Trans artist finds inspiration
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'Rocky Horror' triple-play
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A wrinkle for SF bathhouses
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Patricia Quinn
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Vol. 54 • No. 40 • October 3-9, 2024
Steven Underhill
Crowds filled Castro Street for the 2021 fair.
Bill Wilson
Governor Gavin Newsom
Castro fair celebrates golden anniversary
California to require insurers cover IVF by Matthew S. Bajko
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by John Ferrannini
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astro Street Fair organizers are excited about this year’s milestone edition of the popular block party. Organizers said that the fair, founded 50 years ago by the late gay trailblazer Harvey Milk, is a quintessential San Francisco event that showcases the LGBTQ neighborhood. Fred Lopez, a gay man who is vice president of the fair’s board of directors, said during a phone interview Friday, September 27, that speaking on behalf of the rest of the board, “It’s an incredible honor to steward the idea Harvey Milk started in 1974, to celebrate the neighborhood and bring attention to local merchants and the neighbors. “A lot has changed in 50 years, but the Castro is still an amazing, unique, and diverse neighborhood, and one we love very much,” he continued. The fair will be Sunday, October 6, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Its golden anniversary comes at the same time as the 50th anniversary of then-future supervisor Milk’s column – Milk Forum – in the Bay Area Reporter. Milk, who was the first openly gay person elected in California when he won a seat on the Board of Supervisors in November 1977, filed a total of 102 columns in the B.A.R. from October 2, 1974 until his assassination on November 27, 1978. Over the years Milk has become a global icon to the LGBTQ community and a figure now studied in California public schools. He used his print column as a platform for his own supervisor races in 1975 and 1977, and a failed attempt for state Assembly in 1976. (Milk’s first bid for supervisor came in 1973.) Among the issues Milk highlighted in his columns was a boycott against beer maker Coors in solidarity with unions trying to organize delivery drivers. More recently, Molson Coors withdrew from the Human Rights Campaign’s corporate equality index (See the online LGBTQ Agenda column.) Milk started the Castro Street Fair to promote LGBTQ businesses in the area. The first fair was held August 18, 1974 and, by the mid-1980s, it’d moved to early October. 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 See page 18 >>
K
Folsom’s back in style
inksters and leather aficionados were in their element at the Folsom Street Fair September 29 in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood. The weather was warm,
Gooch
and the crowds returned to one of the most famous events of its kind in the world for entertainment, play demonstrations, and more.
alifornia will now require large group health plans to provide coverage for fertility and infertility care, including in vitro fertilization. The Golden State is also updating its definition of infertility to be inclusive of LGBTQ+ family planning experiences. The changes are due to Governor Gavin Newsom signing into law Sunday Senate Bill 729 authored by lesbian state Senator Caroline Menjivar (D-San Fernando Valley). In recent weeks LGBTQ family advocates had waged a pressure campaign to see Newsom not veto the legislation. See page 18 >>
More businesses choosing to call San Francisco’s Castro home by John Ferrannini
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astro Street Fair weekend is the LGBTQ neighborhood’s opportunity to showcase a number of new businesses that have launched in the past year – including one that is having its grand opening the same day as the fair. That business, Solidcore, is a gym at 2175 Market Street, between 14th and 15th streets. There are locations in 25 states and the District of Columbia, and the Castro location’s grand opening will be Sunday, October 6, though it has already soft opened. Asked why Castro denizens should sign up for Solidcore and not other gyms in the area, Alyssa Shaw, a straight ally who is the chief operations officer of Solidcore, told the Bay Area Reporter that “the effectiveness of the workout helps us stand out.” “It’s a 50-minute, full body workout that utilizes movements scientifically designed to break down muscle so they build back stronger,” she said in a phone interview. “We focus on intensity, efficiency, and results.” Unlike nearby Barry’s at 2280 Market Street – whose lease is up in 2040 as the City and County of San Francisco has bought the building for use as an LGBTQ history museum – Solidcore won’t have a bar for protein shakes.
Courtesy Solidcore
Solidcore will formally open its Castro location at 2175 Market Street October 6.
“We have a really simple studio layout,” Shaw said. “The focus is on community. There’s a front lobby where everyone can hang out and build relationships and freshen up before or after class, but no smoothie bar.” Shaw said the classes will be from “early morning to later in the evening after dinner.”
As for prices, Shaw said that “for our new locations we have special deals that are really locally specific, so they’re more than welcome to go out to the studio and talk to the team about those specific deals for Castro or they can visit the app or our website.” See page 2 >>
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