Issuu

BAY TIMES S

LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES Est. 1978

See page 3 and pages 27–29

PRIDE SEASON

BAY TIMES

2026 About Our Cover: Celebrating 50 Years of Frameline The cover of this issue of the San Francisco Bay Times—the first of two Pride Month issues—pays tribute to some of the memorable films shown at the Frameline Film Festival over the past 50 years. One is the documentary short Zeitgeist 1977: The First Festival, which explores the birth of the original “Gay Film Festival of Super-8 Films.” This grassroots festival that evolved into Frameline involved queer filmmakers and photographers such as Marc Huestis, Rob Epstein, David Weissman, and Dan Nicoletta, and was organized with the help of civil rights leader Harvey Milk. The documentary short can be viewed in its entirety at YouTube: https://bit.ly/4e8B3O6 Moving to the present, the film Hunky Jesus, one of Frameline50’s major screenings, has several Bay Times connections. It was created by filmmaker and former Bay Times columnist Jennifer Kroot and was executive produced by former Bay Times columnist Robert Holgate. Longstanding columnist Sister Dana Van Iquity is included in the film, as are photos by Bay Times lead photographer Rink. A great strength of Frameline is that its lineups include, not only such familiar local subjects and filmmakers, but also international films with novel perspectives. All the more magical this year is that the milestone 50th festival can take place, in part, at the newly renovated Castro Theatre (in addition to 7 other theaters). The Bay Times congratulates Frameline, a fellow Legacy Business, on 50 successful years and looks forward to the next half century of the world’s largest and oldest continuously running LGBTQ+ film organization.

LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

Pride 2026 Events in San Francisco With the theme “Resistance in Action!” San Francisco Pride 2026 officially kicked off on June 10 at the Castro Theatre. The epic event was Built This City: An SF Pride Variety Spectacular hosted by Peaches Christ and Honey Mahogany. There were performances by The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, Dear San Francisco, Haus Of Cream, Miss X & Phillip R. Ford, Sister Roma, The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, The Cockettes Nouveau, BeBe Sweetbriar, The Cast of Compton’s Cafeteria Riot, The Rice Rockettes, Elvis Herselvis, Roryography, Media Meltdown, H.P. Mendoza, Jason Brock, Jon Ginoli and Dirty Carol of Pansy Division, Pippi Lovestocking, Breanna Sinclairé, Absolute Empress LII Mercedez Munro, Absolute Empress LVI Juanita MORE!, Absolute Empress LVII Ehra Amaya, Absolute Empress LIX Linda Summers, Absolute Empress LX Afrika America, and others. More about this event will be in the next issue of the Bay Times. Other official San Francisco Pride happenings this month will include: Through June 28 at Twin Peaks The Pink Triangle - On display until just after the San Francisco Pride Parade, the 31st Pink Triangle spans nearly an acre in size. Founder Patrick Carney shares more about the Pink Triangle on page 4 of this issue. June 23 at GLIDE Memorial Church Runway of Pride - Read more about this year’s fashion show on page 6. June 24 at Cityscape Lounge Legacy of Pride: VIP Reception - The evening will honor Organizational Grand Marshal Trans Thrive and

the communities they serve. June 25 at Yerba Buena Lane and Jessie Square SF Pride Block Party & Pride House Game Day Watch Party Hosted by SF Drag Laureate Persia, this free, outdoor World Cup soccer watch party will feature dual big screens (Sweden vs. Japan at 4 pm; USA vs. Turkey at 7 pm) live drag performances, a Fan Glam Station, DJs, trivia, and prizes. June 25 at The Commonwealth Club Human Rights Summit - The keynote speaker for the 4th Annual Human Rights Summit will be Dolores Huerta. June 26 at Dolores Park and the Mission District Trans March - The annual gathering and march celebrates the trans, gender non-conforming, and nonbinary communities. June 27 starting at Embarcadero Plaza The People’s March and Trans Ally Rally - Join Indivisible SF, SF Pride, and the People’s March for an ally’s rally and march to pride. See page 5 for more informatio June 27 at Dolores Park and the Mission District Dyke March - This volunteer-led march is a grassroots mobilization and celebration of dyke, queer, bisexual, and transgender communities. It traditionally gathers at Dolores Park and moves through the Mission District. June 27–28 at Civic Center Plaza Pride Celebration - Community pavilions, a vendor marketplace, food and beverages from San Francisco Pride (continued on page 20)

San Francisco Pride 2026 Community Grand Marshals Marcel Pardo Ariza (selected by public choice) Marcel Pardo Ariza is a Colombian trans migrant, artist, and activist who creates radical visibility and safe spaces for queer and trans people of color in the Bay Area. Through powerful collaborations, community campaigns, and curated projects—several works of which are now in the SFMOMA permanent collection—they fiercely advocate for the culture, safety, and dignity of trans immigrants.

Roger Doughty (Lifetime Achievement Grand Marshal) Since 2002, Roger Doughty has served as President of Horizons Foundation, where he has dramatically expanded grantmaking, led national initiatives for marriage equality and reproductive justice, and established the LGBTQ Community Endowment Fund. Drawing on nearly 40 years of movement leadership, his extensive career also includes directing major LGBTQ centers in Chicago and Los Angeles, providing vital legal advocacy for refugees, and chairing the board of OutRight Action International. Doughty announced that he will be stepping down from his Horizons position in November.

Ms. Bob Davis (selected by the SF Pride Board) Ms. Bob Davis is the founder and director of the Louise Lawrence Transgender Archive, the nation’s only independent physical transgender archive, drawing from Davis’ over 50 years of preserving and researching trans history. A pioneering advocate, Davis was also the first transgender tenured professor at San Francisco City College and has curated numerous historical exhibits while lecturing nationwide on LGBTQ+ history.

Imani Rupert-Gordon (selected by member choice) Imani Rupert-Gordon is the President of the National Center for LGBTQ Rights (NCLR), where she leads groundbreaking litigation, policy work, and public education to advance civil and human rights. With nearly two decades of visionary leadership, she previously directed major social justice and youth organizations in Chicago and is nationally recognized for her intersectional advocacy for LGBTQ rights, racial equity, and gender justice.

San Francisco Pride Grand Marshals are selected honorees who help lead the Pride Parade in recognition of their LGBTQ+ community service and overall achievements. The Community Grand Marshals for 2026 are:

Trans: Thrive (selected by public choice) For over 20 years, Trans: Thrive has served as a community-led wellness and empowerment drop-in center providing comprehensive medical, mental health, housing, and workforce services to San Francisco’s transgender and gender nonconforming communities. Operating on a “by us, for us” model, this nationally recognized organization honors the legacy of trans resistance by serving nearly 1,000 individuals annually from its state-of-the-art, standalone facility. John Weber (selected by the SF Pride Board) John Weber is a dedicated San Francisco-based LGBTQ+ community leader who currently connects individuals from underserved communities to public service careers. As a trailblazing figure, he made history as the first Black Emperor and Board Chairperson of the Imperial Council of San Francisco, while also mobilizing philanthropic support for vulnerable populations through organizations like San Francisco Pride and Krewe de Kinque. https://sfpride.org/grand-marshals/ S A N F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

JUNE 11, 2026

PRIDE SEASON

BAY TIMES

2026

LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

The 31st Annual Pink Triangle Has Arrived! By Patrick Carney

STEVEN BRACCO PHOTO

miles; it is a giant in-your-face educational tool. It’s a warning and a reminder that what has happened in the past might happen again if we aren’t vigilant. It is also a community building project, which brings together hundreds of people of many different Patrick Carney backgrounds to work on a common goal: bringing atten-

tion to one of the darkest chapters in human history to help prevent such discrimination and hatred from occurring again. Many have forgotten, or never knew, the origin of the Pink Triangle; some think it is just another colorful abstract symbol to represent the LGBTQ+ community without knowing its tragic history. The Pink Triangle and the Rainbow Flag are the yin-yang of our gay rights symbols as one was forged out of hatred and persecution during the Holocaust and the other out of love, hope, and optimism for a more inclusive future. Gilbert Baker came to the Pink Triangle on Twin Peaks many times and commented that the rainbow flag is the antidote to the Pink Triangle.

choice out of comradery for those who were forced to wear them during the Holocaust. Thank you to everyone who helped with the installation on June 5, of the “Pink Outline” borders made out of hundreds of feet of 5-foot-wide shiny sailcloth, and on June 6 with the main installation of the 175 tarps of the huge display. That effort was followed by the Commemoration Ceremony at 10:30 am. The Pride Band and Leanne Borghesi performed. Speakers included San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, “First Lady of the Castro” Donna Sachet, and the fabulous Sister Roma. Grand Marshals of the 2026 Pride Parade were among those addressing the current conditions facing our community that make this year’s Pink (continued on page 20)

TOM HUEBNER/FACEBOOK

Everyone who helps gets one of the fashionable Pink Triangle T-shirts. We wear ours by

TOM HUEBNER/FACEBOOK

The Pink Triangle of Twin Peaks is nearly an acre in size and can be seen for 20

Matt Dorsey and Patrick Carney

PINK TRIANGLE PHOTO

Many of us wonder if something similar to the original usage as a badge of shame and persecution forced upon gay men in Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust could happen again under the current administration. The LGBTQIA+ community—especially the “T”—is under attack almost daily. The transgender community, drag queens, and even Pride celebrations and rainbow flags are being targeted. Let’s hope displaying the Pink Triangle isn’t one of their upcoming targets. Plus, there are still many areas in the world where it’s not only criminalized to be LGBTQ , but also under certain circumstances punishment is prison or even death (for “aggravated homosexuality” in Uganda).

CAESAR ALEXANDER/FACEBOOK

The 31st annual Pink Triangle was installed on Twin Peaks on Saturday, June 6, 2026. It has remained relevant for over three decades because part of appreciating and celebrating any Pride is understanding where we have been—and the Pink Triangle represents that.

SA N FRANCISCO BAY T I ME S

J U NE 1 1 , 2 0 2 6

PRIDE SEASON

BAY TIMES

2026

LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

Juneteenth 2026 Events Throughout the Bay Area Juneteenth, June 19, marks the day in 1865 when Union Soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, to announce the Civil War had ended and that all enslaved people were finally free. Juneteenth and LGBTQ+ Pride are historically separate, but deeply intertwined through certain shared struggles and the overlapping time of their celebrations in June.

City of San Francisco photos from the 2026 Mayor’s Juneteenth Kickoff at City Hall on June 5

California’s largest Juneteenth event is the Freedom Celebration Carnival in San Francisco’s Fillmore District. Spanning over 8 blocks, the carnival this year will be themed “Celebrating Joy, Preserving Our Freedom.” In Oakland, Hella Juneteenth caps off a full week of observances. Produced by Hella Creative, it is a large festival “where music, food, art, and movement meet.” Go hungry, as the Prescott Market Cookout is always first rate. For more about these Juneteenth events and a comprehensive listing of others, see the guide from KQED at: https://bit.ly/3RQx7dn To learn more about Juneteenth, check out the thoughtfully curated pages from the National Museum of African American History & Culture: https://bit.ly/4aiajtc

S A N F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

JUNE 11, 2026

PRIDE SEASON

BAY TIMES

2026

Few inaugural events are an instant success. Even fewer inaugural events catch Vogue Italia’s attention. San Francisco Pride’s Runway of Pride managed to do both.

This year’s Runway of Pride leans into that lineage. The lineup features drag queens and performers from the ballroom community, and that choice was intentional.

On June 23, 2026, the fashion show, which the Italian editorial vanguard dubbed “a powerful celebration of identity, heritage, and fearless style,” will return for its second year at GLIDE Memorial Church, promising to create an unforgettable night of beauty, expression, and spectacle.

“The fashion industry has looked to drag queens and the ballroom community for inspiration for years. What you see on runways now, people in Harlem were already doing, dating back to the Harlem Renaissance era. And that is exactly the statement we’re making: It belongs to us,” Contreras said.

Runway of Pride was born out of a simple desire: to use fashion as a tool for activism. The visionary behind the idea, SF Pride board member Dr. Nas Mohamed, wanted to see representatives of nonprofit organizations and activists walking the runway during 2025 Pride Week. He knew the concept had potential; he just needed the right collaborator to bring it to life. Antonio Contreras fit the bill. A stylist, fashion film writer, and director, Contreras was brought in through a mutual connection, SF Pride Executive Director Suzanne Ford, who encouraged the two to collaborate. Soon, what had been a modest idea grew beyond what either expected. “The project became bigger than us. We had a great response from the community and the industry,” said Contreras. When plans for 2026 SF Pride were underway, bringing Runway of Pride back was an easy decision. Only this time, Contreras would be at the helm as the producer, following Dr. Mohamed’s decision to step down. “Runway of Pride was too much of a good thing to just have for one year. We have so much more to show the world,” Contreras added. Fashion and the LGBTQ+ community go hand in hand. Many of the most influential fashion designers, Contreras notes, from the 20th century to today, like Roy Halston Frowick, Hubert de Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent, Valentino Garavani, Lee Alexander McQueen, Olivier Rousteing, and Patrick Kelly, identified with the community.

Runway of Pride Photos

Alongside up-and-coming and established designers, members of the LGBTQ+ community and allies, and elected officials like Senator Scott Wiener, President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Rafael Mandelman, and Mayor London Breed, attendees can expect to see people of all sizes and of varying physical abilities on the runway. Contreras explained, “We’re giving a platform to people who wouldn’t normally be seen on a runway. The show is how we’re fighting back and empowering members of the community to use their voice.” Headlining the night is the legendary Pat Cleveland, one of the first Black supermodels and muse to Halston and Karl Lagerfeld. Cleveland, who’s been a longtime LGBTQ+ ally and human rights activist, will grace the runway and perform. “Pat is such an incredible force behind fashion in the LGBTQ+ community. She has been, and always will be, an ally to the community,” said Contreras. For Ford, Runway of Pride is a reflection of everything SF Pride and her own life stand for. Before becoming the organization’s first and only transgender executive director in its 56-year history, Ford’s current reality was once something her younger self only dreamed of.

Pat Cleveland and Antonio Contreras

Growing up in 1970s Kentucky, Ford hid her identity from a young age. The happiness she felt as a child when she first wore a dress was met with immediate shame from a neighbor. From that point on, she conformed to being the boy everyone wanted, becoming a star student and athlete for fear of being seen as anything feminine.

It wasn’t until a conversation with her wife that Ford felt ready to embrace her truth. “She asked me if I wanted to be a woman, to which I replied, ‘Sometimes.’” That moment started the unraveling of Ford’s male persona. A year later, she was transitioning.

SA N FRANCISCO BAY T I ME S

That statement also speaks to SF Pride’s 2026 theme, resistance in action Pride is rooted in community, visibility, and collective action, and resistance in action is about putting words into practice.

“I hid in the system for years. Eventually, I attended Howard Law School because I was drawn to civil rights. Ironically, I wasn’t ready to fight for my own,” noted Ford.

LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

Runway of Pride: Fashion Is Resistance in Action

Suzanne Ford and Antonio Contreras

(center) Suzanne Ford and Honey Mahogany with others modeling at Runway of Pride J U NE 1 1 , 2 0 2 6

Today, Ford is joyfully herself and comfortable in her skin, a change she credits to Contreras for helping to find her style. His assistance has helped Ford project the woman she always knew herself to be. And it’s a connection that comes full circle, as

Contreras builds Runway of Pride to make people like Ford feel seen. “Being a very visible trans woman is an act of defiance by itself, which directly connects to our Pride theme,” said Ford. It’s a sentiment Contreras understands, and that cuts to the heart of why Runway of Pride exists. “People think of fashion as something frivolous, something foreign. But fashion isn’t that at all. The decision you make every morning, whether to wear a black hoodie or a silk shirt, is a conscious one. It’s the first thing people see. Fashion is, ultimately, how we express ourselves,” said Contreras. In that sense, Pride and fashion are one and the same: acts of intention and of saying, “This is who I am,” without apology. The second annual Runway of Pride just gives that statement the spotlight. For tickets and more information, check out this amazing website: https://www.runwayofpride.com/

PRIDE SEASON

BAY TIMES

2026

LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

Indivisible San Francisco Announces Inaugural Trans Ally Rally to Fight for Trans Rights

Starting at Embarcadero Plaza, participants will march to the People’s March stage at Civic Center, where the organizers will hold a rally. There, they will highlight calls to action for allies to protect the trans community. They will also invite attendees to come to the Dyke March happening later that day. The organizers shared that they have fought for trans rights and the protection of the trans community from the beginning, and are horrified that this community is being ignored and erased. They wrote: “We are LGBTQ+ individuals and allies in Indivisible SF, and we understand that the Trump administration and state and local governments are systematically erasing trans people. This is wrong, and we cannot allow it to continue. We stand up for those who are being harmed by bigoted and genocidal policies, and we will protect our loved ones. Join us in allyship and community to stand with trans folks under attack.”

They are asking the public to: 1. Tell San Francisco officials to honor the Trans Sanctuary City promise. 2. Join SF Pride as a member. 3. Join and donate to the San Francisco Dyke March. 4. Register to vote in the November election. 5. Sign up for Mutual Aid volunteering with TurnOut.

PEOPLE’S MARCH STAGE SATURDAY, JUNE 27, 2026 11 AM – 5 PM CIVIC CENTER

SF PRIDE PARADE SUNDAY, JUNE 20, 2026 10:30 BEALE / MARKET ST

SF DYKE MARCH SATURDAY, JUNE 27, 2026 RALLY 3 PM / MARCH 5 PM 10TH / DOLORES ST

SF PRIDE PARADE SUNDAY, JUNE 20, 2026 10:30 BEALE / MARKET ST

6. Buy an “I Could Be Trans” T-shirt, with proceeds going to the Trans March ( https://bit.ly/3PeraGd ). RSVP for the Trans Ally Rally at https://bit.ly/3PuUpo4 PHOTO BY RINK

Indivisible San Francisco—in partnership with the People’s March & Rally, San Francisco Dyke March, San Francisco Dykes on Bikes® WMC, and San Francisco Pride— will host the Trans Ally Rally, where participants will march and rally on Pride Saturday, June 27, 2026, at 10 am to stand up for the trans community.

Their demands are as follows:

PHOTO BY FRED ROWE PHOTOGRAPHY

PHOTO BY RINK

- Demand that transgender children and adults be protected from gender-affirming care bans, sports bans, bathroom bills, and depersonalization by loss of accurate documents.

PHOTO BY RINK

- Ask San Francisco Mayor Lurie to pass a budget that fully funds the Transgender District, trans youth programs, trans housing programs, and nonprofits that serve the trans community, as well as funds and expands the city’s Office of Transgender Initiatives.

People’s March founders Alex U. Inn and Juanita MORE!

PHOTO COURTESY OF TERRY SCUSSL/FACEBOOK

People’s March 2025

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

JUNE 11, 2026

PRIDE SEASON

BAY TIMES

2026

LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

Pride Month 2026 Flag Raising at San Francisco City Hall: Celebration and Protest San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman, National Center for LGBTQ Rights President Imani Rupert-Gordon, San Francisco Pride Executive Director Suzanne Ford, members of the SF Pride Board of Directors, and other community leaders gathered on Friday, June 5, 2026, for the annual Pride Month flag-raising ceremony at San Francisco City Hall. Mayor Lurie said, in part: “LGBTQ+ rights are under attack. The federal government is targeting trans healthcare, gutting HIV and AIDS funding, and is turning its back on our communities.”

TOOKTA TOPLINE/FACEBOOK

The iconic rainbow flag, originally designed by Gilbert Baker and displayed for the first time in 1978 at United Nations Plaza in San Francisco, was first raised at City Hall in 1988. This month’s flag raising was therefore the 39th such ceremony at San Francisco City Hall.

Candlelight Vigil on National HIV Long-Term Survivors Day Photos by Eric Deshawn A candlelight vigil took place on June 5, 2026, at Harvey Milk Plaza in San Francisco to honor the memory of those who have passed due to HIV/AIDS. The vigil, part of Seven Day in June: Health is Primary and on National HIV Long-Term Survivors Day, also recognized the leadership that San Francisco has played in building up successful models of HIV prevention and care, and called for protecting the legacy of these investments. It additionally celebrated the many longterm HIV survivors and other leaders who continue to push the LGBTQ+ rights movement forward. San Francisco Bay Times columnist Joanie Juster, San Francisco Community Health Center CEO Lance Toma, Vince Crisostomo of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, members of The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, and numerous others participated in the vigil and program that followed. Similar vigils also took place in other cities nationwide. https://www.sevendaysinjune.org/

SA N FRANCISCO BAY T I ME S

J U NE 1 1 , 2 0 2 6

TOOKTA TOPLINE/FACEBOOK

Demonstrators also protested outside as the San Francisco Pride Band played on the steps of City Hall.

FOX LOCAL NEWS SCREENSHOT

TOOKTA TOPLINE/FACEBOOK

Notable this year was that, as Mayor Lurie spoke inside the building, protestors against his administration’s cuts to LGBTQ+-serving nonprofits and more heckled him. Some of this was captured by KTVU: https://bit.ly/4oiKoHI

PRIDE SEASON

BAY TIMES

2026

LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

San Francisco Dykes on Bikes® WMC Celebrates Pride Across the Bay Area By Kate Brown, Ph.D.

Photos courtesy of Dykes on Bikes®

Dykes on Bikes® Tales From Two Wheels Pride Month is in full swing, and the San Francisco Dykes on Bikes® (DOB®) WMC has been honored to celebrate with community partners, longtime friends, and new supporters across the Bay Area as we continue our milestone 50th Anniversary year. We had a fabulous time joining Bay FC for their Pride Match on Sunday, May 24, at PayPal Stadium in San Jose. From the moment we arrived, we were met with an incredibly warm reception. We had the opportunity to meet players in the Player Arrivals area, take photos, and connect with fans, including those in the amazing Supporters section. We were recognized in front of the entire crowd during the Bay FC pre-match spotlight on the Bay FC Bridge. Seeing DOB and our 50th Anniversary recognized in such a joyful, high-energy environment was deeply meaningful. The Bay FC fans were wonderful, and it was a gift to spend the day watching women’s soccer surrounded by such community spirit. This past Friday, we were invited by Levi

The San Francisco Dykes on Bikes® attended the BayFC Pride Match, with motorcycles rolled onto the players’ arrival carpet for a special Pride Month welcome. PayPal Stadium in San Jose, May 24

Strauss & Co. to attend the VIP event premiering the 2026 Levi’s® Pride collection. This year’s theme draws inspiration from the long history of queer motorcycle clubs and their community. The San Francisco Dykes on Bikes were recognized as part of that history, honoring our role as trailblazers in the queer motorcycle community. The event was energetic and inspiring, and it was especially fun to see motorcycle themes woven everywhere throughout the collection, the displays, and the store itself. We are grateful to Levi’s for their commitment to the LGBTQ+ communities around the world in a way that honors history while boldly looking toward the future. On Sunday, we continued the celebration at Ann F was presented with her Dykes on Bikes® patch prior to the Sonoma County Pride Parade in Santa Rosa. June 6, 2026

Sonoma Valley Pride, where we enjoyed another beautiful day of community connection and Pride. It was also a special day for our organization as we welcomed our newest patch-holder, Ann F. Welcome, Ann! We are thrilled to have you riding with us and carrying the DOB legacy forward. We are also excited for Wheels and Wisdom, which is now sold out. Based on the strong interest in this event, organized and moderated by patch-holder Smokey, we look forward to building on this moment with additional conversations about the queer motorcycle community after Pride.

The San Francisco Dykes on Bikes® attended the opening of the Levi’s® Pride Collection at the store on Market Street in San Francisco. Pictured are the Dykes on Bikes with Adore Ellis (third from left) and Geoff Law (bottom row, third from the right) from the Levi’s® Inside Out ERG leadership team (June 5, 2026).

As June continues, everything is in full swing, and we look forward to seeing everyone at the many Pride-related events and parades happening throughout the Bay Area. We are especially excited for our annual Pride Saturday fundraiser at The

Academy SF on Saturday, June 27, from 12:30 to 3:30 pm, featuring music by DJ Page Hodel. Come out for your chance to meet Dykes on Bikes patch-holders from chapters across the United States and from as far away as Australia, Germany, and the United Kingdom as they join us for our milestone 50th Anniversary celebration. And, of course, this is your reminder to register to ride with us in the San Francisco Pride Parade. To register, visit the San Francisco Pride website https://sfpride.org/ and scroll down to the Dykes on Bikes Registration section. We can’t wait to see everyone out there. Ride proud, ride together, ride united! Kate Brown, Ph.D., is the President of San Francisco Dykes on Bikes® Women’s Motorcycle Contingent. https://www.dykesonbikes.org/

S A N F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

JUNE 11, 2026

Election 2026 Election Results for the 2026 California Primary Approximately a quarter of registered California voters voted in the June Primary, according to data from the Secretary of State’s website. Please make your voice count and be sure to vote in the General Election on November 3, 2026. Here are the results from the recent election, as of this writing:

Governor

San Francisco Results

Xavier Becerra (D) and Steve Hilton (R) are the top two candidates who will advance.

Board of Supervisors, District 4

U.S. House of Representatives, District 11 Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) and Michael Gates (R) will be advancing.

Scott Wiener (D) and Connie Chan (D) will advance.

Alan Wong, the incumbent, won the June Primary.

State Assembly, District 19 Catherine Stefani (D), the incumbent, and Philip Wing (R) will advance.

Superior Court Judge Phoebe H. Maffei won the June Primary.

Proposition A (The city will issue $535 million in bonds for infrastructure improvements related to earthquake safety and emergency response. There will also be a property tax of $7.45 per $100,000 of assessed property value.) Yes Proposition B (Establishes lifetime term limits of two fouryear terms for the mayor and members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.) Yes, but the votes are more closely divided.

Insurance Commissioner Jane Kim (D) and Ben Allen (D) are the top two candidates who will advance.

SAN F RANCISCO BAY T I ME S

U.S. House of Representatives, District 15 Kevin Mullin (D) and Charles Hoelter (R) will advance.

J U NE 1 1 , 2 0 2 6

Board of Education Phil Kim, the incumbent, won the June Primary.

State Assembly, District 17

Board of Supervisors, District 2

Matt Haney (D), the incumbent, won the June Primary.

Stephen Sherrill, the incumbent, won the June Primary.

Proposition C (This would have increased the tax exemption for certain businesses while also temporarily raising taxes for larger companies.) No Proposition D (This would raise taxes on companies where the CEO earns at least 100 times more than the median employee. The AFL-CIO is among the groups tracking such information. For a list of company pay ratios for last year, reflecting the most recent data, go to: https://bit.ly/49ISZ0e ) No, but the votes are more closely divided on this one.

PHOTOS BY RINK

Pride, Parties, and Protest

In Case You Missed It Joanie Juster

fighting for them, and who have their back. People’s March 2025 - Juanita MORE! and Alex U. Inn

Pride Month is here, with all its rainbow-tinged hoopla, celebrations, parties, and more. Rainbow flags once again fly proudly along Market Street (thanks to SF Pride for organizing, preparing, and hanging the flags!), inspiring locals and visitors alike. From films at Frameline to fabulous Pride Nights at the SF Giants, SF Opera, and the Golden State Valkyries, there is more going on than I can possibly list here. (Although for a look at what’s going on, check out my Bay Times colleagues Sister Dana and Donna Sachet; they keep their fingers on the pulse of what is going on.) We are navigating dangerous times, when visibility counts more than ever. For every five communities that raise a rainbow flag to indicate that all are welcome, there’s one that tears them down. For every town whose

library hosts a popular drag story hour in their public library, there are others that ban both the drag queens, and the books. For every legislative step forward toward full equality, there are dozens of bills attempting to, not just criminalize, but erase trans people from public life. That is why all the hoopla, celebrations, parties, flags, and marches are so necessary. Every kid growing up in a town where they are not accepted for who they are needs to see hundreds of thousands of LGBTQ+ people and their allies on the streets, cheering them on, and letting them know that they are not alone. They need to know that acceptance and love are possible for them— maybe not in their hometown, but somewhere. They need to see that there are people—lots and lots of people—who are

This is the time for every person of conscience and compassion to stand up, speak out, be visible. Basic human rights are on the line: the ability to be who you truly are, the right to love who you truly love, and to have access to economic opportunities and to affordable, quality healthcare. Oh, and the right to vote, and have your vote counted. Is this too much to ask? As our country approaches its 250th anniversary, we all deserve more than a circus on the lawn of the White House. Coming Together as One: Trans Ally March For the past six years, the People’s March and Rally has marched, danced, and sashayed down Polk Street in June as a grassroots alternative to big pride parades. Launched in 2020 by activists and community leaders Alex U. Inn and Juanita MORE!, People’s March was created to support LGBTQ+ people and people of color, especially as these vulnerable communities came under increased attacks from the current administration. Last year, SF Pride joined forces with the People’s March, emphasizing the importance of unity within these communities during such dangerous and challenging times. This year, the tent is growing even larger. Instead of holding a separate People’s March two weeks prior to Pride Weekend, a coalition of local LGBTQ+ and resistance groups are joining forces to create a new event, the Trans Ally Rally, on Saturday, June 26. The coalition is bringing together some of San Francisco’s most iconic LGBTQ+ organizations: SF Pride, SF Dyke March, and the SF Dykes on Bikes®. But this time it is being joined by the local branch of Indivisible—the nationwide resistance group that has organized some of the largest protests in this country’s history. People’s March co-founder Alex U. Inn explained why this coalition of organizations came together to create the Trans Ally Rally. “When they draw a line across the trans body, they are drawing a line through the heart of every person who claims to love freedom. If one of us isn’t safe to exist, none of us are. We will not be silent.” The coalition of LGBTQ+ groups with a group that includes allies emphasizes the need for everyone to step up and fight on behalf of the trans and BIPOC communities, which are facing unprecedented legislative attacks across the country. Indivisible released a statement saying, “We stand up for those who are being

SAN F RANCISCO BAY T I ME S

J U NE 1 1 , 2 0 2 6

harmed by bigoted and genocidal policies, and we will protect our loved ones. Join us in allyship and community to stand with trans folks under attack.” The Trans Ally Rally will start at 10 am at the Embarcadero Plaza for a march from there directly to the People’s March stage in the Civic Center, where it will culminate in a rally, live music, and performances until 5 pm, all supported by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. People will be encouraged to also support the SF Dyke March Rally beginning at 3 pm at 18th and Dolores streets. The SF Dyke March will then begin at 5 pm. More info is at https://tinyurl.com/TransARally Last Dance at the Sundance Stompede In case you haven’t seen enough films at Frameline, we have one more to recommend. For 27 years, LGBTQ+ people from all over the world gathered in San Francisco each fall for the Sundance Stompede, a joyful celebration of community and country-western dancing. I can attest to the “joyful” part personally, as I volunteered at Sundance Stompede for many years, and it was one of my favorite events of the year. After a long and successful run, 800 people gathered in San Francisco in November 2023

for one final Stompede. Fortunately, a film crew captured this final weekend. Their film, Last Dance at Sundance Stompede, includes interviews with co-founder Ingu Yun and other participants, reflecting on the history of how Stompede grew from a small AIDS fundraiser in the early 1990s to an event where dance united queer people across the spectrum, and everyone could feel welcome and safe, and have a marvelous time. Last Dance at the Sundance Stompede is streaming now through June 21. It is a wonderful addition to all the other Pride events. Click here for a streaming pass: https://tinyurl.com/Stompede25 B Safe 4 Pride Pride Month brings many of us out into public spaces, and into the streets, for parties and events. Bars and restaurants will be full of people, both local and visiting from outside the Bay (continued on page 20)

Poland: A Beacon of Queer Hope in 2026 Not only did Law & Justice control both the executive and legislative branches, but also it essentially controlled the state media and sought to eliminate an independent judiciary. Sound familiar? Duda, along with Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, provided a roadmap for Donald Trump and his minions.

How then is it possible that Mateusz Trojan and Jakub Cupriak-Trojan last month became the first gay couple in history to have their marriage legally registered in Poland, just in time for Pride?

Jakub and Mateusz Cupriak-Trojan

The answer is that, even under these dire circumstances, queer Poles and their allies kept hope for the future. Despite violent attacks on LGBTIQ equality marches six years ago, they stood up in the summer of 2020 in what some term “Poland’s Stonewall.” As threats to democracy itself grew, hundreds of thousands of Polish people took to the streets to protest and began to organize politically as well. In 2023, their collective efforts paid off. Opposition parties won the parliamentary election, and a former prime min- Donald Tusk

Meanwhile, gay people asserted their rights in litigation both in Polish and European Union courts. Two such activists were the Cupriak-Trojans, a Polish couple who married in Berlin in 2018. They brought suit to have their marriage recognized back home in Poland. It took over seven years of tireless work by many, but, in November 2025, the couple won a landmark victory at the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The court held that the EU treaty guaranteed that all EU citizens, including queer people, had the “right to move and reside freely” within the union, free from discrimination based on their sexual orientation and with respect for their personal family relationships. Thus, all EU member states— including those who do not permit LGBTIQ couples to marry within their own state—must recognize same-sex marriages conducted in other member states. The decision EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT PHOTO

Party, led by President Andrzej Duda. Duda’s authoritarian, nationalist government attempted to impose its extreme conservative values, grounded in Catholicism and traditional Polish norms, upon everyone.

BGAYCOM/FACEBOOK, MAGAZYN REPLIKA/FACEBOOK

The cruel attacks that Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign employed against trans people also mirrored Duda’s 2020 re-election campaign, in which he demonized LGBTIQ people for raw political gain. 6/26 and Beyond Duda invoked the words of the so-called “Polish Pope” John Paul II that being gay Stuart Gaffney and John Lewis was an “intrinsic moral evil” and “objective As queer Americans continue to face the for- disorder.” Duda vilified the LGBTIQ community as being more dangerous than commidable challenges of the Trump adminismunism and dehumanized queer people as tration and the Republican-controlled U.S. “not people, but ideology.” Things got Supreme Court, we find inspiration so bad in Poland that, by 2020, this Pride Month from a perhaps approximately 100 regions of unlikely quarter: Poland, the counPoland, constituting about onetry that ILGA ranked as the worst third of the country, had declared country in the European Union for themselves “LGBT-free” or “LGBT LGBTIQ rights for five years runIdeology-free” zones. These proclaning from 2020 to 2024. Poland mations were intended to make queer During those years, Poland was considpeople feel unwelcome in their own comered particularly inhospitable to queer munities and to justify prohibiting LGBTIQ people because it was governed by the virurights marches and other events. lently homophobic, far right Law & Justice

ister, Donald Tusk, who campaigned to restore and protect democracy and to support and expand LGBTIQ rights, became prime minister again.

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

(continued on page 20)

JUNE 11, 2026

First Annual LGBTQ+ Business Expo Presented by the GGBA and the SF Business Times The first annual LGBTQ+ Business Expo, which was presented by the Golden Gate Business Association (GGBA) in partnership with the San Francisco Business Times, was a great success that drew many visitors and already has small business leaders and others looking forward to next year’s expo. The free event, which preceded the Business of Pride awards ceremony, was held on June 2 at The Westin St. Francis in San Francisco.

PHOTO COURTESY OF GGBA

Exhibitors included KJS Coaching and Consulting, Boundless Arc Consulting, Studio 1312 Consulting, S.E. Owens and Company, Brio Financial Group, Northwestern Mutual, TrustParency, San Francisco Pride, the San Francisco Bay Times, Queer LifeSpace, La Crema Winery, CKcurated, ellaprint, San Francisco Federal Credit Union, Diligence Security Group, and more.

PHOTO COURTESY OF STEVEN HUANG/FACEBOOK

PHOTO COURTESY OF GGBA

PHOTO COURTESY OF JUAN DAVILA

San Francisco Business Times Business of Pride 2026

BAY TIMES S

LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

The Business of Pride awards ceremony presented by the San Francisco Business Times was held on June 2, 2026, at the Westin St. Francisco Hotel in San Francisco. Following the LGBTQ+ Business Expo organized by the Golden Gate Business Association (GGBA), the ceremony honored San Francisco Bay Times columnist and Openhouse co-founder Dr. Marcy Adelman with the Selisse Berry Legacy Leader Award. This year’s Corporate Pride honoree was the firm Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani. PHOTO COURTESY OF JUAN R. DAVILA

Recipients of the Outstanding Voices honor included Tessa Brown (Germ), Nathan Blum (Arup), Mackenzy Calvin (EY), Peter Gamez (Visit Oakland), Scott Gatz (q. digital), Jackie Gross (Zscaler, Inc.), Lindsay Kauffman (Girls Unite), Natalie Le (Northwestern Mutual, San Jose), Sarah Lynn (BPM), Tom Magnani (Arnold & Porter), and Jen Valles (SF LGBT Center). The San Francisco Bay Times—often confused by name only with the Business Times!— congratulates all of this year’s awardees as well as Business Times publisher Pete Casillas, Business Times Bay Area Events Director Felicia Brown, and their team on another very successful event. The new partnership with the GGBA also garnered praise all around.

SAN F RANCISCO BAY T I ME S

J U NE 1 1 , 2 0 2 6

PHOTO COURTESY OF STEVEN HUANG/FACEBOOK

PHOTO COURTESY OF JUAN R. DAVILA

PHOTO COURTESY OF MIRANDOR LAW/FACEBOOK

https://bit.ly/4eu9Sym

Oakland Leads in a Time of Challenge begun moving forward with our mid-cycle budget, which will consume most of our time in the coming weeks, leading up to the end of June.

Leading With Pride From Oakland City Hall

Additionally, the council weighed in on Charter Reform at the convening of the full City Council on June 2, 2026. It had the goal of placing a specific initiative on the upcoming ballot. If you are a registered voter in the City of Oakland and the balance of city power—such as a Strong Mayor vs. CouncilManager system—or preserving the At-Large Council seat matters to you, be sure to vote in the upcoming November election. Regional Advocacy & Lifelong Learning

Community, how are you? It is always my pleasure to connect with you! Across the bay, in Oakland, we have been hard at work taking care of essential city business as we approach the end of our legislative session.

In my role on the Alameda County Transportation Commission, I recently joined agency leadership at the State Capitol in Sacramento. Together, we advocated for essential programs that support our neighborhoods, including paratransit services, Safe Routes to Schools, and increased transportation funding to ensure pedestrian, bike, and road safety.

June marks Pride Month for most major cities—even though Oakland proudly throws its main celebration in August. (Mark your

Likewise, I attended the Ava Community Energy Conference to continue my education as a board member on the commission. It

calendars: the official date for the Oakland Pride Parade is Sunday, August 16th, 2026!)

was an invaluable opportunity to learn about the latest innovations in clean energy and how we can bring sustainable, affordable power solutions back to our local communities.

AT-LARGE COUNCILMEMBER ROWENA BROWN.

Oakland City Councilmember At-Large Rowena Brown

In the beautiful spirit of Pride, I recently had the opportunity to bring forth legislation to support the Oakland LGBTQ+ Cultural Center in renaming a plaza located within our LGBTQ+ Cultural District: Moore Hope Plaza. This space is proudly named after two incredible trailblazers in our community, Peggy Moore and Hope Wood, who were tragically killed in a car accident in 2024. They left behind an immeasurable impact on Oakland and beyond. The renaming of this plaza, located right outside the Oakland LGBTQ+ Cultural Center, is far more than a ceremonial recognition. It is a profound commitment to honoring the legacy of two women who fought tirelessly to create a more equitable and just world. Moore Hope Plaza will stand as a lasting reminder that queer history cannot—and will not—be erased in Oakland. Please stay tuned for the official dedication ceremony hosted by the Cultural Center. Critical Policy Updates: Budget & Charter Reform On the policy front, the City of Oakland has

Full Circle Moments Finally, I had the joy of being the Commencement Speaker at the Merritt College Graduation at the historic Paramount Theatre. Watching the graduates cross the stage was an incredible, full-circle reminder of my own journey as a former student of that very community college. Seeing their success is exactly the kind of encouragement our young people need right now, especially as we navigate these challenging times. As always, please do not hesitate to reach out and connect. It is my absolute pleasure to serve as Oakland’s Councilmember At-Large! Rowena Brown, elected in 2024 as Oakland’s At-Large City Councilmember, is an African American queer leader and lifelong East Bay resident. A former community organizer, civics educator, and State Legislative District Director, she has spent her career advancing equity, opportunity, and inclusive policies at both the local and state levels. As Councilmember, she is centering community voices and bridging grassroots movements with City Hall to build a more resilient, just, and thriving Oakland. https://bit.ly/4m3rMJ2 S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

JUNE 11, 2026

Roland Schembari and Bill Hartman, Co-Founders Randy Alfred, Founding News Editor, 1978 Kim Corsaro, Publisher 1981-2011

2261 Market Street, No. 309 San Francisco CA 94114 Phone: 415-601-2113 Email: editor@sfbaytimes.com www.sfbaytimes.com ____________________________

The Bay Times was the first newspaper in California, and among the first in the world, to be jointly and equally produced by lesbians and gay men. We honor our history and the paper’s ability to build and strengthen unity in our community. The Bay Times is proud to be the first and only LGBTQ newspaper in San Francisco to be named a Legacy Business, recognizing that it is a longstanding, community-serving business that is a valuable cultural asset to the city.

Dr. Betty L. Sullivan/Jennifer L. Viegas Co-Publishers & Co-Editors

Beth Greene, John Signer, Michael Delgado Design & Production

Kate Laws Business Manager Kit Kennedy Poet-In-Residence J.H. Herren Technology Director Carla Ramos Web Coordinator Mario Ordonez Distribution Juan R. Davila Volunteer Coordinator ____________________________

CONTRIBUTORS Writers Rink, Sister Dana Van Iquity, Ann Rostow, Patrick Carney, Leslie Sbrocco, Kate Kendell, Gary M. Kramer, Joanie Juster, Robert Holgate, Eduardo Morales, Dennis McMillan, Tim Seelig, Rafael Mandelman, Jewelle Gomez, Rebecca Kaplan, Bill Lipsky, Beth Schnitzer, Rowena Brown, Kippy Marks, Ian Fullmer, Donna Sachet, Gary Virginia, Derek Barnes, Marcy Adelman, Jan Wahl, Stuart Gaffney & John Lewis, Brandon Miller, Howard Steiermann, Fernando Camino, Honey Mahogany, David Landis Photographers Rink, Paul Margolis, Bill Wilson, Jerome Parmer, Michael Kirschner, Sandy Morris, Abby Zimberg, Joanie Juster ____________________________

ADVERTISING Display Advertising Standard Rate Cards http://sfbaytimes.com/ or 415-601-2113 Custom ad sizes are available. Ads are reviewed by the publishers. National Advertising: Contact Bay Times / San Francisco. Represented by Rivendell Media: 908-232-2021 Circulation is verified by an independent agency. Reprints by permission only. ____________________________

SAN F RANCISCO BAY T I ME S

J U NE 1 1 , 2 0 2 6

GLBT Fortnight in Review Ghosts in the Machines From time to time, I encounter a weekly lesbian multiple choice quiz on Autostraddle. This time, the questions led to one’s selection as a swamp creature, and I was a Great Blue Heron. I feel as if I should go out of my way to take this quiz on a regular basis along with The New York Times news quiz and the “flashback” history quiz. But, then again, how many weekly crucibles must I confront? And to what end? Out of curiosity, I changed one of my twelve answers. In response to the question of what food I would bring to the swamp, I removed my original selection of “tinned fish” and checked “hard boiled eggs” instead. This minor adjustment turned me into “The Swamp Lady,” an evil harridan covered with wet reeds. Say what? I went from being a lovely shore bird to a grotesque she-devil just because I picked eggs rather than sardines for my swamp snack? This development made me doubt the legitimacy of the entire Autostraddle quiz infrastructure. How exactly are these categorizations determined? (I am furrowing my brows and have a frowny face expression.) Meanwhile, in an effort to avoid jumping cold into the still-mystifying efforts of the Department of Justice to track down the names and details of transgender teens looking for medical help, I was idly scrolling through random GLBT news and found this oddball: “BBC documentary to explore whether King James VI and I were gay.” I’m no expert, but, perhaps just because of my advanced age, I do know that King James VI and James I are the same person. The headline writer, in turn, need not be a historian but should check the content of the story before providing a one-line summary. James, the son of Mary Queen of Scots, was the king of Scotland for many years and eventually became the king of England after the death of Elizabeth I, who had no children. I think England and Scotland became one country at that point. (Yes!) So, to summarize, he was James VI in Scotland, and James I in England, and I guess possibly gay in both contexts. I see here that, in addition to a marriage that produced seven kids, he had strong romantic attachments to various courtiers, including Esme Stewart, Robert Carr and George Villiers. His passions are confirmed by the sexy letters he wrote to his favorites. So, there you have it. The documentary, Queen James, was released this month in the U.K. Cruel and Usual I believe I told you last time around that I can’t nail down the full details of how the Justice Department is manipulating grand juries in Northern Texas to subpoena protected information about transgender patients at various East Coast hospitals. It’s damned complicated and the bottom line is that Trump and company will go to any lengths to make life harder for transgender Americans of any age, in any situation. There are a number of court deadlines and announcements expected shortly on the transgender health care front, so I will undoubtedly have an update next time we meet in these pages.

By Ann Rostow

Meanwhile, on Sunday, June 7, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth issued another preliminary injunction against Trump and company, ruling that 14 transgender women inmates cannot be transferred to a men’s prison without violating their rights under the Eighth Amendment. Judge Lamberth had already issued an injunction blocking the Trump administration’s ugly efforts, but a 2–1 panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled in April that each woman would have to be evaluated individually. Lamberth did so fairly promptly, shredding the Justice Department’s flimsy rationales like cheap tissue. Keep in mind that the vast majority of transwomen in both state and federal prisons are housed with male populations. The women in this small subset were sent to women’s prisons for individual reasons; they had surgically transitioned, they may have suffered from assaults in the past, they may have taken hormones since very early ages. Whatever the causes, they would be particularly prone to psychological distress and physical threats were they to be reclassified and dumped in with the guys. Following the appellate court’s instructions, Judge Lamberth laid out some 20 pages explaining why each case deserved the injunction; those pages were redacted for privacy. It is bad enough that the Trump administration has targeted transgender men, women, and kids for hostile and demeaning treatment. In terms of prisoners, he has also recently come up with new anti-trans policies including a “tapering off ” or halt to hormone therapies, which almost all of these men and women have been relying on for years. Yet, here he goes even further by singling out a tiny fraction of the most vulnerable transwomen prisoners, and, instead of just frigging leaving them alone, sends his dogs at the DOJ on the attack. His capacity for bullying and cruelty is limitless, and so is that of his loyal minions.

inherently outlawed under laws against sex discrimination. (The Talbott case is based on the idea that transgender Americans comprise a suspect class and cannot be subjected to discrimination without intensive court review.) After Judge Benjamin Settle issued a preliminary injunction against the government in Shilling v U.S., the Trump administration appealed, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit agreed with Judge Settle and let the injunction stand. Trump and company appealed again, and, that May, the Supreme Court issued an unsigned one-paragraph decision out of the nefarious shadow docket, putting a hold on the injunction and once again allowing Trump to oust transgender Americans bravely trying to serve their country. You may remember Pete Hegseth posting, “No more trans @DOD,” after that ruling. The case then went back to the Ninth Circuit to consider whether or not a permanent injunction should apply, and, at this point, we are waiting for the Ninth Circuit decision. To be honest, I’m once again a little lost between the two cases, the back and forth between temporary and permanent injunctions, the nuanced distinctions in legal theories, and the frequent trips up and down the judicial ladder. After the recent ruling in Talbott, Hegseth posted, “See you at SCOTUS,” and I’m sure we will be hearing from them soon. I guess the silver lining behind the clouds of chaos here is the idea that transgender service may be tied up in the federal courts for another couple of years until

Trump leaves and the litigation dies. That said, Hegseth has already kicked out many transgender soldiers and sailors, so the damage is underway. Undetectable and Unbowed Speaking of military service, I missed telling you the other day that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has agreed to rehear a case about HIV-positive military recruits “en banc,” meaning with all judges seated. The appellate court vacated a February ruling against the HIV-positive men by a three-judge panel (that I also managed to ignore in this column) and will start from scratch. In the interim, the court clarified that the three-judge panel’s permanent injunction would not be in effect during the litigation— excellent news indeed. According to one of the lawyers for the HIV-positive recruits, the three-judge panel’s ruling was an “aberration,” and courts to date have recognized that “well-managed HIV” has no bearing on the ability to serve. Prior to Trump’s first administration, the Defense Department had various restrictions on HIV-positive military personnel, including a ban on serving overseas. In 2018, Trump tried to identify these active-duty soldiers and sailors and have them removed from the service, but lawsuits ensued. After a federal judge ruled in favor of the service members in 2022, the Biden administration declined to appeal. (continued on page 24)

New Hope for Transpeople in the Military Moving right along, on June 1, a split panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld an injunction that blocks Trump’s Department of Defense from ousting transgender service members. The same majority did, however, restore the right to ban transgender applicants from trying to enlist. And, no, I did not study the legal rationale behind that distinction. Ours is not to reason why; ours is but to do or die. The decision came in Talbott v U.S., one of two lawsuits filed against the administration in early 2025. In March of last year, Judge Ana Reyes first ruled against Trump and Hegseth, but, in a blow to all of us, the D.C. Circuit struck down her injunction pending further review. That review is finally over and the case is thankfully revived. The plaintiffs in Talbott have also asked the court to give them class action status, allowing the eventual decision to apply to all transgender military personnel. A hearing on this motion is coming up later this month. Meanwhile, there’s a parallel transgender military case continuing in Washington State, where Emily Shilling and her fellow plaintiffs argue that transgender bias is S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

JUNE 11, 2026

More Than 700 Cyclists Rode in Inaugural Cycle to Zero The inaugural Cycle to Zero benefiting the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center raised close to $2 million thanks to the organizers and the more than 700 cyclists who participated. The ride and related events took place from May 29–31, 2026, with cyclists able to select different routes between San Francisco and Sonoma. Guerneville was a key stop, where cyclists camped at Camp Russian River and Johnson’s Beach.

SAN F RANCISCO BAY T I ME S

PHOTO COURTESY OF SISTER ROMA

J U NE 1 1 , 2 0 2 6

PHOTO COURTESY OF SISTER ROMA

PHOTO COURTESY OF SFAF/DR. TYLER TERMEER

PHOTO COURTESY OF SISTER ROMA

https://bit.ly/4uXyCVD

PHOTO COURTESY OF SFAF/DR. TYLER TERMEER

MSN/SCREENSHOT

Cycle to Zero carries forward the impactful, three-decade legacy of AIDS/LifeCycle, which throughout the years raised over $330 million dollars and affected the lives of over 500,000 cyclists, roadies, staff, and donors. Many of the volunteers helped as Crew or on the DIY Squad for this year’s fundraiser.

“Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself.” —Harvey Fierstein

By Donna Sachet

he San Francisco Bay Times celebrated Bay Area AAPI LGBTQ+ women leaders and allies with a festive event on Thursday, May 28, 2026. It was originally scheduled for The Academy SF, but, as word leaked out that Margaret Cho would be attending, anticipated attendance required a move to the SF LGBT Center’s Rainbow Room and Sylvester Lounge. Madeleine Lim and Nguyen Pham did a great job moving the extensive program along with many individuals brought up on stage for specific recognition, including the Honorable Donna Ryu, Michelle Meow, Jane Kim, Ruth McFarland, Jen Masuda, and many others. ABC7 Lead News Anchor Dan Ashley and congressional candidates Scott Wiener and Connie Chan even made an appearance. In between, raffle prizes were presented and the audience participated in live auctions for SF Giants and Golden State Valkyries merchandise. Then we joined Sister Roma and Khmera Rouge for a lively introduction of Margaret Cho. She offered a bit of stand-up comedy with her usual irreverence, but sternly warned of the particular attacks on our transgender compatriots; the crowd roared with support. As the program came to a close, many headed to The Academy SF for a post-party gathering in that lovely setting.

Friday, June 12 SF Giants Pride Game Baseball with Pride at Oracle Park Evening fireworks 7 pm $38 & up www.mlb.tickets.com

The following night, Khmera joined us at the Palace of Fine Arts for Margaret Cho’s sold-out show. Margaret had the audience in stitches with her signature brand of Asian-centric, politically targeted, and boldly bawdy humor. She seemed right at home back in the place she started and received a great welcome.

Saturday, June 13 Dolly! A Pride Show SF Gay Men’s Chorus Curran Theatre, 445 Geary Street 1 pm & 7:30 pm $35 & up www.sfgmc.org

We finished off the month with a Sunday’s a Drag show at Starlite early Sunday evening, joining the cast of Mercedez Munro, Mary Vice, and Hera Wynn. This series of monthly iterations of Sunday’s a Drag is gaining traction with enthusiastic audiences, top notch performers, and the very elegant setting of the Starlite atop the Beacon Grand Hotel. Watch the Starlite website for upcoming dates and casts. In addition, Juanita MORE! is launching a series of events there in June that are bound to draw a crowd.

Saturday, June 13 Love Is You Nas Mohamed’s Dance Celebration The Mint, 88 Fifth Street 4–10 pm Free!

We then started Pride Month with the Business of Pride event, recognizing trailblazers who are driving LGBTQ equality forward in the workplace. A powerful group of San Francisco business leaders, including both Betty Sullivan and Jennifer Viegas of this publication, gathered first for cocktails and then a formal program at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in Union Square. Several Outstanding Voice Awards were presented, the Corporate Pride Award was given to law firm Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, and the Selisse Berry Legacy Award went to Dr. Marcy Adelman, who received a standing ovation. An extensive buffet dinner followed in the adjoining room. This has become a great annual opportunity to meet up with active and successful LGBTQ business leaders.

Monday, June 15 Phantom Sings Richmond/Ermet benefit cabaret Lisa Vroman and cast of The Phantom of the Opera Marines” Memorial Theatre, 609 Sutter Street 7:30 pm $50 & up www.reaf.org

You know that San Francisco Pride has arrived when you see the rainbow flag hanging from the Mayor’s Balcony at City Hall! We attended the formal ceremony last Friday, joining a significant portion of the leadership of the city’s LGBTQ+ organizations, many of our elected officials, and several of this year’s Pride Parade Grand Marshals. Once again, Tom Horn and the Bob Ross Foundation underwrote the delicious reception and refreshments. Each elected official offered remarks, led by Mayor Daniel Lurie, who faced a small, but intrusive group of protesters. It is truly one of those “only in San Francisco” moments when you join our community at City Hall for this symbolic and powerful event, fully supported by the city’s leadership, as the Pride Band strikes up a boisterous tune!

(continued on page 24) PHOTO BY SHAWN NORTHCUTT

PINK TRIANGLE PHOTO/GARETH GOOCH

As we reviewed our commitments for June, last Saturday appeared the most daunting with three major events in one day, but somehow all went well. We started atop Twin Peaks for the annual Pink Triangle dedication ceremony, produced by Patrick Carney and attended by a large group of city leaders and project volunteers. Mayor Daniel Lurie again was the first speaker, followed by SF Pride’s Suzanne Ford, Sister Roma, Sister Roma, Leanne Borghesi, and Donna Reigning Emperor John Sachet at Twin Peaks for The Pink Triangle installation Brett, Imani RupertGordon of NCLR, and SF AIDS Foundation’s Tyler TerMeer. The Pride Band and singer Leanne Borghesi offered rousing music throughout the event. Be sure to catch a glimpse of the Pink Triangle from anywhere in the city during the month of June and

Friday & Saturday, June 19 & 20 Martuni’s 30th Anniversary Special music from favorites Martuni’s, 4 Valencia Street noon–4 pm Free! Saturday, June 20 Garden Party Benefits AIDS Legal Referral Panel Dress in your finest garden ensemble Raffles, auction, hat contest w/Donna Sachet Hot Johnnie’s, 4077 18th Street 2–5 pm $40 www.alrp.org Tuesday, June 23 Pride Fashion Runway Local models with Pride GLIDE Memorial, 330 Ellis Street 7 pm $100 www.sfpride.org

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

JUNE 11, 2026

JUSTER (continued from pg 12)

GAFFNEY/LEWIS (continued from pg 13)

Area. With so much going on, it is easy to forget basic safety rules to ensure that you and your friends will enjoy Pride safely. The San Francisco Safety Coalition is launching “B Safe 4 Pride,” a campaign to remind us all of basic safety precautions. Their motto is, “Be Safe, Have Fun, Take Away Only Good Memories and Experiences.”

could have wide-reaching implications beyond Poland for other EU member states without marriage equality, such as Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia.

For additional information: https://www.castropatrol.org/

As Poland recognized its first same-sex marriage last month, Prime Minister Tusk declared that doing so was “a matter of human dignity: the right to happiness, the right to equal treatment by the state.” He then took the extraordinary step of apologizing to the Polish queer community, “to all those who, for many, many years, felt rejected and humiliated.” He recognized what had been abundantly clear: “For many years, the [Polish] state has failed the test.” And Tusk appealed to lawmakers and government officials to do something very simple that far too few of them had been capable of doing before: “to respect the dignity of every human being and to remember that these people live around us, beside us, among us, and deserve the same feelings of respect, dignity, and love as any other person.”

Love, Pride, and Soccer June is not only Pride Month. For much of the world, the focus this month will be on the World Cup, the international association football (soccer) competition that is regarded as the most widely viewed and followed sporting event in the world. In the Bay Area, anticipation for this prestigious sporting match is even higher, thanks to the fact that one of the games will be held at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, where Qatar will be playing Switzerland on June 13. Dr. Nasser Mohamed, an openly gay Qatari activist who now lives in San Francisco, saw this as an opportunity to promote queer visibility and human rights. In his home country, same-sex sexual activity is prohibited and punishable by up to seven years in prison. Meanwhile, in the U.S., individual states, and the federal government itself, have been actively and increasingly hostile to LGBTQ+ people, proposing and enacting laws and policies aimed at erasing them from public life, and making budget cuts that will cause real harm as funding for HIV prevention and care, trans care, and culturally appropriate LGBTQ+ health services disappears. These repressive political systems exact a high personal cost of visibility. Dr. Nas is bringing together a coalition of artists, activists, and community leaders to create Love Is You, an event blending art and activism to call attention to the personal cost of living openly under systems that criminalize or suppress identity. Advertised as “part dance floor and part public demonstration,” Love Is You is meant to reclaim public joy and visibility, and spark conversations. The message they are sharing is clear: “No government, ideology, or system should be allowed to erase a person’s humanity. The broader message behind Love Is You is simple. The freedom to believe, to choose, and to love should not depend on where someone was born or whether living honestly puts them at risk.” Love is You will take place on June 13 at The San Francisco Mint, from 4 pm–10 pm, and is for guests 21 and older. Admission will be free. In addition to music and dancing, there will be a food and beverage service and visual installations. Joanie Juster is a long-time community volunteer, activist, and ally.

Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, a strong LGBTIQ supporter, concurred, declaring that “Warsaw is for everyone” and that any same-sex couple with a valid EU marriage could register it in the city. The city of Wrocław soon followed suit. Alina Szeptycka, an official government representative, was exuberant, saying “after many years, and recently also months of intense struggle, same-sex marriages concluded abroad are also marriages under Polish law ... . This long-awaited change has become a fact.” And we are thrilled to report that no “LGBT-free” zones remain in Poland today.

Still, much remains to be done to ensure that Poland is a safe and welcoming place where LGBTIQ people have full equality. Unfortunately, the current Polish president Karol Nawrocki is staunchly conservative, the Catholic church continues to have much influence in the country, and the country is very closely divided politically. The reasoning of the European Court of Justice opinion implies that married Polish same-sex couples should not just be able to register their marriage in Poland, but they should have equal substantive rights as a married couple as their heterosexual counterparts. However, making that a reality will require additional work. Nevertheless, this historic marriage equality victory in Poland is a cause for celebration this Pride season and yet another example of how queer people’s grit, determination, and tenacity can produce tangible results that make the world a better place. This June, Poland stands as a beacon of queer hope for LGBTIQ Americans and a timely reminder that, even when things may appear bleak, we must maintain hope and vision for the future. Our dreams may come true sooner than we think. John Lewis and Stuart Gaffney, together for over three decades, were plaintiffs in the California case for equal marriage rights decided by the California Supreme Court in 2008. Their leadership in the grassroots organization Marriage Equality USA contributed to making same-sex marriage legal nationwide in 2015. Today, they continue to educate and advocate for marriage equality and LGBTIQ+ rights worldwide.

PRIDE EVENTS (continued from pg 3) partners, and the full, electric energy of the LGBTQ+ community will be in force. Look for the San Francisco Bay Times booth!

Quilt alongside Nina Katz’s Larger Than Life portrait series will be featured. Asian Box will be catering the event.

June 28 at Market Street Pride Parade - For one morning every June, Market Street belongs to the LGBTQ+ community and allies. The San Francisco Bay Times contingent will proudly be among hundreds of others.

The San Francisco Bay Times would also like to invite you to our annual Pride Party at The Academy SF on June 25, this year emceed by Donna Sachet and with co-hosts the Golden Gate Business Association, Soul of Pride, and the Bayard Rustin Coalition. Special guests will include Suzanne Ford, Executive Director of San Francisco Pride; and this year’s Pride Grand Marshals. Check The Academy SF calendar for updates.

June 28 at the Asian Art Museum Pride Party - San Francisco Pride’s annual post-Parade party has a new home: the Asian Art Museum. A trans-centered curation of panels from the AIDS Memorial

https://sfpride.org/

CARNEY (continued from pg 4) Triangle more urgent than ever. We are still in need of volunteers on Sunday, June 28, from 4:30 pm–8 pm (after the Pride Parade) for the take-down of the entire art display, lovingly folding it up, and loading it into the rental truck. This is our hardest day because it often doesn’t have enough volunteers—even one hour would be greatly appreciated and a huge help. Here is the 2026 Signup.com volunteer link: https://signup.com/go/xYcpWxq Thank you to the 2026 sponsors: Gilead Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, The Bob Ross Foundation, San Francisco Pride, Levi Strauss & Co., Robert Holgate Philanthropic Fund, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Hodgkins Jewelers, Eye Gotcha Optometric 20

SAN F RANCISCO BAY T I ME S

J U NE 1 1 , 2 0 2 6

on Castro, Brian Gerritsen, Starbucks for the coffee and pastries, and Hot Cookie for the amazing cookies. For those so inclined, there is a donate button ( https://givebutter.com/Z3uBaU ) in the upper left-hand corner of the website: www.thepinktriangle.com All contributions are tax deductible and a receipt will be issued for donor’s tax purposes. San Francisco Pride is the 501c3 fiscal sponsor, which holds the funds for this project (the Pink Triangle is a once-a-year event so it wouldn’t be cost effective to obtain its own 501c3). Patrick Carney is the founder of the Pink Triangle project. https://thepinktriangle.com/

San Francisco LGBTQ+ Timeline – Part One Timeline of the Early Queer Days in San Francisco: Private Lives, Public Scandals 1849 Songwriter, singer, and “confirmed bachelor” Stephen Massett gave the first public performance in San Francisco, which included “an imitation” of a world-famous prima donna absoluta and impressions “of an elderly lady and a German girl,” which were the first documented “drag” performances in the city’s history.

Faces from Our LGBT Past Dr. Bill Lipsky We have always been here, even before there was any here here. Many of the earliest Californians, including the Yelamu who called the land they lived on Ahwaste (Place at the Bay), believed that, because nature is perfect, the diversity of sexual and gender expression in their communities was natural and normal. The early European visitors, however, insisted that samesex intimacy and gender plurality, as Father Pedro Font described them in his Complete Diary of the Second Anza Expedition (1775–1776), were “nefarious practices.” Font believed, “There will be much to do when the Holy Faith and the Christian religion are established among them.” Pedro Fages, first lieutenant governor of the “Province of the Californias” under Gaspar de Portolá, agreed. In A Historical, Political, and Natural Description of California (1775), he wrote that the area’s original residents “are addicted to the unspeakable vice of sinning against nature,” which must be repressed. The efforts to enforce such views led to dire results for almost two centuries, supported by public opinion and often reported by the local newspapers. The settlement that grew into the City of San Francisco did not begin until 1835, when Captain W. A. Richardson put up “a rough board shanty” close to the shoreline of Yerba Buena Cove, to trade with passing whalers and merchant ships. On January 30, 1847, the tiny village of Yerba Buena, now with perhaps 800 residents, renamed itself San Francisco. The discovery of gold in California barely twelve months later transformed it into a multicultural metropolis of some 35,000 people in five years. Women and men who desired same-sex intimacy could not be open about themselves, but they still found each other through social networks, mutual friends, overlapping circles of community, and even chance encounters. They faced social censure or even prison if their behaviors became known publicly, so most lived quiet, anonymous lives and left few written accounts. They did leave evidence that they were here, however. Some of the people and events from those long-ago days, now considered to be part of our shared LGBTQ+ history, include the following.

Carpenter Jason Chamberlain, 27, and James Chaffee, 25, a wheelwright, who remained a couple for more than 50 years, arrived in San Francisco, becoming the city’s first documented same-sex couple. Bayard Taylor visited San Francisco to report on conditions in the gold fields. He dedicated his last novel, Joseph and His Friend (1873), to those “who believe in the truth and tenderness of man’s love for man, as of man’s love for women.”

ited anyone from wearing “dress not belonging to his or her sex.” The ban was repealed in 1974. Remarking on prospecting for gold near La Paz, Arizona, site of a recent strike, the Daily Alta California wrote, “It is no place for counter-jumpers, hotel waiters, and Montgomery Street loungers,” coded language for “men who did with men.”

Charles Warren Stoddard

Adah Isaacs Menken as Mazeppa

1850 A new criminal code for the State of California set the penalty for sodomy at five years to life. Proclaimed before California was admitted to the Union, it probably was invalid, although no one challenged it. Journalist Etienne Derbec wrote to his newspaper, Echo Du Pacifique in Paris, “San Francisco also has its dance halls; but what dance halls, good heavens! As at the theaters, you see only men there.”

Two men circa 1870s–1880s

1851 With a population of more than 90% men, the Daily Alta California noted that San Francisco was “by not a few looked upon as a Sodom of wickedness.” 1858 In the city’s first known case of its kind, Francis Burnham was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to eight years imprisonment in the State Penitentiary, San Quentin, for the “infamous crime against nature.” 1863 San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors prohib-

Ella Zoyara, ne Omar Kingsley

Beloved actress Adah Isaacs Menken, wearing flesh-colored tights, dazzled audiences in her gender-bending portrayal of a nude man strapped to a horse in Mazeppa. Other popular performers of the period included Felicita Vestvali, who played Romeo in Romeo and Juliet; male impersonators Annie Hindle and Ella Wesner, whose fan letters were mostly from women; and female impersonators Paul Vernon and Ella Zoyara, who set fashion trends before she was revealed to be Omar Kingsley. 1864 Edward Everett Hale, best known for his short story “The Man Without a Country,” published the year before, determined that California was named for Califia, a Black lesbian Amazon warrior queen, whose story was first recounted in Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo’s The Adventures of Esplandián (1510). 1869 The San Francisco Chronicle reported that, during his testimony to a committee investigating abuses at the city’s institute for delinquent and homeless youths (located on what is now the Ocean Campus of CCSF), Superintendent Joseph Morrell spoke at length about “the great evil of the Industrial School—a crime for which society has no name— and of its alarming prevalence” when he began his tenure there.

1871 The Overland Monthly printed “The Haunted Valley” by Ambrose Bierce, his short story about a transgender love triangle. The Daily Alta California condemned the Barbary Coast as a notorious “haunt of the low and the vile of every kind,” whose denizens included “Sodomy Mike and Slungshot O’Farley.” 1873 Charles Warren Stoddard published SouthSea Idyls, including stories of his homoerotic adventures in Hawaii and Tahiti. As he wrote to Walt Whitman about his experiences there, “For the first time, I act as my nature prompts me.” 1876 A jealous rival murdered Jeanne Bonnet, known as “the Frog Catcher” and who was previously arrested numerous times for wearing men’s clothing, when he found her in bed with his alleged fiancée at McNamara’s Hotel in San Miguel (now the intersection of Plymouth and Sagamore avenues). 1882 After Oscar Wilde visited San Francisco to give a series of lectures, where he became a role model for men who loved men, the San Francisco News Letter described a typical aficionado as “the bangs-his-hair young man” who “is in the pink of perfection,” receives $80 per month “as an under-clerk in the wholesale grocery ... and proudly swells with the impression that he is just too too utterly utter in his utterances.” 1885 The Daily Alta California warned its readers against effeminate men, who were “counter-jumpers and animated tailors’ blocks, and infest the public promenades and public places of general resort.” 1892 In an article published in the San Francisco Chronicle, Reverend A. C. Hirst stated that, not until judgment day, “will it be known how many young men [the city] has damned.” Here “are the gamblers, the prostitutes, the murderers, the suicides, the Sodomites (sic).” 1894 Female impersonator Bert Larose began his four years, two months sentence in San Quentin State Prison for deceiving and then robbing a tourist, who thought he was a woman, on the Barbary Coast. 1898 The Army moved quickly to stop soldiers leaving for the Spanish-American War from supplementing their pay through male prostitution. So many of the men participated that the gratuity dropped to almost nothing. Bill Lipsky, Ph.D., author of “LGBTQ+ Trailblazers of San Francisco” (2023) and “Gay and Lesbian San Francisco” (2006), is a member of the Rainbow Honor Walk board of directors.

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

JUNE 11, 2026

90th Anniversary!

BAY TIMES S

LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

Cliff ’s Variety 90th Anniversary Extravaganza

Cliff’s Variety in the Castro celebrated its 90th Anniversary on June 6, 2026, with a free community extravaganza. The five-hour-long fest included a Family Drag Show hosted by San Francisco Bay Times columnist Donna Sachet, Drag Story Time with San Francisco Drag Laureate Per Sia, a Mascara Drag Show hosted by MGM Grande, a Cliff’s Man Contest hosted by Sister Roma, a DJ set by Juanita MORE!, honors by Mayor Daniel Lurie, and much more. The San Francisco Bay Times congratulates Cliff’s fifth-generation General Manager and Co-Owner Terry Asten-Bennett, Co-Owner and matriarch Martha Asten, Store Manager Paul Ellis, and the entire Cliff’s team on reaching this landmark anniversary. Here’s to another 90 years plus of this iconic store that is deeply rooted in the LGBTQ+ community.

J U NE 1 1 , 2 0 2 6

PHOTO BY MIKE KIRSCHNER

SAN F RANCISCO BAY T I ME S

PHOTO BY MIKE KIRSCHNER

PHOTO COURTESY OF ABC7 NEWS

https://www.cliffsvariety.com/

PHOTO BY RINK

PHOTO BY MIKE KIRSCHNER

PHOTO BY RINK

PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHAEL CHUA

PHOTO BY MIKE KIRSCHNER

90th Anniversary! BAY TIMES LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES A

JUNE 11, 2026

SACHET (continued from pg 19)

ROSTOW (continued from pg 17)

remember how this painful symbol of Nazi hatred has been transformed into a modern-day emblem of pride and victory.

“Individuals who have been identified as HIV-positive are asymptomatic, and who have clinically confirmed undetectable viral load will have no restrictions applied to their deployability or to their ability to commission while a Service member solely on the basis of their HIV-positive status,” wrote Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the time. Two years later, in 2024, the same judge ruled that undetectable HIV-positive recruits could not be rejected because of their HIV status.

We had to slip away from Twin Peaks a bit before the conclusion of the ceremony in order to get down the hill back to the Castro for the 90th Anniversary Celebration of Cliff ’s Variety Store. Terry AstenBennett and the team at Cliff ’s assembled a street event with a flatbed truck stage and a five-hour show, which drag queen Kylie Minono produced. Emcees changed hourly, featuring Sister Roma, Juanita MORE!, and Per Sia, and included performers Olivia Hart, BeBe Sweetbriar, Florence Frightengale, and many others. We had agreed to emcee the first hour, so it was a bit of a tight scheduling challenge, but thanks to a kind stranger, we arrived right on time and were able to pivot through several technical surprises. All in all, we were happy to participate in such a special anniversary celebration for one of the Castro’s longest serving retailers. We hope to be able to purchase our eyelashes and hammers, dog soap bubbles and kitchen gadgets, and fabrics and locks there for years to come. Our final event on Sunday was Synchronicity, Gypsy Love’s music release party at The Café, produced by Gary Virginia, which we were happy to co-host with Suzan Revah. The club sparkled with silver and filled to capacity with a diverse group of supporters. Kippy Marks was the first performer, electrifying the crowd with his talents on the violin. Josh Spaulding flagged, Emerson Silva go-go danced, and David Wong photographed throughout the event. But the peak of the night featured Gypsy with a premiere of her “Synchronicity” music video and a live performance with back-up dancers Susan Revah and Chad Behavior. Everyone there was caught up in uniquely positive energy created by Gypsy’s music, dazzling videos, and infectious rhythms. This was a night for the record books! Donna Sachet is a celebrated performer, fundraiser, activist, and philanthropist who has dedicated over two decades to the LGBTQ Community in San Francisco. Contact her at empsachet@gmail.com

SAN F RANCISCO BAY T I ME S

J U NE 1 1 , 2 0 2 6

Flash forward to Trump Two, and, in late 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit put an injunctive hold on the aforementioned lower court ruling, allowing the government recruiting office once again to turn its back to HIV-positive men. (Over 95% of HIV-troops are male.) The February ruling was a permanent injunction—fortunately reversed as we mentioned—and the full Fourth Circuit will now weigh in. Law and Disorder Oh my, God, you guys! I feel as if I’m having a surreal dream of, let’s say, arriving in law school with no preparation and being obliged to answer questions rapid fire by a mean-looking professor in front of an auditorium full of snickering classmates. Maybe I’m wearing a clown suit. I didn’t exactly plan on cruising through lawsuit after lawsuit and having to look up many details that each take ten minutes to resolve while dragging myself through all sorts of tangential pieces of information that made me question what I just spent an hour researching.

What’s with these temporary injunctions and permanent injunctions and why can’t these courts actually get to the merits of any of these cases? Since when is the High Court allowed to repeatedly stick their grimy little fingers into the pie before it comes out of the oven and force everyone to start a new recipe? Do you know how long it took me to figure out when and why the ban on recruiting HIV-positive military personnel was lifted, or not lifted, or whathaveyou? Somehow, the same judge who ruled on the status of serving members returned later to rule on recruits. Was that a separate case? Why can’t I find it?! I feel like Rachel Maddow, and not in a good way. I love her, of course, but I lose patience with the mysterious trips down mystery lane into obscure historical characters who (we hope) will eventually have some relevance to today’s news. “So, back in the early 1930s, there was a man named Lionel Winkerston ... .” (Rachel smiles with a giddy look in her eye that indicates she’s really going to love telling us this story.) “And Lionel Winkerston lived in a little house in a little suburb of Chicago called Plainsville.” (Rachel leans forward. I go fix myself an elaborate cocktail that will take about 20 minutes to construct.) “Which is how we wound up with an independent Federal Reserve in the first place!” (Rachel leans back in her chair, satisfied.) No, I wasn’t that bad. But I did find myself digging up old memos from Lloyd Austin, and, as one part of me was writing, another part of me was asking: “Why, Ann? How did you get here?” arostow@aol.com

SF LGBT Center’s Third Annual Pride Block Party

Photos Courtesy of Juan R. Davila

The SF LGBT Center presented Building The Block: Rainbow Reunion, a block party for Pride, on June 6, 2026. The event took place at the area around 1800 Market Street where the center is located. It included drag performances, live music, local small business vendors, food trucks, a free clothes closet, art exhibits, wellness classes, community resources, and more. The San Francisco Bay Times with Juan Davila managing the booth was again proud to be a part of this always welcoming party for the community. https://www.sfcenter.org/

48th Annual Carnaval San Francisco Photos by Michael Kirschner The two-day multicultural festival and grand parade, Carnaval San Francisco, took place on May 23 and May 24, 2026. This 48th annual event celebrated the theme “La Copa del Pueblo” (The People’s Cup) in anticipation of the FIFA World Cup. Per Sia and Lambert Moss were just two of the many performers from the LGBTQ+ community who participated in the event. Juan Davila of the San Francisco Bay Times also helped with both the festival and parade. https://carnavalsanfrancisco.org/

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

JUNE 11, 2026

BAY TIMES S

LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

Dozens of Queer Films to See at Frameline50 Wachowskis’ 1996 thriller Bound, Lino Brocka’s 1988 erotic drama Macho Dancer, Derek Jarman’s 1986 biopic Caravaggio, Jenny Livingston’s 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning, and Radley Metzger’s 1973 bisexual porn film Score, which will be screened in its rarely seen uncut version.

Film Gary M. Kramer The Frameline Film Festival turns 50 this year, and the program is chock-full of new and classic feature films, documentaries, and shorts. The festival will begin on June 17 at the reopened Castro Theater with an amuse bouche: Frameline From the Beginning, a series of trailers and shorts from the history of festival, before the feature Lady Champagne,

Desert Hearts

a madcap murder mystery, with an afterparty at The Foundry. Ten days later, on June 27, the festival will close with trans and non-binary filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun’s Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, about a queer filmmaker and a horror actress. The film just won the Queer Palm at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. In addition to sneak peeks of forthcoming releases including Girls Like Girls and Julian, the fest will include revival screenings of classic queer films including the

Desert Hearts ( June 18, 8:45 pm, Castro) is director Donna Deitch’s landmark lesbian romance, set in 1959 Reno, which respectfully depicts the love that develops between Vivian (Helen Shaver), an English professor waiting out a divorce, and Cay (Patricia Charbonneau), who works at a casino and lives on the ranch where Vivian is staying. Vivian is prim and proper and wants to “be free of who I’ve been,” while Cay is reckless; the sexy young woman is seen driving backward when she first meets Vivian. Their slow-burn attraction heats up when the women kiss in the rain, but their relationship soon has local tongues wagging. The film’s sensual love scene is why the film still melts hearts decades later. Desert Hearts is beautifully made and acted and worth seeing or rewatching.

Here, in chronological order, is a rundown of two dozen features that will be screening as part of this year’s program. Out gay writer/director Adrian Chiarella’s astonishing feature debut Leviticus ( June 17, 9 pm, Roxie) has queer teens haunted by their desires. Naim ( Joe Bird) and his mother (Mia Wasikowska) have moved to a small town in Australia where he falls for Ryan (Stacy Clausen), his classmate. The boys love each other in secret—though Naim questions why Ryan treats him differently when they are alone. Their relationship changes when Naim spies Ryan kissing Hunter ( Jeremy Blewitt). Jealous Naim informs Hunter’s father, the local preacher, who brings in a Deliverance Healer (Nicholas Hope) to “cure” them of their affliction. What happens, however, causes Hunter and Ryan, and later Naim, to be haunted by the object of their desire, who comes for them when they are alone. And it can’t be undone. Leviticus is an obvious allegory for conversion therapy, but it smartly depicts how queer teens navigate safe spaces. The affectionate documentary Time Warp ( June 18, 3 pm, Castro) is set in the conservative town of Rock Springs, Wyoming, where out gay theatre director Kenny Starling is mounting a local shadow cast production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The actors, who are either members of the local LGBTQIA+ community or queer allies, all acknowledge how hard it is to be who you are if you are queer in Rock Springs. In fact, some conservative locals object to the production, leading to a debate at city hall. Director Allison Berg spends real time with Starling and his performers to show how the production creates a safe space and empowers them. The staging is fun and the Rocky Horror message, “Don’t Dream It, Be It,” rings true. This is an inspiring film about living one’s truth in a region of the country where it is dangerous to do so.

Iván & Hadoum ( June 18, 5:45 pm, New Parkway) is a sweet romantic drama about the title characters, Iván (Silver), a transman, and Hadoum (Herminia Loh Moreno), a Moor, in Spain. They work at the same vegetable packing plant, where Iván aspires to become a manager— to afford a new apartment for him and his cramped family—while the carefree Hadoum is a packer who moves from job to job. After they kiss on the beach one night, each insists they don’t want to fall in love, but they grow closer despite concerns from each of their families. Things come to a head when the plant they work for is being put up for sale and Iván is asked to keep Hadoum and her fellow packers from sabotaging an audit. Iván & Hadoum is a gentle drama that addresses negative attitudes towards transpeople but also gives Iván his dignity. The film benefits from Silver’s assured performance and his chemistry with Moreno is appealing. Viewers will want them to couple up against the odds.

The Dads ( June 19, 4 pm, Castro) is a wonderful documentary about fathers of trans and gender expansive kids. Tracking a handful of families over several years, director Luchina Fisher focuses on the increased difficulty of raising trans kids during the second Trump administration where gender-affirming care is often being denied. There are also citizenship issues for some families who leave America—while other families consider it. Nevertheless, all of the men profiled in this film benefit from the “Dads” support group. This includes attending retreats where they can talk candidly about masculinity as well as their fears and hopes about raising trans children, to attending a gender liberation march. It is gratifying to see these parents care so much about their kids’ safety and do what they can to protect and support them. Adam’s Apple ( June 19, 5:30 pm, Roxie) is a tender profile of Adam Sieswerda, (continued on page 28)

Adam’s Apple S A N F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

JUNE 11, 2026

BAY TIMES S

LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

(continued from page 27) a trans teen growing up in New Hampshire. Filmed by his mother, Amy, this personal documentary chronicles Adam’s life through birthdays and other milestones— from learning to drive and starting T, to getting a mastectomy and dating, as well as going off to college and getting a tattoo. Jenkins captures her son’s emotional arcs, from “wanting to do everything I can to just be one of the boys” to his debates with his parents over his deadname. The film shows how he comes to accept himself as he matures. Jenkins also includes her own reactions to her son’s growth from love and

prompts him to hide his homosexuality. Vincente also reconnects with his daughter, Nerea (Nagore Aranburu), whom he has been estranged from since he came out. Maspalomas deftly shows how Vincente learns to appreciate those around him and his sexuality, and Soroiz delivers a melancholic performance that expresses his latein-life personal growth. The fantastic documentary Jaripeo ( June 20, 3:30 pm, Castro) immerses viewers in the hidden world of queer rancheros in Michoacán. Efraín Mojica, who codirected with Rebecca Zweig, explores the

pride to fear and her own anxiety. A beautifully realized dual portrait, Adam’s Apple will resonate with both trans teens and their parents alike. Out gay writer/director (and enfant terrible) Gregg Araki is represented at the festival with I Want Your Sex ( June 19, 6:15 pm, Castro), which is a cheeky heterosexual sex comedy thriller that pokes fun at contemporary art, the #MeToo movement, and Gen Z snowflakes. The film is full of Araki’s patented eye-popping colors, arch one liners, and pop culture references. (One character wears a Spahn Ranch T-shirt, ironically, ‘natch). After Elliot (Cooper Hoffman) gets a job as an assistant to the provocative artist Erika Tracy (Olivia Wilde)—and becomes sexually involved with her—he has to recount the events leading up to a death to two cops (Margaret Cho and Johnny Knoxville). Araki coaxes a delicious performance out of Wilde, dressing her up in fabulous, naughty costumes, and giving her witty bon mots about art and woke culture. Hoffman, in contrast, plays up Elliot’s eagerness to please. The film is an entertaining Araki, but far from his best. Maspalomas ( June 19, 8 pm, Roxie) is a crowd-pleasing Spanish drama about Vincente ( José Ramón Soroiz), a single gay septuagenarian who enjoys casual sex and nude beaches on the Canary Islands—until a stroke lands him in an assisted living facility. While he is assigned a handsome gay caregiver, Iñaki (Kepa Errasti), and even flirts secretly with him over an app, Vincente’s new situation, along with his gregarious roommate Xanti (Kandido Uranga), 28

SAN F RANCISCO BAY T I ME S

expectations around masculinity and sexuality in this rodeo culture. There are discussions of the secret glances, flirting, and discrete behavior—usually after drinking— that these men engage in, but they often fail to form lasting relationships. Jaripeo features interviews with Noé, who only wants to be with other masculine men, as well as a guy who is more effeminate and feels he has the support of the community. This documentary is a fascinating glimpse into a little-seen subculture. At the Place of Ghosts ( June 20, 8 pm, Roxie) opens with Mise’l (Blake Miranda), a two-spirit, having an encounter with a ghost that both scars him and scares him. He tells his boyfriend, Barry (Alexander Nunez), that he needs to go home to his Mi’kmaw community to “deal with stuff.” That “stuff” is an unresolved past trauma that haunts both Mise’l and his brother, Antle (Forrest Goodluck). As the siblings venture into the forest looking for a cave, they see versions of their younger selves, run into wild animals, experience sickness, and meet various strangers and healers. Written and directed by two-spirit Bretten Hannam (Wildhood), At the Place of Ghosts is an interesting (ghost) story about resilience and endurance that offers an allegory for Indigenous people. Beautifully lensed, the episodic film is a bit uneven; some vignettes, like a run-in with colonial British soldiers, are more compelling than others, as when the guys happen upon a group of religious men. Nevertheless, there is value in the depiction of a history and culture that is too rarely seen on screen.

J U NE 1 1 , 2 0 2 6

Downtown ( June 21, 1:15 pm, Castro) is an emotional Dutch drama that toggles back and forth between 1986 and 2021— the AIDS era, and the age of COVID. In the 1980s, Lennart (Sebastián Mkvicka) befriends Ronnie (Daniel Cornelissen), who becomes jealous when Lennart starts dating Bas (Thor Braun). 35 years later. Ronnie (Yorick an Wageningen) invites Lennart (Hans Kestling) to dinner, but does not tell him Bas (Roeland Fernhout) will also be there. Downtown presents meaningful episodes from moments of homophobia to how the AIDS crisis impacted the lives of each character, chronicling the shame and fear gay men felt to the need for activism and visibility to create change. Well-acted and beautifully lensed, Michiel van Erps’ film doesn’t break new ground, but it provides an interesting snapshot of how these men coped during difficult times. Acting Like Women ( June 21, 3:30 pm, BAMPFA) is a worthwhile documentary by out lesbian performance artist Cheri Gaulke. She recounts how the Woman’s Building, a feminist artists’ space in Los Angeles that opened in 1973, was her “second mother; a place where I was reborn as a woman and an artist.” Gaulke interviews dozens of feminist artists she knew and worked with over the past few decades at the Woman’s Building and elsewhere. They discuss how they developed (or raised) a feminist consciousness, and railed against the patriarchy, processing their collective experiences of shame through art and “actions.” The personal became the political as they created positive, provocative images and reclaimed their bodies through nude performances. In the 1980s and 1990s, a climate of fear took over, closing the space, and Gaulke was targeted by Senator Jesse Helms. Nevertheless, she persisted. Acting Like Women features marvelous interviews and artwork, and one of the best clips addresses how Black women responded to their lack of inclusion. This documentary will likely prompt viewers to dig deeper into these artists’ works. Public Access ( June 21, 3:30 pm, Castro) is an entertaining documentary about the Manhattan Cable Television’s “experiment” that gave people the freedom for self-expression. Back in the early 1970s, anyone with an idea for a TV show could create their own programming—and they did. Director David Shadrack Smith traces the evolution of the medium of public access TV (and the power it had) with commentary by staff members and content creators. While providing a platform for alternative culture was a strength of public access TV, tensions around transgressive programming ignited first amendment debates and

lawsuits. Anton Perich pushed boundaries early on with one of his programs featuring a man being anally penetrated with a lightbulb. Another show, Midnight Blue, featured pornographic content that raised all kinds of censorship issues. Smith’s documentary provides a handful of fascinating case studies, with the most interesting being about the content targeted to the LGBTQ community. This included the first gay talk show, The Emerald City, and Lou Maletta’s Gay Cable Network in the 1980s, which showed salacious content, but also provided programming that featured AIDS education and information during the height of the epidemic. Public Access certainly predicts the phenomenon of YouTube, as this well-edited documentary offers a quaint, nostalgic trip back to interesting and not-so-innocent times. Lucio Castro’s sophomore feature, Drunken Noodles ( June 21, 6:30 pm, Castro) has Adnan (Laith Kalifeh), a grad student, arriving in New York to intern at a gallery for the summer. He orders take out. He goes out cruising for sex. And he meets Yariel ( Joél Isaac), who delivers food and has sex with Adnan. But then, Drunken Noodles shifts back in time and shows how Adnan met Sal (Ezriel Kornel), the artist whose embroideries are being displayed at the New York gallery. A third section of the film goes back in time further to Adnan’s getaway with his boyfriend Iggie (Matthew Risch), which precedes Adnan’s encounter with Sal. Castro plays with time, but his film investigates the frictions and connections as Adnan has various intimate encounters. There are elements of magical realism, such as one episode involving a Faun (Guillermo García Arriaza), and quotidian scenes of Adnan just staring out the window watching cute guys walk by. This film may be slippery, but it delivers real food for thought. (continued on page 29)

Strange River

(continued from page 28) Ephemera ( June 22, 6 pm, Vogue Theatre) is a mostly playful two-hander set in Shanghai about Asher (Yvonne Shuyu Zhang), an actress, who asks her dance instructor Tori (Shu-Yi) out for coffee after class. The women talk and eat, and talk and wander, and eat some more, slowly getting to know each other. When Tori demonstrates her “spatiotemporal cube,” the screen shrinks to enclose her and Asher. There are other stylized moments, as when the young women play out scenes inspired by other movies, or they encounter another couple speaking gibberish. However, true to its title, the relationship in Ephemera may not be lasting. The leads are attractive and watching them connect over the course of a single day provides a passable time filler. Director Mike Doyle’s modest, feel-better comedy-drama Bookends ( June 22, 8:30 pm, and June 26, 12:30 pm, Vogue Theatre) has budding novelist Nate (writer Noam Ash), moving in with his grandparents, Miriam (Caroline Aaron) and Saul (F. Murray Abraham), after he catches his boyfriend cheating on him. Anxious about his career, his heartbreak, and his future, Nate hopes to crash at Miriam and Saul’s retirement community until he “figures things out.” Nate’s despair lifts a bit when he starts seeing his grandparent’s hot, gay doctor, Daniel Green (out gay Charlie Barnett). As Nate takes care of other people, he realizes he can take care of himself. It’s a sweet message, told in a sitcomic film featuring a cast that plays the material a bit broadly. Nevertheless, Bookends offers charm and schmaltz in equal measure. The Passion According to G.H.B. ( June 22, 10 pm, Roxie) is Gustavo Vinagre and Vinícius Couto’s provocative drama-cum-documentary that unfolds almost entirely inside a São Paulo apartment where Matias (Couto) invites various guys over for chemsex. The camera acts as a fly on the wall as the men—which include Matias, Ricardo (Igor Mo), Free Wolf (Rodrigo Campos), and Lucas (Luciano Falcão)—cheekily pantomime taking copious amounts of drugs while also having explicit, unsimulated sex. Matias also candidly discusses his HIV status, and the guys

read various passages from Clarise Lispector’s book, The Passion According to G.H., which inspired this film. (Matias also chats with G.H. (Christiane Tricerri) in one sequence.) Vinagre and Couto shrewdly end their film by interviewing Jessé Jorge, who recounts the harsh reality of his battles with addiction. It adds a somber and necessary counterpoint and puts all the hedonism in bold relief. Enzo ( June 23, 5:30 pm, Vogue Theatre) is out gay director Robin Campillo’s excellent drama about a well-off 16-yearold (Eloy Pohu), who angers his father Paolo (Pierfrancesco Favino) by taking an apprenticeship on a construction site rather than go back to school. Enzo is a sloppy worker, but he improves after he befriends Vlad (Maksym Slivinskyi), a handsome Ukrainian colleague. Enzo develops a serious crush on Vlad, and, as the sexual tension between them percolates, Enzo’s strong emotions prompt him to act out in ways that are concerning to his parents. The pleasure of Campillo’s engaging film is watching Enzo work through his feelings about his sexuality, his class difference, belonging, and his values to become his own self. This is a sensitive drama that has a restrained intensity; a fight/hug between Enzo and Vlad expresses their dynamic beautifully. In their screen debuts, Pohu and Slivinskyi both give striking performances. This film is a real gem. Dreamboi ( June 23, 7:15 pm, Roxie) has the trans Diwa (EJ Jallorina) along with her trans friends, experiencing hardships in Quezon City, where they are often misgendered and encounter transphobia and violence. (One character delivers a terrific rant about facing and fighting oppression.) Diwa’s only escape is “Dreamboi,” (Tony Labrusca), a handsome virtual fantasy man whose audio recordings of his sexcapades awaken a passion within her. Diwa imagines Dreamboi when she is forced to use a restroom in the basement of her office building, and their stolen glances take her on a journey from fear and humiliation to empowerment. Dreamboi features a nifty visual style that shifts from gritty to trippy along with an upbeat soundtrack, and Jallorina portrays all of Diwa’s pain and (continued on page 46) S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

JUNE 11, 2026

BAY TIMES S

LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

Still Fresh at 25: FRESH MEAT FESTIVAL of Trans & Queer Performance Celebrates 25th Anniversary World class vogue artists, a 40-member trans choir, breathtaking queer contemporary dance, a drag supergroup, gender-defying classical Chinese Dance, and trans rockers will hit the stage this June 19–21 at San Francisco’s Z Space theater. The iconic FRESH MEAT FESTIVAL of trans and queer performance will be celebrating its 25th Anniversary with an over-the-top celebration featuring some of the nation’s finest queer and trans performers. The festival is a Pride Season favorite, attracting visitors from across the country and around the world—and is celebrated for its outstanding, eclectic performances. Festival Founder and Artistic Director Sean Dorsey says, “This year’s festival is really pulling out all the stops—the crème de la crème of artists, post-show lobby parties; we’re going to shower audiences with the love, joy and medicine we all need so much right now.” The 2026 Festival will feature the world premieres of new works commissioned especially for the 25th Anniversary Festival through their FRESH WORKS! Program—featuring the artists B. DeVeaux, JanpiStar, Pangaea, and Shawn Lee with Independent Chinese Dancers. The star-studded lineup of artists will continue with Filipino American drag supergroup Filipinx; the powerful voices of the New Voices Bay Area Transgender, Intersex & Genderqueer Chorus; interdisciplinary movement artist Zuzu Beloved; trans roots music trailblazer Shawna Virago; trans/queer contemporary dance by Sean Dorsey Dance; and emcee Churro Nomi. The festival’s Managing Director Eric Garcia shares, “The FRESH MEAT FESTIVAL is a space where trans and queer artists get to be expansive, ambitious, experimental, hilarious, political, emotional, and fully themselves. The range of artistry inside the festival is extraordinary.” Audiences can expect an electric mix of contemporary dance, live music, theater, drag performance, and community-centered storytelling, all rooted in Fresh Meat’s legacy of uplifting trans and queer voices. Audiences are encouraged to dress “fun, funky, or formal” to celebrate the 25th Anniversary milestone.

Meat has helped shape careers, collaborations, friendships, and futures.” The festival is a cornerstone of the Bay Area LGBTQ+ arts scene, and has launched careers and developed deeply devoted audiences across the Bay and the nation (and beyond).

Zuzu Beloved

Dorsey says, “This is really a ‘pinch me’ moment. When I founded the FRESH MEAT FESTIVAL back in 2002, I never imagined we’d be celebrating 25 years later!” And what a celebration it will be! Advance tickets are recommended for this special event, but tickets will also be available at the door each performance. 25th Anniversary FRESH MEAT FESTIVAL of Transgender and Queer Performance June 19–21, 2026 Showtimes Friday June 19 @ 8 pm (with ASL interpretation) Saturday June 20 @ 8 pm (with ASL B. DeVeaux interpretation) Sunday June 21 @ 3 pm (with ASL interpretation) Z Space (450 Florida Street, San Francisco, 94110) For tickets and more information: http://freshmeatproductions.org/

Each evening will include a pre-show red carpet experience, music, a non-alcoholic bar, photo booth, and more—turning the theater into a space of celebration, connection, and community before the performances begin. Dorsey says, “This festival is about more than performance; it’s about creating an expansive and celebratory home for our communities. Building sanctuary. Reclaiming our trans and queer bodies, the stage, and the future. FRESH MEAT reminds us that joy, activism, care, and resistance can coexist ... in style!”

Pangaea

New Voices Bay Area TIGQ Choir

Garcia adds, “The FRESH MEAT FESTIVAL is one of the country’s most important platforms for transgender and queer performance. For twenty-five years, it has brought artists and audiences together around tender, fierce, and unforgettable live art.” The festival is produced by Fresh Meat Productions co-led by Artistic Director Sean Dorsey and Managing Director Eric Garcia. KN95 masks will be provided and required. ASL Interpretation will be provided at all performances. Z Space theater is wheelchair accessible and has all-gender bathrooms. Garcia says, “I’ve worked with Fresh Meat Productions since 2009, and one of the most powerful things about the festival is watching generations of artists grow alongside it. Fresh 30

SAN F RANCISCO BAY T I ME S

J U NE 1 1 , 2 0 2 6

Sean Dorsey Dance

Filipinx

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

JUNE 11, 2026

Everything Old Is New Again Through the experienced and interesting eyes of these people, we follow them letting go of the past and starting a new life. Filmed in India, it’s a chance to visit this exotic location.

Off the Wahl Jan Wahl

The depth of character of people 50 and older can really make a movie fabulous. A perfect example is Eleanor the Great (2025), a dramedy directed by Scarlett Johansson. In it we meet an unforgettable older woman ( June Squibb) who moves to New York, passing off her friend’s Holocaust survivor story as her own. We follow her through fame and scandal with an amazingly satisfying ending. There are people of all ages in this film, although it is mostly Eleanor’s story. I find that, when there are people of all ages in a story (Northern Exposure TV series, The Poseidon Adventure, etc.), we get a backstory and meaning behind the characters. Hollywood drives me nuts by not supporting a movie this good; they are too busy chasing the youth market. I asked my movie-loving colleague, Adam Kent, what he thought of it. Adam Kent: Just when you think that 2025 was a bust for good movies, we get to see this genius film. I love that it makes you think about those gray areas of life and how certain circumstances, grief, and loss push us in unusual ways. Jan Wahl: This film gives us loss by younger people and older people but turns it into something profound. In her 90s now, June Squibb is nominated for a Tony Award, the oldest Broadway actor nominee. What energy and vitality! Adam Kent: And Scarlett Johansson! I want to see her more in the director’s chair. Jan Wahl: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011) is absolutely superb. The film is about some British retirees who decide to outsource their retirement to exotic India.

SAN F RANCISCO BAY T I ME S

J U NE 1 1 , 2 0 2 6

Adam Kent: This film is visually stunning, depicting the architectural beauty, organized chaos, and the youthful optimism of modern Indian culture juxtaposed with the starchy British worldview. The unease and tension between these cultures perfectly sets up a complex story where love, death, and happiness in the sunset years are magically portrayed. Jan Wahl: It has one of the most remarkable casts, which includes Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Dev Patel, Bill Nighy, and Tom Wilkinson. Wilkinson plays a gay man determined to make peace with his past. Adam Kent: When good movies make you laugh and think through the sheer brilliance of cinematography, good writing, and acting gravitas, they elevate our humanity through seeing that in others. These two films go beyond that; they make you stop, think, and revisit those things in ourselves that go unnoticed and unsaid in loss and love. Jan Wahl: You are so right, Adam; we are talking about shared empathy brought about by brilliant filmmaking. Jan Wahl is a Hollywood historian and film critic on various broadcast outlets. She has two Emmys and many awards for her longtime work on behalf of film buffs and the LGBTQ community.

BAY TIMES S

LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

Jewelle Gomez

Moving

school. It was something still not quite “approved of” by many, even in communities of color, especially those in Boston’s middle class.

Leave Signs Jewelle Gomez It’s been fifty years, give or take, since I went to my first Pride March—in New York City it was always called a “march.” Despite the half century, I remember the moment clearly, especially the physical fear that coursed through my body. I’d watched or listened to the march passing by my Greenwich Village flat for a couple years before I decided I could risk participating. Identifying that fear is not simple. Like the school teachers who walked with paper bags over their heads, I too might have feared losing my job. But I worked in theatre, so that type of retribution seemed unlikely. But what if a neighbor saw me? Or a friend? Even more, I think I feared a step that felt much bigger than stepping off the curb into the jubilant crowd. Honestly, I didn’t fear being recognized by someone as much as being recognized by myself. It was like aligning myself publicly with the civil rights activists when I was in high school and the Black Arts Movement when in undergraduate

For me, decidedly not in the middle class, it was clear early on that any human rights advances had an economic aspect that couldn’t be ignored. Of course, that complex realization didn’t coalesce for me until much later. Back then I just knew I was being drawn toward “movement” and that’s something I’d always understood. Movement is the way we affect change; we can move from one location to another and give ourselves a new perspective that better suits who we are and what we need. Movements do that.

Jewelle Gomez, Pride 1976

At the time, though, I only knew it was lonely standing on the curb even with those who were cheering. My people were moving like the tide I’d so enjoyed when I went to Revere Beach as a kid. The tide’s movement had such power it could wash away the sand castles and carry up the beautiful shells and sea glass. Even though we knew that white people didn’t want us on the beach, we went anyway as if we had an obligation to the millions of Africans who’d drowned in the Atlantic when they’d been bound for slavery. The movement of the tides brought them back to us in some way. So, I stepped into the movement marveling at how many different types of women were

Jewelle Gomez with Mabel Hampton

streaming along before me. I was breathless with the beauty of women in the sunlight and men wearing sparkles. I didn’t think all my problems would be solved, but I was sure that, as a lesbian feminist, I’d never be alone again—because, with movements, comes community. A volunteer with the Lesbian Herstory Archives carried a sign that said: ‘We’ve got your past. Who’s got your future?’ I saw that this tide of movement would bring back the queer women who’d been hidden from us. I slid into the Lesbian Herstory Archives group because I couldn’t resist walking beside Mabel Hampton, the oldest lesbian I’d ever met. And the blown-up photos of women like Eleanor Roosevelt and Radclyffe Hall revealed we had ancestors who’d help us build our own futures. I’m now older than I was when I met Mabel; older than when I acted as one of her pall bearers in 1989. In San Francisco, I’ve had the honor of being a marshal at the Pride Parade; but, at this age, I enjoy it just as much from the grandstand. This year I’ll pop on my Golden State Valkyries cap to keep from getting sunburned since my Afro is not only white now but also a bit thin. But it’s not at all like standing on the curb. A half century later, I can still feel the movement. Jewelle Gomez is a lesbian/feminist activist, novelist, poet, and playwright. She’s written for “The Advocate,” “Ms. Magazine,” “Black Scholar,” “The San Francisco Chronicle,” “The New York Times,” and “The Village Voice.” Follow her on Instagram and Twitter @ VampyreVamp

Top of your stack Recommendations from Book Passage

Whistler (fiction - hardcover) by Ann Patchett

Legendary author Ann Patchett returns with a subtle, powerful new novel about a woman who reconnects with her stepfather 40 years after they last saw each other. As their relationship rekindles, the story that unfolds explores life’s impermanence, love’s enduring power, and the big and small moments from our past that shape who we become. Land (fiction - hardcover) by Maggie O’Farrell From the acclaimed novelist behind Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell’s new novel Land is a sweeping, epic historical tale set in Ireland in the years before and after the great hunger. The story explores separation and reunion, tragedy and recovery, colonization and rebellion, alongside buried treasure, ancient woodland, and persistent ghosts. As spellbinding and varied as the landscape that inspired it, Land is, above all, a story of survival for our times and for all time.

SAN F RANCISCO BAY T I ME S

J U NE 1 1 , 2 0 2 6

Crossroads (memoir hardcover) by Dusty Baker

In this new memoir from legendary baseball player and manager Dusty Baker, Baker reflects on his extraordinary career, sharing lessons on perseverance, leadership, and living a meaningful life both on and off the field. As a wise, curious, and inquisitive thinker with deep interest in the worlds of music, wine, and the simpler joys of life, Baker penned a memoir that will appeal to baseball fans and non-fans alike. Upcoming Events Saturday, June 13 @ 1 pm (non-ticketed Corte Madera store) Andrew Sean Greer, author of Villa Coco The Pulitzer-Prize winning author behind Less is back with a new novel, Villa Coco—a dazzling, sunsoaked ode to life itself, a meditation on how seriously we ought to take ourselves, and a bawdy Mediterranean ballad about becoming who we’ve always wanted to be. Greer will be joined in

conversation by his identical twin brother, Mike, for this free event in our Corte Madera store. Saturday, June 13 @ 2 pm (ticketed - Ferry Building store) Dusty Baker, author of Crossroads San Francisco Giants legend and baseball icon Dusty Baker will appear in person at our Ferry Building store in celebration of his new memoir, Crossroads. He will be joined by the voice of the Giants, Jon Miller, for a conversation about life and baseball. Tickets include a signed copy of the book. Tuesday, June 16 @ 7 pm (ticketed - Calvary Presbyterian SF) Dave Eggers, author of Contrapposto Five years after his last novel was published, Bay Area legend and champion of the arts Dave Eggers returns with Contrapposto, a wild and beautiful examination of the enduring power of art and friendship. Eggers will join us at Calvary Presbyterian for a conversation you won’t want to miss! https://www.bookpassage.com

BAY TIMES BAY TIMES SS

AN N

FA R N

AI N C I S C O

LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

Internationally-recognized Taiko Master Tiffany Tamaribuchi with professional Taiko artist and instructor Sascha Molina kicked off the evening with a powerful performance that began in the lobby of the center before culminating with Tamaribuchi playing a massive drum on the stage

The center’s Executive Director, Jen Valles, spoke to congratulate the honorees and to address the importance of this time in the LGBTQ+ movement. Other speakers included Shiyama Clunie, Senior Public Affairs Director of Kaiser Permanente; ABC7 Lead News Anchor Dan Ashley; State Senator Scott Wiener; President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Rafael Mandelman; Supervisor Connie Chan; and a trio of drag stars—Khmera Rouge, Donna Sachet, and Sister Roma—who introduced special guest honoree Margaret Cho. Following her time on stage and while still at the center, Cho filmed a video of her new song “Yer Dihh” with several of the drag

All guests were treated to food and drinks from Tay Ho Oakland Restaurant & Bar, La Méditerranée Noe, and The Academy SF, which also hosted the After Party at its venue. Special thanks to Vince Crisostomo of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation 50 Plus Network and his dedicated team of volunteers who helped with the food, to Tay Ho Owner and Chef Denise Huynh (who came to personally oversee the setup and to finish off each dish in Michelin-star fashion!) and to Paul Miller and his team from The Academy SF. Thanks also go to Danielle Siragusa, Michael Pembridge, Timothy Hampton, and their colleagues at the center for ensuring that everything went smoothly. The Bay Times also thanks presenting sponsor Kaiser Permanente and the supporting sponsors, which included the San Francisco Community Health Center; Crystal Jang & Sydney Yeong; Greene Law Firm, P.C., Trust, Probate, and Veteran Law; Horizons Foundation; The Sparks Family; Dr. Marcy Adelman; Diligent Security; Olivia Travel; San Francisco Pride; La Méditerranée Noe; San Francisco AIDS Foundation 50 Plus Network; 1800 Tequila; and V. Sattui.

Madeleine Lim, Margaret Cho, and Nguyen Pham

Miguel Guerrero, Golden State Valkyries

In addition to Lim and Pham, Crystal Jang and Amy Sueyoshi provided invaluable guidance in creating this event. There are so many remarkable LGBTQ+ women leaders and allies in the Bay Area’s AAPI community that, for each of the two years, long lists of possible honorees have had to be carried over to the next year. A stellar lineup is already in the works for 2027! In the meantime, the Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project will be holding the 22nd annual QWOCFF Film Festival June 12–14. There will also be an Online Encore and Satellite Screening. For more information: https://bit.ly/4dgSYCV

Thank You to Our Sponsors! Presenting Sponsor:

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

JUNE 11, 2026

SPARKY’S BALLOONS PHOTO

This year’s honorees are: Miki Adachi, Rajasvini Bhansali, Mel Y. Chen, Margaret Cho, Alice Y. Hom, Manisha Israni-Jiang, M.D., Cj Jiang, Jane Kim, Audrey Koh, M.D., Jen Masuda, Ruth McFarlane, Michelle Meow, Priti Narayanan, Hon. Donna M. Ryu, Lynn. T. Sugihara, and Michelle Zhang. Please read more about them in the previous issue of the Bay Times.

Bay Times Co-Publishers Betty Sullivan and Jennifer Viegas, with Juan Davila, did the first raffle prize draw for the event that benefited the Use The News Foundation and QWOCMAP. It was a lucky night for Tookta, a performer who is the wife of honoree Michelle Meow, as she won multiple prizes throughout the evening.

artists along with her friend and fellow performer Kenny Hash—and her beloved dog Lucia! View it here: https://bit.ly/43oDxTu

PHOTO BY STEVE SCHEITLIN

The San Francisco Bay Times on May 28, 2026, presented the second annual Celebrating Bay Area AAPI LGBTQ+ Women Leaders & Allies at the SF LGBT Center, where 16 of the region’s most accomplished individuals were honored during Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month.

of the Rainbow Room. Emcees Madeleine Lim, the Founder of the Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project (QWOCMAP), and Nguyen Pham, who is the President of the Mensa Foundation and Director of Sponsorships at SF Pride, then welcomed guests and introduced DJ China G, who was presented by Olivia Travel.

PHOTO BY JEROME PARMER

Second Annual Celebrating Bay Area AAPI LGBTQ+ Women Leaders & Allies

BAY TIMES BAY TIMES SS

AN N

FA R N

AI N C I S C O

LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

PHOTO COURTESY OF JUAN R. DAVILA

Celebrating LGBTQ+ Women Leaders & Allies for AAPI Heritage Month

SAN F RANCISCO BAY T I ME S

J U NE 1 1 , 2 0 2 6

BAY TIMES BAY TIMES SS

AN N

FA R N

AI N C I S C O

LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

Photos by Jerome Parmer

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

JUNE 11, 2026

Gypsy Love’s ‘Synchronicity’ Debut & Music Video Premiere Performer and former San Francisco Bay Times columnist Gypsy Love debuted her new song and video “Synchronicity” at a premiere party at The Café in the Castro on June 6, 2026. Produced and emceed by Krewe de Kinque founder Gary Virginia, the event was hosted by Bay Times columnist Donna Sachet and Suzan Revah. Yet another Bay Times columnist, San Francisco’s King of Strings Kippy Marks, was the opening act. The event also included a live performance by Gypsy Love and her dancers, go-go dancer Emerson, music by DJ Sergio Fedasz, flagging by Josh Spaulding, and much more.

SAN F RANCISCO BAY T I ME S

J U NE 1 1 , 2 0 2 6

PHOTO BY DAVID WONG PHOTO BY GARY VIRGINIA PHOTO BY GARY VIRGINIA

PHOTO BY GARY VIRGINIA

PHOTO BY DAVID WONG

PHOTO BY GARY VIRGINIA

PHOTO BY DAVID WONG

“Synchronicity,” including multiple remixes ready for play at Pride celebrations, is at https://bit.ly/4v1wAnA

(Queer) Music Is the Universal Language margin. That should make “queer” music the universal language. What would a Pride event be without music? A silent retreat in a monastery. That won’t do for so many reasons (such as the robes; oh the robes. They are a hideous brown and scratchy, so I hear.) Being silent for more than ten minutes makes me itch already.

TLC: Tears, Laughs and Conversation Dr. Tim Seelig We all know the slogan is: “Music Is the Universal Language.” How could we not? It adorns refrigerator magnets, Hallmark cards, and music classrooms all over the world. Quick research shows it is a saying that is used in many countries and many languages. At face value, it sounds incredibly naïve. If there is a language all people could somehow share, such as music, wouldn’t we stop killing each other? If we had something powerful in common, would it matter that we come in so many varieties? If there is such a language, how do we find it, learn it, speak it, or play or sing it? And where did the slogan come from? We may have thought the slogan was invented by some marketing firm or music sales company. Nope. It is fascinating that writers and philosophers in the mid 19th century had much to say about the power of music. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was first with the original in 1835: “Music is the universal language of mankind.” In 1840, Hans Christian Andersen said, “When words fail, music speaks.” It was 1864 when Victor Hugo said, “Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent.” And, finally, in 1890, George Bernard Shaw wrote, “Though music is the universal language, it is spoken with all sorts of accents.” All of these are amazing and tell me everything I need to know about promoting the addition of queer to the slogan. It’s as if they were describing our queer music. It transcends language. We’ve turned to it when we cannot remain silent, and boy, are there many accents, colors, genres, and meanings. I wish there were a refrigerator magnet that said, “Queer Music Is the Universal Language.” There should be. Maybe I’ll make them. We gays love music—of all kinds. I am certainly grateful since queer music has provided me a full-time living for almost 40 years! There is a huge world-wide audience for queer music! Out of around approximately 193 countries on earth, 100 countries have Pride celebrations. Only 90 ban Pride celebrations. We are winning by a small

If you don’t think queer music is the international language, go to any Pride celebration in the world and you will hear much of the same music; some of it translated, some of it not. Take an LGBTQ+ cruise with international passengers from every corner of the globe and, voilà, you’re singing the same songs by the pool. There are gay choruses all over the world, on every continent, and the music is shared from country to country. The gay, lesbian, and trans choruses are exploding, in terms of numbers and reach. As for the names of queer songs for Pride, here are some gleaned from various Dr. Tim Seelig and the Portland Sage Singers internet sources. There are so many more. So many. Please forgive me if your personal favorite has been omitted. I am 100% certain that will happen. But just consider how huge the catalog of queer music is. And it is as wildly diverse as we are.

Gaga, k.d., RuPaul, Beyoncé. Groups and gods include the Scissor Sisters, Indigo Girls, Tegan and Sara, ABBA, The Weather Girls, Village People, George Michael, Sam Smith, Freddie Mercury, and Troye Sivan. One reason I know queer music is the universal language is the fact that the straights love it, too! Our queer music is not just catchy; it is life-affirming. There is an unspoken bond we feel with people we don’t know or will ever meet when we imagine our queer family members are listening to and singing the same music we are singing. There is deep meaning flowing through all this music—even the songs that may not seem important. Queer music is essential to us building our family around the world. I love this so much. In fact, I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect queer harmony. Oh wait. I am. Now it’s your turn! Choose your favorite queer song, your favorite queer artist or ally, and your favorite gay-themed Broadway show. No, Heated Rivalry doesn’t count. It’s not music! Have fun and happy Pride! Dr. Tim Seelig is the Conductor Laureate of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. http://www.timseelig.com/

There are songs that would fit in any bar or cruise anywhere, making them universal. Played loudly over giant speakers, who could not sing along to “I’m Coming Out,” “Dancin’ Queen,” “Mighty Real,” “YMCA,” “We Are Family,” “Sissy That Walk,” or “Pink Pony Club”?! There are some with deeper messages than just having a KiKi. We proclaim to our family and friends that our orientation is not a phase, a ”sexual preference,” or a “lifestyle choice.” We proclaim loudly, “I Was Born This Way.” In addition, we show our “True Colors” and can always find our way back home “Over the Rainbow.” Few songs deliver such a powerful message as “I Am What I Am.” Broadway shows tour the world to massive audiences and have promoted our stories like no other theatrical genre. This is a scratch of the surface: La Cage aux Folles, Falsettos, Priscilla, Kinky Boots, Hedwig, Billy Elliot, The Prom, Fun Home, Everyone’s Talking About Jaime, A Strange Loop, and many others. Queer music has its iconic creators and goddesses including Chappell Roan, Cher, Madonna, Sylvester, Cyndi Lauper, Melissa Ehteridge, Katy Perry, Queen, Diana Ross, Judy Garland, Christina Aguilera, and Pink. Some need only one name: Elton, Lady S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

JUNE 11, 2026

Bay Times Dines Cheese Pride

BAY TIMES S

Gordon Edgar When I started at Rainbow in cheese in 1994, the department wasn’t really notable. It had been shrunk at some point previously and all we had at the 15th and Mission location were three cooler doors for cheese and soy cheese. Even some of those shelves were broken and at slightly weird angles. No one came to Rainbow for cheese in those days. Soon after I got hired, we began making plans to move to our current Folsom Street location and cheese workers needed to figure out how to expand our cheese offerings into double the amount of space. The Cheese Department was a little bit of an afterthought and we feared—looking at the blueprints—that we would be lost in the back of the then-new store. With a queer cheese

Iconic ‘cheese wedge’ displayed at Rainbow Grocery

co-worker who was the previous buyer, we came up with new internal slogan: a triangle-shaped wedge of cheese with the phrase, “Cheese Pride! Cheese Visibility!” This helped launch a new spirit in the department. Instead of shame at how little we had to offer, we took pride in our own idiosyncrasies as a worker-owned cooperative who worked in ways different than society was used to. Taking pride in ourselves allowed us to look forward to what we could become. It was transformative. It allowed us

It’s June. I’d love to write “Happy Pride!” and leave it at that, but, with the LGBTQ+ community (and especially trans folks) under attack along with so many other communities, it’s time to remember what binds us in solidarity. This includes a belief that a better future is possible and that we can depend on each other. As a cooperative, we have to believe that even as material conditions are hard right now. As a cooperative, we have to believe that, even as material conditions are hard right now, we, as part of the local community, need to continue to protect each other in order to survive this madness. Let’s all do what we can to breathe solidarity into being. Happy Pride Month! A Highlight of My Cheese Year In cheese news, I just got back from the annual American Cheese Society Judging and Competition in Minneapolis. After judging for more than a decade, I am now Vice-Chair of the volunteer committee that puts on the event every year. We meet via Zoom almost every month and then I take a week of vacation, along with a bunch of other cheese folks, to put in a bunch of 12-hour days to make the judging actually happen. This year there were over 1600 entries from the Americas, judged in about 120 subcategories by a team of 42 judges.

I tasted a lot of great cheeses, but, unfortunately, I can’t share any details until the

SAN F RANCISCO BAY T I ME S

J U NE 1 1 , 2 0 2 6

to believe in our own potential. It felt very San Francisco.

The judging and competition are always a highlight of my cheese year. It’s a pure event. The judging is anonymous, so there is no marketing, no lobbying, no reputational influence—just tasting and evaluating cheeses for what they are and what they want to be.

LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

Eventually, we become a presence in the local cheese world. We also made the internal slogan and crude drawing into a literal cheese wedge by having an in-store artist make one to hang from the ceiling of the store. Not only did this, yes, increase our visibility, but it also served—and continues to serve—as a reminder that nothing has happened in our cooperative that hasn’t been at least a little influenced by the LGBTQ+ community.

Over the Rainbow Cheese Counter

results are released in July. Even I don’t know the winners! Rest assured that there are a lot of great cheeses being made in the Americas and that, every year, this competition brings awareness to great cheesemakers I have never heard of even after 30+ years as a monger. As a cheese eater, you can look forward to finding some new favorites in the coming months on our shelves. Ask us in a couple of months! (Please note that Rainbow will be closed on June 28 for Pride Sunday and closed at 6 pm on June 30 for inventory.) Gordon Edgar loves cheese and worker co-ops and has been combining these infatuations as the cheese buyer for Rainbow Grocery Cooperative since 1994. He serves on the American Cheese Society Judging and Competition Committee and is a member of the Guilde Internationale des Fromagers. Edgar has written two books on cheese—”Cheesemonger” (2010) and “Cheddar” (2015)—and lives in San Francisco with his adorable white mini schnauzer named Fillmore Grumble. He writes about grief, and sometimes cheese, at https://bit.ly/42IwYf0

BAY TIMES S

LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

Queer Napa 2023 to help build a more visible, connected, and organized LGBTQ+ community in Napa County. A lot of queer people have lived here for years without necessarily seeing themselves reflected in public life, civic spaces, or cultural events. Our work focuses on relationship-building, volunteerism, advocacy, and creating opportunities for LGBTQ+ people, businesses, artists, and allies to gather and feel a sense of belonging. For Napa Pride 2026, we’re really leaning into the idea that Pride can feel joyful, community-rooted, and uniquely Napa.”

The Gay Gourmet David Landis It’s that time of year again—Pride— when we get to celebrate all things LGBTQ+. San Francisco might be the epicenter for some of the best merrymaking anywhere, but guess what Northern California community also has become more and more queerfriendly? Napa! Of course, Napa is known far and wide as one of the world’s great wine regions, but, until recently, it hasn’t been a hotbed for a fun-loving queer getaway. That is, until now. To get a sense of why and how Napa grew into such a welcoming locale, I asked some of the local LGBTQ+ movers and shakers for their ideas. “The Queer Leaders Coalition,” comments Founder and Chair Coach Bailie, “launched post-pandemic in

Coach Bailie adds, “People can look forward to expanded Pride activations with local businesses ... and more visible partnerships with local hotels, wineries, and restaurants. We want Pride to feel woven into the fabric of Napa Valley itself. The biggest shift (in Napa) has been visibility and confidence. For a long time, many LGBTQ+ people in Napa existed quietly or felt like they had to leave larger parts of themselves behind to comfortably live and work here. Over the past several years, we’ve seen more businesses openly participate in Pride, more local leaders willing to stand publicly with the LGBTQ+ community, and more queer people choosing to stay, build community, and create culture here rather than looking elsewhere for it. Pride has absolutely grown. What started as smaller gatherings has evolved into a countywide community effort involving dozens of businesses, artists, performers, volunteers, and partner organizations. There’s also been growth in LGBTQ+-affirming businesses and business owners becoming more visible and intentional about inclusion. Napa still has work to do, but there’s a growing sense that queer and transgender people are not just welcome here; we are actively helping shape the future and culture of the region.”

Coach Bailie with DJ Rotten Robbie

“Our theory is that queer-owned and queer-welcoming businesses are thriving in Napa,” shares Ryan, “because the region is moving beyond an older, narrower definition of luxury. Today’s travelers still want beauty, wine, food, and design, but they also want authenticity, warmth, and values they can recognize. Napa is well positioned for that shift because it already understands experience, hospitality, and storytelling. The fact that Visit Napa Valley, the Downtown Napa Association, and the City of Napa have highlighted LGBTQ+ travelers and Pride programming as part of the region’s year-round welcome signals that inclusion is becoming part of the area’s economic and cultural future. We’re proud to be part of that evolution, and excited to help shape what inclusive luxury in Napa can become.” Charles says, “The mission of The Charles is to create inclusive, stylish, artfully designed boutique hotels where every guest feels genuinely welcomed, respected, safe, and at home ... . The Napa property is still young, but it is already becoming a queer gathering space. We are creating a refined, welcoming place where LGBTQ+ travelers, locals, friends, artists, wine lovers, and allies can gather comfortably and feel a sense of belonging.”

A welcome and gorgeous new queerowned, queer-friendly, and pet-friendly hotel property has just opened—The Charles Napa Valley. Partners Ryan McGarrigan and Charles Gruwell explain why.

PHOTO BY TIM CARL

The Q Restaurant & Bar

Deuces interior 42

SAN F RANCISCO BAY T I ME S

J U NE 1 1 , 2 0 2 6

Another queer-friendly culinary offering is Q Restaurant and Bar. General Manager Kelly Sherman says, “The Q Restaurant & Bar opened in 2007 in the Bel Aire Plaza. The opening team included many of the staff of our (former) San Francisco restaurant, MECCA, widely known as (an) innovator of social dining. (Q Restaurant and Bar) was named in the San Francisco Chronicle Top 100 and Top Ten new openings in 2007. The Q was also awarded a Bib Gourmand by The Michelin Guide, and lauded as #1 by Sunset Magazine. Our mission is to provide a great casual dining experience with fine dining sensibilities. The menu features American fare with southern influences (including) southern fried chicken and Memphis-style barbecue.”

Coach Bailie

Gay-owned Deuces Market, a European-style communal food market, is located in downtown Napa. Owner Mike Casey describes it as “a true ‘community market’ where folks can gather over coffee, wine, and house-made bites.” He talks further about the evolution of queer Napa. “It’s been a very rewarding journey,” says Mike. “We originally wanted to promote a space that was LGBTQ+-owned, and a welcoming gathering place for our community. It has thankfully grown much beyond our core community, thanks to the amazing support of our allies in Napa and surrounding areas. We proudly fly a rainbow flag out front to let folks know all our welcome, and the vibe is kindness. Now, more than ever, we receive comments from guests expressing they’re happy to support a business that has these values.” Gay Gentleman Farmer Wines co-owners Jeff Durham and Joe Wolosz not only oversee a thriving wine business, but they’ve also opened The Bungalow in downtown Napa, a craftsman home that has been redesigned and remodeled around a demonstration kitchen. The partners describe it as a “studio for gustatory well-being. The Gentleman Farmer Bungalow is not a tasting room, nor is it a restaurant. It’s a family kitchen with a (continued on page 43)

Other great queer-owned businesses to check out include: Blue Water Day Spa, Majuscule Wine, Graze Provisions, and Decant Napa Bottle Shop and Bar. So, with that in mind, hop on up to Napa, where you can revel in LGBTQ+ style for Pride. Bits and Bites Key Napa Pride 2026 Events Sunday Socials: Every Sunday, 12–3 pm at Deuces Market Pride Pet Parade & Block Pawty: Saturday, June 13, 10 am–1 pm at Deuces Market Disco Dance Party: Saturday, June 13, 7–10 pm at Napa Valley Museum Yountville FINKO! Fundraiser: Tuesday, June 16, 6–8 pm at The Fink Rocky Horror Live + Screening: Thursday, June 18, 8 p.m. (Doors 7 p.m.) at Uptown Theatre Napa Day of Solidarity: Saturday, June 20, all day in Downtown Napa Key Yountville Pride 2026 Events Yountville Pride Celebrations include the annual Pride in the Park event on Sunday, June 14, from 3–6 pm at the Yountville Veterans Memorial Park. The Yountville Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with the Town of Yountville will be hosting this event, which is free and open to all, and will feature live

Downtown Napa riverfront

music, food trucks, arts, crafts, information booths, and more. Napa Pride: https://napapride.com/ Yountville Pride celebrations: https://bit.ly/4uCjcp3 Queer-owned Napa Businesses The Charles Napa Valley: https://tinyurl.com/hcbm9c4j Queer Leaders Coalition, Napa: https://napaqueerleaders.wixsite.com/ The Q Restaurant and Bar: https://www.theqrandb.com/ Deuces Market: https://www.deucesmarket.com/ Gentleman Farmer Wines: https://gentlemanfarmerwines.com/ Blue Water Day Spa: https://bluewaterdayspanapa.com/ Majuscule Wine: https://www.majusculewine.com/ Graze Provisions: https://www.grazeprovisions.com/ Decant: https://decantnapa.com/ Back in San Francisco on Thursdays in June at the Beacon Grand Hotel, Juanita MORE! has returned to the Starlite for a month-long Pride series reigniting Juanita’s iconic happy hours. The series is developed in collaboration with the GLBT Historical Society, and anchored by a major pre-Pride kickoff drag brunch and dance party on Sunday, June 21. More than just a party, the programming is rooted in the city’s legacy as a cultural and political trailblazer for LGBTQ+ rights, with tributes to Harvey Milk and George Moscone alongside performances, guest queer bartenders, DJs, and culinary programming from Next Level Chef winner Tucker Ricchio. Juanita MORE! at the Starlite: https://juanitamore.com/events David Landis, aka “The Gay Gourmet,” is a foodie, a freelance writer, and a retired PR maven. You can email him at davidlandissf@gmail.com Or visit him online at: https://gaygourmetsf.com/

PHOTO COURTESY OF EMILY PENNINGTON

(continued from page 42) heavy pour. Think—Julia Child is Joey’s aunt, and the Royal Tenenbaums are Jeff’s cousins.” Jeff says, “(Are we) a queer gathering place? Our door is always open to everyone. We had a gay California flag at our home in Yountville, and we decided to get another for the Gentleman Farmer Bungalow. The response is very interesting. Guests walk up our stairs to check us out because they have seen the gay flag out front. It’s a sign that all are welcome. We choose to keep that flag out every day.”

S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

JUNE 11, 2026

Bay Times Dines

BAY TIMES S

And yet here, in a city that has spent 50-plus years proving that community is something built on purpose, a group of people decided to build it again. The San Francisco Pride House is not a corporate activation. It’s not a rainbow flag slapped on a sponsor booth. It’s a room that exists because specific people decided it should. They then did the unglamorous work of making it real.

Meet the people holding the door open.

The Drink: The Rainbow Striker Pitcher

Zac Brown is 33, queer, and a goalkeeper for the San Francisco Spikes, an LGBTQ-focused soccer club. And, for this World Cup, Brown is also the Executive Director of Pride House San Francisco. The goalkeeper position is an interesting one for an organizer: you’re the last line of defense, the one reading the field while everyone else is sprinting toward you, and the one who has to stay calm when everyone else is panicking.

Every Pride month deserves a cocktail with politics in it. The Rainbow Striker is built on blanco tequila, a nod to Mexico, co-host of this tournament. It is layered with hibiscus, lime, and a mezcal float that adds smoke and depth. Tajin is on the rim and there is an edible flower on top. It’s festive, it has backbone, and it scales to a pitcher for a watch party. Make it at Rikki’s. Make it at home. Make it whenever the room needs a drink that knows what it’s toasting.

The Pride House operates out of the SF LGBT Center at 1800 Market Street, a partnership between the center, the Spikes, and the global equality organization All Out. Brown has been building the infrastructure for this since late 2025, when the fundraising goal was set at $300,000 and the programming calendar was still a whiteboard. That’s the animating idea underneath all of it. Pride House is a safe space with security plans and programming to reflect how this city celebrates itself. Brown’s framing on the political moment is practical rather than defeated: “We’re not going to control the way the federal government works. But we can make sure the

An Easygoing Pup and Tabby Seeking Their Forever Homes

Salome

Here are two of the many pets now available for adoption at Oakland Animal Services (OAS): Salome is a sweet, playful pittie, who loves toys and making new friends. This 56-pound, one-year-old girl has a gentle, easygoing personality and enjoys bouncing around with happy play bows and relaxed energy. She would love to be adopted to a home soon! Like the flower she’s named after, Lavender brings a sense of calm wherever she goes. This petite young brown-and-white tabby mama is Lavender sweet, affectionate, and always happy to greet you with a gentle cheek rub. She has a soothing purr, a talent for biscuit making, and an easygoing personality that make her a joy to be around. Lavender is ready to trade mom duty for a forever home where she can relax, be adored, and enjoy the good life! The OAS adoption process focuses on matching you with a pet who is a good fit for you and your family. Come by during open adoption hours Thursdays 12–7 pm and Fridays/Saturdays/Sundays 12–3 pm to adopt your new best friend, or to learn more about the OAS adoption process. Please see the OAS website to learn more about how you can help by adopting, fostering, volunteering, and donating: www.oaklandanimalservices.org SAN F RANCISCO BAY T I ME S

Zac Brown: The Goalkeeper Who Became the Organizer

Let’s Go Home!

working on a different metric: whether the people who made it here, who calculated the risk and got on the plane anyway, find a room that was waiting for them.

Cocktails With Dina by Dina Novarr

Before the first ball was kicked, the ACLU and Amnesty International had already issued travel advisories. The welcome mat, it seemed, had become a complicated object. Transgender fans were warned about passport requirements tied to sex assigned at birth. ICE raids, racial profiling, and the general posture of the current federal administration made the welcome mat a complicated object.

LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area

The Keepers of the House Every four years, FIFA hands the world’s biggest sporting event to a country and calls it a celebration of the beautiful game. Such countries have included Russia, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. FIFA’s pattern of awarding the sport’s marquee event to controversial hosts has become predictable. This year, the World Cup is in North America, a co-host arrangement spanning the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, and the working assumption was that things would be different.

J U NE 1 1 , 2 0 2 6

people who have decided to be here have some joy.” Joy in this case is as a political act. In 2026, that’s not a small thing. Danielle Thoe: The Bar Owner Who Named a Room After a Legend Danielle Thoe grew up in Plymouth, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. She was six years old when she started playing soccer. She was ten when the U.S. Women’s team won the 1999 World Cup and made her understand, for the first time, what it looked like when women’s sports generated that kind of electricity. The image has stayed with her since. She’s now a co-owner of Rikki’s, San Francisco’s only women’s sports bar, which opened on Market Street in the Castro in June 2025, one year before the World Cup arrived. She and her co-founder Sara Yergovich met playing soccer with the Spikes. The bar is named after Rikki Streicher, the late San Francisco activist and bar owner who ran Maud’s and Amelia’s, and whose name is also on a baseball diamond in Eureka Valley. Naming a bar after a queer pioneer, instead of inventing a market-tested brand, tells you something about Thoe’s priorities. Thoe is a Pride House SF board member as well as a member of the Spikes. What Rikki’s represents and what the Pride House extends is a specific thesis about what San Francisco’s culture is actually for. It’s not a museum of its own past. It’s a place where the act of opening a women’s sports bar in the Castro in the middle of a hostile political moment is itself a statement. Thoe made that argument in brick and mortar. She’s making it again at 1800 Market. The Spikes, The Center, and the City That Shows Up Pride House SF is a joint effort: the SF LGBT Center, the Spikes, All Out, and a network of community partners that includes San Francisco Pride and the Yerba Buena Partnership. Jen Valles, Executive Director of the SF LGBT Center, is among the founding partners. This is San Francisco doing what it’s always done when the stakes get high.”This city shows up for things,” Brown said. “This is going to be fun.” Tourism projections for this World Cup are running below expectations but Pride House SF is not deterred by the math. Its

Pitcher Base 16 oz (2 cups) 1800 blanco tequila 6 oz hibiscus syrup (recipe follows) 6 oz fresh lime juice (approx. 8–10 limes) 4 oz Cointreau Per Glass ¼ oz 400 Conejos mezcal, to float over the back of a bar spoon Tajin rim lime wheel, to garnish Method Combine tequila, hibiscus syrup, lime juice, and Cointreau in a large pitcher with ice. Stir well. To serve: rim each rocks glass with Tajin, fill with pitcher mix over fresh ice, then float mezcal individually over a bar spoon. Garnish with a lime wheel and edible flowers. Do not premix the mezcal float; it’s the visual payoff of the drink. Hibiscus Syrup 1 cup dried hibiscus flowers 4 cups hot simple syrup (1:1 sugar to water) Steep hibiscus in hot syrup for 20 minutes. Strain through a fine mesh sieve. Cool completely before using. Keep refrigerated for 2 weeks. Note: This makes more than you’ll need for one batch, so use the rest in sparkling water, lemonade, or another round. Pride House SF runs through the World Cup finals. The programming calendar, watch party schedule, and donation link are at https://bit.ly/43ZJHcS The Big Gay Watch Party will take place on June 12 at Beaux in the Castro. Family Day will be June 19 at The Crossing at East Cut. The SF Pride Block Party and watch party will be at Jessie Square at Yerba Buena Lane on June 25 with drag performances hosted by San Francisco Drag Laureate Per Sia. RSVP for it at https://bit.ly/4uwlBRX San Francisco-based Dina Novarr enjoys sharing her passion for fine wines, spirits, non-alcoholic craft beverages, and more with others.

Christian’s behind-the-scenes account of evangelical mega-churches and eight years in conversion therapy before finding wholeness and authenticity. My two faves from the book: “Gay the Pray Away” and “Born This Gay.”

By Sister Dana Van Iquity Sister Dana sez, “It’s PRIDE MONTH, and I couldn’t be prouder to be Gay! Despite Congress trying to pass an astonishing 530 anti-LGBTQ bills in the U.S. this year. Despicable!!!” I am excited to announce the June 12 opening of RuPaul’s movie, Stop That Train! This is a hilarious drag parody of those old ’70s and ’80s disaster flicks, but here Ru is President of the USA! OMG! It was Harvey Milk Day on May 22, so we activists met in front of the Queer AF art store (Harvey’s old camera shop and gay activist hangout decades ago) at 575 Castro Street where the theme was “Support Trans Health!” There we heard many inspiring speeches, including one by the owner of QAF. We picked up placards and walked one whole block (marches are smaller these days) up the middle of Castro Street with the SF Pride Band leading the way to Jane Warner Plaza. The Band got our feet moving in time to “If They Could See Me Now” as we approached the plaza to hear some very inspirational speeches and classic Band music such as “San Francisco (Open Your Golden Gate)”! About a week later there was the JM! Pride 2026 Artwork Exhibition on May 28 featuring artist Blake Cedric at the GLBT Historical Society Museum. Each year for Pride, Juanita MORE! commissions an artist to create the poster artwork for her annual Pride Party. The artist is first asked to capture the beauty of Juanita MORE!, incorporate her French bulldog, and add something historic that represents the queer mecca of the world, San Francisco. While this painting certainly captures Juanita’s whimsy, in my opinion it does NOT capture her beauty. But go to the museum at 4127 18th Street and see for yourself! Fabulosa Books presented a mind-blowing Q&A on May 31 with author Timothy Schraeder Rodriguez, who wrote of his experience as a “Conversion Therapy Dropout” in conversation with Matt Nightengale. At first, this was utterly jarring to me, since from 1972–1979 I brainwashed myself into a Xtian cult that preached “homosexuality is the same as murder in the eyes of God.” Yikes! When I tried to tell them this was a total lie, the pastor’s goons gave me an old-fashioned exorcism to remove “the demon in me.” Nonetheless, this amazing book is a gay

Flawlessly co-directed by Crystal Liu & John Fisher, “La Cage Aux Folles” is one of musical theatre’s all-time biggest hits but sadly must close after June 14—having had a long run at Theatre Rhinoceros, 4229 18th Street. After 20 years of partnered bliss, Georges and Albin (who run a drag nightclub together) have a challenge, when Georges’ son announces his impending marriage to the daughter of a bigoted, right-wing politician. Drag hilarity ensues. https://www.therhino.org/ Trump’s proposed 1.776 Billion Dollar Payout (also ridiculously named “The Anti-Weaponization Fund”) was just his attempt to reward the wrongly pardoned and completely freed January 6 rioters—and restock them with weapons to build his personal army in order to attack the outcome of the midterm elections, or whatever despot Donnie’s little evil heart might desire as a militia. Only four Congressional Republicans have refused to officially outlaw that slush fund. Sister Dana sez, “It’s so ironic that the number 1776 refers to our American Revolution against Britain and its King—where Trump is obviously calling himself a king! Dethrone this wretched ruler!”

on June 5 in the heart of the Castro at Harvey Milk Plaza at sunset. We attended and, with the others present, recognized the leadership that San Francisco has played in building up successful models of HIV prevention and care; gave a call to protect the legacy of these investments; honored the memory of those we have lost to HIV and AIDS; and celebrated the many long-term HIV survivors and other leaders who push our movement forSister Dana Van Iquity with Queen Elizabeth II (aka artist Irene Hendrick) in a San ward.

SAN FRANCISCO BAY TIMES PHOTO

Sister Dana Sez: Words of Wisdumb from a Fun Nun

Francisco Bay Times Pride Parade contingent. Both are contingent regulars who are

As Pride Month favorites with paradegoers. has kicked off, and Mayor Lurie announced his budget, we participated in a timely community rally on June 7 at 16th & Mission streets, “Love, Health, & Solidarity.” We brought together LGBTQ leaders, healthcare advocates, community organizations, and local activists to oppose healthcare funding cuts and highlight their impact on vulnerable communities. The rally was organized as part of the nationwide “Seven Days in June” campaign, and participants included Juanita MORE!, Dr. Monica Gandhi (UCSF),

Tina Aguirre (Castro Cultural District), Ani Rivera (Galería de la Raza), Gael LalaChávez (LYRIC), Roberto Ordenana (GLBT Historical Society), J. Gia Loving (GSA Network), Olga Talamante, Xochitl, and other community leaders and advocates. Also of note for later this month, now in its seventh year, “The People’s March & Rally”—founded by San Francisco activists Juanita MORE! and Alex U. Inn— (continued on page 46)

Under the “ICE Detention Reengineering Initiative,” sweeping plans are being made to build 8 large-scale detention centers and 16 processing places across the country— using warehouses not designed for humans. This is disgusting and disgraceful, not to mention inhumane and immoral! These are NOT the “worst of the worst” immigrants, and many are legal with papers or were snatched in the process of getting proper papers. But great news because federal judges have ruled that T-rump must have his ugly name removed from having been slapped illegally onto The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. And another victory for us was a federal judge having put a pause on dastardly Donnie’s attempt to give $1.776 million as a slush fund for himself and the rioting insurrectionists of January 6 notoriety. On June 2, the slush fund was temporarily scrapped because of massive Republican outcry. Yet, on June 7, Congressman Schumer’s bill against it was defeated by RepubliCan’ts. Meanwhile Donald’s face is on a banner on the outer wall of the Department of Justice (where no actual justice is served these days); and we might get a $250 money certificate (a “legal” tender bill) with disgusting Donald’s face on it. Sister Dana sez, “Can I please get change for a $250 bill? No, I really mean a CHANGE FROM it! DON’T allow this in our U.S. Treasury!” An emotional candlelight vigil sponsored by HIV Advocacy Network on National HIV Long-Term Survivors Day was S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY T IM ES

JUNE 11, 2026

KRAMER (continued from pg 29) emancipation well. In support, Migs Almendras makes a nice impression as Diwa’s flirty coworker.

Assorted Silicone Rainbow Kitchen Tools Brighten cooking prep time during Pride Month and beyond with these colorful, useful tools. $4.99–$7.99

Foam Party Wigs Need to look fabulous in an instant? Our foam party wigs are easy breezy big fun! Shop early for the best selection of styles and colors before Pride. $52.99 for the wig shown

Rhinestone Jewelry Add sparkle to your look with this eye-catching costume jewelry set—necklace plus earrings— with the setting made from sturdy, shiny gold-hued brass. $27.99 Keep up with Cliff’s Variety news at Facebook ( https://bit.ly/4qh1Xbb ) & IG @hilario_sf

SISTER DANA (continued from pg 45) is shifting its focus to a Trans Ally Rally, centering transgender and BIPOC voices at a time of growing legislative attacks on trans communities nationwide. Organized in partnership with SF Pride, Indivisible San Francisco, SF Dyke March, and SF Dykes on Bikes, the protest aims to mobilize allies and reconnect Pride with its activist roots. So, on Saturday, June 27, 10 am Embarcadero Plaza, Market and Steuart streets, activists will gather and then march at 10:30 am, Embarcadero to Civic Center. Heels for Hope was a vivacious variety show fundraiser for Maitri at Marines’ Memorial Theatre on June 6. The headliner was the great RuPaul Season 10 drag winner Ginger Minj belting out rainbow songs with guest performers Fou Fou Ha and comic Jonny Stein. https://www.maitrisf.org/ Donald J. (“J” for “Jerk”) Trump went to the Walter Reed Hospital for the third time this term and stated, “Everything checked out PERFECTLY. I got all A’s!” But will we ever hear the TRUE results from a real doctor? Trump’s red, bruised hand and swollen ankles say differently. He takes observable naps in the middle of his meetings. And who brags about taking a fourth cognitive test? Only those who had questions about their mental wellness—that’s who. This PresiDense is not fit for office obviously. Sister Dana sez, “Can’t Congress get rid of Trump as President on the grounds of acute mental and physical illness, as well as 34 felony convictions?! Yeah, sure. I won’t hold my breath.” 46

SAN F RANCISCO BAY T I ME S

Join the San Francisco Bay Times email list!

J U NE 1 1 , 2 0 2 6

“Labrador - Autopsy of Silence” ( June 23, 8:30 pm, New Parkway) is an absorbing mystery from Canada that unfolds slowly and deliberately. Alupa (Christopher Angatookalook) and Alex (Alexandre Landry) work together on a freighter where Alupa is an engineer and Alex is a cook. Their relationship is secret—but some of the ship’s crew members are aware that Alex is having forbidden sex with Michelle (Gabrielle Poulin B.), the cargo ship’s First Officer. When Alex is killed, Alupa is a primary suspect. He, along with Michelle and Shakir ( Jassinth Thiagarajah), the assistant cook, are questioned by the police, but no one is saying anything. Alupa, in particular, believes that anything he does—or doesn’t—say will backfire on him, emphasizing the danger for a gay Inuk man to be accused of murder. Director Rodrigue Jean’s atmospheric film provides considerable ambiguities even though it reveals whodunnit. His conceit to have Alupa seeing Alex’s ghost adds depth to their relationship, but it is the impact of Alex’s death on Alupa that makes this mystery resonate. Tiger ( June 23, 8:45 pm, Vogue Theatre) is an involving Japanese film about Taiga (Takashi Kawaguchi), a gay man who works as a masseur in Tokyo. Visiting his older sister Minami (Maho Nonami), and their ailing father (Kenzo Shirahama) in his hometown, Taiga reconnects with his former lover Koji (Yûya Endô), who is now married to a woman and a father. Koji wants the “freedom” Taiga has as a gay man in Tokyo, and Taiga wants a child. When Taiga’s father tells him he can inherit the family home if he marries and has a family, the closeted Taiga investigates “friendship marriages.” Writer/director Anshul Chauhan based his film on real stories from the queer community, and this accounts for various supporting characters and detailed subplots. If the film feels overstuffed, the performances by Kawaguchi and Nonami are superb. Mickey & Richard ( June 23, 10 pm, Roxie) is an ingratiating documentary about Mickey Squires aka Richard Bernstein, a model and porn star who “had a look photographers liked.” Richard poignantly recounts his life and career as Mickey by acknowledging, “I couldn’t live up to the image I created.” Through interviews, film clips, and photographs, Directors Ryan A. White and A.P. Pickle show how Richard rarely felt like he belonged— in his family, at school, and even during the gaps in his career. He found fame as a model and porn star, but he also became overexposed. Richard had a relationship with Dan, the love of his life, but both men became HIV-positive. While Mickey was not shy on stage, Richard was often lonely. Mickey & Richard shows how its subject continually reinvented himself. Ultimately, this film exposes Richard’s most real and naked self—which is much more revealing than any of his nude photo or film clips. Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders ( June 24, 5:15 pm, Roxie) is Jeffrey Schwarz’s engrossing documentary that

investigates the origin, controversy, impact, and legacy of director/screenwriter William Friedkin’s 1980 thriller Cruising, which is screening after the doc at 7:45 pm. Even before its release, Friedkin’s negative portrayal enraged the gay community; activists protested both the production and release of Cruising. In Mineshaft—named after a popular private club from that time—Schwarz shows how Paul Bateson’s murder of Addison Verrill inspired Friedkin to write a film about a cop (Al Pacino), who goes undercover in New York’s gay leather scene to ferret out a killer. Mineshaft features commentary by Verrill’s sister and his partner Bob Geary, as well as a friend of Bateson’s to humanize the victim and his killer. Schwarz also includes interviews with actors and gay men who appeared in Cruising, protestors, as well as filmmakers Charles Lum and Todd Verow, and columnists Dan Savage and Michael Musto, to provide context on the film, the gay community, and Cruising’s place in our culture—then and now. The result is an illuminating case study of a divisive film that sparks reevaluation. Director Jaume Claret Muxart’s Strange River ( June 25, 5:30 pm, Vogue Theatre) is a hypnotic film about 16-year-old Dídac ( Jan Monter) on a bike-and-camping vacation in Germany with his family. When he floats away in a river one day, he encounters a nude boy, “Alexander” (Francesco Wenz), who may or may not be real. Dídac is intrigued by the stranger whom he searches for—and sees—at various times throughout the trip. Dídac is growing away from his family, and his budding sexuality may be an impetus for his longing and feeling different. While both his parents, Monika (Nausicaa Bonnín) and Albert ( Jordi Oriol Canals), are encouraging about Dídac’s kiss with Gerard, a boy back home in Barcelona, Dídac bemoans that he feels the frustration of not being desired. This also may be why he becomes obsessed with Alexander, who does not speak, but who looks at Dídac with wonder and affection in his eyes. The scenes of the teens together are quietly intimate, and Strange River becomes more spellbinding (if also narratively ambiguous) as Dídac and Alexander, “cruise” each other before they connect, holding hands, kissing, and taking a boat trip, leaving Dídac’s family behind. Their loving interactions are wordless—which suggest they are Dídac’s imagination—but also powerful, which makes the film especially satisfying. Muxart coaxes an impressive performance from Jan Monter (his screen debut), which captures the restlessness of adolescence and the thrill of discovering first love. This film is magical. © 2026 Gary M. Kramer Gary M. Kramer is the author of “Independent Queer Cinema: Reviews and Interviews,” and the co-editor of “Directory of World Cinema: Argentina.” He teaches Short Attention Span Cinema at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute and is the moderator for Cinema Salon, a weekly film discussion group. Follow him on IG @garyemkramer