December 22, 2011 edition of the Bay Area Reporter

8

Manning portrayed as troubled

NY marriage tops 2011

ARTS

6

17

SECA Awards

The

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Serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities since 1971

Feds ask judge to strike down DOMA

Vol. 41 • No. 51 • December 22-28, 2011

Hundreds of Santas

by Matthew S. Bajko

A

same-sex couple from the Bay Area seeking to have their marriage recognized by the federal government received some powerful backing during a recent courtroom Jane Philomen Cleland proceeding in their Assistant U.S. case.

Attorney General For the first time Tony West lawyers with the Department of Justice appeared before a federal judge to argue that he should strike down the anti-gay Defense of See page 13 >>

Rick Gerharter

Change those reservations: Folsom Street Fair will be held September 23 next year.

Rick Gerharter

M

arlena, left, along with Santa’s Little Helper, Mark Barrett, stand amidst the numerous Santas displayed throughout Marlena’s bar at 488 Hayes Street. Marlena started 19 years ago with three Santas and now the annual holiday display numbers near 1,400. Nearly 80 percent have been gifts. Marlena has willed the collection to the Palace of the Legion of Honor. Viewing the jolly old elf in all manner of styles is a holiday tradition for customers as they enjoy a drink or two.

See page 11 >>

See page 5 >>

F

See page 12 >>

Rick Gerharter

Rocky year greets Wiener

by Matthew S. Bajko

I

t began with political upheaval at City Hall as a new mayor, police chief, and district attorney came into office and an arsonist spread fear in the city’s gay Castro district. And it is ending with an ethics complaint and talk of recalling him from office.

In between he survived the national spotlight and a flood of jokes over his nudity legislation, stirred up heated debates over historic preservation and voter-approved initiatives, and turned his attention to regulating the city’s dog

T

walkers.

Openly gay District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener has weathered a number of storms during a rocky freshman year in office. And he finds himself sailing into even stronger headwinds as he enters his second year of a four-year term.

Up next in 2012 Wiener wants to pass prevailing wage legislation, increase the number of cabs on city streets, and tackle San Francisco’s lack of housing for the middle class. He will also see if a series of community meetings over the revitalization of Dolores Park, his district’s

by Seth Hemmelgarn

amily and friends of a homeless man who died on San Francisco’s Castro Street recently described him as “sweet,” but they also spoke of scary behavior Courtesy David Kilgore he exhibited as he apparently struggled Pedro Villamore Jr. with drug use.

Pedro Villamore Jr., 44, died in a doorway near 536 Castro Street on December 8. The cause of death hasn’t been released, but police have said there were no signs of foul play.

David Kilgore, 49, is Villamore’s former partner. They parted in 2001, after three years together, but remained friends.

“He was very sweet and playful and fun, very alive,” Kilgore said. Even after they broke up, Villamore would take Kilgore’s dog out

by Seth Hemmelgarn he date for the 2012 Folsom Street Fair has changed, marking the first time in 20 years that the annual San Francisco leather and fetish fest hasn’t been held on the last weekend in September.

Next year’s fair will take place Sunday, September 23.

Organizers opted to move the festival, which draws hundreds of thousands of people each year, to avoid a scheduling conflict with Oracle OpenWorld, which will run September 30 through October 4.

Demetri Moshoyannis, executive director of Folsom Street Events, which produces the fair, said the group first realized the potential need for a change when it learned that approximately 30,000 hotel room nights had already been booked around their desired dates.

“We were told only weeks after this year’s fair that nearly the entire inventory of hotel rooms for the city had been sold out for the last weekend of September 2012. So, we were faced with a decision: either move the 2012 fair date and risk upsetting some people who had booked way in advance or not move the fair date, knowing that tens of thousands of visitors would be unable to book rooms at all,” he said in a statement.

“We knew it would have been an absolute catastrophe to move forward with that same weekend,” Moshoyannis added.

He said he’s been in touch with an Oracle representative to make sure there won’t be similar conflicts in 2013 or 2015. He said he’s still waiting for the giant technology company to determine dates for Oracle OpenWorld 2014.

Folsom Street Events is also talking with the

Supervisor Scott Wiener, center, greets Paul Heward during Maitri Hospice’s holiday open house.

Friends tried to aid Villamore

Folsom fair date changed

{ FIRST OF TWO SECTIONS }

<< Community News

2 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 22-28, 2011

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Key EQCA staffer returns

by Seth Hemmelgarn

T

he statewide LGBT lobbying group Equality California is welcoming back a key former staffer as the organization continues to struggle with leadership and financial problems.

Alice Kessler, who previously served as EQCA’s government relations director from 2005 to 2009, is working with the organization as part of its transition team.

Along with the firm where she currently works, DiMare, VanVleck, and Brown, Kessler will lead EQCA’s legislative work and assist with the nonprofit’s political action committees.

She’ll also be involved in trying to preserve the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive and Respectful Education Act, which requires California schools teach about LGBTs’ historical

Alice Kessler

contributions. Anti-gay activists have proposed five initiatives for the 2012 ballot aimed at gutting the law, which goes into effect January 1.

Kessler, whose first day was Monday, December 12, didn’t respond to an interview request.

EQCA spokeswoman Rebekah Orr wouldn’t arrange a conversation.

Mario Guerrero, EQCA’s most recent government affairs director, has left. His contract ended November 30. Guerrero declined to be interviewed.

Orr said Kessler will be serving as government relations representative, which “in lots of ways” is the same as her old job.

She noted that Kessler brings institutional knowledge, relationships she has developed through her work over the years, and the resources of the Sacramentobased firm where she’s working.

Kessler and her firm are talking with LGBT legislators and others about their priorities, what they’re See page 13 >>

Queer youth>>

Two local organizations awarded big grants

by Heather Cassell

Oasis in hard times

T

he holidays came early for Brown Boi Project and Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center, two groundbreaking queer youth organizations in the Bay Area, as both were awarded large multiyear grants.

The Brown Boi Project in Oakland, which works to develop leadership of self-identified masculine of center young women, trans, straight, and queer men of color, will be aided by a $500,000 grant, to be given out in $125,000 installments annually for the next four years. The grant was provided by the Queer Youth Fund, a donor advised fund of Liberty Hill Foundation.

Meanwhile, Bank of America is banking on queer youth with its prestigious Neighborhood Builder Award, which invests in neighborhood organizations, and is, for the first time, going to an LGBT group, LYRIC, which is located in the heart of the Castro. It will receive a $200,000 grant distributed over the next two years, along with leadership training for two of its management team members from Bank of America’s Neighborhood Excellence Initiative.

LYRIC Executive Director Jodi Schwartz called Bank of America’s selection of LYRIC “a pretty bold decision.” This was the fourth time LYRIC applied for the grant, Schwartz said.

“I think it’s a partnership decision between the actual corporation itself and the community,” said Schwartz.

This year was a banner year for the bank’s Neighborhood Builder Award and the LGBT community.

In addition to LYRIC’s grant, a panel of community and corporate leaders also honored community members with Local Hero awards.

Three of the five people selected are out LGBTs: local charity fundraiser and Bay Area Reporter social columnist Donna Sachet; Pamela H. David, executive director of the Walter and Elise Haas Fund; and Toan Lam, founder of Go Inspire Go. Each received $5,000 to give to an organization of their choice.

David, who is also the co-chair of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s board of directors, was instrumental in securing a home for LYRIC in the Castro nearly 20 years ago, and continues to support the organization, she and

Courtesy LYRIC

LYRIC youth intern West Kogut, left, and Executive Director Jodi Schwartz accepted the organization’s Bank of America’s Neighborhood Excellence Initiative award at a recent ceremony.

Schwartz said. It is why David was overwhelmingly chosen by LYRIC to receive the Local Hero award, said Schwartz.

“We wanted to acknowledge the work that she’s done,” Schwartz said.

“All of us were young once, and even though we think it’s easier now, coming out is still coming out,” said David about the importance of LYRIC. David was going to give LYRIC her grant, but changed her mind when she learned that the organization was selected for the top prize. Instead, she granted the money to NGLTF to train the next generation of queer activists, she said.

Sachet designated her gift to the San Francisco LGBT Community Center for its 10th anniversary and Lam granted his gift to Hands on Bay Area.

The goal of Bank of America’s Neighborhood Excellence Initiative is to invest in local organizations demonstrating a track record of success in their field. This is in addition to the $3.6 million the bank has invested in San Francisco’s community organizations since the launch of the initiative, according to bank spokeswoman Gina Spatafore.

Booker T. Washington Community Service Center, a San Francisco community center, was also honored with the $200,000 Neighborhood Builder Award grant and leadership training.

The grant is a welcome respite for LYRIC, which has weathered the economic crisis that drastically reduced its annual budget from $1.3 million a few short years ago to $970,000 in 2011, said Schwartz.

LYRIC continues to serve up to 400 queer youth and does outreach to an estimated 1,500 annually with a variety of programs.

LYRIC creates safe environments inside and outside of school, building strong networks and opportunities, such as the organization’s internship program; mental and physical health care initiatives, a place to socialize, and more, said Schwartz.

The organization’s biggest challenge in recent years was cutbacks of public funding, said Schwartz, who estimated that LYRIC receives less than half of the government funding it once did. Schwartz and her team decided to retain the whole of LYRIC’s services, but drastically scaled back. For example the internship program used to hire between 60 to 70 young people annually and pay San Francisco’s living wage. Now the program only hires 20 youths a year, Schwartz said.

Additionally, the organization has been under a salary freeze for the past several years. LYRIC is also restructuring its funding strategy through broadening its community support by reaching out more to its alumni, LGBT corporate employee groups, and faith-based organizations, for example, and developing a grassroots fundraising model where everyone in the organization is responsible for raising funds.

“We feel that is important for youth and staff, important for everyone, to learn new skills,” said Schwartz, who believes that when one person steps up it creates a ripple effect that inspires other people to get involved. “We are asking every single person to be a leader in LYRIC in their community.

When you empower folks to be a part of the mission, a part of the vision, [and] more than a sum of our parts, people want to be a part of growth and success.”

LYRIC is more than a safe haven for queer youth in the city. It is also a training ground for tomorrow’s leaders.

“I really love working in high schools. I didn’t have a particularly See page 13 >>

▼

Community News>>

December 22-28, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 3

Alameda college launches LGBT courses

by Matthew S. Bajko

S

tarting with its spring semester the College of Alameda plans to offer an LGBT studies course, marking a first for the Peralta Community College District.

One of four campuses serving northern Alameda County, the 41-year-old community college on the island of Alameda is in the process of seeking approval for a certificate in LGBTQ studies. It is developing four additional courses on LGBTQ topics for the fall 2012 semester, and ultimately, wants to offer an associate of arts degree in LGBTQ studies.

“Not only is this the first time ever for Alameda but also the first time ever for all four campuses.

Near as we call tell, it is a first for any East Bay two-year colleges period,” said Rebecca J Kenney, Ph.D., the college’s vice president of instruction and accreditation liaison officer. “We hope to have the certificate by the end of the semester and have the AA ready a year from now in the spring of 2013.”

In October City College of San Francisco became the first two-year college in California to win approval for an LGBT studies major. And San Diego State University this year became only the second four-year institution in the country to offer an LGBT studies major.

As the Bay Area Reporter disclosed in October, Napa Valley Community College is teaming up with City College to offer its own LGBT studies certificate. It plans to enroll students in its first LGBT studies class next fall.

The East Bay college district’s board of trustees is expected to sign off on the entry course to LGBTQ studies at its meeting in January.

Barring any unforeseen problems,

“We are hoping to provide through education an opportunity for students to learn about their own culture or the culture of the LGBTQ community if they identify other than LGBTQ.” –Rebecca J. Kenney, Ph.D. the first class with up to 50 students should be held Tuesday, January 31.

“It is a long time coming,” said Kenney, 50, an out lesbian and the Peralta district’s lone openly LGBT administrator. “There is a great need.”

Previously the dean of mathematic science and workforce development at Merritt College in the Oakland Hills, she was promoted to her position at the College of Alameda in 2010.

Once on campus she met David Hatfield Sparks, 64, a gay man who is the college’s head librarian and music instructor. For several years Sparks had wanted to see the campus offer LGBTQ courses, something that Kenney also thought was missing from the Peralta district’s offerings.

“I think we’ve been working toward this for several years on campus with the gay student group and a lot of faculty support,” said Sparks. “When Dr. Kenney came over it then kind of coalesced. We were able to broadcast a little more widely and do the things we wanted to do.”

It helped that Kenney was in a high enough position to make it

happen.

“I said to David at the time it would be really great if we could do a program. David had been thinking about it for years, as have I,” recalled Kenney. “But it was never the right time and that is the way of things for queer folks. We are always told it is not the right time. This felt like the right time.”

The development has happened relatively quickly in academic terms. In October Kenney invited 15 faculty members to her Oakland home to strategize on how to launch the LGBTQ program. Randy Conner, Ph.D., 59, an adjunct faculty member who is partners with Sparks, helped develop the curriculum and was tapped to teach the first course, which will be offered through the college’s humanities department.

“This queer course I am teaching for the spring is kind of like a wine-tasting class in the sense we are dealing with as many topics as possible in an introductory way,” said Conner, who has written several books on queer spirituality. “So the classes that come after will be more in depth and more particular as far as subjects go.”

Courtesy Rebecca J. Kenney

College of Alameda Vice President Rebecca J. Kenney, Ph.D.

Not only does he see the creation of the LGBTQ studies program as helping build up students’ selfesteem, Conner said the intro class is meant to connect them to the Bay Area’s LGBT community.

“I think there is a direct relationship between self-worth and self-empowerment and doing well in school,” he said. “Dr. Kenney wants this to be a class and eventually program that links up students to the larger community ... so it becomes a class and eventually a program that will move beyond the walls so to speak.”

The campus’ curriculum review committee signed off on it in November and a district-wide committee representing all four colleges gave its approval this month.

The next step is to have both the trustees and the state chancellor’s office sign off on it, which is expected

to occur January 24.

“We doubt there will be an issue,” said Kenney.

The introductory course has the support of Abel Guillen, a Peralta Community College board member since 2006 who is running for state Assembly next year.

“I think our board and our district is very inclusive and we honor diversity. We want to make sure our curriculum is reflective of all of our community,” said Guillen, who identifies as two-spirit, meaning he is open to dating men and women. “I think this is a good step in that direction.”

Former Peralta trustee Darryl Moore, a gay man who now serves on the Berkeley City Council, said the idea of offering LGBTQ classes never came up when he served on the board in the early 2000s.

“I am glad to see Alameda County going in that direction,” said Moore when told of the creation of the courses. “I think it is fantastic. It is exciting.”

By next fall the college plans to add an additional four LGBTQ courses to its catalogue. One will focus on literature; another on myth and folklore, and the third will be tailored toward health and biology; the fourth likely will be in political science.

Any of the campus’ 9,000 students will be able to sign up for the classes, as will any student enrolled at the district’s three other campuses.

Already faculty members from the other colleges have expressed interest in duplicating the class offerings.

“We are hoping to provide through education an opportunity for students to learn about their own culture or the culture of the LGBTQ community if they identify other than LGBTQ,” said Kenney.▼

! s y a d i l o H y p Hap

The staff of the

BAY AREA REPORTER Rick Gerharter

wishes you the very best this holiday season.

<< Open Forum

4 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 22-28, 2011

Volume 41, Number 51 December 22-28, 2011 www.ebar.com PUBLISHER Thomas E. Horn 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 • Scott Brogan Victoria A. Brownworth • Philip Campbell Heather Cassell • Chuck Colbert Richard Dodds • David Duran Raymond Flournoy • David Guarino Liz Highleyman • Brandon Judell John F. Karr • Lisa Keen • Matthew Kennedy David Lamble • Tony K. LeTigre Michael McDonagh • Paul Parish Lois Pearlman • Tim Pfaff • Jim Piechota Bob Roehr • Donna Sachet • Adam Sandel Jason Serinus • Gregg Shapiro Gwendolyn Smith • Ed Walsh • Sura Wood

ART DIRECTION Kurt Thomas PRODUCTION MANAGER T. Scott King PHOTOGRAPHERS Jane Philomen Cleland Marc Geller Rick Gerharter Lydia Gonzales Rudy K. Lawidjaja Steven Underhill Bill Wilson ILLUSTRATORS & CARTOONISTS Paul Berge Christine Smith

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A new year for bold ideas W

hen Scott Wiener was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors last year, we were confident that District 8 was getting a smart, hands-on leader who would work with the various contentious factions in the LGBT community. Mostly he has been successful but there have been incidents in which Wiener got tripped up by lesser, mundane issues.

As Wiener begins his second year in office, he has the opportunity to work on several major issues that he began in his first. Among them is devising a workable plan for food trucks. Legislation last year

by Wiener’s predecessor, Bevan Dufty, established a smoother permitting process and consistent regulation for the trucks on public streets. What wasn’t fully addressed, however, was the issue of food trucks on private property, which has become a concern to several Castro restaurants. Wiener has convened a working group to examine the current legislation. The challenge of the group is to develop reasonable policies that don’t pit brick-and-mortar eateries against the popular food trucks so that both can co-exist in the Castro and the city as a whole.

Wiener has demonstrated that he is a leader on transportation issues. He worked hard for last month’s passage of Proposition B, a $248 million general obligation bond measure that will provide capital upgrades to city streets and roadways, such as street repaving, and pedestrian and bike improvements. His proposed legislation dealing with commercial dog-walkers actually has their support and is expected to go before the board next month. Also, in January the board is likely to consider his prevailing wage legislation, which is especially important to lowwage workers like janitors.

But being a district supervisor is often about the little things, and in the last few months Wiener has fallen short on some of these lesser issues. He has authored several pieces of proposed or approved legislation that don’t really seem to address the problems for which they were intended. This has led some to label him a “nanny” supervisor, legislating behavior while not getting to the root of the problem.

A case in point was his legislation requiring

nudists to place a towel on outdoor seating and to cover up in restaurants, which led to questions about whether an ordinance is necessary or effective. Public nudity in and of itself isn’t against the law here (being nude and sexually aroused is) and restaurants already have codes imposed by the health department.

But the law passed unanimously, and latenight comedians had a field day. The issue of nudists themselves wasn’t addressed, which seemed to be the “problem” as some people saw it.

Shortly after those rules were passed, Wiener drafted up new ones concerning Harvey Milk and Jane Warner plazas, the two public areas across the street from one another at Castro and Market streets. Since city codes don’t define what can happen there, Wiener, with an assist from the Castro Community Benefit District, sought to impose order in reaction to complaints against loiterers. While the no camping and no smoking provisions agree with the rules of other public spaces, the level of micromanaging reaches as far down as determining at what time the movable chairs would be removed each night. Activists are screaming that people won’t be able to plant flowers or hold vigils in the plazas (not true, Wiener insists); but the point is that there probably should have been better outreach to the public when the plan was unveiled and a more thorough explanation given to the community about why it is necessary. It also doesn’t nail the real issue: neighbors don’t want people hanging out in the plazas late at night.

One issue people do seem to want addressed is control of the flagpole in Harvey Milk Plaza, and on that topic Wiener has been mostly silent. While the flagpole itself is on city property, the city had passed off management of it to the Castro merchants’ group. This year alone, several people have requested that the flag be lowered to half-staff in memory of a murdered gay activist (David Kato), an icon’s death (Elizabeth Taylor), or due to national import (the 10-year anniversary of 9/11), with mixed results. There ought to be some sort of process – rules! – so that the public can make

Rick Gerharter

Supervisor Scott Wiener

a request and it can be quickly vetted. No one’s going to understand why the flag was lowered weeks after someone’s passing. Or, if it’s decided that the flag will never be lowered, as is the case now, then the Merchants of Upper Market and Castro should stop complaining and be prepared to deal with the requests and criticism that will inevitably come.

Wiener’s Proposition E on the November ballot was an effort to rework ballot measures after voters had approved them. While the Bay Area Reporter did support this, it’s clear that voters did not, as the proposition was soundly defeated and generated negative reactions and opinions of his political agenda. Voters want their decision to be respected, not amended down the road.

There are big projects on the horizon in District 8: the Dolores Park renovation, housing, and transportation. Wiener’s predecessor took an issue and made it a legacy.

Dufty saw the Upper Market design plan through, and now when a new business wants to open they know exactly what they need to do in the neighborhood. The proposed Starbucks is just one example.

Our new year challenge to Wiener is to be bolder and proactive, for District 8 and the city.▼

A little goes a long way in South Korea

by Charles Syms

R

emember $265. That’s the approximate cost for two weeks of groceries for an American family of four. It’s also the monthly salary for the director of a queer rights organization in South Korea. And that’s for the lucky few who get paid for their work. The vast majority of the LGBT community organizations in Korea are entirely volunteer-based, which means the directors need to juggle full-time jobs along with their involvement in the queer community.

While it’s true that the Korean nonprofit sector isn’t as established as that of the United States, other issue-based organizations in Korea such as gender equality and migrant rights groups afford to pay their staff living wages.

One might wonder why the wages of LGBT directors in Korea are important, or why this issue merits any attention in the first place.

Despite persistent inequality elsewhere, there have been immense gains in LGBT equality in places such as the United States and Western Europe that stand in stark contrast to the situation for queer communities in other parts of the world. The most pressing battles to eradicate LGBT inequality worldwide are found in places like Korea, where those who come out can lose their jobs, their families, or worse. Korean author Alexander Chee describes the dire situation succinctly: “When you are openly gay in Korea, your family declares you dead and holds a funeral for you. The family book lists you as deceased.

Prayers are said for you once a year at the family shrine and incense is burned for your ghost.”

In the United States, directors of some of the larger LGBT rights organizations make well over $250,000 a year. That’s roughly $20,000 a month, or 78 times the salary of the director of an LGBT rights organization in Korea. It’s not just the salaries of the leaders of LGBT organizations that indicate the wealth of the United States’ LGBT rights movement, however. The annual operating budget of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center is over $50

million. If one thing is certain, it’s that there is a lot of money for queer causes in the United States. If just a small portion of this money were diverted to queer activist efforts in Korea, it would have a tremendous impact. It would enable the directors of various queer rights groups to live off of their salaries and enable the groups to operate out of offices instead of people’s homes. It would provide support for people like the activist I interviewed in Korea who confided his parents’ reaction when he came out: they disowned him and demanded that he never contact them again.

There are a lot of things queer rights activists can take for granted in the United States. They can assume it is possible to make a living by advocating for LGBT rights. They can assume that queer organizations are eligible to receive funding from corporate donors, and that major metropolitan areas will have physical spaces where LGBT people can gather. In Korea, the things that are assumed to be true in the United States are seen as lofty goals for the future.

It is impossible to live off of the salary of a queer activist in Korea, activists report that organizations are afraid of the negative press they would receive were they to donate to LGBT-related causes, and physical spaces for community building – outside of bars and dance clubs – are hard to come by in Korea. So what can those of us in the United States do to help?

Before making another donation to the Human Rights Campaign or the local LGBT community center, consider mixing it up by donating to a foundation that provides grants to internationally-based LGBT organizations.

Of course, the Human Rights Campaign and LGBT community centers across the country are incredibly important organizations, and they would not exist without the support of many generous donors. It’s just that the small

amount that you can donate to the queer rights movement in Korea will make a huge difference in the lives of Korean LGBT activists. If not Korea, then think about donating to a LGBT organization in another part of the world where corporate funding isn’t available for queerrelated causes.

So the next time you open your checkbook to donate to an organization with a multimilliondollar annual operating budget, ask yourself if you think a donation of $500 – which, let’s face it, will probably be paying for staples or ink cartridges – could make more of an impact here or abroad. If sent to Korea, that $500 could pay the salary of an LGBT rights organization executive director for two whole months.

Or, combined with other donations, could increase the director’s salary so he can work full-time on queer activism instead of simultaneously working full-time at a donut shop like one of the organization directors I interviewed. An investment in Korea’s queer rights movement or LGBT organizations in other countries is not just the globally conscious thing to do; donating to LGBT causes abroad will enable you to see your money go a long way toward fighting injustice and discrimination against LGBT people around the world.▼ Charles Syms is a graduate student in sociology at Stanford University. His research focuses, among other topics, on LGBT activist movements in East Asia. In January he will travel to South Korea on a Fulbright grant to research the connections between Korea’s feminist and queer movements. He is originally from San Antonio, Texas. If you are considering a donation to a Korean LGBT rights group, he recommends Solidarity for LGBT Human Rights of Korea. Contact them about making a donation at: http://www.facebook.com/lgbtaction.

▼

Letters >>

December 22-28, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 5

Archbishop’s decision is ironic Many thanks for your article on Janie Spahr and others being disinvited from Advent services, in particular vespers at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in the Castro [“Gay clergy disinvited from Castro Catholic church,” December 15].

I should first say that I am a longtime friend of Janie’s and was ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA) as an openly gay person in 2005. For me and many others, Janie has been a guide and steadfast servant of the faith she holds dear; a faith that tirelessly calls her to welcome all. She would be the last person on earth to exclude the archbishop from one of the services she was leading or a church of which she was a part. In fact, she would welcome him with open arms and an embrace. That’s Janie. That’s the difference.

The irony that the disinvitation by the archbishop is referred to as reflective of and in harmony with the time of Advent and the theme for vespers is stunning and incomprehensible; that is unless the leadership is driven by an irrational fear and dislike of the LGBT community (many of whom are members of Most Holy Redeemer). If we agree that hatred is an irrational dislike toward others – this borders much too close to a demonstration of the illness of those in power than the welcoming, hospitality, and love upon which the Christian faith is founded. And, the message to the community is sad and dangerous and filled with fear.

For it is true, that every time a member of the LGBT community, its friends and supporters is excluded, marginalized, or otherwise dismissed because they are gay, every time, those implementing such rulings, edicts, or practices become complicit in the violence toward the LGBT community, a violence now endorsed by a church’s or church representative’s hateful position. Just based on that alone, it would have been a much more prophetic and courageous decision to come together.

And, perhaps, that last of ironies is that the time of vespers at Most Holy Redeemer which now teeters on the theme of exclusion is, in fact, the poorest of reflection of Advent one could hope for.

Again, thank you for your reporting.

Reverend Ray Bagnuolo New York City

man who died in a doorway on Castro Street [“Homeless memorial day sees problems, progress,” December 15].

We were visiting San Francisco from Calgary, Alberta that week. And we walked by him for a few days while staying at a place near there. We were very sad to see what happened. Really a terrible thing. It was very touching to see how someone responded and put up that sign and a small memorial.

I certainly hope that one day this will be an isolated incident and not a common occurrence. I always hope that there is a better future for the homeless people in North America. Maybe one day.

Thank you for shining a light on this.

Lucie Vlach Calgary, Alberta

Judge’s questions say a lot in DOMA case It wouldn’t be a surprise if you or I wrote the following words. But it is very powerful that a federal district court judge – one who is not gay himself, which seems to matter to our opponents – did write and read them in open court Friday: “The fact that marriage traditionally has been defined as between a man and a woman merely describes what has been. ... How does codifying this description (of a long-standing tradition) constitute a (rational) justification ... for restricting marriage?”

And how proud we can be that the U.S. Justice Department representative of the president (the assistant attorney general in person, in court) completely agreed with Judge Jeffrey S. White.

From the theoretical to the specifics: “How does the withholding of federal benefits to children of families with same-sex parents encourage responsible parenting and child rearing?” And “How does the sharing of benefits with another group of lawfully married (homosexual) persons denigrate the importance of the benefits already conferred upon ... heterosexual lawfully married persons?” To which even the Republicans’ lawyer had to agree he couldn’t and wasn’t making that argument (any more).

This is in Karen Golinski’s case where she – and you and I – are represented by Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Concern over homeless death Thank you for writing that story about that homeless

Charlie Spiegel, Esq. Former Board Chair, Lambda Legal San Francisco

Christmas dinner Sunday compiled by Cynthia Laird

T

enderloin Tessie Holiday Dinners will hold its annual Christmas dinner for those in need Sunday, December 25 from 1 to 4 p.m. at First Unitarian Church, 1187 Franklin Street (at Geary) in San Francisco.

Board president and volunteer coordinator Michael Gagne said that the organization will also be doing a clothing drive and will be accepting gently used men’s, women’s, and children’s clothes, as well as coats and blankets.

For volunteer opportunities, contact Gagne at (415) 584-3252 or tenderlointessiedinners@yahoo.com.

Groups debut LGBT elder guide A comprehensive new guide released Tuesday, December 20 gives California’s LGBT elders

<<

Folsom fair From page 1

city to avoid future conflicts.

“We’re trying to ensure we can go back to the way things were and continue to tell everybody Folsom Street Fair always happens on the last weekend of September,” he said.

The person whom Moshoyannis gave as his contact for Oracle didn’t respond to a request for comment from the Bay Area Reporter. The computer technology company draws about 41,000 people to its OpenWorld convention. CEO Larry Ellison is also involved in the 2013 America’s Cup, which will be held in San Francisco.

Moshoyannis said organizers have been providing updates on the date change on their website

information about their rights and the services that are available to them as they navigate the system of public and social benefits.

The guide, called “Navigating the System: A Know-Your-Rights Guide for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Elders in California” is designed as a resource to empower and help protect the state’s LGBT seniors who are often the targets of discrimination due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The 61-page booklet was published by several advocacy groups: the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lavender Seniors of the East Bay, Transgender Law Center, Openhouse, and Planning for Elders in the Central City. The groups put together the booklet

because they saw a need for a California-specific guide that people could turn to for help, said Daniel Redman, NCLR Elder Law Fellow, who co-authored the booklet.

The guide includes information on the state’s antidiscrimination laws; LGBTfriendly housing and service providers; ways to effectively address discrimination and mistreatment; how relationship recognition laws affect benefits; the unique challenges that confront transgender elders; life-planning documents; and how to identify available benefits, particularly for people with disabilities.

The guide can be downloaded by visiting www.nclrights.org or www. transgenderlawcenter.org.▼

and through Facebook. He said they also sent an alert to 25 to 30 community “leather leaders.”

He said there probably are some international travelers who have had their tickets booked for a couple years.

“We will try to work with them to try to accommodate them and minimize the impact on them,” Moshoyannis said.

He doesn’t think the date switch will hurt attendance. He said with enough notice, most people making plans to come “should be fine.”

“The vast majority of people book accommodations three to nine months out,” he said.

Each year, the Folsom Street Fair and its associated gatherings raises money for numerous charities.

This year, organizers estimated

over $330,000 was donated to 16 nonprofits, including AIDS Emergency Fund and Transgender Law Center.

Dates for other Folsom events in 2012 are as follows: Bay of Pigs: Saturday, July 28; Up Your Alley: Sunday, July 29; Leather Week: Sunday, September 16 to Sunday, September 23; Leather Week formal dinner: Thursday, September 20; Magnitude: Saturday, September 22; Deviants: Sunday, September 23.

For more information, visit http:// www.folsomstreetevents.org.▼

On the web Online content this week includes the Out in the World column. www.ebar.com.

<< National News

6 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 22-28, 2011

▼

Army private portrayed as deeply troubled

by Michael K. Lavers

L

www.ebar.com

awyers representing a former Army intelligence officer who allegedly leaked classified documents to WikiLeaks portrayed their client as a deeply troubled soldier who was struggling to come to terms with his gender identity during a hearing at Fort Meade, Maryland that will determine whether he will face potential court martial.

Captain Steven Lim, a military intelligence officer at Fort Meade, testified on December 17 that Army Private First Class Bradley Manning told his superior officer in an e-mail that he was suffering from gender identity disorder. The Washington Post reported that Lim said that Manning, who was stationed in Baghdad, sent Master Sergeant Paul D. Atkins a picture of himself dressed as a woman.

The newspaper further noted that a retired Army investigator testified that Manning maintained a Facebook profile under the name Breanna Manning.

Manning’s lawyers also raised the soldier’s sexual orientation during the hearing.

The Associated Press reported that his attorneys suggested that the homophobia that Manning experienced in the Army before the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” contributed to his mental and emotional instability. They contend that this should have prompted the Army to rescind Manning’s security clearance, but Army investigator Toni Graham told Major Matthew Kemkes that questions about his sexual orientation were irrelevant.

“We already knew before we arrived that Private First Class Manning was a homosexual,” said Graham, according to the Associated Press.

Manning, 24, has remained in solitary confinement since he was taken into custody in May 2010 for allegedly leaking hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables and other classified information to WikiLeaks. These include footage of an American air strike that left two journalists and more than an estimated dozen Iraqis dead and injured two children in Baghdad in July 2007. Manning also allegedly provided WikiLeaks with a video of a May 2009 airstrike that left up to an estimated 140 Afghan civilians dead.

Manning could face up to life in prison if the military courtmartials him on 22 counts that include the illegal transmission of defense information and aiding the enemy.

Does sexual orientation, gender identity matter?

Sexual orientation and gender identity have been used in court cases before.

An Alameda County jury in September 2005 soundly rejected the so-called trans panic defense when it convicted Mike Magidson and Jose Merel of second-degree murder in the death of transgender teenager Gwen Araujo in October 2002. Jaron Nabors pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in exchange for his testimony against Magidson and Merel, while Jason Cazares later admitted to the same charge in a plea bargain.

The Gwen Araujo Justice for Victims Act that then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed

Danny Buskirk

A poster in support of Bradley Manning was worn by writer/ editor James Eilers during the Occupy San Francisco march December 17.

into law in 2006 allows a judge to instruct jurors not to consider their own anti-LGBT biases during their deliberations. The legislation also directed the Office of Emergency Services to train district attorneys on how to address bias-motivated defense strategies in criminal trials.

Ventura County senior Deputy District Attorney Maeve Fox evoked the law when she rejected Brandon McInerney’s “gay panic” defense in the closing arguments of his first trial in the killing of classmate Larry King in February 2008. A judge on December 19 sentenced McInerney to 21 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

Is it an effective defense strategy to highlight Manning’s struggle with his gender identity?

Psychiatrist Jack Drescher, who teaches at the New York Medical College, told the Bay Area Reporter that Manning’s lawyers are not trying to make their client’s gender identity the primary focus of the hearing. “[They are] really trying to say this guy had lots of problems,” he said. “Therefore, they [his superiors] bear some responsibility to let him go as far as he went.”

Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, questioned the way that Manning’s lawyers have used gender identity during the hearing.

“The real issue isn’t is he trans or not – lots of people are trans and lots of people aren’t trans,” she said. “The real issue is, is he getting a fair trial, is he being treated appropriately while he’s being held in custody.”

On that end, former Army Lieutenant Dan Choi is among those who continue to support Manning.

Choi attended the first three days of Manning’s hearing, but soldiers forcibly removed him from Fort Meade on December 19 after he began calling out the names and ranks of uniformed soldiers outside the courtroom.

The Army allowed him to return to the base the next day.

“For a year and a half, Bradley Manning has suffered for nothing more than telling the truth,” said Choi shortly after the incident.

“I’m there because Bradley Manning is a good soldier and he needs our support. He’s the only soldier who spoke the truth and lived by the Army values to have integrity and to do the right thing – to have courage.”▼

▼

Politics >>

December 22-28, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 7

City Attorney spokesman tapped for SF Dem panel

by Matthew S. Bajko

C

ity Attorney spokesman Matt Dorsey, an openly gay man who is HIV-positive, is set to serve on the San Francisco Democratic Party’s governing committee, the Bay Area Reporter has learned.

Party Chair Aaron Peskin asked Dorsey to fill the seat held by Michael Goldstein, who died Friday, December 2 due to complications related to stage four non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and AIDS. Goldstein, who was 58, was first elected to the Democratic County Central Committee in 2004 from the city’s 13th Assembly District. At the time of his death, he had been serving as its fourth vice chair.

The DCCC is expected to approve Dorsey to the seat at its meeting January 25. It is also expected to select a new fourth vice chair, who oversees the Democratic club rechartering process, and a second vice chair, which became vacant following the death of nonprofit director and DCCC member Eric Quesada in August.

Dorsey’s term would expire next summer, as all 24 of the elected DCCC members are up for re-election on the June primary.

Twelve people from each of the city’s two state Assembly districts run for two-year terms on the oversight body, which also includes eight elected state leaders who represent the City and County of San Francisco.

In an interview Monday, December 19 with the B.A.R., Dorsey, 46, said he planned to seek election to a full term next summer. He said he was honored when Peskin asked him to serve on the DCCC. “I thought it was an honor to serve my party and my city,” said Dorsey.

“But I also think I thought of it as an especially important responsibility because it is fulfilling a role held by Michael Goldstein, who was one of my favorite people in local politics.”

Peskin was in Katmandu, Nepal where he spent 24 days hiking the nearly 19,000-foot Tashi Lapsa Pass in the Himalayas, when he received an email about Goldstein’s death. He said he wanted his replacement to be someone also from the city’s HIV community with strong progressive credentials. The first person he approached, said Peskin, was Dorsey.

“I’ve always respected him and I think he brings some qualities that the central committee would benefit from. And he has a very good skill set,” said Peskin. “He really, in addition to having a remarkable skill set, he is respected by folks all across the city.

He has conducted himself in a way that is above and beyond reproach.”

Dorsey, a longtime parishioner at the Castro’s Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, also has “solid Democratic values,” added Peskin.

“He has been there for the San Francisco Democratic Party for years and years as a volunteer and activist,” said Peskin. “He is someone when called upon always rises to the occasion, who is brave and is willing to take courageous stances.”

A Massachusetts native who graduated from Emerson College, Dorsey moved to San Francisco in 1990 and his first job was managing former San Francisco District Attorney Arlo Smith’s attorney general campaign. Shortly thereafter Dorsey moved to Washington, D.C. to work as a research director on the Democratic National Committee’s health care campaign during the

Rick Gerharter

Matt Dorsey

Clinton administration.

He then returned to San Francisco; for the last nine years he has been City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s spokesman. Being an elected official himself has never been a goal, said Dorsey.

“I have always been a back bencher, behind-the-scenes guy in politics.

Elected office has never been a big ambition of mine,” he said.

Having just seen his boss lose his mayoral bid in a campaign that saw Herrera’s early support for same-sex marriage come under question, Dorsey said he did take some time to consider Peskin’s offer.

“Coming off of a long campaign, I admit there was a sense of ‘Do I want to continue? How active do I want to continue being in politics?’” Dorsey said he asked himself. “The local party has a huge role to play, not just in local contests but especially in the coming year.”

Next year, in addition to the presidential election, there likely will be state ballot measures on labor unions, taxes, and possibly marriage equality. By being a local Democratic Party official, Dorsey saw he could have an impact in those policy fights.

“There could be a number of statewide measures where San Francisco’s ability to turn out large progressive majorities may be the margin of victory. We need to offset more conservative parts of the state,” he said.

He also sees being on the DCCC as a way to elevate the issues of HIV and AIDS. While having been diagnosed years ago, Dorsey began to publicly discuss his being HIV-positive this year. He testified at a Board of Supervisors hearing in the spring on behalf of Shanti’s LIFE program, which he took part in, when it was facing budget cuts.

Being on the DCCC will allow him to have an even louder voice on HIV and AIDS issues, he said.

“I think there is a role for somebody with HIV to bring some perspective to that,” said Dorsey, noting he has supported over the years various AIDS agencies as a donor and volunteer. “But in the last year I have really come to see more and more how important it is to step up my activism. I think we saw in the mayor’s race HIV and AIDS wasn’t as highlighted as an issue as it probably deserved to be.”

Peskin sounded assured that the DCCC would ratify his choice for the vacant seat. A majority of the 32 members have to approve it.

“I am sure they will not have a problem with it whatsoever,” said Peskin, who informed the DCCC members this week of his tapping Dorsey for the vacancy.

Peskin was less sure on if he would

seek another term on the DCCC. He was first elected to the DCCC in 2000, and having been elected a city supervisor that fall, he chose not to run again once his two-year term was up.

Termed off the board at the end of 2008, Peskin in June of that year won a seat on the DCCC and then ousted openly gay chair Scott Wiener, now a supervisor, from the party leadership post. When asked if he planned to run for DCCC in 2012, Peskin said he is “still deciding.”

Should he opt not to run, it could open the door for another out DCCC member to become chair. A number of LGBT people serve on the body, and if re-elected to their seats, could be in line to lead the local party.

Among those to watch as possible contenders for the chairmanship include former state lawmaker Carole Migden, who led the local party in the 1980s; Rafael Mandelman; Debra Walker; and Gabriel Haaland, the party’s current corresponding secretary.

Controversial SF STD czar lands at UCLA Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, who had a controversial tenure as director of the San Francisco health department’s STD Prevention and Control Services, is set to return to the Golden State. His appointment as a health sciences clinical professor of medicine at UCLA should be finalized this month.

And last week the Oakland-based Internet Sexuality Information Services Inc., announced Klausner had joined the nonprofit’s board of directors.

Klausner could not be reached for comment by press time. A spokesman for UCLA Health Sciences told the B.A.R. he would not have contact information for him until his appointment became official.

During his time in San Francisco, Klausner was a member of the clinical faculty at UCSF School of Medicine.

He took a leave of absence in 2009 when he moved with his family to South Africa to conduct federally funded research in HIV and TB care and treatment.

He officially resigned from his San Francisco position in 2010 to become chief of the HIV Care and Treatment Branch for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Global AIDS Program in South Africa.

As the city’s STD czar, Klausner launched the successful Healthy Penis campaign in order to address rising rates of syphilis in gay and bisexual men. He also was harshly criticized for his push to reclassify erectile dysfunction medications as illegal substances and his haranguing of Internet hookup sites he complained did not do enough to promote safe sex practices among their users.

State AIDS chief post still vacant The state’s Office of AIDS has been without a permanent chief since September, and it is likely the position will not be filled until after the new year.

Dr. Michelle Roland, a bisexual woman from Oakland, resigned in late September to take a job with the CDC in Tanzania. Since then Dr. Karen Mark, an HIV doctor who has been with the office since 2010, has served on an interim basis.

The California Department of Public Health, which oversees the AIDS office, extended an October 28 deadline to apply for the job in order to increase the applicant pool.

It is now closed and it is unclear when Governor Jerry Brown will announce his pick for the job.▼

<< Year in Review

8 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 22-28, 2011

▼

2011: An ‘epic’ year for marriage equality

by Dana Rudolph

O

ne leading advocate called 2011 an “epic” year for marriage equality. Was it?

While only one state – New York – enacted full marriage rights for same-sex couples, it was the most populous state to do so. Five other states also moved closer to marriage equality than ever before.

Public opinion shifted dramatically toward supporting equality. And the Obama administration announced that it no longer considers a key

part of the Defense of Marriage Act constitutional.

On the negative side, however, three states failed to pass marriage equality bills that had been introduced in their legislatures, and two states passed bills to put measures on their ballots in 2012 that will seek to ban marriage for same-sex couples under their state constitutions.

Despite the negatives, Evan Wolfson, president of the national Freedom to Marry group, said in an interview that 2011 was “an epic

year of real transformation.”

Feds At the federal level, Attorney General Eric Holder wrote a letter to Congress in February, stating that the administration believes Section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional and will no longer defend it.

Section 3 of DOMA states that the federal government will not, for any federal purposes, recognize the marriages of same-sex couples.

Holder’s letter said the administration believes laws disfavoring persons based on sexual orientation should have to pass the most stringent judicial review, heightened scrutiny. And it said the administration would argue so in two cases challenging DOMA in the 2nd Circuit.

Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, an LGBT legal advocacy group, called Holder’s letter “game changing” in its December “State of the Law 2011” report.

Wolfson said it represented “an immense historical shift.”

Another sign of this shift, he said, was the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the military’s ban on openly gay service members. DADT repeal will help fuel the marriage equality effort, Wolfson said, “because Americans are now going to see the women and men serving our country as openly gay members of couples and openly gay members of families.”

States On the state level, the biggest win in 2011 was in New York, where the legislature passed a marriage equality bill in June. When Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) signed the bill, he doubled the percentage of samesex couples living in states that allow them to marry. New York is also the

Rick Gerharter

Ken Ferraris, left, and Matt McClelland show their appreciation of New York’s passage of same-sex marriage with a pair of rainbow Statue of Liberties at the San Francisco Pride Parade in June.

only state to have passed marriage equality through a Republican-led legislative chamber, its state Senate.

Cuomo, by adding his vocal support to the bill, “put his political capital on the line,” Wolfson said.

His success prompted politico.com to call him a “national contender” and leader of the Democratic Party’s progressive base. The Washington Post said his triumph made him “a first among equals when it comes to the jockeying for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.”

“The freedom to marry went from being a perceived and presumed ‘third rail’ that politicians ran from to now being a pathway to political gain,” said Wolfson.

Five other states came closer to marriage equality than ever before. Maryland for the first time passed a marriage equality bill out of a legislative chamber, its Senate, although the measure fell

short of winning in the House.

And Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, and Rhode Island each passed civil union legislation.

But there were disappointments.

In Colorado, a civil union bill was killed on a party-line vote in the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee, after passing the Democrat-controlled Senate.

And in Rhode Island, the civil union bill disappointed many because a bill for full marriage equality had been on the legislature’s agenda. It was dropped after it failed to gain enough support, despite large Democratic majorities in both chambers and Governor Lincoln Chafee’s (I) promise to sign it.

LGBT groups were also disappointed with a provision in Rhode Island’s civil union bill providing extensive exemptions on religious grounds for those who don’t wish to recognize those unions. Chafee himself said the civil union law “fails to fully achieve” the goal of providing same-sex couples with equal rights.

Two states saw progress in lawsuits that could lead to marriage equality. In New Jersey, marriage equality advocates have sued the state, claiming that its existing civil union laws do not provide them with full equality – an equality the state Supreme Court said, in October 2006, is guaranteed by the state constitution.

In California, a three-judge panel of the federal 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments December 8 on procedural matters related to the case to determine the constitutionality of Proposition 8, the state’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples. Regardless of the outcome, the case will almost certainly be appealed to the full 9th Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Three states successfully played defense in 2011.

Iowa, New Mexico, and Wyoming See page 10 >>

Read more online at www.ebar.com

December 22-28, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 9

<< The Sports Page

10 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 22-28, 2011

▼

Now we don our gay sports apparel

by Roger Brigham

W

inter is upon us, we’re ready for a hearty Christmas feast, and the hills are covered with snow.

Oh wait, that’s actually fog. It only looks like snow if you close your eyes and dream of places past and far away. In this wistful holiday mood, I present this year’s stocking stuffers and lumps of coal, wishes for the new year, and favorite memories of the months passed.

• Reality checks and a six-pack of perspective enemas go into the stockings of parking lot hooligans at football and baseball games and everyone who protested the firing of Penn State icon Joe “Joe Pa” Paterno.

Hooligans such as the assailants who beat Giants fan Bryan Stowe into a coma outside Dodger Stadium on opening day this season. Or the PSU kids who rioted because their university administration (belatedly) decided to pull the plug on the personality cult that had brought in millions of dollars while failing to provide even the most routine and minimal supervisory protection for the most vulnerable children on their campus. I love rah-rah spirit, but don’t get so lost in your self-centric fantasy fervor that you lose all touch with humanity and compassion.

• Chutzpah of the Year Award goes in a tie to former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry

Sandusky and the new member of his legal team, attorney Karl Rominger, for suggesting Sandusky, the author of Touched, was doing nothing more innocent than teaching juveniles “how to put soap on their bodies” when he was spotted in the showers with them – and white canes for any journalist or jurist who buys that story. I’ve read some of the allegations in the grand jury report and I imagine any day now we’ll hear that some of those instances were actually instructions in how to floss.

• You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby Award goes to every transgender athlete or prospective athlete out there. Just before the year kicked off, the LPGA finally dropped the requirement that all players must be “female at birth;” in early summer Donna Rose (competing under the name Donna Rosen) won her first national title in women’s beach wrestling to follow up on her historic entry into the U.S. Nationals the year before; and in September the Women’s Sports Foundation drafted a historic position paper calling for an end to the invasive and dehumanizing gender identification processes in women’s sports. Rose lost her most recent qualifier for the U.S. Olympic Team (she fell in the opening rounds to two-time world champion Kristie Davis last weekend in Dallas), but look for her to continue kicking butt (and sand) in the upcoming year. Of course, the coolest gift in the new year would be Augusta National Golf Club getting its first female-tomale member, but somehow I think that is still a tad off.

• A $250 PG&E gift card to the San Francisco 49ers to help them keep the lights turned on at Candlestick Park (however much longer they decide to stay in San Francisco.) Why’d they have to keep turning off the lights Monday night while things were going well against the Steelers? They should have used that play during the late Dallas drive earlier in the season.

• A new camcorder for the San Jose Sharks. Look, you can’t seem

<<

Marriage equality From page 8

held firm against attempts to pass bills for ballot measures that sought to ban marriage for samesex couples under their state constitutions. If passed, Iowa’s bill would have taken away the right to marry that same-sex couples gained in 2009.

But there were some clear setbacks in 2011 as well.

North Carolina and Minnesota passed bills for ballot measures in 2012 that seek to ban marriage for same-sex couples under the state constitutions. And Indiana and Pennsylvania started the process for such ballot measures, which could

Courtesy Donna Rose

Donna Rose (competing under the name Donna Rosen), right, faced two-time world champion Kristie Davis last weekend in a U.S. Olympic Trial match in Dallas but lost in the opening rounds.

to provide a lot of offense on the ice this season, so buff up your PR cred by joining other local major pro sports who have made It Gets Better anti-bullying videos. You can shoot it in the penalty box.

• Hard-bound copies of Caroline Symons’s Gay Games History for all of my fellow board members of the Federation of Gay Games and those on the board of the Gay and Lesbian International Sports Association.

It really should be mandatory reading as the policy makers of those two organizations try to figure how to do something ridiculously easy (have a single major quadrennial LGBT sports and cultural event) rather than the Gay Games and Gay Games Lite (aka the Outgames) we have been saddled with the past five years.

Symons’s scholarly text shows how the Gay Games have emerged as one of the most compelling global human rights vehicles in the LGBT community through a mission of inclusive sports participation – not through conferences of academics talking to other academics.

• A pink tutu and an honorary Arizona Border Patrol badge for

sports radio talking head Tony Romo, who graced the broadcast waves this summer by calling Giants manager Bruce Bochy “a coward,” his relief pitcher Ramon Ramirez “an illegal alien,” and said most baseball players “are pansies.”

• Copies of Major League Baseball’s new collective bargaining agreement to the board members of the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Association.

NAGAAA fought (and lost) an effort this year to restrict the participation of bisexual players in the Gay Softball World Series.

It will be a new game next year in Minneapolis, but restrictions on the number of heterosexuals so far remain in place. Not so in baseball, which led a major sea change this year in the inclusion of sexual orientation as a protected class in its labor agreements. We’ve demanded the right to be included; how can we demand the right to exclude?

• And finally, hopefully, a gold medal in London for boxer Queen Underwood at next year’s Summer Olympics.

Women’s boxing makes its Olympic debut, and Underwood’s story of battling out of an abusive upbringing to become one of the world’s toughest fighters and a rising advocate for youth is a compelling story worthy of any holiday.▼

see further action next year.

In Maine, however, LGBT advocates gained enough signatures to place a measure in favor of marriage equality before voters on the 2012 ballot. Advocates in Oregon decided to postpone such attempts and continue to build support.

In California, the state’s largest LGBT lobbying organization, Equality California, said it would not proceed with a measure to repeal Prop 8 next year. That decision led to internal strife as EQCA’s new executive director resigned and the group acknowledged it was low on funds. But last week, a smaller organization, Love Honor Cherish, was cleared by state officials to circulate petitions for an initiative that would repeal Prop 8. Proponents have until May 14 to gather signatures of 807,615 registered voters to qualify for the ballot.

per year in 2010 and 2011, according to a July analysis of over a decade’s worth of polling data by Joel Benenson, President Barack Obama’s lead pollster, and Jan van Lohuizen, Ph.D., President George W. Bush’s lead pollster. Freedom to Marry commissioned the study.

The average level of support for marriage equality was 41 percent in 2009, but 51 percent in 2011, based on four leading national polls – CNN-ORC International, Gallup, Pew, and Washington Post-ABC News.

This change is driven in part by “overwhelming generational momentum,” Wolfson explained, with almost 70 percent of voters under 40 supporting marriage equality.

But the analysis also concluded that since 2006, support has risen 15 percent among seniors, 13 percent among independents, and 8 percent among Republicans.

Additionally, it found that marriage equality supporters now hold their views as strongly as opponents, which was not the case in the past.

“The politics of the freedom to marry have changed dramatically, as has public support,” said Wolfson.

All told, he said, the events of 2011 mean, “We now have real wind in our sails as we go forward.”▼

Public opinion

bartabsf.com

The ballot measures could be impacted by what was perhaps the most significant win in 2011: a shift in public opinion toward support for marriage equality.

Support for marriage equality nationwide rose about 1 percent per year between 1996 and 2009, but jumped to a rate of 5 percent

▼ <<

Community News>>

Wiener

From page 1

outdoor living room, came up with a plan various competing interests will support when the design is unveiled sometime early in the new year.

While some have complained Wiener has turned into a nanny supervisor, carrying legislation that regulates various behaviors, he argues he is simply addressing his constituents’ concerns. And the bulk of his attention is on issues, such as city and regional transportation matters, that don’t get much press attention, Wiener told the Bay Area Reporter during a recent interview in his City Hall office to discuss his freshman year.

“I think that is not true at all,” said Wiener when asked about the legislative criticisms. “A lot of times people draw conclusions based on what the press obsesses over because that is what they read about the most. The press spent an inordinate amount of time on my nudity legislation and dog walker legislation.

“But when you look at all the things I have done and I spent a significant amount of my time on, I think everyone would agree they are important,” added the 41-year-old Wiener.

In terms of his nudity bill, which requires nudists to cover up in restaurants and put a napkin down when sitting in public spaces, Wiener said he did not expect it to receive the overheated media coverage that it did.

“Because nudity in the Castro had been covered so many times before, both locally and nationally, I didn’t believe it would get the level of press attention it received,” said Wiener.

“I thought there would be a couple articles and that is it.”

Instead, Wiener became the butt of jokes and other intended puns for months. While some called the rules common sense, others complained it didn’t address the crux of the problem because public nudity remains legal.

Banning nudity was never his goal, said Wiener, nor will it be in the near future.

“It wasn’t intended to address the broader issues,” he said. “There are a lot of varying opinions on whether nudity should be legal or illegal in San Francisco. I don’t think we are at a point of reaching consensus.”

Until that time comes, Wiener has no plans to introduce a ban on public nudity. He also pointed out that anyone upset by seeing nudists walking the streets can call the police and make a citizen’s arrest.

“I have had my fill of public nudity legislation,” he said.

As for the dog walker bill, which would establish permitting rules and limit the number of canines one person can handle, Wiener said it is another example of common sense legislation that people have wanted to see passed for years.

With an estimated 500 dogwalkers in San Francisco, Wiener said “the city absolutely has interest in making sure they have permits and there is very basic legislation in place. This didn’t just pop into my head, it has been discussed by city commissions for 10 years.”

The same was the case with his Good Samaritan ordinance, which eased the rules governing affordable rents on units leased to tenants displaced by disasters. It was a reaction to the Castro arson fires that left several families burned out of their homes.

Of his legislative accomplishments so far, Wiener is “most proud of” that bill. Particularly since it was thought it couldn’t be done, he said.

“It was an idea folks had wanted to pursue but there was a belief there couldn’t be consensus between tenant and landlord groups to make it happen,” said Wiener. “After the Castro fires happened early in my tenure, I heard about this idea and I started making phone calls to see what people think of this idea. We got it done and it passed unanimously.”

Another victory this year was passage of Proposition B, a $248 million bond measure for street repairs. It needed a two-thirds majority vote to pass, which some felt couldn’t be achieved, but Wiener spearheaded the successful campaign.

Obituaries >> Kenneth Herrera May 3, 1951 – December 5, 2011

Kenneth “Ken” Herrera died on Monday, December 5, in his beloved Castro District. He was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico and called Albuquerque his home, but he made San Francisco his home base for over 25 years – where he lived, worked, and was known and loved by many. During a private memorial dinner held December 10, the outpouring of love for Kenny was immense, and his New Mexico family will treasure the memories shared.

Kenny’s “positiveness,” his loving spirit, and support of others impacted so many people in some ways, altered the direction of people’s lives as he served as a mentor to many young interns who worked with him at Yosh for Hair. He was considered a treasure to his many clients.

Kenny was a loving brother to his beloved sister Carmella Herrera and to his brothers Patrick Herrera, Peter Herrera, Phillip Herrera, and their families, which includes numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins in New Mexico. Two aunts, Chris Clark of Houston, Texas, and Rose Quintana of Albuquerque, New Mexico also survive him. In San Francisco, Kenneth shared a deep bond with his pride and joy, “step-sister” Carol De La Rosa; an endearing earthly bond with Amy “Lou” Czarnecki; and a loving bond beyond measure with Janet Apour, with whom he spent countless hours with her and her wonderful, loving

family. Ken also shared a lifelong brotherly bond for more than 20 years with Leslie Justice, who took great care of Ken and his well-being. His godson, Julian Acchetto, who was a special source of joy in his life, also survives Ken. There were many people who held a special bond with Kenneth, including Joan Barrett of Boulder, Colorado; Tamra “Munchkin” Frei of Lansing, Michigan; Miguel Rodriguez, Richard Gerins, Eun, and Ken’s neighbor, “Tex.” Kenneth will be most remembered for his unconditional love for family and friends, his positive outlook toward life, his appreciation for the finer things in life, photography, music, biographies, collectibles, but especially his love of animals. He dearly loved his Scarlett and Chantel.

He was ever sensitive to orphaned pets, and to those in need. Kenneth was a loving soul, always ready to help a person in need. He was humble, compassionate, loving, and charitable.

He had a strong faith, which carried him through life’s challenges and sustained him while he fought his final battle. His family and friends will unimaginably miss him. We all feel blessed to have known him, laughed with him, and been hugged by him.

We thank all the staff at Tunnell Nursing and Rehab Facility, Maitri, as well as Hospice by the Bay for their compassionate efforts and comforting kindness toward Kenneth.

Cards of condolences and sharing of memories are welcomed by Kenny’s family and may be mailed to the Herrera Family at Kenneth’s New Mexico home address at 1407 Solano Court, N.E., Albuquerque, NM 87110. Each will be treasured and acknowledged.

December 22-28, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 11

“I am very proud of that accomplishment,” said Wiener, who is angling to have some of the funds pay to widen the sidewalks along Castro Street.

Praise His first 12 months in office has brought him praise. Dominic Campodonico, who stepped down this month as president of the Castro’s Community Benefit District board, praised Wiener’s handling of the arson fires and other issues in the Castro.

“He has done a fantastic job so far,” said Campodonico, whom Wiener appointed to serve on the city’s graffiti advisory board.

Interim Mayor Ed Lee, whom Wiener did not back for election to a full-term, nonetheless said he is “a fan” of the supervisor, in whose district he lives.

“I don’t care who he was supporting, he is my supervisor, you know,” said Lee. “He is incredibly smart and incredibly dedicated.”

Lee said he has been pleased with Wiener’s leadership on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and advocacy for the city on the regional planning body.

“I have to credit him for not being politically scared. With the things he has taken on, I think he has done a good job,” said Lee. While he doesn’t agree with Wiener on many issues, Rafael Mandelman, who ran against Wiener last year for the District 8 seat, said he believes Wiener has had a successful start. He pointed to his pushing to reform Muni and votes for two housing developments for homeless youth as highlights of his first year.

“He has taken on issues I probably would not have, but four years is a long time,” said Mandelman, adding that at this point it would be “highly unlikely” that he would run against Wiener in 2014. “I think he also continues to be among the most responsive. Lots of us in the district disagree with him and he gets lots of email; he is very responsive.”

See page 12 >>

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<< Community News

12 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 22-28, 2011

▼

Occupy Castro activists speak out against supervisor

by David-Elijah Nahmod

A

group of Occupy the Castro participants turned most of their ire to District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener, voicing frustration at some of his proposals at the first General Assembly held in the gayborhood last weekend.

Longtime activist Tommi Avicolli Mecca and about a dozen others attended the small but lively rally at Harvey Milk Plaza on Saturday, December 17. Many in attendance were critical of Wiener, saying he wants to control who can sit in Milk and Jane Warner plazas, and when they can sit there.

“You can get cited for planting a flower in Jane Warner Plaza, for trying to memorialize a person with AIDS,” said Gary Virginia, a longtime AIDS survivor. “You can get cited for having a baby stroller if there’s no baby in it. They’re trying to keep LGBT youth with nowhere to go out of the neighborhood.”

Virginia stood on the Free Speech Soap Box, which was set up by event organizer Avicolli Mecca so that those who feel disenfranchised could be offered a platform in which to be heard.

Christopher Ray was another protester who accused Wiener of attempting to limit usage of Milk and Warner plazas.

“What did Harvey Milk get murdered for?” asked an angry Ray. “We are all people. You have the ability to make a change here.”

As previously reported, Wiener has proposed rules for Milk and Warner plazas that would prohibit smoking and camping. The

<<

Villamore From page 1

for picnics.

But within a year of their split Villamore, who had AIDS, started using methamphetamine, Kilgore said. He spent much of the next decade in and out of sobriety, hospitals, and homelessness, he said.

“When he was using ... you couldn’t have him in your house,” Kilgore said.

Kilgore allowed Villamore to stay with him at one point, but he recalled an instance when Villamore took his car, and another when he woke up to find a stranger that Villamore had invited over in his house. His ex-partner also started hearing voices, he said.

Villamore spent a year living in a Marin park, Kilgore said. After he returned, Kilgore and another friend convinced Villamore to go to

<<

Wiener From page 11

Disagreement Not everyone agrees. In recent weeks a number of his critics launched a closed Facebook group to discuss their complaints and mull if they should launch a recall against Wiener.

Their breaking point came with Wiener’s introduction of rules regulating usage of the Castro’s two pedestrian plazas and his ordinance that protected a parcel on Corbett Street from being sold off to a developer. The sale could have netted the city up to $2 million, but now the property is set to become a neighborhood park and community garden.

“With Scott, I think the fact he proposed legislation for two open spaces in the Castro is alarming for a whole host of issues,” said Stephen Zollman, a gay man who is one of several leaders of the recall group, which is still in its infancy. “It is

property is beautiful open green space for the Corbett Heights neighborhood.

“We need to resist the temptation to sell important public assets, and particularly neighborhood open space, to developers, even if the money will go to a worthy use,” Wiener said. “Selling neighborhood open space to a developer is not, in my view, a progressive thing to do.”

The supervisor also addressed concerns that he was trying to push LGBT youth out of the Castro.

“I am highly supportive of embracing LGBT youth in the Castro. As a supervisor and member of the budget committee, I have advocated aggressively to restore funding cuts for LGBT youth programs, including at the LGBT center, LYRIC, and Larkin Street Youth Services,” he said, referring to

the Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center.

Avicolli Mecca was also angry when he spoke of Pedro Villamore Jr., a 44-year-old homeless man who died in a Castro doorway on December 8. The group later held a moment of silence for Villamore.

“I’m tired of people dying in the street,” he nearly shouted. “We could prevent these deaths by providing services.”

The Castro wasn’t the only scene of action by the Occupy movement last weekend. On the Peninsula, openly gay resident James Lee reported that Occupy Redwood City was equally busy.

The group marched to the branches of four banks downtown, “leading the public on a Big Bank

Tour of Shame,” Lee said. “We marched inside peacefully and for a brief time disrupted business as usual by explaining to the workers and the customers what the crimes of each bank were, how these crimes have affected the average American citizen, and why people should move their money out of the big banks and back into their community.”

Members of the Peninsula Peace and Justice Center, as well as Occupy chapters from Half Moon Bay, Palo Alto, Stanford, and San Jose marched in solidarity with their Redwood City comrades.

Lee pointed out that December 17 was the birthday of Bradley Manning, the army private and whistle-blower who is accused of disclosing classified material to WikiLeaks.

“Manning, whose status as a gay man has been used by the media to disparage or minimize his act of whistle-blowing, has been imprisoned without charge and until recently was held under conditions that amount to psychological torture,” Lee said.

Manning was in Maryland last week for a hearing in his case. [See story, page 6.]

At 3 p.m. last Saturday, participants of both the Castro and Redwood City actions joined Occupy San Francisco for its weekly march through the Financial District in downtown San Francisco. A large, sometimes joyous, sometimes angry crowd celebrated Manning’s birthday. The march concluded along the Embarcadero, where hundreds sang “Happy Birthday” to Manning, who remains imprisoned.▼

a treatment center so that he could get housing, even though Villamore wouldn’t acknowledge his drug use, Kilgore said.

He said that eventually Villamore’s T-cells dropped to 20 or 30, and he started getting $1,300 a month in Social Security Disability Insurance.

Kilgore bought a condo in the South of Market neighborhood for Villamore and was his landlord for two years.

He appeared to quit drugs, but started again after a year, Kilgore said. Villamore’s behavior frightened others, too, it appears.

San Francisco Superior Court records show that in August 2010, Darrin Dill, a deputy probation officer for the city, obtained a restraining order against Villamore. Dill declined to comment for this story.

Earlier this year, Villamore’s homeowners association called

Kilgore because he’d flooded the condo, causing about $50,000 in damages, Kilgore said. He said he evicted Villamore.

According to court records, he filed an unlawful detainer complaint in February because Villamore had failed to pay his $400 rent for the month. The judge sided with Kilgore. (In court records, Villamore’s last name is spelled Villamor.)

Kilgore said that when he went to clean out the condo, he found a year’s worth of HIV medications that hadn’t been touched.

Lorrie Mierzwinski said she met Villamore over 10 years ago when they were both retail buyers of luxury goods. She eventually had to separate herself from him because of his behavior, she said.

Jesse Villamore, 47, Pedro Villamore’s brother, recalled an incident from recent years when

Villamore was hospitalized “for being psychotic” and a knife that he’d stolen was found in his duffle bag.

But the elder Villamore said, “I know my brother. He’s not going to hurt anybody.”

Jesse Villamore, who lives in San Francisco, said his brother stayed with him in April and May 2011.

After that, his brother didn’t answer his calls, he said.

Villamore said the family hadn’t known his brother had been sleeping on the street.

“I guess he doesn’t want to be cooped up in a room or in a hospital,” he said. “He’d rather be outside.”

Tomasa Costuna, 80, Villamore’s mother, described Pedro Villamore as “a very thoughtful son” and said, “I miss him very much.”

Costuna said she was grateful for the kindness of Eddie Lundeen, the

Castro Street businessman who had given Villamore food and set up a memorial in the doorway where he died.

“I cannot forget for the rest of my life what he has done [for] my son,” Costuna said.

Kilgore, who hadn’t known that Villamore had been sleeping on Castro Street, said that about a month ago, Villamore knocked on his door. He and his current partner didn’t answer.

“I don’t know what to do,” Kilgore said he told his partner. “I can’t answer it, because he’ll pull me into something and it will all start over again.”

His partner eventually told Villamore that Kilgore didn’t want to talk to him.

Kilgore cried heavily as he spoke of the incident.

“I lost my chance to say goodbye,” he said. “I have to live with that.”▼

alarming he feels he needs to spend that much time on such things and there is no opening up to the community or forum to discuss what we would like to see from our community spaces.”

Zollman, a deputy public defender and District 8 resident, said no decision has been made yet on whether to move forward with a recall campaign. He said people were especially irritated with Wiener blocking the sale of the surplus property when services for youth, the elderly and people with HIV are being cut.

“Maybe the recall is not the right thing to do,” he said. “This is a way to get a message out to him.”

The group’s main call at the moment, said Zollman, is for Wiener to have more public forums with his constituents before he proposes legislation.

“A lot of us would be more appeased if he were to have a community forum,” said Zollman.

“Our electeds need to meet with us.

We may not get what we want, but we would have a lot of satisfaction to have our voices heard.”

Several political leaders doubt a recall would be successful.

Mandelman, who serves with Wiener on the local Democratic Party’s governing body, is among them.

“Scott does not shy away from controversy. He sometimes seems like he is inviting it. But are sufficient numbers of people unhappy that he is going to be recalled? I kind of doubt it,” he said. “I think most people in the district think he is doing a good job.”

Party Chair Aaron Peskin, who ousted Wiener from the post several years back, also cautioned against rushing to recall him.

“The people of San Francisco should give plenty of room for a firstyear supervisor to learn and make mistakes. The notion of a recall for somebody who has been in office for less than a year seems silly to me,” said Peskin. “I don’t think anyone should take that seriously. But people should take seriously holding their elected

officials accountable.”

One mistake Peskin said he hopes Wiener learns from is the defeat of his Proposition E, which would have given the Board of Supervisors power to rewrite voter-approved initiatives.

“I think Supervisor Wiener should be chastened by the two-thirds vote against Prop E, which was, I thought, a pretty bold attempt to take away the voters’ rights,” said Peskin.

“Apparently, the voters agreed. He has plenty of time to learn from that lesson.”

Another overreach by Wiener, argued City Hall watcher Larry Bush, was his Proposition F, which critics complained would have given the “heavily political” Ethics Commission power to rewrite its own rules.

Bush, a gay man and former San Francisco Examiner columnist who called for the oversight body’s creation, joined with four former gay ethics commissioners to file a complaint against Wiener for asking supporters to vote for a number of propositions in an email he sent.

The problem was Wiener paid for the email out of his candidate campaign funds, a violation of city rules.

“Here he is trying to rewrite the ethics laws while violating the ethics laws,” said Bush, who lives in District 8. “I think to some extent he is a little out of touch with the historic concerns in the community. There has been very little he has put forward to hold government more accountable or make it more transparent.”

Wiener this week acknowledged he had made a mistake and when he discovered the problem with the email he had sent, he removed the violating passages from the version archived on his Facebook page.

“At the time I did not realize you are not supposed to use your candidate account to indicate what your opinion is. I was informed after the fact I am not supposed to do that,” he said. “It was a mistake on my part. It was a rule I did not know about.”

See page 13 >>

proposal also contains set hours for sitting on movable chairs, although it would not ban overnight sitting on the plazas’ permanent structures.

Wiener said he worked closely with the Castro Community Benefit District and other stakeholders on the proposal.

Wiener, who walked by the protest but declined to comment on the issues raised by activists, on Monday responded via email to questions.

“What the legislation does is ensure that everyone can use the plaza by setting basic standards of behavior that are already in place for our parks or sidewalks,” Wiener wrote in an email response to questions. “The legislation prohibits smoking or camping in the plazas, requires a permit to sell goods, and prohibits large shopping carts. The legislation does not impact newspapers or other printed material. My legislation will not in any way prohibit First Amendment expression, whether placing flowers in the plazas, gathering for vigils, rallies or protests.”

Avicolli Mecca also broached another subject, the property 341 Corbett Street.

“The mayor’s office could sell that property for $2.2 million and use it for affordable housing.

[Former Supervisor] Bevan Dufty did nothing about it. Scott Wiener introduced legislation to give the land for free to a neighborhood association to use as a park. Give us $2.2 million for affordable housing in the Castro. No backroom deals,” he said.

Wiener said the Corbett Street

Danny Buskirk

Sherry Cronin writes on the community wall at the Occupy Castro General Assembly Saturday, December 17.

Occupy Redwood City

â&#x2013;ź <<

Community News>>

Big grants

From page 2

good high school experience,â&#x20AC;? said West Kogut, a 19-year-old queer/ trans guy who is a second-year LYRIC intern. As an intern Kogut primarily runs the Transmagic peer support group and does community-based education workshops in local schools.

Studying human sexuality and American Sign Language at Berkeley City College, Kogut, who moved to the Bay Area from Connecticut about a year and a half ago, hopes that by speaking and working in high schools he will â&#x20AC;&#x153;encourage other high school students not to bully and harass, but be open and accepting.â&#x20AC;?

Now that he has found LYRIC,

<<

DOMA From page 1

Marriage Act. Passed by Congress in 1996 and signed into law by then-President Bill Clinton, the legislation bans federal agencies from recognizing same-sex unions that are legally sanctioned by the states.

The appearance of Tony West, the assistant attorney general of the justice departmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s civil division, in the San Francisco courtroom of U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey S. White Friday, December 16 seeking to have DOMA deemed unconstitutional was a marked turnaround from one year ago when Obama administration lawyers had asked the judge to dismiss the case. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our position is DOMA, as applied to legally married same-sex couples, is unconstitutional,â&#x20AC;? West told reporters following the nearly two-hour hearing last week. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It ought to be subjected to the stricter legal test the Supreme Court has set forth, and when you do that, it fails.â&#x20AC;?

In a move that has infuriated Democratic leaders, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), the House of Representativeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group has opted to defend DOMA in the case.

Its attorney Conor Dugan, with the law firm of Bancroft PLLC, repeatedly told White that Congress has a right to define what marriages it deems legal. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The federal government does draw lines on what relationships it will recognize,â&#x20AC;? he said.

The Obama administrationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stance falls just short of saying that gay and lesbian couples deserve the right to marry. Rather, it is arguing that in those states that do allow same-sex couples to wed, they

<<

EQCA From page 2

working on, and where the gaps may be, Orr said. The Legislature reconvenes January 4.

Pushing pro-LGBT legislation is one of EQCAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main reasons for existing. This year, 10 of the 12 bills the group sponsored were signed into law. The legislation addresses everything from student bullying to employment and housing protections for transgender people.

One piece of EQCA-backed legislation Governor Jerry Brown signed this year was the FAIR Education Act, also known as Senate Bill 48.

How involved Kessler will be with

<<

Wiener From page 12

As for the Facebook recall group, Wiener said he isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t worried about it and defended his record. He added that he is accessible by both phone and email to his constituents.

December 22-28, 2011 â&#x20AC;˘ BAY AREA REPORTER â&#x20AC;˘ 13

youth leaders under the age of 35, with its core ages between 14 and 24, within its first year and a half of existence, Cole said. The young leaders from 30 states congregate at the projectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s headquarters in Oakland three times a year to attend weeklong training workshops. The project also published a health guide for masculine of center individuals this past summer. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the best job that Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had in my life,â&#x20AC;? Cole told the B.A.R. during an interview for the Butch Voices conference in 2010.

The $500,000 grant, which was awarded this past summer, but only recently announced, will help the projectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leadership design more programs to support young leaders in the Bay Area and around the country, Cole said. More

specifically, the grant will be used to allow young leaders to attend up to 45 training retreats, support interns working in community-based organizations around the Bay Area and Los Angeles, and promote the projectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s model. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Each year, I am awed by the extraordinary courage and abilities of the young people in organizations awarded Queer Youth Fund grants,â&#x20AC;? said Weston Milliken, co-founder of the Queer Youth Fund, in a blog announcing the 2011 awards. â&#x20AC;&#x153;These young leaders are helping to advance full equality for all Americans and it is an honor to support their passion for social justice work.â&#x20AC;?

The Queer Youth Fund has given more than $3.5 million in multi-year grants (up to $500,000) dispersed over a five-year period

to LGBT youth-led organization promoting queer youth, equality, and justice since its establishment in 2002, according to the blog post.

The fund has been housed at Liberty Hill since 2003. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to be exciting as we step into this coming year to start laying the groundwork,â&#x20AC;? said Cole, excited about the â&#x20AC;&#x153;huge opportunity to build and strengthenâ&#x20AC;? the organization.

Other grantees included the Colorado Anti-Violence Program in Denver; Make the Road New York in Brooklyn; the Theatre Offensive in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Three Wings in Seattle.â&#x2013;ź

should be afforded the same federal rights and benefits as their heterosexual married counterparts. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This case does not present the question of the right to marry.

When that question is presented, we will answer it,â&#x20AC;? said West, who is the brother-in-law of California Attorney General Kamala Harris, a staunch supporter of marriage equality. â&#x20AC;&#x153;At the heart of this case is whether or not the federal government can use sexual orientation as a way to limit federal health benefits to some legally married couples.â&#x20AC;?

Jon Davidson, legal director at Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, which teamed with Morrison and Foerster to bring forward the case, said having the justice department on its side is significant. â&#x20AC;&#x153;To have one branch of government telling another branch of government a law is unconstitutional is really quite important,â&#x20AC;? said Davidson, who was in court for the proceeding.

White appears inclined to agree with the justice department and the law firms representing the couple.

He repeatedly questioned the rationale for upholding DOMA put forth by Dugan.

He seemed particularly perplexed when Dugan said the law is needed because â&#x20AC;&#x153;heterosexuals can make babies by accidentâ&#x20AC;? and Congress wants couples in that circumstance to get married.

The concern with opening marriage up to same-sex couples, argued Dugan, is that â&#x20AC;&#x153;those who have accidental babies will un-tether the connection to marriage.â&#x20AC;?

White told Dugan that he doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t â&#x20AC;&#x153;understand that argument at all,â&#x20AC;? wondering out loud if â&#x20AC;&#x153;just because Congress says it, it is rational?â&#x20AC;?

Whether the House legal advisory

group even has standing to defend DOMA came under scrutiny from White. He questioned if Dugan could say he represented Congress when in fact the Senate is absent from the case. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The House or Senate alone or jointly,â&#x20AC;? said Dugan, â&#x20AC;&#x153;will be able to defend it.â&#x20AC;?

West told the judge that the administration had â&#x20AC;&#x153;taken steps to allowâ&#x20AC;? the House legal group to defend the law so the courts would be fully briefed on the issue. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Both out of respect of Congressâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; power to enact statutes and in deference to the court being the final arbiter of what the law is, we want the court to have full throated arguments on each side,â&#x20AC;? West told reporters.

They remain confident the law will be on their side, and that when the U.S. Supreme Court takes up the question of whether DOMA is valid, it will rule it is not. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It has had its ups and downs over the years,â&#x20AC;? said Cunninghis. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We feel positively hopeful this law will be struck down sooner than later.â&#x20AC;?â&#x2013;ź

The case, Golinski v. U.S. Office of Personnel Management, centers on the now three-year-long fight

by Karen Golinski, a 20-year employee of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, to add her wife, Amy Cunninghis, to her employerprovided health insurance. Having married Cunninghis, her partner of 22 years, when same-sex marriage was legal in California in 2008, Golinski requested that her health plan include her wife.

Her application was denied because the federal government argued that, due to DOMA, she was not in a valid marriage and her spouse, therefore, did not qualify to be covered by her health insurance.

In January 2009, 9th Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski ruled that denying Golinski spousal health insurance for Cunninghis was illegal discrimination. He ordered the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to submit Golinskiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s health benefits election form to her insurer,

Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

But OPM disagreed with Kozinskiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s order and told Blue Cross not to comply. In November 2009, Kozinski issued a further ruling explaining that he has the authority, under both the 9th Circuitâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s employment dispute resolution plan and the constitutional separation of powers doctrine, to interpret laws governing the rights of judicial employees.

Once again OPM refused to adhere to the judgeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s order, this time claiming that it was not binding and that the U.S. Department of Justice had advised it not to comply because of DOMA. When OPM failed to appeal by the December 2009 deadline, Kozinski held that his prior rulings had become conclusive and binding against OPM. Golinski then launched an enforcement case in federal district court to seek an injunction against OPM and its director, John Berry, to force them to comply with Kozinskiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rulings. At first the Obama administration sought to have the case dismissed.

But earlier this year it switched course and announced it would no longer defend DOMAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Section 3 in court. This summer it filed a brief with the 9th Circuit seeking to have DOMA be struck down. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are so grateful to the attorney general and the president of the United States for their openmindedness to think clearly about this case and switch to our side,â&#x20AC;? said Golinski, who was in court last week with her wife.

The women thanked West for arguing on their behalf. â&#x20AC;&#x153;That was really huge,â&#x20AC;? said Cunninghis. â&#x20AC;&#x153;To see this change in position and see them speak out in defense of equality, it was very moving.â&#x20AC;?

supporting the FAIR Education Act is â&#x20AC;&#x153;one of the things weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re still working through,â&#x20AC;? Orr said. Kessler will be reaching out to leading coalition partners backing the new law to assess what theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re doing and what their future plans are, she said.

EQCA has requested that Kessler serve on the coalitionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interim executive committee.

Orr wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t share what EQCAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s paying Kessler and her firm, but she said theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re working at a fraction of what the group would have to spend on a full-time staff person doing government relations.

Orr didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know what the length of Kesslerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s contract would be.

Many other details about EQCA are also unknown.

Former Executive Director Roland Palencia quit in October, after only three months on the job.

EQCA still hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t selected an interim director. The organization has brought in consultant Joan Garry, who was once executive director of the national Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, to help EQCA sift through its troubles.

So far, though, EQCA hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t revealed any specifics about how it will find a new director. The organization has also lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent years, and it hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t disclosed any detailed fundraising plans.

Orr said EQCAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s current problems wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t hamper the groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to lobby for or against legislation.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s any question about our capacity to move legislation forward at all,â&#x20AC;? she said.

Besides Kessler, EQCA also recently announced several other people are joining its various initiatives, including Toni Broaddus, former executive director of the national Equality Federation.

Broaddus is now project manager for the Breakthrough Conversation, a campaign designed to educate people about LGBT issues.

Researcher Amy Simon will continue assisting EQCA with â&#x20AC;&#x153;comprehensive and groundbreaking polling and focus groups,â&#x20AC;? the organization recently announced. Simon didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t respond to an interview request.â&#x2013;ź

â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is a free country. They are entitled to do whatever they want to do,â&#x20AC;? said Wiener. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But I worked really hard over the last year, not just on policy but working with people from every single corner of the district. I stand by my record.â&#x20AC;?

He also defended protecting the

Corbett lot and said there are plenty of other properties the city could sell.

Although Wiener was vague when pressed if he had proposed selling another parcel as a trade-off. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think we should be selling neighborhood open space to developers. There is a lot of open

space we could sell to developers to make money for city services,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We could sell all the city parks off and make a ton of money, but we as a city treasure our neighborhood open spaces. You canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t add open spaces once you develop it, but you can protect what you do have.â&#x20AC;?â&#x2013;ź

he canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t imagine life without the organization. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I love LYRIC so much,â&#x20AC;? said Kogut, who credited the organization for helping him build his confidence and skills. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know where else I would get a job or find community.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s my favorite place to come every day. I wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to work anywhere else right now.â&#x20AC;?

East Bay organization Across the bay in Oakland, the Brown Boi Project is also building tomorrowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leaders.

Founded in 2009 by B. Cole, who goes by Cole, the organization focuses on leadership training of queer, transgender, and straight youth of color who identify as masculine of center.

Brown Boi Project has trained 82

Three-year fight

For more information, visit brownboiproject.org and lyric.org.

Legal Notices>> 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 Public Liability Claims Adjustment Services, RFP No. 6M2031, on or about December 16, 2011, with proposals due by 2:00 P.M. local time, Tuesday, January 10, 2012.

DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES TO BE PROVIDED The District is soliciting to engage the services of an Administrator (â&#x20AC;&#x153;CONTRACTORâ&#x20AC;?) to provide the necessary technical services to administer its Public Liability Claims Adjustment Services Program in accordance with the requirements as speciďŹ ed in the Scope of Services of the Request for Proposals (RFP).

The selected CONTRACTOR shall administer the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s program of self-insurance with respect to Liability Claims, providing complete administrative, investigative, and adjustment services for claims assigned to it during the term of the proposed Agreement. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Claimâ&#x20AC;? as used in this RFP means a claim as deďŹ ned by Section 905 of the California Government Code.

Estimated Cost and Time of Performance: The District intends to make one (1) award as a result from this RFP. The District presently intends to enter into a three-year Agreement with the Administrator selected, with options to extend for two (2) additional one-year periods at the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s discretion. The estimated value of an Agreement to be awarded as a result from this RFP is projected to be approximately One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.) over a ďŹ ve (5) year term.

A Pre-Proposal Meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 3, 2012. The Pre-Proposal Meeting will convene at 2:00 P.M., local time, at BART OfďŹ ces, located at: 300 Lakeside Drive, 15th Floor Main Conference Room, Oakland, California, 94612.

At this meeting the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Non-Discrimination Program for Subcontracting Program will be explained. Prospective proposers are requested to make every effort to attend this only scheduled Pre-Proposal Meeting, and to conďŹ rm their attendance by contacting the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Contract Administrator, telephone (510) 287-4775, prior to the date of the Pre-Proposal Meeting.

Proposals must be received by 2:00 P.M., local time, Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at the address listed in the RFP. Submission of a proposal shall constitute a ďŹ rm offer to the District for one hundred and eighty (180) calendar days from date of proposal submission.

Please direct all questions concerning the RFP, other than the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Non-Discrimination Program for Subcontracting to Mr. Ron Coffey, at (510) 287-4775, FAX (510) 464-7650. All questions regarding Minority Business Enterprise / Women Business Enterprise participation should be directed to Ms. Ruby Smith, OfďŹ ce of Civil Rights at (510) 464-6324, FAX (510) 464-7587.

WHERE TO OBTAIN OR SEE RFP DOCUMENTS (Available on or after December 16, 2011) Copies of the RFP may be obtained: (1) By written request to the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Contract Administrator, 300 Lakeside Drive, 17th Floor, Oakland, CA 94612. Reference RFP No. 6M2031 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Public Liability Adjustment Services, and send requests to Fax No. (510) 464-7650. (2) By arranging pick up at the above address. Call the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Contract Administrator, (510) 287-4775 prior to pickup of the RFP. (3) By E-mail request to the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Contract Administrator, Ron Coffey, at: rcoffey@bart.gov. (4) By attending the Preproposal Meeting and obtaining the RFP at the meeting. Dated at Oakland, California this 14th day of December 2011. /s/ Kenneth A. Duron Kenneth A. Duron, District Secretary San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District s #.3 BAY AREA REPORTER

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Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

14 • Bay Area Reporter • December 22-28, 2011

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Legal Notices>>

The

Legal Notices>> nOTICE OF APPLICATIoN for change in ownership of alcoholic beverage license

Statement of abandonment of use of fictitious business name: #A-0301883-00

Dated 12/07/11 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are : TGT II INC. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 71 Stevenson Street, Suite 1500, San Francisco, CA 94105 to sell alcoholic beverages at 3145 Fillmore St., San Francisco, CA 94123-3451. Type of license applied

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as AWAKENED SEED,610 Clipper St.,Suite A,San Francisco, CA 94114.This business was conducted by an individual, signed James R.Joseph. The ficticious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/02/07.

41- On-sale beer and wine – eating place dec 22,2011 statement file A-033956900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as KING CONSULTING, 2038 Divisadero St.,Apt. #304,SF,CA 94115.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Christopher King.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/17/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/17/11

Nov 24,dec 1,8,15,2011 statement file A-033956400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as FETE CATERING,3487 21st St., #3,SF,CA 94110.

This business is conducted by an individual, signed Charles D. McCreight.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/15/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/17/11

Nov 24,dec 1,8,15,2011 statement file A-033958500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as COOK & COMPANY 870 Market St.,Suite 576,SF,CA 94102.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Douglas E. Cook.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/16/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/18/11

Nov 24,dec 1,8,15,2011 notice of petition to administer estate of CATALINA A. WONG,AKA CATALINA WONG, AKA CATALINA A. LAW: Case Number: pes-11-295237 superior court of california county of san francisco 400 Mcallister, sf, ca 94102 Petitioner Elaine Law-Lau To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate or both of CATALINA A. WONG,AKA CATALINA WONG, AKA CATALINA A. LAW. A petition for probate has been filed by ELAINE LAW-LAU in the Superior Court of California, San Francisco County.

The petition for probate requests that ELAINE LAW-LAU be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. The petition requests the decedent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate.

The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court. The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act.(This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.)

The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.

A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: December 27, 2011, 9:00 am Probate department, Rm 204, 400 McAllister street, San Francisco, Ca 94102. If you object to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. If you are a creditor or a contingent creditor of the descendent, you must file with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within four months from the date of first issuance of letters as provided in Probate Code Section 9100. The time for filing claims will not expire before four months from the hearing date noticed above. You may examine the file kept by the Court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice(form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for the petitioner: Maureen O’Connell, SB#069233, 999 W.Taylor St., Suite B,San Jose, CA 95126 408-297-6004

Dec. 8,15,22,2011

Nov 24,dec 1,8,15,2011 statement file A-033962300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as YT ELECTRIC CO.,2526 32nd Ave.,SF,CA 94116.

This business is conducted by an individual, signed Rurong Chen.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/21/11.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/21/11

dec 1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033962100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as KING OF THAI NOODLE #2,346 Clement St.,SF,CA 94118.This business is conducted by a corporation, signed Thongchai Chaichaiana.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/01/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/21/11

dec 1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033956600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as BURGER URGE,1599 Haight St.,SF,CA 94117.

This business is conducted by a limited liability company, signed Jack Mogannam.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/15/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/17/11

dec 1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033965400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as 1.LEXCENTREX,2.MUNDARTZ AG,3.PAPER NAPKIN,4.SENIOR ELDER AMERICA,301 Main St.,Suite 28A SF,CA 94105.

This business is conducted by a limited liability company, signed Myron H. Marshall.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/23/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/23/11

dec 1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033961400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as ENDODONTIC ARTS OF SAN FRANCSICSO,3113 Geary Blvd., SF,CA 94118.This business is conducted by a corporation, signed Vladimir Shuster.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/15/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/21/11

dec 1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033962600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as THE UNLUCKY RABBIT,575 Cole St.,Apt.208,SF,CA 94117.This business is conducted by a limited liability company, signed Jacqueline Supman.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/22/11.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/22/11

dec 1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033931300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as DINORA’S JEWELRY & FASHION,3218 21st St.,SF,CA 94110.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Irma D. Salguero.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/04/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/04/11

dec 1,8,15,22,2011 Statement of abandonment of use of fictitious business name: #A-0304081-00 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as KING OF THAI NOODLE HOUSE 2,346 Clement St.,San Francisco, CA 94118.This business was conducted by a corporation, signed Sara Thang.

The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/15/07.

dec 1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033971700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as V&V FLOWERS,1455 Market St.,SF,CA 94103.

This business is conducted by a husband and wife, signed Van Lam.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/29/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/29/11

dec 1,8,15,22,2011

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statement file A-033968700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as TC & ASSOCIATES,2748 Stewer St.,SF,CA 94123.

This business is conducted by an individual, signed Amir A.Talebi.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 11/28/11

dec 1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033954200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as STUDIO TUCSON, 735 Montgomery St.,Suite 250,SF,CA 94111.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Cassie Griggs.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 11/16/11

dec 1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033937200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as GOLDEN GATE SPEED DATE, 2206 Bryant St.,SF,CA 94110.This business is conducted by a general partnership, signed Joanne Gunderson.

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 11/0811

dec 1,8,15,22,2011 statement file A-033966600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as WEST COAST PROPERTY SALES, 601Leavenworth St.,#42,SF,CA 94109.This business is conducted by an individual, signed John M. Pashby.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 11/23/11

dec 1,8,15,22,2011 Statement of abandonment of use of fictitious business name: #A-0329559-00 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as BEST IN TENSION,999 Sutter St.,San Francisco, CA 94109.This business was conducted by an individual, signed Peter J. Donovan. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 08/09/10.

dec 8,15,22,29,2011 statement file A-033974900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as CORONA HEIGHTS CONSULTING GROUP, 1222 Clayton St.,#11,SF,CA 94114.This business is conducted by a general partnership, signed Mark Sloman.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 11/30/11

dec 8,15,22,29,2011 statement file A-033950600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as DOCTOR’S LOUNGE,4826 Mission St.,SF,CA 94112.This business is conducted by a limited liability company, signed Rochelle McCune.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 11/15/11

dec 8,15,22,29,2011 statement file A-033981400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as POPSUGAR SHOP,111 Sutter St.,15th Floor,SF,CA 94104.This business is conducted by a corporation, signed Sean Mecnew.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 12/02/11

dec 8,15,22,29,2011 statement file A-033983900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as PROPAGATE DESIGNS,2728 Mission St., SF,CA 94110.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Melissa A. Hawkins.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/01/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/05/11

dec 8,15,22,29,2011 statement file A-033978400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as BAY SUBS & DELI,2486 Sacramento St., SF,CA 94115.This business is conducted by a husband and wife, signed Sang Woo Lee..The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/01/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/01/11

dec 8,15,22,29,2011 statement file A-033985600

statement file A-033991700

statement file A-033961300

The following person(s) is/are doing business as ALBERS AND ABLERS, 197 Downey St.,SF,CA 94117.This business is conducted by an individual, signed John B. Albers.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/01/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/08/11

The following person(s) is/are doing business as TOMBOY PAINTING, 254 Montana St., SF,CA 94112.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Lydia S. Gonzales.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/24/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/21/11

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012 statement file A-033987600

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012 Statement of abandonment of use of fictitious business name: #A-0303656-00

The following person(s) is/are doing business as THAI HOUSE 530, 530 Valencia St., SF,CA 94110.

This business is conducted by a corporation, signed Krittiya Meeriyagerd.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/07/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/07/11

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012 statement file A-033979700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as HOT COOKIE,407 Castro St., SF,CA 94114.This business is conducted by a corporation, signed Daniel Glazer.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/01/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/01/11

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012 statement file A-033986900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as PAPER KITE FILMS,1226 46TH AVE.,#1, SF,CA 94122.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Anne Marie Fruit.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/06/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/06/11

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012 statement file A-033994000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as ALBERT ELECTRIC,2735 39TH AVE., SF,CA 94116.

This business is conducted by an individual, signed Richard Albert Campbell.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 12/09/11

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012 statement file A-033996100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as SMILE,1002 Scott St., SF,CA 94115.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Lawrence Lauterborn.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/12/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/12/11

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012 statement file A-033996600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as FOG CITY NEIGHBORHOOD CAB DISPATCH SERVICE, 979 Bryant St.,SF,CA 94103.This business is conducted by a corporation, signed Sonny Tam.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/12/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/12/11

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012 statement file A-033996500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as FOG CITY NEIGHBORHOOD CAB DISPATCH SERVICE, 1407 Irving St.,SF,CA 94122.This business is conducted by a corporation, signed Sonny Tam.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/12/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/12/11.

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012 statement file A-033993500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as BRAND X ANTIQUES,570 Castro St., SF,CA 94114.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Timothy J. Flint.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/09/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/09/11

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012 statement file A-034000700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as TK LIMO TRANSPORTATION,420 Oriente St., Daly City,CA 94014.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Tham Cheang Gip.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/13/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/13/11

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012 statement file A-034000800

The following person(s) is/are doing business as INFINITY LIMOUSINE,845 Florida St., SF,CA 94110.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Corwin Chan.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/06/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/06/11

The following person(s) is/are doing business as DOTTIE’S TRUE BLUE CAFÉ,28 6th St., SF,CA 94103.This business is conducted by a corporation, signed Kurt D. Abney.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/17/93.

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/13/11

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as BRAND X ANTIQUES,570 Castro St., SF,CA 94114.This business was conducted by an individual, signed Timothy J. Flint. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/01/07.

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012 Statement of abandonment of use of fictitious business name: #A-0336352-00 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as HOUSE 530, 530 Valencia St., SF,CA 94110.This business was conducted by a corporation, signed Krittiya Meeriyagerd. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/17/11.

Dec 15,22,29,2011, Jan 5,2012 state of california in and for the county of san francisco file# cnc-11-548237 In the matter of the application of JOMO KENYATTA for change of name. The application of JOMO KENYATTA for change of name having been filed in Court, and it appearing from said application that JOMO KENYATTA filed an application proposing that his/her name be changed to JESUS CHRIST. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Room 514 on the 16th of February, 2012 at 9:00 am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

dec 22,29,2011, jan 5,12,2012 state of california in and for the county of san francisco file# cnc-11-548303 In the matter of the application of RAUL TINAJERO for change of name. The application of RAUL TINAJERO for change of name having been filed in Court, and it appearing from said application that RAUL TINAJERO filed an application proposing that his/her name be changed to RAFAEL RODRIGUEZ ALCALA. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Room 514 on the 23rd of February, 2012 at 9:00 am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

dec 22,29,2011, jan 5,12,2012 statement file A-034011100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as P&D INTERNATIONAL CONSULTING,2619 18TH Ave., Apt. #2,SF,CA 94116.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Zheng Xiaohong.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 12/19/11

dec 22,29,2011, jan 5,12,2012 statement file A-034002000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as SHOP SMART DISCOUNT STORE., 105 Sickles Ave.,#4,SF,CA 94112.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Josie Reyes.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/14/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/14/11

dec 22,29,2011, jan 5,12,2012 statement file A-034004900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as WHITEHURST MOSHER CAMPAIGN STRATEGY & MEDIA, 660 Mission St.,Suite 200,SF,CA 94105.

This business is conducted by a corporation, signed John Whitehurst.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 12/15/11

dec 22,29,2011, jan 5,12,2012 statement file A-033994800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as LOMBARD VALERO, 2601 Lombard St.,SF,CA 94123.This business is conducted by a corporation, signed Ben Shimer.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/01/94. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/09/11

dec 22,29,2011, jan 5,12,2012

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Legal Notices>>

December 22-28, 2011 • Bay Area Reporter • 15

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statement file A-034007800

The Law Offices of

The following person(s) is/are doing business as READINGS BY NINA,803 Divisadero St.,SF,CA 94117.This business is conducted by an individual, signed Stephanie Wain.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/01/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/16/11

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dec 22,29,2011, jan 5,12,2012 Statement of abandonment of use of fictitious business name: #A-0299871-00

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Vol. 41 • No. 51 • December 22-28, 2011

www.ebar.com/arts

Contemporary champions

‘2010 SECA Art Award’ & ‘Fifty Years of Bay Area Art: The SECA Awards’

by Sura Wood

Courtesy SFMOMA

E

Chris Johanson, “Untitled (Figures with black presence)” (2002), acrylic on panel, collection SFMOMA.

very two years, the Society for the Encouragement of Contemporary Art (SECA), an organization founded a half-century ago by a collectors club comprised of supporters of SFMOMA, presents an award designed to champion and promote emerging artists from the Bay Area.

Since its inception, SECA has recognized over 150 such artists in the early stages of their careers, attracting wider attention to their work, offering a small cash prize, a show mounted at SFMOMA, and presumably, a platform advantageous for increased exposure. Some have observed that being selected gives the chosen artists the chance to get in on the ground floor of the modern art world, but on the other hand, the museum’s donors, curators and collectors gain access to promising talent and the opportunity to cultivate relationships with future art stars. It sounds like a mutually beneficial arrangement for all of those involved, but on the basis of two related new shows celebrating SECA’s 50th anniversary, it doesn’t translate into a rewarding experience for visitors.

The 2010 SECA Art Award exhibition features the four most recent winners: Mauricio Ancalmo, Ruth Laskey, Colter Jacobsen and Kamu Amu Patton, a hip fixture on the art scene who integrates sound, sleek linear sculptures, some of which resemble uber-modern lighting fixtures, blackened steel forms that stand alone on the floor, and textured works on paper.

In Ancalmo’s film-based environment, A Lover’s Discourse, a turntable and projector are suspended from the ceiling as images ruminating on relationship dynamics (or so we’re told) flash on the walls of the gallery. Jacobsen’s collage installation incorporates graphite “memory drawings” that mirror found photographs, and Laskey, an accomplished weaver trained in painting and drawing, works with linen textiles to create overlapping, abstract, geometric shapes. There isn’t really See page 29 >>

Have yourself a merry kosher Christmas ‘Kung Pao Kosher Comedy’ returns for seasonal laughs

W

hy is the 19th annual Kung Pao Kosher Comedy different from all other annual Kung Pao Kosher Comedies? “Because it’s the year before the 20th,” says Lisa Geduldig, founder of the tradition and a stand-up comic in her own right.

It’s also different because, after two years of having to avert riots caused by the absence of Jewish-spiced fortune cookies, Geduldig has brought them back. Once again, she has combed through books of Yiddish proverbs and stuffed the cookies with the pithiest proverbs that are readable without tri-focals.

She has also spent lots of time at meal tastings, making sure that everything is on track, and explaining for the 1,000th time, “No pork!”

“The comedy is kosher, the food is not,” Geduldig says by way of disclaimer. “There is

a woman – I affectionately call her the Shrimp Bitch – who took me to task via e-mail because she didn’t like shrimp on the menu, and then posted my e-mail reply on Yelp. The event is run by me, a heathen who loves shrimp. If you don’t like shrimp, there are seven dishes total on the dinner show menu, including some for vegetarians.”

Kung Pao Kosher Comedy promises to give Jews and others wishing to escape Christmas a safe and fun place to go. Attendees have formed a community of sorts, with people who return every year looking forward to catching up at the tables for 10.

“You can have a 16-year-old, their parents and grandparents all enjoying the same comedy,” says Geduldig. “Everyone introduces themselves if they haven’t met. It’s like a big Bar Mitzvah.”

There are six shows total over the course of three nights. Each of the seatings holds

375 people. Full dinner shows begin at 6 p.m. on Dec. 23 and 24, and at 5 p.m. on Dec. 25.

People who wish to eat beforehand can attend the I-can-get-it-for-you-wholesale Cocktail Shows, which serve veggie egg rolls and start at 9:30 p.m. on Dec. 23 and 24, and 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 25.

Since Jews cannot listen and eat at the same time, food comes first, followed by a 90-minute show. Racist, sexist, and homophobic remarks are consigned to the pig sty.

This year’s shows star none other than Elayne Boosler (Politically Incorrect, Comic Relief). One of the pioneering female standup comics of her generation, Boosler financed her own comedy special, Party of One, in 1985 after cable TV stations refused to let a female stand-up have a TV special.

Not only has Boosler paved the way for future generations of female comics, but

{ SECOND OF TWO SECTIONS }

See page 21 >>

Kung Pao founder Lisa Geduldig.

Kent Taylor

by Jason Victor Serinus

<< Out There

18 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 22-28, 2011

▼

Between covers in the year 2011

by Roberto Friedman

I

n looking over the following list of books we most enjoyed this year, Out There is surprised by how dominant nonfiction apparently is in our reading life. Even the most satisfying read we had all year, Alan Hollinghurst’s novel The Stranger’s Child, a triumphant work of fiction, could be said to be based or at least inspired by the real life of English poet Rupert Brooke.

Anyway, we make no claims that these are best of the year, merely the ones that made it into our hot little hands.

And Furthermore

by Judi Dench (St. Martin’s Press).

“There were four of us nominated – the other four were Helena [Bonham Carter], Julie Christie, Kate Winslet and Helen Hunt, who won it for her performance in As Good as It Gets. She was the only American nominee, and somebody said to us afterwards that of course none of the rest of us stood a chance

because we had split the British vote four ways. When I went on to the Miramax party an interviewer thrust a microphone at me and said, ‘A nation weeps.’

“I said, ‘Oh, come on!’”

Double Life – A Love Story from Broadway to Hollywood by Alan Shayne & Norman Sunshine, with a foreword by Mike Nichols (Magnus Books).

On casting young Barbra Streisand in director Arthur Laurents’ I Can Get It for You Wholesale: “Whoever thought of using her as Miss Marmelstein didn’t matter – she was a sensation and history was made. Elliot Gould, unfortunately, didn’t fare as well. I have always blamed it on the costume designer who put him in heavy, authentic Depressionera clothes, and the fact that from the moment he appeared at his first entrance, he had to do three numbers in a row, which he sang and danced. He perspired so profusely that people didn’t want to look at

him. So although he was very good, his performance seemed overwrought and full of effort.”

Eleven by Patricia Highsmith, with a foreword by Graham Greene (Grove Press), and The Cry of the Owl are the first two entries in the press’ new editions of stories and novels from the late great lesbian modernist crime novelist. We ate them up.

Half Empty

by David Rakoff (Anchor Books). “My childhood dream – that I would move to New York and have a creative life filled with many interesting friends who had terrible, terrible problems – came true. New York is for me, at this point, almost shtetl-like in its overlap. I sat at a dinner with a friend and her parents as it slowly dawned upon me that the patriarch was none other than the man who had been habitually sleeping with (and slowly breaking the heart of) a man I knew who had a thing for older married guys who like to wrestle.”

How to be Gay in the 21st Century

by David Leddick (White Lake Press), subtitled, “There’s nothing wrong with being gay, but a lot of people do it wrong,” is full of common sense and, you should pardon the

expression, straight talk, as reflected in chapter headings “Get Out of the Closet,” “Don’t Get Married to a Woman” (“You want to live a lie? Please do it on your own.

Don’t involve innocent women and children,”) and “Should You Tell Your Parents?” (“If your parents don’t like your being gay, maybe they’re not very nice people.”) From “How to Dress”: “If you must have a female role model, may I recommend Katharine Hepburn or Angelina Jolie: lots of pants, lots of attitude, no jewelry. Please, not Madonna.

And certainly not Lady Gaga. No one wants to come home to that.”

Humiliation by Wayne Koestenbaum (Picador).

“Displaying one’s humiliated status might involve pleasure or pride. The spanked receive the subtle reward of exhibiting their shame. At the root of the confessional act – whether in a poem or on a reality TV show – seems to be the pleasure, conscious or not, of publicly avowing one’s misery, of showcasing one’s lowered status, of turning the ‘loss of face’ into a new face, a smashed, pulverized face, the face of the smacked, stunned, and vanquished. I may be humiliated, but because I am seen in the process of exhibiting my shame, I therefore gain the pleasure of exemplarity.” “To be a placard, an admonitory parable” puts us in mind of the classic Smiths lyric, “I am the living sign.”

The Left Coast, photos by Alex L. Fradkin, text by Philip L. Fradkin (University of California Press).

Photos and essays of Californian history, natural and otherwise.

My Queer War by James Lord (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). “Of course in the confines of the crowd it would have been difficult to see what he was doing, and he was goodlooking enough, ruddy, bright-eyed, brawny in the tight-fitting uniform, and the incursion of his fingers roused me all right, though his breath in my face was brewery, and I knew perfectly well what the gents’ meant; it was shocking that I wasn’t all that shocked, yet I couldn’t let myself go so easily so soon, a n d I brushed aside his hand, saying – but with a gasp – ‘Sorry, some other time.’”

Natural History of San Francisco Bay by Ariel Rubissow Okamoto and Kathleen M. Wong (University of California Press). From “Fieldwork: Netting Underwater Life”: “Dragging our bare fingers through the heavy clump of mud and algae, we pull out the largest things first: a baby Dungeness Crab with a distinctive V on its back; a number of Pear Crabs with long, spidery legs; a pregnant goby fish; and a Plainfin Midshipman fish.

Upside down in a bucket of water, the Midshipman

shows off a row of luminescent photophores, which resemble the gleaming brass buttons of its sailor’s uniform namesake.” We love a fish in a uniform! A man, too.

The Stranger’s Child by Alan Hollinghurst (Knopf). “A tiny photo, of course, but clear – C’s strong wiry body, bit of black hair on his chest and running down his stomach, one arm raised against the chimney with biceps standing up sharp.

“Me: ‘Who took it, I wonder?’

GFS: ‘I wonder too. Possibly my sister.’ – which might help explain GFS’ look of confusion, if she’d just caught them at it. It gave me my first real idea of C’s body, and because the camera was like an intruder I suddenly felt what it must have been like to come into his presence – my subject! Very odd, and even a bit of a turn-on – as GFS seemed to feel, too: ‘I look positively debauched there, don’t I?’ he said. I said, ‘And were you?’ and felt his hand, rubbing my back encouragingly, move down not quite absent-mindedly to just above my waist. He said, ‘I’m afraid I probably was, you know.’”

Touch by Henri Cole (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), poems straightforward but resonant.

Walking to Hollywood: Memories of Before the Fall by Will Self (Grove Press), for Self completists only.

What’s on tap Need a value-added anecdote to go with this week’s capsule reviews of Hollywood musicals screening at the Castro Theatre? Dancer/ actress Ann Miller’s “Prehistoric Man” delirious tap number in On the Town was filmed in location at Manhattan’s famed Museum of Natural History. Miller told our source that during rehearsals, she accidentally hit one of the dinosaur skeletons, knocking it down to pieces on the floor. Reassembling it took over a day, which delayed shooting. Big man on the set Gene Kelly was livid, but there was nothing he could do. That’s always so difficult for a control top.▼

▼

Film>>

December 22-28, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 19

Focus Features

Adepero Oduye stars as Alike in director Dee Rees’ Pariah.

She’s got it

by David Lamble

D

ee Rees is hot. Her debut feature Pariah, about an African-American high schoolage lesbian coming out in middleclass Brooklyn, carried some of the greatest buzz out of this year’s Sundance Festival.

Executive produced by Spike Lee, Pariah shares DNA with Lee’s own first feature, She’s Gotta Have It, in being a crackling smart, streetwise account of a young heroine coming of age surrounded by strong-willed, combative personalities, but who is ultimately able to blaze her own true path.

In person, Nashville native Dee Rees is down to earth and eager to describe the six-year journey her autobiographical tale underwent as it progressed from a promising first script to polishing at Sundance Labs. Rees explains how much she appreciated the veteran writers who helped her fine-tune her story.

“I got to meet [African-American mystery writer] Walter Mosley, who’s like my idol. I remember in the director’s lab one of the most

salient pieces of advice I got was from Walter Bernstein [writer on the Woody Allen blacklisting drama The Front], who kept asking, ‘What is this about?’ I said, ‘It’s about identity,’ and he probed, ‘No, what it’s about?’ I said, ‘It’s about family and relationships,’ and he said, ‘No, it’s about a girl who needs to get laid!’ I had never thought of it like that. The next pass-through of the script, I thought, ‘This women is a virgin, and the consummation of her identity is very much a part of this journey she’s going on.’ Going to the meeting I thought, ‘This is a man who will never understand this script,’ and he totally got it and was extremely helpful.”

In her script that manages to be both polished yet emotionally raw, Rees plants an African-American baby butch (newcomer Adepero Oduye) in limbo between a hot dyke Brooklyn club scene and the cell phone tether of her conservative parents. We first see 17-year-old Alike doing her quick-change act on an MTA bus before confronting Mom. See page 29

>>

<< Film

20 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 22-28, 2011

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Holiday high notes Classic musicals screen at the Castro Theatre

by Tavo Amador

F

eeling stressed from the holiday madness? Then take a break at the Castro Theatre, where, from Dec. 26-28, six Hollywood musicals will be showing.

Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) was the second perfect Judy Garland film at MGM. Based on Sally Benson’s New Yorker stories, it’s set in turn-of-the-century St. Louis during the World’s Fair. Garland plays Esther Smith, second of three daughters in an upper-middleclass family. They’re facing a crisis: Father (Leon Ames) wants to move to Manhattan. Margaret O’Brien is the youngest daughter, Tootie.

Her dolls keep “dying” of various illnesses and are buried in the backyard. Garland comforts her by memorably singing, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Her rendition of “The Boy Next Door” is touching and ironic – the young man was played by gay actor Tom Drake. Vincente Minnelli directed – beautifully – and his staging of “The Trolley Car Song” is flawless.

Mary Astor is the understanding mother, Lucille Bremer the older sister, butch Marjorie Main the housekeeper. With June Lockhart, years before television’s Lassie.

Songs by Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin. To the amazement of many, the gay/bisexual Minnelli and Garland fell in love, married, and produced daughter Liza.

Minnelli also directed The Band Wagon (1953), a show business story filled with terrific numbers.

Famous singer/dancer/actor Tony Hunter (Fred Astaire) feels he’s washed up. But old theatre

Judy Garland stars in Vincente Minnelli’s Meet Me in St. Louis.

Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak star in Pal Joey.

pals Nanette Fabray and Oscar Levant persuade him to star in a Broadway musical, directed by the pretentious Jeffrey Cordova (debonair Jack Buchanan).

Hunter clashes with dancer Gabrielle Gerard (Cyd Charisse).

Highlights include Astaire and the extraordinary, long-legged Charisse performing “Dancing in the Dark” and “The Girl Hunt”; Buchanan and Astaire’s elegant “I Guess I’ll Have To Change My Plans”; “Triplets,” where they are joined by Fabray; and the rousing “That’s Entertainment.” Songs

by Arthur Schwartz and Adolph Deutsch. Gorgeous Ava Gardner has a cameo as herself. (Both: Mon., Dec. 26, matinees and evenings.)

The impact on teenage girls of Elvis Presley’s joining the army was spoofed in Bye Bye Birdie (1963). Aspiring composer Albert Peterson (Dick Van Dyke, repeating

Hayworth smolders performing “Zip,” a fully dressed striptease, and lip-synchs “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered.” Sinatra sings “The Lady Is a Tramp,” “My Funny Valentine,” “There’s a Small Hotel” (all from other Rodgers and Hart shows), and duets with a dubbed Novak to “I Could Write a Book.”

The zaftig Novak is miscast, but Hayworth and Sinatra are excellent.

Jean Louis designed her gowns. The script is based on John O’Hara’s short stories about an amoral dancer.

The movie made him a singer and more sympathetic. Stunning San Francisco locations show what the city once looked like. (Both: Tue., 12/27, matinees and evenings.)

Singin’ in the Rain (1952) is a hilarious musical, a brilliant satire of the panic in Hollywood following the introduction of sound. Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen codirected. Oscar-nominated Jean Hagen is unforgettable as Lina Lamont, the silent screen star whose voice shatters glass. Debbie

his Broadway role) wants teen idol Conrad Birdie (Jesse Pearson) to sing his song on The Ed Sullivan Show so he can earn enough money to marry long-time flame Rosie DeLeon (a dark-haired Janet Leigh). Ann-Margret is the Birdieobsessed fan, Bobby Rydell is her boyfriend, gay Paul Lynde (also from Broadway) is her crazed father, and Maureen Stapleton is Albert’s possessive mother, determined to keep him and Rosie apart. The Charles Strousse–Lee Adams score includes “Kids” (wittily performed

by Lynde), “How Lovely To Be a Woman,” “Put on a Happy Face,” “One Boy,” “One Last Kiss,” “A Lot of Living To Do” and the title song.

George Sidney directed.

Sidney also helmed Richard Rodgers and gay Lorenz Hart’s Pal Joey (1957), updating the 1940 Broadway show that made Gene Kelly a star. Frank Sinatra is singer Joey Adams, top-billed Rita Hayworth is the older woman who keeps him, and Kim Novak is the chorus girl he loves.

Reynolds leapt to fame as the cheerful ingenue. Kelly is at his peak as a dancer, matched by Donald O’Connor. Reynolds hoofs quite well. Kelly and the amazing Cyd Charisse unforgettably dance the “Broadway Rhythm Ballet.” The Herb Nacio and Arthur Freed score includes the title song, “You Are My Lucky Star,” “Make em Laugh” and “You Were Meant for Me.” With Rita Moreno in a bit.

Kelly and Donen previously teamed for On the Town (1949), with a script and lyrics by Adolph Green and Betty Comden, and music by gay Leonard Bernstein.

Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munshen are sailors with 24 hours leave in New York. They meet Ann Miller, Vera-Ellen and Betty Garrett.

Miller taps her way through the Museum of Natural History. Shot on location, a first for a musical.

The score includes the title song and the brilliantly filmed “New York, New York.” (Both: Wed., Dec. 28, matinees and evenings.)▼

Horse sense

by David Lamble

W

ar Horse: This Christmas treat is exhibit #1 as to why Stephen Spielberg is the greatest cinema storyteller since Walt Disney for audiences of all ages. War Horse, a prime example of the kind of material Uncle Walt would have locked up for his studio, is based on Michael Morpurgo’s young adult novel depicting the serial calamities of WWI through the eyes of an English farm boy’s prized stallion.

The story has gone through a series

of miraculous transformations from bestselling children’s book to puppet-based smash Broadway hit to Spielberg’s inspired reboot.

Clearly, Spielberg was drawn to the material partly as a way to pay tribute to old-fashioned, moviehouse-based filmmaking. A down-on-his-luck father prone to drunken braggadocio (Peter Mullan) bets the farm by overpaying for a horse at auction.

Spielberg frames the action around a cute farm boy’s attempt to redeem his dad’s bad judgment by proving that his precious horse can plow a field.

Jeremy Irvine’s Albert is a throwback to the days where Tommy Kirk was Disney’s all-purpose plucky farm lad in animal-centered classics such as Old Yeller.

No sooner does Albert saves his steed than the winds of war claim his pet, drafted to be part of the famed British horse cavalry. The scene where the British officer pledges to return the boy’s horse at the end of

hostilities should leave few dry eyes in the theatre.

Horse and rider are ambushed by modern technology, the horse falling into the custody of two German lads, Gunther (The Reader’s David Kross) and Brandt (Rainer Bock). Spielberg displays his masterly subtle shifts in tone that keep hideous cruelty from being an emotional deal-breaker for a mass audience. Gunther and Brandt’s naïve decision to desert the army with the horse abruptly ends with a firing squad. The fate of the two teenagers is cushioned by being viewed from overhead, as if from the view of a not entirely uncaring deity.

The film’s penultimate moments concern a spectacular escape across no man’s land, and improbable heroics by sworn enemies. (Opens Dec. 25.)

I Melt with You: It’s not a good sign when the scene one treasures from a horror film is a clip from See page 22 >>

Jeremy Irvine as Albert in Steven Spielberg’s War Horse.

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Theatre>>

December 22-28, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 21

Cheerleader confidential

by Richard Dodds

S

o you think you can tumble with glee as a hairsprayed legal blonde who isn’t strictly ballroom but has the X factor? Bring It On, the new touring musical at the Orpheum, feels awfully familiar, and it’s not because it was inspired by a movie of the same name. It’s still a story about the cutthroat world of high school cheerleading, but it has been radically reworked into an unboundfor-Broadway entertainment that takes considerable inspiration from other movies, musicals, and television shows – both scripted and of the talent-scout variety. With a mass-appeal pedigree like that, it had better stir up audiences – and so it does, in spurts.

The spurts are both literal and figurative. The literal variety are the cheerleading routines that are sometimes more like circus acrobatics, as chorus members spurt into the air like bottle rockets that draw cheers for their physical pyrotechnics. Unfortunately, the show is front-loaded with the best routines, and not even the big final showdown where the feisty underdogs strut their stuff in a

<<

bitter cheerleading competition quite achieves those early highs.

The figurative spurts arrive during those stretches when the cast is earthbound, as the story flashes with a knowing cleverness amidst the clichés, and the score develops some catchy rhythms and smart lyrics. Those various spurts sustain Bring It On pretty well through the first act, but matters droop after the intermission as the songs can become cloyingly earnest and plot complications are pressed beyond their worth.

What you can’t take away from the cast is the energy poured into the uneven material, and that in itself gets high marks in the goodwill department.

Bring It On, even though it was created specifically to tour, has some notable Broadway names attached, so it’s not surprising that there are occurring moments of pleasure. Jeff Whitty, who won a Tony Award for the libretto to Avenue Q, has a quirky wit that can put surprising twists on the predictable story. Tom Kitt (Next to Normal) and Lin-Manuel Miranda (In the Heights) have teamed to write the music, with lyrics by Manuel and Amanda Green, and the score is at its

best when tongue is at least a little bit in cheek.

The characters are largely familiar types, led by the pretty, popular, and privileged Campbell, who is captain of her upscale school’s cheerleading team. Victory at a national competition seems assured until she is mysteriously redistricted into the high school on the wrong side of the tracks where the mostly black students are not into pompoms and rulebook formations. But Campbell wins over her new schoolmates, led by the gritty Danielle, and a new cheerleading team is born.

Along the way, there are numerous complications not worth going into before Campbell learns the true meaning of friendship.

Taylor Louderman is a pleasantly agreeable presence as Campbell, but she’s a notch or two below star material. Adrienne Warren makes a more powerful connection with Danielle, and there are fun turns by Ryann Redmond as the overweight cheerleader-wannabe Bridget and

by Kate Rockwell as the glamorous airhead Skylar, who is Campbell’s first lieutenant. The featured fellows don’t make much of an impression, with the notable exception of

Kung Pao From page 17

she has also taken her activism into the political arena, moderating the Democratic Presidential Candidates Debate on C-Span for NOW. Also entertaining the sureto-be-sated crowds are Avi Liberman (Comedy Central, E!), Jeff Applebaum (Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson) and the evercharming Geduldig. Liberman, raised in Texas, is a nice Jewish boy who does a lot of TV and also runs a Jewish comedy tour of Israel.

Applebaum, who lives in San Jose, married a Chinese woman and is raising three Chinese Jewish children. Not only is he a living example of Kung Pao, but like most Jewish comedians, he also has two engineering degrees from MIT. Boosler is the biggest star to replace MSG at the proceedings since Henry Youngman gave the final performances of his life at Kung Pao Kosher in 1997. “We were accused of killing him,” says Geduldig. “For several months, I was afraid to leave my apartment, lest I suffer retribution.” Geduldig knew the coast was clear when Youngman’s ghost appeared at the trolley turnaround at Powell and Market, blaming everything on the Republicans.

As in Kung Pao’s past, a portion of this year’s proceeds will benefit various organizations, in this case JFCS’ L’Chaim Adult Day Health Care Center and Muttville Senior Dog Rescue. Because the L’Chaim Center may lose its funding on Feb. 29, its board has promised to double

Courtesy Elayne Boosler

Comedian Elayne Boosler, the biggest star to replace MSG.

Geduldig’s donation. “I’ve given away between $75 and $100,000 since we began,” Geduldig reports.

“My mother says, ‘Why didn’t you buy a house instead?’”

Next year promises the 20th installment of Kung Pao Kosher Comedy, the 30th anniversary of Geduldig’s arrival in San Francisco, her 50th birthday, and the end of the

world. “I’ll see what I can do to stall that,” she cries before dashing to the other phone to once again scream, “No pork!”▼ Kung Pao Kosher Comedy takes place at New Asia Restaurant, 772 Pacific Ave. in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Tickets are available at www.koshercomedy.com or by phone at (925) 975-9005.

Craig Schwartz

Adrienne Warren (center) plays a high school student who becomes a convert to cheerleading in Bring It On at the Orpheum Theatre.

Gregory Haney, who plays the snaphappy transgender LaCienga, who is part of Danielle’s crew.

Andy Blankenbuehler, who choreographed In the Heights, is both director and choreographer of the new show. He makes smart use of a minimal set dominated by large and meandering LED screens, and the dances are certainly aerobically charged.

Bring It On is a confection

that feints at social issues, and the rambunctious reactions of many in the opening-night audience indicate it may have a young demographic ready to embrace it. If not, it won’t be from lack of pop-culture hooks baited and ready to make the catch.▼ Bring It On will run through Jan. 7 at the Orpheum Theatre. Tickets are $31-$100. Call (800) SHN-1799 or go to www.shnsf.com.

<< Music

22 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 22-28, 2011

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Songs of the earth

by Tim Pfaff

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ebar.com

hese men. Co-creation is the gist and jizz of a simultaneous publishing event constellated around and appropriately called Shared Ground. The male principals are author Vikram Seth, composer Alec Roth, and violinist Philippe Honore, though still other men are involved, including a famous British tenor (Mark Padmore) and for good measure, a dead poet, George Herbert (15931633). Where to begin?

A pun will do, particularly since it was Seth’s own “particularly puerile pun which came to me out of the blue – and which sums up our collaboration on the project.” Roth, in an interview, chimes in with it: “Seth wrote and Roth set.”

What Seth wrote, and Roth set, were four “libretti” now gathered together in a thin, vaulting book called The Rivered Earth (Hamish Hamilton), whose title was chosen

by Roth but written by Seth, in a line from “Earth,” the first poem in Seven Elements, the last of the libretti. That said, they’re not libretti in the usual sense, words to be sung by characters in an opera. These were texts for which Roth wrote music for a series of four summer festival programs (2006-09) in Salisbury, Chelsea, and Lichfield.

The first, Songs in Time of War, was recorded by Signum Classics in 2008, and the second, Shared Ground, featuring Honore and Jeffrey Shidmore’s super choir, Ex Cathedra, has just been released by Signum, timed with the publication of The Rivered Earth. It’s one of the most exquisite and involving recordings of the year, pleading a

case for the recording of the two final festival programs as soon as possible.

Violinist Honore was, in addition to Roth, the only musical element common to all four programs. No ordinary fiddler, he was literally instrumental in teaching Roth how to write for the violin, and served as both inspiration and nudge to the openly bisexual Seth, who once told an interviewer that if she were uncomfortable with the word, he was fine with being called both gay and straight. Although that particular aspect of their relationship ended during the four-year project, Honore has been Seth’s longest-term romantic partner.

So to Herbert. While still with Honore, Seth learned that the church-manor home of the priest-poet Herbert, on the River Madder in Wiltshire, was for sale. At, he says, a considerable stretch, he bought it. Seth’s own beautiful photograph of the house’s deep English green, fog-enshrouded grounds graces the dust jacket of The Rivered Earth, only one of many important visuals in the book.

It was in a red room there that the three men threw together the ideas that became the project called Confluences, and successfully pitched them to the festival organizers. But throughout the book, in the interviews with the other two Seth does for its preface, all three co-creators speak of the influence of Herbert’s spirit and the presence of his quiet, inspiring, and seriously punning animus throughout the project. Each of them worked alone in the house at some stage, rambling and exploring its uplifting grounds. Shared ground.

Yet both in the program with that name (to which Signum appends

<<

I Melt with You From page 20

Tom Snyder’s old Tomorrow show where the “Gray Fox” is ruminating with John Lydon of the Sex Pistols.

“The Sex Pistols was going to be the absolute end of rock n roll, which I thought it was. Unfortunately the majority of the public, being the senile animals that they are, got that wrong.” That thought from the leader of punk’s most notorious hazing prank is the closest the filmmakers come to a philosophical statement. It also marks the precise moment, 18 minutes in, where the movie stops making any sense at all.

While the soundtrack of Mark Pellington’s I Melt with You would make a sublime stocking stuffer for recovering punk addicts (the Sex Pistols’ “Pretty Vacancy,” the Pixies, the Dead Kennedys), the movie (opening Friday) is basically an existential wail from grown men whose happiest memories are college days away from Mommy when they could crank up the stereo

Roth’s Earthrise and Hymn to Gaia, choral works of 2 2010) and in the sensibility t infuses all four programs, that t there is a deep, bittersweet, a almost Mahlerian love of the E Earth that is home to us all, a c contemplation of its elemental n nature, realizations of the ways i which we are all travelers on in a through it, and the effects, and f foul and fair, we have had on i In the third program, The it.

T Traveler, Seth adds to the stages o life usually depicted by of p poets both the unborn and the h having died.

Wherever you look and li listen there is something ex exquisite.

A piece of Seth’s own calligraphy, in four different languages, appears at the beginning of each libretto. On the book’s inside leaves are pieces of Roth’s scores for the ponticelli – a rich, resounding pun – two of the five solo violin bridges between the six choral poems of Shared Ground, each of them resembling one of the actual bridges on the house’s grounds.

The discipline of Seth’s verses for those probing poems – he’s done

this before – was making each word a monosyllable, which at the ground bass level you hear and feel as well as see. Honore’s playing is a pungent, true, ice-hot arrow, and Roth’s tirelessly inventive music is apt in every instance and rapt throughout. His choral writing is an idiom rather like Whitaker’s, but with greater specific gravity and lift.

“Let me leave a hostage to fortune,” Seth writes, “and state that Alec Roth’s works are among the finest ever created by an English composer.” From my piece of shared ground, I’m inclined to concur.▼

and coke out.

Our players are Thomas Jane as a self-pitying wannabe novelist, Jeremy Piven as a self-inflating stockbroker who’s been dipping his wick in clients’ money, Rob Lowe as an aging pretty-boy doctor dispensing meds to bored Beverly Hills matrons, and most problematically, Christian McKay as a depressed gay man still blaming himself for his boyfriend’s death in a five-year-old auto accident.

The 44-year-old “boys” whip out their party drugs, commiserate about their wrecked careers and joke about being “professional masturbators.” While there’s an occasional misty-eyed moment about “true love” and parental bliss, it’s clear that nobody in this crowd has had a grownup moment since Sid Vicious bought the farm.

The last hour goes completely off the cliff as the lads fulfill a bloodoath suicide pact. That the gay character kicks off the death spiral is not as offensive as it would be in a good film.▼

▼

Read more online at www.ebar.com

December 22-28, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 23

<< Out&About

24 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 22-28, 2011

Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas! @ Golden Gate Theatre

O&A

Touring production of the family musical based on the popular children’s book and animated holiday TV show. $25-$85. Wed 2pm, Thu 2pm & 7:30pm, Fri & Sat 11am, 2pm, 8pm. Thru Dec 29. 1 Taylor St. at Market. (888) SHN-1799. www.shnsf.com/shows/grinch

Out &About

A Christmas Carol @ ACT American Conservatory Theatre’s annual lavish production of Carey Perloff and Paul Walsh’s adaptation of the classic holiday Charles Dickens story. $15-$105. Tue-Sat 7pm. Sun 5:30pm. Various matinees at 2pm & 1pm. Thru Dec. 24. 415 Geary St. 749-2228. www.act-sf.org

Children of the Cockettes at Oddball Films.

See Thu 29

Toyland

God’s Plot @ Ashby Stage, Berkeley

by Jim Provenzano

R

elieved to have found fun events for people of diverse faiths (including None of the Above), I’m happy to share some decidedly festive yet non-traditional arts events for your pre-, mid- and post-holiday week amusement. From velvet bikes to drags on film, Gene Kelly musicals and sexy sketching, it’s an odd end to an odd and wonderful year. Cheers and Merry Krimble to all good people.

Thu 22 >> Brett Kaufamn @ 5 Claude Lane Gallery Exhibit of unique multimedia works depicting gay icons like Allen Ginsberg, Harvey Milk and Oscar Wilde. Wed-Sun 11am-5pm.

Exhibit thru Jan 11. 5 Claude Lane near Bush St. 956-1310. www.5claudelane.com

Conspiracy of Beards @ Contemp. Jewish Museum

Tenderloin Christmas Hustler @ Phoenix Theater Demetrius Martin’s mash-up theatre parody of many traditional TV holiday specials, as performed by strung-out hustler characters. $20-$25. Thu-Sun 8pm. Thru Dec 23. 414 Mason St. 6th floor. (800) 8383006. www.tenderloinxmashustler.com

Three Sisters @ Eureka Theatre

Enjoy a Hanukkah/ Houdini mash-up with tour of the exhibit Houdini: Art and Magic, a music concert by the Beards, magic giftmaking workshops, a dreidel spin-off and more. $5. 6pm-8pm. 736 Mission St. at 3rd. 655-7800. www.thecjm.org

42nd Street Moon’s staged concert production of the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II musical; not about the Chekov characters, instead, it’s a precursor to their later musical Carousel. $20-$50.

Wed 7pm, Thu-Fri 8pm. Sat 6pm Sun 3pm.

Thru Dec 18. 215 Jackson St. 255-8207. www.42ndstmoon.org

The Golden Girls @ Victoria Theatre

Tree of Life @ Castro Theatre

The Christmas Episodes, the 6th annual drag stage adaptation of the hit TV show, with Heklina, Matthew Martin, Cookie Dough and Pollo Del Mar. KRON 4 film reviewer and local celeb Jan Wahl guest stars Dec 22 only! $25-$30. Thu-Sat 8pm.

Thru Dec. 23. 2961 16th St. at Mission. www.trannyshack.com/goldengirls/

Terrence Malick’s impressionistic beautiful film about life’s journey, starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn. $10. 2pm, 5pm, 8pm. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com

A Gospel Christmas @ The Rrazz Room Kim Nalley, Tammy Hall and guest singers perform a soulful holiday music night. $35.

8pm. Also Dec 23, 8pm. 2-drink min. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. 394-1189. www.TheRrazzRoom.com

The Nutcracker @ Paramount Theatre Oakland Ballet’s production of the Tchaikovsky holiday ballet, with a traditional Viennese setting; choreographed by Graham Lustig. Music performed by the Oakland Easy Bay Symphony. $20-$59. 2pm & 7pm. Thru Dec 24 (11am). 2025 Broadway. www.oaklandballet.org

Santaland Diaries @ Eureka Theatre David Sinaiko performs the solo stage adapatation of David Sedaris’ popular short story. $20-$50. Thu-Sat 8pm. Matiness 3pm. 215 Jackson St. Thru Dec. 30. www.eurekatheatre.org

Smuin Ballet @ Novellus Theater Local dance company performs Michael Smuin’s whimsical Christmas Ballet, and works by Amy Seiwert and Robert Sund. $25-$62. Wed-Sat 8pm. Also 2pm Sat & Sun and 7pm Sun. LGBT night out Dec 22 raises funds for Bay Positives ($40, 6pm reception, 8pm concert). Thru Dec 24. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission St. 556-5000. www.smuinballet.org

Twas the Night @ Davies Symphony Hall SF Symphony Brass and Symphony Chorus performs carols and holiday music in a sing-along concert. $15-$68 (half-price for kids 17 & under). 7pm. Also Dec 23, 7pm, Dec 24, 2pm. 201 Van Ness Ave. 8646000. www.sfsymphony.org

Sundance Saloon @ Space 550 The popular country western LGBT dance night. $5. 6:30pm-10:30pm with lessons from 7:00 - 8:00 pm. Also Sundays 5pm-10:30pm with lessons from 5:30-7:15 pm. 550 Barneveld Ave. www.sundancesaloon.org

Shotgun Players’ commissioned play written and directed by Mark Jackson; an update on the 1665 satire on the King of England, enjoyed by early American Puritans, whose pious outward behavior comes under scrutiny as another form of theatre. $18-$27. Thu 7pm. Fri & Sat 8pm.

Sun 5pm. Thru Jan. 15. 1901 Ashby Ave. Berkeley. (510) 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org

Golden Bough @ Old First Church Celtic musical trio performs traditional toe-tapping folk music of the holidays. $14-$17. 8pm. 1751 Sacramento St. 474-1608. www.goldenboughmusic.com www.oldfirstconcerts.org

Holiday Ice Rink @ Union Square Skate around shoppers at the ice rink in the middle of downtown’s busy Union Square.

A portion of ticket sales benefit Boys and Girls Clubs of San Francisco. $5-$10. 10am11:30pm. Thru Dec 31. Powell St. at Geary.

781-2688. www.unionsquareicerink.com

Celebrate the sun and winter and beer and stuff. 12pm-2am. 1369 Folsom St. 4314695. www.hitws.com

Fri 23 >> Anneke Eussen @ Highlight Gallery Flemish artist’s unusual works (velvetcovered bicycles) and installed sculptures which transform spaces with visual deceptions. 6pm-9pm. Fri & Sat 12pm-6pm. Thru Jan 27. 3043 Clay St. 529-1221. www.highlightgallery.com

Bring It On @ Orpheum Theatre Touring musical stage adaptation of the comedy film about competing cheerleading squads. $25-$85. Tue-Sat 8pm. Wed, Sat Sun 2pm. Sun 7:30pm. Thru Jan. 7. 1192 Market St. at 8th. (888) SHN-1799. www.shnsf.com/shows/BringItOn

Celtic Yuletide @ Marines Memorial Theatre Michael Londra ( Riverdance ) brings his heartwarming show of Irish music and dance to the US. Special Celtic holiday menu dinner and lunch deals at the Leatherneck Steakhouse and Lounge. $15-$100.

Tue-Sat 8pm. Wed, Sat Sun 2pm. Sun 7pm.

Thru Jan 1. 609 Sutter St. 2nd floor. 7716900. www.marinesmemorialtheatre.com

Wed 28

The Nutcracker @ War Memorial Opera House San Francisco Ballet, the home of the first U.S. holiday production of the Tchaikovsky ballet, performs Helgi Tomasson’s version, reset at San Francisco’s 1915 World’s Fair. $35-$135. 2pm & 7pm most Tue-Ssun. Thru Dec 27. (no show Dec 25; Dec 24 11am & 4pm). 301 Van Ness Ave. 865-2000. www.sfballet.org

Period of Adjustment @ SF Playhouse Local staging of Tennessee Williams’ “serious comedy” about a man who brings his bride to meet his best friend. $20-$50.

Tue-Thu 7pm. Fri & Sat 8pm. Thru Jan 14. 533 Sutter St. near Powell. 677-9596. www.sfplayhouse.org

Strip @ Kok Bar It’s a less clothing-optional night, with cheaper drinks for those who dare to show off their undies or jock strap, and a Cheap Ass contest at 1am with $100 prize. 9pm2am. 1225 Folsom St. www.kokbarsf.com

Xanadu @ New Conservatory Theatre The hit Broadway musical –based on the campy 80s Olivia Newton-John/Gene Kelly film about a mythical muse and roller skating rink– gets a local production. Special “Xanadu Fun-Pack” includes a cocktail/ soft drink, keepsake cup and souvenir disco ball necklace. $25-$45. Wed-Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm. Thru Jan. 15. 25 Van Ness Ave, lower level. 861-8972. www.nctcsf.org

Yes, Sweet Can @ Dance Mission Theater Sweet Can Productions’ acrobatics show, with live music, dance, theatre, and astounding feats. $15-$60. 8pm. Various times Tue-Sun thru Jan 1. 3316 24th St. at Mission. 225-7281. www.sweetcanproductions.com

Sat 24>> The Air We Breathe @ SF MOMA New group exhibit of works by 30 contemporary artists and eight poets who explore the issues of legalizing same-sex marriage.

Other exhibits ongoing. Free-$18. 151 Third St. 357-4000. www.sfmoma.org

Animales y Nahuales @ Back to the Picture Gallery

Winter Solstice Party @ Hole in the Wall Saloon Jeff Applebaum performs at Kung Pao Kosher Comedy

Group exhibit of Mexican folk art in wood, clay, and paintings, depicting people and their animal spirit guides. Portion of sales benefits SF SPCA and Rancho El Uno Reserve. 934 Valencia St. Mon-Sat 10am6pm. Sun 12pm-5pm. www.backtothepicture.com

Animation Exhibits @ Walt Disney Museum

Fri 23 Kung Pao Kosher Comedy @ New Asia Restaurant Elaine Boosler headlines the 19th annual popular night of Jewish comedy in a Chinese restaurant. Also performing, Avi Liberman, Jeff Applebaum, and hostess Lisa Geduldig. Enjoy a sumptuous 7-course banquet ($62) or cocktails and eggrolls ($42). The comedy’s kosher, not the food.

Dec 23 & 24 at 6pm & 9:30pm. Dec 25 at 5pm & 8:30pm. 772 Pacific Ave. at Grant.

(925) 275-9005. www.koshercomedy.com

See biographical exhibits about Walt Disney, early sketches and ephemera from historic Disney movies. Frequent lectures and film screenings. $5-$20. 104 Montgomery St., The Presidio. www.waltdisney.org

Beach Blanket Babylon @ Club Fugazi Musical comedy revue, now in its 35th year, with an ever-changing lineup of political and pop culture icons, all in gigantic wigs. $25-$130. Wed, Thu, Fri at 8pm.

Sat 6:30, 9:30pm. Sun 2pm, 5pm. (Beer/ wine served; cash only). 678 Beach Blanket Babylon Blvd (Green St.). 421-4222. www.beachblanketbabylon.com

Méliès Magic @ Oddball Films

Beat by the Bay @ Ever Gold Gallery

On the occasion of Martin Scorcese’s Hugo, enjoy a festive grab bag of short animated films by the innovative French pioneering filmmakers, plus other later joyfully wild visual treats, and gingerbread cookies! $10. 8pm. Dec 22, 8pm, Jason Pappariella’s Place in Pieces; long shots of abandoned landscapes. 275 Capp St. Reservations recommended: 558-8117. www.oddballfilms.blogspot.com

Exhibit of historic Bay Area Beat Era visual artists and archival material from selected galleries of the era. Wed-Sat 1pm-6pm.

441 O’Farrell St. 796-3676. www.evergoldgallery.com

Gene Kelly movies at the Castro Theatre

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Collected @ Museum of the African Diaspora Subtitled Stories of Acquisition and Reclamation, this new exhibit displays more than 100 objects that help narrate the struggles and contributions of African Americans in California; frequent special events. Thru March 4. 685 Mission St. at 3rd. 358-7200. www.moadsf.org

Donald Rizzo @ Castro Country Club Shadows, Secrets and Silhouettes, the artist’s exhibit of paintings. Thru Jan. 2. 4058 18th St. www.castrocountryclub.org

Get Lucky @ SOMArts Gallery The Culture of Chance, a group exhibit of multimedia art paying homage to artist John Cage’s 100th birthday. Thru Jan 26.

Tue-Fri 12pm-7pm. Sat 12pm-5pm. 934 Brannan St. www.somarts.org/getlucky/

Tenderloin Christmas Hustler at the Phoenix Theater

Thu 22 Line Dance Classes @ ODC Dance Commons New fun line dance classes taught by Sundance Saloon’s Sean Ray, with a special LGBT-anybody-inclusive ambiance, and not just country music. $14. Weekly Saturdays, 6pm-8pm. 351 Shotwell St. www.odcdance.org

Maharaja @ Asian Art Museum The Splendor of India’s Royal Courts, an expansive exhibit showcasing textiles, jewels and items from the heyday of the early Indian empires. Also, Sanjay Patel’s Deities, Demons and Dudes with ‘Staches: Indian Avatars; Tateuchi Thematic Gallery, 2nd floor. Other special events thru exhibit run. $7-$17. Tue-Sun 10am-5pm. Thu til 9pm. Thru April 8, 2012. 200 Larkin St. 581-3500. www.asianart.org

Mark Foehringer’s Nutcracker Sweets @ Children’s Museum Local choreographer’s contemporary update on the classic holiday ballet, set to the Tchaikovsky score. $20-$35. Various Sat & Sun (a few weekdays Dec 20-22), 11am & 2pm. Thru Dec. 23. 221 4th St. www.brownpapertickets.com

The Matter Within @ YBCA Fascinating new exhibit of contemporary Indian art; installations, sculptures and other media. Don’t miss Sunil Gupta’s alluring gay photo series Love, Undetectable and Sun City. Free-$12. Exhibit thru Jan 29.

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission St. 978-2787. www.ybca.org

Playland @ Conservatory of Flowers New exhibit of miniature trains and buildings recreating the Sutro Baths, Cliff House and Playland amusement park of SF’s yesteryears. $1.50-$5. Reg. hours Tue-Sun 10am-4pm. Thru April 15. 100 JFK Drive, Golden Gate Park. 831-2090. www. conservatoryofflowers.org

Queer Comic Artists @ Cartoon Art Museum Exhibit of work by Burton Clarke ( Gay Comix ), Jaime Cortez ( Sexile ), Ed Luce ( Wuvable Oaf ), Jon Macy ( Teleny and Camille ),MariNaomi ( Kiss and Tell ), Trina Robbins ( Wimmen’s Comix ), Joey Alison Sayers (Just So You Know ), Christine Smith ( The Princess), Mary Wings ( Come Out Comix ), and Rick Worley (A Waste of Time ).

Free-$7. Thru March 4. Reg hours Tue-Sun 11am-5pm. 655 Mission St. www.cartoonart.org

Queer Hanukkah @ Tikva Records LGBT party for Jewish folks and their friends at the pop-up record store. Enjoy live music by Charming Hostess, plus historic records, wine, vodka and soft drinks, latkes and a candle-lighting ceremony.

6pm-9pm. 3191 Mission St. www.nehirim.org

San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus @ Castro Theatre The chorus performs a new holiday concert, a variation on their fabulous sold-out show at the Masonic Aduitorium earlier this month. $10-$25. 5pm, 7pm & 9pm.

429 Castro St. 865-2787. www.sfgmc.org www.castrotheatre.com

The Secret Garden @ Lucie Stern Theatre, Palo Alto Tony Award-winning musical adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s popular children’s book. $19-$72. Tue & Wed 7:30pm.

Thu-Sat 8pm. Sat & Sun 2pm. Sun 7pm.

Thru Dec 31. 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. (650) 463-1960. www.theatreworks.org

Teatro Zinzanni @ Pier 29 Up in the Air, about a struggling radio station, stars Geoff Hoyle, blues musician Duffy Bishop, and a slew of amazingly talented acrobats, singers, musicians, a five-course dinner, and a lot of fun. $117$145. Saturday 11:30am “Breve” show $63-$78. Wed-Sat 6pm (Sun 5pm) Thru

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Out&About >>

December 22-28, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 25

Thu 29 Hot Draw at Mark I. Chester Studio

Winter Salon @ Robert Tat Gallery Exhibit of vintage and contemporary photographich prints. Thru Jan. 28. Tue-Sat 11am-5:30pm. 49 Geary St. #410. 7811122. www.roberttat.com

Wed 28>> California Dreaming @ Contemp. Jewish Museum Jewish Life in the Bay Area from the Gold Rush to the Present, an exhibit about the lives of historic Western American Jewish people, from Levi’s jeans and Ginsberg’s Howl to Gump’s and LGBT synagogues.

Also, Houdini: Art and Magic. $5-$12.

Thu-Tue 11am-5pm. 736 Mission St. at 3rd.

655-7800. Thru Oct. 16, 2012. www.thecjm.org

Camper Van Beethoven, Cracker @ The Independent Indie rock bands perform. $18. 9pm. 21+.

628 Divisadero St. 771-1421. www.campervanbeethoven.com

Dream Queens Review @ Aunt Charlie’s Lounge Dec 31, when the show goes on hiatus for World Cup Sailing pier renovations. Pier 29 at Embarcadero Ave. 438-2668. www.teatrozinzanni.com

The Wild Bride @ Berkeley Repertory Theatre Touring production of Kneehigh Theatre Company’s acclaimed Broadway show with music and dance that blends fairy tale dreams and humorous yet heartbreaking realities. Special Christmas Eve show Dec 24 includes Chinese food. New Year’s Eve show Dec 31 includes a champagne toast. $27-$82. Tue, Thu-Sat 8pm. Wed 7pm (Dec 7, at 8pm). Sat & Sun 2pm. Sun 7pm.

Extended thru Jan 22. 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 647-2972. www.berkeleyrep.org

Sun 25 >> Bud E. Luv Band @ The Rrazz Room

Early landscape paintings, Gold Rush Era works, California ceramics. Gallery of California Natural Sciences. Special Dec 26 post-holiday museum store blowout sale thru Dec 31. $6-$12. 1000 Oak St. Oakland. (510) 318-8400. www.museumca.org

Jonathan Dimmock @ St. Ignatius Church Acclaimed organist performs Olivier Messiaen’s one-hour 1935 work La Nativite du Seigneur at the acoustically and architecturally beautiful cathedral.. Free. 9pm.

Fulton St. at Parker. www.JonathanDimmock.com

Will Durst Comedy Show @ Various Venues

Faith services at the LGBT-inclusive church.

10am. 2222 Bush st. 474-0440. www.unitysf.com

19th annual Big Fat Year-End Kiss-Off Comedy Show, with Durst, Johnny Steele, Debi Durst, Michael Bossier, Mari Magaloni and Arthur Gaus performing sketches and stand-up comedy that skewers the year’s events. Dec 26, Lesher Arts Center, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek. Dec. 27, Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison St., Berkeley. Dec 28 – Jan 1 other cities. www.willdurst.com

Interview show with gay writer Adam Sandel as host. 8pm. www.EnergyTalkRadio.com

Potluck Dinner @ Castro Country Club Holiday dinner for sober members and their friends. Bring a dish, help out. 12pm-3pm.

4058 18th St. www.castrocountryclub.org

Mon 26>> 1991: Oakland-Berkeley Fire Aftermath @ Oakland Museum of California New exhibit of Richard Misrach’s rarely viewed large-format photographs of the devastating fires 20 years ago. Thru Feb 12, 2010. Also, A Walk in the Wild, Continuing John Muir’s Journey, Bay Area figurative art, Dorothea Lange archive,

Fri 23

Fri 23

Meet Me in St. Louis, The Bandwagon @ Castro Theatre

Christmas Services @ Unity San Francisco

Happy Hour @ Energy Talk Radio

Double feature of classic Gene Kelly musical films; Town (1pm, 5pm, 9pm) and Rain (2:55, 7pm). $10. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com

David Perry’s talk show about LGBT local issues. Mon-Fri 11:30am & 10:30pm, Sat & Sun 10:30pm. www.davidperry.com

Double-feature of two lavish classic musical films directed by Vincente Minnelli. $10. St. Louis (2:30, 7pm) and Band (4:40, 9:10). 429 Castro st. www.castrotheatre.com

Holiday services and celebration at the LGBT-inclusive congregation. 11am. 1420 Santa Maria St. (510) 483-2132. www.unitysanleandro.org

On the Town, Singin’ in the Rain @ Castro Theatre

Ten Percent @ Comcast 104

The boisterous jazz-swing band’s holiday show. $35. 7pm. 2-drink min. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. 394-1189. www.TheRrazzRoom.com

Holiday Services @ Unity of San Leandro

Drag show each 2nd and 4th Wednesday at the classic Tenderloin bar, hosted by Collette LeGrande-Ashton. Special holiday show. No cover. 10pm. 133 Turk St. 4412922. www.dreamqueensrevue.com

Tue 27>> Bye Bye Birdie, Pal Joey @ Castro Theatre Double feature of classic musicals; Bye Bye (2:40, 7pm) and Pal (4:45, 9pm). $10. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com

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

Kim Nalley, Houston Person @ The Rrazz Room Jazz singer and veteran saxaphonist share a bill of New Year’s Eve concerts. $30-$40 Dec 27-30. 8pm. Dec 31, 7:30pm & 10:30pm, $75 and $150, includes champagne toast and post-show buffet. Also Jan 1, 7pm.2-drink min. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. 394-1189. www.TheRrazzRoom.com

Period of Adjustment at SF Playhouse

Thu 29>> Children of the Cockettes @ Oddball Films See the extended 90 minute rough cut of new film about Thrillpeddlers, Trannyshack and Peaches Christ drag crews. $10. 8pm.

275 Capp St. Reservations recommended: 558-8117. www.oddballfilms.blogspot.com

Hot Draw @ Mark I. Chester Studio Join a special holiday edition of the men’s sketch grop, with a male model posing nude and in fetish-sexy poses. Reservations (day-of only): 621-6294. 6:309:30pm. 1229 Folsom St. www.markichester.com

The Monster Show @ The Edge Cookie Dough’s weekly raucous drag show with gogo guys. This week, ‘disco Heat,’ a retro New Year’s pre-pre-Eve show.9pm2am. 4149 18th St. at Collingwood. www.edgesf.com

Our Vast Queer Past @ GLBT History Museum See the fascinating exhibit from the GLBT Historical Society, with a wide array of rare historic items on display. New mini-exhibit focuses on the legacy of activist and performer Jose Sarria. Free for members-$5.

Wed-Sat 11am-7pm. Sun 12pm-5pm. 4127 18th St. www.glbthistory.org

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, A Woman is a Woman @ Castro Theatre Double feature of French musical films; in French with English subtitles. $10. Cherbourg (3:25, 7pm); Woman (5:10, 8:45).

429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com

To submit event listings, email jim@ebar.com.

Deadline is each Thursday, a week before publication.

Méliès Magic at Oddball Films

For bar and nightlife events, go to www.bartabsf.com

bartabsf.com

<< On the Town

26 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 22-28, 2011

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City celebrations

by Donna Sachet

T

he elegant City Club proved the perfect setting for a recent cocktail party celebrating the publishing of James Hormel’s book Fit to Serve. His partner Michael Nguyen seemed to take inspiration from the Imperial Court of San Francisco, as Hormel and his co-author Erin Martin were greeted with a trumpet fanfare, then presented with crowns and scepters.

More than one set of eyes flashed our way for a reaction. The room was filled with loving supporters, including Stu Smith, Brett Andrews, Leah Garchik, Armistead Maupin & Christopher Turner, and Bob Mitchitarian. Get your copy of Fit to Serve immediately for an engaging read full of inspiration and personal revelation.

Project Open Hand’s 20th annual Hand to Hand luncheon at the swanky Fairmont Hotel last Tuesday provided another opportunity to salute outgoing Executive Director Tom Nolan as well as the inspirational founder of Project Open Hand, Ruth Brinker, who passed away earlier this year. The cocktail reception was bubbling with excitement, as over 800 people exchanged holiday greetings and bid anxiously on silent auction items. Inside the gorgeous Gold Room, we dined on delicious selections prepared by top city chefs, then briskly bid on a couple of vacation packages and opportunities to support Project Open Hand programs.

We caught up with State Senator Mark Leno, Akilah Monifah, Lynn Luckow, Jorge Hernandez, Sean Ray, Michael Pagan, Betty Sullivan, and many others. We welcome newly selected Executive Director Kevin Winge, who seems well suited to continue the amazing success of this grass roots organization.

That night, at the gentle but constant nudging of our friend Glen Stover, we were reminded that there is more than one talented men’s chorus in San Francisco! The

Steven Underhill

Donna Sachet with Mr. Gay Curasol Rupert Arrindell at the Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation/Kimpton Hotels holiday celebration last Thursday at the Harbour Court Hotel.

holiday concert by the Golden Gate Men’s Chorus at St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church offered a wide variety of familiar classics, haunting modern selections, rich harmonies, skillful a cappella songs, and lighter holiday tunes. We found Music Director Joseph Piazza’s fluid conducting style mesmerizing, and the chorus’ performance disciplined and dazzling.

Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation and Kimpton Hotels partnered for a holiday celebration on Thursday at the Harbour Court Hotel, filling the lobby, bar, and an upstairs suite with festively dressed and animated attendees, including Ken Henderson, Jay Harcourt, Matthew Denckla, Milton Mosk & Tom Foutch, and Jim Provenzano.

The holiday red theme was visible throughout with red décor, red drinks, and gaily red accessorized guests, as a busy silent auction raised additional money for this

worthy organization.

We coincidentally spent two nights in a row at the same location, the lovely home of Dr. Jerome Goldstein & Tom Taylor, first for Friday’s party for the SF Gay Men’s Chorus, then for Saturday’s larger annual holiday celebration.

These gentlemen generously entertain as few others do, from the elaborate outdoor Christmas tree and intricate decorations to the extensive and delicious catered food and copious bars. Friday gave us a chance to catch up with many chorus buddies, all anxiously preparing for their three Christmas Eve concerts at the Castro Theatre.

Artistic Director Tim Seelig promises a truly crowd-pleasing experience, including musical guests Melody Moore, the Velocity Bells, the SF Lesbian/Gay Chorus and a brief on-stage appearance by this humble reporter. Don’t miss it! Saturday presented a much more diverse crowd, but welcome opportunities to socialize and to See page 27 >>

Coming up in leather and kink Thu., Dec. 22: Daddy Thursdays at Kok Bar (1225 Folsom). Shot & drink specials. 10 p.m.-close. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com.

Thu., Dec. 22: Underwear Night at The Powerhouse (1347 Folsom). Show your undies for drink specials.

10 p.m.-close. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com.

Fri., Dec. 23: Truck Wash at Truck (1900 Folsom). 10 p.m.-close. Live shower boys, drink specials, loads of fun! Go to: www.trucksf.com.

Fri., Dec. 23: Strip at Kok Bar. Cheap Ass contest, winner gets $100. Free clothes check, $2 cover, 11 p.m.-1:30 a.m. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com.

Fri., Dec. 23: Monthly Steam Party at The Powerhouse. Power Shower, Towel Dancers, $1/minute massage. $8. 9 p.m.-close. Go to: www.powerhousesf.com.

Sun., Dec. 25: Whipworks at the SF Citadel (1277 Mission). Monthly single-tail peer group facilitated

by Daddy Darin. $10. 8-10 p.m. Go to: www.sfcitadel. org.

Sun., Dec. 25: Castro Bear Presents Sunday Furry Sunday Christmas Edition! at 440 Castro. 4-10 p.m.

Go to: www.castrobear.com.

Sun., Dec. 25: PoHo Sundays at The Powerhouse. DJ Keith, Dollar Drafts all day. Go to: www.powerhousesf.com.

Mon., Dec. 26: Trivia Night with host Casey Ley at Truck. Prizes, insane fun and ridiculous questions!

8-10 p.m. Go to: www.trucksf.com.

Mon., Dec. 26: Dirty Dicks at The Powerhouse. $3 well drinks. 4-10 p.m. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf. com.

Fri., Dec. 23: Mr. Bolt’s Christmas Party at The Bolt (2560 Boxwood St., Sacramento). Featuring Michael Brandon, Santa and his elves play Naughty Twister.

Money raised goes to Shriner’s Hospital for Children.

9 p.m.-close. Go to: www.sacbolt.com.

Tue., Dec. 27: 12-Step Kink Recovery Group at the SF Citadel. 6:30 p.m. Open to all kink-identified people in recovery. Go to: www.sfcitadel.org.

Sat., Dec. 24: All Beef Saturday Nights at The Lone Star (1354 Harrison). 100% SoMa Beef & Co. 9 p.m.close. Go to: www.facebook.com/lonestarsf.

Tue., Dec. 27: Pit Stop Happy Hour at Kok Bar. $1 shots on the hour. 6-9 p.m. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com.

Sat., Dec. 24: Klub 86’s at Kok Bar. Klub 86’d Kard gets your 5th drink free. Malibu Koktails. 4-9 p.m. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com.

Sat., Dec. 24: Boot Lickin’ at the Powerhouse. The hottest Sat. night in SoMa. 10 p.m.-close. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com.

Sun., Dec. 25: Merry Christmas!

Sun., Dec. 25: Night Cruise Sundays at Kok Bar. 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com.

Tue., Dec. 27: Busted at Truck. $5 beer bust. 9-11 p.m. Go to: www.trucksf.com.

Tue., Dec. 27: Cigar Play: Mouth, Hands, Eyes, Spirit at the SF Citadel. 7-9 p.m. To go: www.sfcitadel.org Tue., Dec. 27: Ink & Metal at The Powerhouse. 9 p.m.-close. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com.

Wed., Dec. 28: Leather Buddies at Blow Buddies (933 Harrison) male-only club. Doors open 8 p.m.-12 a.m. Play till late. Go to: www.blowbuddies.com.

Wed., Dec. 28: Bear Bust Wednesdays at Kok Bar SF. $6 all you can drink Bud Light or Rolling Rock drafts.

Go to: www.kokbarsf.com.

▼

Karrnal>>

December 22-28, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 27

Forever Falcon

by John F. Karr

I

t’s quite an achievement for any business to prosper for 40 years.

It seems even more difficult for a porn company to endure that long.

But that’s what Falcon Studios has done, so congratulations are offered. If I may not always have been impressed with the company’s product, I’m impressed with their longevity. I’d been a little at a loss to know how to celebrate their four decades of success until last week, when The Falcon 40th Anniversary Collector’s Edition arrived. Over 15 hours, its six discs collect 50 scenes starring 142 men. Disc 1 covers the 1970s; disc 2 is devoted to the precondom 80s; discs 3 & 4 cover the 90s; disc 5, the early Aughts; and disc 6, the last five years.

While enjoying the set’s hopscotch through history, I was bothered that it doesn’t have a printed table of contents. You have to go to each individual disc’s menu to find out what’s on it.

That made checking the set’s contents for repeats against what’s been served up in previous anthologies so much of a chore that I only checked out disc 1, the 70s. It repeats two scenes from Volume 1 of the fivedisc 1970s Collector’s Edition. But since that set is out of print, you might not mind. Especially since one of the duplications is good (Ron Pearson and two buddies from Style), and the other is entirely memorable – the Dick Fisk/Sky Dawson encounter in a motorboat from Champs. What this means, basically, is that few duplications are expected on the set’s other discs.

Browsing through other Collector’s Editions, as well as the five-disc 35th Anniversary set (which does have a printed contents page), I found that whoever puts these things together has done a surprisingly good job of avoiding duplication of material. For example, the 40th Anniversary set has no duplications from the 35th Anniversary set. Thank you, Falcon.

What’s the use of such an anthology? Unless you concur with the taste of the editor, it’s unlikely you’re going to find more than a couple of your favorite scenes among the editor’s choices. That’s why I prefer (and have collected) the Falcon Collector’s Edition sets devoted to a single decade. Five discs devoted only to the 1970s covers a lot of ground, especially when there are two volumes for each decade.

Another thing. You may have noticed the major companies having fire sales of backlog DVDs

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Falcon Studios

Sky Dawson and Dick Fisk in Champs, which is collected in Falcon Studios’ 40th Anniversary Collector’s Edition.

at very low prices. If you have any prescience, it’s clear that they’re moving away from DVD production toward online VOD. So these anthologies truly are collector’s editions – they are archival, as well as enjoyable. I’m not going to own every DVD Falcon has ever made, so I appreciate these rather comprehensive overviews. I can have remembrances of some favorite performers, while tracking the history of technological and sociological changes porn has undergone.

So what about this 40th Anniversary set? It may be less imperative than the sets devoted to a single decade, but at least it’s not much in competition with them. Like all the Collector’s Edition sets, it’s a limited edition. As keepsakes of your past porn peccadilloes go, this one’s good.

Class action There’s good and bad to Heroes with Hardons – The Big Book of Class Comics (Bruno Gmünder, hardbound, $43.99).

It’s a celebration of all things Class Comics, the famously colorsaturated comics that are reproduced on such durable, extra-thick glossy stock that the book looks twice as long as its 144 pages. It covers the entire history of Class Comics, which was founded in 1995 by artist Patrick Fillion.

During his elementary school years, Patrick (born in 1973) started writing, drawing and stapling together adventure stories that he

On the Town From page 26

reunite with friends Charlotte Coleman, Roberta Bobba, James Holloway, John Newmeyer, Ken Gorczyca & Lorenz Obwegeser, and others. If you’ve never seen Tom & Jerry’s incredible outdoor holiday decorations, it is well worth the drive over to 21st Street! Or get a hold of the documentary about this annual project, Making Christmas: The View from the Tom & Jerry Christmas Tree, presented at last year’s Frameline Film Festival.

On Friday we also included the holiday celebration of Gloss at Trigger, where the food overflowed, the drinks kept coming, and the go-go dancers hypnotized the willing! Among the gathered were Gary Virginia, Suzan Revah, Monistat, Jacques Michaels, Bebe Sweetbriar, Bevan Dufty, Julian Marshburn, and Gladys & Keith Bumps.

brought into his classrooms – from whence subsequently came the name of his company. Fillion’s high school teachers began to advise him the adventures were becoming too racy for campus consumption.

Fortunately, that didn’t deter him, and he created a classy operation where over a dozen artists and writers create the most uniquely imaginative and sexy gay erotic comics.

I’ve always gotten off on Fillion’s fancifully salacious world of oversexed superheroes and outrageous alien beings (I shiver at the multiple penetrations perpetrated by many-

Steven Underhill

Incredible contortionist at the Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation/Kimpton Hotels holiday celebration.

Our final holiday party was Rejoice, a joint effort by GLAAD, StartOut, and Reason to Party at

tentacled creatures), and love the generous excerpts of the stories that are collected in this book, along with some previously unpublished work. But this potpourri lacks a table of contents or numbered pages. So there’s stimulating browsing at hand, but a complete inability to once again locate your favorite pages. ▼

Vessel, a stunning downstairs club on Campton Place near Union Square. What a great idea to combine efforts and membership lists to create a dynamic merger of San Francisco movers and shakers!

If there were ever a more appealing assemblage of eligible men, we can’t remember it. We hobnobbed with Ron Balos, Ron Zakay, Patrik Gallineaux, Adam Sandel, Juan Barajas, Christopher Jason Dorn, John Marez, Neil Giuliano, Mark Calvano, Joel Goodrich, Scott Miller, and Skye Paterson. The proximity of Fresh at Ruby Skye proved irresistible, so we ended the evening in a swirl of happy dancers.

We wish you and yours the very best of the holiday season, and promise to keep you fully apprised of the goings-on in our community in 2012. In this incredible city, so much joy, generosity, and companionship await right outside your door!▼

<< Television

28 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 22-28, 2011

▼

Best & worst of the lavender tube 2011

by Victoria A. Brownworth

I

PERSONAL TRAINER

t was the best of TV, it was the worst of TV. Tis the season of the Top 10 list: bests, worsts, queerest, most homophobic, honorable mentions, Hall of Fame Awards.

Dramas, sitcoms, reality TV, and of course the best and worst of news and punditry.

As long as we’ve been writing about TV (almost 20 years in this very spot) we’ve been consistent: We love TV. Even in a bad year – and TV is often like Beaujolais – we still can find things we really, really like. That said, 2011 was actually a good year for TV. Not queer TV, since we have yet to enter Fringe’s alternate universe, but nevertheless there were many good, solid shows with a few queer characters and storylines tossed in here and there.

Which leads us to one of our new categories: Best Tough Cookie and/or Best ShouldHave-Been-a-Lesbian. We’re hot for this category for obvious reasons, and the new season brought us some stellar entries, like Joss Carter, Carrie Mathison and Jane Timoney.

Our High Five: #1: Kalinda Sharma (Archie Panjabi), The Good Wife (CBS). #2, Joss Carter (Taraji P. Henson), Person of Interest (CBS). #3, Brenda Lee Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick), The Closer (TNT). #4, Jane Timoney (Maria Bello), Prime Suspect (NBC). #5, Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes), Homeland (Showtime). Honorable Mention: Kate Beckett (Stana Katic), Castle (CBS). Hall of Fame: Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Law & Order: SVU (NBC), still the hottest unmarried female detective on the tube.

Olivia notwithstanding, not enough can be said about how magnificent a character Kalinda is, or how superb Archie Panjabi’s portrayal is. Every budding lesbian in America should have a poster of Kalinda on her closet door. She is tough, tougher, toughest, while also being nuanced and vulnerable.

She’s ostensibly bisexual, but we’ve only seen her having sex with women since her dalliance with her best friend Alicia’s husband, Peter.

With her leather mini-skirts, high boots and kohl-rimmed eyes, she is inarguably the sexiest woman on the tube. The complexity of her role just adds to her mystique.

Speaking of The Good Wife, the

Emmy-winner leads our Top 10 for Best Drama. It’s the best overall drama on the tube, network or cable. The writing is smart, stellar and provocative. The show has an out gay character in Owen, brother of the lead character Alicia, as well as Kalinda. And it also has gay actor Alan Cumming, in the tour de force role of Eli Gold, Chicago political mover and shaker. This show is as close to flawless as any TV drama can be. The most complex political drama on the tube since The Wire, Good Wife has all the intrigue of a thriller, wicked wit, surprising poignancy. and is definitely a sotto voce exposé and subtle takedown of corrupt Chicago politics.

The rest of our list we chose according to how much we want to see these shows each week, how we feel after the show ends (“loved it” or “never get that hour back again”), whether it tries to at least touch on queer issues and if it doesn’t, if it brings enough to the viewing table that we still want to see it every week.

In our #2 slot is Grey’s Anatomy.

We’ve loved this show long and hard from the beginning. It’s the most well-integrated show on the air by race, gender and sexual orientation.

Some may see this show as fluff, but it’s fluff with substance. GA takes on some of the toughest social issues out there. It’s the real successor to ER when that show was at its zenith.

This is the only program on the air created by a black woman, Shonda Rhimes, with a truly integrated cast (as opposed to token people of color) and with a real commitment to queer storylines. The lesbian marriage of Callie and Arizona not only unites two really hot women, but explores a realistic lesbian dynamic. Sara Ramirez’s Callie isn’t just one more affirmative action casting of the woman of color doubling as the token lesbian.

Ramirez is a central character in the ensemble, and her relationship is a vital element of the show’s overall plot.

Glee is our next choice for obvious reasons. It’s the queerest show on the tube that isn’t on Logo, and is also really good. It frustrates us at times, but it’s always gay. And that makes it a solid #3.

Our next two picks, #4, Person of Interest, and #5, Grimm, are two of the best shows of the new season.

PoI is a smart, scary thriller that

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poses the weekly question of how moral a society are we really. Michael Emerson’s Finch is as intriguing as his former Lost character Ben was, yet totally different. Jim Caviezel is Reese, a 21st-century spy-whocame-in-from-the-cold, sort of, and Taraji P. Henson is the fabulous Det. Joss Carter. This show is always surprising, and makes one think in ways that are outside the box.

Grimm takes us to the darkest side of Grimm’s fairy tales, with horror and humor in equal measure.

Another moral tale, it also has the queerish character of Monroe, a kind of gay werewolf.

The remaining picks could not be more different from each other. BBC America’s Luther is #6, smart and perfectly written vigilante justice with a black detective. Showtime’s Homeland, #7, is about what we went through as a nation in the last two wars and how it has turned us into paranoiacs. Claire Danes is just short of brilliant as a bi-polar CIA agent who sees terrorists where others see heroes.

Revenge and Ringer, #8 and #9, are new shows that are part thriller, part soap and all intrigue. Revenge has Emily van Camp in a tour de force role as a daughter avenging her father, who was charged as a terrorist. Ringer has Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy) in a dual role as identical twin sisters dealing with murder and mayhem in Manhattan.

David Simon’s Treme rounds out the Top 10. This paean to post-Katrina New Orleans is sad, bittersweet, has music to die for and, while uneven and not The Wire, is indicative of what a marvelous writer can do to bring a city and its foibles alive on the small screen.

Honorable Mentions: The superwitty Castle and Dexter, True Blood, Walking Dead and Once Upon a Time. Also, the best miniseries that may turn into a full-fledged series: The Hour, a journalistic spy thriller from BBC America.

We have many more than 10 shows on our “Worst” list, but here are the ones that bug us most.

1. The Bachelor. There’s no way to express how much we hate this show. It infantilizes women and shows them as shallow, back-biting, lying, cheating, whoring pieces of trash who will do anything for a man. The promos for the season starting in January just show women sobbing. This show is all about sending women back to 1950.

Or 1890, with different clothes. It’s despicable.

2. 90210/Gossip Girl. They are really the same show, which is bad for both of them. Teen intrigue (except the “teens” are even older than on Glee, which makes them veritably middle-aged) that is so shallow and mean-spirited that these shows are like primers for bullying. The gay storylines, while featuring great-looking not-actualteens, suck. We have wanted to put a fist through the screen more than once over the gay drama.

3. American Horror Story.

Supposed to be ultra-cool hipster terror, but takes Paranormal Activity-style horror to a tediously pretentious nadir. Did we mention pretentious? Let’s mention it again.

4. The Kardashians. David Craig was right when he called them “f*ing idiots,” and Barbara Walters was hilarious when she “innocently” said they had no talent on her 10 Most Fascinating People show. The Braxtons is the African-American version of this one, btw. Except at least Toni can sing.

5. Any/All Real Housewives, including The A List. Why are we fascinated by over-plasticsurgerized ladies-who-lunch whose main claim to fame is they married money and do nothing but

CBS-TV

Archie Panjabi plays Kalinda Sharma on The Good Wife (CBS).

whine day and night? The A List is the gay male version of this and actually sucks more, which doesn’t seem possible. These shows exploit the emptiness of lives filled with shopping and primping, and make straight women and gay men into the most vain and vapid species on earth.

Honorable Mention in this Low Five list are Unforgettable, which ought to be called Unwatchable, and Body of Proof, which is formulaic to the point where we can predict the dialogue in most scenes. Jeri Ryan is superb, but Dana Delaney is terribly miscast (and terrible), which is a shame after her fine performance on Desperate Housewives. What’s more, the show is supposed to be set in Philadelphia but is filmed in Providence, and the writers seem to know nothing about either city.

Both these shows are supposed to spotlight independent women, but the main characters are so damaged, and not in any interesting way, like Stana Katic’s character on Castle, they just become the fictional version of the women on Real Housewives and The Bachelor.

There are a surprising number of terrific sitcoms currently on the air. The High Five are: #1 Modern Family, #2 Up All Night, #3 Whitney, #4 Suburgatory and #5 New Girl. Each of these shows has either strong queer characters or strong women characters or both.

Whitney Cummings gets special props for writing and creating the show she stars in. Suburgatory has two of the best teenage characters on the tube. The writers over at the CW might take note.

SNL gets Honorable Comedy Mention for its political skits with special notice to Seth Meyers, whose news segment delivery is awesome.

Not since the late Phil Hartman’s Bill Clinton has there been as good a send-up of a politician as Bill Hader’s pants-pissingly funny Rick Perry.

The Best Queer Storylines of the year were few and far between, alas. For the second year in a row, we choose Callie & Arizona on Grey’s Anatomy as the best, for verisimilitude. These women are living a real lesbian relationship that we recognize. We give Honorable Mention to Kurt & Blaine and Santana & Britney on Glee, and we still love Cam & Mitchell on Modern Family.

Worst Gay Storyline is Teddy & Kyle on 90210. Teddy is 30 and still in high school. And how to classify Nolan & Tyler on Revenge other than sleazy and oh-so-1950s? Yet somehow horrifyingly compelling, which is how we know it’s very, very wrong.

We also have to give Honorable Mention in both the Best and Worst categories to Bianca’s final romance as All My Children ended its 40year run in September. One more straight girl. Really? All those years, and Bianca never found an actual lesbian to be lesbians with. But at least she stayed lesbian and never turned to men.

In the reality show category we’re awarding a Best and a Worst Queer Contestant for Dancing with the Stars. Carson Kressley was classy, funny, a surprisingly inept dancer for someone so light in the loafers, but a great contestant. He gets our Best. Conversely, Chaz Bono whined and stumbled his way through more weeks than he should have been allowed to remain on the show, and had Cher Dearest tweet about the mean judges afterward. That Bono is receiving awards from LGBT groups and Kressley goes unnoticed is just a sin and a shame. Kressley was a good sport even after being voted off the parquet. He deserves the accolades, especially since he works for a living and does not have famous parents.

In the news and punditry category, Jon Stewart’s Daily Show edges out actual pundits for acuity, fearlessness and humor. Keith Olbermann gets the Worst Person in the World Award for betraying his audience by faking being fired from MSNBC. Bill O’Reilly and Chris Matthews share the Worst Person in the World Award for their chronic lying.

ABC gets an Honorable Mention for Best News for reporting on social issues that everyone else ignores, most recently Diane Sawyer’s Dec. 16 report on women/girls and childbirth, still a harrowing event in much of the world, where 10-yearolds are forced into marriage and young girls die in childbirth. CBS gets an Honorable Mention for reporting on those who have been fighting the decades-long wars that have wrought havoc on the 1% who have done all the fighting.

If we want to keep TV honest and support the shows that love us back, there’s only one way: Stay tuned.▼

▼

Music>>

December 22-28, 2011 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 29

Country folks

by Gregg Shapiro

M

eg Baird of Espers steps out on her own and moves in a twangy folk direction on Seasons on Earth (Drag City). There’s a timeless quality to the disc that could fool the ear into thinking it was recorded 40 or more years ago, but young Baird probably wasn’t even a glimmer in her parents’ eyes at that time. Baird’s twang, which comes from Marc Orleans’ pedal steel guitar, is most prominent on “Babylon” and “Stars Climb up the Vine,” while her folk leanings are strongest on “Even Rain,” “The Land Turned Over” and covers of The House of Love’s “Beatles and the Stones.”

Over the course of a dozen studio albums since the late 1980s, Grammywinning singer/songwriter Shelby

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Pariah From page 19

“Where have you been?”

“At the movies.”

“The movies are over by Midnight. Your curfew is 12:30.”

“Sorry, I just lost track of time.”

“I don’t much care for the girl you’re running around with.”

“Look, I’m not your husband, your companion, or your best friend. I’m your daughter, so butt out!”

Rees provides saucy plotlines, including Alike’s complex but positive relationship with her NYPD detective Dad, and the irony that Mom, trying her best to end Alike’s “tomboy” phase, actually steers her towards a hot overnighter with a church lady’s daughter.

David Lamble: Where did you find your young lead?

Dee Rees: Adepere Oduye is from Brooklyn. She walked into auditions on the first day and blew it away. In life she’s very extroverted and outgoing, but inside she had this vulnerability. She knows what it’s like to feel like you’re not quite fitting in, and she brought that.

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Lynne has gone from a slick, young Nashville interpreter of others’ songs to a more poporiented, country-influenced composer and performer in her own right. Her latest, Revelation Road (Everso), continues the trend. Standout tracks include “I’ll Hold Your Head,” “Lead Me Love” and “Toss It All Aside.”

Haley Bonar, who did a concert tour with out singer/songwriter Holcombe Waller in 2011, is back with the gleaming Golder (Graveface). Bonar is just the right combination of exciting vocalist and songwriter. If Patty Griffin were from Minnesota instead of Maine, she might sound something like Bonar.

You can hear the shimmery proof on “Anyway, Rattlesnake,” “Raggedy Man” and “Wendybird.”

When a folk-music legend such as Judy Collins not only signs you to her record label, but also records your song, that says something. It’s ironic that Nashville transplant Amy Speace sounds more like Joan Baez than Judy Collins on her new album Land Like a Bird (Thirty Tigers),

h first album since leaving her C Collins’ Wildflower Records.

On her first album since her a acclaimed collaboration with R Robert Plant, Alison Krauss r reunites with her band Union S Station for Paper Airplane ( (Rounder).

From the sepiat tone cover photos to the period c clothing, it’s clear that Krauss a and company are making a r return to their bluegrass roots.

T That’s most evident on “Dust B Bowl Children,” “My Love Follows You Where You Go” and “Miles To Go.” Her covers of Richard Thompson’s “Dimming of the Day” and Jackson Browne’s “My Opening Farewell” are also worth mentioning.

If Jessica Lea Mayfield were trying to conjure Tammy Wynette

In New York you never feel alone, the city itself is your date, and Brooklyn was the first place I had seen these out teenagers who already knew at 17, and weren’t afraid to be that. “They’re 17 and they’re out, and I’m 27, and why am I afraid to come out?”

She’s very expressive and beautiful, that draws us in to what she’s really feeling, because Alike thinks a lot of things that she doesn’t say.

In a small cast of characters you have some distinctive voices. The mom is the most problematic, which gives you some incendiary mother/daughter dialogues.

Everyone in the film is flawed, but Audrey’s flawed in a way that the very things she tries to avoid she brings about. The more she tries to connect, she pushes people away.

She can’t control her husband, but she can control her daughter. In the effort to connect she actually alienates and starts to feel like a pariah herself.

Inadvertently she connects Alike up with her first date.

She’s trying to correct Alike and have her not have homosexual experience, but by making her hang out with the girl from their church, she brings it about. She thinks that Laura is a bad influence, but dragging Alike from Laura just pushes Alike along the path of her own identity.

Anyone coming from an

You embed the story in a believable Brooklyn middle-class African-American family.

Part of Audrey’s problem with Laura is her belief that she’s below them in class.

Focus Features

Kim Wayans as Audrey in director Dee Rees’ Pariah.

emotionally abused background expects that violence in the family is going to come from the father.

You confound our expectations with that electric scene where Audrey strikes her daughter.

The more I got to know Arthur, I realized he would never be capable

The cherry on the sundae is having Spike Lee as your executive producer.

I interned with him on When the Levees Broke. He was really generous with his time, very open and candid.▼

Brooklyn is a great setting.

Pariah opens on Wed., Dec. 28.

SECA Awards

Courtesy the artist and Haines Gallery, San Francisco

courtesy SFMOMA

Nayland Blake, “Work Station #5” (1989), steel, glass, aluminum, leather, plastic, rubber, and cleavers, collection SFMOMA.

gold leaf, and labeled forgetfulness, need (long and attenuated), flattery, spite, inertia, spite, solace, etc. It’s a delightfully witty antidote to the self-seriousness on offer. Leslie Shows’ “Heap of Elements for a Body, About to Act or Finished Acting,” an acrylic, collage, iron, rust, gold, cobalt, and glitter on panel from 2006, the same year she won, should inspire you to

run, not walk to her solo exhibit at Haines Gallery before it closes on Saturday. John Bankston’s fanciful “Bronze Cowboy” (2003) depicts a nattily dressed, African-American cowpoke riding his dappled mare, and Nayland Blake’s “Work Station #5” (1989). a glass and aluminum table on wheels, equipped with black rubber tubing and an assortment of cleavers hanging off its sides, looks

Also, the dad’s a narcotics detective, he works insane hours, and he’s fudging what he’s actually doing sometimes.

He knows what’s going on, and he and Alike have that kind of unspoken agreement to keep each other’s secrets.

of this. Audrey’s the one who’s being ignored, so she’s the one who’s kind of building steam. The Sundance directors’ lab was the last place I shot the scene where the father committed the violence.

From page 17

anything particularly gripping, out there or exciting in the current award exhibition.

Running concurrently, the anniversary survey, Fifty Years of Bay Area Art: The SECA Awards, is particularly disappointing, even though it contains works by a Who’s Who of Bay Area art. William T. Wiley, Squeak Carnwath, Barry McGee, Jim Campbell, Hung Liu, Chris Johanson, Leslie Shows, Trevor Paglen, David Best and Kota Ezawa are just a few of the 50 artists, working in a variety of media, represented here.

Arranged thematically, this first major overview of past awardwinners purports to examine connections between individual artists across generations and genres. However, a gallery titled Abstraction, Minimalism and Transformation, which would seem to cover everything and nothing, is a clue that you’ve landed in a country where the only language is art-speak. In theory and principle, spotlighting and nurturing talent is laudable, but the art on the walls is another matter. That old fable about the emperor having no clothes comes to mind. There are notable exceptions, of course. Among them: Maria Porges’ mixed-media piece that asks the plaintive, age-old question “Why Are We Like Our Parents?” (1996), with a cabinet of melon-colored vials in assorted sizes and shapes, made of wax, wood and

or any of her 1960s counterparts with the cover photo for Tell Me (Nonesuch), produced by Dan Auerbach, then she succeeded.

You can hear the influence of The Black Keys’ brand of modern garage on the title track and “I’ll Be the One that You Want Someday.” But young Mayfield maintains her own identity throughout, particularly on “Blue Skies Again” (on which she recalls Zooey Deschanel) and “Run Myself into the Ground.”

The double-disc The Essential Rosanne Cash (Columbia/Legacy) features 36 of the singer/songwriter/ author’s songs, including 10 of her #1 country singles. Like many of the women mentioned above, Cash walked the fine line between country and folk, particularly in her later work.▼

Kota Ezawa, “X-Ray,” from The History of Photography Remix (2006), computer vector in illuminated light box.

like a prop that escaped from the set of a torture porn flick.

But too much of what’s on view, in a pair of exhibitions that take up an entire floor of the museum, screams art-school pretension.

By and large, this is the kind of work that keeps people away from modern art in droves. Some of it is accompanied by impenetrable jargon from curators and the artists themselves that suggests intent, but obscures rather than clarifies meaning, and bears little apparent

relationship to the actual work. The descriptive text may well elicit a “Say what?” reaction in the average person, and something appreciably stronger from cranky critics.

A perusal of the 50th anniversary book edited by co-curators Tanya Zimbardo and Alison Gass intimates what the exhibition could have been. Conceived as a separate project, it showcases all past award recipients, not just a selection, and includes a work from each of their respective award shows instead of pieces completed later. In most cases, the works in the book are significantly more compelling, and the essays are an illuminating and lucid history of the SECA program and travelogue of Bay Area art.

Everyone might have been better served if the anniversary exhibition had been modeled on it.

It’s not that SFMOMA doesn’t have an astute eye for nextgeneration artists; their New Work series, which casts its net well beyond the Bay Area, has offered many innovative practitioners their first museum shows, and brought edgy, unsettling, sometimes thrilling contemporary work into the museum with stimulating results.

The latest paintings by New Yorkbased artist Richard Aldrich are in the New Work gallery through March 25.▼ 2010 SECA Art Award Exhibition: Mauricio Ancalmo, Colter Jacobsen, Ruth Laskey, Kamu Amu Patton; Fifty Years of Bay Area Art: The SECA Awards, both at SFMOMA through April 3.

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