September 22, 2022 edition of the Bay Area Reporter

Newsom vetoes, signs bills

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ARTS

Supes OK camera plan

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'Bros'

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

Vol. 52 • No. 38 • September 22-28, 2022

Folsom Street Fair set to return

by Eric Burkett

A Rick Gerharter

A marcher carries a flag in the 2022 San Francisco Pride parade June 26.

SF Pride members elect 4 directors, select 2023 theme

by Eric Burkett

S

an Francisco Pride members have chosen an apt theme for the 2023 celebration following the challenges of the past three years in putting on the West Coast’s largest LGBTQ event during the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic. They opted to go with “Looking Back and Moving Forward” among the various suggested themes up for consideration.

June saw the return of an in-person Pride celebration after two years of virtual gatherings due to the global health crisis. This year Pride leaders also had to grapple with the very public controversy over the participation of uniformed police officers in the annual parade, which ultimately led to a compromise that saw some members of the police department march in uniform.

The voting on the 2023 theme took place in the 72 hours following what was a genial annual general Pride membership meeting September 10 at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center. The members also elected four board members to assist in planning for what will be the 53rd anniversary of the two-day celebration and parade that annually takes place the last full weekend of June.

The election results were decided by 85 of 188 eligible SF Pride members who had until September 13 to vote.

Board candidates

Four candidates ran for four open seats on the board, with each of them receiving the needed majority of the votes cast.

Taking the most votes was trans man Robert Louie with 61 votes; incumbent trans woman Anjali Rimi, 54 votes; lesbian Linda Martley-Jordan, 53 votes; and gay man George Smith III, with 46 votes.

Speaking from the dais at the front of the center’s conference room, each of the candidates had four minutes to state their cases for See page 10 >>

fter two years of not-quite-the-realthing Folsom Street fairs, the massive kink and leather-focused street party is back in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood.

Folsom Street Fair, which before COVID could attract as many as 400,000 visitors, returns Sunday, September 25. For the past two years, the fair has either been presented in a virtual format, as it was in 2020, or in a much smaller format, as happened last year when it was presented as Megahood2021 (Megahood was the fair’s original name back in 1984 when it was founded as a bulwark against gentrification in the South of Market neighborhood.)

While Folsom Street, the fair’s parent organization, offers surprisingly little information about the event on its website – a departure from years past – there are plenty of things that visitors can expect to see, just as before. A request to Folsom Street for more information was not returned.

According to Folsom Street’s website, “Our four community stages will be amazing, our exhibitors will be spicy, and we will all be together! Don’t miss The Playground (on Ninth Street between Howard and Folsom), a space for women of every kind, and all trans and nonbinary folks. Follow us on social media to

Sari Staver

Getting into the Folsom fair spirit, Lillian Bastet, foreground, takes part in a flogging demonstration September 10 in the Castro produced by Queer Arts Featured, which showcases new local queer artists every month in group shows centered around a theme. This month’s theme was “Part the Curtain,” a celebration and exploration of sex, kink, and intimacy through a queer lens.

see who will be the stars on our stages!”

As of September 19, no performers had been listed. Admission to the fair is free but a $10-$20 donation at the gate will get you a fair sticker, and the proceeds are donated to various community organizations. As in previous years, the fair this year takes place on Folsom

Street, stretching from Eighth to 15th streets.

As has been the case with many of this summer’s events, this year’s celebration will also bring opportunities to get caught up on your vaccinations.

See page 10 >>

San Jose to elect new mayor

by Matthew S. Bajko

V

oters in San Jose will be electing a new mayor in November, as Mayor Sam Liccardo is termed out of office. Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez, a former San Jose city councilmember, and District 10 City Councilmember Matt Mahan survived the June mayoral primary to compete head-tohead on the fall ballot.

Whoever wins will serve a truncated two-year term, as the Bay Area’s largest city in 2024 will realign its mayoral races with the quadrennial presidential election. That fall the mayor will revert back to being elected to a four-year term.

Like Liccardo, Chavez and Mahan are straight allies who are expected to be strong supporters of LGBTQ issues if elected mayor. As the Bay Area Reporter noted in 2015, Liccardo’s inauguration that January as San Jose’s 65th mayor marked a sea change from the previous mayor, Chuck Reed, who was a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage. (Chavez, 58, lost against Reed when she first ran for mayor in 2006.)

In separate interviews with the B.A.R. about their candidacies, Chavez and Mahan were both supportive of designating an LGBTQ liaison in their mayoral administration. It was one area where San Jose lost points on the 2021 Municipal Equality Index compiled by the Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBTQ rights organization; the city received a score of 97 last year.

Courtesy the candidate

San Jose mayoral candidate and Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez, left, joined gay Assemblymember Evan Low and Congressmember Ro Khanna at Silicon Valley Pride in August.

“As I am going around the city talking to folks, I am seeing many communities in the city want a dedicated person in the mayor’s office. I think it is an important model and idea,” said Mahan, 39, who was elected to his council seat two years ago. “I am committed to doing it not just for the LGBTQ community but others as well.”

Chavez noted that Santa Clara County, which provides much of the South Bay’s health services and social programs, created the country’s first countywide office for LGBTQ initiatives. Thus, she would want to ensure a mayoral LGBTQ liaison

wasn’t a duplicative role but an effective position.

“My question would be does it make sense we have a liaison, which I think would be great, really. It has to have enough resources to have an impact,” said Chavez, who lives downtown with her husband and their college-age son. “I would want to see what we could leverage with what the county is offering to spend to get more money on services. But I do like that idea a lot.”

The candidates also spoke of the need for affordable housing for both LGBTQ seniors See page 10 >>

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<< Community News

2 • Bay Area Reporter • September 22-28, 2022

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Screengrab

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a controversial surveillance camera ordinance Tuesday, though it faces a second vote next week.

SF supes OK police surveillance measure

by Eric Burkett

T

he San Francisco Board of Supervisors on September 20 passed a measure allowing the San Francisco Police Department to request access to private, non-city entity surveillance cameras owned by individual households or businesses.

The ordinance, authored by Mayor London Breed, faces a second and final vote next week.

The proposal by Police Chief William Scott, which was co-sponsored by gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and District 11 Supervisor Ahsha Safaí, passed on a 7-4 vote.

Supervisors Connie Chan (District 1), Dean Preston (District 5), Hillary Ronen (District 9), and Board President Shamann Walton (District 11), voted against the ordinance.

“Our residents and small businesses want us focused on keeping San Francisco safe for everyone who lives and works in the city,” Breed stated in a news release. “This is a sensible policy that balances the need to give our po-

lice officers another tool to address significant public safety challenges and to hold those who break the law accountable. I want to thank my co-sponsors and Supervisor [Aaron] Peskin for working collaboratively with our office to get this legislation passed.”

The San Francisco Police Department issued a statement that said it understands the civil liberty concerns.

“This policy ordinance defines limited and restricted circumstances where we can request live monitoring or historical footage from video surveillance technology already in place throughout the city,” the statement read. “Furthermore, the department has considered the potential civil liberties impacts and has identified safeguards to ensure protections as mitigating measures.”

The measure has been controversial from the start. After four hearings over two months in the rules committee, during which it picked up several amendments, the proposed ordinance was shaped into the version that was presented to supervisors. It was not,

however, the version they voted upon as it picked up yet two more amendments in its hearing before the full board. Those were more related to safeguards for live monitoring.

Under the conditions outlined in the ordinance, temporary live monitoring will cease, and the connection will be cut off within 24 hours after the non-city entity has provided access to SFPD, according to Breed’s release.

The police department has considered and carved out safeguards relating to potential impacts to the right to privacy, loss of liberty, warrantless searches, and equal protections when making requests for nongovernmental camera footage or temporary live monitoring of non-city owned cameras, the release added.

Nonetheless, the amendments added just before the vote did little to assuage the fears of the four supervisors who voted against it. Most notably, Walton delivered a long explanation about why he believed the ordinance was dangerous.

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police can’t already access film from private cameras,” he stated from the president’s dais. The legislation could possibly result in violations of civil liberties and “the reality is that people have been violating civil liberties.”

Walton said that as a Black man, he had plenty of reason to be suspicious of legislation such as this, and that the legislation could affect “the already slow pace of reforms we have in place.”

“These types of policies are the type I fear the most, especially as a lawabiding Black man,” he said. “Even with the provisions and best intentions, there’s no such thing as immediately changing negative effects. We still have people locked up for things that are now legal.”

Ronen, too, shared her misgivings.

“Politics at the national level is becoming increasingly, and I don’t think this is an exaggeration, fascist.”

Chief Scott could use these extra powers in “a really reasonable way,” she said, “but how long is he going to be police chief?”

But Ronen also noted that today, people are constantly tracked by their cellphones, internet sites they visit, and online purchases they make.

“We’re not living 20-30 years ago,” Ronen continued. “We are living today when we had a president who had no problem trampling on every single right enshrined to us in the constitution,” she said, referring to the fouryear presidency of Donald Trump.

The majority, however, felt strongly that sufficient guardrails were in place.

Mandelman said he believed the legislation was good and that the “right set of guardrails” was in place.

While he felt the board was “getting it right” he said that he too, understood the anxiety of San Franciscans who feared the possibility of a government that might use this tech in an irresponsible way.

District 2 Supervisor Catherine Stefani said she didn’t share the concerns of the ordinance’s opponents “in the way” they had expressed them.

“Many safeguards have been put into the legislation,” she said. “It’s not a fantasy that we are short police officers. It’s not propaganda…”

Prior amendments added

At a nearly two-hour hearing on the topic July 11, committee members voted to continue the proposal to July 18. Indeed, Chair Peskin (District 3), Vice Chair Mandelman, and Chan took up the matter a total of four times, during which Peskin added a number of amendments to the mix.

Those changes would address allowing police to monitor cameras in emergencies; defaulting to state laws pertaining to privacy standards; allowing police access to historical footage; and limiting the sharing of information with federal agencies, particularly around areas of immigration, and creating something akin to a digital sanctuary.

At its final hearing in the rules committee September 12 – follow-

ing the board’s August recess – Peskin proposed two more amendments.

The first, a sunset clause that would expire after 15 months, allowing for a full year’s worth of information to be logged for eventual review, and additional data logging.

Scott’s proposal gives SFPD free access to thousands of privately-owned surveillance cameras, with owners’ permission, and the right to use the video footage as evidence. Presently, SFPD can request footage from cameras when it believes a crime has occurred. The measure adopted by the board would allow the department to request real-time access to third-party cameras without a warrant.

The police chief emphasized in earlier meetings how access to non-city entity cameras could assist an already short-staffed police force. Positioning cops on one corner to deter or catch drug dealing, for example, only sends perpetrators to another corner, and SFPD doesn’t have the staffing to keep up, he told supervisors.

Opposition to the proposed ordinance has been strong, however, and while it does appear to enjoy support among a wide swath of San Franciscans, particularly small business owners and many in the city’s Chinese community, opposition has been more vocal and, if a poll and testimonials before the committee are any indication, more popular.

Chan, in particular, continually expressed her concerns – and doubts – about the measure. At the July 18 meeting, Chan cautiously wondered how the new policies, if approved, would be implemented.

No one has spelled out the steps it would take, she said.

“It’s better we do it right rather than fast,” she added.

At the September 12 meeting of the rules committee, Chan expressed concern about whether the police department would even have sufficient staffing to perform live monitoring of cameras. The department is presently short more than 500 officers, and has argued that having access to cameras would help them cover more ground.

Chan, however, referred to a recent incident in which a man, allegedly stealing a catalytic converter, was allowed to walk by police who had been called to the scene by witnesses, and another incident on Clement Street in which an individual had a physical altercation with a shop employee.

Nothing happened to that individual, either, she noted.

“I respectfully disagree about why live monitoring is better than having officers patrolling the spaces,” she said, noting that, in those cases, live footage wasn’t any more effective than had the police acquired the footage after the fact.

Civil liberties groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California both expressed concerns about the measure, with the ACLU calling it “a formidable new threat to people’s right to privacy.” t

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<< Community News

t Supe panel backs gay SF planning panel nominee 4 • Bay Area Reporter • September 22-28, 2022

by Matthew S. Bajko

A

strategic economist received the backing of a San Francisco supervisors committee Monday to serve on the city’s planning commission. If the full board approves him, Derek Braun will return gay representation to the powerful oversight body.

Braun, 39, is employed by Berkeley-based Strategic Economics, which has several contracts with the city’s planning department. Braun has not worked on them, and all should be completed by the end of the year. He has received guidance from the city attorney’s office stating that he doesn’t have a conflict of interest that would prevent him from serving on the planning commission.

As a principal at the firm, Braun has been working with South San Francisco officials to update their city’s affordable housing impact fees for new commercial and industrial development activity. He also worked with Oakland officials on a new plan for the East Bay city’s downtown area in terms of its economic development and housing needs.

“My work really lies at the intersection of market and economic conditions, and understanding that to fulfill the goals and visions in the communities I work,” said Braun, who is Japanese American. “I am coming to the planning commission because I really want to share this expertise and en-

Courtesy Strategic Economics

Derek Braun received a recommendation from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors rules committee to serve on the planning commission.

gage very closely with our local community and local communities.”

The supervisors’ rules committee voted 3-0 at its September 19 meeting to support Braun’s nomination. Mayor London Breed named him to succeed former planning commissioner Frank Fung for a term that ends June 30, 2026.

“I think he would be a good planning commissioner,” said gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who added that he has known Braun for several decades but only recently learned about his professional background.

District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who chairs the rules committee, said of Braun that he “certainly knows”

the analytical side of “the complicated world that is city planning. I personally was pleased to see his understanding of the human side of planning and nuances that are involved in the planning process.”

The committee’s other member, District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan, said, “While I am skeptical, I will be supporting Mr. Braun.”

The full Board of Supervisors is expected to vote on Braun’s nomination when it meets September 27. The 11 members can either confirm him or reject his appointment.

They will also take up the reappointment of mayoral appointee Rachael A. Tanner, currently president of

the planning commission. The rules committee also voted 3-0 Monday to recommend she be confirmed to a new four-year term.

The planning body hasn’t had an LGBTQ member since Dennis Richards, a gay man, resigned in March 2020 after he sued the city’s building inspection department alleging it had retaliated against him for taking critical stances against it.

The city and Richards settled the lawsuit in March for $1.8 million.

A member of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, Braun is also a member of the planning think tank SPUR. A renter who doesn’t own a car, he had been a resident of the Castro for 11 years but moved recently and has called the city home for 13 years.

San Francisco, he said, “is a place I love and a place I found opportunity.”

As for the planning commission, he said he is coming to it “very openminded.” Issues he wants to focus on include housing affordability, protecting current residents and tenants, and cultural displacement.

“I see this as a critical issue,” said Braun, adding that supporting locally owned businesses, particularly those owned by people of color, is also among the issues he wants to address.

Braun received a Bachelor of Science in management from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio in 2005 and went on to earn a

Master of Planning from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles in 2008.

He has provided analysis to cities throughout the Golden State. Several colleagues with whom he has worked wrote letters in support of his being named to the San Francisco Planning Commission. Tony Rozzi, who lives in San Francisco and is a city planner for South San Francisco, noted that Braun and his firm, Strategic Economics, “have been the backbone” of the public process for the Peninsula city’s update to its general plan.

“Community planning is emotional business – and Derek finds a way to balance stakeholder angst with logical, fact-driven analysis,” wrote Rozzi.

“Derek is also extremely kind and thoughtful. I can’t imagine a better appointment to the Planning Commission if you are seeking impartial, results-focused project review.”

Sam Ingelman, a resident of San Francisco’s Castro district, praised Braun’s “expertise in and passion for urban planning and community development” having known him for 14 years.

“I think both his professional expertise and temperament would be assets to the Commission,” wrote Ingelman. “I am also excited that Derek would bring his lived experience and perspective as a member of our LGBTQ and AAPI communities to his service.”t

SF mayor responds to Castro Merchants group complaints

by Eric Burkett

C

alling on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to support increased coordination between various city departments, such as law enforcement and public health, as well as a broader conservatorship program to get help to people unable to make reasonable decisions about their own health or circumstances, Mayor London Breed last week finally addressed the matters brought up in a letter to city leaders by the Castro Merchants Association more than a month ago.

It was Breed’s first real public response to the letter sent by the merchants group to the mayor and other city leaders on August 8, and it came only after gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman brought it up during the mayor’s monthly question time appearance before the Board of Supervisors at its September 12 meeting.

Although the merchants’ letter never stated the group’s intentions if their pleas weren’t met with action, CMA co-president Dave Karraker told the B.A.R. and other media that members would resort to civil disobedience if they had to. Castro merchants could begin withholding the fees they pay to the city until they see action, he said.

That led to much coverage in media outlets, including conservative ones, as the Bay Area Reporter previously reported.

After asking the 11 supervisors to “be open to new ideas,” and after a particularly pointed round of questions by District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston about further enhancing public transit following the COVID shutdowns, Mandelman reminded Breed about a question he had asked her back in 2018.

“I asked you if Castro residents could expect to see an improvement in street conditions given the explanation of shelter beds and other investments in solving homelessness,”

Rick Gerharter

Pedestrians walk along Castro Street in 2019.

he said. “At the time you answered that you believed they would.”

The Castro, like many neighborhoods and business corridors throughout the city, has been struggling with the presence of homeless encampments and a large number of people likely suffering from drug addiction and mental illness. Arguably, the Castro – with its particular world-wide visibility and iconic status – has been hit particularly hard and businesses in the LGBTQ neighborhood have suffered, as a result. Since 2018, and particularly after the COVID outbreak further impacted already struggling shops and businesses starting in 2020, Castro merchants have been clamoring to make their concerns heard.

In August, CMA sent its letter to Breed and numerous city officials reminding them of the efforts the group has made over the years to get help from city leaders, and asked that the neighborhood be made “a priority area for services,

given its stature as one of the most visited (and photographed) neighborhoods in the city.”

Mandelman’s questions to the mayor were a reminder of those efforts, both four years ago and, in particular, over the past couple of years. While he acknowledged there have been “significant improvements” in how the city works with its unhoused residents, and that he was grateful to be able to work with the mayor on those efforts, more needs to be done.

“At this point I don’t feel I can honestly tell my constituents in the Castro that we’ve made the progress we wanted to or that we’ve made a clear plan to get to where we want to be,” Mandelman said. “So Madam Mayor, what can I tell them? Do we have a path forward? Can we make this better on a reasonable timeline?

If so, how? And if not, why not?”

Breed responded that she could appreciate the challenges Mandelman was facing.

“I understand the frustrations of the residents of the Castro,” she said. “I’m frustrated too.”

The mayor offered a laundry list of programs and successes the city has had in its efforts to address homelessness, noting that part of the frustration she feels stems from the fact that the city has been “adding new shelter beds and housing like never before.” The city is working hard to address the health needs of people who “have more complex situations,” she said, but with so many refusing that help, the situation remains a challenge.

“But even with all these resources, more and more, we are encountering people who we can not help simply by offering them a bed,” she continued. “So many of the people we are tracking in the Castro have refused what staff has offered them.

These individuals are struggling and they need more, and we need to make it clear that this is an option they need to take.”

Better coordination between city departments is needed, she said, “so that when someone is not accepting resources they’re not allowed to continue disrupting the neighborhood.”

Breed noted that while CARE Court, a program signed into law

by Governor Gavin Newsom earlier this month, will help with “certain individuals,” a broader set of conservatorship reforms failed to make it through the Legislature.

Titled the Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Act, CARE “will allow family members and first responders to ask a judge to draw up a treatment plan for people deemed to be suffering from those disorders. Those who refuse could be placed under a conservatorship and ordered to comply,” KQED reported.

Breed said state lawmakers likely would try to get the reforms through the next legislative session, but “in addition to this work, we will continue to bring resources on line as fast as possible. Not just in the Castro but in all of our neighborhoods. And we will continue our work with groups like the Castro Merchants to discuss how the city can coordinate to continue to partner with them going forward.”

Terrance Alan, co-president of CMA, said he was pleased to hear the mayor’s response.

“This feels like a very positive sign and the first time she has said the [San Francisco Police Department] will be a solution to this problem,” Alan wrote in an email to the B.A.R. “We have a long way to go, and solutions are going to require a shift in attitude by SFPD towards those who refuse services. Passing them by and leaving them to disrupt the neighborhood isn’t a solution.

There are lots of reasons given for why we are in this position, so it will take a systemic change, and we hope the mayor is able to follow up on her statements.” t

Community News >>

t Concord LGBTQ center to hold grand opening compiled by Cynthia Laird

There is a two-item minimum per person, which can be any combination of food and drink, the release stated.

Proceeds will benefit Hers Breast Cancer Foundation.

Tickets can be purchased at https:// bit.ly/3xyPPJe

I

n an email announcement, Kiku Johnson, the center’s executive director, noted the free, family-friendly event will include a ribbon cutting to officially open to the public, signups for the center’s programs, and guided tours of the space.

There will also be an awards ceremony and community member tributes for volunteer of the year, ally of the year, and RCC champion of the year.

RCC offers a variety of programming such as social and support groups for adults and seniors that will all be returning in-person following the center’s physical closure due to the COVID pandemic.

Johnson added that there will be games and other activities, such as face painting, on the lawn.

“We are so excited to be opening to the public once more in Concord in a brand new space, and to be able to celebrate this occasion,” Johnson stated in an email to the Bay Area Reporter.

“After three long, isolating and difficult years for all – especially the LGBTQIA+ community and their allies – the ability to come in person and join together in community can be truly lifesaving. We look forward to seeing more and more folks in person – especially for events, our social and support groups for ... adults and seniors, and our STI/HIV testing and support services.”

For more information about RCC, visit https://www.rainbowcc.org/

Pride events in Redding, Stockton

California cities continue to celebrate Pride, and two events are coming up in Redding and Stockton.

In Redding, about four hours north of San Francisco, the NorCal Outreach Project will hold its Pride celebration Saturday, September 24, with a free festival from noon to 5 p.m. That’s followed by dancing from 5 to 8 p.m., and then a drag show. The festival takes place at the Sundial Bridge event area, on the north side (Turtle Bay Exploration Park).

For more information, visit https:// reddingpride.org/.

The San Joaquin Pride Center in the Central Valley city of Stockton will get into the Pride spirit as well, holding a festival Sunday, September 25, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Stockton Ballroom, 9650 Thornton Road. There is a $5 suggested donation and parking is $5, according to a flyer.

The family-friendly event includes live entertainment, food, and more.

For more information, go to the center’s Facebook page at https://bit. ly/3xutWLh

September 22-28, 2022 • Bay Area Reporter • 5

BART’s outdoor music series

VCourtesy RCC

Kiku Johnson is executive director of the Rainbow Community Center in Concord.

The show is produced by Divas Entertainment in collaboration with the Barony and comedian Shea Suga, a news release stated. There will be performances by Viva Commotion, Princess Monet Sparkles, Cemora Valentino-Devine, Alex U. Inn, and Loveli Davis.

Doors open at 2 and the show starts at 3. Admission is $25 or $35 for VIP.

As part of its “welcome back” to riders returning to in-person work, BART is sponsoring a free outdoor music series. A news release noted that the series is also hoping to reinforce the role that public transit plays in fueling the Bay Area’s economy and culture.

Patrón Latin Rhythms will be performing at the El Cerrito del Norte Station Wednesday, September 28. On Friday, October 7, in conjunction with Litquake, Momotombo SF will be performing at the Glen Park Station. Both events run from 5 to 6:30 p.m.

The bands will play acoustic sets in the plaza areas near or on BART property. Attendees may bring chairs to enjoy the shows, the release stated. The October 7 performance will feature readings by finalists from BART Lines, the agency’s first short story contest, in partnership with Litquake. t

Rick Gerharter

Castro-Mission Health Center reopens

M

ayor London Breed, center, cuts the red ribbon and is joined by gay San Francisco Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax, second from left, staff of the Castro-Mission Health Center, and others who participated in the renovation of the center during a reopening ceremony September 15. According to a news release from the mayor’s office, the city’s first neighbor-

hood health center underwent a nearly $15 million renovation that includes seismic upgrades, improved accessibility for people with disabilities, enhanced patient facilities, and new services.

The project was largely funded by the Public Health and Safety Bond that was p[assed by voters in 2016. The clinic is located at 3850 17th Street.

STOP THE HATE! If you have been the victim of a hate crime, please report it.

San Francisco District Attorney: Hate Crime Hotline: 628-652-4311 State of California Department of Justice https://oag.ca.gov/hatecrimes

Lambda Legal SF event

Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund will hold its San Francisco Soirée Wednesday, September 28, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the W San Francisco Hotel, 181 Third Street.

The in-person gathering will celebrate Lambda Legal’s mission of advancing the civil rights of LGBTQ people and those living with HIV, the organization’s event page stated.

The party will feature a cocktail reception, guest speakers, and an update on Lambda Legal’s litigation and public policy work.

Individual tickets are $275 and available at https://bit.ly/3xxbn9q.

Barony breast cancer benefit

The Barony, an East Bay-based charitable organization, will hold its annual Pretty in Pink drag brunch fundraiser for breast cancer Sunday, October 9, from 2 to 5 p.m. at Tommy T’s Comedy Club, 5104 Hopyard Road, in Pleasanton.

The Stop The Hate campaign is made possible with funding from the California State Library (CSL) in partnership with the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs (CAPIAA).

The views expressed in this newspaper and other materials produced by the Bay Area Reporter do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the CSL, CAPIAA or the California government. Learn more capiaa.ca.gov/stop-the-hate.

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<< Open Forum

6 • Bay Area Reporter • September 22-28, 2022

Volume 52, Number 38 September 22-28, 2022 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 ARTS & NIGHTLIFE EDITOR Jim Provenzano ASSISTANT EDITORS Matthew S. Bajko • Eric Burkett CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Tavo Amador • Christopher J. Beale Brian Bromberger • Victoria A. Brownworth • Philip Campbell • Heather Cassell • Adam Echelman • John Ferrannini • Michael Flanagan • Jim Gladstone • Liz Highleyman • Brandon Judell • Lisa Keen • Matthew Kennedy • Philip Mayard • Laura Moreno • David-Elijah Nahmod Paul Parish • Tim Pfaff • Jim Piechota • Adam Sandel • Jason Serinus • Gregg Shapiro • Gwendolyn Smith • Charlie Wagner • Ed Walsh Cornelius Washington • Sura Wood ART DIRECTION Max Leger PRODUCTION/DESIGN Ernesto Sopprani PHOTOGRAPHERS Jane Philomen Cleland • FBFE Rick Gerharter • Gareth Gooch Jose Guzman-Colon • Rudy K. Lawidjaja Georg Lester • Rich Stadtmiller • Christopher Robledo • Fred Rowe Steven Underhill • Bill Wilson ILLUSTRATORS & CARTOONISTS Christine Smith

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SF supervisor recommendations S

an Franciscans in Districts 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 will be voting for their supervisor on the November ballot. It’s no surprise that the city must do better when it comes to increasing the supply of housing (especially supportive, affordable, and middle-income), providing services for those suffering from mental illness and drug addiction, and reducing homelessness. All of these are somewhat related; for example, securing services and housing for someone with mental illness gets them off the street. At the same time, the city’s reopening during the ongoing COVID pandemic is painfully slow and that impacts the economy, particularly for small businesses. Below are our recommendations in the hope that the Board of Supervisors will find ways to work together on these and myriad other issues.

Courtesy the candidate

Supervisor Catherine Stefani

District 2: Catherine Stefani

Supervisor Catherine Stefani is unopposed for her reelection and we urge voters in the Marina, Cow Hollow, the Presidio, and other District 2 neighborhoods to reelect her. On homelessness, Stefani wrote in her Bay Area Reporter endorsement questionnaire that she’s committed to placing and funding Navigation Centers in every supervisorial district and acknowledged that there is not one in D2. She wrote that she held a hearing to hold the Department of Public Health accountable for the drug overdose crisis in San Francisco and its erroneous report that it is meeting the need for mental health and addiction services in the city. “The Board of Supervisors unanimously passed my legislation to reform the Behavioral Health Commission after years of financial mismanagement to address the crisis on our streets,” she added.

On housing, Stefani wrote that there is too much red tape “when it comes to addressing our housing affordability crisis as people are priced out of the city we love.” More is needed for housing for teachers, nurses, firefighters, and low- and middle-income families, she stated.

Regarding the city’s LGBTQ Cultural Strategy Report that has numerous recommendations to promote queer culture, Stefani, a straight ally whose younger sister is a lesbian, stated that she “would definitely push and seek to fund ... a permanent museum of LGBTQ+ history and culture.” The best way to preserve queer culture, she wrote, is to ensure that San Francisco remains the city “where LGBTQ people can thrive.” She has supported every LGBTQ cultural district that has come before her and has voted to expand health services for LGBTQ people, she noted.

Stefani has done a good job as supervisor, and we endorse her reelection

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Courtesy the candidate

Supervisor Gordon Mar

District 4: Gordon Mar

Incumbent Supervisor Gordon Mar, who represents the Sunset, has been an ally to the LGBTQ community. He told us during an editorial board meeting that expanding housing on the westside is one of his top priorities and he’s seen progress.

Next week there will be a groundbreaking ceremony for a 100% affordable housing development for teachers, and Mar also saw approval for a development at 2550 Irving Street, despite considerable initial opposition from residents. That 80-unit affordable housing project was decreased in size by a floor – losing 20 units – which Mar said was a compromise. “Folks in the Sunset do support new housing if it’s not too tall,” he told us.

Mar is also a champion of accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, and with the passage last year of Senate Bill 9, the California HOME Act, more housing permitting can be streamlined. Mar said

he’s looking to expand a program citywide that he started in D4 to incentivize ADUs. Mar’s opponent is Joel Engardio, a gay man who’s unsuccessfully run for supervisor three times in D7. Redistricted into D4, Engardio is running against Mar. Mar was asked what he’d say to LGBTQ voters in the district who might want to support an out candidate. He turned that around and said that Engardio faces the issue of convincing Asian voters to support him.

“I’d just say that I haven’t led on LGBTQ issues,” Mar said, noting that he generally defers to gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and, now, gay District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who was appointed by Mayor London Breed in May. Nonetheless, Mar noted when it comes to funding LGBTQ initiatives, “I have been 100% supportive through the budget process.” Mar also pointed out that early in the COVID pandemic, he sponsored a resolution calling on the health department to add data on its dashboard to reflect the number of cases in nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities. That also included sexual orientation and gender identity data as well, he said.

Mar has been an effective supervisor for his constituents and a strong ally. We endorse him for a second term.

Courtesy the candidate

Supervisor Matt Dorsey

“I respected how she went to the mat for people who are dying.”

On policing, Dorsey was unsurprisingly supportive of SFPD and Breed’s funding to fill 200 vacant police officer positions.

Mahogany was dismissive of Dorsey’s San Francisco Recovers. “Let’s be clear, it’s a resolution,” she told us, and maintained that departments are already coming up with recommendations that started at the behest of Haney to curb the overdose crisis. Mental Health SF has created street crisis response teams, she added. But she also said the mayor could have funded similar programs the last three years.

On the mental health crisis, she acknowledged that San Francisco has been a “hard no” on conservatorships, but indicated that it can be part of the solution for people who cannot make decisions for themselves.

Mahogany is focused on what she calls social housing, a relatively new term for housing that she defined as government-owned and subsidized that is not just low-income but for varying income levels. She worked for land use in Haney’s office and touted successes like the Embarcadero SAFE Center that provided up to 20 individuals with shelter and services. D6 is also home to the Taimon Booton Navigation Center for trans people. In general, she pointed out that the city’s east side bears a disproportionate share of the responsibility on both housing and shelter. “We need to push all parts of San Francisco to do their fair share in supporting the unhoused,” she wrote in her questionnaire. “... It is a citywide issue.”

Mahogany is supportive of alternatives to policing, particularly when handling mental health calls, homelessness, and traffic stops, where there is a high racial bias, she stated. At the same time, she supports increased beat officers and foot patrols – people who get to know the neighborhoods and the communities. “Police can be a part of the solution, but we need to make sure they are part of a larger framework, utilized effectively, and above all, held accountable,” she stated.

Mahogany told us that she’d be an independent candidate. “I don’t agree with the mayor on everything,” she said. “I got into politics because of my community – I saw 30 members of my family displaced – and LGBTQs.”

Courtesy the candidate

Supervisor candidate Honey Mahogany

District 6: Matt Dorsey, first choice Honey Mahogany, second choice

This is a tough one. Matt Dorsey, a gay man in recovery and living with HIV, has proved himself an effective campaigner and member of the board since his appointment by the mayor in May. Honey Mahogany, a Black trans person, worked for years as a legislative aide for former D6 supervisor Matt Haney and certainly knows how City Hall works. Either would be a good fit for this sprawling district that includes South of Market, Mission Bay, and Treasure Island.

Dorsey impressed us with the robust San Francisco Recovers proposal that he’s developed with fellow board members Stefani and Mandelman. While a resolution now, Dorsey told us it’s an approach he intends to take over the next four years, should he be elected to a full term – start the process with a resolution and develop it further. The citywide approach involves many city departments to address drug-related harms. The plan draws on what has worked in other jurisdictions, such as Oregon, he explained. He wants to “flip the script,” he told us, so that neighborhoods are clamoring for recovery centers, rather than protesting them. Dorsey is supportive of harm reduction strategies, he said, as well as programs like supervised consumption sites. And he’s serious about his board package. “If I can’t get the board to pass it, I’ll go to the voters,” he said.

Dorsey was previously a chief communications aide for San Francisco Police Chief William Scott, and before that he served for many years as the spokesperson for former city attorney Dennis Herrera. He also knows how City Hall functions. Dorsey made no secret that he lobbied Breed for the appointment after Haney won an Assembly seat. He said that at the police department, he would see the overdose death numbers rise month after month and the collective toll that took. “The mayor won me over with the Tenderloin emergency [declaration],” he told us.

Courtesy the candidate

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman

District 8: Rafael Mandelman

Long the board’s only out member, Rafael Mandelman got some company in May when Breed appointed Dorsey to the vacant D6 seat.

Mandelman represents the Castro, Noe Valley, Glen Park, and surrounding areas and has been very effective in advocating for the queer community, including securing millions of dollars in funding for Jazzie’s Place, the LGBTQ adult homeless shelter; Openhouse, the LGBTQ senior agency; Our Trans Home SF, Lyon-Martin Community Health Services; the Castro Country Club, an LGBTQ sober space; and others. He has helped secure millions of dollars in HIV/AIDS funding, worked with Breed to acquire the property at 1939 Market Street for development of 100-plus units of affordable housing for mostly LGBTQ seniors, and authored the ordinance establishing the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District.

But the Castro is not the vibrant neighborhood it once was, for many reasons, and Mandelman is keenly aware of that. The rezoning he spearheaded for upper Market to make it easier to open bars and restaurants likely will help, though he said it’s too soon to tell. Other items, like funding for a Castro corridor manager through the Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit District, didn’t produce the results he was hoping for. Street safety is a key concern, but Mandelman acknowledged people have a “diversity of feelings” about street camping. Some don’t want tents removed if there isn’t a home for the people; others, and Mandelman includes himSee page 10 >>

Politics >>

t Nonbinary San Carlos school board candidate aims to be voice for LGBTQ youth

by Matthew S. Bajko

I

n 2021, an equity report for the San Carlos School District on the Peninsula found that LGBTQ+ students and families, in addition to people of color, “frequently” reported to district officials that they experienced “pejorative remarks from other students that went unaddressed.”

Consultants hired by the district to conduct the review suggested that school staff “could benefit from comprehensive education around micro-aggressions that intersect with issues of race/ethnicity and gender-identity.” They also noted “staff training on gender-identity and respecting pronouns is a critical need.”

And they suggested the district conduct an audit of all school sites for gender-inclusive bathrooms.

“Providing transgender students with access to the restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity is one way that schools adjust to meet students’ individual needs,” they noted in their report.

Having worked in the district as an educator and being a single mom of a son who transitioned while attending its schools, Kit Waffle was not surprised by the report’s findings and recommendations on LGBTQ issues. The COVID pandemic had exacerbated the situation, said Waffle, 41, who identifies as queer and nonbinary.

“Teachers were under so much stress and the schools were under so much stress because of COVID. The needs of trans kids fell by the wayside,” Waffle told the Bay Area Reporter in a recent phone interview.

Their own son, who asked that their name not be published due to privacy concerns, had issues with a middle school teacher using his dead name. School administrators didn’t seem to take the family’s complaints about the matter seriously, said Waffle, who ended up enrolling their son in a private school for the rest of the academic year.

“My kid was getting more and more disengaged from school and not wanting to go to that class or go to any classes,” recalled Waffle, who filed an informal complaint with the district.

Their son is now enrolled at a high school in a different district that has gender-neutral bathrooms and a policy in place for using the

Courtesy the candidate

San Carlos school board candidate Kit Waffle

names and pronouns that students go by even if they haven’t legally changed them.

“Everyone has been very understanding and accepting so far. It’s been a really stark experience,” said Waffle.

As the San Carlos school district works to address Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) issues, Waffle told the B.A.R. they are concerned that there is not enough focus on addressing the needs of LGBTQ students. It is one of the reasons Waffle decided to run for a seat on the school board that oversees the public PreK to eighth grade school district that serves more than 2,600 students.

“They chose to focus on racial groups and language learners and dropped the piece for LGBTQ students. Definitely, as a board member, I will push for the district to address that,” said Waffle, who had overseen a school garden science program at one of the district’s elementary schools.

While not teaching this semester, Waffle most recently has worked at local private schools mainly as an English teacher but also as a literacy specialist and a humanities teacher.

The Wisconsin native moved to the Bay Area in 2002 to attend graduate school at Stanford University and married a man who worked in tech.

The couple bought a home in San Carlos in 2012 but ended up divorcing in 2018. The year prior Waffle had come out as nonbinary.

The term better reflected how they felt about their gender, as they didn’t consider themself to be a trans man.

“As a kid, I knew I was never

comfortable with the female body and female gender identity. I was never good at it. I always felt like I was failing at gender class,” recalled Waffle. “I knew I wasn’t a guy; I just thought I was really bad at being a girl. Then nonbinary becomes a more common term, and I went, ‘Oh, there is another option.’ I can opt out of this binary gender thing and go with whatever.”

According to a map of out elected leaders maintained by the LGBTQ Victory Institute, there are only two who identify as nonbinary serving in California. One is Redwood City Councilmember Lissette Espinoza-Garnica.

As far as Waffle knows, they would be the only LGBTQ person serving on the San Carlos school board if elected. The entire time they have lived in the city, they have not known of anyone from the LGBTQ community serving on it.

All five of the school board’s seats are on the November 8 ballot, with two being for two-year terms. Waffle is running for one of the three full four-year terms against three incumbents, two of whom were appointed to their seats. Thus, Waffle feels they have “a good chance” of winning.

“I only have to beat one to get on the school board,” noted Waffle, a first-time candidate for elected office. “Some people are really enthusiastic and some people just won’t vote for me.

I am not expecting, as a nonbinary person, to get everyone’s support.”

Even if they lose the race, Waffle said being able to run as an out queer nonbinary candidate talking about LGBTQ issues and the needs of trans students is victory enough.

“In some ways I think it’s already a win for me if I am just pushing this forward, even as a candidate.

Being a visible representation for the community, being out, and highlighting this issue of the poor treatment of trans students, I’ll take that as a personal win,” said Waffle.

“If I win, awesome, and if I can help make substantial change over the next four years, that’s even better.

Representation counts I think for our youth. It affirms our youth to see me run.”

See page 11 >>

September 22-28, 2022 • Bay Area Reporter • 7

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<< Commentary

8 • Bay Area Reporter • September 22-28, 2022

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Transit tales – and transgender typecasting

by Gwendolyn Ann Smith

Y

our average, modern city is a labyrinth of streets linking home, work, and entertainment in a maze of asphaltic concrete as far as the eye can see. Heck, according to the National Association of City Transportation Officials, more than 80% of all public space in the average city is made up of streets.

Ruling those streets is the automobile.

If you pull up newsreels from the beginning of the previous century, however, the city was a different place. Sure, you had streets – usually a mix of paved and unpaved roads, and not the heavilyengineered thoroughfares we experience today. On these, you’d find a mix of pedestrian traffic, public transit made up of cable, street, or horse-drawn cars, and a healthy smattering of carts and wagons. Oh, and of course, you might find some early cars.

Indeed, in the brass-era of automobiles, the average flivver was viewed with some disdain and fear. The car was generally faster than what was on the roads of the time, and drivers were inexperienced. Traffic laws for cars, too, were still coming together. As a result, automobile-related fatalities were common, and many were outraged.

Yes, we will get to some actual transgender-related content, I assure you.

After a push 100 years ago to limit vehicles to 25 miles per hour hit the ballot in Cincinnati, carmakers, dealers, and others tried to shift the blame from vehicles to the pedestrian. The National Automobile Chamber of Commerce pushed the media to blame pedestrians over vehicles and advocated

Christine Smith

for new laws to restrict foot traffic on roads. The Automobile Association of America treated safety campaigns as a way to keep people out of the street.

There was one more important element: public shaming. The term “jaywalker” was born, essentially painting walking in the street as being unsophisticated and oafish. Shouting at jaywalkers was encouraged.

These and other campaigns encouraged the mockery of those using the streets as a walking thoroughfare and, while it took a while to catch on, one can see the ripple effects of that campaign today.

If you’d like to dig deep into this history, by the way, I’d recommend grabbing a copy of Peter D. Norton’s “Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American

City” – but I digress.

It was likely the aforementioned social engineering campaigns, far more than the letter of the law, which changed the way our nation looks at roadways. Most people today, for example, do not think twice about waiting at a crosswalk and limiting their time in a roadway. Walking in the street has become something that one simply does not do.

Now then, let’s consider something other than jaywalking.

Let’s instead look at the transgender community. See, I told you we’d get there.

Since the 1990s or so, the visibility of the LGBTQ movement and,

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notably, the transgender community, has grown. We have won in the courtrooms, at the ballot box, and in the hearts of minds of an otherwise skeptical public. While the LGBTQ movement as a whole grew, I would hardly argue that the transgender community itself gained more than the smallest level of leverage and authority. Nevertheless, we did gain visibility and were able to press back in the same way pedestrians initially pushed back against the “speed demons” of early automobiles.

Yet, in the last decade, this has begun to shift. Much like gay rights battles post-Stonewall faced the backlash of the Anita Bryant era, so too did the so-called transgender tipping point heralded by Time magazine in 2014 lead to a dramatic pushback.

Initially it was the “bathroom meme” of sex predators using trans rights to assault women and girls in restrooms. The idea never made sense, knowing that no law against sexual assault would be

voided by the presence of a dress, and given there were far easier ways for sexual predators to access restrooms.

As bad as the argument was, it did help cement one thing in the public’s mind, in much the same way the jaywalking rube became an anti-pedestrian symbol: while the initial notion was that sexual predators would use trans rights as a dodge, it nevertheless linked sexual deviancy with transgender people for many.

Consider everything since then. Transgender and LGBTQ book bans and “Don’t Say Gay/ Trans” laws are based on the notion of any LGBTQ writing being obscene. The “groomer” panic, as well, is attempting to conflate the idea of sexual predators attempting to build trust with children for deviant sexual purposes with any support of LGBTQs – children and young adults. The care of trans youth, predominately young trans men, is lumped in with child sexual abuse. Likewise, drag queen story hours are now under physical attack in part due to people trying to paint them as sexually charged events.

This, of course, puts us in a bind: how do we discuss our sexuality and our gender identity without now being tainted with this same brush? I do not believe we need to try the same tactics that failed in the 1970s, by stripping away these parts of ourselves, or trying to proclaim how we are just like those people accusing us of sex crimes. Yet we need to figure out how we are pushing back.

A hundred years ago, our roads were vibrant places, where pedestrians, transit, and other conveyances worked together, until the automobile – and the social engineering that tied pedestrians with old-fashioned clowns – changed that for the worse, potentially forever.

We need to change the narrative now, before we are doomed to a far worse fate. t Gwen Smith invited you to look both ways, and then move gayly forward. You’ll find her at www. gwensmith.com

Obituaries >> James Philip McCrea October 5, 1940 – September 1, 2022

Jim McCrea, 81, resident of Piedmont, California, formerly of Cuba City, Wisconsin, passed away peacefully in Oakland on September 1, 2022, following a nearly year long battle with cancer. Born October 5, 1940 in Cuba City to Guerdon “Butch” and Sylvia (Lacke) McCrea. Survived by his life partner of 50 years, Gregory L. Jurin; the couple were married in 2015.

Mr. McCrea graduated Cuba City High School (1958) and Marquette University, Milwaukee (1962), then enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and served as a captain for eight years. Afterward he moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. He had a career in human resources, primarily banking. He retired in 2003 and traveled extensively.

He was such a wonderful man of lively faith and passionate about social, political, and environmental justice. He passed on the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.

There will be a vigil Friday, September 23, at 7 p.m. and funeral liturgy and reception at 10 a.m. Saturday, September 24, both at Corpus Christi Church, 322 Saint James Drive, in Piedmont. Private services will follow

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9/21/22 12:23 PM

October 10 in Cuba City. Interment will be at St. Rose Cemetery in Cuba City.

Remembrances can be made to the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, at their Motherhouse, 585 Co Rd Z, Sinsinawa, Wisconsin, 53824, or charity of your choice.

James T. Porras September 22 1966 – September 11, 2022

On Sunday, September 11, 2022 James T. Porras, affectionately known to many as “Pickles,” was discovered to have passed away.

Born September 22, 1966 to Ernest and Stella Porras, James grew up in San Gabriel, California. In 1990, James graduated from San Francisco State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in radio and television.

James was a steadfast San Francisco resident, having lived here for 36 years and he enjoyed the many unique amenities, cuisines, and people that his city has to offer. Described by many of his friends as “the funniest person that I know,” James had an uproarious sense of humor – always coupling it with a beaming smile and an infectious, giggly laugh.

t

Community News>>

September 22-28, 2022 • Bay Area Reporter • 9

Newsom vetoes 1 LGBTQ bill, signs another

by Matthew S. Bajko

I

n vetoing a bill aimed at assisting LGBTQ homeless youth in California, Governor Gavin Newsom cited the cost of the legislation in his veto message released September 19. It was his first veto of an LGBTQ-related bill this session.

Over the weekend Newsom did sign into law legislation that aims to assist LGBTQ veterans discharged under the military’s homophobic “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. Authored by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks), Assembly Bill 325 establishes the Veteran’s Military Discharge Upgrade Grant program to help fund service providers that will educate veterans about the discharge upgrade process and assist eligible veterans to apply.

He sent back to the Legislature, however, AB 2663 by Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-Highland), which would have instructed the state Department of Social Services to launch a five-year pilot project called the Youth Acceptance Project in counties that volunteered to sign up for it. The state agency would have entered into a contract with the nonprofit Family Builders

by Adoption to provide therapeutic-style support and intervention services to LGBTQ+ youth who receive, or are at risk of receiving, child welfare services.

“By expanding this model statewide, we can change the heartbreaking outcomes youth experience from rejection to acceptance,” Jill Jacobs, a lesbian who is executive director of the Oakland-based agency, had written in an August 25 guest opinion for the Bay Area Reporter.

In his veto message Newsom noted that he supported Ramos’ legislative effort “to prevent youth homelessness by increasing acceptance of

Courtesy AP

Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill to assist homeless LGBTQ youth but signed another one to help LGBTQ veterans.

LGBTQ+ children among parents/ caregivers, foster parents, adoptive parents, extended family members, social workers and others involved in a child ‘s care.”

Nonetheless, Newsom pointed to the bill requiring “millions of dollars to successfully implement the proposed pilot program and these ongoing resources are not accounted for in the budget. With our state facing lower-than-expected revenues over the first few months of this fiscal year, it is important to remain disciplined when it comes to spending, particularly spending that is ongoing.”

Newsom added, “We must prioritize existing obligations and priorities, including education, health care, public safety and safety-net programs.”

With bills passed this session totaling $20 billion in one-time spending commitments and more than $10 billion in ongoing commitments not accounted for in the state budget, Newsom argued that

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“bills with significant fiscal impact, such as this measure, should be considered and accounted for as part of the annual budget process.”

Responding to the governor’s veto in a statement, Ramos expressed his disappointment and pledged to work with backers of the bill to see about reviving it during the next legislative session.

“I am disappointed in the governor’s veto, but will consult with our sponsors and the administration to consider introducing a recrafted proposal aimed at overcoming the governor’s concerns,” stated Ramos.

“AB 2663 received overwhelming support in the Legislature because of the population the bill targets. I am heartened that the governor’s message stated his support of our ‘efforts to prevent youth homelessness by increasing acceptance of LGBTQ+ children among parents/ caregivers, foster parents, adoptive parents, extended family members, social workers and others involved in a child’s care.’”

Christine Stoner-Mertz, CEO of the California Alliance of Child and Family Services, which had sponsored the bill, calling the rates of homelessness among LGBTQ+ youth “alarming and unacceptable,” stated that the Youth Acceptance Project pilot program is modeled on a successful program that prevents LGBTQ+ youth homelessness and their involvement in the child welfare system.

“These youth are well worth California’s investment,” stated Stoner-Mertz. “We are grateful to Assemblymember Ramos for his dedication to youth acceptance, and we are determined to keep working toward a California where all youth have the chance to thrive.”

LGBTQ+ youth who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk

of homelessness, and their families who are struggling with accepting the youth’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression, would have been able to receive services through the Youth Acceptance Project if the bill had become law. A clinician or social worker would have been in charge of the services, which the bill specifically required to be designed to increase acceptance among a LGBTQ+ youth’s parents, caregivers, foster parents, adoptive parents, extended family members, social workers, and additional staff involved in a youth’s care.

The state agency would have had to submit a report to the Legislature with an evaluation of the pilot project. It was to have ended on January 1, 2030.

LGBTQ vets bill

Irwin’s AB 325 will provide assistance to servicemembers drummed out under DADT who want to update their military records and access education, health, burial, and other benefits available to honorably discharged service members.

With Congress repealing DADT in 2011, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs created a process for members of the armed forces who could prove their discharge was due to their sexual orientation, including under DADT policy, to apply for a discharge upgrade or correction. (Information on how to do so can be found online at https://bit. ly/3BVnYFZ. But the process for veterans discharged less than honorably because of DADT to apply for an upgrade can be burdensome, noted Newsom’s office in announcing he had signed the bill September 17, requiring legal counsel and other assistance to obtain an upgrade to their discharge classification.

“While the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask,

Don’t Tell’ ended a shameful injustice against LGBTQ Americans serving in our armed forces, its legacy continues to burden the women and men unfairly ousted under the discriminatory policy,” stated Newsom. “With this legislation, the state will help these heroes navigate the process to correct the record and access important benefits they deserve and have earned many times over. I thank Assemblymember Irwin for advancing this measure to do right by our veterans and further California’s commitment to equality.”

Newsom also released a video about the bill via his office’s Twitter page at https://bit.ly/3eY11bX. Irwin thanked Newsom for signing the bill in her own tweet Monday. The new grant program it creates will also help veterans discharged because of mental health conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder, or a traumatic brain injury (TBI).

“CA Veterans less than honorably discharged due to their sexual orientation, a TBI, or PTSD, have waited long enough for their service to be honored. Proud to work with @MyCalVet to ensure @DeptofDefense provides these Vets w/ the benefits they earned in service to us all. #AB325,” wrote Irwin, using the twitter handle for the California Department of Veterans Affairs.

According to an analysis of the bill done for the state Senate Appropriations Committee, it is likely to cost “in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.” The grant program’s total cost will depend on how many counties sign up for it and how many veterans in each county qualify for it.

The state veterans agency told lawmakers that it “anticipates costs to administer the grant program to be minor and absorbable.”t

<< Community News

10 • Bay Area Reporter • September 22-28, 2022

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Folsom Street Fair

This includes persons who received notice from a venue or event of a potential exposure within the past 14 days; laboratory workers who routinely perform MPX virus testing ; and clinicians who have had a high-risk occupational exposure (i.e., examined MPX lesions or collected monkeypox specimens without using recommended personal protective equipment), SFDPH stated. Both first and second vaccinations will be available.

From page 1

MPX vaccines

With monkeypox still making the rounds – although in significantly lower numbers, as of late – the San Francisco Department of Public Health is expanding vaccine eligibility to non-city residents for the first time, as the Bay Area Reporter previously reported.

Non-city residents who meet other eligibility requirements can get a vaccine now through October 2, according to a statement from SFDPH. The vaccines are part of 10,000 additional Jynneos vaccines from the federal government, just in time for the beginning of the fall street fair season and associated events.

Out-of-towners attending the event will be able to get vaccinated provided they meet the same criteria required of residents. They must fall within one of several categories: gay or bisexual men, or any man or trans person who has sex with men or trans people; sex workers of any sexual orientation or gender identity; people of any age or

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SF Pride

From page 1

election to the nonprofit’s board.

Louie, an Asian Bay Area native, brings experience working with several nonprofit social justice organizations, including Democratic Socialists of America, Gender Illumination, and the Bay Area TransMasc Calendar, which launched its first edition earlier this year.

“I want to really flex my connections with the transmasc community, especially of color,” he told members during the candidate statements. “Because over the years, I’ve just really begun to learn that we’re underrepresented and our issues don’t come up.”

Louie told members that “for the longest time, I thought Pride wasn’t for me and I really want to change that. I want it to be a space for people like me to connect with my community…”

Rimi, who was running for a second term, said that being on the board had allowed her to serve the community in even greater ways.

“I did not know that I would have

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Editorial

From page 6

self, believe encampments are “quite bad” for people in them and those around them, though he said that not everyone living in a tent is disruptive.

When the monkeypox outbreak hit this spring, Mandelman called a hearing to demand answers from health officials about why the vaccine system wasn’t working. Yes, there was a shortage of vaccine from the federal government, but Mandelman wanted to know why the Department of Public Health had communications failures and why its drop-in vaccine clinic saw people waiting in line for hours. He used his bully pulpit to call for a more urgent response to the virus that is primarily affecting men who have sex with men.

On housing, Mandelman has tried different approaches with various measures of success. His fourplex legislation was watered down by the board and vetoed by the mayor, a major disappointment. He’s right, though, when he wrote in his endorsement questionnaire that “we will need to make many and far bolder

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San Jose

From page 1

and youth in San Jose. As part of her homelessness plans, Chavez notes that the city needs “to provide more interim housing for the most vulnerable homeless, such as the current New Haven shelter that is focused on LGBTQ+ homeless residents.”

Chavez pointed to the shelter as

Fair fun Screengrab

Members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors honored 11 individuals or groups for Latinx Heritage Month at their September 20 meeting. Gay District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey, left, honored Alex “Lex” Montiel, a gay man who’s the owner of the San Francisco Eagle Bar in the city’s South of Market neighborhood. The bar was recognized with landmark status by the city back in October 2021.

Dorsey praised Montiel for the “amazing and generous work he has done for the community.”

Of course, the fair isn’t all vaccinations. In addition to the usual display of leather-clad eye candy, there’ll be plenty of opportunities for folks to replenish their toy collections, listen to live music, and cruise.

Bob Goldfarb, a gay man and executive director of the Leather & LGBTQ Cultural District, said they were excited that Leather Week “is upon us and we are able to meet in person again this year.” Unfortunately, the district’s LeatherWalk that was scheduled for September 18 to kick off Leather Week was rained out.

t

The leather district, which has been helping to coordinate MPX vaccination pop-ups, Goldfarb said, will have a presence at the fair this year with a booth offering information about its work, as well as the Bearrison Street Fair coming up October 15.

Like Goldfarb, others are looking forward to the opportunity to get together again. For some, this year is particularly meaningful after the fair’s diminished presence the past two years.

“The members of The 15 Association have participated in every Folsom Street Fair since its inception,” said Christopher Wood, a gay man and president of the men’s fraternal group. ”COVID may have interrupted our routine but it also gave many of us time to think about what we want. Leather is surging again, and this year’s Folsom Street Fair is a sign of the resiliency of the leather community. For me and my brothers in The 15, the ability to once again gather with leather folks from around the world reminds us of who we are and that we are not alone.” t

any gender who have had close contact within the past 14 days with someone with suspected or confirmed monkeypox; and people who have had close

contact with others at a venue or event or within a social group in the past 14 days where a suspected or confirmed MPX case was identified.

an opportunity to serve this community in large ways that I have been able to, and San Francisco Pride has been one of those platforms,” she told meeting attendees. The Hindu Indian immigrant said that, despite recent victories, much still needs to be accomplished.

“And we have done a decent job with accountability with one particular party, which is the police,” she said, “but we have a lot more work to do.”

After SF Pride announced that uniformed officers would not be welcome to participate in the parade in May, following up on a policy the board adopted in the fall of 2020, San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced she would not participate unless that was changed. The San Francisco Fire Department and the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department also announced their withdrawal. Ultimately, however, following further negotiations, law enforcement participated. Breed came down with COVID and had to skip Pride festivities.

Martley-Jordan, an educator and Black woman who’s the project manager for the San Francisco Unified

School District’s African American Achievement and Leadership Initiative, Post Secondary Pathway, said that she is an advocate.

“I speak for the voiceless and the marginalized, in particular youth,” she said.

The SF Pride board, she said, should play a role in helping trans and transitioning students in ways the school district can’t.

“We have young people in schools who are trans, who are transitioning and they are walking through the hallways and – I’m talking to the public at home – and not all of them are having a very good time,” she continued.

“Some of them are getting through, some of them it’s happening for.

But they need a lot of support. The schools can’t provide it.”

Smith, a Black self-described family man who has served on the SF Pride board before, spoke of inclusion and the need to make Pride more inclusive of Black and Brown members of the community, and to keep the spirit of Pride going all year long.

“I really, really would like Pride to be sustained throughout the year,” he said, “especially those folks to whom

the business of Pride is very important, the opportunities that Pride gives to folks. I want to see our folks represented in that. It’s not only about celebration, it’s about the people that invest in Pride, giving us an opportunity to work, to support our communities, to support the fight in our communities.”

moves than ‘fourplex’ if San Francisco is to meet the 82,000 new units needed to meet our Regional Housing Needs Allocation for the next Housing Element cycle.” The debate between housing advocates and opposing neighborhood activists “gets in the way of our pursuing reasonable middle-path housing solutions.” He told us he will continue to push for fourplex legislation.

On mental health issues, Mandelman wrote that he will continue to fight for additional resources to end homelessness, especially for those unhoused people who experience mental health and substance use challenges. A more assertive response is necessary, he told us in an editorial board meeting, for those people who need higher levels of care. In some cases, that may mean conservatorships for people if they cannot make medical and therapeutic decisions for themselves.

Maintaining the city’s LGBTQ culture is of critical importance to Mandelman – he held a hearing on the city’s draft LGBTQ Cultural Strategy report this summer – and worked with Breed and gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-

San Francisco) to secure $17 million in city and state funding for a permanent LGBTQ museum. He told us he wants to see the museum in the Castro, but finding a suitable location has been challenging because potential property owners want a higher price than the property is assessed.

In short, Mandelman is hardworking and is an important voice on the Board of Supervisors for the LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS communities.

We endorse him for reelection.

Supervisor Shamann Walton has been an important ally to the LGBTQ community, and we recommend him for reelection. He is the first Black man to serve as board president. He is fully on board with Navigation Centers – District 10, which includes the Bayview, Hunters Point, and other neighborhoods has three, as well as a safe sleeping site, RV sites, and vehicle triage center.

To bring people back to downtown – and other parts of the city – Walton wrote in his endorsement questionnaire that the city must invest in the

public transit system “and ensure every San Franciscan has equal access.” He’s right that residents in the southern part of the city have been fighting for years for adequate and reliable transportation. He also stated that big businesses must bring back their workforce, which would support small businesses downtown.

On housing, Walton stated that he would continue to advocate for building affordable housing and “holding developers responsible for community benefit packages that support walkability, mixed-use, and environmental concerns.” He did add, however, that the goals dictated by the state for the city to build 82,000 housing units by 2030 are not realistic. “There are real issues around making sure that environmental impacts are thoroughly vetted,” he wrote.

Walton has pledged to work with Mandelman on policies to preserve the queer culture in the Castro, as well as Supervisor Dean Preston, who now has the Tenderloin in D5, and the D6 supervisor, who represents the Leather & LGBTQ Cultural District.

We were disappointed over the

confrontation Walton was involved in with a Black sheriff’s cadet at a City Hall checkpoint the Friday of Pride weekend and his alleged use of a racial slur when he was asked to remove his belt. Walton surely knows the history whereby disgruntled ex-supervisor Dan White sneaked into City Hall in 1978 and killed gay supervisor Harvey Milk and then-mayor George Moscone, so security is a fact of life now at the building. We hope that it won’t be repeated.

Walton has done a good job representing his constituents and the city at large. We recommend him for a second term..t

“a great partnership” between the county and city she hopes to replicate as mayor. The city owns the building where the shelter is located, while the county provides the services to the residents.

“One of the most important opportunities we have is to get the county and city to work together on issues just like that,” said Chavez, who added that she is “particularly interested”

in seeing more LGBTQ-affirming senior housing be built in San Jose.

“I have been told by the community when people are looking at retirement homes, for the LGBTQ community in particular, so many people still are not completely out to their families.”

Mahan agreed that San Jose needs more LGBTQ-affirming senior housing and also more housing for LGBTQ youth and others who age out of

the foster care system and must find a place to live. He pointed out he has supported such a project in his council district being built by Eden Housing. Called Mesa Terrace, 23 of the building’s 46 units will be set aside for transitional age youth.

“I am moving forward a project in my district that has dedicated rooms for foster youth who are transitioning out of the foster care system into

young adulthood and need that bridge,” said Mahan, who has two young children with his wife and lives in the Almaden Valley section of San Jose.

District 10: Shamann Walton

Theme selection

In addition to choosing board members, Pride membership also chose the theme for 2023’s celebration.

Members had 11 different options to choose from: “1,000,000 Loves;” “All Genders Welcome!”; “Awakening;” “Leather Pride!;” “Liberty and Justice for All;” “Live, Laugh, Love;” “Looking Back and Moving Forward;” “Pay Love Forward;” “Pursuit of Happiness;” “Rising Tides Lift all Boats;” and “Ties that Bind.”

“Liberty and Justice for All” was the 1980 SF Pride theme, according to a list of past themes on the organization’s website.

Before voting got underway, however, there was a little campaigning

from members who had submitted some of the themes themselves. After being asked about the context behind “Rising Tides Lift all Boats,” East Bay member and trans woman Di’ara Reid explained.

“Basically, it’s just describing that we’re all in the same boat and if we lift up those that are most marginalized, all of us rise up with it. So it includes the whole community,” she said.

Another member wondered about “Looking Back and Moving Forward.”

Board candidate Martley-Jordan had submitted that one.

“I like ‘Looking Back and Moving Forward’ because it reminds me of the Sankofa bird out of Africa,” she said.

In East African lore, the bird whose name means “go back to the past and bring forward that which is useful” represents the need to understand the past to move forward successfully.

“If you don’t know where you came from, how you goin’ know where you goin’?” Martley-Jordan continued.

“And to me, that talks about what we’re doing.”

Her pitch worked, as that theme won with 51 votes.t

Courtesy the candidate

Supervisor Shamann Walton

Long LGBTQ ties

Due to her long political career, having been first elected to the city See page 11 >>

t <<

Community News>>

September 22-28, 2022 • Bay Area Reporter • 11

San Jose

council in 1998, Chavez has drawn wide support from South Bay politicians and LGBTQ community leaders. All of the current San Jose city council members other than Mahan have endorsed her for mayor.

The LGBTQ political group BAYMEC, which stands for the Bay Area Municipal Elections Committee, is also backing Chavez in the race. Her former colleague on both the county board and city council Ken Yeager, the first openly gay person to win elective office in Santa Clara County, is among her endorsers.

“Because we all know, and have worked with, her, some of us for decades,” Yeager told the B.A.R. as for why so many current and former elected officials have endorsed Chavez to become San Jose’s 66th mayor.

In terms of her broad support within the LGBTQ community, it is due to her being an advocate for LGBTQ rights for so long, he explained.

“It is one thing to answer on a questionnaire yes, you are in favor of LGBTQ rights. It is another thing to be on the battle line where all the arrows are angled at you and your political career might be on the line because of your position. She was just always there,” said Yeager.

Chavez, known for her ability to raise money for BAYMEC at its events, will be the auctioneer at the 40th anniversary gala next month for San Jose’s Billy DeFrank LGBTQ Community Center. She joked to the B.A.R. that her “relationship with the community is as old as the Earth.”

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Political Notebook

From page 7

Just this month, as the school board reviewed its non-discrimination policies, including for race, sexual orientation, and gender identity, a woman in the audience attacked trans youth during public comment, noted Waffle. It echoed the bias toward trans youth seen at school board meetings across the country over the last several years as their rights come under fire and are rolled back.

“While LGB issues, especially les-

to accommodate and create a flexible and supportive work environment,” said Mahan.

She served on the statewide campaign committee in 2000 known as the No on Knight initiative that was unsuccessful in defeating Proposition 22, which defined marriage in California as being between a man and a woman. Chavez became close friends with Mike Marshall, the gay man who led the fight against Prop 22.

In her childhood she lost a gay relative to AIDS who was not out to their entire family. At college a very close friend come out to her as gay even though he was afraid it would end their friendship, recalled Chavez, who attended San Jose State University.

“I could hear the pain in his voice when he said it,” she told the B.A.R. “It was so deep – I am getting a little emotional as it’s been a long time since I thought about him. So deep was his experience of rejection he had already faced that really made me stop and think about my own thinking about human sexuality.

“My own thinking was would someone really reject a friend because they were gay? It is one of the

most outstanding moments for me,” Chavez continued.

Mahan, who was endorsed in August by Liccardo and received the endorsement of the San Jose Mercury News earlier this year, has attracted the backing of numerous community leaders, some of whom are LGBTQ. His friend from high school, Jeremy Avila, is personally supporting Mahan for mayor.

A gay man who is vice president of BAYMEC, Avila explained to the B.A.R. that he is backing Mahan due to their 24-year-long friendship. They met in high school in San Jose.

“From day one he has always demonstrated and proven himself to be someone who cares about equality, justice, and about treating people with dignity and respect. What goes hand in hand with that is Matt’s diligence and a real desire to always see the right thing happen,” said Avila, stressing he was speaking for himself and not on behalf of BAYMEC. “I am supporting him because I know the type of person that he is and the values that he

holds. That’s what drives me to want to see him succeed.”

Mahan, who grew up in Watsonville, noted he has long spoken out on behalf of LGBTQ rights going back to when he attended the Jesuit-run Bellarmine College Preparatory school in San Jose on a low-income scholarship program. He said he used his platform as a student government leader to address the homophobia his fellow classmates faced.

“The issue of inclusivity, particularly around sexual orientation and gender identity, has been personal for me since high school. I had very close friends bullied by unaccepting, intolerant classmates,” recalled Mahan, because they were either perceived to be gay or had come out.

At Harvard, where he was student body president, Mahan said he purposefully attended the first same-sex weddings performed at Cambridge City Hall on May 17, 2004 when marriage equality took effect in Massachusetts.

“I took flak for it from conservative groups on campus. This was nearly 20-plus years ago,” said Mahan.

“When I ran for student body president at Harvard, I had the endorsement of the LGBTQ club. I worked with them to get the first gender-neutral bathrooms at Harvard.”

Throughout his professional career as an educator in San Jose and as an executive at several tech companies, Mahan said he continued to support LGBTQ issues. While working in San Francisco, he recounted supporting an employee who faced a difficult time transitioning their gender.

“We made every effort we could

bian and gay that is understood and better supported in the Bay Area, I think transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming in general is way more stigmatized,” said Waffle.

“Structural change is needed in institution’s policies and even peoples’ conception of what does that mean to not be male or female. Whether it’s like that parent last night at the school board meeting who thinks trans people aren’t real and trans kids aren’t real, in some ways it is a harder concept to grasp, and people feel uncomfortable with it.”

In their experience as a teacher, most students don’t have any issues if their peers come out as trans and ask to be called by a new name and pronoun, said Waffle.

“They don’t care,” said Waffle. “The youth are leading on this. It is something where the adults really need to listen to the youth on it.”

It is also a matter of life or death, added Waffle, who pointed to the Trevor Project’s 2022 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health that found 45% of LGBTQ youth had seriously considered attempting suicide in

the past year, including more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth.

“Every kid deserves support. This is literally suicide prevention,” said Waffle. “It is something that is a no brainer to me. Do you want to use a kid’s name and pronoun or do you want a dead kid? It is not hyperbolic to ask the question.”

As a school board member Waffle hopes to build “a really supportive school community” for all students, especially those who are trans and don’t feel safe at home. While they told the B.A.R. the attacks on trans

youth have to stop, Waffle added they have had one positive outcome.

“The blessing of that is it has galvanized a lot of people to be more vocal in their support to counteract how loud the vitriol is,” said Waffle. “But we are talking about children, some as young as 7 years old. Use their name, welcome them at school, that is the only way they are going to learn.”

To learn more about Waffle’s candidacy, visit their campaign website at https://www.votewaffle.org/ t

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398052

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398107

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398043

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF NORA LESLIE CHAN IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO: FILE PES-22-305541

From page 10

Courtesy the candidate

San Jose City Councilmember Matt Mahan marched in the Silicon Valley Pride parade last month.

A tight race

Their election is expected to be a tight race, with both candidates confident of their chances. Polling released in early September by Mahan’s campaign found the race to be statistically tied with Mahan at 37% and Chavez at 38%, with 25% of voters undecided. The telephone poll of 674 likely voters, conducted in English and Vietnamese, had a margin of sampling error of ±4%.

Mahan is banking on voters wanting a fresh perspective and political independence at City Hall.

“My opponent has a lot of relationships built up over 30 years and a record of failed policies on homelessness, housing, and public safety,” he told the B.A.R., adding that “I think it is time, and think most voters feel it is time, for fresh leadership.”

Chavez is counting on the relationships, both political and personal, she has built over her years of elected service to help her finally achieve her goal of leading San Jose as its third female mayor.

“I am very excited. One of the best parts of being a candidate is I go out to all these events and house parties where you get a chance to hear people’s hopes, dreams, concerns, and their thoughts and ideas on solutions,” said Chavez. “It is kind of a tremendous honor. It helps me to imagine a city where everybody belongs.”t

Legals>> FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0397815

The following person(s) is/are doing business as KAREN SALON, 4115 JUDAH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed XIAO LING TANG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/23/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/25/22.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as CHIRON ENGINEERING, 228 CONGDON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DOUGLAS CHAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/23/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/23/22.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as JB COLLECTIVE T-SHIRTS, 1251 TURK ST #416, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JAMES BRADLEY. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/01/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/30/22.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as MOVETTE FILM TRANSFER, 1407 VALENCIA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed MIKOBITO, INC (CA).

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/08/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/23/22.

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-557382

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398054

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398116

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398062

AUG 18, 25, SEP 01, 08, 2022

In the matter of the application of REBECCA YINGYU CHUA, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appears from said application that petitioner REBECCA YINGYU CHUA is requesting that the name REBECCA YINGYU CHUA be changed to REBECCA YINGYU CHEN. 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 6th of OCTOBER 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

SEP 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-557388

In the matter of the application of WILLIAM CLARK SHIFFLETT, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appears from said application that petitioner WILLIAM CLARK SHIFFLETT is requesting that the name WILLIAM CLARK SHIFFLETT be changed to JACOB WILLIAM CLARK. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N on the 11th of OCTOBER 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

SEP 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398008

The following person(s) is/are doing business as QUALITY CAT SITTING, 2913 22ND ST #3, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CYNTHIA ARNOLD. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/01/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/19/22.

SEP 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

SEP 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

SEP 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

SEP 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

The following person(s) is/are doing business as CRYSTAL SPA, 577 GEARY ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DANNY NGUYEN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/24/22.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/24/22.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as COLLECTIBLES GALLERY, 10 VALENCIA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ABDELKADER CHENBOD. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/30/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/30/22.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as WORLD OF MAGNETS, 815 GRANT AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed RACHEL TRADING CORPORATION (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/08/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/24/22.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398051

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-03978047

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398045

SEP 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

The following person(s) is/are doing business as DH CLEANING SERVICES, 370 ELLIS ST #22, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DEMETRIUS HOWARD. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/08/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/23/22.

SEP 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398071

The following person(s) is/are doing business as GET THE WORD OUT COMMUNICATIONS; GLOBAL VENTURES, 537 JONES ST #2436, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed STEVEN V. YODER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/25/98. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/25/22.

SEP 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398048

The following person(s) is/are doing business as BETTY FRESAS, 1421 CLAYTON ST #A, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SALVADOR GURROLA JR. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/15/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/23/22.

SEP 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

SEP 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

The following person(s) is/are doing business as REUT DIAMOND, 1535 FUNSTON AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed RAZ HAULING SERVICES, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/23/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/23/22.

SEP 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398046

The following person(s) is/are doing business as D3 SOLUTIONS; STARBOARD SUITE, 2370 MARKET ST #103-371, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed D3 STUDIOS, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/21/07 & 09/21/12.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/23/22.

SEP 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398035

The following person(s) is/are doing business as COMMON REAL ESTATE GROUP, INC, 891 BEACH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed THE COMMON REAL ESTATE GROUP (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/20/21.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/22/22.

SEP 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

SEP 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

The following person(s) is/are doing business as PLANT CONCRETE, 300 NEWHALL ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a limited partnership, and is signed PLANT/ALLISON CORPORATION (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/29/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/23/22.

SEP 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398043

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SWEET CONDESA LLC, 518 SOUTH VAN NESS AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed SWEET CONDESA LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/03/22.

SEP 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-0372327

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as HYPNOSIS FOR HEALTH; HYPNOSIS 4 HEALTH, 815 HYDE ST #302, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by KENNETH D. STEINMETZ. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/26/16.

SEP 01, 08, 15, 22, 2022

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of NORA LESLIE CHAN. A Petition for Probate has been filed by MARION ELEANOR CHAN in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. The Petition for Probate requests that MARION ELEANOR CHAN 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: SEPTEMBER 28, 2022, 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. Petitioner: MARION ELEANOR CHAN, 405 ENFRENTE RD #120, NOVATO, CA 94949; Ph. (415) 612-7230.

SEP 08, 15, 22, 2022

<< Legals

12 • Bay Area Reporter • September 22-28, 2022

NOTICE OF CITATION FOR FREEDOM FROM PARENTAL CUSTODY AND CONTROL OF SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO: CASE NUMBER 22AD000410N

In the matter of NEVAEH PRESLEY MCLEMORE, date of birth 10/15/2017, a minor, to STEPHEN KOPERSKI: You are ordered to appear in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of San Diego, 325 South Melrose Dr., Vista, CA 92081, in Department N-23 on November 17, 2022, at 8:30am, to show cause, why NEVAEH PRESLEY MCLEMORE should not be declared free from parental custody and control for the purpose of placement for adoption as requested in the petition. This hearing will be conducted by video or telephone through the North County Division 325 S. Melrose Drive Vista.

CA 92081. IMPORTANT: STEPHEN KOPERSKI, please call the court promptly for instructions on how to attend this hearing. (760) 201-8720 Monday-Friday 8:30am-11:30am PST. 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. Dated 08/26/2022, Kelly C. Mok, Judge of the Superior Court.

ATTORNEYS: MARK E. GOLDMAN (CA SBN 193207) & AMBER C. CARLSON (CA SBN 323964), 21800 OXNARD ST #790, WOODLAND HILLS, CA 91367; (818) 789-1012; markg@adopthelp.com; amberc@adopthelp.com.

SEP 08, 15, 22, 29, 2022

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22557390

In the matter of the application of ZAID SULIMAN SAMMOUR TASHMAN, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appears from said application that petitioner ZAID SULIMAN SAMMOUR TASHMAN is requesting that the name ZAID SULIMAN SAMMOUR TASHMAN be changed to ZAID TASHMAN. 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 27th of OCTOBER 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

SEP 08, 15, 22, 29, 2022

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-557394

In the matter of the application of NICOLE MARLO ROSS-ZEHNDER, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appears from said application that petitioner NICOLE MARLO ROSS-ZEHNDER is requesting that the name NICOLE MARLO ROSS-ZEHNDER be changed to NICOLE MARLO RABHAN. 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 18th of OCTOBER 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

SEP 08, 15, 22, 29, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398121

The following person(s) is/are doing business as OMEGA ELECTRIC GROUP, 1367 THOMAS AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed RONY JESUS PEREZ VELASQUEZ. 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 08/31/22.

SEP 08, 15, 22, 29, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398020

The following person(s) is/are doing business as JOSE’S HAULING & HOME IMPROVEMENT SERVICES, 126 PRENTISS ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JOSE M. DEL CID. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/21/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/19/22.

SEP 08, 15, 22, 29, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398132

The following person(s) is/are doing business as HEALTHY HABESHA PRODUCTS, 696 GUERRERO ST #2, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed YONAS ANDEMARIAM. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/24/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/02/22.

SEP 08, 15, 22, 29, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398125

The following person(s) is/are doing business as OPTIMAL HEALTH SAN FRANCISCO, 22 BATTERY ST #918, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94111. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CHADY F. WONSON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/29/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/01/22.

SEP 08, 15, 22, 29, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398095

The following person(s) is/are doing business as HEBI NO AATO, 2338 18TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed RACHEL MUQATTASH. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/12/22.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/29/22.

SEP 08, 15, 22, 29, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398136

The following person(s) is/are doing business as GOLDEN GATE DONUTS, 6 6TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed VANNARA OUNG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/02/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/02/22.

SEP 08, 15, 22, 29, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0397959

The following person(s) is/are doing business as BUZZ LANDSCAPE, 601 VAN NESS AVE #702, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DAVID BUZZELL. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/15/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/15/22.

SEP 08, 15, 22, 29, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0397941

The following person(s) is/are doing business as GAO VIET KITCHEN & BAR, 1900-1906 IRVING ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed HOME COOKING SM888 INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/10/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/11/22.

SEP 08, 15, 22, 29, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0397976

The following person(s) is/are doing business as BATTERIES USA, INC., 1 INDUSTRIAL ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed WINCHESTER PACIFIC BATTERIES USA, INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/19/92. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/16/22.

SEP 08, 15, 22, 29, 2022

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-557397 In the matter of the application of MUN NOR MENNOR CHAN, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appears from said application that petitioner MUN NOR MENNOR CHAN is requesting that the name MUN NOR MENNOR CHAN be changed to MENNOR CHAN. 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 20th of OCTOBER 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

SEP 15, 22, 29, OCT 06, 2022

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-557403

In the matter of the application of DAN & LESLIE ARROYO, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appears from said application that petitioner AVA SUSAN ARROYO is requesting that the name AVA SUSAN ARROYO be changed to AVA SUSAN LEILA ARROYO. 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 25th of OCTOBER 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

SEP 15, 22, 29, OCT 06, 2022

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-557412

In the matter of the application of KATHARINE MARIE MCGINTY, 2251 FRANCISCO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appears from said application that petitioner KATHARINE MARIE MCGINTY is requesting that the name KATHARINE MARIE MCGINTY be changed to KATHARINE HOLLISTER MCGINTY. 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 25th of OCTOBER 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

SEP 15, 22, 29, OCT 06, 2022

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-557391

In the matter of the application of LARRY WARE JR, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appears from said application that petitioner LARRY WARE JR is requesting that the name LARRY WARE JR be changed to TRUTH CHRISTOPHER WARE. 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 13th of OCTOBER 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

SEP 15, 22, 29, OCT 06, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398148

The following person(s) is/are doing business as NEW HAIR; NEW HAIR FOR MEN; NEW HAIR FOR MEN AND WOMEN; HAIR FOR MEN; HAIR FOR MEN AND WOMEN, 564 MARKET ST #160, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94104. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed PATRICK THOMAS MCKAY. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/17/2022. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/06/22.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398182

The following person(s) is/are doing business as FLORE DISPENSARY; FLORE DISPENSARY SAN FRANCISCO; FLORE DISPENSARY CASTRO, 258 NOE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed THE FLORE STORE (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/08/22.

SEP 15, 22, 29, OCT 06, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398145

The following person(s) is/are doing business as CITY CENTER ASSOCIATES, 1375 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an unincorporated association other than a partnership, and is signed WALDMAN MANAGEMENT GROUP INC (CA) GENERAL PARTNER OF WALDMAN FAMILY TRUST LP. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/23/96. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/06/22.

SEP 15, 22, 29, OCT 06, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398146

The following person(s) is/are doing business as GEARY GARAGE ASSOCIATES, 855 GEARY ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an unincorporated association other than a partnership, and is signed WALDMAN MANAGEMENT GROUP INC (CA) GENERAL PARTNER OF WALDMAN FAMILY TRUST LP. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/25/98. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/06/22.

SEP 15, 22, 29, OCT 06, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398147

The following person(s) is/are doing business as FULTON STREET ASSOCIATES, 459 FULTON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an unincorporated association other than a partnership, and is signed WALDMAN MANAGEMENT GROUP INC (CA) GENERAL PARTNER OF WALDMAN FAMILY TRUST LP. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/23/96. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/06/22.

SEP 15, 22, 29, OCT 06, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398162

The following person(s) is/are doing business as DOMINGO’S INTERNATIONAL KITCHEN AND FUSION #2, 601 MISSION BAY BLVD N, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94158. This business is conducted by a married couple, and is signed DOMINGO CARRILLO-SILVIA JIMENEZ & SILVIA JIMENEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/07/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/07/22.

SEP 15, 22, 29, OCT 06, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398144

The following person(s) is/are doing business as DAY STREET INVESTORS, 52 DAY ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed DRW ADAGIO APARTMENTS, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/05/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/06/22.

SEP 15, 22, 29, OCT 06, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398150

The following person(s) is/are doing business as CUPPA, 2810 DIAMOND ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed HALAUDI LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/03/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/06/22.

SEP 15, 22, 29, OCT 06, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0397996

The following person(s) is/are doing business as CAVANA ROOFTOP BAR, 108 CHANNEL ST, FLOOR 17, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94158. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed TRUE HOSPITALITY GROUP, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/21/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/18/22.

SEP 15, 22, 29, OCT 06, 2022

STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-0373086

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as CUPPA, 2810 DIAMOND ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131.

This business was conducted by a limited liability company and signed by MAFUCAFO LLC (CA). The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 10/14/16.

SEP 15, 22, 29, OCT 06, 2022

SEP 15, 22, 29, OCT 06, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398161

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-557409

The following person(s) is/are doing business as THE COFFEESMITH, 450 GOLDEN GATE AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MADRUEDEE SAMITHAVEJ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/28/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/07/22.

SEP 15, 22, 29, OCT 06, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398199

The following person(s) is/are doing business as REE’S CATERING, 103 HORNE AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed RETA ANDERSON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/12/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/12/22.

SEP 15, 22, 29, OCT 06, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398211

The following person(s) is/are doing business as QLGONG GIFT SHOP, 810 BATTERY ST #A404, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94111. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed QIULING LIU. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/13/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/13/22.

SEP 15, 22, 29, OCT 06, 2022

In the matter of the application of SAMUEL FERNANDO SORIANO, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appears from said application that petitioner SAMUEL FERNANDO SORIANO is requesting that the name SAMUEL FERNANDO SORIANO be changed to KAMUELA PUAILIHAU. 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 25th of OCTOBER 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

SEP 22, 29, OCT 06, 13, 2022

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-557414

In the matter of the application of LAMONT PERRY, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appears from said application that petitioner LAMONT PERRY is requesting that the name LAMONT PERRY AKA CHARLES LAMONT HALE AKA CHARLES LAMONT WARREN be changed to CHARLES LAMONT WARREN. 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 27th of OCTOBER 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

SEP 22, 29, OCT 06, 13, 2022

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-557425

In the matter of the application of PATRICK WILLIAM KIMAK, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appears from said application that petitioner PATRICK WILLIAM KIMAK is requesting that the name PATRICK WILLIAM KIMAK be changed to PATRICK WILLIAM WILLIAMS. 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 27th of OCTOBER 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

SEP 22, 29, OCT 06, 13, 2022

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-557427

In the matter of the application of GEISSELL LOURDES CASTELLANOS RODRIGUEZ, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appears from said application that petitioner GEISSELL LOURDES CASTELLANOS RODRIGUEZ is requesting that the name GEISSELL LOURDES CASTELLANOS RODRIGUEZ AKA GEISSELL L CASTELLANOS be changed to GEISSELL LOURDES CASTELLANOS. 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 NOVEMBER 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

SEP 22, 29, OCT 06, 13, 2022

AMENDED ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-557120

In the matter of the application of SOUMIA CHENBOD, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appears from said application that petitioner SOUMIA CHENBOD is requesting that the name SOPHIA FATIMA CHANBOD LAURENCIO be changed to FATIMA ZAHRA CHANBOD. 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 29th of NOVEMBER 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

SEP 22, 29, OCT 06, 13, 2022

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-557430

In the matter of the application of SEYED EHSAN SEYEDI TABARI, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appears from said application that petitioner SEYED EHSAN SEYEDI TABARI is requesting that the name SEYED EHSAN SEYEDI TABARI be changed to EHSAN TABARI. 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 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

SEP 22, 29, OCT 06, 13, 2022

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-557433

In the matter of the application of ISRAEL RAMON CESPEDES, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appears from said application that petitioner ISRAEL RAMON CESPEDES is requesting that the name ISRAEL RAMON CESPEDES be changed to KANE ISRAEL RAPHAEL ROSANEGRA. 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 NOVEMBER 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

SEP 22, 29, OCT 06, 13, 2022

t

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398235

The following person(s) is/are doing business as COASTAL CREAMERY, 18 10TH ST #2127, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by copartners, and is signed CINDY LU & SETH SWINK. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/14/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/14/22.

SEP 22, 29, OCT 06, 13, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398251

The following person(s) is/are doing business as LAMIA CUISINE BAKING; LAMIA SPOHN, 248 FILLMORE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a married couple, and is signed LAMIA FEHADA & MICHAEL SPOHN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/12/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/15/22.

SEP 22, 29, OCT 06, 13, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398190

The following person(s) is/are doing business as TURTLE PIE CO, 5214F DIAMOND HEIGHTS BLVD #134, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed POPPIES IN GOLD LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/21/21.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/09/22.

SEP 22, 29, OCT 06, 13, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398166

The following person(s) is/are doing business as A52 SIGNS & GRAPHICS, 1111 SHAFTER AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124-3424. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed A52 SIGNS & GRAPHICS, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/19/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/07/22.

SEP 22, 29, OCT 06, 13, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398250

The following person(s) is/are doing business as ORANGE DOT LLC, 945 TARAVAL ST #388, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed ORANGE DOT LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/14/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/15/22.

SEP 22, 29, OCT 06, 13, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398258

The following person(s) is/are doing business as CFGF CONSULTING, 20 QUICKSTEP LN #4, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed CAMISHA FATIMAH GENTRY, CFGF CONSULTING (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/28/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/16/22.

SEP 22, 29, OCT 06, 13, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398203

The following person(s) is/are doing business as WEELIBEAR LLC, 44 VISITACION AVE #102, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94005. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed WEELIBEAR LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/12/22.

SEP 22, 29, OCT 06, 13, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398272

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398204

The following person(s) is/are doing business as LEE’S SANDWICHES, 625 LARKIN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed MCM INVESTMENT INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/23/06. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/19/22.

SEP 22, 29, OCT 06, 13, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398275

The following person(s) is/are doing business as NEW GENERATION REALTY AND INVESTMENT, 736 44TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ERICK BERGMAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/31/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/12/22.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398218

The following person(s) is/are doing business as MATCHDER GROUP, 719 HAMPSHIRE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JOEL ANGELES. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/07/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/13/22.

SEP 22, 29, OCT 06, 13, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398237

The following person(s) is/are doing business as THRIVING OAK PSYCHOTHERAPY, 4326 18TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ERIK DEITERS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/01/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/14/22.

SEP 22, 29, OCT 06, 13, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398259

The following person(s) is/are doing business as ACE COLLEGE PLANNING, 1550 NORIEGA ST #200, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed BRANDON CHEW. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/09/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/16/22.

SEP 22, 29, OCT 06, 13, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398268

The following person(s) is/are doing business as MARIN HOME TEAM, 891 BEACH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MARY THOMSON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/13/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/19/22.

SEP 22, 29, OCT 06, 13, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398202

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SFWASH, 3377 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed FRENCH QUARTER LAUNDRY, INC (CA).

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/01/05. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/12/22.

SEP 22, 29, OCT 06, 13, 2022

SEP 22, 29, OCT 06, 13, 2022

The following person(s) is/are doing business as DIVINE ESSENTIA, 32 PEARL ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed DIVINE ESSENTIA (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/20/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/20/22.

SEP 22, 29, OCT 06, 13, 2022

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‘Bros’ Luke MacFarlane and Billy Eichner on their big gay rom-com

P

romoted as the first romantic comedy from a major studio (Universal) about two gay men and the first studio film in history with an entirely LGBTQ principal cast, “Bros” finally arrives in San Francisco on September 30, after a sneak preview at the Castro Theatre on Sept 11.

Co-writer and star comedian Billy Eichner explained in an interview, along with co-star Luke MacFarlane, with the Bay Area Reporter at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, why it was essential to cast all the roles in that way.

“The movie itself was becoming about allowing queer people to tell our own stories, to control our own stories,” said Eichner. “It felt like we needed to use this as an opportunity to populate the movie with openly LGBTQ actors and actresses [i.e. Jai Rodriguez, Amanda Bearse, Bowen Yang, Harvey Fierstein], trans people, and non-binary people who simply have not had these opportunities before based solely on who they were in their personal lives, which makes no sense.”

Bobby, baby

The main character, Bobby Leiber, played by Eichner, will go on a rant, “Why can’t gay actors ever play straight, but straight actors can play

Kraven Comics creator Fernando Velez

Kraven Comics

Fernando Velez’ LGBTQ Superheroes

gay and they win Oscars?” While it is doubtful Eichner or any other cast member will be winning any Oscars for “Bros,” the film does correct the imbalance as to who gets opportunities to act in a queer movie.

Clearly a labor of love that exudes snarky charm, by conforming to Hollywood conventions of a rom-com, “Bros” mainstreams queerness so audiences will see little distinctiveness or what might make a gay rom-com unique.

40-year-old Bobby hosts a popular podcast on queer history called ‘11th Brick’ (because, as a white cis man, that’s the one he probably threw at Stonewall), but is also the militant director of the first national LGBTQ history museum

by David-Elijah Nahmod

T

he pages of Kraven Comics appear on the surface to be like any other superhero comic book. But look closer. Kraven, the brainchild of artist and publisher Fernando Velez, is a comic book by and for LGBTQ people, and no wonder. Velez, 34, is a gay man who wants to see comic book heroes that look like him and other members of the community.

Velez is the writer, creator and founder of Kraven Comics.

Kraven Comics has its roots from back in the days when Velez was publishing Kraven Magazine. One of his writers wrote an article on the misrepresentation of LGBTQ people in the comic book industry, and this had an impact on him.

“As a kid, there wasn’t any hero that I could relate to that could motivate me,” Velez said in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter. “And to think that twenty-something years later we continue to be invisible, and that wasn’t acceptable. As I walked around the Castro thinking more about this, I found myself around a diverse and inclusive community of unheard heroes who need to be represented and celebrated.

And that’s how ‘Class6’ came to life, starting with six LGBTQ heroes representing some parts of our community and subcommunities.”

SP EC IA

L IS SU E

- C A LI FO

(i.e. promoting, controversially, a gay Abraham Lincoln exhibit) consisting of a feuding Board; a butch lesbian, an angry bisexual (“Why do lesbians get a month for their history and we only get a week!”), a Black trans person, and a nondescript nonbinary. Bobby also writes books and gives speeches, and even auditions unsuccessfully for “Queer Eye.” In a nightclub he meets gym bunny and sportsloving Aaron (a shirtless ripped Macfarlane), an emotionally unavailable estate lawyer who injects testosterone. Professionally, he’d rather be a chocolateer.

See page 14 >> “Class6” is one of the titles being published

by Kraven Comics, created by Velez and nine contributing artists and writers. As the story begins, a woman named Neveah is enjoying a glass of wine with her girlfriend at a cafe in Paris.

Neveah tells her girlfriend about her childhood, when she was a boy named Andy. As Andy, she was thrown out onto the streets by her father where she eked out a living through panhandling.

One night, after a brutal gay bashing, she attempts to commit suicide, but is rescued by a Dr. Jovanovic, who is mourning the loss of the transgender child whom he did not accept. After his child takes his own life, Jovanovic’s wife kills herself out of grief. The guilt-ridden doctor now tries to make amends by being an ally to the trans community.

He offers to perform Queen Izaar, inspired sex-reassignment

by Sister Roma surgery on Neveah, but before the operation is completed, Jovanovic is thwarted by the evil Dr. Tihon, who hates gay and trans people. Tihon tries to reverse Neveah’s surgery, but only manages to upset her genetic make-up, which gives her the power to switch from female to male and vice versa. She can transform herself into anyone and can shape-shift. She can also realign cellular structure in others and is able to speed up their aging process.

See page 14 >>

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“I’ve lost so much sleep ter thinking wher worr ying abou leave. I love e I might go. I don’t t it and this want to Yet Mooney city.” might have to leave if the efforts See page 12 >>

Report fl ags housi Castro, nei n ghboring g issues in commun ities

Rick Gerhar

<< Film & Comics

14 • Bay Area Repor ter • September 22-28, 2022

communities. We need more queer powers behind the scenes that will help the industry evolve more, though it has come a long way.”

Equity and opportunity

Billy Eichner and Luke MacFarlane in ‘Bros’

<<

‘Bros’

From page 13

Aaron is en route to participate in a threesome with a male couple for the evening. In a classic oppositesattract scenario, the film explores, Eichner explained, in a “funny but realistic manner, how two men priding themselves on not needing a relationship, who are strong and selfreliant, fall for each other and stumble into love.”

The film satirizes aspects of gay subculture, such as gym workout obsessions and hookups.

In one hilarious episode, Bobby cuts himself while shaving his rear end for an ass pic.

The clever repartee is witty and savage, delivered mostly by an opinionated, anxiety-ridden, fasttalking, abrasive Eichner, which at times overshadows the romance. Whether audiences will embrace such a gay Woody Allen-like angry, judgmental character (“Not all gay people are nice”) remains to be seen. Eichner is as intense in real life as he is on screen.

Glad romance

“The whole idea for the movie started with my co-writer and director Nick Stoller, who came to me and said he wanted his next movie to be a romantic comedy, but he thought it

<<

Kraven Comics

From page 13

Heads of the Class

Neveah is just the first queer super hero introduced in “Class6.” The characters represent a wide range of diversity.

“We started with the first six characters representing some part of our community and sub-community

would be cool if it would be about a gay couple, because we hadn’t had many of those,” said Eichner. “Judd Apatow would produce. Nick acknowledged he’s straight, so he asked if I would write it with him. I educated him on gay culture and he educated me on how to structure a screenplay for a major studio. It wound up becoming a five-year process.”

Originally Eichner thought it would be an indie movie or a streaming film, which have always been more welcome avenues for queer stories.

“I kept telling Judd and Nick –those guys have a long history of making mainstream and very successful comedies (“Bridesmaids,” “Knocked Up”) with Universal– that having been an openly gay man in Hollywood for 20 years and told I was too gay, no major studio would do it or make it in an honest, authentic way. But they kept saying, ‘I think they will.’ We went in, pitched it and much to my surprise, they were very enthusiastic.

“It’s being screened in 3000 multiplexes in North America, then throughout the world. For an R-rated gay rom-com, this is a big deal and should’ve happened long ago. To see a movie in a theater is uniquely fun, powerful, and magical, as you get to escape the world in a communal setting, laughing together with hundreds of people.”

Luke’s warm

like the bear, transgender, leather, twink, drag queen, and lesbian,” said Velez.

“They come from different parts of the world; Venezuela, Hong Kong, Uganda, Montenegro, and the U.S. Their ages vary from young to daddy. Each character has a unique backstory that shows some of the traumatic scenarios that many in our community have experienced.”

Although the Puerto Ricoborn Velez now lives in Redmond

Washington, one of the characters is based on a real life San Francisco icon.

“I have found inspiration in real people,” Velez said. “When it came time to design Queen Izaar’s character, our artist based her on a true hero, Sister Roma. When I first moved to San Francisco she was always there, supporting the community and using her voice to advocate and fundraise.”

Like Sister Roma (of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence), Queen Izaar is a drag hero. She is a non-gender immortal who safeguards humanity and its secrets. Her main power is to take and give life.

“I find inspiration in the collective experiences that we shared as a community so that in every character the reader can relate,” said Velez. “For example, in episode three, we show the back story of our lesbian hero, Jaseri, who was raped by her father to clean her from homosexuality, an act known as corrective rape.”

Velez can also find inspiration from real life events. Remember Pastor Scott Lively, the virulently homophobic cleric who was behind the “Kill the gays” bill in Uganda? In “Class6,” Neveah and Jaseri capture the pastor and bring him to justice.

“I also get inspired by science and space aliens, and science fiction, so you mix all of that and make the Kraven Comics Universe unique and inclusive,” Velez said.

The comic book entrepreneur has a simple message for anyone who might not be sure if they want to check out Kraven Comics.

“What I have created is a masterpiece,” said Velez. “The way I connected all the characters, presented religion from different aspects in an unexpected way, and explained the

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For MacFarlane, who has played both gay and straight roles, such as the gay Scotty on “Brothers & Sisters,” Rec Agent D’avin Jaqobis on the Space TV science fiction series “Killjoys,” and the romantic lead on Hallmark Channel Christmas movies, Aaron has enabled him to “tell the authentic version that is closest to himself,” he said. “Aaron is definitely not me, but he’s a lot closer than other characters I’ve played.”

MacFarlane doesn’t mind being a heartthrob to millions of straight women.

“I’m an actor,” he said. “I work for a living and I take the jobs when they come. I like transforming, and Hallmark has been very good to me.

Through these different roles I’ve learned about storytelling. How lucky it was for my career when I came out as a gay man 14 years ago and somebody remembered that and now through ‘Bros’ I get a chance to celebrate having done so.”

When asked if it’s less difficult today to be an openly gay actor in Hollywood, MacFarlane commented, “It’s hard to say.”

However, for Eichner, “It’s definitely not easy, but it’s easier, as the industry feels pressure and almost a cultural mandate to be more welcoming and inclusive, and not just LGBTQ folk, but people from all marginalized

Eichner doesn’t think gay actors should only play gay roles.

“There shouldn’t be any rules applied to art, which is a liberating force,” he said. “But art isn’t made in a vacuum and a lot of money is at stake here, so it’s about equity and opportunity creatively and financially.

Eichner claims his digs at the gay lifestyle weren’t meant to be satirical.

“The cool thing about having an all-LGBTQ cast is that it allowed us to poke fun at ourselves, which is what we do a lot in our community. It didn’t have to be this sanctimonious thing where we were walking on eggshells.

We wanted to capture life and make it complex, messy in relatable ways to reflect the life I lead.”

“Bros” centers on masculinity and the inability of men, especially gay men, to be vulnerable and comfortable in who they are, even if that means eroticizing stereotypical masculinity.

MacFarlane said, “With all men it goes back to genetic forces, the hunter/gatherer being strong and not willing to reveal himself. You can’t fall in love until you put aside those ideas about being the strongest and biggest, and be willing to get hurt.”

Code-switching

For Eichner personally, he didn’t

t

struggle with being gay. “I’m sure other people did. My struggle was with masculine versus feminine or masculine versus flamboyant. I’m gay, but I still want to be a bro, though I don’t feel this way anymore. Still sometimes unknowingly, I drop my voice several octaves as a way of code-switching so as not to alienate straight people.”

Eichner maintains that while there are certainly aspects of straight dating, romances, and love that are similar to gay relationships, there are many things dissimilar.

“Modern, urban gay men in the last fifty years have created their own rules when it comes to monogamy, love, and sex, especially in terms of what is ethical, so ‘Bros’ is a humorous reflection on how complex, exciting, and different that all is.

“What’s so great is reaching an audience of straight people, who will not only laugh a lot as they would at any Judd Apatow movie, but they will also be getting a peek behind the curtain at a culture they think they may know, having seen wacky gay characters on sitcoms. But they’ve never seen dealt with in such a nuanced, specific way as we’ve dealt with it. Everything here is relatable and universal. Hopefully the audiences will realize stories are stories no matter what group they come from.”t www.brosthemovie.com

Read the full interview on www.ebar.com

Luke MacFarlane, ‘Bros’ co-writer and director Nick Stoller, and Billy Eichner

An assortment of ‘Class6’ comic book covers

origins of humanity are incredible while embracing diversity. It took me years to develop the stories I lived in these characters. I will make you feel the emotions of the characters. You will

cry, cheer and feel angry. I assure you that you will relate to the characters and the stories.”t www.kravencomics.com

t

Theater>>

September 22-28, 2022 • Bay Area Repor ter • 15

Consider the narrator Plays that show but tell too much

Kevin Berne-Berkeley Repertory Theatre

(L-R) Aneisa J. Hicks, Brianna Buckley, and Christiana Clark in the world premiere production of Christina Anderson’s ‘the ripple, the wave that carried me home.’

by Jim Gladstone

W

hen I go to the theater, I want a show, not a tell. That’s one of my key takeaways from a busy week of play-going in which the presence of onstage narrators repeatedly sapped energy and urgency from the stories they helped present.

Three productions –“the ripple, the wave that carried me home” at Berkeley Rep, “To Kill A Mockingbird” at the Golden Gate Theater and “Lear” at CalShakes– employ narrator figures for various purposes and with varying degrees of success.

A fourth, the bracing “Man of God” at Shotgun Players, dropped audience members directly into the action and kept them laughing and aghast for the show’s entire 90 minutes.

Still water

“the ripple, the wave…,” a world premiere by Christina Anderson, explores the impact of racism and activism on two generations of an African-

American family.

The narrator is Janice (Christiana Clark), a development director at an Ohio university, who is spurred to retrospection by voicemails urging Janice’s attendance at the dedication of a new public swimming pool in her Kansas hometown.

Janice’s mother (Aneisa J. Hicks) is a lifelong devotee of swimming who attributes an almost spiritual value to time spent in the public pool where she first met her husband (Ronald L. Conner) and ritually spent Saturday mornings with Janice during her daughter’s childhood.

After the town’s swimming facilities are integrated, noxious hostilities flare up and the pool is permanently shut down. This drives Janice’s parents into years of fervent activism during which Janice often feels less valued than their cause, however righteous.

This is fascinating, nuanced subject matter. Unfortunately, it’s conveyed largely through Janice’s monologues which, despite poetic figures of speech

intended to flow like water, clot into dense blocks of verbiage that are difficult to take in aurally.

Clark does her best to animate the language, but director Jackson Gay adds little visual stimulation and for long stretches, watching the play feels like being read to from a novel that needs your eyes on the page to fully appreciate it.

The play’s final scene incorporates music, movement and a sense of emotional connection between characters that bring the play alive in a way that, while very much welcome, emphasizes how static and distanced the narration has made it feel up to then. It slaps you awake like cold water to the face.

–six-year-old Scout Finch– while simultaneously bringing to bear the retrospective wisdom of an adult.

In Aaron Sorkin’s absorbing but differently voiced stage script, Scout’s perspective –as well as those of the play’s co-narrators, her brother Jem and buddy, Dill (who comes off as charmingly gay in Stephen Lee Johnson’s portrayal)– are less important than the courtroom drama which is the narrative engine of the play.

Sorkin, of course, is a whiz at scripting legal and procedural drama. His career was jumpstarted in 1989 by his military court-martial drama “A Few Good Men.” And the trial scenes in this production are powerfully constructed. Scout’s father, Atticus Finch (Richard “John Boy Walton” Thomas) is the defense attorney for Tom Robinson (Yaegel T. Welch), who is accused of raping a white woman, strategically dispensing his arguments like a trail of breadcrumbs for the jury (and the theater audience) to follow to its inevitable conclusion of innocence.

Thomas subtly works with Sorkin’s script to convey complexity in a character who could easily come off as a paragon of virtue. He’s the heart of this show, not Scout (played with

appealing spunk by Melanie Moore).

This makes her neighborhood adventures with Jem (Justin Mark) and Dill feel a bit peripheral to the courtroom action.

And while there’s nothing wrong with subplots, it feels strange to have these children pushed forward as the introductory, interstitial and concluding narrators of a show that isn’t fundamentally about them or shown from their particular point-of-view.

Sorkin’s choice to have the story of his play “told” by the children seems driven more by an urge to align with the novel (and its author’s notoriously litigious estate) than dramatic logic.

Shaken, not stirring

Velina Brown has star power. As “The Black Queen,” narrator of “Lear” –local playwright Marcus Gardley’s adaptation of Shakespeare– she takes the stage and owns it as the show begins, delivering a snappy, charismatic explanation of the show’s concept, in which the original story is translated into non-Elizabethan English and transplanted to San Francisco’s Fillmore District in the social upheaval of the early 1970s. Her prologue See page 19 >>

Adapted children

“To Kill A Mockingbird” is, of course, adapted from a beloved novel.

Among the literary merits of Harper Lee’s book is the way its narration ingeniously conveys a view of the world through the eyes of a child

Julieta Cervantes

Richard Thomas in ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’

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<< TV

16 • Bay Area Repor ter • September 22-28, 2022

Let’s Dance

Shangela, Sam Champion and Selma Blair are among the 16 contestants on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ 31st season.

by Victoria A. Brownworth

T

he new fall season is upon us and with it some –never enough!– queerness to keep us going through this relentless midterm election season.

Dancing With the Stars

Some history-making news is that ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” will feature “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Shangela in season 31 of the series.

Shangela is the first drag performer to compete on the show.

Shangela, a gay man, has been paired with dancer Gleb Savchenko. The duo will compete as a samesex pairing, as JoJo Siwa and Jenna Johnson did in season 30.

Shangela is not the only queer performer this season, either. WABCTV New York weather anchor Sam Champion will also be featured, paired with top dancer Cheryl Burke.

Another first for the season is disabled actress Selma Blair.

Blair, a long-time LGBTQ ally and

AIDS activist, came out about her multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis in 2018. Blair wrote about living with MS in her memoir, “Mean Baby: a Memoir of Growing Up,” which was published in May 2022. Blair was among the Silence Breakers selected as the 2017 Time Person of the Year.

Blair is paired with Sasha Farber.

Also in the “DWTS” cast are singer Jordin Sparks with partner Brandon Armstrong, “Charlie’s Angels” star Cheryl Ladd with partner Louis van Amstel and “Sex and the City” star Jason Lewis with partner Peta Murgatroyd. “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Teresa Giudice pairs with Pasha Pashkov, actor and comedian Wayne Brady with partner Witney Carson, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s son and fitness model Joseph Baena with partner Daniella Karagach, and Jersey Shore star Vinny Guadagnino with partner Koko Iwasaki.

This season should be a blast. With host Tyra Banks, the series premieres Sept. 19.

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‘Los Espookys’

the dynasty’s reign in country music while ensuring her own stardom.

Trace Adkins said of working with the powerhouse actress, “You just have to swim in her wake and hang on.”

Peppa Pig

Camila Mendes and Maya Hawke in ‘Do Revenge’

Los Espookys

Being such a weird and quirky and queer series, we assumed it had been cancelled after one season. But “Los Espookys” is back for a second season after a prolonged pandemic hiatus and really–you want to see it.

The HBO series “follows a group of friends who turn their love for horror into a peculiar business, providing horror to those who need it, in a dreamy Latin American country where the strange and eerie are just part of daily life.” Sounds legit.

The series was created by Julio Torres, Ana Fabrega and the always hilarious “SNL” alum Fred Armisen who is spectacular here. The trio co-star with Bernardo Velasco, Cassandra Ciangherotti and the great Carol Kane. It premieres on HBO on Sept. 16. In Spanish and English, with subtitles.

wearing a sexy black dress with a flattering portrait neckline, said, “And I’m bi… so…” You go, girl.

Sarandon previously told Pride Source in 2017 that her sexuality was “open” and “up for grabs.” On a 2021 episode of the “Divorced Not Dead” podcast she said, “I don’t care if it’s a man or a woman. I mean, I’m open to all age, all color. And those for me, those things are just details.”

Sarandon currently stars in “Monarch” on Fox, a multigenerational musical drama about the Roman family. The family is headed by Dottie Roman (Sarandon) and Albie Roman (Trace Adkins) who have created a country music dynasty together.

However, the origins of the dynasty are not what they seem to be. Roman’s daughter Nicky Roman (Anna Friel) steps in and does all she can to protect

The beloved “Peppa Pig” is at it again. In an episode titled “Families,” which aired last week, CNN reports lesbians have come to Peppa’s world.

Peppa and her friends Suzy Sheep, Danny Dog and Penny Polar Bear sit drawing pictures of their families.

Penny draws two female polar bears and says, “I’m Penny Polar Bear. I live with my mummy and my other mummy. One mummy is a doctor and one mummy cooks spaghetti. I love spaghetti.”

There had long been requests for the popular children’s series to add a same-sex couple. A petition signed by over 23,000 people making the request of the show notes, “Children watching Peppa Pig are at an impressionable age, and excluding same-sex families will teach them that only families with either a single parent or two parents of different sexes are normal.”

The petition says, “This means that children of same-sex parents may feel alienated by Peppa Pig, and that other children may be more likely to bully them, simply through ignorance.” The series airs on Hulu.

So for the newest series, old faves and the latest lunacy, you know you really must stay tuned.t

Do Revenge

In “Do Revenge,” Camila Mendes (“Riverdale”) as Drea and Maya Hawke (“Stranger Things”) as Eleanor are the conniving bitch-fest takedown team we all need this season, and every season. Think “Clueless” meets “Heathers” meets “Pretty Little Liars” meets “Strangers on a Train.” When Drea and Eleanor plot to get back at the people who’ve hurt and humiliated them, their plot is ‘chef ’s kiss’ yet anything but sweet. This is the high school story we’ve longed for.

“Do Revenge” is hilarious and smart, Mendes and Hawke are pitch perfect at every step of their malicious, revenge-fueled journey. The dialogue is superb, the acting stellar and oh–“Do Revenge” is queer AF, and premieres on Netflix on Sept. 16.

Elizabeth Moss in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’

The Handmaid’s Tale

Now that we are living it 24/7, the multiple Emmy-winning dystopian drama about female servitude and forced birthing, “The Handmaid’s Tale,” is back for a fifth season. The series has also just been renewed for a sixth and final season, and premieres on Hulu Sept. 14 with two episodes.

New episodes stream Wednesdays.

Suddenly, Susan’s…

ebar.com/subscribe

t

It’s never too late to come out. On the Sept. 7 episode of “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” Oscar-winner Susan Sarandon, who turns 76 in October, officially came out as bisexual. In conversation with Fallon, Sarandon,

Peppa Pig

Susan Sarandon on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”

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<< Film & Music

18 • Bay Area Repor ter • September 22-28, 2022

‘Potato Dreams of America’

t

Wes Hurley’s inventive and captivating gay tale

by Gregg Shapiro

G

Tyler Bocock (right) in ‘Potato Dreams of America’

boyfriend (whose best quality is that he has a color TV), we can see the special mother/son bond that is at the center of the story.

With the Berlin Wall down, and communism supposedly replaced by Russian Orthodox Christianity, Potato develops a personal relationship with Jesus (out actor Jonathan Bennett). Back at school, Potato is appalled by the anti-Semitism and homophobia of his classmates, especially since he realizes he is gay (which leads to him being bullied). As Lena’s boss tells her, Russia may have a new flag, but the people are the same.

Semler sings out

by Laura Moreno

T

he Contemporary Christian Music phenomenon known simply as Semler has earned the distinction of hitting #1 on the Gospel charts twice in one year, pushing aside one of the most successful Christian artists ever, Lauren Daigle. First, Semler hit #1 with the EP “Preacher’s Kid,” and again a few months later she hit #1 the EP “Late Bloomer.” It is a real achievement for any artist, but it’s even more noteworthy that Semler is the first openly queer Christian music artist.

Grace “Semler” Baldridge, a reallife preacher’s kid, is a very talented gender-neutral singer/songwriter/ musician who embraces all pronouns.

A truth-teller with Jackie Kennedy Onassis eyes, Semler’s star was already rising before the pandemic when she began hosting the docuseries “State of Grace,” which, like her music, seeks to

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During the coronavirus quarantine, Semler finally allowed herself to be 100% vulnerable, 100% honest in her music. Significantly, Semler doesn’t claim to have all the answers. And audiences appreciate the honesty. The bare, stripped-down mostly acoustic country/punk/folk music gives voice to the questions of a generation.

Unprecedented for Christian music, many songs including “Thank

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Wanting a better future for herself and Potato, Lena applies to be a mailorder bride. Before you know, she and Potato are relocating to Seattle where she marries conservative Russian Orthodox convert John (Dan Lauria). Now a high school student, Potato (Tyler Bocock) tries hard to fit in, but teachers and classmates don’t make it easy.

Meanwhile, Lena (Marya Sea Kaminski) does everything in her power to become a loving American wife. Even after she discovers the box containing photos of John’s previous Russian mail-order bride ex-wife

whom he sent back to Russia.

Complicating matters is that Potato is coming into his queerness, a potentially explosive situation while he and Lena live under John’s roof. But he soon discovers he has nothing to worry about when it comes to Lena. who is beyond accepting during the poignant coming-out scene.

Lena, who has a lesbian boss, Cheryl (Sara Porkalob), at the restaurant where she works, is so supportive she makes a point of introducing Potato to her. Cheryl, in turn, introduces him to other queer people.

But the dreaded confrontation with John occurs. Just when it feels like all

hope is lost, and he threatens to send Lena and Potato back to Russia, John experiences an essential moment of clarity, finally admitting to himself the truth about his own gender identity.

What follows is a combination of comedy, transgender embracement, sex, sex, and more sex. Hurley harvests his storytelling skills, resulting in a bumper crop of emotions, with laughter and tears in equal measure.

Blu-ray bonus features include director commentary, featurettes, cast interviews, and much more. Rating: B+t www.darkstarpics.com

Openly queer Christian musician

bridge the Grand Canyon-sized gap between Christians and the LGBTQ community.

Despite the odds, Semler credits TikTok with allowing her to reach #1.

From the very beginning, thousands of people were grateful to find her on TikTok, in contrast with the response of one Christian music executive who told her flat out that there was no space for queer storytelling in Christian music.

Powerful music and lyrics

Living in America

Hersh Powers and Marya Sea Kaminski in ‘Potato Dreams of America’

God for That” contain F-bombs punctuating the message: “I’m f**kin’ gay and thank God for that (thank God for you). Christians cast me out but Jesus had my back.”

To be sure, beautiful chord progressions and musical phrases that might be described as having roots in traditional church music perfectly frame memorable lyrics. The music is reminiscent of songs by Suzanne Vega, as with “Jesus from Texas,” written on election night: “Oh what a terrible honor it’s been to learn that my blessings are things you call sins, I’ll spend the rest of my life tearing down the Jesus from Texas you put in a crown, But I won’t give up on you.”

The song “A Good Man,” is equally powerful. “I believe in forgiveness, but I don’t think people can change. You tell me. You tell me. Oooh, what have you become? You were your mother’s son.”

The popular song “Bethlehem” expresses a lot of “church hurt” when it asks, “Is it prophecy or brainwashing? ...Oh, what I’d give for just an inch of your peace. Cause I’ve got bruises on my knees.”

It’s worthwhile viewing often tearful reactions to Semler’s music online, such as Sam Kay’s. She loves Semler for expressing exactly what many young people are feeling today. For Christians to not embrace diversity, she says, is “proof that Christians don’t believe what they preach, that God doesn’t make mistakes.” Filled

via Instagram

Semler

with emotion, she continues, “At times [Semler’s music] is a love letter and a reminder of solidarity to other LGBTQ members who have felt harmed and excluded by the church.”

Sam Kay, an ex-Christian video blogger, is also grateful that Semler’s music gives young people “the strength and power to be able to say ‘that’s not right.’ And that’s something I know kids in the church need to hear.

Exclusion is always wrong.”

Like many people, Sam Kay actually left her church when the preacher told the whole congregation to vote for anti-LGBTQ legislation, Amendment 1 in North Carolina (which passed, but was overturned). Indeed, engaging in politics from the pulpit, although ap-

parently common in certain parts of the country, is banned if a religious institution wants to keep its tax-exempt status with the IRS. Listening to Christian music is how growing numbers of Christians who are x-church goers continue to worship.

Semler could not have had this level of success unless Christians were ready for it. In truth, LGBTQ acceptance is increasing across the board.

A great number of Christians have gay family members and secretly hold more liberal viewpoints than the unrealistically conservative party line many churches preach.

Implicit in the music of Semler is the fact that Jesus’ love is radical.

There’s nothing conservative about it.

He preached to prostitutes and outcasts, and in doing so threatened the order of the day. Love is love, and we each instinctually know this.

Semler summed it up this way: “I think the notion of being kind to yourself and that you are worthy of love, care and tenderness that perhaps you didn’t receive in your childhood is a more universal sentiment.”

Simply put, the music is healing and transformative, the perfect music to listen to when you need a good cry.

“Will we break bread or continue to throw stones?” Semler asks in “State of Grace.”

In time, the answer is inevitable.t www.semlermusic.com www.tiktok.com/@semlerrrr

“

It's been bittersweet to see our stories be attacked in this way, but it is also amplifying many of our stories and I'm able to get the book out to the teen readers who really need it the most. If there's anything I'm thankful for, it's that it's actually getting to the hands of the people who need to read it to heal from it.”

— George M. Johnson Author of the Black queer memoir, 'All Boys Aren't Blue,' on his book being banned in 29 school districts this year.

Banned Books Week is Sept. 18-24.

Sean Howard

ay filmmaker Wes Hurley’s inventive and captivating “Potato Dreams of America” (Darkstar), now available on Bluray, is the kind of movie another Wes (Anderson) would make if he was gay. In the event that you missed this touching autobiographical feature when it played various film festivals (where it won a handful of awards), you now have a chance to see it.

“Based on true events,” the movie opens with a Quentin Crisp quote (always a good sign) before placing the viewer in Vladivostok, USSR, in 1985. There a young Potato, aka Vassily, sits on a couch with his grandmother Tamara (out actor Lea DeLaria, giving the best and most restrained performance of her career) watching his parents fighting.

Through his vivid imagination, he transforms the fight into a dance on a stage.

At school, while posing for a class portrait with fellow students, Potato (Hersh Powers) refuses to wear the required red scarf of the uniform and proceeds to speak ill of the USSR to his teacher. At home, where his now-divorced prison doctor mother Lena (Seri Barbieri) lives with her

t

Books>>

September 22-28, 2022 • Bay Area Repor ter • 19

Fall fiction faves, part 3

by Jim Piechota

H

ere comes the third installment of our Fall book roundup featuring dynamic fiction from Meg Howrey, Courtney Summers, and RM Vaughan (posthumously). There’s a lot to choose from. Keep those pages turning!

I’m The Girl

by Courtney Summers, $18.99 (Wednesday Books) Lesbian author Summers delivers this captivating young-adult contemporary thriller chronicling the life of naïve teenager Georgia Avis who aspires to someday meet the criteria to become employed at the exclusive members-only resort, Aspera. A hit-and-run accident and the violated corpse of another teenager soon become part of her messy reality.

Despite being welcomed at Aspera and befriending (and falling for) the older sister of the dead girl, the truth about the sinister resort commingles with how wealth and privilege can blur the differences between right and wrong. This novel is ideal for a teen readership as well as for queer adults who enjoy a good suspenseful story infused with menace, brutality, power plays, and a hopeful conclusion. www.us.macmillan.com They’re Going to Love You

by Meg Howrey, $28 (Doubleday) This fantastic story of family melodrama centers on former ballet dancer Robert, his partner and ballet instructor James, and his estranged

daughter, Carlisle. Since Robert’s health is failing, Carlisle swallows her animosity and attempts a reconciliation despite acknowledging a grave mistake made in her 20s which caused the devastating riff between them all.

The reunion becomes a tense, murky stew of resentment, mistrust, misdirected anger, and sadness. The result is a messy, often explosive battle over inheritance and forgiveness, but one that will keep readers glued to the page. Howrey channels her history as a former ballet dancer to infuse authentic grace into a fraught family drama. www.penguinrandomhouse.com At Certain Points We Touch

by Lauren John Joseph, $26 (Bloomsbury)

Kevin Berne-California Shakespeare Theater

James A. Williams in California Shakespeare Theater’s ‘Lear.’

<<

Narrator

From page 15

nods to Black Panthers, destruction of residential neighborhoods through eminent domain.

Alas, her introduction doesn’t map particularly well onto what follows.

While Gardley’s brilliant Homer adaptation, “black odyssey,” is one of CalShakes’ most memorably thrilling productions in recent years, the analogs between the classic and the new spin feel far less clear in “Lear.” Intended parallels instead feel perpendicular.

And while much of the dialogue isn’t Shakespeare’s, it didn’t strike me as particularly more direct or comprehensible to contemporary audiences, especially if they’re not already quite familiar with “King Lear.”

That said, it’s hard to have less than a pleasant time in the beautiful outdoor environment of CalShakes’ magnificent Bruns Amphitheater.

And Brown’s performance exemplifies those of the entire cast, which includes some of the Bay Area’s best actors, including Sam Jackson and Jomar Tagatac. James A. Williams as the title character is also powerfully charismatic and, ultimately, quite touching.

Still, there’s a disappointing disconnect between the show’s conceptual promise and what actually plays out on stage; a case of vaulting ambition, perhaps.

Intense immediacy

There’s no narrator separating the audience from the action in “Man of God,” playwright Anna Ouyang Moench’s dark 90-minute real-time comedy. As the lights go up with a foreboding flicker, the audience at Shotgun Players’ intimate Ashby Playhouse finds itself almost uncomfortably close to the generic Bangkok hotel room where four teenage American girls are staying.

They’re here with their beloved Pastor (who has a private room) to do some missionary work, the nature of

Stylish and dramatic, Joseph’s (formerly performance artist La JohnJoseph) queer love story follows the doomed relationship between a transgender writer in Mexico City and a handsome British influencer.

Now deceased, Thomas James was the toxic obsession of narrator JJ, and the novel heatedly recounts their affair a decade prior through passionate letters, anecdotes, and messages. Spanning the spaces of queer London, San Francisco, and Manhattan, the story fluidly moves with the urgency of a first love and the heartbreak of disappointment and unfulfilled yearning. Though the writing is sometimes a bit overwrought and indulgent, JJ and Thomas deliver an engrossing, decadent tale of fiery sexual

chemistry and magnetic attraction. www.bloomsbury.com

which, they soon realize, is troublingly unclear. What’s become suddenly all too clear is that Pastor has hidden a spycam in the young women’s bathroom positioned to film them getting in and out of the shower.

That the cam has been discovered by eating-disordered Kyung-Hwa (Sharon Shao) while kneeling at the toilet points to Moench’s willingness to “go there” (and just about anywhere) in this sharp, unvarnished portrait of relatively sheltered adolescent girls facing a rude awakening.

While Kyung-Hwa initially tries her hardest to deny their chaperone’s culpability, as does blissfully ignorant Samantha (Alexandra Lee, a huge comic talent), they’re met with skepticism by tattooed tough-girl Mimi (Lauren Andrei Garcia, who also choreographed the show’s highly physical catfights) and nerdy realist Jen (played with charm and ease by understudy Carissa Ratanaphanyrat at the reviewed performance).

As they all become convinced of Pastor’s guilt, we hear not only these young women’s expressions of disgust and outrage, but also their sadly believable rationalizations and excuses for their male guardian’s abhorrent behavior. We also, to great leavening effect, see each of the four’s revenge fantasies enacted onstage, most entertainingly a tidy elimination of their nemesis in a kung fu sword fight and

much gorier horror comedy sequence that will simultaneously tickle your ribs and turn your stomach.

In the show’s final twenty minutes, time slows to a crawl as Pastor inveigles his way into the girls’ room, clearly understanding that they’ve discovered his violation. He shifts uneasily but smiles like a Cheshire Cat while he demands that they pack their bags and prepare to return home early. The girls fearfully obey, too intimidated to articulate what everyone in the room already knows.

There’s no narrator here to tie up loose ends; the audience is left to carry the baggage.t

Pervatory

by RM Vaughan, $21.95 (Coach House Books) Serving as the formal public memorial honoring respected Canadian author RM Vaughan’s life as an eclectic poet, visual artist, critic, and queer activist (1965-2020), this seductive, juicy novel is all about sex and desire in Berlin, Germany.

The story is told through the journal entries of Martin Heather, an art critic, who, after finding the creative scene in Toronto dull, becomes a slut in Berlin.

It is there where he meets Alexandar, a man even more sexually seasoned than he, and from whom lessons on pain, depravity, and same-sex

devotion are taught and learned.

But is Martin mentally fit to tell his own story? Interjections from the present-day madness he is living in seems to question everything that has gone before.

Fans of provocative visionaries like John Rechy and Dennis Cooper will discover Vaughan’s final literary curtain call to push the boundaries of kink, eroticism, and sanity. Though quite a departure from his dark and vulnerable 2015 memoir “Bright Eyed” which chronicled his lifelong battle with insomnia, Vaughan has gifted readers with one last thrust of brilliance and titillation.

Royalties from the sale of this novel will support a scholarship for queer students. www.chbooks.comt ‘the ripple, the wave that carried me home,’ through Oct. 16. $23.50$100. Berkeley Repertory Theatre, 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org ‘To Kill A Mockingbird,’ through Oct. 9. $56-$256. Golden Gate Theatre, 1 Taylor St. (888) 7461799. www.broadwaysf.com ‘Lear,’ through Oct. 2. $35-$70.

California Shakespeare Theater, 100 California Shakespeare Theater Way, Orinda. (510) 5489666. calshakes.org ‘Man of God,’ through Oct. 2. $0-$36. 1901 Ashby Ave., Berkeley.

(510) 841-6500. shotgunplayers.org

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The main cast of ‘Man of God’

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