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    Remembering Bretchen Towers

    Facebook/Grace Towers

    A vigil for Bretchen Towers, the drag persona of artist and performer Brett Wiley, took place on December 15, 2024, at the public art and memorial space Hibernia Beach at Castro and 18th streets. The organizers, Troy Crossman, Sergio Manuel, and Grace Towers, echoed the views of many when they described Towers as being “one of the brightest stars this town has ever seen.”

    Among the many tributes posted to social media was this from Steven Danz. He wrote, in part: “So many queens love to say that they’re ‘punk rock’ to that point where the phrase has almost lost its meaning. You were a queen who was actually Punk Rock in a way that other queens were too scared to be. Bretchen Towers is a part of the Bay Area’s long history of underground queer artists who not only rebelled against any conformity but rebelled against the conformity that sometimes infects our community.”

    One of Wiley’s best-known creations was the band Worthless, which he formed in 2013. The band performed at Powerhouse, the Castro Street Fair, and at other events and venues. Wiley shared that, being a gay man with HIV, he felt that he “owed it to his brothers to use my platforms to reach awareness … Worthless is all about being everything but worthless.”

    The tributes show how much Wiley helped enrich the lives of others, from bullied school friends whom he protected, to friends and even casual acquaintances who benefited from his support. A constant in the tributes is that he made many “feel special, loved, and seen.” The vigil, held on a cold December night in the middle of the busy holiday season, had so many attendees that they filled the nearby streets, evidencing Wiley’s importance to the LGBTQ+ Castro community.

    PHOTO COURTESY OF SISTER ROMA
    PHOTO COURTESY OF SISTER ROMA

    In Memoriam
    Published on December 19, 2024