizio’s journey resembles that of Michael Corleone with that fatalistic sense of doom as he gets entangled in the family business. Of course, there’s the Corleone reminder in the presence of Al Pacino, the original Michael. Paolo could be likened to the weak-minded Fredo, the black sheep of the family.

Finally, Rodolfo’s look and staccato voice mimics Marlon Brando, not to mention all the family betrayal and backstabbing dynamics mirroring the Mafia. If only House of Gucci was as good as The Godfather.

The film would seem to be a candidate for the camp Hall of Fame with some fabulous one-liners including Patrizia shouting, “It’s time to take out the trash,” referring to Aldo and Paulo. Jeremy Irons has two acerbic put-downs, one about Paolo’s mediocre talent and the other essentially calling Patrizia a whore (“Fuck her, but don’t marry her”). Then there’s Aldo’s cruel assessment of Paolo: “My son’s an idiot, but he’s my idiot.” The dilemma is a dearth number of those funny lines especially as the film progresses and takes a sharp dark turn.

Lady Gaga is the chief scenechewer, hamming it up, initially charming but eventually terrifying as she becomes quasi-psychotic in her ambitions. One is never quite sure if she’s a gold digger or if she really did love Maurizio while still trying to improve her station in life.

She’s campy and provides most of the energy for most of the movie. However, her ferocious perfor-

mance inadvertently undermines the film when, in the last third, she is virtually absent as the story arc centers around Maurizio. House of Gucci sags when Gaga is off-screen.

Scene-stealers

The other star act is Jared Leto who consumes every morsel of this very tricky role, including one scene where he pees on an expensive Gucci scarf. His character is cartoonish and goofy, yet Leto beautifully portrays the tragic humor and sadness of who Paolo was, capturing his desperation to be liked and appreciated.

Driver (more internal and restrained than his usual blustering roles) and Pacino (with his trademark intensity) are fine, but are overshadowed

by Gaga and Leto.

The film will be divisive, as some will love the messiness while others (especially critics) will see it as melodramatic and overwrought.

The last third of the film is problematic because it feels rushed, as if director Ridley Scott realized the movie is too long and wants to skip ahead to the final scenes to wrap up the narrative. Unfortunately, the plot to kill Maurizio and its aftermath should be the most intriguing part yet it’s not, and feels almost like an afterthought.

From a queer perspective, more time devoted to the Tom Ford angle would have been appreciated and could have amped up the camp quota lacking in the finale. Despite all these qualms, the film effectively conveys how the destruction of Gucci came from inside the family, that ultimately they had no one to blame for their downfall but themselves, having betrayed and manipulated each other for money and status.

House of Gucci is a mixed bag, but a bag made by Gucci always has value. Enjoy it as long as you curtail your expectations.t

<< Music & 50 in 50

20 • Bay Area Reporter • November 24-December 1, 2021

Passacaglia Igor Levit Shostakovich’s on DSCH in 3-CD set

Igor Levit

ANI BUKUJIAN

JESSICA BEJARANO

BRUCH VIOLIN CONCERTO IN G MINOR WITH SOLOIST ANI BUKUJIAN Friday, December 3 7:30PM / Herbst Theater Mozart Overture to Marriage of Figaro, K. 492 Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings in C Major, Op. 48 Bruch Violin Concerto in G Minor, Op. 26 with soloist Ani Bukujian

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by Tim Pfaff

T

here are recordings and then there are deeds. Igor Levit likes deeds. During the lockdown phase of the pandemic, Levit livestreamed nightly recitals from his Berlin apartment, for good measure playing Satie’s “Vexations,” as prescribed by the mad composer, “840 times in succession.” Levit later autographed each of the single-page scores stacked in front of him for the 12 hours of his marathon, played as a benefit for other musicians similarly sidelined by COVID-19. The pages promptly sold out.

The 34-year-old has already convinced his label, Sony Classical, to bet on what have become his career-defining albums: Beethoven’s late sonatas rendered early in the pianist’s career and a trifecta of Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations, Bach’s Goldberg Variations, and Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated. Now come some true pieces of the resistance: Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87, and Ronald Stevenson’s towering Shostakovich

tribute: the Passacaglia on DSCH. Sony’s new 3-CD set, On DSCH –the initials those of Dmitri Shostakovich in the German alphabet– is of course also available as a download, the advantage of which is that you can hear the whole cycle, at two and a half hours, uninterrupted. Levit, not the first pianist to have played the set that way in public, though it’s been his habit, recommends it; a deed that gathers the pieces together to a climactic conclusion.

Levit plays the preludes and fugues, with unmistakable physicality –joy in the technical difficulties– and comparable mental and spiritual concentration. The individual pieces are sculpted out of silence, dance in pairs, and cumulatively celebrate the whole of human emotional experience.

The B-flat-minor pair revels in the exploratory freedom of its 17th-century forebears, and the in-

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fluence of Bach, Nikolaeva’s other specialty, is immediate throughout.

But this is not “Bach with wrong notes.” Nikolaeva got them as the ink was drying on the pages, and Levit plays them as if they were composed today, or improvised by a musician of his acumen.

Levit notes that it was his initial failure (his word, in English) with the technically formidable Stevenson Passacaglia that stood in the way of his performing it for years.

Having mastered it, he now plays it only for the most discerning audiences –for example, at London’s Wigmore Hall and at the recently concluded Salzburg Festival– where his playing is most exposed.

The sheer athleticism of Levit’s performance, clearly audible even in this studio recording, is part and parcel of the interpretation, not a by-product or in any way incidental. It’s patently political music by the most openly political of today’s star musicians – a celebration of Stevenson as Stevenson’s 90-minute, three-part, uninterrupted work was of Shostakovich, both unafraid of counting clamor among the virtues. Short of hearing this kaleidoscopic music in a future pair of recitals (San Francisco Performances, are you up for an encore?), this is as close to this cosmic music as most of us are likely to get.

It’s nothing short of a Promethian seizure of the piece back into the repertoire of the modern piano – dynamics spangled, rhythms freed – subduing an audience of more than 5000 before driving them deliriously mad. Like Levit’s Stevenson, it has to be heard to be believed.t

Read the full review on www.ebar.com

50 years in 50 weeks:

2004’s home runs

by Jim Provenzano

Y

ou can’t fault us for our enthusiastic coverage of Richard Greenberg’s thought-provoking drama Take Me Out, about a gay baseball player’s decision to come out. Also, the play includes extensive male nudity in shower scenes.

First, I fortunately timed a visit back to New York City in 2003 with the play’s Broadway run, and wrote about it in my Sports Complex column in our October 23 issue, and wrote a subsequent Q&A with the playwright in our February 23, 2003 issue.

In our December 9, 2004 issue, theater writer Richard Dodds interviewed M.D. Walton, who starred in the touring production that ran at the Golden Gate Theatre. Dodds also interviewed Greenberg in the same issue.

And New Conservatory Theatre Center produced Take Me Out in MayJune 2007.

But let’s return to 2004’s focus. Actor M.D. Walton (who, like the character, is biracial, but unlike the fictional baseball star, he’s not gay) was quoted as having ‘broken the ice’ of nudity in the first day of rehearsal. “It was liberating, in a sense.”

Of the onstage showers, playwright Greenberg told Dodds, “One of the things about the nudity is that’s it’s not erotic. It’s so casual and the context is so professional. It doesn’t have a big dangerous charge.”

Nevertheless, its multiple productions drew fans of theater, baseball and the human male form; quite a home run.t Enjoy more vintage issues on https://archive.org/details/bayareareporter

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The Bob Ross Foundation and its beneficiaries wish the community a healthy, happy, and safe holiday season.

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<< Theatre & Film

22 • Bay Area Reporter • November 24-December 1, 2021

Family forays on stage

by Jim Gladstone

W

ant to show how passionate you are about supporting our Bay Area theater companies as curtains finally begin to rise again?

Give tickets as holiday gifts. Make end-of-year donations if you can afford them. And by all means, binge on local productions.

On the latter front, consider heading over to 2000 block of Berkeley’s Addison Street on an upcoming Saturday or Sunday.

With tickets to a matinee and an evening performance, you can pack two bracingly creative explorations of family and romance into a single marathon day of intellectual and emotional stimulation.

Berkeley Rep is mounting a giddily kinetic production of Wintertime, Charles Mee’s comic take on a home-for-the-holidays extended family gathering. And the Aurora Theatre offers the world premiere of Kait Kerrigan’s Father/Daughter, an intimate, intricate two-hander about the unconscious enmeshment of parents and children.

Individually, these shows are well worth your time. Together they provide an exhilarating demonstration of how radically different playwriting and performance styles can be applied to related subject matter.

Spectacularity

In Wintertime, everything is big.

From the crackerjack ten-player cast (across-the-board excellent, with a stand-out turn by Thomas J. Ryan as an incorrigible French ladies’ man); to the enormous, gleaming white set (Annie Smart); to the farcical slamming doors; to the impromptu underwear dance party; to the noisy Nile of tears one character cries for minutes on end as others react with amusingly cartoonish eye rolls. The apparent

Kevin Berne

Sam Jackson and William Thomas Hodgson in Kait Kerrigan’s Father/Daughter, directed by M. Graham Smith.

chaos is deftly controlled by director Les Waters.

In his trademark style, playwright Mee navigates the interpersonal affairs of a contemporary American family (the young adult son of split-and-repartnered parents is planning to propose to his girlfriend) not by taking a sober, focused domestic drama route but by rendering the situation as operatic spectacle. Imagine a Jonathan Franzen novel reimagined as a Superbowl halftime show.

Accusations of betrayal fly to soaring heights. Garments are rended in grief. A giant inflatable Santa becomes a punching bag, “Nessun Dorma” blares (So does Bruno Mars).

Where another writer –like Kait Kerrigan, down the block– might zoom in on the nuanced details of these characters’ relationships, meticulously untangling their psychological knots and moral contradictions, Mee pulls way back and lets us watch the recursive folly of human behavior from afar. The dis-

On Broadway

by David-Elijah Nahmod

O

ren Jacoby’s documentary On Broadway covers a lot of ground. The film, which celebrates Broadway’s unique ability to bounce back bigger than ever after facing adversity, is now available on

Monday 8am

(last seating 9:45pm)

Tuesday 8am

(last seating 9:45pm)

DVD. The film is also streaming at Kino Now, the in-house streaming service of Kino Lorber, the film’s distributor. On Broadway can also be streamed at Apple TV (formerly iTunes) and Google Play.

Early on, Jacoby harkens back to the New York City of the late 1960s

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tance reveals eternal comedy more than acute angst.

“Get over your cheap self!” this show rails. “Celebrate life and all its petty confetti!”

Family affair

Father/Daughter, on the other hand, endorses deep excavation of the inner self. Like Wintertime, it deals with models of romance set for children by their parents (Wintertime begins with a planned proposal, Father/Daughter moves inexorably toward one), but it does so in tight docudrama close-ups, pulsing with emotion.

Vignettes featuring Baldwin, a stoic high school science teacher and Risa, his extroverted physical therapist partner, alternate with decades-later dialogues between Miranda, Baldwin’s grown daughter, and her boyfriend, Louis.

All four of these characters are appealing and lovable (both women are played by Sam Jackson; the men by William Thomas Hodgson), but gradually, it becomes

and early ’70s, when Times Square and the New York City theater district were riddled with crime.

Attendance at Broadway theaters plummeted by half and many theaters stood dark. The industry was in trouble. There were attempts at “cleaning the neighborhood up” by ridding Times Square of the sleazy porn theaters and massage parlors that seemed to be attracting a criminal element, according to people in the industry.

But then, in the mid-’70s, a little musical called A Chorus Line opened at the Public Theater, a small not for profit theater company downtown. The show was based on interviews choreographer-director Michael Bennett had conducted with Broadway “gypsies,” dancers who moved from show to show, rarely getting out of the chorus. The show was a smash and soon moved to Broadway, where it ran for many years, raking in millions in profits.

Broadway had come back.

The film also illustrates the activist spirit of those in the Broadway community. As part of the effort to “clean up” Times Square, three historic theaters were torn down to make room for the Marriot Marquis, an upscale high rise hotel which now stands at 45th Street and Broadway. Joe Papp, artistic director of the Public Theater, is shown addressing a crowd, calling for the three theaters to be saved.

Broadway performers take to the streets, urging people to sign petitions in support of these theaters.

The battle is lost, and all three theaters are torn down. Actor Christopher Reeve is seen watching the demolition of the buildings in tears.

clear that Miranda has unknowingly adapted some of her father’s most problematic character traits even as she harshly criticizes Baldwin for them.

Scene-by-scene playwright Kerrigan invites us to be emotional eavesdroppers, sneaking us into these couples’ living rooms and bedrooms with our antennae tuned to private jokes, pillow talk and quietly forming fissures in their relationships. The lines are crisp, insightful and often funny. But the relationships are not as easy to compare and contrast as they should be.

Especially in some of the earlier scenes, when we haven’t yet spent much time with each of the four characters, director M. Graham Smith doesn’t provide crisp enough transitions and clear enough cues about which pair we’re watching.

Audience members will sort it out quickly enough, but even seconds of uncertainty create a serious distraction, momentarily turning

t

the play into a puzzle. Some instantly identifiable costume elements (Why do all four characters go through most of the show barefooted?) or consistently executed lighting changes (distinctly tinted filters associated with each couple, perhaps?) would provide significant improvement.

And then there’s this: Sam Jackson is an incredibly charismatic performer who I look forward to seeing whenever she appears on area stages. She has a compelling magnetism that transcends her individual roles. Frankly, its star power. And frankly, that may not be a quality that’s suited to playing two roles in the same play.t Wintertime, through Dec. 19 at Berkeley Rep, 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. $25-$104. (510) 647-2949 www.berkeleyrep.org Father/Daughter, through Dec. 12 at Aurora Theatre Company, 2081 Addison St., Berkeley $20-$78. (510) 843-4822 www.auroratheatre.org

Kevin Berne/Berkeley Repertory Theatre

L-R) Carmen Berkeley, Jomar Tagatac, and James Carpenter in Berkeley Rep’s production of Charles L. Mee’s Wintertime.

On Broadway also recalls the peak years of the AIDS crisis, which decimated the theater community.

Dancer-actor Tommy Tune recalls how AIDS devastated the theater community, cutting down scores of artists in their prime. An AIDS bereavement group is seen marching through the streets of the theater district. Newspaper clippings recall some of those who died, such as legendary choreographer Alvin Ailey and Michael Bennett.

Many Broadway luminaries are interviewed in the film, such as actress Helen Mirren, who speaks of how exciting she finds the district.

“It used to be brothels and strip clubs, and I loved it,” Mirren says.

The British invasion of Broadway is also examined, as lavish, big budget shows like Cats, Miss Saigon, Les Misérables, and The Phantom of the Opera take the Great White Way by storm, bringing in huge crowds to the theaters and causing ticket prices to skyrocket. Tickets

for a stage adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby go for a whopping $100, with one happy patron saying that she’d gladly have paid twice that amount.

These days top ticket prices are approaching $1000. One interviewee points out that the industry needs to bring the cost of going to the theater under control before they price themselves out of the market.

Two shows that helped attract younger audiences to the theater are examined, Rent and the still running Hamilton. Producers offered these shows at reduced ticket prices, and young people lined up.

One young woman says that she particularly enjoyed Hamilton, a musical cast primarily with Black and Latino actors.

“They look like me and my classmates,” she says.

The producers of one show, a comedy/drama called The Nap, allowed the filmmakers access into their rehearsals and to attend their opening night. The Nap is a good example of how much the Broadway landscape has changed over the years, as trans actress Alexandra Billings speaks eloquently of how exciting it is for her, as a trans performer, to be playing a trans character.

On Broadway includes some DVD extras, and while it isn’t the last word on the state of Broadway musicals, but it is a well-researched history of the ups and downs of the theater district’s past 50 years. The film moves at a fast pace and serves as an education for anyone who might be interested in what it takes to put on a show.t www.kinolorber.com

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November 24-December 1, 2021 • Bay Area Reporter • 23

Visual AIDS

by Jim Provenzano

D

ecember 1 is the annual World AIDS Day observance. An estimated 78 million people have become infected with HIV, and 35 million people have died of AIDSrelated illnesses since 1981.

Up Against the Wall: Art, Activism, and the AIDS Poster, documents selected graphic art posters used as preventative advice or protest art through the AIDS pandemic. Donald Albrecht edited the book with Jessica LacherFeldman and William M. Valenti M.D., (hardcover, 232 pages, 187 illustrations). The book has an accompanying online exhibit –with an in-person version in Rochester, New York next year.

Up Against the Wall documents the impact of the pandemic with nearly 200 examples of AIDS educational posters from around the world. It also visualizes the social activism that continues to bring awareness to a disease that is still without a vaccine or cure.

The posters, spanning the years from 1982 to the present, show how social, religious, civic, and public health agencies addressed the controversial, often contested terrain of the HIV/AIDS pandemic

Three of the posters included in Up Against the Wall

within the public realm.

Some of the imagery is familiar to patrons of gay bars, or New York City and San Francisco streets, when ACT UP posters were wheat-pasted all over various neighborhoods.

International posters may seem quaint by comparison, but each caters to cultural variances by using dif-

ferent tactics; some scary and forceful, others whimsical and cartoonish.

Organizations and creators tailored their messages to audiences, both broad and very specific, and used a wide array of strategies, employing emotion, simple scientific explanations, sexual imagery, and many other methods to communi-

American dreamer Y

American dreamer ‘App Kid’ author Michael Sayman

oung, groundbreaking, queer tech wizard Michael Sayman’s memoir App Kid: How a Child of Immigrants Grabbed a Piece of the American Dream is the kind of book that has something for almost everyone. As it says in the title, Sayman, and his sister, are the children of immigrants – his mother is from Peru and his father is from Bolivia – who settled in Miami.

The “American dream” Sayman “grabbed” is a healthy slice of the Internet, first as an independent app developer and later in the employ of Facebook and Google. Additionally, App Kid is a coming out story that provides a fresh perspective on the experience.t Read Gregg Shapiro’s interview on ebar.com

cate powerfully and effectively.

Comparisons between pandemic are inevitable. While AIDS prevention posters had to be placed either guerilla-style or with a venue’s permission, COVID-19 information and vaccines have become widely available. At its peak, the AIDS pandemic had its tiny cluster of denialists and refuseniks. But that pandemic didn’t endure multiple global protests and riots by ‘COVID-iots’ who refuse to wear a facemask.

The collection of posters in the book are chosen from more than 8,000 held in the collection in the University of Rochester’s River Campus Libraries’ Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation. The collection, one of the largest of its kind in the world, was

donated to the University of Rochester by Dr. Edward Atwater.

While scholarly in its focus, the text is readable to a wider audience, and makes an essential addition to any collector of health-focused and activist art.

The AIDS Education Posters Collection is viewable online as well at https://aep.lib.rochester.edu/ An exhibition of the same name will be on view at the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, New York, March 6–June 19, 2022. https://mag.rochester.edu/ exhibitions/up-against-the-wall/t

AUTO EROTICA AUTO EROTICA Up Against the Wall: Art, Activism, and the AIDS Poster, 232 pages. $50. www.rit.edu/press/against-wall

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Left: Michael Urie and Jennifer Coolidge in Single All the Way Right: Michael Urie, Kathy Najimy and Luke Mcfarlane in Single All the Way

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Michael Urie

From page 17

It was a lot more fun than my experience with her on Swan Song since we never crossed paths.

I loved making Swan Song, and my part of the movie was shot after her part of the movie, so it was really fun to show up and hear all of the stories about how fun it was to have her in a small town in Ohio.

I will say working with her is as fun as you would imagine, as surprising as you would imagine. On the one hand, everybody knows her thing, everybody sort of knows what she does. In fact, Chad Hodge, our writer, wrote the role in hopes that she would play it.

And yet still, knowing that it was written for her, knowing her body of work, she still surprises me. I

still don’t know how she’s going to spin a line. And when she goes offscript, you have no idea what she’s going to say, and it’s always something amazing. I knew she’d be funny; I knew she’d be cool. I knew we’d have a good time and she’d be terrific in the role, but I didn’t know how surprised I would be. Luckily, in the movie, all the characters are just as delighted by Aunt Sandy as all of us are of Jennifer Coolidge.

You mentioned the fact that Netflix is joining the fray of gaythemed holiday movies. What do you think of this trend of streaming networks creating queer holiday movies such as Single All the Way and 2020’s Happiest Season?

I think it’s good and it’s important. I think romance is not isolated to heterosexual relationships

and neither is Christmas. The gays love Christmas, and the gays love Christmas movies. So, throwing them some, I think, is going to be really good.

Because they’re so popular, I think providing a movie like this or Happiest Season to the crosssection of people who will watch any Christmas movie is only going to broaden people’s ideas and give people a real sense of how we’re ultimately the same. The movie is not about how we’re different. It’s about the ways in which we are alike. Christmas, romance; we can meet on a lot of things, queer people and straight people. I think it’s exciting and inspiring to be part of that.t

Read the full interview on www.ebar.com

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