July 2, 2020 Edition of the Bay Area Reporter

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Pink triangle at 25

Living with HIV

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'Disclosure' tough to watch

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Noah's Arc returns

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Protest march observes 50th anniversary of SF Pride

Courtesy Joe Hawkins

The Oakland LGBTQ Community Center was struck by a vandal June 27.

Oakland police call LGBTQ center vandalism a hate crime

by Cynthia Laird

O

akland police on Monday said they were investigating a June 27 incident of vandalism at the LGBTQ community center as a hate crime.

As the Bay Area Reporter first reported online, windows were smashed at the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center last Saturday morning, just hours before its CEO took part in the pink triangle torch procession leading up to the lighting of the triangle in San Francisco for Pride weekend.

According to Joe Hawkins, CEO of the center, a man pulled up to the center, located at 3207 Lakeshore Avenue, at around 10:05 a.m. last Saturday.

Hawkins called the vandalism a hate crime.

In an email to the B.A.R. after this story was published online, the OPD media affairs unit stated officers are investigating.

“The Oakland Police Department is aware of this incident and we are actively investigating,” an email response stated.

But in a post to OPD’s Facebook page Monday, June 29, the department stated that it considers the incident a hate crime.

“The Oakland Police Department and the City of Oakland will not tolerate any hate crime against anyone in our community,” the post reads. “The department’s Criminal Investigations Division is investigating each of these incidents as a hate crime.”

(In addition to the smashed windows at the center, police also listed two racist incidents that occurred Sunday, June 28: a mannequin and street sign spray painted at Carmel and Coolidge streets, and a residence in the 2500 block of Maxwell Avenue was spray-painted.)

In a Facebook post, Hawkins described what vendors who were setting up in front of the building told him.

“A man described as ‘a young skinny white male’ on a bike pulled up to the center,” Hawkins wrote. “He had a golf club with him and began smashing our windows and yelling expletives. A witness who is an African American vendor began yelling at the man to stop.

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Hundreds of people took part in the People’s March on Polk Street at California and Pine streets Sunday, June 28

by John Ferrannini

T

he unofficial 50th annual commemoration of LGBT Pride in San Francisco Sunday, June 28, was a return to Pride’s roots in protest, as hundreds of demonstrators citywide marched in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

The People’s March and Rally: Unite to

Fight began at the intersection of Polk and Washington streets at 10:30 a.m. As the Bay Area Reporter previously reported, this event was spearheaded by longtime activist Alex U. Inn and Juanita MORE!, who planned it in conjunction with nationwide activism on behalf of the Black community following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis May 25.

That protest – one of three events Sunday (the others were a protest titled ‘Pride is a riot’ and a rally in the Fillmore district honoring Black trans people) – was planned to follow the route of that first “gay-in” in 1970, which later grew to become the San Francisco Pride parade.

While this year is the occasion of the parade’s 50th anniversary, the coronavirus See page 7 >> John Ferrannini

Local gym owners adjust business plans

by Matthew S. Bajko

S

ince shelter-in-place orders imposed in mid-March caused her to close her gym location in Oakland, The Queer Gym owner Nathalie Huerta and her employees have continued to offer their training programs virtually.

Fortuitously, the lesbian-owned business had launched its virtual programming last year and was able to quickly move all of its clients online.

Huerta sent each client a COVID-19 care package containing a T-shirt, a bundle of sage for “good vibes,” a candle, and a lacrosse ball so they could stretch and do mobility work at home.

Nonetheless, her clients dropped precipitously from 250 people down to 68.

“We took a big fucking hit,” Huerta told the Bay Area Reporter last month during a phone interview.

She has since increased the client base up to 150 people through online promotions and social media mentions not only in the Bay Area and Los Angeles County but also up in Portland and Seattle. Still, with revenue way below where her business was at the start of 2020, Huerta has decided not to renew the lease for her gym’s physical location when it comes up for renegotiation in August.

“In 2021 or later I’ll look at reopening physical locations,” said Huerta, who launched the busi-

Rick Gerharter

MX3 Fitness co-owner Glenn Shope, left, directs Shayne Jones through his outdoor workout on the Market Street sidewalk outside the business due to COVID-19 restrictions.

ness in 2011 under the name The Perfect Sidekick. “I think gyms going forward are either going to be 100% online or offer a hybrid of online and in-person.”

She sees the pandemic wrought by the novel coronavirus as the fitness industry’s “Netflix moment,” causing upheavals over the next six

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<< Pride 2020

2 • Bay Area Reporter • July 2-8, 2020

Pink triangle lights up Twin Peaks

by David-Elijah Nahmod

T

he crowd was smaller than previous years because of the coronavirus pandemic, but LGBTQ community leaders and others braved the wind high up on Twin Peaks Boulevard June 27 for the 25th annual lighting of the pink triangle.

Another change was that this year, there was no large installation party or ceremony. Just the outline of the triangle was done with tarps. It was lighted with 2,700 LED nodes of pink light.

The installation and the lighting of the triangle was organized by cofounder Patrick Carney, who worked closely with Ben Davis of Illuminate, the same nonprofit responsible for the Bay Lights display on the Bay Bridge.

“Even with the Pride parade being canceled, the virus can’t keep our community down,” gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), told the Bay Area Reporter at the lighting ceremony. “Instead, we’re finding new and innovative ways to celebrate Pride and recommit to the fight for justice.

This new, illuminated pink triangle is jaw-droppingly beautiful and sends a powerful message of our community’s resilience.”

Others present included San Francisco Mayor London Breed, and gay political leaders District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and San Francisco Treasurer José Cisneros. Gay German Consul General Hans-Ulrich Suedbeck and Sister Roma of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence also attended.

The pink triangle originally was used to brand suspected homosexuals in Nazi concentration camps. It was revived in the 1970s as a symbol of protest against homophobia, and has been used to symbolize LGBTQ+ Pride ever since.

The lighting of the pink triangle was especially meaningful this year due to

Rick Gerharter

Pink Triangle co-founder Patrick Carney and Sister Roma cheer as the 25th annual display of the pink triangle on Twin Peaks was lighted Saturday, June 27.

the COVID-19 shutdowns, which still sees many businesses in the Castro dark. The 50th annual San Francisco Pride parade was canceled, though several protest marches were held Sunday, June 28.

The festivities actually began much earlier than the nighttime lighting ceremony. That afternoon, a pink torch procession was held, during which one or two torchbearers carried an LED-lit pink torch from Oakland, across the Bay Bridge, all the way up to Twin Peaks. The torch was designed by Burning Man artists Josh Zubikoff and Srikanth Guttikonda of the Looking Up Arts Foundation.

To get to San Francisco, Carney said that the torch was held by Patricia Wilson as she rode in a car across the bridge, escorted by members of Dykes on Bikes. Wilson had helped organize the procession route.

The first torchbearer was Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and the final torchbearer was Breed, who was handed it atop Twin Peaks. Joe Hawkins, CEO of the Oakland LGBTQ Com-

munity Center, carried the torch with Schaaf, just hours after the Black-led center was vandalized by a windowsmashing man. [See related story.]

Torchbearers along the route around Lake Merritt in Oakland included B.A.R. news editor Cynthia Laird. Torchbearers were given pink triangle masks, gloves, and T-shirts, and were escorted by a volunteer and several motorcycles on their trek to Twin Peaks. The torchbearers and their entourage were required to adhere to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations and kept six feet apart from each other.

Carney said that Breed loved the torch so much that it was given to her to keep.

Teaching about what hatred can do

Around 8 p.m. the ceremony began with Carney introducing the dignitaries.

“So long ago the first pink triangle went up in the dark of night so we wouldn’t be arrested and now it’s expected to be part of Pride weekend,” Carney said. “And now we’re thrilled by that – that it’s become official. Having it lit up is such a huge thrill because this is a giant in-your-face educational tool. It’s a huge one-acre spot of pink on the hill and it’s there for curiosity, so people will say ‘what it that, why is it there?’”

Carney said the triangle was there to teach people about the Holocaust and what hatred can lead to.

“So many groups are targeted for hate,” he said. “Whether it’s Jews, Blacks, Mexicans, all of us. It’s a sense of creating other – you’re not one of us, you’re one of them.”

Sister Roma then recounted the history of the pink triangle. Now, Roma said, the symbol has been embraced by the queer community as a symbol of Pride.

Wiener thanked Carney.

“When Pride got canceled, I assumed everything would be canceled,” Wiener said. “But COVID-19 had not met Patrick. That this is still happening tonight speaks volumes about this community.”

Wiener pointed out that the San Francisco LGBTQ community has been “to hell and back,” going through the worst of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

“The other pandemic where the government totally ignored us and allowed it to spiral out of control,” Wiener said. “This is a community that has gone through hate crimes and has gone through administrations that have demonized us – Donald Trump is not the first president who has attacked and demonized the LGBT community. This is a community that has gone through so much, but you know what?

We are still here. And we’re not going anywhere. COVID-19 is not going to make us go anywhere, Donald Trump is not going to make us go anywhere, we’re here, and we are going to win.”

Breed was the last to speak. She opened her remarks by noting that no one could have predicted the ongoing pandemic, or that events the community loves, like SF Pride, would be canceled.

“Especially me, as a Black woman in America, that finally, finally everyone is seeing my lived experience through a whole other lens,” the mayor said.

“We know that there are challenges. As Sister Roma said when you think about it, over 70 countries in this world have laws that discriminate against people because of who they are and who they love, and there are 10 countries that still will put someone to death because of who they are and who they love. So what this means, this reminder of the past, this reminder of an ugly time in our history, has been taken away from that ugly time and used as a symbol, as

t

a symbol of hope, as a symbol of a better future for all of us.

“We can do whatever we want when we come together, when we show love to one another, no matter what our race is, no matter what our sexual orientation is, we all in some capacity or another experience discrimination. That’s why we are stronger together, and that’s why in San Francisco we will never let hate divide us,” Breed added. “We come together in the spirit of love, that’s why Pride is always my favorite time of year. Because there’s so much love, there’s so much excitement that bring us closer together as a community.”

The mayor then declared June 27 as Patrick Carney Day and Pink Triangle Day amid cheers.

“Now let’s light this triangle!” the mayor said.

Violinist Kippy Marks then played the iconic song “San Francisco” on a 198-year-old violin as the triangle was lit amid much cheering.

“Patrick Carney Day was a surprise,” Carney told the B.A.R. “I am filled with joy and humbled the mayor would declare it Patrick Carney Day and Pink Triangle Day. It was a thrill for sure. There have been declarations of Pink Triangle Day in the past, but having Patrick Carney Day prefacing that was the cherry atop the cake. This is a true community-building event, which in a normal year takes hundreds of volunteers to install. So Pink Triangle Day honors all who have contributed their effort, labor and love over more than two decades.”

The Pink Triangle will remain lit atop Twin Peaks until the conclusion of AIDS 2020 July 11, so there is still time for people to see it from their homes, along Market Street, or farther away if weather permits.t

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July 2-8, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 3

LGBTQ experts help in South Bay COVID-19 response

by Heather Cassell

W

hile it is now scaling back reopening plans in light of an uptick in infections, Santa Clara County has been ahead of the curve for the novel coronavirus since the pandemic broke out in the United States earlier this year.

The county was among the first to institute stay-at-home orders, which enabled it to flatten the curve. The county continues to open new free testing sites for residents as it slowly reopens for business.

As of June 30, the county had 4,265 total reported coronavirus cases with 156 deaths from COVID-19, which is caused by the virus, according to its COVID-19 dashboard.

The World Health Organization officially declared the coronavirus a global pandemic March 11 when the county was already beginning to institute physical distancing and sheltering in place.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that a diverse group of LGBTQ and women community leaders have navigated Silicon Valley through the pandemic.

Dr. Sara Cody, the county’s public health officer and public health department director, other public health experts, such as gay Drs. George Han and Marty Fenstersheib, and LGBTQ staff have guided the county’s COVID-19 efforts.

Recently Cody and the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors announced a revised reopening plan as cases in the state continue to climb.

Han is the county’s deputy health officer/infectious disease and response branch director. Fenstersheib is the county’s former public health officer who came out of retirement to serve as the county’s COVID-19 testing officer.

The diversity was highlighted among county employees who shifted gears from their usual jobs to respond to COVID-19, many told the Bay

Luis Pedro Castillo

LGBTQ emergency response center staff in Santa Clara County include, in back row from left, Eydie Mendoza, Edie Schaffer, Maribel Martínez; in center from left, Ricardo Romero-Morales, Sandy Stier, Rodrigo Garcia-Reyes; and in front from left, Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, Dr. George Han, and David Campos.

Area Reporter.

“There has to be cultural competence to any response to a pandemic, otherwise the response is not effective,” said David Campos, a gay man who’s a county deputy executive director, about the importance of a diverse team, but also one with a queer leadership.

Campos, who is currently serving as the public information officer for the county’s Emergency Operations Center, explained Cody’s methodology for her guidance through the pandemic.

Cody, an ally, worked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention early and that guided her swift and measured response to the pandemic. She also quickly worked with public health directors around the Bay Area – including San Francisco Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax, a gay man – for the region’s response to the global pandemic. Focused on Silicon Valley, she set up a pandemic response infrastructure and guidelines for the county’s measured reopening, Campos said.

“I think that she also understood that it wasn’t only about one county

responding but there was a need to respond as a region,” said Campos, who previously served as a San Francisco supervisor and is currently chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party.

That led to most Bay Area counties instituting stay-at-home orders simultaneously in mid-March, followed quickly by Governor Gavin Newsom’s statewide stay-at-home order a few days later.

Santa Clara County’s response team reacted quickly to prepare, contain, and ramp up testing. Now, it is focused on contact tracing and reopening in a slow and measured way, Campos said.

It’s all an effort to have an infrastructure in place as the county and the Bay Area reopens to help prevent a second wave or a spike that is greater than the initial one, which is a very real possibility, he said.

Been here before

The coronavirus pandemic reminded many in the LGBTQ community of the early days of the HIV/ AIDS epidemic.

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epidemic that has a potential to affect and kill so many people is not new to the LGBTQ community,” Campos said. “Because of that experience, it is not surprising that so many key players in this response come from our community.”

Campos believes that knowledge gained from the HIV/AIDS crisis and the LGBTQ community’s response to it is applicable to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

“I think that we can use that knowledge and apply it to how we are responding to this crisis,” he said, talking about recognizing and acknowledging vulnerability, adjusting to a new reality, education, protection, and working together.

“I think that is going to be essential if we are going to succeed in dealing with this pandemic,” said Campos.

Fenstersheib, who was a health officer for the county from 1984 to 2012, echoed those comments.

“We must at present rely on prevention measures to protect ourselves as well as those we love,” he said in a statement to the B.A.R. He added that both pandemics have taught officials that “being transparent and truthful is critical in garnering the trust of those most impacted,” many of whom are in minority communities.

“The LGBTQI community lost too many but nevertheless persevered,” Fenstersheib said. “We can take from that experience with HIV/AIDS the lessons of doing all we can to survive until we eventually have a treatment or a vaccine.”

Han didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment by press time.

To meet the needs of at-risk and communities of color the county also implemented a language access team and a racial and health equity team to address disparities, said Ricardo Romero-Morales, a gay Latinx man

who’s a program specialist for the county’s public health department.

Many LGBTQ South Bay community leaders and residents expressed pride in the county and the entire Bay Area’s response to the pandemic.

“One of the things that makes our local leadership pretty unique is that we have folks that are representing the communities that they are serving,” said Adrienne Keel, director of LGBTQ programs at the LGBTQ Youth Space. “The difference that makes is there’s a constant kind of consideration for those who are frequently unconsidered.”

The youth space is a program of Family and Children’s Services of Silicon Valley, which is a division of Caminar.

“I feel pretty proud of the response by local government,” said Keel, expressing appreciation for the government’s “compassion for people versus profit” response to the pandemic.

“They reacted quickly. There was not a dismissiveness about the severity of COVID-19 that we’ve seen with other politicians and other local governments,” she continued. “Responding quickly with science, reason, and logic has been incredibly comforting as a South Bay resident.”

Being counted

Campos said that one of the lessons of the coronavirus pandemic is that the data being collected and that is available within the health care system is “not as complete as we would want it to be” not just around sexual orientation and gender identity, but also around race and ethnicity.

“The reports are incomplete,” said Campos. “There is like 20% to 30% where the race and ethnicity are not known.”

The one thing county leaders know is that communities where there are higher rates of poverty and income See page 8 >>

<< Open Forum

4 • Bay Area Reporter • July 2-8, 2020

Volume 50, Number 27 July 2-8, 2020 www.ebar.com

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Time for new leadership at Mission Station B

ased on recent incidents, San Francisco Police Chief William Scott should reassign Captain Gaetano Caltagirone of Mission Station and appoint a new leader. Recent incidents call into question Caltagirone’s commitment to the LGBTQ community.

During a June 3 protest against police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s death by Minneapolis police, a nonbinary San Francisco police officer was sent home for wearing earrings on the job – a dress code violation that had been rarely enforced or reprimanded. Officer Rubin Rhodes also took a knee in solidarity with protesters outside Mission Station. Scott has said that revisions to the dress code are in progress, but it’s the captain at each station who is responsible for day-to-day operations, and the appearance of singling out Rhodes for retaliation falls under Caltagirone’s purview.

Then last Sunday, during the Pride is a riot march in solidarity with Black Lives Matter that started near Mission Dolores Park, officers stormed the demonstrators, pulled out their clubs and became aggressive. According to KQED, the trouble started when Pride demonstrators marched from Dolores Park and tried to turn left onto Valencia from 18th Street. A white police van drove south down Valencia Street and blocked them. That lone police van and roughly a half dozen police officers formed a line to stop hundreds of marchers from heading down Valencia. No explanation has been given for why officers were ordered to

Rick Gerharter

Police officers became aggressive and highly provocative when marchers surrounded their unmarked van during the Pride is a riot march Sunday, June 28.

block protesters. This march had been reported on for at least a week prior, so police should not have been surprised. It seemed as though police sought to antagonize and harass marchers. No arrests were made, according to SFPD, which raises further questions about why the van’s attempt to block the march was necessary.

It’s not only protests. In addition to complaints about health and safety issues over the years from members of Castro Merchants and residents located within Mission Station’s precinct, there is frustration that police are ineffective in dealing with problems associated with tent encampments, homeless people, and crime. (Now that the city

has decided to reduce the police department’s budget in response to calls for “defunding the police,” a more humane alternative may be for social workers or medical personnel to attend non-emergency cases.)

The Castro and the LGBTQ community have had a fraught and sometimes violent relationship with the police since the 1970s. Five decades later, we’re still demanding that police treat queer people and their allies fairly and respectfully. If Caltagirone continues to lead his officers in an adversarial rather than cooperative relationship with the community, Scott should replace him.

More broadly, SFPD leadership needs to change how it responds to peaceful demonstrations. In last Sunday’s case, the Pride is a riot march simply did not rise to the level requiring police action; they should have stayed on the sidelines. t

Recalling Harry Britt and the AIDS vigil

by Ellen R. Shaffer

T

he 1980s were an increasingly awful decade in California. I moved to San Francisco in the 1970s from the East Coast. It didn’t snow, food and rent were cheap, there was music. As governor, Jerry Brown recognized the right to union representation for farmworkers and employees of the state and at UCSF, including me.

And I got a raise! I bought a stereo and thought things were looking OK. I helped to lead the successful unionization drive at UCSF. But George Deukmejian’s rule as governor from 1983-1991 ushered in a reign of austerity in public spending in the state that was more than matched by the reactionary Reagan regime in Washington, D.C. The Medi-Cal budget was slashed. Immigrants were targeted as “enemies.”

The AIDS epidemic struck disease and death into our once-happy communities. President Ronald Reagan, legitimating homophobia, wouldn’t say the word. A generation of wonderful vibrant young gay men was dropping like flies. They didn’t seem to be enfranchised residents of the U.S. As Walt Odets wrote in a piece on Literary Hub in July 2019, “In late October 1986, the National Academy of Sciences, the most prestigious science organization in the United States, released a report. Dr. David Baltimore of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, cochairman of the report committee, said at a news conference in Washington that the Academy was ‘quite honestly frightened by the AIDS virus’s potential to spread. This is a national health crisis ... of a magnitude that requires presidential leadership to bring together all elements of society to deal with the problem.’”

“By the end of his presidency in 1989, Reagan had done nothing of substance, and the United States had suffered 89,343 deaths,” Odets wrote.

“The death rate was still rapidly rising, and more than 300,000 would be dead before the epidemic came under better control seven years later. Stigma had triumphed, and the death toll of young gay men was the fruit of its labor.”

John Belskus was a brilliant, energetic, creative leader living with AIDS. Like too many gay men at the time, his family had cut off contact with him. When we met up he was a key organizer of the ARC/AIDS Vigil. The vigil was an encampment that housed a rotating cadre of a dozen or so young men with AIDS, plunked down in plain sight in the midst of UN Plaza, right across from the federal government buildings. The vigil called attention to the government’s shocking and inhuman neglect, and demanded funding for research to figure out what was killing them, and to cure it.

Belskus and I became allies, close to soul mates. (Once I invited him and his partner/

Rick Gerharter

Harry Britt and Ellen R. Shaffer chained themselves to a fence outside the San Francisco Federal Building on January 19, 1989.

roommate, Frank, to come to dinner with me and my partner, Joe Brenner. Belskus squirmed a bit and tried to explain that he and Frank didn’t quite operate their relationship like that.)

In 1988, our friend and ally, Harry Britt, an openly gay man, ran for reelection to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. I had the joy and honor to work on his campaign. Elections were citywide – this was before district elections.

Six seats on the board were open to election. Several dozen candidates were running for election or reelection to those six seats.

Britt aimed to win the most votes among the field. This victory would designate him as president of the board. (Today, the supervisors elect their own president.)

Britt campaigned vigorously and persuasively all across the city for his progressive vision of San Francisco’s future, inviting communities to join him as allies. His victory as the top vote-getter, thus becoming board president, was celebrated throughout the city, and certainly gave great heart to what we then spoke of as the gay and lesbian community.

1989 dawned with hope for better days.

Reagan had shuffled off the stage. As Barbara Boxer made a splash in Congress for progressive issues, her staff reinforced her prospects for success by convening strategy sessions with community activists.

Equally importantly, Walter Johnson served as the dynamic, progressive leader of the San Francisco Labor Council. Johnson dubbed himself the “Voice of Justice,” dedicated to cultivating San Franciscans with a sense of humor and a passion

for human rights and racial justice. He supported the Community Health Coalition, a group I led that advocated for better funding of San Francisco health care services, and he invited me to serve as co-chair for a labor/community coalition that worked out of the Labor Council.

Belskus proposed this late in 1988: Let’s ask Britt and Johnson to join me in chaining ourselves to the fence surrounding UN Plaza, and demand funding for AIDS research and treatment. It would be the launch of a Bay- Area-wide series of such actions.

Britt and Johnson, fantastic leaders that they were, agreed enthusiastically.

The day came, January 19, 1989. Friends joined us to observe and cheer, including Erma (whose last name I can’t recall), who attended every meeting of the Gray Panthers Health Committee with her granddaughter, who was developmentally disabled; the San Francisco rep from the Senior Legislature; Nancy Walker, a later board president; and Jane Jackson, a disabled activist who used a wheelchair. Jackson would refuse to be carried up stairs; she insisted there should be ramps. Three years later the U.S. Senate, and then the Congress, agreed with her, and the Americans with Disabilities Act became law.

The photos tell the story of the day.

We gathered at the Federal Building.

Britt, Johnson, and I were chained up. We got arrested. We made headlines. Not only that: we kicked off a Who’s Who procession of Bay Area notables who scheduled themselves during the next several months to follow in our footsteps, and demand to be arrested so they could demand a cure.

My employer of record at the time, a downtown consulting firm, was notably unimpressed with my photo prominently displayed on page 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle alongside Britt and Johnson, above the headline: “Supervisor in Chains.” Not long afterward I accepted an offer to work in Washington, D.C., in more suitable surroundings. I came back home to San Francisco when I could and tried to stay in touch. Belskus died a few years after this event, just missing out on the treatments he fought so hard for. Our friend Johnson died in 2012. And now Britt has passed on. (Mr. Britt died June 24 at the age of 82.)

We rely on their memories and their example to guide us as we go forward. t Ellen R. Shaffer, Ph.D., MPH, is a health policy analyst. She has advocated in the public’s interest at the state, national, and international levels. She has served since 2002 as an adjunct faculty member at UCSF Medical Center.

t

Politics >>

July 2-8, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 5

HIV aging given prime spot at AIDS confab

by Matthew S. Bajko

A

t the last two global AIDS conferences, hosted in Amsterdam in 2018 and Durban, South Africa in 2016, long-term survivors of HIV and AIDS who attended noticed a glaring omission in the programs: themselves.

Despite estimates that at least 7.5 million people 50 years of age or older are living with HIV, the unique needs and concerns of longterm survivors were missing from the discussion taking place at the official conference. Two years ago there was some focus paid to longterm survivors within the conference’s Global Village program.

“When I went to Africa for the International AIDS Conference and the one after that in Amsterdam, I was amazed not even one workshop was talking about growing older with HIV or the HIV long-term survivors,” said Jesus Guillen, 60, who has been living with HIV for 36 years and founded the online HIV Long Term Survivors Group about seven years ago to provide a sense of connection and community for people aging with the disease.

As the Bay Area Reporter has noted for years, San Francisco’s HIV population has been rapidly aging due to the advancement of HIV and AIDS care. In 2018, 67% of people living with HIV in San Francisco were over age 50, including 30% who were over 60. People over 50 accounted for 13% of new diagnoses, according to the city’s latest HIV epidemiology report.

After it was decided San Francisco and Oakland would co-host the 2020 iteration of the global confab, Guillen, who chairs the San Francisco HIV and Aging workgroup for the city’s health department, was determined to see that the needs of long-term survivors were given prominence during the gathering.

“We also still have stories, have so much to share,” said Guillen. “Part of the problem many people have complained about the International AIDS Conference is that they don’t focus many times on advocates and activists. They focus on the scientific side of it.”

San Francisco resident Hank Trout, the senior editor of A&U: America’s AIDS Magazine, also felt it was important that this year’s conference not overlook people like himself. At age 67, he has lived with HIV for nearly half his life, having been diagnosed in 1989.

At a meeting last summer that local conference organizers hosted with community members, Trout recalled that he “very strongly suggested – I won’t say I was belligerent – there better be something for long-term survivors. It does no good to be violent, but if you are not loud nobody hears you.”

Their demands to be prominently featured didn’t fall on deaf ears, as one of the prime sessions at this year’s conference will focus on the

Barry Schneider Attorney at Law Jesus Guillen

Jesus Guillen

unique issues confronting longterm survivors of HIV. The plenary session, titled “Growing up and growing old with HIV: Health implications and evolving care needs,” will take place from 5 to 6 p.m.

Tuesday, July 7.

Moderating the discussion will be Reena Rajasuriar, Ph.D., who coordinates the translational research program in HIV immunology at the University of Malaya and focuses on the immunopathogenesis of accelerated aging in HIV and cancer survivors. Taking part will be Oguzhan Latif Nuh, a gay man living with HIV who is with Red Ribbon Istanbul, a civil society organization in Turkey focused on educating people about HIV, and Dr. Rajesh Gandhi, director of HIV clinical services and education at Massachusetts General Hospital.

“It is an improvement. It definitely is a step in the right direction,” Trout said of the plenary.

He added that organizers of various AIDS conferences are starting to listen to longterm survivors.

“I think they are getting the message that they can’t ignore us any longer. We bore the brunt of this pandemic,” he said. “We were the ones who were guinea pigs for all those medicines; we were the ones for the trials of all the medications and etc. We are the ones supposed to be dead but we are not, and we refuse to be ignored anymore.”

In addition to the plenary, one of the conference’s networking zones is dedicated to those aging with HIV and their various concerns, from ageism and sex to dating and healthy aging with HIV and comorbidities. It is called, “Celebrating the resilience and wisdom of LongTerm Survivors (LTS) and elders with HIV: A community-building networking zone for LTS, elders and allies.”

Older people living with HIV will also be featured in a different channel, this one called “ATLAS VIRTUAL: A storytelling experience.” One of the

offerings will be a round table discussion featuring Trout and several other local long-term survivors. And in the Film Screening Channel will be a 29-minute film featuring Trout and fellow long-term survivor Bruce Ward reading four monologues they wrote about aging with HIV. It is already available to view online at https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=JeE94tqw6Io&feature=yo utu.be Guillen will also be part of the Global Village this year, ensuring that long-term survivors are given a voice.

“Hopefully, everybody at the local level feels comfortable and represented,” he said.

Nonetheless, Guillen would like to see even more attention be given to issues around aging with HIV at future conferences.

“Honestly, I feel being part of the Global Village is just like a little bit of a Band-Aid in some ways I feel,” he said.

The 23rd International AIDS Conference, which went virtual this year due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, kicks off online Monday, July 6, and wraps Friday, July 10, with a free daylong program on COVID-19. The virtual Global Village’s workshops and exhibits can also be accessed for free.

For more information about the schedule and to register for AIDS 2020, visit http://www. aids2020.org. t Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http:// www.ebar.com Monday mornings for Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion. This week’s column reported on Moraga completing Contra Costa County’s first Pride Month observance sweep.

Keep abreast of the latest LGBT political news by following the Political Notebook on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/politicalnotes.

Got a tip on LGBT politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 8298836 or e-mail m.bajko@ebar.com.

Letters >> Dangerous encampment needs to go

As a business owner and Castro resident, the drug encampment at 16th and Pond streets has been a dangerous and detrimental establishment that has harmed our community for the past several years. The tents sit directly under a historical mural called “The Hope for World Cure” that refers to the AIDS epidemic.

Sadly, Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and the San Francisco Police Department have done little to improve the area against the many requests from neighbors and businesses. Just last week, while conducting a walking tour with clients, we were threatened by an apparent meth-crazed

girl who crossed the street to harass us because we were standing next to garbage bins that she needed to raid. We left in fear of our lives. Unfortunately, this is not the first time she has tried to physically attack me while I was conducting business. Enough is enough. The Castro needs to get rid of this encampment for good. These people are illegally breaking most health and city codes and it’s time for our community to take action against this horrendous situation. Get them treatment or tell them to leave the city.

No more excuses. Period.

Kathy Amendola San Francisco

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etflix recently released “Disclosure,” a documentary created

by Sam Feder, Amy Scholder, and Laverne Cox. In it, a group of trans and nonbinary people go into detail on the history of trans images in movies and television.

It really is a remarkable piece of filmmaking, covering a fairly in-depth history of the good, bad, and ugly of trans representation, from D.W. Griffith’s 1914 take on a trans character in “Judith of Bethulia” to FX’s groundbreaking series, “Pose.”

One thing that is clear through so many of the stories covered is just how much of the media centered on transgender characters over the years has not been made for a trans audience. Even the best of them are morality stories attempting to change non-transgender minds to be more accepting of trans lives.

Most, however, fall far from that mark. They are tales of trans serial killers, like Buffalo Bill in “The Silence of the Lambs.”

They are also tragic plotlines, such as television shows like “ER” casting transgender women dying due to their bodies rejecting feminizing hormones or from prostate cancer. Some, too, are trans deceivers, wearing clothing associated with a different gender to get a job or find housing, such as in the 1980s sitcom “Bosom Buddies.”

More often than not, though, the characters are played for laughs: caricatures of transgender identity, men in dresses, such as the Three Stooges in ballerina costumes.

“Disclosure,” however, takes a look at each of these with a trans lens, and explores how these stories have shaped and affected both the popular view of transgender people, but also their own transgender lives. This, in my opinion, is key.

While the documentary covered a lot of ground, it was the movies and TV shows of the 1970s and 1990s that stuck with me the most. These were the ones I grew up with, and the ones I came of age with as a transgender person.

So many of them were such awful depictions, but in their time and place, as a young transgender person, they were also water in the desert.

That is, a very problematic representation that, when it is the only likeness you have, is far more palatable.

“The Crying Game,” covered in the documentary, is a good example.

When the character of Dil – and here’s a 28-year-old spoiler alert – is revealed as having a penis, another character, Fergus, runs to the restroom in a spasm of vomiting.

Christine Smith

It’s a terrible reaction, and set up many similar scenes of revulsion at trans bodies from “Ace Ventura” to “Family Guy.” It is a moment that is hurtful, as a trans person, to watch; knowing that even people who were romantically attracted to us – up to that moment – will react to our very flesh with utter, uncontrolled, disgust.

Yet, at the time it came out in 1992, in many trans circles the view was different.

People were excited to see a movie that appeared to have an actual trans person in it. As bad as it all was, it was still so rare to see anything approaching an honest representation as the character of Dil that many within the community largely glossed over how terrible the reveal and subsequent scenes were for that character.

The same could be said for 1999’s “Boys Don’t Cry.” The film has many sins, not the least of them being the omission of Philip DeVine, a Black friend of Brandon Teena’s killed the same night, from the narrative. Yet, at the time it was released, many – myself included – were happy to see a big-budget Hollywood film centered on such a tragedy. That Hilary Swank won an Academy Award was, at the time, also viewed as a positive by many in the community, a highwater mark for its era.

Another pivotal moment from “Disclosure” was the mention of Billy Crystal’s character on “Soap,” Jodie Dallas, who was planning to transition. Or, as it was put at the time, “get a sex change.” There wasn’t much trans on TV at the time in the 1970s.

Of course, that character was reduced to a gay man shortly after – which was presented in part as to why he wanted to transition in the first place – then he got married to a woman and had a kid, who later

turned out to be the devil. But that is beside the point.

In looking back on “Soap,” you can see how the character’s female presentation was played purely as a gag: the unshaven face and wash-and-go blonde wig, coupled with a pink satin dress and otherwise masculine body make this clear.

Yet “Soap” was the first time I regularly saw a character who was actually presented as trans, right there on the front room with my parents, hunched over TV trays! This wasn’t Corporal Klinger trying to dodge the Army on “M*A*S*H,” or a comedic character like Geraldine on “Flip Wilson.”

In its time, this was quite the thing to see.

Nevertheless – like so many other examples – the Jodie Dallas character had a dual effect: while it helped illuminate me to my own transness, it was also feeding me a narrative that being trans was a horrible thing. This was all we had – but this was also abhorrent.

If you are trans or nonbinary, I recommend watching “Disclosure.” Know, however, that it may hit some very soft spots for you.

A lot of the material presented is hard to sit through. It is worth watching in its entirety.

And if you are not trans, you still need to watch this too. You will gain a very new perspective on trans lives, and enjoy a documentary that provides an honest and fresh view on trans representation in popular media. t Gwen Smith would really like to see a whole lot more from the “Disclosure” team. You can find her at www.gwensmith.com.

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Vigil held for Harry Britt

O

n Friday, June 26, a small group of people marched down Market Street to City Hall, following a short gathering in Jane Warner Plaza in the Castro, to remember the gay late San Francisco Supervisor Harry Britt. Mr. Britt, 82, succeeded Harvey

Rick Gerharter

Milk on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and became board president. He died June 24 at Laguna Honda Hospital in the city. Many remembered him as a progressive leader.

t <<

From the Cover>>

SF Pride

From page 1

pandemic led to the cancellation of the official parade in April.

Inn, a former board member of SF Pride who has been critical of the more assimilationist direction that the parade has gone in, has said that having a people’s Pride march has been a longtime dream.

“We are celebrating 50 years of Pride and we are the people’s march,” Inn said before the march began.

“We are giving it back to the people. ... Let’s have a rally and a party and the best Pride weekend we can give each other.”

Hundreds of marchers made their way down Polk Street to City Hall behind a “People’s March” banner, with Inn leading chants of “white silence is violence” and “no justice, no peace.

No racist police.” When they weren’t chanting, marchers listened to music playing from a bus provided by the Burning Man organization BAAHS (Big Ass Amazingly Awesome Homosexual Sheep).

Christopher Vasquez, a gay man who is the communications director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, was providing assistance on that bus. He told the B.A.R. that he hopes the People’s March becomes the new model for Pride celebrations.

“Today’s People’s March and Rally is the first time that Pride has been a true protest against discrimination and oppression in decades,” Vasquez wrote in a text message to the B.A.R. “It’s great to see thousands of people coming out to a truly organic pride event to proclaim that Black – specifically Black Trans – lives matter. This is what Pride should be every year and I hope it continues this way instead of a corporate pink-washed party.”

Gay state Senator Scott Wiener (DSan Francisco) attended the march down Polk Street, as did gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman.

“Pride is getting back to its roots – a protest against police brutality and societal repression,” Wiener said. “We must recommit to the fight for justice and equity.”

Police raise batons at Pride is a riot march

Wiener’s opponent in his November reelection bid for state Senate, queer educator Jackie Fielder, was also protesting June 28 but was at the “Pride is a riot” march that kicked off adjacent to Mission Dolores Park in the afternoon.

“It is not enough to demand police out of Pride,” Fielder wrote in a

<<

Center vandalism

From page 1

The man then hopped on his bike and rode off.”

Hawkins pointed out in the post that the center is “Black led and queer.”

“We have a large banner on our window that says Black LGBTQ Lives Matter Too! We are clear that this was a hate crime that could have caused us to be targeted because we are Black and because we are LGBTQ,” he added.

Hawkins went on to thank people who showed up to help clean up.

“We appreciate you so much,” he wrote, calling it “an emotional and difficult time.”

On Sunday, June 28, Hawkins issued another post on Facebook, calling for increased awareness among elected officials and the general public about how the combination of homophobia, transphobia, and racism negatively impacts “the health and wellness of our community as a whole.”

“So much more needs to be done in the East Bay to help LGBTQ+ residents, particularly Black/African American, Indigenous, Latino/ Latinx, and Asian LGBTQ community members, to know how to report hate crimes, and how to keep our community safer during these

text message to the B.A.R. “We need to defund the police to fund affordable housing, education and healthcare for Black, indigenous and all marginalized communities.”

Police tried to halt that march, with officers raising batons at protesters.

According to KQED, when the march made its way onto Valencia from 18th Street, about a half-dozen officers formed a line in an attempt to stop the march, accompanied by a white van.

The marchers surrounded the police, who were unable to stop the march from making its way downtown.

After some individuals began to kick and punch the van, police officers raised their nightsticks at them and pushed them away.

Eventually, the van drove away after a window was smashed in with a skateboard.

San Francisco Police stated to the B.A.R. that there were no arrests made in connection with this incident.

“Officers were assaulted with bottles, signs and improvised wooden shields. One officer was sprayed in the face with paint. A van was spray painted with anti police graffiti, windows smashed and a tire was slashed,” a June 28 San Francisco Police Department statement reads. “Officers were able to move the crowd and exit the area. At this time no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.”

Fielder told the B.A.R. of the incident that “this is just another example of why we want corporations and police out of pride.”

COVID pandemic helped change attitudes toward racism

Earlier in the day, once the People’s March reached City Hall around noon, a small dance party preceded a series of speakers and performers.

MORE! drew attention to the prescience of Pride’s sudden transformation in this milestone year.

“Today what we did – marching down Polk Street – is what our queer brothers and sisters did 50 years ago,” MORE! said. “Pride has always been a time when we confirm our lives, our dignity. We have celebrated monumental victories and mourned tragedies, but the number one thing that we have always done is resist.”

Inn, who is Black, said that because of the coronavirus outbreak, which led to stay-at-home orders in much of the nation in March, white people had the time to see the video of Floyd’s killing and gain insight challenging times,” he wrote.

Hawkins has set up a donation ask on his Facebook page where people can donate. Already nearly $2,500 has been raised. People can also donate through the center’s website at https:// www.oaklandlgbtqcenter.org/.

Hawkins’ June 27 post urged people to call the Oakland Police Department at 510-777-3333 “and tell them to make hate crimes against Black and LGBTQ people a priority in Oakland.”

“Call the mayor’s office and demand to know what the city is doing to make Oakland safer for Black and LGBTQ residents. 510-238-3141,” he added.

Additionally, in the June 28 post, Hawkins encouraged people to contact their city and Alameda County representatives and ask what they are doing to support the center and other organizations in Oakland and the East Bay that “support LGBTQ+ people and issues affecting us.”

“The few LGBTQ-focused nonprofit organizations that exist in the East Bay are usually poorly funded and often lack the necessary resources to operate effectively and to sustain efforts to meet the many unique service needs of our community,” Hawkins wrote.

Hawkins was one of many people who took part in the pink tri-

July 2-8, 2020 • Bay Area Reporter • 7

into what Black Americans live with.

“For Black people it was almost like ‘whoops, there’s one more,’” Inn said. “That’s how common it was.

But because you were in a pandemic, and at home, you got the chance to finally see what we see daily.”

Inn thanked the marchers for showing up and advocating for Black people and other people of color.

“You gave us the love and support we needed to start the annual People’s March,” Inn said. “You are here because you want change. You are not just coming down the street to look pretty. You are coming down the street because you want to make a change.

This is how beautiful you are.

“White people have to do their job.

White people: it is your time to say ‘Fuck white supremacy,’” Inn added.

“It is your time to get that racist and fascist out of the White House and vote like you never have voted before.”

Inn asked the white people in the crowd to raise their fists – “wow, there’s a lot of you,” Inn noted once they did so – and take an accountability pledge.

“I have the backs of my Black and Brown brothers and sisters,” the pledge states. “If they are not in the room, when their voice is supposed to be, I will bring them into the room, and if I am not the right person I will get the right person in the room. And if there is not enough room in the room, I will step out and give them space.”

Around 3 p.m. marchers began to make their way from City Hall to the Castro neighborhood, the home for the city’s LGBT community. They were joined by some of the Pride is a riot protesters.

Once there, demonstrators had another pop-up dance party.

Shaun Haines, a Black, gay man who is the co-chair of outreach and inclusion for the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District, was there and echoed some of what Inn said about how the pandemic changed long-held perspectives.

“We are now in a space where we are talking about how important it is to do things, more than we did before COVID-19 and the current [Donald Trump] administration,” Haines said. “We kind of needed this – in a way – to wake a lot of people up. I was so proud to be a participant in the actions associated with today and real ways to bring the community together and make sure our message is one of unity.”

Haines said that he felt last Sunday’s events were a source of “great excitement” and cried during the march down Polk Street not out of sadness angle torch procession in Oakland Saturday afternoon, ahead of the lighting of the pink triangle atop Twin Peaks in San Francisco that night. (B.A.R. news editor Cynthia

Stuart Goldstein

Graffiti filled a Muni bus stop at 18th and Castro streets on Pride Sunday, June 28.

Stuart Goldstein

People from the Pride is a riot and the People’s March converged on Castro Street for a dance party Sunday, June 28.

Mandelman was at Sunday’s events and praised the People’s March.

“I thought the march down Polk in the morning was utterly beautiful and captured the very best of Pride,” Mandelman said. “What went down in the Castro later that day – in terms of graffiti, vandalism and smashed windows – was sad and unfortunate.”

Mandelman was referring to the fact that many neighborhood buildings were graffitied, such as the Bank

of America and the Walgreens at 18th and Castro streets, the adjacent bus stop, the CitiBank on Castro Street between Market and 18th streets, and several storefronts that are now vacant on that same block. The Starbucks on 18th Street between Castro and Hartford streets had two windows smashed.

Stuart Goldstein, who lives in the Castro, sent an email and photos about that to public officials and the B.A.R. “I walked to Castro Street from 18th. I noticed the broken Starbucks window. Then saw the awful graffiti,” Goldstein wrote in a follow-up email to the B.A.R. “The mistake was closing the street which invited this event!”

Much of the damage was cleaned or covered up by Tuesday morning.

The mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment about the vandalism. t

Laird also took part in the torch procession.)

OPD stated that if a community member is a victim of, or a witness to, what they believe to be a hate

crime, they are encouraged to call the OPD Hate Crime Hotline at (510) 637-4283 or the Department’s nonemergency phone number at (510) 777-3333. t

but because he is newly hopeful.

“For the LGBT community of San Francisco, what transpired is a return to our roots – protesting like the first Pride parade 50 years ago,” Haines said. “What I found today – the love I felt – is that more of our LGBTQ community and our allies are uniting and realizing we have to be united with other cultural demographics.”

Graffiti and smashed windows in Castro district

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<< Community News

8 • Bay Area Reporter • July 2-8, 2020

<<

Gym owners

From page 1

“I think there is going to be a wave of gyms that aren’t going to be able to reopen,” Huerta said. “I think there will be a second wave of gyms that close down in three to six months or later because the math doesn’t add up.

Most gym owners have less than three months worth of savings.”

Husbands Dave Karraker and Glenn Shope, the owners of MX3 Fitness on upper Market Street in the LGBTQ Castro district, also were forced to shut down March 17 due to the shelter-in-place orders. Within 48 hours they moved their entire business online, offering virtual one-onone fitness training and yoga classes for the first time to their clients.

“Glenn is a former computer programmer, so he was able to build the backend system to allow it to happen pretty quickly,” said Karraker.

“Our trainers weren’t trained in how to teach online, so it was a big shock to all of our employees. They had to figure out how to train somebody using equipment they had in their house and giving them the same quality workout they got in the gym.”

Nonetheless, they have lost 85% of their business and have no plans to open their second floor yoga space anytime soon.

“Personal training is exactly that, personal,” noted Karraker. “The inability of us to meet face-to-face with people was a real barrier for people making the move online. Add to it their lack of having the right equipment at home.”

<<

LGBTQ experts

From page 3

inequality have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, Campos said, but leaders don’t know why.

“I think that this is an opportunity for the state of California to really look at how this information is collected and we need to make changes going forward ... so that we can better understand the impact that something like this is having on specific communities,” Campos said.

Gay state Senator Scott Wiener (DSan Francisco) is pushing a bill in the Legislature that would mandate sexual orientation and gender identity data be collected for COVID-19 patients. The Senate passed Senate Bill 932 40-0 June 25. It now heads to the Assembly.

Romero-Morales, 30, who survived COVID-19 himself, believes that capturing data about the LGBTQ com-

t

Just when city leaders and health officials will allow fitness studios to reopen remains uncertain. Currently, such businesses are grouped with other indoor activities set to resume operations in August at the earliest.

In May, 40 locally-owned personal training businesses joined forces to form the San Francisco Independent Fitness Studio Coalition to advocate as one unified voice with city leaders. They would like to be considered essential businesses, since they are helping people remain healthy, and be allowed to resume operations along

with such places as nail salons, barbershops, and zoos.

Those businesses had been expected to reopen beginning June 29, but those plans were shelved indefinitely last Friday amid a statewide spike in new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. During a media call conducted via Zoom Tuesday, San Francisco Health Officer Dr. Tomás Aragón said local officials wouldn’t decide on when the next group of businesses would be allowed to reopen until after the Fourth of July holiday.

“If things get better, we will start to consider opening up early next week,” Aragón told reporters. “It is important to have realistic expectations. It is too early to tell if we are getting into a situation that would be hard for us to get out of.”

In response to the B.A.R.’s question on if the city would allow smaller fitness studios to reopen sooner, Aragón was noncommittal but acknowledged it is under consideration.

“We had started with low-risk categories first, moving to higher-risk categories, things done indoors,” he said, adding of small fitness studios it is “too soon to tell about that specific activity. I know it is being considered.”

Billy Polson, who co-owns DIAKADI Fitness with his husband, Mike Clausen, has been meeting with local health officials and city leaders to argue that local, independent fitness studios should be considered similar to chiropractors and other health providers allowed to see their clients. The couple helped form the coalition and helped craft safety protocols for how fitness studios can reopen that they recently

submitted to local leaders for approval.

“The tough thing is it is out of our control and really based on the case count now. We are ready to go,” said Polson, who launched the business 16 years ago. “All of our facilities in the coalition started putting the safety protocols in place. We are just waiting for the case counts to drop and to get the green light to open our doors.”

Clausen said they were “on track to open July 13” until the city put a halt on allowing additional businesses to reopen for the time being.

“We were 99% sure we were going to get away from that August opening,” he said.

The couple rents out their facility to individual trainers and three physical therapists, who are allowed to see their clients but account for just 5% of their normal income. Their location where South of Market, Potrero, and the Mission district meet isn’t conducive for offering outdoor fitness sessions, so they are eager to get their facility open again.

Like others in the coalition, they are in talks with their landlord on renegotiating the terms of their lease. They have received government assistance to help cover their payroll in the interim.

Even when they do reopen, they expect to see their business drop off because people will continue to work remotely and not be commuting into the city. They will also be limiting capacity so trainers and their clients can work out safely distanced from others.

“There are so many factors that are driving our numbers down,” said Polson.

Conversely, Polson and Clausen are hopeful the trainers who rent space

from them will see a spike in their client base from people uncomfortable with going to larger gyms. They not only will be taping out areas double of what is required, at 12 feet by 12 feet, they will have a cleaning bar where people will check equipment out so it can be properly sanitized between uses.

They produced a video explaining the steps they are taking to protect people’s health that can be viewed on their website at https://www.diakadi.life/ reopen-video. There also is a special safety page and manual on the website.

“Not only do you have a smaller number of people coming in, you have total control knowing what everyone touches. Our cleaning protocols guarantee all equipment is cleaned between every single touch,” noted Polson.

Since locally owned fitness studios have been helping to fill vacant storefronts throughout the city, the coalition hopes people will continue to support those businesses either at their physical locations or online.

“We need you to come in as soon as possible to keep us open. I am not at all being dramatic but totally transparent,” said Polson. “All of us have taken ginormous hits in this. We are trying to stay positive, but it is scary for sure.” t

munity as well as other minorities is important, but he warned about how the information is collected.

“I also do want to be very cautious about how we go about capturing this data,” said Romero-Morales. “Many community members who identify as members of the LGBTQ community are from different races and ethnicities ... so we are also dealing with a lot of cultural issues.”

In addition to cultural issues there are contact tracing concerns about handling people’s personal information and their contacts being sensitive to not outing LGBTQ people.

“This is definitely something that we have to be very careful in terms of how we approach disclosing sexual orientation,” said Romero-Morales, expressing the importance of having LGBTQ people involved in the process of creating contact tracing questions as well as serving as contact tracers.

Currently, the county has enlisted employees and volunteers to conduct contact tracing, he said.

The county’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs is still operating virtually, Maribel Martinez, the office’s director, said in a statement to the B.A.R. “We have increased our social media efforts and online engagement so that the community knows we are here for them,” said Martinez, a queer woman of color who has also convened monthly calls with LGBTQ service providers and organizations in the county for support and resource sharing.

Martinez pointed out that many organizations transitioned quickly to virtual platforms to serve communities from youth to seniors and worked sensitively around digital divide and computer competency challenges, she said.

“Our community is strong and resilient,” said Martinez, while recogniz-

ing that many are suffering food and housing insecurity as well as safety issues due to the shelter-in-place mandate. The office has been responding to these needs with access to LGBTQfriendly resources.

despite it being summer.

“I can honestly tell you that this has been the sickest I’ve ever been in my entire life,” said Romero-Morales about his experience. “It was definitely an experience that I don’t want anybody else to encounter.” t

Martinez praised South Bay residents and the greater Bay Area for doing a “phenomenal job in flattening the curve and taking preventative measures to slow the spread,” of COVID-19, she said.

However, the virus is still at large. As county leaders slowly lift the shelter-inplace restrictions they are remaining vigilant, watching for signs of trouble and continuing to update the community about new developments.

Romero-Morales, who had COVID-19 in early March but wasn’t hospitalized, reminded people to continue to practice social distancing

To volunteer as a contact tracer, visit https://www.sccgov.org/sites/ covid19/Pages/i-can-help.aspx.

For LGBTQ COVID-19 resources, visit www.sccgov.org/sites/lgbtq/ COVID-19/Pages/home.aspx. To get tested for COVID-19, visit https://www.sccgov.org/sites/covid19/Pages/covid19-testing.aspx.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: APPROACH THERAPY, 2595 MISSION ST #311, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed APPROACH THERAPY PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES PC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/13/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/10/20.

a limited liability company, and is signed MPSHARP TECHNOLOGIES LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/01/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/12/20.

AMERICARE SAN FRANCISCO, 120 DIVISADERO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed HOME CARE SF LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/10/20.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: KINGZ AND QUEENZ CLEANING, 1225 4TH ST #228, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94158. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed ELITE 8 ENTERPRISES LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/23/20.

Last week, they started holding fitness trainings with clients out on the sidewalk in front of their business.

Both the client and the trainer must wear masks at all times, while clients are required to do a health check at home and have their temperature checked again when they arrive at the business for their session.

“We will be sanitizing all the equipment between each client,” said Karraker.

Unlike Huerta, they have no plans to give up their physical location and are in negotiations with their landlord about their lease agreement going forward. They hope to negotiate a reduced rent, as even when they are allowed to resume indoor operations, they will be doing so in a limited capacity in order to adhere to health guidelines for physical distancing.

“We would tape off areas within the gym that allow for six foot distance between clients and trainers,” explained Karraker.

Reopening uncertain

Going forward

For more information about The Queer Gym’s online trainings, visit https://thequeergym.com/.

To sign up at MX3 Fitness, visit https://www.mx3fitness.com/.

If you feel anxious, angry, or sad reach out to family, friends or call 1-800-704-0900 or text RENEW to 741741. If you don’t feel safe at home and need assistance call 2-1-1 or visit www.sccendviolence.org for information.

Legals>> FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039073200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EVERWISE, 1890 BRYANT ST #202, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed REDFISH LABS, INC (DE). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/17/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/28/20.

JUN 11, 18, 25, JUL 02, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039076700

JUN 18, 25, JUL 02, 09, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039071700

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE HANDY GUYS, 1 CRESCENT WAY #1207, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed PHILLIP JACKSON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/13/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/08/20.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CALIFORNIA PROPERTIES, 2300 MACDONALD AVE, RICHMOND, CA 94804. This business is conducted by a trust, and is signed NANCY GABBAY, TRUSTEE OF PARNAZ REVOCABLE TRUST. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/18/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/26/20.

JUN 18, 25, JUL 02, 09, 2020

JUN 18, 25, JUL 02, 09, 2020

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039077700

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-20-555734

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SLEEPY BONES, 2829 35TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116.

This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed STEPHANIE BONIFACIO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/09/20.

JUN 18, 25, JUL 02, 09, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039078500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TOKAIDO ARTS, 1581 WEBSTER ST #202, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed NIEN TZU HSIANG HSU. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/27/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/10/20.

JUN 18, 25, JUL 02, 09, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039078100

In the matter of the application of: AVNISH PATEL & SHEILA PATWARDHAN, C/O ALEXANDER TOTTO, WALD LAW GROUP, P.C., 88 KEARNY ST #1475, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner AVNISH PATEL & SHEILA PATWARDHAN, is requesting that the name ASHA PATWARDHAN PATEL, be changed to ASHA AVNISH PATWARDHAN PATEL. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept 103N, on the 28th of July 2020 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

JUN 25, JUL 02, 09, 16, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039082400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MPSHARP TECHNOLOGIES LLC, 638 36TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by

JUN 25, JUL 02, 09, 16, 2020 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-20-555758 In the matter of the application of: ETERI VLADIMIROVNA ELIASHVILI, 237 KEARNY ST #212, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108 for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner ETERI VLADIMIROVNA ELIASHVILI, is requesting that the name ETERI VLADIMIROVNA ELIASHVILI AKA ETERI V. ELIASHVILI, be changed to ETERI VLADIMIROVNA DOBRICH. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept.103, Room 103 on the 6th of August 2020 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

JUL 02, 09, 16, 23, 2020 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-20-555761 In the matter of the application of: JENNY WU, 780 DELTA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner JENNY WU, is requesting that the name JENNY WU AKA JENNY WU-ZHEN, be changed to JENNY WU ZHEN. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept.103, Room 103 on the 11th of August 2020 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

JUL 02, 09, 16, 23, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039077900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as:

JUL 02, 09, 16, 23, 2020 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039090200

JUL 02, 09, 16, 23, 2020

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by Victoria A. Brownworth

Noah’s Arc cast members Merwin Mondesir, Jensen Atwood and Darryl Stephens.

N

oah’s Arc, a Logo original series created

by Patrik-Ian Polk (Being Mary Jane) was groundbreaking. The two-season series featured four black gay friends living in Los Angeles and their queer cohort. The men were sexy and hot and relatable AF, but more than anything, they were Black at a time when there were few Black characters on TV and hardly any gay characters of color. Noah’s Arc addressed a plethora of issues from same-sex marriage and parenthood to HIV/AIDS to homophobia. There were relationship issues and there was a lot of buffness on display. It was Black Looking nearly a decade earlier.

Noah’s Arc ran from October 2005 through October 2006. After the series was cancelled, Polk released Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom in 2008. The film was a continuation of the series.

In 2019, Logo began streaming the series on its YouTube channel.

Now there will be a new addition to the Noah’s Arc compendia, airing July 5 at 8pm EST on Polk’s YouTube and Facebook. The special episode is titled Noah’s Arc: The Rona Chronicles and is being sponsored by Gilead. A live Q&A moderated by Queer Eye’s Karamo Brown follows the hourlong special with cast members Darryl Stephens, Jensen Atwood, Rodney Chester, Doug Spearmen, Christian Vincent, and Gregory Keith.

Register on EventBrite.com

The Simpsons

Raise your hand if you had no idea that characters of color in major animated series

Arc returns, comic corrections

The Lavender Tube’s animated discussion on representation have been voiced by white actors for decades.

On June 26, The Simpsons, the longest running scripted prime time series on TV which is syndicated in more that 100 countries, announced it would no longer have white actors voice characters of color.

“Moving forward, The Simpsons will no longer have white actors voice nonwhite characters,” producers of the show said in a brief statement.

That was it. Seriously.

Other animated series followed suit. Mike Henry, the voice actor for the Family Guy character Cleveland Brown, said he would step down from the role he has played since the series debuted in 1999.

We thought this issue had been addressed a few years ago by stand up comedian and writer Hari Kondabolu, the star, creator, and executive director of The Problem with Apu, a documentary about Apu, the Indian convenience store manager from The Simpsons who for years was the only Indian character on primetime.

Kondabolu’s documentary premiered in

Left: Hari Kondabolu vs. The Simpsons’ Apu. Right: Mike Henry, voice actor for Family Guy’s Cleveland Brown

‘Swimming in the Dark’ A balanced, ideally paced debut novel

by Tim Pfaff

T

omasz Jedrowski’s debut novel, Swimming in the Dark (William Morrow), tells a time-honored story, gay first love, in a setting that has become all but expected in gay literary fiction: Eastern Europe under the dark clouds of political oppression. But there’s nothing derivative about it beyond the bond the two gay protagonists make reading Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room.

The German-born son of Polish parents who lives in Paris but, post-Cambridge, writes in a nimble, refined English, Jedrowski overlooks nothing in retrieving his story from cliché. Without a whiff of sentimentality, he tells the universal story of gay first love dissolving into inevitable separation in adulthood, which is both foreshadowed from the start and has a through-line.

Author Tomasz Jedrowksi

Swimming is not the generic tale of a timid gay man’s unrequited infatuation for a handsome fellow student. Jedrowski instead proposes reciprocated sexual love by the unambiguously gay Janusz for his hope-starved fellow camper, Ludwik. It’s clear from the start that Janusz will of perceived necessity “change” while sacrificing but not losing his passion for men.

What little we know about the childhood of protagonist and first-person narrator Ludwik is his early recognition that neither is his attraction to other boys a phase – and a looming problem. He meets Janusz, who as depicted could have sprung godlike from Ovid, at a summer beet-farm camp. Janusz has found a lake in which to cool off after work; his next job is to draw Ludwik in with him.

It’s the micro-observation of emotions throughout Jedrowski’s book that supports and drives the writing, which takes the ad-

November 2017 on TruTV and is described as BET Awards “contextualizing Apu within minstrelsy and Black Lives Matter. That was the theme of other tropes in American pop culture history the BET Awards on June 28, which featured that have historically stereotyped minorities.” some amazing performances.

Actor Hank Azaria voiced Apu from Insecure actress Amanda Seales hosted and 1990 until January 2020 when he announced put the entire evening as well as the past few he would no longer be voicing the characweeks of nationwide protested in perspecter due to the bias implications. Azaria has tive. Seales opened the socially distanced BET also voiced the characters of black police Awards with this searing commentary: “Now, officer Lou, black power plant employee folks always say, ‘All Amanda ever does it talk Carl Carlson and the Mexican-American about race,’” she said. “Well listen, I would love Bumblebee Man. to talk about regular, everyday things, but racism Harry Shearer, who is white, always beats me to it. For instance, voices Black character Dr. Julius candy. Who don’t like candy?

Hibbert on The Simpsons and he But whenever I try to talk about will also be exiting that role.

Skittles, I remember Trayvon The Simpsons’ producers’ Martin. I would love to talk about statement did not say whether ice cream. It’s a delicious treat. But Apu or the other characters each time I do, I am reminded of would remain on the series.

Botham Jean. Who doesn’t appreHenry said of his Black charciate some shut-eye? Man, I had acter on Family Guy, “It’s been a nap in 2015 that was so good it an honor to play Cleveland on felt like Black Jesus tucked me in.

‘Family Guy’ for 20 years. I love I still talk about it to this day. But this character, but persons of that’s a wrap. Because now I can’t color should play characters of even dream of speaking about color. Therefore, I will be stepsleeping knowing Breonna TayAmanda Seales hosted ping down from the role.” lor’s killers have not been arrested.

Jenny Slate of Big Mouth and the 2020 BET Awards When I said, ‘I don’t got the time, Kristen Bell of Central Park, have I’m on my trampoline,’ I meant it, also said they will no longer voice ‘cause give it a minute, and racism non-white characters. gonna take the bounce of that, too.”

After the announcement by The Simpsons, Searing, gutting, heartbreaking. It also is Hari Kondabolu tweeted, “Re: The Simpsons a stunning reminder to white people of how using People of Color to voice minority charracism touches even the most seemingly casual acters. All it took was 30 years, a documentary, aspects of life for people of color.t more relevant shows doing it first & a conversation about racism spurred by police brutality Read the full article on & murder.” www.ebar.com We have so much more work to do. ditional trouble to add intermittent doses of sweetness, literally a recurrent topic, made all the sweeter and more evanescent in the bleakness and menace of 1980s Poland. As uniquely, Jedrowski gives us the bitter-sweetness of their eventual separation devoid of rancor, the men having adroitly skipped the step of mutual betrayal their mother country coaxes from its young comrades.

Jedrowski’s writing, which digs deep but without exaggeration or sentimentality, is ideally paced and balanced. The quiet menace of a changing Poland is depicted unsparingly, yet the opportunities for at least transient joy are never overlooked. Although some of the available pleasures are false and materialistic, Jaunsz’s rich-kid friends, who owe their wealth to their parents’ allegiance to the party, come off as privileged but not vapid.

Ludwik’s application for a visa to study abroad is stayed by a bureaucrat’s demand that, to obtain it, he must provide names of other young men he knows to be gay. There’s an implication that Ludwik is not long on gay friends and acquaintances, but his refusal to comply is prolonged if unwavering. In another credible plot twist, it is Janusz’s privileged friends, with their connections to men in high places, who win Ludwik his visa without the dreaded compromise.

No amount of persuasion from Ludwik can lure Janusz from his imagined stability, if not precisely safety, of life in the Party. From the start Ludwik knows that Janusz’s gay feelings, especially the specific ones for him, are anything but

a phase – but that they will, nevertheless, never yield a life together.

Jedrowski makes Janusz, with his smoldering, early-Marlon Brando sexuality, the instigator of most of their sexual liaisons but smoothly attuned to the prying eyes of an unstable autocracy. The two men’s shared, if distinct, awareness of the perils of being out drives the plot. The sex scenes are steamy if minimally graphic.

Jedrowski’s mastery of the first-person voice – reliable narration still susceptible to shock – is such that the first time Ludwik refers to Janusz, in a letter, as “you,” the second-person pronoun startles with its fusion of intimacy and the inevitability of their separation.

In one of their later reunions, Jedrowski fully plays out Ludwik’s internal conflict: “I was too happy to see you, too relieved. Too weary to struggle. I let myself fall on the bed.

The cold air gave us goose bumps as we undressed. We found warmth beneath your covers. We tested our strengths, wrestled with the urgency of desire, conjured up heat. Our bodies like firestones. You had me, and I had you. But it didn’t feel like the other times, the first times. It felt like we were settling a score, evening something out. Like we needed this, this language, this code, to know where we were, and who. And that we were both still holding on.”

In Swimming in the Dark the men’s love is real, the strictures of adulthood all too real.t Harper Collins, hardcover $26.99; ebook $12.99

<< Leather

10 • Bay Area Reporter • July 2-8, 2020

Here is what I have learned Our leather columnist bids adieu

by Race Bannon

I

t is bittersweet that I am announcing I will no longer be writing this column. The legacy of this column is something I have tried to honor by elevating discourse about LGBTQ adventurous sex and the cultures and relationships they spawn.

But the time has come for me to focus my energies elsewhere.

Coming to this decision was difficult. When my editor, Jim Provenzano, always the consummate and generous professional, approached me about taking over this column with such a rich history, I was rightfully elated. Taking it on meant I owed the reading public something more than snarky leather scene gossip or rote event reporting. My goal has been to nudge discussion in a thoughtful yet respectful direction. I hope I succeeded.

The time has come for a change in direction for me, my writing, and my life. While I will still write about sex and relationships, I want to broaden my interests, write more varied content, and explore new projects and horizons. Stepping back from this column is strategically necessary, although admittedly

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that decision does not come without a sense of loss.

During the nearly seven years I have been writing here I have learned a few things. The act of good writing requires the writer to think. Plopping words on a page is easy. Having those words prod intelligent debate or illuminate readers to new information requires more depth. Even when simply reporting, hopefully there is simultaneously some thought-provoking content that delivers more than an account of what transpired.

So, here are a few things I have learned. Perhaps you will find them useful.

If you believe that anyone of any gender, gender expression, orientation, color, faith, origin, kink, or of any other definer of humanity’s vast diversity is less worthy of opportunities awarded to others, then you have no place in decent society, let alone the kink scene. One would think this self-evident, but it would be folly to assume all kinksters abide by the same values or ethical principles. We have our own sets of faults and biases.

Worshiping at the altar of traditions or cultural habits at the expense of allowing everyone to have the best sex and social life possible is a terrible idea. The prime directive must always be to help individuals thrive. If no harm is caused, it is no one else’s business how someone expresses their sexuality or forms their erotic networks.

What we call leather today is only vaguely definable. Ask a dozen people and you will get a dozen answers to what comprises leathersex or leather culture. The same goes for what defines a leather person.

This is not a value judgment, just

an observation worth making because so many seem to have decided specifically what leather is and what defines a good leather person.

Fluidity to some degree is the norm, not the exception. This applies to interests, priorities, roles, identities, gender expressions, how we dress, relationship styles, nomenclature… everything. Life is not static. Our sexualities and identities are not static. The communities in which we gather are not static. Cultures are not static.

Change and variation are the way life rolls, like it or not. It is best we roll with it rather than fight it.

Social media has polluted some aspects of the kink and leather communities by embracing the few loud and pervasive voices that bully and pummel others into nonconsensual submission. It is not healthy. It does not change anyone’s mind. It is often nothing more than virtue signaling in the guise of activism. I hope true discourse with a goal of mutual understanding prevails because the negative noise is not helpful. State an opinion. Present facts. Ask for discussion. Point out disagreements. But please leave the tactic of character destruction to others. Let us try to be better than that.

Leather contests can be fun and entertaining. A handful of people

who win such contests go on to do some cool stuff. Most do not, which is fine, by the way, because there should be no expectations of them to do so.

Contest results are also significantly subjective. No one can put a realistic metric on what it takes to be a quality kinky person or erotic rebel. No one should get too bent out of shape about contest results because they could be entirely different another day or with different judges.

Some people engage in radical sex practices or nontraditional relationship configurations entirely outside of any organized community, and that is okay. We should not ostracize or condemn anyone who chooses to pursue their sexuality and its expression outside of an organized community. Everyone decides their own path.

Technology has democratized us in significant ways. In the past some heavy lifting was required to make one’s way into certain sexual underground scenes. To organize and advertise an event pre-social media was tough whereas now it can often be done with a few clicks.

In many ways this has been good.

In many ways this has been bad.

That said, on balance I think it has been a good development.

I have learned many other

t

things, but it would require a tome to present them all here. I hope you continue to follow my writings and projects elsewhere. I still have a lot to say.

Finally, I want to thank you, my readers. It has been an honor to write for you here for these many years. Thank you to the Bay Area Reporter and my editor. I could not have asked for better treatment or collaboration. Thank you to the San Francisco Bay Area and larger national and international communities in which I navigate. You have taught me much and I will continue to learn from and celebrate with you.

I am not going anywhere. You will still see me around, physically and in print.

So, to use a perhaps hackneyed phrase, until we meet again.

Be kind to each other and have amazing sex with amazing people.t Resources Guide The LGBTQ Leather, Kink and Sexuality Communities Resources Guide is a ‘living’ document and will be updated ongoing as more information is made available. https:// bit.ly/2Jpcxud Race Bannon is a local author, blogger and activist. www.bannon.com

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t

Music>>

Meet the two Tims SF Gay Men’s Chorus director’s memoir

by David-Elijah Nahmod

T

im Seelig has led a double life.

For the first 35 years or so he presented as heterosexual and was deeply immersed in the Southern Baptist Church. At around age 35, Seelig underwent a sea change. No longer able to hide who he was, he came out as a gay man. At the time, Seelig was married with two children. The revelation cost him his family, his friends, his position in the church, and almost everything he owned. Undaunted, Seelig picked himself up, dusted himself off and moved on.

A trained singer and conductor, Seelig became the leader of the Turtle Creek Chorale, a gay men’s chorus in Dallas, Texas, which he conducted for twenty years. He also performed solo, including a wellreceived debut recital at Carnegie Hall.

Seelig currently serves as the artistic director and conductor of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, a position he’s held for the past decade. He is also artistic director of the National LGBTQ Center for Arts. Most recently Seelig was seen in the film Gay Chorus Deep South, which documents a recent tour the SFGMC took across several states not known for their hospitality to

A Tale of Two Tims: Big Ol’ Baptist, Big Ol’ Gay author Tim Seelig

LGBT people. The purpose of the tour was to reach out and to open people’s hearts and minds.

Seelig’s life is one of great accomplishment. It’s a life filled with exhilarating highs and tremendous lows. In his just published memoir A Tale of Two Tims: Big Ol’ Baptist, Big Ol’ Gay, Seelig shares the story of his incredible life, from his beginnings as part of a family of devout Southern Baptists, to his work with what is perhaps the most famous gay chorus in the world.

Seelig explained the meaning behind the book’s title.

“I lived 35 years as a good Southern Baptist Boy, married with two kids,” he said. “The end of that 35 years saw me as the Associate Minister of Music at First Baptist Church of Houston, with 22,000 members, when I came out. I began, within a year, conducting LGBTQ choruses, so I’ve now been conducting gay choruses for 34 years. So my life is split right down the middle, with two completely different backdrops.”

Seelig added that he was very forthright while writing the book but noted that some people’s names were left out in order to protect the “not innocent.”

Seelig’s parents, he said, never disowned him or stopped loving him.

“We don’t pray that Tim will change,” his parents would tell people. “Because we believe that God is omnipotent, and if He is, He has the power to change Tim if he wants to. So we just pray for Tim and his health and his happiness, and we’re going to let God deal with the other part.”

Seelig shares these and other life stories in a memoir that’s heartfelt, funny, sad, but ultimately uplifting.

A Tale of Two Tims is exceptionally well written and easy to read with quick, short chapters. It’s a mustread for anyone who’s ever seen Seelig conducting the chorus or listened to him in concert.

“My hope is to entertain,” Seelig said. “I want people to laugh, and to cry, which they will. And I want people to look at their own lives and think that they can apply some of what Tim has done and lived through to their own lives. When I came out at 35, I wasn’t a very nice person. I was an evangelical minister of music in the Baptist church,

Q-Music Quarantine Pride playlist

by Gregg Shapiro

I

n case you missed it, Brittany Howard, the magnetic and supremely talented former lead singer of the Grammy Award-winning band Alabama Shakes, came out, got married and released a solo album. Howard married Jesse Lafser, her Bermuda Triangle bandmate (out singer/songwriter Becca Mancari rounds out the queer musical trio). Howard’s solo debut album Jaime (ATO), is named for her older sister who died at the age of 13,

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when Howard was nine.

The 11 songs on Jaime are everything you’d expect from a Brittany Howard solo album and then some. The songs recall Prince as much as they do Meshell Ndegeocello, and are of the moment, especially the divine slap in the face of “He Loves Me” (“I don’t go to church anymore I know he still love me”) and the reminder of “History Repeats” (“history repeats and we defeat ourselves”).

There is longing (“Georgia”) and sexy elevation (the amazing “Stay High”) and punk jazz (“Short and Sweet”) and brilliant experimentation (“13thCentury Metal”) and drama (“Run To Me”).

With each of his recent albums, gay singer/songwriter Tom Goss puts more distance between himself and the guitar-toting queer folkie he was on his earlier releases.

This statement is especially true of his newest recording Territories, a sonically experimental and aurally rewarding set of 15 songs. In addition to having gay singer/songwriter Gregory Douglass and Nakia join him on the songs “Quayside” and “Amsterdam” respectively, Goss delves deeper into synthesizer programming and the use of multiple voices with results that pay off in a big way. Pack some warm things and follow Goss to the various territories he traverses on this fine and recommended album.

It’s fitting that fiddler and banjo player Jake Blount, described as “one of the few queer, Black voices

and I wasn’t very nice. I have had to have that beat out of me.”

Because of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, Seelig cannot do any in-person book signings, but has done online readings, with a bit of music.

And while the Chorus is on temporary hiatus, Seelig wants to assure people that they haven’t seen the last of the chorus.

“Guiding the chorus through Covid, and now guiding the chorus through Black Lives Matter all at once, and the fact that we can’t sing, and the fact that we can’t get together and process to create and to make plans in incredibly hard,” he said. “There’s a difference in what we do and who we are. What we do is rehearse and give performances and who we are is people that believe in change, we are committed to change. And while Covid can take away what we do, it can’t take away who we are. And we’ll be as strong when this is over as we were when this began.”

Autographed copies of the book can be ordered from Seelig’s website, www.timseelig.comt

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in Appalachian music” called his album Spider Tales (Free Dirt) because the elaborate and beautiful web he spins on it is sure to catch many listeners. A reclamation project, Blount adds a distinctly queer perspective to many of these tunes from early-to-mid 20th century by Josie Miles (“Mad Mama’s Blues”), Lucius Smith (“Goodbye, Honey, You Call That Gone”), Tommy Jarrell (“Boll Weevil”), Manco Sneed (“Done Gone”), Cuje Bertram (“Blackbird Says to the Crow”), as well as a contemporary composition; Judy Hyman’s “Beyond This Wall.” Blount’s take on Lead Belly’s “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” is particularly dazzling.

When you hear the opening title track on the album Burn The Witch you might think you were listening to an alternative country song by new wave goddess Lene Lovich, but you’d be wrong. The out singer and songwriter is actually Nashvillebased Sarah Peacock.

In that song she perceptively draws parallels between the Salem Witch Trials and the current terrifying situation we find ourselves in under the Trump regime. Peacock’s musical observations extend to the horrors of school bullying (“The Cool Kids”), death row (“Thomas”) and the end of a relationship (“House of Bones”). She also finds some light in the darkness on songs such as “Take You High” and “The One.” To say that the reissue of the eponymous eight-song album by the gay duo Maxx Mann (Dark Entries), consisting of Frank Oldham Jr. (aka Maxx Mann) and the late Paul Hamman, sounds like 1982 is both a statement of fact and a warn-

ing. Featuring liner notes

by Oldham, the reissue also functions as a musical time capsule history lesson.

The four songs, spoken/sung by Oldham, are present twice; once in vocal versions and once as instrumentals.

Song titles such as “Our Love Won’t Last The Night,” “Leather Man” and “Bloody and Blue” ought to give you an idea of what is contained herein. If you are looking for music for a retro ‘80s party, Maxx Mann would be an interesting addition to that playlist.t brittanyhoward.com tomgossmusic.com jakeblount.com sarahpeacockmusic.com lightintheattic.net/releases/6698maxx-mann

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