April 10, 2014 Edition of the Bay Area Reporter by Bay Area Reporter

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Vol. 44 • No. 15 • April 10-16, 2014

Isolation Pride announces grand marshals hampers seniors’ well-being by Matthew S. Bajko

walk through Manhattan’s gay Chelsea district is no longer as enjoyable for Charles Cole as it once was. Many of his longtime neighborhood haunts, from gay bars and hangouts to gaySAGE/Martha Gorfein catering businesses, have closed as the SAGE volunteer Charles Cole area’s LGBT population moves to other sections of New York City. And at the age of 64, the gay single New Yorker can sense the younger men who remain don’t acknowledge him when he does venture out. “One of the things I do notice when I am out in the real world ... since I am an older gay man I can be invisible to a lot of people. I can walk down the street and other gay men that are younger than I am don’t even see me,” Cole said. “Definitely, I felt isolated.” Four years ago, while attending a job fair at New York City’s LGBT community center, Cole overheard talk about computer classes offered by SAGE, short for Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders, and enrolled. Although he knew about the agency, Cole didn’t see himself as a senior citizen and had never sought out its services. “I don’t know why, I definitely was. I laugh now when I think about it,” he recalled. “When I came through the doors here the very first time, I thought for the first time I was somewhere where being an older gay man wasn’t going to automatically be two strikes against me.” Today, Cole volunteers at the SAGE Center, a community center for LGBT seniors that opened in 2012, where he works as a receptionist and programs a popular movie night. Instead of eating a TV dinner alone at home, Cole now often eats at the center, breaking bread nightly with other LGBT seniors and SAGE staffers. “I like to say that I came here to get some computer classes and I found a community and I found a home,” said Cole. Yet many LGBT older adults are lacking the social bonds and connections that Cole has formed through the center. Various research studies have found that LGBT seniors are vulnerable to being socially isolated, which can hamper their well-being and elevate their risk for depression, anxiety and other maladies. “LGBT elders don’t feel like they fit in to See page 13 >>

Jo-Lynn Otto

Jewlyes Gutierrez

Courtesy SF Pride

Tommi Avicolli Mecca

by Seth Hemmelgarn

ransgender people, a longtime queer housing activist, and a lesbian global rights advocate are the grand marshals announced so far for this year’s San Francisco LGBT Pride parade and celebration. Jewlyes Gutierrez, a transgender teen who gained attention after defending herself in a schoolyard fight, and organizers of the local Trans March, which annually draws thousands of trans people and supporters, have been selected by public vote to be honored at this year’s festivities, which are set for June 28-29. Pride organizers announced those honorees Monday, April 7. The rest were announced Tuesday Other grand marshals include housing ac-

Courtesy SF Pride

Miss Major Griffin-Gracy

tivist Tommi Avicolli Mecca, who was selected by Pride membership. The board chose transgender activist Miss Major Griffin-Gracy and global rights activist Melanie Nathan as grand marshals, and poet Judy Grahn as the lifetime achievement grand marshal. Neither GriffinGracy nor Grahn had formally accepted their selections as of Wednesday morning, according to Pride board Vice President Marsha Levine. Nathan said earlier this year when she was nominated, “I hope that it will help bring more attention to the international LGBT issues our community should be more cognizant of, especially in Africa.” The public also selected anti-gay pastor Scott Lively to receive the pink brick “award.” Each year, the pink brick goes to a group or

Courtesy SF Pride

Melanie Nathan

individual who’s hurt the LGBT community. Lively, the anti-gay U.S. activist who was a leader behind Uganda’s Kill the Gays bill, beat out nominees including Russian President Vladimir Putin, who’s been cracking down on homosexuality in his country, for the Pride distinction. Levine said that almost 6,900 people placed their votes from late February to mid-March, which she estimated is more than double the number of people who voted last year. In the non-voting category, Pride officials announced that TV personality Ross Mathews would be among the celebrity grand marshals at this year’s Pride. See page 14 >>

LYRIC marks 25 years of helping youth

by Seth Hemmelgarn

s a San Francisco nonprofit that helps youth get into housing and jobs marks its 25th anniversary, its executive director said that many of the people her agency works with annually face the same economic challenges as adults in the Bay Area. Asked about the biggest need for participants, Jodi Schwartz, who heads Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center, said, “Housing is really at the top of the list,” along with employment, and health and wellness, particularly mental health. Schwartz referred to these areas, all of which the center provides assistance with, as “the three legs of the stool.” “If any one of those things isn’t being supported, the lives of our young people are off balance,” she said. In the 2012-13 fiscal year, the agency provided direct services to 1,254 people. Just over half of them were 17 or younger, while the rest were 18 to 24. Most of the clients were “extremely low income,” according to LYRIC. The center recently has been one of the organizations placing youth in a new South of Market neighborhood housing site. Even with that space, however, there continues to be a strong lack of housing for youth. “We got five young people into this permanent housing site specifically for transition-age youth,” Schwartz, who’s been at the nonprofit for more than eight years, said. She couldn’t

Courtesy LYRIC

LYRIC supporters held signs at a press conference outside San Francisco City Hall last year when they released an evaluation brief on their successful School-Based Initiative.

remember another new housing site for that demographic opening “the entire time I’ve worked at LYRIC. This is the first time, and we’re talking about five.” The nonprofit hires more than 100 young people a year, where they spend time “learning how to work.” That includes practicing skills that may seem obvious: “showing up, filling out a time sheet, [and] working on projects,” said Schwartz. “A lot of these young people just don’t have

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any of those basic skills or anyone in their lives who can help them get those skills,” she said. She pointed to a sector that’s provided benefits for some in the city when she said, “While we have this growing tech field in our community, the level of expertise that those jobs demand, our young people are not ready for.”

Complex issues

“Overall,” said Schwartz, since LYRIC began See page 12 >>

<< Community News

2 • BAY AREA REPORTER • April 10-16, 2014

In-law, Ellis Act fixes OK; Leno bill advances by Seth Hemmelgarn

he San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday, April 8 to pass legislation related to the city’s lack of affordable housing. One proposal, which passed unanimously, would permit in-law units in the Castro in an effort to provide more affordable housing in the largely gay neighborhood. Another proposal, which passed by a vote of 9-2, would help people evicted under the Ellis Act. Gay Supervisor Scott Wiener, whose District 8 includes the Castro, introduced the in-law legislation last fall. The board still needs to vote on the proposal a second time, but it’s likely to pass. The proposal will allow property

owners to create in-law The units have to be units in garages, basebuilt within the existments, and similar uning building envelope, used spaces. among other provisions. “Addressing our housGay District 9 Superviing affordability crisis sor David Campos introrequires a variety of apduced legislation related proaches and adding to to the Ellis Act earlier this our supply of in-law units year. is a step forward,” WieCampos’s proposal Rick Gerharter ner said in a news release Supervisor would increase the payTuesday. “... We’ll also be Scott Wiener ments made by landlords creating new rent-conto city tenants facing an trolled units for the first Ellis Act eviction. Like time in over 30 years.” Wiener’s legislation, Campos’s ordiFor buildings that have 10 units or nance passed on its first reading and less, one in-law unit could be added. If will likely pass the second vote, as well. a building has more than 10 units, up “With the passage of my legislato two in-law spaces could be added. tion, tenants who are evicted under Units in rent-controlled buildings the Ellis Act now have a fighting also would be rent-controlled. chance to continue living in this

great city,” Campos said in a statement Tuesday. Supervisors Mark Farrell and Katy Tang voted against the measure. The Ellis Act is a state law that allows landlords to evict tenants in order to get out of the rental business. The ordinance would require landlords who evict using the Ellis Act to pay the difference between the tenant’s rental rate prior to eviction and what would have been the market rate for that unit for two years. Relocation payments are already required under the Ellis Act but Campos’s law would increase them significantly.

State movement

At the state level, gay Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) saw

his bill that would close an Ellis Act loophole pass out of the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee Tuesday on a 6-4 vote. Senate Bill 1429 now heads to the judiciary panel. The bill authorizes San Francisco to prohibit new property owners from invoking the Ellis Act to evict tenants for five years after the acquisition of a property, ensures that landlords can only activate their Ellis Act rights once, and creates penalties for violations of those provisions. Leno said that while the Ellis Act was “specifically designed to allow legitimate landlords a way out of the rental business,” in San Francisco the state law “is being abused by speculators who never intend to be landlords.”t

Trans women of color confab seeks to empower by Elliot Owen

wo Bay Area trans women of color are part of an unprecedented project intended to build community amongst trans women of color on a global scale. Hosted by the Allied Media Conference, an annual media and technology convention between social justice and community organizers, artists, educators, and entrepreneurs, the inaugural International Trans Women of Color Network Gathering will take place in Detroit in June. Co-founded and co-coordinated by Lexi Adsit and Askari González of the Bay Area, Bea Fonseca of Los Angeles, and B. Binaohan and Micha Cárdenas of Toronto, Canada, the June 19 network gathering is a one-day meeting of discussions, skill shares, and activities for trans and trans feminine people of color. “We’re coming together to brainstorm ways to work together and across borders to build community on

a larger level, as well as celebrate our lives and the work we’re doing in our communities,” Adsit, 23, a self-identified fierce fat femme trans Latina, said. Meant to facilitate the sharing of resources, skills, and experiences, the gathering will also provide space to strategize around how to best globally disseminate collected information. “This initial meeting will pave the road for how we build internationally, whether that be through emails, monthly phone calls, social networks, etc.,” González, 20, a self-identified disabled trans Latina artist, said. “We’re establishing our foundation and looking forward to feedback to apply next year.” The network gathering will focus on building bridges between trans women of color living and working visibly, whether in activist, academic, or street environments, and underlining the most marginalized experiences within those settings. “Black, indigenous, and/or Latina

Elliot Owen

International Trans Women of Color Network Gathering co-coordinators Lexi Adsit, left, and Askari González.

trans women, sex workers, incarcerated people, disabled people, immigrants – realities that leave people the most vulnerable and susceptible to racialized violence,” González said. “We’re specifically reaching out to folks who need more resources, getting their input and having their

voices be present in the conversation around how to best support them.” The project is currently raising funds to cover travel costs for the gathering’s participants. The average cost of one attendee is just under $1,000 and, at the time of print, $13,509 of the $16,700 goal was raised. “Many conferences I’ve been interested in I can’t go to because they’re so expensive,” González said. “If we’re going to get girls there, our focus is fundraising to cover basic costs. We can’t expect folks that are suffering from low income status or poverty to show up to something they don’t have funds for, or can’t take time off for.” An additional tenet of the gathering is visibility – to increase existing visibility around and diversify visible narratives of trans women of color. Adsit explained that it’s important for trans women of color to not only be visible to the larger LGBTQ and mainstream communities, but also to each other. That way, she said, intergenerational

work can happen in hopes of growing future community leaders. “I hope we can continue a conversation about the value of trans women of color,” Adsit said, “to show ourselves to our own community and to larger communities less familiar with us. We experience a lot of violence especially through institutions. Our ways of fighting back are revolutionary. Trans women of color are some of the most resourceful and brilliant people I know. I’ve seen girls get beat down, rise from ashes, renew themselves, and find value in their lives. Having that conversation and building a network where we’re holding that as our value – is revolutionary.”t To help sponsor a trans women of color’s attendance to the International Trans Women of Color Network Gathering, visit https:// www.indiegogo.com/projects/international-trans-women-of-color-network-gathering-at-amc2014 The campaign ends April 12.

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<< Open Forum

4 • BAY AREA REPORTER • April 10-16, 2014

Volume 44, Number 15 April 10-16, 2014 www.ebar.com PUBLISHER Michael M. Yamashita Thomas E. Horn, Publisher Emeritus (2013) Publisher (2003 – 2013) Bob Ross, Founder (1971 – 2003) NEWS EDITOR Cynthia Laird ARTS EDITOR Roberto Friedman ASSISTANT EDITORS Matthew S. Bajko Seth Hemmelgarn Jim Provenzano CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Dan Aiello • Tavo Amador Erin Blackwell • Roger Brigham Victoria A. Brownworth • Philip Campbell Heather Cassell • Chuck Colbert Richard Dodds • David Guarino Peter Hernandez • Liz Highleyman Brandon Judell • John F. Karr • Lisa Keen Matthew Kennedy • David Lamble Michael McAllister • Michael McDonagh David-Elijah Nahmod • Elliot Owen Paul Parish • Lois Pearlman • Tim Pfaff Jim Piechota • Bob Roehr Philip Ruth • Donna Sachet • Adam Sandel Jason Serinus • Gregg Shapiro Gwendolyn Smith • Jim Stewart Ed Walsh • Sura Wood ART DIRECTION Jay Cribas PRODUCTION/DESIGN Max Leger PHOTOGRAPHERS Jane Philomen Cleland Rick Gerharter • Lydia Gonzales Rudy K. Lawidjaja • Steven Underhill Bill Wilson ILLUSTRATORS & CARTOONISTS Paul Berge Christine Smith ADVERTISING/ADMINISTRATION Colleen Small VICE PRESIDENT OF ADVERTISING Scott Wazlowski – 415.359.2612 NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Rivendell Media – 212.242.6863

LEGAL COUNSEL Paul H. Melbostad, Esq.

Quick as a fox

ozilla CEO Brendan Eich resigned under pressure last week from the tech company that is best known for its open source Firefox browser because of a $1,000 donation he made in 2008 to the proponents of Proposition 8, California’s now-defunct same-sex marriage ban. After several years with the company but only two weeks in the top job, Eich’s abrupt departure is not a cautionary warning that every person who donated to the Yes on 8 campaign could be fired, as the usual right-wingers would have you believe. That’s ridiculous. What Eich’s resignation does reveal, however, is that nearly six years after one of the most divisive initiative campaigns in the state, opinions have evolved toward acceptance and thus, it’s much better to explain yourself than remain silent. Unfortunately for Eich, he chose to stonewall, which didn’t work out too well for him. Some anti-gay groups are complaining because they incorrectly state that Eich was a target of the “gay mafia,” you know, the wellfunded national LGBT organizations. But groups like the Human Rights Campaign never waged an effort to force Eich from his job. Likewise, Freedom to Marry, another national organization, mounted no concerted effort against Eich. “There is no monolithic gay rights movement that called for this,” Freedom to Marry Executive Director Evan Wolfson told the New York Times. No, in this case, the action came from within Mozilla, but those board members and employees were helped immensely by Eich’s refusal to discuss the donation, why he made it, and whether his views on same-sex marriage have changed in the past six years. According to the Times Eich refused to repudiate his donation, even after being asked personally to do so in a meeting with two prominent software developers who said they would no longer create apps for Firefox. Same-sex marriage is now legal in the Golden State, thanks to the measure being struck down in federal court (the federal court decision was upheld when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the proponents lacked standing) and Eich’s unwillingness to discuss the donation most likely cost him his job more than the contribution itself. Each

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which makes for interesting developments. As we’ve seen in San Francisco with the tension between housing costs and the influx of tech workers, these entrepreneurs often think an app will solve a problem but oftentimes fail to see the negative consequences. Can’t get a taxi? Create an app (Uber). But just as Uber and other car service companies have recently had to face the fact that they weren’t providing adequate insurance for their drivers, so it is with executives like Eich who may have a “live and let live” philosophy on most issues but can’t see how it applies to LGBT rights. Eich reportedly asked critics to give him time to “show that he could separate his personal views from the way his company conducts business,” the Times reported. Mozilla’s board didn’t want to wait and cut its losses. The conflicts between free speech and LGBT rights have recently gained broad attention with the so-called license to discriminate bills, as we noted a few weeks ago. Eich had every right to make his political donation. Mozilla had every right to cut him loose when he wouldn’t answer basic questions about it from its own board members, employees, and contributors.t

Rewarding allies for their support by Ron Flynn and Zoe Dunning

BAY AREA REPORTER

side in the Prop 8 fight raised about $40 million, so a $1,000 check wasn’t significant by any definition. The donation wasn’t even a secret at Mozilla as employees heard about it a couple of years ago at a conference. But Eich wasn’t CEO then, he was chief technology officer; and the light always shines brighter on a CEO than other company executives. Fair or not, CEOs are held to a higher standard. Forces outside of the company also played a part. The dating site OkCupid went so far as to request its clients not to use the Firefox browser when visiting the site, bringing more attention to the issues and adding more unwanted publicity for Mozilla. Mozilla’s workforce draws from a wide swath of people, and many work without pay developing programming code – but even among these types, the furor was too great. We don’t know Eich or his political views. Many tech CEOs and employees are generally somewhat libertarian in their worldview,

he Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club is the oldest registered LGBT Democratic club in the country. The club was founded in 1972 by Jim Foster to advocate for gay rights within the Democrat Party as an avenue for equality for our community. This year, Alice has endorsed Democrats Betty Yee for state controller and David Chiu for state Assembly District 17. We endorsed each of these straight allies over their openly gay opponents, and would like to explain why. San Francisco is blessed to have two long-standing LGBT Democratic clubs, Alice and the Harvey Milk club. Although we sometimes hold differing perspectives on candidates or issues, both clubs contribute tremendous time organizing and fighting for our rights – same-sex marriage, LGBT youth and senior support, transgender protections, repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” funding of HIV and AIDS services, and countless other areas important to the San Francisco LGBT community. Each club has, over the years, endorsed straight allies over LGBT candidates for a variety of offices. Alice has a history of helping support and grow a long list of strong advocates for our community, both LGBT and straight allies: Nancy Pelosi, Gavin Newsom, Kamala Harris, Mark Leno, Scott Wiener, Jose Cisneros, and Leslie Katz are just a few of the candidates we have helped get elected over the years. The most important of all criteria is selecting the candidate who will be the most effective for San Franciscans, and more specifically, the LGBT community. We believe in order for our community’s voice to be heard and our concerns to be addressed, it is important to build a broad-based coalition and work toward overall social jus-

financial background and expertise tice. This includes electing our that Yee has. Finally, we also took strongest allies as well as out LGBT into consideration the need for more candidates. As a minority group, we women at the statewide level. We are must build this coalition and both proud of our endorsement of Yee for encourage – and reward – those controller. straight allies who stand with us. In the battle of the Davids, we We endorsed Lieutenant Governor also came out in favor of an ally. We Newsom for re-election this year for examined the voting records of Sumany reasons, but most notably he pervisor David Campos and Chiu, was the straight leader that kicked Jane Philomen Cleland the board president. There is no open the marriage equality door 10 Betty Yee vote concerning the LGBT commuyears ago. The other LGBT nity where Campos was with us and Democratic club refused Chiu was against us. That is because to endorse him. How do Chiu has always stood with us. He we ask people to stand votes our way. with us if we will not He has also demonstrated his stand with them? Yee commitment to be a leader on and Chiu have stood LGBT issues, by coming to the with us and deserve community and constantly seeking our support in return. input. That is important. Yee has been a fierce Chiu has been a master of the legadvocate for the LGBT Jane Philomen Cleland islative process as board president. community for many He put together coalitions and gets years. She has actively sought, and David Chiu work done. We know he will work received, Alice’s endorsement over to represent all of San Francisco, inseveral elections. Her current posicluding the LGBT community. Just as tion on the State Board of EqualizaSan Francisco is lucky to have two LGBT Demtion proved critical in our fight for marriage ocratic clubs to debate issues, it is lucky to have equality. She was a leader in attempting to two great candidates vying to represent us in equalize the taxes between straight people and the Assembly. Given Chiu’s record of supportthe LGBT community during her tenure. The ing us – and of getting important legislation results of her work revising tax regulations was passed – Alice gave the endorsement to him. cited in the Perry decision, as part of the record In future elections Alice will continue to of the strides California has taken to provide endorse LGBT candidates and to endorse rights to LGBT. We know she will look out for straight allies. Both are necessary to extend the us, as she has done in the past. Another considrights for our community. Both are necessary eration in our endorsement process was the fact to build the coalition that will secure equality she is a public finance expert – this is what she for everyone.t had dedicated her life to. With this experience, she is uniquely qualified for the position of controller, who oversees the state’s money. While Ron Flynn and Zoe Dunning are co-chairs John A. Perez was a great Assembly speaker, and of the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club. is a member of our community, he lacks the

Politics>>

April 10-16, 2014 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 5

CA port officials form LGBT affinity group by Matthew S. Bajko

alifornia port officials have formed what is believed to be the first LGBT affinity group in the nation for employees and commissioners working at or overseeing maritime facilities across the state. Six months after the group’s first meeting, which was held in San Francisco, its members are focused on increasing its membership and raising awareness of its existence. Another goal is to make the states’ ports safe work environments for LGBT employees and officials to be out of the closet. “One of the things that shocked me was how homophobic and closeted the culture was, historically, for ports,” said gay Oakland Port Commissioner Michael Colbruno, who joined the powerful oversight committee last spring. “I’d find people who had worked for 20 years at ports afraid to come out. It was an old boys’ network.” Joel Valenzuela, director of maritime operations at the San Diego port, said the climate at his job site has changed since he started working there 15 years ago. He was hired as a straight married man and later came out on the job. “I was pleasantly surprised. People didn’t miss a beat,” recalled Valenzuela, who has pictures of his partner and daughters at work. The San Diego port now recruits during the city’s annual Pride festival and its harbor police march in the parade. But Valenzuela acknowledged that he still has concerns about being so out at work. “I do worry when meeting with customers it might cause us to lose business,” he said. The idea for the port LGBT affinity group grew out of a lunch Colbruno had with his counterpart across the bay, lesbian San Francisco Port Commissioner Leslie Katz, who was appointed to her seat three years ago and was elected president of the commission in January. “My first thought was to get all the LGBT port commissioners together,” recalled Katz. “Then we thought, let’s expand it to senior staff.” Last July, the California Association of Port Authorities advisory committee, at the urging of its president, Wayne Darbeau, who is the Port of San Diego’s president and CEO, adopted a resolution forming the LGBT affinity group. Darbeau then surprised the group at its first meeting with a resolution that stated “California’s ports support inclusivity of all people regardless of ” gender identity or sexual orientation. It added that “diversity generates greatness and success, and California ports provide opportunities for men, women and the transgender community who possess great talent to advance the state’s port system.” The majority of the group’s members come from Oakland, San Francisco and San Diego, where a

On the web Online content this week includes the Bay Area Reporter’s online columns Political Notes and Wedding Bells Ring; the Out in the World column; and stories previewing the Utah marriage court case and the LGBT Community Center’s Soiree fundraiser. www.ebar.com.

Jane Philomen Cleland

Attendees of the California Association of Port Authorities LGBT Diversity Group’s recent meeting gathered for a group photo near the Port of Oakland.

gay man, Bob Nelson, is the current president of that city’s port commission. So far it has failed to attract members from the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports; there are 11 publicly-owned ports scattered throughout the state. “It is important that we have an affinity group because we can have influence on all the other ports,” Katz said. Officially called the California Association of Port Authorities (CAPA) LGBT Diversity Group, its inaugural meeting drew more than 30 people, both LGBT and straight attendees. It has since met in San Diego and most recently in Oakland, whose port hosted the group for a daylong meeting in mid-March. “It has kept its momentum,” said Colbruno. “There is a lot of interest in it. Under CAPA we are the only recognized affinity group.” Having the backing of CAPA is “very exciting,” said Robert Bernardo, a gay man who has worked at the Oakland port for 12 years. “It shows how far the Port of Oakland and all of the ports have come.” The Port of Oakland created an employee gay-straight alliance in 2006, and, in 2007, the group marched in the San Francisco LGBT Pride parade. “It was an informal group for LGBT people and our allies at the Port of Oakland to get together for lunch,” said Bernardo, who is president of the San Mateo County Harbor Commission. Richard Sinkoff, a gay man who is director of environmental planning and programs for the Port of Oakland, recently attended an Out and Equal conference for the first time. Not only did it provide for a networking opportunity to attract business to the Oakland port, he said, it highlighted the importance of being out about the port being an LGBT-affirming workplace. He related how advertisements for a new human resources director for the port said nothing about diversity being a priority. The concern, he said, is that LGBT qualified candidates could decide not to apply thinking they would not be welcome. “There is real value to small steps we can take at your ports to just raise awareness,” said Sinkoff. “We want employees and the public to know something is going on and maybe they might want to talk about this.”

Gay man joins SF fire panel

For years LGBT representation has been missing from the San Francisco Fire Commission. That changed March 27 when Ken Cleaveland, a gay man who is the vice president of public policy for the Building Owners and Manag-

ers Association, took part in his first meeting as a fire commissioner. “There has not been a member of the LGBT community on this important commission for some time, so we are excited to have representation. Ken will do a fantastic job,” Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club Co-Chair Zoe Dunning wrote in an email sent to club members last week. Cleaveland, 66, an Alice board member, stepped down as secretary of the three-person San Francisco Finance Corporation that oversees the revenue bonds issued by the city after Mayor Ed Lee appointed him to the fire commission. “Here is an opportunity to make our community more visible within the fire department culture of our city,” Cleaveland said in a phone interview this week. Through his job at the building owners association, Cleaveland was involved in a fire policy fight last fall over the installation of air replenishment systems used by firefighters in large buildings downtown. He said those discussions came before he expressed interest about joining the fire commission. “To my mind that was not a controversy. For the company that had the patent monopoly on the installation of those systems, it was a great controversy to them,” he said. “It had no bearing on my decision to become a fire commissioner.”

Late night transit, LGBT seniors hearings

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ Land Use and Economic Development Committee will take up the issue of late night transit options next week. As the Political Notebook reported in January, District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener is calling on the city and regional transit officials to reexamine the bus and train services offered at night, not only for the bar-going crowd but also for latenight and graveyard shift workers. The hearing will begin at 1:30 p.m. Monday, April 14 in Room 263 at City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place. Wiener will also hold a hearing at the board’s Neighborhood Safety and Services Committee to accept the recommendations of the LGBT Aging Policy Task Force on the needs and concerns of senior members of the LGBT community. The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. Thursday, April 17 in Room 250 at City Hall.t

Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http:// www.ebar.com Monday mornings at noon for Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion. This week’s column highlighted coming votes on proposals to name SF streets after a gay man and a transgender nightclub performer.

<< Business News

10 • BAY AREA REPORTER • April 10-16, 2014

Star-quality massages at In-Symmetry by Heather Cassell

elebrity service without the price, seriously, that’s what local lesbian-owned In-Symmetry Wellness Spa offers its clients, along with a warm and welcoming environment and making peoples’ bodies feel good. Candace Combs, a 43-year-old self-identified “lesbionic,” is the CEO of In-Symmetry. Her vision has been to help create a life of bal-

ance and healing for her clients ever since she ditched the tech industry in the late 1990s. Combs has been a body worker to movie and rock stars and everyone in between for 15 years. Working with celebrities was about connections through her ex-girlfriend and former business partner, who was a structural body worker. Combs was already working with k.d. lang whenever she came to San Francisco.

candlelight meditation prayer chant Thursdays at 6pm during Lent March 13–April 10

St. John the Evangelist Church 1661 15th Street at Julian Avenue (Near 16th Street BART) www.saintjohnsf.org

Palm Sunday Worship

Sunday April 13th at 10am Maundy Thursday Soup & Worship Thursday, April 17th 6:30pm St John’s United Church of Christ 501 Laguna Honda Blvd at Woodside www.sfstjohnsucc.org 415- 731-9333 Forest Hill Muni K,L & M lines Muni bus #43#44, #36, & #52

Engaging Worship & Amazing Music, Sundays at 10am

Combs, a New Orleans native who knows music, and her brother, Dave Combs, a 28-year-old ally, who is the general manager of In-Symmetry, said they followed the stars to success. “I’ve worked on a lot of people really [in Hollywood],” said Candace Combs, who had nothing but good experiences with actors. “Hollywood stars were great.”

Good karma

Combs escaped her conservative family and came to San Francisco when she was 21 years old. Not knowing what to do with her life she accepted a job at Microsoft in Seattle. She spent a year there before returning to San Francisco to ride the dot-com wave. She got out just before the boom went bust in 1999. After years of feeling good after her morning yoga classes and monthly massages, she found herself staring at the computer monitors she was busy swiveling around managing quality control and realized no matter how much her pay cut would be she had to get off the wave. “I just didn’t want to do it anymore. It felt soulless ... with those screens just glaring back,” said Combs. “I just realized at that moment I’m not doing anything for the world and I’m not helping people. I just didn’t want to do it anymore. “I was doing a ton of yoga, a lot of acupuncture and a lot of massage,” said Combs, who developed a passion for the healing arts so much that she graduated from the San Francisco School of Massage. She and her then-girlfriend and business partner decamped from San Francisco to Hollywood where they set up In-Symmetry, as the wave hit California’s shores. The women’s goal was to work with bands on tour and Broadway productions, but the business grew beyond their imaginations. They began receiving calls to work at 3 a.m. regularly. One year they were the masseuses during the Academy Awards, said Candace and Dave Combs. Two years in Los Angeles was enough for the women, who became only business partners in 2004, and they returned to San Francisco and set up shop in Potrero Hill, said Combs. The business grew with waiting lists stretching out three weeks for each of them. She hired staff to pick up the overflow, turning InSymmetry into a full-fledged busi-

Jane Philomen Cleland

Candace Combs is the CEO of In-Symmetry Wellness Spa

ness. In 2010, Combs bought her business partner out and moved the spa to its current location at 650 Florida Street, Suite D, where it’s been for nearly three years. Combs has been in a relationship with acupuncturist Courtney Moore for the past five years. Today, In-Symmetry is home to 25 part-time masseuses, three full-time employees, including Combs, Elizabeth Markham, a 30-year-old ally who is the managing esthetician, and Dave Combs. Clients are loyal to the business. It’s the only place that Sunny Schwartz, a 59-year-old lesbian who is a veteran criminal justice professional with the City and County of San Francisco, and her partner Lauren Schwartz get their massages in the city, she said. “It’s just a fabulous feeling walking in and certainly more so leaving,” said Sunny Schwartz. More than eight years ago a friend referred the couple to In-Symmetry when Lauren Schwartz was pregnant with one of the couple’s children. They haven’t gone anywhere else since then. “I’ve never had a bad massage there,” said Sunny Schwartz, who goes in when she has muscle spasms, sports issues, or simply needs help relaxing. “Every single time I walk away feeling so much better and virtually cured of my ailment.” Greg Sherrell, co-host of the Fernando and Greg in the Morning show on 99.7 NOW, agreed, adding that he liked In-Symmetry’s convenient

hours and availability on Sundays. “Their services specifically dictate the kind of massage that I want,” said Sherrell, a 40-year-old gay man, who works with In-Symmetry’s masseuses depending on his body’s needs. “There are times when I just want to come in relax and zone out and there are other times when I’m in training mode and need specific work in certain parts of my body.” Sherrell stumbled upon In-Symmetry one lazy Sunday about five years ago when he was searching for a last-minute massage, but it was “impossible to find anyplace that was open on a Sunday,” he said. Then he found In-Symmetry and immediately booked an appointment. Like the Schwartzes he hasn’t gone anywhere else in the city since.

The rub

The spa’s masseuses specialize in customized deep-tissue and sports massage that incorporates hot stone therapy along with esthetician services using medical-grade and organic skincare products. “We are really about wellness. We are a results oriented spa,” said Combs, who helps match clients with the masseuse on her team that is right for them while keeping prices down, without giving up the high quality. “We are never going to be Union Square prices,” said Combs. “We are just not that. We are a come in, we don’t care who you are let us help you,” type of spa. Prices range for various treatments, but as an example, In-Symmetry charges $90 for a 60-minute deep tissue massage with hot stones, or $125 for 90 minutes. Some of the Union Square spas charge $155 for a 50-minute non-member deep tissue massage or $180 for a 90-minute deep tissue massage with hot stones. Combs also gives back to the community. She donates upward of an estimated $20,000 annually to kids’ education, dogs, and the LGBT community, she said. “Everyone is so happy to come in here,” Combs said. “When they walk out they are so grateful and we all need it. Touch is unbelievably important.”t In-Symmetry is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The spa is offering $50 treatments during Spa Week, April 21-27. For more information, visit http://www.insymmetry.com.

Comments sought on Castro sidewalk text compiled by Cynthia Laird

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ublic comment on proposed text for the Castro Street History Walk will be accepted by the Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit District board at its meeting Thursday (April 10) at 501 Castro Street, second floor. The meeting goes from 6 to 7:30 p.m. and public comment will be accepted during the history walk agenda item. The CBD has agreed to fund the installation of 20 facts related to the history of Castro Street and the surrounding neighborhood. The selected facts, which will be etched into the sidewalk, are meant to convey interesting pieces of information and milestones, from the original Native American settlers to the present day. Urban planner Nicholas Perry, a Castro resident and author, has

done the research for the project and a draft list of facts was included in a Bay Area Reporter blog post about the meeting (http://ebar. com/blogs/castro-streetsidewalks-history-facts-proposal-released/). The CBD is spending $10,000 on the project, which is separate from the Rainbow Honor Walk installation. Andrea Aiello, CBD executive director, encourages people to submit their comments in writing so that they are understood exactly and to prevent errors in suggestions. Comments can be emailed prior to the meeting to execdirector@castrocbd.org. Submissions will be accepted until April 18. Aiello also emphasized that no decisions on the text will be made at Thursday’s meeting. Before a final decision is made, the history walk work group will review all comments on the existing

proposed text and all new suggestions, including the references and citations. This review may take one to two months, Aiello said. These group meetings are also open to the public and public comment will be taken. The meeting dates will be posted on the CBD website as soon as they are set. The working group will then make a recommendation to the board on the 20 historic texts to be etched into the sidewalk. For more information, visit www. castrocbd.org.

Harvey Milk school carnival

The Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy will hold its annual spring carnival Saturday, April 12 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the public elementary school, 4325 19th Street in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood. Admission to the carnival is free. Tickets for games and food are $1 and raffle tickets are $5. See page 14 >>

Community News>>

April 10-16, 2014 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 11

St. Francis Lutheran installs lesbian pastor by David-Elijah Nahmod

t was a packed house at St. Francis Lutheran Church for the recent installation of the Reverend Beate Chun as its new pastor. Chun, 54 and an out lesbian, was accompanied to the service by her fiancee, Alex Popova. The couple plans to marry soon, they said. Some congregants noted that such a move wouldn’t have been possible before the historic changes within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, with which St. Francis is affiliated. Clergy from other congregations came to join in giving praise and asking God to guide the new spiritual leader. The installation of Chun was particularly meaningful for St. Francis, which was founded in 1964. In 1982, the then-escalating AIDS epidemic inspired the church to reach out to the LGBT community. Soon, half of the congregants were gay men. In 1990, St. Francis ordained one gay male and two lesbian seminarians after the local

bishop had refused to ordain them. This led to St. Francis being expelled from ELCA. St. Francis continued worshiping as an independent Lutheran congregation until 2011, two years after ELCA reversed its position on out LGBT pastors. Chun comes to St. Francis as an accepted member of the Lutheran Church. “I was hoping and praying for this,” Chun told the Bay Area Reporter, as Popova stood by her side. “I’m grateful to the people of San Francisco, of California, and of the Lutheran Church who took a leadership position for equal treatment of sexual minorities in every way. It feels like heaven has come down to us. Five years ago I could not have imagined that same-sex marriage would be legal.” Born in the Black Forest of Germany, Chun came to the U.S., leading Lutheran congregations in Texas, Wyoming, and California. Once married to a man, she now fully embraces her lesbian identity. In addition to leading services, Chun is enthusiastic about her involvement in church programs that benefit chil-

Jane Philomen Cleland

Church leaders, led by the Reverend Susan Strouse, dean of the San Francisco Conference, and all in attendance lay hands on the Reverend Beate Chun during her installation at St. Francis Lutheran Church March 30.

dren and seniors, as well as St. Francis’ Sunday morning meal, which feeds an average of 125 people. The March 30 installation filled the sanctuary with joy, and even a few

tears. There were numerous speakers. “You have responsibilities,” said the Reverend Lyle Beckham of San Francisco Night Ministry. “To the poor, the sick, the weak and the

marginalized. And to the healthy and the wealthy, who in this city can be as isolated as anyone else.” Colleagues also urged Chun to be herself. “Do not neglect the gift that is you,” said the Reverend Marjorie Pearson of San Jose’s First Presbyterian Church. As Chun knelt down for the final portion of the installation, the entire congregation stood around her. They were all connected as one as they created a human chain by touching each other’s shoulders. The Reverend Susan Strouse, the installing pastor and dean of the San Francisco Conference, asked Chun if she accepted her new responsibilities. “Yes, and I ask God to help me,” replied a smiling Chun. The new pastor of St. Francis stood up and addressed her congregation. “Peace of Christ be with you always,” she said. “And also to you,” replied the congregation in unison. There was hugging and handshaking as Chun began her duties.t

Gay Face launches crowdfunding campaign by Heather Cassell

ueer Brooklyn-based photographer Ashley Kolodner is at it again, photographing LGBT people for her Gay Face project, but this time she’s taking it national and adding an Ally Face component. Kolodner, 26, visited the Bay Area last June and took portraits of 35 people. What differentiates her photos from similar campaigns is that she photographs in front of colorful paper that is used as the background. She began the ally project in response to her straight friends who wanted to participate. “The allies are just as important as the community itself,” said Kolodner. To fund the next chapter, she launched the Gay Face First Class Kickstarter campaign April 8 to raise $46,720.

The money will fund another tour of the U.S., visiting 28 states to add to the 230 portraits of LGBT people that she’s taken and the roughly 50 photos she’s taken of allies. At the end of the adventure the images will culminate in a book, she said. “The goal is to travel, collect stories of people, to photograph them all over so you can really see the faces that are in Tennessee, Utah, or whatnot,” said Kolodner, then putting it all together “so people can have a beautiful book that is not just full of images, but also stories.” The Washington, D.C. native graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in commercial photography from the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara in 2011. That same year, Kolodner began Gay Face as a personal project, to escape the narrowness of the focus of her lens in art, fashion, and music

photography, but in 2012 it began to gain traction, she said. Funding the estimated $80,000 project herself through donations from her parents, friends, and her work as a freelance photographer shooting corporate portraits, musicians, and fashion spreads in New York she began taking photos of LGBT people with elaborate colorful paper backgrounds created by the subjects. Outside of traveling, the paper used in the backgrounds is expensive, said Kolodner. While she might have rethought the paper it has now become an act of creative expression by her subjects, who often take the paper home with them after the photo shoot. “It’s been a wonderful thing,” she said about how people take the paper and create coasters and pin boards, “all kinds of things.”

He attended the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, receiving a bachelor’s degree in finance and continued his education receiving his master’s degree in journalism from Ohio University in l968. Bert believed in service to our country and was inducted into the United States Army on February 26, 1969 and was honorably discharged on December 4, 1970. After 12 years in Philadelphia and two years in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, he moved to San Francisco. He started Alamo Square Press and published 23 books (three of which he wrote). His first book was Being, Being Happy, Being Gay followed by TRUST, a guide to the sensual and spiritual art of handballing. In 1998 he moved to New Mexico and built his dream home nestled in the foothills of the Manzano Mountains. In 2003 he wrote his final book entitled Mountainair, N.M., Centennial History, 1903-2003. Many of the books he wrote and published are still in print. The book, What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality, is in its 12th printing.

tendees are encouraged to wear pink. Mr. Huser, a former San Francisco resident, died February 23 in Portland, Oregon of an apparent heart attack. He was 51. As Sister Barbi, Mr. Huser contributed much to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, an organization of drag nuns. He had been involved in Pink Saturday and helped produce the street party in 2009, the year Michael Jackson died. According to a biography provided by the Sisters, Barbi was one of the founders of the Russian River House.

While she loved Adam Bouska’s NoH8 photo project, where images are taken against a bright white background, and 50 Shades of Gay, black and white portraitures of LGBT subjects, Kolodner doesn’t perceive the community so starkly. In her project the individuals get to create their own backgrounds and express how colorful they are, she said. “It’s been a humbling kind of thing. It’s been a great thing,” said Kolodner.t

For more information, visit https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1878936840/gayface-1st-class1st-edition-portrait-book or www. gayface1stclass.com or contact gayface1stclass@gmail.com. The campaign ends May 7.

Obituaries >> Tom Hamilton January 6, 2014 San Francisco lost part of its soul on January 6, 2014 when former resident Tom Hamilton, who lived in Santa Rosa, succumbed to natural causes and left this earth. Tom grew up in Colorado and Arizona. He graduated from Arizona State, married, and moved to Telegraph Hill in San Francisco. Tom divorced and discovered his true calling. He worked for many years as a valued employee at Gump’s, catering to the upper crust of society. He then went into business for himself and became a housepainter. Later on he also worked at the Design Center. Tom liked all aspects of the gay community. He was well known South of Market, in the Tenderloin, Polk Street, and, of course, the Castro. Tom was full of life and imparted that to the people around him. It was generally “party time” with Tom leading the way. Our lives are lessened by his departure, but the memories of his goodness, his friendship, and his approach to life will be with us always. Tom is survived by his brother, Ray Hamilton, and nephew, Andrew Hamilton, of Castro Valley. He is also survived by his beloved dog, Mitz, and many friends. As per his request, there will be no services.

SF memorial for Ed Huser/Sister Barbi

A celebration of life for Edward Huser, known to many in the community as Sister Barbi Mitzvah, will be held Saturday, April 12 at 6 p.m. at Metropolitan Community ChurchSan Francisco, 150 Eureka Street. A procession through the Castro and ending outside the Edge bar will follow at approximately 6:45. At-

Memorial set for Ron Smith

Correction

April 28, 1946 – April 12, 2013

Nothing’s worse than a frontpage screw-up but that’s what happened last week in the print edition with the wrong photo caption accompanying the story on trans author Janet Mock [“Mock brings ‘Realness’ to LGBT center”]. The caption should have read: Janet Mock, center, visited with Bay Area fans Genevieve Newsome, left, and Adi Lope. Elliot Owen

360 Skin

A memorial service for Ron Smith, one of the first openly gay campaign managers, will be held Thursday, April 10 at 5 p.m. in the North Light Court at San Francisco City Hall, 1 Dc. Carlton B. Goodlett Place. Mr. Smith died March 18 at a hospital in San Francisco. He was 71. Mr. Smith, who was openly gay long before it was widely accepted, worked on many campaigns, including Dianne Feinstein’s unsuccessful mayoral run in 1975 and Arlo E. Smith’s race for San Francisco district attorney in 1979. He also worked on the campaigns of many moderate Republican candidates, including former Congressmen Ed Zschau, Tom Campbell, and Pete McCloskey. An obituary in the Los Angeles Times said that Mr. Smith is survived by his husband, Richard Ritt; a sister, Shelly Smith Bowman; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Herbert Herrman

Herbert (Bert) Herrman was born on April 28, 1946 in Brooklyn, New York and died on April 12, 2013 in Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii. He is survived by his partner of 13 years, Guy Seiler of Tajique, New Mexico. Bert was honored to care for his mother, Evelyn, the last four and a half years of her life. He is also survived by his brother, Frank, and sisterin-law, Sheila, along with numerous nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews.

Courtesy Ashley Kolodner Photography

Ashley Kolodner is taking her Gay Face project on the road again.

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<< LGBT Aging

12 • BAY AREA REPORTER • April 10-16, 2014

Black LGBT seniors struggle with bias, housing by Matthew S. Bajko

“You have a very narrow margin in which you can survive and glean support when you can’t fall back on racial bloodlines because of homophobia and you cannot fall back unconditionally on the LGBT community because of racism,” he said. “You have a very small margin within which to work.” Those experiences were captured by the findings of the July 2013 report “Addressing the Needs of LGBT Older Adults in San Francisco: Recommendations for the Future” based on a survey commissioned last year by the city’s LGBT Aging Policy Task Force, which finished its work last month. Of the 616 LGBT city residents aged 60 to 92 years old who took part in the survey, 5 percent identified as African American. (The city’s total black population, both LGBT and straight, was 6 percent in 2012 and has been in decline for years.) The survey found that the African American participants “are at greater

n San Francisco African American LGBT seniors often face a double jeopardy in terms of discrimination. Within the black community, they struggle to overcome homophobia. In the LGBT community, they encounter race-based prejudices. “We’ve gotten burdened at both ends of the candle. By the African American community, which until recently tended to be more conservative relative to the LGBT community within its own ranks,” said Larry Saxxon, 61, a gay black man who served on the city’s LGBT Aging Policy Task Force. “A lot of the African American community still works under the larger social, psychological, and political tendencies of the church.” Saxxon added that, “on the other hand, we’ve gotten burned by the LGBT mainstream community at large because of racism.” Those experiences can hamper elder LGBT African Americans’ willingness to seek out support within either community, noted Saxxon.

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12NN - 3 PM Church open for quiet prayer 7:00 PM Stations of the Cross 7:30 PM Service of the Lordʼs Passion

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8:00 PM Easter Vigil Service

April 20 - Easter Sunday

8:00 AM & 10:00 AM Easter Mass God’s inclusive love proclaimed here!

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risk” for being discriminated against due to their gender identity, sexual orientation, race and gender “relative to other racial or ethnic groups.” Similar to the survey’s Latino respondents, African American LGBT seniors in San Francisco are also less likely to own a home compared to other LGBT seniors in the city and are more likely to be in the closet. Both racial groups also reported higher rates of needing mental heath services and alcohol or substance abuse programs. “I have often told people that being old, black, and gay in America is tantamount to being dipped in a vat of acid every single day when I walk outside my door,” said Saxxon. “I have to pray for grace and endurance so I can walk out with dignity and, with the help of a higher power, to walk back in. I can’t allow this society to rob me of my spiritual joy of living.” It is unknown how many LGBT African American seniors are living in San Francisco, as the city’s senior demographics are not broken down by race and sexual orientation. It is believed that anywhere from 18,000 to 20,000 LGBT seniors are currently living in the city. Nor are there any national statistics on the number of LGBT seniors by racial group among the more than 40 million adults aged 65 and older in the U.S. based on 2010 census figures. A 2013 report on LGBT older adults issued by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force estimated there are likely “anywhere from 1.5 to 7 million older adults” who are a part of the LGBT community. As American society continues to grow older, “LGBT elders of color are an important part of this demographic shift, “ noted SAGE, short

Rick Gerharter

Larry Saxxon said homophobia in the African American community and racism in the LGBT community makes for a narrow margin with which to work for gay African Americans.

for Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders, in its 2013 report “Health Equity and LGBT Elders of Color: Recommendations for Policy and Practice.” Yet “the available research shows that they often face heightened health disparities and are largely rendered invisible in public policy discussions on aging,” noted SAGE’s report. Among the 30 African American respondents to the San Franciscobased survey, close to 7 percent was living with HIV or AIDS. Overall, the black participants reported a “significant need” for housing assistance and were “the least likely” to have a will, power of attorney for healthcare, revocable/irrevocable trust and a power of attorney for finance. “Among the racial and ethnic groups, African Americans have the lowest rates of future planning,” concluded the report. Perry Lang, the executive director of the San Francisco-based Black Coalition on AIDS who also served on the LGBT Aging Policy Task Force, sees housing as a key concern among the clients his agency serves, whether they are old or young, LGBT or straight.

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LYRIC

From page 1

25 years ago, “What we’ve seen is the issues faced by LGBTQQ youth in San Francisco have gotten much more complex.” The housing, employment, and other hurdles that youth and others in the city face “are getting more challenging,” making things even tougher with young people’s “unique needs.” She said LYRIC has responded to the changes by broadening the services it provides, including building its team of youth advocates to work with people as young as middle school students. EdianBlair Schofield, 18, one young person the nonprofit’s worked with, said the agency is the “savior” of many youth who’ve experienced trauma. “Without LYRIC I wouldn’t be where I am right now,” said Schofield. “I wouldn’t be this active leader ... I wouldn’t be educated and aware of the social justice issues.” Schofield, who’s been involved with LYRIC since 2012 and is a queer educator there, identifies as queer, agender, and gender fluid. Schwartz said the nonprofit’s emphasized working with transgender youth, who are especially at risk for suicide attempts, homelessness, and unemployment, as well as youth who are queer and undocumented. Rather than try to take on all the work, LYRIC collaborates with other agencies, including the San Francisco-based Larkin Street Youth Services and Justa Causa, a Bay Area group that works on policy campaigns,

“I think the housing connection is definitely there,” said Lang, 59, himself a gay black man. “As a health organization we realize it is difficult sometimes to work on health issues if people do not have adequate housing.” The African American Community Health Equity Council, a collaboration between Lang’s agency and the San Francisco Department of Public Health, will be reviewing the recommendations included in the final report published by the LGBT Aging Policy Task Force. “They make recommendations for the larger African American community and they include LGBTQ members on it,” said Lang, who serves as the council’s administrative director. “I think the pivotal piece to me is an acknowledgment by the task force that what is recommended for the LGBTQ community we also recognize is beneficial for other communities.”t Matthew S. Bajko wrote this article through the MetLife Foundation Journalists in Aging Fellowships, a program of New America Media and the Gerontological Society of America.

civic engagement, and direct action. Schwartz said she doesn’t see the agency making “huge changes.” Like many local nonprofits, LYRIC, which gets much of its money from the city, has faced stiff funding cuts in recent years. But Schwartz said more stability in the city’s budget has meant good news for her nonprofit, which has a budget of $1,288,608. Schwartz’s salary is between $93,000 and $95,000. “I think as the city is rebounding, we’ve been able to bring our funding levels back up to where they were” six to seven years ago, she said. “We’re pleased about that,” said Schwartz, “and we’re very grateful to our city partners, whether it’s the mayor’s office, or the Board of Supervisors, or city departments that continue to champion the work of LYRIC and see us as a critical partner.” Despite the city support, the nonprofit has put “a lot of emphasis” on increasing support from individual donors, said Schwartz. People can become a LYRIC Champion by providing a recurring gift of $10 a month or more. If the group raises $12,500 in new pledges, a donor has committed to match it. LYRIC will hold a 25th anniversary open house from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 17 at 127 Collingwood Street. The theme is “LYRIC Youth: Queering Our History, Defining Our Future.” The free event will include food and a retrospective organized by the agency’s interns. To RSVP, email openhouse@lyric.org. More information is available at www.lyric.org.t

Sports>>

t The debate over paying college athletes heats up by Roger Brigham

ver the next several weeks and months and perhaps years, we will hear a lot of discussion about the possibility of paying college athletes. We will see hand-wringing over the “death” of “amateur” sports, we will be badgered with accounts about the millions of dollars in university sports budgets, and we will be hammered with the abuses of the current “system” and the risks athletes run without adequate compensation. Things that the conflicting sides say will pretty much all be true and in the end, the messy hypocrisies currently built into collegiate athletics will be laid bare. Which could be a good thing. Let’s face it: Although sports are fundamentally a valuable experience for those fortunate to have the opportunity to compete in them, the intercollegiate system is composed of layers of hypocrisy wrapped around lumps of inconsistency. In the major revenue-producing sports such as men’s basketball and football, they exist for the entertainment of the fans, the glory of the school, and the delight of the gamblers. The fact that there are so many problems and conflicts is one reason why individual attempts to fix them all have been as successful as trying to treat a heart attack with a Band-Aid. The discussion is coming to a boil in part, but not entirely, because a National Labor Relations Board of-

Seniors’ well-being

From page 1

the LGBT community, which is more youth focused,” said Robert Espinoza, SAGE’s senior director for public policy and communications. “In general, the aging field believes isolation is one of the biggest issues facing all older people. That it is more pronounced among LGBT elders only speaks to that.” A 2011 study by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research based on the results of the 2003, 2005, and 2007 California Health Interview Survey found that half of gay and bisexual men in California live alone compared with 13.4 percent of heterosexual men. Lesbians were more likely to live with a partner than gay men, according to the study, but more than 25 percent of lesbians lived alone compared with about 20 percent of straight women. “Social isolation and lack of family and community support has a significant impact on the mental and physical health of LGBT older adults,” noted a 2013 report issued by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force titled “No Golden Years at the End of the Rainbow: How a Lifetime of Discrimination Compounds Economic and Health Disparities for LGBT Older Adults.” A study of 616 LGBT San Francisco residents aged 60 to 92 years conducted in 2013 found that almost 60 percent lived alone. (A 2010 study found that 28 percent of all older adults in San Francisco lived alone.) “LGBT participants who live alone are at risk for poorer outcomes on all assessed health indicators, compared to those who live with others,” concluded the report based on the survey, titled “Addressing the Needs of LGBT Older Adults in San Francisco: Recommendations for the Future.” The report did find that most of the participants “have moderate levels of social support.” But it also concluded “there remain some (9 percent) who say they have no one

April 10-16, 2014 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 13

ficial in Chicago recently ruled that Northwestern football players are employees of the university, setting up the possibility of forming a union. On its website, the College Players Athletes Association (http:// www.collegeathletespa.org) says it is seeking adequate medical coverage for sports-related injuries, better safety practices to reduce head trauma in tackle football, an educational trust fund to help increase graduation rates, allowing athletes to profit from the commercial use of their images, and uniform due process for grievances and discipline. Wow, radical stuff. The kind of radical stuff that most of us, thanks to the Progressive Era more than a century ago, take for granted at work every day. “To be perfectly frank, the notion of using a union-employee model to address the challenges that do exist in intercollegiate athletics is something that strikes most people as a grossly inappropriate solution to the problem,” NCAA President Mark Emmert, whose “scholarship” last year was worth an estimated $1.7 million, said at a news conference Sunday, April 6. “To convert to a unionized employee model is essentially to throw away the entire collegiate model for athletics. You can’t split that in two. You’re either a student playing sports or you’re an employee of a university. It would blow up everything about the collegiate model of athletics.”

Ka-BOOM. Let’s consider a few of the current talking points. Think educators are underpaid? That is undoubtedly true where primary and secondary school teachers are concerned, but a lovely infographic that made the rounds last year showed that in each of the 50 states, the highest paid employee was a state university worker. The colorful map showed that in 40 of those states, the highest paid person was a coach (Nevada at least has its priorities straight, giving its top pay to a plastic surgeon), who made more than the top administrators at their universities, and that 39 of those coaches were in the sports of football or basketball. What the chart left unsaid was that all 40 were men coaching men’s sports. Ah, yes: Title IX. In general, it requires universities to provide the same level of resources for female participants as for male participants. In reality, women’s programs remain comparatively underfunded and the vast majority of coaching jobs go not to the graduates of the women’s sports programs, but of the men’s. Athletic scholarships, we are told, do not cover the real costs of attending the universities. The biggest bulk of those scholarships go into a sport in which physical mayhem is mandatory but players are not covered for the risks they run; they’re asked to play lottery with their lives, hoping to hit a jackpot rather than a career-ending injury. Their stipends are called “scholarships,” but we’ve all heard from athletes at major football programs who are told as

to turn to for social support.” And among the 15 percent of the seniors in the survey who had children, 60 percent reported that their children were not available to help them if needed. Commissioned by the city’s LGBT Aging Policy Task Force, which finished its work last month, the survey report found that “gay men are at higher risk for lacking social support than lesbians.” Almost three-quarters, or 72 percent, of the survey participants indicated they had a “close friend” who was their “most common source of social support.” The next most common was a partner or spouse (36 percent), therapist (23 percent), and neighbor (22 percent). The survey’s transgender participants were the most likely to turn to faith communities for social and emotional support. It noted that having social support is “critical to our health and well-being, especially among older adults.”

risk for isolation than non-LGBT seniors because they tend not to have children, tend to live alone, and don’t have family members to step in for them like non-LGBT seniors.” Being socially isolated, added Kilbourn, is the number one predictor of the health and well-being for all seniors. “The more isolated the senior is, the less likely they are to maintain their health and well-being,” he said. “The more connection to family and community members, they live longer, stay out of the hospital, or delay any type of institutional housing placements.” Monthly film showings, potlucks for men, women-specific gatherings, and groups focused on poetry, opera, or books are among the offerings Openhouse provides. It recently started offering Spanish classes to those wishing to learn the language, and based on its success, is looking to add other language courses. “It is an entrée, so to speak, into Openhouse,” said Kilbourn, “so as circumstances change we as an agency are able to work with those folks who may initially come for Spanish class and, a year down the road, need help finding affordable housing.” The agency also launched a friendly visitor program to match volunteers with seniors who may be homebound, looking to make a new friend, or need someone to help them get out of the house. And it is hoping to attract a broader spectrum of the LGBT older adult community, from those in the middle class to LGBT seniors of color. “What our goal is over the next five years is to expand the activity programs we offer so that we will have something for a wide variety of interests that will attract the full diversity of our community,” said Kilbourn. “It is all wrapped up around reducing isolation toward having a healthy aging experience.” In its report finalized last month called “LGBT Aging at the Golden Gate: San Francisco Policy Issues and Recommendations,” the city’s LGBT Aging Policy Task Force determined that “currently there are very limited

Alarming statistic

One statistic that alarmed the researchers behind the study was the finding that 15 percent of the survey respondents had “seriously considered” committing suicide within the last year. Those LGBT seniors in legally recognized relationships were less likely to have contemplated suicide than those in relationships not legally recognized or those not in a relationship. “We need to bring older people together to counter that isolation. It is why senior centers all around the country and day centers exist,” said Espinoza. “It is a way for older people to find community, to meet friends, and to get out of their house.” Openhouse, a nonprofit that provides services to LGBT seniors in San Francisco, has increased the types of social activities it offers over the last five years in order to provide more outlets for older adults to connect. “Isolation is a huge theme for much of the work Openhouse does,” said Seth Kilbourn, the agency’s executive director. “LGBT seniors have a higher

NCAA President Mart Emmert

soon as they get on campus to avoid the difficult courses (you know, the academic education) that will interfere with the demands of the practice schedule. So, let’s see if we have this straight. The biggest portion of college sports revenues support a sport that is inherently dangerous to its participants, but the system provides no safety net or compensation for the risks involved – and the head guy running the system thinks it would destroy everything if the system were required to address these situations it has left unaddressed for decades? Houston, we have a problem. Lordy, lordy, I smell a congressional hearing in the offing. Think anyone will want to milk this for the midterm elections? My thoughts, you ask? I think we

begin by acknowledging both the benefits of sports in a well-rounded education as well as the conflicts between the educational mission and a demand to sell tickets. I think that brings us to the question as to whether universities should be in the spectator sports business at all, if whether every dollar we are told sports generate for research and academics isn’t really just turned around to ensure more glory and more revenue, bring up the inexhaustible rule of athlete bodies in the process. I think we must ask why with all of their science and technological wizardry they haven’t figured out how to make their prize sport safe, or what is the motive for avoiding making it safe. And I wonder if you looked at athletes as paid employees, would you be as understanding every time tuition fees go up and they blew a tackle? My thoughts? Ka-BOOM.

Fundraising effort for Bingham Cup

Organizers of this year’s Bingham Cup, to be held in Sydney August 28-31, have launched a crowdfunding campaign to help cover event costs. The Bingham Cup is the biennial world championship for gay men’s rugby and is named after Mark Bingham, a rugby star for UC Berkeley who was one of the passengers on United Flight 93 when it was hijacked on 9/11. Persons interested in the campaign or in contributing may find it by searching for the terms “Bingham Cup” at http://www.pozible. com.t

Jane Philomen Cleland

Taking part in activity groups, like Openhouse’s games day, can help LGBT seniors ward off feelings of isolation. From left, Larry Pritts, Brian Sulley and Douglas Haijsman played board games in this January 2012 file photo.

individual supportive services that address the emotional and behavioral health challenges of isolated LGBT older adults in San Francisco.” It found just four agencies in the city – Openhouse, the UCSF Alliance Health Project, Queer LifeSpace, and the Access Institute – that offer some form of supportive services to LGBT seniors. Thus the task force is recommending that city officials expand the peer support-based counseling, emotional and practical support services offered to LGBT seniors in order to reduce their social isolation and to address their emotional and behavioral health needs. “As a social worker I am really concerned about the issue of emotional well-being as the older adults community continues to age,” said Scott Haitsuka, 52, a member of the task force who served on its health and social services work group. An associate clinical social worker and a program coordinator at Openhouse, Haitsuka stressed that he was speaking as a task force member and not as an Openhouse employee. He believes the lack of social support services for LGBT seniors in San Francisco can be traced to the 2010 closure of New Leaf: Services For Our Community, which focused on offering mental health services to LGBT clients. “I feel like the closure of New Leaf and their Outreach to Elders program in 2010 was really unfortunate, first and foremost, and I think left a huge gap in mental health services for LGBT older adults currently,” said Haitsuka, who had worked at

the agency in an administrative capacity. “Now there isn’t one place that focuses on – and is welcoming and understands the life experiences of – LGBT older adults. That is key, to have a safe and welcoming space where LGBT older adults can get mental health services.” He is hopeful the city’s Department of Aging and Adult Services will implement the task force’s recommendations to fund an LGBT senior peer counseling program as well as an LGBT peer support volunteer program. “I feel a framework of peer services can be a bridge to maybe more formal or traditional therapy services,” said Haitsuka. “It is so empowering for people who lived with, or were in recovery from, mental health issues to take an active role in helping others who may be living with those.” At SAGE’s senior center in New York City, Cole has seen firsthand the positive impacts that come with providing a safe space for LGBT seniors to connect with one another and access the services they need. “It is great to feel I do have a network here and that I am not alone out there,” Cole said of the friends he has made at the center. “We do take care of each other ... like I said, it is a family.”t Matthew S. Bajko wrote this article through the MetLife Foundation Journalists in Aging Fellowships, a program of New America Media and the Gerontological Society of America.

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

14 â&#x20AC;˘ BAY AREA REPORTER â&#x20AC;˘ April 10-16, 2014

Legal Notices>>

Grand marshals

From page 1

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-14-550181

Individual grand marshals

In January, the Contra Costa County District Attorneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office charged Gutierrez, who was then a 16-year-old sophomore at Hercules Middle/High School in the East Bay, with battery after an investigation into a November fight. Three girls who allegedly attacked Gutierrez, meanwhile, werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t charged. Gutierrezâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s public defender, Kaylie Simon, said the teen had been â&#x20AC;&#x153;harassed and tormented ... due to her gender identity,â&#x20AC;? and the charge against her drew widespread criticism. At Simonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s request, a juvenile judge eventually ordered Gutierrez to enter a restorative justice program, where the goal is to achieve reconciliation with the parties involved. In an email to the Bay Area Reporter, Pride board President Gary Virginia said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think the public resonatedâ&#x20AC;? with Gutierrezâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;plight.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Many LGBTQ people face similar discrimination when coming out,â&#x20AC;? he said. In a statement provided to the B.A.R., Gutierrez said sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;honoredâ&#x20AC;? by the recognition. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even know anything about SF Pride, and I am shocked that something positive could come out of my situation being bullied in school, as no one should have to go to school in fear for their safety,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Having been selected has given me hope for the future. Thank you for all those who voted for me and I am very grateful and humble for all your support.â&#x20AC;? Avicolli Mecca told the B.A.R. he was honored at being chosen among â&#x20AC;&#x153;such a great group of grand marshals.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am inviting everyone to join my contingent, which will have as its theme, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Housing is a Queer Issue,â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? he added.

Organizational grand marshal

Trans March, this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s organizational grand marshal, started in 2004 in response to the mistrial of the murderers of Gwen Araujo, another East Bay transgender teen. Araujo, who lived in Newark, California, was killed at a house party in 2002. The march has grown into â&#x20AC;&#x153;the largest trans pride event in the world,â&#x20AC;? according to Tracy Garza, who along with Jamie Rafaela Wolfe is the groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s co-vice chair.

News Briefs

From page 10

The carnival is the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s major fundraiser; organizers said that last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s event raised $5,000. Proceeds help fund arts, science, supplies, and enrichment programs. For more information, visit www. harveymilk.com.

Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Kick ASS panel on disability

The long-term AIDS survivor group Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Kick ASS will host a panel discussion on getting on and off of disability Wednesday, April 16 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center, 1800 Market Street. Featured speakers include John Faseky of the AIDS Legal Referral Panel and Andy Chu of the Positive Resource Center, who will discuss the many issues surrounding disability benefits. For more information, visit www. letskickass.org.

GLBT History Museum temporarily closing

The GLBT History Museum, located at 4127 18th Street, will be closed from Thursday, April 10 through Wednesday, April 16 to accommodate major construction for a new exhibit, according to an announcement from the GLBT Historical Society, which oversees the

In the matter of the application of: NATESH DANIEL, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner NATESH DANIEL, is requesting that the name NATESH DANIEL, be changed to NATHAN DIESEL. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Rm. 514 on the 13th of May 2014 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MAR 20, 27, APR 03, 10, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035691100

Jane Philomen Cleland

Felicia Elizondo addressed the crowd at last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Trans March.

Asked Monday about the Pride recognition, Garza said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think it is a great honor not just for the organization, but also for the transgender community in the Bay Area. I think thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a feeling among parts of our communityâ&#x20AC;? that transgender people have sometimes been â&#x20AC;&#x153;overlooked, but I think that this recognition definitely reminds everybody in the LGBT community weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re all in this together.â&#x20AC;? Virginia said the honor for Trans March â&#x20AC;&#x153;is recognition that this part of our community still faces the most discrimination in housing, employment, and more. SF Pride is excited to provide a platform for these individuals to educate the public and rally support.â&#x20AC;? This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Trans March is June 27. For more information, visit http://www.transmarch.org.

Pink brick

Lively has credited himself as the â&#x20AC;&#x153;father of Ugandaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s anti-gay movement,â&#x20AC;? orchestrating the development of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, also known as the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Kill the Gaysâ&#x20AC;? bill, which originally included the death penalty. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni recently signed into law a version of the bill that includes stiff penalties for LGBT individuals and associates, up to life in prison. Homosexuality had already been criminalized in Ugandaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s penal code. Virginia called Lively â&#x20AC;&#x153;obsessively anti-gayâ&#x20AC;? and said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;SF Pride will enjoy exposing this hatemonger and his allies for the evil they perpetuate,

Castro museum space. Portions of the museum will then reopen and maintain regular hours of 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday and Wednesday through Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. The main galley of the museum, however, will be closed until next month to accommodate the redesign. A new exhibit, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Queer Past Becomes Present,â&#x20AC;? curated by Jim Van Buskirk and Amy Sueyoshi, will open May 15. Admission will be waived during the new exhibit installation process.

Tenderloin Tessie prepares for Easter dinner

Volunteers with Tenderloin Tessie are preparing for the Easter dinner they will serve to community members in need on Sunday, April 20. The organization expects to serve about 1,000 Easter dinners from 1 to 4 p.m. at First Unitarian Church, 1187 Franklin Street (at Geary) in San Francisco. Those who are homeless, elderly, without family nearby, or living with a disability are likely to be alone on major holidays, noted Marc David Sanders, a new Tenderloin Tessie board member. Those who attend the dinner will be treated to ham and all the fixings, as well as a gift bag. Many dedicated volunteers help make the event a success. To help

and weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll offer actions to counter their work.â&#x20AC;? Lively declined a request for a phone interview Monday, but in an email exchange with the B.A.R., he said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The pink brick, symbolic of the bricks thrown by militant â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;gaysâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; at police during the Stonewall riots, perfectly captures the irony of bullies posing as victims.â&#x20AC;? He added, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve actually already received this award in real life.â&#x20AC;? According to Lively, a pink paving stone with â&#x20AC;&#x153;Shut down Livelyâ&#x20AC;? written on it was thrown through the church window of a school where he was set to give a speech on gay bullying in 2011. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was wrapped in a note threatening further violence,â&#x20AC;? said Lively. He provided photos of the window, brick, and note that he claims were connected to the incident. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The worst bullies in America today are LGBT activists, and I will not stop telling that truth no matter how many bricks you throw at me,â&#x20AC;? he said. He also said that for LGBT activists, â&#x20AC;&#x153;banning â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;gayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; propaganda to children in Russia (which I wholeheartedly support) is no different than threatening life imprisonment for consensual adult homosexuality in Uganda (which I wholeheartedly oppose).â&#x20AC;? He then quoted the Bible and said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I urge you all to repent.â&#x20AC;? Lively, who wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t share his age, didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t say whether heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d come to San Francisco to pick up his pink brick from Pride. For more information, visit www. sfpride.org.t

out, donate, or for more information, visit www.tenderlointessie. com.

Same-sex ballroom dance championships

Same-sex dance partners from around the U.S. and several other countries will compete in the 2014 April Follies Saturday, April 26 at Just Dance Ballroom, 2500 Embarcadero, in Oakland. Celebrating its 12th year, April Follies is the largest and longest-running same-sex DanceSport competition in North America. All levels will compete during the day beginning at 10 a.m. Dance styles include international standard and international Latin and American smooth and American rhythm. There is also expanded countrywestern dancing in this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s competition, along with crowd favorites like the Argentine tango, salsa, merengue, and West Coast swing. The daylong competition culminates with a dance lesson for attendees and new dancers, followed by the A-level finals and dance performances by top-rated couples in the evening. Following that there will be an open social dance for all. Tickets are $15 (daytime events only), $25 (evening events only), or $35 for the entire day. For tickets and more information, visit www. aprilfollies.com.t

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NOELANI, 1700 A UNION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DELIGHT LOW. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/05/85. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/03/14.

MAR 20, 27, APR 03, 10, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035700000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SF WEB SOLUTION, 3532 21ST ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JOERG KLEINEBRAHM. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/06/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/06/14.

MAR 20, 27, APR 03, 10, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035678000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LOU IT NOW, 3015 MARKET ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LOUISE WO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/18/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/24/14.

MAR 20, 27, APR 03, 10, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035714700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HENRYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S HUNAN RESTAURANT, 674 SACRAMENTO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94111. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed MATMAR CO. INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/01/13. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/13/14.

MAR 20, 27, APR 03, 10, 2014

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT NOTICE TO PROPOSERS GENERAL INFORMATION

The SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT (â&#x20AC;&#x153;Districtâ&#x20AC;?), 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, California, is advertising for proposals to provide software application development services, Request for Proposals (RFP) No. 6M4311, on or about April 4, 2014, with proposals due by 2:00 PM local time, Tuesday, May 6, 2014. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES TO BE PROVIDED The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (â&#x20AC;&#x153;BARTâ&#x20AC;? or â&#x20AC;&#x153;Districtâ&#x20AC;?) is soliciting the services of a consulting firm or joint venture team to provide software application development services to create a Vendor Portal for public access to BART procurement information. The selected consultant shall design, test and provide training to information technology (IT) staff on the maintenance of the system and provide implementation services to make the Portal available to potential BART Vendors. The District intends to award a single Agreement with a term of one (1) year. A Pre-Proposal Meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 22, 2014. The Pre-Proposal Meeting will convene at 10:00 AMlocal time in at the District Headquarters, 300 Lakeside Drive, Conference Room 1100, Oakland, California 94612. At the Pre-Proposal Meeting the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s M/ WBE and Small Business (SB) Programs will be discussed. All questions regarding M/WBE and SB participation should be directed to Cindy Chan, Office of Civil Rights at (510) 464-6574 or E-mail, cchan@bart.gov. Prospective Proposers are requested to make every effort to attend this only scheduled Pre-Proposal Meeting and to confirm their attendance by contacting the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Contract Administrator, Anthony Pegram, telephone (510) 464-6544, or E-mail apegram@bart.gov prior to the date of the Pre-Proposal Meeting. WHERE TO OBTAIN OR SEE RFP DOCUMENTS (Available on or after April 4, 2014) Electronic version (PDF) of the RFP may be obtained by sending an E-mail request to the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Contract Administrator, Anthony Pegram, apegram@bart.gov. Interested firms will also be placed on the Interested Parties List (IPL) for this procurement for receipt of Addenda and/or Question/Response Letters. The RFP may also be obtained by: (1) Written request to the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Contract Administrator, 300 Lakeside Drive, 17th Floor, Oakland, CA 94612. Reference RFP NO. 6M4311 PROVIDE SOFTWARE APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT SERVICES for BART PROCUREMENT VENDOR PORTAL PROJECT. (2) Arranging pick up at the above address. Notify the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Contract Administrator, prior to pickup of the RFP. (3) Attending the Pre-proposal Meeting and obtaining the RFP at the meeting. Dated at Oakland, California this 3rd day of April 2014. /s/ Kenneth A. Duron Kenneth A. Duron, District Secretary San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District 4/10/14 CNS-2608068# BAY AREA REPORTER

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035711600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HOT POT ISLAND, 5512 GEARY BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed HAN HU. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/12/14.

MAR 20, 27, APR 03, 10, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035715500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FYRN, 2901 MARIPOSA ST #10, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BROUGHTON WOODWORKING, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/13/14.

MAR 20, 27, APR 03, 10, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035717400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SHANKEL STUDIOS, 3376 23RD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a married couple, and is signed JASON PAUL SHANKEL & MARIA ISAACS SHANKEL. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/14/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/14/14.

MAR 20, 27, APR 03, 10, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035701300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HILLS PLAZA MARKET, 345 SPEAR ST #115, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by a limited liability corporation, and is signed HILLS PLAZA MARKET LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/06/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/06/14.

MAR 20, 27, APR 03, 10, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035710400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BANDIDOS, 2200 A MARKET ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a limited liability corporation, and is signed SNAKEBITE, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/11/14.

MAR 20, 27, APR 03, 10, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035706600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FASHION SPOT, 824 STOCKTON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 9410. This business is conducted by a limited liability corporation, and is signed W & W INTERNATIONAL TRADING LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/10/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/10/14.

MAR 20, 27, APR 03, 10, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035719100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: AE ACADEMY LLC, 415 STOCKTON ST, 4TH FLR, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by a limited liability corporation, and is signed AE ACADEMY, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/17/14.

MAR 20, 27, APR 03, 10, 2014

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT REQUEST FOR STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS NO. 6M8073 EXTENSION OF TIME FOR RECEIPT NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the General Manager of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District has extended the time for receipt -% $.2$01 -% 1!1$+$,1 -% 2!*(7"!1(-,0 2,1(* 1'$ hour of 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, April 22, 2014 at the (01/("1 $"/$1!/560 %7"$ /# *--/ !)$0(#$ /(3$ !)*!,# !*(%-/,(! -/ 1- 1'$ +!(*(,& !##/$00 -4 !)*!,# !*(%-/,(!

%-/ Request for . !1$# !1 !)*!,# !*(%-/,(! 1'(0 1' day of March 2014 Jacqueline R. Edwards Kenneth A. Duron, District Secretary San Francisco Bay Area Transit District 4/10/14 CNS-2606056# BAY AREA REPORTER

TRANSBAY BLOCK 5 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS The Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure (â&#x20AC;&#x153;OCIIâ&#x20AC;?) is soliciting proposals from qualified development teams to purchase Transbay Block 5, an approximately 26,000 square foot parcel located in Downtown San Francisco, and develop the site with an office building with ground floor retail, in a 550-foot office tower above an underground parking garage, and construct and maintain the required open space and streetscape improvements. RFP Release Date: April 2, 2014. Download a copy of the RFP from the Office of Community Investment and Infrastructureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website at www.sfredevelopment.org or purchase a copy directly from OCII. Pre-submittal Meeting: 3:30 p.m, May 6, 2014, at One South Van Ness Avenue, Second Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103. Deadline for Submission: June 25, 2014. For more information, please call (415) 7492439 or email courtney.pash@sfgov.org. 4/10/14 CNS-2608223# BAY AREA REPORTER

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Legal Notices>> ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-14-550227

In the matter of the application of: SIOBHAN KATHERINE DUNY, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner SIOBHAN KATHERINE DUNY, is requesting that the name SIOBHAN KATHERINE DUNY, be changed to SIOBHAN KATHERINE BAMFORD. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Rm. 514 on the 5th of June 2014 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

APR 10, 17, 24, MAY 01, 2014 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-029240600

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: COLD STONE CREAMERY, 119 ELLIS ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business was conducted by a limited liability company and signed by ICE CREAM ENTERTAINMENT LLC (CA). The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/03/06.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035756900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: 21TECH, 1390 MARKET ST #1202, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed 21TECH, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/01/96. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/02/14.

APR 10, 17, 24, MAY 01, 2014 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-035185600

MAR 27, APR 03, 10, 17, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035727600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE UPS STORE 6520, 4104 24TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed JING STORE INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/06/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/06/14.

MAR 27, APR 03, 10, 17, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035731400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: OPTUM CREATIVE, 268 BUSH ST #4315, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94104. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed WALTER E. PEARCE JR. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/20/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/20/14.

MAR 27, APR 03, 10, 17, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035702300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NENAH’S DOLCI, 1390 MISSION ST #701, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MARITZAYANA ORTIZ PEREZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/06/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/06/14.

MAR 27, APR 03, 10, 17, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035728600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: KOTAS CONSTRUCTION, 130 MONTEREY BLVD, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JASON KOTAS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/10/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/20/14.

MAR 27, APR 03, 10, 17, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035697500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: STEFFAN SPA, A MASTER HEALING ARTS STUDIO, 3150 18TH ST #244, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MICHAEL T. STEFFAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/05/14.

MAR 27, APR 03, 10, 17, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035725700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PROGRESSIVE GROUNDS, 400 CORTLAND AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed AZIZ A. BENARAFA & KHAMMAR MARCO BOUJEBHA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/01/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/19/14.

MAR 27, APR 03, 10, 17, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035727800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CHEZ JULIEN, 100 BUSH ST #110, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94104. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed VISIONARY PARTNERS GROUP INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/19/14.

MAR 27, APR 03, 10, 17, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035736500

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APR 10, 17, 24, MAY 01, 2014 STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-032992400

MAR 20, 27, APR 03, 10, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035737700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: RECRUITING LIKE A BOSS; RECRUIT L.A.B.; RLAB; 350 TOWNSEND ST #717, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed UKACHI N. OKORONKWO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/19/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/19/14.

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The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: KEVIN’S KIMCHI HOME COOKING, 510 26TH AVE #508, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by KEVIN CHRISTOPHER ROBERTSON. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/17/13.

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: SEVERE MUSICK, 3467 MISSION ST, SF, CA 94110. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by ANTHONY SEVERO. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/26/10.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DEJURE DESIGN, 129 27TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DANIEL MCLAUGHLIN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/24/14.

April 10-16, 2014 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 15

APR 10, 17, 24, MAY 01, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035701600

MAR 27, APR 03, 10, 17, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035727000

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SABRA GRILL RESTAURANT, 419 GRANT AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SABABA INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/29/96. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/19/14.

MAR 27, APR 03, 10, 17, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035733900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: KING’S MARKET, 2398 BRYANT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed SILVERMAN, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/21/14.

MAR 27, APR 03, 10, 17, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035727400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NO DEPRESSION, 460 BUSH ST, 2ND FL, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed FRESHGRASS, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/01/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/19/14.

MAR 27, APR 03, 10, 17, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035723400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HOME CARE AND CLEANING, 440 9TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MARK MANGAMPAT. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/15/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/18/14.

APR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035721100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ALMA HOLISTIC, 2040 UNION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ALMA E. ARCINIEGAS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/17/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/17/14.

APR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035754100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BETTER WIRED ELECTRIC, 258 EUREKA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed JOSHUA FROST & JAMES FROST. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/01/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/01/14.

APR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035723600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CITIPETS, 183 WEST PORTAL AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed ALLISON WERGER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/01/00. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/18/14.

APR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035751100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: JIM YAGER MEDIA, 160 FILLMORE ST #C, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BUTTERFLY SUNRISE CORPORATION (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/24/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/24/14.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CLEAN N SAVE DRY CLEANERS, 647 BOSWORTH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed FUTIAN HUO & HUI YING ZHU. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/31/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/31/14.

MAR 27, APR 03, 10, 17, 2014

APR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2014

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FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035738100

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The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EARLWOOD CARPENTRY, 1009 CABRILLO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed KELLY ROGALA & MICHAEL ROGALA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/24/14.

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APR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035745700

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The following person(s) is/are doing business as: APP ACADEMY, 1061 MARKET ST, 4TH FLOOR, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed HASH MAP LABS, INC (DE). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/11/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/27/14.

APR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035707900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LEATHER ALLEY; MR SAN FRANCISCO LEATHER; MR SF LEATHER; 584 CASTRO ST #660, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA LEATHER ALLIANCE INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names 03/10/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/10/14.

APR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035721900

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: FLAWLESS TAN, 5462 NEWPARK PLAZA, NEWARK, CA 94560. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ZILIKA OMAR. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/18/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/18/14.

APR 10, 17, 24, MAY 01, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035762200

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GAME PLAN STRATEGIC, 222 COLUMBUS AVE #203, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed STEFANIE P. KELLY. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/01/14. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/04/14.

APR 10, 17, 24, MAY 01, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035748500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: STRIVE 360 CHIROPACTIC WELLNESS CENTER, 166 GEARY ST #1102, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DANIEL AGEGNEHU. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/28/14.

APR 10, 17, 24, MAY 01, 2014 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-035746500

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CHANG’S KITCHEN, 1030 IRVING ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed CHANG SHENG INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/27/14.

APR 10, 17, 24, MAY 01, 2014

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Serving the gay, lesbian,

REPORT CITES HEALTH GAPS

See page 24 >>

Our new look

The Bay Area Reporter decided to update its look now that we’re 40. So we’ve made some slight design changes in both sections of the paper, with new fonts, and in the case of the Arts and Culture section, a new name. Most significantly, our website has been updated to allow for video with stories, and readers can now comment directly on our online content if they are friends on Facebook.▼

Vol. 41 • No. 14 • April 7-13,

The 2011

by Seth Hemmelgarn

Traditionally, IOM committees are asked to identify research gaps and priorities within a field. “But that paradigm does not fit for this area,” chair Dr. Robert Graham said at the March 31 news conference releasing the report.

communities since 1971

Community looks back at 40 years of the B.A.R.

by Bob Roehr

report released last week detailed the need for more federal research and data collection on the health of LGBT people. “Lesbian, Bob Roehr gay, bisexual, Dr. Robert Graham and transgender individuals experience unique health disparities. Although the acronym LGBT is used as an umbrella term, and the health needs of this community are often grouped together, each of these letters represents a distinct population with its own health concerns,” stated the summary of the report, written by the prestigious Institute of Medicine. “Furthermore, among lesbians, gay men, bisexual men and women, and transgender people, there are subpopulations on race, ethnicity, socioeconomic based status, geographic location, age, and other factors,” the report continued. While that summary statement is not news to anyone familiar with the LGBT community, the fact that it was made in the IOM report, which was commissioned by the National Institutes of Health, adds new meaning and credibility to shaping health policy, which that heretofore had been lacking.

bisexual, and transgender

Founding publisher Bob Ross

or 40 years now, the Bay Area Reporter has informed, entertained, and frequently miffed people in San Francisco and beyond. The paper started when Bob Ross – chef, Tavern Guild president, and bar culture insider – launched it with business partner Paul Bentley. The first issue was dated April 1, 1971 but hit the streets on April 2, Ross’s 37th birthday. Ross pasted up all the pages by hand, copied them, and delivered them to local bars. In the beginning, nobody took the paper too seriously. Cleve Jones, who said he had an “up and down” relationship with Ross and who was a close friend of slain gay icon Harvey Milk, started reading the paper after his arrival to San Francisco in 1972. “To be honest, it was sort of a silly publication,” said Jones, who now works with the Courage Campaign. “Most of the other young people didn’t really have much it. It was basically just announcementsuse for about whatever specials were going on at whatever bar.”

www.ebar.com

by Seth Hemmelgarn

bisexual, and transgender

communities since 1971

Rick Gerharter Members of the Kaiser Permanente contingent enjoyed the sun and music as they headed down Market Street at last year’s Pride parade.

t’s been a rough year for organizers of the 43rd annual San Francisco LGBT Pride parade and celebration, but Pride chief Earl Plante still sounds enthusiastic about this year’s theme, “Embrace, Encourage, Empower.” Plante, CEO of the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee, said that to him, the theme means, “embracing all aspects of our community” and “diversity at all levels.” It also invokes “empowering the broader global LGBT movement.” “San Francisco Pride is a thought leader ... it has been since its inception,” Plante said. This year’s Pride festivities begin Saturday with the festival in Civic Center, from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday, the celebration in Civic Center runs from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. The parade kicks off at 10:30 a.m. at Market and Beale streets and ends at Market and Eighth streets. The Pride festival is free, but a donation of $5 is suggested.

There will be jubilation in the streets as well, following Wednesday’s historic victories at the U.S. Supreme Court. See page 22 >>

Rick Gerharter

{ FIRST OF THREE SECTIONS

}

ay Army private Bradley Manning was stripped of his grand marshal status and is 3,000 miles away in Maryland at his court-martial but supporters will honor him in Sunday’s San Francisco LGBT Pride parade anyway. The Bradley Manning Support Network contingent, which has marched in San Francisco Pride parades for the last two years, is expected to be teeming with activists, probably a couple politicians, and supporters of the WikiLeaks whistle-blower. In a statement released this week, Manning’s local supporters said in essence that they didn’t care that the San Francisco Pride board refused to honor him – Manning will be their grand marshal. Manning, 25, is accused of leaking some 700,000 classified government documents to WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy website. He has confessed to some of the charges against him, but is being court-martialed on other charges. The most serious, aiding the enemy, could send him to prison for life. After initially naming Manning as a grand marshal in late April, the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee board reversed itself two days later. Initially Pride board President Lisa Williams, in a statement, said that it was a “mistake” to name Manning a grand marshal. Later, the board came out with a sec-

Rick Gerharter

hopeful

The DeFrank center has been hobbled by financial and leadership problems years and currently has no full-time in recent executive director. However, Chris Flood, the DeFrank’s board president, indicated that the center’s doing better than it might appear. He was at a See page 22 >>

}

Photo: Rick Gerharter

the four liberal justices of the court. It strikes DOMA as unconstitutional because it the guarantees of equal protection violates and due process.

The DOMA dissent, based largely on mat matters of standing, was led by Chief Justice John Roberts and joined by the court’s three other conservatives.

at SF parade

See page 22 >>

The Free Bradley Manning contingent, shown here in last year’s parade, is expected to be larger on Sunday. ond statement that said Manning couldn’t be considered for a community grand marshal slot because he is not local. After a contentious community meeting May 31, the Pride board declined to recognize Manning in any way for the Pride celebration. Joey Cain, a former Pride Committee board president and a former parade grand marshal,

was the person who nominated Manning for the honor. He has been by turns, angry, hurt, and disappointed in how the controversy has played out, and the lack of communication and transparency from Pride officials. “There’s a major leadership problem at Pride that needs to be addressed,” Cain said in a recent interview with the Bay Area Reporter.

{ FIRST OF THREE SECTIONS

{ SECOND OF THREE SECTIONS

Keen

n a stunning double victory, the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday issued decisions that strike down both a key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8, California’s same-sex marriage ban. The DOMA decision, a 5-4 split, was written by Justice Anthony Kennedy and joined by

by Cynthia Laird

Center official appears

3, 2013

Phyllis Lyon is escorted down the Rotunda stairs in San Francisco City Hall by Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, left, and Mayor Ed Lee.

Court victories!

by Matthew S. Bajko and Lisa

Activists to honor Manning

The Pro-Latino contingent marched in the 2008 San Jose Pride Parade; officials are not yet sure if there will be a Pride Parade this year, although the festival is scheduled for August.

Mueller said the event will generate about $1,000 for this year’s Pride, which is August 2021. A block of about 300 tickets, ranging from $36 to $73, were reserved for the hockey night. “I think the Sharks event proves people out there to go to something there are that isn’t the usual ‘Let’s go to a gay bar and have a fundraiser,’” said Mueller.

Vol. 43 • No. 26 • June 27-July

by Seth Hemmelgarn

The front covers of many early 1970s issues were dedicated to the Imperial Court’s See page 23 >>

Despite setbacks, LGBT scene in San Jose is ‘vibrant’ he past year has seen several setbacks in San Jose’s LGBT community, even as data from the 2010 census recently revealed that the South Bay berg is now the 10th largest city in the country. Recent events, however, have made it seem that for a city with almost 1 million people, there’s not much strength in the gay community there. Last month, the Billy DeFrank LGBT Community Center canceled its 30th anniversary party, which had been planned for March 26. Only about 40 tickets had been sold. Last November, the Silicon Valley AIDS Leadership Center, which had organized the annual Walk for AIDS, announced its closure. And about three months before that, in August, the Gay Pride Celebration Committee of San Jose Inc. opted not to hold a parade. Of course, problems at LGBT organizations aren’t unique to San Jose. Several San Francisco agencies have been struggling financially. And people with Pride and the DeFrank center indicate they’re all right. “We have a vibrant community, and when we can engage them, I think that they’re there,” said Ray Mueller, who joined San Jose Pride’s board earlier this year. One example is last Thursday’s LGBT night with the San Jose Sharks hockey team. Tickets sold out in 10 days.

Serving the gay, lesbian,

City to embrace Pride The

’s 2nd Annual Reader’s Choice Awards

}

Rick Gerharter

To those who say that even though Manning is gay, what he did was not specifically gay-re lated, Cain has a different perspective. gay-re“The reason I nominated Bradley was because the LGBT community Manning needed to know about him and embrace him,” Cain said. “Bradley Manning is a gay man who did See page 6 >>

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Vol. 44 • No. 15 • April 10-16, 2014

www.ebar.com/arts

Big dance week in the Bay Area by Paul Parish

he Bay Area has the richest dance world in this country outside of New York. And in the last week there’s been so much work of importance, it was not only impossible to see it all, it staggers the imagination of your reporter how to do justice to the wonderful things he did see. So this is going to be rough. I’ll try to make it easy for you. First of all, the things you can still see that you must see: Mark Morris’ Maelstrom (on a triple bill that runs through next Tuesday) at San Francisco Ballet is an event of the first magnitude. Only SFB dances this great ballet, you cannot see it anywhere else, they have not revived it for a decade, and it is the most beautiful work Morris has ever made for a ballet company. No movement in it could be changed, and it’s been impeccably restaged by Betsy Erickson with glowing, completely committed performances by a cadre of 14 dancers who at some points seem to be the warp and weft of the whole world, though Sasha de Sola seems to be outshining every other dancer, like the moon among stars. It’s a harmonious work that reflects its music, Beethoven’s haunting Ghosts piano trio, superbly played by Kay Stern, Eric Sung, and Roy Bogas. Of all the works to be seen or discussed, it is the most beautiful and self-revealing, and intelligible simply within its own terms. See page 26 >>

San Francisco Ballet dancer Davit Karapetyan in Chamber Symphony from choreographer Alexei Ratmansky’s Shostakovich Trilogy. Erik Tomasson

Dynasty diva plays Feinstein’s by David-Elijah Nahmod

einstein’s at the Nikko will glitter when Dynasty star Joan Collins takes to the stage to talk about her fabulous life. The legendary actress, now in the third act of her dazzling career, shows no signs of slowing down. More than three decades after Alexis Carrington took Denver by storm, Collins retains her vigor and her beauty.

Joan Collins: “I’ll be telling the story of my life.”

{ SECOND OF TWO SECTIONS }

LGBT Best of the Bay

READ ABOUT ALL THE WINNERS IN OUR 2014 READERS’ CHOICE AWARDS POLL VISIT. WWW.EBAR.COM/BESTIES

<< Out There

18 • BAY AREA REPORTER • April 10-16, 2014

Pagan love songs by Roberto Friedman

ewind the tape to 1913 Paris, when the premiere of The Rite of Spring changed classical music and dance forever. No less than Igor Stravinsky’s dissonant score, Vaslav Nijinsky’s iconoclastic choreography for Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes was truly shocking to the audience, sparking a famous riot among its well-heeled patrons. The audience

didn’t riot when San Francisco Ballet Choreographer in Residence Yuri Possokhov’s interpretation of Rite of Spring returned to the Opera House last weekend as part of SFB’s Program 6. But seldom have we seen such a visceral display of raw carnality on the ballet stage. The program also includes the world premiere of SFB Artistic Director & Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson’s newest work, Caprice, set to

Rick Gerharter

San Francisco Ballet dancers Shannon Marie Rugani (left) and Luke Willis (right) enjoy the LGBT NiteOut reception with SF Ballet patrons Scott Walton and John Clay Leonard (center).

music by Camille Saint-Saens, as well as the 20th-anniversary presentation of Mark Morris’ Maelstrom, the first work ever created for SFB by that legendary dancemaker. It was the second of this season’s NiteOut series for LGBT audiences, so after all the ovations, Out There and peppy Pepi hot-footed it up to Dress Circle Bar for the post-performance party graciously hosted by principal dancer Damian Smith and corps de ballet dancer Shannon Marie Rugani. Other SFB dancers dropping by included Luke Willis and Joan Boada. Partygoers were still dazzled by the spectacle of the Rite. Possokhov has said he wanted to show that it’s “one step from beautiful to ugly.” Although the work is meant to evoke a human sacrifice in pagan Russia, one man who chatted us up party-side had a different theory. “The woman [sacrificial virgin] went into convulsions once she saw what she’d been missing,” he explained, referring to the battalion of gorgeous, bare-chested ballerinos. “The dance was really just a very complicated Kama Sutra.” Whatevs, dude. Great art sustains a multitude of interpretations. SFB has also just announced the repertory and performance schedule for its 82nd Repertory Season, the 2014-15 offerings that mark the 30th anniversary of artistic director

Tomasson’s tenure with the company. Tomasson said in a press statement, “This season, I’m delighted to present a wide range of works, from full-length favorites like Romeo & Juliet to revivals of acclaimed works such as Lambarena, The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, and RAkU, as well as two world premieres.” Those new works will be creations by Possokhov and corps de ballet dancer Myles Thatcher. Find all the details at www.sfballet.org.

Jazzalicious

It was a berry, berry good weekend for arts-loving Out There. The night after the Rite, OT was in the house as San Francisco Performances presented the Brad Mehldau Trio (Brad Mehldau, piano; Larry Grenadier, bass; and Jeff Ballard, drums) at the sparkling new SFJazz Center. Mehldau is one of the great contemporary jazz musicians, and his improvisatory genius really shines in the trio format. Mehldau’s pianism was magnificent, a number’s melodic lines as likely to be in his left hand as his right. Grenadier is a masterful bassist. Ballard worked his sticks and brushes subtly but with panache. Their 90-minute set went by in a flash, every ringing note and percussive punctuation clear as a bell in SFJazz’s excellent acoustic.

Steven Underhill

The Franz takes it to the streets of the Marina.

Finally, in honor of springtime, we present this alarming photo by scene photographer Steven Underhill documenting the seasonal re-emergence of our old friend The Franz, here embodying our generation’s version of White Punks on Dope – namely, High Tech on Meth. Here The Franz is bringing it all back home to the privileged high-tech folks strolling around Chestnut St. on a lovely April day. Mayhem in the Marina!t

Frankie Knuckles, RIP by Cornelius Washington

rankie Knuckles, the Father of House Music and the Master of the Remix, died last week at 59. In the world of music, more change came in the past 50 years than in the preceding 150. The man who merged all the popular genres into a timeless art-form was Frankie Knuckles. With his partner in perfection DJ Larry Levan, he was the creator of house music, a dance-driven, definitively black and gay celebration of sound, style and attitude. It was the platform for his international acclaim and recognition as the remixer. “I wanted to know some technical aspects of spinning, so I worked up the courage to reach out to him, and that sweet, humble man contacted me immediately,” said DJ Robbie

Martin. “He gave me the best advice. A lot of DJs, remixers and artists go on and on about their beats, but you can get any 10-year-old to get on a computer and get a beat. But there are no melodic remixers. To create a melody requires knowledge and wisdom. No one in the industry today who calls himself a DJ and remixer has either the technical ability or the desire to create melodies. That’s why it all sounds like clanging pots and pans. Frankie would remix entire string sections in his work. Who do you know who’s willing to do that, now that he’s gone? He created a standard of excellence. He was the best. He was the Godfather.” Knuckles’ client list included icons of pop music we all know on a first-name basis: Diana, Michael, Janet, Whitney, Luther, Toni, Cha-

ka and Madonna. His versatility is evident in his work with Depeche Mode and the Pet Shop Boys. His appreciation for the obscure and hip is evident in his work with Hercules & Love Affair and Alison Limerick. The respect of his music industry peers was evident in his DanceStar Lifetime Achievement Award, his induction into the Dance Music Hall of Fame, and his 1997 Grammy Award for Best Remix Recording, Non-Classical. “To me, because he played piano, he didn’t approach his work as a DJ or remixer. He approached it as a musician. That brought an elegance and sensitivity to his work. Obviously, he was influenced by the legends of the Baby Boomer generation, so now the DJs and remixers are greatly influenced by him. Truly, Godfather of house music Frankie Knuckles will be remembered.

he is the Godfather.” – remixer Robert Eisenbaum. In his decades-spanning career, Knuckles was one of the truly “beautiful people” who was beloved both inside and out of the industry. My personal experience with him came in 2005, for the anniversary of the dance event Fag Fridays at the legendary End Up club, for this newspaper. He was extremely late, and I was aggravated. That feeling dissipated as soon as he came in. He was apologetic and nervous that he had offended me, aware of the presence the B.A.R. has in the LGBT community. His shy, beautiful smile radiated before my camera throughout our entire session. He took his time answering questions about desired future collaborations (Jennifer Hudson, Mary Wilson); the history of the End Up, one of Knuckles’ favorite venues; and fashion. He was impressed with my Armani suit. I replied, “I simply dress up when I meet legends.” Asked which of his remixes was my favorite, I told him it was his remix of Diana Ross’ 1976 disco classic, “Love Hangover.” He said that he used that track to begin all of his sessions, and that he would dedicate the song to me. I asked him instead to “create the magic.” On Knuckles’ way to the DJ booth, the

evening’s MC announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, Fag Fridays and the legendary End Up club present The Father of House Music, Mr. Frankie Knuckles.” Applause erupted as he began his set, taking the microphone and saying, “This is for the little lanky guy in the Armani suit. His name is Cornelius Washington, from the Bay Area Reporter newspaper. This song is for him.” I felt like a king and queen simultaneously as the magic began. I danced into the early morning hours. A few months later, at Gay Pride, the African American stage’s DJ began his set with Knuckles’ remix of “Love Hangover,” and I laughed and danced from my very soul. Weeks later, I spoke with my mother in New Orleans. She’d seen me on national television during a news channel’s coverage of Gay Pride. The next year, the same footage, using Knuckles’ “Love Hangover” remix, was used again. “He was so very inspirational. A true master. I know that there must be a great house party going on upstairs now!” – Michael Brandon, adult-film star, director and co-producer of the Forsaken dance event, where Knuckles often DJed. Rest in peace, Mr. Knuckles. Your magic endures.t

Film>>

April 10-16, 2014 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 19

April showers at the Castro Theatre by David Lamble

his April at the Castro Theatre is highlighted by a glorious tribute to the late film-comedy maven Harold Ramis. Groundhog Day (1993) Prior to his legendary teaming with director Wes Anderson, Bill Murray’s biggest claim to comedy immortality came from his pitch-perfect take on a cynical, self-absorbed TV weatherman’s existential time-warp exile in Punxsutawney, PA. The genius of Harold Ramis’ satire (based on a story by coscreenwriter Danny Rubin) is that we have no idea how many times Murray’s Phil Connors must relive the worst day in his life. Rubin’s original script had Phil in this bucolic purgatory for 10,000 days (a kind of Zen conceit). With touches of black and even borderline nihilist humor, including one positive homo gag, this brazenly brilliant tour de force refutes the notion that you can’t deal with cosmic issues on Hollywood time. With a touch of irony that mimics the film’s stuck-in-time structure, Ramis confessed that the final inbed moments between Murray and Andie MacDowell took 25 takes to nail the proper final note of reckless abandon. (4/11, with Caddyshack) National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978) This early Harold Ramis script (co-written with Douglas Kenney and Chris Miller) is a deceptively low-brow black-comedy spoof on the worst excesses of college frat-boy life circa 1962. It centers on an absurdly misbehaving collection of misfits and unrepentant, hard-drinking underachievers, the members of Delta House. Director John Landis’ decision not to pull his punches on even the most absurdly childish stunts – as when a fat frat-boy induces cardiac arrest in a white stallion by firing a starter pistol inside the Dean of Students’

Bill Murray and Punxsutawney Pete in Harold Ramis’ Groundhog Day.

Brad Davis as Billy Hayes in director Alan Parker’s Midnight Express.

office – pays uproarious dividends. That dean, played by character actor John Vernon with touches of a Nixon-like level of paranoia and skullduggery, puts the boys of Delta on “double secret probation,” leading to a town-and-gown showdown that borders on Armageddon. This is the ultimate guilty pleasure, a movie whose every hysterical beat is resolutely incorrect. (4/12, part of a Remembering Harold Ramis program with National Lampoon’s Vacation and Stripes) The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) Some time during the filming of his first studio feature, 1972’s Boxcar Bertha, Barbara Hershey handed director Martin Scorsese a book that would practically consume his professional life for two decades. His 1983 stab at filming Nikos Kazantzakis’ 600-page novel in Israel was nixed by a variety of forces, including Moral Majority vigilantes. Undaunted, and with the help of writer Paul Schrader, the nation of Morocco, and actor Wilhelm Defoe as Christ, Scorsese shot this 164-minute ver-

regret. Our peerless guide, an aging writer who got his lifetime pass to Rome’s “beautiful people” decadence by penning one unforgettable novel a long time ago, is now living next door to the Colosseum while floating down a social river of half-remembered escapades and old friends with badly kept secrets. As he frames a silent moment where two aging Lotharios weep on each other’s shoulders, Sorrentino reminds us of the rocking 1960s, when Italian films were must-see events that could change your life. (4/16, with Je t’aime, Je t’aime) Midnight Express (1978) Oliver Stone’s Oscar-winning screenplay both bolstered the mythic status of American Billy Hayes’ drug-fueled ordeal in a notorious Turkish prison, and significantly distorted the queer side to Hayes’ saga. A view of this Alan Parker-directed thriller should be followed by a reading of Hayes’ riveting memoir. (4/17, with William Friedkin’s Sorcerer) Wild at Heart (1990) David Lynch’s stab at topping his act of ge-

sion, which thrilled believers and non-believers alike with the screen’s most human-like Jesus, betrayed by the first Judas (a red-bearded Harvey Keitel) with a Brooklyn accent. (4/13, with Resurrection) Pina (2011) Dance fans will appreciate Wim Wenders’ hypnotic 3-D capture of choreographer Pina Bausch’s pioneering modern-dance programs. Wenders’ incendiary camerawork – full-body images, monorail-performed dances, dancers of all ages – allows us sweaty proximity to art in action. (with:) The Red Shoes (1948) Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger created this valentine to ballerinas that lured untold legions of little girls into the world of classical dance. (both 4/10) The Great Beauty (2013) Our full immersion into the sublime wackiness of modern Italian culture gets a major upgrade in Paolo Sorrentino’s beautifully composed, completely surreal, yet grounded tour through a remorseful rake’s reflections on love, loss, death and

nius, underground moral thriller Blue Velvet, is a tad over-the-top, but Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern are a fetching Elvis and Marilyn on the lam, with a special co-starring turn from San Francisco’s own actor/poet J.E. Freeman. (4/25, with Mauvais Sang) Top Gun (1986) Tom Cruise’s career really gained air speed in this (now in 3-D) sky romp, as the leader of a naval aviation school trio of fighter pilot hot dogs. (with:) Cocktail (1988) Cruise trades a cockpit for a cocktail shaker in this very-80s exercise in cocky charm. (both 4/26) It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) Stanley Kramer’s nearly three-hour stab at concocting the funniest Hollywood chase caper ever, with perhaps the greatest allstar cast – Spencer Tracy, Sid Caesar, Milton Berle, Mickey Rooney, Ethel Merman, Jonathan Winters – never reaches the sublime state of its 1930s-era prototypes, but the wacky pratfalls do add up to an experience that’s never dull. (5/3, with Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure)t

<< Music

20 • BAY AREA REPORTER • April 10-16, 2014

Ageless maestro back in town by Philip Campbell

here is real comfort and pleasure in tradition. Former Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony Herbert Blomstedt was back on the podium at Davies Symphony Hall last week for the start of his annual two-week visit as Conductor Laureate. For those of us who remember his tenure from 1985-95, he is a great tradition personified. The seemingly ageless maestro continues to uphold revered musical convention with a level of integrity

and energy that cheers the heart and demonstrates his important influence on the orchestra during his time in San Francisco. At an astonishing 87, Blomstedt still walks ramrod straight to center stage with a genial air of paternal authority that we remember with affection and respect. There is a warm familiarity with the audience, and with the musicians, that encourages a sense of being in reliable hands. The American-born, Swedishreared conductor was always known for his excellence with the core rep-

ertoire, and for his affinity for more modern Scandinavian composers. He also made infrequent but successful forays into contemporary music. A recording of John Harbison’s Oboe Concerto with the sorely missed William Bennett as soloist is still treasured in my collection. Decca Records has put together a 15-disc box set called Herbert Blomstedt – The San Francisco Years (released March 31) that gives a good idea of the musical highs of a golden decade almost two decades past. One of the most recommended discs in the new compilation is devoted to Franz Schubert’s glorious Symphony in C Major, The Great, and lucky us, the mighty catalogue number D.944 was on the bill last week, occupying the second half of the program. In Schubert (Beethoven and Bruckner, too), Blomstedt shows us that old-school mastery that can make a familiar and potentially difficult work spring back to vibrant life. Careful attention to detail and rhythmic buoyancy marked the performance, and as with Blomstedt’s renowned understanding of

Bruckner’s massive scores, a real grasp of the big picture. The opening Andante-Allegro ma non troppo grew organically from a soulful start into a festive dance, and the inner movements stood alone as not only beautiful moments, but also as logical parts of the whole. The final Allegro vivace moved swiftly and did not feel at all abrupt, as other interpreters can sometimes make it seem. The orchestra responded with expected quality. Blomstedt bottlefed many of them back in the day, and they continue to repay his efforts with a depth and sheen that are thoroughly satisfying, full of tight ensemble and individual flavor. The first half of the evening was devoted to Carl Nielsen’s quirky and rhapsodic Clarinet Concerto, Opus 57 (1928), starring Carey Bell, a member of the SFS, as soloist. Blomstedt recorded all the Nielsen Symphonies with the SFS, but he recorded the Clarinet Concerto only with the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra. This marked a special occasion for SFS fans and admirers of Blomstedt’s special kinship with the music of Nielsen.

SFS principal clarinet Carey Bell proved more than capable of tackling the jazz-inspired Clarinet Concerto. He has all the stamina necessary for the truly daunting outbursts of almost uncontrolled anger that are peppered throughout the score. Nielsen adds lots of good tunes and a level-headed selfawareness that allows us to hear the essentially good-natured intentions of the piece. It takes a musician with the right attitude and technique to navigate the mood swings, and Bell was always on top of it. There is still a chance to catch Herbert Blomstedt this week, on Friday, April 11, at 8 p.m., with a signature piece (also recorded with the SFS), Bruckner’s Symphony 4, Romantic, paired with Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 (you know, the one with the famous slow movement), with Garrick Ohlsson as soloist. Blomstedt never seems to age a day. He will always be a healthy-looking 60 (tops). Let us take that as an indication that he will be returning to DSH and upholding the tradition for many more years to come.t

Who’s your diva? by Gregg Shapiro

D Courtesy SFS

Conductor Laureate Herbert Blomstedt.

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o you ever cringe when Joan Rivers bashes Lea Michele on Fashion Police? Do you wonder what it was that Lea could have done to wear away at Joan’s last nerve? Maybe you giggle behind your hand, privately agreeing with what Rivers has to say. Maybe Joan was prescient and knew that Michele’s solo debut Louder (Columbia) would not only be one of the worst albums of 2014, but one of the worst albums ever. Instead of going to war with Russia, perhaps President Obama would consider bombing the hell out of Sweden. That way we could take out the real terrorists, the robotic songwriting Swedes who crank out the scatological excuses for songs found on albums by Britney Spears, Katy Perry, and now Lea Michele. How a singer who has appeared on Broadway and certainly had fun with classic rock covers on Glee could serve up this steaming pile of excrement is inexcusable. Songwriting by committee will be the death of modern music, and nowhere is this more evident than on these 11 songs that blend into one sludgy mess. Shame on Sia Furler, a gifted singer/songwriter in her own right, for getting involved with this project. Seriously, we expect more from her, and we expect far less from Christina Perri and Chantal Kreviazuk, who live up to their sub-standard expectations. Clichés dressed up as song lyrics drown in overproduced numbers such as “Cannonball,” “On My Way” and “Burn with You.” Michele redeems herself on the pumped-up power ballad “Battlefield” (as does Furler) and the “You Only Live Twice” sampler “You’re Mine” (ditto Furler). But these songs are framed by unnecessary bombast such as the faux disco of the title track and “Don’t Let Go,” and the bland “Empty Handed,” which wears thin quick-

er than Joan Rivers’ patience. What we really needed from you, Miss Lea, was something much, much quieter. If you’ve been following Kylie Minogue since the beginning of her recording career (and what queen hasn’t been?), then you know that she is a producer’s diva. The Aussie pop star began as a product of the Stock-Aitken-Waterman disco machinery of the late 1980s, then experienced an early-21st century professional revival in the hands of Pascal Gabriel, Cathy Dennis and other popular producers of the period. Minogue has lost a little traction since then, and most of the 11 songs on Kiss Me Once (WB/ Parlophone) aren’t especially gripping. Exceptions such as Pharrell Williams’ “I Was Gonna Cancel” and the Sia-penned title cut are the most memorable. Kiss Me Once isn’t the kiss of death, but neither is it a kiss that lingers.

The only thing worse than the Lea and Kylie albums is the offensive, catastrophic and pretentious insult that is Pulses (Epic) by YouTube faves, the duo known as Karmin (aka Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan). Humorless and stupid, these 13 songs, including “Acappella” (sic) and “Try Me On,” are simply without a single redeeming facet. Even strippers would insist on keeping their clothes on to these grindy strip-club standards. If this album doesn’t kill hip-hop, then nothing, not even the Black Eyed Peas, ever will. Shallow, shameless and embarrassing, Pulses is dead on arrival. Ashanti was in her early 20s when she topped the charts with “Foolish” in the early part of the 21st century. Since that time she’s been hard at work trying to recapture the kind of popularity that earned her a mention (“No matter where I go/I see Ashanti in the video”) in the Esthero song “We R in Need of a Music Revolution.” Now that Beyoncé has raised the bar so high for one-named soul divas (see also Ciara), it’s going to be difficult for anyone, including Ashanti, who has returned with Braveheart (eOne), to reach her level. But songs “Never Should Have,” “Don’t Tell Me No” and “First Real Love” do hold promise for Ashanti. Original diva Doris Day just turned 90. These days most people know the singer and actress for her activism on AIDS (she was a close friend to the late Rock Hudson) and animals. The double-disc compilation The Essential Doris Day (Columbia/Legacy), featuring 36 tracks from 1945-65, should go a long way in reminding listeners of Day’s contributions to the music of the mid-20th century. You can be sure that Day classics “Secret Love” and “Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Será, Será),” brightened by her golden honey-dipped vocals, are included among the selections. selections.t

Theatre>>

April 10-16, 2014 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 21

Forecast: Depression, gradually clearing

David Allen

A Hollywood hopeful (Kari Yancy) and a cynical reporter (Galen Murphy-Hoffman) begin their romance in Painting the Clouds with Sunshine, a new musical built from old songs by 42nd Street Moon.

by Richard Dodds

Shanghai beckons

And then there are the highly engaging Ryan Drummond and Allison F. Rich, as movie stars whom we see both in scenes from their films and in their own decidedly different personae at a Hollywood party, with Rich particularly adept at bringing satirical ornamentation to her dual roles. With its novel approach to patchwork musicals and its smart production, Painting the Clouds With Sunshine is pretty much guaranteed to deliver what its title promises.t Painting the Clouds with Sunshine will run at the Eureka Theatre through April 20. Tickets are $25-$75. Call 255-8207 or go to www.42ndstmoon.org.

…a gambling nun… a math professor-drag queen… “Kirkwood’s prose is lush and the descriptions of Mardi Gras are intoxicating.” -San Francisco Book Review

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by Richard Dodds

ooking back on my review from five years ago of Thrillpeddlers’ first production of Pearls Over Shanghai, what now seems astonishing is the astonishment expressed at the inventiveness of the material, the elaborateness of the production, and the discipline that the large cast brought to a sprawling story. But in the context of the time, it was the first revival of a Cockettes musical in nearly 40 years – and though the troupe burned brightly for a few years, it also burned out spectacularly after an infamous New York engagement. Few could predict how a Cockettes musical would play to a new generation, but after the 2009 Pearls engagement stretched out to 22 months, and Thrillpeddlers presented three more Cockettes musicals, now it seems that any doubt that Thrillpeddlers could make the Cockettes thrive again was an empty concern. So, heading back to the Hypnodrome for Thrillpeddlers’ fifthanniversary production of Pearls Over Shanghai, the only element missing from the earlier experience is the surprise factor. But this is not just a carbon copy. Many roles have been recast, the fabulous costumes and wigs have been reworked, and the musical score has been tweaked. And, if memory serves, this new production is considerably more polished than what came before. With music by Scrumbly Koldewyn and book and lyrics by Link Martin (augmented by Koldewyn and Pam Trent), Pearls Over Shanghai draws on many stylistic sources: comic operetta, early Warner Brothers musicals, burlesque, classic Broadway, and all-around smut. There are so many plotlines and characters – probably to accommodate the various talents of the original cast of the Cockettes – that it’s best not to invest much effort at keeping it all sorted. It’s a go-withthe-flow kind of show. But at the woozy center, it’s the story of three singing sisters (Zelda Koznofski, Jesse Cortez, and the

expected panache. Musical director and Moon regular Dave Dobrusky offers intense accompaniment from the onstage piano. And then there’s the cast, which is pretty much terrific. All eight members are names new to me, and all eight smoothly slide into the right grooves. There is Kari Yancy as the innocent canary learning to fly in the Hollywood scene, Galen Murphy-Hoffman as the lovesick reporter with a solid voice and stalwart manner, Nicole Frydman as the wisecracking best friend, Cami Thompson as the crisply wise vaudevillian-turned-hash-slinger, John Elliott-Kirk as the stately movie producer, and Justin Gillman as the hard-boiled newspaper vender.

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any of the songwriters’ names are famous: Rodgers and Hart, Frank Loesser, Dorothy Fields, Yip Harburgh, Oscar Hammerstein. Many of them are not. But what they share in common is that most of their songs used in Painting the Clouds with Sunshine are decidedly unfamous. They are the figurative B-sides, a choice that helps make this 42nd Street Moon original musical a delight of continuing surprises. In this context at least, it’s much more entertaining to be introduced

to, say, Buddy DeSylva’s lyrics for “Gather Lip Rouge While You May” than another go-round of his “Look for the Silver Lining” or “You’re the Cream in My Coffee.” And in addition to their novelty factor, by eschewing a hit parade of old standards, librettists Greg MacKellan and Mark D. Kaufman have more freedom to fit the songs to the story than story to songs. When a familiar tune, “You Oughta Be in Pictures,” is heard in the middle of the first act, it gets an intentional laugh because it invokes contrivance that the obscurities can

mostly avoid. When characters in a diner start singing “Breakfast Table Love,” the laughs only come when the lyrics begin to talk of magic in the muffins and temptation in the tea. The story that holds together these rare songs from early movie musicals is very much in the style of the era: A movie-struck optimist just off the bus in Hollywood quickly gets a big break that threatens her budding relationship with a struggling reporter with no taste for the glamorous life. But while the plot and its characters come out of a stock catalog, it still contains a few twists and surprises. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen a 42nd Street Moon production, and what a treat it turned out to be. The troupe had launched its mission of reviving seldom-seen musicals in 1993 as staged concerts without sets or costumes, and with the actors holding scripts. Its evolution into a company that presented fuller productions brought it into a netherworld of circumstances that seemed more reduced than those of its stripped-down beginnings. But Painting the Clouds with Sunshine has been staged with skillful imagination by co-librettist Kaufman on a stylish, adaptable unit set by Hector Zavala, and with justright costumes by Felicia Lilienthal. Staci Arriaga’s choreography further enhances the production with un-

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REAL STEAKS. REAL MARTINIS. REAL SAN FRANCISCO. David Wilson

Steven Satyricon plays an American ship captain in love with a poor Chinese girl (Eric Tyson Wertz) in Thrillpeddlers’ fifth-anniversary production of the Cockettes musical Pearls Over Shanghai.

wonderfully world-weary BirdieBob Watt) who head to Shanghai in hopes of being discovered, only to be sold into white slavery while their would-be rescuer, an American ship captain (an inked, pierced, and stalwart Steven Satyricon) falls into forbidden love with a poor Chinese maiden of ambiguous innocence (the hilarious Eric Tyson Wertz). There seem to be several levels of grand poo-bahs (including original Cockettes member Rumi Missabu, whose elastic facial expressions remind me of latter-day Lucille Ball) and their henchmen (memorably played by Earl Alfred Paus and John Flaw) who orchestrate the kidnapping, and one or two subplots that have nothing to do with any of this. Thrillpeddlers’ Grand Poo-bah Russell Blackwood is again the director who expertly and imaginatively marshals the 20-member cast, and returns in full force to the role of the imperious Mother Fu. Choreographers Noah Haydon and Bonni Suval have a field day with their quotes from old musicals, and make

ample use of the props that Yusuke Soi has corralled. This is a good place to acknowledge the creators of the hallucinogenically dazzling costumes: Tina Sogliuzzo, Dwight Overton, Flynn DeMarco (wigs, too), Tahara, and Bill Bowers, and the ornate sets of James Blackwood. Koldewyn, another of the original Cockettes, is still at the piano playing the panoply of his many melodies. Where the production can slow down is when the lyrics don’t do enough twisting and turning for the overall satirical tone, and in some cases, when the voices are just not strong enough. But Pearls Over Shanghai still marks another happy reunion of the Cockettes and Thrillpeddlers, two theatrical groups separated by 40 years that still seem to have been destined to be collaborators in sinfully silly glory.t Pearls Over Shanghai will run at the Hypnodrome through May 31. Tickets are $30-$35. Call (800) 8383006 or go to thrillpedders.com.

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<< Out&About Out &About

O&A

22 • BAY AREA REPORTER • April 10-16, 2014

Painting the Clouds With Sunshine @ Eureka Theatre

Fri 11

After All

David DeSilva

by Jim Provenzano

y stepping or rolling out into the three-dimensional world, you can enjoy your choice of dozens of in-your-face events. Dance on film features this week, including another screening of the Pina Bausch documentary, and AXIS Dance Company’s new home season includes a film by choreographer Alex Ketley, along with a groundbreaking new version of Yvonne Rainer’s post-modern work “Trio A.” Also, a few art exhibits, while seemingly two-dimensional, really do pop out in 3D, including works by the designer of Disney’s “It’s a Small World After All.”

Thu 10 Chomp! @ Conservatory of Flowers They Came From the Swamp, a new floral exhibit of carnivorous plants includes exhibits, docent talks and a giant replica model so you can feel like a bug about to be eaten. Opening night gala “Dangerous Beauty,” April 10, 6:30-11pm. $175-$250 and up. Thru Oct. 19. Reg. hours, 10am4pm. Free-$7. Tue-Sun 10am-4:30pm. Extended thru March 16. 100 JFK Drive, Golden Gate Park. 831-2090. www.conservatoryofflowers.org

Emma Donoghue @ Alexander Book Co. Author of the book Frog Music, set in 1870s San Francisco, reads from and discusses her book about the murder of frog-hunting cross-dressing woman Jenny Bonnet; with live celtic harp and banjo music performed by Patrice Haan and Tony Marcus. 50 2nd St. 495-2992.

Every Five Minutes @ Magic Theatre World premiere of Scottish playwright Linda McLean’s drama about a family dinner gone strange when a returning son slips into an unimaginable dreamscape. $20-$60. Wed-Sat 8pm. Tue 7pm. Sun 2:30 & 7pm. Thru April 20. Fort Mason Center, 2 Marina Blvd., Bldg D, 3rd floor. 441-8822. www.magictheatre.org

The Habit of Art @ Z Below Theatre Alan Bennet’s “very British comedy” about gay artists Benjamin Britten and W.H Auden’s imagined meeting, takes on the nature and purpose of theatre, poetry and music; directed by Theatre Rhino’s John Fisher. $15-$35. Wed-Sat 8pm. Sun 3pm. Thru April 13. www.TheRhino.org

Hope Mohr Dance @ ODC Theater The local choreographer premieres three of her works, including Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction, set to live jazz music. $20-$40. Thu-Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm. Thru April 13. 3153 17th St. 863-9834. www.hopemohr.org www.ODCdance.org

Joan Collins @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko The iconic fabulous actress performs a unique autobiographical cabaret show. $60-$75. 8pm. Also April 11, 8pm. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. 394-1111. www.hotelnikkosf.com/feinsteins.aspx

Arthur Szyk and the Art of the Haggadah @ Contemporary Jewish Museum

42nd Street Moon, the company known for reviving lost musicals, presents the world premiere of Greg MacKellan and Mark D. Kaufmann’s new musical that features old songs from 1930s musicals; a jaded newspaperman and a struggling waitress find romance in Tinseltown. $25-$75. Wed & Thu 7pm. Fri 8pm. Sat 6pm Sun 3pm. Thru April 20. 215 Jackson St. 255-8207. www.42ndStMoon.org

Steven Saylor @ Mrs. Dalloway’s Bookstore, Berkeley

AXIS Dance Company

Sat 12

The prolific gay author reads from and discusses his latest historic novel, Raiders of the Nile. 7:30pm. 2904 College Ave., Berkeley. (510) 704-8222. www.mrsdalloways.com Also April 16, 6pm at Book Passage, 1 Ferry Building, SF 835-1020. www.bookpassage.com www.stevensaylor.com

Untitled (Wind), Untitled (Sound) @ SF Art Institute

New exhibit of 48 fascinating and richly detailed illustrations of Hebrew stories by the early 20th-century artist (thru June 29). Also, To Build & Be Built: Kibbutz History (thru July 1). 2pm-5pm. Free (members)-$12. Thu-Tue 11am-5pm (Thu 1pm-8pm) 736 Mission St. 655-7800. www.thecjm.org

Avotcja at Donde Esta Mi Gente?

Shit & Champagne @ Rebel D’Arcy Drollinger’s “whitesploitation” drag satire musical play kicks up the laughs; also starring Matthew Martin. $20-$25. Fri & Sat, 8pm. Extended thru April 26. 1772 Market St. at Octavia. www.shitandchampagne.eventbrite.com

Julie Tolentino, veteran ACT UP NY and Queer Nation activist and artist, presents a projected image installation, viewable on the school’s bell tower, campus, and elsewhere. 800 Chestnut St. www.sfai.edu

Taylor Dayne @ Yoshi’s

Fri 11

Tribes @ Berkeley Repertory

AXIS Dance Company @ Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, Oakland The Oakland-based physically integrated innovative dance company performs a unique adaptation of Yvonne Rainer’s “Trio A,” a world premiere and a solo by Guest Artistic Director Marc Brew, and a screening of The Gift (of Impermanence), a dance film by Alex Ketley. $10-$30. 8pm. Also Sat 8pm, Sun 2pm. 1428 Alice St. at 14th, Oakland. (510) 625-0110. www.axisdance.org

The dynamic vocalist and gay community favorite (“Tell It To My Heart”) performs her pop hits and new music. $45-$49. 8pm & 10pm. 1330 Fillmore St. 655-5600. www.taylordayne.com www.yoshis.com Nina Raines acclaimed drama about a young deaf man who meets a women with a nonassimilation perspective, which forces him to confront his parents, and the meaning of language. $29-$99. Tue, Thu-Sat 8pm. Wed 7pm. Sat & Sun 2pm. Sun 7pm. Thru May 18. Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 647-2949 berkeleyrep.org

Truong Tran @ Telegraph Hill Gallery Closing reception for the gay artist’s solo exhibit features 24 fascinating works made from thousands of paper butterflies hand-cut from vintage pornography magazines. 6:308:30pm. 491 Greenwich St. gnourtnart.com

Lynda Carter @ Yoshi’s

Thrillpeddlers’ hilarious Cockettes revival returns, with many of the ebullient original cast members. $30-$35. Thu-Sat 8pm. Thru May 31. 575 10th St. (800) 838-3006. www.thrillpeddlers.com

Queer Ancestors Project @ LGBT Center An exhibition of prints by queer artists age 18 to 26. Panel discussion, 6pm, artist reception and print sale 7pm-9pm. Exhibit thru May 16. 1800 Market St. www.sfcenter.org

The Scion @ The Marsh Solo performer Brian Copeland’s new show focuses on privilege, murder and sausage in his retelling of the triple murder crime at the Santos Linguisa Factory. $15-$60. Thu & Fri 8pm. Sat 5pm. Extended thru April 18. 1062 Valencia St. 282-3055. www.themarsh.org

Sun 13 The World of Mary Blair

Fun & free community expo designed to connect members of the LGBTQ community to groups and organizations that pique their personal interests. From culture, arts and leisure to athletics and volunteerism, AtomsQueer will get you connected to the queer community. Live DJ’s, food trucks, performances and prizes. Free HIV/STD testing. Free and open to the public. 1pm5pm. 1800 Market St. www.atmosqueer.org

Donde Esta Mi Gente? @ Magnet Festival of Latino Poetry and Spoken Word continues at the men’s health space and arts venue; host Baruch Porras-Hernandez, poet-musician Avotcja, and others. Free. 7:30pm. 2275 Market St. www.dondeestamigente.com www.magnetsf.org

Double Down for Shanti @ City Club The fundraiser for breast cancer patients turns the nightclub into a glamorous casino complete with a variety of betting tables and games, plus honors for board member Tracy Curtis. $100-$400 and up. 3pm-6pm. 155 Sansome St. 674-4700. www.shanti.org

Feisty Old Jew @ The Marsh Charlie Veron’s new solo show about a fictional elder man who hitches a ride with surfer-hipsters, and rants about what he hates about the 21st century. $25-$100. Sat 8pm, Sun 7pm. Thru May 4. 1062 Valencia St. 282-3055. www.themarsh.org

“Let It Go” at the Disney animated film screenings, where audience members sing along, dress up in character costumes, and enjoy the family fun, the viewing of which will make your kids gay, according to inane fundamentalust Christians. $10-$16. 1pm. Also 5pm April 20. Also April 19, 20, 26, and 27 at 1pm. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com

New and Classic Films @ Castro Theatre

Pearls Over Shanghai @ The Hypnodrome

AtmosQueer Spring Fling @ LGBT Center

Frozen Sing-Along @ Castro Theatre

The multi-talented actreess-singer performs with her all-star band, featuring Paul Leim and Blue Lou Marini. $25-$55. 8pm. Also April 9, 8pm. 1330 Fillmore St. 655-5600. www.yoshis.com

April 10, dance films The Red Shoes (7pm) and Pina, in 3D (9:25). April 11, Groundhog Day (7pm) and Caddyshack (8:55). April 12, Frozen Sing-Along (1pm) and Harold Ramis tribute: Vacation (5pm), Stripes (7pm) and Animal House (9pm). April 13, Ben Hur (1pm) and The Last Temptation of Christ (6pm) and Resurrection (9pm). April 16, Je T’Aime, Je T’Aime (7pm) and The Great Beauty (8:45). April 17, Sorcerer (7pm) and Midnight Express (9:15). $11. 429 Castro St. 621-6120. www.castrotheatre.com

Pina in 3D

Thu 10 Beach Blanket Babylon @ Club Fugazi The musical comedy revue celebrates its 40th year with an ever-changing lineup of political and pop culture icons, all in gigantic wigs. $25-$160. Beer/ wine served; cash only; 21+, except where noted. 678 Beach Blanket Babylon Blvd (Green St.). 421-4222. www. beachblanketbabylon.com

The Importance of Being Earnest @ Russian River Hall, Monte Rio Curtain Call Theatre company’s production of the Oscar Wilde pun-filled comedy. $15$20. Fri & Sat 8pm. Sun 3pm. Thru April 12. 20347 Highway 116, Monte Rio. (707) 524-8739. www.russianriverhall.com

Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco @ Mission Cultural Center City Swing joins the vocal ensemble for Swing Break , a concert of classic big band jazz music, with Queer Jitterbugs dancing, and guest solist Tom Reardon. $15-$40. 7:30pm. Also April 12. 2868 Mission St. 779-5428. www.lgcsf.org

Mark M. Garrett @ Dogpatch Gallery Exhibit of the local artist’s hand-cut mapwork art. Thru April 19. 2295 3rd St. at 20th. www.markmgarrett.com www.dogpatchcafe.com

Public Intimacy @ YBCA SF MOMA on the Go exhibit Public Intimacy: Art and Other Ordinary Acts in South Africa, a collection of photography, with artists Kemang Wa Lehulere, AthiPatra Ruga and others. Thru June 29. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission St. 321-1307. www.ybca.org

Venus in Fur @ Geary Theatre American Conservatory Theatre presents a new production of the Broadway hit by David Ives, about straight sexual domination. $20-$72. Tue-Sat 8pm. Sat & Sun 2pm. Also Sun 7pm. Thru April 13. 405 Geary St. 749-2228. www.act-sf.org

Work MORE! #6 @ SOMArts Gallery Mica Sigourney’s collaborative drag art performance and installation includes 22 avante and traditional drag performers, their visual art, performance and panel April 16, 6pm. Closing reception April 24, 6pm. Tue-Fri 12pm-7pm. Sat 12pm-5pm. 934 Brannan St. www.work-more.org www.somarts.org

Sat 12 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee @ Julia Morgan Theatre, Berkeley Berkeley Playhouse performs the Tony Award-winning musical comedy about word-obsessed kids and their families. $17-$60. Thu-Sun various times. Thru May 4. 2650 College Ave., Berkeley. (510) 8458542. www.berkeleyplayhouse.org

Accidental Death of an Anarchist @ Berkeley Repertory Comic actor Steven Epp stars in Dario Fo’s political farce about bureaucratic duplicity and political corruption. $29-$57. Tue-Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm & 7pm. Thru April 20. Roda Stage, 2015 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org

Georgia O’Keeffe @ de Young Museum Modern Nature: Georgia O’Keeffe and Lake George, a new exhibit of paintings focusing on the artist’s New York landscapes. $25. Thru May 11. Tue-Sun 9:30am-5:15pm. Golden Gate Park, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive. www.deyoungmuseum.org

Interior. Leather Bar. @ Roxie Theatre James Franco’s introspective homoerotic take on scenes from the then-boycotted gay thriller Cruising. $7-.50-$10. 3117 16th St. 863-1087. www.roxie.com

Marga Gomez @ The Marsh Lovebirds, the lesbian comic’s new solo show, portrays an array of wacky characters, from different eras, each searching for love. $15-$50. Thu & Fri 8pm. Sat. 8:30pm. Extended thru April 12. 1062 Valencia St. 282-3055. www.themarsh.org

Megan Hilty @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko The Broadway and TV singing sensation performs her stylish cabaret show. $60$75. 7pm. Also April 13, 7pm. Nikko Hotel, 222 Mason St. www.hotelnikkosf.com/ feinsteins.aspx

SF Hiking Club @ Almaden Quicksilver Park Join GLBT hikers for an 8-mile hike at this site of the Gold Rush-era mercury mines and camp memorialized in Wallace Stegner’s Pulitzer-winning novel Angle of Repose. This park is steeped in California history (including a hanging tree and cemetery!) with panoramic views and an optional mine tunnel tour. Carpool meets 8:30am at Safeway sign, Market & Dolores. 740-9888. www.sfhiking.com

Queer Dharma @ SF Zen Center Monthly Zen Buddhist meditation and discussion group, with speaker Fugan Eugene Bush. 1pm-3pm. 300 Page St. www.sfzc.org

Out&About>>

April 10-16, 2014 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 23

Fri 11 Truong Chan’s art

Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays @ New Conservatory Theatre Center Collection of short plays with several unique takes on the moments before, during and after “I Do” by Mo Gaffney, Jordan Harrison, Moisés Kaufman, Neil LaBute, Wendy MacLeod, Jose Rivera, Paul Rudnick, and Doug Wright, conceived by Brian Shnipper. $25-$45. Wed-Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm. Thru April 27. 25 Van Ness Ave, lower level. www.nctcsf.org

The World of Mary Blair @ Walt Disney Museum

Positive Pride Toastmaster @ SF AIDS Foundation

Magic, Color, Flair, an exhibit of original art work from the innovative production design artist for Disney’s Peter Pan, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland and other films, and the iconic attractions at Walt Disney World like the “It’s a Small World” ride; thru Sept. 7. Also, Leading Ladies and Femme Fatales: The Art of Marc Davis, including original drawings of Cruella DeVille, Tinkerbell and other iconic characters; thru Nov. 4. 104 Montgomery St. www.waltdisney.org

Public speaking, communication and leadership skills are shared at this weekly meeting for people with HIV. Free. 6pm7pm. 1035 Market St., 4th floor. www.positivetoastmasters.com

Tipped & Tipsy @ The Marsh A “Best of Fringe” show, Jill Vice’s solo work portrays an array of characters from the bartending world. $15-$50. Sat 5pm, Sun 7pm. Extended thru May 17. 1062 Valencia St. 282-3055. www.themarsh.org

Underground Short Film Festival @ Victoria Theatre Screening of dozens of weird, wacky and visually fascinating short films; hosted by Peaches Christ and Sam Sharkey, with performances by Zbornak and Citizen Midnight. Different programs at 4:30, 7pm and 9:30pm: a special film and live drag tribute to Phatima Rude. $15-$20. 2961 16th St. www.peacheschrist.com

Sun 13 And the Oscar Goes To… @ Century 9 Cinema Fathom Events’ simulcast screening of the documentary about the greatest moments in the Academy Awards ceremony broadcasts. $15. 2pm. Also April 16, 2pm & 7pm. 835 Market St. Other cinemas in the Bay Area as well. www.fathomevents.com

The Big Gay Comedy Show @ Marines’ Memorial Theatre Bruce Vilanch headlines the stellar laughfest, with Marga Gomez, Shann Carr, Shawn Ryan, Leanne Borghesi and her B.O.O.B.S. trio, Katya Smirnoff-Skyy, Ali Mafi, Cassandra Cass, Jason Brock, and Kitty Tapata; proceeds go to the Richmond/ Ermet AIDS Foundation. $35-$75. 7:30pm. 609 Sutter St. 273-1620. www.reaf.org

Mon 14 Lunada Literary Lounge @ Galeria de la Raza The Queer Latino Poetry and Spoken Word Festival continues with a special event at the gallery’s monthly readings and open mic, with Norman Zelaya, and Estela de la Cruz. $5. 2857 24th St. www.galeriadelaraza.org

Still Life, Floral & Trompe L’Oeil @ John Pence Gallery

Rex Ray @ Gallery 16 Exhibit of strikingly colorful works by the prolific local gay painter and designer. TueFri 10am-5pm. Sat 11am-5pm. Thru May 9. 501 3rd St. 626-7495. www.gallery16.com

Wed 16 New Dances @ The Garage Joel Brown (AXIS Dance), Marissa Brown and Khala Brannigan (Lines Ballet) perform new dances. 8pm. 715 Bryant St. 518-1517. www.715bryant.info/the_garage

Smack Dab @ Magnet Musician Blair Hansen is the featured performer at the monthly queer-friendly open mic, hosted by Dana Hopkins and Larry-bob Roberts. Free. 7:30pm sign-up. 8pm. 4122 18th St. www.magnetsf.org

Exhibit of fascinating paintings by various artists. Thru April 26. Mon-Fri 10am-6pm Sat 10am-5pm. 750 Post St. 441-1138. www.johnpence.com

Sony Holland @ Level III

Tue 15

Yoga: The Art of Transformation @ Asian Art Museum

Big Book Sale @ Festival Pavilion Friends of the SF Library’s annual massive discount book sale, where everything is $3 or less, also includes DVDs, CDs, books on tape, vinyl, food and drinks. Free. Members preview April 15, 4pm-8pm. Open sale April 16-20, 10am-6pm. Fort Mason Center, Bay St. at Buchanan. www.friendssfpl.org

Meditation Group @ LGBT Center New weekly non-sectarian meditation group; part of the Let’s Kick ASS AIDS Survivor Syndrome support group. Tuesdays, 5pm, 1800 Market St. www.LetsKickASS.org www.sfcenter.org

The acclaimed jazz vocalist performs with guitarist Jerry Holland. Weekly 5pm-8pm. Also Thursdays & Fridays. JW Marriott, 515 Mason St. at Post. www.sonyholland.com

New exhibit of visual art representing the 2,500-year-old health practice. Other ongoing exhibits as well. Free (members)-$12. Tue-Sun 10am-5pm. 200 Larkin St. 581-3500. www.asianart.org

Thu 17 Berkeley Dance Project @ Zellerbach Playhouse Diverse concert series of student and guest artist works. $10-$15. Thu-Sat 8pm. Spieker Plaza, UC Berkeley campus. (510) 642-8827. www.tdps.berkeley.edu

Comedy Returns @ El Rio The monthly comedy show this time includes Shazia Mirza, Carla Clayy, Victor Escobedo, Belo Cipriani and hostess Lisa Geduldig. $7-$20. 8pm. 3158 Mission St. (800) 838-3006. www.elriosf.com

Here we grow again!

Multimedia Sales Associate

Sierra Boggess @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko

Sing-Along Frozen

Sat 12 Homo File Salon @ Third Workplace Jeb Havens and other artists perform at the third fundraiser for Seth Eisen’s multimedia theatre work about gay culture pioneer Samuel Steward; wine, and a spring feast as well. $35-$200. 3pm-6pm. 270 King St. www.homofile.eyezen.org

Mission in Motion @ Brava Theater Mission Academy for the Performing Arts presents a student showcase of music, dance and theater. $5-$10. 3pm. 2781 24th St. 641-7657. www.brava.org

Chicks with Shticks @ SF Public Library The Kinsey Sicks and 20 Years of Dragapella Activism, a new exhibit about the musical ensemble Thru July 10. Also, Pretty in Ink: North American Women Cartoonists 18962013, 4th floor. Thru June 5. Also, You Don’t Say! Wordless Cartoons from the Schmulowitz Collection of Wit & Humor, an exhibit of witty visual comics like Little Lulu, from the 19th to 21st century. Thru May 31. Also, The Black Woman is God, Karen Seneferu’s exhibit focusing on the art of Tarika Lewis, Karen Seneferu, Malik Seneferu, Sydney “Sage” Cain and Ajuan Mance, whose work explores the divinity of Blackness. Thru May 15. African American Center. 100 Larkin St. www.sfpl.org

The Broadway and London stage sensation ( The Little Mermaid, Phantom of the Opera, Master Class) debuts her intitate cabaret show. $40-$55. 8pm. Also April 18, 8pm. April 19, 7pm. Nikko Hotel, 222 Mason St. hotelnikkosf.com/feinsteins.aspx

The Bay Area Reporter, America’s oldest continuously-published and highest circulation LGBT newspaper, is looking for a Multimedia Sales Executive.

Sleeping Cutie @ Thick House

Doug Katsaros and Diane Sampson’s musical about a narcolepic teenager girl and jailed father’s prusuit to get her married. $30-$40. Thu-Sat 8pm. Thru May 11. 1695 18th St. at Arkansas. 992-6677. www.sleepingcutiemusical.org

So Bent: Queer Performance @ SF Art Institute

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Julie Tolentino, veteran ACT UP NY and Queer Nation activist and artist, performs “Work Study…drive your cart and plow over the bones of the dead,” a four-to-sixhour durational performance with sound artist Robert Crouch, Stosh Fila and Rita Tolentino. Free. 12pm-9pm. Sculpture ramp, 800 Chestnut St. www.sfai.edu

second section 57

To submit event listings, email jim@ebar.com. Deadline is each Thursday. For bar and nightlife events, visit www. ebar.com/bartab

Boston, P-town travel

40th anniv., readers' poll

Considering Balenciaga

The

www.ebar.com

Serving the gay, lesbian,

REPORT CITES HEALTH GAPS

Our new look

communities since 1971

Vol. 41 • No. 14 • April 7-13,

The 2011

by Seth Hemmelgarn

bisexual, and transgender

Community looks back at 40 years of the B.A.R.

by Bob Roehr

Founding publisher Bob Ross

Despite setbacks, LGBT scene in San Jose is ‘vibrant ’ by Seth Hemmelgarn

he past year has seen several setbacks in San Jose’s LGBT community, even as data from the 2010 census recently revealed that the South Bay berg is now the 10th largest city in the country.

Recent events, however, have made it seem that for a city with almost 1 million people, there’s not much strength in the gay community there. Last month, the Billy DeFrank LGBT Community Center canceled its 30th anniversary party, which had been planned for March 26. Only about 40 tickets had been sold. Last November, the Silicon Valley AIDS Leadership Center, which had organized the annual Walk for AIDS, announced its closure. And about three months before that, in August, the Gay Pride Celebration Committee of San Jose Inc. opted not to hold a parade. Of course, problems at LGBT organizations aren’t unique to San Jose. Several San Francisco agencies have been struggling financially. And people with Pride and the DeFrank center indicate they’re all right. “We have a vibrant community, and when we can engage them, I think that they’re there,” said Ray Mueller, who joined San Jose Pride’s board earlier this year. One example is last Thursday’s LGBT night with the San Jose Sharks hockey team. Tickets sold out in 10 days.

www.ebar.com

Serving the gay, lesbian,

bisexual, and transgender

City to embrace Pride

communities since 1971

Vol. 43 • No. 26 • June 27-July

See page 23 >>

Rick Gerharter Members of the Kaiser Permanente contingent enjoyed the sun and music as they headed down Market Street at last year’s Pride parade.

Phyllis Lyon is escorted down the Rotunda stairs in San Francisco City Hall by Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, left, and Mayor Ed Lee.

Court victories!

Rick Gerharter

by Matthew S. Bajko and Lisa

Keen

by Cynthia Laird

{ FIRST OF THREE SECTIONS

}

Center official appears

the four liberal justices of the court. It strikes DOMA as unconstitutional because it the guarantees of equal protection violates and due process.

The DOMA dissent, based largely on matters of standing, was led by Chief Justice John Roberts and joined by the court’s three other conservatives.

Activists to honor Mannin g at SF

The Pro-Latino contingent marched in the 2008 San Jose Pride Parade; officials are not yet sure if there will be a Pride Parade this year, although the festival is scheduled for August.

Rick Gerharter

hopeful

The DeFrank center has been hobbled by financial and leadership problems in recent years and currently has no full-time executive director. However, Chris Flood, the DeFrank’s board president, indicated that the center’s doing better than it might appear. He was at a See page 22 >>

3, 2013

by Seth Hemmelgarn

The

’s 2nd Annual Reader’s Choice Awards

See page 22 >>

parade

{ FIRST OF THREE SECTIONS

}

Rick Gerharter

To those who say that even though Manning is gay, what he did was not specifically lated, Cain has a different perspective. gay-re“The reason I nominated Bradley was because the LGBT community Manning needed to know about him and embrace him,” Cain said. “Bradley Manning is a gay man who did See page 6 >>

<< TV

24 • BAY AREA REPORTER • April 10-16, 2014

From Barney Stinson to Hedwig by Victoria A. Brownworth

pril is the coolest month. There are more new shows on the horizon, including the return of Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) in Fox’s 24: Live Another Day, and an NBC mini-series that is a remake of the classic horror novel and film Rosemary’s Baby. The story is set in Paris rather than New York, and Rosemary is played by Latina actress Zoe Saldana, so the marriage is interracial, which adds to the intrigue. Though we aren’t sure how one bests the 1968 film. Last week Neil Patrick Harris ended his nine-year run as Barney Stinson on CBS’ How I Met Your Mother with the series’ finale. The role won him five Emmys for best actor in a comedy, and helped him be listed as the most powerful actor on TV. (Working that gay agenda.) Next Harris heads to Broadway to star in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, as the transgender singer. ET reported last week that Harris lost 25 lbs. for the role, and showed some stills of Harris in drag. Fetching. Harris has been on Broadway before, has hosted the Tony Awards four times, and won three Emmys for his performances. But he has never stayed away from TV for long, so expect to see him back soon, most likely in a follow-up to HIMYM, which, unlike Breaking Bad, did not leave viewers satisfied in the series finale.

We’re not sure what the biggest TV news of the week has been: another mass shooter at a military base, or David Letterman announcing he’s leaving late night. They were given equal weight on the national news. We’re going to go with our gut and say, the shooting by Ivan Lopez at Fort Hood. We’ve heard this story before: mentally ill man with guns shoots a lot of people in a short period of time. TV news and their paid experts deconstruct the events. Everyone asks, “How could this happen?” This time the deconstruction part was on fast-forward. We were stunned by how quickly the story went from horror to acceptance. Within 48 hours, the demonizing of Lopez as someone who had no right to claim PTSD or damage from America’s longest wars was solidified by TV “experts.” Here’s what we think: War damages people. Long wars damage people longer. People respond to the horror of war differently. Humans are programmed by evolution (creationists cover your ears) for fight or flight. War only offers fight. Anyone who thinks that one can feel safe being in a war zone because they aren’t in a combat position, as some “experts” said on ABC’s Nightline, must not know how many men and women

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on delivery convoys have been killed or maimed in Afghanistan and Iraq. One thing we know for sure: Lopez is not the last man to go mad from war. And really, you don’t need a paid expert to tell you that. Now to that other news item, Letterman’s consciously unhosting The Late Show. Letterman’s decision was fairly sudden. He’d told CBS last year he was thinking about retiring sometime in the not-so-distant future and had only signed a contract through August 2015. Yet no one really thought he would leave then. His announcement on the April 3 show was poignant as well as funny. The 66-year-old Letterman has been the top-rated latenight host for decades. Most of us have grown up with Letterman and his quirky, acerbic style. No one has been a talk-show host longer; Letterman has hosted Late Night since 1982, more years even than Johnny Carson was on The Tonight Show. Letterman’s show is also his own, produced by his company Worldwide Pants, which also produces The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Letterman has also produced sitcoms like Everybody Loves Raymond, Sesame Street specials and indie films like Strangers with Candy. We’ve always liked Letterman for his slow-burn take-downs of politicians, especially Republicans. One of our personal faves was a couple of years ago when Letterman was quizzing Rand Paul on spending for education and said, “So what you’re saying is, you really have no idea what you’re talking about.” We loved how he taunted Mitt Romney every night during the 2012 campaign for refusing to come on when other politicians, including Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and John McCain, had. But what we will never forget was Letterman’s monologue after 9/11. After days of every network dropping all its programming for roundthe-clock news coverage, when things began to normalize with the return to regular programming, Letterman was who the nation most wanted to see. The late-night comedian in the heart of New York City would be the one to answer the unspoken question we all had: Would we ever be able to laugh again? His opening monologue was somber, emotional and intense. But also said succinctly all that we needed to hear, from someone who sounded as honest and confused by what had happened as we were. Letterman told us that life goes on and we with it, and that despite the hideousness of what had happened, we could still be grateful: for the first responders who took risks few of us could imagine, for a mayor who knew how to calm the populace in the midst of abject terror, for a city full of people who rallied rather than go mad with grief and rage. Letterman leaving opens the door for someone else to take that slot. Names are being floated, chief among them Stephen Colbert. We’d love to see a woman hosting on CBS, but we’re not holding our breath. Julie Chen would be the likeliest candidate. Chen is wife of CBS president Les Moonves and current host of the daytime show The Talk, as well as host of the Big Brother series. But what about someone truly edgy like Roseanne Barr? Jimmy Fallon’s transition into hosting The Tonight Show has been so smooth and ratings so even, it’s as if Jay Leno never existed. Fallon is affable and funny, and his bits work. On his April 4 show, he made this quip: “Yesterday, Hillary Clinton

CBS-TV

Neil Patrick Harris ended his nine-year run on How I Met Your Mother.

said the media treats women with a double standard. Or as the media reported it, ‘Hillary shows off sassy new haircut.’” Comedian Louis CK hosted on SNL last week, and said this in his opener: “We didn’t give women the vote until 1920. That means democracy is 94 years old. There are three people in my building older than American democracy.”

Fancy feast

Meanwhile, is NBC’s Hannibal the most perversely homoerotic show on TV? Gay showrunner, creator and writer Bryan Fuller has outdone himself this season. All the over-thetop beauty, pageantry and pathos Fuller had used in Pushing Daisies he utilizes in Hannibal. But this time, the flowers are part of macabre murder displays. And the way Mads Mikkelsen’s Hannibal lovingly prepares his cannibalistic feasts is so sensual, it reads like sex. Then he feeds these extravagant meals that look like Dutch still lifes to the men he is so deeply attached to. Oh, the sexual tension as we watch him watch them eat the food he has prepared! When in the April 4 episode Hannibal sets his sights on Dr. Gideon (played with brilliant range by gay actor Eddie Izzard) because he has colluded with Hannibal’s love obsession, FBI profiler Will Graham (Hugh Dancy), we know something terrible and wonderful is afoot. After Gideon’s throat is slashed and his back broken in one of the most beautifully rendered assault scenes in cinematic history, Hannibal saves him, only to amputate his legs. But it doesn’t end there. We watch Hannibal prepare an elaborate meal that is sumptuous and elegant. He’s roasted Gideon’s amputated legs and now intends to serve them to him. Hannibal takes a bite, watches Gideon, who stares at the meat on his fork, then eats it. Human, the other white meat. He turns to Hannibal and says, “My compliments to the chef,” in a tone dripping with irony. Speaking of homoeroticism, for fun there’s this loop on Vine promoting HBO’s True Detective, with Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey talking about how “just flat sexy” each other is: vine. co/v/MevdDvpLxi3. Get a room. On ABC’s Nashville, there’s no room, there’s no sex, there’s just the reality of the gay stigma. Will (Chris Carmack) is flat-out gay. He’s in love with Gunnar, but now Will’s marrying Layla (Aubrey Peeples) and pretending to be straight. Every

time we see him kiss her, we cringe. When Gunnar lies for Will when he’s asked by the producer if Will is gay, we cringe. Homophobia is far from over, as we know from real life. Nashville is addressing that reality. But it creeps us out to see Layla lied to by both Will and Gunnar. All over America this same scenario is still being played out. And the curse of the down-low is also responsible for myriad new HIV infections in women whose “bisexual” partners are having unsafe sex with other men because they can’t tell the truth to themselves. We’d like to see Nashville work this into the storyline. We also hope they don’t keep Will married to Layla, since we all know desire can’t be elided. Will wants men. So no matter how fond he is of Layla or how many times he has sex with her, his true desire will overwhelm him. And his career will come crashing down. Speaking of music careers, Fox’s American Idol has its first out contestant in MK Nobilette. The 20-year-old San Franciscan may be voted off the island, but at least she got on there. There could be hope for this show yet. NBC’s The Voice has had previous out lesbian contestants. This season it’s Kristen Merlin, butch and country. She’s got a hell of a voice, and her coach is Shakira. But is The Voice pulling some lesbian erasure with a butch lesbian? It seems to us like Merlin’s back story got short shrift, and the camera cuts away from her a lot when she sings. Maybe we’re being paranoid since lesbian erasure is the new black, but we think not. Our fave TV story of the week involved a commercial rather than a series. The Honey Maid “It’s wholesome” ad features different families, including a gay male couple lovingly kissing their baby, and an interracial couple and their children. At commercial’s end, it’s true modern family. No surprise, the haters flipped out. One Million Moms, who are nowhere near one million, led the campaign against Honey Maid. The company responded with a special art project and video ad that will make you sob. The two young female artists took the hate mail as well as letters of support, and scrolled them so that their messages faced out. They linked them all together into a huge sculpture that reads: Love. If you haven’t seen it, it’s on YouTube. So for this remarkable story, the last of Letterman and all our guilty TV pleasures like vicarious homosexual cannibalism, you really must stay tuned.t

Books>>

April 10-16, 2014 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 25

Shock of the new by Matthew Kennedy

hen Michael Fassbender swings his virilia to and fro in Shame, or Nicole Kidman pees on Zac Efron in The Paperboy, or Kate Winslet goes serially topless (Titanic, Iris, The Reader, etc.), or the cast of Shortbus enjoys a cavalcade of hardcore sex, our collective culture yawns. Oh, sure, there’s a burp or two in chat rooms and celebrity nude sights, but the fuss amounts to, “Who the fuck cares?” Robert Hofler’s Sexplosion: From Andy Warhol to “A Clockwork Orange” – How a Generation of Pop Rebels Broke All the Taboos (It Books) takes us back to the late 60s, a time when many people cared a great deal. The Film Production Code, which kept naked skin, dirty language and graphic violence off the screen since the 1930s, had been cracking for years. It was finally scuttled in 1968 and replaced by ratings, though Hofler is mute on the subject as a cause of so much permissiveness. With minors limited or restricted in what they could see,

filmmakers were free to shatter taboos in film content. Or were they? Hofler does a nifty job of demonstrating that male homosexuality was disproportionately represented, scrutinized, and censored in the age that straddles Stonewall. Director John Schlesinger had a helluva time keeping the blowjob in Midnight Cowboy, and Nicholas Roeg couldn’t coax James Fox to go all the way with Mick Jagger in Performance. Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey’s worship of Joe Dallesandro in Flesh, Trash, and Heat works because of ripe, oddball humor and Dallesandro’s rare ability to be at absolute ease as the camera adores his taut, alabaster body. Told in quick, tasty bites, Sexplosion looks at the rule changes, courtroom dates, scandals du jour, careers made/ruined, and reinventions that coursed through our more adventurous popular culture. In literature there was Philip Roth’s Portnoy’s Complaint (masturbation), Gore Vidal’s Myra Breckinridge (transsexuality), and John Up-

dike’s Couples (mate-swapping). In theater there were the bare butts and sex organs of Hair and Oh! Calcutta! Even television broke ground with An American Family, the reality show progenitor and documentary treatment of divorce and a son’s coming out. Newly explicit violence gets limited space, reflecting the minor notes struck for the trauma and blood of Straw Dogs and The Wild Bunch. Rarely does Hofler connect the new art to its tumultuous era of assassinations, war, the generation gap, and urban riots. Instead, Sexplosion revels in fevered and sometimes prurient yarnspinning. The relative dick sizes of Alan Bates and Oliver Reed actually matter for the steamy nude wrestling of Women in Love, since the straight Reed fluffed before each take while the gay Bates did not. We are back among such faded works of titillation as The Story of O, Fear of Flying, and I am Curious (Yellow), with the male gaze being pandered to by marketing them as “bold” explo-

rations of female sexuality. As Sexplosion illustrates, filmgoing was both more communal and more central to our society before VCRs and Pay Per View. The nuclear bomb that was Deep Throat became such a phenomenon of “Porno Chic” that Jack Nicholson and John-

ny Carson were subjects for the paparazzi as they exited screenings. Not only did celebrities admit attendance, they stood for reporters outside theaters. The era of sexual license flagged by 1973. Misogyny and exploitation were leveled by Deep Throat star Linda Lovelace, while Last Tango in Paris costar Maria Schneider felt “a little raped” by Marlon Brando and director Bernardo Bertolucci during the infamous sodomywith-butter-as-lubricant scene. When the chatter for Throat and Tango ended, it was as if America woke from a sordid wet dream. Pants were zipped and blouses were buttoned. Crowds would soon flock to the popcorn thrills of Jaws and the juvenile fantasies of Star Wars. We’ve crept back to “shocking” material since then, but it’s been fractured into billions of Internet log-ons. As today’s exploits suggest and Sexplosion confirms, sex in popular culture just isn’t what it used to be.t

Radical queer perspective by Brian Jackle

Against Equality: Queer Revolution, Not Mere Inclusion, edited by Ryan Conrad; AK Press, $16.99 o same-sex marriage, the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and hate crimes legislation affirm traditionally anti-queer institutions like family, the military, the police, and prisons? That tantalizing question is at the heart of this anthology of essays assembled by the Against Equality collective, dedicated to a radical queer politics challenging mainstream LGBT struggles for inclusion in what they describe as inhumane institutions. The book harkens back to one of the core assumptions underlying the LGBT movement for equality from its very inception, succinctly stated in an essay by Kate Deeg, a local author: “Assimilation is not liberation.” This resistance against prevailing gay mores has its roots in the defunct Gay Liberation Front founded in 1970, a socialist-based movement opposing capitalism, racism, and “hetero-patriarchy.” Although largely rejected by mainstream gay politics, it still survives in spirit through this volume’s contributors, a melange of rabble-rousers, countercultural fringe artists, and heterodox academics. These authors believe that any reform of heterosexual culture lies in dismantling it from the outside, as opposed to becoming part of and challenging it from within. Whether or not you agree with this assumption will determine your reaction to these uncompromising writings. Personally I believe both positions are needed to foster permanent change. What I find troubling in this book is the high level of bitterness and rage, epitomized in one essay, “Why Gay Marriage Is the End of the World (or the queer world at least),” a dialogue among the author, Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore (from SF), and three other activists. As I read this tirade and some others, I asked myself where I have encountered similar mean-spirited rhetoric

in the name of freedom. Far-rightwing personalities like Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter came to mind. Though they have diametrically opposite opinions on these topics, they reflect the same one-size-fitsall tone of Against Equality. Both sides want to dictate how queer people should think and behave. I was under the apparently mistaken impression that we had discarded the concept of a monolithic queer community that thinks in lock-step, socially and politically. It doesn’t exist, as queers are too disparate to be grouped into one category. No one is forcing these revolutionaries to marry, join the military, or support hate-crimes legislation, but by decreeing that no other LGBT person should do so either, they argue for the oppression of their fellow LGBT citizens. Gay marriage here comes under attack, yet because of this issue, the entire spectrum of gay civil rights has now entered public consciousness, which can’t help but bleed into other areas, as evidenced by the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) that the Senate approved late last year. We don’t yet know what impact queers will have on marriage, the law, and the military, institutions that are

conservative yet still adapt in order to survive. Even when we assimilate into these heterosexual institutions, it doesn’t necessarily follow that we will adopt all their values and goals. Finally, most of these writers argue that LGBT people should be fighting for other causes, such as equal access to housing and healthcare, a living wage, prevention of violence against women, and opposing the War on Terror. Many of us say yes to these shared goals, but can’t we struggle together in attaining them even if some of us are married, serve in the military, or support hate-crime laws? In spite of these reservations, the book, with its cutting wit and devastating social critique, does raise disturbing questions. Are gay people disregarding the human rights of other oppressed populations? Are we addressing the actual causes of homophobic violence while espousing the concept of hate crimes? Are national gay organizations like HRC catering too much to the interests of the rich and powerful? Are LGBT folks mindlessly pursuing conformity and privilege in straight society? Are LGBTs in touch with racism and aware of the imperialist, sexist, capitalist, materialistic bent of mainstream commodified culture, or being coopted by these forces? Have gay men, in particular, failed to build queer community outside their social group, with some gay people remaining on the fringes due to lack of opportunity, bigotry, and concentration on upward mobility? And is there a place for queers striving to live outside conventional norms? The book deserves credit for raising these provocative, not easily resolved dilemmas. Still, if we are to create a society in our own LGBT image, as argued by these essayists, it seems we must be open to embracing diversity in gay political affiliation, lifestyles, philosophies, and creative solutions to vexing sociological problems. Or, to quote the late Rodney King, Can’t we all just get along?t

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26 • BAY AREA REPORTER • April 10-16, 2014

Mississippi madness by David Lamble

et in a slice of rural Mississippi that most of us would be reluctant to traverse even in a Greyhound bus, the Southern Gothic melodrama Joe quickly introduces us to a homeless teen, Gary Jones (Tye Sheridan), whose best chance to live long enough to see his 20s is to attach himself to a responsible adult mentor. There being nobody fitting that description anywhere in sight, young Gary settles on a heavy-set, alcoholic ex-con, Joe (Nicolas Cage), who’s directing an all-black crew to poison some pine trees at the behest of a local lumber combine. It’s the kind of prickly work, both boring and dangerous, that most sensible folk would go out of their way to avoid. But young Gary happens to be shepherding a homeless family, in particular a violent cur of a Dad who’s not really fit for any honest work. “Hey, mister, me and my Daddy just got into town, and I was wondering if you’d give us a job.” “I pay a day’s pay for a day’s work. If the work lasts until dinner or gets rained out, I pay anyway. Does that

SF Ballet

From page 17

It’s on a program with Caprice, a new neo-classical work by Helgi Tomasson with a glamorous décor by Alexander V. Nichols, and a reinterpretation of The Rite of Spring by Yuri Possokhov that seems to be inspired by Pussy Riot. Speaking of Russian artists who have spent a lot of time in jail for expressing themselves according to their own lights, the other huge dance event this week was the Bay Area premiere of Alexei Ratmansky’s awe-inspiring Shostakovich Trilogy, which runs through Sunday and uses the grand Soviet technique

sound fair enough?” “Yes, sir.” This boy and this man will quickly attach themselves to each other in ways that neither anticipates, and form a life-and-death bond more than just the imparting of grownup skills. Deep in the story, Gary will search for the words to impart to his most unlikely savior. “Thank you, sir.” “You don’t need to call me sir. I’m your friend.” The Little Rock-born, North Texas-raised director David Gordon Green (Undertow, Pineapple Express), just turning 39, is the perfect talent to translate the late Mississippi-born Larry Brown’s acclaimed novel to screen. It goes inside the soul of a badly damaged protagonist who seems the least likely candidate to toss out a lifeline to a boy all but raised by wolves. As soon as young Gary gets paid, his mean old man steals the money for despicable purposes. This is a man capable of casually murdering another tired old drunk out of spite, and of selling his own daughter to even trashier galoots. Gary’s Dad, in short, is the sort of crummy individ-

ual that you’d be tempted to shoot on sight. Midway through Joe, I realized how long it’s been since I was moved enough by a story to want to kill one of the characters myself. Actor Tye Sheridan is from an East Texas community whose entire population falls several hundred short of a capacity crowd at the Castro Theatre. Having proven himself

as a rural boy who befriends a treehouse-dwelling loner in last year’s redemptive thriller Mud, Sheridan, just 18, has a full dance card of pictures in his future. He is able to inspire one of the best screen jobs Nic Cage has delivered since copping his mid-90s Best Actor Oscar for Leaving Las Vegas. From a family of San Francisco film royalty, young Cage

tore through a bunch of quirky roles in the late 80s-early 90s, from the damaged young mental patient in Alan Parker’s Birdy to the young dad under stress in the early Coen Brothers classic Raising Arizona. After taking the Oscar-night bow for his alcoholic loser determined to drink himself to death, Cage seemed to part company from fans and critics who expected work of a similar caliber. Somehow, I could just no longer see him. Even when we were less than five feet apart in a darkly lit room for the press tour of the 2006 Oliver Stone 9/11 melodrama World Trade Center, I could hear him, but I couldn’t see him. Who knows what it is that brings a great artist back on point, unexpectedly, in mid-career. Maybe looking a young rising star in the eyes on location in hardscrabble Mississippi re-awakened some primal urge to do his own best work. Warning: If you get as deeply absorbed in Joe as I did, remember people have been shot in movie theatres of late. So take heed of the words of the late Larry Brown: “Folks looking for trouble tend to find more than they’re after.”t

as the backdrop for the deep, inward drama of a Soviet artist’s response to threats from Stalin. The dancing is on a huge scale. Heroic overhead lifts, enormous leaps, bursts of drastic speed and clarity, huge pile-ups of bodies in tableaux of lamentation appear at apt points over the evening, as Ratmansky sets three large works, Shostakovich’s Symphony #9 (Op. 70), the Chamber Symphony (Op. 110A), and the Concerto for Piano and Trumpet, Op. 35. The dancing in the Shostakovich trilogy was astounding. Especially telling was Davit Karapetyan, whose virtuosity was stretched in every direction and required all the panoply of the heroic Soviet male, as if

this were Spartacus. His challenges included changing the mood midpirouette. After five turns, he had to hear the musical cue to reach heavenward and continue turning in a position of agony, and collapse into despair. There isn’t space to go into the depths of this – neither, on one viewing, can I say I’ve penetrated the depths of a work that clearly will repay many viewings. But the subject could not be more timely – the Russian annexation of Crimea (which Soviet artists like Valery Gergiev, conductor of the great Maryinsky symphony, have been forced to sign off on) shows that Putin wants to crush the arts back into the work of

propaganda. It seems a small thing by comparison with the fact that it’s now a punishable offense to advocate homosexuality. This is what Shostakovich was up against from the 1930s on, and Ratmansky immigrated to America to escape similar oppression himself after heading the Bolshoi, where he revived the suppressed Shostakovich ballets amidst fierce opposition from neo-Soviets. More of this next week – but first, it needs to be said that there is tremendous comic energy in these ballets as well, with brilliant, excoriating wit blazing out in passages that I can’t account for. Some have thought that they are satires of the apparatchiks who are happy

to go along with the regime. I tend to think the bright comic energy is too simpatico to always be satiric. Perhaps James Sofranko (in the Symphony #9) embodies the amazing genius of the young Shostakovich, whose outrageous early Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk made a splash comparable to that of young Shakespeare with Titus Andronicus, and who burst upon the scene with the roar of a new style announcing itself. And the adagio couple (Carlos Quenedit and Sarah Van Patten), who are always looking over their shoulders and never move freely, show the artist after Stalin attacked him in Pravda, and then the opprobrium piled on. More of this next week.t

Tye Sheridan and Nicolas Cage in director David Gordon Green’s Joe.

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San Francisco Ballet dancers Sarah Van Patten and Pascal Molat in choreographer Mark Morris’ Maelstrom.

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4 • BAY AREA REPORTER • April 10-16, 2014

Best Bets by Donna Sachet

he Drag Queens of Comedy invaded the Castro Theatre on March 29 and laughter has been reverberating throughout the Castro neighborhood ever since. We entered on the debonair arm of Skye Paterson, just in time to catch Pippi Lovestocking’s lively warm-up stand-up routine. Then, an ebbulient Heklina and lively Peaches Christ introduced the show and emceed through the night, changing dresses at least three times to great effect. Bianca Del Rio demonstrated why she is considered a finalist on the current season of RuPaul’s Drag Race on Logo, as she skillfully managed four volunteers from the audience, carefully getting the most out of their selection, introduction, and antics during a flash-drag con-

test. Whether you went to the 7PM or 10PM show, these volunteers did their share of sinking, swimming, and sashaying away! After that, the line-up included Wigstock founder Lady Bunny and Drag Race contestants Pandora Boxx, Shangela, Detox, Vicky Vox, and Willam, each with their distinct audience following and each obviously trying to top the one before her in shock-comedy, some with more success than others. The stand-out performer, however, was the incredibly creative Coco Peru, who manages to make you laugh while teaching you something about yourself or the world around you. Insensitive, demoralizing hu-

mor comes easy; comedy with a message is miraculous. Coco will be appearing at Feinstein’s at the Nikko on Saturday, April 26; don’t miss it! Sasha Soprano did a great job during her routine, playing the part of an amped-up Paris Hilton, and it is she who assembles the cast and produces these side-splitting nights of laughter. The afterparty at The Café was packed with admirers of the girls who were welcomed by Mahlae Balenciaga in a maternity outfit that got many second glances. Let’s hope another Drag Queens of Comedy is right around the corner. Friday night’s celebration of the winners of the Bay Area Reporter’s Besties was a festive affair at The Empress Misty Blue, Jenny TwoBlocksAway and John Weber at The Lookout.

courtesy Sasha Soprano

The Drag Queens of Comedy cast on the road.

Café with many of the winners accepting accolades and staff and writers for the paper everywhere, including Michael Yamashita, Cynthia Laird, Roberto Friedman, Matthew Bajko, Jim Provenzano, Colleen Small, and Race Bannon. Food and drink were enjoyed by all. Also in attendance were Supervisors David Campos and David Chiu, Michael Loftis, Gary Virginia, and David Currie. Congratulations to all the Bestie winners this year! After that, we headed to The Lookout for the press preview party for An Homage to La Cage, celebrating the music of Jerry Herman at

the Castro Theatre on Monday, June 9, with special guests Broadway stars Lee Roy Reams and Davis Gaines. The June event is a fundraiser benefiting Camp Sunburst and 50 Years of Fabulous, a film about the Imperial Court of San Francisco by David Lassman. Join the VIPs on the pink carpet, enjoy a flashy drag opening production number, see Broadway come alive on stage, and support two worthy causes! At this pre-party were Mr. Reams himself, Honorary Host Wilkes Bashford, Geri DeLaRosa-Brooks of Camp Sunburst, Ben & Terry Penn, Jay Harcourt, Lewis Sykes & Jim Connor, James Holloway, Sister Roma, Emperors John Weber, Frankie Fernandez, Jacques Michaels, J.P. Soto, and Empresses Marlena, Patty McGroin and Misty Blue. With so many events scheduled last Saturday, we don’t know how you decided what to attend. Between the Imperial Court’s Investiture, Nite Out at SF Ballet, and the LGBT Center’s Soiree, this was a night to event-hop. Unfortunately, a handful of photos from those events will have to suffice, since we were committed to the annual fundraiser for the Cathedral School for Boys at Grace Cathedral in a craftily disguised gymnasium, where we held reign over the red carpet and later awarded a prize for best fashion statement. The crowd was a true microcosm of San Francisco, from good friends Erin-Kate Whitcomb & Michele Rutherford to Trevor & Alexis Traina and new friends Jim Schmidt & Stuart Smith, Kath Tsakalakis, and Harrison Wilkes. The opening entertainment by teachers and parents was unbe-

lievable and the live auction was a wonder to behold! Sometimes it is refreshing to step outside the Castro bubble, and this was one of those nights. We’ll be back at Feinstein’s at the Nikko tonight, April 10, this time for Joan Collins, legendary stage and screen actress, probably best known within our community for her role as Alexis Carrington on television’s Dynasty. She’s there April 10 & 11 and is bound to delight San Francisco. Saturday night, EQCA holds their annual gala at the gorgeous Palace Hotel, honoring SF Director of Health Barbara Garcia, SF City Attorney Dennis Herrera, and prominent scientist and entrepreneur Dr. Vivienne Ming, hosted by KQED’s Scott Shafer and with DJ Rockaway and singer Frenchie Davis. These events are always packed with the best dressed and most politically involved within the LGBT community. So if that rings your bell, get your tickets now, before they sell out. And finally, let’s all give the Castro Street improvements time to be completed before going off on a rampage about the current inconveniences of construction. This project will be a great boon to the neighborhood and the eventual results will be well worth a few months of growing pains. Soon, we’ll have wider, inviting sidewalks, ceremonial plaques recognizing LGBT heroes, improved lighting, clear decorative crosswalks, and a revitalized area welcoming one and all to Gay Mecca. If we can endure a few months of chain link fences, narrow sidewalks, and impeded traffic, the future looks bright!t

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Dance fans at the San Francisco Ballet’s LGBT Night Out.

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April 10-16, 2014 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 5

Got Bruce? Gay Comic Hosts the Big Gay Comedy Show by David-Elijah Nahmod

pril Fool’s Day gets an extension this year when funny man extraordinaire Bruce Vilanch comes to town for an extended stay. Show biz’s gayest comic will be seen live on stage in two projects near and dear to his heart. Both are guaranteed to tickle audiences’ funny bones. On Sunday April 13, La Bruce will host the Big Gay Comedy Show at the Marines’ Memorial Theater. The laugh fest actually has a very serious cause at its core. The performance will benefit the Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation. Though drug cocktails are enabling many people to live long, healthy and productive lives, the sad truth is that AIDS is not yet curable. It still kills people. And that’s where Richmond/Ermet comes in. The organization holds fundraising events throughout the year. They don’t provide services themselves, but rather choose beneficiary service and help organizations who reap the benefits of Richmond/Ermet’s efforts. “I’ve always loved them,” Vilanch said of Richmond/Ermet, speaking in a phone interview. “They’re a clearing house for other charities who can’t afford to hold fundraisers. The proceeds go to people who are actually dealing with the disease. I like that I’ve done fundraisers for all kinds of organizations.” Vilanch’s efforts for The Big Gay Comedy Show will benefit Bay Area Young Positives, a vital group of people who assist HIV positive people age 26 and under live longer, happier, healthier lives. It’s a peer-run organization, so those who need service can take comfort in knowing that the people they’re turning to have a deep empathy with the client’s needs. Richmond/Ermet was founded by close friends Barbara Richmond

and the late Peggy Ermet, both of whom lost their only sons to AIDS. They decided to channel their grief towards helping to eradicate the disease. Run primarily by volunteers, the organization’s fundraising events are usually live musical extravaganzas like the popular Help Is On the Way shows they do annually. “I remember when no one wanted to be involved with AIDS,” said Vilanch. “When the disease became more mainstream, professional fundraisers moved in. Big charities get big buildings; they lose sight of their missions. I like that Richmond/Ermet has never lost sight of what they do.” The Big Gay Comedy Show will feature the comic stylings of screamingly funny performers like local lesbian treasure Marga Gomez, plus cutie-pie Shawn Ryan, and the incomparable Countess Katya Smirnoff-Skyy, who was once (allegedly) Eastern Europe’s greatest Mezzo Soprano, but now works the make-up counter at Macy’s. Other performers include Jason Brock, Ali Mafi, Cassandra Cass, Shann Carr, Leanne Borghesi, Kitty Tipata and B.O.O.B.S. It all makes for a fun, funny group of players, some of whom are boys in pants, some are boys in gowns, and some are girls. Vilanch will serve as the Master of Ceremonies. “My job is to keep it all afloat,” said Vilanch. “I’ll do some of my own material too.” The show is a definite change of pace from what Richmond/Ermet usually does. “They don’t usually do comedy shows, they do Broadway/ cabaret styled events,” explained the host, also pointing out that Big Gay Comedy is decidedly different from the types of shows he does in other cities. “San Francisco is a very political town. So you get a crazy crowd. They want to make political points. It’s also artistic. No mime has ever

Kevin Patrick Robbins

Comic Bruce Vilanch

tried to perform in LA. There would be a drive-by shooting if they did! San Francisco is very unique and charming. I love that public nudity is an issue here.” The Emmy winner will appear at the Big Gay Comedy Show and then return later this month for his starring role in 42nd Street Moon’s production of Cole Porter’s DuBarry Was a Lady, which runs from April 30 through May 18. “I’m a musical comedy geek,” he admits. “I’m devoted to the care and feeding of musical comedy.”

First performed in 1939 and perceived as a vehicle for Mae West, DuBarry was a hit in its day, ultimately starring the great belter Ethel Merman. The show is not as well known as some of Porter’s other shows, and Vilanch admits there are challenges to be overcome in getting people to buy tickets. “Older people go,” he said. “You have to bring in a name that younger people are familiar with or they don’t go. Anything that wasn’t a blockbuster or isn’t done a lot in high schools, like West Side Story or Fiddler on the Roof,

gets lost in the shuffle.” Vilanch pointed out that the classic song “Friendship,” now associated with Porter’s Anything Goes, actually originated with Du Barry Was a Lady. And so, Vilanch fans, you’re favorite comic is here! Let’s show him some San Francisco love.t The Big Gay Comedy Show performs Sunday April 13 at the Marines Memorial Theater, 609 Sutter Street, at 7:30 PM. www.biggaycomedyshow.eventbrite.com

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<< On the Tab

6 • BAY AREA REPORTER • April 10-16, 2014

Go-Beaux @ Beaux

eON THE TAB f ★April

10-17★

Thu 17

The Broadway and TV singing sensation performs her stylish cabaret show. $60$75. 7pm. Also April 13, 7pm. Nikko Hotel, 222 Mason St. www.hotelnikkosf.com/ feinsteins.aspx

Hans Berlin @ Nob Hill Theatre

Happy Friday @ Midnight Sun The popular video bar ends each week with gogo guys (starting at 9pm) and drink specials. Check out the new expanded front lounge, with a window view. 4067 18th St. 861-4186. www.midnightsunsf.com

Latin Explosion @ Club 21, Oakland Enjoy eight bars, more dance floors, and a smoking lounge at the largest gay Latin dance night in the Bay Area. March 21, Valentino's birthday bash. Happy hour 4pm-8:30pm. Dancing 9pm-4am. 2111 Franklin St. (510) 268-9425. www.club21oakland.com

Peelander Z

Megan Hilty @ Feinstein's at the Nikko

Gogo-tastic weekly night at the new Castro club. Bring your dollahs, 'cause they'll make you holla. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

The husky muscled porn dude performs solo shows at 8pm and duo shows with Nick Prescott at 10pm. Also April 12. $25. 729 Bush St. at Powell. 397-6758. www.thenobhilltheatre.com

Milk Queen @ Beaux Another popular RuPaul's Drag Race contestant performs live. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Fri 11

Sun 13

Manimal @ Beaux Steven Underhill

La Bota Loca @ Club 21, Oakland DJed tunes, gogo hotties, drag shows, drink specials, all at Oakland's premiere Latin nightclub and weekly cowboy night. $10$15. Dancing 9pm-4am. 2111 Franklin St. (510) 268-9425. www.club21oakland.com

Beer Bust @ Lone Star Saloon Monthly 2nd Sundays fundraiser for the SF Fog Rugby Club, with drinks, Jell-O shots BBQ and hunky men and women ruggers. 4pm-8pm. 1354 Harrison St. www.lonestarsf.com

Manimal @ Beaux

Thu 10 The Crib @ 715 Dance night for the younger guys and gals. 9:30pm-2am. 715 Harrison St. www.thecribsf.com

La Femme @ Beaux Ladies' happy hour at the new Castro nightclub, with drink specials, no cover, and women gogos. 4pm-9pm. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Fuego @ The Watergarden, San Jose Weekly event, with Latin music, half-off locker fees and Latin men, at the South Bay private men's bath house. $8-$39. Reg hours 24/7. 18+. 1010 The Alameda. (408) 275-1215. www.thewatergarden.com

Gym Class @ Hi Tops Enjoy cheap/free whiskey shots from jockstrapped hotties and sexy sports videos at the popular sports bar. 10pm-2am. 2247 Market St. 551-2500. www.HiTopsSF.com

Pearls Over Shanghai @ The Hypnodrome

Gogo-tastic night starts off your weekend. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Thrillpeddlers' hilarious Cockettes revival returns, with many of the ebullient cast members. $30-$35. Thu-Sat 8pm. Thru May 31. 575 10th St. (800) 838-3006. www.thrillpeddlers.com

Shit & Champagne @ Rebel

Pan Dulce @ The Cafe Amazingly hot Papi gogo guys, cheap drinks and fun DJed dance music. Free before 10pm. $5 til 2am. 2369 Market St. www.clubpapi.com www.cafesf.com

Thursday Night Live @ SF Eagle The weekly live rock shows have returned. April 10: Tears Club, Nasty Christmas, Taser Island and Evevator Music. 9pm-ish. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

Tubesteak Connection @ Aunt Charlie's Lounge Retro disco tunes and a fun diverse crowd, each Thursday. $4. 10pm-2am. 133 Turk St. at Taylor. www.auntcharlieslounge.com

Joan Collins @ Feinstein's at the Nikko The iconic fabulous actress performs a unique autobiographical cabaret show. $60-$75. 8pm. Also April 11, 8pm. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. 394-1111. www.hotelnikkosf.com/feinsteins.aspx

The Monster Show @ The Edge Cookie Dough's weekly drag show with gogo guys and hilarious fun. $5. 9pm-2am. 4149 18th St. at Collingwood. www.edgesf.com

Nap's Karaoke @ Virgil's Sea Room Sing out loud at the weekly least judgmental karaoke in town, hosted by the former owner of the bar. No cover. 9pm. 3152 Mission St. 829-2233. www.virgilssf.com

Nightlife @ California Academy of Sciences Themed event nights at the fascinating nature museum, with DJed dancing, cocktails, fish, frogs, food and fun. April 10, Cosmic Nightlife honors space-age wonders like first astronaut Yuri Gagarin, plus Star Trek fans, and lunar exhibits and events.$10-$12. 6pm-10pm, 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park. 3798000. www.calacademy.org

Taylor Dayne @ Yoshi's The dynamic vocalist and gay community favorite ("Tell It To My Heart") performs her pop hits and new music. $45-$49. 8pm & 10pm. 1330 Fillmore St. 655-5600. www.taylordayne.com www.yoshis.com

Themed Nights @ The Brig If you're looking for a new sexual adventure, check out this new space. Weekend events take place Fridays through Mondays, and the intimate venue with a jail theme offers slings, tables and various spaces for erotic play. Sat-Mon, above PopSex960 at 962 Folsom St. at 6th St. www.BrigSF.com

The proudly alternative SoMa bar celebrates two decades. All-day fun. 1369 Folsom St. 431-HOWL. www.hoelinthewallsaloon.com

AtmosQueer Spring Fling @ LGBT Center

Lynda Carter @ Yoshi's

Whimsical Belle Epoque-style sketch and magic show that also includes historical San Francisco stories; hosted by Walt Anthony; optional pre-show light dinner and desserts. $40. Thu-Sat 8pm. 433 Powell St. www.SFMagicParlor.com

Mica Sigourney and pals' weekly offbeat drag performance night. 10pm-2am. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

20th Anniversary @ Hole in the Wall

Veteran DJ Page Hodel (The Box, Q and many other events) presents a new weekly dance event, with soul, funk, hip-hop and house mixes. $10. 21+. 9pm-2am. 314 11th St. at Folsom. www.BeatboxSF.com

Magic Parlor @ Chancellor Hotel

Some Thing

Sat 12

Jukebox @ Beatbox

The multi-talented actress-singer performs with her all-star band, featuring Paul Leim and Blue Lou Marini. $25-$55. 8pm. Also April 9, 8pm. 1330 Fillmore St. 655-5600. www.yoshis.com

D'Arcy Drollinger's "whitesploitation" drag satire musical play kicks up the laughs; also starring Matthew Martin. $20-$25. Fri & Sat, 8pm. Extended thru April 26! 1772 Market St. at Octavia. www.shitandchampagne.eventbrite.com

Fri 11 Taylor Dayne

Underwear Party @ Powerhouse Strip down to your skivvies at the weekly cruisy SoMa bar night. 10pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhouse-sf.com

VIP @ Club 21, Oakland Hip Hop, Top 40, and sexy Latin music; gogo dancers, appetizers, and special guest DJs. No cover before 11pm and just $5 after all night. Dancing 9pm-3am. Happy hour 4pm-8:30pm 2111 Franklin St. (510) 268-9425. www.club21oakland.com

Fri 11 Bad Girl Cocktail Hour @ The Lexington Club Every Friday night, bad girls can get $1 dollar margaritas between 9pm and 10pm. 3464 19th St. between Mission and Valencia. 8632052. www.lexingtonclub.com

Fedorable @ El Rio Free weekly queer dance party, with gogos, prizes, old groovy tunes, cheap cocktails. 9pm-2am. 3158 Mission St. 2823325. www.elriosf.com

Fun & free community expo designed to connect members of the LGBTQ community to groups and organizations that pique their personal interests. From culture, arts and leisure to athletics and volunteerism, AtomsQueer will get you connected to the queer community. Live DJ’s, food trucks, performances and prizes. Free HIV/ STD testing. Free and open to the public. 1pm-5pm. 1800 Market St. www.atmosqueer.org

Beach Blanket Babylon @ Club Fugazi The musical comedy revue celebrates its 40th year with an ever-changing lineup of political and pop culture icons, all in gigantic wigs. $25-$160. 678 Beach Blanket Babylon Blvd (Green St.). 4214222. www.beachblanketbabylon.com

Beer Bust @ Hole in the Wall Saloon Beer only $8 until you bust. 4pm-8pm. 1369 Folsom St. 431-4695. www.hitws.com

Bleaux @ Beaux Haute Toddy and Linsay Slowhands' twerky poppy fun night at the stylish Castro bar-nightclub. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Bootie SF @ DNA Lounge The weekly mash-up dance night, with resident DJs Adrian & Mysterious D. No matter the theme, a mixed fun good time's assured. $8-$15. 9pm-3am. 21+. 375 11th St. at Harrison. www.BootieSF.com www.DNAlounge.com

edgeonth Club Rimshot @ Bench and Bar, Oakland Weekly hip hop and R&B night. $8-$15. 9pm to 4am. 510 17th St. www.bench-and-bar.com

Evolution @ Beatbox Dave Audé is the featured DJ at the dance event. 10pm-4am. 314 11th St. www.beatboxsf.com

Frolic @ The Stud Neonbunny Lapine's fursuit fun dance night for Furries, with a special Bronycon tribute and guest DJs Birds, R. Mutt and Switchblade. Free/$10. 9pm-2am. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com

Beer Bust @ SF Eagle The classic leather bar's most popular Sunday daytime event in town draws the menfolk. 3pm-6pm, with an '80s-themed dance party 7pm-1am. $5. Also now open daily 11am-2am. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

The Big Gay Comedy Show @ Marines' Memorial Theatre Bruce Vilanch headlines the stellar laughfest, with Marga Gomez, Shann Carr, Shawn Ryan, Leanne Borghesi and her B.O.O.B.S. trio, Katya Smirnoff-Skyy, Ali Mafi, Cassandra Cass, Jason Brock, and Kitty Tapata; proceeds go to the Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation. $35-$75. 7:30pm. 609 Sutter St. 273-1620. www.reaf.org

Brunch @ Hi Tops Enjoy crunchy sandwiches and mimosas, among other menu items, at the popular sports bar. 2247 Market St. 551-2500. www.HiTopsSF.com

On the Tab>>

April 10-16, 2014 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 7

Cocktailgate @ Truck

Resilient @ OMG

Gypsy Love @ Beaux

Suppositori Spelling's wild weekly drag show night. $3. 10pm-2am. 1900 Folsom St. www.trucksf.com

Free monthly dance/social event (second Sundays) by and for HIV+ guys and allies. Come dance under the dome to beats from the best local DJs while our dancers work it. No cover. 5pm. 43 Sixth St. www.facebook.com/RESILIENTSF www.clubomgsf.com

The singer performs with Kippy Marks at a Stoli Vodka bartender cocktail contest hosted by Mahlae Balenciaga, with judges Audrey Joseph, BeBe Sweetbriar and Patrik Gallineaux. No cover. 6:30pm. $3 Stoli cocktails. 2344 Market St. www.keywestcocktailclassic.com www.BeauxSF.com

Full of Grace @ Beaux Weekly night with hostess Grace Towers, different local and visiting DJs, and pop-up drag performances. No cover. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

GlamaZone @ The Cafe Pollo del Mar's weekly drag shows takes on different themes with a comic edge. 8:30-11:30pm. 2369 Market St. www.cafesf.com

Jesse Macht @ Hotel Utah The LA-based singer-songwriter performs music from his new/second CD. Butcher Brown headlines, Synapse opens. $10-21+. 9pm. 500 4th St. jessemachtmusic.com www.hotelutah.com

Salsa Sundays @ El Rio Salsa dancing for LGBT folks and friends, with live merengue and cumbia bands; tapas and donations that support local causes. 2nd & 4th Sundays. 3pm-8pm. 3158 Mission St. 282-3325. www.elriosf.com

Sundance Saloon @ Space 550

Irish Dance Night @ Starry Plough, Berkeley Weekly dance lessons and live music at the pub-restaurant, hosted by John Slaymaker. $5. 7pm. 3101 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. www.thestarryplough.com

Megan Hilty

Jock @ The Lookout The weekly jock-ular fun continues, with special sports team fundraisers. This week, SF Fog Rugby Club! 3pm-7pm. 3600 16th St. www.lookoutsf.com

Liquid Brunch @ Beaux No cover, no food, just drinks (Mimosas, Bloody Marys, etc.) and music. 2pm-9pm. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

The casts of local and visiting musicals often pop in to perform at the popular Castro bar's musical theatre night. 7pm2am. 2 for 1 cocktail, 5pm-closing. 18th St. at Collingwood. www.edgesf.com

Piano Bar 101 @ Martuni's Sing-along night with talented locals, and charming accompanist Joe Wicht (aka Trauma Flintstone). 9pm. 4 Valencia St. at Market. www.dragatmartunis.com

Shanté, You Stay @ Toad Hall BeBe Sweetbriar hosts a weekly viewing party of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 6, with a live drag show challenge. 8:30-11:30pm. 4146 18th st. at Castro. www.toadhallbar.com

Bryan Ferry @ Fox Theatre, Oakland The veteran vocalist from Roxy Music returns. $45-$55. 8pm. 1807 Telegraph Ave, Oakland. www.thefoxoakland.com

Cock and Bull Mondays @ Hole in the Wall Saloon Specials on drinks made with Cock and Bull ginger ale (Jack and Cock, Russian Mule, and more). 8pm-closing. 1369 Folsom St. 431-4695. www.hitws.com

Block Party @ Midnight Sun Weekly screenings of music videos, concert footage, interviews and more, of popular pop stars. 9pm-2am. 4067 18th St. 8614186. www.midnightsunsf.com

Bombshell Betty & Her Burlesqueteers @ Elbo Room The weekly burlesque show of women dancers shaking their bonbons includes live music. $10. 9pm. 647 Valencia St. 5527788. www.elbo.com

Funny Tuesdays @ Harvey's Ronn Vigh hosts the weekly LGBT and gay-friendly comedy night. One-drink or menu item minimum. 9pm. 500 Castro St. at 18th. 431-HARV. www.harveyssf.com

Ink & Metal @ Powerhouse Show off your tattoos and piercings at the weekly cruisy SoMa bar night. 10pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhouse-sf.com

Naked Night @ Nob Hill Theatre Strip down at the strip joint. $20 includes refreshments. 8pm. 729 Bush St. at Powell. 397-6758. www.thenobhilltheatre.com

Thu 17 Comedy Returns @ El Rio The monthly comedy show this time includes Shazia Mirza, Carla Clayy, Victor Escobedo, Belo Cipriani and hostess Lisa Geduldig. $7-$20. 8pm. 3158 Mission St. (800) 838-3006. www.elriosf.com

Mad Manhattans @ Starlight Room

Gym Class @ Hi Tops

The upscale drag show includes dinner at the swellegant nightclub, with Victoria Secret, Alexandria, Chanel, Maria Garza, Mini Minerva, Kipper, Ruby LeBrowne, and Lulu Ramirez. 8pm. 124 Ellis St. www.fauxgirls.com Enjoy cheap/free whiskey shots from jockstrapped hotties and sexy sports videos at the popular sports bar. 10pm-2am. 2247 Market St. 551-2500. www.HiTopsSF.com

The weekly fun night at the Bernal Heights bar includes prizes, hosted by Kitty Tapata. No cover. 7pm-10pm. 424 Cortland St. 6473099. www.wildsidewest.com

Queer Salsa @ Beatbox Weekly Latin partner dance night. 8pm1am. 314 11th St. www.beatboxsf.com

Red Hots Burlesque @ El Rio Women's burlesque show performs each Wed & Fri. Karaoke follows. $5-$10. 7pm. 3158 Mission St. 282-3325. www.elriosf.com

Rookie's Night @ Nob Hill Theatre Watch competitors shake it for a $200 first prize in stripping, or sign up yourself by 8pm. The audience picks the winner. $20 includes refreshments. 8pm. 729 Bush St. at Powell. 397-6758. www.thenobhilltheatre.com

Mon 14

Thu 17 Sierra Bogness Matt Crockett

The Monster Show @ The Edge Cookie Dough's weekly drag show with gogo guys. 9pm-2am. 4149 18th St. at Collingwood. www.edgesf.com

Nightlife @ California Academy of Sciences Themed event nights at the fascinating nature museum, with DJed dancing, cocktails, fish, frogs, food and fun. $10$12. 6pm-10pm, 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park. 379-8000. www.calacademy.org

The legendary leather bar gets jock-ular, with beer buckets, games (including beer pong and corn-hole!), prizes, sports on the TVs, and more fun. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

Weekly women's night at the stylish intimate bar. 9pm-2am. 456 Castro St. www.QbarSF.com

Weekly screenings of vintage music videos and retro drink prices. Check out the new expanded front window lounge. 9pm-2am. 4067 18th St. 861-4186. www.midnightsunsf.com

Fauxgirls @ Infusion Lounge

Sports Night @ The Eagle

13 Licks @ Q Bar

Way Back @ Midnight Sun

Joe Wicht and Katya Smirnoff-Skyy cohost the weekly fun musical theatre trivia singalong night. Pull up a comfy chair or sofa, enjoy a cocktail or three, and test your Broadway knowledge. Kanpai Lounge, Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. No cover. 7pm-10pm. 394-1111. www.hotelnikkosf.com/feinsteins.aspx

Miss Kitty's Trivia Night @ Wild Side West

Tue 15

Mon 14

Wed 16

Paul K hosts the amateur singing night. 8pm-2am. 3600 16th St. at Market. www.lookoutsf.com

Monday Musicals @ The Edge

Donna Sachet hosts the weekly fabulous brunch and drag show. $45. 11am, show at noon; 1:30pm, show at 2:30pm. 450 Powell St. in Union Square. 395-8595. www.starlightroomsf.com

Play the trivia game at the popular new sports bar. 9pm. 2247 Market St. 551-2500. www.HiTopsSF.com

Karaoke @ The Lookout

Honey Mahogany's weekly drag and musical talent show starts around 10pm, with a RuPaul's Drag Race viewing as well. 4067 18th St. 861-4186. www.midnightsunsf.com

Sat 12

Trivia Night @ Hi Tops

The new weekly event includes classic cocktails created by David Cruz, and inspired by the the show Mad Men, plus retro food classics like prawn cocktails and Oysters Rockefeller, all with a fantastic city view. 6pm-10pm. 21st, Sir Francis Drake Hotel. 450 Powell St. www.starlightroomsf.com

Mahogany Mondays @ Midnight Sun

Sunday's a Drag @ Starlight Room

Strip down to your skivvies at the popular leather bar. 9pm-2am. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

Broadway Bingo @ Feinstein's at the Nikko

Jesse Macht

henet.com

Weekly game night for board and electronic gamers at the warehouse multipurpose nightclub. 21+. 6pm-12am. 1425 Folsom St. www.showdownesports.com

Play board games and win offbeat prizes at the popular sports bar. 9pm. 2247 Market St. 551-2500. www.HiTopsSF.com

Sun 13

EDGE brings you the latest and greatest in LGBT news and entertainment 365 days a year!

Underwear Night @ SF Eagle

Bottoms Up Bingo @ Hi Tops

The popular country western LGBT dance night; enjoy fun foot-stomping twostepping and line-dancing. $5. 5pm10:30pm with lessons from 5:30-7:15 pm. Also Thursdays. 550 Barneveld Ave., and Tuesdays at Beatbox, $6. 6:30-11pm. 314 11th St. www.sundancesaloon.org

Showers Bring...

Showdown @ Folsom Foundry

Pan Dulce @ The Cafe Enjoy amazingly hot Papi gogo guys, cheap drinks and fun DJed dance music. Free before 10pm. $5 til 2am. 2369 Market St. www.clubpapi.com www.cafesf.com

Peelander Z @ DNA Lounge Gypsy Love

So You Think You Can Gogo? @ Toad Hall The weekly dancing competition for gogo wannabes. 9pm. cash prizes, $2 well drinks (2 for 1 happy hour til 9pm). Show at 9pm. 4146 18th St. www.toadhallbar.com

Sony Holland @ Level III The acclaimed jazz vocalist performs with guitarist Jerry Holland. Weekly 5pm-8pm. Also Thursdays & Fridays. JW Marriott, 515 Mason St. at Post. www.sonyholland.com

Tingel Tangel Club @ Brick and Mortar Comics Marga Gomez and Justin Sayre, Veronica Klaus, Ethel Merman, Kitty Con Quim, plus puppeteer Basil Twist and hunky contortionist Elastico (aka Elliot Goodwin Gittelsohn) perform at Earl Dax's variety show's six-year anniversary show. $12-$15. 9pm. 18+. 1710 Mission St. www.brickandmortarmusic.com

The wacky Japanese costumed band performs new dizzying metal-pop-punk music with a comic edge. Crashfaster and Gnarboots open. $12-$15. All ages. 375 11th St. www.dnalounge.com

Sierra Boggess @ Feinstein's at the Nikko The Broadway and London stage sensation ( The Little Mermaid, Phantom of the Opera, Master Class) debuts her intimate cabaret show. $40-$55. 8pm. Also April 18, 8pm. April 19, 7pm. Nikko Hotel, 222 Mason St. www.hotelnikkosf.com/ feinsteins.aspx

Thursday Night Live @ SF Eagle The weekly live rock shows have returned. April 17: Worm Ouroboros, Predatory Light and Lycus. 9pm-ish. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com

Underwear Party @ Powerhouse Strip down to your skivvies at the weekly cruisy SoMa bar night. 10pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhouse-sf.com

Trivia Night @ Harvey's BeBe Sweetbriar hosts a weekly night of trivia quizzes and fun and prizes; no cover. 8pm-1pm. 500 Castro St. 431-4278. www.harveyssf.com

Want your nightlife event listed? Email events@ebar.com, at least two weeks before your event. Event photos welcome.

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

8 • BAY AREA REPORTER • April 10-16, 2014

Berlin’s Stories Hans Berlin stays ‘hungry’ by Cornelius Washington

ot, sexy, dark-haired and delicious, Mr. Berlin brings the heat! With pale skin and a gnarly attitude in his erotic escapades, we present Hans Berlin, who will be slinging the dick at The Nob Hill Theater April 11 and 12. Cornelius Washington: What’s it like performing at the Nob Hill Theater? Hans Berlin: I’m a stage whore and like being on a stage. To perform for my fans, to actually see the excitement in their eyes up close and personal, is instant gratification.

ebar.com Personals

What inspired you to do porn? I like sex. And they always say you should find something that you really enjoy and try to make money with it. So I did. Who do you admire within the adult industry? I think it would have been great to do porn back in the days when we still had ‘real’ porn stars and have Jeff Stryker’s career. How do you prepare (physically, emotionally & mentally) to perform onscreen? First of all, I try not to cum a few days before the shoot. I still

San Francisco’s 18+ Sex Club!

Hans Berlin

in the industry, with real jobs, who just do this for fun. What negative stereotypes about gay porn stars have you found to be true? That there are a few shattered individuals that could use therapy, a lot of therapy. What do you do onscreen that you don’t do privately? I can’t tell you. I don’t want to destroy the fantasy.

Open daily at 12pm

2051 Market St. at Church St. Info: 415-864-EROS (3767) Hans Berlin

have sex, especially the night before, but I don’t cum and just edge. That makes me really ‘hungry’ for the shoot/show. Then I try to diet –which almost never works– work out and get a lot of rest. And if I have to bottom, I’m really conscious of what I eat the day before and the day of. That’s why I enjoy topping in movies more; I can eat. Speaking of nutrition, what is your fitness regime? I’m actually pretty lazy. I only go to the gym three times a week for weight training, and once or twice for cardio. I try to eat healthy, and I love walking a lot in San Francisco and New York. That’s why I dislike the driving in Los Angeles. Are you the same man both onscreen and off? Of course not. I do enjoy my onscreen sex (most of the time), but it’s still a performance. I’m definitely not always that verbal in real life, and off-screen, I don’t really worry what my body looks like or if the camera can see the penetration, asseating, etcetera. What’s the biggest misconception about gay porn stars? That we’re all just stupid sex whores. There are, in fact, some really intelligent, wholesome people

What do you do privately that you don’t do onscreen? I have sex that comes naturally. Without a director or script that tells you what to do, and without breaks to take pictures, most of the time.

Who’s your favorite fantasy celebrity sexual partner? Hugh Jackman to top me. And Daniel Radcliffe (in the last Harry Potter movie!) to bottom for me. What do you see as the next big trend in gay adult film? Unfortunately, condomless porn. Lots of cum. Amateur-style porn. But also high-end, movie-like porn. Barebacking, pro or con? Sex education through porn? No. But does the porn industry have a responsibility? Yes, for sure. I still think barebacking sends a wrong signal to all the uneducated kids that sex without a condom is okay. I don’t judge anyone who does bareback porn, but for now, I made the decision to stay away from it. Not because of fear about my own health. It’s because of the message that it sends. What would you want your fans to know about you that they don’t already know? That I’m more than just porn.t

Have you ever fallen in love with a scene partner? I’ve developed feelings for scene partners. Yes. In my movies, you can always notice me having a connection with my partner when there’s some kind of ‘hand-action’ going on, like holding hands secretly somewhere in the scene. In your next film, with whom would you like to work, and what would you do with him? Very soon, one of my fantasies actually will come true: I’ll be shooting with Brent Corrigan and Nick Prescott performs with Hans Berlin at fuck the attitude out 10pm Nob Hill Theatre shows this weekend. of him. What are your romantic sexual fantasies? I’d like to really fall in love again and have sex and love.

Hans Berlin performs at The Nob Hill Theatre, April 11 and 12, 8pm (solo) and 10pm (live sex shows with Nick Prescott). $25. 729 Bush St. at Powell. 397-6758. www.thenobhilltheatre.com

April 10-16, 2014 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 9

Redhead Lines by John F. Karr

ever, he’s not seeing anything. And neither are we. I’m glad he’s relaxed, but, baby, when people pay good money in the theatre they want to see something. The scene must have been meant to be a reverential dream. And it’s not that I expected sparklers and firecrackers to blaze out of his cock. But this movie is not tapping Seth’s potential. He’s kind of blank, unsure of what to do, as if he doesn’t know what’s going on. Which is rendering this event a non-event. Why couldn’t the scene’s director see that Seth needed to be engaged? Even taking into account that Seth wasn’t going to jack off, this movie needed to have a more thorough scenario built for it. He could have been hanging clothes on the line, or building up a rock wall behind the

Nob Hill Theatre hans berlin

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hans berlin

april 11th & SHOWTIMES @ 8PM12th & 10PM

N ic k p r e s c o t t JOINS hans FOR ALL 10PM SEX SHOWS!

n Men redit: Tita Photo C

inger boys are riding high. And the crown prince of sexy redheads is Seth Fornea. It started happening to Seth some eighteen months ago, and his flaming looks immediately ignited attention. At 6’ tall and approximately 200 pounds, he’d be an eyeful even if he didn’t have blazing red hair. The guy’s got a personality that blazes, too. The Carolina native had been gogo dancing and bartending in New Orleans when he tumbled rather naturally into modeling. And he’s quite a bewitching model. His handsomeness has a wholesome

that’s neatly trimmed, like most pubic hair these days, but incandescent even cropped), he doesn’t seem to be burning to make porn. Seth begins this calmest of episodes in front of an outdoor hot tub in the country, caressing himself somewhat absentmindedly. He repeatedly deflects his eyes from the camera, as if unsure he’s supposed to look at us. He turns away and pulls down his briefs, exposing a fleshy ass that’s dead white as the doughboy. But even as you hold your breath awaiting the big reveal, Seth’s cock is denied a star entrance. He wades into the tub, and as he turns to sit down, his cock, definitely sans tumescence,

ColtStudioGroup

Seth upon the waters—a Colt Studio Legendary Body.

appeal. He accentuates it with dazzling, whiter-than-white-toothed smiles and twinkling eyes that telegraph both friendly and unbearably sexy. Never actually naked, he was a master of the cock tease. In a pair of wet undies, his bone’s a bomb. And bombs are bursting in air when he hitches those briefs down to show a conflagration of pubic hair. He’s a dazzler, alright. He took the Internet by storm. His photos tumbld around dozens of tumblrs, cockteasing the daylights out of us. So it was inevitable that the porn companies came calling. Colt got him, and last August released a seven-minute, non-sexual interview. It’s nice, I guess, without really letting us know too much about the guy. I surfed around the ‘Net to find out his height, weight, that he’s 32, has a Masters in Chemistry, and a spouse back home in North Carolina. So his just-released, first fulllength scene is big news. It’s a 20-minute Legendary Bodies salute which will be included in a DVD soon, but right now is only streaming at the Colt membership site. What does it show us? Well, his cock is unveiled. And though he may have a fire crotch (a burning bush

wiggles just a bit. That’s what it looks like: just a bit. But wait, what floats through yon bubbles? As his body rises and falls, a hard-on peeks through the foam. It’s not the radiant and ready to burst thing we ogled through undies and jocks in photos, but Dirty Tony a calmer, almost becalmed thing. Karrnal melts for a ginger Mohawk, on Dirty Didn’t you used to Tony’s Shaun. play like this in the bathtub when you were a kid, and had just discovered garden. He could have vacuumed what fun a penis could be? Up it the rug after moving to the living pokes, breaking the surface. Down room, yes, the very rug he’s putting it goes, submerged in the deep. And his head down on, as if to take a nap. up, into view again! But without Ha—I beat him to it. wonder, glee, or thrust. The camera The powers that be at Colt tell me finally yields the frustrating long Seth will make a JO video down the shot its been holding, and dollies line. But, you know, I’d sorta rathin—just as the thing submerges er he didn’t. I’d like to revel in his again. We’re five minutes in, and charms, his manly look in clothes, though we’ve seen It, nothing’s acand, especially, the Siren-call and tually happened. Nor is it gonna. tease of his clothing-veiled cock. What’s Seth looking at as he lolls The aftermath of a JO video is so in the water? The sky, or whatever’s pedestrian. I mean, you’ve seen a next to the tub? Whatever, wherguy cum.t

Photo Credit: Titan Men

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10 • BAY AREA REPORTER • April 10-16, 2014

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April 10-16, 2014 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 11

by Shooting Stars photos Steven Underhill

t’s not often that we showcase ourselves and our hard-working colleagues, but the Bay Area Reporter’s fourth annual Besties celebration, held at Besties-winning The Café, saw staff, columnists, photographers and designers schmoozing with local elected officials (and some hopeful candidates), along with local winning bartenders and restauranteurs. Besties winner Sweet Inspirations and Rainbow Grocery provided delicious treats. SF Media Co’s events promoters, along with some of our colleagues at the SF Examiner, SF Weekly and the Bay Guardian, enjoyed the early evening affair. DJ RapidFire provided music as the party went on, and a Twerkoff made for some saucy shaking. Later on, the nightclub’s hunky gogo guys took to the platforms as the weekly Boy Bar got underway. Congratulations again to all our winners and nominees. Read about more Besties-winning bars and other winners in last week’s issue on www.ebar.com See more event photo albums on BARtab’s Facebook page, www. facebook.com/lgbtsf.nightlife and on www.StevenUnderhill.com. See this and other issues in full page-view format at www.issuu.com/bayareareporter.

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For headshots, portraits or to arrange your wedding photos

call (415) 370-7152 or visit www.StevenUnderhill.com or email stevenunderhillphotos@gmail.com

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL BESTIES 2014 WINNERS!

LGBT Best of the Bay Thank you to our loyal readers and advertisers for your continued support.

Celebrating 44 years as the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s longest continuously-published and highest circulation LGBT weekly publication.