The Castro will have Sam Smith
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SF bell choir's history
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Serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities since 1971
Vol. 55 • No. 40 • October 2-8, 2025
Rick Gerharter
Vera, left, performed in front of an appreciative crowd at last year’s Castro Street Fair.
Sarah Deragon of Portraits to the People
Jen Valles has been named the next executive director of the San Francisco LGBT Community Center.
Castro fair welcomes entertainment zone
SF LGBT center names new ED by Cynthia Laird
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by John Ferrannini
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eighborhood stakeholders are pleased that the forthcoming 51st Castro Street Fair will be the first to incorporate the new Castro entertainment zone. The event, set for Sunday, October 5, will see fairgoers able to stroll the fair with adult beverages in hand if they so choose. Founded by the late gay trailblazer and supervisor Harvey Milk, the fair is a quintessential San Francisco event that showcases the LGBTQ neighborhood. Milk founded it the same year he became a columnist for the Bay Area Reporter. An early B.A.R. report on that 1974 event, penned by Milk, stated, “It was San Francisco’s first street fair to be enjoyed by the people and not one geared for the tourist trade and dollars ... while there were the usual street artisans selling their wares, a carnival spirit flowed thru the crowd that was so full of warmth that even one bad incident which took place could not dampen it.” Count members of the Castro Merchants Association among those proud that legacy of commerce is slated to continue at this year’s event, which will run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. There’s a suggested gate donation of $10-$20. “I’m thrilled for this year’s Castro Street Fair. October is one of the most beautiful times to be in San Francisco, and the fair always shows off the Castro at its best,” Castro Merchants President Nate Bourg, a gay man, stated to the B.A.R. “With the new entertainment zone, our bars and restaurants will have even more opportunities to serve the community, while visitors can enjoy strolling the fair with a drink in hand. “I’ve seen how successful these activations are in cities like Paris, Barcelona, and Lisbon, and I’m excited to see that same vibrancy here in our gayborhood,” he added. The fair will be closing Market Street from Noe to Castro streets, Castro Street from Market to 19th streets, 18th Street from Diamond to Noe streets, and 17th Street from Castro to Noe streets. This is the same footprint as in 2024. As the B.A.R. previously reported, the Castro Upper Market Entertainment Zone established by the Board of Supervisors and Mayor Daniel Lurie earlier this year allows for alcohol to be consumed outdoors during special events. See page 10 >>
Rick Gerharter
Flexing their UK muscles at Folsom
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he Folsom Street Fair is known for having visitors from around the world and the 42nd annual event Sunday, September 28, was no exception. Eddie Boiii, left, from Scotland and Teddy Bryce from Liverpool, England, flexed
their muscles as they attended the celebration of leather and kink in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood. For more photos, see the Bay Area Reporter’s BARtab page on Facebook. https://www. facebook.com/lgbtsf.nightlife
he board of the San Francisco LGBT Community Center didn’t have to look far before settling on its next leader. Jen Valles, a queer femme who is currently the center’s deputy director, on Monday was named its new executive director. Valles, who also previously worked at the center for two years during the aughts, succeeds lesbian longtime Executive Director Rebecca Rolfe, who announced in April that she would be stepping down at the end of the year. Valles’s first official day will be January 5, after the center reopens following its holiday break, she said. See page 10 >>
Lesbian CA governor candidate 2017 0 Media a Kit Atkins suspends campaign by Matthew S. Bajko
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esbian former legislative leader Toni Atkins has suspended her campaign to be elected California governor. She had been vying to become the first woman and first LGBTQ leaderAngeles to The Los Blade covers Los Angeles and California news, lead the Golden State but had failed to gain traction politics, opinion, arts and entertainment and features national and amid the crowded, and still growing, field of guber- coverage from the Blade’s award-winning reporting international natorial candidates. team. Be part of this exciting publication serving LGBT Los Angeles Atkins, who missed a gubernatorial debate from the team behind the Washington Blade, the nation’s first LGBT Sunday citing illness, made the decision to drop newspaper. From the freeway to the Beltway we’ve got you covered. out of the 2026 race over the weekend, according to her campaign. She announced her withdrawal “with a heavy heart” to supporters in an email Monday afternoon. “Despite the strong support we’ve received and Courtesy the campaign all we’ve achieved, there is simply no viable path forward to victory. Though my campaign is endToni Atkins, a former state legislative leader, has suspended her 2026 gubernatorial ing, I will keep fighting for California’s future,” wrote campaign. Atkins, 63, a former San Diego city councilmember and interim mayor. colleagues in Sacramento had personally endorsed ing Mayor, to serving as Speaker of the Assembly, The out Democratic leader had gone on to break her campaign. And the 14-member Legislative LGand later leading the State Senate, we’ve gotten a lot through several political ceilings in the state LegislaBTQ Caucus, made up of just Democratic legisladone,” noted Atkins. “My intention was to build on ture, first in the Assembly and then the Senate. She tors, had also backed Atkins’ candidacy. that progress, to bring real solutions from day one, was the first out woman to serve as Assembly speak“I entered this race because I still believe in the and to do good work for the people. That’s why it’s er and Senate president pro tempore and, in so dopromise of California – and I’ve spent my life trying with such a heavy heart that I’m stepping aside today ing, became the first person to lead both chambers. to fulfill that promise for more Californians. From as a candidate for governor.” Just last month, a number of her former LGBTQ my time on the San Diego City Council and as ActSee page 10 >>
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