October 28, 2021 edition of the Bay Area Reporter, America's LGBTQ newspaper

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Star turn on 'Jeopardy!’

Alice Austen exhibit updated

ARTS

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Jonathan Frid

Since 1971

The

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Serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities since 1971

Vol. 51 • No. 42 • October 28-November 3, 2021

Castro awaits spooktacular Halloween by John Ferrannini

H Cheryl Lala-Chávez

New LYRIC ED Laura Lala-Chávez

LYRIC welcomes new ED

by Matthew S. Bajko

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s it once again provides in-person services, San Francisco’s main LGBTQ youth agency has welcomed onboard its new executive director. While Laura Lala-Chávez doesn’t expect to roll out new programming until next year, addressing the housing needs of the city’s homeless queer youth is expected to remain among the agency’s top priorities. Lala-Chávez, a nonbinary, first generation Mexican-American, officially took over leadership of the Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center Monday, October 25. See page 8 >>

alloween is a day that has held a special significance for San Francisco’s LGBTQ community going back decades; but this year’s is likely to be more noteworthy. Not only does the holiday fall during a weekend, it is expected to draw the most Halloween revelers since the COVID-19 pandemic. As the Bay Area Reporter reported last October, community leaders asked people to stay home for Halloween. In a joint statement, gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and Masood Samereie, a straight ally who is the president of the Castro Merchants Association, wrote that while “celebrating Halloween in the Castro is a tradition that dates to the 1940s … this year, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, we must put the health of our communities first.” What a difference a year makes. Nik Blanchet, the community liaison for the Castro Merchants, told the B.A.R. that “we absolutely want people to visit the Castro on Halloween weekend to celebrate the holiday and patronize our local small businesses in a safe and responsible manner.” “While there are no planned street closures, celebrants will find plenty of ways to enjoy Halloween all weekend long, including dining, shopping, and nightlife,” Blanchet stated. “To put it mildly, Halloween participants in the Castro do not hold back when it comes to costume creativity and serving those lewks, so it makes for some

Steven Underhill

Costumed revelers partied in the Castro on Halloween in 2019.

amazing people-watching for everyone to enjoy.” Mandelman wrote to the B.A.R. that he hopes people will have safe fun. “Celebrating Halloween in the Castro is a San Francisco tradition,” Mandelman stated. “We know that people are excited to dress up and have a good time in the Castro’s bars and restaurants this weekend, and I hope that everyone will enjoy themselves in ways that are COVID-safe and respectful of the neighborhood.” Terry Asten Bennett, a straight ally who is the co-owner and general manager of Cliff’s Variety on Castro Street, told the B.A.R. that while Halloween-related sales were “not as much as [in] 2019,” it was “double last year.”

“Things are definitely picking up” as the holiday gets closer, Bennett said. “Except for Sunday [October 24], which was obviously its own anomaly.” October 24’s “atmospheric river” caused the fourth-wettest day in the recorded history of San Francisco (and the wettest since 1994). The city saw 4.02 inches of rain, and as of the afternoon of October 26 there are still some 12,000 Pacific Gas and Electric customers in the Bay Area without power. Fortunately for revelers, this weekend, including All Hallow’s Eve, is expected to be dry. October 31 will be partly cloudy with a high of 59 degrees and a low of 51 degrees, according to the weather forecast. See page 5 >>

More intimate Harvey Milk portrait awaits SFO international travelers

by Matthew S. Bajko

Screengrab

Supervisor Matt Haney spoke at Tuesday’s board meeting.

Supes OK resolution urging drug overdose emergency by John Ferrannini

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istrict 6 Supervisor Matt Haney’s resolution calling upon San Francisco Mayor London Breed to declare a state of emergency around the city’s drug overdose crisis passed the Board of Supervisors unanimously October 26. Haney represents District 6, which includes the overdose hotspots of the Tenderloin and South of Market. (He is also running for the state Assembly seat that will soon be vacated when See page 9 >>

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n Election Night, November 7, 1978, Associated Press photographer Slava “Sal” Veder captured the late gay San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk huddled with local LGBTQ advocates Gwenn Craig and the late Bill Kraus as they waited to see if California voters had defeated a homophobic ballot measure. Craig and Kraus co-led the local committee that worked with Milk to defeat what was known as Proposition 6, which would have banned gays and lesbians and their straight allies from working as public school teachers in the Golden State. A “No on 6” poster featuring the Statue of Liberty can be seen in the background of the blackand-white snapshot, taken just weeks prior to Milk being assassinated inside San Francisco City Hall a mere 11 months into his historic term as the first openly gay elected politician in the city and in the state of California. The image was one of the 100 photos, correspondence, and campaign materials related to Milk’s life chosen for a massive retrospective about the LGBTQ icon that for two years had adorned the Harvey Milk Terminal 1 concourse at San Francisco International Airport. The installation was removed in the spring when more of the under-renovation aviation facility was unveiled for use by travelers, airlines, and concessioners inside the terminal. Initially

Rick Gerharter

The corridor leading to the customs area at San Francisco International Airport’s Harvey Milk Terminal 1 is lined with photos and enlarged campaign posters about his life.

affixed to a 400-foot construction wall meant to be ephemeral, the Milk exhibition has now been reworked into a more intimate portrait of the beloved gay leader by SFO Museum staff. Roughly 70 of the images used in the terminal exhibition have been repurposed for a new exhibit about Milk’s life located on walls totaling 1,070 linear feet along what is known as the Federal Inspection Services Corridor. Built atop the Milk terminal concourse, the corridor ferries passengers disembarking from international flights assigned to one of

seven gates at what is known as the A side of SFO’s International Terminal. The photo of Milk, Craig, and Kraus has been mounted toward the end of the corridor near the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s passport control area. Technically speaking, the corridor isn’t U.S. territory, as the federal government doesn’t consider passengers to have officially arrived in the United States until after they have cleared customs. See page 9 >>

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