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Vol. 56 • No. 16 • April 16-22, 2026

Swalwell resigns from Congress; ends bid for California governor by Cynthia Laird and Matthew S. Bajko

From Dallas Voice

The rainbow flag will fly again at the Stonewall National Monument in New York City, following a court-enforceable settlement.

Stonewall flag to fly again by John Ferrannini

court-enforceable settlement requires the National Park Service to restore the Pride flag to the Stonewall National Monument in Manhattan, according to a news release from the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. The news comes after the Trump administration ordered the flag removed in February. “The sudden, arbitrary, and capricious removal of the Pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument was yet another act by this administration to erase the LGBTQ+ community,” stated Karen Loewy, co-counsel for plaintiffs and senior counsel and director of constitutional law practice at Lambda Legal. “Today, the government has pledged to restore this important symbol back to where it belongs.” The monument commemorates the site where, in 1969, the Stonewall riots launched the modern movement for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer rights in the United States. The Stonewall Inn bar is across the street. In February, the Trump administration ordered the Pride flag removed, arguing it was necessary to do so to comply with the president’s executive orders on diversity, equity and inclusion across the federal government. Lamba Legal and the Washington Litigation Group sued, arguing that the flag is acceptable under administration policy. The government’s policy contains an exemption for flags that provide historical context – just like the Pride flag does at Stonewall, Lambda Legal stated in the release. “This is a complete victory for our clients and for the LGBTQ+ community,” stated Alexander Kristofcak, lead counsel for plaintiffs and a lawyer with Washington Litigation Group. “The government has acknowledged what we argued from day one: the Pride flag belongs at Stonewall. The flag will be restored and it will fly officially and permanently. And we will remain vigilant to ensure that the government sticks to the deal.” See page 8 >>

ollowing two explosive news reports in which a former staffer accused him of sexual assault, Congressmember Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) said Monday that he will resign from his East Bay seat in Congress. LGBTQ leaders over the weekend joined those seeking his removal, with some saying he should be expelled if he did not step down. Sunday night Swalwell ended his campaign for California governor two days after the bombshell reporting from CNN and the San Francisco Chronicle, though he continues to deny that he sexually assaulted his former staffer. His decision to do so came amid the mounting pressure for him to leave the race and Congress. On Monday, the Associated Press reported that Swalwell said he would resign his congressional seat, which he did on Tuesday afternoon. Governor Gavin Newsom called a special election to finish Swalwell’s term; the primary will be held June 16, and if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, a general election will be held August 18 for the top two finishers. There already is a campaign underway for Swalwell’s seat, as he was not seeking reelection, with the winner to be elected in November for a full two-year term.

From campaign website

Eric Swalwell ended his gubernatorial campaign Sunday and resigned from Congress Tuesday.

“I am deeply sorry to my family, staff, and constituents for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past,” Swalwell posted on X Monday. “I will fight the serious, false allegations against me. However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make.”

He added that he’s aware of efforts to expel him from Congress, saying that it would be wrong for his constituents to have him distracted from his duties. “Therefore, I plan to resign my seat in Congress,” Swalwell stated. See page 8 >>

SOMA Nights relaunches 2017 0nonprofit Media a Kit despite city, obstacles by John Ferrannini

outh of Market businesses and community organizations are teaming up to relaunch SOMA Nights, with this season starting April 23. The head of the SOMAThe West CommuLos Angeles Blade covers Los Angeles and California news, nity Benefit District, which sponsors the events, politics, opinion, arts and entertainment and features national and said that he had to secure newinternational funding after a coverage from the Blade’s award-winning reporting grant from the Civic Joy Fund was notBe renewed. team. part of this exciting publication serving LGBT Los Angeles SOMA Nights will be held monthly fourth behind the Washington Blade, the nation’s ﬁrst LGBT from theonteam Thursdays through September to celebrate legacy newspaper. From the freeway to the Beltway we’ve got you covered. businesses on Folsom Street between Seventh and Ninth streets. While the official hours for SOMA Nights are 5 to 9 p.m., organizers invite attendees to keep the evening alive inside the participating businesses until 2 a.m. As the Bay Area Reporter previously reported, SOMA West CBD the Folsom Street entertainment zone was crePeople donned construction gear and danced during a SOMA Nights event last year in ated last year to help facilitate the SOMA Nights a nod to the massive streetscape project that’s affecting small businesses in the area. event, much like how entertainment zones in other neighborhoods, such as the Castro, help night markets and street fairs there. Activation $60,000 from the Civic Joy Fund, which provides resigned when he launched his campaign for Disof the zone for special events allows alcohol to be money for many of the city’s night markets that trict 8 supervisor last year. consumed outdoors. have popped up in the city’s post-COVID landHowever, when Ludlum inquired about fundThe fact SOMA Nights is relaunching for a secscape. The funding request for 2025 happened ing for this year, he said that he was told by Civic ond season is a minor miracle, according to Alex after Ludlum made a personal appeal to Mayor Joy Fund’s current Executive Director Luke Spray Ludlum, a straight ally who is the executive direcDaniel Lurie, himself a co-founder of the orgathat, “We weren’t gonna get it.” tor of the SOMA West Community Benefit Disnization alongside Emanuel “Manny” Yekutiel, trict. He said that last year the event had received who became its first executive director before he See page 9 >>

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<< Community News

t ‘Gay grifters’ story greenlit for scripted TV show 2 • Bay Area Repor ter • April 16-22, 2026

by Ed Walsh

ears before she was vice president, Kamala Harris was quoted in the 2013 book about the infamous so-called gay grifter’s case, “The breathtaking scope, complexity and theatrics of this scam and these con men rivals any Hollywood movie.” Harris was San Francisco’s district attorney more than 17 years ago when a group of gay men were accused of a number of cons in the Bay Area and were eventually convicted for a 2008 murder in Palm Springs. Now, Hollywood will tell the story in the form of a scripted streaming series for Hulu that may rival any of its fictional offerings. Warner Brothers Television is producing the series for the Disney-owned streaming service. Trade publication Variety broke the story exclusively on its website April 10. In an email to the Bay Area Reporter, Hulu’s media relations department confirmed the accuracy of the Variety report. No timeline was given yet for when filming may start or when the series will drop. Variety noted that the series was inspired by the book on the case “Until Someone Gets Hurt” and the “American Hustlers” 12-part podcast that dropped early last year. The planned scripted series is also titled “American Hustlers.” Tyson Wrensch, a gay San Francisco

Courtesy NBC’s “Dateline”

Tyson Wrensch, seen here in the “Dateline” episode about the “gay grifters,” is happy that a scripted TV show on the case is in the works.

man who co-wrote with Sherrie Lueder “Until Someone Gets Hurt,” told the B.A.R. by email that he is glad the story will be told to a wider audience. Wrensch details in the book his personal account of being victimized by one of the convicted men, Daniel Garcia, who is gay and Wrensch’s former best friend. Wrensch said that Garcia stole

his money and identity while he was out of the country and tried to turn his friends against him by telling them he was a drug dealer. Wrensch said that the motivation for making the story public is to help others avoid being victimized by cons. “I still can’t believe the nightmare I went through 19 years ago is actually

going to be a TV series!” Wrensch stated in the email. “They’ve spent a year working on forming how to tell such a complicated and confusing tale into a script that now gives me goosebumps every time I read it. “From the moment the head writer, Jim Campolongo, signed on he’s been nothing but considerate of my mental health through the entire process,” Wrensch added. “Before he even started writing he asked me what I wanted out of this series. I told him that I understand it has to be entertaining in order for people to watch the whole series, but if we could show viewers the way con artists behave and the methods they use, we educate them too. The right scam will find all of us at the right time. We just need to learn to recognize the signs and not become the next victim.” Garcia maintains his innocence and is appealing the case. When asked through a text message his reaction to the planned streaming series, Garcia, 43, responded in a text message from California State Prison, Corcoran Friday evening, “That is the first I have heard of it, but I already sued Warner Brothers and NBC in federal court in San Francisco and am seeking an emergency injunction, so I doubt they will be able to get anything off the ground until that issue is addressed.”

The suit against NBC is because of the “Dateline” program that ran in October on his case. The suit against Warner Brothers is because the American Hustlers podcast was published by True Crime News from Warner Brothers. Garcia maintains he was violently raped and sexually assaulted by gay San Francisco multimillionaire and philanthropist Thomas White, who was eventually arrested for allegedly abusing minors in Mexico and Thailand. White died of pneumonia in a Puerto Vallarta jail in 2013 after spending a decade in custody while fighting extradition to the U.S. White maintained he was a victim of extortionists. Mexican authorities eventually prosecuted some of his accusers for extortion. Garcia told the B.A.R. that while some of White’s Mexican accusers lied, White did victimize boys in Mexico and Thailand and that he was approached by the FBI to help them with their investigation against White. Referring to his civil case against Warner Brothers and NBC, Garcia continued, “The case is pending before Judge Charles Breyer, who presided over all of the Thomas White criminal and civil cases and is therefore well aware of the facts of White’s guilt and the falsity of the slanderous statements of Tyson, the podcast, and ‘Dateline.’ Thank you for bringing it to my attention and I will take the appropriate legal steps to enjoin them from any further profiteering from my story.” Garcia sued White and settled out of court for about $500,000, according to NBC News. Publicity over Garcia’s lawsuit eventually attracted Kaushal Niroula to Garcia. Garcia told the B.A.R. he met Niroula in a bar in San Francisco and Niroula said he recognized Garcia from the story about White. Niroula was on a student visa from Nepal. Niroula falsely claimed to be Nepalese royalty and helped hasten the demise of New College in San Francisco after promising the university a $1 million donation that never came. Niroula was accused of a number of other cons including stealing the deeds to three luxury condos in San Francisco. Niroula was also accused of swindling a Japanese woman out of more than $500,000. Niroula; Garcia; Garcia’s lawyer David Replogle, a gay man; and Miguel Bustamante, who is bisexual, were convicted of murder for the killing of gay Palm Springs retiree Clifford Lambert in 2008 as part of a scheme to steal the deed to his home and possessions. A fifth man, Craig McCarthy, avoided a life sentence by testifying against the others. He is scheduled to be paroled in July. Niroula was murdered by cellmate Rodney Sanchez in 2022 while awaiting a second trial, and identified as transgender at the time of their death, according to family members. In an exclusive interview with the B.A.R. last year, Sanchez said he acted alone but he declined to give his motive for killing Niroula out of concern that it would hurt his appeal on his conviction for sexually assaulting a minor. Niroula, Bustamante, Garcia, and Replogle were convicted in trials in 2011 and 2012, but their convictions were thrown out as the result of the original trial judge being caught on a recording captured on Garcia’s laptop indicating his bias against the men. Included in the recordings was a statement from the judge saying that he didn’t want to open envelopes related to the case from Niroula because they were HIV-positive. The three surviving defendants were convicted of murder in their second trials. The last of the defendants, disbarred San Francisco attorney Replogle, was sentenced to life in July. In brief jailhouse telephone conversations with the B.A.R. last year, Replogle vigorously denied guilt and said he was confident his conviction would be overturned on appeal. See page 8 >>

Community News>>

t Philz’s decision to yank Pride flag sparks anger by John Ferrannini

an Francisco-born Philz Coffee’s choice to remove Pride flags from all its cafes is going down like a bad cup of joe. In front of the Philz location in San Francisco’s Castro district April 9, Dan Doyle was letting people know about the company’s decision. Sitting on the sidewalk, Doyle, a gay, five-generation San Francisco resident, said Philz is not what it used to be. “I’d been going to Philz here in Castro since they were around the corner 15 years ago,” he said, referring to a defunct location where Sit and Spin is now, at 4023 18th Street. To company CEO Mahesh Sadarangani, he said, “You’re trying to erase us.” Doyle added that he became disillusioned with Philz after its sale to private equity firm Freeman Spogli & Co. in August 2025 rendered stock owed by former employees essentially worthless, as KQED reported. The sale was reportedly $145 million, according to Mission Local. Sadarangani has been CEO since before the acquisition, according to a company news release last August. Philz was founded in San Francisco in 2003. The first store was in the Mission district. It has 75 locations nationwide, mostly in California. It later moved its headquarters to Oakland. The original owners Phil Jabber and his son Jacob, stepped away in 2021, several years before the acquisition. The rainbow flag inside the Castro location was still up as of April 15. A manager was not immediately available to comment. Sadarangani stated the move was to make the stores more, not less, inclusive. Through a spokesperson, he stated to the Bay Area Reporter that, “At Philz, we have always believed everyone who walks through our doors deserves to feel welcome and safe, and that belief is at the core of everything we do.” He also pledged to continue supporting the queer community. “Our longstanding support of the LGBTQIA+ community is unchanged,” Sadarangani stated. “We are working toward creating a more consistent, inclusive experience across all our stores, including removing a variety of flags and other decor. This is a change in how our stores look, not in who we are. Our

April 16-22, 2026 • Bay Area Repor ter • 3

“That’s what makes moments like this one sting,” she stated. “It may seem small, but removing a Pride flag sends a message, and for many in this neighborhood, it feels like another blow right at home.” Local political leaders were also concerned. “It’s obviously super-disappointing,” stated gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who’s president of the board and represents the Castro neighborhood. “I hope they change their minds.” Gay District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey stated the flag is “the most successful branding for a social justice movement in human history.” He noted the flag, like Philz, is a native of San Francisco. “It’s as much a source of pride for the city that gave birth to it as it is for the LGBTQ+ community it represents,” he continued. “It conveys John Ferrannini inclusion by spanning the visible Philz Coffee, including the location in the Castro, has upset customers with its announcement that Pride spectrum, and it’s objectively beautiflags will be removed from all its cafes. ful. To me, the Pride flag is as much a part of the Philz’s experience as its mint mojitos or signature fedoras. efit from, LGBTQ+ communities allyship runs deeper than what is The San Francisco Chronicle reSo, I hope Philz reconsiders.” should stand with us, especially as we on our walls. It shows up in who we ported that a change.org petition The Lakeshore LGBTQ Cultural face unprecedented rollbacks of our hire, how we treat one another and criticizing the removal of the Pride Experienced Care • Honest Fees • Advanced Technology District, in Oakland, and the Casflags went viral April 5. It now has rights at the federal level.” in our annual Pride Month Unity tro LGBTQ Cultural District pubover 6,000 signatories.Dave Karraker, Ford was referring to sustained atcelebration, which returns this June lished an open letter to Sadarangani a gay man and small business owner tacks on the community, especially as it has every year. Unity is fundastating, “When Philz came to our who’s a past co-president of the mertrans people, from President Donald mental to how we operate.” neighborhoods, it did so knowing it chants group, stated on social media Trump and his administration. This While Doyle sat outside, cuswould be serving our communities. —Philz University Pacific that Graduate he “always hated Coffee.” of the includes executive orders dismantomers inside the store were not These recent actions, however, sug“Unbelievable fromArthur a company tling diversity, and inclusion enthused with the idea, either. MiA. Dugoni Schoolequity, of Dentistry gest you do not prioritize us or the founded in San Francisco, ” the MX3 policies across federal agencies. Some chael McGlauen, a straight ally, said Practicing Since 1993 diversity of the LGBTQ community.” Fitness co-owner added. businesses have reacted by phasing he didn’t understand how it would Mastership — International Congress of• Advanced The cultural districts urged Philz Experienced Experienced Care • Honest Care • Honest Fees Fees • Advanced Technology Technology Suzanne Ford, a transgender out their own DEI programs. make the company more inclusive. OralwomImplantologists to reconsider. an who’s executive director of San “There’s also a real frustration that “Why did they do that?” he asked, “We urge Philz coffee to reverse Francisco Pride, criticized the compasaying he was just hearing about it. • Hundreds of implants placed eachcomes year with being a queer person this anti-LGBTQ decision and re• Advanced PIEZO implant placement ny’s decision. Philzdigital is not planning a sponsor with of precise right now – feeling like you want to “It seems strange.” affirm its commitment to creating • Treatment completed start-to-finish by one in one location SF Pride, officials stated to the B.A.R. respond to doctor every headline, but not Martha Dodge, a straight ally viswelcoming, inclusive spaces to ev• Many insurance providers contribute toward implant treatment “Philz is partGraduate of the neighborhood where your energy iting from Delaware, said she probGraduate — University of the always Pacific — University of knowing the Pacific eryone especially at our locations here in San Francisco, so the choice and bandwidth are best esably won’t come back for now. A Arthur A. Dugoni School of School Dentistry Arthur A. Dugoni of spent, Dentistry within our LGBTQ cultural disto remove Pride flags from their cafes pecially with1993 so many serious issues relative introduced her to Philz. Practicing Since 1993 Practicing Since tricts,” the letter continued. t is Mastership deeply disappointing, ” Ford stated. impactingTeeth LGBTQ+ communities “We love it for the inclusiveness — International Congress of Mastership — International Congress of Transparent Implant Fees Beautiful Natural-Looking “Businesses that operate in, and benglobally,” Ford added. and kindness of everyone here,” she Oral Implantologists Oral Implantologists said. “We won’t be coming back on Complete Dental Implant •• Hundreds Esthetic zirconia or • Hundreds of implants placed each year of implants placed each year (Implant • Abutment • Zirconia Crown) this trip.” • Advanced digital planning with precise PIEZO implant placement • Advanced digital planning precise PIEZO implant placement Emax crowns - with $1289 Philz isn’t a member of the Castro • Treatment completed by one doctor onedoctor location • Treatmentstart-to-finish completed start-to-finish byinone in one location Merchants Association despite its • Many insurance providers contribute toward implant treatment • Many insurance providers contribute toward implant treatment • Veneers, whitening, and smile design location at 549 Castro Street. Merchants President Nate Bourg, a gay (Ideal for patients seeking a beautiful, naturalExperienced Care • Honest Fees • Advanced Technology (Typical Bay Area fees $4500+) man, stated, the company’s move looking Beautiful smile with or withoutTeeth implants) Teeth Transparent Implant Fees Transparent Implant Fees Beautiful Natural-Looking Natural-Looking is “really disheartening, and I can Other implant services: Experienced Care • Honest Fees • Advanced Technology imagine it feels especially insulting Complete Dental Implant Complete Dental Implant • Surgical Extraction with Bone Graft — $898 • Esthetic zirconiazirconia or • Esthetic or (Implant to queer staff across their locations. • Abutment •• Zirconia Crown) (Implant Abutment •Implant Zirconia • Abutment & Crown on Existing — Crown) $1698 Advanced Digital 3D Dentures Emax crowns - $1289 - $1289 Emax crowns If this policy truly applies to the (with or without implants) Castro store, that’s deeply disapPremium implants from — University the and Pacific •Graduate Veneers,• whitening, Veneers, whitening, andofsmile design smile design pointing. Hopefully the employee Straumann (Switzerland/Germany) • Superior esthetics Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry petition – and a potential communiGraduate —Practicing University of the1993 Pacific (Ideal for patients (Ideal for seeking patients a beautiful, seeking anaturalbeautiful, natural- Transparent pricing — no hidden fees. • Perfect fit Since (Typical Bay(Typical Area fees Bay $4500+) Area fees being $4500+) looking smile looking with or smile without with implants) or without implants) ty boycott – will push the company Patients often visit us after • Completed in just two appointments Arthur A. Dugoni School Mastership — International Congressof ofDentistry to reconsider.” quoted higher implant fees elsewhere. Other implant services: Other implant services: • Typically no Practicing adjustments required Since 1993

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<< Open Forum

t Win one, lose one in Pride flag flaps Headline

4 • Bay Area Repor ter • April 16-22, 2026

Volume Volume 56, 56, Number Number XX 16 Month April 16-22, XX-XX,2026 2026 www.ebar.com

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GBTQ community members can often tell if a company is queer-friendly by the presence of a rainbow flag in the establishment. Unfortunately, one of those businesses, Philz Coffee, is now sending mixed messages. As we first reported online last week, Mahesh Sadarangani has decided to remove rainbow flags from inside all Philz locations, which includes a cafe in the LGBTQ Castro neighborhood. In a statement that defies reason, Sadarangani said that the move would make Philz locations “more inclusive.” We’re scratching our heads at that one. “At Philz, we have always believed everyone who walks through our doors deserves to feel welcome and safe, and that belief is at the core of everything we do,” Sadarangani stated to the Bay Area Reporter through a spokesperson. Is Sadarangani saying that homophobes will now feel welcome if the coffee shop doesn’t display a rainbow flag? Of course, they have as much right as anyone to buy coffee, they just need to keep their anti-LGBTQ comments to themselves. An online petition that has garnered more than 6,000 signatories has so far failed to sway Philz to do the right thing and let the rainbow flags remain at the coffee shops. Meanwhile, across the country, the community notched a victory this week as a court-enforced settlement means that the rainbow flag will return to the Stonewall National Monument in New York City, the first national monument dedicated to LGBTQ rights and history in the U.S. The monument commemorates the site where, in 1969, the Stonewall riots launched the modern movement for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer rights in the United States. The Stonewall Inn bar is across the street. The site was officially designated in 2016 by then-President Barack Obama. The park service had removed the flag in February, citing a memorandum from President Donald Trump-appointed park service chief Jessica Bowron restricting which flags can be flown at national parks. The directive limited displays to official government flags, with narrow exceptions for those deemed to serve an “official purpose,” as the Washington Blade reported.

Seth Wenig/AP

A rainbow Pride flag flies with an American flag at the Stonewall National Monument in New York City on April 13, 2026.

Lamba Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Washington Litigation Group sued the federal government, arguing that the flag is acceptable under administration policy. The government’s policy contains an exemption for flags that provide historical context – just like the Pride flag does at Stonewall, Lambda Legal stated in a news release. The National Park Service will return the flag within a few days, per the settlement signed by Alexander Kristofcak, lead counsel for plaintiffs and a lawyer with Washington Litigation Group; U.S. Attorney Jeffrey S. Oestericher; and U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer L. Rochon. In the settlement, the government agrees to rehang the Pride flag on the monument’s official flagpole and maintain it permanently. And the agreement confirms that the Pride flag falls within the law and National Park Service policy, Lambda Legal stated. In both of these instances, the flag flap at Philz and the Stonewall National Monument, removing the rainbow symbol of queer and trans pride smacks of attempts to make the LGBTQ community invisible. That was brought home by comments we reported on the issue. “You’re trying to erase us,” said Dan Doyle, a gay man who was outside of Philz in the Castro last

Headline Light, in dark times

by Gwendolyn Ann Smith

longtime friend of mine came to be with what might be called a crisis of faith. She has been in the trans trenches for about as long as myself, and, like so many others, is feeling the weight of the last few years. Honestly, I cannot blame her. I don’t think you need me to go into a long litany of trans rights losses over the last few years. We’ve seen a time of relatively good fortune turn into a time where few will stand publicly in support of trans rights. In the last few weeks, we have seen states move to invalidate trans driver’s licenses and birth certificates, bills to criminalize restroom use, and, of course, yet more bans on transgender people – well, transgender women – in sports. The right is demonizing trans and nonbinary people, while the left avoids even the slightest mentions of trans issues. There are a lot of people on the right – and, frankly, many on the left – who are more than happy to fall into their animalistic selves, and not just on trans issues. There’s a lack of empathy all over, and a whole lot of lizard-brains ruling the show right now. For those of us who have dedicated decades to the fight for trans rights – or even those of us who might simply be trying to keep things together day to day – it’s been genuinely heart-wrenching to see everything we have worked for be tossed away. So, all of this shook my friend. She believes that she’s doing all she can, after decades of work, and is feeling like all hope is lost. She came to me as she grappled with this, wondering if we are waging an unwinnable fight. I’ll be honest, I’ve been fighting some of those same fears. I may live in a fairly liberal state, but the state can only do so much when the federal government throws around its own weight. I, too, can find it easy to despair. I watched as much of what I have pushed for since the mid-1990s be destroyed. I think of when I was at the White House during former President Barack Obama’s administration, sharing information with several federal agencies as they shaped pro-trans rules.

Christine Smith

Every last one of the things discussed that day are now long gone. Then I think of my involvement with the Remembering Our Dead project and the Transgender Day of Remembrance that was born out of that. It’s hard to mourn our dead when the Trump administration views dead transgender people as something to aspire to, isn’t it? Don’t even get me started on some of the politicians I supported, who once seemed trans-supportive. You know, like California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has shown himself not to be much of a trans ally, after all. The way I look at things – for me, my friend, and all of us – this is a fight of despair versus hope. It is so very easy to despair: Just sit back, defeated, and assume there is no way, ever, to win. All the battles were for naught. Yet, dammit, we’ve been there before, and we’ve fought back. What’s more important, as I see it, is this: What I and others did over all these years wasn’t just trying to score political points. It was to improve the lives of people just like me. Trans rights did not blossom out of nothingness. Before me there were people like Leslie Feinberg, Kate Bornstein, and Loren Cameron. My trans activism rests squarely on their shoulders. Before them, of course, there were decades of others who they learned from. Our roots are deep.

week, referring to company CEO Sadarangani. “The removal of the Pride flag from Stonewall was an attempt to erase LGBTQ+ history and undermine the rule of law,” stated Andrew Berman, executive director of Village Preservation, a New York City group that joined the lawsuit along with the Gilbert Baker Foundation and Equality New York, a grassroots advocacy organization. Baker, a gay man who died in 2017, co-created the original rainbow flag that had eight stripes. The San Francisco resident was instrumental in turning the more common six-stripe rainbow flag into a global symbol for LGBTQ people. Added Karen Loewy, co-counsel for the plaintiffs and senior counsel and director of constitutional law at Lambda Legal, “The sudden, arbitrary, and capricious removal of the Pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument was yet another act by this administration to erase the LGBTQ+ community.” And that’s a key point. The rainbow flag is a ubiquitous symbol of pride and acceptance. The Human Rights Campaign pointed out that the backpedaling by Philz – and other companies that once stood with the community but have stepped back to curry favor with Trump as he has unleashed his relentless campaign to end diversity, equity, and inclusion programs within the federal government – “sends a chilling message: that our visibility is negotiable, that our safety is a branding choice, that corporate interests matter more than civil rights.” And HRC noted that the decision by Philz not only affects customers, it harms employees, many of whom started the now-viral petition asking the company to reconsider its decision. “Pride flags aren’t just decorations,” HRC stated. “They’re declarations. They tell LGBTQ+ people – especially young people – that they belong. That they’re safe. That they’re seen.” When companies or politicians remove Pride flags, they are not staying neutral, as HRC stated. “They’re choosing a side – and it’s not ours.” HRC is right. Philz should immediately reverse its policy and return rainbow flags to all of its coffee shops. Meanwhile, we should celebrate the victory at the Stonewall National Monument, where LGBTQ history is more complete now that the Pride flag has been restored. t

More than any political victory, too, are the hearts we changed. Through all of us, we have gained in popular culture, and in interpersonal culture. Even with every setback, we do not live in the world where I came out in the 1990s. The world has changed, and it can continue to grow. Meanwhile, politicians are still passing all these terrible bills in empty chambers in the middle of the night, or by other forms of subterfuge. They know their stance is not popular. Within that, there is hope. Similar to California’s Briggs’ initiative of the 1970s that sought to ban gay teachers, Kentucky tried to declare transgender people mentally ill, paving the way for a ban on transgender teachers. The legislation, Senate Bill 351, initially stalled. Later, an attempt to “piggyback” it onto other legislation failed. Meanwhile, Georgia saw nearly 15 pieces of anti-transgender legislation fail this year, even with using similar tactics to Kentucky. There are still victories to be had, and every one of them matters now more than ever. This may be a lot harder, but it is hardly the time to declare defeat. This is an intergenerational fight, and the folks who are coming up now will take this farther than we ever dreamed. We are their Bornsteins, Camerons, and Feinbergs. This is why trans youth matter. Well, that and all of us old folks were once trans youth ourselves at one time, even if we didn’t understand things half as well as the ones who are here now do. It is tempting to slink away in despair and defeat, sad that things are not better today. For me, heck, I’m in my late 50s and, like George Washington, I want to go lay under my own vine and fig tree already. That’s just not possible. We came out of relative obscurity and saw our stars rise for decades. Now, we live in a decade when our star is dimmed, but not by our making. Yet, this is not forever, and if we aren’t willing to fight for what we gained, then maybe we never deserved it in the first place. We fight on. t Gwen Smith participated in her first trans rights protest in 1994. You’ll find her at www. gwensmith.com.

Politics >>

April 16-22, 2026 • Bay Area Repor ter • 5

Among LGBTQ Dems, no consensus on CA gov race by Matthew S. Bajko

or queer and transgender Californians undecided on whom they want to be their next governor, they will find little help from the state’s major LGBTQ Democratic clubs on picking one of the contenders in the 2026 gubernatorial race. There is no consensus among the political groups about this year’s crop of candidates running to lead the Golden State. One of the candidates who had attracted a fair amount of support from LGBTQ voters, particularly for being one of the few to voice strong backing for transgender rights, had been Congressmember Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin). But he suspended his campaign Sunday night following two explosive news reports in which a former staffer accused him of sexual assault, an allegation that Swalwell denies though the married father of three has admitted to “mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past.” Monday he announced he would resign from his congressional office as calls grew from LGBTQ leaders and fellow Democratic politicians for him not to serve out the remainder of his term through early January. (See related story.) A number of congressional members on both sides of the aisle had called to expel him, which in a statement Swalwell said would be “wrong” to do “without due process.” But he also said it would be “wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties.” While an election is underway to succeed him in Congress, with his successor to be elected in November, voters will also elect someone to serve out the remainder of Swalwell’s term due to Governor Gavin Newsom Tuesday calling for a special election shortly after Swalwell officially resigned. The primary will be held June 16. Should no candidate secure more than 50% of the vote then the top two vote-getters will advance to a runoff election on Tuesday, August 18. For the time being, it means the state’s 14th Congressional District seat will remain vacant. Due to his jumping into the gubernatorial race rather than seek reelection this year to his House seat, Swalwell would have been termed out of office in early January. With an election now underway to succeed him in Congress, his seat will remain vacant once Swalwell resigns until voters elect his successor in November. Based on the polling of the gubernatorial race in recent months, political watchers believe that those voters who were supporting Swalwell are likely to now cast their ballots for billionaire-turned-progressive politico Tom Steyer or former congressmember Katie Porter of Orange County. The progressive left Congress in early 2025 after losing her bid for one of the state’s U.S. Senate seats in 2024. Steyer’s campaign did not turn in the questionnaire the Bay Area Reporter sent all the major gubernatorial candidates to fill out in order to be considered for the paper’s endorsement. The B.A.R. editorial board plans to begin rolling out its choices in the various statewide races on the June 2 primary ballot in the coming weeks. Under California’s open primary system, the top two vote-getters regardless of party affiliation will advance to the November 3 general election. In her returned questionnaire to the B.A.R., Porter wrote that she

Screengrabs from EQCA forum

California gubernatorial candidates Tom Steyer, left, and Katie Porter may be able to increase support now that Congressmember Eric Swalwell is out of the race.

has spent her career, as both a consumer advocate and congressional member, “fighting for California’s LGBTQ+ community by advancing protections against discrimination in education, employment, housing, and daily life.” She argued that, “of the major candidates in this race, no one has been a stronger ally to the LGBTQ+ community than me. I’m running not just to break barriers and defend Californians, but to make government work better for everyone.” Yet, Porter has not been able to secure the backing of LGBTQ political groups in California. None are listed to date on her campaign website endorsement page. Equality California, the statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization, is not endorsing anyone in the governor’s race. Its managing director, Tom Temprano, did not respond to the B.A.R.’s inquiry Monday on if it would revisit making an endorsement ahead of the primary now that Swalwell has bowed out. The East Bay Stonewall Democrats club is also neutral on the gubernatorial race and isn’t planning to revote on endorsing in it until after the primary. When its members voted earlier this year on endorsing someone for governor, no candidate reached the 50% threshold needed to clinch the LGBTQ political group’s support. The Stonewall Democratic Club of Los Angeles also has not made an endorsement for governor. Nor has the Stonewall Democrats of Sacramento or the Bay Area Municipal Elections Committee, the LGBTQ political group based in the South Bay and known as BAYMEC for short. San Francisco’s more moderate Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club endorsed former elected state controller Betty Yee for governor. The city native who served as former governor Gray Davis’ budget director noted in her B.A.R. questionnaire that her ties to the LGBTQ community run deep, such as when she was a Santa Cruz County health commissioner during the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s. “If elected Governor, I will continue supporting LGBTQ+ people by doing all in my power to ensure safe, supportive, and inclusive schools, workplaces, and communities; and tackle health care, housing, and criminal justice disparities that are leaving LGBTQ+ people behind – all more critical now with LGBTQ+ rights and protections under attack by this Trump administration,” pledged Yee. The progressive Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club is supporting Tony Thurmond, currently the elected state superintendent of public instruction. The former East Bay state legislator did not return the B.A.R.’s questionnaire, nor does he

NAVIGATE YOUR LIFE’S JOURNEY WITH CONFIDENCE

list the Milk club among his endorsers on his campaign website. The Los Angeles County-based Young Stonewall Democrats in late March endorsed Becerra, a former state legislator, congressmember and California attorney general. Becerra, who didn’t return the B.A.R.’s questionnaire, served as the U.S. secretary of health and human services in the Biden administration. “I’ve proudly been a champion for LGBTQ+ equality since my earliest days in Congress – way back in the early 90s. Now I’m eager to fight alongside you for a more inclusive, affordable California where young people can thrive,” wrote Becerra in touting the endorsement from the club for young LGBTQ Democrats. Wednesday, April 15, the LGBTQ Latino political group HONOR PAC also endorsed Becerra. “Xavier Becerra is not only the most qualified candidate in this race – he is the candidate whose life, SFTHERAPYCOLLECTIVE.ORG | 415-659-8282 record, and values most completely embody everything HONOR PAC has fought for since our founding,” stated Mario Ceballos, the group’s Attorney at Law president. “This endorsement is not just about politics. It is about the soul of California and the safety, dignity, and future of every LG• Divorce w/emphasis on BTQ+ Latina/o/e person who calls Real Estate & Business Divisions this state home.” • Domestic Partnerships, Support & Custody In addition to Porter and Yee, San • Probate and Wills Jose Mayor Matt Mahan also returned the B.A.R.’s questionnaire. A www.SchneiderLawSF.com late entrant into the gubernatorial race, he has yet to list his endorsers on his campaign website and told *Certified by the California State Bar the B.A.R. he would be doing so in the coming weeks. 315 Montgomery St., Ste. 1025, San Francisco, CA 94104 “I’m proud to have the endorsements of openly gay leaders like Supervisor Matt Dorsey and to have earned the trust of many in the LGBTQ+ community across the state, from voters to key members of our Serving the San Francisco Bay Area LGBTQ+ Community Since 1999. own campaign team,” stated Mahan. The B.A.R. also sent its question• Probate • Wills/Trusts naire to the top two Republicans in • Trust Admin • Estate Planning the governor’s race, but neither forFLAT FEE! mer Fox News host Steve Hilton Flood Building, 870 Market St, Suite 420 nor Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco returned it. As for LGBTQ By Appointment only! 415-421-1893 GOP voters looking for guidance on www.ShelleySFeinberg.com • trust@shelleysfeinberg.com which of the two to vote for, so far the Log Cabin Republicans of California has yet to endorse a gubernatorial candidate. Shelley_S_Feinberg_2x2_032025.indd 1 3/13/25 7:45 PM Neither did the California Republican Party at its recent state convention. The San Francisco Republican Party also has not endorsed in the governor’s race. There have been concerns that both Hilton and Bianco could make it onto the fall ballot under the open primary system due to Democrats DISPLAY OBITUARIES & IN MEMORIAMS failing to coalesce around one of their party’s candidates. (No candidate was able to secure the California Democratic Party’s endorsement.) But after President Donald Trump endorsed Hilton, and with Swalwell out of the race, there is growing consensus that Hilton now will likely face a Democratic opponent on the November ballot. The next round of polls on the race post Swalwell’s exit should give The Bay Area Reporter can help members of the community some guidance on just who that reach more than 120,000 LGBT area residents each week person may be. Steyer and Porter with their display of Obituary* & In Memoriam messages. were already polling higher than the other Democrats in the race, and time is running out for one of them RATES: $21.20 per column inch (black & white) to break out of the pack with ballots $29.15 per column inch (full color) set to arrive in voters’ mailboxes as of May 4. t

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<< Election 2026

6 • Bay Area Repor ter • April 16-22, 2026

In Castro, Nguyen campaigns on investing in communities by John Ferrannini

ichael Trung Nguyen wants voters in San Francisco’s District 8 to know he is concerned about affordability, housing production, and good governance. The progressive candidate hoping to become a San Francisco supervisor did a walking tour of the Castro over the weekend. “Top of mind is the affordability crisis we’re in,” Nguyen, a gay attorney and Democratic Party leader also known by his drag persona Juicy Liu, told the Bay Area Reporter during a merchant walk through the Castro LGBTQ neighborhood Saturday, April 11. “But also on top of that are the everyday things, quality of life. What are we doing for our unhoused neighbors? What are we doing to keep the streets clean and providing everyday services San Franciscans want?” Nguyen, 44, a patent lawyer, is running to succeed termed out gay Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman, who has been District 8 supervisor since 2018, representing the Castro, Noe Valley, Diamond Heights, Glen Park, Twin Peaks, Duboce Triangle, Corona Heights and Cow Hollow neighborhoods on the city’s legislative body. Nguyen is one of three gay male candidates running. The other two are Emanuel “Manny” Yekutiel, owner of an eponymous cafe and event space on Valencia Street and a former member of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency board, and Gary McCoy, who has led both of the city’s main LGBTQ Democratic clubs, Alice B. Toklas and Harvey Milk. Mandelman has endorsed Yekutiel. Also in the race is Noe Valley resident Darshini Patel, the eldest daughter of Tanzanian immigrants who worked at delivery company DoorDash for nearly six years. In 2024, she worked for former vice president Kamala Harris’ presiden-

John Ferrannini

San Francisco Board of Supervisors candidate Michael Trung Nguyen, right, campaigned in the Castro April 11 with, from left, Darin Ow-Wing, Dennis Hendricks, and Alyssa Traina.

tial campaign in New Hampshire on get-out-the-vote efforts. The B.A.R. reached out to all three to cover upcoming campaign events and one is scheduled with Yekutiel, who declined an opportunity to comment for this report. McCoy and Patel did not return requests for comment. Yekutiel is about to officially open his campaign office, on 24th Street in Noe Valley. Asked if he’s planning on opening a campaign office, Nguyen said, “Eventually, yes. Right now, I’m focused on talking to voters where they’re at: parks, grocery stores, just hanging out.” (His campaign spokesperson told the B.A.R. that they are waiting for the release of public matching funds.) Nguyen is an elected member of the Democratic County Central Committee that oversees the San Francisco Democratic Party. As Juicy Liu, Nguyen won Miss GAPA (the GLBTQ+ Asian

Pacific Alliance) back in 2016. He was the chair of the Milk club’s Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus until February 2026. Dennis Hendricks, a gay man who is co-chair of the BIPOC Caucus (referring to Black, Indigenous and people of color) at the Milk club, joined on the walk. Though he is not a District 8 resident, he said he’s volunteering on the Nguyen campaign because the candidate has shown leadership in teaching people how to organize and advocate for their communities. “He helped mentor me with grassroots building and he’s pushing a progressive agenda for working class folks, and I’ve seen him in action making that happen,” Hendricks said. Alyssa Traina, a lesbian who works on the campaign, said she supports Nguyen because his election would be a major step forward for representation. The son of refugees from war-torn Vietnam,

Nguyen would be the first Vietnamese American on the board. “I think Asians are underrepresented in this district,” said Traina, who is not herself a District 8 resident. “The fact that he would be the first person of color to represent District 8 … is crazy to me. It’s long overdue to have representation in the Castro, and in fact, he’d be the first Vietnamese American on the Board of Supervisors.” She also appreciates that Nguyen listens to queer women in a neighborhood that has been criticized for catering disproportionately to gay men. “I think Michael is really listening to people, and as a woman, as a queer woman in the Castro, it can be hard to find space,” she said. While on the walk, Nguyen ran into Ande Stone at the Castro Coffee Co. Stone, a gay man who is a District 8 resident, works at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. He declined to speak about Nguyen’s candidacy per se,

but he did share with the B.A.R. that, “As a District 8 resident, I’m deeply concerned by cuts to LGBTQ community services at a moment when the Trump administration is attacking our community. I’m looking for strong leadership in this race and among other city leaders to protect critical HIV services and LGBTQ programs our community relies on.” Just days earlier the Alice and Milk clubs sent out a joint statement decrying the layoffs of LGBTQ staff and senior leadership in the city’s government. Mayor Daniel Lurie cut 127 jobs across 18 departments as the city continues to reckon with a severe budget deficit. One of the people who left, according to the San Francisco Standard, was lesbian Iowayna Peña, the director of San Francisco Workforce Development. The outlet reported that it was unclear whether she was fired or resigned. Local budget constraints have also affected nonprofit organizations such as the AIDS foundation, the San Francisco Community Health Center, and LyonMartin Community Health Services. Last month, the health commission approved $17 million in cuts, based on last year’s budget, with a projected $40 million on the way in the next couple of years, as the B.A.R. reported.

Looming budget cuts

Asked about the layoffs and budget cuts, Nguyen responded that they are “devastating – and they’re not random.” “LGBTQ+ and BIPOC-serving nonprofits are being hit hardest,” Nguyen stated. “We’ve seen this pattern before – when budget cuts come to San Francisco, the most marginalized are first on the chopping block. As supervisor, I’ll fight to restore this funding and hold City Hall accountable.” See page 8 >>

Drag stars to come out for Milk school benefit compiled by Cynthia Laird

drag benefit for the Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy, the public elementary school in the Castro, is back and takes place Saturday, April 18, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Cafe, 2369 Market Street in San Francisco. “So You Think You Can Drag” includes an amateur competition. The drag show will feature special guest Thorgy Thor, an alum from “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” as well as performances by some of the Bay Area’s best, including BeBe Sweet-

briar, Curve Ball, Elsa Touche, Kylie Minono, Sue TrowTower, VERA! and more, an email announcement stated. The competition includes top fundraisers from the community taking to the stage for a chance to be crowned San Francisco’s Drag Superstar. Co-sponsors for the event are the San Francisco Ducal Council, an LGBTQ philanthropic organization, and Cliff ’s Variety, the longtime family-owned store in the Castro that annually raises funds for the

school via a special promotion for shoppers over the weekend after Thanksgiving. The Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy is a small public school in the LGBTQ neighborhood that was named in honor of the slain gay San Francisco supervisor and in recent years has been eyed for closure by the district as a cost-saving measure. The announcement about the upcoming benefit noted that the school is focused on nurturing the whole child through a focus on equity, inclusion, academic excellence, and social-emotional learning. Funds raised from the event will directly support enrichment programs like edible social studies, staff positions, classroom resources, and community-building experiences. According to the announcement, 80% of proceeds will benefit the school, while 20% will benefit the ducal council. The show is for those 21 and older with valid ID. General admission tickets are $25-$50, with an option to upgrade to VIP for a meet and greet with Thor from $75 to $100. For tickets and more information, go to https://givebutter.com/c/ SYTYCD2026. There’s also an online auction with items available for bidding at https:// givebutter.com/c/SYT YCD2026/ auction.

Queer hike in Watsonville

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Branching Out Adventures, an LGBTQ outdoors nonprofit, will hold a hike in the Elkhorn Slough Reserve in Watsonville Saturday, April 18, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Bay Area Reporter profiled the group last year. https://www. ebar.com/story/161331 Gay founder and director Tyler Feld, 30, first had the idea for

Courtesy Ducal Council

Drag artists will stage a show to benefit the Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy.

Branching Out in 2019 having attended the LGBTQ Outdoor Summit held that year at the YMCA of the Rockies-Estes Park Center in the Colorado high country. While a super fan of the reality show “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” Feld isn’t “a big club person” so was looking for a way to meet other LGBTQ people who could dish about the contestants on the latest season of the drag competition and talk about nature or animals. “I couldn’t find anything in the Bay Area like the summit,” recalled Feld, who lives in Scotts Valley near Santa Cruz with his partner and is

co-executive director of Grassroots Ecology working on environmental education and habitat restoration. The hike is free. For tickets, go to https://tinyurl.com/ ymfc88t6 Branching Out Adventures has some other events planned. There will be Queer Restoration: Wildflower Work at Mori Point in Pacifica Friday, May 1, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Wildflower Walkabout: Queer Hike at St. Joseph’s Hill in Los Gatos Sunday, May 17, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. For more information about the organization, go to branchingoutadv.org. t

LGBTQ History>>

April 16-22, 2026 • Bay Area Repor ter • 7

SF supervisors landmark LGBTQ historic sites by Matthew S. Bajko

hen the final version of the “Citywide Historic Context Statement for LGBTQ History in San Francisco” was released a decade ago, it included a list of sites connected to LGBTQ culture or history that should be considered for local landmark status as well as federal. On it were well known addresses such as 937 Cole Street where Maud’s bar packed in lesbian crowds from 1966 until 1989 and 520 Castro Street where the San Francisco AIDS Foundation first operated. It also included the homes of shuttered businesses largely lost to time, like 4416 18th Street where the lesbian-run Full Moon Coffeehouse operated during the mid-1970s and 582 Castro Street that once housed the Castro Rock Steam Baths from 1971 until 1977. Also highlighted was 220 Danvers Street, the inaugural site of LGBTQ synagogue Sha’ar Zahav, which means Golden Gate. “It is time that San Francisco’s essential place in queer history receives appropriate national and even international recognition,” wrote coauthors Donna Graves, a public historian based in Berkeley who is straight, and Shayne Watson, a lesbian and architectural historian in San Francisco, who noted their list of potential landmarks was not exhaustive. Ten years later the five sites are on their way to becoming official local landmarks. The Board of Supervisors unanimously voted 10-0 at its meeting Tuesday to grant them such recognition. (Queer District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder is on a leave of absence through June 30 for health reasons.) “It’s genuinely heartwarming – especially during a time of active erasure of LGBTQ history at the national level – to see the City of San Francisco continue to recognize and protect sites that tell the story of queer life here,” Watson told the Bay Area Reporter. “These designations reinforce what we have long known: that LGBTQ history is not peripheral, but central to the cultural and civic identity of San Francisco.” Watson noted that seeing Maud’s be recognized in such a way holds special meaning for her as someone in the field of historic preservation. “Learning about its history was a turning point and a major reason I chose to focus my work on documenting and preserving LGBTQ history in San Francisco. Seeing it formally recognized now is both deeply affirming and long overdue,” stated Watson. Also set to become a San Francisco landmark is 4200 20th Street at Castro

Courtesy GLBT Historical Society

The site of Maud’s, the former lesbian bar in Cole Valley, was approved by the Board of Supervisors as a local landmark.

Street where the late B.A.R. founding publisher Bob Ross lived in the 1970s through the 1990s, when he moved to Clinton Park. Ross died in 2003 at age 69. It was among the 14 landmarks approved by the supervisors at their April 14 meeting. Due to the landmark designations being ordinances, the supervisors will need to vote on them again next week at their April 21 meeting. It will then be up to Mayor Daniel Lurie to finalize adding them to the city’s list of local landmarks found online at https:// tinyurl.com/na89epvv A spokesperson for Lurie has yet to respond to the B.A.R.’s query on if the mayor intends to support landmarking the properties. As the B.A.R. first reported in October, gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who is board president, kickstarted the process to recognize the buildings’ historical significance. In addition to the LGBTQ sites, he requested landmark designations for several other religious buildings, former firehouses and architecturally significant residential structures across his district, from Cole Valley to the Mission. He was motivated to do so by the recent upzoning adopted by the board and pushed by Lurie to allow denser residential developments to be built on parcels across the city. Landmarking the sites will provide them some protection from being demolished and replaced with in-fill housing projects. “It is quite a process. I understand why it is not easy to designate landmarks, but it is not easy to designate landmarks,” Mandelman told the B.A.R. “Nonetheless, I think it is important.” He said he has not directly spoken

Obituaries >> Naomi Ruth Eisenberg June 30, 1948 – March 17, 2026

Naomi Ruth Eisenberg, the charismatic and stylish singer and musician best known for her outstanding work with the classic lineup of Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks, died peacefully from complications of Alzheimer’s. The most memorable female fiddle player during the Summer of Love in San Francisco, Naomi first spent many sessions in Texas playing at Austin City Limits before she became a force on the West Coast. As one of the original Lickettes, her backup vocals, along with Maryann Price’s, defined the Dan Hicks sound. The band traveled extensively and appeared on “The Tonight Show,” “The Dick Cavett Show,” and “The Flip Wilson Show.” Naomi played fiddle in later years with the band. Naomi had a stellar solo career during the punk era as Naomi Vice and was a staple at the former Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco. She also played guitar, mandolin, and ukulele.

Bands include: Dancing, Food & Entertainment, Alienation, The Dada’s, and a Velvet Underground cover band called Lu Read and Naomi Vice, complete with a Nico impersonator. Naomi was a truly gifted, beautiful, humble, funny, kind, salt-of-the-earth woman who prided herself as a fulltime musician, and lived her life happily on her own terms. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Naomi resided in San Francisco during the 1960s through the 1990s, then moved to Chico, where she spent the past few years in an assisted living facility before moving to Southern California in 2025; she passed in Santa Ana, California at VITAS Hospice House. She is predeceased by her parents Morris and Sophie, and her brother, Lawrence. She is survived by her brother, Paul; her sister, Carol; her sisters-inlaw Hoon Eng and Gretchen; nieces and nephews Ann, Jonathan and Dave; her dear friend Patricia Russell; as well as her cat, Lily. In lieu of flowers please donate to your favorite cat rescue nonprofit. Memorial plans are pending. Watch her music videos at https://tinyurl.com/crydb2be. For more info, go to https://tinyurl.com/5h62ryab.

with Lurie about his landmark requests. But considering his office has been working closely for months on them with the mayor’s planning department, Mandelman sees no reason why he wouldn’t finalize landmarking the sites.

“I have received no indication he would not,” said Mandelman, noting Lurie “is supportive of historic preservation.” The other properties in Mandelman’s supervisorial district set to become city landmarks include St. Matthew’s Church (Lutheran) at 3281 16th Street; St. Nicholas Cathedral (Russian Orthodox) at 2005 15th Street; and two firehouses turned private residences – Hose Company No. 30 at 1757 Waller Street and Engine Company No.13 at 1458 Valencia Street. Also on the list are a trio of residential properties – 102 Guerrero Street, 361 San Jose Avenue, and the Chautauqua House located at 1451 Masonic Avenue. The latter, built in 1909, was where the American Indian Historical Society had its headquarters from 1967-1986 and will be the first local landmark related to American Indian history. Rounding out the list is the Bank of Italy Branch Building, located at 400-410 Castro Street at the intersection of Market Street. Built in 1922,

it sits at the entrance to Harvey Milk Plaza and the Castro Muni Station, considered to be the front door into the neighborhood. The business was later renamed as Bank of America, and it closed its branch in the prominent corner commercial space in the 1990s. Currently, it houses a SoulCycle location. At Mandelman’s request, a slew of other properties in his district are moving through the landmarking process. Among those is the mansion that the late gay Ambassador James C. Hormel had resided in at 181 Buena Vista Avenue East on the corner of Duboce Avenue and across from Buena Vista Park. In March, the supervisors agreed to have the Historic Preservation Commission take up the landmark request for the Hormel house and two dozen other properties. Once the oversight body weighs in on those, then the supervisors will take up finalizing the landmark designations for the sites. See page 8 >>

<< Community News

8 • Bay Area Repor ter • April 16-22, 2026

Stonewall

From page 1

The legal groups represented the Gilbert Baker Foundation, Village Preservation, and Equality New York, a grassroots advocacy organization. Baker, a gay man who died in 2017, co-created the original rainbow flag that had eight stripes. The San Francisco resident was instrumental in turning the

Swalwell

From page 1

Gay lieutenant governor candidate Janelle Kellman called for Swalwell’s resignation Sunday in a post on Instagram. “The allegations are serious and disqualifying. Eric Swalwell should step down,” stated Kellman, a former member of the city council in the North Bay city of Sausalito. “California deserves leadership rooted in integrity, credibility, and a clear focus on affordability and resilience – not ego, scandal, or chaos.” Gay Chabot-Las Positas Community College District Board of Trustees member Harris Mojadedi over the weekend resigned as Swalwell’s alternate on the Alameda County Democratic Party Central Committee. In doing so, Mojadedi had called on him to not only suspend his gubernatorial campaign but also resign his seat in Congress. “This is not easy for me to write. This is the second time in three years that I have had to relinquish my role as an alternate on the Central Committee, both times marked by deep heartbreak. The first time was following the tragic passing of my mentor, Richard Valle. This time, my heart breaks for those who Congressman Swalwell has harmed,” wrote Mojadedi. “Our elected officials must be held to the highest standard of integrity. We must always center, believe, and uplift survivors. That responsibility is not situational, it must guide us now and always.” Andy Kelley, a gay man who is corresponding secretary of the Alameda County Democratic Party, called for Swalwell to resign from his seat on the committee that oversees the county party and whose members vote on its endorsements. Due to his serving in Congress, Swalwell is among the local elected leaders automatically given a seat on the committee.

ʻGay grifters’

From page 2

McCarthy has since recanted his testimony that helped convict his co-defendants. He told one of the producers of the American Hustlers podcast, Kim Kantner, that contrary to his testimony,

Historic sites

From page 7

There are currently 11 city landmarks that relate to or mention LGBTQ history, including the rainbow flag installation at Harvey Milk Plaza. It became San Francisco’s 319th landmark in the fall of 2024. In 2022, San Francisco officials landmarked the site of a trans and queer riot against police in 1966 at Gene Compton’s Cafeteria, an all-night diner located in the Tenderloin. The landmark was specifically for the intersection of Turk and Taylor streets in front of the building at 101 Taylor Street in addition to the lower 11 feet of the facade extending

Nguyen

From page 6

Asked about his strategy to win the race against Yekutiel and McCoy, who’ve received more mainstream press attention on their candidacies, Nguyen said, “My game plan is to be pretty aggressive everywhere, all at once, just to meet voters and engage with folks.” He said he’s hearing from voters the need to build more housing, and “just having good governance to deliver on outcomes for our neighborhoods.”

more common six-stripe rainbow flag into a global symbol for LGBTQ people. “Gilbert Baker created the rainbow Pride flag as a symbol of hope and liberation,” stated Charles Beal, a gay man who is president of the Gilbert Baker Foundation. “Today, that symbol is restored to the place where it belongs, standing watch over the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.” The suit had been filed in federal court,

in the Southern District of New York. The federal government agreed to a settlement Monday, April 13, signed by Kristofcak, U.S. Attorney Jeffrey S. Oestericher, and Judge Jennifer L. Rochon. Under the terms of the settlement, three flags will fly: the American flag, the National Park Service flag, and the Pride flag between them. Only for maintenance can the Pride flag be removed at the monument, officially designated in

2016 by then-President Barack Obama. The government has seven days to raise the flag once again; Rochon dismissed the matter with prejudice, meaning that it cannot be filed again, according to court documents. “The government tried to erase an important symbol of the LGBTQ+ community, and the community said no,” stated Amanda Babine, executive director of Equality New York. “Today’s

accomplishment proves that when we stand together and fight back, we win.” Andrew Berman, executive director of Village Preservation, a Greenwich Village group, stated, “The removal of the Pride flag from Stonewall was an attempt to erase LGBTQ+ history and undermine the rule of law. This settlement restores both.” The U.S. Department of Justice didn’t immediately return a request for comment. t

“I join my colleagues in calling on Congressman Eric Swalwell to immediately exit the gubernatorial race. What is more, I call for the Congressman to resign from the Democratic Central Committee immediately and will do everything within my power to seek his expulsion should he fail to do so,” stated Kelley in a social media post on Saturday, prior to Swalwell’s announcement that he had suspended his gubernatorial campaign. The suspension of his campaign, which Swalwell announced Sunday evening on social media, upends an already chaotic race to succeed Newsom. Having served two terms, the Democrat is barred from running again this year and is widely expected to run for president in 2028. Swalwell had been one of the top polling Democrats in a crowded field in the governor’s race. That all came crashing down last Friday afternoon when the San Francisco Chronicle reported that a former congressional staffer said Swalwell sexually assaulted her twice. Within hours, CNN posted a story that said four women described sexual misconduct by Swalwell, including one that appeared to be the same woman as in the Chronicle story. The fallout was swift. Several highprofile politicians who had backed Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign, including U.S. Senators Adam Schiff (D-California) and Ruben Gallego (DArizona) rescinded their endorsements, as did several labor organizations. Gay Stockton City Councilmember Mario Enríquez withdrew his backing of Swalwell on Saturday. “Public trust matters. When serious concerns arise, we have a responsibility to act,” Enríquez noted in a Facebook post. “This decision is not an easy one – I previously worked in Eric Swalwell’s DC office, which makes this especially difficult.” Among the LGBTQ elected leaders

who swiftly called on Swalwell to end his gubernatorial campaign was gay Congressmember Robert Garcia of Long Beach, the top Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight. He did so Friday. “There is no place in our country or the Democratic Party for those who abuse women and girls,” Garcia posted on X. “I stand with the courageous survivor who shared her story. Congressman Swalwell must leave the Governor’s race immediately.” Gay Palm Springs resident Ferguson Porter, a Democratic candidate in the June 2 primary to succeed Congressmember Darrell Issa (R-Vista), who opted to retire rather than seek reelection in his redrawn 48th Congressional District, on Friday called for Swalwell to not only end his bid to succeed Newsom but also resign from Congress. “The accusations made against Eric Swalwell are serious and horrifying. If these allegations are true, Mr. Swalwell should immediately resign from the House and he should drop out of the California Governor’s race,” stated Porter. “As a proud resident of California, I do not want this type of person representing me as my Governor. I will be casting my vote for Katie Porter (no relation).” Congressmember Nancy Pelosi (DSan Francisco), a former House speaker, said that she spoke with Swalwell and urged him to end his campaign. “This extremely sensitive matter must be appropriately investigated with full transparency and accountability,” Pelosi said in a statement. “As I discussed with Congressman Swalwell, it is clear that is best done outside of a gubernatorial campaign.” Just days before the Chronicle story dropped, as rumors swirled that Swalwell had behaved inappropriately with women, his campaign issued a statement that the “false, outrageous rumor” was

being spread by opposing campaigns who had “teamed up with MAGA conspiracy theorists.” Shortly after the articles appeared, Swalwell denied the allegations in a video statement. “Hear it directly from me. These allegations are flat false. And I will fight them,” he said at the time. But the pressure kept mounting on the seven-term House member, who is married and the father of three children. By Sunday, he ended his bid to lead California. “I am suspending my campaign for Governor,” he posted on X. “To my family, staff, friends, and supporters, I am deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past. I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made – but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s.”

Rebecca Salzman, a lesbian mom who’s mayor pro tem of El Cerrito, posted on LinkedIn that Swalwell should leave Congress. “This is what accountability looks like,” she wrote, referring to the news articles that had appeared. “Now, let’s remove him from Congress.” On Sunday, more than 50 former staffers of Swalwell called on him to quit the campaign and resign from Congress, the Chronicle and other outlets reported. Swalwell is also facing possible criminal prosecution. Over the weekend, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office announced it was looking into possible sexual assault charges, as one of the incidents allegedly took place in a New York City hotel room in 2024.

Congressional future

Governor’s race

he did not witness Lambert’s killing. In an exclusive telephone interview with the B.A.R. in February 2025, Garcia said he had a “complicated” relationship with Wrensch and he said “99% of his allegations are patently false.” Wrensch told the B.A.R. that he had an “a ha” moment when talking with

the planned series’ head writer Campolongo when Campolongo asked him why he was so passionate about bringing justice in the case, more so than any of the other victims in the case. Wrensch said he had three goals he wanted to achieve before coming out to his family: financial inde-

pendence, social independence, and emotional stability. He achieved all of those in two years at the age of 27 after moving to San Francisco from Cupertino. That is when Campolongo told him, “Tyson, I’m going to stop you there. I don’t think you realize it but

Danny didn’t just steal your money … he stole all of the things you just said. All of the goals you worked so hard to accomplish so you could be you… he turned your friends against you…and Danny just took them.” t

north 52 feet from the corner of Turk Street and 40 feet west from the corner of Taylor Street to incorporate the exterior walls for the commercial space. As the B.A.R. recently reported, the Historic Preservation Commission has recommended the entire exterior of the building be included under the landmark. The supervisors will now take up doing so, which is being requested by a transgender-led community group. Another LGBTQ local landmark is the Lyon-Martin House at 651 Duncan Street in Noe Valley where deceased lesbian couple Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin had lived and hosted meetings of the Daughters of Bilitis, the first political and social organization for lesbians in

the United States. So, too, is the Japanese YWCA/Issei Women’s Building at 1830 Sutter Street where the pioneering gay rights group the Mattachine Society hosted its first convention in May 1954. Gay bar locations the Eagle on 12th Street in South of Market, the Twin Peaks Tavern on Castro Street and the nowdefunct Paper Doll in North Beach are also city landmarks. The other LGBTQ landmarks are the former home to the AIDS Memorial Quilt at 2362 Market Street that now houses seafood restaurant Catch, and the late gay supervisor Harvey Milk’s residence and former Castro Camera shop at 573 Castro Street. The designation for the Castro Theatre, initially listed in 1977 as landmark

number 100, was expanded in 2023 to include the movie palace’s hosting scores of LGBTQ events over the decades and being the home of the LGBTQ international film festival Frameline. The Women’s Building at 3543 18th Street near Valencia Street in 1985 became a city landmark, with its ties to LGBTQ history later noted when it became a national historic site in 2018. As the B.A.R. previously reported, Mandelman is eying creating a historic district in the Castro neighborhood and ones encompassing parts of the adjacent Duboce Triangle area. Considering the length of time since Graves and Watson first suggested LGBTQ sites worthy of landmarking status to seeing a number of

them be recognized in such a way, Mandelman told the B.A.R. it is not unique to places of importance to LGBTQ history. “I don’t think the pace is anything particular to queer historic sites. It is slow going to landmark historic sites, period,” he said. With Mandelman set to be termed off the board come January, he hopes the groundwork he and his staff have laid with the landmarks and historic districts they have been able to bring forward sets up his successor as the District 8 supervisor to continue to recognize local LGBTQ historical sites in such a manner. “LGBTQ history is an important part of San Francisco history,” said Mandelman. t

Asked why voters should choose him, Nguyen noted he is the only one to have been elected to office (he was elected to the DCCC by registered Democratic voters of the 17th Assembly District). ‘I’m a lawyer, I’m an activist,” he said. “I came to San Francisco with nothing and know what it’s like for young people who come here.” Merchants at Lisa’s Hair Design, Cliff ’s Variety, and Joe’s Barbershop declined to comment. But Phuong Tran of Castro Nail Salon said that Nguyen is a longtime customer who

always brings a smile to the shop, and seemed excited about his candidacy. “I think Michael is amazing,” she said. “Michael has been coming in for a long time.” One of Nguyen’s policy focuses has been the needs for social housing and housing for artists. He said he feels sad the city has become even less affordable than when he moved here in his 20s. Nguyen has said he thinks that if the city invested in universal basic income for artists, it would see returns

in economic activity, citing an Irish universal basic income program that claimed society got back one euro and 39 cents for every euro invested. On the walk, he met Luke Andahazy, a gay artist who works at ROLO on Market Street but who does not live in District 8, and they chatted, discussing Andahazy’s struggle moving to San Francisco post-COVID and trying to climb the ladder of success. “What a lovely individual,” Andahazy said of Nguyen. “You can tell he has an open heart, open mind. I sense that.”

Straight ally Darin Ow-Wing, executive director of Livable City, and who is not a District 8 resident, said that he is volunteering for Nguyen in his personal capacity because of “the character issue.” “Any time of day I’d write him and he’d write me back in five minutes with a thoughtful answer and three to five practical ‘Hey, here’s what to do next,’” Ow-Wing said. “It can be hard to distinguish between progressive candidates on the issues, but who is going to be responsive to people? He’s gonna be the best.” t

Some politicians on both sides of the aisle wanted Swalwell gone from Congress. He is not seeking reelection to his 14th District House seat, as he was running for governor. On Saturday, Congressmember Anna Paulina Luna (R-Florida) said on X that she would introduce a resolution to expel Swalwell from Congress, which would have needed two-thirds of the chamber to vote in favor for it to pass. Also Saturday, two California Democrats, Congressmembers Sam Liccardo of San Jose and Jared Huffman of San Rafael, called for Swalwell to resign, according to NBC News. “Courageous survivors deserve to be heard fully, not threatened with ceaseand-desist letters from their assailant. Swalwell must halt his campaign, resign from office, and face the consequences of a full investigation. Democrats must not equivocate in the face of uncomfortable allegations about one of our own,” stated Liccardo.

Meanwhile, the California governor’s race is in flux and many Democrats remain concerned that two Republicans could take the top two spots in the June 2 primary. With Swalwell exiting, the two other top polling Democrats are Katie Porter, a former congressmember, and billionaire Tom Steyer. Several other Democratic candidates are hovering in the single digits; it is unclear if one or more of them will see a surge in support. On the Republican side, former Fox News commentator Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco continue to lead the race. During last weekend’s state Republican convention in San Diego, neither candidate was able to secure 60% support for the party’s endorsement. President Donald Trump endorsed Hilton last week, leading some political observers to speculate that would take support away from Bianco. t

t <<

From the Cover>>

SOMA Nights

From page 1

“The executive director told us his donors wanted to support events in proper commercial districts, and SOMA doesn’t have one, so we need not apply,” Ludlum said. “I’m, of course, personally offended. I think it’s the wrong approach to urban renewal. I don’t understand why donors would prefer their funds go to neighborhoods with thriving commercial corridors that presumably need less help than people like us that have a commercial corridor that has been severely impacted … and is in danger of having more closures. I don’t understand why that makes us unworthy of philanthropic support.” SOMA has had a rich LGBTQ history. In the 1970s, Folsom Street had been christened the “Miracle Mile” for the long strip of leather bars, BDSM clubs, and bathhouses that had lined it. Today, only a few vestiges of that explosion of sexual freedom remain, both due to the AIDS epidemic and the gentrification of the area. SOMA Nights will take place within the footprint of the Leather & LGBTQ Cultural District, which did not return a request for comment. SOMA residents noted the involvement of LGBTQ people in the neighborhood. “I think we have a thriving LGBT community in west SOMA and have historically been part of the leather and LGBT district, for a long time,” Reese Aaron Isbell, a gay man and SOMA resident, told the B.A.R. “Many of our small businesses are owned and operated by our LGBT community, and everyone should feel welcome to come out to the SOMA Nights events and have a place to eat, a place to drink.” Ludlum said West SOMA businesses have been impacted by the flight of San Franciscans from the urban core, as well as the ongoing San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s Folsom Streetscape Project. SFMTA currently projects the project will be completed in October, but the work has snarled parts of the area with massive construction equipment. “Walkways and bikeways are currently inadequate because the ex-

isting roadway is still designed to support and prioritize high vehicle volumes and has not changed with the neighborhood,” the SFMTA website states. “The Folsom-Howard Streetscape Project will make the South of Market Neighborhood (SoMa) a safer and more inviting place to walk, bike, shop, and take transit.” As part of the project, upgrades to the 100-year-old sewer system have been completed, according to SFMTA’s website. “Our businesses are really struggling to survive, so many have closed, and the ones we have are hanging on by a thread,” Ludlum said. Gay District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who represents SOMA, told the B.A.R. that he is grateful the event is returning and hopes it brings business to the corridor. “I’m excited to welcome SOMA Nights back for its second year,” he stated. “Last year’s inaugural series brought real energy to the neighborhood, driving foot traffic, supporting small businesses along the Folsom Street corridor, and highlighting what makes SOMA so special. I think this year builds on that momentum with an entertainment zone, allowing people to enjoy togo drinks from local bars and restaurants while taking in live music and art from San Francisco-based creators. I’m grateful to the SOMA West Community Benefit District, San Francisco New Deal, Into the Streets, and the many local businesses that make this event possible.” Merchants like Michael Rotella of Rocco’s Cafe at 1131 Folsom Street blame the SFMTA project for a decline in sales up to 60%. “The broader question is not just about Rocco’s Cafe,” Rotella stated in a news release in December calling attention to his plight. “It is about how a single street project can stretch nearly five years, devastate a commercial corridor, and face zero accountability. It is about whether San Francisco’s leadership genuinely intends to protect small and legacy businesses – or whether they are willing to let them quietly fail due to bureaucratic inertia and mismanagement.” Ludlum said that the street project “makes it hard to park” for potential customers – necessitating the

April 16-22, 2026 • Bay Area Repor ter • 9

Courtesy SOMA West CBD

Alex Ludlum, executive director of the SOMA West CBD, attended a SOMA Nights event last year.

need for the night market to help draw foot traffic. “Having an event gives people a reason to come to the neighborhood,” he said. “Folsom Street is a disaster construction zone, and the schedule is always changing, so we can’t plan around it. The theme of our [2025] season finale [of SOMA Nights] was ‘Construction zone.’” SFMTA stated via a spokesperson that “the proactive improvements from this project are meant to support the safety and vitality of the corridor for years to come.” “We know that this level of construction is frustrating for everyone including businesses, but this urgent work is necessary so that SFFD crews have a reliable system to use in response to active fires along Folsom Street,” the spokesperson stated. “This upgrade will also provide a reliable and updated sewer system, keeping toilets and sinks running for businesses and homes along the corridor.” Rotella didn’t return a request to be interviewed for this report, though his business is one of those sponsoring SOMA Nights. Civic Joy Fund’s Spray stated to the B.A.R. that the decision not to fund SOMA Nights was one of prudential judgment.

“Each year we receive more requests than we’re able to accommodate, and tough decisions have to be made. This was one of them,” he stated. “Several factors influenced the decision, most notably the unique site constraints (narrow alleys, etc), and the fact that our biggest night market, Downtown First Thursdays, happens just a few blocks away all 12 months of the year. We’re committed to more geographic equity for our night markets this year, and having two markets so close together didn’t align with that. We’ve been engaging with other neighborhoods that deserve this same level of activation and investment that might not otherwise see it.” Spray stated that Civic Joy Fund was “glad to help fund the launch of SOMA Nights last year. It’s a great way to bring people together in the neighborhood and bolster local businesses,” and that the organization is “excited to be launching night markets in new neighborhoods later this year, so stay tuned.” Ludlum said that the budget for the event is $90,000 for the whole year, or $15,000 per event. He said that there was a 65% increase in revenue for businesses on average last year on the nights of the fair. Most of funding for this year – $70,000 – is coming from the West SOMA CBD, Ludlum said, while $20,000 comes from SF New Deal, a nonprofit that promotes the city’s small businesses. SF New Deal’s Simon Bertrang stated the grant is part of the organization’s Downtown ENRG campaign, to reinvigorate the city’s beleaguered urban core. Bertrang stated, “Our programs are not only filling downtown with new energy, they’re building lasting futures for local small businesses and creating the kind of diverse, vibrant neighborhoods that make this city oneof-a-kind.” The CBD board accepted a grant from SF New Deal at its February 17 meeting, according to its website.

Activities planned

Those who do make the trek out to West SOMA will have a number of activities they can enjoy connected with SOMA Nights. Jonathan Ojinaga, owner and operator of Azucar Lounge at 299 Ninth Street,

who identifies both as gay “and crazy since I have a food and beverage business in San Francisco,” stated, “We are running a Mexican Spirit Tasting from 7 to 8 p.m. every fourth Thursday called Selecciones, and promoting rotating food/drink specials on Thursdays in conjunction with SOMA Nights.” He also stated that he will be featuring a different DJ each iteration of SOMA Nights. Edwin Stoodley of The Nosh Box at 1116 Folsom Street, who is also gay, will have a DJ “as well as some tasty pastries, food, and wine all night,” he stated. Chris Milstead, owner and manager of Driftwood at 1225 Folsom Street, stated, “We are excited for SOMA Nights to start up again, and look forward to getting the neighborhood people out and hit all the participating venues. We have DJs lined up that spin from 7 to 10 p.m., and we offer a special cocktail for that night.” Liz Cahill, executive director and co-founder of Decentered Arts at 1175 Folsom Street, stated the venue is “hosting a live drawing lounge with tea.” Live drawing is when an artist makes art on the spot, Cahill explained. “People can watch his process and interact. We’ll also be serving tea as a beverage option. It’s a nice NA [nonalcoholic] alternative. Many folks in our community do not drink or are low alcohol,” Cahill continued. Animal J. Smith will be a wandering flute player at the event. A performance artist, composer, activist and leatherman, he is also known as Alpha Pup Bruzr, co-founder of the pup play kink practice. “It’s important to me that South of Market continues to be a place where the arts and leather community thrive, where businesses prosper, music venues draw the best talent and a wide audience, and where people can live and work and build their dreams just like I did,” he stated. “SOMA Nights is a wonderful new tradition that brings all of these goals to light, and it’s a joy to send soaring melodies out of my flute and hear the echoes bouncing over us as we celebrate our neighborhood together.” Mostly Cloudy, which provides femme-centric DJ lineups, will be at the event. It didn’t return a request for comment.t

Legals>> ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO CASE NUMBER CNC-26-560541 To all interested persons, the Petitioner LAURENCE GATHERS filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: present name LARRY GATHERS AKA LAURENCE GATHERS to proposed name LAURENCE WINSTON GATHERS. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Notice of Hearing: APRIL 23, 2026, 9:00 am, Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. MAR 26, APR 02, 09, 16, 2026 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO CASE NUMBER CNC-26-560559 To all interested persons, the Petitioner ERIKA CLAUDIO filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: present name ERIKA CLAUDIO AKA SIDNEY JUNE to proposed name SIDNEY JUNE. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Notice of Hearing: APRIL 30, 2026, 9:00 am, Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. MAR 26, APR 02, 09, 16, 2026 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO CASE NUMBER CNC-26-560563 To all interested persons, the Petitioner DAO-CHAU DAC NGUYEN filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: present name DAO-CHAU DAC NGUYEN to proposed name LUCY DAO-CHAU NGUYEN. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Notice of Hearing: APRIL 30, 2026, 9:00 am, Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. MAR 26, APR 02, 09, 16, 2026 AMENDED ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO CASE NUMBER CNC-26-560560 To all interested persons, the Petitioner KAYLA KREIS filed an amended petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: present name KAYLA KREIS to proposed name KAYLIA KREIS. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Notice of Hearing: MAY 07, 2026, 9:00 am, Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. MAR 26, APR 02, 09, 16, 2026

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO CASE NUMBER CNC-26-560570 To all interested persons, the Petitioner OFIR HANIN & YONATAN KOMORNIK filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: present name ETAMAR HANIN-KOMORNIK to proposed name ITAMAR HANIN-KOMORNIK. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Notice of Hearing: MAY 07, 2026, 9:00 am, Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. MAR 26, APR 02, 09, 16, 2026 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO CASE NUMBER CNC-26-560568 To all interested persons, the Petitioner LISA MAY JONES AKA LEAC MAY JONES filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: present name LISA MAY JONES AKA LEAC MAY JONES to proposed name LISA MAY JONES. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Notice of Hearing: MAY 07, 2026, 9:00 am, Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. MAR 26, APR 02, 09, 16, 2026 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO CASE NUMBER CNC-26-560527 To all interested persons, the Petitioner AJIANAH ASHANTI MONIQUE DANIELS filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: present name AJIANAH ASHANTI MONIQUE DANIELS to proposed name AJIANAH ASHANTI MONIQUE BENNETTE. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Notice of Hearing: APRIL 21, 2026, 9:00 am, Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. MAR 26, APR 02, 09, 16, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408815 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): TU HAIR, 391 BRIDGE VIEW DR #2, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/Owner(s): TAMMIE UNDERWOOD. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/18/2025. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/20/2026. MAR 26, APR 02, 09, 16, 2026

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408706 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): D CLAR PLUMBING, 46 CHICAGO WAY, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/Owner(s): CLARENCE O. CHAVEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/09/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/09/2026. MAR 26, APR 02, 09, 16, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408795 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): CONSCIOUS DIVINE FORM; AUTHENTIC ALCHEMY 777, 447 SUTTER ST STE 405 #581, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/Owner(s): JEANNIE WU. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/06/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/18/2026. MAR 26, APR 02, 09, 16, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408807 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): MASTER LOCKSMITH SAN FRANCISCO, 4619 LINCOLN WAY #C, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/ Owner(s): YELYZAVETA KANTOR. 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 03/19/2026. MAR 26, APR 02, 09, 16, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408812 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): SUPERSTAR SECURITY, 935 GOLDEN GATE AVE #J, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/Owner(s): FIKREMARIAM MEHARI. 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 03/20/2026. MAR 26, APR 02, 09, 16, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408797 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): SOMA SCHOOL; SOMA DAYCARE; SOMA PRESCHOOL; SOMA DAYCARE AND PRESCHOOL LLC, 473 BRYANT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/Owner(s): LUONG NGOC KHANH. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/07/2012. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/18/2026. MAR 26, APR 02, 09, 16, 2026

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408657 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): SHOTWELL ASSOCIATES, 3874 18TH ST #301, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/Owner(s): CHAYA WURMAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/04/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/04/2026. MAR 26, APR 02, 09, 16, 2026

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408811 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): MALONE’S, 216 TOWNSEND ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a limited liability company. Registrant/Owner(s): MIGHTY CASEY, 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 03/20/2026. MAR 26, APR 02, 09, 16, 2026

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408601 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): PEACE PHOTO, 524 HAIGHT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/Owner(s): CHRIS S.A. GOULD. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/25/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/25/2026. MAR 26, APR 02, 09, 16, 2026

STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE 2024-0405226 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as K&M IMPORT AND EXPORT INTERNATIONAL TRADING COMPANY, 837 BROADWAY #1, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by KEN CHUNG. The fictitious business name statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/23/2024. The abandonment of fictitious business name statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/25/2026. MAR 26, APR 02, 09, 16, 2026

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408618 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): THUNDERDOG; THUNDERDOG DESIGNS, 4614 17TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/Owner(s): ERIC FLANIKEN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/11/2016. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/17/2026. MAR 26, APR 02, 09, 16, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408800 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): ARCHITECTS SF; SF ARCHITECTS, 1390 MARKET ST #200, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a corporation. Registrant/Owner(s): ARCHITECT SF (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/15/2014. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/19/2026. MAR 26, APR 02, 09, 16, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408806 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): VON, 880 HARRISON ST #301, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a corporation. Registrant/Owner(s): RATTLE SOFTWARE INC. (DE). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/19/2026. MAR 26, APR 02, 09, 16, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408769 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): BHC CHICKEN BAY AREA, 3995 ALEMANY BLVD #3661, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94132. This business is conducted by a limited liability company. Registrant/Owner(s): TASTE REPUBLIC LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/17/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/17/2026. MAR 26, APR 02, 09, 16, 2026

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO CASE NUMBER CNC-26560576 To all interested persons, the Petitioner SARA LAUREN WADE filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: present name SARA LAUREN WADE to proposed name SARA DIAZ. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Notice of Hearing: MAY 05, 2026, 9:00 am, Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. APR 02, 09, 16, 23, 2026 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO CASE NUMBER CNC-26-560588 To all interested persons, the Petitioner AUDREY LANDYN FLORENCE FULLER BRANTNER filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: present name AUDREY LANDYN FLORENCE FULLER BRANTNER to proposed name SAM LANDYN FLORENCE FULLER BRANTNER. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Notice of Hearing: MAY 12, 2026, 9:00 am, Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. APR 02, 09, 16, 23, 2026

<< Classifieds

10 • Bay Area Repor ter • April 16-22, 2026

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO CASE NUMBER CNC-26-560590 To all interested persons, the Petitioner CHANTEL ANNETTE HERNANDEZ-COLEMAN filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: present name CHANTEL ANNETTE HERNANDEZ-COLEMAN AKA CHANTEL ANNETTE HERNANDEZ-WOOD AKA CHANTEL ANNETTE HERNANDEZ COLEMAN AKA CHANTEL WOOD AKA CHNATEL HERNANDEZ to proposed name CHANTEL ANNETTE HERNANDEZ-WOOD. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Notice of Hearing: MAY 12, 2026, 9:00 am, Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. APR 02, 09, 16, 23, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408799 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): AI TOURS, 287 JEFFERSON ST #B, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/Owner(s): ANDREW INGARGIOLA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/19/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/19/2026. APR 02, 09, 16, 23, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408832 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): WE BE HONEY, 3210 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/Owner(s): JEFFREY WILLIAM MACMULLEN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/24/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/24/2026. APR 02, 09, 16, 23, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408543 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): BOB’S PLANTATION SHUTTERS FOR LESS, 142 LONDON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/Owner(s): SAUL BAMACA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/15/2015. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/19/2026. APR 02, 09, 16, 23, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408852 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): HONEST CLUB, 1249 6TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 95122. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/Owner(s): ANDREW TOLENTINO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/15/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/27/2026. APR 02, 09, 16, 23, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408775 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): EVERY 6 WEEKS; ARTIFICIAL; TRIM & TAKEOFF; EDGE YOUR WAY, 491 CASTRO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114-2019. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/ Owner(s): RICHARD TITUS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/17/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/17/2026. APR 02, 09, 16, 23, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408854 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): STILLWATER BURROW, 3250 LAGUNA ST #109, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/Owner(s): AVERY MORRIS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/01/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/27/2026. APR 02, 09, 16, 23, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408765 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): THE POINT, HUNTERS POINT SHIPYARD, BLDG 101 #1316, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a corporation. Registrant/Owner(s): PATTERNS, LTD (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/30/1983. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/17/2026. APR 02, 09, 16, 23, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408836 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): CITY OVERHEAD DOORS, 5976 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by a corporation. Registrant/Owner(s): GARAGE MASTER INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/01/2009. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/25/2026. APR 02, 09, 16, 23, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408853 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): THE BREAKFAST CLUB AT MIDTOWN - SAN FRANCISCO, 1428 HAIGHT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a corporation. Registrant/Owner(s): THE GUESS COMPANY (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/24/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/27/2026. APR 02, 09, 16, 23, 2026 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE 2023-0399573 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as 238 REAL ESTATE, 3595 BALBOA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business was conducted by a corporation and signed by SEQUOIA REAL ESTATE - CITY PROPERTIES, INC. (CA). The fictitious business name statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/22/2023. The abandonment of fictitious business name statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/17/2026. APR 02, 09, 16, 23, 2026 SUMMONS DISTRICT COURT CLARK COUNTY, NEVADA CASE NO.: A-26-939502-C DEPT NO.: 25 RESORTS WORLD LAS VEGAS LLC DBA RESORTS WORLD LAS VEGAS, PLAINTIFF, VS. RICHARD HIU HING CHU, DEFENDANT. NOTICE! YOU HAVE BEEN SUED, THE COURT MAY DECIDE AGAINST YOU WITHOUT YOUR BEING HEARD UNLESS YOU RESPOND WITHIN 21 DAYS. READTHE INFORMATION BELOW. TO THE DEFENDANT: RICHARD HIU HING CHU A civil Complaint has been filed by the Plaintiff against you for the relief set forth in the Complaint. Object of Action: Defendant is being sued for non-payment of commercial instrument(s). 1. If you intend to defend this lawsuit, within 21 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, with the appropriate filing fee. 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 a 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 to the complaint. CLERK OF COURT, BY: Steven D. Grierson, Deputy Clerk, Date, FEBRUARY 13, 2026, County Courthouse, 200 Lewis Avenue, Las Vegas, Nevada 89155, Issued at the direction of: SKLAR WILLIAMS PLLC, By: Anthony R. Ager, Esq., Nevada Bar No. 007969, 410 S. Rampart Blvd., #350, Las Vegas, NV 89145, Tel: (702) 360-6000, Fax: (702) 360-0000, Attorney for Plaintiff. APR 02, 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026

NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF ANNA LIDIA PANKOWICZ, (AKA ANNA BOLECHOWSKII)

Notice is hereby given to the creditors and contingent creditors of the above-named decedent, that all persons having claims against the above named decedent are required to file them with the Trustee of the Anna L. Pankowicz Revocable Trust within the later of four (4) months after April 7, 2026 (the date of the first publication of notice to creditors) or, if notice is mailed or personally delivered to you, 60 days after the date this notice is mailed or personally delivered to you. You are encouraged to file your claim by certified mail, with return receipt requested. Mail to: Beata Pankowicz Cole, Trustee of Anna L Pankowicz Revocable Trust, 8333 Westlawn, Los Angeles, California 90045.

APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO CASE NUMBER CNC-26-560592 To all interested persons, the Petitioner HEIDI ELIZABETH JAMES filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: present name HEIDI ELIZABETH JAMES to proposed name HEIDI ELIZABETH NIXON. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Notice of Hearing: MAY 14, 2026, 9:00 am, Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO CASE NUMBER CNC-26-560591 To all interested persons, the Petitioner BARBARA ALLYSON MARQUARD filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: present name BARBARA ALLYSON MARQUARD to proposed name BARBARA MARQUARD LEGATO. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Notice of Hearing: MAY 14, 2026, 9:00 am, Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO CASE NUMBER CNC-26-560593 To all interested persons, the Petitioner BARBARA LUCIA PARIS filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: present name BARBARA LUCIA PARIS to proposed name LU REYCROFT PARIS. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Notice of Hearing: MAY 14, 2026, 9:00 am, Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO CASE NUMBER CNC-26-560601 To all interested persons, the Petitioner NATASHA SAMANTHA MOZER filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: present name NATASHA SAMANTHA MOZER to proposed name SAMANTHA MOZER GALLIVAN. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Notice of Hearing: MAY 19, 2026, 9:00 am, Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO CASE NUMBER CNC-26-560603 To all interested persons, the Petitioner CRAIG ANSEL LYNCH filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: present name CRAIG ANSEL LYNCH to proposed name CAL XAVIER HUDSON. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Notice of Hearing: MAY 19, 2026, 9:00 am, Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO CASE NUMBER CNC-26-560581 To all interested persons, the Petitioner PHAN MINH TRIEU filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: present name PHAN MINH TRIEU to proposed name JOANNA MINH TRIEU. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Notice of Hearing: MAY 07, 2026, 9:00 am, Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408636 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): JARREL PHILLIPS PHOTOGRAPHY; AVE; ACCESS VIS EXPOSURE; LIVING LORE, 524 BOWDOIN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/Owner(s): JARREL PHILLIPS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/03/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/03/2026. AAPR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408820 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): LEGACY BARBER, 953 MISSION ST #101, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/Owner(s): IRVIS ZAPANA DE LA CRUZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/25/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/23/2026. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408872 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): GLITCH LABS, 10 CYRIL MAGNIN ST #803, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/Owner(s): BENJAMIN DREYER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/31/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/31/2026. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408833 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): PEQUEÑOS GRASSHOPPERS DAYCARE & PRESCHOOL, 978 CAPITOL AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/ Owner(s): ALICIA LOPEZ RIVERA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/20/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/24/2026. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408873 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): RENOWNED PRODUCTIONS, 110 CHANNEL ST #518, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94158. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/Owner(s): ANDREW YEN. 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 03/31/2026. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408866 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): GIBSON & JEFFREY LAW, 841 DIAMOND ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/Owner(s): RIK JEFFREY.. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/27/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/30/2026. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408918 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): YELLOW EARTH PRESS, 1678 GROVE ST #4, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/Owner(s): KEVIN WONG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/19/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/02/2026. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408888 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): LA CHINA POBLANA, 422 GEARY ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/Owner(s): KATANA-YA (U.S.A.) CORPORATION (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/29/2025. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/01/2026. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408859 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): HUMUS GARDENS, 881 34TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/Owner(s): JOSHUA HEWINS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/13/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/30/2026. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408927 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): SHOP MARI, 501 33RD AVE #203, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/Owner(s): MA GLORIA KITAGUCHI. 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 04/03/2026. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408931 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): VASQUEZ FAMILY DAYCARE, 275 RAYMOND AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/Owner(s): BETY J VASQUEZ ALVARADO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/31/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/06/2026. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408930 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): PRESTIGE DIAMOND CLEAN, 33 8TH ST #333, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/Owner(s): JASMINE DAVIS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/03/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/06/2026. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408936 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): CRAZY PEPPER, 2257 SAN JOSE AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/Owner(s): MEI LIANG INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/01/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/06/2026. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408646 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): IKAII; VERY DEMURE; PRETTY ME, 1415 37TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/Owner(s): IRAICKZA VELEZ DEL VALLE. 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 03/03/2026. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408838 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): GARCIA L ELECTRIC, 295 TOCOLOMA AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by a corporation. Registrant/Owner(s): GARCIA L ELECTRIC INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/25/2026. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408847 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): MR. PICKLES SANDWICH SHOP, 3380 MISSION ST #103, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a limited liability company. Registrant/Owner(s): LEONBROS VENTURES 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 03/26/2026. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408816 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): BAY EDUTAINMENT; GABAY COLLECTIVE, 2646 38TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by a limited liability company. Registrant/ Owner(s): IMAGINED STUDIO LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/19/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/20/2026. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408910 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): IRIS NAILS & HAIR, 1642A IRVING ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a limited liability company. Registrant/Owner(s): IRIS NAILS & HAIR LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/02/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/02/2026. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408882 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): PERILLA NOE VALLEY, 4109 24TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation. Registrant/Owner(s): AZM GROUP, 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 04/01/2026. APR 16, 23, 30, MAY 07, 2026

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408895 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): CURTIS DEVELOPMENT, 10 LINARES AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by a limited liability company. Registrant/Owner(s): CURTIS & CO DEVELOPMENT LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/20/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/01/2026. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408940 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): BAHAY KALINGA COMMUNITY CENTER, 122 9TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation. Registrant/Owner(s): FILIPINO COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/01/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/06/2026. APR 16, 23, 30, MAY 07, 2026

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408881 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): HAPPY POKE, 2760 OCTAVIA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by a limited liability company. Registrant/Owner(s): TRUONG BUSINESS LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/01/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/01/2026. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408943 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): IHOME CABINETS DESIGN, 1635 INDIANA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a corporation. Registrant/Owner(s): IHOME CUSTOM CABINET INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/05/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/07/2026. APR 16, 23, 30, MAY 07, 2026

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408934 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): BLUE DANUBE COFFEE HOUSE, 2942 LYON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by a limited liability company. Registrant/Owner(s): BD LYON, 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 04/06/2026. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408988 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): TEESA HISPANIC PRODUCT DISTRIBUTORS, 601 VAN NESS AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a corporation. Registrant/Owner(s): TEESA YUCATAN INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/01/2024. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/09/2026. APR 16, 23, 30, MAY 07, 2026

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408602 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): CAVE RAVE ENTERTAINMENT, 1642 8TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a limited liability company. Registrant/Owner(s): RAVEN INNOVATIONS 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 02/26/2026. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408629 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): NEXT CHAPTER LOUNGE & EATERY, 142 MINNA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by a limited liability company. Registrant/Owner(s): NEXT CHAPTER SF LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/02/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/02/2026. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE 2018-0384288 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as RANDALL WHITEHEAD LIGHTING, 1212 18TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business was conducted by a limited liability company and signed by RANDALL WHITEHEAD LIGHTING INC (CA). The fictitious business name statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/03/2018. The abandonment of fictitious business name statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/01/2026. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE 2024-0403746 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as CRAZY PEPPER, 2257 SAN JOSE AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business was conducted by a corporation and signed by GOOD FOR YOU INC (CA). The fictitious business name statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/31/2026. The abandonment of fictitious business name statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/06/2026. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO CASE NUMBER CNC-26-560604 To all interested persons, the Petitioner KATERYNA V BABIYETS filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: present name KATERYNA V BABIYETS to proposed name KATYA BABIYETS. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Notice of Hearing: MAY 21, 2026, 9:00 am, Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. APR 16, 23, 30, MAY 07, 2026 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO CASE NUMBER CNC-26-560610 To all interested persons, the Petitioner HANNAH RABANO SCHMIDT filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: present name HANNAH RABANO SCHMIDT to proposed name HANNAH KOCH-RABANO. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Notice of Hearing: MAY 26, 2026, 9:00 am, Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. APR 16, 23, 30, MAY 07, 2026

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408868 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): 1Z KING; ONESIE KING, 721 TERESITA BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127. This business is conducted by a limited liability company. Registrant/Owner(s): THE CHAGA COMPANY LLC (CA0. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/25/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/31/2026. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO CASE NUMBER CNC-26-560615 To all interested persons, the Petitioner NELLY ESTHER PINTO LANZA filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: present name NELLY ESTHER PINTO LANZA AKA NELLY PINTO LANZA AKA NELLY E LANZA to proposed name NELLY ESTHER PINTO. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Notice of Hearing: MAY 26, 2026, 9:00 am, Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. APR 16, 23, 30, MAY 07, 2026

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408876 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): CACHE, 1235 9TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a limited liability company. Registrant/Owner(s): VIVANT F&B, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/03/2024. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/31/2026. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408887 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): ANGELAS BOUTIQUE, 2790 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/Owner(s): BINDA CANO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/09/2013. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/01/2026. APR 16, 23, 30, MAY 07, 2026

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408902 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): THE SOMA CENTER, 48 BARCELONA AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by a limited liability company. Registrant/Owner(s): THE SOMA CENTER, 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 04/01/2026. APR 09, 16, 23, 30, 2026

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408021 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): REAL IMAGERY RENTALS, 1000 JUDAH ST #201, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual. Registrant/Owner(s): NATASHA FONTARENSKY. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/04/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/10/2026. APR 16, 23, 30, MAY 07, 2026

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408997 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): BAY AREA GARAGE DOORS; ALCATRAZ GARAGE DOOR, 569 DARIEN WAY, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127. This business is conducted by a corporation. Registrant/Owner(s): B.B. SOLUTIONS INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/09/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/09/2026. APR 16, 23, 30, MAY 07, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408967 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): OUT2DAY, 2261 MARKET ST #78561, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation. Registrant/Owner(s): OPEN VISTA INC. (DE). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/05/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/08/2026. APR 16, 23, 30, MAY 07, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408956 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): EXTRA EXTRA CHILI CRISP, 1231 CASTRO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a limited liability company. Registrant/Owner(s): GIBSON VENTURES, 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 04/07/2026. APR 16, 23, 30, MAY 07, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408875 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): CROSSROADS HOME HEALTH & HOSPICE, 1109 VICENTE ST #101, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by a limited liability company. Registrant/Owner(s): OWEN HEALTHCARE LLC (UT). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/10/2021. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/31/2026. APR 16, 23, 30, MAY 07, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408963 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): SHALLWEGO PHOTOGRAPHY, 2531 POST ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by a limited liability company. Registrant/Owner(s): KEVIN WEIL PHOTOGRAPHY LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/27/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/08/2026. APR 16, 23, 30, MAY 07, 2026 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE 2026-0408957 Fictitious Business Name(s)/Trade Name (DBA): SOUTH ALAMEDA COUNTY APA, 1800 SANTIAGO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by a limited liability company. Registrant/Owner(s): ELEVEN ELEVEN VENTURES GROUP LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/20/2026. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/07/2026. APR 16, 23, 30, MAY 07, 2026 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE 2023-0401200 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as GENERAL AUTO SERVICE & HOME GAS, 2990 SAN BRUNO AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business was conducted by a corporation and signed by Y & L AUTO CORPORATION (CAO. The fictitious business name statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/16/2023. The abandonment of fictitious business name statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/09/2026. APR 16, 23, 30, MAY 07, 2026

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415.821.1792

Kegan Marlin

by David-Elijah Nahmod

David-Elijah Nahmod: First, please tell me how the community is doing. Sean Dorsey: Thank you for asking about this. This is a brutally hard time for so many people. Every trans person I know is experiencing anxiety, fear, anger, grief, and in many cases, terror. The attacks on us are relentless, as are the lies, the scapegoating, the harm. What is beautiful in the face of these attacks is how supportive and loving trans folks are being toward each other. We’ve always shown up for each other, we’ve been each other’s chosen family. Our trancestors showed us the way through these times.

Sean Dorsey Dance back for 22nd home season Company stands tall amid anti-trans backlash

Nol Simonse, Sean Dorsey, Brandon Graham and David Le in Sean Dorsey Dance

Why is your new piece called “We Choose Each Other?” What is the meaning behind the name? This home season we’re excited to perform a sneak peak of our new show. It’s a very first look at a part of the new show, the full show will premiere in 2027. The new show is called, “We Choose Each Other,” because that is what we do in times of violence, attacks and harm. We choose to hold each other up, we choose to hold each other more tightly. That is what these dances are about, coming together out of deep care and love for each other. What are some of the pieces you’ll be performing from your two-decade repertoire? As part of the home season, I’m especially thrilled to be restaging the opening sections of my 2015 work, “The Mission Generation.” I choreographed that show after recording 75 hours of oral history interviews with longtime survivors of the early part of the AIDS epidemic. Our culture has turned our backs on this intense period in our communities’ history, it’s hardly talked about or taught now.

Jon Kung

Cook to appear at SF Cookbook Week in a combo platter of cuisine and queerness

Do you primarily reach a trans/queer audience, or is your audience more mixed? Most of our audiences are trans and queer, and we also attract a ton of dance lovers and theater lovers. I love the mix of folks who follow Sean Dorsey Dance; all ages, all communities. I am so moved and honored by that. It’s really powerful to experience. Lydia Daniller

ean Dorsey has been dancing for more than two decades. Over the years, his dance moves have become his voice. Dorsey is an out, proud transgender man, the guiding force behind Sean Dorsey Dance, a company which has raised the profile of trans and queer communities since its inception. During the weekend of April 24-26, the San Francisco-based company will perform their 22nd home season at Dance Mission Theater, where they will offer audiences a sneak preview of their new show-in-development “We Choose Each Other.” Dorsey described this show as a balm for this moment in America. As mostly everyone in the LGBT community knows, it’s not an easy time to be trans. The community is under attack, with hundreds of antitrans laws being introduced in red states for the express purpose of erasing trans people from public life. The attacks have been relentless, with the administration making the erasure of trans people one of its top priorities. None of which has put a damper on the energy and the joy that Sean Dorsey Dance brings to the stage. In addition to Dorsey, the 22nd home season will be performed by Brandon Graham, Hector Jaime, David Le, and Nol Simonse. In addition to “We Choose Each Other,” the company will also restage pieces from their award winning two-decade history. In an interview with the Bay Area Reporter, Dorsey spoke about how the trans community is holding up amid the backlash, and about what audiences can expect when they come to see his company perform.

Read the full article on www.ebar.com.

Sean Dorsey

Yes, but it’s certainly in keeping with Kung’s public trajectory over the past few years, a veritable buffet of unlikelihoods. Kung, who identifies as nonbinary, never went to culinary school. As an undergrad at Eastern Michigan University, they studied theater and creative writing. Then they earned a law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy. “I never really cooked before I left my parents for school,” said Kung. “But it became a necessity.” Neither Ypsilanti or Detroit are hotbeds of Chinese cuisine. Craving the flavors they grew up with in Toronto and Hong Kong, Kung turned to cookbooks and online videos, never imagining that food, books and the internet would later coalesce as the center of their career. Working in gay bars and restaurant kitchens while attending college and law school, Kung grew so enamored with the world of food and hospitality that they shifted career directions. Despite graduating, Kung never took the bar exam, opting to continue working in fine-dining restaurants and eventually launching their own pop-up dinner series.

Serving realness

by Jim Gladstone

ther than a hectic one-day whistle stop during a promotional tour for his book, “Kung Food,” in 2023, Chinese Ameri-

can cook and internet personality Jon Kung has never been to the Bay Area. “I know, it’s hard to believe,” said Kung in a phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter in advance of a trip to spend several days here for San Francisco Cookbook Week, April 21-25.

What do you hope audiences will take from the show? I hope audiences will experience the show as medicine, heart medicine. I want audiences to come as their full, authentic selves, and to be able to bring their grief, their heartache, their fears and their rage about this moment in the US. We’re also offering exquisite, technical, juicy, full-bodied dance, and offering up trans and queer beauty is also an act of love and resistance. I hope audiences will feel fed, more connected, will feel healing, and will feel more hope.t

Kung began making videos as a pandemic boredom-buster but they quickly amassed a devoted audience which has since grown to more than two million. While Kung has described garlic, ginger, and scallions as the “holy trinity” of his Cantoneseaccented cooking; nipples, pecs, and abs were the secret ingredients of their early success. “I don’t have any regrets about the early videos where I was cooking shirtless,” said Kung. “I started getting all these comments about how I looked, and I played into it for a bit. But it got old for me pretty fast. That’s not what I want to be known for.”

Sean Dorsey Dance: 22nd Annual Home Season, April 24 & 25, 8pm, April 26, 4pm (with ASL interpretation). Dance Mission Theater, 3316 24th St., $5.00-$50.00 All gender restrooms, KN95 masks required and provided. www.freshmeatproductions.org www.dancemissiontheater.org

Though comfortable having jump-started the growth of their audience with clickbait, Kung was disturbed when some commenters, assuming he was straight, characterized the shirtless schtick as gay-baiting. “I was openly gay before I started cooking for a living,” Kung said, “and both of those things are essential to who I am; they’re like two stilts that I walk on together. “I never tried to keep them apart, but for a long time they just didn’t come together. When I was working as a line cook in fine dining, there was very little queerness to the whole environment. I may have made out with a boy in the walk-in refrigerator once or twice, but in general it didn’t come up.” Once Kung first made it clear they were queer on their social channels, they never stepped back. “Lots of people would start sharing their stories in the comments, and I realized that my videos weren’t just about food. They’re also about the person behind the food. And that person happens to be unapologetically queer. “I attribute a lot of my creativity and my communication skills to being queer and to the members of the queer community who encouraged me to express myself in a free, unfiltered way as I was coming up.”t Jon Kung will appear with John Birdsall, author of “What Is Queer Food” and other LGBTQ+ cookbook authors in a free discussion program at Omnivore Books, 3885A Cesar Chavez Street, Thursday, April 23 at 6:30pm. He will also participate in Cookbook Week’s largest ticketed event, “Headnotes Live,” with a dozen other writers at the Presidio Theatre, 99 Moraga Ave. on Friday, April 24, 5pm. www.jonkung.com www.cookbookweek.com

<<Dance & Theater

12 • Bay Area Repor ter • April 16-22, 2026

Bay Area Dance Week

Dancer’s Group’s 10-day event includes concerts, classes and community gatherings

by Lou Fancher

dance at Ashkenaz offers an irresistible eclectic blend of rock, funk, pop, world music and other genres to free mind, body and soul. Soul Sanctuary Dance is a welcoming and inclusive event that supports free expression, community, physical and emotional health, and a spirit of generosity. soulsanctuarydance.com

nce again, the launch of the Bay Area Dance Week festival on April 24 presents a dancelover’s dilemma. The annual, ten-day celebration prompts an exclamation, “There’s so much to see!” With two interpretations, the response is either an expression of elation at the bounty, or despair that attending every event is physically impossible, or both. Regardless of how a person chooses to look at it, the festival is a good way for people interested in viewing or participating in dance to dive in. National Dance Week began in 1981 and was swiftly followed by the first BADW festival in 1998. Dancer’s Group, an organization founded in 1982 to serve San Francisco Bay Area artists, played a pivotal role and continues to present the festival. Since its origins, Dancer’s Group has raised the visibility of dance and has grown to be the second largest dance community in the country. Executive Director Wayne Hazzard said in a festival announcement the BADW program in and of itself attracts more than 2,500 artists and 20,000 attendees annually. This year, BADW includes another ambitious lineup of free classes, workshops, open rehearsals, and performances for all ages and levels of experience. Opening as always with One Dance at 12 pm on Friday, April 24 at Jesse Square, a participatory group dance is led by Rhythm & Motion Artistic Director Dudley Flores. Participants who seek to arrive already prepared can learn the choreography for One Dance ahead of time by visiting www.dancersgroup.org/badw/. Flores knows anyone can dance, and that energy builds the ideal ramp for zooming into the festival with every limb loosened and the mind open for adventure. Multiple cities and venues throughout the region host the happenings that fall under a variety of genres, from ballet to Balinese to hip hop, salsa, Bhangra, aerial, folk,

Robbie Sweeny

Bay Area Dance Week kickoff in Union Square

modern, Bollywood, pole, or West African dance. There is no way one preview article can, or should, encompass and pay proper tribute to each event. For that reason, here is a critic’s pick featuring highlights that offer intriguing opportunities. Some are rare chances to interact in intimate settings with local artists or dip a beginner’s toe (and other body parts) into a previously unexplored form of dance. Many of the curated

selections are either already or sure to become dependable, return favorites. Events are listed in chronological order and accompanied by encouragement to consult the festival website for additions and updates. Soul Sanctuary Dance Freestyle Community Dance April 26, 11am–1pm Since 2003, Berkeley’s weekly, midday, all-ages, community freestyle

Ways Not to Drown with Deborah Slater April 26, 12pm–2pm In this dance theatre workshop, you will create new material, gain specific, repeatable tasks to use in your own process, learn tools for writing, moving and vocalization, do experiments you never thought to try and end up somewhere you didn’t expect to be. The two-hour workshop welcomes movers, writers, and artists of all kinds, regardless of experience level. sjDANCEco’s 24th Annual Spring Dance Festival April 26, 12pm–5pm Join sjDANCEco for their 24th Annual Spring Dance Festival being held at Santana Row. With TWO FULL days of FREE dance, dancing ranges from youth to professional, Hip-Hop to Ballet, Cultural to Contemporary. sjdanceco.org

Bhangra Fundamentals by Rooted Bhangra April 27, 6:30pm–7:30pm This class focuses on the fun in fundamentals. Designed for all levels –no prior experience needed– learn the basic footwork, arm movements, and body rhythms that make up Bhangra. More than just a dance class, this is a welcoming, judgment-free space to try something new, immerse yourself in Punjabi culture, and connect with new friends and community. Advance registration required. UpSwing Aerial Dance and Students Studio Performance April 29, 6pm–7pm UpSwing joins Bay Area in Celebrating National Dance Week. This year, they celebrate in a multigenerational aerial dance performance showcasing our youth, adults and company aerialists in a one-hour free studio showing. Physio-informed Pilates Warmup for Dancers May 2, 11:30am–12:20pm The physical therapists at On the Move Physical Therapy and Pilates will teach a selection of dance-injury prevention Pilates exercises, explain the rationale behind them, and then set them to music. Learn the basics of a feel-good, effective movement routine. Dance-a-Rama 2026 May 3, 1pm–2:15pm, 4pm–5:15pm An afternoon of live dance performances at the Western Sky studio in Berkeley features eight talented East Bay choreographers, who will show new works from Modern Dance to Belly Dance, from solos to quintets, from works in process to new dances and revivals.t

Cherie Carson

Robbie Sweeny

Eileen Kim

Left: Performer KC Hyland with UpSwing Aerial Dance Middle: Deborah Slater dancers Right: Ruth B dancers

Dancer’s Group’s Bay Area Dance Week. Free, April 24-May 3, at multiple Bay Area locations and times. www.dancersgroup.org

‘How to Make an American Son’ by Jim Gladstone

hile centered around a familyowned janitorial business, “How to Make an American Son” is anything but tidy. San Jose native Christopher Oscar Peña’s comic drama, now on stage at New Conservatory Theater Center, is funny, smart,

and sexy. It practically bursts at the seams with intersecting provocations about race and class, upward mobility and self-abasement. The show’s single intermission-less act is fully loaded, then further complicated by a few late-arriving surprises that merit more time to digest. It’s a lot, but a lovable lot.

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Charming characterizations

Director Ben Villegas Randle has assembled a charismatic cast that brings just the right light tone and comic timing to the play’s first twothirds. Nicholas René Rodriguez plays Orlando, the spoiled 16-year-old son of Honduran immigrants, with wide eyes, elastic facial expressions, and puppy dog energy winning enough to kindle our affection despite the character’s oblivious privilege. Richard Perez brings rumpled layers of indulgence and indignation to the role of Orlando’s father, Mando. The self-made CEO of an office cleaning company, proudly raises his son with comforts far beyond those of his own childhood, but is concerned by the boy’s sense of entitlement. As punishment for using a credit card without permission, Mando puts his son to work as a custodian. Matt Skinner and Caleb Andrew Cabrera play Orlando’s two pointedly divergent crushes: Sean, a white jock schoolmate; and Rafael, a reticent recent Mexican immigrant who works for the janitorial service alongside the boss’s son. Skinner imbues his character with seductive cartoon cockiness, while Cabrera radiates the soulful heat beneath Raphael’s quiet exterior. Bravo to Peña for writing three queer characters whose modes of sexual expression are as varied as their other personality traits. As Mando’s second-in-command and Raphael’s cousin, Mercedes, Monica Rose Slater successfully slow-boils her way toward a wrenching speech

Lois Tema

Nicholas René Rodriguez and Matt Skinner in ‘How to Make an American Son’

that delineates stark divisions within immigrant communities. And local comic stalwart Michael Phillis, known for camp characterizations, bravely pulls no punches as Sean’s father, a business associate of Mando’s, unaware of his son’s sexual inclinations or his own psychological motivations. Villegas Randle’s sleek vision for the show is embodied by Maya Linke’s textured glass set pieces, Spense Matubang’s prismatic lighting, and Christopher Sauceda’s propulsive sound design which elegantly cohere to create a vacuum-sealed music video aesthetic.

This glossy look and beat-heavy sonic environment certainly suit the script’s turn-of-this-century timeframe and its teen characters’ pop music obsessions. But they also feel at odds with playwright Peña’s ambitious thicket of tones and themes. The action feels rushed. The laughs land solidly in this production, but to make a deeper impact, the show could use more air, the audience more room for rumination.t ‘How to Make an American Son,’ through May 10. $35.50-$72.50. NCTC, 25 Van Ness Ave. www.nctcsf.org

Film>>

t Ian McKellen’s artful dodging in ‘The Christophers’ by Jim Provenzano

rt forgery films and books have long been a fascinating topic. “The Christophers” boasts a masterfully comic lead role with Sir Ian McKellen, countered by deadpan serious Michaela Coel, plus a whip-smart script by Ed Solomon and deft direction by Stephen Soderbergh. It makes for an intimate exploration on the nature of who decides what art is and isn’t. Kicking it off with a quick expository London scene, Lori (Coel) meets up with a former fellow art school student Sallie (Jessica Gunning) and her brother Barnaby (James Corden), the children of once-famous painter Julian Sklar (McKellen). Initially pitched with an art restoration project, the siblings admit that they want instead for Lori to commit art forgery. They want to cash in on what they think is his valuable last series of unfinished portraits called “The Christophers,” presumably titled after the subject, a former lover. The first two series were huge hits when they premiered and have been continually resold for millions around the world, with little profit going back to the artist. Sklar’s needy children, who are distant from their father, want to secure their inheritance before he dies.

April 16-22, 2026 • Bay Area Repor ter • 13

They hire Lori under the guise of being an assistant, but McKellen hasn’t painted anything in decades. Due to cancel culture and his traditional take on making art having been dispensed with, Sklar has pretty much given up making art in his once posh, now cluttered London adjoined townhouses. He had gained a bit of TV news notoriety for his sidewalk sale where some of his paintings sold for a mere few hundred pounds. While Sklar considers it his rebellious statement against the art industry, Lori sees it more as his admission of failure. From the get-go, Sklar, as performed by McKellen, provides a hilarious multi-pointed monologue about the entire situation which rivals that of Meryl Streep’s ‘cerulean’ Miranda Priestly monologue in “The Devil Wears Prada.” Neon Rated

Forging on

Despite his declared suspicions, Sklar agrees to hire Lori as his assistant. She sets to the dual task of assisting the elder painter while foraging through his home for the mysterious paintings, where she finds the four incomplete portraits in an upstairs bath tub. Technically, she has everything she needs, including all of Sklar’s brushes, paints, and canvases, which would make a

Michaela Coel and Ian McKellan in ‘The Christophers’

deceptive authentication more viable. However, she’s surprised to see the intimacy of the paintings when she discovers them, how their unfinished qualities make them quite beautiful as is. After initially attempting to forge one of Skar’s paintings, she’s interrupted when he decides that he’s going to pluck

them out of obscurity and burn them in the backyard. Arguments ensue as well as eventual confessions, where Lori admits her goal is to forge the remaining Christophers, to get paid, and for Sklar’s son and daughter to pay off the already squandered advance from a tech billionaire art collector.

But along with his jaunty online paid cameo appearances, ring light included (and amusingly viewable on the film’s Instagram account), Sklar quickly discovers that Lori has a back story as well, in her years-ago scathing critique of his work online. The inspiration is shown in a flashback of their first meeting, on a reality show called “Art Fight,” where Sklar, a bit past his prime, lambasts wouldbe artists by critiquing their work, “sparing them the indignity of future failure,” he says. Among them is a younger Lori, whose untitled landscape is unremarkable. After a few confrontations about the nature of art and artistry, Sklar’s eventual confessions about who Christopher really was, and what happened, the film takes an exuberant turn, giving Sklar a new way let go of the burden of his unfinished paintings. Without giving too much away, the bittersweet ending is a beautiful statement about art, new and old, and the communal experience of viewing it in new and different ways.t ‘The Christophers’ plays at Bay Area cinemas through April 29. www.films.neonrated.com/ the-christophers/

François Ozon on his Camus-inspired film by Brandon Judell

But what about “The Stranger?” Last month, I Zoomed with Ozon, who was stationed in Paris.

ine years ago, when I asked director extraordinaire François Ozon about being honored regularly by critics’ groups worldwide, he replied, “Awards are like hemorrhoids. Sooner or later every asshole gets one.” Well, get out the Anusol. Many more accolades will be coming his way in 2026. Ozon’s adaptation of Albert Camus’s classic novel “The Stranger,” (Music Box Films) recently screened at the Rendez-vous with French Cinema and playing at San Francisco’s Roxie Theater starting April 10, is his masterpiece. Having already garnered awards in his home country, including for Best Feature, Best Actor, and Best Cinematography, those only seem harbingers for future statuettes. “But does this latest offering have any overt queer subtext?” you might ask scouring your high-school memories of the oft-assigned novel. Clearly Camus, a dedicated heterosexual philanderer, when asked about his feelings on homosexuality, once responded: “Dear Sir, I have no time, and no taste, for this investigation.” Peter Francev, a Camus scholar, might argue otherwise. While working on a study of the Nobel-Prizewinning writer, “Homo-Eroticism in

Brandon Judell: In certain moments of the film, you seemingly utilize a queer gaze. A homosexual twist on the book. François Ozon: I do indeed. I do agree. (Laughs)

Leonidas-Arvanitis/Music Box Films

Director François Ozon

the Later Works,” Francev noted that “while Camus never explicitly meant for [his] characters to be considered homosexual (nor could have he written about such frankness in his time), I argue that the tension and seeming desire are evident, if only just below the surface.” Now Ozon rarely keeps the queerness of his characters below the surface with his many gleefully subversive coming-out and staying-out tales that explore issues of gender, sexuality, and identity.

Music Box Films

Benjamin Voisin in ‘The Stranger’

Oh, good. I think people say that because they know of the previous things I have made. But for me, what was important was to make everything important erotic, everything sensual. Because the character of Meursault is not about to express his emotions, his feelings, but Mersault feels things enormously, so we needed sensuality everywhere whether it was men, women, nature. The world around him. Everything he looks at needed to have this sensuality. Reading up on Camus, he didn’t seem to write up a lot about homosexuality. Do you think Mr. Camus would be upset with what you did or would he have praised you? (Laughs) I don’t think he would have been shocked by the film because I believe Camus was an intelligent man. But for me, the important thing was not so much to be faithful to Camus but to interpret the novel today. In other words, I didn’t want to make a 1942 film. I wanted to make a 2026 film that would be nourished by everything that has happened since the novel was written, by all the years that have passed. And that’s why I needed to integrate the archival images as well as I fed on all of the analyses and writing about the novel since it was written for my adaptation. Now, as it happens, the murder scene in the book is quite erotic but perhaps Camus didn’t realize that. That’s often the case in masterpieces. What you do escapes you and is left to others to interpret. After seeing your film, I interpreted that Meursault might have killed the Arab because he suddenly felt he wanted to have sex with him. He looks at the armpits of the Arab who is lying on the ground. He looks at his lips. Maybe his whole stiffness and his inability to tell his fiancée that he loves her is that he is bisexual or

he is closeted. Is that an interpretation that you would accept? I accept all interpretations. (Laughs) It’s not my interpretation, but I respect it if you are happy with this interpretation, and if it helps you to understand better Camus, that’s great for me. But it was not my view. What I said before, I wanted to make everything erotic. The girls are erotic. The boys are erotic. The nature

is erotic. Everything has to be erotic and sensual. That’s what I wanted.t

Read the full article on www.ebar.com. ‘The Stranger’ plays at The Roxie Theater, free (members)-$16, April 10-21, 3125 16th St. www.roxie.com/film/the-stranger www.musicboxfilms.com

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<< Books

14 • Bay Area Repor ter • April 16-22, 2026

‘A Star is Reborn,’ again, and again by Adam Sandel

tar meets girl. Girl becomes a star. Star goes to seed (via booze and/or drugs). Star kills himself. The end. It’s a tale that inspired not one but two films in the 1930s, two overblown diva vehicles in the ’50s and ’70s, then a version for our time in 2018. The subtitle of Robert Hofler’s book: “Gaynor & Garland & Streisand & Gaga” is enough to send multigenerational diva fans rushing to buy it. And they should. Because it’s a very good book, filled with sharp insights

about Hollywood and juicy behindthe-scenes stories.

Based on a true story

One fascinating aspect of the superbly researched book is its deep dive into the true stories of powerful Hollywood men who married and mentored young women to stardom, only to see their own fame and power plummet. Producer John McCormick groomed his wife Colleen Moore into one of the biggest silent film stars, and vaudeville comedian Frank Fay (the most hated man in show business)

married the unknown Barbara Stanwyck, who became a major star for four decades. These true stories, combined with the propensity for Hollywood titans to drink themselves to death, first inspired the 1932 film “What Price, Hollywood?” starring Constance Bennett and Lowell Sherman, produced by David O. Selznick and directed by George Cukor. Five years later, Selznick and a team of top writers remade it as the 1937 classic “A Star is Born” starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March. Hofler’s book inspired this writer to revisit all four famous versions.

The first is the best

As small-town girl Esther Blodgett who seeks Hollywood fame, Gaynor is endearingly sweet and spunky as she transforms into film star Vicki Lester. As movie star Norman Maine, whose fame is on the wane, March is a revelation as a kind, gentle man who quietly battles his demons of impending irrelevance and drink. She becomes the star, but it’s really his story. Although they’re less remembered today than other stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Gaynor and March create indelible characters who you can’t help but root for. Their chemistry is palpable and they’re both very funny, which makes the ending that much more heartbreaking. While the three remakes lean into the story’s tragedy, the original has a great deal of humor, from snappy one-liners to biting satire of the movie business. Hofler credits this to the contributions of Dorothy Parker, one of the greatest wits of the era, who is one of four credited screenwriters (seven more went uncredited). This was a time when the producer was the creative force behind a film, with many writers working on the script, and Selznick was one of the best. Two years later, more than a dozen writers and three directors contributed to his magnum opus, “Gone with the Wind.”

Author Robert Hofler

It was a box office bomb, was nominated for six Oscars but won none, and it was not the comeback that Garland had hoped for.

A Star is boring

In Barbra Streisand’s 1976 version, her character doesn’t really have much ambition or insecurities to overcome. She’s just kind of… Barbra Streisand. While Kris Kristoferson has a nice low-key charisma, there isn’t much chemistry between them,

and his character isn’t given much depth aside from being a reckless rock ‘n’ roll bad boy. The film was written and directed by Oscar winner Frank Pierson, but much of the dialogue and the pacing are flat and, frankly, boring. One suspects that this was due to the constant script changes and interference by the star and the first-time producer, her hairdresser boyfriend Jon Peters. See page 15 >>

Now it’s a musical

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The 1954 remake starring Judy Garland and produced by her husband Sid Luft was intended to be her big comeback after she was fired by MGM four years before. But it shows no good reason for this story to be a musical (except that it stars Garland). Hardly any of the songs move the story forward: most of them just interrupt it. She sings her big torch song, “The Man That Got Away” (shot 27 times with different costumes and backgrounds) 20 minutes into the film, while it could have been the dramatic finale. Although it lifts whole scenes verbatim from the original, Moss Hart’s script is incredibly bloated, and director George Cukor’s pacing ambles along as if it has nowhere important to go. Hofler’s book recalls the 15-minute long “Born in a Trunk” medley of old standards filmed after shooting ended (without Cukor or Hart’s knowledge) which added $350,000 to the budget and took a month to film. It shows off Garland’s great talent, but it stops the story dead in its tracks. While Garland is charming and spontaneous, her co-star James Mason is charming but bland, lacking any personal demons or undercurrents of darkness. This leaves all of the big emoting to Garland, which turns the original story upside down. It’s no longer his story, it’s hers. The film ran wildly over budget and schedule, delayed by Garland’s drinking, drug use, and constantly calling in sick (while actually cavorting with Luft at Hollywood nightclubs). The book also recounts that she and Luft freely helped themselves to costumes and furnishings from the set. This remake originally premiered at over three hours long, but the studio later cut out 30 minutes. It didn’t help.

A Star is Born’ versions include: Above: the 1937 original with Janet Gaynor and Fredrick March Middle Left: 1954 with Judy Garland Middle Right: 1976 with Kris Kristoferson and Barbra Streisand Below: 2018 with Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga.

Discussions & Event Listings>>

April 16-22, 2026 • Bay Area Repor ter • 15

Going out B.A.R. Talks 2 with the late Ron Williams, Gooch, and Jane Philomen Cleveland

B.A.R. Talks 2

Top 20+ arts & nightlife events April 16-24

Pride images, then and now with Ron Williams, Jane Philomen-Cleland and Gooch by Jim Provenzano

s we continue our 55th anniversary celebrations, we step back to look at some of the contributors who make the paper great. In this second B.A.R. Talks episode from 2021, I talked with prolific photographers Jane Philomen Cleland, the late Ron Williams, and Gooch. We focused on Pride events over the last several decades, from Ron Williams’ iconic ‘Empress on an elephant,’ to Gooch’s florid colors and Jane’s ability to capture flying cheerleaders, it’s quite a showcase. Join three accomplished photographers who share their favorite historic and recent Pride event photos published in the Bay Area Reporter and elsewhere, and images from other LGBT San Francisco events. See this and more panels talks on www.youtube.com/@BayAreaReporterSFt

A Star is Reborn

From page 14

An irony inherent in the book is that while Streisand was eager to make this a feminist take, her boyfriend Peters was allegedly controlling, jealous, and violent. He originally wanted to direct the film and star in it, but cooler heads prevailed. In all fairness, the chapter on Peters in Streisand’s memoir is titled, “What Was I Thinking?” Hofler’s book reveals that Streisand and Kristoferson’s love scenes had to

be filmed when the insanely jealous Peters was elsewhere. While filming a massive concert scene, Streisand, Kristoferson and Peters got into an obscenity-filled screaming match, picked up by the live stage mikes before a crowd of 75,000 - and 150 reporters that the studio had flown in. Unlike previous versions, this rock star doesn’t exert much effort to make his girlfriend a star. He merely brings her on stage to sing at a benefit. She’s of course a big hit, but immediately afterwards, she tells him that all she re-

Creeped out by robotic artificial intelligence? You should be. Step into a theater and see a play or dance with humans, listen to some live music (like Grag Queen and Bright Light Bright Light at El Rio April 22; see photo), or see actual paintings on walls in an art museum or favorite gallery near you. Check out events in this week’s Going Out, only on www.ebar.com.

ally wants is to marry him. Is this still a feminist version?

Did we really need another one?

If you were initially skeptical of the news that Bradley Cooper would make his directorial debut with yet another remake of this story, you’re not alone. But most of the book’s behindthe-scenes stories relate Cooper’s focus on the characters’ development and relationships. It worked. There’s instant chemistry between

Cooper’s burned-out country star and Lady Gaga’s talented yet insecure singing waitress. They both have demons to overcome, and his urging her to find her own musical voice is the engine that drives both the film and their relationship. Unlike the previous two musical remakes, every song in the 2018 version reveals the characters’ emotions at the time, which is what a musical is supposed to do. The Oscar-winning song “Shallow” is used to great effect throughout, as they move past the point of no return.

Both characters get meaningful backstories, including fraught family relationships, and the film’s equal focus on the two of them harkens back to the success of the 1937 original. Cooper’s film and Hofler’s book both prove that meaningful focus on character and relationships will beat egodriven vehicles every time.t ‘A Star Is Reborn’ by Robert Hofler, Citadel Press. $29. www.kensingtonbooks.com www.roberthofler.com

ADDITIONAL ITEMS AND DESIGNS COMING SOON INCLUDING BEACH TOWELS

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