September 9, 2021 edition of the Bay Area Reporter

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A passion for film

LGBTQ clubs to reopen

ARTS

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Rufus Wainwright

Since 1971

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

Vol. 51 • No. 36 • September 9-15, 2021

Harris brings star power to beat back Newsom recall

by John Ferrannini

Jane Philomen Cleland

People participated in the second Oakland Trans March September 4.

Options abound for Oakland Pride

by John Ferrannini

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urns out there’ll be Pride celebrations in Oakland this year, after all.

In the wake of the Oakland Pride organization’s August 31 announcement that there will be no in-person parade or festival this weekend amid internal leadership and financial crises, there will be two outdoor festivals, a circuit party, and family fun at Children’s Fairyland put on by other groups.

Oakland Black Pride and the Port Bar will be presenting Pridefest Oakland 2021, featuring vendors, food trucks, and entertainment.

Pridefest will close two blocks of Broadway from Thomas Berkeley Way to 22nd Street Sunday, September 12, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., according to Olaywa K. Austin, the founder and See page 10 >>

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njecting some much-needed political star power into the race to save Governor Gavin Newsom’s political career, Vice President Kamala Harris flew to the Bay Area Wednesday to rally supporters ahead of the September 14 recall election.

Arriving outside the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers-National Electrical Contractors Association Joint Apprenticeship Training Center in San Leandro midday September 8, Harris began her remarks by speaking about Newsom’s courage in supporting same-sex marriage in San Francisco in 2004, back when he was the mayor and she was district attorney.

“That Valentine’s weekend in 2004,” Harris wistfully recalled. “Gavin didn’t hear ‘it can’t be done.’ He had the courage – as he’s had his entire career – to believe in and see what is possible.

To see what can be unblinded by what has been.

That’s the kind of leadership this daughter of Californians wants.”

Newsom, saying that “this is a consequential election,” said that if he loses both COVID-19 safety measures and women’s reproductive freedom are in danger, bringing up Texas’ anti-mask and extreme anti-abortion policies as a warning.

“If we’re not successful at rejecting this recall, Larry Elder will be sworn in as your next Governor,” Newsom said, eliciting boos.

Courtesy CSPAN

Governor Gavin Newsom welcomed Vice President Kamala Harris to San Leandro Wednesday where she campaigned in opposition to the September 14 recall election.

Quoting former President Barack Obama, Newsom reminded the crowd “Don’t boo. Vote!”

Assemblywoman Mia Bonta (D-Oakland) – who was just sworn in Tuesday to represent Alameda, San Leandro, and a portion of Oakland in the Assembly – said that it is Newsom’s progressive record that created such enmity against him in the GOP.

“Republicans have launched this recall attack against him,” Mia Bonta said. “The Trump Republicans who seek to replace Governor Newsom, like Larry Elder, pose a great threat to Californians. We can’t go backwards here.

There’s too much on the line. Vote No September 14.”

See page 11 >>

Purported new SF gay bathhouse blocked by zoning issues

by John Ferrannini

Courtesy Keith Bradkowski

Flight attendant Jeffrey Collman is seated in his favorite plane the 767, which incidentally was the type that he died in, his surviving partner said.

Man plans quiet memorial for partner on 9/11

by Ed Walsh

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eith Bradkowski recalled that his partner, Jeff Collman, was such a sound sleeper that he didn’t wake up even during the 1994 Northridge earthquake despite living near the epicenter in Southern California. So it was very unusual that Collman woke up just after 2 a.m. in Boston and decided to call Bradkowski at the couple’s home in Novato.

“He just told me how much he loved me and that he couldn’t wait to come home at the end of the week,” Bradkowski recounted in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter this week.

See page 10 >>

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ine months after San Francisco officials cleared the way for gay bathhouses to resume operations in the city, proprietors reportedly want to open such a business near the leather-themed Eagle Plaza parklet in the South of Market neighborhood. But their doing so requires city leaders changing the zoning in the area.

Gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman disclosed the issues the bathhouse proprietor is facing during the Castro Merchants Association meeting September 2. He announced his intention of increasing the number of places in San Francisco where bathhouses, as well as bars, would be permitted.

As the Bay Area Reporter previously reported, Mandelman spearheaded the legislative drive to once again legalize traditional gay bathhouses in San Francisco, which went into effect earlier this year. A prohibition against such businesses having locked rooms, enacted in the 1980s during the height of the AIDS epidemic, was rescinded.

“We took care of the prohibition as a matter of the health code,” Mandelman said.

“What we didn’t do was figure out the zoning code implications.”

That’s necessary now because would-be proprietors are interested in opening up bathhouses in the city, Mandelman announced.

Rick Gerharter

According to Supervisor Rafael Mandelman’s office, someone has expressed interest in opening a bathhouse near the gay-owned Eagle bar and parklet in the South of Market neighborhood.

“In January we heard a business wanted to open near The Eagle,” said Mandelman, referring to the gay-owned bar at the intersection of 12th and Harrison streets that fronts the new public parklet built on a block of 12th Street. “What we’re seeking for feedback is how folks would feel about that.”

In a subsequent request for more information Mandelman aide Jacob Bintliff, a gay man who is a former city planning staffer, wouldn’t tell the B.A.R. who the potential owners are out of deference to them.

See page 8 >>

<< Election 2021

2 • Bay Area Reporter • September 9-15, 2021

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Newsom courts LGBTQ voters in recall fight

by Cynthia Laird

A

n animated and impassioned Governor Gavin Newsom took to Zoom September 3 in a call with LGBTQ leaders to make his case against the recall and warned that if it passes, a Republican replacement would “turn back the clock” on a host of issues.

In pointed remarks about Larry Elder, the Republican talk radio host who is leading the field of 40-plus candidates vying to replace Newsom, the governor said that Elder would take the state back decades.

“I don’t want to go back to the 1990s. Larry Elder remembers it,” Newsom said, referring to laws such as three strikes and those that targeted immigrants. “In 1994-95 the number one debate by the UC Regents ... was about eliminating affirmative action.”

Newsom said that the current recall election is the sixth effort against him since he took office in January 2019.

Those earlier attempts did not qualify for the ballot, but this latest one did and Golden State residents have until September 14 to mail in their ballots, drop them off, or vote at designated centers in their counties.

The recall ballot asks two questions: whether Newsom should be removed from office and then a vote for one of the candidates to replace him. The California Democratic Party, Newsom, and many others have urged people to vote no on the first question and to leave the second one blank. Newsom, who’s in his third year of his first four-year term, is barred from running as a recall candidate.

“We have a governor who’s our champion,” said gay San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria. “I encourage every Californian, LGBTQ or not, to vote no on the recall and mail it back.”

Screengrab

Governor Gavin Newsom spoke to LGBTQ leaders on a Zoom call September 3.

LGBTQ rights

Newsom has broad support in the LGBTQ community. It dates back to his time as San Francisco mayor when, in 2004, he ordered city officials to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in violation of the law at the time. Several of the speakers praised Newsom’s leadership, saying that he stood with the community years before same-sex marriage became a popular issue for Democrats.

Newsom briefly reflected on what became known as the “Winter of Love,” saying “2004 was special; 4,036 couples from 46 states and six countries came to San Francisco. And all they did ... was say two powerful words, ‘I do,’ They expressed their love and faith and devotion to each other.”

The late lesbian pioneers Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin were the first couple to be married by Newsom that day. He said that he and city officials didn’t expect the weddings to continue.

“None of us knew days would become weeks,” he said of the monthlong march to City Hall by same-sex couples.

Tiffany Woods, a trans woman who is co-chair of the LGBTQ Caucus of the California Democratic Party, summed up the view of many on the call.

“We’ve never forgot that you stood up for marriage equality,” said Woods, who served as moderator of the call.

“He wants to advance LGBTQ rights.”

Congressman Mark Takano (DRiverside), the only out U.S. representative from the Golden State, said Newsom “resisted” during former President Donald Trump’s administration.

“He’s the kind of executive who makes waves – and the governor kind of has that surfer look,” Takano quipped, before turning serious. “He systematically provoked change; 2004 wasn’t a stunt. It really advanced the LGBTQ community to become full and equal citizens of their country.”

Of Trump, Takano said that Newsom “resisted where he needed to.”

Gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) praised Newsom for the many LGBTQ-related bills he has signed, including some that were controversial.

“You’ve stood up and not only when it’s easy,” Wiener said, referencing his Senate Bill 145 that Newsom signed last year. The bill ends discriminatory treatment of LGBTQ young adults faced with registering as sex offenders; Wiener himself faced death threats and was subjected to anti-Semitic harassment from followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory for months due to the policy change.

Newsom said that his work is not done. “There’s so much to do to protect our trans brothers and sisters. I’m committed to that cause,” he said.

Women’s rights

Newsom referenced Texas’ new law that bans most abortions in the state.

On Wednesday night, the U.S. Supreme Court left the law intact on a 5-4 vote, with Chief Justice John Roberts

siding with the three liberal justices.

“Elder celebrates what happened in Texas,” Newsom said, adding that if Elder becomes governor he could sign on to an amicus brief with other states that have proposed similar sweeping anti-abortion laws. “He doesn’t back maternity leave and believes employers have a right to ask women about their reproductive future.”

“This is a profound and consequential race,” Newsom said. “I’ve got four kids – I’ve got two daughters. I love this state.”

Newsom repeatedly criticized Republicans, who he said are behind the recall effort. It predates the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, adding that it was sparked by his strong condemnation of Trump’s immigration policies.

“We stood up – truly united as Democrats – to push back on Trump and Trumpism,” Newsom said. “We filed over 100 lawsuits. We didn’t just resist ... we’re willing to challenge the norms and lean in.”

The governor said that GOP stalwarts like former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee have been promoting the recall on national conservative networks such as Fox News, Newsmax and One America News.

“Mike Huckabee is obnoxious and has been against LGBTQ rights” for years, Newsom added. “He’s doing fundraising for the recall.”

COVID

The rhetoric among recall proponents shifted to the COVID pandemic and Newsom’s actions surrounding it after the lockdown last year. Newsom defended his decisions, such as the recent mask and vaccine mandates for public schools, state workers, and others.

“Today, 1,300 Americans are dead in Florida [due to COVID]. That’s 10fold what California reported today,” Newsom said. “On Day 1, Elder would

eliminate the mask mandate in public schools and the vaccine requirement.

He’s walking us over the same COVID cliff” as Florida and other red states. “California has the lowest case rates and the highest vaccine rates.

We’re making progress. These folks have a chance to turn back the clock.

That cannot happen.”

Brendalynn Goodall, a Black lesbian who is the former president of the East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club, was one of the dozens of LGBTQ leaders on the call. In a followup email, she said that Newsom “has kept the state safe.”

“We can’t afford to have a Republican come in and dramatically go backward policy-wise regarding COVID issues, climate change, aging, immigration, and dealing with the diverse needs of our state,” wrote Goodall, an elected member of the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee.

Newsom pointed out that Elder could appoint conservative judges throughout the state, including its highest court.

“I had the privilege of appointing the first openly gay Supreme Court justice, Martin Jenkins,” Newsom said.

The Elder campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Getting out the vote

Because every registered voter in the state received a mail-in ballot, Newsom talked about “turning in the vote” before September 14.

“Polls don’t vote, people vote,” he said.

Recent polling has found that conservatives have had difficulty in expanding their base of support for ousting Newsom, but several earlier surveys have shown a very close race on the first question of whether to remove Newsom from office.

See page 10 >>

Courtesy B.A.R. Archive

50 years in 50 weeks: 1993 March on Washington

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Serving the Bay Area

he April 29, 1993 cover of the Bay Area Reporter featured that year’s March on Washington for lesbian, gay, and bi rights.

It was the third national march members of the LGBTQ community staged in the nation’s capital (the others took place in 1979 and 1987 and were billed as marches for lesbian and gay rights, according to a 2017 timeline from the Washington Blade).

The B.A.R.’s coverage noted that President Bill Clinton was up in New England that day, and instead of a live electronic link to speak to people on the National Mall – as had been assured by Torie Osborn of the National Gay

and Lesbian Task Force – Clinton had Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) read a letter from him. At the time, Clinton had only been in office two months, and many of the demonstrators called on him to “lift the ban” against gays serving in the military. Of course, Clinton instead came up with the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” compromise that still saw queer service members bounced from the armed services. (DADT was repealed in 2010).

Today, Pelosi is House speaker and one of the most powerful figures in Washington. To see the issue, go to https://archive.org/ details/BAR_19930429.

All for

L VE

for All

Celebrating a community created from hope, strengthened by diversity, and united in pride

kp.org

<< Open Forum

4 • Bay Area Reporter • September 9-15, 2021

Volume 51, Number 36 September 9-15, 2021 www.ebar.com

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HRC board made the right call

I

t’s not easy for a nonprofit board Regardless, David’s alleged actions, to reach the stunning conclusion as outlined in James’ report, put the that it must fire its leader “for cause,” HRC board in an untenable position. but that’s what the board of the HuThe organization has been under man Rights Campaign and its Hucriticism for weeks from donors, staff, man Rights Campaign Foundation and others and was forced to hire a did late September 6. It was a decisive law firm to complete an investigaand courageous move when it became tion into the matter. It was after that clear that now-former HRC presireview was completed that HRC’s dent Alphonso David made poor board asked David to resign SeptemMichael Key/ Washington Blade decisions that backfired on him with ber 3. He refused, so it terminated his respect to trying to help his old boss, Alphonso David contract, effective immediately. disgraced former New York governor led the Human “At HRC, we are fighting to bring Andrew Cuomo, counter allegations Rights Campaign full equality and liberation to LGof sexual harassment. As the nation’s for two years beBTQ+ people everywhere. That inlargest and wealthiest LGBTQ rights fore he was termi- cludes fighting on behalf of all victims group, HRC had been in the media nated “for cause” of sexual harassment and assault,” spotlight since New York Attorney September 6.

HRC board co-chairs Jodie Patterson General Letitia James’ scathing report and Morgan Cox wrote. “As outlined on Cuomo came out in early August. in the New York Attorney General reThe report found that Cuomo vioport, Mr. David engaged in a number lated the law by sexually harassing as many as 11 of activities in December 2020, while HRC Presiwomen on his staff. Cuomo resigned weeks later. dent, to assist Gov. Cuomo’s team in responding David, who had served as counselor to Cuoto allegations by Ms. Boylan of sexual harassmo prior to his taking the helm at HRC, was ment. This conduct in assisting Governor Cuomentioned nearly a dozen times in the report. mo’s team, while president of HRC, was in violaThe most damaging claims in the report contion of HRC’s Conflict of Interest policy and the cerning David indicate that he allegedly said he mission of HRC.” The statement was would help find individuals to sign their names referring to Lindsey Boylan, a forto a draft op-ed that sought to discredit a sexual mer senior staffer for Cuomo, who harassment survivor – ultimately the op-ed was among the first to accuse him was never submitted or published – although of sexual misconduct in the workhe wouldn’t sign the document himself, as the place last year.

Washington Blade reported. Also, the report David was an inspired choice indicates David was involved in the discussions when HRC tapped him to take over about secretly calling and recording a call beas president a couple of years ago. tween a former staffer and another survivor in a A gay Black man, David was the separate effort to smear her. first person of color to lead HRC, According to the Blade, the report indicated working hard to move beyond the that after his job with Cuomo, David kept the agency’s reputation of mostly capersonnel file of an employee who had accused tering to cis white wealthy LGBs. the governor of sexual misconduct, then assisted HRC has long had a dismal record when it comes in returning that file to Cuomo staffers seeking to working with the trans community, and that, to leak it to the media in an attempt to discredit too, began to change. Under his leadership, the her. (The Blade reported that a representative has agency constantly went on the attack against nudisputed the characterization of materials David merous state legislators that sought to pass antikept as a personnel file, saying it was a memorantrans bills this year, elevating the attention these dum on an internal employment matter David draconian pieces of legislation received in mainkept because he, in part, worked on it. David has stream news outlets and elsewhere. said he was legally required to return the mateBut the LGBTQ movement does not need rial.) leaders who work to support sexual harassers.

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While the above-mentioned op-ed was never published, it’s alarming that David actively sought to get people to sign their names to it when he would not do so himself. We don’t pretend to know the intricacies of New York state government, but suffice it to say a former government employee should not hold on to personnel or other information about employees.

David’s abrupt departure couldn’t come at a more inopportune time for HRC. It’s high priority Equality Act is all but dead in Congress since the Senate shows no signs of voting on it, and the organization will need leaders, staff, and volunteers ready to hit the ground next year in the midterm elections. It will need to continue monitoring all the anti-trans legislation that the organization is now fighting, and it needs to raise boatloads of money to do all that work in an environment where LGBTQs have been hit hard – economically and health-wise – by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Patterson and Cox stated that as a consequence of David’s conduct, “material damage” to HRC/ HRCF’s “interests, reputation, and prospects has resulted or may be expected to result. Additionally, this conduct has created damage to Mr. David’s reputation significant enough to impair his ability to effectively serve as the public face and voice of HRC/HRCF. This damage is evidenced by the intense media surrounding this conduct as well as the hundreds of calls, emails, and other negative communications HRC has received from staff, members of the Board of Governors, volunteers, program partners, general members, supporters, corporate partners, political figures, and more expressing serious concern with Mr. David’s conduct and its inconsistency with the values and mission of HRC.” David should have tendered his resignation as soon as the New York AG’s report was issued.

Sadly, his actions since then have only shown that he is not the leader the LGBTQ movement needs.

The HRC board made the right call. It should look for a new president who will continue David’s work and outreach without the baggage and bad decision-making. And it goes without saying that hiring another LGBTQ person of color should be a board priority. t

Alameda County Dems have a tool against homophobia

by Annie Koruga

Bay Area Reporter

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omophobes don’t belong in the Democratic Party. To be clear, homophobes don’t belong anywhere, in any party, but they especially, especially don’t belong in the Democratic Party, in 2021, in heavily Democratic Alameda County, arguably one of the bluest counties anywhere in the state. (https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/ror/ ror-odd-year-2021/politicalsub.pdf) Here in Alameda County, the difference between the number of registered Democrats and Republicans (in political speak we call that the D-R spread) is D+48.58 points, second only to our neighbors across the Bay in San Francisco County. If you look at just the raw percentage of registered Democrats, we’ve got the third highest percentage at 59.59%, beaten out only by San Francisco and Marin counties. All that to say, I live in an area where the Democratic Party and the equality it says it stands for isn’t controversial.

I can now confidently say the Democratic Party in Alameda County agrees with me: homophobes aren’t welcome here. I know that because on September 1, the county Democratic Party, known as the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee (or ACDCC for short), passed a bylaws amendment that I, a queer ADCCC member, along with many other amazing queer ACDCC members wrote. With that, we became the first county Democratic Party in the state to say explicitly that we won’t endorse homophobic candidates, nor will we endorse candidates who endorse homophobic candidates, nor will ACDCC members in their personal capacity be allowed to endorse homophobic candidates. For context, our California Democratic Party platform is already quite comprehensive on queer rights – we’re sim-

Courtesy Annie Koruga

Annie Koruga

ply materially enforcing that platform.

It seems our pro-queer amendment is somehow even less controversial with the ACDCC than the Democratic Party is controversial in deep blue Alameda County. The amendment passed unanimously, 30 votes in favor, 0 against, 0 abstentions! Bisexual Assemblyman Alex Lee (D-San Jose), who represents the 25th Assembly District (hey, my Assembly member!) sponsored it. In total, 25 members, including at least one from every single Assembly district in the county, sponsored the amendment.

It’s not just political for me, it’s personal too. I’ve been called a faggot and dyke more times than I care to remember (sometimes both in the same sentence), I’ve been told I’m going to hell, that all the queers should die, that I should “tone down the gay,” and by one particu-

larly kind individual that they wished “lesbians got all the AIDS too.” It made me feel like I was gross and dirty and deserved whatever I got. It made me at times hate myself. Sometimes it even made me wish I was dead because I didn’t think things would ever get any better. So I owe it, quite frankly, to the queer people that come after me to make things better, and we don’t make things better by supporting homophobic politicians who want to make things worse.

When elected officials, tasked with representing communities, which definitely include LGBTQ people, discriminate against the queer community, it encourages hate. External hate as discrimination, and the self-loathing, fear, and dread of internal hate. Unfortunately, I’m not just talking hypothetically either – my own mayor, Lily Mei of Fremont, voted to exclude queer literature from an AP English curriculum and voted against recognizing Harvey Milk Day during her time on our school board. In 2018 she endorsed Yang Shao, someone who’s quoted in the New York Times speaking against same-sex marriage. My own mayor endorsed a guy who said I should never be allowed to marry anyone I love. Ever. Of course, that stings.

She says she’s changed now, and that she “unequivocal[ly] commit[s] to advancing the rights, well-being, and dignity of LGBTQIA+ people and their families,” though notably she says this on a webpage where she’s included a picture of herself with now-Alameda County Supervisor David Haubert, a man who voted against raising a Pride flag as mayor of Dublin in 2019. But of course Mei says she’s changed: she likely wants the Democratic Party endorsement for her state Senate run in 2022. It hurts to know that current ACDCC members have endorsed her too, but I’m glad we now have this amendment as a tool to address the situation.

See page 11 >>

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Politics >>

September 9-15, 2021 • Bay Area Reporter • 5

CA lawmakers pass LGBTQ bills

by Matthew S. Bajko

C

alifornia lawmakers have adopted three more bills related to LGBTQ issues as they race to finish their work by the September 10 deadline to pass legislation this year and send it to Governor Gavin Newsom to either sign into law or veto.

Assembly Bill 1094, authored by Assemblyman Dr. Joaquin Arambula (D-Fresno), enhances the collection of public health data about violent deaths, including homicide and suicide, so that it includes stats related to the LGBTQ+ community. The state Senate approved it 39-0 September 1, and the Assembly passed the amended version of the bill the next day on a 71-0 vote with eight members not voting.

It will establish a pilot program to train coroners and medical examiners on how to collect SOGI data in all cases of violent death so there is a better understanding of disparities in the mortality rate in the LGBTQ community that could lead to policies addressing those disparities at the county level.

“Passing #AB1094 is a huge victory and, if signed, means CA will enhance the collection of public health data about violent deaths for our #LGBTQ+ community,” tweeted Equality California, the statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization that co-sponsored the bill with the LGBTQ youth agency The Trevor Project.

Gay Assemblyman Evan Low’s AB 1084 requires retailers with 500 or more employees to remove signs for gender in toy and child care sections or provide a gender-neutral retail section for the items. In a compromise to move the bill out of the Legislature, Low and co-author Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) agreed not to include children’s clothing sections in the bill. It passed out of the Assembly September 2 on a 49-16 vote with 14 members not voting; the day prior the Senate had approved it on a 29-9 vote with two abstentions.

AB 465 by Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian (D-Van Nuys) requires that professional fiduciaries receive LGBTQ+ cultural competency and

Courtesy Facebook

Assemblyman Dr. Joaquin Arambula (D-Fresno)

sensitivity training during their education and licensing process. Private professional fiduciaries provide critical services to older adults and people with disabilities, from managing their clients’ daily care, housing, and medical needs to ensuring their bills are paid and managing their investments. It passed out of the Assembly on a 72-0 vote September 1 after the Senate approved an amended version 31-1 on August 30.

As of the Bay Area Reporter’s deadline Wednesday, September 8, none of the trio of bills had yet to be officially sent to Newsom’s desk for his signature. A bill prohibiting public universities from deadnaming trans and nonbinary students – that is using their former names they were given based on the gender they were assigned at birth – on their diplomas and academic records, AB 245, is now before Newsom.

It was sent to the governor’s desk September 2, kicking off the 12-day deadline for him to sign it. Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco) revived AB 245 this year after shelving the legislation in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic paring down the Legislature’s workload.

Additional bills concerning LGBTQ issues should be adopted by state legislators in the coming days and sent to Newsom’s desk. It remains to be seen how the September 14 recall effort against Newsom will impact those bills he has yet to sign.

Five LGBTQ-related bills already signed

As the B.A.R. has previously re-

ported, Newsom this year has already signed into law several LGBTQ-related bills. Two aimed at assisting people living with HIV became law in July.

Senate Bill 283, authored by Senator Lena A. Gonzalez (D-Long Beach), strengthens the Equal Insurance HIV Act of 2020. It imposes a prohibition as of January 1, 2023 on a life or disability insurance insurer from considering an applicant’s occupation in determining whether to require an HIV test.

The other HIV-related bill, SB 258, specifies that older people with HIV are to be part of the population of “greatest social need” when it comes to programs and services administered by the California Department of Aging. Gay state Senator John Laird (D-Santa Cruz), a founder and former executive director of an AIDS agency in his coastal city, authored the legislation.

The governor in July also signed into law Laird’s SB 272 updating “archaic gender-specific pronouns” used in the state’s vehicle code to refer to the California Highway Patrol commissioner, now led by a woman, as well as throughout the state’s insurance code. It parallels another bill Newsom signed into law that month authored

by Assemblywoman Rebecca BauerKahan (D-Orinda), who signed on as a co-author to Laird’s legislation.

Bauer-Kahan’s AB 378 systematically goes through laws related to the offices of the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state controller, treasurer, insurance commissioner, and board of equalization to make all references to the gender of the officer gender neutral. Currently, most parts of the state code refer to these constitutional office holders as only “he” or “him.”

Newsom also signed Bauer-Kahan’s AB 439 to allow for deceased Californians who are nonbinary to be identified as such on their death certificates. t

Barry Schneider Attorney at Law

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415-781-6500 *Certified by the California State Bar 400 Montgomery Street, Ste. 505, San Francisco, CA

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Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion, returns Monday, September 13.

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

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

Letters >> B.A.R. falls on its face with tobacco ad

The Bay Area Reporter has such excellent coverage of local health issues, so attuned to the interests of its readers. So how could you fall so squarely on your face by running a full-page, full-color ad for cigarettes [September 2]? Tobacco advertising has negative health impacts – which is why countries worldwide with more robust tobacco control legislation than U.S. law affords ban cigarette ads. And this particular ad is especially devious, using marketing buzzwords like “earth-friendly” and “organic” to gloss over the fact that these cigarettes are just as bad for a smoker’s health as any others.

A newspaper like yours, that holds its community’s best interests at heart, should not be hosting cigarette ads. I suggest you make amends by pulling that ad and following up with a full-page, full-color look into the tobacco industry’s sophisticated marketing strategies targeting the LGBTQ community and how this hampers efforts to keep young people from taking up smoking.

Lezak Shallat, Former Coordinator Chile Libre de Tabaco/Tobacco Free Chile Alliance San Francisco

Check your privilege on flag

Once again, in the op-ed [“Two issues observed in Castro flag fight,” Guest Opinion, August 26] by Jeff Sheehy, I see the point raised that Gilbert Baker took no money for his creation. I find it a position of privilege to insist that artists not make money from their creation for our community to embrace it. Trans and nonbinary people face greater financial challenges than we cis people face; and artists face greater challenges than those in technical

occupations. Art has value and is not devalued by being paid for. Do you also insist manufacturers sell their rainbow flags at cost?

I acknowledge there are a number of reasons to consider retaining the traditional flag. That said, I would love it if that flag’s supporters were to stop raising the “it was free” argument as one of them. Check your privilege.

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<< Business News

6 • Bay Area Reporter • September 9-15, 2021

t

Queer SF film commissioner shares his love of movies

by Matthew S. Bajko

A

t the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last year photographic homages to beloved movies and television shows started popping up on the social media feeds of brand and communication strategist Jack Song. Featured in the pop culture tributes alongside Song was his Chihuahua Terrier rescue Goldie.

A spoof of the hit Netflix docuseries “The Tiger King” had Goldie adorned in a lion outfit. Another depicted Goldie as the alien creature from “E.T.” camouflaged as a ghost in the bike basket of his human child protector Elliott, played

by Song.

They recreated the famous pottery-making scene from “Ghost” starring the late Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore. And the duo portrayed numerous Disney characters, including Aladdin (Song) and his monkey sidekick Abu (Goldie) and the title canine characters of “Lady and the Tramp” sharing a candlelit dinner of spaghetti and meatballs.

“I capture people’s attention with my storytelling. With these photoshoots, I wanted to delight people during a time of uncertainty,” Song, 38, told the Bay Area Reporter. “We all needed some healthy distractions. Of equal importance, this was my love letter to my buddy, Goldie.”

It was a fitting pandemic pastime for Song, who grew up in Southern California not far from Hollywood and has served on the San Francisco Film Commission since January 18, 2019 after Mayor London Breed appointed him.

Song, who identifies as queer, is currently the oversight body’s sole LGBTQ member.

“I wanted to do something creative to get my energy out there, stay focused and positive because

Courtesy Jack Song

Assistant District Attorney Gregory Stuart Flores, left, Mayor London Breed, and Film Commissioner Jack Song attended an event at City Hall.

it was tough times for all,” said Song about his quarantine photoshoot series. “I realized people were entertained by it.”

Goldie proved to be a “good sport” about the productions, said Song, and was rewarded with treats.

Their neighborhood pet store The Animal House in the Lower Haight benefited, as any costumes or pet props needed for the photos Song purchased there.

“The owner of the shop and I exchanged ideas. She would sometimes provide art direction or suggest what costume to get. It became just fun,” said Song, married to Gregory Stuart Flores, an assistant district attorney.

At age 8 Song and his family emigrated from Taiwan in the early 1990s, settling in Los Angeles. He earned a B.A. in political science and public policy from UC

Berkeley in 2004.

On campus Song promoted Taiwanese American director Justin Lin’s “Better Luck Tomorrow,” a 2003 indie film about striving Asian and Pacific Islander high school students. In it, Song saw himself and realized change in the film industry could be achieved behind the camera.

“Seeing my people on screen had a huge impact on me,” said Song.

“That was an aha moment for me.

I want to be a part of that change, so no more stereotypical racist portrayal of voices that do not have representation in the room.”

After graduating Song became director of marketing and media relations at David Magdael & Associates Inc., an entertainment and public relations firm in Los Angeles. He credits as a mentor the firm’s president/CEO, David

Carlyle Magdael, a gay Filipino who has long advocated for more diversity on screen.

“He always said you got to represent,” said Song.

Some of the movies Song helped publicize were the LGBQTI films “Colma: The Musical” and “Do I Sound Gay” and Asian Americanfeatured films “Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle” and “Kubo & the Two Strings.” He relocated to San Francisco in 2009 after City Attorney Dennis Herrera hired him as a spokesperson the same day Song watched a special screening of the Oscar-winning biopic “Milk” about the late gay San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk.

He left in early 2014 to focus on marketing tech companies but stayed involved in politics through the Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club, now serving as its programs cochair. When an opening came up on the film commission, Song jumped at the chance to again engage with the film industry and promote San Francisco as an ideal location for film shoots, television shows and commercials.

“I understand the film industry both on the production side and talent side. I want to be able to share my knowledge with Film SF,” said Song, using the official name for the film permitting office under the auspices of the Mayor’s Office of Economic & Workforce Development. “I think another mission is that yes, San Francisco is a funky town but also absolutely gorgeous. San Francisco’s got soul, and I want to be able to help promote that and be active in promoting filming in San Francisco. It does bring in jobs; it does bring in visitors.”

The COVID pandemic initially brought filming in the city to a standstill. After safety protocols were put in place for film shoots, permits steadily increased. Between June and September of this year, 93 permits totaling 177 shoot days were granted; in 2020 there 42 permits and 90 shoot days. Yet compared to pre-pandemic summers, permits were still down 26% and shoot days 15%.

Nonetheless, it is still a significant boost for the local economy.

The latest Marvel blockbuster featuring its first Asian superhero, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” which opened last week, shot for seven days in San Francisco last October. The first major production to do so during the health crisis, the production spent an estimated $5 to $7 million on the weeklong shot.

“As I said, blockbusters that shoot here, even for a short amount of time, can inject significant dollars into our local economy,” Susannah Greason Robbins, Film SF’s executive director, told the B.A.R. Robbins, a straight ally, is bullish about the return of the local film economy. In addition to the city’s beauty, San Francisco offers a rebate program as an incentive, noted Robbins, that results in $14.03 spent locally between purchases and wages for every dollar rebated.

“I do feel optimistic. Probably by spring or summer 2022 we will be close to normal levels,” predicted Robbins. “I do think we are just going to see an increase in productions.”

Robbins also hopes more local businesses will sign up for Film SF’s vendor discount program and offer deals to lure workers on the See page 11 >>

Learn the history of SF’s Dolores Park compiled by Cynthia Laird

also hear from outgoing Executive Director Rick Chavez Zbur, who is leaving the post at the end of the year to campaign for an open state Assembly seat in Southern California, and incoming ED Tony Hoang.

Attendees must provide proof of COVID vaccination. If someone has an exemption due to religious or medical reasons, they must have a negative COVID test within 72 hours.

Tickets for the EQCA awards are $500 and can be purchased at https:// bit.ly/38PgNQ4.

M

ission Dolores Park in San Francisco has a rich history and people can learn all about it at the Dolores Park History Day Saturday, September 18, from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The history day is sponsored by the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department’s Love Dolores program and the Dolores Park Ambassadors, a neighborhood group dedicated to keeping Dolores Park clean and safe, a spokeswoman for Rec and Park stated.

Activities at the park, located on the western edge of the Mission district, feature a timeline of Dolores Park’s history laid out at multiple stations.

Parkgoers can visit a station and talk to a volunteer and learn more about events and people, like the Native peoples who lived in the area or how the 1906 earthquake affected the park (no word on whether they’ll be a special station about the recent history of the pissoir that an anti-gay group sued the city over – and saw dismissed by a judge – several years ago. At the “Love Dolores” station, visitors can pick up a map and “passport,” which if validated at all six stations can be returned for free give-away items.

History Day is free and open to all.

EQCA to honor B.A.R., AG Bonta

The Bay Area Reporter and state Attorney General Rob Bonta will be honored by Equality California at its San Francisco Equality Awards event Friday, September 10, from 7 to 10 p.m. at the California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive.

Voting centers open in SF, South Bay

Rick Gerharter

People practiced physical distancing in Mission Dolores Park last spring.

This is the statewide LGBTQ rights organization’s first in-person event in San Francisco in over a year. The 2020 event moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The B.A.R. is being recognized on the occasion of this year being its 50th anniversary. Bonta, who was named attorney general earlier this year by Governor Gavin Newsom, is being honored for his many pro-equality actions. For example, just recently, he asked the California Supreme Court to review a lower court decision that stripped anti-discrimination protections from the state’s LGBTQ Senior Bill of Rights. That law, authored by gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), became effective in 2018.

Bonta became the state’s top law enforcement official following the resignation of former attorney general Xavier Becerra, who became secretary of health and human services in the Biden administration. EQCA’s gala is likely to be the first LGBTQ event for Assemblywoman Mia Bonta (DOakland), sworn in September 7 after winning last week’s special runoff race to serve out the remainder of her husband’s Assembly term through next December; she will need to run for a full two-year term in 2022.

Attendees at the EQCA event will

If you want to return your California recall ballot in person, voting centers are open in San Francisco and Santa Clara counties.

In San Francisco, the voting center at City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, and outdoor ballot dropoff stations will be open every day through Tuesday, September 14, the deadline to vote whether to remove Governor Gavin Newsom from office. (A second question asks who should replace him and includes 40-plus candidates.

Newsom, who’s in his third year of his first four-year term, is barred from running as a recall candidate.)

The outdoor drop-off centers are located at the corner of Grove and Polk streets, and across the street from the City Hall main entrance, along Civic Center Plaza. The voting center is inside City Hall.

Weekday hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., weekends (September 11-12) will be

from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Election Day (September 14) hours are from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. For a list of drop off stations, go to https://sfelections.sfgov.org/ official-ballot-drop-stations.

In the South Bay, Santa Clara County people can now cast ballots in person at vote centers or deliver their ballots to drop boxes. According to a news release, 36 vote centers will be open for multiple days throughout the county, operating through September 14.

To find out locations of drop boxes and vote centers, go to https://sccvote. sccgov.org/vote-mail/official-ballotdrop-box-sites-and-early-votinginformation.

SF court has new jury postcard program

San Francisco Superior Court has a new jury postcard program. The court will now send postcards to prospective jurors, a method that has proved highly effective for numerous county courts throughout California, a news release stated.

The release noted that the postcards are easy to read and include a convenient QR code that can be scanned directly from the prospective jurors’ smartphone or tablet. The code links directly with jury reporting instructions or to the court’s website should a person need to submit a request to be excused from jury service.

The new cards replace the multipage summons that were issued in the past. The court noted that prospective jurors can carry the cards with them if they are instructed to report for jury service. The postcards should begin arriving in mailboxes in mid-September, the release stated. t

SEPT. 14

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Drop box

Vote centers

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To find out more visit vote.ca.gov.

<< Community News

t More nightclubs to reopen in SF’s Castro district 8 • Bay Area Reporter • September 9-15, 2021

by John Ferrannini

M

ore nightclubs are slated to reopen in San Francisco’s LGBTQ Castro neighborhood in the coming weeks as the Bay Area emerges from COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, with renovations at the former Badlands space continuing.

Beaux, located at 2344 Market Street, is currently the only nightclub – with dancing and live acts – open in the Castro. But it will soon have some

competition as The Cafe, located at 2369 Market Street, announced on Instagram it will be reopening in midSeptember. Several Castro bars have reopened in recent months, while the Lookout and Toad Hall have small dance areas.

“The Cafe is now working to get open as soon as possible,” the upstairs nightclub overlooking Jane Warner Plaza on 17th Street stated via Instagram. “The health and safety of all our patrons and staff is paramount so

as the COVID pandemic continues to evolve so will our opening date.

As of now, we are looking for a midSeptember opening.”

The post continued that the nightclub is hiring and anyone interested should email contact@cafesf.com.

A few blocks away, renovations to 4121 18th Street, which once contained Badlands, will be completed soon, according to TJ Bruce, a gay man who is managing partner at Sacramento Badlands in the state capital.

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“Basically the space is just being remodeled. It should be open by the end of the year or early, maybe, shortly after the year ends,” Bruce stated to the Bay Area Reporter in a voicemail, referring to the Castro property. “That’s basically all there is to say at the moment.”

Bruce confirmed his involvement with the renovation project in a subsequent phone call with the B.A.R. September 3.

“We [Bruce and Natali] both work together on it,” he said, referring to Les Natali who owns the Badlands space and liquor license.

The building, like the nightclub it once contained, is owned by longtime Castro landlord Natali, who did not respond to a request for comment September 1. Natali announced last July that Badlands would be closing permanently and that a new bar under new ownership would subsequently be opening in the space.

As the Bay Area Reporter previously reported, the bar came under renewed criticism during Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 due to allegations of racial discrimination even though it was shuttered due to the lockdown.

A 2004 report by the San Francisco Human Rights Commission found that Badlands was discriminating against African Americans, but the findings were never official because the HRC executive director at the time did not sign off on the staff report. Natali and the complainants eventually reached a confidential settlement.

Natali later opened Toad Hall on the site of what had been the Pendulum, a bar that catered to Black LGBTQs. In an email June 6, 2020, after this was brought up at a Black Lives Matter protest in Jane Warner Plaza, Natali wrote that the allegations “were found without merit and were dropped.”

“We welcome people of all races and all colors and we probably have the largest, most diverse clientele of any bar in the Castro,” he added.

Badlands originally opened as a country western bar in 1974. Natali acquired it in 1999, when it became a video bar. Like all bars, it was forced to close in March 2020 due to the lockdown, and that July Natali said Badlands would permanently shutter.

Natali remains on the bar’s liquor license, which expires February 28, 2022, according to state records. t

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Badlands in the Castro closed permanently during the COVID pandemic, and is expected to open under new ownership.

<<

Bathhouse

From page 1

Bintliff told the B.A.R. that when the prospective owners went to the planning department, it was ruled that a bathhouse falls under the category of adult business. Adult businesses are not allowed in most of the city, he said.

“Right now everything falls in the banner of adult business,” Bintliff said. “In most of the Castro that is not allowed. It is starting with Civic Center/mid-Market, to the Financial District, toward the waterfront, but not in North Beach. It is also allowed in industrial areas of the Mission and Dogpatch.”

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

“It is conditionally permitted on part of Market [Street] from Church [Street] to Van Ness [Avenue], and other parts of the Mission and Dogpatch,” Bintliff said.

Mandelman is seeking community feedback about where adult business zoning rules should be liberalized and whether statuses should be changed to permitted or conditionally permitted.

Former Castro Merchants president Daniel Bergerac, who identifies as a self-described “practicing homosexual,” said he is supportive.

“When you talk to tourists in the Castro, the number one thing they ask for are the backrooms or the bathhouses,” Bergerac said. “Number two – I’m concerned about the safety of our youth that use hookup apps.”

Bintliff opined that the South of Market neighborhood – until 1984

the traditional epicenter of the city’s bathhouses – would probably be more feasible for entrepreneurs to open up in. Nevertheless, Mandelman said that the closed 24 Hour Fitness at 2145 Market Street or even the old Pottery Barn at Market and Castro streets might make good locations.

San Francisco’s bathhouse restrictions stemmed from a city lawsuit against the venues. In October 1984 a San Francisco Superior Court judge issued a temporary restraining order that shuttered nine gay bathhouses and sex clubs.

In late November of that year another judge lifted the restraining order but imposed new rules on how the bathhouses and sex clubs could operate. No longer could they rent private rooms, unless they secured a hotel license, and employees had to monitor the sexual behavior of patrons.

Bathhouse owners, however, refused to open their doors as the court heard challenges to the new rules. The judge hearing the court case at one point toughened his order and banned any sex from occurring in the bathhouses.

The legal case came to an end in 1989 when the city dismissed its lawsuit. By then the city’s gay bathhouses were no more, but over the ensuing years sex clubs opened their doors. They did so without private rooms patrons can lock shut, as is typically found in gay bathhouses around the world.

Today, only one such business catering to queer and trans men exists in the city, Eros sex club on the 2000 block of Market Street near Dolores. It had been forced closed during most of the past 17 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic but earlier this summer reopened with new safety protocols required of patrons.

See page 10 >>

t

Sports >>

September 9-15, 2021 • Bay Area Reporter • 9

Sports as family

by Roger Brigham

A

s the 20th anniversary of 9/11 approaches this week, I find myself reliving so many memories and moments from that tragic day and the sobering days and weeks that followed.

Which got me once more to think about the invaluable role sports can play for so many of us, most especially those of us in the queer community.

My spouse, Eduardo, and I had a group of young mostly gay friends known as the Idora Park Irregulars Courtesy Bryce Eberhart who would meet at our house about Alice Hoagland, the mother of once a week or so to watch a movie Mark Bingham, hugged Bryce or TV show, enjoy whatever refreshEberhart at a rugby match. ments I was serving up, and engage in lively conversation. The evening of As a veteran journalist, I had been to 9/11, they and a few others instinctivemany scenes of tragedy or disaster – ly showed up, not to be entertained floods, sniper shootings, and earthand not for lively conversation, but quakes – through the years and had to seek shelter from the news footage always had an active role reporting we had watched nonstop all day; and on the events, helping victims of the to share our stunned and saddened event, or both. thoughts about what had just hapMy comparative sense of helplesspened and what would happen next. ness became overwhelming that week.

That was Tuesday. The next day we I realized that if I were in New York went to a promotion ceremony for a City at the time, not only would I not friend who had just been promoted be able to help rescue victims, I would in the Oakland Police Department. not even be able to save my own life We stood in the dark of her yard, lit by outrunning the billowing deadly candles, and spoke solemnly. clouds the collapse of the burning The rest of the week passed in a towers created. haze. At some point we were finally That Saturday, the weather in the able to reconnect with all of our friends Bay Area was engulfed with a chilly and relatives inISO New12647-7 York, including a Digital Control Strip 2009 100 60 100 70 100 60 100 70 100 60 A gray drizzle.

I’d 30had enough.

I 100 packed 70 firefighter I had known from30his birth up my husband and my dog into the and who the day after 9/11 was climbcar and we drove to San Francisco to ing over and digging through the rubwatch the San Francisco Fog rugby ble in a valiant but vain effort to try to team practice. help his boss find his son.

100 100 60 100 100 70 70 30 30 100 100 60 100 100 30 30 100 100 60 100 100 Until70a70month before, I had never70 70 Earlier in 2001, I had been diageven heard of the Fog. We had run into nosed with avascular necrosis in my a player from the team named Derrick hip bones, which meant that the cirMickle at East Bay Pride in August and culation to my hips had been cut off had had a short but wonderful chat and the bone had died. I was schedwith him about the Fog and its sports uled to have one removed in October inclusive mission. Mickle said he had and the other in December. just been asked to change positions to I was on crutches the week of 9/11.

B

fullback, and when I mentioned that was what I played in college, he peppered me with questions about how to approach the position.

Then during the week following 9/11, we began learning through news reports about Mark Bingham, one of the Fog founders who had been instrumental in the successful but fatal battle by passengers on United Flight 93 to prevent terrorists from flying it into a target in the nation’s capital, crashing it into a rural field in Pennsylvania instead. The mainstream news media had been shamefully slow to provide the same kind of personal profile information about Bingham’s life that they had immediately publicized about his fellow passengers, but with the passing days they gradually filled in the blanks and it became known he was a gay man.

So that Saturday, I wanted to be on the field with other athletes, be there to show my support as they grieved the loss of their friend.

The gray drizzle seems appropriate for the emotions of the day. Rugby and rugby players are by nature loud and boisterous. This day the tones were hushed.

Mickel and I hugged. I introduced him to Eddie and Bessus, the dog. He introduced me to the players.

There was not a lot to say, but it felt so right just to be 40 100 40 100 30 100 40 40 70 40 there at that moment.

“It was just so sad,” former Fog player Bryce Eberhart said of that time. “It was very sad because you just lost a friend. And then you have 30 30 100 40 100 40 40 100 10 40 40 this political layer on top of that. And then the violence, because it was a murder. It all added to the complexity of grief – but it was good to have that support system in place, to be able to lean on each other.”

Eberhart, 48, and I had similar inT:9.75" troductions to ruby during our col3%

lege years. I came back to my dorm room one evening and found 10 rather burly rugby players sitting in the hallway near my door getting very drunk.

One decided to tackle me and I quickly pinned him. The others all laughed and another one tried tackling me.

Pinned him, too. By the time I got to my room I had pinned all of them.

They hadn’t realized I was a wrestler.

The next morning, there was a knock on our door and rugby players piled into our room. My roommate was a wrestler and lacrosse player.

They roused us from our beds, threw our clothes at us and hustled us out of the room and down to their cars. As we drove from central Ohio down to Cincinnati, they gave us rugby shirts, showed us a ball, and explained the rules to us, and next thing we knew we were playing rugby.

Cool.

Eberhart was a football player in high school but decided not to continue playing after he was enrolled at Macalester College. He, too, got a knock on the door.

“They said, ‘Aren’t you that gay guy that quit the football team?’” Eberhart said. “‘We’re a man short. Let’s go.’ It wasn’t a kidnapping, but it was coerced.”

Some are born to rugby; others of us have rugby thrust upon us.

70 40 40 40 70 40 40 70 40 70 40 40 3 10 Years later Eberhart moved to San Francisco and found the Fog. “The Fog was great for me, especially since I had just moved to San 20 70 70 70 70 40 70 40 40 0000 3.1 2.2 2.2 10.2 7.4 7.4 Francisco because it was a built-in group of friends,” he said. “It gives you a family, and that family extends beyond that club. It gives you an international family.”

The international family in gay rugby took off after 9/11. To honor Bingham, international gay rugby founded a bien-

nial championship named the Bingham Cup. I, along with many players from across the globe, got to know Bingham’s mother, Alice Hoagland, when she appeared at the first Bingham Cup in San Francisco in 2002.

Hoagland made it back to every Bingham Cup that followed and, through the years, I always enjoyed talking with her and getting to know her. She died last December.

I mentioned to Eberhart that I never knew Bingham but still mourned his death and admired his legacy.

“That’s one of those things that happen over time,” he said. “What he did was heroic. He has become a kind of icon for our community. We all own him now, not just those of us who knew him.”

Eberhart met Aaron Fleming at the 2004 Bingham Cup in London.

They were married last year and now live in Sydney.

I never made it back onto the rugby pitch, but I resolved that day to return to sports competition despite the hip replacements. I started by volunteering at Fog fundraising beer booths during street fairs. Eventually I returned to wrestling, a sport which never demanded I run anywhere, and formed an entirely new family of athletes.

I think the families we develop through sports participation are of particular importance for those of us in the queer community. Many are 25 50 90 100 not accepted by75their biological families; many others who are accepted always sense that acceptance comes with an asterisk. Sports allow us to escape the asterisks and find each other.

25 19 19 50 40 40 75 66 66 100 100 100 80 70 70 100 Eberhart no longer plays rugby, but he’ll always be a rugby player.

“I’ve got a bad shoulder and a bad knee because of rugby,” he said. “I wouldn’t trade the years of rugby in for anything. It was the most fun I ever had in my life. I wish I could do it again.” t

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<< Community News

10 • Bay Area Reporter • September 9-15, 2021

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Bathhouse

From page 8

Bintliff also said that Mandelman’s office has been in conversation with District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney’s office, who represents SOMA. Honey Mahogany, a trans queer nonbinary aide to Haney, told the B.A.R. that “we’ve been working with Supervisor Mandelman’s office and we are generally supportive of this, but I don’t want to give a more specific quote until I talk to Supervisor Haney.”

Bob Goldfarb, a gay man who is the president of the Leather & LGBTQ Cultural District’s board of directors, said he had not heard of the bathhouse plans.

“We haven’t been contacted by anyone currently considering a bathhouse in SOMA,” Goldfarb said.

“However, we would be happy to talk to anyone considering such a project.”

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Oakland Pride

From page 1

CEO of Oakland Black Pride. A third block will be closed along 21st Street to Telegraph Avenue.

“The day will start with vendors – actually, we’ll have some yoga to start the day: a little fitness to kick the day off – and then we’ll have talent on a stage,” Austin said. “We have secured Grammy Award-winning artist Mýa to perform as our headliner and there will be other local queer DJs, drag shows and live entertainment.”

Sean Sullivan, a gay man who coowns the Port Bar with his partner, Richard Fuentes, told the B.A.R. last week that he and Austin had to wait until the Oakland Pride organization announced the cancellation of its inperson events before they could get the necessary permissions from the city for the street closure required for Pridefest.

Pridefest will be hosted by drag performers Amoura Teese and Bebe Sweetbriar, and will feature “RuPaul’s Drag Race” All-Star Trinity K Bonet and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 13 Miss Congeniality Lala Ri, according to the Port Bar, which is also hosting a Pride Kickoff event September 11 at 8 p.m.

Sullivan is also putting on Love: The Circuit Party September 12 from 4 p.m. to midnight at the event space 1544 Broadway, about two blocks from Pridefest and the Port Bar. Attendees will be required to show proof of vaccination in order to be admitted.

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Newsom

From page 2

In response to a question from outgoing Equality California Executive Director Rick Chavez Zbur, Newsom

Bathhouses aren’t the only businesses restricted by current zoning rules.

Mandelman said that new bars are also not allowed in the Castro neighborhood – despite international recogni-

tion for its LGBTQ watering holes.

“All our existing bars are grandfathered in,” Mandelman said. “Good for them, but an insurmountable barrier to new folks.”

One of those new people is Suzie Jennings, who spoke to the merchants about how she wants to open a wine bar and “art and cultural space” in the old Unionmade location at 493 Sanchez Street on the corner with 18th Street.

“We’d have limited hours and probably open, at the latest, till 10,” she said, adding she is “partnering with my partner and another dyke” on the project.

“It’d be nice to have something in the community, especially for women,” Jennings said.

To that end, Mandelman also wants community opinions about loosening the restrictions on bars.

Karraker said he supports “anything we can do for the Castro for un-

derserved communities.”

“I saw an article the other day that there are only seven lesbian bars left in the U.S., which is horrible,” Karraker added. “If another Pendulum or another Lexington were to come along, we should really prioritize that over another dance bar for men.”

(The Lexington Club was a Mission neighborhood bar catering to queer women that closed in 2015; the Pendulum was a Castro neighborhood bar catering to Black LGBTQs that closed in 2005 and was rechristened as Toad Hall by new owner Les Natali.)

Terry Asten Bennett, a straight ally who manages Cliff’s Variety on Castro Street, said that she doesn’t want the neighborhood to become too barcentric, however, lest that take away from daytime business.

“You don’t want to take the cork off all together,” Bennett said. “I think it’s important to have the ability to pick

and choose and I think what Suzy is proposing sounds fabulous.”

Bintliff told the B.A.R. that the office does not know how long new bars have been prohibited in the Castro.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the merchants approved two resolutions in nearly unanimous votes. The first was issuing a letter of support to the Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza for its proposed future plaza design. The second was issuing a letter of support to Beth Hughes of Bottle Bacchanal, urging regulatory bodies to expedite the planning and permitting processes as necessary for businesses to open.

Her permit request is expected to be approved by the city’s planning commission at its September 9 meeting. The liquor store specializing in natural wines and artisanal beverages is slated to open at 4126 18th Street between Collingwood and Castro streets. t

Tickets are between $50 and $55 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

The party, Sullivan said, is a milestone in itself.

“There are many parties in and around Oakland Pride, but never a circuit-style event in the 10 years I’ve lived here,” Sullivan said. “So it’s an exciting first.”

On the club scene note, Valentino Carrillo, owner of Que Rico Nightclub and Restaurant in downtown Oakland, said that his business is going to “be celebrating Pride all weekend long,” with Pride-themed events on Friday and Saturday nights. This includes a Latin Pride kickoff celebration at 7 p.m. September 10 hosted by drag performers Violeta and Frida Mont. Que Rico will be open all day Sunday, September 12, he added.

“We’ve been pretty busy the last couple weeks,” Carrillo told the B.A.R. “People still want to celebrate Pride so we’re going to have a busy weekend.”

Austin said that there will be a popup vaccination site provided by the Native American Health Center.

“We’ll also have a VIP section in front of the stage – vaccinated important person,” Austin said. “That’s going to be for vaxed folks only. The tea is we want to make vaccination attractive.”

Austin said that LGBTQs who are Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC) have lower vaccination uptake rates. “We want to make sure we’re covered by providing the opportunity for them,” Austin said.

The VIP section will be cordoned off from the rest of the fair with a picket fence so that people who want a greater level of safety from potential COVID-19 exposure don’t have to venture into the rest of Pridefest.

“The VIP section will have its own private bar, provided by SweetWater Brewing Company, and catering by Roux40, a restaurant about to open in the fall in Oakland’s Temescal,” Austin said.

Masks will be required outdoors during dancing, Austin said, though not in the VIP section.

Austin said that Oakland Pride’s late cancellation led to complications when planning Pridefest.

“There were some challenges because we’re a very close community and there was a lot of confusion on who’s doing what,” Austin said. “It’s been trying, but it’s started necessary conversations. We should not be looking at one organization to provide us with a Pride celebration. ... We’re excited to be able to present this.’”

Sullivan said that the last week has been both “intense” and “exciting.”

“It’s intense because we were planning this event outside of Port Bar but now we have taken a broader role,” Sullivan said. “And people got Oakland Pride confused with our event. But it’s very exciting at the same time, because a lot of people are coming together to help.”

Center hosting Pride in the Park Saturday

come the soundtrack to the LGBTQ club experience everywhere.”

The center is also partnering with Children’s Fairyland to present Pride Family Fun Day at the location, near Pride in the Park, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Regular admission is $13 per person and children under 1 are free. The event is for youth up to age 7.

said the gap was beginning to close, but urged people to mail in or deliver their ballots.

“They’re counting on low turnout,” the governor said of his opponents, particularly since it’s an

off-year election. He said that he’d be touring the state over the next eight days, including a rally in Los Angeles Saturday, September 4, with Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren (D). She appeared in a series

of television ads urging people to vote no on the recall. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) has appeared in recent TV ads in the Bay Area and elsewhere.

“We’re doing more,” said Newsom, who is also expected to campaign alongside President Joe Biden in the coming days. Vice President Kamala Harris was expected in the Bay Area September 8.

During the Castro Merchants meeting board member Dave Karraker, a gay man who co-owns a gym in the neighborhood with his partner, asked if now is a good time considering misleading reports last year that San Francisco was opening bathhouses “in the middle of a pandemic.”

Replied Mandelman: “There was pretty nasty stuff about how we were opening up bathhouses in the middle of a pandemic – which we were not – but I don’t think that should stop us.

Just because the right is on the move everywhere from Kabul to Washington, D.C. doesn’t mean we should stop trying to enact the right policies.”

Bar zoning also restrictive

Below Market Rate (BMR) Rental Apartments Available The Vance at 830 Eddy Street, San Francisco CA 94109 4 Studios at $1210.00 a month; 10 One Bedrooms at $1379.00 a month; 6 Two Bedrooms at $1533.00 a month.

The Oakland LGBTQ Community Center is planning on hosting its fourth Pride in the Park Saturday, September 11, from noon to 7 p.m. at the bandstand and gazebo by Lake Merritt. CeCe Peniston will headline the event.

“The purpose of this free event is to get the word out about health and wellness resources in our community, and provide COVID-19 vaccinations and HIV testing in the safest way possible during this pandemic,” Joe Hawkins, a gay man who is the executive director of the center, stated in a news release.

The event will “feature vendors, health and fitness demonstrations, live entertainment, and guest speakers,” the release states. People are invited to bring a blanket and food to the event, which will feature DJs Olga T, Brandon Barlow, Sidney Perry, and Benjamin Castro paying tribute to Black and queer trans music.

“So many people in this country have no clue that the roots of house music and other styles of dance and electronic music, was born in the Black queer and transgender nightclubs in Chicago, New York, and Detroit, and grew to become a global phenomenon,” Hawkins stated. “It is important that we acknowledge, reclaim and pay tribute to the underground sound that queer Black and Brown deejays created that has be-

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Seven parking spaces available to BMR renters for an additional $100.00 a month and will be offered to households in lottery rank order. Must be income eligible and must not own a home. Households must earn no more than the maximum income levels below:

55% of Area Median Income

One person - $51,300.00; 2 persons - $58,600.00; 3 persons - $65,950.00; 4 persons - $73,250.00; 5 persons- $79,100.00 Applications must be received by 5PM on Wednesday, September 29, 2021. Apply online through DAHLIA, the SF Housing Portal -DAHLIA at housing.sfgov.org. Due to COVID-19, applicants will apply online as we are not accepting paper applications.

Please contact the Imagine That Consulting for building information at (916) 686-4126 or bmr@thevance.com Units available through the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development and are subject to monitoring and other restrictions.

Visit www.sfmohcd.org for program information.

TheVance_BMR_3x4.5_090221-090921.indd 1

t

8/27/21 10:06 AM

Oakland Pride reportedly planning virtual event

For its part, the Oakland Pride organization announced last week, along with the cancellation of its in-person events, that it will be producing a virtual event.

“Our 2021 Oakland Pride celebration will now be offered virtually,” Oakland Pride posted on Facebook September 1. “Please join us on our website oaklandpride.org on September 12 for the fun.”

Oakland Pride’s website had no additional information about this virtual event. Last year, the group presented 32 total hours of virtual programming, as the B.A.R. reported.

Oakland Pride Co-Chair Carlos Uribe told the B.A.R. September 7 that “honestly I don’t have the details because of my reduced capacity this year,” but that he’d facilitate an interview with Treasurer Frank Ciglar. Neither Uribe nor Ciglar has followed up. t

Goodall said that for her, the choice is easy.

“We can’t take it for granted, I am so hoping that the recall will be defeated,” she stated. “It’s clear that it’s in our best interest that people need to vote. Newsom has been a champion of LGBTQ issues and I wholeheartedly support him.”t

9/11 memorial

From page 1

That phone call lasted about three minutes but it’s one Bradkowski will never forget. Collman, 41, was an American Airlines flight attendant. The date was September 11, 2001. Less than seven hours after the call, Collman would be one of 92 people onboard American Airlines Flight 11, as terrorists flew it into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. As the only male flight attendant onboard, Bradkowski believes Collman was likely among the first people the terrorists killed as they took control of the plane.

Bradkowski, 65, now works as a nurse in Santa Maria, in Santa Barbara County. In years past, he has attended memorials in Boston with the other victims’ loved ones.

This year, on the 20th anniversary of the attacks, he plans to spend a

Courtesy Keith Bradkowski

Keith Bradkowski wears a 9/11 memorial lapel pin.

quiet time at home with his memories of Collman. He has already told friends he won’t be taking calls that day.

See page 11 >>

t

Community News>>

September 9-15, 2021 • Bay Area Reporter • 11

SF Pride postpones October street fair

by John Ferrannini

October 3, in the heart of San Francisco’s LGBTQ Castro district. The in-person event had been canceled last year due to the COVID pandemic.

Lopez, vice president of the fair’s board of directors who had been its executive director, touted the neighborhood party during the September 2 meeting of the Castro Merchants Association, saying that “a small but mighty group of volunteers” are doing their best to help make it happen.

The footprint will be similar to past fairs, covering the area between 16th and Market streets on the north end, to 19th and Castro streets on the south end, and covering 18th Street between Castro and Noe streets.

However, “we are not doing a number of stages like in the past, taking cue from what the folks over at Folsom Street [Events] are doing,” noted Lopez. “We are also doing dance and music areas.”

There will also be fewer alcohol beverage booths this year (only two), owing to the fact that many Castro neighborhood businesses have outdoor parklets.

There is a hiccup, however, in that the Castro fair has “no sponsors at the moment,” Lopez said.

“We’re open to low-level sponsor-

ships from merchants such as yourselves,” Lopez said.

Lopez said that if people want their logos on fair materials, they should email Castro Street Fair board President Jenn Meyer at jenn@localtakesf.com.

and leadership challenges in recent months.

Silicon Valley Pride seemingly went off without a hitch last weekend in downtown San Jose, having been canceled last year due to the health crisis.

But as the B.A.R. reported last month, some attendees of the Folsom Street Market event held July 25 in San Francisco reported testing positive for COVID in the days afterward.

Folsom Street Events, the producer of the fetish-themed event, is planning to hold its Megahood 2021 street party September 26. The pandemicera version of its internationally popular Folsom Street Fair will require attendees to wear masks and follow

other safety protocols.

The Bearrison Street Fair producers are also moving forward with their inaugural festival scheduled for October 23 taking place on Harrison Street in the city’s South of Market neighborhood. They recently announced that Los Angeles-based rapper Big Dipper would headline the daylong outdoor bash.

As for SF Pride, it noted in its statement that it looks “forward to bringing Freedom Day Fest to all of you in October 2022.”

“We hope you’ll agree that one of the sweetest things about San Francisco Pride – or any Pride, really – is seeing people who’ve only recently come out gather with their friends for their first time,” the statement reads.

“We remain as excited as we ever were to capture that spirit of wonder.”

The street fair was slated to take place on Valencia Street, a historic center for the queer female community. The statement added that when the street fair occurs in 2022, it will still be in the Mission.

SF Pride did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Pride Executive Director Fred Lopez is assisting with this year’s Castro Street Fair, which is set to be held Sunday,

Bradkowski lobbied for California Assembly Bill 2216, which gave domestic partners those rights.

“I just never ever saw myself being a lobbyist, but it was what got me out of bed every morning. I had this passionate energy that drove me every day,” Bradkowski said of his work to help change the law and business policies.

He attended the signing ceremony for the bill with then-Governor Gray Davis on September 10, 2002 and flew to Boston right after to attend the first memorial gathering there. Initially, American Airlines gave Collman’s final paycheck to Collman’s parents but with the help of Lambda Legal, Bradkowski met with an American Airlines official and got the company to change its policy regarding domestic partners and he was able to get the compensation payment from the airline that they gave to other families of

employees on the flight. He was also able to negotiate a payout of 60% of the September 11 Victims Compensation Fund, with the remaining 40% split between Collman’s divorced parents. The total amount varied for each victim depending on age and other factors. The total for Collman was in the range of $700,000 to $800,000 Bradkowski said.

Collman’s life is chronicled in the 2007 book “Jeff’s Way” by Douglass O’Keeffe from iUniverse. Bradkowski explained that Collman’s story was originally just a chapter in a book about 9/11 victims but the publisher was so taken by Collman’s life story that he asked O’Keeffe to write the whole book on his life. Bradkowski noted that Collman struggled to overcome a tough childhood after his mother walked out on his family when he was 8 or 9 years old. He said

Collman told him that he stopped crying one day and he refused to let it destroy his life, despite having to spend time in the foster care system.

“What he did was he swore that day that he stopped crying that he would never have another bad day in his life, and he never did. And no matter when we would have challenges or problems, we never ever went to bed angry with each other. Never, never.

And that’s something that he always insisted on,” Bradkowski said.

The Bette Midler song “Wind Beneath My Wings” from the “Beaches” movie was popular when the couple met, and Bradkowski said it became their song.

“We felt we each completed each other to a degree and that song just, it was ours,” Bradkowski told the B.A.R. He often started to write a letter to Midler to thank her for the song

and to tell her how it helped honor Collman’s memory and helped him through tough times but each time when he tried to write to her, he became overwhelmed with emotion, got writer’s block, and couldn’t continue.

After 20 years, he finally wrote his thank you to Midler in July and hopes he will one day hear back from her.

Bradkowski often looks at a letter he got from Collman on the couple’s 10 year anniversary on August 10, 2000, especially during this time of year around the anniversary of when they first met, Collman’s death, and his birthday.

“I love you truly, Keith Alan Bradkowski,” Collman wrote, “don’t ever forget that when you are feeling lonely, I am not home with you, just pull out this letter and read my words to you once again and know how much you mean to me now and always.” t

candidates in Alameda County, advancing queer rights is no longer an optional position. Because endorsing homophobes tells everyone, queer or not, that the Democratic Party – the party of equality – doesn’t really care about homophobia. That hurts, politically and personally.

There’s no excuse, especially for the Democratic Party, to support homophobes. From now on, if a candidate wants to be endorsed by the ACDCC, they don’t get to be homophobic. It shouldn’t be a high bar though, because not being homophobic is really pretty easy. t

Annie Koruga is a Bay Area-based social justice organizer who has been involved in a diverse array of campaigns from organizing for safe parking for vehicle residents to organizing statewide within the California Young Democrats to organizing a Black Lives Matter march. They believe that all fights for justice are inherently related, and that the path to justice involves community based organizing and advocacy. Koruga is a non-voting member of the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee who represents the Southern Alameda County Progressive Democrats.

nice to see our federal representatives standing with our electeds when they’re under attack.”

When asked to give examples of this strategy, Mahogany said, “I’ve been paying much attention to what’s going on locally – phone banks, door knocking with all our Democratic clubs – but across the nation our governors are being attacked, school boards, and our DA [Chesa Boudin]. Republicans are funding the undermining of Democrats in elected office.”

The recall ballot asks two questions: whether Newsom should be removed from office and then a vote for one of the 40-plus candidates to replace him. The California Democratic Party, Newsom, and many others have urged people to vote no on the first question and to leave the second one

blank. Newsom, who’s in his third year of a four-year term, is barred from running as a recall candidate.

Golden State residents have until next Tuesday to mail in or drop off their ballots.

Recent polling has found that conservatives have had difficulty in expanding their base of support for ousting Newsom, but several earlier surveys had shown a very close race on the first question of whether to remove Newsom from office.

In a sign of the huge stakes in the race, President Joe Biden is expected to campaign with Newsom Monday, most likely in Southern California.t

S

an Francisco Pride announced September 3 that its inaugural LGBTQ Freedom Day Festival – which had been scheduled to take place October 10 to coincide with National Coming Out Day the following day – has been postponed until next year.

The organization is also gearing up for board elections.

The street festival had been announced in August to take place in the Mission neighborhood. But in its newsletter sent Friday to supporters, SF Pride stated that it could not ensure the “safety and health” of wouldbe participants.

“As we work on our plans for this event, we’ve determined that to produce a street fair with the safety and health of our communities at top priority, at the quality expected of SF Pride, is just not feasible this fall,” the statement reads. “We are not canceling – we’re merely postponing.”

The decision comes just days after Oakland Pride announced the cancelation of its September 12 in-person parade and festival, citing COVID-19 concerns. As the Bay Area Reporter later reported, however, that organization had been facing financial

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9/11 memorial

From page 10

Bradkowski noted that this time of year marks also the anniversary of when he met Collman, as well as his birthday. The anniversary of their meeting was August 25. They had been together just over 11 years at the time of his death. September 28 is Collman’s birthday. The couple had planned to spend his 42nd birthday in Milan, Italy.

Fighting for LGBTQ rights

Collman’s death thrust Bradkowski into the position of being a lobbyist for LGBTQ rights. Although he and Collman were registered domestic partners Bradkowski mistakenly believed that would give him inheritance rights. With the help of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund

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Courtesy SF Pride

San Francisco Pride has announced that its inaugural LGBTQ Freedom Day Festival has been postponed to 2022.

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Business Briefing

From page 6

various shoots to patronize their stores, restaurants, or services.

“We want to encourage productions to shop locally,” she said. “It is going to definitely bring them more foot traffic into their businesses.”

Marvel has based a number of its movies in San Francisco and will be shooting scenes in the city for two of its upcoming slates, sequels of its “Ant-Man” and “Venom” movies. Song took particular pride in seeing “Shang-Chi” set in the city even if mostly filmed on a soundstage in Australia.

“Now to have an Asian superhero in a Marvel film that is nuts,” he said. “And for the lead actors to all be Asian, and it is not a foreign film, that is crazy, that is progress, and we are not done yet. There is more to be done.”

Song and Goldie’s photo parodies could be returning again. His new job as vice president of Gravitate PR gives him less time to focus on them, but he may post new ones on weekends and holidays.

His aim is to turn the series into a coffee table book or calendar benefiting a local LGBTQ nonprofit. If nothing else, it was a bonding experience with Goldie, now nearly 16 years old, Song will always treasure.

“He helped me through the pandemic and kept me out of trouble, I feel,” said Song. “By trouble I mean keeping me in a positive mood as much as we can.” t

Guest Opinion

From page 4

This is distinctly personal but it’s political too, because the personal is political, especially when your identity has become politicized and your community has become marginalized. I understand that the Democratic Party doesn’t endorse candidates because of their homophobia, but when it endorses candidates in spite of their homophobia, it sends a message that queer people are expendable in pursuit of some other political goal.

So politically, our amendment means that for Democratically-endorsed

Courtesy Jack Song

Jack Song and his dog Goldie dressed up as Aladdin and Abu, respectively, part of a photo series depicting the pair as characters from movies and TV shows they staged during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To see more of Song and Goldie’s photo series, visit Song’s Instagram account at https:// www.instagram.com/j2thaso/ To learn more about the San Francisco Film Commission, visit https://filmsf.org/

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Recall

From page 1

Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, the first openly gay person ever elected to statewide office, said that defeating the recall is essential to protecting LGBTQ rights in the Golden State.

One of those attending the rally was Honey Mahogany, a queer trans nonbinary person who is the chair of the San Francisco County Democratic Party and a legislative aide to District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney. Mahogany told the Bay Area Reporter that it is nice to see the vice president supporting local Democrats.

“It’s clear there’s been a nationwide strategy to oust Democrats and progressives across the spectrum,” Mahogany said. “So it’s

SF Pride Board vote

Eligible SF Pride members can vote in the board of directors elections that take place September 11-14 online.

The organization’s annual meeting will take place online September 11, from noon to 4 p.m. Board candidates typically make a few remarks at that meeting.

According to SF Pride’s newsletter, there are nine candidates running for 10 open seats. However, in order to win, a candidate must secure 50%-plus 1 of the vote, the organization noted.

Incumbents running include Suzanne Ford, Manuel Peréz, Nguyen Pham, and current board President Carolyn Wysinger.

Other candidates running are: Spring Collins, Maceo Persson, Di’ara Reid, George Smith III, and Janelle Vinson.

For more information on voting and the candidates, visit https://members.sfpride.org/election/ t

<< Legals

12 • Bay Area Reporter • September 2-8, 2021

SUMMONS DISTRICT COURT CLARK COUNTY, NEVADA CASE NO: A-21-832316-C DEPT NO: 06 YANLING ZHANG, AN INDIVIDUAL, PLAINTIFF, VS. YANHUI ZHANG, AN INDIVIDUAL; DOES I THROUGH X AND ROE CORPORATIONS I THROUGH X, INCLUSIVE, DEFENDANT SUMMONS - YANHUI ZHANG NOTICE! YOU HAVE BEEN SUED. THE COURT MAY DECIDE AGAINST YOU WITHOUT YOUR BEING HEARD UNLESS YOU RESPOND WITHIN 20 DAYS. READ THE INFORMATION BELOW.

To the Defendant: A civil Complaint has been filed by the plaintiff against you for relief set forth in the Complaint. 1. If you intend to defend this lawsuit. Within 20 days after this Summons is served on you exclusive of the day of service, you must do the following: a. File with the Clerk of this Court, whose address is shown below, a formal written response to the Complaint in accordance with the rules of the Court. B. Serve a copy of your response upon the attorney whose name and address is shown below. 2. Unless you respond, your default will be entered upon application of the plaintiff and this Court may enter judgment against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint, which could result in the taking of money or property or other relief requested in the Complaint. 3. If you intend to seek the advice of an attorney in this matter, you should do so promptly so that your response may be filed on time. 4. The State of Nevada, its political subdivisions, agencies, officers, employees, board members, commission members, and legislators, each have 45 days after service of this Summons within which to file an Answer or other responsive pleading to the Complaint. Issued at the direction of: MICHAEL M. LIN ESQ. (NEVADA BAR NO. 010392); HONG-NGOC PHAN, ESQ. (NEVADA BAR NO. 15453); 5288 Spring Mtn Rd. #103, Las Vegas, NV 89146; (702) 871-9888; Attorney for Plaintiff. Steven D. Grierson, Clerk of the Court, Robyn Rodriguez, Regional Justice Center, 200 Lewis Ave., Las Vegas, NV 89155; 04/06/2021.

AUG 19, 26, SEP 02, 09, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039454000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as NEW DOOR, 891 BEACH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109.

This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CHAD ENG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/10/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/10/21.

AUG 19, 26, SEP 02, 09, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039456400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as FOUR SEASONS NAIL & SPA, 1151-B COURTLAND AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed GIANG T. VU. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/12/09. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/11/21.

AUG 19, 26, SEP 02, 09, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039452500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as THE HOUSE OF HUMMUS, 5 MASONIC AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed TINA HADDAD. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/15/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/09/21.

AUG 19, 26, SEP 02, 09, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039455600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as NAILS BY JENNY, 50 LELAND AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed NANCY HAHOANG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/17/94. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/11/21.

AUG 19, 26, SEP 02, 09, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039458400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as DUMPLING & BUN EXPRESS, 729 CLAY ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed QUYNH TU LU. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/12/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/12/21.

AUG 19, 26, SEP 02, 09, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039457600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as FCO. BARBER SHOP, 30 MASON ST #C101, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JOSE GABRIEL FLORES PEREZ VAVRINA. 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 08/12/21.

AUG 19, 26, SEP 02, 09, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039444700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SULAMITA BOUTIQUE, 1148 MARLESTA RD, PINOLE, CA 94564. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LAUREN TORRES. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/01/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/04/21.

AUG 19, 26, SEP 02, 09, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039458000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as MEDESTHETICS RX, 2300 SUTTER ST #303, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LINDA GEORGEDES. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/22/02. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/12/21.

AUG 19, 26, SEP 02, 09, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039461800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SANJALISCO RESTAURANT, 901 SOUTH VAN NESS AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DOLORES REYES. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/01/10. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/17/21.

AUG 19, 26, SEP 02, 09, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039458700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS APPAREL, 540 LEAVENWORTH ST #201, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DANNY RENEE SANDERS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/05/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/13/21.

AUG 19, 26, SEP 02, 09, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039458500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as ANNIE’S HOT DOGS, 1330 25TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed NEW YORK FRANKFURTER CO OF CA INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/00. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/13/21.

AUG 19, 26, SEP 02, 09, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039418900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as HUMMUS BODEGA, 404 20TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed TABOONSF INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/28/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/22/21.

AUG 19, 26, SEP 02, 09, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039457500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as NUCCI ENTERPRISES; THE SOCIETY OF POUR CHOICES; LUPO NUCCI; 2182 SUTTER ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by a married couple, and is signed MARCO IANNUCCI & LINDSEY IANNUCCI. 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 08/12/21.

AUG 19, 26, SEP 02, 09, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039448800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as MOCHINUT SF, 2126 IRVING ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed IRVING ENTERPRISES LLC (CA).

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/01/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/06/21.

AUG 19, 26, SEP 02, 09, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039438000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as MILLAY, 691 14TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed LAY BROTHERS LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/23/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/02/21.

AUG 19, 26, SEP 02, 09, 2021 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-032490600

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as ZEN DAY SPA, 775 HAIGHT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business was conducted by a limited liability company and signed

by WARDEN HOLDINGS, LLC (CA). The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 01/13/10.

AUG 19, 26, SEP 02, 09, 2021 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-21-556553

In the matter of the application of SORMEH KASHEF HAGHIGHI, 2133A LYON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner SORMEH KASHEF HAGHIGHI is requesting that the name SORMEH KASHEF HAGHIGHI be changed to SORMEH KASHEF. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Rm. 103 on the 30th of SEPTEMBER 2021 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

AUG 26, SEP 02, 09, 16, 2021 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-21-556560 In the matter of the application of FENGHUAN LI, 2216 LARKIN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner FENGHUAN LI is requesting that the name FENGHUAN LI be changed to KRISTEN H. LI. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N on the 30th of SEPTEMBER 2021 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

AUG 26, SEP 02, 09, 16, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039459600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as COMPRESSOR WORKS, 341 10TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed HANS KELLER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/01/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/16/21.

AUG 26, SEP 02, 09, 16, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039456500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SAILING SAN FRANCISCO, 1221 37TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JONATHAN YELDA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/01/16. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/11/21.

AUG 26, SEP 02, 09, 16, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039464600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as HULKS TOWING, 1306 GILMAN AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed WALTER BUESO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/20/21.

AUG 26, SEP 02, 09, 16, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039466000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as LARRY’S LIMO SERVICE, 685 48TH AVE #6, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LARRY S. SOLOMON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/14/08. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/23/21.

AUG 26, SEP 02, 09, 16, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039453000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as CLOCKWORK, 370 DE HARO ST #A4, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed ELEMENTREE INC. (DE). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/04/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/09/21.

AUG 26, SEP 02, 09, 16, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039448000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as MASON BOTTLE, 791E SIBLEY RD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94129. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed KINETIKA INC. (DE). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/18/15. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/06/21.

AUG 26, SEP 02, 09, 16, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039447100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as THE DOREL, 1507 CALIFORNIA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed CAL LARK LLC (CA).

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/23/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/05/21.

AUG 26, SEP 02, 09, 16, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039463600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as MILLER & LUX, 70 TERRY A FRANCOIS BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94158.This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed LLH TGO 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 08/19/21.

AUG 26, SEP 02, 09, 16, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039458900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as KING OF THAI NOODLE HOUSE TARAVAL, 1541 TARAVAL ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed KING OF THAI NOODLE HOUSE TARAVAL 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 08/13/21.

AUG 26, SEP 02, 09, 16, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039463800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as PICA PICA, 401 VALENCIA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed MEGAS (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 08/19/21.

AUG 26, SEP 02, 09, 16, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039465200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as MAISON DE ETOILE, 1770 POST ST #233, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed MAISON DE ETOILE LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/19/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/23/21.

AUG 26, SEP 02, 09, 16, 2021 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-039267200

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as AMERICAN SPA & SALON AT SF, 1327 9TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112.

This business was conducted by an individual and signed

by CONNIE LY. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/22/21.

AUG 26, SEP 02, 09, 16, 2021 NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF MARY QUINTANA AKA MARY ELIZABETH QUINTANA IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO: FILE PES-21-304732

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of MARY QUINTANA AKA MARY ELIZABETH QUINTANA, C/O SCHNEIDER LAW, 315 MONTGOMERY ST #1025, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94104. A Petition for Probate has been filed by CARY SCHNEIDER in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. The Petition for Probate requests that CARY SCHNEIDER be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. The petition requests the decedent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court. The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority. A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: SEPTEMBER 22, 2021, 9:00 am, Dept. 204, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. If you object to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. If you are a creditor or contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the latter of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined by section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. You may examine the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for petitioner: BARRY SCHNEIDER, ESQ. (SBN #62668), SCHNEIDER LAW, 315 MONTGOMERY ST #1025, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94104; Ph. (415) 781-6500.

SEP 02, 09, 16, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039467300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SAGE BAKEHOUSE, 3 CLEMENT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118.

This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed NICHOLAS LEE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/15/15. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/24/21.

SEP 02, 09, 16, 23, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039455100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as MULAN’S MARKET, 2570 NORIEGA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LAN ZHU. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/08/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/10/21.

SEP 02, 09, 16, 23, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039465600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as BTOOPOSITIVE, 125 3RD AVE #4, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed BRANDON DAVIS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/27/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/23/21.

SEP 02, 09, 16, 23, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039468500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as BABYFACED PRODUCTIONS, 1044 REVERE AVE #C-78, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124.This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed GIOTTO HARRISON.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 08/26/21.

SEP 02, 09, 16, 23, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039474100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as VAUTIS.AI, 1060 HOWARD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103.

This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JEFFREY ARMIJO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/23/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/18/21.

SEP 02, 09, 16, 23, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039466800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as ALPACA FASHION, PIER 39 J-13, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a married couple, and is signed TITO REYES & NELLY REYES. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/02/02. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/24/21.

SEP 02, 09, 16, 23, 2021

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039468700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as UNION YEE LLC, 533-537 UNION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133.

This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed YEE FAMILY UNION STREET PROPERTY LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/27/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/26/21.

SEP 02, 09, 16, 23, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039468800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as JASPER YEE LLC, 124-132 JASPER PL, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed YEE FAMILY JASPER PROPERTY LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/27/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/26/21.

SEP 02, 09, 16, 23, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039465000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as COMANCHE JANITORIAL SERVICES, 77 PASADENA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed COMANCHE VENTURES LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/18/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/20/21.

SEP 02, 09, 16, 23, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039468000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SKYSCRAPER MAINTENANCE SERVICES, 3908 THIRD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed SKYSCRAPER MAINTENANCE SERVICES (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/23/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/25/21.

SEP 02, 09, 16, 23, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039470700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as ALLEN DENSON ART SERVICES LLC, 145 NATOMA ST BLDG, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed ALLEN DENSON ART SERVICES LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/29/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/30/21.

SEP 02, 09, 16, 23, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039456000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SAFFYRE ULTRA DETAILING SERVICES, 1216 73RD AVE C, OAKLAND, CA 94621. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed SAFFYRE ENTERPRISES LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/01/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/11/21.

SEP 02, 09, 16, 23, 2021 NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF ROSS C. GORDON AKA ROSS COCHRAN GORDON IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO: FILE PES-21-304745

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of ROSS C. GORDON,AKA ROSS COCHRAN GORDON,AKA ROSS GORDON, C/O MARY P.WHITE (SB#087007),WHITE LAW PC, 2200 SAND HILL RD #220, MENLO PARK, CA 94025.A Petition for Probate has been filed

by ROBERT C. GORDON III in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco.The Petition for Probate requests that ROBERT C. GORDON III be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.The petition requests the decedent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate.The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court.The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: OCTOBER 04, 2021, 9:00 am, Rm. 204, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. If you object to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing.Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. If you are a creditor or contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the latter of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined by section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor.You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.You may examine the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250.A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.Attorney for petitioner: MARY P.WHITE (SB#087007),WHITE LAW PC, 2200 SAND HILL RD #220, MENLO PARK, CA 94025; Ph. (650) 854-7950.

SEP 09, 16, 23, 2021 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-21-556589

In the matter of the application of BRIAN WEI CHAN & KELLY KIMIKO LEONG, 2239 32ND AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner BRIAN WEI CHAN & KELLY KIMIKO LEONG is requesting that the name COLIN KUMA LEONG-CHAN

t

be changed to COLIN KUMA LEONG 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 14th of OCTOBER 2021 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

SEP 09, 16, 23, 30, 2021 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-21-556593 In the matter of the application of STREET GARDNER, PO BOX 721, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94104, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner STREET GARDNER is requesting that the name STREET GARDNER AKA MALE GARDNER be changed to STREET GARDNER. 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 19th of OCTOBER 2021 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

SEP 09, 16, 23, 30, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039472100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as KOKORO KARA WELLNESS; PUCKER PUNCH COSMETICS; 3442 SACRAMENTO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118.

This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CHERYL ROUCH. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/31/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/31/21.

SEP 09, 16, 23, 30, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039472500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as CASA SANCHEZ DISTRIBUTING, 4652 CALIFORNIA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JAMES SANCHEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/18/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/01/21.

SEP 09, 16, 23, 30, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039475800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as DOOG GOOD FOOD, 3450 SACRAMENTO ST #107, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118.This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ANTOINE JOHNSON.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 09/07/21.

SEP 09, 16, 23, 30, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039471800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as BODIED BY YESI, 531 GEARY ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102.

This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed YEZENIA IBARRA. 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 08/31/21.

SEP 09, 16, 23, 30, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039474200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as STILL HERE SF 415, 751 GRAFTON AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed JEANETTE WRIGHT, NICOLE FITT & PAULA HARRELL. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/15/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 09/02/21.

SEP 09, 16, 23, 30, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039471900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SEVENTEEN & COLE MARKET, 1400 COLE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a corporation. and is signed FATENA, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/31/21.

SEP 09, 16, 23, 30, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039464200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as LEOS ROOFING, 2679 HENRY AVE, PINOLE, CA 94564. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed LEONARDOS ROOFING INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/20/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/20/21.

SEP 09, 16, 23, 30, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039473800

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SEP 09, 16, 23, 30, 2021 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039457200

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SEP 09, 16, 23, 30, 2021

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by Gregg Shapiro

I

t’s been said that timing is everything, and in the case of gay singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, the saying holds true. In July of 2020, at least seven months into the COVID-19 pandemic, he released his eighth pop music studio album Unfollow the Rules.

It was significant because it was his first in 12 years. Full of drama, hopefulness, and humor, it was among his best work, and even earned a Grammy nomination.

In the past, Wainwright would have embarked on a multi-city (and continent) concert tour, but that was not possible now. As inventive as ever, Wainwright began presenting a regular series of intimate, live-streamed performances. Additionally, he recorded strippeddown versions of the album’s songs (and a few others), accompanied by guitar, piano, and string quartet, at the Paramour Mansion in L.A. That recording, now known as Unfollow the Rules (The Paramour Session) (BMG), is now being released as an album, just in time for Wainwright to finally embark on his longawaited concert tour. Rufus was kind enough to make time for an interview in advance of the tour and the album’s release.

Gay singer-songwriter unfollows the rules Rufus Wainwright

You were one of the artists who make good use of the virtual performance world with your live-streamed “robe recitals” and such. What did being able to do that mean to you as a performer?

I think the main thing it meant to me was sort of a newfound respect for social media. Before (that) I was incredibly snobbish about it all [laughs]. Generational; I poo-pooed Instagram and Facebook and so forth. I didn’t really feel like participating. But now, arguably, thanks to those outlets, I was able to maintain my career and keep the connection to my fans. I have a more realistic approach now to social media. I still don’t think it’s the greatest thing in the world, but it doesn’t have to be your enemy, either.

Rufus Does Judy at Capitol Studios, your Judy Garland 99th birthday tribute, is another good example of the power of live-

streaming. How is it that Renée Zellweger, who won an Oscar for portraying Garland in the movie Judy, was selected as the only member of the audience in the studio?

We’ve crossed paths for many years. We have a lot of friends in common. When it came time for her to do the Judy movie, she reached out to me when they were putting the finishing touches on the soundtrack and asked if I’d sing with her on one of the songs, which I subsequently did; “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

When I finally met her, we were able to finally unpack all these parallel situations that we lived through. It was like we had been friends all along. That dovetailed into the Judy tribute.

Working at Capitol Records Studios, we had to be cognizant of COVID protocol and couldn’t allow that many people in. Who better than Renée? That’s how it happened.

George Kraychyk/Hulu

Gregg Shapiro: I’d like to begin by wishing you a belated happy ninth wedding anniversary. Did you and Jörn (Weisbrodt) do anything special to celebrate the occasion?

Rufus Wainwright: Thank you! I think we’re saving it for our tenth. We had a nice evening with our daughter and kept it low-key.

Rufus Wainwright

Dystopian directions The Lavender Tube on ‘The Handmaid’s Tale,’ ‘Queer as Folk’s reboot & more

by Victoria A. Brownworth

O

ur climate crisis summer has officially ended with Labor Day and Rosh Hashanah falling on the same day. And if ever there were a time for days of atonement among some in this country, it’s now.

We ended up underwater on the East Coast last week in a dizzying 48 hours of tornado

alerts in a non-tornado city as 10 inches of rain fell and our phone kept lighting up with flash flood warnings.

Meanwhile half our family has been dealing with fires from Colorado to California all summer. And yet Larry Elder remains unconvinced about the climate crisis even as he’s in its epicenter; a climate denialist, and a COVID denialist and anti-vaxxer.

In a one-on-one interview with CNN’s veteran reporter Joe Johns, Elder explained his

The Handmaid’s Tale

views on everything from COVID to climate to women. Yikes. The GOP had to work to find someone as bad as Donald Trump.

No matter what, vote No on the recall.

Handmaid’s Tale Redux

Texas. The Trump Supreme Court. Bodily autonomy denied. Bounties placed on the heads of anyone who attempts to get an abortion after six weeks when almost no one knows they are pregnant.

Your new LP Unfollow the Rules (The Paramour Session) features re-recordings of a few of the songs from 2020’s Unfollow the Rules album. Was the genesis of the project related to being isolated and COVID? I think basically that whole album is about celebrating a kind of event that occurs during a very intense period in history, especially in Los Angeles. It was at the height of the pandemic and then also Black Lives Matter protests were occurring.

We were also on the cusp of having all these fires.

So L.A., in particular, was a really vibey place.

We did the concert around the original (2020) release of the album. I wanted to do something to somehow capture some of that ethos and intensity. Thankfully, we recorded it really nicely. I wanted to share that. I also think it’s a nice way of reacquainting people with the album that I’m now finally going out to tour.

See page 14 >> On Sept. 3, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) asserted that the new Texas abortion law is like The Handmaid’s Tale, and said, “When abortion is illegal, rich women still get abortions.”

Yet corrective rape of lesbians, assaults on bisexual women and trans men are all lived realities in our anti-LGBTQ society. There is no exception for rape or incest in the Texas law.

But there will be many people eager to inform on a queer person seeking an abortion for that $10,000 bounty.

In The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred (Elisabeth Moss) wonders who informed on her and her family: “It could have been a neighbor, watching our car pull out from the driveway in the morning, acting on a hunch, tipping them off for a gold star on someone’s list.”

The four seasons of the Emmy-winning and queer-infused The Handmaid’s Tale are presented as dystopia, but we are living that reality now, right here, not in Gilead, the setting of the series.

Gilead is ruled by a fundamentalist regime that treats women as property of the state, and is faced with environmental disasters and a plummeting birth rate. In a desperate attempt to repopulate a devastated world, the few remaining fertile women are forced into sexual servitude.

Art imitating life imitating art. If you haven’t seen this stellar series, season four of which just ended in June, now is a good time to watch, as new series will be airing in October. The Handmaid’s Tale is the first show produced by Hulu to win a major award as well as the first series on a streaming service to win an Emmy for Outstanding Series.

See page 14 >>

<< Film

14 • Bay Area Reporter • September 9-15, 2021

Fauci on film documentary spans the virologist’s work on two pandemics

by Brian Bromberger

T

o some he is a hero, the rock star, the savior of the nation. To others he is a bad guy, a disaster, the enemy. It seems no one can be neutral

<<

Rufus Wainwright

From page 13

I’m glad you mentioned the ethos of the time and everything that was taking place. One of the catalog songs you recorded for Unfollow the Rules (The Paramour Session) is “Going to a Town” which, when it was first released in 2007, was already a powerful song.

Now, having lived through the four disastrous years of President Biden’s predecessor, it takes on even greater meaning. Does that have anything to do with why you chose to include this new version?

Definitely. At the moment that this

<<

about Anthony Fauci. As he himself says in the new documentary Fauci made by National Geographic films in partnership with Magnolia Pictures, “I represent the truth which makes people uncomfortable (i.e. correcting lies told by Trump about COVID).”

He has become a cultural icon, the government face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Along with the glory, fame (i.e People naming him the “Sexiest Man Who Kept Us Alive”), and recognition, comes the cost of vitriol from adversaries in a bitterly partisan country where science has become politicized.

The film, co-directed and produced by John Hoffman and Janet Tobias, is clearly a fan of Fauci as it narrates his life and career, but is candid about the criticisms he has endured in his almost fortyyear stint as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious

Distopian directions

From page 13

More Queer as Folk

For years we have wanted a reboot of the iconic, but Queer as Folk series and now it is happening. Currently in pre-production with a chef’s kiss perfect and pretty cast, the series will be aired on NBC Universal’s streaming platform Peacock.

NBC describes Queer as Folk as “a

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Rufus Wainwright performing in Los Angeles on The Late Late Show

concert was happening, we were still in the Trump years, and it was necessary to broadcast the potential di-

vibrant re-imagining of the groundbreaking British series created by Russell T. Davies, exploring a diverse group of friends in New Orleans whose lives are transformed in the aftermath of a tragedy.”

Oh yes. We used to live in New Orleans and it is the perfect setting for tragedy and queerness, as Tennessee Williams made vividly clear.

Openly gay Canadian director, screenwriter and producer Stephen Dunn is the show runner. Dunn cre-

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Diseases (NIAID). He has served under seven presidents, advising them on outbreaks of HIV/AIDS, SARS, Ebola, and COVID-19, the longestserving public health leader in Washington, D.C. The film’s strength, through its unprecedented access, is to give viewers a rare intimate glimpse of the private man behind the news stories, though mostly what you see is what you get.

Born in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, this scrappy neighborhood toughened him not to be intimidated or “take shit” from anyone. His Jesuit high school imprinted on him the importance of service to others and personal responsibility.

Eventually he attended Cornell Medical School and fell in love with clinical medicine. He became a medical researcher at the National Institute of Health, originally focusing on vasculitis, but in 1981 became intrigued with a strange pneumonia affecting gay men, later identified as AIDS. It changed the direction of his research, becoming interested in how HIV destroys the body’s defenses leading to its susceptibility to deadly

infections. Colleagues warned him this new turn would ruin his career, but Fauci was ambitious and dedicated himself to 12-hour workdays.

saster at hand. So we sang that song.

I’m a big supporter of Biden, and I actually think he’s doing an incredible job in a lot of ways. That being said, America doesn’t just turn over a new leaf every time a new president comes into office. There’s a lot to contend with; certainly, what’s going on now with Afghanistan. We need to learn from these lessons. The song is really about how America just doesn’t. It’s a warning for that, which sadly is an ever-present danger.

my career. We both worked a lot with Jon Brion. She used to come see me, I used to go see her. There was a legendary place called the Largo, which still exists, but it was in another location on Fairfax. It was a real scene, and we were both privileged to be part of that period. I’m happy that we’re both around and still working and that there’s still interest.

One of the dates on your upcoming tour includes a show with Aimee Mann. Please something about sharing the bill with Aimee.

I’ve known Aimee since I began ated, wrote and executive produced the series and will also direct the pilot episode.

Jaclyn Moore is an executive producer and writer for the series. Moore is an award-winning trans writer whose credits include Dear White People and Love Life.

Dunn said, “When the show originally aired, the idea of unapologetic queer stories on TV was so provocative that I felt I could only watch Queer As Folk in secret. But so much has changed in the last 20 years and how wonderful would it be if the next generation didn’t have to watch Queer As Folk alone in their dank basements with the sound muted, but with their family and friends and the volume cranked all the way to the max.”

The show’s cast includes one of our faves, Jesse James Keitel, who has been heartbreakingly good as the trans feminine singer on ABC’s Big Sky (new season starts Sept. 30!). Keitel is the first nonbinary actor to play a nonbinary series regular on primetime TV. Johnny Sibilly, Devin Way, Candace Grace and Fin Argus are also among the stellar and did we say gorgeous cast.

Also in the cast is Ryan O’Connell, the star of Netflix’s Special. O’Connell will also be executive producing and writing for the series. It will be groundbreaking to have a disabled and sexually active gay character in the ensemble cast.

Representation Matters

Some personal faves –Hacks, I May Destroy You and Pose– were among the winners at GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics’ Dorian TV Awards.

Pose was named best drama series. Mj Rodriguez, one of the series central characters, received the LGBTQIA Trailblazer Award

Defined by HIV

Fauci admits that his career and identity was defined by HIV. Fauci addressed publicly false concerns that AIDS could be transmitted by casual contact. He fought against the stigma and discrimination against gay men engendered by the disease.

PWAs deserved compassion, not fear.

Because the federal government ignored the epidemic for six years, Fauci became the focal point of anger by Larry Kramer and ACT UP. To his credit, Fauci reached out and faced head-on the hostile, distrustful activists. He went to listen and defended the scientific rationale of how the government was fighting the disease and advancing new treatments, even as the process was criticized as too slow.

But the more he heard, he realized the activists were knowledgeable about the disease and perhaps needed to be part of the FDA process

Aimee’s new album Queens of the Summer Hotel consists of songs she wrote for a musical theater piece, which made me wonder if you’re able to tell the readers about the musical theater projects on which you are working?

I have several irons in the fire, as

t

of developing and testing untried drugs.

Fauci became instrumental in changing the procedures for clinical trials of new drugs, that patient’s voices needed to be included, as it makes better science. Accordingly, innovative treatments reach affected patients faster, not only for AIDS, but all serious, potentially fatal diseases.

AIDS activists Michael Manganiello, Robert Vazquez-Pacheco, and especially Peter Staley recount this history and their transformation from opposing Fauci to becoming his cheerleaders.

Fauci became the principal architect of President George W. Bush’s PEPFAR program for AIDS relief, primarily in Africa, which has saved millions of lives. Deservedly, President Bush bestowed the Medal of Freedom on him in 2008. Perhaps the most poignant moment of the movie is Fauci breaking down remembering patients who died of AIDS, a reaction he attributes to PTSD. See page 15 >> they say. It’s sort of a necessity to do that in the theater world because lightning strikes rarely [laughs]. But there’s nothing I can really advertise right away. All I can say is that I’m facing it with my full force and dedication. Since my career began, people have always asked me when I was going to write a musical. That question is answered now. I am going to do a musical. That’s all I can say. t Read the full interview on www.ebar.com Rufus Wainwright performs at Mountain Winery’s ampitheatre in Saratoga, with Aimee Mann, Sept.

12. $39-$475. www.mountainwinery.com / rufuswainwright.com

Devin Way, Ryan O’Connell, Johnny Sibilly and Candace Grace are among the cast of the new Queer as Folk.

“for creating art that inspires, truth and equity.” In July, Rodriguez became the first trans actor nominated for an Emmy in the lead drama category.

“There’s a generation behind me that needs to know what transness looks like,” Rodriquez said while accepting the Dorian Award. “I’m going to keep trying my best and instill hope.”

The Wilde Wit Award went to Saturday Night Live performer Bowen Yang. That honor goes to a “performer, writer or commentator whose observations both challenge and amuse.”

While accepting the accolade, Yang said he was a major fan of the award’s namesake, Oscar Wilde, so his Dorian win felt “a little too onthe-nose.”

Michaela Coel and her HBO Max series I May Destroy You won three awards.

Other shows and documentaries, including Disney+’s WandaVision, FX’s Framing Britney Spears, Showtime’s Ziwe, VH1’s RuPaul’s Drag Race, and Hulu’s Love, Victor also won.

GALECA’s Dorian TV Awards, named after the brilliant and acerbic Irish poet Oscar Wilde, began in 2009. The awards “give a toast to the finest in movies and television across the board, from mainstream to queer.”

Boy Band in Paradise

Perennial boy band cutie Lance Bass loves The Bachelor and has hosted Bachelor in Paradise. Bass told Variety in an exclusive mini zoom interview, “If you want the most dramatic season ever, do an LGBT version.”

Bass said, “I think maybe it’s the time for ‘The Bachelor’ to do a gay Bachelor I think that would be so much fun,” Bass added, “And I definitely know a host if you need it. I have not talked to anyone about that, but I would be so down.”

There have been few dating series with queer contestants and we would so watch every minute of a gay Bachelor. Make it happen, ABC! So for the fun and the frolicsome, the dramatic and dystopian, you really must stay tuned. t

t

Books >>

September 9-15, 2021 • Bay Area Reporter • 15

‘Alec’ - William di Canzio’s new view on Forster’s ‘Maurice’

by Brian Bromberger

I

n the last two decades, a popular literary trend has been modern retellings of classic novels, whether it be updating them or narrating them from a different character or perspective. Some successful examples of this reappropriation have been: The Hours by Michael Cunningham, which re-envisioned Virginia Woolf ’s Mrs. Dalloway in three different eras; Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding. which modernized Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy from Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice into contemporary Londoners; and March by Geraldine Brooks, which reimagined Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women from the viewpoint of the missing Civil War soldier father Mr. March.

Now we have William di Canzio’s gay adaptation of E.M. Forster’s landmark novel Maurice inspired by the classic love story of upper-class stockbroker Maurice Hall and working-class gameskeeper Alec Scudder.

The novel was written in 1913/1914 but due to legal issues (homosexuality in England wasn’t decriminalized until 1967) and believing the public attitudes wouldn’t be favorable, it wasn’t published until 1971 after Forster died. The book was adapted into a hit film by Merchant Ivory in 1987.

Forster was adamant that his book have an idyllic ending since during his lifetime, gay characters were often murdered, committed suicide, or led lives of quiet and sad desperation.

Playwright William di Canzio has decided to ask what happened to this iconic couple once they resolved to remain together. Did they live happily ever after? Di Canzio tells this story from the stance of Alec Scudder, providing us with his

<<

Fauci on film

From page 14

Pandemic parallels

Fauci says the blowback from critics is far worse with COVID than it was with AIDS, declaring, “We will get through the coronavirus despite politicization and divisiveness, not because of it.”

Fauci has received so many death threats (including opening a letter which spewed out white powder in his face that could have been anthrax or ricin, but fortunately was just a hoax) that a Secret Service agent follows him everywhere. Fauci claims he has never thought for one moment that

author William di Canzio

The edition of Maurice published in 1987; author E.M. Forster

past history as well as their future together once Maurice ends.

Di Canzio narrates Alec’s beginnings with his birth in Dorset in 1893. He recognizes early he’s attracted to men, having his first sexual experience with a male bodybuilder.

He doesn’t have any shame about his homosexuality or make any excuses for it. He’s excellent at sports and exercises with weights to develop

a handsome physique which gives him confidence to make his way in the world. Having left school, he has successive servant jobs eventually becoming gameskeeper at Penge where he meets Maurice.

Di Canzio quotes dialogue almost verbatim from Forster, and ties the two books together (they easily could be read in tandem with each other), though we see the same courtship

he should resign, believing we can get through this crisis if we put our minds to it with sustained investments in science. Still, no critics of his COVID policies appear on-camera.

The film is largely an extended interview with Fauci in which he defends his positions, interspersed with comments from colleagues, celebrity friends, former patients, and family members.

Privately, Fauci comes across as playful and fun, as well as being brilliant and possessing integrity, empathy, energy, and flexibility, all of which have contributed to his success and longevity as a survivor of a brutal bureaucratic system.

It is fascinating that two pandem-

ics have bookended his career. At the end of Fauci, he hopes that because of the lessons learned from COVID, future emerging infections won’t become pandemics. If that indeed comes to pass, succeeding generations will have Dr. Fauci to thank. Valuable insights into the man and his service provided by this mostly-captivatingwith-some-dry-spells-film, will help audiences understand what has made him who he is.

Fauci will open at theaters that have mandated proof of vaccination for entrance, including the Vogue Theater where it will screen starting September 10. www.films.nationalgeographic.com/fauci. t

50 years in 50 weeks: Sisters’ hood in 1993

by Jim Provenzano

A

h, 1993: Pride’s ‘Year of the Queer’ (Thanks, Ggreg Taylor!), the March on Washington, the dawn of the Clinton era (and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell), continued AIDS deaths and resultant obits made for losses amid wins.

In Arts, David Drake’s The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me made its Bay Area debut (April 8), while Last Call at Maud’s documented the demise of a historic lesbian bar (Feb. 4), and my own calendar listings took on arty collage style in old time Photostat paste-up (Feb 19).

In nightlife, Gus Bean’s Colossus debuted to popular attendance (Jan 7).

But perhaps the most visually striking lead Arts feature of 1993 showcased the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, in the April 15 issue. Tim Farrell writes about the drag nun collective being banned from the March

on Washington’s stage for being “too controversial and not the appropriate image” for C-Span and ‘the movement.’

The late Sister X assailed the March’s “conservative gay white boys” and posed in Beth Kukucka’s photo, Death of the Angels.

“We’re going to Washington, but on whose terms?” asked Sister X. “Clinton is willing to embrace gay people, but is it on his terms?”

Sister Vicious Power Hungry Bitch added, “A token drag queen performing onstage as eye candy and comic relief is not a commitment to the visibility of the transgender and queer community and their issues.”

That controversy of assimilation versus radical queer identity continues.

Read more of B.A.R. issues at https://archive.org/details/ bayareareporter

events from Alec’s perspective rather than Maurice’s. They quickly fall in love in an all-consuming romance.

They plan to buy land in the countryside where they can raise wild game to sell to restaurants and hotels.

They meet other ‘bohemian’ men, all of whom are portrayed positively.

Alec and Maurice seem intent to “set their life together as outlaws,” but from the dates the reader will guess that World War I will intrude on their happiness. They decide to enlist, hoping they will be stationed together, but due to their class differences they’re separated, with Alec as infantryman sent to the Somme, and Maurice as an officer serving at Gallipoli. Both experience senseless violence and loss. Do they survive and are they reunited? No spoilers will be telegraphed here.

What is noteworthy about di Canzio’s approach is how well he describes the underground gay lifestyle both before and during the war, with private parties, bars, brothels, often in secret coded language, as imprisonment was always a distinct possibility for any missteps. Yet he mimics very well Forster’s style and language, exuding his intelligence, humanism, and mystical links with the past.

The war destroyed the world they knew and they had to somehow recreate a new life for themselves despite feeling rejected by society. And di Canzio does render the period faithfully, though it could be argued that Alec’s self-awareness and acceptance about his sexuality seems a tad bit post-Stonewall, though not inconceivable.

The theme of class differences is maintained throughout the novel showing how they complicate any relationship. The characters’ sexuality is described in a more erotic,

though not explicit, fashion than Forster, though even in the 1970s the author was criticized for awkward depictions of gay love.

Probably the strongest passages are the vivid battle scenes, describing the horrors of war in the trenches all realistic in their agonizing details and maintaining suspense as to what will happen.

But despite their separation, the spotlight remains on Alec and Maurice’s love for each other and how challenging it was to create a safe space for that devotion to blossom and mature.

However, a side subplot about Maurice’s sister Kitty, which plays a role in the ending, is less engrossing.

Also, because Clive Durham was such a central figure in Maurice, one kept hoping there might be another meeting between the two characters and how Alec might have viewed such a reunion, but alas there was no such encounter. Finally, some readers might find the ending not as emotionally satisfying as one might have wished.

Still, overall this is a valiant attempt and there’s no doubt anyone who read Maurice or has seen the film, must have wondered how their life together might have enfolded despite all the odds stacked against them. Di Canzio satisfies those yearnings while remaining loyal to Forster’s intent, providing a plausible if not terribly inspirational conclusion. If you’re in the mood for an ardent love story, Alec will richly serve that purpose in a way that even Forster himself might have approved. t Alec: A Novel by William di Canzio.

Farrar, Straus and Giroux ($27.00) www.us.macmillan.com/author/ williamdicanzio

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