May 7, 2026 edition of the Bay Area Reporter

San Mateo County Pride Center may lose 90% of funding, ED says

by John Ferrannini

The San Mateo Pride Center is warning that it may lose 90% of its funding beginning July 1, and is seeking help from the public. The development means the center could see a drastic reduction in its core services, including LGBTQ-affirming therapy, peer support, and other programs.

“This is an unexpected blow,” the Peninsula center’s Executive Director Francisco “Frankie” Sapp, a disabled, biracial, queer, transgender man, said in a phone interview. “Our services are too important to lose right now. This is a pivotal moment when our community really responded when we asked for support last summer, and I’m asking for support right now.”

by John Ferrannini

Anew march for trans allies on the Saturday of Pride weekend in San Francisco will seek to represent people concerned about attacks on transgender rights in the United States, the Bay Area Reporter has learned. The event is separate from the annual Trans March, which will take place Friday, June 26.

The trans ally march is tentatively set to kick off at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 27, at the Embarcadero and make its way to the Civic Center,

page 8 >>

SF Congress

Dist. 11: Scott Wiener

Statewide Offices

Lieutenant Governor Janelle Kellman

Secretary of State

Shirley Weber

Controller

Malia Cohen

Treasurer

Anna Caballero

Attorney General

Rob Bonta

Insurance

Commissioner

Jane Kim

Superintendent of Public Instruction

Al Muratsuchi

SF Board of Supervisors

Dist. 2: Stephen Sherrill

Dist. 4: Alan Wong

The center was founded in 2017 to serve the communities on the Peninsula south of San Francisco. As the B.A.R. previously reported, the center was under the auspices of StarVista until summer 2025, when that agency closed its doors. It’s now under the fiscal sponsorship of the San Francisco Public Health Foundation.

The foundation didn’t return a request for comment.

Chris Sturken, who is queer, is a Redwood City councilmember and a member of the county’s LGBTQIA+ Commission. He’s also a former member of the center’s community advisory board, back in 2016-18.

CALIFORNIA PRIMARY ELECTION

Congress (Bay Area)

Dist. 2: Jared Huffman

Dist. 4: Mike Thompson

Dist. 8: John Garamendi

Dist. 9: Josh Harder

Dist. 10: Mark DeSaulnier

Dist. 12: Lateefah Simon

Dist. 14: Matt Ortega

Dist. 15: Kevin Mullin

Dist. 16: Sam Liccardo

Dist. 17: Ro Khanna

Dist. 18: Zoe Lofgren

CA Assembly

Dist.14: Buffy Wicks

Dist.16: Rebecca Bauer-Kahan

Dist. 17: Matt Haney

Dist. 18: Mia Bonta

Dist. 19: Catherine Stefani

Dist. 20: Liz Ortega

Dist. 21: Diane Papan

Dist. 24: Alex Lee

Dist. 25: Ash Kalra

Dist. 26: Patrick Ahrens

Remember to vote by June 2! AS THE B.A.R. CONTINUES ITS ENDORSEMENTS, THIS LIST WILL BE UPDATED.

“The Pride Center is a lifeline for the county and the fact it could disappear, honestly, is sad; but it’s critical,” Sturken said. “In terms of what people can do, they can donate right away, right now, host a house party, talk to their employer about grant opportunities or becoming a donor, there’s so many things people can do. I’m in fundraising as well and have done that over my career but for your average person, what they can do is become a monthly donor and ask their employer to do matching dona-

tions, and throw a fundraiser.”

Sturken said that people should also “tell their elected leaders” to fund for the center.

“This is a critical moment where local government needs to step up and support LGBTQIA+ services,” he said.

Sapp is hoping to raise a minimum of $200,000 from the public by the end of June, in order to offset the cost of the first quarter of the next fiscal year. To make a donation, go to sanmateopride. org/donations.

Loss of physical space

The center lost its physical office in San Mateo after StarVista’s closure. Earlier this year, it conducted a survey asking people what they’d like to see in a potential new permanent physical space.

It has been using donated spaces to hold events around the county in the interim.

“I just think we are at a critical juncture in time, and it’s just challenging because we went through a lot last summer when StarVista folded, and we had two weeks to suddenly vacate out of the physical center, and two weeks to find a new fiscal sponsor, and somehow we made it through that, and still there have been challenges since then and we’re still trying to catch our breath,” Sapp said.

See page 9 >>

Report finds anti-LGBTQ policies continue to put youth at higher risk for suicide

by Matthew S. Bajko

Policies targeting queer and transgender youth continue to place them at higher risk of suicidality and victimization, the latest report on the mental health of America’s LGBTQ+ young people has found. It’s the seventh year in a row that the Trevor Project has warned of such consequences in its national surveys.

The West Hollywood-based nationwide nonprofit focused on LGBTQ youth provided the Bay Area Reporter a copy of its “2025 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People” ahead of its release Wednesday, May 6. Its findings are based on the responses from 16,667 LGBTQ+ young people ages 13 to 24 in the U.S. to an online survey conducted between March 4 and

seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including 40% of the transgender and nonbinary young people. One in 10 LGBTQ+ young people had attempted suicide in the past year.

LGBTQ+ young people of color accounted for 36% of the respondents. They attempted suicide at higher rates than their white peers, according to the report, and nearly a third (32%) experienced racial or ethnic discrimination.

“It is very disappointing and disheartening that the data again continues to show what we have seen for a while, that LGBTQ-plus youth in the U.S. do face very high risks of suicide because of who they are, and are being mistreated and stigmatized in this country,” Trevor Project Vice President of Research Ronita Nath, Ph.D., told the B.A.R. during a video interview to discuss the report.

Per the latest survey findings, 90% of LGBTQ+cies, and debates caused them stress or anxiety. It also found that 44% of LGBTQ+ young people who wanted mental health care in the past year were not

Over half (59%) of LGBTQ+ young people ages 13-17 experienced bullying in the past year, thecantly higher rates of attempting suicide in the past

Castro coffee shop, nail salon will move in late May

by John Ferrannini

Plans for the relocations of a coffee shop and nail salon that are adjacent to the Castro Theatre are clearer. The two businesses, which agreed to move shortly before the reopening of the theater earlier this year, will remain in their

storefronts till at least the end of May, according to one of the proprietors.

Riyad Khoury, Castro Nail Salon proprietor, told the Bay Area Reporter on April 30 that he will be relocating from 431 Castro Street to 4359 18th Street at that time. He said that his brother Ken Khoury’s Castro Coffee Co., at 427 Cas-

tro Street, will be relocating next door to the former location of Lisa Hair Design at 421 Castro Street at the same time. Ken Khoury declined to comment. The brothers are straight allies and have been in business in the LGBTQ neighborhood for years.

Lisa Ha has already moved her eponymous hair salon to its new location at 417 Castro Street. Ha told the B.A.R., “I like it,” but declined to speak further.

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The musical chairs arrangement was agreed to at the end of a row between the Khoury brothers, whose relatives own the adjacent building where the hair salon is now, and the Nasser family, which owns the Castro Theatre building that presently houses the coffee shop and nail salon. The Nassers did not renew the Khoury brothers’ leases, which led to a stalemate until a deal was worked out that involved Mayor Daniel Lurie’s office and gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who’s president of the board. Neither immediately returned a request for comment.

Another Planet Entertainment, which manages the theater, wants to use the storefronts for an expanded box office, as the B.A.R. previously reported.

Since 2022, the theater has been managed by APE. It reopened February 6 to great fanfare after closing two years ago

for a $40 million restoration and renovation project. The controversy over the brothers’ leases dogged the theater’s operators for over a year, as some community members accused APE of attempting to displace the two immigrant business owners.

Initially, APE disavowed involvement in the non-renewal of the brothers’ leases.

Later, however, APE told the San Francisco Chronicle that it wanted to use the spaces for an expanded box office.

APE declined to comment, and the Nassers didn’t return a request for comment.

Outside the coffee shop enjoying

their drinks Thursday, Laura Fox and Joel Miller, who declined to disclose if they were LGBTQ when asked, were pleased they will still be able to enjoy their coffee.

Fox said she “hopes there’s room for a couple tables” outside the coffee shop’s new, smaller location.

“What can you say?” asked Miller. “At the end of the day it was great they could stay next door.”

Ramon Silver, who is gay, said he was happy at least they’d still be in the neighborhood.

“I don’t want them displaced,” Silver said. t

Uncertainty surrounds San Ramon Pride flag

by George Faville

While a flag celebrating the LGBTQ community will fly outside San Ramon City Hall this June for Pride Month, its future is uncertain. On Tuesday, members of the public addressed the city council ahead of it considering the fate of commemorative flags through an upcoming policy committee.

No action was taken at the April 28 meeting.

and belonging in San Ramon for either themselves or their children. One speaker, a student at Gale Ranch Middle School, said that the Pride flag shows that San Ramon is diverse and respects people’s choices.

Allison Gardner, a teacher in San Ramon, said, “We deserve much more than to have our fight with the city to fly a small piece of fabric one month a year to tell us maybe, just maybe, we do actually belong here in San Ramon.”

The San Ramon City Council voted 3-1 April 14 to fly the Progress Pride flag this year, with Councilmember Robert Jweinat casting the opposing vote after questioning the practice, according to a news release from the San Ramon Valley Diversity Coalition. That version of the Pride flag features the standard six colors of the rainbow flag and a chevron of black, brown, light blue, pink, and white stripes to represent Black, Brown, and trans people.

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Gupta was referring to policies by President Donald Trump and his administration that, among other things, have stripped rights from trans people.

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This is one of many debates over Pride flag displays happening across the country, and is taking place six years after the Bay Area Reporter extensively reported on the efforts of LGBTQ community members and allies to see the rainbow flag and more diverse versions of it flown outside city halls across the Bay Area during the height of the 2020 COVID epidemic when Pride parades and public gatherings were canceled.

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The East Bay council also voted to review its policy of raising commemorative flags after public opposition was voiced to raising the Pride flag. Two weeks later, community members gathered at the April 28 council meeting, which was livestreamed, and spoke during public comment.

Nineteen of the 24 speakers came to state their support for the raising of the Pride flag and to voice concern over the council’s decision to review the commemorative flag-raising policy. The other five addressed unrelated issues. Speakers were limited to two minutes each.

Some speakers were concerned parents of LGBTQ youth and many described themselves as long-term San Ramon residents. Gupta wrote in an email that members from the local groups PFLAG Danville-San Ramon Valley and San Ramon Valley Diversity Coalition were in attendance, as well as members from Danville Congregational Church and Indivisible Tri-Valley.

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Taking the opposite tact from San Ramon, the Petaluma City Schools Board of Education recently voted to display a Pride flag year-round instead of only during the month of June, KSRO radio reported.

“I was really happy to hear that this year, too, the Progressive flag will fly,” said Shailaja Dixit, a longtime resident of San Ramon, “but I was also deeply disturbed to hear that there was a single, lone vote cast against it, and that the commemorative flag policy is now going under review. Under current times, this feels very threatening.”

The U.S. Department of the Interior recently announced its intention to return the Pride flag to the Stonewall National Monument in New York City, after its directive issued January 21 called for the removal of “non-agency” flags from National Parks. A nationwide uproar led to a court-enforceable settlement between the Trump administration and LGBTQ legal advocates calling for the flag to be raised again.

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The resolution called into question is the Use of City Flag Poles and Flag Display Policy created in 2021. It authorizes the flying of commemorative flags at the request of a councilmember on a commemorative flag pole erected at Alcosta Boulevard and Bollinger Canyon outside City Hall. The Pride flag is to fly on it throughout June and be shown on the building’s marquee per the resolution submitted by City Councilmember Sridhar Verose.

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Anuradha Gupta, the chapter president of PFLAG Danville-San Ramon Valley, wrote in an email, “We are grateful to the San Ramon mayor and councilmembers who voted to raise the Pride flag this year and distressed that this long-standing civic tradition will be reviewed at a time when there are unprecedented attacks on the LGBTQ+ community.”

During the April 14 City Council meeting, the routine procedure of passing the resolution for raising the Pride flag was called into question after former mayor Greg Carr, Citizens Against Marketplace Apartment Development leader Susie Ferris-Inderkum, and a citizen calling themself “Make San Ramon Great Again” spoke in opposition to the commemorative flag resolution during public comment.

After widespread public backlash, Philz Coffee will keep Pride flags in its cafes, including its San Francisco locations such as the Castro LGBTQ neighborhood. Per state law, the San Ramon councilmembers did not respond to any of the comments from the public, as they are unable to discuss items that are not on the meeting agenda. Their decision on the matter will be reserved for an upcoming policy review meeting, the exact date of which has yet to be set.

Jweinat made the motion to pull the commemorative flag-raising resolution from the consent calendar to review the policy, echoing former mayor Carr’s belief that only the U.S. flag, California state flag, and San Ramon city flag should be flown.

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For several of the speakers, the Pride flag-raising represents safety, inclusion,

“Minority interest recognition allows a community to adapt to changing interests over time, and for an ability to remain relevant and vibrant,” said Bruce Hixon, one of the first speakers of the night. “While minority inclusion may seem imperfect, it should not be traded off for exclusion.” t

Graton unveils resort, casino expansion Community News>>

compiled by Cynthia Laird

Graton Resort and Casino in Rohnert

Park this week ushered in its recent expansion that includes rooftop dining and a new smoke-free gaming floor. The resort, in the heart of wine country, has lined up star entertainers through the summer, including Kehlani, who will be performing Friday, May 8.

Rapper E-40 will perform Thursday, May 7, as part of the grand opening weekend.

A ribbon-cutting was held Monday, May 4, featuring Greg Sarris, a gay man who is tribal chairman of Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, which owns and operates the resort. The expansion cost a reported $1 billion.

“What we’ve built here is unlike anything else in Sonoma County or Northern California,” Sarris stated. “This expansion is about our people, our community and our guests. Sonoma County has extraordinary food, culture, and people, and we’re celebrating all of it. Additionally, we’re putting people to work with more than 450 new jobs right here in the North Bay. That has always been the vision: that this business lifts Indian and non-Indian alike.”

Highlights of the expansion include AYA, the resort’s first rooftop restaurant from Chef Roy Ellamar; Playbook, a high-energy sports bar; SoCo Dough Co., an artisanal doughnut and dessert concept; and the aforementioned 144,000 square foot fully smoke-free gaming floor, which further positions Graton as a leading entertainment destination in Northern California, a news release stated.

Jeremy Weinstein, chief marketing officer at Graton, stated that the ‘A World Apart’ entertainment series will offer a mix of performers and genres at The Event venue space.

“The chance to experience major artists in an intimate venue like The Event is incredibly rare, and it’s part of what will

Greg Sarris, chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, held scissors after cutting the ribbon during the grand opening of an expansion at Graton Resort and Casino May 4.

make these nights so memorable,” Weinstein stated. “From major headliners to destination-worthy dining, we’re bringing a new level of energy, entertainment, and nightlife to wine country.”

Some of those headliners include Ludacris on Saturday, May 23; Jessica Simpson, Thurs day, May 28; and Martin Law rence Saturday, June 13. The series runs through August.

Graton is located at 288 Golf Course Drive West. For tickets for A World Apart shows and more information, go to gratonresortcasino.com

SF night markets set to return

While the Castro Night Market kicked off its 2026 season back in March, similar events are returning this month throughout San Francisco. Additionally, there will be a new night market in the Fillmore.

All are free admission and being produced by the Civic Joy Fund, a news release stated.

The city’s big event, Downtown First Thursdays, takes place May 7 from 5 to 9 p.m., and marks the two-year anniversary of the block party on Second Street

between Market and Howard streets. To RSVP, go to dftsf.com. The party will be an R&B and ribs takeover, the release stated.

ValenciaLIVE! is back for its second year starting Thursday, May 14, from 5 to 10 p.m., and continuing the second Thursday of the month through October. It will transform a different stretch of Valencia Street every two months into a lively outdoor celebration, the release noted.

The Be Chinatown Night Market is returning for a third season starting Friday, May 8, from 5 to 9 p.m., on Grant Avenue from California to Pacific streets. It continues on the second Friday of the month through October. It was just voted the No. 1 night market in the country by USA Today, the release stated. https://bechinatown.weebly.com/

The Heart of the Richmond District Night Market returns on the city’s westside Saturday, May 16, from 3 to 8 p.m. and continues on the third Saturday of the month through August. The inaugural Fillmore After Dark Night Market debuts Friday, May 22 (Harvey Milk Day), from 4 to 9 p.m. with bingo, blues, and bites.

It’s being produced by the Civic Joy Fund with partners the San Francisco Office of Workforce Development and Livable City, the release stated.

Organizers noted that a new night market in Visitacion Valley is expected to start this summer.

For more information, go to civicjoyfund.org.

SF elections department opens voting center

Ballots for the June 2 primary are arriving in voters’ mailboxes and the San Francisco Department of Elections has opened its City Hall Voting Center, at 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, on the ground floor in Room 48.

The voting center is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., except for the May 25 Memorial Day holiday; and on the two weekends before Election Day, May 23-24, and May 30-31, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. On Election Day, Tuesday, June 2, the center will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., matching the hours of the city’s 501 neighborhood polling places, a news release stated.

“Our goal is to make voting accessible, convenient, and inclusive for every San Franciscan,” stated John Arntz, elections director. “Whether voting by mail, at a neighborhood polling place, or at City Hall, voters can choose the option that works best for them and feel confident in the process.”

At the voting center, eligible voters may register to vote, update their registration, request a replacement ballot, or vote in person. The last day to register to vote in the primary is Monday, May 18. To check your registration status, go to the California secretary of state’s website at voterstatus.sos.ca.gov.

For more information about San Francisco elections, go to www.sf.gov/ departments--department-elections.

SF convention facilities head retires

Ken Bukowski, a gay man who has overseen operations at Moscone Center for several years, is retiring, the San Francisco City Administrator’s office Announced April 29. Bukowski, appointed by former mayor London Breed and City Administrator Carmen Chu in 2022, had served as director of the Convention Facilities Department. https://www.ebar. com/story/65125

His retirement is effective June 30, a news release stated.

Chu announced that Sophie Hayward, current director of legislative and public affairs for the city administrator’s office, will succeed Bukowski, effective July 1.

Moscone Center is a cornerstone of the city’s $10 billion tourism industry, and Bukowski ushered in a return of conventions post the COVID pandemic, the release stated.

“I want to thank Ken Bukowski for his leadership of the Convention Facilities Department, bringing conventions to San Francisco and helping to execute some of the biggest events our city has hosted,” stated Mayor Daniel Lurie. “His work at Moscone Center helped drive our broader economic recovery, supporting our local businesses, hospitality workers, and downtown communities when it mattered most.”

To help bring back conventions after the pandemic, the release noted that Bukowski created the Moscone Center Recovery Fund, a $5 million initiative that temporarily lowered the cost of renting space. During his tenure, the Moscone Center signed new multi-year commitments to host conferences with significant economic impact to the city, including new ones like Microsoft Ignite and Databricks Data+ AI Summit. The release added that renewals were secured for longtime events such as Salesforce’s Dreamforce.

Volume 56, Number 19 May 7-13, 2026

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

PUBLISHER

Michael M. Yamashita

Thomas E. Horn, Publisher Emeritus (2013)

Publisher (2003 – 2013)

Bob Ross, Founder (1971 – 2003)

NEWS EDITOR

Cynthia Laird

ARTS & NIGHTLIFE EDITOR

Jim Provenzano

ASSISTANT EDITORS

Matthew S. Bajko • John Ferrannini

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Kellman for lieutenant governor

Janelle Kellman is definitely qualified to serve as California’s lieutenant governor. A gay woman and Democrat, Kellman has over 25 years of local and regional planning and housing experience, as well as serving in local government – she’s a former mayor and councilmember of Sausalito, just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. And while Kellman is an underdog in the statewide race, we recommend her for lieutenant governor.

The lieutenant governor’s role, of course, is to fill in when the governor is out of state. But beyond that, the position has several responsibilities, including serving on the University of California Board of Regents, the California State University Board of Trustees, the state coastal commission, state lands commission, and the ocean protection council; these all match well with Kellman’s background.

questions that different athletic governing bodies address with rules that vary by sport, level of play, and age,” she wrote. “I say this as a two-sport NCAA athlete in women’s college sports. My standard is that policies should be evidence-based, sport-specific, and designed to prevent discrimination while respecting competitive integrity – without singling out kids for humiliation or harm.”

Kyle Amato • Race Bannon • Robert Brokl

Christopher J. Beale • Robert Brokl

Christopher J. Beale • Brian Bromberger

Brian Bromberger • Philip Campbell

Heather Cassell • Eliot Faine

Philip Campbell • Myron Caringal

Michael Flanagan • Jim Gladstone

Heather Cassell • Meg Collins • Chelsea Davis

Natasha Dennerstein • Eliot Faine

Liz Highleyman • Brandon Judell • Lisa Keen

Michael Flanagan • Jim Gladstone

Philip Mayard • Laura Moreno

David-Elijah Nahmod • Mark William Norby

Liz Highleyman • Brandon Judell

JL Odom • Paul Parish • Tim Pfaff

Michele Karlsberg • Lisa Keen

Jim Piechota • Adam Sandel

Matthew Kennedy • Philip Mayard

Jim McDermott • Laura Moreno

Jason Serinus • Gregg Shapiro

Gwendolyn Smith • Charlie Wagner

David-Elijah Nahmod • Mark William

Norby JL Odom • Tim Pfaff • Jim Piechota

Ed Walsh • Cornelius Washington • Sura Wood

Joshua Polanski • Adam Sandel

Gregg Shapiro • Gwendolyn Smith

ART DIRECTION

Charlie Wagner • Ed Walsh

“California is a global climate actor, and the lieutenant governor’s platform can strengthen our credibility and influence – but only if it’s grounded in practical delivery,” Kellman wrote in her Bay Area Reporter endorsement questionnaire. “I’ve partnered with and engaged international institutions, including the UN Ocean and Climate Platform, worked with the U.S. Embassy in Paris, and collaborated with international ocean and climate platforms. That experience matters because California’s climate leadership should drive tangible outcomes: resilient infrastructure, energy reliability, safer coastlines, and a workforce capable of building what we plan.”

the two major Republican candidates for governor want to drill, baby, drill off California’s coast – a harrowing thought.

Kellman noted that she’s consistently supported “strong nondiscrimination expectations in public services and civic culture – because LGBTQ rights are hollow if they aren’t reflected in how government actually treats people in housing, employment, and education.” In schools, Kellman stated that she’s advocated for safety strategies that don’t criminalize people, but do protect the community – including investment in mental health supports and transparent reporting and accountability.”

On housing, Kellman stated that approvals should be accelerated, especially for projects near transit. Funding could come from bonds, revolving funds, venture capital, and private-public partnerships so that the state’s general fund isn’t overloaded. While the state currently spends billions of dollars on homelessness, Kellman stated that funding should be performance-based. “Dollars should follow jurisdictions and programs that demonstrate measurable progress – and support should change when results don’t,” she wrote.

Kellman would be a good addition to Sacramento. She would be the only statewide elected LGBTQ official, and her election would send a strong message of inclusion. It’s sometimes the case that those who have great qualifications struggle to have resources to get their message out, and this is the case here. However, Kellman stated that she will defend LGBTQ Californians with backbone and “also drive measurable progress on housing, cost of living, and resilience – and invest in the next generation of LGBTQ leadership.”

Cornelius Washington • Evelyn C. White

Max Leger

PRODUCTION/DESIGN

Ernesto Sopprani

ART DIRECTION

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Max Leger

Jane Philomen Cleland

Rick Gerharter • Gooch

PRODUCTION/DESIGN

Jose A. Guzman-Colon

Ernesto Sopprani

Rudy K. Lawidjaja • Georg Lester

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Rich Stadtmiller • Christopher Robledo

Jane Philomen Cleland

Fred Rowe • Shot in the City

Steven Underhill • Bill Wilson

Rick Gerharter • Gooch

Jose A. Guzman-Colon

ILLUSTRATORS & CARTOONISTS

Rudy K. Lawidjaja • Georg Lester

Christine Smith

Rich Stadtmiller • Christopher Robledo

Fred Rowe • Shot in the City

Steven Underhill • Bill Wilson

ILLUSTRATORS & CARTOONISTS

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Paul H. Melbostad, Esq.

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LEGAL COUNSEL

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Bay area reporter

All of that is critical, especially in President Donald Trump’s second term, who last year issued an executive order withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accord. It went into effect in January. And

She believes that trans Californians deserve dignity, safety, and equal protection under the law. Regarding youth sports participation, Kellman believes it should be structured to maximize participation, belonging, and well-being.

“On competition policy, there are legitimate

We recommend Kellman for lieutenant governor.t

Recommendations for CA offices

The Bay Area Reporter recommends the following candidates for statewide office.

Secretary of State

Shirley Weber, Ph.D.

Current Secretary of State Shirley Weber, Ph.D., a Democrat, should be reelected. Appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom in late 2020, Weber, a straight ally, won reelection in 2022 and is seeking her last four-year term this year. She has been an effective secretary of state, overseeing elections and launching efforts to encourage Californians to get involved in the electoral process. She is committed to upgrading the state’s cybersecurity policies to ensure elections are protected. According to her campaign website, she has ramped up the state’s voter outreach program to ensure people are aware that those on parole can now vote, thanks to the passage of Prop 17.

We recommend Weber for another term.

Controller Malia Cohen

the financial tools of the state treasurer’s office can be leveraged to create real impact for everyday Californians.”

A former board member of Equality California, the statewide LGBTQ rights group, Caballero stated she has maintained a 100% lifetime score on the organization’s legislative scorecard. She noted that she served as the grand marshal of the first Salinas Pride Parade, “at a time when public support for marriage equality was far from universal.”

In short, Caballero has the experience for the treasurer’s office and we endorse her.

Attorney General Rob Bonta

qualify for a mortgage to buy our first home,” Kim added. “Insurance plays an outsized role in who gets to build wealth.”

Kim stated that she’s running for insurance commissioner “to reimagine and redesign insurance to work for all of us.”

Her top priorities are: establish a universal and public home disaster insurance program; Medicare for kids; and guarantee fast and fair claims. Finally, she wants to establish a policyholder bill of rights that would include timely decisions on claims, clear written explanations for any denial, access to independent appraisal, and documentation of all communications with insurers.

These things are why Californians established the elected insurance commissioner’s office back in 1991 – to be a consumer champion for Californians. After eight years of Lara’s ineffectiveness, Kim will be a breath of fresh air.

We endorse Kim for insurance commissioner.

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Democrat Malia Cohen, a straight ally, has done a good job as state controller and we endorse her for a second four-year term. Her campaign website noted that as controller, she’s creating incentives that will increase affordable housing units, and Cohen recently approved $804 million in bond authority for affordable student housing. She’ll continue to focus on job creation and job training, prioritizing communities of color and low-income communities that have endured long-term disinvestment, her website noted.

Cohen is a former San Francisco supervisor and has long worked for health equity and equal rights. As controller with stewardship over the state’s finances, her website noted that she will use her position to help all Californians.

We recommend Cohen for another term.

This one is easy. Current Attorney General Rob Bonta, a straight ally and Democratic former state legislator, has stood up for the LGBTQ community at every turn. He has either filed or joined multistate lawsuits against the Trump administration over trans youth health care. He has defended California’s laws and the rights of all students, including transgender students, to be free from discrimination and harassment. In fact, Bonta has filed over 60 lawsuits against the Trump administration in his second term as AG, involving everything from President Donald Trump’s tariffs to immigration to health care.

Bonta was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2021 and won election in 2022, setting up his reelection to a final four-year term this year.

Bonta has been an effective attorney general, not only standing up for the LGBTQ community, but also relentlessly challenging Trump on his dangerous policies and executive orders. We endorse Bonta for another term.

Insurance Commissioner Jane Kim

Superintendent of Public Instruction

Al Muratsuchi

Al Muratsuchi is a Democratic member of the state Assembly, representing the Los Angeles area. Muratsuchi, a straight ally, is running for state superintendent of public instruction and we recommend him in the race.

A former classroom educator, Muratsuchi stated in his B.A.R. endorsement questionnaire that he has a 100% record on Equality California’s legislative scorecard and has led the fight to provide safe and supportive schools for LGBTQ+ students and staff.

Treasurer

Anna Caballero

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California will have a new treasurer next year. We recommend Anna Caballero, a Democratic state senator who represents a district that stretches from the Central Coast to the Central Valley. A secretary of housing, business, and consumer affairs under former governor Jerry Brown, Caballero stated in her Bay Area Reporter endorsement questionnaire that she has spent her career supporting workers and expanding economic opportunity. She has also long been an ally to the LGBTQ community.

She noted that her government experience as mayor, city councilmember, state legislator, and cabinet secretary, Caballero stated she has a “deep understanding of how government works and how

A straight ally and former San Francisco supervisor, we believe that Jane Kim will do a good job as state insurance commissioner. It’s unlikely she will take campaign contributions from the insurance industry as gay, termed out Commissioner Ricardo Lara did. Lara also didn’t do anything to ward off the insurance crisis in California, and that was before the deadly Los Angeles wildfires in 2025, as the Los Angeles Times reported.

Kim, a Democrat, stated in her B.A.R. endorsement questionnaire that California’s insurance system needs bold leadership, because it is failing.

“Premiums are too high, insurance companies are canceling coverage, and even if you have insurance, they fight your claims every step of the way, assigning and re-assigning adjusters to slow down your repairs and rebuild,” she wrote.

“Meanwhile, we require Californians to have insurance to drive to work, open a small business, or

He has long championed public education in the Assembly, including funding for schools and increasing teacher pay. To fight the Trump administration’s attacks on our immigrant students, he authored Assembly Bill 49, the California Safe Haven Schools Act, to keep Immigration and Customs Enforcement out of the schools, he stated. That was signed into law last year. In 2024, he authored AB 1825, the California Freedom to Read Act, which was sponsored by Equality California and fights book bans, especially those targeting LGBTQ+ books, he noted.

Muratsuchi also supports trans girls and women participating on female sports teams. “Public school programs, including athletics, should provide safe and supportive opportunities for all students, including transgender students,” he wrote. “As state superintendent, I will fight to support all students.”

He noted that as state superintendent, he will continue to advance policies that strengthen nondiscrimination laws, expand access to inclusive healthcare, and protect LGBTQ+ Californians from harassment and violence. “At a time when extremist attacks on LGBTQ+ rights are accelerating nationwide, California must continue to lead by standing firmly for equality, inclusion, and justice for all,” Muratsuchi wrote. We think Muratsuchi will be an effective state superintendent and we endorse him in the race. t

SF Milk day event to spotlight transgender health

by Matthew S. Bajko

For this year’s 16th Harvey Milk Day observance in San Francisco’s LGBTQ Castro district, organizers have opted to put the spotlight on the health needs of the transgender community. It comes as the rights of gender-nonconforming people are under attack in state capitals, federal courthouses, and the White House.

Here in California, LGBTQ leaders and service providers are demanding the Legislature set aside $26 million for gender-affirming care in the 2026-2027 budget that begins July 1. And intersex advocates are pushing for enactment of Assembly Bill 1876 authored by Assemblymember Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay) so that their healthcare needs are covered by insurers.

Specifically, the legislation would prohibit a health insurer from engaging in discrimination on the basis of sex characteristics, including intersex traits, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, gender identity, or sex stereotypes. It is in response to executive orders issued by Republican President Donald Trump contending hospitals and healthcare providers funded by Medicaid and Medicare are prohibited from offering gender-affirming procedures.

That has led to ongoing litigation and calls for California hospitals not to abide by the presidential directive.

In February, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution on the matter at the behest of trans youth and their families, the SF Labor Council and the progressive Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, among others.

the late gay civil rights leader. Held on his birthday, Milk would have turned 96 this year.

Sadly, he and then-mayor George Moscone were assassinated inside San Francisco City Hall on the morning of November 27, 1978 by disgruntled former supervisor Dan White. Just the year prior, Milk’s election to a seat on the Board of Supervisors made him the first openly LGBTQ person to hold public office in the city and the state of California.

Falling on a Friday this year, the local Milk Day event with a theme of “Trans Health Matters!” will begin at 6 p.m. at 575 Castro Street. It is where Milk operated his Castro Camera shop in the 1970s, using it also as his campaign headquarters for the four races he entered that decade, three for supervisor and one for a state legislative seat. It is now occupied by the gallery and events space Queer Arts Featured.

Milk also had lived there in an upstairs apartment. The building at 573-575 Castro Street today is a city landmark due to its ties to the political pioneer.

From the historic site attendees will march up Castro Street to Jane Warner Plaza at the intersection with Market and 17th streets. There will be speakers and musical performances, with the event expected to wrap up at 7:30 p.m.

Supes

to accept money for Castro Theatre

At its meeting Wednesday, May 6, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ Budget and Finance Committee unanimously voted 3-0 to accept $5 million from the state of California that will go toward the Castro Theatre.

The supervisors’ committee agenda listed the item as a “project to distribute funding to the City and County of San Francisco for the purpose of supporting the preservation and revitalization of a historic LGBTQ+ venue that will advance economic development in the Castro neighborhood.”

At the hearing, Ben Van Houten, director of nightlife initiatives for the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, offered amendments that specified the Castro Theatre would be the beneficiary of the grant funds. The committee accepted the funding with the amendments.

“The funding is going for a specific thing, the Castro Theatre,” said District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan, who chairs the committee.

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Calder Storm, a gay trans man and father with Rainbow Families Action who has spearheaded protests of local hospital chains that have suspended gender-affirming care for minors, told the Bay Area Reporter he is “thrilled” by the decision of co-organizing groups the Castro Community Benefit District, Castro Merchants, The Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza, and Castro LGBTQ Cultural District to focus this year’s Harvey Milk Day celebrations on trans rights.

“Now more than ever, it is imperative that our community come together in solidarity as trans people face some of the worst attacks of this administration,” said Storm. “The queer community has been here before, and once again we must support our most vulnerable members. That especially includes trans youth! I am very much looking forward to participating.”

Harvey Milk Day is annually observed in California on May 22 as a day of special significance in honor of

Also that night to mark its 50th anniversary, the Milk club will be holding its annual gayla titled “Unstoppable” this year. As the B.A.R. reported last month, NAACP National Board of Directors

Chairman Leon Russell will keynote the event and receive the inaugural Harvey Milk Give ‘Em Hope Award.

Taking place at the San Francisco Design Center Galleria at 101 Henry Adams Street, the event starts at 6 p.m.

Tickets begin at $150 for individuals and can be bought online at https:// www.milkclubgayla.org/.

The Saturday prior, May 16, the Eureka Valley/ Harvey Milk Memorial Branch Library will be hosting its annual Open House event in honor of its namesake. Taking place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. it will feature a special storytime for kids and entertainment from LGBTQ clown group Rainbow Rox, plus a performance by the New Voices Bay Area TIGQ Chorus. It is located at 1 José Sarria Court along 16th Street a block from Market Street.

“Select a free book from our giveaway and join us for refreshments, including cupcakes to celebrate Harvey Milk’s birthday,” touts the library’s listing for the event at https://sfpl.org/ events/2026/05/16/celebration-openhouse.

Gay Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman, who represents the Castro, stated that the historic preservation work at the theater was more costly than anticipated. His office noted that in the state budget act last year, Senate Bill 105, the theatre was awarded $5 million.

“The funding is supposed to be for preservation and economic revitalization, as spelled out in SB 105,” Mandelman’s office noted.

After the item passes the full board, OEWD will execute a grant agreement where it will negotiate the scope of this funding with the theater, Mandelman’s office stated. t

Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http:// www.ebar.com Monday mornings for Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion. This week’s column reported on if the CA governor candidates would sign trans rights bills amid threats to the state’s funding by the Trump administration.

Keep abreast of the latest LGBTQ political news by following the Political Notebook on Threads @ https://www.threads.net/@ matthewbajko and on Bluesky @ https://bsky.app/profile/politicalnotes.bsky.social.

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

Huntly Gordon, longtime member of Sisters, dies

by Cynthia Laird

Huntly Gordon, a gay man known as Pope Dementia the Last of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, died May 2 in a San Francisco hospital, friends posted on social media over the weekend. He was 91.

Mr. Gordon, also known as Popey, had been a member of the Sisters, a drag nun philanthropic organization, according to the Sisters’ website. His major work with the Sisters was protesting for gay rights and “against the lack of care for the AIDS epidemic,” his Sisters bio stated.

Kenneth Bunch, known as Sister Vish-Knew and a founding member of the Sisters, had known Mr. Gordon for years.

“In the mid-1980s Huntly Gordon would hang out with the Sisters,” Bunch wrote in an email to the Bay Area Reporter. “He became a member in 1987. My fondest memory was him driving his red convertible in the Pride Parade in 1988 dressed as Pope

Dementia the Last, pulling a 50 foot penis covered in a plastic condom we created with six Sisters inside. Along

the parade route we were met with total silence.”

“We created a penis by sewing flesh colored fabric over several hula hoops,” Bunch explained. “Holes permitted the Sisters inside to poke out their legs and arms marching inside the penis pulled by Huntly’s convertible.”

Bunch added that they won San Francisco Pride’s “Most Outrageous” award for that entry in the parade that year.

Sister Roma stated in a Facebook post that Mr. Gordon was a longtime friend.

“Huntly and I were introduced to the Sisters through our mutual friend Norman, aka Sister Luscious Lashes,” Roma wrote Sunday, May 3. “We joined the order and have been friends for 40 years. I was blessed to be by his side yesterday morning in the ICU to say my goodbyes.”

“Popey was an irrepressible, larger than life personality who enjoyed travel and the finer things in life. His impressive career included working in media and news, founding a record label that produced Sylvester, and continuing to work in a bookstore after retirement,” Roma added.

Roma pointed out that Mr. Gordon “dedicated the final decades of his life to activism and community service with the sisters as well as co-founding Art and Film for Teens, a nonprofit organization that brings youth to museums, movies and other cultural events.”

“His Joie de vivre and impactful, important work kept him vital and thriving, with a personality and energy that belied his 91 years. In fact, the night before his passing, he was in his happy place, Electroluxx party, where he found joy on the dance floor and in community,” Roma stated. t

San Mateo County education leader Nancy Magee dies

by Matthew S. Bajko

But Ms. Magee had retired from her elected position in February due to battling cancer. Acting Superintendent Marco Chávez told nonprofit Midpeninsula news site The Almanac that Ms. Magee had died peacefully, surrounded by family and loved ones.

“Nancy’s passing is a great loss for our office and for our community. She provided many years of strong leadership and dedicated service to the children and families of San Mateo County, and she will be greatly missed,” stated Chávez.

In 2018, Ms. Magee won election on the June primary ballot that year to her first four-year term overseeing the San Mateo County Office of Education. She succeeded her lesbian predecessor Anne E. Campbell, who stepped down as county superintendent after serving two terms.

When Ms. Magee sought reelection in 2022, she was unopposed. She had been the lone out county superintendent in California until gay Sonoma County Superintendent of Schools Amie Carter, Ph.D., won her elected post in the North Bay that November.

While Carter is seeking a second term this year, Ms. Magee had announced last year she would not seek a third term. She had planned to step down when her current term ends January 1, 2027 but, due to her cancer battle, opted to leave early.

“It has been an incredible honor to serve the students and families of San Mateo County,” Ms. Magee had said in announcing her retirement in Febru-

ary. “I am extremely proud of our students and our schools, and grateful to our community partners. Together with the employees of the County Office, we have worked hard to ensure that every child, regardless of background, has access to the educational opportunities they deserve, especially students with disabilities and those from historically marginalized communities.”

The San Mateo Board of Supervisors had declared March 10, 2026, as Nancy Magee Day. In a post on Instagram with a photo showing Ms. Magee on a large video screen behind the board members, Supervisor Lisa Gauthier had noted, “Nancy Magee’s impact lives on through

the people she served – in students who felt seen, families who felt supported and educators who felt trusted and empowered to do their best work.”

Upon the announcement of Ms. Magee’s passing last week, former congressmember and current Supervisor Jackie Speier paid tribute to the education leader in a Facebook post. “I am deeply saddened by the passing of Nancy Magee, just shy of her 67th birthday. No one was more dedicated to preparing our students for a successful future than Nancy,” noted Speier. “She spent 20 years in classrooms and served as the former San Mateo County Superintendent of Schools for eight years. She was the driving force in several big projects like the Big Lift, the United for Youth Vision 2030 Blueprint, the Child Care Partnership Council, and the Coalition for Safe Schools and Communities.”

Speier added, “Because she spearheaded the Coalition for Safe Schools and Communities, more than 70 headlines never happened in San Mateo County. Nancy put protocols in place that prevented school shootings and saved lives. Nancy Magee’s contributions to the safety and wellbeing of our students will be felt for decades to come.”

Ms. Magee lived in Half Moon Bay along the San Mateo County coast. Her first term as superintendent coincided with the COVID pandemic that

Castro retail salesperson Gregg Solem dies

by Cynthia Laird

Gregg Gordon Solem, a gay man and former interior designer who later went to work at the Sui Generis designer consignment store in the Castro, died in his sleep April 15. He was 68.

Mr. Solem had been experiencing some health issues for about the past year, his friend Sam Eriksmoen, a straight ally, told the Bay Area Reporter.

Miguel Lopez, owner of Sui Generis, said that Mr. Solem would be missed by employees and customers alike.

“He was a men’s suit specialist,” Lopez, a gay man, said in a phone interview, adding that Mr. Solem knew how to dress a person “from head to toe.”

Mr. Solem himself was a dapper dresser, wearing “something sparkly all the time,” Lopez added.

Lynn Luckow, a gay man who lives in San Francisco and works as an adviser to nonprofits, knew Mr. Solem for more than 50 years. He said Mr. Solem “was an inspiration.”

“He helped each of us as friends and as a stylist,” Luckow said in a phone interview. “He got us out of our box. But he never sold anything just to sell it.”

Eriksmoen, who works in tech in San Francisco, said that he first met Mr. Solem about 14 years ago, when Mr. Solem was running his eponymous Gregg Gordon Solem Design company.

“He was proud of representing Sui Generis,” Eriksmoen said of when Mr. Solem moved to retail. “He helped coach and mentor other employees.”

Eriksmoen added that Mr. Solem “initially was a little prickly, but as you got to know him, there was a warm part.”

An obituary that Eriksmoen and friends prepared stated that Mr. Solem was born June 26, 1957, in Minot, North Dakota, where he grew to love music and play the trombone. In high school he participated in numerous honor bands and was selected to travel to Washington, D.C. as part of the Veterans

of Foreign Wars’ Voice of Democracy program – a transformational trip that instilled his deep sense of patriotism.

Mr. Solem attended the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks where he was an active participant in the Delta Upsilon Fraternity. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business and public administration.

“I helped him register as a freshman at the University of North Dakota 51 years ago,” Luckow said in a phone interview, recalling how the two met. Luckow said that once Mr. Solem pledged to the fraternity, the two stayed in touch.

Mr. Solem was later recruited to manage Joseph, a swank women’s shoe store on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, the obituary noted. Neiman-Marcus hired Mr. Solem to apply his eye for glamour and finding just the right thing for the women of the Windy City. It was there that he discovered his passion for interior design and began working with clients on projects, the obituary noted.

Obituaries >> See page 8 >>

Wayne Brooks DeWoolfson

December 2, 1948 – February 22, 2026

Wayne Brooks DeWoolfson, 77, passed away peacefully at his home in Palm Springs, California on Sunday, February 22, 2026.

Among Wayne’s childhood memories were of being a frequent dancer on “American Bandstand,” and learning to cook at his mother’s side. Also spending summers with cousins at his maternal grandparents’ country home and farm in West Virginia.

He was born December 2, 1948 in Philadelphia to Elizabeth Ann (Sinnett) and Bruce Howard DeWoolfson. After graduating from Upper Darby High School in Pennsylvania, Wayne headed west – attracted by the weather and the emerging gay rights movement.

He first made his home in San Francisco, then Kentfield in Marin County. He later moved to Palm Springs. Before college years, Wayne knew he wanted a career as a stock trader. Lateef Investment Management was his longterm employer. After work, he was a regular at the old Sutter’s Mill restaurant and bar in San Francisco’s Financial District.

Wayne’s many charitable interests included home cooking at the start of Project Open Hand, and generously contributing to the Desert AIDS Project in Palm Springs.

Wayne is survived by his brother, Bruce Howard DeWoolfson of Sterling, Virginia; his niece and nephew, Nicole DeWoolfson of Orlando, Florida, and Randy DeWoolfson (Mychelle) of Warrenton, Virginia; and his cousin Steven Sinnett (Tracy) of Larkspur, California; along with many extended family members and close friends, including James Dewey, James LaMartina, and Stefanie Lum.

He was preceded in death by his

parents, Elizabeth Ann Sinnett (Frank Pannebaker) and Bruce Howard DeWoolfson, and his brother, Gary Lee DeWoolfson.

A private celebration of life for family and friends will be held in Palm Springs later this spring.

Daniel Curzon

March 19, 1938 – December 7, 2025

Daniel Curzon, who’s believed to be the first openly gay writer to be published by a major press, died December 7, 2025. A playwright and the author of many books, he is perhaps best known for “Something You Do in the Dark,” published by GP Putnam in 1971. It’s the story of a gay man’s attempt to avenge his entrapment by a Detroit vice squad and was viewed as a protest novel.

Born Daniel Russell Brown, Mr. Curzon also hosted the old “Fruit Punch” gay radio show on KPFA in the Bay Area with Jon Sugar, a DJ, writer, and founder of the Gay Artists and Writers Kollective, and David Lamble, a former arts writer for the Bay Area Reporter. Sugar said that Mr. Curzon often talked about his books during the radio show. Sugar said they did the show for about five years, from around 1985-1990. Lamble could not be reached for comment.

Mr. Curzon taught at a number of colleges, including City College of San Francisco, according to his Wikipedia page.

Mr. Curzon had a son, Zack Johnson, but he was unable to be contacted via Facebook.

According to a post on Mr. Curzon’s Facebook page by his son, Mr. Curzon passed away at a care facility in Millbrae. “His works have touched many, and his light will be missed,” Johnson wrote.

though organizers don’t yet have the requisite permits. It’s the brainchild of the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration Committee – whose big annual parade is the following morning – and Indivisible SF – known mostly for the huge “No Kings” marches against President Donald Trump and his administration.

“It makes sense,” Suzanne Ford, a trans woman who is the executive director of San Francisco Pride, told the B.A.R. in a Zoom interview on Monday.

“Pride started as a riot. Our emphasis is standing up for social justice and we share that with Indivisible SF. … On Saturday morning of Pride weekend, the whole world will be watching.”

Ford said SF Pride initially broached the discussion with Indivisible SF, which “said they’d love to be involved.”

Anna Krasner, a straight ally, is the co-lead of Indivisible SF’s direct action group and is on its steering committee. Krasner told the B.A.R. that the event is “still in the early planning stages.”

“Earlier this year, Suzanne Ford of SF Pride came to us and suggested it as an idea to draw in cis people, and straight people, who form a significant part of our community here at Indivisible SF, to draw them into standing with trans

From page 6

disrupted public school education for several years, with students and teachers moving to virtual platforms for class instruction. Her leadership during that time resulted in the San Mateo County School Boards Association honoring Ms. Magee with its Pillar of the County award, and the Association of California School Administrators (Region 5)

<< Gregg Solem

From page 7

Luckow later invited Mr. Solem out to San Francisco to help him decorate his new home. The two went to a party at the late gay Ambassador James Hormel’s house.

“Within two weeks of returning to Chicago, he said, ‘I think I’d like to move to San Francisco,’” Luckow recalled.

Mr. Solem moved to San Francisco and began building his interior design firm, working retail to pay the rent. His firm was officially established in 1997,

year than their peers. Transgender and nonbinary young people accounted for 68% of the respondents, and those who couldn’t access hormones were nearly twice as likely to attempt suicide than those who could.

“LGBTQ+ young people who reported living in very accepting communities attempted suicide at less than a third of the rate of those who reported living in very unaccepting communities,” noted the report.

Conversion therapy

Fifteen percent of LGBTQ+ young people reported being threatened with or subjected to conversion therapy, including one in six transgender and nonbinary young people (16%) and more than one in 10 cisgender young people (12%). Of the LGBTQ+ young people who attempted suicide in the past year, 21% were threatened with conversion therapy and 25% were subjected to conversion therapy.

This spring the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that puts in doubt California and other states’ ability to ban conversion therapy for minors. Its decision in Chiles v. Salazar means the issue will be reheard by lower courts using a higher standard known as strict scrutiny in considering the legality of Colorado’s ban, as that is where the case originated.

Colorado law prohibits a physician or therapist from using conversion therapy

folks,” Krasner said. “We thought it would be a good coalition building moment, and to use the publicity SF Pride gets to put a spotlight on the struggle, and put it out to the world of left-leaning, empathetically-minded cis people, or any people, to seriously stand with the trans community.”

Krasner said the march will be demanding that states protect genderaffirming care.

Twenty-seven states have passed bans on gender-affirming care for minors. Some medical providers, such as Kaiser Permanente in California, have stopped providing it for those under the age of 19 after Trump’s day one executive order targeting it.

Ford said the event is not meant to conflict with the Dyke March, which is later Saturday, or the aforementioned Trans March.

“The No. 1 thing is we didn’t want this to overshadow any of the other groups, or create any more work for queer people on Pride weekend,” Ford said. “Indivisible SF reaches a wider audience than we might.”

Krasner pointed out, “This is happening on the same day as the Dyke March, but I want to make clear: the Dyke March is still happening. We are in support of them, and they are in full support of us. We want to celebrate the Dyke March and make sure they don’t lose exposure.”

named her Superintendent of the Year in 2022.

She also had focused on climate change issues during her tenure, receiving the 2020 Sustainable San Mateo Sustainability Champion Award and seeing her county education office be the lone one to receive a CA Green Ribbon Schools Gold Achiever award. In partnership with environmental education leader Ten Strands, the county office under Ms.

and his vision manifested bold design concepts with an eye toward creating harmony in rich textures and color palettes, the obituary stated. His work can be found in living spaces of homes across California, as well as the new Delta Upsilon Fraternity house in North Dakota.

Mr. Solem ended his interior design business around 2015 and worked at Neiman-Marcus Gift Galleries in San Francisco for about a year. He was hired at Sui Generis around 2018.

The obituary noted that Mr. Solem was long involved in volunteer work, including while he was in Chicago for

M Rocket, a genderqueer dyke who is project director with the Dyke March, said not everything was copacetic at first – but after much discussion and reflection, “everyone is in full support.”

“We talked about it over the course of several meetings and had to get through everyone’s feelings about it. At first, we weren’t sure, and it felt very invasive on our traditional day of 34 years we’d fought hard for,” Rocket said in a phone interview. “However, our Dyke March community is very much in support of the cause and finding ways for all of us to work together and form coalitions. … We voted and decided to participate. … We talked through it and are very much in support.”

Rocket called it “an honor to be in this process with these people who are skilled organizers and supporters across many focus areas.”

“Dyke March is not harmed by the morning event, and we will proceed as tradition, stepping off at 5 p.m. sharp from Dolores and 18th [streets], preceded by a street rally at the intersection beginning at 3 p.m.,” Rocket continued.

Reached for comment, Trans March organizer Niko Storment stated, “As Trans March, we are excited to see the community rallying around a common cause. This will not interfere or affect our regularly scheduled event for Friday. ... I believe they are donating the proceeds of their merch to Trans March.”

Magee’s leadership secured a $6 million state grant in 2021 to develop climate change and environmental justice curriculum for every grade in California’s K-12 schools, called Seeds to Solutions, that is set to be released in July.

Prior to her election as county superintendent, Ms. Magee had been the county education office’s associate superintendent for the student services division. She oversaw

inline skating and bicycle racing events, as well as AIDS-related charities. In San Francisco, Mr. Solem served on the board of the old Academy of Friends, which used to be the largest Oscarviewing party outside of Los Angeles and raised funds for HIV/AIDS organizations.

Luckow said that Mr. Solem oversaw the Academy of Friends party in 2004 when it had the theme, “From Hollywood to Bollywood.”

Mr. Solem was also active with the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival and other LGBTQ charities, according to the obituary.

on any young person under 18; nearly 30 other states have similar bans. In finding it “censors speech,” the Supreme Court sided with Colorado Springs therapist Kaley Chiles, a Christian who had argued her inability to administer such therapy to minors struggling with their sexual orientation or gender identity violated her First Amendment right to free speech.

Most LGBTQ advocates expect the ruling will lead to the therapy, discredited by medical professionals across the globe, being allowed once again across the country.

“It was a very disappointing moment.

Ford confirmed that in a text message.

March along Polk Street

According to Ford, the tentative plan is for the new march to go up Market Street, take a right on Golden Gate Avenue near Sixth Street, and then proceed onto Polk Street, to pay homage to the fact that the first-ever SF Pride Parade was on Polk back in 1970.

Finally, there will be a stage at the Civic Center Plaza presented by the People’s March. B.A.R. readers will recall the People’s March started in 2020 as an attempt to return SF Pride to its protest roots. (Since 2024, the People’s March has been held on a different weekend from the regular Pride Parade.) It was founded by drag artists Juanita MORE! and Alex U. Inn. According to Inn, the People’s March this year will be folded into the trans ally march.

“We’re all rolling it together,” Inn said in a phone interview. “Once we get back to the Civic Center we have our own stage, and that’s when the rally, DJs, performers, et cetera, will be.”

Confirmed speakers thus far are Ford, Inn, and MORE!, Inn said, adding the theme of the rally is “I Could Be Trans.”

“The goal is to draw in, educate, and activate allies to protect and support our trans and gender-nonconforming loved ones from harm by the current

direct educational services to students who are in the juvenile justice system or who are enrolled in the county’s special education program. Also under her auspices were safe and supportive schools initiatives, including emergency response and mental health coordination, foster youth, Safe Routes to School, Career Technical Education, and Special Olympics.

Ms. Magee received a master’s

Mr. Solem treasured his friendships, something to which Lopez and Eriksmoen both attested.

“We really miss him,” Lopez said. “He was one of a kind and part of our Sui family. People would come in and say ‘hi’ to him.”

“I’d just say Gregg was a thoughtful individual,” said Eriksmoen. “He cared deeply for his friends and community. He was a celebrated individual who made the world a better place.”

Said Luckow, “He was always the life of the party, a fashionista who dressed impeccably.”

Mr. Solem is survived by his parents,

portive on social media platforms, can positively impact their mental health.

LGBTQ+ young people who reported living in very accepting communities attempted suicide at less than a third of the rate of those who reported living in very unaccepting communities, found the report.

“Small actions from allies and adults can make a meaningful, and even lifesaving, difference. The data shows that again and again,” said Nath.

New to this year’s report is the section titled “Passing the microphone to LGBTQ+ young people.” It highlights some of the direct responses from the LGBTQ+ young people when asked what support or resources they most wanted.

“I would love if more people in my life spoke up for me or on LGBTQ+ topics in general,” said a 21-year-old from Colorado.

administration and right-wing states,” MORE! stated. “I can’t send enough of my love to all of my trans and gendernonconforming friends who felt comfortable enough to be themselves, to become themselves, and for giving me the pleasure of being present with all of you.”

Inn said that the march is a way for allies to step up and show support.

“I want to directly address the concerns regarding Indivisible SF’s role in this coalition,” Inn stated in an email. “It is important to clarify that they are not leading the movement, but rather acting as a vital partner by providing the structure and resources we need to succeed. They have an incredible ability to mobilize millions of people; by aligning their messaging with our goals, we ensure our collective voice reaches a much wider audience.

“Furthermore, while Indivisible SF is a predominately straight ally organization, it operates on the fundamental principle that an attack on any individual’s rights is a direct attack on our democracy. They have always been consistent in this message,” Inn added. “Because they possess a more powerful megaphone than any of our individual groups, their partnership is a strategic asset that helps us protect and ensure the safety of our queer and transgender siblings.” t

degree in library and information science from San Jose State University in 2003 and a bachelor’s degree in English from San Diego State University in 1982. A water polo player as an undergrad, she taught in the classroom for more than two decades.

Ms. Magee is survived by her two sons, Travis and Noah Harper, and two granddaughters, Avery and Emmy, who live in San Diego, t

Janice and Gordon; brother, Michael, and sister-in-law, Lisa; and a collection of friends in San Francisco and throughout the U.S.

A celebration of Mr. Solem’s life will be held Thursday, May 14, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Sui Generis, 2231 Market Street. In lieu of flowers, people can consider a donation to their favorite charity in Mr. Solem’s honor. To RSVP, email the store at info@suigenerisconsignment.com.

“Wear something classy and strut down the runway of life, proud and without care – as he did and he would want you to do,” Mr. Solem’s obituary concluded. t

on a national picture, while the next year’s looks at the findings by state. Thus, the report released in 2027 on the results of the survey to be conducted this year will revert back to a state-by-state breakdown.

LGBTQ hotline

Since the release of the 2025 report, the Trump administration canceled the specially trained LGBTQ crisis counselors youth under the age of 25 could request when calling the national 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and using the “Press 3” option to be connected to counselors specially trained on LGBTQ issues. It prompted California and several other states to provide LGBTQ cultural competency training to the counselors staffing their state-based call centers who handle calls made to the 988 number from young people in their state.

Conversion therapy remains harmful and a widely discredited practice that has significant mental health consequences for LGBTQ youth,” said Nath, a straight ally who has overseen Trevor’s research since January 2023. “We included stats on conversion therapy to show research consistently shows exposure to conversion therapy is associated with higher rates of suicide risks.”

Positive findings

The report also makes clear how even simple actions, such as using a young person’s preferred name and pronoun, or displaying a Pride flag and being sup-

The young people were also asked how they would respond to someone who says that they don’t understand what it means to be transgender or nonbinary. A 15-year-old New Yorker responded with a wet clothing analogy.

“When you are forced to be the gender you were born with, it feels like you’re constantly stepping in a wet sock. Not comfortable, is it? Being able to be trans or nonbinary is like taking the wet sock off, and being affirmed is like putting a new, dry sock on,” they said.

As the B.A.R. reported last year, the Trevor Project now alternates from year to year how it releases the data from its annual surveys. One year’s report is focused

Yet, Governor Gavin Newsom cut millions in funding for several other helplines that young people and adults can access in the Golden State. The California Parent & Youth Helpline, accessible by dialing or texting 855-427-2736, was impacted, as the B.A.R. previously reported.

So, too, was the Mental Health Association of San Francisco that oversees the California Peer-Run Warm Line, CalHOPE Warm Line, and the Spanish Warm Line. Rather than being able to speak with a counselor 24/7 when calling or texting 855-600-WARM (9276), the service is now only available from

‘The

Devil Wears Prada 2’

Gleaming, updated sequel lacks the original’s pizazz, but still is enjoyable

by Brian Bromberger

It’s the family reunion we’ve been awaiting for 20 years and one of the year’s most anticipated

this sequel 20 years from now. The Devil is in the details, which here is a mediocre, clashing script. But more on that later.

Andy Sachs (Hathaway), an investigative re-

credibility, stop advertisers from leaving, and prop up a crumbling media empire (i.e. Miranda’s apt remark, “The September issue is so thin that you can practically floss with it”).

The Los Angeles Blade covers Los Angeles and California news, politics, opinion, arts and entertainment and features national and international coverage from the Blade’s award-winning reporting team. Be part of this exciting publication serving LGBT Los Angeles from the team behind the Washington Blade, the nation’s first LGBT newspaper. From the freeway to the Beltway we’ve got you covered.

‘Hamnet’ at A.C.T.

by Jim Gladstone

Given the dominance of film over page and stage in the average American’s cultural diet, the historical drama now playing at A.C.T.’s Toni Rembe Theatre could well be seen as mercenary milking of Revisionist Elizabethan I.P., the unwise byproduct of a tiny “Hamnet” Cinematic Universe,

This fictionalized story of Agnes Hathaway, wife of William Shakespeare, had its first iteration in the widely acclaimed 2020 novel by Maggie O’Farrell, which won the National Book Critics’ Circle Award.

This theatrical adaptation, written by Lolita Chakrabarti and directed with a choreographer’s eye by Erica Whyman, played Chicago and Washington D.C. engagements earlier this year, arriving in the long shadow of the 2025 movie version, which went on to win an Oscar for Jessie Buckley’s performance as Agnes.

In fact, the play was originally mounted in 2023 by England’s Royal Shakespeare Company (A co-producer, with A.C.T. and Neal Street Productions, of the current San Francisco version).

But the timing of its arrival here is less than ideal for local audience members, most of whom are likely en-

‘Mean

by Jim Gladstone

gaging with this narrative for a second, if not third, time in fairly short order. Comparison is inevitable.

And relative to O’Farrell’s deep-dive into Agnes’ interior life and film director Chloe Zhao’s filthy, snotty, screamy detail, this show is stripped-down stuff, a storytelling session rather than an intimate immersion.

Thinking makes it so

Even Tom Piper’s flexible timbered scenic design, which serves to represent many locations all the while evoking London’s Globe Theater, is a bare bones affair. Clearly, as was the case with shows in Shakespeare’s era, this set is meant to be filled out by viewers’ imagination. Visually, this “Hamnet” is close kin to “Hamilton.”

Unfortunately, the imagination of those who have recently engaged with “Hamnet” in other media has likely been occupied and colonized. This turns attending the theater version into an intellectual exercise, a brainy game of compare and contrast that creates a sense of remove from the common story’s emotional heart.

The strength of this “Hamnet” is its connection to the crafty, resourceful playmaking of Shakespeare’s era:

Simple props are ingeniously deployed (Pregnancy and childbirth are

Shakespearian drama asks, to see or not to see?

elegantly evoked with simple manipulation of fabric swaths).

Actors deliver finely etched performances in multiple roles; notably Nigel Barrett’s turns as the Bard’s brutal father and an ego-driven thespian, which manage to be entirely distinct while striking resonant chords.

Girls the Musical’

Being mean, it seems, is evergreen.

Twenty-two years after its movie debut and eight past its Broadway musicalization, “Mean Girls” has still got plenty of venomous energy in Ray of Light Theatre’s zesty production, now playing at the company’s newly christened Barbary Stage.

Previously known as the Gateway Theater, the intimate, renovated 190seat Jackson Square venue (Former home of the late, lamented 42nd Street Moon) has become Ray of Light’s permanent residence following years of the company’s short-term rentals of the Victoria Theatre in the Mission, which had over twice the seating capacity.

The sound quality, seating comfort, and indoor-outdoor lobby space are all an improvement. What remains to be seen –impossible to assess on a ceremonious opening night with plenty of backers, friends, and family in attendance– is whether this more upscale but relatively sterile new playground will continue to attract raucous, ragtag non-traditional Mission

Transitions across time and location are made crystal clear despite minimal physical settings.

And most of all, there’s the pleasure of rich multi-faceted writing, full of echoing metaphors, witty wordplay, and complex associations. In this realm, Chakrabarti goes full-bore

Bard, sprinkling riddles and revelations everywhere.

Agnes (Kemi-Bo Jacobs, earthy and appealing) and Shakespeare (Rory Alexander, the definition of dashing) are seen sorting apples at the genesis of their relationship. But it’s he who takes the first bite, and later it’s his intellect that leads him away from his wife’s feral Eden.

There’s a pinch of “Romeo and Juliet” in the central couple’s mutually suspicious families, plenty of “Hamlet” in William and Hamnet’s father-son bond, and myriad references to other canonical quotes and themes.

A certain cerebral sort of audience member will find it fun to spot and cite the play’s endless array of allusions, but the emotional gut punches of passion, grief, betrayal, and abandonment embraced by admirers of the novel and film are absent here.

Cinema-goers who found the film emotionally overwrought may prefer the play’s cooler, cleverer approach. But most audience members who have recently experienced “Hamnet” as a novel or film will find the stage version comes up short on solid flesh.t

‘Hamnet,’ through May 24. $25$130. Toni Rembe Theater, 415 Geary St. www.act-sf.org

Ray of Light Theatre debuts in Jackson Square with the popular show

audiences that have frequently made Ray of Light feel like one of the local theater scene’s cool kids (even with its impressive 25-year track record).

Popping with intelligence

From a programming perspective, “Mean Girls,” gets things off to a good start. The show, with clever dialogue by Tina Fey (“This whole school humps my leg like a chihuahua,” “I feel like an iPhone without a case.”),

leans into Ray of Light’s penchant for mounting camp-spiked, nostalgiasprinkled high school musicals, which have proven a draw for theater kids and band geeks of all ages.

The non-profit company, founded and still run by volunteer artistic director Shane Ray, has long attracted the most heterogeneous and homoingenious crowds in town with a production history that includes “Grease,” “Carrie,” “Heathers,” “Cruel Intentions,” and, indeed, “High School Musical.”

“Spring Awakening” might be seen as the bridge between that repertoire and Ray of Light’s brave takes on more complex, esoteric works. Musicals from “Sweeney Todd” to “Next to Normal” to the Tony Kushner-Jeanine Tesori masterpiece, “Caroline, or Change” have added sophisticated roughage to the delicious pop cafeteria fare. (And repeat revivals of “The Rocky Horror Show” have kept things regular).

Four-star power

It’s appropriate, then, that “Mean Girls” is structured as a tale told by artsy teen queers, Janis (Maia Campbell) and Damian (William Schmidt).

Both have keen comic timing and vocal bravura that turn what could be mere interstitial narrator roles into star turns (That said, the one major weakness in Fey’s book is this superfluous framing and the rushed wrapup it facilitates).

Schmidt, who did a more sophisticated sort of bookend duty as Jack in San Francisco Playhouse’s recent “Into the Woods,” again brings an irresistible soft charisma to his part, revealing glimmers of loneliness beneath his gay jester facade that make Damian more than a bundle of sass and snap.

Campbell, in goth-garnished garb by

costume designer Ashley Renee (who nails every bit of the show’s wardrobe), evolves over the course of the show.

Beginning as a cynical eye-rolling outsider seemingly immune to adolescent intrigue, she ultimately expresses her vulnerability and its attendant passion with the roof-raising belt of “I’d Rather Be Me,” one of the show’s two 11 o’clock numbers, both of which find composer Jeff Richmond, Fey’s husband, transcending the mere pastiche that characterizes most of his score.

The other late-second-act smash, “World Burn” is given a smoldering delivery by queen of mean, Regina George. Maddy Wenig plays and sings the role with such consistent wit and bitchery throughout the bulk of the show that her goofball, neck-braced eleventh-hour transformation feels surprisingly funny, despite being an unearned non-sequitur plot-wise.

Wenig’s voice is a stunner, like the bronze flow of smooth jazz played on alto sax.

Carrying the show’s heaviest load is Arri Toshiko Glenn as new student Cady Herron, famously played by Lindsay Lohan in the original film. She’s rock solid in a thankless role, written with standard issue beats of innocence, corruption, and redemption Glenn maintains impressive vocal stamina through song after song, making it feel all the odder that Cady doesn’t get a real 11’o clock barn burner of her own, merely a reprise of the first act’s “Fearless” which, along with “It Roars,” give us Richman and lyricist Nell Benjamin at their most derivative: Girl Power as brazen shoplifting from Katy Perry and Taylor Swift.

Ironically, the score is strongest when it’s not aping hit radio, but classic Broadway. There’s a cafeteria dance

break with the musical and choreographic verve of Busby Berkeley. Director/Choreographer Lesley Waggoner, a frequent Ray of Light contributor, once again proves enormously in this show’s physical staging, but the Barbary’s stage, significantly smaller that the Victoria Theatre’s, does her no favors, keeping tableaux somewhat uncomfortably compressed.

Casting coup

The production’s greatest asset are its crackerjack supporting players (Kudos to the casting team), all of whom I look forward to seeing in future productions at Ray of Light and elsewhere in the Bay.

There’s a palpable commitment to character in this cast that textures even the biggest company song and dance numbers with nuggets of comic specificity. There’s no “ensemble” neutrality here; the show pops with personality. Among the standouts: Mackenzie Macdonald and Marah Sotelo generously squeezing every laugh out of their roles as Gretchen and Karen, Regina’s flying monkeys; Adrienne Herro, a non-stop stitch, in a trio of mother and teacher roles; and Rowen Cole Weeramanatry, as a tousle-topped Mathlete with unexpected bar-spitting skills.

“Mean Girls,” will give new audiences a great taste of Ray of Light’s strengths. And here’s hoping the Mission hipster crowd will be willing to follow an old favorite to more bougie climes.

Ray of Light deserves a home of its own. Make the effort to make yourself a houseguest.t

‘Mean Girls,’ through May 30. $41$71. Barbary Stage, 215 Jackson St. www.rayoflighttheatre.com

Jason Brock sings Carole King

by David-Elijah Nahmod

Former X Factor finalist and fourtime Bestie Award winner Jason Brock will bring music legend Carole King’s iconic 1971 album “Tapestry” to Martuni’s on May 16. It’s a homecoming of sorts for Brock, who first performed the album twelve years ago. This time he’ll be accompanied on piano by Dr. Dee Spencer, as Alan Choy, his original accompanist, was not available at this time.

“Tapestry” was King’s second studio album, and it became a monster hit. It won several Grammy Awards, sold 25 million copies, and remained on the Billboard charts for 313 weeks. Songs like “It’s Too Late” and “I Feel the Earth Move” resonated deeply with listeners, and the album continues to resonate today. “It’s Too Late” has become something of a feminist anthem, with King singing about the end of a relationship, not as a woman with a broken heart, but as a woman who walked out on a man.

“Tapestry” is an album that means a great deal to Brock. When he first performed the album, the audience reaction was very strong and positive, with people telling him that they had a sentimental and nostalgic connection to the music. Reaction to his performance was so positive that he and Choy were asked to do the show again at a church in San Rafael. The audience loved it there as well. And now, Brock is ready to do it again.

In an interview with the Bay Area Reporter, Brock spoke about what the

songs from “Tapestry” mean to him and what the audience can expect when they attend his concert.

David-Elijah Nahmod: What made you want to revisit the “Tapestry” show?

Jason Brock: I wanted to revisit performing Carole King’s “Tapestry” album because I still love the music. And there are still people who haven’t seen or heard me do it in my voice. I want to see that look on people’s faces as they hear each song, that ‘Oh, I know this’ or ‘I forgot that was by Carole King,’ or ‘This is my favorite song

on the album’ kind of look. Yes, I can see it, and sometimes hear it when they tell the person next to them or just shout it out to me from their chair.

Why do you think this album resonates with so many people?

I think for many of them they grew up with it. Some people have told me it was the first album they ever bought. Some said it was the soundtrack to certain parts of their teens or twenties. Also, it’s just so well written. The songs are simple but powerful. I think that’s why people still know and listen to these songs today.

‘Tapestry’ album to be performed live at Martuni’s

What are your favorite songs from the album and what do they mean to you?

The first one I have to mention is “So Far Away.” Unfortunately, I relate to this song very strongly and in a different way than I did twelve years ago. As you may know I was living in Japan for five years until I returned to the US about two years ago. Also, unfortunately, or fortunately, I love someone back there who I only get to see when I visit Tokyo. I wish I could go back much more often, but I can’t. When I sing this song I’m really thinking about how far away I am from the person, and some people, I love. It’s sort of devastating, but the song allows me to release these feelings.

A fun song that I love from the album is “I Feel the Earth Move.” You might guess that this makes me think about earthquakes; a perfect song for San Francisco. I also love the touching “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow.”

Famously recorded by The Shirelles first, it’s still a song written by Carole King. This one makes me think of hookups I’ve had where perhaps I said too much. When you’ve been drinking, saying I love you isn’t so hard to do, it turns out.

What is Carole King’s legacy?

I think her legacy is the impact she’s made on people’s lives with her music, including my own. She’s written songs that allow us to feel the feelings inside of us more deeply, and process them by listening or singing along. Her music marks places in people’s lives and allows us to think back on those times

with fondness or sadness. Her music will live on forever, I think, and as new generations discover it, they’ll probably be sharing it with new listeners, or even covering the songs that will become hits again many years from now.

Please tell me a bit about Dr. Dee Spencer’s background and what she brings to the table.

Dee is an accomplished pianist who has done things like performing with Wynton Marsalis, founding the Jazz Studies Degree Program at San Francisco State, directing music for the Grammy Awards and much more. We work together regularly and have great chemistry. She knows where I want to go vocally and is totally great with improvisation, which I do a fair amount of. We perform monthly at The Academy together, and are doing a tour of Japan in October.

What do you hope people will take from the concert?

I hope they feel inspired, refreshed, satisfied, entertained, and maybe thinking a little more deeply about life. I think good music does that. I know it does that for me. After feeling the emotion of this album, it makes me want to make changes in my life, prioritize what’s important to me, and enjoy love.t

Jason Brock Sings Carole King’s Album “Tapestry,” May 16, 7pm, Martuni’s, 4 Valencia Street, $45. www.eventbrite.com www.jasonbrockvocals.com

Barry Walters makes us feel ‘Mighty Real’

by Gregg Shapiro

A practically comprehensive overview of the presence, the impact, and the ongoing legacy of music made by and for LGBTQ folks, “Mighty Real: A History of LGBTQ Music, 1969-2000” (Viking, out May 12), by gay music journalist Barry Walters, is part reference book, part memoir, and the rainbow musical spectrum covered is particularly notable.

Beginning with groundbreaking artists including Laura Nyro and Lou Reed (along with the Velvet Underground), Walters invites us on this revealing musical odyssey touching on a vast multitude of talent including Sylvester, Elton John, The B-52s, Wendy Carlos, kd lang, Bob Mould, Indigo Girls, Bronski Beat, and Dusty Springfield, to mention a few.

Additionally, Walters makes a point to include allies such as Cyndi Lauper, Grace Jones, Bette Midler, Patti Smith, Cher, Dolly Parton, and Madonna, as well as influential record labels (Motown and Olivia) and genres (disco, punk, post-punk, and hip-hop). It’s deserving of praise not only for his vast knowledge of the subject, but also for the way he connects the dots with several artists.

Gregg Shapiro: Did the concept for your book begin with one of the essays (before it became a chapter), or was the idea for the book already fully formed from the onset?

Barry Walters: The book’s inspiration is a departed friend of mine, Vito Russo, and his extraordinary, pioneering 1981 book, “The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies.” I fell in love with it when I was a graduate school cinema studies student at NYU and starting my professional career at The Village Voice.

Through a mutual friend, Steven Harvey – a film critic who wrote in the Voice what might’ve been the earliest first-person article written about what it’s like to have AIDS – we met. I sensed that Vito wanted to share with me what he knew and loved while he still could. He’d show me Bette Midler at the Continental Baths, or Babs and Judy dueting on “The Judy Garland Show,” back when footage like that was a coveted, rare treasure. Seen through his eyes, what I’d considered old-hat was fresh and vital.

In 1987, he revised “The Celluloid Closet,” and included something I’d written in The Voice about Pee-wee Herman that put him in an LGBTQ context. Vito’s blessing made me feel as though I’d become a serious, legit writ-

er. When he and Steve both died, I felt I had to bear witness because I’d been spared. After I left the San Francisco Examiner in 1997, I tracked down Vito’s agent. He loved my idea about doing a popular music answer to “The Celluloid Closet,” but I didn’t know the first thing about writing a book proposal, so I ran out of money and had to plunge myself back into freelance journalism. But when it became feasible to finally write a book, that’s what I returned to.

Would you say that the book grew out of your advantage of being a music journalist, and getting to interview Patrick Haggerty (Lavender Country), Judy Dlugacz (Olivia), and countless others?

“Mighty Real” was indeed facilitated by several decades of interviewing queer and queer-relevant musicians. I dug up old interview tapes I’d recorded, and some I’d never published, like with Liza Minnelli when she worked with the Pet Shop Boys for her 1989 “Results” album. That was for “The Advocate,” and I remember my editor liking the piece, but maybe they didn’t sell enough advertising that month; things like that happen with print journalism.

“Mighty Real” reads like a memoir interwoven with history (i.e., the Bowie, Queen, RHPS, Bronski Beat chapters). Was that how you envisioned the book, or did it evolve?

“Mighty Real” is a history book interwoven with memoir. This book has 60 chapters, and in most of those I discuss several acts, so I cover hundreds of queer and queer-adjacent bands, singers, producers, label owners, you name it. I wrote nearly everything for years without using the “I” word at all.

But, in one chapter I did write about what it was like reading, as an elevenyear-old, about David Bowie for the first time, and how I learned the word “bisexual” through him. I had to hear whatever that was, so I bought “Space Oddity,” and what followed from Bowie helped me learn about myself. All of us have variations on that kind of story. I realized that if I wrote about mine, the reader might think about theirs.

When I chronologically moved through LGBTQ music’s timeline and reached the point where I started writing professionally, I decided to share what it was like, for example, to interview Whitney Houston, and hear her lie about herself, but reveal the truth through her actions. Those chapters gave me the confidence to revisit earlier chapters and sometimes be more autobiographical.

In Chapter 22, about The B-52s, you wrote that “As of late 2025… like most queer acts […]” they still haven’t been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Do you think that might change now that an outspoken ally such as Cyndi Lauper has been inducted?

The day after this interview, I received my Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

ballot. Melissa Etheridge and Luther Vandross, about whom I write extensively in “Mighty Real,” have been nominated, as they should be, but, once again, not The B-52s. They never have. That goes to show how much antigay sentiment still exists in the music industry. I don’t think our ally Cyndi Lauper, as much as I love and appreciate her, can alone change that. We, as a community, must come together to hold those accountable.t

Read the full interview on www.ebar.com.

‘Mighty Real: A History of LGBTQ Music, 1969-2000,’ $35 hardcover, $19 Kindle, $20.48 audiobook. Viking/Penguin penguinrandomhouse.com instagram.com/barrywalterswriter

Trio of tempting tales

by Laura Moreno

2

026 is shaping up to be a watershed moment in LGBT literature, particularly for powerful, nuanced characters. Three recently released books brilliantly demonstrate that queer authors are at the forefront of reimagining historical romance and fantasy through a new lens, challenging genre conventions and celebrating complex identities.

“The Duke” by Anna Cowan, $26.99 us.macmillan.com

“The Duke” is a witty, sapphic regency romance by Anna Cowan. It’s a story of passion and intrigue set in an alternate egalitarian 19th-century in the world of British high society. The novel is filled with many actual historical details that are artfully blended into a radical reimagining of the period.

The novel’s protagonists are two powerful young women who must navigate a high-stakes environment governed by the rigid rules of class, reputation, and political maneuvering: fearless Kate, Duke of Howard, and her

perfect match and biggest challenge Celine. The captivatingly intelligent lasses are vaguely reminiscent of Mary and Elizabeth, history’s young redhaired first cousin queens of Scotland and England who were always pitted against each other by circumstance, when together they could have been unstoppable. (I’m pleased that other readers have also drawn this parallel.)

The two women’s desires and ambitions are as complex and compelling as the precariously political world that surrounds them. The duke’s struggle to maintain her position in a world that simultaneously accepts

New

fantasy books by Anna Cowan, TJ Alexander & S.E. McPherson

and undermines her authority speaks to the dynamics of power as well as to contemporary concerns of representation and tokenism. Most fascinatingly, perhaps, the novel shows how personal relationships can silently influence political outcomes in surprising ways that feel as plausible as refreshingly modern.

“A Lady for All Seasons” by TJ Alexander, $18 penguinrandomhouse.com

TJ Alexander’s lighthearted “A Lady for All Seasons” is a highly imaginative novel that focuses on Eliza, who

is a lesbian and a gentleman’s daughter. But because she lacks a dowry she must somehow figure out how to inveigle a suitable spouse on the treacherous marriage market.

Filled with witty banter and engaging social comedy, the story creates a compelling underdog narrative when Eliza takes a much-needed job as a companion to Lady Annabeth. When a mysterious poetess anonymously targets her Lady with cutting verses, a rivalry is introduced that threatens to unravel Eliza’s carefully laid plans.

This clever plot device allows author TJ Alexander to explore the rigid limitations placed on women in regency society while simultaneously celebrating their power to subvert those very constraints through intelligence and diligent determination.

“A Villain’s Hope” by S.E. McPherson, $24.99 metaltailpress.com

“A Villain’s Hope” by S.E. McPherson is the second book of the HeartMage Trilogy, continuing a story that

began with “A King’s Trust,” named a Top 100 Indie Book by Kirkus Reviews and a Top 6 Best LGBTQ+ Indie Book of 2025.

The novel centers on Elias, who has been granted magical abilities from a mage-king. His wishes have been fulfilled: he has the love and trust of his two royal companions Beau and Penny, and possesses the supernatural skills to protect them, as well as have influence with the nobles of Granvallée. But the magic comes with a high price. The plot involves mages coming to collect their due on the deal with Elias, forcing him and his royal loves to reckon with the consequences of their agreement.

McPherson’s work stands out for its real emotional authenticity and nuanced portrayal of neurodiversity within a fantasy setting. In addition to an autistic protagonist with ADHD, the book features bisexual and polyamorous characters and found families as it explores what it means to be both powerful and vulnerable. The moral complexity of the novel creates rich narrative terrain within which redemption is possible but not guaranteed. This moral ambiguity poses complex questions about power, sacrifice, and the very nature of love itself.t

Words: Andy Barrow

by Michele Karlsberg

Andy Barrow is a writer whose work bridges intellect, humor, and the beautifully messy process of becoming. A longtime educator who earned his doctorate while working as a teacher and principal, Barrow came out in his thirties, an experience that now fuels much of his creative voice. His debut novel, “Peter in Progress,” introduces readers to Peter, a character whose late-in-life coming out, evolving identity, and search for connection mirror many of Barrow’s own lived experiences, while carving out a story entirely its own.

Now based in New York City, Barrow is steadily building momentum across genres. He recently earned honorable mention in the Saints and Sinners Festival poetry contest and will see his work take the stage this summer with a play featured in the Out/Play (Queer Theatre Association) Summer Shorts Festival this year.

Barrow’s writing explores what he calls a kind of “gay adolescence,” that electric, disorienting, and often joyful period of self-discovery that can arrive well past youth. With sharp insight and wit, he navigates questions of identity, desire, and belonging, offering stories that are as thoughtful as they are entertaining

Michele Karlsberg: Peter, like you, comes out in his thirties. How much of him is you, and where do your paths diverge?

Andy Barrow: There is so much of me in Peter. The thirtysomething coming out and the weight loss are huge, fundamental similarities. Also, Peter is a career academic, someone who went right from undergrad to grad school to his doctorate.

I didn’t stick quite so close to academia; I got my master’s and doctorate while I was working in education, first as a teacher and then as a principal. But I’ve always felt very comfortable and successful in academic settings, and I definitely operated as an achiever within them. So, like Peter, I gravitated toward a career and life path in which I felt safe and validated.

The biggest difference is that I was married to a woman; Peter is not. Divorce was a huge part of my comingout experience. I struggled, at first, to write Peter without a wife. I had this kind of guilt about it, as if I wasn’t being authentic if I “left out” that part of

Author Andy Barrow

my story, even when writing fiction. But I eventually got past that. I just wasn’t interested in writing about divorce. So I gave myself permission to write the story I felt compelled to write, and to get out of my head about the obligations and constraints I was putting on myself. As soon as I made that choice, Peter’s story began to take flight.

The concept of a “gay adolescence” later in life is central to Peter’s story—and your own. What does that phrase mean to you now?

The word “adolescence” feels pretty literal, because I honestly feel like a teenager half the time. Part of that is being a student again, taking in new information about gay culture, history, and sex. And part of it is having big, unchecked teenage feelings; life feels vibrant and open in a way that reminds me of high school.

There’s also a lot of dissonance in that experience. I’m holding, at once, these fresh, teenage-like feelings alongside the lived experience and maturity of my almost forty years. That’s especially true in my dating life. I’ll see obvious red flags, and my mature self is saying, “Back away.” But my teenage self is completely head-overheels. And, to be honest, the teenager wins out a lot.

The phrase also brings a surge of joy and gratitude. People often assume my story must be difficult, and there have been challenges, of course. But the past few years have been the most wonderful of my life. There’s the deeper joy of living as my authentic self, but also a sense that queer life

invites more fun; better music, better conversations, more vibrancy overall. I’ve also come to see queerness as something that invites an ongoing adolescence, in the best way. The straight world often runs on scripts; who to be, how to act, what life should look like. Many people eventually stop questioning those scripts. That happened to me. But queer life often demands self-authorship, constant reflection, and intentional living. It can be heavy, but it’s also incredibly freeing.

The novel walks a fine line between funny and heartfelt. How did you balance steamy hookups and underwear parties with deeper emotional arcs like friendship, identity, and vulnerability?

This is where I really trusted my gut. I didn’t worry too much about balance or whether the book leaned too funny or too serious. Life is all of those things at once, and I wanted the novel to reflect that.

At something like an underwear party, my mind might be bouncing between questions about queer joy and escapism one minute, and very primal reactions the next. That jump –from intellectual to instinctive– is completely natural for me.

One editor described the book as a “beach read with real depth,” which felt exactly right. That duality was something I was aiming for, even if I didn’t map it out deliberately.t

Read the full interview on www.ebar.com. www.andybarrowbooks.com

Discussions & Events >>

Can you say something about the importance of mounting an event like this in the current political climate?

What can trans people and drag artists do for self-care?

Come be with your people. Talk to a stranger, ask that person you think is cute for their number, help out a friend. The world is on fire and your last chance is right now, so go out and live the life you want.

We founded Oaklash during the first Trump administration and we’re back where we started. We need spaces for mindful celebrations that acknowledges everything going on in the world, not dissociative joy where cities turn into gentrified billionaire cesspools.

Oaklash is usually a three-day event. Why is it only one day this year?

Oaklash is every day, baby. We decided to focus our team’s efforts on Saturday’s shenanigans so we could bring the people a bigger and better block party and afterparty, but we’re excited about all of the events going on in the East Bay during the week of Oaklash. We decided instead of doing our own events on Friday and Saturday that there were plenty of amazing queer and trans producers who could be putting on events, so we’ve thrown two of them a $1000 grant via our OSNAP mentorship program, which you can read about here: https:// oaklash.substack.com/p/meet-ourspring-2026-o-snap-fellows

What can people expect about the block party?

At our annual block party, you’ll find fifty food and art vendors, sixty queer and trans performers, and thousands upon thousands of the hottest and coolest most gender-confused freaks you’ll ever meet on four city blocks in Old Oakland. We’ve got “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Aja and King of Drag’s King Molasses rounding out our lineup which is hosted by me, Beatrix Lahaine, Nicki Jizz, Sally Limon, Misterrr, and Mojo Carter.

There will be two distinct stages,

one with performances that will make your eyes burn and your loins leak, and the other with DJs that would even get your granny’s booty cheeks jumping. You like clowns on roller skates? We got them. You want original music by the next international superstar? You’re in luck. You want drag? Too bad. Just kidding, there’s going to be so much drag.

And the afterparty?

The Oaklash Official Afterparty is where you can put the kids to bed and really come party. We’ve got DJs

all night and pop-up drag on the hour.

Succubus from L.A. will be closing out the night while you’re doing whatever you’re doing in the bathroom stall.t

Oaklash Block Party, May 16, 1pm8pm, 9th Street and Broadway, Old Oakland, $20 suggested donation. All performances ASL interpreted. All ages welcome. Oaklash Official Afterparty, May 16, 8pm-2am, Crybaby, 1928 Telegraph Ave, Oakland. $20. $20 suggested donation. 21+ ID required. www.oaklash.com

GOING OUT

B.A.R. Talks 5: Living in Leather

by Jim Provenzano

Thornton. Two former columnists, an historian, a title holder and organizer, and a prolific photographer each share their memories (plus photos and vintage articles) of how the longest-running LGBT newspaper became a pioneer for decades of coverage of the Leather community. Each have a longtime connection to the leather/kink community in various ways.

From its earliest issues in the 1970s, the Bay Area Reporter covered the Leather and kink community even before its legendary columnist, Mr. Marcus Hernandez, began writing for the paper under his own name.

From expansive coverage of local, regional and national contests, to ongoing social events in the Bay Area, and even gossip, the Leather/Kink community had a home with the B.A.R. for decades.

Watch this and more of our B.A.R. Talks on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BayAreaReporterSFt

able movie while proclaiming life is your work. It wants it both ways, even though the goals are incompatible, which is why the film’s tone feels dissonant. It’s hard to root for a business that is dying and caters primarily to the rich. Also, the film seems ambivalent about affluence, with Andy getting sanctimonious at Australian architect Peter (Patrick Brammall), who will later become her boyfriend, about tearing down vintage heritage buildings and replacing them with rich people’s homes, yet fifteen minutes later moves into the same high-end apartment. Is the film endorsing or criticizing ostentatious displays of wealth?

The other dilemma is that Miranda has been defanged and neutered. In the original, she was the captain of her own fate and that of Runway’s. When she entered a room, all cowered before her every imperious whim. Now she’s controlled by forces largely beyond her control and has to prove her worth to cau-

tious advertisers, resulting in an air of resignation, passivity, and mild despair. She’s reduced to hanging up her own clothes, rather than dumping it on an assistant’s desk and sitting in a middle seat in coach on a flight. What was once fearsome now borders on irrelevance, not to mention far less caustic. Her antagonistic back and forth with Andy has morphed into the stark realization they need each other to survive, which is fine except it yields few laughs. The simple truth is we delighted in her meanness and devilish sense of humor, especially towards Andy, but both of those qualities are largely missing in the sequel.

Lacking luster

The change in character affects the energy of the film. In the original she was a driving force which propelled the action at a breakneck pace. In the sequel, it’s more a weary, resigned Miranda, which especially in the first half, results in a lethargic tempo of inertia, lacking any forward momentum or suspense. The script has a lacklus-

ter story development with too many mushy, sentimental overtures.

Finally, the new film largely lacks the razor-sharp, biting wit of the original, which is not to say there aren’t a few great lines, such as “Look what TJ Maxx dragged in,” “May the bridges I burn light my way,” and “We create content that people scroll past as they pee,” but none likely to be quoted in twenty years.

As mentioned, the four actors are superb again even if they don’t have the best material. Hathaway’s infectious energy helps propel the film through its uneven patches, especially in the first half. Streep still creates a fascinating character trying to figure out how to stay ahead in a crumbling industry. It’s also her first film in five years, and who wouldn’t be thrilled with her cinematic return. The original movie made a star out of Emily Blunt and once again she comes out on top in the sequel, having the best written barbs. Tucci in his affectionate loyalty is the beating heart of the film that holds it all together.

New line

We are introduced to a new generation of supporting assistants, such as Jin (Helen J. Shen), helping Andy, Amina (Simone Ashley, “Bridgerton”) who cautions Miranda on not using offensive language, and the gay obese friend of everyone Charlie (Caleb Hearon), but they’re all onedimensional and underwritten. Andy’s relationship with the real estate contractor is a total bore with zero sexual tension, though serving the same function as her first film chef boyfriend, namely telling her what a workaholic she’s become.

Miranda has a new husband, a musician, played by the underutilized Kenneth Branaugh, with easily missed minimal dialogue. Emily has a billionaire boyfriend Benji (an almost unrecognizable Justin Theroux) who’s an immoral ditz and a cartoonish parody of Jeff Bezos (which might be an oxymoron).

A slew of cameos includes Naomi Campbell, Tom Ford, Donatella Versace, Tina Brown, and Lady Gaga

(who performs two new songs, “Shape of a Woman” and “Glamorous Life”). It would have been much more fun if they could’ve snared Anna Wintour (the inspiration for the novel on which the original film was based, with the author working as her assistant).

Yet even with all these complaints, there’s enough cattiness, glamour, and fabulous stylish fashions to tide one over the rough patches. It’s a visually stunning film with Milan never looking so beautiful as the new fashion capital replacing the original’s Paris. It’s not breaking any new ground, but it’s a light, glossy, smart, nostalgic romp with sufficient cinematic magic to entice most viewers. It’s all a fantasy, but considering the darkness currently surrounding our nation and the world, it might just be what we need at the moment.

That’s all.t

‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ is playing at major theaters in San Francisco. www.20thcenturystudios.com