June 28, 2012 issue of the Bay Area Reporter

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SFPD commander retires

SFAF in talks with sober space

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ARTS

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Roman holiday

The

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Vol. 42 • No. 26 • June 28-July 4, 2012

An LGBT Pride Parade participant showed off his colors.

Enrique Meza and Linzay Tripe enjoyed a kiss and the sun at the festival in Civic Center on Pride Day.

Jane Philomen Cleland

AIDS Walk participants at last year’s event

AIDS Walk increases Global Equality celebrated at SF Pride money Rick Gerharter

by Seth Hemmelgarn

by Cynthia Laird

This year’s Pride theme was “Global Equality.” Descatamiento talked about discrimination around the globe and said, “This world would be a better place” if people would “come together.” “I know that sounded hippy, but I kind of have that attitude,” Descatamiento, who’s lesbian, said. Deepak Tiwari, 33, of Sunnyvale, who was at the festival with his wife, Supriya Sharma, 28, described the event as “awesome.” “There are so many negative things going on in the world, but here, everybody seems happy,” he said. He noted the diversity of the crowds,

Jane Philomen Cleland

which seemed to include all ages, races, and orientations. Brendan Behan, executive director of the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee, said in a Tuesday, June 26 interview, “I think people felt really energized. We’ve heard a lot of great feedback about people’s experiences.” He said people have been “raving” about main stage headliners Karmin, among other highlights. Figures on how much money came in from this year’s two days of Pride events haven’t been finalized, Behan said. See page 14 >>

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Brinkin arrested on child porn charges

New Oakland ‘Living Room’ offers healing, community

ore money will be distributed to local HIV/AIDS nonprofits from next month’s AIDS Walk San Francisco, but changes in the grant process left some organizations out of the running this year. The San Francisco AIDS Foundation, which oversees the walk – coming up on Sunday, July 15 – has revamped the process See page 17 >>

by Seth Hemmelgarn

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ormer San Francisco Human Rights Commission staffer Larry Brinkin was arrested last week on felony child pornography charges. As of Wednesday morning, June 27, the district attorney’s office had not decided whether to file formal charges, but the allegations Courtesy SFPD have cast a pall on Brinkin’s legacy. The Larry Brinkin out gay man, regarded as an LGBT rights pioneer, was with the HRC for more than two decades as a compliance officer before he retired in 2010. See page 16 >>

undreds of thousands of people filled the streets around San Francisco’s Civic Center last weekend for the city’s 42nd annual LGBT Pride Parade and celebration. For at least one parade spectator Sunday, June 24, it seemed hard not to sound like a peacenik. Marbie Descatamiento, 24, who lives in Seattle, was wearing an outfit that included a rainbow skirt and boa for her first San Francisco Pride. She said the atmosphere was “very welcoming and fun.”

by Elliot Owen

A

new queer and transgender people of color-centered multi-use space called the Living Room Project officially opened its doors in West Oakland this month as a designated place where healing, transformation, and community building can take place. Founded by Boston native Micah Hobbes Frazier, 38, who identifies as a queer mixedgendered person of color, the project exists as a beacon of hope for QTPOC who feel unwelcome and unsafe accessing certain spaces and services that most people take for granted. “Looking at the levels of trauma in the QTPOC community and the limited access to safe spaces, health care and wellness,” Frazier said, “the need for a community space to access those and other basic needs is clear.” Healing trauma is paramount to the Living Room Project’s existence, a concept that Frazier understands well. Oppression, sexual assault and abuse, and bathroom safety are just a few ways trauma manifests within the QTPOC community, he said. “I’ve been assaulted and accosted in bathrooms. I know a lot of queer and transfolk who have chronic bladder and urinary tract infecSee page 16 >>

Elliot Owen

Mia McKenzie, left, joined Ana Maria Aguero Jahannes and Micah Hobbes Frazier at the Living Room Project, a community space that Frazier started this month in West Oakland.

{ FIRST OF TWO SECTIONS }

<< Community News

2 • BAY AREA REPORTER • June 28-July 4, 2012

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LGBT cop retires; others promoted by Seth Hemmelgarn

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he San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday praised an out lesbian police operations commander who will retire this week, while several other LGBT members of the department were recently promoted to the rank of lieutenant. Those promoted include Peter Thoshinsky, making him the first out gay man in the SFPD to reach that level. Thoshinsky, 53, who’s been with the department for 30 years, said the AIDS epidemic set the movement of gay men through the SFPD’s ranks back “a full generation.” He said he wouldn’t be out if it weren’t for the men who came before him. “They did all the heavy lifting,” said Thoshinsky, who came out at work in 2008 or 2009. He said the men who died in the AIDS epidemic “came out of the closet and were ostracized and had to fight the fight.” He said that he came out “because I felt comfortable that I’d be accepted ... I was right.” Thoshinsky said he’d start work as a lieutenant supervising the night watch at SFPD’s Northern Station, which includes the Fillmore, Lower Haight, Hayes Valley, and Pacific Heights areas, July 31. Despite his new rank, Thoshinsky said he’d continue patrolling. “My foundation is the street cops, so I don’t see myself sitting in an office too much,” said Thoshinsky, whose salary will be $148,000. As for the retirement, Lea Militello, 53, who most recently served on Police Chief Greg Suhr’s command staff and was in charge of the department’s Municipal Transportation Agency operations, is retiring at the end of the week, according to Una Bailey, president of the SFPD’s Pride Alliance for LGBT officers. Militello, who was honored by out Supervisor Scott Wiener at the Tuesday, June 26

Jane Philomen Cleland

SFPD Commander Lea Militello, right, received a commendation from District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener at Tuesday’s board meeting.

Board of Supervisors meeting, didn’t provide comment for this story. “I can’t think of a better role model for our community than Lea Militello,” Wiener told the Bay Area Reporter Wednesday morning. “She has been a mentor to so many LGBT people both inside and outside SFPD, myself included. Lea would have been a superb chief of police, and although it didn’t happen for her, she has helped lay the groundwork for future LGBT leadership in the department and for the eventual LGBT chief.” In 2003, Militello, then an inspector, and another police inspector were stabbed after confronting a man outside his Daly City home in connection with a pellet gun incident in San Francisco’s Nob Hill neighborhood. Both officers were seriously injured but Militello later returned to duty. Bailey, an out lesbian, said in a recent email that 15 people have been promoted to lieutenant, including her. She said six of those people are women, and five are LGBT, which she called “phenomenal.” She said it would change the face of mid-management at the department. Besides her and Thoshinsky, Bailey

said, the other out LGBTs who’ve been promoted are Deb Gizdich, Jennifer Jackson, and Renee Pagano. None of the others responded to emailed interview requests. Bailey also said that Commander Sandra Tong recently retired. That leaves Denise Schmitt as the lone out LGBT member of Suhr’s command staff. In response to emailed questions, Commander Lyn Tomioka, Suhr’s chief of staff, said “All of the promotees bring great energy and talent to the department and the city. They are the supervisors that shape the next generation of SFPD members.” Tomioka said that command staff members usually come from the rank of captain. “These new promotees are gaining valuable experience that will make them more capable command staff members in the future,” she said. The SFPD is actively recruiting “in all communities, which includes but is not limited to last weekend’s [LGBT] Pride events,” Tomioka said.▼ For more information, visit www.sf-police.org.

Police examine gay man’s death by Seth Hemmelgarn

S

an Francisco police are continuing their investigation into the recent killing of a gay man. Steven “Eriq” Escalon, 28, was found dead around 6 p.m., June 12, in his home in the 5000 block of Diamond Heights Boulevard. San Francisco homicide Inspector Scott Warnke said Tuesday, June 26 that there haven’t been any arrests. “The investigation is moving forward,” he said. A flier distributed by the San Francisco Police Department says investigators are seeking information on the identity of any person or persons seen in the area of 5000 Diamond Heights carrying a flat screen TV, at least one computer, or a game console, in the early to late afternoon of June 12. People are also asked to report “any suspicious individuals” seen around that time. Warnke, who said neither the TV nor the other items have been located, said he couldn’t comment on how Escalon appears to have died or whether there were signs of a struggle. The San Francisco Medical Examiner’s office isn’t likely to release details of its review of Escalon’s death for several months. Speculation that Escalon’s killing was related to a hook up is being investigated, Warnke said. “Apparently he went to a few clubs” the night before he died and took a cab home from the 400 block

Rick Gerharter

Greg Carey, left, from Castro Community on Patrol, handed a leaflet asking for information about the June 12 murder of Steven “Eriq” Escalon to Mark Oshiro last week as he passed the Castro Farmer’s Market on Noe Street.

of Castro Street early that morning “and there’s speculation he may have hooked up with somebody,” he said. Asked whether Escalon had gone home with one person and then hooked up with someone else, Warnke said, “Anything is possible at this time.” He said police have received suggestions, “a lot [of them] anonymously,” that Escalon met someone online. He couldn’t say whether the site was Adam4Adam or Grindr,

both popular sites for making quick arrangements for sex. Warnke said he couldn’t comment on whether any semen or blood had been found at the scene of Escalon’s death, or whether there were any weapons there. He wasn’t sure which clubs Escalon had visited. Roberto Tiscareno, a friend of Escalon’s, said that Escalon had “really liked” Toad Hall, at 4146 18th Street, which is near the 400 block of Castro. See page 16 >>

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4 • BAY AREA REPORTER • June 28-July 4, 2012

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â–ź Castro Country Club in talks with SFAF as fiscal sponsor

June 28-July 4, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 5

by Matthew S. Bajko

T

he Castro Country Club and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation are in talks to form a fiscal partnership as the sober space continues to undergo leadership changes. The 18th Street facility near the heart of the city’s gay district learned last year that its longtime fiscal sponsor, Baker Places, would end its oversight of the club as of July 1. The news came as the club’s longevity in its longtime home was in doubt as the building was up for sale following the 2010 death of the property’s longtime owner Gerard Jian. The sale of the property led Baker Places Executive Director Jonathan Vernick to re-examine his agency’s relationship with the club. He decided it was time to cut ties between the two organizations and gave the country club leaders until this summer to figure out how to reconstitute its oversight. Vernick told the B.A.R. this week that he now hopes to transfer responsibility for the club’s finances to SFAF by July 31. “Originally, we simply wanted to see if the transfer could occur simultaneously with the end of our fiscal year, which is June 30. But that is not going to happen,� said Vernick in a phone interview. “We have talked with the AIDS foundation about shooting for the end of July. That seems reasonable to me.� Until that occurs, Vernick said Baker Places would continue to pay the club’s bills. Though he added, “There is enough money, I think, within the operating budget of the Castro Country Club for them to be able to pay their bills, going forward.� As of press time Wednesday, June 27 no agreement had been approved by the organizations. “We are still in discussions with CCC, but no agreement has been made about a possible fiscal sponsorship (or anything else),� James Loduca, a spokesman for the AIDS foundation, told the Bay Area Reporter in an email this week. In a brief interview with the B.A.R. at City Hall Monday, June 18, country club board member Rebecca Prozan sounded confident that SFAF would become the club’s new fiscal agent. According to the club’s board meeting minutes, it voted in April to enter into formal talks with the AIDS foundation after first talking with the LGBT Community Center. At the May meeting it was announced that Judith Stevenson, Baker Place’s director of business and operations, and Jonathan Zimman, the AIDS foundation’s chief financial officer/controller, had started looking into the asset transfer process. Yet in a phone interview Friday, June 22 country club board secretary Mike Shriver declined to name SFAF as the group the sober space was in talks with because no agreement was in place. “We are going to have a new fiscal sponsor but are not naming it yet. I want to be respectful of the process,� said Shriver. “We are being very diligent.�

Fourth agency If an agreement is reached, it would mark the fourth agency that has come under the fold of the AIDS foundation since 2007. The Stop AIDS Project merged with SFAF last October, while the Castro gay men’s health clinic Magnet and the Stonewall Project, which focuses on substance use among gay and bisexual men, became programs of the AIDS

Jane Philomen Cleland

Castro Country Club board member Mike Shriver, seen here speaking at the AIDS Candlelight Vigil earlier this year, is upbeat about the sober space’s future.

foundation in 2007. Loduca said that SFAF entered into the talks with the country club because it believes it provides a necessary service that ties into its own mission of trying to curtail the spread of AIDS in the city. “The Castro Country Club does a lot of really important work helping people to manage their alcohol use. As an organization very committed to addressing substance use and reducing people’s use of alcohol and other drugs as a means of preventing HIV infection, we have a lot of respect for their work,� said Loduca. The exact details of how closely interwoven the country club would become with SFAF remain unclear. Asked about the possibility of having AIDS foundation programs housed in the country club’s building, Loduca declined to directly answer the question, saying it was “way premature to speculate� about such an arrangement. “We are in discussion about what a potential relationship would look like,� he said. “We are focused on making sure it is the right fit for the organization and the communities we serve.� It is expected that under the terms of any fiscal sponsorship, the country club’s current volunteer manager, Terry Beswick, would transition into a full-time job with salary. Vernick said it is likely that Beswick, who declined an interview request for this story, would be considered an employee of the AIDS foundation. Beswick is not considered a Baker Places employee. In lieu of full-time compensation, Beswick has received a rental subsidy for his part-time work that allowed him to live in the apartment he shares with roommates above the club. That arrangement was forced to come to an end once the building sold. In January Castro businessman George “Jorge� Maumer, who owns Superstar Video, purchased the 1901 Edwardian for a reported $1 million. He pledged to keep the country club as a tenant and became the landlord for the rental unit. Asked about Beswick’s salary going forward, Shriver said a dollar amount would not be finalized until there is an agreement with the new fiscal sponsor. The club’s board has set a budget of $206,000 for the new fiscal year starting July 1. It also voted to put $50,000 into a reserve fund, which is not meant for operating expenses. “We need to take on managing the place in an appropriate, adult, professional way,� said Shriver. The club’s board in April welcomed new member Steve Kehrli following the resignation in March See page 16 >>

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6 • BAY AREA REPORTER • June 28-July 4, 2012

Volume 42, Number 26 June 28-July 4, 2012 www.ebar.com PUBLISHER Thomas E. Horn Bob Ross (Founder, 1971 – 2003) NEWS EDITOR Cynthia Laird ARTS EDITOR Roberto Friedman ASSISTANT EDITORS Matthew S. Bajko Seth Hemmelgarn Jim Provenzano CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Dan Aiello • Tavo Amador • Erin Blackwell Roger Brigham • Scott Brogan Victoria A. Brownworth • Philip Campbell Heather Cassell • Chuck Colbert Richard Dodds • David Duran Raymond Flournoy • David Guarino Liz Highleyman • Brandon Judell John F. Karr • Lisa Keen • Matthew Kennedy David Lamble • Michael McDonagh David-Elijah Nahmod • Elliot Owen Paul Parish • Lois Pearlman • Tim Pfaff Jim Piechota • Bob Roehr • Donna Sachet Adam Sandel • Jason Serinus • Gregg Shapiro Gwendolyn Smith • Ed Walsh • Sura Wood

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SFPD needs condom policy T

he San Francisco Police Department must immediately develop a policy that will not confiscate condoms from people (particularly those suspected of prostitution) and use them as evidence in any court case. As we reported last week, department officials in the same unit contradicted one another: one said condoms are never taken as evidence of prostitution and the other said police do use condoms as evidence of prostitution. This is in spite of a 1994 resolution adopted by the Board of Supervisors that called on the mayor to urge the district attorney and Police Commission “to no longer confiscate and/or alter or use the fact of condom possession for investigative or court evidence in prostitution-related offences.” Seems pretty clear to us. The police need a consistent policy that is followed by officers on the street as well as investigators and command staff. A failure to do so will undermine the message of public health officials, HIV prevention officials, and others who have implored the public for decades to practice safe sex in order to reduce transmission of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Sex workers are some of the most vulnerable in this regard, and it’s important that they have condoms with them in case their clients don’t. Yet since the SFPD uses condom possession as a pretext to question and implicate suspected prostitutes, some sex workers are reluctant to carry them. This could, in fact, have dire consequences from a public health perspective, as well as put individuals at greater risk for contracting HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases. One of the most troubling aspects of the story was that a transgender office manager for an agency serving trans women was stopped and questioned at 4 p.m. by police near Diva’s, a bar that’s popular with trans women. Despite her

unassuming attire, officers searched her bag and took five condoms, she said, because they told her she “looked like” she “was prostituting.” She was not cited. That sort of action by officers is alarming to us, and should be to department brass and city officials as well. Already Supervisor Scott Wiener has voiced his concern over the department’s apparent lack of a consistent condom policy, and Mayor Ed Lee said people should ask the Police Commission to look into the matter. We think the mayor, Wiener, and health department officials should meet with Police Chief Greg Suhr so that everyone is on the same page. The city of San Francisco spends $200,000 annually distributing about 1 million condoms – they need to be used as they are intended, not

taken by cops in some nebulous effort at combating prostitution.

Cops do good at Pride While we have concerns with the police department’s condom policy, we must acknowledge the good work officers did during Pride weekend. We were impressed with the professionalism of the SFPD. Groups of four or five officers were evident without being threatening or distracting. They were friendly to people who asked them questions and did their best to respond. While we saw some people being called out for smoking a joint or drinking in the Castro, officers handled it professionally, explaining that public drinking was prohibited and they shouldn’t be smoking marijuana in public either. All in all, good community police work during what is arguably the city’s biggest festival weekend of the year, and one during which people have a tendency to celebrate wildly.▼

LGBT Hondurans target of killings by Charlie Hinton

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ry Honduras, now becoming a new killing field and the murder capital of the world. Besides 24 journalists, more than 50 peasant leaders engaged in land struggles, and unknown numbers of lawyers, teachers and activists, at least 70 LGBT people have been murdered since a United States-supported coup overthrew legally elected president Manual Zelaya on June 28, 2009. Hondurans elected Zelaya in 2006 as a wealthy landowning member of a traditional party. Zelaya, however, betrayed his 1 percent background by promoting policies that supported the Honduran 99 percent – reducing poverty by almost 10 percent during two years of government. He also sought to incorporate Honduras into ALBA, an organization founded for the political and economic integration of Latin America and the Caribbean by Venezuela, greatly influenced by Hugo Chavez, and fiercely opposed by the elites of Honduras and the United States. The opposition became most intense when Zelaya called a nonbinding survey for June 2009 to gauge if the population wanted to begin a process to change the undemocratic constitution of 1982, enacted immediately after the lifting of 10 years of military rule. The Congress, the armed forces, and the wealthy would not allow their power to be questioned or diminished, however, so they carried out a coup on June 28, when the Honduran military kidnapped Zelaya and forced him into exile in Costa Rica. The majority of Hondurans rose up in protest, carried out huge demonstrations, and started to build a resistance movement, currently organized through the National Front for Popular Resistance (FNRP) and a new political party, LIBRE. Many LGBT people joined this movement, and many of them are among the 70 people who have been murdered in targeted killings since the coup. Some bodies have been mutilated or burned. Many people suspect police involvement. The most prominent are much respected youth resistance leaders Walter Trochez, 27, and Erick Martinez, 32. Trochez had been active in documenting and publicizing homophobic killings and crimes committed by the forces behind the coup. He had been trailed for weeks before his murder by thugs believed to be members of

Via Towleroad

Honduran youth resistance and gay rights leader Erick Martinez was murdered last month in Honduras.

the state security forces. He was kidnapped, beaten, and threatened on December 4, 2009, but he would not shut up and was murdered nine days later in a drive-by shooting. Martinez was a journalist and LIBRE Party candidate for Congress, one of only three people elected unanimously to the leadership body of the first national congress of the FNRP, held in 2011. He was kidnapped on May 5, 2012, and his strangled body found in a ditch outside of Tegucigalpa two days later. Martinez and Trochez were both part of the LBGT organization Kukulcan, as well as active in a leftist political organization, Los Necios. They played key roles in integrating LGBTI demands and goals into the broader agenda for social change. Los Necios eulogized Trochez, “We met Walter fighting; we quickly saw within him an indisputable leader in the defense of human rights,” and Martinez, “Erick was a brave and tireless leader, totally dedicated to the social struggle. The oligarchy has killed one of our best comrades.” Even U.S. Ambassador Lisa Kubiske has recently spoken out about the LGBT killings, calling for the rights of LGBT people to be respected, for the killings to be investigated, and the killers brought to justice. She does not address the fact

however, that the U.S. government is massively arming the suspected killers, and supporting the illegitimate Honduran government of Porfirio Lobo that allows this violence to proceed with impunity. Besides the more targeted political killings in Honduras, there are many drug related killings, and on average one woman a day is murdered, some targeted movement activists, but most killed in acts of random misogyny. A great sense of insecurity exists in Honduras today, and many Hondurans fear for their personal safety. The United States government plays a duplicitous role in this situation. Besides its huge air base at Palmerola, it’s adding new bases, escalating its military presence and funding in the name of fighting drugs. Our government deploys commandos with Special Forces backgrounds to work closely with the Honduran police and military. On May 11, DEA officials were involved in the shooting deaths of four innocent peasants. Yet WikiLeaks has revealed that a ranch owned by Miguel Facusse, the largest landowner and richest man in Honduras and a major supporter of the Lobo regime (and implicated in the above-mentioned peasant deaths), has been used to transfer cocaine with the knowledge of the State Department. At the same time, Facusse’s guards work closely with the Honduran military and police, and receive funding from the United States to fight the war on drugs in the region. The repression of the LGBT movement and violence against its leaders cannot be separated from the overall political situation in Honduras. The Bay Area Latin American Solidarity Coalition/BALASC will hold a denuncia (speak-out) and vigil at 24th and Mission streets today (Thursday, June 28) from 5 to 7 p.m. to commemorate the third anniversary of the coup against Zelaya and to demand an end to U.S. military aid to Honduras, the war on drugs, and the ongoing repression and murders. We will address the repression against LGBT people and invite LGBT participation. We also ask people to call the White House – (202) 456-1111 – and your local members of Congress – (202) 2243121 – to make these demands of our elected officials.▼ Charlie Hinton became politicized in the 1970s through Bay Area Gay Liberation. He represents Haiti Action Committee in the Bay Area Latin American Solidarity Coalition.

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Letters >>

June 28-July 4, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 7

Police need clear policy on condoms How surprising (not), that the left hand of law does not know what the right hand is doing [“SFPD condom practices questioned,” June 21]. While one police officer states that condoms are never used as evidence, a second, in the same unit, states that condoms are used as evidence as often as possible. That’s specifically why it is so important to have departmental policy. The SFPD should have a clear policy that condoms shall not be used for evidentiary purposes. While retraining is in order, not until policy is written and disseminated, will the horrific practice of confiscating and using condoms as evidence of criminal activity stop. Condoms are a well-proven intervention to prevent the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections including cancer-causing agents like human papilloma viruses. Second, it is discouraging to hear that precious city resources are still being used to go after massage parlor establishments in the name of anti-trafficking efforts. Paying overtime to health, police, and building city officials to conduct unannounced inspections is a misuse of public funds in today’s economy. The mayor should immediately suspend such inspections and the Board of Supervisors call a hearing so the public can understand the cost of these inspections and any potential benefits. How much is it costing taxpayers to support those unannounced inspections and what good is coming out of them? The targeting of Asian massage parlor workers in the name of stopping human trafficking must stop. Citing individuals for violations of “dress code” in today’s day and age is absurd. Never is it mentioned that human trafficking occurs across a variety of occupations in diverse industries like food service and agriculture. No one condones human trafficking but we must stop the San Francisco witch hunt among massage parlors. Jeffrey D. Klausner, MD, MPH San Francisco

2012 Pride Parade disaster Why does the Pride Parade (seems like every year, this year was worse) have 20-minute or 30-minute gaps between individual participants? There is no excuse that we as spectators have to wait 20 to 30 minutes so see another entry – no wonder people are saying the parade is boring and go to the festival area. Also, why feature Toyota cars in the parade? They should be on display in Civic Center, not in the parade. I remember in the 1980s many bars had floats, dancers, music, marching bands – not a political parade – who cares about seeing gay cops or the same participants year after year? All we are seeing are people marching in the parade. Where are the floats, bands, dancers? As a former event director with over 32 years of event planning I think the Pride Parade community has to do some soul searching. Even the SF Chinese New Year’s Parade has more music, floats and no gaps between contingents. It’s time for the gay parade to change. You are losing your audience. People come from all over the world to see the San Francisco Pride Parade. They deserve better. Daniel Petelin Redwood City, California

Pink Saturday is dead Pink Saturday is dead, or it needs to be. At least for a while. The security this year was over the top. Rude renta-cops, no way to walk home through my own neighborhood without standing in a line to be scanned, and too many police standing around running up overtime. I understand the need for safety – I share that need as well. But we also have other needs such as ease, freedom, and privacy. I actually heard one of the hired security say, “Well, if you don’t have anything to hide, you shouldn’t have any problem being scanned.” When an event gets so uncontrollable that our neighborhood is no longer our neighborhood, it’s time to take a break. Pink Saturday should be held off for a year, then eased back in, as with Halloween in recent years. Josh Alexander San Francisco

Porn and social media The death of gay porn star Erik Rhodes [given name James Naughtin] got me thinking about the connection between porn and social media [“Supersize me,” Karrnal Knowledge, June 21]. Both involve a breakdown of personal boundaries, in one case extreme, in the other less obviously harmful. Both leave the participants vulnerable. The language used to describe porn disguises what it’s really about. The “models” are “bottoms” or “tops,” though these days one of the biggest thrills is watching a top finally get fucked. They are “performing” for money. But that is a real man’s asshole exposed by the video camera to potentially millions of viewers to the end of time while it’s fucked by however many partners. You can say the models have the power because they get the money and thousands are sexually aroused watching them. But for relatively small amounts of money viewers get to watch men at their most vulnerable, their bodies subject to anybody’s comments, like your porn reviewer speculating how assholes get stretched in order to take the biggest cocks. Don’t tell me that the main excitement of porn isn’t experiencing the power of watching men exposing themselves. There’s a seemingly endless supply of

men willing to be exploited, perhaps because they’re too young to make good decisions, and because porn is so much part of the culture. Of course they must take responsibility for the choices they make, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us aren’t complicit. Social media is a logical extension of the breakdown in personal boundaries that’s at its most vicious in porn. However we try to limit our audience, we’re sharing the details of our lives, and often our most intimate relationships, with who knows how many strangers. What happened to our self-respect, our strong sense of personal identity, that we need constant reassurance that others are witnessing the trivia of our lives on technology far smarter than we are, in a parody of thoughtful communication? News flash: We should be careful who we trust. Anyone with a web presence has experienced the ugly bile that’s prompted by the most innocuous post. Rhodes’s intimately depressive blog, an extended hopeless cry for help, didn’t help him. Ken Martin San Francisco

Consulates help with film promotion All human institutions are inherently flawed. Nationstates, as human institutions, are also inherently flawed. But to those condemning the Israeli Consulate’s promotion of Israeli films at Frameline, only the nation-state of Israel has flaws so deep, so all encompassing, so born of original sin, that these flaws invalidate her 64-year existence [“Debate shadows Israeli films at Frameline,” June 21]. To these haters, everything Israel has ever done, everything Israel will ever do, must be looked at through the prism of those flaws. Natan Sharansky’s famous 3 D definition of anti-Semitism (http://jcpa.org/phas/phas-sharansky-f04.htm) summarizes it best. The first D is the test of demonization. When the Jewish state is being demonized; when Israel’s actions are blown out of all sensible proportion; when comparisons are made between Israelis and Nazis and between Palestinian refugee camps and Auschwitz, this is anti- Semitism, not legitimate criticism of Israel. The second D is the test of double standards. When criticism of Israel is applied selectively; when Israel is singled out by the United Nations for human rights abuses while the behavior of known and major abusers, such as China, Iran, Cuba, and Syria, is ignored; when Israel’s Magen David Adom, alone among the world’s ambulance services, is denied admission to the International Red Cross – this is anti-Semitism. The third D is the test of delegitimization: when Israel’s fundamental right to exist is denied – alone among all peoples in the world – this too is anti-Semitism. The attacks on Israeli consular support of the Frameline film festival represent a double standard. Promoting a country’s cultural resources is an accepted and expected role of consular services. Faith Meltzer El Cerrito, California

Formula retail in the Castro Me and my partner of the past 20 years live up in the mountains above Sacramento and really enjoy visiting and shopping in the Castro with the small locally owned stores. [“Political Notes: Retail politics hit the Castro,” online, June 11]. We actually take the time to drive for four hours and then spend another hour just in the city before getting to the Castro and then finding a place to park. But it is well worth it if we can do some shopping in the various locally owned family stores. We like the selection of items we can find and the Castro just has its own thing that makes the traveling worth it. However, if the Castro is going to have all these chain stores then why should we waste the gas to go someplace that has the same stores we have right here? I mean, we could just go into Sacramento (only an hour away). We also like knowing that the money we spend is helping a fellow LGBT business stay afloat. How many of those chain stores are supporting the LGBT community? How many are LGBT friendly and not supporting other hate groups? I would really hate to see a Wal-Mart open in the Castro. Professor William Conley, Th.D., Ph.D., M.R.E., PC Pollock Pines, California

B.A.R. was co-opted by bank Having participated in a number of demonstrations against banks that have foreclosed on homes during this ongoing financial crisis, I was stunned at the June 14 faux cover of the Bay Area Reporter shouting “Wells Fargo Celebrates 25 Years of Involvement in the LGBT Community.” That the B.A.R. allowed itself to be co-opted in this way is disillusioning. Wells Fargo deserves credit for its community involvement, but this faux front page is a distortion that begs for balance. How many of the hundreds of families foreclosed on by Wells Fargo qualify as members of the LGBTQ community or its extended family members? How many of us are hurting because of the bailout we gave the too big to fail banks? This cover was a painful distortion for many of us. Ron Schmidt San Francisco

[Editor’s note: Just to be clear, the Wells Fargo wrap around the B.A.R. was a paid advertisement, which should have been noted.]

<< Commentary

8 • BAY AREA REPORTER • June 28-July 4, 2012

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An Olympic moment by Gwendolyn Ann Smith

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n July 27 in London, the Games of the XXX Olympiad will begin. It will be the usual mix of pageantry, sportsmanship, and likely a dash of scandal. If Keelin Godsey had had his way, he would have been the first out transgender man to compete in the Olympics. Godsey hoped to be a part of the United States track and field team, and while he would have been competing in the women’s hammer throw, he identifies as male and plans to undergo surgery sometime after the trials. A lot of news agencies have reported Godsey, 28, as aiming to be the first transgender Olympian, which isn’t exactly accurate. There have been a number of intersex competitors who have made it into the Olympics, and at least one individual did underwent transition post-Olympics. It’s also statistically possible that there have been others, likely forgotten to history. Indeed, the Olympics themselves have had a history of gender testing athletes, introducing tests officially at the 1968 Winter Olympics. The International Olympic Committee discontinued mandatory gender testing in 1999, though it still reserves the right to do specific tests as desired to “prove” the gender of any given athlete in cases of dispute. The first time an Olympian was questioned was in 1936, when Polish 1932 Olympic track star Stanistawa Walasiewicz, also known as Stella Walsh, was defeated by U.S. athlete Helen Stephens. Stephens was accused of being male and went through genital inspection to clear her name. As a point of irony, it was Walasiewicz who – after perishing in an armed robbery in 1980 – was discovered to be XXXY intersex and possessed male genitalia. Also at the 1936 Olympics, German high jump entry Dora Ratjen was revealed to be male. The assumption is that Ratjen was put into the running in a ham-fisted attempt to prove Aryan superiority. But Ratjen came in fourth, and was later spotted sporting a five o’clock shadow at a train station on the way home from the European championships. There’s Brazilian judo competitor Edinanci Silva, who was intersex and had surgery in the mid-1990s in order to compete as a woman. There’s also Sin Kim Dan of South Korea, Iolanda Balas of Romania, and Tamara and Irina Press of the

Christine Smith

former Soviet Union, each of who stopped competing due to gender verification. There’s also Andreas Krieger, who was an East German shot put champion. He was also doped up with steroids from around age 16, and began to develop male characteristics by age 18. Krieger transitioned to male some 10 years after striking Olympic gold back in mid-1980s. Finally, back to the 1936 Berlin Olympics: USOC president Avery Brundage began to work toward a system to test female athletes after observing the performances of Czechoslovakian runner and jumper Zdenka Koubkova and British javelin thrower and shot putter Mary Edith Louise Weston. Both did eventually undergo gender reassignment surgery, becoming Zdenek Koubek and Mark Weston, respectively. These are not the only Olympians who may have, at the least, run afoul of genetic gender tests. At the last games to require mandatory testing – the Atlanta games in 1996 – eight women failed testing. They were later cleared to compete. There are quite a number more outside of Olympic circles, such as South Africa’s Caster Semenya, who won the women’s 800-meter world championship in 2009, only to have her gender questioned. Back to here and now, and Godsey: the difference between Godsey and all these others is that they were not public about their transgender status. While still opting to compete as a woman, and fulfilling any “letter of the law” requirements to do so, Godsey is out as a transgender man. This is markedly different from Weston, let alone Walasiewicz. This is a remarkable change, akin to Jenna Talackova competing openly for the Miss Universe Canada pageant only a few weeks

ago. Rather than hiding his gender identity as Koubek and Weston did, Godsey is out and open. I envision a time, perhaps not nearly as far away as I might think, where transgender sports stars – and transgender people in other high profile positions – will serve as role models for the next generation of young transgender people across the globe. It’s not like there haven’t been transgender role models before, mind you. Christine Jorgensen, Carolyn “Tula” Cossey, Jan Morris, and Renee Richards served my and other generations. Yet many of them came out after the fact, or had their transsexual status thrust into the spotlight in ways they never intended. This again is the difference between the landmark moves each of them made, and the actions of transgender people like Godsey and others who have embraced their transgender beings and chosen to step out of the shadows. Unfortunately, Godsey failed to qualify for the U.S. track and field team in the women’s hammer throw. He finished fifth in trials last week that would have qualified him for one of three slots on the team. Godsey was disappointed, having expected the Olympics to be his swan song. Nevertheless, he sounded a somewhat optimistic note. “I’ve still done more than most people that are trans have,” said Godsey. “I’ve still competed at a level that most people haven’t. I don’t want to let not making a team be what brings that down.” So you have, Keelin – and you may not have made the team, but you can hold your head high for striking a victory for transgender people, and adding your name to a long list of champions who came before you.▼ Gwen Smith was a nerdy child, and never had a chance in sports. You can find her online at www.gwensmith.com.

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Politics >>

June 28-July 4, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 9

CA LGBT Legislative Caucus retools website by Matthew S. Bajko

ing original music for the show. It will also feature creative works submitted by members of the public who have been inspired or affected by Milk. The chorus is working with the Harvey Milk Foundation and other partners to plan regional events and celebrations that will culminate in a world premiere of the production during Pride month in 2013. A number of gay men’s choruses from around the country, including Los Angeles; Washington, D.C.; New York City; and the Twin Cities, cocommissioned the piece.

T

he homepage for the California LGBT Legislative Caucus, at long last, has undergone a complete revamp and moved to a new web address. More changes are in store as the caucus better utilizes online platforms to promote its members and its work. The site, whose new address is lgbtcaucus.legislature.ca.gov/, went live within the last six weeks. It is part of a redo for all of the legislative caucuses’ websites. Not all of the technical glitches have been worked out – for a time Wednesday morning the site wouldn’t load – and the page for the LGBT caucus is still not up to date with the most current info. The last press release posted is dated June 8, 2011, and the video for the caucus’s annual Pride ceremony in the statehouse is from 2011. The 2012 ceremony video should be posted within the week. There is a page with a partial list of LGBT legislation introduced in the 2012 session. Yet even that page says the list is from Tuesday, March 20 and does not reflect recent legislative action on the bills. Despite those issues, the new site is a step in the right direction. If anything, it at least now includes bios in addition to photos of the current caucus members, with live links to their individual lawmaker websites. The original website first debuted in 2003, a year after the formation of the caucus, the first of its kind in the nation to be started by openly LGBT lawmakers. But the bare bones site did little other than list who comprised the historic group. By 2009 the site was woefully inadequate and outdated based on the technological advances of the day. At one point the only thing it contained was a photo no longer reflective of the remaining caucus members. After gay state Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) became chair of the caucus that year, the Political Notebook began inquiring about what updates were planned for the group’s website. Hailing from a region transformed by Silicon Valley’s high-tech companies, Leno pledged that the long-needed upgrades to the webpage were in store. But not much happened as dealing with the state’s ongoing budget morass remained lawmakers’ main priority. Based on a July 2011 archived image of the site, which had been at www.assembly.ca.gov/ LGBT_Caucus/, it consisted of just the names and photos of the caucus’s seven members and little else. When the Bay Area Reporter met in mid-May with the current caucus chair, gay state Assemblyman Rich Gordon (D-Menlo Park), the caucus’ lackluster web presence was again brought up. Gordon, after all, represents an area home to many technology industry companies and venture capital firms with addresses on the famous stretch of Sand Hill Road. Google Inc. was founded in his hometown, and Facebook moved its headquarters there in December. (Gordon’s newly drawn 24th Assembly District seat he is running for in November covers even more of Silicon Valley.) “We will get a real web page,” Gordon promised, adding that he didn’t expect the changes to be complete until the fall. Part of the problem, said Gordon, had to do with staffing. The person

Rick Gerharter

Assemblyman Rich Gordon waved to spectators as his contingent made its way up Market Street in Sunday’s LGBT Pride Parade.

assigned to the LGBT caucus as its staffer, Eric Astacaan, only works part-time in the job. The other hours of his week Astacaan spends as a special assistant to gay Assembly Speaker John A. Perez (D-Los Angeles). “Eric and I have talked. I would like to move toward having a fulltime staff person for the caucus,” Gordon said at the time, adding that he likely would have to hire a new person for such a role. “I am sorting this out.” The other minority caucus’ all have permanent full-time staff assigned to them, and as the LGBT caucus continues to grow in number, it now requires similar staffing. A job announcement for the new position should be posted next month, and among the requirements needed will be experience in managing a website. The person will assist Astacaan, who is expected to remain a parttime staffer for the caucus. Once the new hire is in place, it is expected that the caucus website will be updated on a regular basis and contain even more features and information. In addition to better promoting the work of the caucus and its members, Gordon said he would like to see the website also focus more attention on the LGBT candidates seeking seats in the Legislature. “We hope to do some things differently,” he said. “I would like to see us have a better handle on where is the [LGBT] farm team for the Legislature.”

Leno endorses gay man for Oakland council Speaking of up-and-coming gay politicos, last week Leno endorsed Sean Sullivan in his race this fall for the District 3 seat on the Oakland City Council. Sullivan is in a crowded field of contenders to succeed longtime councilwoman Nancy Nadel, who opted not to seek re-election this year. Sullivan, a vice president with College Track, a nonprofit afterschool program for low-income youth, unsuccessfully ran against Nadel in 2008. His boyfriend, Richard Fuentes, is running for Oakland school board this fall. The couple represented their hometown in the Pride Parade Sunday after Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, who had been expected to march, decided to instead remain in Brazil where she was attending an environmental conference. Considered one of the leading candidates this time out, Sullivan is facing tough competition from Nyeisha DeWitt, the program director of citywide dropout prevention at Oakland’s Promise Alliance who has the support of state As-

semblywoman Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco), and Damon Eaves, Alameda County Children’s Services administrator. Others in the race include Lynette Gibson-McElhaney, Neighborhood Housing Services of the East Bay executive director; longshoreman Derrick Muhammad; and Alex Miller-Cole, a gay developer who owns Cypress One Properties and is married to Christopher Miller-Cole, a clinical psychologist. Sullivan will be in San Francisco from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. this Saturday, June 30 for a fundraiser Leno is co-hosting at a private home in the Castro. For the address email sean@ seansullivan.org. Leno’s Senate re-election campaign is hosting its own fundraiser from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, June 29 at the Carnelian By the Bay restaurant, 1 Ferry Plaza along the San Francisco waterfront.

Gay chorus launches Milk for President fundraiser The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus is taking advantage of the 2012 presidential election to raise money for a special production it intends to mount next June. It has launched “Milk 2012,” a peer-to-peer fundraising project in the form of a faux presidential campaign to elect slain gay rights icon Harvey Milk as president of the United States. The goal is to raise $100 for each of the 538 votes in the U.S. Electoral College, which will go toward its multimedia stage production “Harvey Milk 2013: Living the Legacy.” The show will commemorate the 35th anniversary of Milk’s assassination November 27, 1978. The night of his murder also marked the chorus’ first public performance when it sang on the steps of San Francisco’s City Hall. “We want the fundraising campaign for this production to be fun and engaging – and something Harvey himself might have gotten a kick out of. So we’re running Harvey for President,” the chorus explained in an email last week sent to supporters. A map of the U.S. posted at www. milk2012.com will shade each of the 50 states pink as the chorus reaches its goal. There is also a feature that tracks how much people have raised as part of the campaign. The top fundraiser in each state will be named its “governor.” Participants will also be eligible to win campaign shirts, hats, mugs, and other prizes. “The ambitiousness of this campaign reflects our great ambition for the production it will fund,” stated Michael Tate, president of SFGMC’s board of directors. “We intend for ‘Harvey Milk 2013: Living the Legacy’ to reflect the powerful way that Harvey made the world a better place.” Broadway composer Andrew Lippa (The Addams Family) is writ-

Gay San Jose man named to DNC panel In non-faux presidential campaign news, gay San Jose resident Clark Williams was named a member of the Platform Committee of the 2012 Democratic National Convention, which will take place in Charlotte, North Carolina the first week of September. Williams, the northern co-chair of the state Democratic Party’s LGBT caucus, is one of 16 people from California named to the committee. Matt Haney, a straight man running for San Francisco school

board this fall, is also among the appointees. “As the platform committee may very well be considering language pledging Democratic support for marriage equality – a potentially historic addition to the national platform of a major political party – I’m thankful and excited to have been chosen to play a role in this watershed moment for our LGBT community and for our country,” Williams told the B.A.R.▼

10 • BAY AREA REPORTER • June 28-July 4, 2012

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

Read more online at www.ebar.com

June 28-July 4, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 11

12 • BAY AREA REPORTER • June 28-July 4, 2012

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

Read more online at www.ebar.com

June 28-July 4, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 13

<< From the cover

14 • BAY AREA REPORTER • June 28-July 4, 2012

▼

Jane Philomen Cleland

Wearing sunglasses, and maroon burkas, Fahima Mehmet and Yasmine Oaulid took part in the 20th annual San Francisco Dyke March June 23.

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SF Pride 2012

From page 1

People with the OccuPride contingent spoke out against corporate involvement in the festivities and were among those taking part in the parade. Near Sutter, Sansome, and Market streets, not far from the beginning of the parade, some held signs such as one that read “Community not commodity.” Several protesters briefly sat down in the street, prompting remarks including, “Get the fuck out of here!” from some spectators. Among the parade’s nearly 200 contingents were Mayor Ed Lee, marching with the Golden State

Warriors, and District Attorney George Gascón. Community organizations ranged from Glide Memorial United Methodist Church to the San Rafael-based Youth Pride Coalition. Affirmation, a group of gay Mormons and their allies, also participated for the first time. Saturday night, June 23, thousands of people gathered in the streets of the Castro neighborhood to celebrate the annual Pink Saturday party, which is organized by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Sister Selma Soul said organizers have been getting “lots of great feedback” on the street party. This year, 10 food trucks replaced the festival’s main stage. Soul said those vendors “were popular all night,” and they

Rick Gerharter

Activists from OccuPride carried a banner in front of the Wells Fargo Bank contingent in Sunday’s Pride Parade.

Rick Gerharter

Jane Philomen Cleland

Karmin singer Amy Heidemann wows the crowd at Sunday’s Pride festival.

seemed to help people maintain “at least some moderation in their celebration,” even if not “total sobriety.” (People weren’t supposed to drink alcohol inside the event.) Final financial figures aren’t available, Soul said, but the Sisters have made a cash deposit from the gates this year of $82,075. That’s down slightly from about $85,262 in 2011. Soul said at least $26,000 would go to beneficiaries of the event, which is the minimum commitment that was made to them. Volunteers worked at the party to help raise money for several nonprofits.

Some incidents reported This year’s Pride and Pink Saturday events appeared to be free of major violence, but the San Francisco Police Department has reported some incidents that occurred over the weekend. Officer Albie Esparza, an SFPD spokesman, said that at 9:20 p.m. Saturday in the 400 block of Castro Street, as the neighborhood was filled with Pink Saturday revelers, a 29-year-old woman was talking on her phone as she walked down the middle of the street. A 16-year-old girl grabbed the woman’s phone and ran toward the sidewalk. The victim confronted the

A group from Community United Against Violence was one of the contingents in the ninth annual Trans March Friday, June 22.

girl and asked for her phone back, but the suspect handed the phone off to someone else. That person tried to run but the victim struggled with her over the phone. The first suspect, who’s from Daly City, started punching the victim in the head. The victim identified the girl to police, who cited her for robbery with force and released her to her parents because she’s a juvenile. Esparza said the victim, who’s from southern California, suffered nonlife threatening injuries and is “fine.” The second suspect, an Asian woman, 5 feet 5 inches, weighing 120 pounds, with curly hair and of unknown age, couldn’t be located. At about 10:40 p.m. Saturday night, also in the 400 block of Castro, two suspects – a 20-to-21-yearold man and a 12-to-13-year-old boy – approached a woman, 19, on a dance floor and took her phone from her hand, according to police. The suspects began walking away, and the victim followed. The first suspect showed the victim a gun in his waistband and the victim fled, police said in a summary of the incident. It’s not clear whether the robbery occurred in a club or in the street. The only bar in that block known for dancing is QBar, and co-owner Tim Eicher indicated in a brief in-

terview that it didn’t happen there. Another incident occurred just after 5 p.m. Sunday at McAllister and Hyde streets. The victims reported that they were walking south on Hyde when someone from another group of people elbowed somebody in the victims’ group, Esparza said. He said it isn’t known whether the elbowing was intentional but “words were exchanged” and “a fight broke out between the two groups.” The suspect pulled out a box cutter from his Gucci bag and stabbed both victims, who are 27. One man suffered slash wounds to his scalp. The other man was slashed and stabbed in the back, Esparza said. The suspect was described as black, 19 to 23 years old, 5 feet 10 inches, and 140 pounds, with black hair. He had on a brown Gucci shoulder bag; a white, short-sleeve buttoned shirt, blue jeans, and a bow tie. He fled the scene and blended into the crowd, Esparza said. He said the victims, who are from the South Bay, were treated at San Francisco General Hospital and released. Anyone with information in the incidents may contact the SFPD anonymous tip line at (415) 5754444, or text a tip to 847411 and type SFPD, then the message. ▼

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Community News>>

June 28-July 4, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 15

AHP’s Dilley receives Pioneer Award by Heather Cassell

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ongtime HIV/AIDS leader Dr. James Dilley was honored recently by the Levi Strauss Foundation, which named him the recipient of its Pioneer Award. Dilley is executive director of the UCSF Alliance Health Project: Services for the LGBTQ and HIV Communities. He has been working to combat the AIDS epidemic since its beginning in the early 1980s. “I feel humbled by it, actually, and a little amazed, to be honest,” said Dilley, who received the award at an open house at the AHP offices on June 15. Dilley accepted the award on behalf of the AHP staff. “I’ve worked hard and done some good things and important things, [but] this award really belongs to a lot of different people ... not just me,” said Dilley, who was nominated by AHP staff. “So often is the case one stands on so many shoulders. It’s really the success of a lot of different people.” Dilley, 61, is one of seven recipients this year of the highly coveted award, said D.K. Haas, spokeswoman for AHP, which comes with a grant of $15,000 to the organization. The money will be used to help with AHP’s expanded services to the entire LGBT community, Dilley said. “We are very excited about it

because it’s going to help us as we make a transition into becoming better known as an LGBT-focused program,” said Dilley, referring to taking over some of the services once provided by New Leaf: Services for Our Community, an LGBT mental health organization that closed its doors in 2010.

A true pioneer The Pioneer Award, named after the 150-year-old company’s pioneering spirit, helps nonprofit organizations honor individuals who have “blazed a new trail, challenged the status quo, or led their organization to a new way of thinking and acting,” according to Rebecca Youngs, spokeswoman for Levi Strauss. “The spirit of this award is really about honoring people who took a stand when it was hard, led their team when the path was unclear, and transformed lives because of their actions,” said Becca Prowda, senior manager of community affairs at Levi Strauss. Dilley has accomplished a lot while at AHP. “Dr. Dilley’s unflagging concern and persistence in helping people living with HIV/AIDS – combined with challenges such as homelessness, severe mental illness, and substance abuse disorders – embody the kind of leadership that makes others want to roll up their sleeves and get busy pitching in,” Prowda added.

Jane Philomen Cleland

Dr. James Dilley

As a psychiatric resident at San Francisco General Hospital in the early 1980s, Dilley identified a critical unmet need in coping with the emerging HIV/AIDS epidemic, known at the time as “Gay Cancer.” He saw that people were suffering, not just patients, but family members and medical and social service providers who were treating the illness needed mental health support. AHP, then known as the AIDS Health Project, was born. The agency provided mental health consultation at SFGH on an annual budget of $250,000 and a staff of five in 1984, said Dilley, who was one of the

founding members and wrote the organization’s first grant. Dilley’s work catapulted him into his nearly 30-year career responding to the vicissitudes of the epidemic, tending to people’s mental health and substance abuse needs and turning him into a global leader as a researcher, scholar, and trainer. Today, AHP is a $6 million organization, according to its website, with nearly 100 full- and part-time employees, said Dilley. “The work that I’ve done is work that needed to be done and certainly was important to do,” said Dilley. AHP pioneered anonymous HIV counseling, providing the first sites for counseling and testing services that later became a training protocol for HIV test counselors. The agency also provided individual, group, and peerled support groups along with mental health and psychiatry services for at-risk and people living with HIV/ AIDS. In recent years, AHP took over providing mental health services for San Francisco’s LGBT community after New Leaf closed its doors. It is only one more chapter in the ever-evolving history of AHP, according to Dilley, who enjoys the challenge of addressing and creating systems to solve problems as they arise. “One of the things that I like the most is coming up with new ideas, thinking about systems and the ways

in which systems can affect change, and addressing problems that are ever changing,” said Dilley. The success of AHP has been the “ability to try to help people who need it,” in particular gay men, but also the broader LGBT community, in a caring home-like environment, Dilley said. Yan Liu, a gay San Francisco man and an AHP client for the past 10 years, praised Dilley’s receiving the award. Liu, 49, told the Bay Area Reporter in an email that AHP has improved his life greatly. The organization also allowed him to contribute to the community through serving on the AHP community advisory board for eight years and participating in the annual Art of AIDS fundraiser. Although times have changed and LGBT people have become more accepted in society, “we see the same issues today that we did 30 years ago,” said Dilley, and noted queer youth still flee their families and communities, often arriving in San Francisco in search of a “better place, a better life.” The difference today is that there is a growing body of literature about sexual minority stress than there ever was before and more services to help combat the hatred and homophobia internalized by these individuals, Dilley said.▼ For more information, visit www.ucsf-ahp.org.

New pastor for Castro Catholic Church compiled by Cynthia Laird

Some Muni rates to increase

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ost Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in the Castro has a new pastor. Father Brian Costello became the 14th pastor of the church when he was recently appointed to the position. Costello is set to begin Sunday, July 1. According to information provided by the church, Costello, whose age was not immediately available, was born in Oakland and raised in San Francisco. He is the second of four children and graduated from Our Lady of Mercy grade school. He attended high school seminary at St. Joseph’s and St. Patrick’s college seminary. Costello was ordained a priest in June 2000. In addition to serving in the city, he was previously assigned to parishes in Novato, San Carlos, and South San Francisco. In a statement sent by Most Holy Redeemer, Costello is quoted as saying that he “loves all the parishes” he has been assigned to and “looks forward to ministering to the good people at Most Holy Redeemer.” In addition to presiding at all masses this weekend, the parishioners will welcome him at a barbecue

Courtesy Most Holy Redeeme

Father Brian Costello

after the 10 a.m. mass on Sunday. Costello, who was unavailable for comment this week, succeeds Father Steve Meriwether, who has been out on medical leave for the past several months. Last December, the church was in the news when the Archdiocese of San Francisco made church officials disinvite at least three out clergy members from participating in Advent services.

Beginning July 1, some fares, fees, and fines for Muni will increase. The regular $2 cash fare and 75-cent senior, disabled, and youth fares will not change. Increases of $1 to $2 will be seen for passes. Additionally, increases to parking fees and fines will also take effect. Increases are based on the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s automatic indexing plan and cost recovery. The AIP is a set formula based on a combination of the Bay Area Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers and MTA’s labor costs. According to a news release from MTA, most parking citation fines will increase by $7 to $8. Citations for expired parking meters and street sweeping violations will increase $7. New fines will be $72 for an expired meter in the downtown core; $62 for an expired meter outside the downtown core; and $62 for street sweeping citations. The increases for parking fees and penalties include residential parking permits, which will increase by $4,

citation late penalties, and the work credit application fee. A full list of the new parking citation fines can be found on the parking page at www.sfmta.com.

Kickstarter drive for gay film Producers making a film about the late gay elder James Broughton have turned to www.kickstarter.com in an effort to help secure financing for the documentary, which is now in post-production. Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton illuminates the story of this pioneering gay poet and filmmaker who inspired others to break boundaries, explore contradiction, and live poetically. Broughton’s story spans the post-war San Francisco Renaissance, escape to Europe from homosexual oppression during the McCarthy years, his special film prize at Cannes, his syncopation with the Beats, meeting is male soul mate at age 61, becoming a bard of gay liberation, and dying a conscious death. Broughton was

a grand marshal of what was then called the San Francisco Gay Pride Parade in 1988; he died in 1999. Jok Church, executive producer of Big Joy, said the movie is seeking crowd-source funding to raise money to help pay for important archival footage and poetry animation. Producer and co-director Stephen Silha said that they see the film “as an offering from a gay community to the gay community at large.” The film was one of 10 documentaries (out of 225) chosen for the Independent Filmmakers Project 2012 Documentary Labs and it also received $20,000 from Cal Humanities and a $4,000 finishing grant from Frameline. Film officials said that over 300 people have contributed cash to the Big Joy project, raising nearly $250,000 of the total budget of $425,000. The Kickstarter campaign runs until July 15 and can be found at tinyurl. com/78pnjeu. Supporters can opt to receive DVDs of the film, T-shirts, and subscriptions to a snail-mail poetry service. For more about the film, visit www.bigjoy.org. See page 17 >>

Obituaries >> Reginald Dion Brown January 18, 1974 – May 28, 2012

Born in Wurzburg, Germany on January 18, 1974 and died May 28 in San Francisco. Reggie is survived by his parents, Mr. Reginald and Mrs. Corine G. Brown of Camden, South Carolina; and his sister Brandi Williams, along with two nephews and a niece, all of Charlotte, North Carolina. Reggie was a certified massage therapist who loved dancing, roller blading, going to the movies, listening to music, playing his Xbox and PlayStation games, and playing softball for the Gay Softball League. He loved socializing with his many friends, having drinks, and enjoying good conversation. Please join his friends for a celebration of his life at the City of Refuge

Church, 1025 Howard Street, San Francisco on Saturday, June 30 from 2 to 5 p.m. Flowers are welcome and must arrive between noon and 1 p.m. at church on the day of the service. Donations for the family will also be accepted at the service.

Jesus (Jesse) Pacias March 21, 1934 – June 7, 2012

Longtime San Francisco resident Jesse Pacias passed away at home of natural causes. Jesse was born and grew up near Albuquerque, New Mexico, the youngest child in a large family. After graduation from high school he spent a short time in a monastery. He served in the U.S. navy, and later danced with a flamenco troupe. He worked for many

yeas until his retirement in the administrative office at Wallenberg School. He and his late partner, Don Sutton, were together for more than 30 years, and spent many weekends with their dog Molly at their cabin in the Sierra foothills. Jesse was a member of the old Muscle System gym. He loved theater and traveling. He supported many charitable and political causes and volunteered at Laguna Honda Hospital visiting the elderly. He was much loved by his neighbors and many friends.

Kairo Somatic October 31, 1958 – May 13, 2012

Kairo Somatic, a.k.a. Wolfgang Schultz, was born in Germany and lived much of his life in California. He was a seeker, and

an avid astrologist with a passion for metaphysics, music, and magick. He was a kind-hearted man with a generous soul. He will be greatly missed by those who knew and loved him in Heidelberg, San Francisco, Seattle, and Santa Cruz. He is survived by his partner, Xander, and their dog, Asta.

Boyd Swartz May 1, 1933 – June 20, 2012

Boyd Swartz, founder of the Castro Village Wine Company and wine extraordinaire, died suddenly on June 20. He was 79. Mr. Swartz, a resident of San Francisco for 47 years, was a fixture in the Castro district as proprietor of the Castro Village Wine Company for 34 years. He is credited for helping to sustain the diversity of community for the past four decades. Mayor Ed Lee proclaimed May 12 as Castro Village

Wine Company Day in San Francisco for its contributions to the neighborhood. Mr. Swartz sold the company in 2011. Mr. Swartz, a travel enthusiast, recently returned from a two-week European trip with his life partner, Joe Chavez. Mr. Swartz was previously employed by the U.S. government as an attorney for the health and welfare department in Washington, D.C., and was transferred to manage the San Francisco office in 1965. Mr. Swartz is survived by Mr. Chavez, his life partner of 45 years; his loving sister Netta Jean Pape, and niece Janiene, both of Titusville, Florida; and many close friends. The family has asked that donations be made to Project Open Hand in San Francisco. A memorial service is being planned for a later date.

<< Community News

16 • BAY AREA REPORTER • June 28-July 4, 2012

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Gay man’s death

From page 2

He said every time he saw Escalon out, “we were at Toad Hall.” Skye Emerson, 28, who had known Escalon since the 10th grade and said that he identified as gay, lived with Escalon in Fresno until he moved to San Francisco in September. Emerson said she couldn’t see Escalon “ever being targeted” and spoke of her friend’s fun, yet thoughtful, nature. “You could really tell him anything, and he just accepted you,” she said.

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Castro Country Club

From page 5

of Mike Marshall, who is spearheading the effort to place the Hetch Hetchy dam removal ballot measure on the ballot in November. After being awarded a $7,500 grant from the Horizons Foundation, the country club board hired local nonprofit consultant Susan Mooney to work with it on developing strategic plans for the next one, three, and five years. Maumer and the club have signed a new lease agreement ensuring the sober space can remain in the build-

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‘Living Room’

From page 1

tions. They hold it so much because they can’t find a safe bathroom. There are so many ways that trauma can happen,” Frazier said. After opening on June 2, three professionals have already set up shop at the Living Room Project to offer their services. Licensed massage therapist Ana Maria Aguero Jahannes, 26, provides affordable massage therapy to QTPOC under the company name Wild Seed Wellness. As a queer woman of color, Jahannes knows the fear of judgment that kept her from accessing massage therapy before attending massage school. That and the experiences of others in the QTPOC community inspired her to found her company. “I was always concerned about who I was going to go see,” Jahannes said. “But I have friends, particularly trans and gender non-conforming people of color, who experience so much day-to-day trauma, for me to be worried about my hairy legs was just so minimal in comparison. This is an opportunity for people to have a safe space to adjust issues they’re having in their mind, body and spirit.” Mia McKenzie, a 36-year-old queer woman of color, facilitates a

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Brinkin

From page 1

Brinkin, 66, was arrested Friday night, June 22 for possession and distribution of child pornography, according to Officer Albie Esparza, a San Francisco Police Department spokesman. Specifically, a police document shows the charges were related to possession of obscene matter depicting a minor, sexual exploitation of a child, and advertising obscene matter depicting a minor. San Francisco Superior Court records show that police seized two locked red plastic toolboxes containing videos, two laptops and a desktop computer, three thumb drives, and other items from Brinkin’s Waller Street home. According to the affidavit accompanying the search warrant, in May, San Francisco police viewed information that had been sent to them by a Los Angeles Police Department detective. That detective had received tips from the National Center

▼

he told me he loved me,” she said. It was one of Escalon’s two roommates who found him several hours later, she said. Christina Saldivar, 33, of Fresno, Escalon’s aunt, called her nephew’s death “a very tragic loss.” “He wouldn’t hurt anybody, so we don’t know who would want to hurt him,” Saldivar said. She added that he was happy in San Francisco, and “he never spoke of any problems with anybody.” Anyone with information in the case is asked to call homicide Inspectors Warnke, Jones, or Dedet at (415) 553-1145 (weekdays from

9 a.m. to 5 p.m.); after hours at the department operations center, (415) 553-1071; or the anonymous tip line at (415) 575-4444. The police report number is 120 463 273. The Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps, in which Escalon served in the color guard, have set up a scholarship in Escalon’s name. A Citi Bank account has been set up for Escalon’s funeral arrangements. The account number is 42002248096.▼

That same month the country club board voted to officially oppose the serving of liquor in the restaurant downstairs, according to the board meeting minutes. It also has begun to seek out alternative meeting spaces nearby should the construction disrupt usage of the club’s space. “The good thing is because we are working with the landlord, we are going to be able to minimize the impacts upstairs,” said Shriver. Maumer’s plans also include building a new second floor rooftop deck for the country club’s use. The club’s cafe space, which sells Peet’s

coffee products, will remain in place but see some improvements and the board has met with consultants to seek advice. “We are doing some interior renovation of the country club to make the café much more functional. Part of our business plan is to be self supporting,” sad Shriver. Planning for the remodel is ongoing, and any work is not expected to begin until early 2013, said Shriver. Over the past two years doubts about the country club’s longevity have lingered. But now the board is more confident than ever about its future, said Shriver.

“Happily, we are now out of crisis mode and actually are quite stable now,” said Shriver. “The big question now is how do we go from being stable to being sustainable.” Baker Places’ Vernick also sounded a confident note that the club will be around for another 30 years to provide LGBT people a sober gathering place in the heart of the Castro. “I think the club, everybody’s gotten what they wanted: the preservation of the club with the original spirit and vision behind the club to begin with intact. I couldn’t be happier,” he said. ▼

prose writing workshop for queer, trans, and gender non-conforming people of color called the Black Girl Dangerous Writing Workshop. Operating in one-day and four-week durations, the workshop serves as a safe space to share and critique writing. Like Jahannes, McKenzie’s own experiences motivated her to provide a specialized service to the QTPOC community. “Workshops are already scary because you’re bringing your work there,” McKenzie said. “Add to that racism, homophobia, and privilege and it can become unbearable. This is a way I can help writers get things finished and out there, and a way to support and nurture each other.” Frazier also offers somatic healing services at the Living Room Project, a mind/body approach to healing that integrates bodywork and movement practices. In addition, he provides natural birthing consultations as a practicing doula at Blue Monkey Healing and Birthing. Plans for yoga and dance classes, life coaching, cooking, and nutrition workshops and a monthly “wellness” day offering acupuncture, massage, somatics, coaching, yoga and meditation are currently being integrated into the Living Room Project’s calendar. Also in the works, Frazier emphasized, is a regularly scheduled dance party to include more than just a repetitive

Top 40 set. Practitioners can access the Living Room Project through sliding scale rent rates, barter and trade, or other methods of payment. “There’s no set price,” Frazier said. “Contributing to the space is one of the principles but how one does that can be very flexible.”

Frazier’s journey toward creating the Living Room Project has been long. After coming out, he was disowned for a period of time and had limited contact with his family. Finding himself in Oakland in 1998, he began to respond to conversations within the QTPOC community around the lack of consistent, safe and sustainable space to build community. “Not everyone wants to be at the club, not everyone wants to go out and party,” Frazier said. “People are really hungering for other ways to meet each other and build relationships.” In 2002, Frazier took a backpacking trip through Europe. In Germany, he witnessed the ways in which some people were reclaiming space by occupying abandoned buildings and transforming them into community collectives. “That really inspired me around the fact that we don’t have to wait for things to be given to us, we can

create our own out of things that have been ‘forgotten.’” Returning to Oakland, Frazier moved into an artist warehouse and started an informal community gathering he called the Living Room, which promoted community building by holding a monthly party where “queers, freaks, and divas” could “decompress” and “dance it out,” he explained. The warehouse was eventually bought by a land trust agency that had a different idea for what a community artist space should look like, solidifying Frazier’s drive to realize his own vision. Last October, after being homeless for three months in an effort to save enough money to secure a space, Frazier looked on Craigslist one day and found an opening at 1919 Market Street in West Oakland. “As soon as I saw it I knew this was the one,” Frazier said. “This has been a very intense process for me, a growth process of asking for help, putting my vision out there and receiving support. One of the biggest challenges is that it matters so much and I don’t want to [mess] it up.” Receiving support from the community has allowed Frazier to give back, a responsibility the humble social justice advocate is ready for. “One of my biggest hopes,” Frazier said, “is that spaces like this help people understand that even

though they’ve experienced trauma – they are not broken. Wholeness is possible and it looks a lot of different ways. This is a place where people can access healing and learn more about the impacts of trauma so they can have more compassion for themselves and understand their own experiences in a different way.” Frazier intends to eventually own an entire building that offers additional QTPOC-specific spaces and services. In the meantime, he’ll continue to live a life of purpose inspired in large part by the QTPOC community. “Every day that my folks and I get up in the morning and do what we want in the world, is an act of liberation and resistance,” he said.▼

for Missing and Exploited Children that an America Online representative had reported that a user going by Zack3737 with the email address zack3737@aol.com had been communicating with another email user. There were two emails with pictures attached that AOL representatives “believed to be child pornography,” the documents say. The San Francisco police officer reviewed information that showed the screen name Zack3737 was registered to a Larry Brinkin, with Brinkin’s home address and his phone numbers. He paid for the account via a credit card bearing his name, the records say. The officer confirmed that the images were of child pornography, the affidavit said. Images attached to an October 2011 email between the two users included one that showed “an approximately 2-3 year old child ... Underneath the child is an adult male, using his right hand to hold the child and his left hand to insert his erect penis into the anus of the child.”

In the email, Zack3737 wrote, “damn, what a sight seeing huge dick in tiny hole, tearing it open. That [nword] must be in coon heaven stuffin it in the tiny white hole!” The officer also examined emails that were sent from Brinkin’s HRC email address to Zack3737. One of those messages, which had the subject “jackman,” was sent in April 2007 and included a web address that the officer was unable to follow. Zack3737 belonged to several Yahoo groups, the officer determined. A January 2011 email exchange between Zack3737 and another user implied that they were sharing pictures, according to court records. In one message apparently related to a photo of a small girl performing oral sex on a man, Zack3737 wrote, “It would be hot if while she’s sucking it the dude’s buddy shoved his beautiful ped meat up her cunt. If Dad hasn’t broken her cherry it (sic), it’s time, and what better way than at a pedo party ... Seeing his daughter getting raped in every hole

will surely make Dad shoot a huge load of cum up the tiny twat he’s raping.” Reached through Facebook, Brinkin declined to comment, referring questions to his attorney, Randy Knox. Asked in a Tuesday, June 26 interview about the charges Brinkin was arrested on, Knox said, “It’d be inappropriate for me to comment on a pending investigation.” However, he said Brinkin is “being fully cooperative with the police.” Knox also said, “Take a look at what Larry has done over the course of his life and his career, and that should tell you what you need to know about Larry Brinkin.” Among other highlights of his HRC career, Brinkin was a manager for the city’s Equal Benefits Ordinance, the first of its kind in the country. The ordinance requires city contractors to provide the same benefits to their employees with spouses and their employees with domestic partners.

Escalon worked at Metamorphosis Salon on Market Street. “He just had a way of making everyone feel really special,” Emerson said. “It was perfect that he did hair, because he loved making people feel beautiful.” A call to the salon wasn’t returned by press time. Emerson said Escalon enjoyed going to clubs – “he was an excellent dancer,” she said – but he “wasn’t the kind of person who would just bring someone home.” The last time Emerson spoke with him was via text just before noon the day he died. They shared a joke, “then

ing for the next five years, with an option to extend the lease another five years come 2017. Shriver said the club is paying roughly $5,000 a month in rent. “It is really reasonable,” Shriver said.

Some friction There has been some friction between the club and its new landlord. In April Maumer revealed plans to open a sausage grill in the garage space below the Castro Country Club. He also announced plans to seek a liquor license for the new eatery.

Steven “Eriq” Escalon

Long journey

A Facebook page honoring Escalon is at www.facebook.com/ inmemoryoferiqescalon.

For information about how to donate, access or offer services to the Living Room Project, visit www.thelivingroomproject. tumblr.com, www.facebook. com/TheLivingRoomProjectCollective, or call (510) 290-0919. Donations are also welcome by mail addressed to 1919 Market, Oakland, CA 94607. For information about Wild Seed Wellness, visit www.wildseedwellness.com. For information about Black Girl Dangerous Writing Workshop, visit blackgirldangerous.tumblr.com/workshop or email mia@mckscribe.com.

Brinkin also managed the commission’s multi-year investigation of Badlands, a popular Castro neighborhood bar that in 2004 faced allegations of racial discrimination. Owner Les Natali has steadfastly denied the discrimination charges and the case was eventually settled through mediation. Stephanie Ong Stillman, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office, said Tuesday that prosecutors are “taking this case very seriously.” “We’re waiting for computer forensic evidence to be analyzed in order to make a proper charging decision,” she said. “These types of cases are complex in nature, and we require more time to thoroughly evaluate the evidence.” Brinkin was in San Francisco County jail overnight Friday but was released Saturday morning, June 23, on bail, according to Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Susan Fahey. Brinkin’s arrest was first reported by SF Weekly.▼

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Community News >>

News Briefs

From page 15

Kickstarter drive for gay play The New Conservatory Theatre Center is also using kickstarter to raise funds for Rights of Passage, a new play by Ed Decker, executive director of NCTC, and Robert Leone. They have a few days left, until noon July 1, to raise $7,190. A total of $22,810 is pledged. To donate, visit tinyurl.com/7slfhmg.

Smoking cessation class starts soon The Last Drag will offer its free LGBT quit-smoking group in Berkeley next month. The six-session group begins Saturday, July 14 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Pacific Center, 2712 Telegraph Avenue. The group will be led by a highly skilled and experienced clinic leader certified by the American Lung Association. To register for the group, email lastdrag1@aol.com. For more information, visit www.lastdrag.org.

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AIDS Walk

From page 1

by which local agencies apply for grants. SFAF spokesman James Loduca told the Bay Area Reporter that this year $255,000 will be given to other organizations, a 6 percent increase over the $241,000 distributed in 2011. Typically, the AIDS Walk generates money for Bay Area HIV/AIDS organizations and SFAF. Unlike the foundation’s LifeCycle ride, however, there is no minimum amount of money that participants must raise, making it a more affordable option for the tens of thousands of people who walk in Golden Gate Park every year. Last year’s event brought in more than $3 million for SFAF and 48 other organizations. “We completely revamped the community grants for AIDS Walk San Francisco to better align funding with the goals of the Department of Public health and SFAF,” Loduca said in a phone interview. The new criteria look to mirror SFAF’s focus on testing and treatment, which the health department has also emphasized in its contracting process for HIV prevention funds. There are 35 grants that SFAF funded this year, according to Loduca, fewer than the 50 grants provided last year. “We made the funding decisions based on the quality of applications/requests we received,” Loduca said in a follow-up email, “which resulted in more large grants and fewer small grants than originally anticipated.” The new criteria for the awards were: reduce new HIV infections 50 percent by 2015 (2010 baseline year); ensure that people know their status; and ensure that all HIV-positive people have access to care. Loduca said that earlier this year foundation officials met with agency representatives to go over the new criteria. “We convened anyone who ever applied for a grant in the spring and let them know,” he said. Loduca characterized the changes as “improvements,” noting that foundation officials told agency representatives that SFAF would be giving away more money and offered them technical assistance. He said the meeting with applicants also resulted in a more streamlined reporting process for the agencies and less lag time with distributing the money. “Fifteen organizations received more money than last year and nine received significantly more than last year,” he said. Agencies outside of San Francisco were funded based on having the

ebar.com

Matching grant for GLBT Historical Society The GLBT Historical Society has received a two-year matching grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, a division of the National Archives, for work on its large manuscript holdings, and needs the community’s help to continue the work. The NHPRC grant requires a dollar-for-dollar match and the historical society has raised over 75 percent of the funds, although about $30,000 is needed to complete the project, which is now in its second year. The society is in the midst of other projects as well, including digitizing hundreds of hours of video and sound recordings and making them available to film, radio, and multimedia producers; and cataloging artwork and artifacts collected over many years so they can be used in exhibitions in the GLBT History Museum. To make a donation for the matching grant, visit www.glbthistory.org/ and click on the “donate” button.▼

best matches with DPH and SFAF guidelines, Loduca said. This year, the largest grants were four for $20,000. Those were followed by six grants of $10,000, five at $7,500, 14 at $5,000, one at $2,500, and five at $1,000. The recipients will be announced the week of the walk, Loduca said.

Walkers People can sign up to walk for an organization under the AIDS Walk’s community partnership program. The CPP allows community organizations to receive 100 percent of the dollars raised by eligible walkers. This has not changed, Loduca said, and eligibility rules require that participants have not walked as independent walkers or as a member of any team (other than the current agency) in any of the last four years. Current staff and board members are considered eligible walkers regardless of past participation. Loduca said this requirement was made “some time ago” to prevent top fundraising walkers from being recruited by other organizations. One agency that won’t be receiving a grant this year is the Pacific Center in Berkeley. Earlier this month, the center sent out its e-newsletter that stated it would not be receiving a $2,500 grant as it had in the past. As a result, the center will be participating in the community partnership program and has a $5,000 fundraising goal and is seeking new walkers for its team. In an email, Leslie Ewing, executive director of the Pacific Center, said the agency is focusing on finding volunteers to walk with them. “We don’t think of ourselves as entitled to funding just because we’ve received it in the past,” she said, referring to the grant application. “We simply do our best and hope for the best.” Loduca said that in addition to providing grants for the various HIV/AIDS organizations, SFAF also picks up all costs associated with credit card fees for donations, as well as the $212,000 production fee to MZA, which licenses the AIDS Walk name. The July 15 walk starts and ends in Sharon Meadow at Golden Gate Park. For more information, including registration and fundraising tips, visit www.aidswalk.net/ sanfran.▼

On the web Online content this week includes the Bay Area Reporter’s online columns, Political Notes and Wedding Bell Blues; and the Out in the World and Jock Talk columns. www.ebar.com.

June 28-July 4, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 17

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

18 • Bay Area Reporter • June 28-July 4, 2012

Classifieds

t

Legal Notices>>

The

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

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

EXTENSION OF TIME FOR RECEIPT OF PROPOSALS Request for Proposals No. 6M4186 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that proposals will be received until the hour of 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, June 26, 2012, at the District Secretary’s Office, 23rd Floor, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, California 94612 (mailing address: P.O. Box 12688, Oakland, California, 94604-2688) for the Real Property Comprehensive Acquisition and Relocation Services, Request for Proposals (RFP) No. 6M4186. Such proposals will be announced at the said hour and date in the 23rd Floor Conference Room No. 2382T, Kaiser Center Building, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, California. The Proposers are responsible to ensure their proposals are received at the time and location specified. FOR MORE INFORMATION For more information regarding this procurement, please contact the Contract Administrator, Gary Leong, by telephone: (510) 287-4717 or by email: gary.leong@Bart.gov.

EXTENSION OF TIME FOR RECEIPT OF PROPOSALS Request for Proposals No. 6M4186 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that proposals will be received until the hour of 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, July 10, 2012, at the District Secretary’s Office, 23rd Floor, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, California 94612 (mailing address: P.O. Box 12688, Oakland, California, 94604-2688) for the Real Property Comprehensive Acquisition and Relocation Services, Request for Proposals (RFP) No. 6M4186. Such proposals will be announced at the said hour and date in the 23rd Floor Conference Room No. 2382T, Kaiser Center Building, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, California. The Proposers are responsible to ensure their proposals are received at the time and location specified. FOR MORE INFORMATION For more information regarding this procurement, please contact the Contract Administrator, Gary Leong, by telephone: (510) 287-4717 or by email: gary.leong@Bart.gov.

Dated at Oakland, California this 15th day of June 2012. /s/ Kenneth A. Duron Kenneth A. Duron, District Secretary San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District 6/28/12 • CNS-2333370# BAY AREA REPORTER

Dated at Oakland, California this 20th day of June 2012. /s/ Kenneth A. Duron Kenneth A. Duron, District Secretary San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District 6/28/12 • CNS-2335384# BAY AREA REPORTER

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034373400

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034383100

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ATLAS MASSAGE CENTER, 2305 Van Ness Ave. #F, SF, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Henry Oyharcabal. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/25/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/29/12.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DIVORCE CENTER, 1630 Union St., SF, CA 94123. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Margaret Pendergast. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/31/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/01/12.

June 7, 14, 21, 28, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034374900

June 7, 14, 21, 28, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034385400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: STUDIO B B R, 43 Franklin St., SF, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Rodney Duncan. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/30/12.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PHARAOH ENTERPRISES, 305 Hyde St. #501, SF, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed Abdullah H. Sulaiman & Hussein A. Sulaiman. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/01/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/01/12.

June 7, 14, 21, 28, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034377500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BACCHUS FLOWERS, 1265 Dolores St. #6, SF, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Spencer Peterson. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/30/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/30/12.

June 7, 14, 21, 28, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034379200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BAY CLEANERS, 350 Bay St. #12, SF, CA 94133. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Nolmart A. Gimeno. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/31/12.

June 7, 14, 21, 28, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034379700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CENTRAL PARK LIQUORS, 1900 Hayes St., SF, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Yong S. Park. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/31/12.

June 7, 14, 21, 28, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file 034383500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: S.F. AUTO DETAIL, 715 Banks St., SF, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Ana Hernandez. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/01/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/01/12.

June 7, 14, 21, 28, 2012

ebar.com

June 7, 14, 21, 28, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034372800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ESPECIALLY CATS VETERINARY HOSPITAL, 1339 Taraval St., SF, CA 94116. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed Buttar Inc. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/29/12.

June 7, 14, 21, 28, 2012 Statement of abandonment of use of fictitious business name FILE A-033651900 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: PENGUINS ON HENRY, 45 Henry St. #1, SF, CA 94114. This business was conducted by state or local registered domestic partners and signed by David Geoffrey Stafford & Eric Lamart Dupre. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/27/11.

June 7, 14, 21, 28, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034390800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ARIABLARGTV, 595 John Muir Dr. #324, SF, CA 94132. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Aria C. Stinson. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/05/12.

June 14, 21, 28, JULY 5, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034388500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BRIKCOLLI DESIGNS, 770 Laplaya St. #401, SF, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Brian K. Collins. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/04/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/04/12.

June 14, 21, 28, JULY 5, 2012

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME AND GENDER IN SUPERIOR COURT OF california, county of san francisco file CNC12-548719 In the matter of the application of: KALLIE ANN LEWIS for change of name and gender having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner KALLIE ANN LEWIS is requesting that his/her name be changed to KALEB WESLEY LEWIS. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Rm. 514 on the 16th of August 2012 at 9:00 am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

June 14, 21, 28, JULY 5, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034396600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EMBRYONIC WEBSITE CREATIONS, 180 Beaver St. #3, San Francisco, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed Richard William Mytton & David Wayne Mytton. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/07/12.

June 14, 21, 28, JULY 5, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034388000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SALON SYSTEMS, 166 Geary St. #302, SF, CA 94108. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed MBI Distribution Inc. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/04/12.

June 14, 21, 28, JULY 5, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034401600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GRISWOLD HOME CARE, 155 Clifford Terrace, SF, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed GSCCA Corp. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/13/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/11/12.

June 14, 21, 28, JULY 5, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034350500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: JACKSON PLACE SALON, 633 Battery St. #117, SF, CA 94111. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed Suzette Hanson, Elizabeth Fracchia & Alla Roytman. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/01/91. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/18/12.

June 14, 21, 28, JULY 5, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034386300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CHEMICAL BABY CLOTHING COMPANY, 67Minerva St., SF, CA 94112. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed Inner City 2K LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/01/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/04/12.

June 14, 21, 28, JULY 5, 2012 Statement of abandonment of use of fictitious business name FILE A-033412600 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: INNER CITY 2K; MARCELLIS EDWARDS, 67 Minerva St., SF, CA 94112. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by Marcel Wade. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/11/11.

June 14, 21, 28, JULY 5, 2012 Statement of abandonment of use of fictitious business name FILE A-031166700 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as: LIFE WORK SYNC, 1045 Mission St. #258, SF, CA 94103. This business was conducted by a general partnership, and signed by Adele Maynes & Katherine Steele. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/14/05.

June 14, 21, 28, JULY 5, 2012 notice of application TO SELL alcoholic beverageS Dated 06/13/12 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are: MAU RESTAURANT. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 1515 Clay Street, Suite 2208, Oakland, CA 94612 to sell alcoholic beverages at 665 Valencia ST., SF, CA 94110-1150. Type of license applied for

41 - On-sale BEER & WINE Eating place June 21, 28, July 5, 2012

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034406000

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034427600

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Y & G CO, 2554 34th Ave., SF, CA 94116. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Bo Yang Yu. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/13/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/13/12.

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: A TOUCH OF THE SPECIFIC, 211 Sutter St. #502, SF, CA 94108. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Kathryn Elizabeth Woodford. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/26/12.

June 21, 28, JULY 5, 12, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034406700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GREENSURGE, 11 Brush Pl. #1, SF, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Sergio Novoa. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/14/12.

June 21, 28, JULY 5, 12, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034402300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GOLDEN GATE BASS CAMP SAN FRANCISCO, 2315 42nd Ave., SF, CA 94116. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Clarence R. Duke. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/12/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/12/12.

June 21, 28, JULY 5, 12, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034383300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: BENNETT MAINTENANCE SERVICES, 1470 Fillmore St., SF, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Teresa Bennett. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/01/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/01/12.

June 21, 28, JULY 5, 12, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034411500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PUGH CONSULTING; SOURCE GAP CONSULTING; INSIGHT JUNCTION CONSULTING; GAP JUNCTION CONSULTING; 3 Bayside Village Pl. #219, SF, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Kimberly J. Pugh. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/15/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/15/12.

June 21, 28, JULY 5, 12, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034408000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DIGITAL VICTROLA, 1610 Sutter St. #305, SF, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Eric Wayne. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/14/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/14/12.

June 21, 28, JULY 5, 12, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034416200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: EMPIRE ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION INC., 3801 3rd St. #616, SF, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed Empire Engineering & Construction Inc. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/05/05. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/20/12.

June 21, 28, JULY 5, 12, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034404000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ZENMARK VERBAL DESIGN, 25 Maiden Lane #300, SF, CA 94108. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed Zenmark Inc. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/07. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/13/12.

June 21, 28, JULY 5, 12, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034411900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: SALON VILLAGE, 1538 Pacific Ave., SF, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed Prudential Consultants Inc. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/18/12.

June 21, 28, JULY 5, 12, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034411700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LOLINDA, 2518 Mission St., SF, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed Bernarda LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/01/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/18/12.

June 21, 28, JULY 5, 12, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034418700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: T FACTORY, 47 Julian St., SF, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed TFactory LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/21/12.

June 28, JULY 5, 12, 19, 2012

June 28, JULY 5, 12, 19, 2012 notice of application FOR CHANGE IN OWNERSHIP OF alcOholic beverage LICENSE Dated 06/19/12 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are: PERDIX INC. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 1515 Clay Street, Suite 2208, Oakland, CA 94612 to sell alcoholic beverages at 1152 Taylor St., SF, CA 94108-1916. Type of license applied for

41 - On-sale BEER & WINE Eating place JUNE 28, 2012 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF california, county of san francisco file CNC12-548715

In the matter of the application of: KEITH BERNDT KOLLER for change of name, having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner KEITH BERNDT KOLLER is requesting that his/her name be changed to KEITH TOURNE KOLLER. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Rm. 514 on the 31st of July 2012 at 9:00 am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

June 21, 28, JULY 5, 12, 2012 notice of application TO SELL alcoholic beverageS Dated 06/22/12 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are: TOAN V PHAM. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 1515 Clay Street, Suite 2208, Oakland, CA 94612 to sell alcoholic beverages at 721 Larkin St., SF, CA 94109-7116. Type of license applied for

41 - On-sale BEER & WINE Eating place June 28, 2012 notice of application TO SELL alcoholic beverageS

Dated 06/18/12 To Whom It May Concern: The name(s) of the applicant(s) is/are: AMERICAN CUPCAKE LLC. The applicants listed above are applying to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control at 1515 Clay Street, Suite 2208, Oakland, CA 94612 to sell alcoholic beverages at 1919 Union St., SF, CA 94123-4204. Type of license applied for

41 - On-sale GENERAL Eating place June 28, JULY 5, 12, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034424400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as: REVERSE METHOD, 3111 24th St., SF, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed Sean Conrad. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/22/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/25/12.

June 28, JULY 5, 12, 19, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034420300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ENCORE.ORG, 114 Sansome St. #850, SF, CA 94104. This business is conducted by a corporation non-profit 501(c)3, and is signed Civic Ventures (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/18/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/21/12.

June 28, JULY 5, 12, 19, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034414100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: STERLING GRAPHICS, 375 Alabama St. #227, SF, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed Sterling Graphics Collective, Inc. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/01/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/19/12.

June 28, JULY 5, 12, 19, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034417600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MILSAL MCCAULL, 2678 California St., SF, CA 94115. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed Milsal McCaull (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/01/12. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/20/12.

June 28, JULY 5, 12, 19, 2012 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME statement file A-034418600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE ARMORY CLUB, 1799 Mission St., SF, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed Julian Holdings LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on NA. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 06/21/12.

June 28, JULY 5, 12, 19, 2012

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June 28-July 4, 2012 • Bay Area Reporter • 19

June 28, JULY 5, 12, 19, 2012 Statement of abandonment of use of fictitious business name FILE A-025058700

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Vol. 42 • No. 26 • June 28-July 4, 2012

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ARRIVEDERCI, WOODY! Quartet of stories in ‘To Rome with Love’ by David Lamble

(Left to right:) Judy Davis as Phyllis, Woody Allen as Jerry, Alison Pill as Hayley, and Flavio Parenti as Michelangelo in To Rome with Love. Philippe Antonello, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

S

o you say you can’t afford a shrink, a lavish meal, or God forbid, a Roman holiday. Well, how about a cheap but frequently hilarious substitute, the new and very funny Woody Allen summer movie To Rome with Love (opening Friday at the Embarcadero)? While it doesn’t approach the high

bar set by last year’s Midnight in Paris, this talented ensemble piece does break some new ground in Allen’s lifelong pursuit of advice to straight boys madly in love with the wrong person. His boyhood obsession with magic tricks comes in handy in a delightfully absurd subplot about a funeral director whose amazing opera-tenor vocal

talents can only be appreciated while he’s taking a shower. There’s the banana peel-worthy slapstick of an office drone who, for no good reason, becomes an overnight TV tabloid celebrity; and there’s a winking homage to Italy’s addiction to sex scandals in high and low places – in the wake of charges that disgraced former prime minister

Silvio Berlusconi had an affair with a 17-year-old prostitute – in the story of a country bumpkin whose peasant-girl new wife is suddenly replaced by a voluptuous call girl with attitude. “You have the only brain with three ids.” “Don’t psychoanalyze me! Many have tried. All have failed.”

Beginning with his still-underrated tribute to Italian genius Fellini Stardust Memories, I have always caught my first glimpse of new Woody films in a small downtown professional screening room that normally fits about 40 critics in rocking-chair comfy, red upholstered seats. I’ve seen Zelig in See page 33 >>

Slicing & dicing on summertime stages by Richard Dodds

S

is for summer. It is also for stab, slash, and slice. In the season when lighter fare has traditionally been the default setting, three indie productions are challenging that notion just as summer kicks into high gear. And so we have Marat/Sade, Sweeney Todd, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch in imminent and overlapping runs.

The stabbing Daniel Nicoletta

Aaron Mahlberg plays French revolutionary JeanPaul Marat, and Bonni Suval his attacker, in Peter Weiss’ Marat/Sade at Brava Theatre.

The production of Marat/Sade is the result of three provocative San Francisco institutions coalescing: presenter Marc Huestis, best known for his Castro Theatre events featuring appearances by veteran film stars; Thrillpeddlers and its artistic di-

rector Russell Blackwood, known for both their Grand Guignol stagings and revivals of Cockettes musicals; and Brava Theatre, which provides the venue for Peter Weiss’ play in its July 11-29 run. (Tickets available at www.thrillpeddlers.com.) Marat/Sade was a London and Broadway sensation in the mid-1960s that offers its own synopsis in its full title: The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade. The Marquis de Sade, who needs no introduction, was in fact incarcerated at Charenton during the last years of his life,

{ SECOND OF TWO SECTIONS }

where he did stage theatricals with fellow patients. And to refresh your history of the French Revolution, Jean-Paul Marat was famous for inciting violence with his blistering attacks on more cautious revolutionaries, but it was after his influence had waned that a sympathizer of the moderate faction, Charlotte Corday, stabbed him to death while he was bathing at home. In the Huestis/Thrillpeddlers production, the cast is led by Jeff Garrett as de Sade, Aaron Malberg as Marat, and Bonni Suval as Corday. Marat/Sade is a play with music in a Brechtian fashion, and Scrumbly Koldewyn is providing musical direction. See page 32 >>

<< Out There

22 • BAY AREA REPORTER • June 28-July 4, 2012

▼

Pride-time playlist by Roberto Friedman

W

e’re still wafting on fluffy little clouds of LGBT Pride, aren’t you? And here we are in the midst of an extra week of June, postPride! How’d that happen? Anyway, Out There is still listening to our self-selected Pride playlist, which has a lot of big gay stuff on it, some straight stuff (or “straight-acting?”), some pop, some jazz, and a whole lot of classical gas. Welcome to our sonic world, and do bring along a pair of thirsty ears. Scissor Sisters, Magic Hour (Casablanca): Those scintillating Scissors – Jake Shears, Ana Matronic, Babydaddy, Del Marquis – have outdone themselves on their latest party-time album, with paeans to rave-ups (“Let’s Have a Kiki”), classic California (“San Luis Obispo”) and bad behavior (“Dip me a bump and I’ll hop out the whip. Girl, what you drinkin’? Boy, give me a sip!” – from

“Shady Love.”) Veronica Klaus with the Tammy L. Hall Quartet, Something Cool (VK): We’ve long followed this transgender chanteuse’s career, and there’s no one we like hearing her sing with more than jazz pianist Tammy L. Hall and her quartet. Once we saw Klaus patronizing our favorite local café, and as we passed by, nodding as friendly acquaintances, we noticed that she was working the New York Times crossword puzzle. Now, it makes sense that newspaper editors like to do difficult crosswords, as they employ skills like brevity and precision in word choice, essential to headlines, but we realized that it makes sense for a singer of the classic songbook – here Klaus does “You’re My Thrill” and “Old Devil Moon” – to do verbal puzzles as well: the work is word-driven. Klaus gives shout-outs to great women of song Billie Holiday, Joni Mitchell,

Ella Fitzgerald and Peggy Lee. Philharmonia Baroque, under music director Nicholas McGegan, performs Handel’s Atalanta (PBO): It’s not even the Atalanta myth you think you know, it’s a different one. But the plot’s not the thing. In over two hours and 23 minutes of music recorded live at First Congregational Church in Berkeley, McGegan and the PBO, with a cast that includes soprano Dominique Labelle, tenor Michael Slattery and baritone Philip Cutlip, and the Philharmonia Chorale under director Bruce Lamott, make baroque opera come alive and feel contemporary. We’re also listening to: Rumer, Seasons of My Soul (Atlantic); Spiritualized, Sweet Heart, Sweet Light (Fat Possum); M. Ward, A Wasteland Companion (Merge); Amy Ray, Lung of Love (Daemon); Curtis Stigers, Let’s Go Out Tonight (Concord); and Tedeschi Trucks Band, Everybody’s Talkin’ (Sony). But we don’t hear a word they’re sayin’.

A-foraging we go! Out There was invited last week when the Americano Restaurant & Bar at the Hotel Vitale in SF collaborated with Paul Dolan Vineyards in Mendocino to host their second annual Wild Foods Dinner. Chef Kory Stewart created a menu inspired by wild ingredients, including grilled morel mushrooms stuffed with herb ricotta and bacon, paired with a 2010 Parducci Rosé; Chinook salmon crudo with marinated seaweed and sea beans (with a 2010 Paul Dolan Chardonnay); mafalde

Karen Almond/Dallas Opera

Ben Heppner as Captain Ahab and Morgan Smith as Starbuck in Moby-Dick, coming to San Francisco Opera in the fall.

pasta with local sea urchin, beach rocket and wild radish flowers; buttermilk fried quail with game bird sausage, sprouted acorn puree, porcini mushrooms and elderberry jus (Parducci Signature Pinot Noir); and goat cheese and honey semi freddo with olallieberries or blackberries, we’re not sure which (2009 Parducci Muscat Canelli). It was all mega yum, in a wild, locavore way, and we learned a good deal about foraging in the Bay Area. The next night OT went to Scottish artist David Shrigley’s opening-night party for his exhibition David Shrigley: Brain Activity at YBCA (through Sept. 23). The show arrived at YBCA, its only U.S. venue, directly from the Hayward Gallery in London. The evening’s entertainment included a live performance by SF’s own garage-rock trio Blasted Canyons. Curated by Cliff Lauson of the Hayward Gallery, the show is the largest survey of the artist’s work to date, featuring groupings of drawings and paintings on paper, sculptures, installations, sets of photographs and animations. Humor looms large in Shrigley’s work, such as in his iconic “I’m Dead,” a taxidermied dog holding a sign to that effect; the selfexplanatory animation “Headless Drummer”; and a granite and gold leaf “Gravestone” engraved with a shopping list. We saw echoes of the work of Raymond Pettibon, Chris Johanson and the Mission School, Tom Friedman and Andy Warhol. Worth a look-see.

Memorable memorabilia Marketing memorabilia company Premiere Props auctioned off over 1,000 Hollywood costumes and props last weekend, June 23-24, during their Hollywood Extravaganza VI in El Segundo, CA. Items included Elizabeth Taylor’s dressing room/trailer from the set of Cleopatra; Marilyn Monroe’s Pucci dress; a collection of Sammy Davis, Jr.’s stage costumes including a black tuxedo by Sy Devore, Hollywood, with a gray vest, black silk bow-tie by Sulka and a blue dress shirt with lace trim and mother-of-

pearl buttons embroidered “Sammy Jr.” by Natlvise, Sunset Strip, and a Levi’s jacket and pants with rhinestones spelling “Love each other” on the back, with flowers, hearts, butterfly, bird and star designs; Liberace’s costumes including a bejeweled velvet & lace tuxedo with tails and matching pants, vest, dickey, and velvet bow-tie choker, seen on his album The Way We Were, and his original Bicentennial costume – a rhinestone-covered red, white & blue leather jacket with fringed matching hot-pant shorts, handbag and necklace – seen during his 1971 Caesar’s Palace run; Frank Sinatra’s trenchcoat from The First Deadly Sin, and his bar stool from a concert in Brazil. Also: never-before-released photos of Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 during their last recording session as the Jackson 5; Michael’s signed deed to Neverland Ranch; unreleased Elvis Presley negatives and photographs; the Monkees’ autographed guitars; Davy Jones’ stage-worn shirt with a photo showing him wearing it; Brandon Lee’s shirt from The Crow; Rock Hudson’s frock coat and helmet from Bengal Brigade; Tony Curtis’ military jacket from Suppose They Gave a War; and Dean Martin’s military jacket from Airport. What a haul!

Fall season approaches Finally, just a reminder that single tickets for San Francisco Opera’s 90th season go on sale this Mon., July 2. SFO’s 2012-13 season opens on Sept. 7 with Verdi’s Rigoletto conducted by Nicola Luisotti. Season highlights include world premieres of Mark Adamo’s The Gospel of Mary Magdalene and Nolan Gasser and Carey Harrison’s The Secret Garden; the Bay Area premiere of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s Moby-Dick; new-to-SF productions of Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Wagner’s Lohengrin and Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann; revivals of SFO productions of Verdi’s Rigoletto and Puccini’s Tosca, each featuring two renowned casts; and Mozart’s Così fan tutte. Save a seat for us!▼

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Theatre >>

June 28-July 4, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 23

The Maud Allan affair by Richard Dodds

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he judge in the 1918 libel suit brought by dancer Maud Allan against a member of the British Parliament is continually irked by defendant Noel Pemberton-Billing, representing himself, for citing names of people whose relevance and authority have not been properly introduced. After hearing one unfamiliar name several times, the exasperated judge finally asks, “Who is this Greek chap ‘Clitoris?’” Though now a cliche, the comic retort “You couldn’t make this stuff up” must be invoked one more time. The actual transcripts from the trial disastrously instigated by Maud Allan, famous as a diaphanously costumed dancer, could provide an evening’s entertainment if simply presented verbatim. Billed as “the trial of the century,” it erupted following a private performance inspired by Oscar Wilde’s banned play Salome. But writer-director Mark Jackson has done more than simply rely on court records with Salomania, having its world premiere at Aurora Theatre. He provides multi-layers of context for the proceedings, including Wilde’s own ruinous trial 13 years before, Allan’s family tragedy in San Francisco that always haunted her, and the frontline trenches of WWI.

Actors change from soldiers to barristers before our eyes in Callie Floor’s breakaway costumes, and set designer Nina Ball’s mountain of crates can be a courtroom in one moment and a battlefield in the next. While the court sessions are at the heart of the play, and are both funny and horrifying through contemporary eyes, there are magical moments that Jackson creates without the aid of court documents. In a trench somewhere in Europe, British soldiers kill time when not killing or being killed by debating the merits of Cadbury’s chocolates over those of Rountree’s of York. It’s the kind of dislocating absurd banality that Quentin Tarantino brought to the scene in Pulp Fiction as hit men John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson discussed the difference in American and British nomenclature for fast-food products. Another theatrical bijou is set in a pub where a disillusioned soldier on leave encounters a kindred spirit in a war widow ready to provide both physical and a kind of emotionally masochistic comfort. And Chris Black’s choreography finds a way for an erotically costumed Maud Allan to dance among the soldiers, who provide stylized accompaniment. Not all of these vignettes work as well. While an imaginary meeting between Maud Allen and a decrepit

Oscar Wilde has potential, it doesn’t pay off as Allan seems to take nothing away from the encounter. Allan, in fact, is something of a cipher in her own story, and while Wilde’s downfall born of pride and hubris is well-known, Allan’s motivations are not sufficiently shown, and her post-trial life is scarcely acknowledged. But it also true that Allan was an unwitting pawn in Pemberton-Billing’s efforts at finding a forum for his radical conspiracy theory that German agents had turned 47,000 Britons into homosexuals who could be blackmailed into hindering Britain’s war efforts. For Pemberton-Billing and his allies, Maud Allan, possessor of “an enlarged and diseased clitoris,” became a symbol of the depraved. Madeline H.D. Brown doesn’t add much coloring to the outline that Jackson has provided for Allan. But there are numerous theatrical flourishes offered by six other actors who play mutiple roles. Just a few highlights include Mark Anderson Phillips as the merrily grandstanding Pemberton-Billing, Alex Moggridge as the sullen soldier on leave, Marilee Talkington as the soldier’s pub mate, Liam Vincent as Lord Alfred Douglas who flamboyantly denounces ex-lover Oscar Wilde, Kevin Clarke as the clownishly befuddled

design. The effect is so realistic that when wafting drapes are projected, you might easily think you are looking at actual cloth. But it can also be a distraction. The slowly morphing close-ups of sinister male faces are more interesting than the particular scene of victimization being played out in front of it. I remember the faces, but not the gender crimes they are meant to symbolize.▼

kevinberne.com

A cast of six women plays out a series of songs and vignettes by Eve Ensler exploring worldwide issues of female empowerment and ongoing subjugation in Emotional Creature at Berkeley Rep.

Female trouble by Richard Dodds

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t was in 1971 that Helen Reddy first sang the song lyrics that proclaimed, “I am woman, hear me roar, in numbers too big to ignore.” It’s a bit sad then that Eve Ensler sees the need to conclude Emotional Creature with a song that doesn’t move much beyond the starter female-empowerment sentiments expressed all those many years ago. “We got the power,” insists the cast of six young women after presenting a series of vignettes that mostly state the opposite. Ensler helped move the world with The Vagina Monologues by placing an unmentionable on a pedestal. But Emotional Creature, having its world premiere at Berkeley Rep, fosters a retrograde instructional impression that is part grownup theater and part after-school special. It is a relief, though, that the show itself is not as sternly didactic as the preshow projected statements outlining the continuing wrongs done to half the world’s population, from female circumcision to body issues. Did you know that, according to one survey, most girls would rather have an arm amputated than be considered fat? That body issues should be a recurring topic is ironic because the cast members are uniformly trim. And yet there are scenes in which Ensler can address this and other trodden topics of inequality with fresh imagination. One is a monologue by a Chinese girl who works in a

factory that manufactures the heads for Barbie dolls. She imagines that if a young girl somewhere else in the world holds a Barbie to her ear, like a seashell, she will hear its maker’s dreams. Some of the monologues go to far grimmer places, emphasizing the importance of the issues behind them but not often further illuminating them. An African girl describes her two years as a sexual slave of a military official with the attendant horrors you’d expect, and another African girl prays to God that her family will not enforce on her the custom of genital mutilation. It’s hard to know what to make of the scene set to music with the cast alternately extoling the liberation of wearing short skirts and warning away anyone who thinks they are a sexual invitation. Some scenes just ring false, like the girl’s lament about no longer being the class clown after a parentally imposed nose job. The accompanying music composed by Charl-Johan Lingenfelder has a catchy pop-music vibe, which is matched by Ensler’s lyrics and Luam’s choreography. Ashley Bryant, Molly Carden, Emily S. Grosland, Joaquina Kalukango, Sade Namei, and Olivia Oguma compose the energetic and appealing cast directed by Jo Bonney. The most intriguing part of the production is the Cinerama-style hi-def screen that encompasses the stage in Shawn Sagady’s projection

Emotional Creature will run at Berkeley Rep through July 15. Tickets are $14.50-$73. Call (510) 647-2949 or go to www.berkeleyrep.org.

David Allen

Liam Vincent (right) plays Lord Alfred Douglas, Oscar Wilde’s former lover, who testifies against dancer Maud Allan (Madeline H.D. Brown) as Kevin Clarke’s judge looks on in the world premiere of Salomania at Aurora Theatre.

judge unfortunately surnamed Darling, and Anthony Nemirovsky as Pemberton-Billing’s oleaginous colleague Harold Spencer. If anything good can be said to have come out of the Maud Allan affair, it is that the multitude learned what a clitoris is and what

can happen when it is stimulated. After Maud Allan, orgasms were no longer a men-only club.▼ Salomania will run at Aurora Theatre through July 22. Tickets are $30-$48. Call (510) 843-4822 or go to www.auroratheatre.org.

<< Music

24 • BAY AREA REPORTER • June 28-July 4, 2012

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Politically incorrect by Jason Victor Serinus

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he Kinsey Sicks are back and as wicked as ever. Nothing even remotely related to American election-year politics is spared their surgical humor as the dragapella quartet’s lavender knife dissects everything from conservative Republicans’ true motivation for just about anything, to the current mixed-message embrace of folks South of the Border, in The Kinsey Sicks - Electile Dysfunction. Although the girls/boys’ latest ecologically friendly cardboard fold-out album lacks liner notes, the credits explain that a full dozen of its 16 songs were written for their world premiere musical, Electile Dysfunction: The Kinsey Sicks for President. It’s fun to try to figure out which four weren’t. It’s even more fun not to care. To quote one song’s title, “Satan Baby” is alive and well in the hearts and throats of these queens. Titles such as “BP is Creepy,” “Eliminate the Schools,” “I Will Watch YouTube” and “Sell the Poor” only hint at the depth of parody in these songs and arrangements. Al-

though it’s too bad that we can’t watch the quartet go to it on DVD, Blu-ray, or Goddess forbid, YouTube, we can feel their intelligence and wit loud and clear. To mix metaphors, or at least species, they go hog wild in “Bedroom Ants.” “Sikh to Sheik,” sung to the mel-

ody of “Cheek to Cheek,” proclaims, “Take a stance with me, God wraps his arms about you. If you do harm about you, He’ll gladly send you to Heaven. If there’s a heaven, it’s where Communists and Kaballists can speak, and Jihadists join in jokes while Jesus weeps.” You gotta love ’em.▼

Baroque to the max by Tim Pfaff

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www.ebar.com

t’s been a while since we checked in on Christophe Rousset, the out French early-music specialist and leader for more than 20 years of his ensemble, Les Talens Lyriques. His two latest recordings (both for Aparte) show him at work with music at the two temporal extremes of the Baroque. Arias for Anna De Amicis features his full band backing Romanian soprano Teodora Gheorghiu (no relation to Angela) in a selection of arias composed for the historical Early-music specialist and Les Talens singer De Amicis, whom the Lyriques leader Christophe Rousset. teenage Mozart had heard sing Jommelli’s Armida Abbandonata in Naples in 1770. More recently, Harmonia Sacra, a collection of Purcell’s devotional songs, features soprano Rosemary Joshua and the intimate continuo ensemble of lutenist Elizabeth Kennt, gambist Laurence Dreyfus (whose scholarly book on Wagner and the Erotic Impulse was reviewed in these pages) and Rousset on harpsichord and organ in what argues to be one of the vocal recordings of the year. “Signora De Amicis sings incomparably,” Mozart wrote to his father Leopold. He contrast, is a marvel of, on the one composed the role of Giunnia in hand, control, and on the other, his opera Lucio Silla (Naples, 1772) passionate, unbridled expression. for her, and Giunnia’s fine arias are There’s a guiding intelligence deep the meat of this CD. But we’re also within it that never loses touch with given hors d’oeuvres of Jommelli’s the music itself, and so allows her Armida, as well as arias by Gluck, almost wildly versatile instrument J.C. Bach, and Josef Myslivcek. to declaim one minute, exult the Rousset’s feel for this slice of the next, and lament as called for, all repertoire is unmatched among without calling attention to itself, his contemporaries, and the CD and with nothing sticking out. is worth hearing for the orchestral The sense is that, in its natural contributions alone. The rest destate, Joshua’s voice has a pointed, pends on your response to Gheohummingbird vibrato, an effervesrghiu’s voice, an acquired taste I cent sound that doesn’t grate. But she only partly acquired. She boasts an can, in an instant, remove all vibrato agile, sound coloratura in a voice from her singing and, when the muof rapidly shifting character, which sic requires, move as easily into decturns out to be more liability than lamation startlingly close to pitched asset. Her voice has a hooded, even speech. It’s in constant, concentrated bottled sound characteristic of service to the music, each note ansingers from her part of the world, chored in purpose, which in the debut sometimes it seems turpentine’s ceptively narrow-seeming compass been in the bottle. It’s a voice that of this devotional music, nevertheless doesn’t yet know or trust itself, and ranges from exaltation to despair. sometimes lunges at the music. The framing numbers on this Rosemary Joshua’s voice, by beautifully programmed CD –

h hearing it all in one sitting iis no challenge whatever – show the full range of h her and her colleagues’ art. “Tell me, some pitying angel (The blessed Virgin’s exposttulation)” is a seven-and-ah half-minute scene (to words b by Nahum Tate, librettist of P Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas) eexpressing Mary’s terror at the d disappearance of the teenage JJesus in the temple. Her merccurial thoughts are rendered in music of stunning shifts, in the middle of which Mary ccries out, twice, to the angel w who announced her son’s birth – Gabriel, Gabriel, Gabriel, Gabriel – in aching sounds Joshua inflects differently in each of the eight outcries. The steadiness of the beginning of the final line, “I trust the God,” quickly gives way to the womanly “but” – and here a long, melismatic oh-oh-oho oh-oh-oh! – “I fear the child.” The CD gives all of Purcell’s d devotional songs for solo voice ffrom the two 17th-century ccollections entitled Harmonia SSacra, and tosses in two not by P Purcell as revealing points of rreference. Several of them set ggrisly verbal depictions of the ccrucifixion, and Joshua’s wordp painting captures the agony. ““Lord, what is man?,” probably th the best known of the songs, ends its almost existential reflection on the incarnation with “O! for a voice like yours to sing/ That anthem here which once you sung above,” and then, Joshua, with just such a voice, signing a repeated, increasingly ecstatic “Alleluia.” The final item is the evening hymn “Now that the sun,” which, as Joshua sings it, reaches a transcendent realm comparable to the one Hunt-Lieberson attained in Handel’s “As with rosy steps the morn,” hailing the sun’s other passage through a believer’s day. Rousset intersperses the songs with solo harpsichord music by Purcell, including the complete if short Suite in G minor. The greatest harpsichordist among us since he appeared on the scene, his playing becomes steadily both deeper and lighter – as someone else wrote of my favorite pianist, “playing at once more grounded and more otherworldly.” Music-making doesn’t get freer or more involving than this quartet’s.▼

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Film >>

June 28-July 4, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 25

Sisters are doing it for themselves by Gregg Shapiro

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traight filmmaker Lynn Shelton sure likes the gays. Her 2009 comedic feature Humpday was about a hetero bromance that went to the next level. Without giving away too much about details, in Your Sister’s Sister (IFC Films), a film stocked with a variety of “reveals,” lesbians get their due onscreen. The movie shines a spotlight on strained sibling relationships and complicated friendships, and it doesn’t offer any easy answers as it makes you laugh, cry, and keep guessing. I spoke with Shelton shortly before Your Sister’s Sister opened in theaters. Gregg Shapiro: Your Sister’s Sister opens at a memorial service where Jack (Mark Duplass), the brother of the deceased Tom, doesn’t share in the participants’ need to speak well of the dead. Have you ever been at a memorial service where something like that happened? Lynn Shelton: I’ve been at memorial services where people have drunk too much and said things that have made other people uncomfortable. I like the idea of introducing the character in a way that you don’t immediately fall in love with him. Maybe he makes the audience just as uncomfortable as the other people in the room. But then you eventually end up rooting for him. It’s kind of like saying right at the outset, these people are flawed. Every one of them has their weaknesses, and that’s what makes us all human. Also, it seems like he’s saying something negative, but you get, in the process of his little speech, that he really knew and loved his brother, probably more than any of the other people in that room. He just wants him back, really, and he wants the whole person to be acknowledged, as opposed to this glorified, sanctified version. Jack has a number of problems, including alcohol. When Iris (Emily Blunt), Tom’s ex-girlfriend and his best friend, offers to let him get away at her family’s island retreat, alcohol plays a part in getting him into more trouble, this time with Iris’ half-sister Hannah (Rosemarie DeWitt). Are you trying to send viewers a cautionary message about drinking and responsibility? No, I really wasn’t at all. It’s a little confusing, because there is this memorial scene, then there’s this talk and Iris says, “This is your intervention.” I was worried that people would think she was talking about an alcohol intervention, but it really wasn’t. It was just that he had this year where he has been mired emotionally and has been acting self-destructive in general. It wasn’t so much a drugs-and-alcohol kind of intervention, it was an emotional one. It’s time to get your head together. It’s true, when you are in a really bad depression, alcohol’s probably not going to be your best place to go! Hannah is a lesbian who has just left a seven-year relationship. Why did you make Hannah a lesbian? Couldn’t she just as easily have been a straight woman? The thing I liked about her being a lesbian, in that initial encounter with her and Jack, it definitely changes the timbre of their relationship. Sex is off the table. I think the biggest delight about seeing the film is all the little reveals. Your previous film Humpday, which also starred Mark Duplass, dealt with gay subject matter, too. Do you have a gay relative or something? My stepsister is a lesbian, yes! I’ve had dear friends who are gay men and lesbians my whole life. I feel

Mark Duplass, Emily Blunt and Rosemarie DeWitt in director Lynn Shelton’s My Sister’s Sister, now playing in theaters.

Filmmaker Lynn Shelton.

very at home in the gay community. I was an honorary lesbian when I was asked to understudy Lisa Kron of the New York theater group the Five Lesbian Brothers many years ago. I went on tour with them. I was like, “You are my family, you are my people.” And I’ve had crushes on women. I remember them asking me, “Why aren’t you a lesbian,

Lynn?” It’s because I fell in love with this guy! I’ve always been interested in the boundaries of sexual identity. There was a time in my life where I thought everybody must be bisexual. You should be able to just fall in love with anybody. And then I came to find out through the process of making Humpday that that’s not true at all! There are some people who are totally straight, and totally gay, and never the twain shall mix. I have to say it has been an interest of mine.

You address sibling relationships in Your Sister’s Sister, both Jack and Tom’s and Hannah and Iris’. How would you describe your relationships? I describe them as incredibly boring and uncomplicated and pure love. So I really had to come at this project from the point of view of an outside observer. I have observed throughout my whole life really fascinating, intricate, layered, and deep relationships between siblings that I’ve been jealous of. I thought it was

really rich territory. Mike Leigh said, after being asked about making great movies with great female characters, “I make movies with great people and characters, that’s what I do.” I’m exactly the same way. I think of it as exploring this territory. I’m endlessly fascinated by human beings and by our relationships with the self, and how the self shifts. How we have different masks that we show with different people as we try to connect, because we’re so desperate to connect with others. In Humpday, here are these two straight guys who really love each other and want to be bonded the way they felt that bond in college, yet they’re straight guys so they can’t. I find that incredibly poignant. Here are these two sisters in Your Sister’s Sister who clearly adore each other, yet they can’t quite connect because of all of the stuff in-between. The movie ends on a mysterious note. Is there an alternate ending somewhere, perhaps on DVD or Blu-ray, where the mystery is solved, or did you always intend for it to be unanswered? I always wanted to end the film the way I ended it. That was always plan A.▼

Serving the LGBT communities since 1971

26 • BAY AREA REPORTER • June 28-July 4, 2012

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TV>>

‘B&B’ offers a lesbian love story by David-Elijah Nahmod

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BS’ venerable daytime drama The Bold and the Beautiful has, in spite of plummeting ratings across the soap opera genre, managed to maintain a sizable audience. A staple on CBS’ daytime lineup since 1987, B&B is seen around the globe, where it’s reported to be the #1 syndicated show in the world. Set in the glitzy world of the Los Angeles fashion industry, the series has recently launched its first lesbian love story. For actress Joanna Johnson, who’s returning to the series after a long absence, appearing in this storyline is deeply personal. Johnson has herself come out as a lesbian. “I’ve gotten incredibly supportive responses from the gay community,” Johnson said to the B.A.R. “I wanted to be really honest in my interview with TV Guide about the way I was raised and about the times in which I was a teenager, the 70s and 80s. There was really no public acceptance of being gay. No out celebrities or role models, and I internalized a lot of

shame and fear and self-loathing.” The actress shared a few aspects of the very different life she lives today. “It’s not like the minute I was introduced to someone I would say, ‘Nice to meet you, and FYI, I’m a lesbian. Just like a straight person doesn’t announce that they’re straight. But when people ask what my husband does, I always say that I have a wife, and that she’s an event promoter.” For Crystal Chappell, who’s straight and who plays Johnson’s onscreen partner, playing a lesbian is old hat. Chappell was seen in a gay role on the now-cancelled soap The Guiding Light. After that show ended its impressive 72-year run, Chappell played another lesbian role on Venice, a Web soap that she herself produced. She says she’s not concerned about typecasting. “The majority of my career, I have played a heterosexual,” she told the B.A.R. “I’ve played plenty of roles like doctors, lawyers, businesspeople, etc. So no, I don’t worry at all. I think LGBT people are happy to see themselves represented.” The B.A.R. asked the women if

Courtesy of JPI Studios

The Bold and the Beautiful actresses Crystal Chappell and Joanna Johnson star in the soap opera’s first lesbian love story.

see a loving relationship. If you can affect one person who can see that it is all about love, then we have done something good.” Both actors give President Barack Obama high marks for his recent stand in support of same-sex marriage. “I commend President Obama for supporting same-sex marriage,” said Johnson. “I understand that politically he’s between a rock and a hard place, so it’s small steps forward. I hope the next step in his evolution is to recognize that it needs to be a federally protected right. We didn’t leave slavery and segregation up to the states. Civil and human rights can’t be left up to the states, they must be federally protected.” “He is who I expected him to be,” was Chappell’s take. “He said something that certainly makes him a Democrat and liberal, and I think it’s wonderful that a President accepts all citizens of this country for who they are.”▼

there’s been any backlash from the anti-gay. “I stopped listening to that a long time ago,” said Chappell. “There is always backlash and naysayers. I choose to focus on the positive feedback and the effect we are having on people.” “I think [producer] Brad Bell and

the writers have written a wonderful story and some lovely scenes that everyone can relate to,” added Johnson. “In my opinion, I think most people have a pretty open mind about who people are,” Chappell said. “I’m sure there are people who don’t understand, but I think most people will

The Bold and the Beautiful airs weekday afternoons on CBS.

harridan wife Remy (Ava Gardner) are having a nasty argument over his alleged infidelity with Denise (Genevieve Bujold), a friend of his secretary’s. Remy overdoses – again – but as Stewart calls for help, they feel a big shake, which awakens her. They dismiss it as nothing significant. Stewart leaves for his job at the company owned by his father-inlaw, Sam Royce (Lorne Greene). A caretaker (Scott Hylands) tells

the engineers at the huge Hollywood Reservoir Dam that it’s been damaged, but his concerns aren’t taken seriously until a custodian drowns in an elevator. Still, things look OK. Ferocious cop Lew Slade (George Kennedy) is breaking the sound barrier with his car as he chases a speeding driver, who crashes into “Zsa Zsa Gabor’s” (!) garden. Disgusted with the failure of fellow law enforcement personnel to take their work seriously – and insisting that all he wants to do is help people – Lew goes to a bar to console himself. He and the other patrons feel the rattler, but it’s over quickly. Motorcycle stunt driver Miles Quade (Richard Roundtree) is rehearsing a complicated routine in hopes of landing a gig in Las Vegas when the first shake ruins his wooden obstacle course. At the seismology institute, junior analyst Walter Russell (Kip Niven) believes that a huge earthquake (magnitude 7.0 or greater) will strike soon. He wants to issue warnings so that people can begin evacuating the area. His boss, Dr. Willis Stockle (Barry Sullivan), worries that if the prediction is wrong, the institute’s credibility will be ruined – a concern shared by the mayor, who fears he’ll be the laughing stock of the country. Besides, an “orderly” evacuation is an oxymoron – panic will set in. Before going to work, Stewart stops to visit Denise and bring her young son an autographed football. It’s clear they’re attracted to each other, but nothing happens until later, when Remy’s accusations finally become true. Stewart is on his way to the office when massive temblors strike. Buildings sway and collapse. Houses, bridges, highways crumble. At the bar, Lew sobers up and gets

ready to do his duty. The mayor calls for National Guard troops to aid city and county cops. Denise’s son, on his way to school, is hurt. She miraculously finds him, then flags down Miles, who drives them to a makeshift hospital downtown. Huge cracks appear in the walls of the dam. It will give way shortly, flooding the valley and Los Angeles, escalating the horror. The movie becomes even more bathetic, filled with coincidences that would have made Charles Dickens blush. Stewart rescues Sam, who had saved many of his employees, but in the process, the older man has a heart attack. Lew commandeers Stewart’s custom car, but doesn’t know how to drive it, so they pair up. They dig their way through a tunnel and save many people who would otherwise have been trapped. Among them are Remy, Denise, and her son. They are taken to a temporary hospital where Dr. James Vance (Lloyd Nolan) is tending hundreds of victims, including Sam. Remy berates Stewart for having helped Denise. The dam breaks. Huge waves of water inundate the entire area. Stewart saves Denise and his wife, but someone steps on Remy’s hand as she climbs up the ladder to safety. She falls back into the flooded tunnel. Stewart must decide if he wants to live with Denise, or die with Remy. See page 27 >>

DVD>>

The big one by Tavo Amador

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he box-office success of Airport (1970), an all-star melodrama about a bomber threatening to blow up a jetliner, triggered a series of Hollywood “disaster films” during that decade. Tragedy hit the ocean in The Poseidon Adventure (1972); fire destroyed a San Francisco skyscraper in The Towering Inferno (1974); and that same year, Los Angeles was

ruined by an Earthquake, which has just been released on DVD. This wasn’t the first time Tinseltown showed what Mother Nature could do to a California city. In 1936, MGM’s San Francisco recreated the 1906 quake and fire. It starred Clark Gable and Jeanette MacDonald, who warbled amidst the ruins. Earthquake starts swiftly. Former football star turned architect Stewart Graff (Charlton Heston) and his

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Music>>

June 28-July 4, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 27

Jake Shears makes magic by Gregg Shapiro

performing songs about healthy or unhealthy relationships? I think it’s always much more challenging to write a happy, positive song. It’s much more challenging to write a positive song than a negative one. It’s a lot harder to write something uplifting than it is to write something melancholic. It’s really hard to write something uplifting about subject matter that’s really a bummer. My answer would be that I like writing happy-sounding songs about relationships and situations that aren’t necessarily something to get happy about.

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he Scissor Sisters’ fourth studio album Magic Hour (Casablanca) has all the necessary ingredients to cast a spell on their devoted fans, and to earn them plenty of new ones. Album opener “Baby Come Home” has a comfortable familiarity and even a touch of Prince to the mix. The galloping “Only the Horses” is a perfect summer single, the kind of Tea Dance anthem that’s sure to fill dance-floors across the globe. The irresistible “Let’s Have a Kiki” and “Keep Your Shoes On” broaden the horizons of both the Scissor Sisters and their followers, while “Shady Love,” “San Luis Obispo” and “The Secret Life of Letters” are open musical invitations to newcomers far and wide. I had the pleasure of speaking with Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears earlier this month. Gregg Shapiro: The cover art for Magic Hour is reminiscent of the album covers that the British design team Hipgnosis did for records by Pink Floyd and others. Considering that Scissor Sisters covered Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” on your self-titled debut, would it be safe to say there’s a connection? Jake Shears: It’s definitely not a coincidence. We’ve always strove for that, especially with the first two records. Hipgnosis was always a huge influence for what we were doing. There’s been a running theme on all of our sleeves. The link is there’s always something happening in the middle, and there’s somebody turning away from you. We always wanted to keep that in line. The fact that we changed it from a person to an animal was another thing. We like our covers to have a subtle mystery, and the color and mood go along with it. It’s totally influenced by Hipgnosis. It’s also a reference to the fact that we’re still, fortunately or unfortunately, an album band. We still make albums. Magic Hour is being released domestically on Casablanca, a record label known for its

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The big one

From page 26

Others in the huge cast include Victoria Principal as Rosa, a friend of Miles’ and an accused looter; real-life evangelist Marjo Gortner as a National Guardsman taunted for being a “fag” (his walls are covered with pictures of musclemen), who shoots the homophobes and then

Frontman of the Scissor Sisters Jake Shears: ‘Fortunately or unfortunately, we’re still an album band.’

association with the seminal days of disco music. We’re happy to have a label in America that wants to put us out at all! The record-label game, I don’t know what it means anymore. It’s super-exciting to put it out on Casablanca, just because of the history. I’m happy that they revived the imprint, it’s super cool. And I like our label-mates.

great friends. I love being in L.A. I also spent some time in San Francisco last year, with the musical Tales of the City. I have a hard time calling myself a New Yorker anymore. I live out of a suitcase and will continue to live out of a suitcase for quite a while. I have a house down in Tennessee now. I have a house in London now. I’m a bit all over the place!

Scissor Sisters are considered to be a New York band, but it sounds like California has found its way in, on songs such as “San Luis Obispo” and “Year of Living Dangerously,” which includes a mention of the freeway, which conjures up L.A. Is Southern California competing with New York for your attention? I think the world is competing for my attention, to be quite honest with you. And Southern California is definitely in there. I had some really amazing times in Southern California this last year, and made some

Drugs make a number of appearances throughout Magic Hour. Is there cause for alarm? It depends on who you’re asking and about whom! No, drugs have always been a theme through the lyrics that I write. I think they’re ever-present in our lives, whether it’s alcohol or pot or club drugs or antidepressants or Ambien or whatever. Everybody’s on something, and they affect all of us in different ways. They can ruin lives, they can save lives. In American culture especially, they’re omnipresent. Substances and chemicals are every-

tries to rape Rosa; and Walter Matthau as a “comic” drunk. The special effects hold up better than Mark Robson’s direction or the acting. Heston is stalwart and noble – quelle surprise! Gardner is terribly miscast as a vicious shrew. The star who tempted Gable and survived Africa in Mogambo, who defied and fascinated Humphrey Bogart as The Barefoot Contessa, is unconvincing

as a clingy, bitchy hysteric. Kennedy matches Heston grimace for grimace. Greene is as noble as Heston, quite an achievement. Only the lovely Bujold rises above the material. Earthquake is a giggly guilty pleasure, but viewers in the Bay Area can only wonder how prepared we are for the next Big One. That, alas, is no laughing matter. ▼

place, whether it’s espresso or crystal meth, it’s everywhere. “Let’s Have a Kiki” is the kind of song that makes you smile and dance at the same time. Is the voice mail message that opens the song real, or was it scripted for the song? It’s all improv. We wanted to set up a story for where you would have a kiki, or what would make you feel like having a kiki. Somebody’s having a bad night, but it’s all going to be better when you go with your friends. We were literally in the studio with a cell phone in front of the microphone, with Ana in the next room calling one of our phones and recording all that. “Baby Come Home” and “Self Control” are a couple of songs that reflect relationship uncertainty, while “Best in Me” is a wonderful example of musical domestic bliss. Do you prefer writing and

“The Secret Life of Letters” is another good example of your flair for the literary. Do you have a book in you? I do. I always thought I was going to be a writer. That’s what I went to school for. Ever since I could put a sentence together, I started writing stories as a little kid. I kept writing them and wrote stories all my life. I still do. I love genre fiction. I’m a huge reader, I’m a book collector. I love literature, highbrow and lowbrow. I always think about it, and I hope so. It’s one of my dreams. Scissor Sisters are known for their amazing live shows. What can fans expect from the Magic Hour tour? There are going to be some songs that people will not hear that they might expect to, which is thrilling for the band! Having four albums now, it’s like, “Oh my God, we don’t have to play this song anymore!” It really feels like a brand-new show, just because we’ve brought in album tracks from previous albums that haven’t been heard in a long time. Likewise, there are songs that have been heard throughout our tours the last 10 years that we have taken out of the show and replaced with really amazing stuff off Magic Hour. The set-list is wicked! It’s really cool! The way the songs flow into each other is really amazing, and the music direction is amazing. There’s more choreography. I think people will have a blast. It’s a fun show. I know the band has been having a blast playing these songs.▼

28 • BAY AREA REPORTER • June 28-July 4, 2012

Thu 28>>

<< Out&About Thu 28 Emotional Creature @

Berkeley Repertory Theatre

Eve Ensler’s new play about the secret lives of girls, from the Tony Award-winning playwright ( The Vagina Monologues). $15-$73. Tue, Thu-Sat 8pm. Wed, Sun 7pm. Also Sat & Sun 2pm. Thru July 15. 2015 Addison St. at Shattuck. (510) 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org

100 Saints You Should Know @ Thick House Theatre Rhinoceros’ production of Kate Fodor’s play about family love, homosexuality and teenage life. $15-$30. Wed & Thu 7:30pm. Fri & Sat 8pm. Sun 3pm. Thru July 1. 1695 18th St. (800) 838-3006. www.therhino.org

Friday Nights @ de Young Museum

American Idiot @ Orpheum Theatre Touring production of the Tony and Grammywinning Broadway show, created at Berkeley Rep, about modern-day young adults in a post-9/11 world, set to the rousing music of Green Day. $25-$100. Tue-Sat 8pm. Wed, Sat, Sun 2pm. Thru July 8. 1192 Market St. at 8th. 888-746-1799. www.shnsf.com

Andy Rourke @ Rickshaw Stop Former bassist for The Smiths does a DJ set, along with Aaron Axelsen and Omar. $12. 10pm. 155 Fell St. at Van Ness. www.rickshawstop.com

Comedy Bodega @ Esta Nocha

Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu at the SF Ethnic Dance Festival

Baby, you’re a firework by Jim Provenzano

Y

ou’ve conquered the rainbow-festooned festivities. Huzzah! Now spread the love. Be gay elsewhere. OccuPride suburbia; I dare you. Whether you’re radi-queer Socialists or Assimi-lesbians with doublewide twin baby strollers, it’s time to absorb your liberated loveliness and take it on the road. Pack up your gaybies, your perky pets, f*g stag pals, and consider a local road trip, a fireworkin’ gayvasion, as it were. All the corn and cute of county fairs awaits over the bridge and through the, um, overpass. The Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton marks its centennial with festive home-spun events, including amusement park rides, music and dance concerts, science, livestock and agriculture exhibits, a Diaper Derby baby race, cookoffs and more corny Americana fun. Daily thru July 8 (closed July 2). Located off the Bernal Ave Exit from the Highway 680. www.alamedacountyfair.com Napa County Fair The Napa County Fair in Calistoga, a festive yet relaxed series of events, includes food and wine demos, displays and arts & crafts booths, 4H animal exhibits, music concerts, an unusual sand sculpture display, and a fireworks display July 4 at 9:30pm. Free-$10. 12pm-11pm. 1490 North Oak Street, Calistoga. (707) 942-5111. www.napacountyfair.org Up in Marin, Sweet Can Circus performs at the Dance Palace at Point Reyes. The kid-friendly comic acrobatic circus troupe’s new show includes gravity-defying garbage cans. $6-$12. Sunday, July 1, 4pm. Fifth and B streets, Point Reyes. 6631075. www.dancepalace.org Heading south? Circus Vargas performs next tent/door to the Ma- Alameda County Fair donna Inn, San Luis Obispo, on Friday, June 29. The family-run circus performs next to the hotel with a large restaurant known for its tasty dessert pies and kitschy decor. See old-school circus acts and cute trapeze guys in tights. $25-$55. 8pm. Various matinee times thru July 4 (2pm). 100 Madonna Road, San Luis Obispo. (800) 5439666. www.circusvargas.org Inland, The Producers plays at the GK Hardt Theatre in Santa Rosa. 6th Street Playhouse’s production of the Mel Brooks musical comedy based on his satiric film runs through July 14. $15-$35. Thu-Sat 8pm. Also Sat & Sun 2pm. 52 West 6th St., Santa Rosa. (707) 523-4185. www.6thstreetplayhouse.com July 4, a few outland-ish events might appeal. The San Francisco Symphony performs at the Shoreline Ampitheatre in Mountain View. The concert of pop culture holiday music (Ben Hur, Harry Potter, Rocky and other movie scores) includes fireworks. $15-$50. 8pm. One Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View. www.sfsymphony.org If local’s enough for you, San Francisco events offer some fun trips, a few of them trippy. Travel the world through dance at the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival (see photo at top) at the Novellus Theatre. The last weekend of the annual large-scale festival showcases diverse traditional and modern dance styles from local and regional companies who perform Indian, African, Cuban, Native American, Gamelan and other styles. Closing night benefit, June 30, at YBCA Forum, 6pmBarbarella 7:45pm $50. Reg. tix: $12-$58. This weekend, 3pm & 8pm. Also Sun., July 1 at 3pm. 700 Howard St. Thru July 1. 978-2787. www.sfethnicdancefestival.org For a trip to the future, or two absurd cinematic visions of it, see Barbarella and Cherry at the Castro Theatre, Thursday, June 28. Roger Vadim’s campy-trippy ‘60s space adventure starring Jane Fonda (3pm, 7pm), is double-featured with the utterly-80s post-apocalpytic scifi flick starring Melanie Griffith (5pm, 8:55), with the ubiquitous Tim Thomerson as the villain! $10. 429 Castro St. www.castrotheatre.com

The weekly LGBT and indie comic stand-up night. This week, Marga Gomez hosts with comics Ben Feldman, Dee Dee Russell, Jill Borque, Kimberly Wendt and Jennifer Dronsky. 8pm-9:30pm. 3079 16th St. at Mission. www.comedybodega.com

David Barnett @ Moby Dick Exhibit of colorful male torso paintings by the local artist. Thru July 3. 4049 18th St. at Hartford. www.davidbarnettart.com

Fabulous @ Creativity Explored Group exhibit of paintings and works in other media that show off LGBT Pride from a developmentally disabled perspective. Thru Aug. 1. 3245 16th St. at Guerrero. www.creativityexplored.org

The Full Monty @ Eureka Theatre Ray of Light’s new production of the Broadway musical hit (music/lyrics: David Yazbeck; book: Terrence McNally) based on the popular U.K. film about unemployed working-class men who decide to form an amateur strip act. $25-$36. Thu-Sat 8pm. Sat & Sun 2pm. Thru June 30. 215 Jackson St. at Battery. www.roltheatre.com

Hedwig and the Angry Inch @ Boxcar Playhouse

The Letter Q Contributors @ Books Inc. Local LGBT authors (Malinda Lo, Paige Braddock, Lucy Bledsoe and Michael Nava) read their essays in the anthology of letters from adults to their younger selves; books will also be pre-signed by contributors Armistead Maupin and Jewelle Gomez. 7pm. 2275 Market St. www.booksinc.net book by David Thompson; directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman. Out with A.C.T. night July 11. $20-$95. Tue-Sat 8pm. Wed, Sat & Sun also 2pm. Some 7pm Sun shows. Thru July 15. American Conservatory Theatre, 415 Geary St. 749-2228. www.act-sf.org

Strange Cinema @ Oddball Films Collection of unusual short films about kinetic energy, motions, trance dancing and electronic music.$10. 8pm. Also, June 29, Portait of a Lady: the Fashionable Struggle, short retro fashion films, Alice in Wonderland and Joan of Arc. Both $10. 8pm. 275 Capp st. 558-8117. www.oddballfilms.blogspot.com

This Is What I Want @ SOMArts Gallery The OffCenter’s third annual queer performance festival, with four nights of new multi-disciplinary performance works by many artists, along with panel discussions. $20. 8pm. Thru June 29. 934 Brannan St. www.whatiwantfestival.com

Fri 29>> 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche @ Phoenix Theatre

Boxcar Theatre’s production of Stephen Trask and John Cameron Mitchell’s glam rock musical about a transgendered East Berlin rebel. $25. Wed & Thu 8pm. Fri & Sat 7pm & 9:30pm. Thru July 8. 505 Natoma St. 9672227. www.boxcartheatre.org

Tides Theatre’s production of Evan Lindor and Andrew Hobgood’s comic play about a 1950s women’s social group’s McCarthyera secrets. $20-$38. Thu-Sat 8pm. Also extra Sat at 10pm. Thru July 28. 414 Mason St. #601. 336-3533. www.tidestheatre.org

Hot Draw @ Mark I. Chester Studio

Bloke @ Truck

Erotic gay men’s drawing group, with a male model posing nude and/or in kinky situations. Donations. RSVP day of: 621-6294. 6:30-9:30pm. 1229 Folsom St. www.markichester.com

Joe Goode Performance Group @ Z Space When We Fall Apart, a new work by the innovative dance-theatre artist, with sets by architect Cass Calder Smith and live original music by Ben Juodvalkis. $25-$35. Most shows 7pm. Fri & Sat also 9pm. Sun 5pm. Thru June 30. 450 Florida St. www.joegoode.org www.zspace.org

Nixon in China @ War Memorial Opera House John Adams’ operatic revisioning of Richard Nixon’s 1972 presidential trip to Bejing. July 3. In repertory with Giuseppe Verde’s Attila (thru July 1) and W.A. Mozart’s The Magic Flute (thru July 8). $21-$389. 301 Van Ness Ave 864-3330. www.sfopera.com

▼

Enjoy Roxy Music, Eno, King Crimson and other retro Brit tunes spun by DJsDank and Bobby Please at the new monthly (last Fridays) night. No cover. 8pm-1am. 1900 Folsom St. at 15th. www.trucksf.com

Bloom Contributors @ Books Inc Bay Area writers Daphne Gottlieb, Brent Calderwood, Yinka Rose Reed-Nolan and Cheryl Dumensil read poetry and nonfiction from the newest issue of the literary journal. 7:30pm. 2275 Market St. www.booksinc.net

David Shrigley: Brain Activity @ YBCA Exhibit of caustically witty sculptures and visual art. Free-$15. Exhibit thru Sept. 23. $8-$10. 701 Mission St. 978-2787. www.ybca.org

Weekly parties, live performances and quick art installations, paired with current shows, including the Jean Paul Gaultier couture/costume exhibit. Free-$18 (tickets required for exhibit entry). 5:30pm-8:30pm. 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, Golden Gate Park. www.deyoung.famsf.org

Lurid @ City Art Group exhibit of art in various media that explores interpretations of what is “lurid.” 7pm-10pm. Reg. hours 12pm-9pm Wed-Sun. thru June 30. 828 Valencia St. 970-9900. www.cityartgallery.org

Mike’s Men: Sex, Guys and Videotape @ Magnet Exhibit of gay-themed drawings and videos, with limited edition prints and posters, all by filmmaker and artist Mike Kuchar. Mon, Tue Sat 11am-6pm. Wed, Thu Fri 11am-9pm. Thru June. 4122 18th St. www.magnetsf.org

Risk Is This @ Exit Theatre Cutting Ball Theater’s New Experimental Plays Festival, works by Christopher Chen, Anthony Clarvoe, Paul Walsh and Rob Melrose. Free-$20-$50. Fri-Sat 8pm. 277 Taylor St. Thru July 14. 525-1205. www.cuttingball.com

Salomania @ Aurora Theatre, Berkeley Aurora Theatre Company’s production of acclaimed Bay Area playwright Mark Jackson’s play about Maud Allan, the San Francisco dancer-actress who performed a notorious Dance of the Seven Veils. $34$55. Tue 7pm. Wed-Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm & 7pm. Thru July 22. 2081 Addison St. (510) 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org

Same Amor @ Shotwell studios Footloose and Acuna Danza Teatro, with choreography by Carole Acuna, perform new Flamenco/Modern dances. $10-$20. 8pm. Also June 30, 8pm, July 1, 3pm. 3252A 19thy St. 289-2000. www.ftloose.org

Sing-Along Grease @ Castro Theatre Participatory subitled screenings of the 1978 John Travolta/Olivia Newton-John film based on the hit Broadway musical. $10-$15. 7pm Sat & Sun 2:30 & 7pm. Thru July 5 (no shows July 4). 429 Castro St. www.greasemovie.com www.castrotheatre.com

The Waiting Period @ The Marsh Brian Copeland’s popular solo show about his struggle with depression. $25-$50. Fri 8pm, Sat 5pm. Extended thru Aug. 4. 1062 Valencia St. 282-3055. www.themarsh.org

Sat 30>> Beach Blanket Babylon @ Club Fugazi Musical comedy revue, now in its 35th year, with an ever-changing lineup of political and pop culture icons, all in gigantic wigs. Reg: $25-$130. Wed, Thu, Fri at 8pm. Sat 6:30, 9:30pm. Sun 2pm, 5pm. (Beer/ wine served; cash only). 678 Beach Blanket Babylon Blvd (Green St.). 421-4222. www.beachblanketbabylon.com

Queer Rebels of the Harlem Renaissance @ African American Art and Culture Complex Third annual showcase of more than a dozen LGBT African American poets, performers, singers burlesque dancers and more; adult content! $15-$25. 8pm. Thru June 30. 762 Fulton St. www.queerrebels.com

Rhino Summer Readings @ Thick House Theatre Rhinoceros hosts readings of gay plays. Last Summer at Bluefish Cove, June 28, 8pm. 1695 18th St. at Arkansas. 5524100. www.TheRhino.org

Fri 29

The Scottsboro Boys @ A.C.T.

Walking Distance Dance Festival @ ODC Theater

The true story of nine African American men unjustly accused of a crime is given a sardonic yet rousing musical adaptation (which won 12 Tony nominations) with the songs of John Kander and Fred Ebb, and

Past and present artists-in-residence from San Francisco and several U.S. cities (LevyDance, Inkboat, Kunst-Stoff, RAWdance, Fauxnique, Maya Dance Theatre and others) perform new and repertory works. $15 and up. Thru July 1. 3153 17th St. 863-9834. www.odcdance.org

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Out&About >>

June 28-July 4, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 29

different songs at this benefit for the Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation, with guest star Bruce Vilanch. $25-$65. 7:30pm. 609 Sutter St. 273-1620. www.HelpIsOnTheWay.org

Royal Families of the Americas @ SF Public Library, Harvey Milk/Eureka Valley Exhibit of photographs by Karen Massing of four years of pageantry and royalty in the LGBT International Court System. Thru Sept.15. 1 Jose Sarria Court at 16th St. www.karenmassingpix.com www.sfpl.org

Ten Percent @ Comcast 104

Wed 4 The Last Election @ Dolores Park

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

San Francisco Mime Troupe’s new production skewers political fraud and corruption. Free/ donations. 2pm. 18th St. at Dolores. Also July 7, 8, Sept. 1, 2, 3: 2pm at Dolores Park. (Aug 18, Geln Park; Aug 19, Yerba Buena Gardens). At various Bay Area venues thru Sept. 9. 285-1717. www.sfmt.org

Tue 3>>

Choose Paint! Choose Abstraction! @ MOAD

La Quebradora @ Mission Cultural Center

Exhibit of abstract art by African American artists. Special lectures and programs thru exhibit run. Museum of the African Diaspora, 685 Mission St. 358-7200. www.moadsf.org

Curator Amy Pederson’s group exhibition about Lucha Libre Mexican wrestling culture, with videos, sculptures, paintings and performances (Wed nights 7pm). $5. Reg. hours Tue-Sat 10am-5pm. Thru Aug. 5. 821-1155. www.missionculturalcenter.org

Earthquake @ California Academy of Sciences New exhibit and planetarium show with various live, interactive and installed exhibits about our ever-shifting earth. $20-$30. Mon-Sat 9:30am-5pm. Sun 11am-5pm. 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park. 379-8000. www.calacademy.org

Jean Paul Gaultier @ de Young Museum The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk, the first exhibition devoted to the gay French fashion designer (previously shown in Montreal and Dallas), includes film and stage costumes and haute couture, prints, video clips and more. $6-$20. Tue-Sun 9:30am-5:15pm. Friday night special events 5:30pm-8:45pm. Thru Aug. 19. 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, Golden Gate Park. 750-3600. www.famsf.org

Rocket/Stallion @ Rebel Rocket Collective and Stallion Saturdays combine forces for a dance night with gogo guys and a performance by Ambrosia Salad. $7. 9pm-4am. 1760 Market St. www.rocketsf.com www.rebel-sf.com

Texas Rose CW Dance @ Lake Merritt Dance Center, Oakland Queer women and their trans pals twostep and line-dance, with a buffet to boot! $5-$10. 6:30-11pm. 200 Grand Ave., 2nd floor. www.texasrosedance.com

Modern Cartoonist: The Art of Daniel Clowes @ Oakland Museum Exhibit of original art by the Oakland graphic novel illustrator and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter ( Ghost World ). Free-$12. Wed-Sun 11am-5pm. Thru Aug. 12. 1000 Oak St. (510) 3188400. www.museumca.org

The Odyssey @ Angel Island We Players takes on another innovative environmental theatre project (their Alcatraz Hamlet was a sell-out), the Homerian ancient Greek adventure tale, performed at locations on scenic and historic Angel Island. $40-$78. $10 lunches available. Fri-Sun 10:30am-4pm (not including ferry travel times). Thru July 1. 547-0189. www.weplayers.org

Phantoms of Asia @ Asian Art Museum New exhibit of bold contemporary art with perspective on life, death, nature and other themes. $12-$15. 200 Larkin St. 581-3500. www.asianart.org

Photography in Mexico @ SF Museum of Modern Art New group exhibit of historic prints documenting Mexican life and culture since 1920. Also, The Utopian Impulse: Buckminster Fuller and the Bay Area, and a new mural by Dutch artist Parra. Thru July 29. Free-$18. Open daily (except Wednesdays) 11am-5:45pm.; open late Thursdays, until 8:45pm. 131 Third St. 357-4000. www.sfmoma.org

Plantosaurus Rex @ Conservatory of Flowers New exhibit of prehistoric plants and flowers (giant ferns, spiky horsetails) from the Mesozoic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, with life-size models of dinosaurs! Free-$7. Tue-Sun 10am-4:30pm. Thru Oct. 21. 100 JFK Drive, Golden Gate Park. 8312090. www.conservatoryofflowers.org

Group exhibit of art in varied media exploring the relationship between Jewish traditions and trees. Free-$12. Daily 11am5pm Closed Wed. Thru Sept 9. 736 Mission St. 655-7800. www.thecjm.org

Elect to Laugh @ The Marsh Will Durst welcomes comic commentator pals to a weekly political humor night. $15-$50. 8pm. Thru Nov 6. 1062 Valencia St. at 21st. 282-3055. www.themarsh.org

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

Wed 4>> Candlelight Flow Yoga @ LGBT Center David Clark leads various yoga poses and practices, plus meditation and breathing exercises. Bring your own mat and water bottle, etc. $10. 7pm-8:30pm. 1800 Market St. www.4dbliss.com

Thu 5>>

Lips Together, Teeth Apart @ New Conservatory Theatre Terence McNally’s darkly comic social drama about two straight couples’ behavior on a Fire Island weekend, with unseen gay men partying on either side of them. $25-$40. Wed-Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm. Thru July 1. 25 Van Ness Ave., lower level. 861-8972. www.nctcsf.org

Do Not Destroy @ Contemp. Jewish Museum

19th Century San Francisco @ Robert Tat Gallery

Fri 29 Rene Capone @ Live Art Gallery Opening reception for an exhibit of watercolor paintings by the talented local artist whose works include mythical, homoerotic and fantasy imagery in lush colors. 7pm-10pm. Exhibit thru July 15. 151 Potrero Ave. at 15th St. www.renecapone.com

Sun 1>>

Fascinating exhibit of vintage prints from the Bay Area’s early days. Tue-Sat 11am5:30pm & by appointment. Thru Sept. 1 49 Geary St. Suite 410. 781-1122. www.roberttat.com

Comedy Bodega @ Esta Nocha The new weekly LGBT and indie comic stand-up night. This week, Yayne Abeba, David Hawkins, Anna Seregina, Veronica Porras, Baruch Hernandez, and George Chen. 8pm-9:30pm. 3079 16th St. at Mission. www.comedybodega.com

Heather Combs @ Hotel Utah Florida musician headline ‘Songwriters in the Round,’ with Janet Robin, Stewart Lewis and Valeria Orth. $8. 8pm. 500 4th St. www.hotelutah.com/event/123869/

Jonathan Poretz @ The Rrazz Room

Oleta Adams @ The Rrazz Room

Vegas-style crooner performs a musical tribute to Dean Martin. $30. 7:30pm. 2-drink min. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. (800) 3803095. www.TheRrazzRoom.com

R&B and Broadway singer and Grammy nominee performs classic and original music. $50. 8pm. Also July 6, 8pm; July 7, 7pm & 9:30pm. 2-drink min. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. (800) 380-3095. www.TheRrazzRoom.com

Sunday’s a Drag @ Starlight Room Donna Sachet and Harry Denton host the weekly fabulous brunch and drag show. $45. 11am, show at noon; 1:30pm, show at 2:30pm. 450 Powell St. in Union Square. 395-8595. www.harrydenton.com

Transgender Filmmakers @ GLBT History Museum Panel discussion with Morty Diamond (Trans Entities, 2008); Susan Stryker (Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria, 2005); Texas (Gendernauts, 1999); Shawna Virago (Transsexual Dominatrix, 2011); 5pm. On July 2, Sam Berliner (Genderbusters, 2010); Ewan Duarte ( Spiral Transition, 2010); Aneesh Sheth ( My Inner Turmoil, 2012); Kortney Ryan Ziegler ( Still Black: A Portrait of Black Transmen, 2008). $5. 7pm. Also new and permanent archive exhibits. 4127 18th St. www.glbthistory.org

Mon 2>> One Night Only @ Marines Memorial Theater Company members from the national touring cast of American Idiot perform

Radically Gay: The Life of Harry Hay @ SF Public Library New exhibition that celebrates the remarkable life and work of activist Harry Hay, who laid the foundation for the modern lesbian and gay rights movement. Thru July 29. Jewitt Gallery, lower level, 100 Larkin St. 557-4400. www.sfpl.org

Saints and Sinners @ Visual Aid Exhibit of colorful multimedia works by David Faulk and Michael Johnstone in a site-specific installation. 57 Post St. #905. www.visualaid.org

To submit event listings, email jim@ebar.com. Deadline is each Thursday, a week before publication. For more bar and nightlife events, go to www.bartabsf.com or see the July issue inside this week’s BAR.

www.ebar.com

<< Leather+

30 • BAY AREA REPORTER • June 28-July 4, 2012

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Fun & frustration during Pride by Scott Brogan

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ride Weekend was mostly fun. Mostly. I had a super-fabulous, great time at the Mr. S Leather Locker Room one-year anniversary. Locker Room features, as you would expect, locker-room-type fetish gear (baseball uniforms, wrestling singlets, jocks, etc.). You know, sports uniforms and the like. Did I mention jocks? They have lots of jocks, and the gathering included lots of jock-lovers. I say that because I love a hot jock on a hot man. The store features items you might expect to see in a locker room should you happen to stumble in. And stumble in I did. It was great fun to hang out with all those hot men, many of whom modeled the locker room stock whether they thought they were modeling or not. I mean customers who were hot enough to model this stuff on their own, without being professionals. Damn. Did I say “hot,” again? The great thing about the Mr. S Leather store is that they make you feel so welcome. You don’t feel like you have to be the epitome of the Tom of Finland look to feel comfortable and have a good shopping experience. Pink Saturday: not so pink. Since when did the drunken straight folks take over yet another San Francisco gay holiday? By that I mean Pink Saturday. It’s been a few years since I’ve actually attended this event. Man, am I glad for that. It’s become just like Halloween. Young straight revelers now use this event as an excuse to get fucked up while taking over the Castro and outlying areas. They’re obviously not there to celebrate anything more than an excuse to party. I’m not talking about the folks who really do want to give us support, those folks we welcome. No, I’m talking about the huge percentage of attendees who do nothing but stir up trouble. Well, we’re damned tired of your taking our events and turning them into drunken brawls that, because of your actions, need to be monitored by the city. You know something is wrong when an event requires serious “Checkpoint Charlies” to ensure that people are safe. By that I mean anyone going into the Castro had to be checked

Scott Brogan

Christopher Daniels enjoys performing for the crowd at the Mr. S Leather Locker Room one-year anniversary.

for weapons, with those metal-scanning wands. How sad is that? Obviously that’s something that did not originate in our community. Pink Saturday should be ours. It’s something that helps us celebrate who we are. We don’t need drunken straights coming in and messing everything up. It wouldn’t be so bad if these people were in the minority. They weren’t. I would venture that

the crowd was approximately only 4% gay. The rest were just idiotic straights looking for an excuse to get toasted. They weren’t in pink, nor did they exhibit any behavior that even remotely smacked of celebrating our community. Leave us alone already! Let us have something to ourselves. Stop trying to piggyback on our fabulous events. First you ruin our Halloween, now you ruin this. Sadly, these cretins probably won’t read this, but in the hopes that they do, my message is: See page 31 >>

Coming up in leather and kink Thu., Jun. 28: Daddy Thursdays at Kok Bar. Shot & drink specials. 10 p.m.-close. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com. Thu., Jun. 28: Underwear Night at The Powerhouse. Strip down for drink specials. 10 p.m.-close. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com. Thu., Jun. 28: Pryo Passion with Stefanos & Chey at the SF Citadel’s new location, 181 Eddy St. Take your fire play beyond the basics! $20. 8-10 p.m. Doors open at 7. Go to: www.sfcitadel.org/calendar/. Fri., Jun. 29: Fridays Underwear at Kok Bar. Boxers, jockstraps, undies and nasty fun! 10 p.m.-close. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com. Fri., Jun. 29: BDSM 101 Returns to the Powerhouse, hosted by Miss Bethie Bee and Pup Jason. 9 p.m.close. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com. Fri., Jun. 29: Truck Wash at Truck (1900 Folsom). 10 p.m.-close. Live shower boys, drink specials. Go to: www.trucksf.com. Sat., Jun. 30: Leather Beer Bust at Kok Bar. $5 Rolling Rock, $3 all other beer and well koktails. 5-9 p.m. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com.

Bar. $8 if in gear, $10 if not. 3-7 p.m. Go to: www. kokbarsf.com. Sun., Jul. 1: Norcal Leather Fun/Bare Chest Calendar Beer/Soda Bust #2 at the Mindnight Sun, 4067 18th St. Fundraiser for the Norcal Leather Fund, 2013 Bare Chest Calendar. $10 per bottomless cup. 4-7 p.m. Go to Facebook. Sun., Jul. 1: PoHo Sundays at The Powerhouse. Dollar drafts all day! Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com. Tue., Jul. 3: Busted at Truck. $5 beer bust. 9-11 p.m. Go to: www.trucksf.com. Tue., Jul. 3: Safeword: 12-Step Kink Recovery Group at the SF Citadel. 6:30 p.m. Go to: www.sfcitadel.org/ calendar/. Tue., Jul. 3: Ink & Metal at The Powerhouse. 9 p.m.close. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com. Tue., Jul. 3: Kok Block at Kok Bar. Pool tournament 7-10 p.m., winner gets $25. Go to: www.kokbarsf.com. Wed., Jul. 4: Dominant’s Discussion Group at the SF Citadel. 7:30 p.m. Go to: www.sfcitadel.org/calendar/.

Sat., Jun. 30: All Beef Saturday Nights at The Lone Star (1354 Harrison). 9 p.m.-close. Go to: www. facebook.com/lonestarsf.

Wed., Jul. 4: Wolf! for Furry Men on the Prowl at the Watergarden (1010 The Alameda, San Jose). Get down and dirty with the big hairy guys. 4 p.m.-Midnight. Go to: www.thewatergarden.com.

Sat., Jun. 30: Stallion Saturdays at Rebel Bar (1760 Market). Revolving DJs, afterhours fun! 9 p.m.-4 a.m. Go to: www.stallionsaturdays.com.

Wed., Jul. 4: Naked Buddies at Blow Buddies (933 Harrison), a male-only club. Doors open 8 p.m.-12 a.m. Play till late. Go to: www.blowbuddies.com.

Sun., Jul. 1: Truck Bust Sundays at Truck. $1 beer bust. Go to: www.trucksf.com.

Wed., Jul. 4: Nipple Play at the Powerhouse. Show off your nips for drink specials. 10 p.m.-close. Go to: www.powerhouse-sf.com.

Sun., Jul. 1: Men in Gear Monthtly Beer Bust at Kok

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Karrnal>>

June 28-July 4, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 31

Electric company by John F. Karr

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he facts weren’t entirely in when I reported in my last article on Erik Rhodes’ sad death. It seems he did not quietly pass away in his sleep. Here’s Jacob Bernstein’s account from the June 20 New York Times. “On June 13, after a night in which Mr. Rhodes was hired along with another escort to perform for a wealthy client (according to text messages later read by his brother), the two men continued the evening on their own, having sex and doing drugs. But Mr. Rhodes quickly realized that he was not feeling well and cut the evening short. Once home, he apparently went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead in a hospital shortly thereafter, his brother said.” Last time, I celebrated what is likely Erik’s last performance for Falcon, in Body Shop. It’s a swell scene, in a swell movie. What may be Erik’s last Raging Stallion scene, in the just released High Voltage, is even better. Tony Dimarco directed Body Shop. Steve Cruz directed High Voltage. But you couldn’t tell the movies had different directors without being told. That speaks highly for uniformity of standards for the merged companies. It also begs the question: If the product of the two brands is so uniform, why not make it a real merge – say, Falcon Rages? Although Raging Falcon seems inevitable. Whatever. High Voltage is as handsome in look as it is exciting in action. It has a single Spartan set – a masculine arrangement of a leathercovered armchair and a wood table fronting a back wall that’s half invincible concrete and half warm wood planking. Some bare lightbulbs underscore the title with audible electric sizzle, just as the four couplings presented in two hours illustrate it with the crackle of high-energy fucks. And if the Charlie Harding/Jessie Coulter scene in Body Shop remains the knockout best of these companion movies, it’s closely seconded by the High Voltage scene of Rhodes and Derek Parker. These guys sure have some sockets I’d like to stick my – finger into. The star coupling of Trenton

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John F. Karr

Erik Rhodes, captured here in a screengrab from Raging Stallion’s High Voltage, is cumming.

Ducati mauling Marc Dylan is first up. Ducati’s body is an extrahard wonder; Dylan’s youthful beef shines bright. The couple’s kissing is closer to devouring, and their dickeating is super-suction. As usual, I would have loved to see the launch of their gangbuster fucking, but forgot that in the splendid close-up shots of Ducati’s subsequent pile-drive insertions. With explosive energy replacing personal connection, I wondered, can one have both? Well, yes, as demonstrated by most any Adam Killian scene. But oh my, the physical splendor of this one, the gleaming sweat on Ducati’s titanium body, the force of his fuck, and Dylan’s genuinely electrifying screaming. This is followed immediately by the sight of Erik Rhodes writhing beneath the power sucking of Derek Parker, the very butch, bearded and tattooed dude with impressively bulging biceps who’s soon gonna be writhing under Erik’s power fuck. And wow, we get to see initial insertion this time. Derek hardly flinches as Erik slams it right in and then pumps with all the mighty leverage his towering slab of a body can

deliver. The quality of their fuck is capped with something that’s becoming more and more a necessity to keep me from turning to some other movie: an OCS. This one caters to my needs with not one but two, with Derek letting loose a load on Erik’s protruding tongue before Erik reciprocates, not as copious, perhaps, but certainly as compelling. Why did Erik forgo an OCS in Body Shop? I don’t know. I’d pay to gobble Ducati’s dream whip. But as glam as Erik was with Mr. Ducati in that flick – what a pair of rock-hard gods – Erik trumps himself, with the help of Derek Parker, of course, in High Voltage. Thank you, Erik – you gave us your all. There are two more scenes in High Voltage. Both are good. Fabio Stallone’s with Lawson Kane is noted for his fat, uncut sausage banging heavily around during an exciting RC, and for his blasting cum all over Kane’s face. Beefy Charlie Harding continues to solidify his claim to stardom by giving a swell workover to Chris Taylor, an only slightly less beefy, uncut cub. I’m glad that Harding and Derek Parker are RS Exclusives. That means we’re assured of seeing them in quality work for some time. As for dynamite Ducati, would somebody point him toward Adam Killian, right away?▼ www.RagingStallion.com

Leather +

From page 30

“Go away and let us keep something that’s ours. Get your own party already.” We can’t have any annual street event in the Castro without these nut-jobs coming in and ruining it. Jeez. Citadel has a new home. The SF Citadel finally has a new home. The 363 8th St. location was a bit screwed, not due to anything on the Citadel’s part. The location was compromised due to zoning or some other reason (I’ve never been clear on that), and they could not have an event that was more than a seminar. How boring. Well, now in their new location at 181 Eddy St., they can have all the fun they want. They had a “soft opening” on June 24. Soft. I giggle when I use that word in conjunction with the SF Citadel, or anything else for that matter. The good news is that at their new home, they can do whatever they want. What would that be? Go and find out! All I’ll tell you is that they celebrate the kink and alternative lifestyles of not just us gay folk but the straights as well (and not the straights who have ruined our street events). Check out www.sfcitadel. org for details.▼

Scott Brogan

Our wonderful Leather Pride Grand Marshals Leland Carina and Race Bannon. They did us proud!

www.ebar.com

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32 • BAY AREA REPORTER • June 28-July 4, 2012

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Dialing for divas by Gregg Shapiro

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dina Menzel is one of those larger-than-life performers whose brilliance can’t really be captured in a recording studio. But you can hear her shine brightly on the live Chess in Concert CD and especially on the new Live: Barefoot at the Symphony (Concord). On the disc, meant to be a companion to her live DVD, Menzel covers virtually all the bases, performing songs from Rent (“No Day Like Today”) and Wicked (“For Good” and “Defying Gravity”), as well as “Heaven Help My Heart” from Chess. A born storyteller, Menzel regales the audience with a Barbra Streisand story (which includes her calling Beyonce a “bitch”) before singing a “Funny Girl/Don’t Rain on my Parade” medley, and tells a story about being on Glee, followed by a kooky version of Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face.” Menzel doesn’t mention Liza Minnelli, but it’s hard to miss the parallels (Broadway shows and movie musicals, TV specials). Menzel also isn’t the only one with a recently released live disc available. Making its CD and digital debut as part of the Legends of Broadway series, Minnelli’s Live at the Winter Garden (Masterworks Broadway) isn’t on par with the celebrated Liza with a Z album. It does nevertheless possess a pleasantness. Patter songs

(“And I in My Chair” and the politically incorrect “Exactly Like Me”) and decent covers (“Quiet Thing” and Stevie Wonder’s “You and I”) make the disc recommended for hardcore and casual fans alike. British actress Tracie Bennett has recently been portraying Liza’s mother Judy Garland to great acclaim in London’s West End, and now in New York on Broadway, in End of the Rainbow. The 12-track cast recording Tracie Bennett Sings Judy: Songs from the Broadway Production End of the Rainbow and other Garland Classics (Masterworks Broadway), featuring Garland standards “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” “The Man That Got Away,” “Zing Went the Strings of My Heart” and “Get Happy,” is a hit-ormiss affair, leading one to think that there’s more to the show than is captured here. Still shameless (and somewhat out of touch) after all these years, Madonna follows up the worst album of her career (Hard Candy) with one that isn’t much better. Now in bed with Evil Nation (pass the Gardasil, please), the drug that Madonna’s MDNA (Interscope) most closely resembles is Milk of Magnesia. She is in desperate need of new songwriting partners (listen to the embarrassing “I’m Addicted,” then book the material mom into Hazelden) and a decent therapist

(check out the vitriol and violence on “Gang Bang” and “I Don’t Give A”). Mostly derivative (“Give Me All Your Luvin’”) and dull (“Superstar”), MDNA almost redeems itself with “I’m a Sinner” and “Falling Free.” To quote Sandra Bernhard (re: Laura Bush), “Pat Nixon in a good cloth coat brought more to the table than this broad.” If the coat fits, wear it. We have Madonna to thank (or blame) for train wrecks such as Katy Perry. Madonna gave a whole generation of female performers with questionable talents (hello, Britney!) permission to strut their limited stuff. On the expanded reissue of her mega-bestselling sophomore

spin Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection (Capitol), Perry trades in the faux-Pink pre-fab rock snarl of her ridiculously popular debut disc, aiming her sights on Lady Gaga’s dance diva crown. She’s a little long in the tooth to be anyone’s inappropriate “teenage dream,” but she does her best Ke$ha (remember her?) on “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.).” “California Gurls,” featuring Snoop Dogg (why?), is a gooey concoction, but “Peacock” never takes wing. “The One That Got Away,” yet another cookie-cutter Max Martin composition, and the downright squirmworthy “Hummingbird Heartbeat” don’t help. But centerpiece “Circle the Drain” is a knockout, the al-

bum’s true standout track, and “Not Like the Movies” reels you in. Only the acoustic version of “Part of Me” qualifies as a bonus among the bonus tracks. Rihanna sharpened her focus on the dance floor with her Talk That Talk (Def Jam) disc. Highenergy tracks such as “We Found Love” (featuring Calvin Harris) and “Where Have You Been?” surely raised her stock among the queens in the clubs. But are we any closer to figuring out who this publicitymonger really is? Is she a sleazy sex kitten (“Cockiness,” “Birthday Cake”) or a tear-jerking rock diva (“Farewell,” “We All Want Love”)? And does anyone really care?▼

Courtesy Boxcar Theatre

With permission from author John Cameron Mitchell, multiple actors take on the title role in Boxcar Theatre’s new production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

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Summertime stages

From page 21

Award-winning costume designer Beaver Bauer is outfitting the cast, which also includes such familiar names as Connie Champagne, Tom Orr, and Birdie-Bob Watt.

The slashing Ray of Light, a theatre that thinks both big and eclectically, is adding Sweeney Todd to a production history that includes The Full Monty, Tommy, and Jerry Springer: The Opera. Eureka Theatre will be home to the Stephen Sondheim musical, running July 12-Aug. 11, that tells the story of the demon barber of Fleet Street. (Tickets at www.rayoflighttheatre.com.) “We’re not doing a Disney-fied version of the show, but rather a sinister take on Industrial-Era London,” states the Ray of Light announcement. “It promises to be as

sexy, dark, twisted, and gory as one would hope.” Inspired by a penny-dreadful character introduced to British readers in the mid-19th century, librettist Hugh Wheeler and composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim crafted a story of a vengeful barber who returns to London to murder the corrupt judge who wrongly sentenced him to prison, defiled his wife, and made their daughter his ward. Setting up a barbershop above Mrs. Lovett’s meat pie shop, he practices slicing throats on other perceived miscreants while awaiting his chance at Judge Turpin’s jugular. The bodies are efficiently recycled into ingredients for Mrs. Lovett’s suddenly tastier meat pies. Ben Randle, a frequent director at New Conservatory Theatre Center, is staging the musical on a set by Maya Linke and featuring newly crafted arrangements by musical director Robbie Cowan. Adam S.

Campbell and Miss Sheldra head the cast as Todd and Mrs. Lovett, and other principals include Jessica Smith as Todd’s daughter Johanna, Matthew Provencal as her suitor Anthony, Ken Brill as Judge Turpin, and Kevin Singer as Mrs. Lovett’s young assistant Tobias.

Courtesy Ray of Light Theatre

The slicing

Adam S. Campbell and Miss Sheldra team up in Ray of Light’s Sweeney Todd, in a plot that involves slit throats and meat pies.

A botched sex-change operation explains the latter half of the musical’s title. Hedwig and the Angry Inch follows the transgendered title character as she tries to eke out a musical career in the shadow of a double-crossing former partner who has become a superstar. Boxcar Theatre is currently presenting the radically reconceived version of the glam-rock musical that originally starred John Cameron Mitchell, who also wrote the text that accompanies Stephen Trask’s songs. In explaining the changes made to the musical, Boxcar Theatre pokes fun at itself for the forced closure of its production of Little Shop of Horrors when the musical’s licensor learned that liberties had been taken with the material. “Have

no fear,” said musical director Dave Moschler, “this time we have permission.” Though the show is traditionally presented with just two performers on stage, Artistic Director Nick A. Olivero reports that Mitchell granted permission to feature actors to play the characters Hedwig refers to in her stories, and to have 12 actors depict the title character throughout the evening. “Having so many sides of Hedwig’s personality represented really unlocked some deeper meanings in the story for me,” Olivero said. And Moschler added, “What’s so exciting is how different our cast of Hedwigs are from one another. Men, women,

black, white, older, younger, tall, skinny, short, large, gay, straight, French, British, and even Finnish.” Wes Crain and Kendra Johnson are designing costumes, wigs, and makeup for 12 different Hedwig looks, as well as the other characters in the 17-person cast. All of this takes place in the 49seat Boxcar Playhouse on tiny Natoma Street, near 6th and Mission Streets. Starting 45 minutes before curtain, DJ PDPL will offer a mix of music designed to create the vibe of the club where Hedwig is performing as her nemesis rocks a nearby arena. Performances continue through July 8, with tickets available at www.boxcartheatre.org. ▼

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Film >>

June 28-July 4, 2012 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 33

Summer of the ‘Moonrise’ by David Lamble

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or those of us denied a chance at summer camp, the new Wes Anderson whimsy about a boy who runs away (twice), in the process revenging himself on some prepubescent enemies and winning the hand of his true love, provides a funny/ sad glimpse at a tree not climbed, a journey never taken. It’s just the opposite experience from that provided by, say, the National Lampoon Summer Vacation series. In those rude humor romps, the adults dumb down and the kids are mere audience catnip surrogates. In Moonrise Kingdom, Anderson’s version of Ah, Wilderness!, the kids dumb up, some of them at least, becoming premature worrywarts, perhaps frightened by the rather morose grownups in their midst. The Boy Scout army of 12 bordering puberty comprises a kind of tweener remake of Mike Nichols’ valiant stab at the black humor Nirvana of his failed if all-star-cast version of Joseph Heller’s seminal 60s classic Catch 22. “Jiminy Cricket, he flew the coop!” When the scrawny boy hero Sam (Jared Gilman) flies the coop of his Boy Scout troop for the freedom of roughing it on a nearby island, the adults rise up in a faux frenzy, reminiscent of a James Thurber story. “We can’t take him back.” “Am I speaking to Sam’s father?” “No, we’re his foster family.” “What am I supposed to do with him?” “That’s up to Social Services. They’ll notify you.” Social Services soon arrives all prim, proper and buttoned-down scary in one of the formidable Tilda Swinton’s best screen supporting roles. She is as much a black-hearted bit of satire as Heller’s self-ag-

Jason Schwartzman, Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward in Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom.

grandizing Air Force commanding poops Colonels Cathcart, Korn and General Dreedle. If this fanciful logic is pursued, then perhaps Scout Sam becomes Moonrise Kingdom’s boy Yossarian. But then we’d be looking for the knife wielded by Nately’s Whore, and that’s perhaps a bridge too far. But what I am getting at is that Anderson’s wise and very entertaining romp is a lot closer to the kind of first-rate adult satire that is said to close on Broadway on Saturday night, and never ever find the cinema multiplex. While his two escapees – Sam and would-be girlfriend Suzy (Kara Hayward) – don’t get all mushy, their conversations do leap from childhood anxieties to quasi-grownup stuff. “It’s possible that I may wet the bed.

Just wanted to warn you, o.k.?” “Can you French kiss?” “I think so.” “The tongue is involved.” “Let’s try it.” “It feels hard. You can touch my chest. I think I’m going to get bigger pretty soon.” Anderson and his collaborators (including co-screenwriter Roman Coppola) have devised a wonderfully retro-feeling lost cinema continent, at times rediscovering the pratfall zaniness of Carl Reiner’s The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming, with that great breakout rant by Alan Arkin. Like the befuddled adults of the New England island facing a Russian sub landing, the adults of Moonrise Kingdom seem to have lost a grip

on their role in molding kids. Especially wonderful are a distinctly non-macho Bruce Willis (back in his The Sixth Sense sensitive-avuncular style, a child-friendly guy); an oddly middle-aged appearing Edward Norton as the hyper-conscientious if slightly off-kilter Scoutmaster Ward, who keeps losing track of his boys; Bill Murray and Francis McDormand, as the sadly battling Bishops; and Bob Balaban as a very Thurber (or even Thornton Wilder) -like narrator. The story gets a lot wilder than you may expect from Anderson, but hang in there. The native Houstonian, the son of a divorce in the unsettling 70s, has lots to say about how to see our kids. By the way, be sure to stay through the

closing credits, which are an adolescent-voiced hoot. Pink Ribbons, Inc. If you’re fed up with being spare-changed at the checkout counter, director Lea Pool (with writer Patricia Kearns) has a lot to say about what they label the corporate marketing of the fight against breast cancer. While the filmmakers don’t pretend to be impartial – they have a scary-looking lady with a bad facelift and too much tanning time giving the corporate logic behind the campaigns that have supermarket checkout clerks under orders to grab back your change if possible – most of the weight of their piece rests with a battalion of left-wing movement types who decry Big Business’ usurpation of the anger once unleashed by such groups as ACT UP, and now seemingly franchised, from the baseball park to annual marathons through the park. On the plus side, the folks pushing the Pink Ribbons campaigns may be giving frustrated cancer survivors and their friends and kin an outlet, and a secular church-like sense of community. But there has clearly been an inadequate amount of effort given to accounting for the possibly billions collected for “cancer research.” The filmmakers themselves don’t really do a good job of following the money, either. They do make the point that the corporate campaigns can be a distraction (perhaps intentional) from the role played by corporate-produced chemical toxins in fostering escalating cancer rates. In the end, as with most campaigns in on our ongoing culture wars, you’re either on one side or the other. As a determined anti-spokeswoman sums up with a ferocious stare into the camera, “Pink ribbons are evil!” ▼

Philippe Antonello, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Woody Allen directs Alec Baldwin and others in To Rome with Love.

Philippe Antonello, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

(Left to right:) Alec Baldwin as John, and Jesse Eisenberg as Jack in To Rome with Love.

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To Rome with Love

From page 21

the company of a former disco boy who warned me to pass on the angel dust-tainted joint circulating through a South-of-Market dance club; the very obscure (even to Woody fanatics) September with a botched print that made the soundtrack appear to have been recorded in a bathtub; and the astonishing career high Crimes and Misdemeanors, which was so hauntingly good and funny that we left the room feeling a close encounter with a certified if inscrutable genius. In recent years, the screening room has put out a row of folding chairs for the overflow crowd of straight and queer media. To Rome with Love required an extra row of chairs, whose occupants suspended their normal querulous quibbling and enjoyed themselves like kids at a Saturday morning all-cartoon matinee. In the quartet of stories in Rome,

the standout piece kicks in when a young architectural student, Jack (Jesse Eisenberg), happens upon a rich old dog, John (Alec Baldwin), who’s made his pile designing suburban malls. In awe of the older man’s commercial track record, Jack shows John around the tiny Bohemian neighborhood where both began their romantic misadventures, 30 years apart. Allen has developed a penchant for having his characters commune with disembodied spirits, from the bored matron who uses a Chinese invisibility potion in order to spy on her philandering hubby in Alice, to the emotionally distraught optometrist who revisits his childhood to salve his conscience after having his girlfriend murdered in Crimes and Misdemeanors, to the insecure nebbish who consults the trenchcoat-attired ghost of Humphrey Bogart to woo Diane Keaton in Play It Again, Sam. Here he turns Baldwin’s avuncular scold into a kind of phantom mentor/con-

science whom only young Jack can hear or see. Gradually we realize that Jack’s fumbling attempts to seduce his girlfriend Sally’s chattering-magpie actress best chum Monica (a volcanically flirty temptress deliciously portrayed by Juno’s Ellen Page) can also be read as the older John’s reliving his own disastrous romantic back pages. A true Woody fan looks for the master’s signature thematic “tweets” – for example, the propensity of some of Woody’s gals to poke around at their potential beau’s sensitivity to any hints of bisexuality. At one point in the small flat Jack shares with Sally (Milk’s Alison Pill), Monica, who indiscriminately shares every detail of her amorous adventures, alludes to a past boyfriend in a manner calculated to make Jack nervous. “Donald was gay. It was my mistake that I could change him. Have you ever had sex with a man?” “Me, no, no.” “I’ve had a yen for sleeping with a

woman. It was like being in an erotic dream. But as strong as the orgasms were with Victoria, it was better with Jamal.” While Jesse Eisenberg is the latest and, in many ways, most perfect surrogate for the nervous nebbish persona that was once Woody Allen’s most endearing onscreen trademark (like Groucho’s painted-on mustache), the dashingly handsome young actor/ playwright is no schlemiel. Eisenberg has had a splendid array of film roles, from the underage boy aping his lothario uncle’s sleazy pickup tricks in Rodger Dodger to the naïve student mistaking his blowhard writer dad’s posturing for artistic merit in The Squid and the Whale. Here he is the handsome angelic boy who has replaced Woody’s nebbish as the symbol of a young man who will repeat his ghostly mentor’s mistakes. As Jack surrenders to Monica’s annihilating charms and decides to betray Sally, he clings to one last tattered remnant of integrity: they can’t make it in the apartment, but will instead fuck in his small car. John then delivers the author’s message. “If you’re going to screw your best friend’s girlfriend, does it matter what the venue is?” Some picky fans may be put off

by Allen’s relegating the magnificent Judy Davis (Husbands and Wives, Deconstructing Harry) to the role of borderline-shrewish frau to Allen’s grouchy former opera director. Others will wince at the sight of Italian comic Roberto Benigni, never forgiven for his 1997 Oscar show handstands, and still others will carp that Woody didn’t make his return to the Eternal City an occasion for the ultimate statement on world cinema. But Woody has never claimed to be anything but a phenomenally talented former jokewriter/NYU drop-out who boned up on good books in order to bed the kind of beatnik girls in black so often satirized in Jules Feiffer cartoons. Then there are those like me, who attribute their minimal romantic coping skills to having stolen tips from Allen’s 1970s romantic phase. Woody would shrug, as in a recent Newsweek chat, “I’ve learned not to believe anybody who says that.” For everybody else, To Rome with Love is as close as you’ll get to the “Pope” of our shared Jewish secular culture until the master turns up this summer in San Francisco for the still-untitled 2013 Woody Allen movie.▼

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34 • BAY AREA REPORTER • June 28-July 4, 2012

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A li’l bit country or the Good Times (Milking Bull), the second album by The Little Willies, picks up where the Norah Jones-led country club left off a few years earlier. Not quite insurgent, this country collective, also featuring Richard Julian (who does a mean Lyle Lovett), Jim Campilongo, Lee Alexander and Dan Rieser, casts a respectful net over a set of comfy, twangy tunes. Ralph Stanley’s “I Worship You,” Loretta Lynn’s “Fist City,” Willie Nelson’s “Permanently Lonely,” Johnny Cash’s “Wide Open Road,” Kris Kristofferson’s “For the Good Times” and Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” all sparkle anew on this disc. The Little Willies’ rendition of “Foul Owl on the Prowl” (from the movie In the Heat of the Night) is a flight of delight. Mount Moriah, a duo consisting of out lesbian Heather McEntire and Jenks Miller, makes a stunning impression on their self-titled CD/DVD on the Holidays for Quince label. Backed by a stellar cast of hipster musicians, the pair creates boot-gazing glory on tracks such as “Only Way Out” and “Plane.” On the other hand, you may find yourself wiping your eyes after hearing “Old Gowns” and “Honey, We Don’t Need That Much,” or shaking a tail-feather to “Social Wedding Rings” and “Lament.” The DVD consists of must-see videos for “The Letting Go,” “Lament” and “Old Gowns.” The double-disc 40th anniversary edition of Elvis Country (RCA/Legacy), a.k.a. I’m 10,000 Years Old, also includes 1971’s Love Letters from Elvis as well as six bonus tracks, featuring “I Was Born About 10,000 Years Ago.” Looking south, Elvis covers country as only he can, remaking the Anne Murray hit “Snowbird,” repossessing Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Whole Lot-ta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” having the time of his life with Willie Nelson’s “Funny How Time Slips Away,” breaking our hearts on “There Goes My Everything” and kicking up the dust on “The Fool.” With Presley in fine form, Elvis Country is a place worth visiting to set a spell. Like it or not, My Morning Jacket is the face of 21st-century Southern rock. But that doesn’t have to mean Charlie Daniels Band 2.0 (or 2.1). Instead, on Circuital (ATO), MMJ embrace their Southern soul and gently steer it towards the future on cuts such as the title track, “Victory Dance,” “Outta My System,” “You Wanna Freak Out,” and even stripped-down numbers “Wonderful (The Way I Feel)” and “Movin’ Away.” The real pleasure of Circuital, however, occurs on spectrum stretchers such as “The

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tage instrumentation to good use on Smart Flesh (Nonesuch). The numbered first edition of the Rhode Island-based band’s album featured a bonus CD containing “three passable strays that missed the cut.” Closer in spirit to the insurgent country scene, Smart Flesh is simply stunning from start to finish, especially so on songs “Apothecary Love,” “Love and Altar,” the 9/11 heartbreaker “Boeing 737,” and the exceptional “Hey, All You Hippies!” The Low Anthem hit the heights on Smart Flesh. The third volume in the Bootleg series Live Around the World (Columbia/Legacy) consists of 53 live recordings from Johnny Cash’s world tours as well as rare performances. Covering a 23-year period from 1956-79, the double-disc set includes concert performances from such far-reaching places as the White House, Vietnam and the Newport Folk Festival. Jim White stirs in a folky flavor to the 11 alt-country songs on Where It Hits You (Yep Roc). Beginning with the acoustic flair of “Chase the Dark Away,” White brightens “Sunday’s Refrain” with brass, brings a banjo to “The Way of Alone,” and turns on the waterworks for the tragic tale of “My Brother’s Keeper.” But when he cuts loose on more experimental songs such as “What Rocks Will Never Know,” he knows exactly where to hit us.▼

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Day is Coming” and “Holdin’ on to Black Metal,” which indicate that these jacket pockets contain surprises. Jody Miller is perhaps best known for the (novelty hit) answer song, “Queen of the House” (the video on YouTube is priceless). A campy response to Roger Miller’s “King of the Road,” it was clearly a song of its day: 1965. Miller released a series of country albums during the early to mid-1970s on which she performed Nashville-style versions of hits by others (“He’s So Fine,” “Baby, I’m Yours,” “Natural Woman”) as well as songs by Billy Sherrill and other country songwriters of the time. The album Complete Epic Hits (Real Gone Music) compiles 25 of Miller’s hits from that period on a single disc. The Low Anthem, My Morning Jacket’s Yankee country cousins, put their fondness for unusual and vin-

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