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Supe seeks drag stamp support

Ashbury house's queer history

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Vol. 50 • No. 43 • October 22-28, 2020

Screengrab via Zoom

Courtesy Tom Taylor

Tom Taylor, left, and his husband, Dr. Jerome “Jerry” Goldstein

The home of late lesbian pioneers Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, center, sits atop a steep hill in Noe Valley with a large part of the second parcel undeveloped.

Tom Taylor, known for elaborate holiday lights, dies

SF moves to landmark historic Lyon-Martin house

by John Ferrannini

by Matthew S. Bajko

om Taylor, who was the keeper of the key to the rainbow flagpole at Castro and Market streets, and, with his husband, was known for elaborate Christmas light displays at their San Francisco home, has died. Mr. Taylor is survived by his husband, Dr. Jerome “Jerry” Goldstein. The couple had been together since 1973. As the Bay Area Reporter previously reported, comedian Bruce Vilanch quipped at their wedding that their love is “the oldest standing structure in San Francisco Bay.” The couple are long-term survivors of HIV who were told in 1983 to prepare for death. That wedding, held in October 2013, was a block party affair at the site of their 21st Street home in Dolores Heights and was officiated by rainbow flag co-creator Gilbert Baker and Dr. Robert Akeley, a founder of Bay Area Physicians for Human Rights. It was important for the couple to have a public ceremony “in the street where the SFPD stopped Tom Taylor and almost arrested him in 1976 because he allegedly had no right to live with me,” Goldstein told the B.A.R. at the time. Also at their home, the couple became known for their detailed holiday decorations, which the B.A.R. reported in 2014 were “a winter wonderland with wrapped boxes, stuffed animals, and glittering lights, while a 65 foot tall lighted Norfolk Island pine tree is the centerpiece.” The couple first bought the tree in 1988, Goldstein told the B.A.R. As the tree grew, the couple got more and larger decorations to make it look to scale. Terry Asten Bennett of Cliff’s Variety on Castro Street bid farewell to Mr. Taylor in a Facebook post late October 20, explaining what he did for the flag. “Rest in peace Tom Taylor. We are so grateful for everything you have done for our community. Tom quietly cared for the flag pole and Rainbow Flag,” Asten Bennett wrote. “He stored and modified the giant flags to make sure the flapping wouldn’t keep the neighborhood awake at night. He and his husband Jerry spent thousands of dollars and jumped through city bureaucracy to make sure the flag stayed lit at night. Every year he would transform the scrawny tree in front of their 21st Street home into a Christmas fantasy. You brought so much joy to our community, Thank you. You will be forever missed.” The Diversity Foundation, which the couple co-founded, took care of the flag, obtained new lighting for it, and even took care of the hats of the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band. Mr. Taylor retained custody of the key to the flagpole, which prevented unauthorized actions to the flag, such as lowering it or changing it. In 2015, Mr. Taylor and Goldstein were honored as recipients of the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee board’s Heritage of Pride, 10 Years of Service Award. The couple began their political activism in the 1970s, Goldstein said at the time, protesting against Anita Bryant’s homophobic camSee page 8 >>

Rick Gerharter

Dancing to counter hate

few folks braved the heat and sun and came to Mission Dolores Park October 17 for a We Are Family Here dance party to counter the planned (then moved) meeting of the white supremacist Proud Boys and to register and encourage every-

one to vote. The pro-Trump event, billed as a free speech rally, was held near Civic Center Plaza. The Dolores Park dance party was coorganized by Kelly Rivera Hart and Alex U. Inn, who is also a co-founder of the People’s March and Rally that was held in June.

an Francisco officials are moving forward to landmark the home where the late lesbian pioneering couple Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin lived throughout most of their 54 years together. The Board of Supervisors unanimously voted in support of starting the process at its meeting Tuesday, October 20. The city’s historic preservation commission now has 90 days to take up the matter and send it back to the supervisors for a final vote on adding the property at 651 Duncan See page 6 >>

Former St. James ED tapped to lead LYRIC by John Ferrannini

oni Newman, the former leader of St. James Infirmary, has been selected as the new interim executive director of the Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center in the Castro, according to an October 19 news release. “After an extensive interview process with the board of directors, LYRIC staff, and LYRIC youth, it became clear that Toni is the leader for LYRIC at this moment,” LYRIC board co-chairs Adam Leonard and Phil Kim stated in the release. “The board’s unanimous decision to welcome Toni to LYRIC speaks to our confidence in her leadership and experience.” Jodi Schwartz, a queer woman who has been the executive director for 15 years, will continue to serve as president of the nonprofit and lead the $2 million capital campaign for the renovation of LYRIC’s purple house on Collingwood Street. “I am so grateful for the opportunity to join the dedicated and devoted LYRIC staff, board, volunteers, and donors,” Newman stated. “I am humbled at what has been accomplished and achieved by the current executive director, Jodi Schwartz, and this exceptional organization. I am excited at the opportunities and possibilities of who we can become as we seek to continue our legacy of a diverse society where LGBTQQ youth are embraced for who they are and encouraged to be who they want to be. I am a living example of LYRIC’s mission and vision.” In an interview with the Bay Area Reporter Monday, Newman said she was asked if she’d be interested in the position by a board member and is working as the interim executive director of LYRIC from her Los Angeles home. “It’s the Zoom era,” she said. “All my six interviews with board members, staff, and participants were all on Zoom done right here from my living room.” Newman said she is not interested in applying for the position of being the perma-

Courtesy Toni Newman

Toni Newman will be the new interim executive director of LYRIC.

nent executive director, which she said will open up in six to eight months. “We will transition to a permanent ED and I am not interested in that but I am very interested in helping the transition and helping LYRIC move forward as a unionized nonprofit,” Newman said. Newman, a trans woman, previously served as executive director at St. James Infirmary, which focuses on offering health care and social services to current and former sex workers and others, from May 2018 to February 2020, when she abruptly resigned, citing the impending move to Los Angeles in a contemporaneous interview with the B.A.R. St. James Infirmary has not stated to the B.A.R. on the record who is in charge there, going so far as to shut the door on an inquiring reporter earlier this year after giving conflicting information. Newman said she hears St. James does not currently have an executive director. “I have no clue. I’ve had interactions with

a few people but most are no longer there,” she said. “I know they don’t have an executive director – my title – yet.” St. James Infirmary confirmed there is no executive director as of October 19 in a phone call made in the late afternoon, but has not responded as yet to the question of who is in charge. Gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman praised the selection of Newman in a statement to the B.A.R. October 20. “Toni Newman is an experienced LGBTQ+ nonprofit leader and I am looking forward to working with her as she guides LYRIC through this important transition period,” Mandelman wrote in an email. “LYRIC is a lifeline for queer youth in the Castro and across San Francisco and their services and space will be especially important to the community as we come out of the pandemic. I would also like to thank Jodi Schwartz for the 15 years she has dedicated to supporting LGBTQ+ youth in San FranSee page 8 >>

<< Community News

2 • Bay Area Reporter • October 22-28, 2020

SF Supe Mandelman seeks city support for drag stamps by Matthew S. Bajko

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San Francisco supervisor is seeking to have the city sign on to the campaign asking the U.S. Postal Service to issue stamps honoring three deceased drag icons who have become heroic figures within the LGBTQ community. Gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman introduced a resolution at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting in support of seeing stamps featuring José Julio Sarria, Marsha P. Johnson, and Sylvia Rivera. They would be the first such stamps issued in honor of drag performers; the board is set to vote on the resolution at its last meeting during LGBTQ History Month Tuesday, October 27. Sarria, who died in 2013 at the age of 90, was a legendary San Franciscobased drag queen who founded the Imperial Court in 1965 and grew it into an international philanthropic drag organization. The Latino Army veteran had made history four years prior as the first out gay person to seek elective office in the U.S. with his ultimately unsuccessful bid for a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. As part of its celebration of California’s first 170 years as a state, the California State Library recently featured Sarria among the 170 stories it has been posting to mark the anniversary. It noted that his ninth place finish in the supervisor race made “city leaders take notice of a growing gay voting bloc.” Rivera, who died in 2002 at the age of 50, and Johnson, who died in 1992 at the age of 46, both were trans women who also performed in drag. They were prominent participants in the Stonewall uprising of 1969 who went on to become beloved vocal advocates for gay and transgender issues

Frameline, Rick Gerharter, and the Sylvia Rivera Law Project

A campaign is seeking postage stamps for drag icons Marsha P. Johnson, José Julio Sarria, and Sylvia Rivera.

up until their deaths. Johnson, who was Black, and Rivera, the child of a Puerto Rican father and Venezuelan mother, co-founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries to provide support to poor young people in New York City who were shunned by their families, as the New York Times noted in a story last year about city officials planning to install a monument featuring the close friends not far from the Stonewall Inn. Mandelman represents San Francisco’s LGBTQ Castro district, which includes the one-block portion of 16th Street in front of the neighborhood’s library that was renamed José Sarria Court. As he notes in his resolution, because of the drag trio’s “historic contributions to the LGBTQ rights movement and the continuing need to increase the visibility of LGBTQ people of color in the United States, their appearance on United States Postal Service stamps would send a strong message of LGBTQ inclusion.” San Diego resident Nicole Murray Ramirez launched the campaign this summer after the Bay Area Reporter

contacted him for comment about several stamps issued to commemorate the 80th birthday of Bugs Bunny depicting the animated rabbit in drag. It is believed to be the first time drag has been featured on U.S. stamps. Known as the Queen Mother I of the Americas and Nicole the Great within the Imperial Court System, Murray Ramirez is now the titular head of the 55-year-old organization. He helped push to see the U.S. stamp that was issued in 2014 for the late gay San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk and has signed up close to two-dozen LGBTQ leaders as honorary co-chairs of the drag stamps campaign. The U.S. Postal Service’s Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee recommends ideas for commemorative stamps, but it is up to the U.S. postmaster general to make a final determination. Because it usually takes three years from the time of their selection for the commemorative stamps to be issued, the soonest the trio of drag stamps could be released is 2024. t

West Hollywood council backs drag laureate position by Matthew S. Bajko

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he West Hollywood City Council has instructed staff for the Southern California LGBTQ enclave to present it with a plan for creating the first drag laureate position in the country. The person could be named as soon as early next year. At its October 19 meeting, the council unanimously voted to move forward with becoming the first city to appoint an ambassador for the local drag community. There was no discussion, as the item was included on the council’s consent calendar that was adopted by a majority vote. But in his comments at the start of the meeting, gay City Councilman John D’Amico voiced his support for the idea. “Again we know how to invent the world and we are doing it again,” he said. Gay City Councilman John Duran, who is seeking reelection this November, and Councilwoman Lauren Meister co-sponsored the idea. They learned about the idea from a gay constituent, Scott Schmidt, who had read about it in the Bay Area Reporter. As the B.A.R. reported in August, establishing a citywide ambassador of drag similar to a poet laureate is among the nearly 50 suggestions included in San Francisco’s groundbreaking LGBTQ+ Cultural Heritage Strategy. The document, a draft version of which was first released in 2018, aims to provide city leaders myriad ideas for preserving and strengthening San Francisco’s LGBTQ community. But it has yet to be finalized or pre-

10/13/20 12:05 PM

Courtesy Discover Los Angeles

Rainbow crosswalks grace part of Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, which is soon expected to have an official drag laureate.

sented to the planning commission or Board of Supervisors. Although city staff had told the B.A.R. last year that the supervisors would need to vote on the document in order for it to become official, a planning spokeswoman recently told the B.A.R. a final version of the strategy merely needs to be published and the department is awaiting guidance on its next step. Thus, West Hollywood is poised to beat San Francisco in establishing the nation’s first drag laureate. “Let’s get to work on it quickly so we can be first in the nation,” Meister said during her comments at the start of the virtual meeting. In phone interviews earlier this month, Duran and Meister both told the B.A.R. they envision the person serving not only as an ambassador to West Hollywood businesses, particularly those located in the city’s historic LGBTQ district, but also as a promoter of the local arts and cultural scene. Now that the five-member council

officially voted in support of the idea, city staff must define the scope of the program, create guidelines for the position, and outline a selection process that the council members would need to adopt. Advice will be sought from both the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and the Los Angeles LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce on how such a position could assist their members. Duran told the B.A.R. there likely would be some cost, less than $10,000 he estimated, to hold a competition to crown a drag laureate. Whether the city or a civic group would pay for it, or share in the costs, is something the city staff will address when they return to the council with the plan for launching the program. One thing both council members were certain of is that the City Council should not be the one to determine who is selected as the drag laureate. They both told the B.A.R. it should be done by a selection committee comprised of community members. t

LGBTQ History Month>>

t SF house includes Joplin, Log Cabin in its history

October 22-28, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 3

by John Ferrannini

he day Peggy Caserta took acid for the first time changed her life – and that of San Francisco’s HaightAshbury neighborhood – forever. “They told me it’d help me learn a book I was reading for class,” Caserta told the Bay Area Reporter in a recent interview. “I came off it and said ‘I don’t want to be a flight attendant anymore.’ I wanted to open a store. Walking down Haight Street – which wasn’t known at all at the time – I was looking for cheap rent and boy, did I find it: $87.50 a month.” Caserta found that price at the storefront of 577 Ashbury Street, at the corner of Haight Street. The building is a city landmark and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The iconic intersection was named a national treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in May 2019 and has a rich LGBTQ history stretching from Caserta’s days as the lover of Janis Joplin to the time it spent as the residence of Norm Larson – a prominent gay conservative who used it to host parties for the Log Cabin Republicans, home to the Grand Old Party’s LGBTQ members. According to Mike Buhler, the president and CEO of San Francisco Heritage, the house has been singled out for preservation because of its significance to the countercultures that have defined much of San Francisco history, including the Summer of Love in mid-1967 in the Haight district. “What happened in the 1960s is often derided as not ‘real’ or ‘significant’ history,” Buhler said. “Norm, when he was alive – in 2017, the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love – wrote his personal story of how he came to purchase the building. He would be delighted to have it more publicly available. There are several important

Scott Hahn/SF Heritage via National Trust for Historic Preservation

The Doolan-Larson Residence and Storefront sits at the corner of Haight and Ashbury streets in San Francisco.

sive arrangement on selling them at Mnasidika for half a year. A Levi’s spokesperson responded that Tracey Panek, Levi’s historian, wrote a blog post in late 2019 with more details on Caserta and her story. Panek “was unable to find any specific documentation of the monopoly (e.g. a contract or related papers with Caserta), however, her story checked out in terms of timing and the person she met, etc. Caserta and the man she met at Levi’s Valencia Street factory (believed to be salesman Joe Frank) worked out an exclusive arrangement for six months that Levi’s would only sell the style at her boutique. ‘Monopoly’ suggests others may have tried to do at the same time and couldn’t, but the company was not able to confirm this. It’s more that Levi’s didn’t produce and sell the style to anyone except Caserta for six months,” an email from the spokeperson said. “For six months, I had the only Levi bell-bottoms in the world,” Caserta said. “I was successful beyond my wildest dreams. … The place exploded. The psychedelic revolution exploded literally in my doorway. All of the folks started moving in there and I had a front-row, center-seat.”

aspects to the building’s history, as far as LGBT history.”

‘Front-row, center-seat’

Caserta, now 79, identifies as a lesbian, and said she set up the store at 577 Ashbury in 1965 “to appeal to gay women.” “Women, especially gay women, were buying men’s jeans,” Caserta said. “So that was where we could hit both sexes – and we did.” Caserta’s store, Mnasidika, shares a name with a character in the ancient Greek erotic lesbian poetry collection known as “The Songs of Bilitis,” from which the historic lesbian activist group the Daughters of Bilitis founded by the late Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin took its name. As the Haight filled up with people from the world over coming to turn on, tune in, and drop out, Caserta’s store became popular as a place to buy denim, particularly bell-bottom jeans. Caserta’s mother made the jeans in the South and had them flown to San Francisco, where Caserta had them sold for $4.98. Caserta eventually convinced Levi Strauss & Co. to make its first bellbottom jeans, and she had an exclu-

V TE

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The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane stopped by – and so too did a singer-songwriter who moved in across the street from Caserta’s residence. Caserta had first seen Janis Joplin in the neighborhood soon after she moved in. “I had heard her sing at a dive on the waterfront and she knocked me off my chair,” Caserta said. “I thought ‘My God – that’s the girl across the street.’ She was unknown and was singing $5 a night for all the beer she could drink.” Then, Joplin came into Mnasidika. “She walked in one day and asked if she could put down 50 cents on a pair of Levi’s,” Caserta said. “The feminist popped out in me and I thought ‘if that were a guy singing like that, he’d have the $5 [to buy the jeans]’ so I thought I’d level the playing field.” Caserta gave Joplin the jeans for 50 cents but the iconic singer worried Caserta would be fired. “She came back and said ‘I know why you weren’t fired – this is your store,’” Caserta recalled. The two became lovers. Joplin died October 4, 1970 of an accidental heroin overdose, the year Caserta said she closed shop and moved to Polk Street. (Caserta publicly disputes this, however; in spite of a coroner’s report, she insists Joplin tripped and fell) “It got dark and bad,” Caserta said. “You can’t have too much fun – you attract too much attention. People come in, and it’s not always fun-loving people.”

A different counterculture

The building at 577 Ashbury became kind of a flophouse for hippies before Larson bought it. Larson, a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School, taught English to military personnel in Iran, narrowly escaping the fall of the shah and the rise of the Ayatol-

lah Khomeini in 1979. One year later, Larson bought the house and began a painstaking restoration process. In 1985 he moved in after evicting a tenant – leading protesters at the time to hang him in effigy. Larson represented a different counterculture to the Summer of Love as a member of the Log Cabin Republicans. As the B.A.R. reported on the occasion of the group’s 40th anniversary, the San Francisco chapter of Log Cabin began in 1977 as Concerned Republicans for Individual Rights to fight the Briggs initiative, a statewide ballot proposition that would have banned homosexuals and their supporters from teaching in public schools. (It was defeated in 1978.) Larson was a longtime member. Chris Bowman, a gay man who is now semi-retired but ran in gay Republican circles years ago, was on the board of the San Francisco Log Cabin chapter from 1980 to 2005. He first met Larson in the 1970s. “When he bought the place it was kind of a mess,” Bowman recalled. “He restored it and tried to be faithful to the original house. It was always a work in progress that was never fully finished. He had various artwork from the period of 1906-1910 and there were quite large windows overlooking Haight Street.” Fred Schein, a gay man and a former president of both the San Francisco and Marin Log Cabin chapters, told the B.A.R. in great detail about his times at the house. “I first met Norm eight or nine years ago,” Schein said. “Soon after that, I started going to his home at the northwest corner of Haight and Ashbury. That was where he lived. There was a business on the first floor and he was above it.” See page 8 >>

Learn more about Alice at www.AliceBToklas.org

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<< Open Forum

4 • Bay Area Reporter • October 22-28, 2020

Volume 50, Number 43 October 22-28, 2020 www.ebar.com

PUBLISHER Michael M. Yamashita Thomas E. Horn, Publisher Emeritus (2013) Publisher (2003 – 2013) Bob Ross, Founder (1971 – 2003) NEWS EDITOR Cynthia Laird CULTURE EDITOR Jim Provenzano ASSISTANT EDITORS Matthew S. Bajko • John Ferrannini CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Tavo Amador • Roger Brigham Brian Bromberger • Victoria A. Brownworth Philip Campbell • Heather Cassell Michael Flanagan • Jim Gladstone Liz Highleyman • Lisa Keen Matthew Kennedy • David Lamble David-Elijah Nahmod • Paul Parish Tim Pfaff • Jim Piechota • Gregg Shapiro Gwendolyn Smith •Sari Staver • Charlie Wagner Ed Walsh • Cornelius Washington • Sura Wood

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Safety first for COVID vaccine

his week, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that he had created a scientific safety review workgroup to advise the state on COVID-19 vaccines. Normally, the country would rely on the federal Food and Drug Administration to approve any vaccine. But thanks to President Donald Trump’s consistent failure to deal with the pandemic, states do not have confidence that any FDA decision would be made solely on the efficacy and safety of a vaccine. Already, several promising clinical trials of vaccine candidates have been paused, which is routine during the test phase when problems are discovered. Trump has consistently been beating his drum that a vaccine would be available before the November 3 election – an impossibility that is simply a desperate ploy for votes. The president has also severely undermined the country’s public health agencies and leaders, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert. The public’s loss of trust in federal agencies by Trump’s failure to communicate accurately about vaccines was summed up by California senator and Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris when she said at her debate with Vice President Mike Pence a couple of weeks ago, if doctors determined a vaccine was safe, she would be “the first in line” for it. “But if Donald Trump tells us to take it, I won’t take it,” she added. That’s exactly right. The president, who had his own bout with COVID-19, left Walter Reed National Military Medical Center without an appreciation for prevention measures such as face coverings and maintain-

AP/Rich Pedroncelli, Pool

Governor Gavin Newsom held a face mask as he urged people to wear them to fight the spread of the coronavirus during a June news conference in Rancho Cordova, California.

ing social distance. He remains unrepentant and still flagrantly flouts these practices that have been shown to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. In short, we can’t trust Trump or his politically appointed officials when it comes to public health. Newsom, on the other hand, is prudent to take a cautious approach to a vaccine. His workgroup, which includes San Francisco Health Officer Dr. Tomás Aragón, and doctors from Stanford, UCLA, UC San Diego, and other institutions, is a key piece of the state’s initial COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan, according to a press release from his office. That plan was submitted to the CDC last week. Golden State residents shouldn’t think, however, that a vaccine will be widely avail-

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able soon. It almost certainly will not. The governor and health officials have prioritized those who will receive it first: those at highest risk of becoming infected and spreading COVID-19. “While a small number of doses of an FDA-approved vaccine could be deployed before year’s end, the reality is that the COVID-19 pandemic will be with us well into 2021 – and widespread vaccine distribution likely won’t occur for many months,” stated Dr. Erica Pan, the acting state public health officer. The governor’s 11-member workgroup will independently review the safety of any vaccine approved by the FDA before it’s distributed. And California is not alone. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that at least six other states and Washington, D.C. plan to independently review vaccine safety and efficacy. And, while it’s unlikely that an FDA-approved vaccine would be found unsafe, Newsom is right in taking this extra step to confirm the results – a necessary waste of funds for states because the president has purposely cast doubt on the impartiality of the federal health agencies he leads. In the meantime, we should all continue wearing masks and staying physically distant from others, especially as Mayor London Breed announced Tuesday that San Francisco is now in the yellow tier, the least restrictive, and is the only county in the Bay Area to have met that goal. That’s a major accomplishment and is due to residents’ commitment to following public health guidelines and the work of public health officials, doctors, nurses, and others. As Pan stated, “Across the country, states are seeing increases in COVID-19 transmission, but thanks to Californians’ adherence to our public health guidance and our slow and stringent reopening, that hasn’t happened yet here in California.”t

A case for lifting the veil on queer history by Jerald Crook

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first encountered the Invisible Histories Project through its director of research and development Maigen Sullivan. As she spoke on a panel about the role of storytelling in Southern history and identity, her knowledge, candor, and Alabama piedmont accent were charming and refreshing to the ear. Even more engaging, though, was the work that she represented: a concerted effort to preserve the history of LGBTQ life in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. It was work that I inherently deemed necessary, but had never really conceived what it looked like. I knew immediately that this was something in which I wanted to be involved. As a student of history, I believe deeply that close regard of historical facts and narratives plays an important role in the progression of humankind. History, and public history programming, can literally save us. The Invisible Histories Project presents a special opportunity to engage this endeavor, an endeavor that is important for a variety of reasons. In a 1968 interview for the “Of Black America” CBS documentary series, civil rights movement superwoman Fannie Lou Hamer said, “They know what they’ve done to us, all over this country, they know what they’ve done to us.” In that moment, Hamer was referring to white America’s feigned ignorance of the plight of Black Americans throughout American history, the same feigned ignorance that feeds contemporary racial injustice struggles. Indeed, somewhere down the line someone realized that one way to strip people of their humanity is to ignore or diminish the historical record of their existence – a type of non-violent violence. I hear Auntie Fannie Lou as I stand at the intersection of my Black and queer identities, and while, like Auntie, I know Americans are aware of their crimes against my Blackness, I’m not as confident that they know what they’ve done to us queer folk, especially in the South where the things that make us uncomfortable aren’t usually confronted, but are instead pushed away into darkness and prayed for fervently. I don’t think they know about the gaps left in time and space when in 2004 Scotty Weaver, a gay 18-year-old, was gruesomely murdered out of hate in my neighborhood of our small hometown of Bay Minette, Alabama; or when just last year, on the opposite end of the state in

Courtesy Higher Ground Society

Jerald Crook

Huntsville, Alabama, Nigel Shelby, a Black gay 15-year-old, took his own life to evade persistent homophobic bullying. I don’t think they know how, despite centuries of intolerance and persecution, vibrant queer communities have existed for decades in places like rural Alabama where lovers and friends flourish in relative peace. They don’t know how in metropolitan areas like Birmingham the families that were forged in the ballroom scene triumphantly raised dynamic men, women, and gender-nonconforming humans when biological families just couldn’t cut it. These people went on to take one of life’s many paths, some succumbing to a hostile, unaccepting world, others going on to live fruitful lives and contributing to society and Alabama’s evolution. These stories are simultaneously vast and unseen. They are deeply embedded in our societal DNA, and yet, so often cloaked away in the background of social memory. As a Black man, I am accustomed to American histories being exclusionary of my people’s narrative, and I am seeing first hand today the sociopolitical damage endured when this excluded narrative isn’t regarded with the same enthusiasm as the heteronormative, “great (white) man” histories. Noting this damage, it stands to reason that we would do well to learn deeply from whole histories. Like the histories of Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, queer histories – our triumphs and tragedies – belong in mainstream consciousness as an integral part of the intersectionality of human life. This is why, through my nonprofit organization, Higher Ground Society (HGS),

I have endeavored to aid in the mission and goals of the Invisible Histories Project. Higher Ground Society uses the arts and humanities to express and explore our humanness with the hope that we will see each other in equity and in grace. Our collaborative efforts with Invisible Histories Project, in particular curating the exhibit highlighting queer history in Birmingham, does just that. When the exhibit opens in May 2021, Higher Ground’s role will be to facilitate programming that encourages reflection and conversation on the Birmingham queer community’s past, present, and future. By the exhibit’s close we hope to have honored our ancestors and their legacies, amplified the voices of marginalized, yet thriving Birmingham LGBTQ+ communities, and created space for the queer community to begin reckoning with its own shortcomings in terms of internal racism, misogyny, bisexuality erasure, and transphobia. We hope to have truly made what was once willfully or otherwise invisible to most definitively visible to all. James Baldwin, a personal guiding spirit of mine, said in 1963 that “American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it.” As usual, Jimmy tells it like it is and urges us to say more, to tell the whole story. I am proud to be in partnership with the Invisible Histories Project in the work that seeks to complete that story. It is as much an American civic duty as voting or protesting injustice. We are all stewards of history in our own way. I invite you to follow the journey of both the Invisible Histories Project and Higher Ground Society, and I hope that you are inspired to contribute similarly in your own communities to ensure that the legacy of LGBTQ and other marginalized communities are nurtured and preserved for generations to come. t Jerald Crook (he/him/his) is the founder and executive director of Higher Ground Society, an Alabama nonprofit organization forging community and understanding through arts and humanities engagement. He also serves as a board member for the Invisible Histories Project. For more information, visit https://www.highergroundsociety.org/.

Politics >>

October 22-28, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 5

Gay South Bay natives seek city council seats

by Matthew S. Bajko

wo gay men who grew up in the South Bay are aiming to make LGBTQ political history in their respective cities come the November 3 election. Either would be the first out male city council person in their hometowns. In Cupertino, Joseph “J.R.” Fruen is believed to be the first out person to seek a council seat in the city. Thus, if elected, the attorney would be the first LGBTQ person to serve on the City Council. In neighboring Santa Clara, planning commissioner Anthony Becker is seeking to become the second LGBTQ person to serve on the City Council. The first was Jamie McLeod-Skinner, a lesbian elected in 2004 who served for eight years and now lives in Oregon, where she came up short in this year’s primary race for secretary of state. Fruen, 41, and Becker, 35, are part of a crop of younger LGBTQ candidates seeking elected office throughout the Bay Area this fall. They are advocates of building more housing and denser developments in their hometowns to address the sky-high home prices that make it near impossible for many of the people they grew up with to afford to live there. And they have attracted broad support from across the political spectrum and within the LGBTQ community. The two main LGBTQ political groups in Santa Clara County – the Bay Area Municipal Election Committee and the Silicon Valley Stonewall Democrats – both endorsed Fruen and Becker, as did the San Jose Mercury News and the Santa Clara County Democratic Party. While Fruen is one of five people running citywide in Cupertino for two council seats, Becker is one of three people seeking Santa Clara’s newly created District 6 council seat. The two talk often, as the district Becker wants to represent is within the boundaries of the public K-8 Cupertino Union School District, on whose citizen advisory committee Fruen serves. This is Fruen’s first time running for public office, while Becker is mounting his third campaign, having lost a mayoral bid two years ago and coming up short when he first ran for a council seat in 2016. Becker graduated from San Jose State University with a degree in radio film and television. He is a freelance filmmaker and works for a company that polices problematic content on the internet. While he makes $60,000 a year, he has been public in his campaign that he struggles to afford to live in Santa Clara as a renter and is priced out of the local housing market. “I didn’t leave mainly because this is my home. I was always comfortable growing up here,” said Becker, whose grandparents moved to the city in the 1950s. “It is a great community for everybody to start their lives, whether you are gay, straight, whatever.” As he has knocked on doors to talk to voters, Becker said he encounters longtime residents seriously considering selling their home in order to move where their children now live or young families already wondering how their children will be able to afford to live there when they become young adults, Becker told the Bay Area Reporter in a phone interview this week. “They just want be somewhere they can retire where their kid can

Barry Schneider Attorney at Law Courtesy the campaigns

Cupertino City Council candidate Joseph “J.R.” Fruen, left, and Santa Clara City Council candidate Anthony Becker

be close by; that is the biggest factor,” said Becker, whose partner, Abel Cardona, works for Amazon. “Every parent I talk to is fearful their children can’t afford to live here. I can relate to that.” His parents ended up buying a place in Los Banos when he was a teenager and he graduated from high school there. But they maintained a house in Santa Clara, which was sold after his father died from liver cancer in 2014. Rather than move away, Becker found an apartment to rent. And his dad’s passing motivated him to become more involved civically, leading to his running for office. Now that he is seeking a district seat, Becker told the B.A.R. he is “pretty confident” of his chances this time out. Fruen is a third generation resident of Cupertino whose maternal grandparents voted on incorporating as a city in 1955. His parents ended up moving to Santa Clara but he often stayed with his grandparents in Cupertino. After earning a B.A. in European studies and German with a minor in Italian from UCLA in 2002, he moved back to the Bay Area and graduated from Santa Clara University’s law school in 2014. Two years later he opened his own practice, focusing on trademark law. He and his husband, Clifton Der Bing, a licensed psychologist, are renters in Cupertino who would like to be able to own a home there someday. “I might be the first person who grew up here to serve on council,” Fruen told the B.A.R. in a phone interview this week. Concerned about the direction of his city, and prompted by the health crisis to reevaluate his priorities, Fruen said he decided to enter the council race in order to enact policies he believes will improve the lives of his neighbors. “It is a lot easier to get policy passed if on the dais than if in the public making comments, writing letters and creating popular pressure for a particular policy outcome,” he said. “You can also ensure the conversation on the dais includes viewpoints not being represented.” His biggest concern is that current city leadership espouses anti-housing views, which Fruen believes is having a broadly negative impact. Not only is the local school district struggling with declining enrollment as families are priced out, he argues it is also depressing sales for local businesses as there is less of a customer base in the city.

“Our city is aging. People don’t spend the same way they do when they have kids or are a young couple,” he pointed out. “It is an artifact of the unaffordable cost of living here. If we can help solve that problem, we can resuscitate our small business community in our city.” The two are both running against their local political establishments and are opposed by the mayor of their cities. Coincidentally, each received a bit of news coverage over rainbow-flag flaps involving their mayors this summer. In June, Becker made headlines after he was barred from attending the city’s Pride flag raising ceremony as a stand-in for the vice mayor who had a scheduling conflict. City staff pointed to an obscure rule that his participation needed to be approved by the council, and as the website San Jose Spotlight reported, Mayor Lisa Gillmor informed Becker he could only observe the ceremony if he took “proper social-distancing precautions.” For Fruen it came in August when Cupertino Mayor Steven Scharf, who is running for reelection to one of the two council seats on the ballot next month, gave his supporters yard signs bearing a rainbow flag motif. It not only raised eyebrows but was seen as a dig against Fruen as San Jose Inside reported. The upside, however, was a bump in campaign donations for Fruen, who told the website some residents did so to protest Sharf ’s co-opting the LGBTQ community’s symbol for his own behalf. Should Becker and Fruen win election, they won’t just be breaking through a pink political ceiling but shaking up their cities’ power structures.t Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http://www.ebar.com Monday mornings for Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion. This week’s column profiled the new president of the League of California Cities’ LGBTQ Caucus. 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.

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<< Community News

t Pacific Center searching for new ED after turnover 6 • Bay Area Reporter • October 22-28, 2020

by John Ferrannini

he Pacific Center for Human Growth in Berkeley – the oldest LGBTQ community center in the Bay Area and in California, and the third

oldest in the United States – is looking for a new executive director after experiencing turnover in that position. The position was posted to LinkedIn October 14. As the Bay Area Reporter reported

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last September, Michelle Gonzalez took over the position in August 2019 after longtime executive director Leslie Ewing retired. Gonzalez resigned in July, after less than a year in the post. “Michelle left to pursue other opportunities,” Chris Wyman, a gay man who sits on the center’s board of directors, told the B.A.R. October 12. After that, Taunya Black stepped in as interim executive director, but recently decided to return to her previous role as director of diversity, equity, and inclusion, the board stated in a late September news release. “Taunya opted not to stay on as interim. It all goes to people choosing to opt for other professional opportunities,” Wyman said. During the months of her tenure, Black led the center in updating its mission statement, finalizing the budget for this fiscal year and securing a $10,000 grant from Horizons Foundation. Wyman said that the center will go without an executive director until a new one can be selected, hopefully by the end of 2020. “Right now the board of directors with our leadership team are working in partnership,” Wyman said. “Each has full oversight over their programs. We are lucky to have a wealth of knowledge in the leadership team,” which includes Black, Anne Mitchell, and Erin Harrell, PsyD. Wyman said that “all have been

Lyon-Martin house

From page 1

Street in the city’s Noe Valley neighborhood to the list of local landmarks. The 5,700 square foot lot includes two parcels. One was the site of the Units available through the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development and are subject couple’s two-story cottage, and the to monitoring and other restrictions. other is an undeveloped area the Visit housing.sfgov.org for an application and further program information. women had tended as a garden. At its meeting October 19, the supervisors’ land use and transportation committee had voted 3-0 in support Modera Rincon.indd 1 10/13/20 12:24 PM of designating the property as a local historic site. “If there is a deserving landmark, this is certainly it,” said District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who chairs the panel. Noting he had visited the women at their home, Peskin asked to be made a co-sponsor of the resolution, as did the other committee members, District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston and District 11 Supervisor Ahsha Safaí. As the Bay Area Reporter first reported last month, gay District 8 Su-

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Pacific Center board member Chris Wyman

with the center for some time and we are grateful for that.” Wyman said that the job of executive director comes with “big shoes to fill.” “We are hoping to have someone that takes the reins and carries the legacy on,” he said. “A passion for the mission. We are in the middle of a mental health crisis. In late June a CDC study showed 40% of adults were having substance abuse or mental health issues. We need someone who every day wakes up to make things better for folks and who knows how to help.” Gabrielle Hooks, a queer woman who became the newest member of the board of directors this summer, said the three most important things are “a passion for the mission, commitment pervisor Rafael Mandelman is spearheading the effort to grant historic status to the property after it recently sold for $2.25 million. The B.A.R. has been unable to reach the buyer, David R. Duncan, and neither he nor a representative addressed the supervisors committee. San Francisco Heritage and the National Trust for Historic Preservation are both supportive of seeing the property become a city landmark. A new group, Friends of the Lyon-Martin House, has formed to push for the designation and includes leaders of the GLBT Historical Society as well as friends of the late couple. After first meeting in Seattle in 1952, Lyon and Martin moved to San Francisco. As recounted in the city’s LGBTQ historic context statement released in 2015, Lyon moved first and found a flat in the Castro district in which Martin moved into on Valentine’s Day 1953. Two years later they bought the 756 square foot home atop a steep

hill in Noe Valley. As Lyon recounted to Shayne E. Watson, a lesbian and architectural historian who co-wrote the citywide LGBTQ report, their only requirement when house hunting was to buy one “with a view.” Their home would become a gathering place within the city’s lesbian community and the site of various meetings and events. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) addressed one gathering there while standing on the staircase of the twolevel cottage reportedly built in 1908. Journalists and co-founders of the Daughters of Bilitis, the first political and social organization for lesbians in the United States, Lyon and Martin would make history again in 2004 when they were the first couple to be married by San Francisco officials in defiance of California’s prohibition of same-sex marriage. When the state Supreme Court tossed out the homophobic law, the

In addition to Don and Tony, Santos is survived by his dog Daisy, his childhood friend Terrell, his ex David from Australia, many friends from the Phoenix and elsewhere including Jimmy, Curt, Warren, Steve, Brett and Joe, and his friend Marco in Los Angeles.

of all he loved Thai food. Brian liked to make new friends and taught everyone that if they are from another country and you have trouble understanding them then you should learn to listen. You should try to speak to them in their languages. And if the boy laughs at you it is OK, “Be a boy and laugh with him.” He would go to AA meetings with love in his hands, came back with empty hands, but full of stories to tell and inspire you. We were blessed to learn many valuable lessons from him, among them: never be afraid to curse out loud, to laugh out loud, and to love out loud. If you are not good at giving a blow job then you’d better be good at blowing kisses or learn before you cry until you can’t blow your nose. Because at the end it’s all about loving one another. Brian is survived by his partner, Jack; his longtime friends, John, Andrew, and Katie; his sisters, Valerie, Eileen, and Wanda; his mother, Lucille; his granddaughters, Angelina, and Kayley; and his loved ones, James, Cindy, and Tammy. He is predeceased by his brother, Stephen; his son, Michael. A private celebration of life took place October 10 at the National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. Please consider a tribute by making a donation to www.sfspca.org.

See page 8 >>

Obituaries >> Santos Rangel Sept.16, 1956 – Sept. 29, 2020

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to community, and ambition.” “Our next executive director must be committed to building those partnerships with staff, the board, and of course, the public,” Hooks said. The Pacific Center’s physical space remains closed due to COVID-19. Nonetheless, many of its services are being provided virtually, including counseling services, peer group meetings, and therapy sessions. “Normally we would be having this meeting in person,” Wyman said of the interview. “The same goes for the services we provide. Shelter-in-place has accelerated telemedicine and right now we are continuing to meet virtually and offer our mental health services virtually. I don’t see a world in the future where we don’t offer that.” Hooks said that while in-person care is important, the virtual move is expanding the opportunities for the center. “All of this extended access has expanded how we offer care and where people receive that care,” she said. The Pacific Center’s total budget in 2018-19 fiscal year, the most recent numbers publicly available, was about $1 million. Wyman told the B.A.R. that the salary range for the executive director position is between $90,000 and $100,000. According to the center’s 2018-19 IRS Form 990. Ewing made a salary of $107,616 that fiscal year. t

first gay Pride in San Francisco while still in high school. He was an active part of the leather community, having been a lifelong member of the Phoenix Uniform club, for which he held several offices. He loved the outdoors and taking annual trips to Yosemite to hike and camp. Santos also loved a good brownie and was equally happy to share. He had many friends, some from his childhood, many through his activities with the Phoenix, and others through his work at AT&T. Santos spent many days with his beloved Aunt Jessie until she passed.

Brian T. Russo June 15, 1956 – September 20, 2020

Brian T. Russo entered eternal life on September 20, 2020 at the age of 64. Brian was born on June 15, 1956 in Mt. Vernon, New York to Felix Russo and Lucille Darretta. He attended Broward Community College in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In 1975, he joined the United States Army and graduated from the Military Police School in Fort Gordon, Georgia. He worked as an area manager with Phillips-Van Heusen Company. Brian had a passion for traveling around the world. He liked to observe people and places and embraced cultural differences while traveling. One of his favorite places was Thailand, where his longtime partner is from. Brian loved Thai people but most

Community News>>

October 22-28, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 7

AIDS grove to launch virtual 50-state quilt exhibition compiled by Cynthia Laird

he National AIDS Memorial Grove, which took over stewardship of the National AIDS Memorial Quilt last year, is set to launch a 50-state virtual exhibition of it in conjunction with World AIDS Day December 1. The exhibit will feature more than 10,000 panels representing all 50 states and U.S. territories. Interested panelmakers, individuals, businesses, and nonprofit organizations can be part of this historic effort, according to a news release from the grove. Each year on World AIDS Day, the quilt team works with hundreds of partners to arrange more than 1,000 in-person displays across the country at universities, schools, places of worship, museums, businesses, and community centers. Due to the pandemic, that won’t be possible this year, officials said. “World AIDS Day is taking on new meaning this year, as COVID-19 has brought an enormous loss of life and grief to millions of people,” stated John Cunningham, executive director of the grove. “During the darkest days of the AIDS crisis, the quilt was a source of immense comfort, inspiration, and used as a tool for social activism to open the eyes of the nation to injustice and to help survivors grieve and heal. “Through this exhibition, we hope the power and beauty of the quilt can serve that same purpose for those who are experiencing loss and grief due to COVID-19,” he added. The virtual exhibition provides a unique way for individuals and organizations to host a display of the quilt. Each host will be able to feature a selection of quilt blocks of their choice and curate a personalized display narrative that will accompany it. The exhibition will be free to the public, with a soft launch November 16 at www.aidsmemorial.org/virtual2020. Displays will be categorized by state under the individual or organization host name. It will run through March 31. Display hosts have until November 1 to apply. The fee to be a host is $500. Proceeds from the exhibition will be used to ensure the continued care and conservation of more than 40,000 individual panels of the quilt, which are housed in a specially configured warehouse near the Oakland International Airport. Interested hosts can go to http:// www.aidsmemorial.org/2020virtual, where it has a sign up form/email for Brian Holman. They can also see a sample of what the pages will look like.

SF health center gets quake grant

San Francisco’s Castro-Mission Health Center will receive a $1.6 million Federal Emergency Management Agency grant to protect its patients, staff, and facilities in the event of an earthquake. According to a news release from FEMA, outdated building materials left the health center with a brittle, inflexible foundation

The $2.1 million project at 3850 17th Street includes the $1.6 million from FEMA; the remainder will come from non-federal sources. As the Bay Area Reporter noted in a January story, the health center is one of three San Francisco clinics that were slated for interior renovation work this year. It closed to patients in 2019. The work done by the city includes additional exam and consultation rooms. When the pandemic started, the center was the site of referral-only testing for the novel coronavirus. t

Courtesy National AIDS Memorial Grove

The National AIDS Memorial Quilt was displayed on the Ellipse in front of the White House in 1988.

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<< Community News

t Breast Cancer Action slams mainstream advocates 8 • Bay Area Reporter • October 22-28, 2020

by Sari Staver

(It’s previous executive director, Karuna Jaggar, left earlier this year.) Plumb, who lives in Omaha, Nebraska with her spouse, said she did not apply for the permanent job and plans to return to her consulting business when a new

director is announced later this year. The entire BCA staff is working remotely during the pandemic, said Tibby Reas Hinderlie, communications associate. Plumb has been involved in many Bay Area health and other nonprofits over the years. She has a master’s degree in nonprofit management from the University of San Francisco. The BCA campaign has been held each October since 2002 to highlight its mission: achieving health justice for all women at risk and living with breast cancer, said Plumb. Plumb pointed out that BCA focuses on “systemic interventions that will address the root causes of the disease and produce broad public health benefits ... ensuring that fewer women develop breast cancer and no community bears a disproportionate burden” of diagnosis or death from the disease. This year, BCA chose the theme, “We Can’t Be Pink’d: Say NO to Pink Policies,” which takes on the

lack of leadership by the current administration in addressing the breast cancer epidemic. The campaign calls out leaders of the National Cancer Institute, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Department of Justice. Their pink policies fail to protect people living with breast cancer and increase breast cancer risk for all people, especially for women, people of color, and low-income people, according to the BCA materials. One of BCA’s targets this year was the National Cancer Institute, a federal government agency that “lacks the information about environmental and other modifiable risk factors,” according to a news release. Two flaws in the NCI approach to breast cancer both centered on the agency’s “PDQ” online patient portal, which “gives a convoluted and incomplete” account of breast cancer risk factors. “Even more problematic, the NCI

Schwartz told the B.A.R. she will stay on as president until the completion of the capital renovation project, and that Newman will focus on day-to-day operations while she leverages her connections in the community to get the project completed. “Part of this decision is evolutionary, considering the growth of the organization,” she said. “We have to have an ED focused on youth and staff and then someone focusing on the future of the organization. “It was about finding the right time and opportunity to look

to the community for a new executive director,” Schwartz added, saying that she had been “in conversation” about departing the executive director position “for some time.” Schwartz said that half of the people LYRIC serves are transgender or gender-nonconforming, and that having Newman as the leader is crucial to making sure their needs are being met. “Having a leader reflect their identity is very important,” Schwartz said. “I want to make the transition as effortless and seamless as possible.”

Newman’s salary will be $155,000, according to LYRIC spokesperson David Perry. Perry stated that Schwartz’s salary can be found on the organization’s IRS form 990. The most recent form publicly available, from Fiscal Year 2017-2018, shows a salary of $133,510. Perry added that Schwartz will be reducing her time to 80% of a full-time employee on November 1 and to 50% from March 1 until the end of the capital campaign, which is when she has stated she intends to depart. t

Jodi Schwartz is will stay on as president of the nonprofit.

what happened in each room 80 years earlier. He’d rattle off names of old politicians. He knew them – we didn’t.” Michael Gallardo, also a past president of the San Francisco chapter of Log Cabin, helped put together the parties. “He agreed to host the party at his house if I did the organizing,”

Gallardo, a gay man, said. “Norman was an excellent host. He had a huge collection of wine glasses. We always enjoyed having parties there. He footed the bill for the catering and was a generous contributor to Log Cabin on a yearly basis.” Bowman agreed that Larson “loved showing off the place.” “When you entered the house, you entered a new world,” Schein recalled. “Quite dramatic, quite antique, heavy wood, a lot of redwood. We always had a lot of fun going up and down the staircase. Norm had a dramatic painting of himself that confronted you, with his grand, white hair and white beard looking like Colonel Sanders.” One feature of the house Schein described was a heavy antique lead-lined icebox. Others included a mosaic Larson was putting back together, and large windows Schein said were evocative of Paris. Schein said that Larson, a patron of the San Francisco Symphony, the San Francisco Opera, and baroque music, often invited the American

Bach Soloists to sing there. “He got on every board he could get on,” Schein said of Larson, who, at the time of his death two years ago, was called the “Duke of Haight Street.” “I don’t know if I’ll meet anyone quite like him,” he added. “You never missed an opportunity to be there. He had a library in front of a cracked plaster wall with a whole cabinet of Iranian literature. I looked at it because I was fascinated by it.” Upon his death, Larson bequeathed the building to San Francisco Heritage. (It is officially known as the Doolan-Larson Residence and Storefronts.) Buhler said that a team of experts is working with the national trust “to convert the building into a cultural destination.” When asked how LGBTQ history would be featured when it becomes a destination – the San Francisco Chronicle ran a story about the house last year referring to Larson as an “eccentric bachelor” – Buhler affirmed that the LGBTQ story of the building is essential to its history. “It’s difficult to say without an

interpretive plan, but the building’s LGBTQ associations are an essential part of its story, from Peggy Caserta and her hip clothing boutique, Mnasidika, to its namesake, Norman Larson,” Buhler stated. “Sexual liberation is a central theme of the counterculture movement and San Francisco’s heritage, and will be prominently highlighted in any future cultural destination at the corner of Haight and Ashbury.” Gallardo had fond memories of Larson and the house. “It goes without saying that we miss Norm,” Gallardo said. “He was such a good man and we miss his company. I’d pick up a nibble or two at Gus’s Market and then stop at the house for baroque and great conversations. Norm was very wellliked, I’d say beloved.” Schein, too, says he misses going to Larson’s home and said he knows if Larson threw a party in the era of COVID-19 he would have masks and a protocol at-the-ready. “You felt special in that house,” Schein said. t

prominently displayed a photo of Lyon and Martin exchanging their vows. It was meant as a visual reminder that LGBTQ rights, including marriage equality, could be rolled back by the nation’s highest court should Barrett be seated as its sixth conservative justice. Watson has helped to initiate the landmark request and formation of the friends group. She and Donna Graves, a public historian based in Berkeley who co-authored the citywide LGBTQ context statement, had included the Lyon-Martin house on a

list of LGBTQ historic properties they identified as likely eligible for designation as a city landmark and listing on the California and national registers of historic places. While the state and federal listings are largely honorific, a city landmark designation would provide a level of protection to the property should its new owners submit plans to raze it in order to build a larger structure. While a property owner can seek historic landmark status, a member of the Board of Supervisors or the city’s planning department working with

the historic preservation commission can also seek adding a property to the list of 288 local landmarks currently in San Francisco. To date, San Francisco has granted city landmark status to only four sites for their importance to LGBTQ history. Two are gay bar locations, one the former home to the AIDS Memorial Quilt, and the fourth was the late gay supervisor Harvey Milk’s residence and former Castro Camera shop at 573 Castro Street. All are located in commercial corridors. The Lyon-Martin house would

be the first LGBTQ historic site in a solely residential neighborhood and the first focused solely on lesbian history. “In my view, and I hope in yours, the site is of historic value to San Francisco and the LGBTQ rights movement across the world and it should be appropriately recognized and preserved,” said Mandelman during Monday’s hearing. “This is the beginning of the process but a critical step for the city to weigh in on what happens to the site in the future.” t

from teaching in public schools. Gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), then the District 8 supervisor, attended the couple’s wedding. At the time he called the couple “truly Castro royalty.” He praised Mr. Taylor in a statement to the B.A.R. early October 21.

“Tom Taylor was one of the engines that made the Castro run,” Wiener said. “For decades, Tom cared for and uplifted our neighborhood. His death is a terrible loss for our community. Tom was a kind, selfless, generous human being who was always there for the rest of us. Rest in power, Tom.”

At their wedding, the couple spoke of their wish to be cremated when the time comes, with their ashes placed together in a single urn at the San Francisco Columbarium. Castro Merchants board President Masood Samereie has not responded to a request for comment asking

about future plans for the flagpole key or other maintenance for the flag.t

ore than 30 years after the launch of the breast cancer awareness movement and the introduction of the pink ribbon, the San Francisco-based national watchdog group Breast Cancer Action accused the mainstream advocates of remaining “squarely focused on pink ribbons, awareness campaigns, and mammography screening.” This focus “fails to address the systemic issues at the heart of this epidemic, instead of emphasizing individual risk and individual solutions,” said BCA interim Executive Director Marj Plumb in a telephone interview with the Bay Area Reporter. “But individual action alone, whether in terms of lifestyle or behavioral choices, isn’t sufficient to tackle the root causes of the breast cancer epidemic.” Plumb, a lesbian and former BCA board member, agreed to take the helm while the organization conducted a national search for a new leader.

LYRIC

From page 1

cisco during her tenure as LYRIC’s executive director.” As for LYRIC, earlier this month, the San Francisco Planning Commission approved plans for the organization to move forward with extensive renovations to its queer youth center at 127 Collingwood Street in the Castro neighborhood. LYRIC’s $2 million capital renovation project received $200,000 of city money through Mandelman’s office.

SF house

Lyon-Martin house

From page 6

women were the first same-sex couple to legally marry in California on June 16, 2008. Weeks later, on August 27, Martin died at the age of 87 in San Francisco with Lyon at her side. This past spring Lyon died at the age of 95 on April 9. During last week’s confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court nominee jurist Amy Coney Barrett, judiciary committee member Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California)

BCA interim Executive Director Marj Plumb

From page 3

Schein said that Larson threw parties and had gatherings at the home, which is a colonial revival built at the start of the 20th century. “It’s fun to be in such an old place,” Schein said. “We had events there two to four times a year: chapter meetings, Christmas parties, guest speakers. It was a go-to place. If those people at the Summer of Love had known that same place was filled with gay Republicans, it’d shock them.” Schein said that Larson’s Christmas party was “one of the best in town.” “We were supposedly rich Republicans and gay so of course it was,” Schein asserted, adding that the holiday menu often consisted of Chinese food. “I’d sneak in Christmas cookies and stuff like that,” Schein said. “Norm was very hospitable and proud of his home. He had researched it and could talk about

Courtesy Marj Plumb

Tom Taylor

From page 1

paign and the Briggs Initiative, a 1978 California ballot measure that was defeated but which would have banned gays, lesbians and their supporters

Courtesy Fred Schein

Norm Larson stands in front of a portrait of himself at the Doolan-Larson Residence on Ashbury Street.

leaves out current information on environmental exposures,” said the BCA statement. The website currently claims that “it is not clear” whether the environment affects breast cancer risk, failing to tell women about the growing evidence of potential links between chemical exposure and breast cancer. A call to the National Cancer Institute’s public information office was not returned by press time. “These small details actually make a big difference in how breast cancer is addressed by advocacy organizations, practitioners, and people living with and at risk of the disease across the country,” Plumb stated in an email to the B.A.R. BCA’s campaign includes action steps for the public to take directed at one of these federal agencies. For further information, go to https:// bcaction.org/we-cant-be-pinkd/ BCA has an annual budget of $900,000. Plumb’s salary is $120,000, according to Hinderlie. t

photo

Legals & Classifieds>>

October 22-28, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 9

Legals>> NOTICE OF PUBLIC SALE OF PROPERTY. SALE DATE SHALL BE NOVEMBER 2, 2020, MONDAY AT 8AM. LOCATION SHALL BE 1871 SACRAMENTO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109 Abandoned property includes free standing bookshelves, books, binders, papers, chairs, folding tables, file cabinets, office supplies, clothes, lamps, beds, exercise equipment, computer, printer, handicap toilet, handicap walker, wheelchair, DVD movies, CD’s, fish tank & related accessories, storage boxes, vacuum cleaner, kitchenware & small appliances, dishes & glassware, microwave, mini-refrigerator, and free standing storage cabinets. All items are in specified rooms and areas, stacked, and in black plastic bags. Touching and rummaging the items are not allowed. Sale shall be to bid for the entire abandoned personal property. Highest bidder to provide guarantee to remove and take responsibility for the entire abandoned personal property. Payment shall be in cash. OCT 15, 22, 2020 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-20-555903 In the matter of the application of JUAN ANTONIO GAMEZ AGUAYO, 2370 31ST AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner JUAN ANTONIO GAMEZ AGUAYO is requesting that the name JUAN ANTONIO GAMEZ AGUAYO be changed to JUAN ANTONIO GAMEZ. 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 3rd of November 2020 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted. OCT 01, 08, 15, 22, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039155300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as BLUEGOAL HOUSEHOLD SERVICES, 270 TURK ST #207, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MIGUEL EUSEBIO. 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 09/15/20. OCT 01, 08, 15, 22, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039157800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as NEXT GENERATION MEETINGS & EVENTS; NXG MEETINGS & EVENTS; 293 2ND AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed PRISCILLA LEE & PATTREE DUKE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/30/15. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/17/20. OCT 01, 08, 15, 22, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039155600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as WORLD GYM SHOWPLACE SQUARE, 260 DEHARO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed TALMADGE & TALMADGE INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/31/03. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/15/20. OCT 01, 08, 15, 22, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039157300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as AXE DIGITAL LLC, 130 BUSH ST, 9TH FL, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94104. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed AXE DIGITAL LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/05/06. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/17/20. OCT 01, 08, 15, 22, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039160000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as ARARAT INVESTMENTS LLC, 2429 VALLEJO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed ARARAT INVESTMENTS LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/28/02. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/24/20. OCT 01, 08, 15, 22, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039157700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as KAILASH HOTEL, 179 JULIAN AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed HARIOMBAPU, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/01/15. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/17/20. OCT 01, 08, 15, 22, 2020 NOTICE THE DISSOLUTION OF PARTS PEDIGREE, INC., A DELAWARE CORPORATION. Please take notice that on June 30, 2020, Parts Pedigree, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”) filed a Certificate of Dissolution with the Delaware Secretary of State. Any claims against the Company must be presented in writing and must contain sufficient information reasonably to inform the Company or successor entity of the identity of the claimant and the substance of the claim. Such claim must be sent to: 332 S. Michigan Ave, Num 10-P825, Chicago, IL 60604. Such claim must be received by December 14, 2020, and such claim will be barred if not received by that date. The aggregate amount, on an annual basis, of all distributions made by the Company to its stockholders for each of the three years prior to the date the Company dissolved was $0.00 annually.

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-20-555924 In the matter of the application of DAVID PHONG BUI & KEVIN MICHAEL MCCARTHY, 2331 12TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner DAVID PHONG BUI & KEVIN MICHAEL MCCARTHY is requesting that the name GAVIN ALAN MINH MCCARTHY BUI be changed to GAVIN ALAN MINH MCCARTHY-BUI. 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 17th of November 2020 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted. OCT 08, 15, 22, 29, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039163300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as STANDARD STUDIO, 702 BRODERICK ST UNIT C, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MICHAEL DOLAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/01/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/30/20. OCT 08, 15, 22, 29, 2020 NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF ROBERT SCOTT MADISON IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN MATEO: FILE 20-PRO-01276 To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of ROBERT SCOTT MADISON. A Petition for Probate has been filed by ZENA HUNT in the Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo. The Petition for Probate requests that ZENA HUNT be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. 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 14, 2020, 9:00 am, Dept. 28, Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo, 400 County Center, Redwood City, CA 94063. 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: ANNE STEELE (SBN 52956), 456 SAN MATEO AVE #8, SAN BRUNO, CA 94066; Ph. (650) 952-0950. OCT 08, 15, 22, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039162100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as EYE LEVEL OPTOMETRY, 1544 CHURCH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed NG BONNIE OD, A PROF CORP (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/10/05. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/29/20. OCT 08, 15, 22, 29, 2020 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-20-555931 In the matter of the application of JEANNETTE LAURA DAVIS, 3184 MISSION ST #202, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner JEANNETTE LAURA DAVIS is requesting that the name JEANNETTE LAURA DAVIS AKA JEANNETTE LAURA MANN be changed to JEANNETTE LAURA O’CONNOR. 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 24th of November 2020 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted. OCT 15, 22, 29, NOV 05, 2020

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT RFP NO. 6M6146 DATE CHANGE FOR RECEIPT OF PROPOSALS NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District has extended the time for receipt of Proposals until the hour of 2:00 p.m. local time, Tuesday, November 10, 2020, at the District’s Offices, Attention: District Secretary’s Office, BART, 300 Lakeside Drive, 23rd Floor, Oakland, California 94612, by hand delivery or special delivery, for Professional Services for Program Identification and Project Selection for the New Transbay Rail Crossing, RFP No. 6M6146, as more fully described in the RFP Documents. Dated at Oakland, California, this 9th day of October, 2020. s John A. Mazza John Mazza, Director of Procurement San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District 10/22/20 CNS-3407223# BAY AREA REPORTER

CITATION FOR FREEDOM FROM PARENTAL CUSTODY AND CONTROL IN SUPERIOR COURT, COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO: CASE 20AD000356C In the matter of ANABELLA CHIKEI LIN, a minor, to JIAHUI LIN, you are ordered to appear in the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego, in Department 903 at the court location 2851 Meadow Park Dr., San Diego, CA 92123, on December 11, 2020 at 9:00am to show cause why ANABELLA CHIKEI LIN should not be declared free from parental custody and control for the purpose of placement for adoption as required in the petition. At the hearing, the judge will read the petition and, if requested, will explain the effect of the granting of the petition, any term or allegation contained therein and the nature of the proceeding, its procedures and possible consequences, and may continue the matter for not more than 30 days for the appointment of counsel or to give counsel time to prepare. The court may appoint counsel to represent the minor whether or not the minor is able to afford counsel. If any parent appears and is unable to afford counsel, the court shall appoint counsel to represent each parent who appears unless such representation is knowingly and intelligently waived. Someone over the age of 18 – not the petitioner – must serve the other party with all the forms and complete a proof of service form, such as Proof of Service (JC Form #FL-330 or JC Form #FL-335), telling when and how the other party was served and file that with the court. If you wish to seek the advice of an attorney in this matter, you should do so promptly so that your pleading, if any, may be filed on time. Party Without Attorney: Gabriel Blaluk Idip & Yanshan Tan, 17810 Pueblo Vista Ln, San Diego, CA 92127. Date: 09/25/2020, Edlene McKenzie, Judge of the Superior Court. OCT 08, 15, 22, 29, 2020 NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF LYNN MCKANNAY AKA LYNN BLASKOWER MCKANNAY IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO: FILE PES-18-302353 To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of LYNN MCKANNAY AKA LYNN BLASKOWER MCKANNAY. A Petition for Probate has been filed by RICHARD H. MCKANNAY, JR. in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. The Petition for Probate requests that RICHARD H. MCKANNAY, JR. be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. 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: November 16, 2020, 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. Party without attorney: RICHARD H. MCKANNAY, JR., 170 AVILA ST., SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123; Ph. (415) 441-4040. OCT 15, 22, 29, 2020 AMENDED ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-20-555869 In the matter of the application of LI JUAN WU, 577 MISSOURI ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107 for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner LI JUAN WU is requesting that the name LI JUAN WU be changed to LI JUAN WU-WONG. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N on the 1st of December 2020 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted. OCT 15, 22, 29, NOV 05, 2020

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039175900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as PRETTY BABY BRIDAL; SMOKIES TOKE COUTURE; PUFFY P; 1240 20TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed PILAR JOHNSON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/18/15. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/08/20. OCT 15, 22, 29, NOV 05, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039174600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as WAX JEWELLERY, 1226 SUTTER ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DEBBIE MEI WAH CHOU. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/01/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/08/20. OCT 15, 22, 29, NOV 05, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039172700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as WELLER HOTEL, 908 POST ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed JALASAI BAPU LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/01/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/07/20. OCT 15, 22, 29, NOV 05, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039173600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as BURNT CLAY, 1395 WALLACE AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed CLAY CALIFORNIA LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/07/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/07/20. OCT 15, 22, 29, NOV 05, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039173500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as FIORELLA SUNSET, 1240 9TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed PROSPECT PIZZA SUNSET LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/07/20. OCT 15, 22, 29, NOV 05, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039157200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as POWERSTREAM LLC, 912 COLE ST #156, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed QUALITY APPLIANCE REPAIR SAN FRANCISCO LLC (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 09/17/20. OCT 15, 22, 29, NOV 05, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039168500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as ABU SALIM MIDDLE EASTERN GRILL, 1599 HAIGHT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed ABU SALIM LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/05/20. OCT 15, 22, 29, NOV 05, 2020 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-20-555926 In the matter of the application of KARLA JESSENIA MELARA, 78 CARR ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner KARLA JESSENIA MELARA AKA KARLA JESSENIA MEJIA is requesting that the name KARLA JESSENIA MELARA AKA KARLA JESSENIA MEJIA be changed to KARLA MELARA MEJIA. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N on the 19th of November 2020 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted. OCT 22, 29, NOV 05, 12, 2020

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-20-555944 In the matter of the application of CAROLE EILEEN ACUNA-PICKENS, 2212 POLK ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner CAROLE EILEEN ACUNA-PICKENS is requesting that the name CAROLE EILEEN ACUNA-PICKENS be changed to TACHIRIA FLAMENCO ROME. 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 1st of December 2020 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted. OCT 22, 29, NOV 05, 12, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039168800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as LAW OFFICES OF STANTON & KAUFMAN, 400 MONTGOMERY ST #502, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94104. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MARY BETH KAUFMAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/01/08. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/05/20. OCT 22, 29, NOV 05, 12, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039172900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as PAUL WOODFORD SERVICES, 296 COLERIDGE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed GEORGE PAUL WOODFORD. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/10/97. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/07/20. OCT 22, 29, NOV 05, 12, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039177300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as SFGIFTBASKET.COM, 201 CLAY ST, 2 EMBARCADERO CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94111. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MITRA GHIASI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/06. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/10/20. OCT 22, 29, NOV 05, 12, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039168900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as DATARACY, 1583 SCHAEFFER RD, SEBASTOPOL, CA 95472. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CAMERON HOLL. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/14/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/05/20. OCT 22, 29, NOV 05, 12, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039177200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as ANNA BEAUTY SALON, 4 PERSIA AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ANA ANAYA GALEANO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/09/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/10/20. OCT 22, 29, NOV 05, 12, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039164100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as CHORUS, 2370 MARKET ST #103 PMB 174, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed CHORUS WELLNESS INC (DE). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/17/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/01/20. OCT 22, 29, NOV 05, 12, 2020

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by Gregg Shapiro

ith her 2018 solo debut album Lionheart, H.C. McEntire, whom many fondly recall from her time in the trio Mount Moriah, officially introduced herself as a queer singer/ songwriter worthy of our time and attention. On her exceptional second album Eno Axis (Merge), the North Carolina-based McEntire expands on the promise of the first record, delivering ten breathtaking songs (including the instrumental “Sunday Morning” and a stunning reinterpretation of Led Zeppelin’s “Houses of the Holy”), resulting in one of the best albums of 2020. McEntire was kind enough to answer a few questions shortly after the release of Eno Axis.

Gregg Shapiro: Your new album Eno Axis opens with “Hands For The Harvest,” which sounds to me like a musical prayer reminiscent of “A Lamb, A Dove,” the first track on your 2018 solo debut Lionheart, in that both songs gently lure the listener in before the songs that follow burst forth in various tempos. Was that intentional or coincidental? H.C.McEntire: Choosing “Hands for the Harvest” as the lead track on Eno Axis was intentional, yes. Sequencing songs for an album is so powerful and important. I wanted to establish a tone of intimacy and warmth and rawness. The first few lines served as a mantra for me as I was living/ writing this album (“Early rise/start the fire/ till the rows/pass the tithes”), so this song track felt like a fitting spiritual introduction

Eye-opener an interview with queer singer-songwriter H.C. McEntire H.C. McEntire

to the general mood of gratitude and selfintrospection. If I’m hearing it correctly, “Time, On Fire,” which includes the lines “No good night’s rest/No lips to press” as well as “She will leave/ Like she appeared/ Eager-winged/ Hummingbird” burns with loneliness. Am I on the right track? Yes. “Time, on Fire” was the first song I wrote for this album. It’s my way of symbolizing the break-up I was going through at the time. Initially, it was really sad and slow, but as time went on it became a pop song, still about loss and heartache, but from a more healed perspective.

Equal time

The ongoing turmoil in the U.S. under the current regime has found its way onto Eno Axis in the song “One Eye Open,” with the lines “That criss-cross flag/Is flapping in the wind/And the crosses burn/ Til the morning.” As a queer person, living in the south, please say something about the need to address this in song. In some way, I’ve been trying to write “One Eye Open” since I was a child. The timing with which it found its footing and was recorded (pre-March 1, 2020) is almost eerie when you consider the relentless and robust activism around race and discrimination that globally began this spring. I grew up in the Southern Baptist church and wanted to write about this feeling I didn’t have words for at the time, but knew in my body it was incongruent; the hypocrisy of racist ideology within religious leaders/communities. In the favorable Pitchfork.com review of Eno Axis, the writer calls you “a skilled poet” and compares your writing to the late poet Mary Oliver. Did your college

History mini-series dramatizes LGBT lives

(from upper left, clockwise) Samira Wiley, Anthony Rapp, Cheyenne Jackson, Gale Harold, Alexandra Grey and Jamie Clayton in HBO’s Equal.

by Brian Bromberger

n honor of LGBTQ History month, HBO Max has produced a new limited four-episode docudrama series called Equal about the trailblazers and unsung heroes who fought for queer justice and equality in the pre-Stonewall era. Equal uses never-before-seen archival footage and “stylistic depictions,” of these visionaries’ backstories often played by LGBTQ actors (i.e. Cheyenne Jackson, Anthony Rapp, Samira Wiley). Not surprisingly, San Francisco plays a major role in these stories. One wants to thunderously applaud this well-intentioned endeavor, but only a smattering of hand claps can be elicited for its abbreviated fragmentary format, with style and ambiance overwhelming substance.

Episode 1, entitled “Birth of a Movement,” focuses on the founding of LA’s Mattachine Society by Harry Hay and Dale Jennings and SF’s Daughters of Bilitis, created by Del Martin and the recently deceased Phyllis Lyon. Both organizations were formed as secret organizations acting as support systems for gays and lesbians plus alternative means to socialize. Episode 2, bookended by the 1966 Compton Cafeteria riot in San Francisco’s Tenderloin, pays tribute to transgender pioneers. Jack Starr (aka Jacques Moret) was a local outcast in fin-de-siecle Montana in and out of jail for wearing men’s clothes. Lucy Hicks Anderson, a black chef, socialite, and Prohibition entrepreneur, owner of a brothel in Oxnard, CA, was outed and arrested during a medical exam for a syphilis outbreak at her business. Christine Jorgensen, the first transsexual (the term used in the 1950s/1960s) luminary who became

a nightclub entertainer, author, and lecturer, used her fame to inform the public on trans issues. “Black is Beautiful, Gay is Good” comprises episode 3, with a focus on the contributions from the Black community during the Civil Rights Movement. Playwright Lorraine Hansberry (A Raisin in the Sun), activist Bayard Rustin (associate of Martin Luther King who organized the 1963 March on Washington), and Jose Sarria are included. The San Francisco cabaret Black Cat Cafe entertainer was the first gay person to run for elected office as Supervisor 16 years before Harvey Milk. What we are presented with in Equal are mini-biographies of queer movers and shakers, a Cliff Notes condensed summary of the pre-Stonewall past that provides little context and nuance through questionable imagined re-creations.

creative writing studies involve much poetry reading, and if so, is Oliver someone you consider an influence? Yes, I have a B.F.A. with a focus in poetry from UNC-Wilmington. Mary Oliver is most certainly an influence, one of the biggest – alongside Wendell Berry and Joan Didion– and to have my work be compared to hers is the biggest honor. I’m drawn to writers who are entranced with the natural world, who find immense joy and meaning in being students of nature. I enjoy writers who walk a line of imploring balance in conviction and curiosity, who can see such profound meaning in simple things, who share hard-won wisdom but also acknowledge failure and error and misjudgment. I like writers who can take on complex and intense concepts using simple observations of humanity and ecology. Like Didion’s way of storytelling with precision and pacing and devotion to tone. t Read the full interview on www.ebar.com.

While it is a welcome gesture on the part of the producers (including actor Jim Parsons and director Greg Berlanti) to hire openly LGBTQ actors to play these roles, they are mostly cameo appearances that give little insight to understanding these famous pioneers and at worst are distractions from seeing and hearing the bona fide more absorbing entities in video or audio clips. The one time these artificial re-enactments work is in episode 2 featuring Starr and Anderson. Since the only available source materials are newspaper articles, we have no audiovisual cues about them, thus rendering reconstructed scenes some plausibility. Finally, we loved Billy Porter’s performance as emcee Pray Tell in F/X’s Pose series, but as narrator, Porter has transposed that persona into Equal, bringing along the character’s stridency and brashness, a snarky vibe that doesn’t fit that era or the content. With its use of eye-catching graphics, the lightning-fast pacing of the assembled historical information, and the anachronistic use of 21st-century lingo and social media terminology, Equal seems geared to millennials with little to no knowledge of LGBTQ history. We can commend the producers for such a laudable educatory goal, though its truncated, celebrity-oriented presentation will have limited appeal to more astute seasoned viewers. t

Shannon Purser as Del Martin and Heather Matarazzo as Phyllis Lyon in Equal.

Theatre>>

October 22-28, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 11

companies adapt to retain Headline Not curtains goesTheater right here audiences by Jim Gladstone

he most unusual new theater season in ages is now officially underway at Bay Area companies. The unexpected shift from in-person performance to video, audio and hybrid virtual formats began back on March 12, after San Francisco Mayor London Breed and other municipal leaders throughout the region began issuing a series of ever smaller limits on the sizes of public gatherings. Just one night before, the American Conservatory Theatre had celebrated the opening of Toni Stone, Lydia Diamond’s thrilling play about Negro League baseball, only to have to shut the show down and pivot to streaming a videotaped performance. While recorded stage performances can provide a welcome ad hoc tideme-over while in-theater productions remain unsafe and economically unsustainable, the ensuing months have found local companies exploring more creative ways to present theatrical experiences. Yes, there are relatively straightforward live-streamed productions, but theater fans can also

Tina D’Elia wrote and stars in Theatre Rhinoceros’ production of Overlooked Latinas.

discover audio adaptations of works initially planned for the stage, newly commissioned work especially tailored to audio and videoconferencing formats, and productions specifically mounted with multiple-camera filming in mind, allowing for a different audience perspective than a proscenium stage allows. “We’re not used to filming things,” said Jasson Minadakis, artistic director of the Marin Theatre Company, in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter last week. “But it’s important to me that we not even try to become a TV or film company. We don’t want to just do plays that can be digitally recorded. I’m interested in working out ways to maintain theatricality, to evolve theater into the digital sphere.” To that end, Marin Theatre Company didn’t rush to generate new content after cancelling its final two productions of last season, instead thinking long and hard about theatrical creativity within pandemicimposed parameters. The result is the most technologically varied slate of upcoming shows, beginning with this month’s play-as-game show political satire, American Dreams, which leverages teleconference technology to have audiences vote on outcomes. The new year will find MTC bringing creatives back together for in-theater rehearsals of new work by Lauren Gunderson, while audiences will remain remote during performances; and, most ambitiously, next April’s The Brilliant Mind of Yusef El Musri will weave together livestreaming, recorded segments and audience input for a gaming-influenced choose-your-ownadventure tinged experience. https://www.marintheatre.org

Where Minadakis chose to hold back and ponder his next moves when pandemic restrictions set in, another Bay Area theater leader opted to power his way forward in a frenzy of new production. In addition to being the artistic director of the queer Theatre Rhinoceros, John Fisher is an accomplished actor and prolific writer himself. That prolificity has been on crazed display since late March, when Fisher gave himself the questionably sane challenge of writing and mounting a new solo production every week in a series he calls Essential Services. “It’s my way of not feeling totally cut off from the world,” says Fisher, “And to be honest, while I hate to say it in a way, its made me feel very focused and happy during what in so many other ways is a very unhappy time.” Sometimes playing fictional characters, like an American tourist in several travel-themed pieces, other times presenting entertaining lecture/essays on historic figures, including gay architect Philip Johnson and activist Frank Kameny, and occasionally veering into esoteric silliness, Fisher continues to begin work on a new piece every Friday, researching, writing and rehearsing for a live-stream the following Thursday. This week, Fisher presents his tribute to New York piano bar Marie’s Crisis. All of Fisher’s coronalogues are archived and available for free streaming at http://therhino. org/season-2019-20/#essential In addition to his solo work, Fisher has been scheduling a season of new Rhino productions, all of which will be live-streamed for limited runs. Berkeley Rep, the American Conservatory Theater, New Conservatory Theatre Company, Aurora Theatre

A boo-quet of scary movies

by Gregg Shapiro

f you were the least bit disappointed by Antebellum (and let’s face it, who wasn’t?), then Spiral airing on AMC Network’s Shudder channel, might be more to your liking. By combining elements from classic modern horror influences, from Polanski to Peele, and adding some specifically queer twists, Spiral has the potential to make your head spin – in a good way. In 1995, Malik (gay actor Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman) and his older lover Aaron (Ari Cohen) relocate from Chicago to small-town Illinois (where did they get those mountains?) for a necessary change. Moving along with them is Aaron’s teenaged daughter Kayla (Jennifer Laporte). Malik, who is on a variety of meds for his nerves, never got over the gaybashing death of a lover –which we see in repeated flashbacks– from his youth. In other words, Malik is always on the edge and often teetering over. Therefore, it doesn’t take much to set him off; odd looks from the townspeople, elderly neighbor Mr. Reinhart (Paul McGaffey) lingering on their property with a secret message for Malik, a ceremony he witnessed from his window,

and the spec work he’s doing for a conversion therapy champion. By the time he uncovers the truth about the ritualistic murders that occur in Rusty Creek every ten years, or the demonic cult feeding its prized beast, he’s basically lost his grip. Still, Malik’s sane enough to carry out one last important act. Timely in many ways, including a message about it being unsafe “for people to stand out… in this country,” the movie is another frightening case of the more things change, the more they stay the same. (www.shudder.com) Rating: B Rent-A-Pal, the debut by writer/ director Jon Stevenson, takes us all the way back to 1990. The only thing missing from the wardrobe of 40-year-old, pleated khaki-pants-wearing, slickeddown-hair nerd David (Brian Landis Folkins) is a Members Only jacket. He drives a station wagon with fake wood paneling and is the full-time caregiver for his mother Lucille (Kathleen Brady). Lucille has dementia and frequently refers to David as Frank, her late jazz musician husband, who has been dead for ten years. To alleviate some of his loneliness, David signs up with the pricey Video Rendezvous, a dating service that provides members with videotapes to

and Shotgun Players are among the other Bay Area producers who have intriguing new work in the months ahead, pandemic be damned. t

find the perfect love match. During a visit to the Video Rendezvous office, where he updates his video profile, he rifles through a box of sale VHS tapes and comes upon the Rent-A-Pal video, which he purchases. At home, in his mother’s basement, David puts the Rent-A-Pal video into the VCR and Andy (Wil Wheaton) pops up on the screen. Andy is friendly and funny, and the way the video is created, it gives the viewer the impression they are actually having a conversation with Andy. But soon enough things get dark. Andy, as it turns out, has a cruel and jealous side. This is displayed when David meets Lisa (Amy Rutledge) via Video Rendezvous. David, whose grip on reality was slipping even before he encountered Andy, soon begins the scary slide on his personal slippery slope. (IFC Films/Pretty People Pictures) Rating: C+ You might be thinking, “If I never have to see another found-footage, shaky-camera horror flick, I’d be content for the rest of my days.” But if you have to watch one more, you could do worse than Followed. Mike (Matthew Solomon), a vlogger without a single redeemable characteristic, makes plans to spend Halloween weekend at the haunted Hotel Lennox in downtown Los Angeles. He’s not going alone, having coerced editor Nic (Caitlin Grace), sound person Dani (Sam Valentine), and the most reluctant of all, religious Christopher (Tim Drier) as his director of photography. Followed piles on predictable scares; flickering lights, kids appearing in long corridors, a hacksaw-wielding killer, a woman jumping to her death from an upper floor, a chase involving a masked man, scary basements, a beheading, and the revelation of Mike’s true identity. (Global View Entertainment) Rating: C+ t

For a full list of more theatre productions, visit www.ebar.com.

yle DiMarco stars in Deaf U, plus Coastal Elites stars Bette Midler, and The Weakest Link reboots with Jane Lynch; all this and more online in Victoria A. Brownworth’s Lavender Tube column, on www.ebar.com.

Personals People>>

Screen Savor’s take on ‘Spiral,’ ‘Rent-A-Pal,’ and ‘Followed’

Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman and Ari Cohen in Spiral

Cleavon Smith and Lauren Gunderson, two of three local playwrights who collaborated on The Flats for Aurora Theatre

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<< Election 2020

12 • Bay Area Reporter • October 22-28, 2020

“Tom Temprano protects LGBTQ students at City College.” -Equality California

For City College Board

T E M P RANO Paid for by Tom Temprano for College Board 2020 Financial disclosures are available at sfethics.org

B.A.R. ENDORSEMENTS President / Vice President: Joe Biden, Kamala Harris

BART Board District 9: Bevan Dufty District 7: Lateefah Simon

State Senate Dist. 11: Scott Wiener

State Assembly (SF) Dist. 17: David Chiu Dist. 19: Phil Ting

SF Supervisors District 1: Connie Chan District 3: Aaron Peskin District 5: Dean Preston District 7: Myrna Melgar District 9: Hillary Ronen District 11: Ahsha Safaí SF School Board Mark Sanchez Jenny Lam Michelle Parker Kevine Boggess SF City College Board Shanell Williams Tom Temprano Aliya Chisti Alan Wong

State Assembly (Bay Area) Dist. 15: Buffy Wicks Dist. 18: Rob Bonta Dist. 16: Rebecca Bauer-Kahan Dist. 25: Alex Lee Dist. 28: Evan Low State Senate (Other) District 5: Susan Talamantes Eggman District 9: Nancy Skinner District 17: John Laird Congress (Bay Area) Dist. 2: Jared Huffman Dist. 3: John Garamendi Dist. 5: Mike Thompson

C A L I F O R N I A

GENER AL ELEC TION

Dist. 10: Josh Harder Dist. 11: Mark DeSaulnier Dist. 12: Nancy Pelosi Dist. 13: Barbara Lee Dist. 14: Jackie Speier Dist. 15: Eric Swalwell Dist. 17: Ro Khanna Dist. 18: Anna Eshoo Dist. 19: Zoe Lofgren - JUDGES Alameda County Superior Court Office 2: Mark Fickes Bay Area (Other) Oakland City Council, At-Large: Rebecca Kaplan District 3: Lynette McElhavey Alameda City Council: Jim Oddie Fremont Mayor: Justin Sha San Ramon City Council,

Remember to vote by Nov. 3!

Dist. 3: Sameera Rajwade AC Transit, At-Large: Victoria Fierce AC Transit, Ward 1: Ben Fong Livermore City Council, Dist. 3: Brittni Kiick Morgan Hill City Council, Dist. C: Rene Spring Santa Clara City Council, Dist. 6: Anthony Becker South San Francisco City Council, Dist. 4: James Coleman Santa Clara County Board of Education Trustee, Area 4: Ketzal Gomez San Jose-Evergreen Community College Trustee, Area 7: Ali Sapirman Palo Alto Unified School Dist. Board of Education: Katie Causey

Pinole County Council: Devin Murphy SAN FRANCISCO PROPS Yes on: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, RR CALIFORNIA PROPOSITIONS Yes on: 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 25 No on: 20, 22, 23, 24