California's novel solution to the Supreme Court's rejection of LGBTQ conversion therapy bans, which could be replicated elsewhere, is a law that would allow for greater civil damages through malpractice lawsuits for those pursuing the discredited practice.

Senate Bill 934, which was introduced by state Senator Scott Wiener in January, would extend the statute of limitations for seeking damages from conversion therapy to 22 years for those who received the therapy under age 18. The law brings such damages in line with those seeking civil damages from childhood sexual assault, and could serve as a serious deterrant to anyone seeking to practice conversion therapy on LGBTQ+ youths in California.

Wiener was anticipating the conservative Supreme Court's decision that came down last week that essentially questions the constitionality of banning this type of therapy, given that a person's opinions and beliefs around gender and sexuality are protected as free speech — setting aside that this is a rejected medical practice than can do actual harm to children and teens.

The California law would also allow for a 10-year window for malpractice suits for those who suffer from psychological injury or illness after undergoing conversion therapy over the age of 18.

Shannon Minter, legal director of the SF-based National Center for LGBTQ Rights, tells the Chronicle today that he's optimistic that, despite the Supreme Court broadly protecting conversion therapy on First Amendment grounds, laws like SB934 will serve as stronger protection for LGTBQ+ youth.

"The net effect of this decision will be to strengthen legal protections for young people who are harmed by conversion therapy," Minter confidently surmises, speaking to the Chronicle."

Minter adds, "What we see over and over again from survivors of conversion therapy is it often takes them many years to understand that the problem was not that they personally failed, it was that this therapy was harmful and does not work. [SB934] could in some ways be a more effective deterrent."

As Wiener puts it to the Chronicle, "It’s quackery, it’s torture and it should be banned. And if we can’t ban it, we should at least give people the tools to seek compensation from the people who inflicted this harm on them."

The Supreme Court did not rule on the merits of the Colorado law banning conversion therapy, but in an 8-1 decision — which, ironically, arrived on Transgender Day of Visibility —  the justices tossed the case back to a lower court for stricter scrutiny, essentially dooming Colorado's law. In concurring with the majority, liberal Justice Elena Kagan wrote that the Colorado law was not "viewpoint-neutral," and therefore it comes in conflict with the First Amendment.

Writing the majority opinion, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote, "The Constitution does not protect the right of some to speak freely; it protects the right of all. It safeguards not only popular ideas; it secures, even and especially, the right to voice dissenting views." Gorsuch goes on to argue that the logic in favor of the Colorado law would have led to the upholding of laws that banned therapists from endorsing the view that homosexuality was normal and healthy in the mid-20th Century, when the medical orthodoxy held that homosexuality was a disorder.

The lone dissenting vote was Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who argued in a 33-page dissent that conversion therapy was not simply speech but a form of flawed health care.

"We are on a slippery slope now: For the first time, the Supreme Court has interpreted the First Amendment to bless a risk of therapeutic harm to children by limiting the State’s ability to regulate medical providers who treat patients with speech," Jackson wrote.

Gorsuch left open, in the majority opinion, the ability of states to enforce their own medical malpractice laws, and the specific findings of harm that those typically require. He and the majority ruled only that counselors and therapists could not be fined or have their licenses threatened for expressing their own beliefs.

As it stands, California's ban on LGBTQ conversion therapy, enacted in 2012, is still on the books and would require a legal process — likely taking years — to be struck down. The Colorado law, similarly, has not yet been struck down.

Related: Supreme Court Blocks California Law Preventing Schools From Outing Kids to Their Parents If They Change Pronouns

Photo by Tong Su

The organization that built an LGBTQ-focused senior housing complex on Laguna Street in the last decade secured funding earlier this month for a significant expansion on the other side of Market Street, with a new 15-story, 187-unit building.

There will, in the next few years, be even more affordable housing for LGBTQ+ seniors, as well as veterans, just a few blocks from the Castro neighborhood.

LGBTQ+ community service and senior housing organization Openhouse and development partner Mercy Housing announced this month that they have been awarded funding for a new project at 1939 Market Street by the state's Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) Program. The site, currently a surface parking lot at the corner of Duboce and Market streets, was acquired by the city in 2020 with the express intent of developing an affordable housing project there, and Openhouse and Mercy Housing won the right to develop it through a competitive process.

The 187-unit, flatiron-shaped building will include a mix of one-bedroom and studio units, and will be marketed to LGBTQ+ city residents aged 62 and older who earn 15% to 60% of Area Median Income.

The new building will join a mini-campus run by Openhouse that includes two other previously developed buildings at 55-95 Laguna Street, which were also built in partnership with Mercy Housing, and where Openhouse runs multiple programs for LGBTQ+ seniors, including an Aging and Disability Resource Center.

Architect Paulett Taggart tells ABC7 this week that the new building at 1939 Market will also include multiple common spaces in which residents can interact with one aother, to counter tendencies to isolation.

Also, Taggart adds of the location, "obviously one of the reasons for this location is that it is located near a lot of the other LGBTQ facilities including the other one run by Openhouse."

Mayor Daniel Lurie celebrated the new funding announcement, saying in a statement, "This is an important step for LGBTQ seniors who deserve stability, dignity, and access to housing in the city they call home." And, Lurie adds, "State support for this project moves us closer to delivering new homes on a key site and strengthens our commitment to our seniors."

Marcy Adelman, who cofounded Openhouse nearly 30 years ago, said in a statement, "Openhouse housing has always been more than bricks and mortar, but rather building and strengthening community by valuing and caring for one another, especially those in later life. With the addition of 1939 Market Street, Openhouse will exponentially expand the number of safe, accessible, affordable, and supportive environments where LGBTQ+ older adults can live and thrive in community. Well done, everyone!"

In addition to Openhouse's facilities, the Bay Area is home to several senior living communities geared toward LGBTQ+ seniors, including Santa Rosa's Fountaingrove Lodge, and Oakland's Lakeside Park.

SF’s new float will debut on January 1 at the 137th annual Rose Parade in Pasadena for the first time since 1978, but it falls flat in its omission of SF’s signature rainbows, landing as more of a marketing-driven tribute to local tourism than a reflection of the city and its colorful residents.

As KPIX reports, San Francisco’s new Rose Parade float, which is set to appear before a global audience on New Years Day, pays homage to several of the city’s landmarks, including a 24-foot Golden Gate Bridge, 8-foot Painted Ladies, a giant cable car, and Chinatown's Dragon Gate. According to San Francisco Travel Association's website, the idea behind the float was to capture the "spirit, color, and creativity that make San Francisco one of the world’s most beloved cities."

Per KTVU, SF Travel invited the public to help decorate the float at Union Square’s Winter Walk over the weekend, which was kicked off with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday. While the float is being built in Pasadena, sections were shipped to SF for the decorating event, including one of the Painted Ladies and the large "SF" letters, per KTVU.

Per Bay Area Reporter, SF Travel appears to have missed the mark with its intended goal of representing the “culture, diversity, and collaborative spirit that define our city,” as the absence of any rainbows makes the float feel very one-dimensional and dare we say, “basic.”

BAR is quick to point out that SF Travel is very LGBTQ-friendly, but the publication ponders why the sea lions at Pier 39 carry more weight than the historic Castro Theatre. At the very least, couldn’t the sea lions sport some “rainbow bandanas?” BAR asks.

Image: SF Travel/Facebook

In some very sad news for the queer nightlife scene in San Francisco, Oasis, the nightclub co-founded in 2015 by D'Arcy Drollinger and the late Heklina, is planning to shut its doors after New Year's Eve.

In a blog post Monday, Drollinger shares that "the rising cost of operations, paired with declining attendance and sales, have put us in a financial loss for quite some time and made sustaining Oasis, in its current form, untenable." The club has had to pay for added security and insurance since an armed robbery in July 2024, which has reportedly further impacted the club's sustainability.

Drollinger adds that, while the decision to close was "impossibly difficult," "the spirit of Oasis lives on through Oasis Arts," the production arm of the nightclub that is one of the partners in the soon-to-be-reopened Castro Theatre.

"Oasis Arts was created to foster that creativity and envisioned a world touched by queer joy beyond the walls of Oasis itself," Drollinger writes. "Oasis Arts will continue and we look forward to bringing this art to new venues and places around San Francisco, and beyond."

While Oasis has seemed to be continually popular, particularly for its weekend drag shows and club nights, it sounds like the venue has run into a problem that is dogging many other bars and nightclubs across the city since the pandemic. As the Chronicle reported just today, owners of nightlife businesses crowded into a panel discussion a couple months ago at the Entertainment Commission's annual summit, seeking to answer the question, "Where did our customers go and how do we get them back?"

Many business owners have complained in the last couple of years that their clientele has aged and some aren't going out as much at night, and fewer people in their 20s are showing up to take their place — either because they don't drink as much as older generations, or because they're seeking out different social and entertainment spaces. And whatever business momentum many of them had before the pandemic hit has never fully recovered.

In the local world of queer nightlife, one of the biggest blows in the early pandemic was the closure of The Stud, which last year had a welcome rebirth in a new space on Folsom Street. And the Castro just saw the opening of Rikki's, a new women's sports bar, and last year's opening of Bar 49 also activated another vacant spot on the same block of Market Street.

One of the city's oldest queer bars, The Cinch on Polk Street, was recently saved in a change of ownership, with a longtime bartender taking the helm.

Oasis emerged in 2015 on the heels of Heklina's success with Mother, the drag showcase that succeeded Trannyshack and that originated at The Stud in mid-1990s. In addition to being the Saturday home of Mother, the club became a cabaret that hosted Drollinger productions like Shit and Champagne, and the Rocky Horror musical. And its stage has hosted virtually every big-name performer from the Rupaul's Drag Race universe.

Oasis survived the pandemic and even funded a rooftop renovation and other improvements thanks to Shuttered Venue Operator Grant money and a campy all-day telethon that raised $270,000. But more recently, Drollinger put on a telethon to "Save the Oasis" on March 6 that only raised $50,000 of its $400,000 goal.

She tells the Chronicle that things have become particularly dire in recent months and, "I’ve cashed in the majority of my retirement account to keep this going."

There will still be big parties at Oasis for Up Your Alley (Dore Alley) this weekend and Folsom Street Fair weekend, in addition to their weekly lineup of events, and Drollinger is promising "a New Year’s Eve Spectacular."

"We have a beautiful and diverse roster of events to close out the Best of Oasis in style," Drollinger says, encouraging everyone to "Come out to Oasis LOTS in our final months!"

Also, she's encouraging everyone to donate to Oasis Arts, which will continue to present queer performance and events at other venues in the future.

Pride Weekend in San Francisco was remarkably friction-free this year as far we saw, apart from that little booing incident with the mayor at the Trans March, and it seems like a good time was had by all.

It's always nice to get through a major event weekend in San Francisco and not to have report on some violent or otherwise negative incident. And in this era of charged politics and threats lobbed on social media, with a president who has been thrilling his base by trying to erase the very existence of trans people, it is sadly just a relief to finish out another Pride Weekend without having to relay some grim story.

The sun was out for much of the weekend, and the hate stayed at bay.

The Dyke March enjoyed sunny conditions in the early evening on Saturday in the Mission District and Castro, after a very warm and sunny afternoon in Dolores Park that drew tens of thousands of revelers and sunbathers.

The Pink Block Party at Great Northern was also well attended that afternoon, with Crystal Waters and Horse Meat Disco headlining.

The Castro on Saturday night saw plenty of lines outside bars that don't typically have lines to get inside, but the overall vibe in the neighborhood felt fairly calm and convivial.

And while some chose to party into the wee hours of Sunday at spots in SoMa and elsewhere, others were resting up to join in or watch the SF Pride Parade on Sunday morning.

Working the crowd on Sunday along Market Street, as seen in ABC 7's covereage below, Mayor Daniel Lurie said, "We're showing the world what it means to take care of each other, to look out for each other, to give everybody hope."

"These are some dark times," Lurie added. "But not here in San Francisco. We're going to show people the light here in San Francisco."

Previously: Video: Mayor Lurie Booed Out of Dolores Park as SF Trans March Kicks Off Pride Weekend

A once-forgotten 1970 queer film, The Meatrack, has returned to the screen after a partial print was rescued from the trash. The film was directed by Mike Thomas, who ran several local theaters at the time — including the Presidio Theater and North Beach Movie. Often described as a San Francisco take on Midnight Cowboy, the gritty feature follows a bisexual hustler navigating life and love in the city’s underground scene.

Restored by Vinegar Syndrome and distributed by Muscle Distribution, the film captures long-gone landmarks like the Tom Kat Theatre and features local drag legends such as Vicki Marlane. — SFGate

Amy Tan finds truth and solace in birdwatching and journaling

Bay Area native and acclaimed author Amy Tan began nature journaling in 2016 to cope with the stress brought on by escalating social and political tensions. Watching and drawing backyard birds, she discovered profound mysteries and connections in the natural world, inspiring both her art and writing.

Her observations and stories are collected in The Backyard Bird Chronicles, a new book blending nature, memory, and creativity. For Tan, observing the small, intricate behaviors of birds sharpened her understanding of character and morality in fiction, while journaling became a personal act of meaning and emotional truth. — Alta Journal

Bay Area artists paid to advocate for arts community

A new initiative from Vital Arts is paying seven Bay Area artists $1,000 a month for 18 months to collect data from the arts community, host events, and advocate for housing, health care, and fair wages. Formed after the Ghost Ship fire, the nonprofit aims to center artists in policymaking. Application deadline is July 23. — KQED

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Art, beer, and community bring new life to San Jose’s Creekside

San Jose’s Creekside area is finding new life with a vibrant art corridor and spacious beer garden from a local brewery — filling the void left by Google’s scaled-back plans for the neighborhood. The installations celebrate everything from native plants and birds to San Jose’s cultural landmarks and tech heritage.

With food vendors and creative spaces nearby, the neighborhood is reaching its goal of serving as a relaxed gathering spot that blends art, nature, and neighborhood pride. — Bay Area News Group

Steelhead and salmon set to return to Alameda Creek after decades

For the past several decades, steelhead trout and Chinook salmon were blocked from their spawning grounds in Sunol’s Alameda Creek. Now, with help from a small army of biologists and a big dig to reroute a PG&E gas line, the fish are getting their creek back.

The $80 million effort — part infrastructure project, part ecological repair — is racing to finish before migration season. If all goes to plan, salmon could swim freely here for the first time since the 1970s. — Bay Area News Group

Devil’s Slide reimagined as a scenic coastal trail

Just south of SF between Pacifica and Montera, Devil’s Slide is a cliffside trail with stunning ocean views and a dramatic backstory. Once a railroad, then a stretch of Highway 1 notorious for landslides, it was finally converted into a pedestrian and bike path in 2013. The 1.3-mile trail now offers views of whales, dolphins, seals, and nesting seabirds, plus WWII-era bunkers perched above the sea.

Note: As fate would have it, this blurb was written prior to reading about the two recent incidents that occurred in the Devil’s Slide area on Thursday. Enter at your own risk — it is called Devil’s Slide after all. — Secret San Francisco

Pop star Miist finds her voice in Marin

Early in the pandemic, Tiburon resident Miist decided to give songwriting a try when she picked up learning the piano to accompany her soprano singing voice — after persistent nudging from her husband who saw her innate talent. Before she knew it, she was collaborating with Grammy-winning producer Narada Michael Walden, landing Billboard-charting singles, and starring in music videos with millions of views.

Now, with her husband as her full-time manager, she’s using her platform to launch a global kindness movement through music, a podcast, and a new nonprofit dedicated to empathy and connection. — Marin Independent Journal

A taste of Senegal at Embarcadero

Nafy Flatley’s Teranga brings the warmth of Senegalese hospitality to San Francisco’s Embarcadero Center, offering hearty dishes and vibrant drinks inspired by her heritage. What began as a college project blossomed into a thriving restaurant, overcoming early hurdles and pandemic challenges.

With support from SF’s Vacant to Vibrant program, Teranga secured a prime downtown location and continues to grow its loyal customer base. Despite rising import costs and fluctuating foot traffic, Flatley remains optimistic and inspires others to chase their dreams with courage and passion. — The Frisc

Top image: Frameline Film Festival

Previously: Field Notes: Pupusas in the Tenderloin, Trans Quilts, a Band of Librarians, and Award-Winning Beans

A prom inside San Quentin, vintage treasure maps, librarians turned rock stars, trans quilts and immersive theater, pupusas in the Tenderloin, and a family recipe cook-off — this week’s Field Notes rounds up joy, art, and memory from San Francisco and beyond.

Pupusas, family roots, and Salvadoran art in the Tenderloin

What began as a Mission street cart is now Estrellita’s Snacks — a brick-and-mortar tribute to one family’s journey. Founded by Estrella Gonzalez and her son Angel, the Tenderloin shop honors Gonzalez’s mother, who once sold yucca chips outside local bars and restaurants.

Their pupusas, plantains, and pan con pollo fill a gap in the neighborhood’s food scene, while Salvadoran folk art and family photos fill the walls. — Mission Local

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Just beans, and other winners

Food critic MacKenzie Chung Fegan eats at top restaurants — but the Tenderloin Family Housing Cooking Competition is her favorite meal of the year. Families at 201 Turk dish out glutinous rice cakes, chicken masala sliders, and a Yemeni bean dish that claimed first prize. “It’s just beans,” the cook insisted. Not to the judges. — Chronicle

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Librarians by day, kids’ music icons by morning

Berkeley’s Story Time Band is turning toddler storytime into a full-fledged musical movement. Led by children’s librarian Michael Kwende (aka “Mr. Michael”), the all-librarian band fuses read-alouds with reggae, hip-hop, and global folk traditions — complete with plush animals, puppets, and dancing flamingos. — Berkeleyside

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Trans stories sewn into every stitch

Quilts, audio, and trans care come together in “Transmissions Quilts,” a multimedia exhibit at Berkeley’s Central Library, which runs through June. Curated by Cordy Joan and spanning three floors, the show honors trans lives through hand-crafted quilts, recorded stories, and collaborative art—each piece a testament to affirmation, resilience, and community. — Berkeley Public Library

Compton’s Cafeteria Riot play extends run

The Tenderloin Museum’s sold-out immersive play, Compton’s Cafeteria Riot, has extended its run through October. Set inside a recreated late-night diner, the show tells the story of the 1966 Compton’s Cafeteria Riot — a landmark moment of trans resistance. A 12-person cast brings the uprising to life with “breakfast for dinner” and a front-row seat to history. — Tenderloin Museum

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Inside Ruth Asawa’s home studio, a legacy of art and family lives on

Ruth Asawa raised six kids in a Noe Valley home where art, parenting, and community blurred together. Her grandson Henry Weverka walked DrawTogether’s Wendy MacNaughton through the SFMOMA retrospective, where a recreated living room shows how family dinners and wire sculptures shared the same table. — DrawTogether

Treasure hunting gets a digital upgrade

Krystyl Baldwin, a former tech worker turned vintage guru, has mapped out San Francisco’s under-the-radar retro scene with SF Vintage Maps—an interactive guide to 90 vintage shops across the city. From etched shower doors to rare Art Deco furniture, Baldwin’s passion for history and design is tangible in both her own North Beach showroom and this growing online resource.

Whether you’re seeking Gaultier gowns, mid-century cookware, or museum-worthy posters, the map connects vintage lovers to SF’s scattered gems — one QR code at a time. — 7x7

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San Quentin fathers reunite with daughters at first parenting prom

Back in April, a group of incarcerated men organized a powerful event at San Quentin: a prom where 17 fathers danced with their daughters — some reuniting for the first time in over a decade. With corsages, cake, and slow dances to Luther Vandross, it was a night of joy, healing, and new beginnings. — Local News Matters

Saving nature’s soundtrack, one hike at a time

Soundscape engineer Martin Sanchez treks into the Bay Area wilderness to record moments of pure quiet—birdsong, breezes, frogs—before they disappear. With mics hidden in forest crevices, he captures audio that's later used in meditation apps and films, building a library of the sounds that keep us grounded. — Bay Nature

Top image: 'Bodies of Water' by Lunilah Project

Previously: Field Notes: Bold Films, Pride Hikes, Show-Tune Karaoke, and Skateboarding Legends

Last week: SF is searching for a new Drag Laureate, SoMa's getting the “Four Seasons of bathhouses,” and Rikki's, the Castro's first women's sports bar, is open. This week: Roller disco, drag bingo, Circus Bella, and more.

Week in Review:

Wrapping up the week of June 9–15.

Brown bags no more — open containers are now legal five days a week on Valencia Street. Clay Theater is getting revamped by a local billionaire. The “Four Seasons of bathhouses” is coming to SoMa. Rikki’s, the first women’s sports bar in the Castro—as well the first lesbian bar in decades—is now open for business.

The city is on the hunt for a new Drag Laureate. Facebook suspended and then reinstated author Rebecca Solnit’s Facebook account after she posted an essay about the LA protests. The musical, Co-Founders, which is set in the Bay Area, made its world premiere in SF on Thursday.

Alioto’s is set to be demolished, and the infamous Vaillancourt Fountain at Embarcadero Plaza has been deemed a public hazard. Hopefully the city will let those new renegade benches stay. Dogpatch’s Pier 70 is getting an interesting-looking “multisensory playground” for grown-ups next year.

There were lots of ICE protests this week, leading up to the massive “No Kings” demonstration Saturday. Waymo suspended service in parts of SF and LA during the protests. Two Daily Cal journalists were detained by police and a Chronicle reporter was allegedly shoved to the ground while filming.

MissionLocal is tracking every ICE arrest in San Francisco. The SF and Concord immigration courts abruptly closed Tuesday while cases were still pending. Two Palestinian men with valid visas who were scheduled to speak at various Bay Area interfaith events were denied entry to the US Wednesday.

California Senator Alex Padilla was grabbed, shoved, and forcibly removed Thursday from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s event in LA. Then he went on a media blitz.

Newsom slammed Trump on Tuesday, calling his deployment of the National Guard and Marines in Los Angeles "authoritarianism.” Meanwhile, Lurie drew criticism for not wanting to poke the bear, but he did threaten to make major arrests during the weekend’s “No Kings” protests.

Nonprofits rallied at City Hall Wednesday, opposing Lurie’s cuts to homeless programs. Lurie announced plans to crack down on RV dwellers.

Santa Clara County plans to use reserve funds to continue offering gender-affirming care to trans residents.

A person was struck by a BART train at North Berkeley station Monday morning, and there were major delays on Wednesday morning. There was a major medical emergency at Hayward Station on Thursday then a second one in or around North Berkeley Station on Friday.

The Week Ahead:

Looking ahead to the week of June 16–22.

Tuesday:

Tuesday Night Roller Disco is a weekly skate party led by D. Miles Jr., featuring themed nights, rotating DJs, and a high-energy atmosphere. Tuesday, June 17, 8p.m. // Church of 8 Wheels, 554 Fillmore St // 18+, $20

Wednesday:

Every first Wednesday at The Faight Collective, unwind with a curated evening of live jazz, funk, and neo-soul from Waters Trio and friends, paired with natural wines from Massanois Imports. A chill neighborhood hangout with good music, good pours, and great vibes. Wednesday, June 18, 7–10p.m. // The Faight Collective, 473A Haight St // $12.50–23

Thursday:

Drag Bingo is a high-energy night of bingo, comedy, and camp, hosted by fabulous drag queens bringing laughs, performances, and prizes with lots of playful audience engagement, free bingo cards, and nonstop entertainment. Thursday, June 19, 7–8:30p.m. // Drag Bingo San Francisco, 358 Ocean Ave // 21+, $30

Friday:

Circus Bella’s “Hoopla” brings a charming one-ring circus experience to Yerba Buena Gardens Festival with acrobats, aerialists, clowns, jugglers, and a live band, blending heart, humor, and classic circus artistry in a modern, open-air performance. The troupe will also be performing two shows at the Gardens on Saturday. Friday, June 20, Noon–1p.m. // Great Lawn, Yerba Buena Gardens, Mission St. between 3rd & 4th Sts // free, all ages

Saturday:

The BASH (Bay Area & Sacramento Short Film Festival) features 22 eclectic local shorts, filmmaker Q&As, audience voting, and challenge film competitions—including monologues and film-in-a-day projects—with trophies and exposure up for grabs. Attendees can also network, pitch projects, and walk the red carpet. Saturday, June 21, 11a.m.–5p.m. // Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture, 2 Marina Blvd, Bldg D // $17

The Global Drum Circle offers a meditative and energizing group drumming experience designed to foster connection, self-healing, and joy—no experience required and drums are provided. Led by longtime facilitator David DiLullo, the event emphasizes rhythm as a tool for unity, with participants joining together in spontaneous grooves that shift from soothing to powerful. Saturday June 21, 7:30p.m.–8:45p.m. // 2690 Ocean Ave // Unity Spiritual Center of San Francisco // 18+ $25

Sunday:

Litquake and Lit Camp present a Pride-month author panel spotlighting queer fiction that centers joy, romance, and adventure. Featuring Jonathan Parks-Ramage, Renee Swindle, Edward Underhill, and Shoshana von Blanckensee, with Dominic Lim moderating, the event includes book talk, mingling, and summery drinks—all to celebrate and support queer storytelling. Sunday, June 22, 3–5p.m. // Page Street Co-Working, 297 Page St // $12.50–25

Image: Yerba Buena Gardens Festival

Previously: Last Week, This Week: Queer Caribbean Sounds, KQED Talk, Native Arts Fest, Succulent Expo

This week’s mix of culture, nature, and flavor includes queer hikes, show-tune karaoke, booza ice cream, an Oakland-based wine company, Lake Temescal swims, Foster City Eichler homes, SF skate history, and bold films at BAMPFA.

Pride in nature

Several LGBTQ+ groups around the Bay Area are hosting outdoor events during Pride Month to create inclusive, welcoming spaces in nature. Activities include birdwatching with Queer Birders Bay Area and Queers of a Feather, which provide gear and beginner-friendly guidance. Queer Surf hosts beach events and lessons that celebrate gender diversity in surfing culture.

Branching Out Adventures and the Rainbow Sierrans lead hikes and camping trips with a focus on accessibility and community-building. The San Francisco Hiking Club, active since the 1980s, continues to connect queer people through weekly scenic treks.—KQED

Show tunes and karaoke

A Broadway-themed singalong bar is opening in SF’s Marina District on June 26, offering a full immersive musical theater experience, including show-tune karaoke, red carpet photo ops, and themed cocktails like the “Ozmopolitan.” From Hamilton to Phantom, it’s your chance to belt it out with fellow fans. Early reservations are now open via SFBucketList.—SFBucketList

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Summer swims and scenic trails at Lake Temescal

Lake Temescal, a serene reservoir in the Oakland Hills, is open daily for the 2025 summer swim season. Just under an hour from SF via BART and bus, it features a sandy beach with lifeguards, a peaceful trail, fishing, picnicking, and WPA-era architecture.

Temescal Creek was dammed in 1868 to provide drinking water to the East Bay, and the lake’s stone beach house dates to the 1930s. Two playgrounds and shady groves round out this East Bay gem.—Secret San Francisco

San Francisco’s skateboarding culture and legacy

SFGovTV’s new short documentary explores how San Francisco helped shape global skateboarding culture. More than just a pastime, skating is part of the city’s identity—etched into its hills, plazas, and neighborhoods. The film highlights its gritty history, iconic street spots, and influential skaters.—SFGovTV

Booza in the Bay

Booza, a stretchy traditional Arab ice cream, is making its mark on the Bay. The rare treat is available at Berkeley’s Roast & Toast, where Palestinian owner Fadi Alhour serves classic and cardamom-rose flavors topped with pistachio and crispy kataifi.

Booza is also sold at Levant Dessert in Menlo Park and SF’s Dalida, and a few local markets carry packaged versions made in Texas. Its elastic texture comes from orchid root and tree resin, making it dense and slow-melting—perfect for summer.—Chronicle

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Changing the face of wine—from Oakland

Jonathan Yang and Tiffani Patton are reimagining wine from their base in Oakland. As the duo behind Laughing Gems, they craft natural wines that reflect their Chinese American and Black and Korean American heritage—designed to pair with the bold flavors they grew up with.

Their fizzy Muscat Pet-Nat and orange Muscat “Florascent” cut through rich foods, and their labels feature playful designs by local artists. They got their start at Purity Wine in Richmond, and now they're building a culture that feels like home.—EaterSF

Eichlers, bayfront living, and fair housing

Foster City is home to 200 Mid-Century Modern Eichler homes built between 1964–1966 across three neighborhoods. Known for their open layouts, glass walls, and indoor-outdoor flow, the homes reflect a bold vision of equitable housing championed by developer Joseph Eichler, who sold to buyers of all races when discrimination was still legal.

While some have been remodeled, others are being lovingly restored. Their legacy is matched by Foster City's original vision of blending modern living with open space and nature.—The Eichler Network

Global stories and bold directors at BAMPFA

Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive’s Summer and Fall 2025 film lineup explores memory, identity, and endurance across international cinema. Programs include Robert Altman at 100 and In Lonely Places, expanding noir into uncanny suburbs and isolation.

Retrospectives of Tsai Ming-liang, Mikio Naruse, and Tarkovsky highlight solitude and human connection, while works by Vivien Hillgrove and Bruce Conner showcase transformation through editing. From The 400 Blows to A Photographic Memory, it’s a season of storytelling that spans continents and generations.—Broke-Ass Stuart

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Top image: Still from 'A Photographic Memory,' screening at BAMPFA on June 28 and July 20

Previously: Field Notes: New Peninsula Trail Network, Nesting Falcons, and Black History in California

A bar dedicated primarily to celebrating women's professional and collegiate sports, which also doubles as the first lesbian bar to open in the Castro in decades, makes its debut on Wednesday.

After a few construction and city-permitting delays that caused them to miss the opening of the Golden State Valkyries season, Rikki's is having its grand opening on Wednesday, June 11, just in time for Pride Month. The bar and restaurant at 2223 Market Street fills the space left vacant last year with the closing Copas — and it happens to be just a few doors down from 12-year-old gay sports bar Hi Tops.

As we first learned in January, Rikki's is named in honor of late San Francisco bar owner, activist and softball enthusiast Rikki Streicher, who died in 1994. She was the owner of onetime lesbian bars Maud's, in Cole Valley, and Amelia's, now the Valencia Room. The Eureka Valley baseball diamond also bears Streicher's name.

Co-owners Danielle Thoe and Sara Yergovich, who met while playing in the queer soccer club the San Francisco Spikes, say they wanted to open an inclusive space where everyone is welcome. And, as Thoe tells Hoodline, women's sports will dominate, but sports fans will be able to catch Warriors, 49ers, and Giants games on the bars 15 TVs as well.

"We want to prioritize women's sports, but not exclusively show them," Thoe says.

The Castro hasn't seen a dedicated lesbian bar since the Cafe San Marcos closed in the 1990s, and other women's bars around the city like the Lexington Club have now become distant memories.

But, 2023 saw the opening of Mother on 16th Street in the Mission District, and that queer-centric, lesbian-owned spot landed on Bon Appetit's list of Best New Bars in the country in 2024.

The food menu at Rikki's, with items mostly priced under $20, was created by JD Voss, former chef-owner of SoMa gastropub Jamber. It features bar-friendly fare as well as some healthful, unusual-for-a-bar items like a dish of roasted and spiced carrots with feta dip, and a dish of sugar snap peas with either white bean dip or burrata. For vegans and vegetarians, there's also a quinoa salad with citrus and burrata, and a beet-based veggie burger.

Among the more standard bar/pub fare is a smashburger, a cornflake-crusted hot chicken sandwich, duck fat confit chicken wings with either Buffalo sauce or a dry rub, and beer-battered fish and chips. There is also a bacon-wrapped bison meatloaf served with mashed potatoes and brown-butter carrots.

The drink menu includes classics like an Old Fashioned, a Cosmopolitan, and a Tripple Espresso Martini, and signature offerings like The Queen Is King (dedicated to tennis legend Billie Jean King), featuring vodka or gin, blue spirulina, white peach, lemon and soda.

There are also six beers on tap featuring local brewers, including woman-owned Local Brewing Co's Pride-themed Gay Crush. And several low-ABV and N/A cocktails available as well.

Mayor Daniel Lurie is expected to come bless the opening at a press event Tuesday, and passersby may have seen the place come alive with some friends-and-family events over the last weekend.

On Wednesday, WBNA fans can expect to see games on the screens at Rikki's being played by the LA Sparks and Las Vegas Aces, as well as the Minnesota Lynx and Seattle Storm, both at 7 pm PT. And regular hours at Rikki's will be 3:30 pm to 10 pm on weekdays, and 3:30 pm to midnight on weekends.

See more photos and the menus below.

The second-oldest continually operating queer bar in San Francisco, Polk Street's The Cinch Saloon, is getting a new lease on life following the death of one of its longtime owners two years ago.

The Cinch Saloon, with its vaguely Western aesthetic — which, in recent years in the rear half anyway was given over to a Star Wars Cantina-inspired vibe — dates back to 1974, and holds the distinction of being the city's second-oldest continually operating gay bar after Twin Peaks in the Castro. (The Stud is technically older, having been established in 1965, but it's moved twice since then and took four years off before reopening last year at 1123 Folsom.)

As Tablehopper first reported, Cinch regular and former bartender Scott Taylor has purchased the bar, following a few months when the Cinch's future appeared in jeopardy.

Taylor has been working as the beverage director and assistant general manager at nearby Harris' Steakhouse, and he's partnering on the venture with Harris' GM Mark Buhagiar and his wife and pastry chef Joann Buhagiar, along with Mark's brother David Buhagiar, who's director of operations at Harris'.

Taylor tells the Chronicle this week, "There will be minimal changes to the bar’s look. I want to hold onto its history."

Taylor tells Tablehopper he has plans to "elevate" the back bar, adding some cocktails and wine on tap, some more top-shelf stuff, as well as new non-alcoholic options. He says prices will still be kept affordable for regulars and those looking for  their standard beverages.

The interior will also be getting a refresh, with new flooring, some new tables up front, and a refresh on the 40-foot-long bar, with the wooden overhang getting removed. Also, the Star Wars Cantina stuff will be coming down in back.

Previous Cinch owner Robby Morgenstein had been looking to sell following the death of his partner, in business and in life, Bob Thornton, in May 2023.

Photo via Instagram

In this new series, SFist highlights the uplifting stories of Bay Area residents and the communities they support, featuring Arthur Dong, San Francisco native and gay Chinese American filmmaker; Hafeth “Omar” Mansouri and his canine colleague Major of "Corner Stories;" and trans barber Santana Vasquez.

Arthur Dong, a San Francisco native and Oscar-nominated filmmaker, has built his career on telling powerful, often untold stories from the heart of his own lived experience. As a gay Chinese American, Dong brings a deeply personal lens to his work, exploring the intersections of identity, community, and justice.

Bay Area Reporter writes that the newly re-released Arthur Dong Collection features every film Dong has made—from his 1970 teen debut to his most recent documentaries. Forbidden City, USA (1989) explores the all-Chinese San Francisco nightclub, which operated from the late 1930s until 1970 and provided many Chinese performers the opportunity to work at a time when Asian American entertainers were barred from working.

Coming Out Under Fire (1994), highlights male and female veterans from World War II who had to keep their sexuality a secret, and "Outrage '69" (1995), the first installment in the PBS series, The Question of Equality, explores the divide between white male-dominated activism and women and people of color during the Stonewall Riots.

Hafeth “Omar” Mansouri and his canine colleague Major have gained celebrity status with an Instagram account boasting over 86,000 followers and a 2024 “Best of the Bay” award from SFGate. For the past 20 years, Mansouri’s Lower Haight corner store has served as a community hub for the neighborhood. The interesting people who come through Mansouri’s store every day inspired him to launch his "Corner Stories" Instagram account last June, providing glimpses into his customers’ colorful lives.

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Additionally, Mansouri’s altruism runs even deeper in the form of a community shelf consisting of free food, water, and toiletries for anyone who needs them. A recent post by Mansouri says that he’s never once reported a shoplifter.

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Santana Vasquez, a trans barber in San Francisco, is creating a welcoming space for queer and transgender men and offering free haircuts to trans men in need. Inspired by his own struggles with finding a safe, affirming place to get his haircut, Vasquez uses his barber chair to foster community and support.

KQED reports that Vasquez’s initiative, sparked by a flyer offering free haircuts in March, has been shared widely, and he continues to connect people in the trans community. Vasquez believes his work goes beyond grooming—it's about building relationships and supporting others in the face of societal challenges.

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Nominate an interesting human in the comments. Be sure to provide details on what makes them interesting!

Image: Poster from Arthur Dong's Forbidden City, USA (1989)

San Jose State's women's volleyball team, after a season spent embroiled in controversy surrounding their allegedly transgender player, lost today in the Mountain West Conference Finals against the top-seeded Colorado State Rams.

The Spartans, who struggled offensively throughout against Colorado State's potent defense, won only one set out of five. With this win, Colorado State has now secured their spot in March's 64-team bracket that will determine the sport's national champion.

This loss marks the end of a season steeped in anti-trans backlash from conservative groups and pundits, who vehemently objected to SJSU's inclusion of an allegedly transgender player. Five consecutive teams refused to play against SJSU, forfeiting their games and paving the way for the Spartans to reach the conference finals.

Additionally, nine Mountain West players and a former SJSU assistant coach filed a lawsuit to bar San Jose State from playing in this week's playoff tournament, which eventually failed on appeal in federal court.

One of those nine players is SJSU co-captain Brooke Slusser, who is also the allegedly transgender player's roommate.

“I don’t have an issue with how anyone decides to live their personal life – it has nothing to do with me,” she said. “If that’s what makes them happy it’s not my business – it’s only about women in sports," said Slusser to The Telegraph in an article released earlier today.

The protests, at one point even grew loud enough to reach President-elect Donald Trump while he was on the campaign trail.

Trump, at a Fox News town hall in October, made the now-debunked claim that SJSU's transgender player severely injured a San Diego State player on a routine play, before advocating for a ban on transgender athletes in women's sports.

"We stop it. We stop it. We absolutely stop it. You can't have it," he said.

Advocates argue that the science is still unclear on exactly how much biological advantage transgender athletes retain when on hormone replacement therapy, and that the backlash is a targeted effort to discriminate against queer individuals.

“Let’s be clear — this isn’t actually about sports; it is part of a coordinated nationwide attack on the LGBTQ+ community led by extremist right-wing politicians,” said Tony Hoang, the executive director of LGBT+ advocacy nonprofit Equality California in a statement.

SJSU's administration, the coaching staff for the women's volleyball team, and its players have been collectively steadfast in their support for the supposedly transgender player, and feel that navigating the outrage has been very exhausting.

“This has been one of the most difficult seasons I’ve ever experienced," said Head Coach Todd Kress after today's loss. “Maintaining our focus on the court and ensuring the overall safety and well-being of my players amid the external noise have been my priorities.”

Photo by Andrew Wevers/Getty Images

A teacher has been placed on leave following complaints from parents at a school board meeting in Cupertino that their four-year-old children were being taught overly complex ideas about gender identity and expression.

The tensions arose after parents of students in a transitional kindergarten class in the Cupertino Union School District found out that the teacher of the class, who identifies as nonbinary, introduced complex lists of pronouns — including "ze" and "tree" — and had LGBTQ+ books and posters in the classroom for kids who are mostly not even reading yet.

"They’re less than 5-years-old," said one parent, Qina Sa, at a recent school board meeting, per Bay Area News Group. "At this young age, children are still developing their fundamental language skills and cognitive abilities. Introducing such advanced gender fluidity concepts could create confusion rather than helping them learn."

The district has responded and agreed that pre-K students should not be getting such lessons, placing the teacher on leave.

But an education lawyer, Bradley Flynn, tells the news group that such conflicts can quickly become "legal nightmares" for a school district, especially when it comes to First Amendment questions and Title IX laws.

"If a teacher is transgender and says that they want to talk about gender expression, I think they’re well within their First Amendment right to do so," Flynn tells the News Group.

Cupertino Union Superintendent Stacy Yao said in a statement that "Based on state guidance, these topics are not age-appropriate for TK students and are not taught."

Still, though, California is one of seven states that mandates LGBTQ+ curricula for K-12 students, along with curricula that reflect a "wide variety of races, ethnicities and genders."

The district says that it does support classroom decorations that "reflect and celebrate the broad spectrum of diversity found within the district." However, they say teaching materials need to adhere to district guidelines.

Such controversies about LGBTQ+ education are rare for Bay Area school districts, although we have seen this arm of the culture war show up here in the last year. The tiny Sunol Glen Unified School District in the East Bay had two conservative board members who took a controversial vote to ban all flags last year that aren't the US or state flag, in an obvious move to ban the flying of the Pride flag that a school administrator had been doing during Pride Month. The move sparked widespread news attention and brought a lot of MAGA loons out of the woodwork who didn't even live in the district. And, subsequently, both of those school board members were voted out in a recall this past July.

Photo via Cupertino Union School District

A recall election last week decided the fates of two school board members in the Sunol Glen Unified School District who were elected during the pandemic, and they're out.

Ryan Jergensen and Linda Hurley were both recalled in a closely watched but very tiny election on July 2 — only 521 ballots were cast in total, in an East Bay school district that only has one school, a combined elementary and middle school, serving around 270 students. At issue, primarily, was a vote that the board took last September, banning the flying of all flags at Sunol Glen School except the US flag and the state flag.

The vote came after the school's superintendant and principal, Molleen Barnes, who had made the decision last June to fly a Progress Pride flag at the school. Barnes was later fired by the board.

The board is comprised of just three members, and Jergensen and Hurley were the two-person majority voting for the ban, while the third board member, Ted Romo, voted against it, and accused his fellow board members of "censorship."

Despite the tininess of the school district, the battle over the flag attracted a lot of attention given that it was taking place in the Bay Area, and some MAGA loons came out of the woodwork to show up at a couple of school board meetings as a result.

A recall effort began, and last Tuesday the community voted. Jergensen was recalled by a vote of 53% "yes" to 47% "no", and Hurley was recalled with a margin of 52% "yes" and 48% "no." In the case of Hurley, the margin was just 20 votes, and for Jergensen, just 28 votes.

These results are preliminary, and were reported on Wednesday afternoon, July 3. A county elections site indicates that the vast majority of ballots came in by mail.

"It's not like the definitive outcome that I guess we were looking forward to, but we are hopeful," said Chris Bobertz, one of the proponents of the recall, speaking to KPIX. "Above all we're looking forward to getting past this and moving to a more boring way of life, the way that things were before all this."

Bobertz also ran for a seat on the school board several years ago, and lost to Hurley by 26 votes.

An interesting sidebar to the Sunol Glen School story: Joel Souza, the filmmaker behind Rust, the modern Western film starring Alec Baldwin that's at the center of the 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, is a Fremont-based parent who has kids at Sunol Glen. As Souza told Bay Area News Group last year, the battle by the two school board members was "about them wanting to inflict harm on a group they disapprove of," and this was, "another shot in the culture war."

The fight over the Pride flag in Sunol pales in comparison to some of the book-banning and other culture-war fights happening in school districts around the country. Conservative pundits, radio hosts, and others have stoked the flames of these fights, with the larger strategy being to lure otherwise politically disengaged voters to the conservative cause, via their children. The fights have largely been about teaching about the existence of gay and trans people, about "outing" trans kids to their parents, and about sex education.

One school district in Temecula, in Southern California, came under fire for trying to ban a history textbook that mentioned Harvey Milk and the LGBTQ civil rights fight, villainizing Milk as a pedophile. A threat by Governor Gavin Newsom to fine the district $1.5 million caused them to quickly change their tune.

Assuming that Jergensen and Hurley are recalled after the vote is finalized, their two seats may be temporarily filled by members of the Alameda County Board of Education. As the Chronicle reports, the seats will then likely be up for election in November, and some of the most vocal proponents of the recall are likely to run for those seats.

Previously: East Bay School Board Member Who Voted Against LGBTQ Flags Says He's Been Getting Harassed