San Francisco

The 14th Street House in San Francisco, a fixture in the Mission since 1988, faces an uncertain future.

Known by some as the Faerie House, the pink Victorian mansion was purchased by members of the counter-culture group the Radical Faeries during the height of the AIDS epidemic.

“It was purchased as a place for gay men to gather and build individual and communal intimacy at a time when bathhouses and other spaces were closing due to the AIDS epidemic,” according to a press release from the house’s organizers. “Since then, this refuge has taken on a multifaceted meaning. Various leather, kink, sex-positive, yoga and pan-spiritual groups have hosted and participated in events that touched — even transformed — the lives of many people in San Francisco and the wider world.”

San Francisco activist Michael Petrelis writes on his blog that the house is important for the city’s gay cultural identity: “There is so little queer space not colonized by commercial interests or intrusive busybodies on the government payroll or receiving state grants, making this house extraordinarily necessary for the natural evolution and development of our communal norms and sexual healing arts.

The house is going on the market in January, but the 14th Street House Project is aligning with the San Francisco Community Land Trust to turn the mansion into a housing cooperative that would shelter 6-8 low- to moderate-income tenants. The group needs to raise $900,000 by the end of the year to make that happen;

Burger King is celebrating gay pride with a message on its Whopper wrappers.

The fast-food chain says it will post a video online Wednesday that shows scenes from a San Francisco location where it sold a “Proud Whopper.” Customers were not told what is in the burger, which comes wrapped in rainbow paper. Once opened up, a message inside the wrapper states, “We are all the same inside.”

The idea is that the Proud Whopper is no different from the regular Whopper, despite its colorful packaging.

The marketing effort is part of Burger King’s push to connect with customers in a more meaningful way, particularly with the younger individuals fast-food chains are known for courting. As part of that push, Burger King recently said it was retiring its “Have It Your Way” slogan in favor of the more personal “Be Your Way” (Ad Age pointed out the phrase was “grammatically challenged”).

Whether the new approach can help Burger King Worldwide Inc. boost sales remains to be seen. The company, based in Miami, was acquired and taken private by 3G Capital in 2010. The Brazilian private investment firm took the chain public again in 2012 in a deal that allowed it to retain a majority stake while more than recouping its investment.

3G has been trying to revitalize Burger King’s image and menu ever since with mixed results in the U.S., where traditional fast-food chains have struggled amid competition from newer players such as Chipotle. Last year, Burger King’s sales at established North American locations slipped 0.9 percent.

The chain says the “Proud Whopper” video was shot over the past weekend in San Francisco, near where the city held its 44th annual gay pride parade. Fernando Machado, who heads global brand management for Burger King, said in a phone interview the “Proud Whopper” will remain on the menu until Thursday.

A rough cut of the two-minute video shows confused customers asking about the Proud Whopper, trying to figure out what makes it different, then later grasping what is happening.

“I think this wrapper means we all have the same rights,” a young child explains.

“A burger has never made me cry before,” says a young woman.

Another young woman uses an expletive to explain that it’s same stuff inside. The video also shows some negative reactions, including a man who says the chain will no longer have his business.

Burger King said the video was developed by the ad agency DAVID, and directed by Henry Alex Rubin, who also directed the film “Girl, Interrupted.”

Other food companies have also recently shown support for gay individuals, including Oreo-cookie maker Mondelez International Inc., which featured a gay couple in an ad for Honey Maid graham crackers, and Coca-Cola Co., which featured a gay couple in its Super Bowl ad.