After telling the Bay Area Reporter and other outlets that he was going to leave his Castro apartment rather than fight his new landlord over a large rent increase, gay longtime activist Cleve Jones has decided to fight the eviction. Jones, right, addressed a crowd of supporters March 27 at Harvey Milk Plaza. Other tenants who'd successfully fought eviction and political leaders joined him. Jones told the B.A.R. this week that he changed his mind, in part, because of other renters "far more vulnerable than I." His landlord, Lily Li Pao Kue, has claimed that Jones vacated the residence and moved to Guerneville. Jones does own a small cottage in the North Bay city and said he lived there for a time to escape the various COVID surges in San Francisco. But he calls San Francisco home and is registered to vote in the city. The next stop, Jones said, is a hearing before the rent board, though no date has been set.
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