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Vol. 47 • No. 21 • May 25-31, 2017
Trump budget A dress fights worries HIV, homophobia hepatitis advocates by Liz Highleyman
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resident Donald Trump’s 2018 budget proposal released this week includes major cuts to medical research and health services for lowincome people that would have a devastating impact on people Courtesy of CNN living with HIV, advo- President Donald cates said. Trump Medicaid, disability insurance, food stamps, and children’s health coverage are all on the chopping block, while the $4.1 trillion budget would beef up spending for the military and immigration and border control. “The Trump administration’s FY 2018 budget is the first one since the president took office and as such it reflect his priorities for our nation,” Ernest Hopkins, director of legislative affairs at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, told the Bay Area Reporter. “It is a messaging document, and the message is that President Trump is willing to gut essential health and social service programs for our most vulnerable citizens in exchange for missiles and bombs.” The new budget would slash Medicaid (known as Medi-Cal in California), which provides health care for low-income people, by $610 billion over the next decade. This comes on top of the $800 billion reduction achieved by repealing the Affordable Care Act and replacing it with something like the American Health Care Act, as the House voted to do earlier this month. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the change could mean 24 million people will lose their health coverage over the next 10 years. Cuts would be especially burdensome for the 31 states – including California – that have expanded their Medicaid programs to include low-income adults up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. Medicaid provides health coverage for more than 40 percent of people living with HIV, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. White House Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney denied that the budget proposal involves actual cuts to Medicaid in any given year, saying it will instead make the program grow more slowly over 10 years. The proposal does not include substantial cuts to Medicare, the federal health coverage program for seniors of all income levels, in keeping with Trump’s campaign promises. It also does not cut the broad Social Security See page 8 >>
Courtesy Twitter
Chelsea Manning’s new photo after her release from prison.
Kelly Sullivan
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lo Taylor from Look Models SF modeled Amsterdam’s Rainbow Dress during a ceremony in the City Hall Rotunda Monday, May 22 in observance of Harvey Milk Day. The dress’s skirt includes flags of all the countries that have criminalized homosexuality. When the law is changed, the country’s flag is replaced with a rainbow flag, as is evident at lower left, which represents Belize. A delegation of human rights and
LGBT activists from Amsterdam are visiting San Francisco this week, including Vice Mayor Simone Kukeheim and Arnout van Krimpen of the Rainbow Dress Foundation. LGBT local officials who were on hand included Supervisor Jeff Sheehy, former state Senator Mark Leno, and mayoral adviser Theresa Sparks. Stuart Milk, the gay nephew of Harvey Milk, was also in attendance and gave some gifts to the Amsterdam delegation.
SF celebrates Manning’s freedom by Heather Cassell
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helsea Manning’s release from a military prison last week was celebrated in San Francisco at the annual International See page 14 >>
Sausage Factory building for sale by Seth Hemmelgarn
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he Sausage Factory, an Italian restaurant that’s welcomed LGBT diners in San Francisco’s Castro district since 1968, will be closing, according to an ad that lists the eatery’s building for sale at $4.1 million. The potential sale of the building at 517519 Castro Street could also mean changes for people associated with the Radical Faerie group who live in an apartment above the restaurant. One of the group’s members is hoping to develop a community land trust to take over the property. The ad from real estate firm DeRose and Appelbaum says, “This well-located asset is situated in the prime retail corridor of San Francisco’s vibrant and historic Castro district,” and the Sausage Factory space “can be delivered vacant at close of escrow.” The listing, which notes the 5,340-squarefoot building has “vintage Victorian details,” also says that the “spacious” apartments on the second and third floors, which contain seven bedrooms altogether, feature “high ceilings, hardwood floors, and abundant sunlight.” The projected monthly rental income is $12,500 for the commercial space, and a total of $5,900 for the two apartments, according to the ad. Jesse Oliver Sanford, 39, who’s lived in the building for 12 years, is a Radical Faerie and said his roommates are also members or
Rick Gerharter
The Sausage Factory building on Castro Street is for sale.
“closely associated” with the group. (Radical Faeries “tend to be gay men who look for a spiritual dimension to our sexuality; many of us are healers of one kind or another,” the website http://www.radfae.org says.) “We have no intention of moving in the foreseeable future,” said Sanford, who identifies as queer and said he learned about the potential sale “within the last month.”
He said he wants to see the building used in a way “that really is inspiring and wonderful for all of us who share the Castro.” A shift in the building’s use to “formula retail and a bunch of condos can really affect the fabric of the neighborhood,” he said. Sanford talked about how many groups have used the Sausage Factory over the years, and he said people even prefer the space over the community room at the neighboring Bank of America branch, which “really speaks to the special role of the Sausage Factory in the neighborhood.” Sanford’s been working on “what is obviously a long shot” effort to establish a community land trust for the building. Such a trust would use “a nonprofit model of community ownership,” where tenants would “pay rent just like they would to any other landlord,” but it could be tenant-managed and there could also be “provisions for values-based housing” to make the space welcoming for artists and others whose access to the neighborhood is limited, said Sanford. The deal could also include “discussion around community management of the restaurant,” he said. He estimated $500,000 to $1 million would need to be raised to get started. Building owner Tony Azzolino couldn’t be reached for comment. Calls to the restaurant weren’t returned. Santino DeRose, whose firm is handling the building’s sale, didn’t respond to See page 13 >>
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2 • Bay Area Reporter • May 25-31, 2017
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VALENCIA CYCLERY ER INN
Gay man killed in Fresno by Seth Hemmelgarn
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Courtesy Facebook
Imer Eliu Alvarado
Just before a memorial last Thursday near North Fourth Street and East Belmont Avenue, the site where Alvarado was shot, his friend Christian Beltran, 31, said that he’d been “really lively, and full of joy.”
Closed Sun., May 28th for Carnival and Mon., May 29th for Memorial Day
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Caring for someone with Alzheimer’s isn’t easy. Reaching us is.
“He had a lot of challenges, but he always found a way to overcome them,” said Beltran. He said that Alvarado was “hard of hearing” and sometimes had difficulty speaking, but he knew sign language. About 20 people gathered for the late afternoon memorial and placed candles, flowers, and a large teddy bear at the bottom of a tree. Many used sign language to share their memories of Alvarado, and they stayed at the site for more than an hour. Ariel Ceballos, who spoke vocally and signed, called Alvarado “a great guy.” “I’m here for him to show love and respect for him,” he said. See page 13 >>
Berkeley murder defendant pleads not guilty A
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resno police are looking for the person who fatally shot a gay man about a mile away from two of the city’s gay bars. Imer Eliu Alvarado, 34, was struck at about 3 a.m. Wednesday, May 17 near an alley that’s in a neighborhood filled with auto repair shops and small houses. Many neighbors said they were asleep at the time of the shooting, and police spokesman Lieutenant Mark Hudson said in an email that officers were alerted by the city’s Shot Spotter system. “As of last week, we did not have a motive for the murder,” said Hudson. Police originally reported that Alvarado was transgender, but friends said he was gay.
by Seth Hemmelgarn
We Carry:
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non-binary person charged with murder in the January stabbing death of one Berkeley woman and attempted murder in the stabbing of another has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Pablo Gomez Jr., 22, of North Hollywood, California, entered their plea Thursday, May 18 in Alameda County Superior Court. Gomez is accused of killing Emilie Juliette Inman, 27, of Berkeley and trying to kill another woman January 6. Gomez also faces charges of assault with a deadly weapon and first-degree residential robbery. According to a Berkeley Police Department community alert, officers responded to an 11:42 a.m. 1:22 PM call January 6 to the 2600 block of Ridge Road to make contact with a woman who’d apparently been stabbed and was “seriously wounded.” The woman survived. While they were investigating that incident, officers were led to a location in the 2400 block of Ashby Avenue, where they found “a violent crime had occurred.” A probable cause statement filed
Courtesy Berkeley Police Department
Pablo Gomez Jr.
by police says that “a significant amount of blood was found in certain parts” of the Ashby Avenue property. Gomez “was identified as the suspect and positively identified” by the first victim, said police. During a search of the property, and “pursuant to a search warrant, the deceased body of a female was located,” according to police. That woman was
eventually identified as Inman. In charging documents filed by prosecutors, the same woman is listed as the victim of the attempted murder and assault, while another person is listed as the victim of the robbery. Police in Burbank, California arrested Gomez January 7. Criminal proceedings in the case had been suspended as doctors evaluated whether Gomez, who reportedly uses third-person pronouns, was competent to stand trial. They were eventually found to be competent, and proceedings were reinstated. Gomez, who’s declined an interview request from the Bay Area Reporter, is being held without bail in Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, California. Deputy Public Defender George Arroyo declined to comment outside the courtroom Thursday. People who’d been in the viewing gallery for the hearing also declined to comment. The next court date is June 26 for a pretrial hearing. t Contact the author at s.hemmelgarn@ebar.com.
Men deny child porn charges by Seth Hemmelgarn
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If you care for someone with Alzheimer’s disease, memory loss or dementia, you are not alone. We’re here day or night — whenever you need us — offering reliable information and support. Free 24/7 Helpline: 800.272.3900 LGBT Dementia Care Network: alz.org/norcal
San Francisco couple has pleaded not guilty to felony charges that they possessed child pornography. Billy Lockhart, 36, a UCSF psychiatrist, and Benjamin Martin, 33, entered their pleas May 15 and May 17, respectively, about a week after they were arrested at their home in the 100 block of Buena Vista Terrace, court records say. The men, who are out of custody, are in a relationship, according to their disabled Facebook profiles. The men didn’t respond to Facebook messages, and their attorneys couldn’t be reached for comment. A UCSF statement said that the university “has placed Dr. Lockhart on investigatory leave from the Department of Psychiatry’s residency training program, suspending all clinical activity and access to all UCSF information systems.” In addition to the possession charge, Lockhart also pleaded not guilty to a count of distributing child pornography. Both men had faced allegations that they’d possessed more than 600 images of child pornography, but those accusations were dismissed, court records say. A judge denied Assistant District Attorney Lili Nguyen’s motion to increase Lockhart’s bail, but he was
Courtesy SFPD
Courtesy SFPD
Billy Lockhart
Benjamin Martin
ordered to stay off the internet and “not to interact with children, and to stay away from [the] UCSF campus,” records say. In March, police said, the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit began investigating someone “who was uploading and trading child pornography on the internet” and eventually identified Lockhart as the suspect. May 9, police served a search warrant at the couple’s home and found “numerous media devices belonging to Lockhart, which all contained hundreds of child pornography videos and images,” police said in
a news release. They also gathered evidence that he was viewing child pornography. Additionally, investigators found “hundreds of child pornography files on media devices belonging to Martin,” police said. t Police are asking anyone who feels they may have been a victim of Lockhart or Martin or who had “suspicious contact” with them to contact the Special Victims Unit at (415) 558-5500. Contact the author at s.hemmelgarn@ebar.com.
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Help Reduce Isolation in Your Community Give back as a one-on-one Shanti volunteer for our newest program!
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Shanti’s LGBT Aging & Abilities Support Network(LAASN) Supporting LGBT Seniors and Adults with Disabilities
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Since 1974, Shanti has trained 20,000 Bay Area volunteers to offer emotional and practical support to some of our most vulnerable neighbors, including those with HIV/AIDS, women’s cancers, and other life-threatening diseases. We are now excited to announce that our services are being offered to LGBT aging adults and adults with disabilities who face isolation and need greater social support and connection.
Shanti LAASN peer support volunteers: 2009
1. Go through the internationally-recognized training on the Shanti Model of Peer Support TM 2. Make a commitment of 2-4 hours a week for a minimum of 6 months
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3. Get matched with one client, for whom they serve as a non-judgmental source of emotional support and reliable practical help 4. Have one of the most rewarding volunteer experiences of their lives!
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To learn more about how you can be a Shanti volunteer, please contact Volunteer Services Coordinator, Kayla Smyth at 415-674-4708 or email: ksmyth@shanti.org. If you think you or someone you know could benefit by being a Shanti client, or to learn more about the services, please contact Joanne Kipnis at 415-625-5214 or email: jkipnis@shanti.org
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The LGBT Aging & Abilities Support Network is made possible by funding from the City and County of San Francisco’s Department of Aging and Adults Services.
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<< Open Forum
4 • Bay Area Reporter • May 25-31, 2017
Volume 47, Number 21 May 25-31, 2017 www.ebar.com PUBLISHER Michael M. Yamashita Thomas E. Horn, Publisher Emeritus (2013) Publisher (2003 – 2013) Bob Ross, Founder (1971 – 2003) NEWS EDITOR Cynthia Laird ARTS EDITOR Roberto Friedman BARTAB EDITOR & EVENTS LISTINGS EDITOR Jim Provenzano ASSISTANT EDITORS Matthew S. Bajko • Seth Hemmelgarn CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Ray Aguilera • Tavo Amador • Race Bannon Erin Blackwell • Roger Brigham Brian Bromberger • Victoria A. Brownworth Brent Calderwood • Philip Campbell Heather Cassell • Belo Cipriani Richard Dodds • Michael Flanagan Jim Gladstone • David Guarino Liz Highleyman • Brandon Judell • John F. Karr Lisa Keen • Matthew Kennedy • Joshua Klipp David Lamble • Max Leger Michael McDonagh • David-Elijah Nahmod Michael Nugent • Paul Parish • Sean Piverger Lois Pearlman Tim Pfaff • Jim Piechota Bob Roehr •Donna Sachet • Adam Sandel Khaled Sayed • Jason Serinus • Gregg Shapiro Gwendolyn Smith • Sari Staver • Jim Stewart Sean Timberlake • Andre Torrez • Ronn Vigh Charlie Wagner • Ed Walsh Cornelius Washington • Sura Wood ART DIRECTION Max Leger PRODUCTION/DESIGN Ernesto Sopprani PHOTOGRAPHERS Jane Philomen Cleland • FBFE Rick Gerharter • Gareth Gooch Jose Guzman-Colon • Rudy K. Lawidjaja Georg Lester • Dan Lloyd • Jo-Lynn Otto Rich Stadtmiller • Steven Underhil Dallis Willard • Bill Wilson ILLUSTRATORS & CARTOONISTS Paul Berge • Christine Smith ADVERTISING/ADMINISTRATION Colleen Small Bogitini VICE PRESIDENT OF ADVERTISING Scott Wazlowski – 415.829.8937 NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Rivendell Media – 212.242.6863
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The Chronicle’s gay problem
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he San Francisco Chronicle is the region’s largest daily newspaper and regularly covers the LGBT community. But when an article is not specifically about the community, the paper almost never identifies the sexual orientation of subjects, even when the detail provides relevant context if they are out public figures. The most recent example occurred during last weekend’s California Democratic state convention. There, delegates narrowly voted for Eric Bauman as chair, making him the first out person elected to head the California Democratic Party. That fact was conspicuously missing from several Chronicle reports. A profile of the two leading candidates - Bauman and former Emerge Executive Director Kimberly Ellis failed to mention Bauman’s sexual orientation. A story Sunday about the vote also did not state he’s gay and carried the headline, “LA nurse to head state Democratic Party,” which was misleading since Bauman most recently served as the vice chair for the state party and for many years has worked for various state lawmakers and officials. On Monday, in a follow-up article about the party chair election, reporter Joe Garofoli again neglected to note the historic aspect of Bauman’s election. It’s hard to believe that Garofoli and other Chronicle reporters at the convention didn’t know Bauman is gay. Scott Lay, who pens the Nooner newsletter, reported over the weekend that Bauman’s convention speech ended with, “Delegates, I am Eric Bauman, the son of Gayle Bauman, and husband of Michael Andraychak,” whom he then embraced and kissed. In other words, Bauman certainly isn’t hiding who he is.
The Chronicle wasn’t the only mainstream news outlet to neglect the gay angle. On KPIX’s Sunday newscast, political reporter Melissa Caen not only said nothing about Bauman being gay, but also mispronounced his last name. The state Democratic Party did have a gay man serving as chair several years ago, but at the time, Art Torres wasn’t public about it, only coming out after he stepped down from the position. That Bauman ran and won - as an out gay man is newsworthy. He now joins Raymond Buckley, a gay man who heads the New Hampshire Democratic Party. But this isn’t the first time that the Chronicle has been guilty of “inning” an LGBT person. Last weekend’s story about San Francisco Police Commissioner Petra DeJesus’ effort to secure re-appointment omitted the fact that she identifies as a lesbian.
And there are other instances:
An article several months ago about City College of San Francisco trustees did note that Tom Temprano is “an LGBT activist,” which itself is vague because it describes political activity not sexual orientation. Moreover, it did not mention that fellow Trustees Rafael Mandelman and Alex Randolph are gay and that Trustee Shanell Williams is bi. A column by Beth Spotswood last fall about longtime photographer Bill Wilson, who has chronicled his trips to Italy, among other projects, referred to his husband as his partner (not the same thing). An article last fall about the San Francisco school board race did not mention that candidate Mark Sanchez is a gay man.
t
Sanchez went on to win, becoming the only LGBT school board member since he was last on the oversight body eight years ago. An article about Elaine Forbes, the new director of the San Francisco Port, did not mention she is a lesbian. The LGBT community’s success is based on the simple but courageous idea to “come out,” which we embraced Monday on Harvey Milk Day. We embrace the proposition that it’s important or self-acceptance and personal integrity to be open and honest, and come out to family, friends, and coworkers so we no longer remain invisible and mysterious to the rest of society. Yet when the major daily newspaper decides to “in” LGBT people who are out, it does us a disservice. We’re not back in the old days of journalism when the New York Times described gay men as “avowed homosexuals.” The Chronicle recently reported that it was named the state’s best large newspaper by the California Newspaper Publishers Association, and won numerous first-place awards in various categories. It’s too bad that the paper keeps missing the boat when accurately covering LGBT newsmakers. Readers sometimes ask us why we identify subjects of our reporting as LGBT. The answer is: because we’re an LGBT newspaper covering the community and identity and public acknowledgment are core values. We don’t expect mainstream newsrooms to do the same, but when it’s an important aspect of the story, it would be nice if they didn’t hide us. With Pride Month beginning next week, we’d like to see Chronicle editors and reporters take that extra step and ask that question, “How do you identify?” In fact, for several years the Chronicle participated in the San Francisco LGBT Pride parade with the catchy slogan, “We come out every day.” If only that were true. t
Defending Harvey against his devotees by Thomas Busse
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s George Orwell remarked, saints should always be judged guilty before proved innocent. This May, the Castro blossoms with the latest shrines people of this time might lay on Harvey Milk: dressed-up window displays of so-so art, a gathering of nudists surrounded by photographers, clipboard commandos wanting to talk about whales, pretty people fighting in the bars, and ugly people taking walking tours. Meanwhile, the forces of what I call Harvey Inc. troll the phrase “come out.” A monument is a thing without purpose - something you stumble upon and encounter a message from another generation saying, “This was important.” The act of window dressing is about us: giving us validation amidst our own delayed social development. These are the concerns of our time, and for us Harvey Inc. becomes what we want it to be, always answering with the necklaced knickknack, What Would Harvey Do? But What Would Harvey Do? Would the Truman Democrat so engaged in fixing potholes and cleaning up after dogs be enamored with our newfound tolerance of street people wallowing around in their own excrement in the name of independent living? Perhaps the privilege of civil confinement in an intervention meant only for Britney Spears. Would Milk be troubled to see the gay community boo their mayor off stage when their mayor made an effort to show solidarity after a man gunned down 49 individuals because they were trying to be happy in violation of his chosen protected religious identity? As gay conservative (and therefore pariah) Andrew Sullivan noted, the gay community has yet to learn the word magnanimity. At least the mayor tried where others failed. The crime of Ronald Reagan was not that he ignored a health crisis; it was that he was gifted with a unique rhetorical talent and called to a historical position of leadership but chose to withhold his comfort when it was the only treatment available. The forces of Harvey Inc. prefer the Kool-Aid. The gay community’s own Mark Leno gave a scathing and deserved indictment of Reagan at his memorial in the state Legislature, yet the same supermajority silenced a similar effort to give an alternative view of Tom Hayden when delivered by state Senator Janet Nguyen speaking for her constituency of killing field refugees. We have become the bullies.
Rick Gerharter
Jun Yang’s painting of Harvey Milk is part of the Castro Merchants’ Windows for Harvey initiative in the Castro.
And speaking of Operation Babylift, the forces of Harvey Inc. forget he opposed it, joining our (current) governor in protesting at Travis Air Force Base because refugee babies would take away jobs from Californians. Also allied with these forces was the flawed saint Cesar Chavez, whose supporters would go down to the border and beat migrants up. (According to Wikipedia, Chavez himself was not involved.) Psychologists state moral outrage is almost always self-serving, and the essence of subversion is getting others to work against their own self-interests. To recall Sullivan’s comments about President Donald Trump, “America has never been so ripe for demagoguery.” The only difference is Harvey Inc. serves Flavor Aid. WWHD about pharmaceutical companies buying the silence of HIV activists so they do not protest the pricing of hepatitis C drugs? WWHD about environmental laws blocking urban infill development, forcing young people to drive epic commutes? We know What Harvey Would Do if a sex offender clinic threatened to open in his neighborhood at Church and Duboce – betray his friend and make sure it opened in Portola. We know WHWD to community members such as Oliver Sipple, throwing them under the bus
if it suited his purpose. We know WHWD to improve housing conditions in Yerba Buena and whom he would like to see on the Housing Authority. And we also know what we would do in our desperation to find a saint: create a citizen’s oversight committee of the police department that, 40 years later on the right side of history, still can’t get things right. And sadly, those who embraced Milk’s message to “come out,” such as trans member of the San Diego Police Department Christine Garcia, find themselves blocked from community celebrations they helped organize to taunts of “We don’t want a pig in here.” When the local press focuses on a border wall but says nothing about a September 2016 100,000-strong anti-gay march in Tijuana, there is a chilling effect of questioning immigration policy. When gay Swedish Iranian refugee Ardeshir Bibakabadi proposed a Muslimled pride march through a Goteberg ghetto to uplift the spirits of closeted gays who feared their own families, it was denounced as “neo-Nazi” by white gay activists long before it attracted the attention of Milo Yiannopoulos. And speaking of Yiannopoulos, I guess he’s not one of the good ones – he should be disowned – and there’s no better way to ignite a heckler’s veto than to invoke the uber-gay Barbra Streisand effect. Milk was elected because he was the conservative candidate – “I’m just a businessman who happens to be gay” (one of the good ones), against a noxious member of the gay establishment. If I bring up his skeletons, it comes with the scuzzbucket territory of career politicians. Milk’s message is the message that works; after all, Dick Cheney embraced gay marriage years before Hillary Clinton. Community leaders, obsessed with being right rather than doing right, too often demand a party-line orthodoxy to the point of policing pronouns in their safe spaces. Who wants to come out if it means being perceived as one of them? Harvey Inc.’s window dressing is the attention-seeking of cronied victim culture, turning gay pride to gay shame. t Thomas Busse is a former classical music critic turned accountant who just happens to be gay. He has lived in San Francisco since 1998 and did not vote for Trump.
t
Politics>>
May 25-31, 2017 • Bay Area Reporter • 5
CA Dems elect gay man as chair by Matthew S. Bajko
family law specialist* • Divorce w/emphasis on Real Estate & Business Divisions • Domestic Partnerships, Support & Custody • Probate and Wills
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gay man is now the chair of the California Democratic Party, marking the first time in the history of the 171-year-old state party that it has been led by an out LGBT leader. During the party’s convention last weekend in Sacramento, Eric Bauman emerged the winner in the hotly contested race to become the party’s new chairman. Bauman is the first openly LGBT person to head either major political party in the Golden State. Former party chair John Burton, a former state lawmaker, opted not to seek re-election. And even though it was an open secret that Burton’s predecessor Art Torres, who led the California Democratic Party for 13 years, was gay, Torres did not come out publicly until after he stepped down in 2009. Leading up to the election Saturday, May 20, Bauman was fighting off a strong challenge from Richmond resident Kimberly Ellis, an African-American married mother of two who had served until recently as executive director of Emerge California, which trains Democratic women to run for political office. The race had turned into a battle for control of the country’s largest state Democratic Party between moderates, who backed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in last year’s presidential race, and progressives, who championed the presidential bid of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who ran to be the Democratic Party’s standard bearer. Bauman beat Ellis by 62 votes, according to the state party, though she had yet to concede the race as of the Bay Area Reporter’s deadline Wednesday morning. On Tuesday representatives of both candidates were reviewing the credentials of those who voted to ensure their ballots were valid after Ellis requested an audit of the vote. In his statement released shortly after the vote count was announced Saturday night, Bauman acknowledged the divisions within the Democratic Party he will face if he remains chair. “Regardless of the outcome of today’s election, and regardless of the fact that we have proven that California is the one place in the nation that knows how to do it right - there is no denying that there is a problem when so many of our hardworking activists feel that they are not welcome within our party and that they have been slighted and shut out of the process,” stated Bauman. “We cannot win the vital elections in 2018 and beyond without the energy, commitment and participation of every part of our Democratic family.” He added that he looks “forward to working with each and every one of you. Now let’s go show America and the world what it means to be a Democrat!” In a statement released Monday, the Ellis campaign requested that Burton remain as chair until the audit was completed, though Bauman took over as chair on Sunday. “It is critical that the delegation has confidence in the outcome of this chair’s race so that we might move forward, irrespective of whomever wins. Should the election results stand, we will congratulate Eric on his well-earned success,” stated the Ellis campaign. “Eric Bauman has every interest in proving the election was fair and untainted.” For years the vice chair of the state party, Bauman has chaired the Los Angeles County Democratic
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Eric Bauman delivered his speech at the California state Democratic convention Saturday.
Party since 2000. Formerly a registered nurse, Bauman in recent years has worked as the senior adviser to Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Los Angeles), directing the Speaker’s Office of Member Services. Bauman, 58, lives in North Hollywood with his husband, Michael Andraychak, also a former registered nurse who now works as a product manager at Healthland, a health care software company that focuses on rural hospitals. A few weeks prior to the convention, Bauman alleged in an email to the delegates that he had been falsely accused of engaging in “inappropriate behavior” with teenage boys, which the couple vigorously denied. “I’m proud that he won by running a clean campaign and he stayed on the high road,” Andraychak wrote of his husband in a Facebook post Sunday. “He didn’t have to play dirty, even though there was plenty of dirt to toss around. No amount of wrangling, recounts, or audits will change the results.”
Contra Costa LGBT Dem club chartered
The first LGBT Democratic club to form in Contra Costa County has been officially recognized by the county Democratic Party. As the B.A.R. first reported in February, LGBT Democratic leaders in the East Bay county decided the time was right to launch their own political group. As more LGBT residents have moved into the sprawling county in search of cheaper housing, a growing number have sought political office in its 19 cities. After the November election there are now four out city council members and one school board member in Contra Costa County. And next year could see a lesbian win an open Assembly seat that includes Richmond, the largest city in West Contra Costa County. At its May 18 meeting the Contra Costa County Democratic Central Committee voted to approve the charter for the Lambda LGBTQI Democratic Club of Contra Costa County. The club has now formed a Municipal Equality Index committee whose goal is to see that the county’s two cities that are scored on the LGBT report card issued by the Human Rights Campaign, Concord and Richmond, improve their scores. On the 2016 MEI Concord scored 61 out of 100, while Richmond’s score was 83. The Lambda club is also creating its own scorecard for all of the municipalities in the county to ensure they have LGBT-friendly policies in place. Meanwhile, the club’s Legislative Committee is asking all 19 of Contra Costa County’s cities to ban city-funded travel to states that have laws that discriminate against the LGBTQI community, similar to the policy enacted by the state of California.
“Our communities need representation from the East to the West part of our county and everywhere in between,” stated Lambda club chair and co-founder Cesar Zepeda, who lost his bid last fall for a Richmond City Council seat. “We will help our elected officials become more aware and inclusive to help protect our most vulnerable in our society. To learn more about the Lambda club and how to join, visit http:// www.LambdaDemocrats.com .
SF planning surveys public about outreach
Should the San Francisco Planning Department be more proactive in alerting the public about various development projects and zoning issues? That is the focus of an online survey the agency is conducting. Despite the notification requirements builders of large developments and homeowners undertaking remodel projects, not to mention business owners moving into vacant storefronts, are required to follow, oftentimes those notices go unread or are only mailed to a small amount of adjacent property owners, leaving the rest of the neighborhood unaware. Noe Valley residents in recent years have been particularly vocal about the need for planning staff to better engage the community about upcoming hearings before the planning commission or zoning changes under discussion. Now, the planning department is asking city residents to fill out a short survey to better gauge how people would like to interact with it and be appraised of the work it is doing. The answers it receives “will help refine our community outreach and education efforts for everyone,” the department said in a recent email asking people to fill out the survey. “We’re looking for your feedback on what interests you about land-use planning, how you would like to receive information, and how we can be more accessible to you and your neighbors,” stated the email. The survey will remain live through June 1 and should take five minutes to complete. It can be accessed at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SFPlanningOutreach. To request a hard copy of the survey be sent vial mail, email planningnews@ sfgov.org. t
Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http:// www.ebar.com Monday mornings at noon for Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion. This week’s column reported on legislative staffers in Sacramento creating the first LGBT association in the nation based as a statehouse. Keep abreast of the latest LGBT political news by following the Political Notebook on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/politicalnotes. Got a tip on LGBT politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 829-8836 or e-mail: m.bajko@ebar.com.
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<< Commentary
6 • Bay Area Reporter • May 25-31, 2017
‘What You Doing’
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by Gwendolyn Ann Smith
W
hile you traverse your favorite social media site, you come across a post with an attached video. The clip shows a 10-year-old boy as he expertly applies a face full of flawless makeup. With an eye shadow game that puts mine to shame, he walks the viewer through his routine. Above the video are the words, “You walk in to your son doing this, wyd?” This is one of a number of “What You Doing” videos, and while I’ve seen many variations, the one I described above is the most common. The overall construct seems to focus on malebodied people, usually youth, wearing makeup or stereotypically feminine attire. These are also typically described as the viewer’s “son,” with a caption similar to the one above. Of course, the comments on these are polarized: while many praise the Main line service up to 100’, with access point. Warranty included. boy, Jack, for his skill with makeup, May not be combined with other offers. Service limited to San Francisco County resident, 8am to 7pm. others let loose with the sort of homoA locally owned and operated franchise. Lic# 974194 phobic and transphobic vitriol we’ve all grown far too accustomed to on www.MrRooter-SFO.com the internet. The whole format seems geared toward the latter group, as a way OPEN 2-4 to slyly shame gender n o n SAT/SUN conforming males and the OPEN 2-4 OPEN SUNDAY parents who might otherOPEN wise not be policing the 2-4PM SAT/SUN OPEN 2-4 SUNDAY gender expression of their SAT/SUN 12-4PM kids. You do not see the OPEN 2-4 OPEN SUNDAY same number of posts 2-4PM SAT/SUN focusing on women Sophisticated SF Architectural View or girls, including those who may Sophisticated SF Architectural View have a non-typical Sophisticated SF Architectural View gender expression. While I never Sophisticated SF Architectural View had his makeup REIMAGINED prowess - and, to be honest, likely never will - I was once akin to this REIMAGINED, REIMAGINED REIMAGINED kid, a prepubescent trans child who, in long days home alone while her REIMAGINED This Edwardian has been newly REIMAGINED, built from the ground up. The residence parents were holding down the family blends This soaring ceilings, custom lighting, oak floors and Resident Homeowner Landlord Edwardian has been newly builtsolid from the ground up. impeccable The residence residence Resident Homeowner Landlord business, may have spent more than a This Edwardian hasceilings, been newly builtlighting, from the ground up. The residence indoor/outdoor, view living tocustom orchestrate a unique, modern living experiblends soaring solid oak floors and impeccable impeccable soaring ceilings, custom lighting, solid oak floors and impeccable Resident I Homeowner I Landlord Off-Market Specialist few hours in mom’s makeup. ence.blends Spacious Chef’s kitchen merges with open-concept living and This Edwardian has been newly built from the ground up. The residence indoor/outdoor, experimodern livingdining view living to orchestrate a unique, modern living experiOff-Market Specialist indoor/outdoor, view living tocustom orchestrate ayard. unique, modern living experisoaring ceilings, lighting, solidopen-concept oak floors and impeccable that flows toblends the deck and to kitchen the sprawling A second grand Family ence. dining open-concept living and dining I was terrified of my parent’s reacSpacious Chef’s merges with living and Specialist Chef’s kitchen merges with The open-concept living and dining indoor/outdoor, view living to orchestrate aupper unique,Off-Market modern living experithatSpacious flows Family second grand Roomence. and Guest Suite complete this level. level is comprised to the deck and to the sprawling yard. A second grand Family tion if they hadand ever caught me. I did that flows to the deck and to kitchen the sprawling yard.open-concept A second grand ence. Spacious Chef’s merges with living Family and dining Seamlessly representing buyers, sellers Roomthat comprised level islaundry. of 3 Bedrooms (master southern deck), 2 baths &is and Guest Suite this level. The comprised 360° views ofcomplete thewith Bay & City form thisupper masterfully rebuilt flows toSuite theen-suite deck and to the sprawling yard. A second grand Family Room and Guest complete this level. The upper level islevel comprised not sellers need a meme on social media to Seamlessly representing buyers, and of 3 Bedrooms laundry. 2 baths & Seamlessly representing buyers, sellers and 360° views of the Bay & City form this masterfully rebuilt (master en-suite with southern deck), 2 baths & laundry. Loweroflevel features a large, legal spacious, studio guest home. Solar, Room and Guest Suiteof complete this level. The level comprised (2014), luxury masterpiece! 5+ BD|4.5 BA, upscale finishes, 3 Bedrooms (master en-suite southern deck), 2 baths &islaundry. 360° views thewith Bay & City form thisupper masterfully rebuilt make me ponder just what my parSeamlessly representing buyers, sellers and Lower level features a large, legal spacious, studio guest home. Solar, investors in the Castro & San Francisco Solar, (2014), luxury 5+ BD|4.5 BA, upscale finishes, of 3 Bedrooms (master en-suite with southern deck), 2 baths & laundry. 3-zone heating and(2014), 2-car garage. A+ location, flat walk toOpen shuttles, parks, views ofmasterpiece! the Bay & form this masterfully rebuilt Lower level features a360° large, legal spacious, studio guest home. Solar, elevator. Huge yard, decks & view roof deck. concept, luxury masterpiece! 5+City BD|4.5 BA, upscale finishes, investors in the Castro &Francisco San Francisco 3-zone heating and 2-car garage. A+ location, flat walk toCastro shuttles, parks, ents would be doing. I assumed at best Lower level features a large, legal spacious, studio guest home. Solar, investors in the & San parks, (2014), luxury masterpiece! 5+ BD|4.5 BA, upscale finishes, elevator. Huge yard, decks & view roof deck. Open concept, 3-zone heating and 2-car garage. A+ location, flat walk to shuttles, parks, schools, restaurants, shops and cafés of Noe & Eureka Valley elevator. Huge yard, decks & view roof deck. Open concept, view living, dining & kitchen! 2-car pkg. Located in Russian investors inLocated Castro &Hill, San Francisco 3-zone heating and 2-car garage. A+ location, flat walk tothe shuttles, parks,Hill, schools, elevator. Huge yard, decks & view roof deck. Open concept, Eureka Valley Valley! restaurants, shops and cafés of Noe & Eureka Valley! view living, dining & kitchen! 2-car pkg. in Russian schools, restaurants, shops and cafés of Noe & Eureka Valley that I’d be sent packing, as happens to view living, dining & kitchen! 2-car pkg. Located in Russian Hill, steps to the City’s best schools, shops, parks & more! schools, restaurants, shops and cafés ofat Noe & Eureka Valley! Valley www.noeviewHome.com Offered $4,495,000 dining & kitchen! 2-car pkg. Located in more! Russian Hill, steps toliving, the|City’s best schools, shops, parks & steps toview the City’s best schools, shops, parks & more! $4,495,000 www.noeviewHome.com | Offered at $4,495,000 more than a few trans kids today. www.noeviewHome.com | Offered at $4,495,000 NOEVIEWHOME.COM | Offered at $3,995,000 steps to the City’s|best parks & more! NOEVIEWHOME.COM |schools, Offered at $4,495,000 www.noeviewHome.com Offered atshops, $4,495,000 Or perhaps they might have sent me to a conversion therapy camp, in a misguided attempt to break me of being trans. Granted, a lot of such
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places are geared toward the foolish and damaging effort to “pray away the gay,” but that doesn’t stop them from doubling down and attempting to halt transness in just the same way. As my parents had threatened to send me away to camp a couple of years and did send me to stay with family friends one summer in an attempt to “toughen me up” - this is not outside the realm of possibilities. I should add, thankfully, that my father was not a particularly violent man. I know this isn’t the case for many others, and a scan of the various “wyd” responses make it clear that – at least in semi-anonymous online comments – many kids my end up bruised and bloody, at best. I was lucky. In spite of a few close calls, I was never caught red-nailed. I became just as familiar with makeup removers as I did with foundation and lipstick. While my makeup was about what one might expect from an average kid with too much time and not enough training, I could still scrub it away with the best of them. I knew when my folks were likely to come home, and the sound of the car coming into the driveway, and stayed alert. My parents did, however, discover a small, hidden cache of feminine attire in my room. I’m not going to say my parents handled it well, as they largely turned to denial in order to face it all. That and the aforementioned summer I spent in Oregon being instructed on how to be a man by a family friend who taught me how to log a forest and chew brandy-soaked tobacco at age 13. That particular cache of clothing
was never directly addressed. It simply vanished. A later discovery was somewhat similarly treated, with my father making it clear to me that neither he nor my mother ever wanted to hear a single thing about it. I’m quite sure this messed me up on a whole lot of levels for a long time. I ended up, essentially, with a secret that I assumed would cause the people who brought me into the world - who fed and clothed me, and who made sure I had a safe and comfortable roof over my head - to turn on me in an instant. It was quite a lot for a kid to cope with. So I read these wyd stories and I want to pose a simple question or two back. Do you, as a parent, want to be your child’s worst fear? Do you want to be the tormentor of the very precious life you brought into this world? We’re talking about one’s child. Why would you not, instead, be the person they’ll grow up to cherish and respect, and give your child the room to learn, experiment, and grow? Maybe your child will eventually come to realize they are trans, or gender non-conforming, or queer-identified, or some other label - or maybe they won’t. Heck, they might end up like Jack with his prodigy-like makeup skills. Either way, invest in them, and give them the tools to make it in this world. Teach them to be the best people they can be, no matter what their identity turns out to be. Teach them the skills to be self-confident, and face down anyone who would stand in their way regardless of their identity or expression. Everything else is secondary. That’s what you should be doing. t Gwen Smith knows what she’s doing. You’ll find her at www. gwensmith.com.t
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Damiani honored for service
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nna Damiani, seated, was recognized by the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women May 17. Commissioners include, from left, Olga Ryerson, Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, Marjan Philhour, Julie D. Soo, Andrea Shorter, and Emily Murase. A resolution prepared by the commission recognized Damiani, a lesbian, for her leadership positions with Bay Area Career Women, the Golden Gate Business Association, and service on the boards of the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee and the Alice B. Toklas
Rick Gerharter
LGBT Democratic Club. Most readers likely know Damiani as a longtime staff member to gay former state Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco). She served as his field representative when he was in the state Assembly, and as a district representative when he was in the Senate. Before that she was an aide for former Assemblyman Kevin Shelley, spending a total of 15 and a half years working in the Legislature. Damiani said she was “very touched” by the honor.
t
Community News>>
May 25-31, 2017 • Bay Area Reporter • 7
New center offers queer-centric counseling for couples by Heather Cassell
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elationships are not all neatly wrapped up Hollywood endings. They are complicated, and queer relationships sometimes have a little extra drama even when LGBT couples strive to be just like everyone else. This is why Brendan Neff-Hall, a couples therapist, founded the Queer Couples Center, a virtual hub where people can find therapists. Neff-Hall, a 34-year-old queer man, fell in love with the challenges of couples therapy while he was in the psychology program at the California Institute of Integral Studies, he told the Bay Area Reporter. He was surprised to discover that there wasn’t a center focused on queer couples like what he has envisioned when he was searching for internship opportunities several years ago. He found the Gay Couples Institute, a research center studying LGBT relationships, but not a center that focused specifically on professional counseling and coaching for LGBT couples and individuals seeking love. “Many of us are figuring it out. We are just dating and having sex and trying it out or educating ourselves,” said Neff-Hall. “It’s nice that we are in the age of Google. It’s nice we are in a time where there is literature out there, it’s just not enough support for us in our relationships and our sex lives.” Most research on couples is primarily on heterosexual couples. There is a dearth of research on queer couples, said Neff-Hall. Additionally, couples therapy oftentimes gets a bad rap. Couples are the least satisfied clients when it comes to therapy, said Sheila Addison, 43, who’s bisexual and a therapist with the center. “I think that what makes us unique and makes this work important is that we are right at the inter-
section of two common mistakes that mental health clinicians make,” said Addison, who has worked with queer couples for nearly 20 years and has worked in academia as well as provided diversity coaching for mental health settings and corporations. The two mistakes are therapists who aren’t trained specifically to work with couples and families and simply apply their skills working with individuals to “multiple people in the room,” she said. The second mistake is the good therapists who are open-minded or LGBT themselves believe they are “ready to work with queer people,” she said. “There is a difference to being accepting and being sensitive and being culturally competent,” said Addison, pointing out the multiple dimensions and combinations of relationships that occur among LGBT individuals. The LGBT community’s romantic and sexual relationships can be composed of non-monogamous, polyamorous, different gender combinations, and interracial relationships, said the therapists. Then there is the legal and political reality. The queer community is psychologically catching up with marriage equality being the law of the land, added John Hanig, a 32-year-old queer therapist at the center. He pointed out one of the key causes that brought the community together was lost when the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015. “There are less opportunities for queer couples to get together for a common cause, to compare notes on what a queer marriage makes and to feel the need to reach out to the community for support when things go wrong in the relationship,” said Hanig. The law didn’t magically erase homophobia, biphobia, or transphobia either. There’s also the new reality of
Courtesy Queer Couples Center
Queer couples therapist Brendan Neff-Hall, right, provides counseling to a gay couple.
brings its own set of challenges. However, good therapy helps couples achieve “happier, more secure loving relationships,” said Neff-Hall, by learning how to “navigate the relationship more easily and lean on each other for emotional support and build happy memories together.” Counseling helps couples work through conflicts easier, offers options for quick repairs when conflict arises or triggers are ignited, establishes effective communication tools, and most of all it helps partners become “experts on each other,” he said. “We want to get you collaborating and not acting out on each other,” said Neff-Hall. Individuals also benefit from therapy, offering opportunities to gain a deeper understanding of themselves, their past relationships, and to heal wounds in a way that it benefits the
easier access to creating a family and building a life together, which brings its own unique challenges and blessings. While the period of activism and fighting for rights isn’t necessarily in the rearview mirror, LGBT couples need to shift their focus on a unique new fight, that of coming together to “learn how to love,” and realize “their relationships are valid, beautiful, and worthy” of becoming stronger, said Hanig. It’s a transition that can be more challenging for queer people of color, trans people, immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers living in the U.S., said Hanig, who is fluent in English, Spanish, and Portuguese and practices art therapy. Some binational queer couples he has worked with have felt rushed to propose marriage due to immigration and asylum issues, he said, which
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<< Community News
8 • Bay Area Reporter • May 25-31, 2017
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Supporters rally for safe consumption spaces by Liz Highleyman
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ore than 100 public officials, people who use drugs, and community advocates rallied outside City Hall Monday, May 22, in support of supervised drug consumption spaces where clients can use drugs safely under medical supervision. At the rally Board of Supervisors President London Breed announced the launch of the Safe Injection Services Task Force, which will look at the feasibility of creating safe consumption services in San Francisco. It is expected to meet three times during the next three months. “Today you can’t walk from City Hall to Civic Center BART without seeing people shooting up in broad daylight,” said Breed, who described losing a sister to a drug overdose. “I don’t know if offering a safe place
<<
Liz Highleyman
San Francisco Board of Supervisors President London Breed spoke at a May 22 rally about supervised drug consumption spaces, where she announced the formation of a task force to study the issue.
for people to use drugs is the right answer for our city and for helping this vulnerable population, but
I know that our existing efforts simply aren’t working and we need new approaches to treat and care for
Trump budget
From page 1
program for retirees. However, it does reduce Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income, which many people with HIV and other chronic health conditions rely on. The budget proposal also lists $1.2 billion in cuts for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including a 17 percent decrease for its National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention. The Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS program would also see a large cut. Planned Parenthood, a major provider of HIV testing and prevention services in many communities, is barred from receiving federal funding. The National Institutes of Health would lose $5.8 billion, or 18 percent, including a $1 billion cut for the National Cancer Institute and an $838 million cut for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which oversees HIV treatment and cure research. The budget proposes to eliminate the NIH’s Fogarty International Center, which helps build local capacity to respond to outbreaks of infectious diseases like Ebola and
Liz Highleyman
Emalie Huriaux, left, and Ernest Hopkins discussed President Donald Trump’s proposed budget at a community forum May 22.
the Zika virus. “Cutting programs that support HIV care and treatment that prevents illness, saves lives, and reduces transmission risks to near zero will negatively impact public health, leading to greater health expenditures and rising HIV infections and deaths,” HIV Medical Association Chair Dr. Wendy Armstrong said in a statement. “The proposal to slash funding for the [CDC] including $183 million from HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted disease programs, will reverse important gains made in reducing new HIV infections and leave us even further behind in
responding to alarming increases in hepatitis B and C infections in addition to increases in new cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis.” The fate of the budget remains unknown, as numerous congressional leaders from both parties have said they do not agree with some of Trump’s priorities. Many experts think the budget’s assumption that the U.S. economy will grow by 3 percent is unrealistic. Senate leaders have also said they will not adopt the House version of the AHCA – which the budget proposal is built upon – and a CBO analysis due this week could send that legislation back to the House for another vote.
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The budget was a major theme of a May 22 forum sponsored by Project Inform that looked at the first 100-plus days of the Trump administration.
people with addiction.” The 15-member task force includes representatives from the Department of Public Health, the San Francisco Police Department, researchers and health professionals, service providers, advocates for people who use drugs and homeless people, and current and former injection drug users themselves. “It’s great to see this momentum for supervised consumption services,” Laura Thomas of the Drug Policy Alliance told the Bay Area Reporter. “At the rally we heard stories from people for whom these programs could have made a difference in the past, and I’m hoping we can make that kind of difference for people who need it now.” DPA is one of nearly two-dozen organizations in the newly launched Yes to SCS California coalition, formed to advocate for supervised
consumption spaces. Other participating groups include the SF Coalition on Homelessness, End Hep C SF, Glide, the Harm Reduction Coalition, HealthRIGHT 360, Project Inform, the Homeless Youth Alliance, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, the San Francisco Drug Users Union, Shanti Project, and St. James Infirmary. Yes to SCS released new data this week from the National Public Drug Use Survey, showing that people who use drugs in public spaces in San Francisco were over three times more likely to have recently had an overdose, more than twice as likely to have visited an emergency room, and more likely to be homeless and under age 40 compared to those who use drugs in private spaces. Drug overdose is a leading cause
“I don’t want to be a downer, but I am scared to death,” said Project Inform Executive Director Dana Van Gorder. “We already know that the ACA is under attack and there’s a decent likelihood that it will be destroyed as we know it, which will have a profound impact on the work that we do and the people we care about. But the [proposed] federal budget is truly horrifying. We have a lot of fighting to do.” Forum speakers addressed the health needs of people living with HIV and viral hepatitis, efforts to expand access to PrEP, and the health of people who use drugs – a group disproportionately affected by both diseases. The U.S. is in the midst of an opioid epidemic that has led to a dramatic increase in prescription painkiller and heroin overdoses, as well as outbreaks of HIV and hepatitis C. There were around 52,000 overdose deaths in 2015 - one every 10 minutes - exceeding deaths due to motor vehicle accidents and gun homicides combined, according to Monique Tula, executive director of the Harm Reduction Coalition. Contrary to an earlier proposal, Trump’s budget largely preserves the Office of National Drug Control Policy, home of the national “drug czar.” The office plays a key role in the federal government’s efforts to combat the opioid epidemic, but it has also been involved in federal crackdowns on medical cannabis in states where it has been legalized, including California. “The office has some baggage, but it has also worked with recovery and
harm reduction advocates, and has stated that the opioid epidemic is a high priority. But priorities are illustrated through budgets,” Tula said. Emalie Huriaux from Project Inform reminded attendees that cities and states have the potential to hold the line in the face of federal cutbacks. California has patient protection regulations, anti-discrimination provisions, and caps on prescription drug costs that will remain in effect even if the ACA goes away, and legislators are now having conversations about universal coverage for everyone in the state. California also protects the health of people who use drugs, and has gotten further along than any other state with legislation to enable safer consumption spaces where people can inject drugs under medical supervision. Several forum speakers and attendees had earlier attended a City Hall rally the same day in support of supervised consumption spaces. A full Assembly vote on that legislation, known as Assembly Bill 186, is scheduled for next week. “California is really a success story about expanding Medicaid. Medi-Cal has covered a lot of people at risk for and living with HIV and hepatitis C,” Huriaux said. “California is showing what’s possible. It shows you can be a successful, economically well-developed state and have regulations that protect poor people.” t
See page 14 >>
Contact the author at liz@blackrose.com.
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ay District 8 Supervisor Jeff Sheehy scatters some of Gilbert Baker’s ashes on San Francisco Bay as friends mourned the rainbow flag creator May 9. Mr. Baker, 65, died March 31 in New York City. Cap’t Kirk’s San Francisco Sailing lent assistance for the solemn occasion that was attended by Tom Taylor and
several of Mr. Baker’s friends. Taylor has organized a public memorial for Mr. Baker that will be held Thursday, June 8 at 7 p.m. at the Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street.
t
Community News>>
Gay SF senior faces rent hike by Seth Hemmelgarn
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gay San Francisco senior is worried he’ll become homeless after his rent increased dramatically when his landlord terminated a federal housing program contract. Ramon Garcia, 81, who’s lived in his Noe Valley apartment for 16 years, said, “This is not about evicting me, it’s about wanting to convert this into a condo, and since there’s no humanity in this landlord, it doesn’t matter. I will become homeless.” Garcia received a 90-day notice dated December 27 that said his landlord, Paul Winer, was terminating his contract with the San Francisco Housing Authority under the Federal Housing Choice Voucher program that subsidized Garcia’s rent. The notice said that after March 31, Garcia’s portion of the rent would go from $206 to $1,737. The notice cites the Housing Authority’s “failure to perform” under the contract’s terms. Problems included “unexplained and unjustified holds of subsidy payments over 60 days,” the notice said. Garcia, who said Winer verbally promised him that he wants to convert his Sanchez Street apartment, added that he hasn’t been able to sleep. “I’m just too devastated to leave the house,” he said. Even if there were a place for him to move to, he said, he wouldn’t physically be able to pack up his belongings. Brad Hirn, who works with the San Francisco Housing Rights Committee, said that Garcia didn’t approach his organization until mid-May, and by then, he’d already
missed at least one payment of the higher rent. Hirn said that Winer’s filed an unlawful detainer complaint, and a court hearing was set for Wednesday. The Bay Area Reporter couldn’t immediately locate court records related to the case. In a news release, HRC said Garcia has “lifelong chronic conditions requiring daily bed rest, frequent medical appointments, and specific orthopedic equipment already setup in his apartment,” and the situation has worsened Garcia’s “depression and fragile physical health.” HRC said Winer’s contract termination indicates that he wants a tenancy-in-common “sale and eventual condo conversion, as other units on the lot have already been sold as TICs.” A TIC allows two or more people ownership interest in a property. The news release says local TIC “expert” Anthony Koutsos is working with Winer. HRC points to a September 2015 San Francisco Planning Department variance decision that the housing nonprofit said denies a proposal to sub-divide the Sanchez Street lot “for ease of financial ownership and faster condo conversion notes the potential loss in rent-controlled housing and ‘misuse of the zoning code to circumvent other existing City regulations and resolve financial disputes among owners.’” Winer and Koutsos didn’t respond to interview requests. A legal staffer at the Housing Authority didn’t respond to a phone message from the B.A.R. t Contact the author at s.hemmelgarn@ebar.com.
May 25-31, 2017 • Bay Area Reporter • 9
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<< Travel
10 • Bay Area Reporter • May 25-31, 2017
Sun, surf, and rainbows in San Diego by Heather Cassell
I
t goes without saying - you can get that lovin’ feeling in San Diego. It’s fun, sun, and playing in the sand in America’s Finest City. My girlfriend and I felt it when we landed in San Diego recently for a quick weekend getaway. We quickly discovered that one of the wonderful things about San Diego is that it offers something for everyone. With nearly 150 sunny days a year, on average, the city is a great urban vacation destination that also offers a wide variety of outdoor activities, especially beach and watersports. San Diego is many things. It remains a military town, a port city, a border city to Mexico, a historical city in the founding of California, a college town, a surf city, the setting for the movie “Top Gun,” and worldfamous SeaWorld San Diego. One of the most famous scenes from the famous 1980s flyboy movie starring celesbian Kelly McGillis, who played Charlie, and Tom Cruise, who played Maverick, was set at Kansas City Barbeque. The sports bar is where Cruise and Anthony Edwards, who played Goose, serenaded McGillis’ character with the Righteous Brothers hit, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’.” The bar pays homage to the classic movie with a dedicated corner filled with memorabilia. This summer SeaWorld will unveil its “next generation of sea-life experience” that promises to be the largest attraction premiere in the park’s history, Dave Koontz, director of communications at SeaWorld Aquatica, told the Bay Area Reporter. The park will have three unique
experiences: Ocean Explorer, Submarine Quest, and Orca Encounter. The attractions will use the latest technology as visitors experience the underwater world in the deepsea and a live documentary with the park’s famed orcas and a new infinity screen that depicts the killer whale’s natural habitat while guests learn about these unique mammals. Orca Encounter takes the place of the live orca shows that SeaWorld ended earlier this year after pressure from animal rights activists. SeaWorld hasn’t announced when the attractions will actually open. San Diego has more than 50 neighborhoods to explore from the Gaslamp Quarter in the heart of the city to Coronado Island across the San Diego Bay to beachside communities La Jolla and Mission Beach, among others. There is of course the gayborhood, Hillcrest, and neighboring North Park that touch on Balboa Park, the 1,200-acre historic park that houses 17 museums and cultural attractions, including the San Diego Zoo, and plays host to many events, including San Diego Pride.
Where to eat
More recently, San Diego added a thriving food, wine, and craft beer scene to its attractions. We started off our culinary and imbibing adventures cruising over to Coronado Island to check out Coronado Brewing Company. That was followed by lunch at Ballast Point Brewing and we ended our self-guided hop fest at Hillcrest Brewing Company, popular with LGBT locals. We opted to guide ourselves on our hop adventures around San Diego, but the city also offers a guided tour around the Gaslamp Quarter,
t
Courtesy Joanne DiBona, SanDiego.org
A view of downtown San Diego from Harbor Island
Shady Ladies and Hop Heads Tour. My girlfriend and I fueled our days at Swami’s Café and Baja Betty’s. Swami’s is an American-style diner with several locations around San Diego. It’s a local favorite and fills up quickly around 10 a.m. Baja Betty’s is also very popular, offering diners a gay Southwestern style brunch in a fun atmosphere. It fills up quickly after 11 a.m. We also enjoyed our lunch experience at Rustic Root, also located in the Gaslamp. In the evening, we switched to vino for a pre-dinner cocktail at Chocolat-Hillcrest, a charming corner restaurant offering full courses, desserts, coffees, and wines. For dinner we dined in style in the Gaslamp at Greystone Prime Steakhouse and Seafood, one of San
california
Diego’s finest steakhouses. It was well worth the experience. No one seemed to mind the tight seating arrangements throughout the restaurant as everyone was engaged with their own plates and conversations. San Diego offers a variety of gastronomical festivities. This summer the food and wine festivals kickoff in June with Taste of Gaslamp, The Vine Affair Taste of Baja Food and Wine Festival, Oceanside Harbor Wine Cruise, and more. The city also knows how to party. Every weekend the streets are closed off in the Gaslamp and it’s packed with well-heeled women and cleanshaven men - straight and gay dressed up for a night of dining and dancing. San Diego Pride celebrates with a wild week of fun in the sun with
block and pool parties, music festivals, a Pride 5K, and, of course, a huge parade and celebration. The festivities kick off with SheFest July 8 and wrap up with a parade July 15 that marches into the celebration at Balboa Park. Pridegoers not ready for the party to end can stay for the PostSan Diego Pride Pool Party July 17. Much of the Pride weekend action, which launches July 14, is centered at the historic Lafayette Hotel in the North Park neighborhood near Hillcrest. The gay party can also be found at Urban Mo’s Bar and Grill. The blocklong bar and nightclub located at the top of the hill in Hillcrest is the place to be and be seen, as it seemed like the entire community packed the bar. See page 11 >>
International News>>
t Gay man planning Pride flight around the world
May 25-31, 2017 • Bay Area Reporter • 11
by Heather Cassell
A
gay man plans to circumnavigate the globe in a restored World War II era DC-3 plane to bring hope, goodwill, and support to LGBT people around the world with Pride Flight 2018. Denis James “DJ” Dorn’s goal is to acquire the plane, and he has started a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds. Dorn, who has been a pilot for 25 years, also plans to use the plane to help local communities by transporting supplies and other necessary missions for local LGBT communities, he said. Another goal is to set a Guinness World Record as the first openly gay pilot to travel the globe. The plane currently resides in Mexico and has been used predominantly for flying tourists to coastal locations
<<
Courtesy Pride Flight 2018
Denis James “DJ” Dorn stands next to the DC-3 plane he hopes to purchase for his Pride Flight around the world.
for whale watching, according to the Pride Flight 2018’s Kickstarter campaign. Dorn is currently in the first round
San Diego
One of the best farmers markets in the city, it attracts an eclectic variety of arts and crafts vendors mixed between the meats, produce, and food carts, all with the nearby rainbow flag waving in the wind. Creative adventurers will enjoy Comic-Con International: San Diego in July and Artwalk San Diego in August. Families will enjoy many of the summer’s events at the San Diego Children’s Museum that include a summer concert series that launches in June and Imperial Beach Sun and Sea Festival, which features worldclass sand sculptures, in July.
From page 10
The bar is a part of Mo’s Universe, which also owns Baja Betty’s, lesbian bar Gossip Grill, and the Hillcrest Brewing Company.
What to do
The city offers a wide variety of ways to work off the good food and alcohol, mostly in the water. Water adventurers will enjoy the women surfers’ event and festival, Supergirl Pro, in July. For the first time in years, boaters will be able to feel the rush with the Extreme Sailing Series in October. San Diego offers a variety of shopping opportunities from the Hillcrest Farmers Market to Liberty Station in the Point Loma neighborhood. Parking can be slightly challenging around the Hillcrest Farmers Market, which offers free parking and a trolley for locals and visitors.
Where to sleep
My girlfriend and I checked into the historic Sofia Hotel in San Diego’s Gaslamp district. The hotel is charming, offering historical tours of downtown San Diego, yoga, and welcomes your pooch with water and treats in the lobby. While the rooms were small, to be expected in historic hotels, they were nicely appointed
of raising the $100,000 needed to acquire the 85-year-old plane and bring it home to Indiana for restoration. He has already invested $35,000, placing a down payment on the aircraft and other initial planning costs. He has worked with about 20 volunteers on the project so far, he said. He’s currently waiting to be approved for nonprofit status for Pride Flight 2018. He’s also working on securing sponsors. Dorn anticipates the total cost of the project will be about $500,000. He realizes that the mission is dangerous. He and his crew will have to navigate a plane that has limited capabilities, such as not being able to fly over high mountains and will be chal-
lenged flying over wide expanses of ocean, where he and the crew will need to refuel on small islands. He also anticipates having to work around being a gay man flying into anti-gay countries where he or his crew could be arrested, refused to be sold fuel, or they could not be allowed to land at all, he said. “My husband and I both realize there is a pretty high chance of catastrophic failure,” Dorn told the Bay Area Reporter. “I can’t let my mind dwell on that. Once the flight is complete, not only will it be a great milestone, but it will be a positive thing that we have done for our community.” Dorn plans to document the journey with bloggers and vloggers on
board (according to Wikipedia, the aircraft has a capacity for 21-32 passengers) and to produce a documentary of the journey after its completed. He plans to tour the U.S. and educate people about the mission and LGBT communities in other countries. The Kickstarter campaign closes May 31. So far the campaign has raised $345. For more information, visit http:// prideflight2018.com or to donate, visit https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1940308364/prideflight2018 .
SF IDAHOT rally focuses on Chechnya
San Francisco’s Harvey Milk Plaza was adorned with a pink triangle that greeted people exiting the Castro See page 13 >>
and I enjoyed reading about the history of the hotel, which was seen in sepia photographs on the lampshades down the hallways. To escape the crowds and have a luxurious stay in San Diego, travelers can check into the historic Hotel Del Coronado on Coronado, an upscale island across from downtown San Diego. Guests relax on the beach or shop and dine along posh Orange Avenue between First and 10th streets.
Getting around
We were able to drop our car with the valet at our hotel and walk around downtown or take the trolley. It was actually easier to get around that way in the Gaslamp and downtown. However, San Diego is spread out. Once we left the confines of downtown a car was necessary to get out to the Coronado Island, to surf spots in Del Mar, La Jolla, and Mission Beach where our nephew, a true
San Diego Travel Blog/SanDiego.org
Visitors walk under the Hillcrest sign in San Diego’s gayborhood.
Stay Young
California boy, catches waves; and up to University Avenue into Hillcrest where the rainbow flags wave proudly. t
Contact the author at heather@ heathercassell.com.
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<< Community News
12 • Bay Area Reporter • May 25-31, 2017
Pride season starts soon by Cynthia Laird
J
une is fast approaching and that means the advent of Pride season. While San Francisco’s mammoth LGBT Pride parade and celebration close out the month, several cities across northern California will offer parades, festivals, or both.
Richmond
Richmond Rainbow Pride will hold its third annual Pride event Sunday, June 4 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Marina Bay Park. This year’s theme is “Rise Up Together.” “In these difficult and challenging times, when our communities are being attacked all over the country, it is important to unite as one, regardless of your ethnicity, gender, religion, or who you love, and rise up together,” Cesar Zepeda, president of Richmond Rainbow Pride, said in a news release. The family-friendly event will include entertainment and is open to everyone. Admission is free. For more information, visit www. richmondrainbowpride.org .
Sonoma
In the North Bay, Sonoma County Pride will celebrate its 30th year next weekend. An LGBTQI solidarity rally will be held Saturday, June 3 from 1 to 4 p.m. in Guerneville. The theme of the event is “Rise Up,” because the community is being asked to stand up for LGBTQI rights, as well as rights for women and immigrants, voting rights, and racial and economic equality. Fifteen speakers will address a wide range of issues and motivate the crowd to educate themselves. Some of those scheduled to deliver remarks include lesbian Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch, Positive Images Executive Director
Javier River-Rosales, and trans activist Mandi Camille Hauwert. The next day, Sunday, June 4, will be the Pride parade, which starts at 11 a.m. in downtown Guerneville. This year’s grand marshals include Greg Sarris, a gay man who’s chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria; county Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, a straight ally; and trans activist Aydian Dowling, who was featured on the cover of Men’s Health. A Unity and Pride Festival will follow the parade at the Guerneville Lodge and will include entertainment and exhibitors. Other Pride events include a concert Friday night, June 2 at Graton Casino featuring “The Voice” contestant Billy Gilman and Steve Grand; and “Shorts at the River” film festival Saturday at the Rio Theater in Monte Rio. There is no cost to attend the rally or parade. A $5 donation is requested for the festival. For ticketed events and more information, visit www.sonomacountypride.org .
Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz Pride will hold its annual Pride parade and festival Sunday, June 4. This year’s theme is “We Are Indivisible.” Organizers said in a Facebook message that the theme reflects their view that the community will not be divided or defeated in the move toward civil rights and will not be deterred from “celebrating our authentic selves.” The parade steps off at 11 a.m. at Pacific Avenue and Church Street in downtown Santa Cruz. The festival follows from noon to 4 p.m. at the Pride Festival grounds, located between Cathcart, Cedar, and Lincoln streets. It will feature food trucks, entertainment, and a kid’s space. Admission to the festival is free,
t
Courtesy amBi
AmBi, a bisexual social group, marched in the 2015 Sacramento Pride parade.
though a $5 donation is requested. It is an alcohol- and smoke-free event. (Alcohol will be available from participating businesses near the festival site.) For more information, visit www.santacruzpride.org or the “Santa Cruz Pride” Facebook page.
Sacramento
Sacramento Pride takes place Saturday, June 3. The parade starts at 11 a.m. at Third and N streets. Grand marshals include gay City Councilman Steve Hansen and Tina Reynolds.
The Pride festival takes place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the Capitol Mall between Third and Seventh streets. Admission is $10; children 10 and under are free. The festival will feature high-energy live music, a dance pavilion, a kid’s zone, food trucks, and local vendors. For more information, visit www. sacramentopride.org .
San Mateo
The fifth annual San Mateo County Pride celebration will be held Saturday,
June 10 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at San Mateo Central Park, 50 E. Fifth Avenue. This year’s theme is “Still We Rise.” The festival will celebrate and recognize the LGBTQ community through entertainment, education, and fun. There will be food trucks, booths, and live entertainment. t The event is free. For more information, see the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ events/1690223884618811/?active_ tab=about.
Tenants convention planned for Castro by Cynthia Laird
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everal tenants rights and LGBT community groups will cosponsor a Castro area tenants convention Saturday, June 3 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (registration begins at 10:30) at the Women’s Building, 3543 18th Street in San Francisco. The event is free. The convention is co-sponsored by the San Francisco Tenants Union, the Housing Rights Committee, the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, Metropolitan Community Church-San Francisco, and D8 Democrats. It will bring together renters in various parts of District 8, which includes the Castro, Noe Valley, Duboce Triangle, Glen Park, and the north edge of the Mission, to talk about strategies for combating speculation, which organizers said is one of the forces driving up rents and displacing tenants. The program will also include a “know your rights” training. “It’s important that we tackle speculation from the grassroots,” said Deepa Varma, director of the tenants union. “If people in our neighborhoods know what to look out for and how to organize against it, we can hopefully cut down on some of the speculation that is driving this housing crisis.” Longtime queer activist Tommi Avicolli Mecca, with the Housing Rights Project, said the Castro has felt the impact of speculation. “Not only in terms of high rents, but also empty storefronts and high rates of homelessness among LGBT youth,” he said in a news release. “We need to reclaim our neighborhood and one way to do that is to start to address speculation.”
Rick Gerharter
One tactic used by tenants threatened by eviction is to visibly post details of their pending eviction in an effort to inform prospective buyers. These signs, from a few years ago, were in a house in the Castro district.
Sheehy eyes steep fines for Dolores Park littering
Gay District 8 Supervisor Jeff Sheehy has announced legislation to increase fines to curb rampant littering and broken glass at Mission Dolores Park. The proposal also would ban glass in parks citywide. Dolores Park, which is widely popular, especially on sunny days, has seen visitors leave behind tons of trash, usually on weekends, even though a $20.5 million renovation completed last year increased the number of restrooms and trash and recycling capacity. “Park users must be responsible for packing out items they bring into the park,” Sheehy, whose district includes the park, said in a May 18 statement. “Broken glass in our parks is a danger to families, children, and pets.” The legislation would create a
special increase in fines for littering or dumping waste in Dolores Park and clarify that park patrol officers can write citations for these fines. The current standard fine amount for all park code violations is $192. The proposed legislation would increase the penalty only in Dolores Park to $1,000 for littering or dumping waste. “We are asking people in Dolores Park to behave just like they would in Yosemite, respect the park - pick up after yourself and don’t bring glass,” said Phil Ginsburg, rec and park general manager. The legislation includes exceptions for the use of glass in parks for permitted use determined by the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department and glass beverage containers used in the care of feeding infant children. Landfill and recycling capacity at the park is now nearly 56,000 gallons per week, compared to only See page 15 >>
t
Sports>>
May 25-31, 2017 • Bay Area Reporter • 13
Two slurs, two different punishments by Roger Brigham
T
his month, we learned that Major League Baseball considers the word “faggot” a slur worthy of punishment. But the National Hockey League is not so worried about players using the word “cocksucker” to demean the officials with whom they work. Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Kevin Pillar was suspended without pay for two games after calling Atlanta Braves pitcher Jason Motte a “faggot” during a May 17 game. In a prepared statement, the Blue Jays said, “In no way is this kind of behavior accepted or tolerated.” Pillar apologized before the suspension was announced, saying he was “completely and utterly embarrassed” by his language and owed an apology to Motte, the Braves, and the LGBT community. Fair enough. Two days after the Pillar incident, Anaheim Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf, apparently thinking he was being
<<
Out in the World
From page 11
Muni station as a crowd gathered for International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia May 17. Nearly 400 people turned out for the event that called attention to the atrocity happening against gay men in Chechnya and the murders of transgender women around the world. The crowd remembered the victims of last year’s shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. The event also celebrated the release of transgender army whistleblower Chelsea Manning (see article, page 1]. “This is the largest and most impactful IDAHOT in the history of San Francisco that I know of,” said Gary Virginia, a representative of Gays Without Borders, a grassroots volunteer-run group focused on international LGBT rights issues, who organized the rally. The sun shone through the rainbow flag blowing in the evening breeze. The pink triangle, a symbol once used to identify gay men in Nazi concentration camps, draped over Harvey Milk Plaza. Patrick Carney, co-founder of Friends of the Pink Triangle, reminded the crowd of the importance of reclaiming symbols.
<<
Sausage Factory
From page 1
interview requests. A note on Preserving LGBT Historic Sites in San Francisco Facebook page says, “With its funky, old-timey decor, the Sausage Factory has long been known an establishment welcoming to Castro residents and visitors both LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ. The menu offers reasonably priced comfort food in copious portions that kept diners on a budget well fed. Many an informal gathering of LGBTQ organizers has
<<
Fresno
From page 2
Another friend wept and said, “My heart is breaking.” The neighborhood was almost completely silent, with the only noise coming from a passing ice cream truck that played its tune over and over. Two policemen were also at the memorial, but declined to share details of the case with the Bay Area Reporter. “We’re just here to show our support for the friends and family,” said Detective Daniel Messick. Police haven’t shared details of what Alvarado may have been doing
Ryan Getzlaf apparently doesn’t understand that the “C” on his jersey is for captain.
filmed for an episode of “Deadwood,” called a referee a “cocksucker” during Game 4 of the NHL Western Conference finals. The response to that outburst?
“Sometimes the best way to keep a symbol pertinent is to own it, to give it a new purpose,” said Carney of the pink triangle. “This symbol of hate and persecution has been repurposed and is now a symbol of survival, defiance, courage, strength, and diversity.” Carney told the crowd that gay men are being hunted down, arrested, and detained for being of “nontraditional sexual orientation,” in Chechnya. “There are only three options: they can leave the country, they can kill themselves, or they can be killed,” said Carney. An estimated 100 gay men have been detained in two separate waves of arrests since December 2016, according to human rights experts in the region and media reports. Three men have been reported to have been killed, however, human rights experts believe the number could be as high as 20. At the same time, Chechen Republic President Ramzan Kadyrov has reportedly denied that gays exist in Chechnya, while authorities ordered a cleansing of gay men in the Muslimmajority Russian state. Last month, Novaya Gazeta reporters
taken place in the large bar space at the back of the restaurant.” One gay group that’s frequently used the space is Log Cabin Republicans. Jason Clark, former president of Log Cabin’s San Francisco branch and ex-chair of the group’s California chapter said in an email to the Bay Area Reporter, “Log Cabin is sorry to hear of the Sausage Factory’s potential closure.” t Contact the author at s.hemmelgarn@ebar.com.
just before he was shot, but Beltran said that Alvarado lived near the scene, and his Facebook profile says he’d visited the gay bar Alibi, which is just over a mile away, within hours of the shooting. Fresno’s ABC 30 TV station has aired video captured by a neighbor’s surveillance system that shows someone being shot. It’s hard to make out many details in the black and white video. The station reported that Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said that officers had found Alvarado “lying in the street with multiple gunshot wounds to [his] upper body. ... What
Getzlaf penned one of the most pathetic non-apologies ever and was fined $10,000 of his $9 million salary, but not suspended - and a fan started an effort to pay that pittance of a penalty through online donations. So much for zero tolerance of intolerance. Getzlaf treated his use of “cocksucker” as though it were a rough patch of ice untouched by the Zamboni: something unfortunate that should not have existed, but nothing to do with him. “There were obviously some words said, not necessarily directed at anyone in particular, it was just kind of a comment,” Getzlaf explained. “I’ve got to be a little more responsible with the words I choose. I didn’t mean it in that manner in any way, and for that to go that route was very disappointing for me. I accepted responsibility and I accepted it fine. We talked to the league
Elena Milashina and Irinia Gordiyenko broke the news of gay men being rounded up and sent to detention camps. Accurate information is difficult to obtain due to secrecy and government sponsored propaganda in Russia. However, earlier this month Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly bowed to international pressure and agreed to investigate the situation in Chechnya. Virginia reiterated Carney’s message that the detainment of gay men was basically “being repeated in our lifetime and we need to stop this.” However, he was quick to point out the irony that during the week of the IDAHOT rally President Donald Trump’s administration shut the door on Chechen LGBTs who are fleeing the region to come to the U.S. “The Trump administration basically said that they were not accepting any refugees in danger from the Chechnya capturing and torturing,” said Virginia. “So, here we have Canada working with the Rainbow Railroad Organization and the Russian LGBT Network to help people get out of harm’s way and our country is denying
and I understand it’s my responsibility to not use vulgar language, period, whether it’s a swear word or what it is.” Or what it is? It’s exactly what Getzlaf intended it to be when he shouted it: a homophobic insult meant to challenge someone’s manhood in a pathetic effort to assert his own alleged dominance. Own up to it, dude.
2017 World Outgames begins
The 2017 World Outgames are set to begin Friday, May 26 in Miami Beach, Florida, with a more modest schedule of sports events than originally planned; unanswered questions about event funding; and a late change of venue for the human rights conferences. Organizers dropped cycling from the sports program in the final weeks of event preparation - the eighth sport eliminated since April. Several events
visas or asylum to these victims.” In recent weeks, Canada and Lithuania have both opened their borders to welcome LGBT Russians fleeing Chechnya.
Global Respect Act reintroduced to Congress
Gay Congressman David Cicilline (D-Rhode Island) and Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-New Hampshire) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) reintroduced the Global Respect Act to Congress May 17. The bill was co-sponsored by 60 House members and eight senators. The legislation would provide a new mechanism to prevent the world’s most anti-LGBT state actors from receiving visas and entering the United States, reported the Human Rights Campaign’s blog. “The Global Respect Act would make clear to the world that the U.S. is not open to those who abuse, harass, and murder LGBTQ people,” said David Stacy, government affairs director at HRC, reported the blog. “This is the right moment to send that message, when the government in Chechnya is trying to eliminate all gay people from their territory and gay Chechens are literally fleeing for their lives.” The legislation would send a clear
were scheduled to be held in the partially demolished Miami Beach Convention Center, but renovations there are behind schedule, forcing the relocation of conferences and the opening and closing ceremonies. Those are now scheduled to be held in the Fillmore Miami Beach. In late April, the Miami Herald reported that the city of Miami Beach had forgiven a $50,000 loan to the Outgames as well as several thousands of dollars’ worth of fees connected to public facilities, but the status of two $100,000 payments that were to be made to the event was uncertain because they were dependent on unmet “fundraising milestones.” World Outgames spokesmen declined to speak with the Bay Area Reporter about how those loans and the low registration fees might impact scheduled events. t Contact the author at jocktalkroger@yahoo.com.
signal to anti-LGBT countries by revoking and denying visas of foreign officials who have a significant role in the violation of LGBT people’s rights in their home countries. “Recent reports of LGBT persecution in Russia and Indonesia are horrifying,” Shaheen said in a statement from her office. “No one should live in fear of physical violence or oppression because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The Global Respect Act would send a strong message to the international community that those who persecute LGBT individuals are in violation of human rights and are not welcome in the United States.” Currently, an estimated 72 countries criminalize homosexuality and 10 countries authorize the death penalty for same-sex relationships. Furthermore, anti-homosexuality propaganda laws prohibit same-sex expression in at least three countries, according to HRC. For more information, visit http://www.hrc.org/resources/global-respect-act. t Got international LGBT news tips? Call or send them to Heather Cassell at Skype: heather.cassell, or oitwnews@gmail.com.
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condition. The APY may change on Checking, Savings, and Money Market accounts after account is opened. $500 minimum opening deposit required in money market account. Rates are compounded monthly and paid on the entire balance in the account. Fees may reduce earnings if the average minimum monthly balance of $500 is not maintained. Membership in the Sterling Premier Club is required. Contact us for Club member requirements. ** Premier member gift available while supplies last. The value of this bonus will be reported to the IRS and the recipient is responsible for any federal, state, or local taxes on this offer.
Bay Reporter.indd 1
9/30/16 10:24 AM
<< Community News
14 • Bay Area Reporter • May 25-31, 2017
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Counseling
From page 7
Love, love, love
The center offers couples and individual counseling and relationship coaching. The difference between counseling and coaching is, in counseling an issue is identified and a plan is made to make the issue better. Coaching is more action-oriented acting out scenarios, such as meeting someone new at a bar. Neff-Hall was careful to point out that while the center is focused on couples and singles, its therapists also handle many mental health issues that affect relationships such as affairs and
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Manning
Safe consumption
From page 8
of accidental death in California and nationwide. In 2015 there were over 52,000 fatal overdoses in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – more than the number of motor vehicle collisions and gun homicide deaths combined. The San Francisco health department estimates that there are more than 22,000 people who inject drugs in the city and around 100 overdose deaths per year. Supervised consumption facilities allow people to use drugs under the watch of medical staff, reducing the risk of overdose deaths. The facilities provide sterile needles, preventing transmission of HIV and hepatitis B and C. They reduce street-based drug use and improper syringe disposal, as well as offering
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der diversity, race, and more, he said. Currently, the center has six therapists, including Neff-Hall, who have joined the center’s therapist network to receive referrals for a small fee to support the venture’s operating costs, said Neff-Hall. Neff-Hall is seeking to bring on therapists from different ethnicities and racial backgrounds as well as gender variant to meet clients’ needs, he added. The center receives up to 30 calls a month from potential clients since the website launched in January, he said. The center also provides ongoing training to student therapists and clinical support to professional therapists in the network through its con-
From page 1
Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia rally in the Castro. Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst, was convicted of releasing some 700,000 sensitive documents to WikiLeaks. She was sentenced to 35 years in prison in August 2013 following a court-martial. President Barack Obama commuted her sentence in January, just days before he left office, and Manning was released May 17. Manning, 29, came out as transgender just after her conviction. At the San Francisco IDAHOT rally, gay former Assemblyman Tom Ammiano rallied the crowd of about 400 with laugher. “I’m glad that she got out today because if she had remained in jail any longer her cellmate could have been Donald Trump for doing the same fucking thing,” Ammiano said, referring to news reports that the president unveiled classified intelligence information to Russian officials in the Oval Office. “I long to hear her say, ‘Walk a mile in my bucks, bitch,’” he said to the roar of the crowd. Manning’s plight - she was serving her sentence in a men’s prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas and was not allowed gender confirmation surgery - drew supporters from around the world. Last year she attempted suicide twice, according to media reports. However, Manning now faces new challenges. For one thing, she is still in the Army. It was widely reported - incorrectly - that she was dishonorably discharged after her conviction. Ryan Karerat, communications
non-monogamous relationships, anxiety, depression, coming out issues, and a variety of mental health disorders. “We are comprehensive in our offerings,” said Neff-Hall, who started counseling couples in 2012 before he opened his private practice, the Love Therapist, in 2014. Neff-Hall selects the therapists at the center to ensure they fit its mission and vision for social justice and use emotionally focused therapy and psychobiological approaches to couples’ therapy. An activist from an early age, he has placed significant importance on the necessity of therapists being consciously aware of different factors that inform their client’s lives, such as ableness, gen-
Fresno
From page 13
appears to have occurred is some type of disturbance that started in the alley way and that disturbance between two individuals ultimately carried out onto the street.”
Rick Gerharter
The Chelsea Manning Flashmob Dancers made a special appearance to celebrate the release from prison of Chelsea Manning at the May 17 IDAHOT rally in Harvey Milk Plaza.
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sultation group, Neff-Hall said. The center doesn’t have a physical location for clients and the therapists to meet. Instead the therapists operate out of their individual offices in San Francisco, Berkeley, and Oakland. This allows clients to see therapists locally. The center also offers clients a sliding scale to keep therapy affordable. The center offers a sliding scale of $150 to $180 for couples and $130 to $150 for individuals, generally. The scale might slide down to $100 if clients are seen by an intern, said Neff-Hall. Neff-Hall hopes to eventually expand the center into the North Bay, Peninsula, and South Bay, he said.
He’s currently not looking beyond the San Francisco Bay Area, despite hopes that the center will grow and expand to other cities around the United States in the future. “I would love that. That would be a dream come true to have the Queer Couples Center start showing up in major cities and around the country,” said Neff-Hall, who is waiting until he has a staff and budget to support the center’s growth. t
“Beyond that, she is waiting to experience life outside of prison before declaring any future plans,” Strangio added. “After so many years of government control over her body and gender, I know she is eager to grow her hair, express her gender, and negotiate decisions on her own terms.” Her few tweets shortly after her release and a brief statement are the only engagement with the public that Manning will make for a while, except for a few exclusive media events, her advocates said. “Chelsea does not plan to do any interviews in the coming months outside of a few pre-set exclusives,” wrote Karerat, adding that Manning’s “legal team are also unavailable at this time.”
eventually led to the release of Chelsea Manning. It was public pressure from around the world and seven years of hard work to try to keep an issue like that on the front burner.” Conscientious objector J.P. Kempkes, a 71-year-old transgender individual, applauded Manning, along with former defense analyst Daniel Ellsberg and former Central Intelligence Agency employee and contractor Edward Snowden. Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times, in 1971. Snowden leaked National Security Agency surveillance practices on U.S. citizens in 2013. “It was illegal what the government was doing,” said Kempkes, who believes the American people have the right to know what their government was doing, especially running surveillance on average citizens. Kempkes, who served in the military during the 1960s and who is a Manning supporter, told the B.A.R. that she would love to see Manning at San Francisco Pride this year. “People from all over the country, and maybe all over the world, would come to support her for what she did,” said Kempkes. “I know I would come to support her.” Manning was selected as a grand marshal for the 2013 San Francisco Pride parade, but the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee board rescinded the decision. It is unclear whether San Francisco Pride officials have reached out to Manning’s representatives this year, or if she would appear at the Trans March. Neither organization responded to the B.A.R.’s a request for comment by press time. t
Fans & supporters celebrate
For more information, visit www. queercouplescenter.com. Contact the author at heather@ heathercassell.com.
Manning seemed to relish her newfound freedom. She tweeted “First steps of freedom,” with a photo of her legs and feet, upon her release. Chase Strangio, Manning’s attorney and transgender advocate at the ACLU, told NBC News that her current focus is on “building her life.” “She is looking forward to eating pizza, swimming, playing PlayStation, and meeting the many friends who have supported her over the years but who were never allowed to visit in person,” Strangio, who has become Manning’s close confidant and conduit to the LGBT community, told the media outlet.
Fifteen different celebrations were organized for her release coinciding with IDAHOT, including the gathering in San Francisco. At Harvey Milk Plaza in the Castro, it was a day to call out the horrors happening to gay and bisexual men in Chechnya and the Trump administration’s effort to undermine LGBT rights in the United States. However, it was also a day of celebration for Manning. “This community here in San Francisco is at the forefront of not just defending her but speaking up,” Jeff Paterson of Courage to Resist told the crowd. Gary Virginia, emcee and coordinator of this year’s IDAHOT rally in San Francisco and a representative of Gays Without Borders, agreed, adding that it took years of challenging the U.S. government on the “harshest sentence” given to a whistleblower in U.S. history. “A lot of speakers spoke to the power of people,” he said. “It wasn’t some elected official [and] it wasn’t some government group that
clients an entry point for seeking addiction treatment or medical care. “The reason we’re here is because our friends are dead. Our family members pass on the streets, in bathrooms, in alleys,” said task force member Holly Bradford of the San Francisco Drug Users’ Union. “I see people on the streets, as you all do, injecting. At the needle exchange they say, ‘I don’t want to inject in front of children. I don’t want families to see me injecting between cars.’ Drug users are people and they care.” There are currently around 100 safe injection sites around the world in countries including Canada, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Australia. Vancouver’s Insite – the first North American facility – served more than 6,500 clients in 2015. In the lead-up to the Harm Reduction International Conference this month in Montreal, health officials announced that two
supervised consumptions sites will soon open in that city. San Francisco is among several cities vying to open the first safer consumption facility in the U.S., along with Baltimore, New York City, and Seattle. Earlier this year the Board of Health in King County, Washington, which includes Seattle, voted to approve two facilities, which are expected to open within a year. Recent research showed that a supervised injection facility similar to Insite in San Francisco could avert at least three new HIV infections and 19 cases of hepatitis C per year. “Our research showed that if San Francisco was to implement one supervised consumption site similar to the one in Vancouver, the city would save $3.5 million annually by reducing HIV, HCV, abscesses, and overdoses, while increasing access to drug treatment,” Alex Kral, an
epidemiologist at RTI International and a member of the new task force, told the B.A.R. But not everyone is enthused about supervised drug consumption. “If this can save lives we’re all for that, but again we’re concerned what happens after these individuals inject drugs when they go back out into the neighborhood,” San Francisco police Captain John Sanford, who oversees Park Station, told ABC 7 News. Next week the full state Assembly will vote on Assembly Bill 186, coauthored by lesbian Assemblywoman Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton) and gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), which would allow exemptions from laws that make it a crime to possess controlled substances or drug paraphernalia. The legislation, which would let a limited number
of cities authorize supervised consumption spaces on a pilot basis, was approved by the Assembly Public Safety Committee and Health Committee earlier this year. “For more than three decades this city has led the way for the rest of the country when it comes to supporting and caring for people living with HIV, and once again San Francisco is leading the way as city leaders consider opening safe consumption rooms for people who use drugs,” Monique Tula, executive director of the Harm Reduction Coalition, said at the rally. “It’s past time to do this. As the nation’s leaders for harm reduction, the city has to live up to its history and be bold as we move forward. The time to act is now.” t
Tony Botti, a spokesman for the Fresno Sheriff ’s Department, which includes the coroner’s office, said in an email, “Alvarado died at the hospital at 3:32 a.m.” Francisco, who lives by the long, dirt alley near where Alvarado was shot, told the B.A.R. that he’d heard
several gunshots, but he didn’t see anything, and he didn’t call the police. “It’s called snitching,” said Francisco, who declined to give his last name. He said he hadn’t wanted to risk getting in trouble if the shooter found out he’d been the one who called police.
Jim McClure, 69, who lives just down the block, also heard the gunfire, but he didn’t look to see what was happening. “The shots were so close, I didn’t want to take the chance of being shot at,” he said. McClure, who also didn’t call
police, said officers arrived within minutes. Some neighbors said gunfire isn’t uncommon in the area, and several people said prostitutes regularly work there.
strategist at the American Civil Liberties Union, which is part of Manning’s legal team, confirmed in a May 18 email to the Bay Area Reporter that Manning is “still considered to be on active duty in the Army until her criminal appeal is complete.” Manning’s dishonorable discharge hasn’t gone into effect. The discharge is still pending until the “Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces has either denied a petition or granted it and issued a decision,” wrote Karerat. Manning won’t be paid a salary and it’s unlikely that she’ll be called up for active duty. However, she does have to follow military policy, including being careful about speaking and writing. Being on “voluntary excess leave rather than discharged” makes her “vulnerable to new military punishment or charges if she steps out of line,” David Coombs, Manning’s
military defense counsel, told NBC News. “She wouldn’t be charged again for the same offenses, but if she committed a new crime, the military would still have jurisdiction over her,” Coombs told the outlet.
Freedom
Contact the author at heather@ heathercassell.com.
Contact the author at liz@blackrose.com.
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Community News>>
May 25-31, 2017 • Bay Area Reporter • 15
Legal Notices>> ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-17-553008 In the matter of the application of: RENEE MEDRIC BELEC, 1259 LOMBARD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner RENEE MEDRIC BELEC, is requesting that the name RENEE MEDRIC BELEC, be changed to CATHERINE RENEE ARTEMISE COATEVAL. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 29th of June 2017 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.
Seth Hemmelgarn
A memorial for Imer Eliu Alvarado was set up near where he was killed in Fresno.
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Fresno
From page 14
Maria Jimenes, 47, who primarily speaks Spanish and spoke to a reporter with the help of her sons, said there are “a lot of prostitutes” in the neighborhood, “but the police don’t do anything.” According to ABC 30, Dyer said that Alvarado appeared to be transgender, but it’s not clear why he said that. Police wouldn’t say what Alvarado had been wearing when he was shot. Fresno Superior Court records say that Alvarado was charged twice in 2008 with misdemeanor counts of engaging in prostitution. The records indicate that both charges were dismissed as the result of plea deals. In response to emailed questions, including whether there was any evidence that Alvarado had been working as a prostitute when he was shot and whether police had a description of the suspect, police homicide Lieutenant David Madrigal said that he couldn’t provide answers because “details of the case must be kept confidential for the integrity of the investigation and the sake of the victim.” Alvarado’s friend Christian Bel-
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News Brief
From page 12
35,000 gallons before renovation. Additionally, there is an Eco PopUp, a staffed triple-sorting site where park users can sort their waste into recycling, compost, and landfill.
Nonprofits can reserve window space
Area nonprofits can now apply to reserve window space for 2018 at the Castro Walgreens to promote their events. Paul Margolis, who runs www. ourtownsf.org, a reference guide to over 300 San Francisco LGBTQ nonprofits, handles the window reservations, which run for 13 days. Walgreens, at 18th and Castro streets, has donated the space since 2001. Margolis said that the displays cannot feature anything pornographic, political, or provocative. “Past experience demonstrates that displays with eye-catching artistic creativity attract the most attention of passersby,” he said in a news release. “Groups are encouraged to promote themselves and the services they offer.” Interested agencies should contact Gary Poe, the volunteer reservation
tran said he didn’t know whether Alvarado had been working as a prostitute. “He never really talked about it,” said Beltran. Asked in a Facebook exchange what Alvarado may have been doing in the area when he was shot, and whether he may have been engaged in prostitution, Rex Ella Soledad, who arranged Thursday’s memorial, said, “I don’t know ... Just don’t hurt Imer’s reputation.” A woman who lives near where Alvarado was shot said she’d been asleep at the time and woke up to police ringing her doorbell. “My heart goes out to the family,” said the woman, who declined to give her name. “Nobody should ever have to bury their child.” There still haven’t been any arrests in the July 2015 murder of K.C. Haggard, a 66-year-old trans woman who died after being stabbed on a Fresno street. “The Haggard case is still under investigation, but I’m not ready to discuss details,” Fresno police Lieutenant David Madrigal said in an email this week. t Contact the author at s.hemmelgarn@ebar.com.
agent, who begins June 1, at window@ourtownsf.org. Include the dates of major 2018 events or fill out the form under http://ourtownsf. org/contact .
BALIF fellow to clerk at NCLR
The Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom Foundation has announced its first $2,500 summer fellowship. Ary Smith, a first year student at Berkeley Law who identifies as genderqueer, received the fellowship and will clerk full-time for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, according to Shay Gilmore, a member of the BALIF Foundation board. During college, Smith was a leader in the Transgender Advocacy Group, and after graduating, published an essay on non-binary identity. At Berkeley Law, Smith has been an active member of the Queer Caucus and is the recent development and community editor of the Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law, and Justice. Smith established the name and gender document change workshop at the East Bay Community Law Center, assisting gender non-conforming people in obtaining court-ordered name and gender changes.t Contact the author at c.laird@ ebar.com.
MAY 04, 11, 18, 25, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037573400
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: POREA COMMUNICATION DESIGN & POCO DESIGN, 290 SAN JOSE AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed BRIAN POREA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/02/2017. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/26/2017.
MAY 04, 11, 18, 25, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037571300
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: GLITZ HAIR SALON, 2387 OCEAN AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SYLVIA P. THORNE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/10/97. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/25/17.
MAY 04, 11, 18, 25, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037569400
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TWENTY 89 HAIR DESIGN, 2089 HAYES ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed RAYMOND WOO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/24/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/24/17.
MAY 04, 11, 18, 25, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037560400
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NOAH MOVING, 68 PASADENA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed PENGFEI DONG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/17/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/17/17.
MAY 04, 11, 18, 25, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037554200
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CHEZ NOUS CAFE, 1145 MARKET ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed CHEZ NOUS INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/12/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/12/17.
MAY 04, 11, 18, 25, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037560700
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TOP ROUND ROAST BEEF, 2962 24TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed WORK HARD 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 04/17/17.
MAY 04, 11, 18, 25, 2017 SUMMONS (FAMILY LAW) SUPERIOR COURT, VENTURA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA NOTICE TO RESPONDENT: JENNIFER IVEY, YOU HAVE BEEN SUED. PETITIONER’S NAME IS TIMOTHY CENICEROS CASE NO. D369912 You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this Summons and Petition are served on you to file a Response (form FL-120 or FL-123) at the court and have a copy served on the petitioner. A letter or phone call will not protect you. If you do not file your Response on time, the court may make orders affecting your marriage or domestic partnerships, your property, and custody of your children. You may be ordered to pay support and attorney fees and costs. For legal advice, contact a lawyer immediately. Get help finding a lawyer at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courts.ca.gov/ selfhelp), at the California Legal Services website (www.lawhelpca.org) , or by contacting your local county bar association. NOTICE-RESTRAINING ORDERS ARE ON PAGE 2: These restraining orders are effective against both spouses or domestic partners until the petition is dismissed, a judgment is entered, or the court makes further orders. They are enforceable anywhere in California by any law enforcement officer who has received or seen a copy of them. FEE WAIVER: If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the clerk for a fee waiver form. The court may order you to pay back all or part of the fees and costs that the court waived for you or the other party. Clerk of the Superior Court by J. LUNA, Deputy. STANDARD FAMILY LAW RESTRAINING ORDERS: Starting immediately, you and your spouse or domestic partner are restrained from: 1. Removing the minor child or children of the parties, if any, from the state or applying for a new or replacement passport for those minor
children without the prior written consent of the other party or an order of the court; 2. Cashing borrowing against, canceling, transferring, disposing of, or changing the beneficiaries of any insurance or other coverage, including life, health, automobile, and disability, held for the benefit of the parties and their minor children; 3. Transferring, encumbering, hypothecating, concealing, or in any way disposing of any property, real or personal, whether community, quasi-community, or separate, without the written consent of the other party or an order of the court, except in the usual course of business or for the necessities of life; and 4. Creating a nonprobate transfer or modifying a nonprobate transfer in the manner that affects the disposition of property subject to the transfer, without the written consent of the other party or an order of the court. Before revocation of a nonprobate transfer can take effect or a right of survivorship to property can be eliminated, notice of the change must be filed and served on the other party. You must notify each other of any proposed extraordinary expenditures at least five business days prior to incurring these extraordinary expenditures and account to the court for all extraordinary expenditures made after these restraining orders are effective. However, you may use community property, quasi-community property, or your own separate property to pay an attorney to help you or to pay court costs. NOTICE - ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE HEALTH INSURANCE: Do you or someone in your household need affordable health insurance? If so, you should apply for Covered California. Covered California can help reduce the cost you pay towards high quality affordable health care. For more information, visit www.coveredca.com. Or call Covered California at 1-800-300-1506. WARNING – IMPORTANT INFORMATION California law provides that, for purposes of division of property upon dissolution of a marriage or domestic partnership or upon legal separation, property acquired by the parties during marriage or domestic partnership in joint form is presumed to be community property. If either party to this action should die before the jointly held community property is divided, the language in the deed that characterizes how title is held (ie: joint tenancy, tenants in common, or community property) will be controlling and not the community property presumption. You should consult your attorney if you want the community property presumption to be written into the recorded title to the property. The name and address of the court are SUPERIOR COURT, 800 S. VICTORIA AVENUE, VENTURA, CA 93009; The name and address of the petitioner’s attorney, or the petitioner without an attorney are: TIMOTHY CENICEROS, 257 N. LOMITA, OJAI, CA 93023, 213-304-0862
MAY 11, 18, 25, JUNE 01, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037582000
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ROOTS & BLOOMS, 1177 CALIFORNIA ST #1502, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed BRITTNEY KERRIGAN. 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 05/03/17.
MAY 11, 18, 25, JUNE 01, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037583100
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TRANSFORMA THERAPY, 842 CALIFORNIA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ORLANDO ZUNIGA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/01/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/04/17.
MAY 11, 18, 25, JUN 01, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037588300
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MAYDAY HAULING, 316 HAIGHT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DAVID DENSON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/22/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/05/17.
MAY 11, 18, 25, JUN 01, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037558500
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: TE’SHELIMA, 121 9TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SARAH KIDANE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/14/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/14/17.
MAY 11, 18, 25, JUN 01, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037578500
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: NUG MEDICAL CANNABIS DISPENSARY, 1190 BRYANT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BI MZ1, INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/28/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/01/17.
MAY 11, 18, 25, JUN 01, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037568100
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HIGHER GRADE, 518 BRANNAN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed HGV GROUP, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/21/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/21/17.
MAY 11, 18, 25, JUN 01, 2017
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037565700
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: YELLOW CAB OF SAN FRANCISCO, 2060 NEWCOMB AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BIG DOG CITY CORPORATION (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/20/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/20/17.
MAY 11, 18, 25, JUN 01, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037574200
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HURLEY HOTEL, 201 LEAVENWORTH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed HURLEY HOTEL LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/13/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/27/17.
MAY 11, 18, 25, JUN 01, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037593500
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: PROGRESSIVE PALATES, 17 SAN ANDREAS WAY, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed NICOLE COOPER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/10/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/10/17.
MAY 18, 25, JUN 01, 08, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037577400
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE CONFIDENT SPEAKER, 1740 BROADWAY #305, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed RICHARD R. BANNIN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/28/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/28/17.
MAY 18, 25, JUN 01, 08, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037597200
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: ESQUIRED LEGAL SEARCH, 2443 FILLMORE ST #3804769, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed EMMA RAIMI-ZLATIC. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/11/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/12/17.
MAY 18, 25, JUN 01, 08, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037594100
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: LALLY EVENTS, 3018 BAKER ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LALLY CLARK. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/01/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/11/17.
MAY 18, 25, JUN 01, 08, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037590600
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HAIR BY ANTHONY SF, 1504 CHURCH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131. This business is conducted by an individual and is signed ANTHONY SENADOS CUEVAS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/01/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/09/17.
MAY 18, 25, JUN 01, 08, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037581500
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: POP UPS UNLIMITED, 1214 POLK ST #315, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DERRIK SOARES. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/02/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/03/17.
MAY 18, 25, JUN 01, 08, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037567600
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: QUIETROCK VIDEO PRODUCTION, 2045 ASCOT DR #A, MORAGA, CA 94556. This business is conducted by a married couple, and is signed VALERIIA KHARLAMOVA & ALEKSEI KHARLAMOVA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/21/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/21/17.
MAY 18, 25, JUN 01, 08, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037591000
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: RAB MOTORS, 1307 EVANS ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by a joint venture, and is signed RAMONA L. ADDISON & CANDICE M. WILLIAMS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/01/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/09/17.
MAY 18, 25, JUN 01, 08, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037596500
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HOTEL ZOE, 425 NORTH POINT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed CREEDENCE LESSEE 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 05/12/17.
MAY 18, 25, JUN 01, 08, 2017
<< Classiffieds
16 • Bay Area Reporter • May 25-31, 2017
Classifieds>> ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-17-553055
In the matter of the application of: ANTHONY O’NEAL LEWIS, 1180 HOWARD ST #510, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner ANTHONY O’NEAL LEWIS, is requesting that the name TRINAROSE SOJOURNER TRUTH LEWIS AKA TRINAROSE LEWIS AKA TRINA LEWIS AKA TRINAROSE S. LEWIS, be changed to TRINA ROSE LEWIS. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 514, Room 514 on the 25th of July 2017 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.
MAY 25, JUNE 01, 08, 15, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037604900
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MR INVITE, 828 TAYLOR ST #22, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed BRIAN HICKEY. 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 05/19/17.
MAY 25, JUNE 01, 08, 15, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037580500
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: MILE HAWAIIAN BBQ, 91 6TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed BRIAN ZHAO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/02/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/02/17.
MAY 25, JUN 01, 08, 15, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037600000
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: WENDY HEFFNER LMFT, 2282 UNION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed WENDY HEFFNER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/17/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/17/17.
MAY 25, JUN 01, 08, 15, 2017
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037598300
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: DOMAINPROPICKS, 268 BUSH ST #2511, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94104. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ALBERT CLARK. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/08/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/15/17.
MAY 25, JUN 01, 08, 15, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037604300
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: THE UNDERGROUND SMOKE SHOP & GIFT, 875B O’FARRELL ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109.This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ADNAN S. RAMAHI.The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/29/12.The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/19/17.
MAY 25, JUN 01, 08, 15, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037603900
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: YMSF, 1905 PACIFIC AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed TIERSA NUREYEV & YVONNE MOUSER. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/15/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/19/17.
MAY 25, JUN 01, 08, 15, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037595600
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: COMMUNITY, A WALGREENS PHARMACY #15296, 2262 MARKET ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed WALGREEN CO. (IL). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/23/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/11/17.
MAY 25, JUN 01, 08, 15, 2017 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-037602600
The following person(s) is/are doing business as: INTOACTIONS LLC, 1850 PAGE ST #2, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed INTOACTIONS LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/01/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/18/17.
MAY 25, JUN 01, 08, 15, 2017
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21
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Eddy's out
Out &About
So Sordid
20
O&A
18
Vol. 47 • No. 21 • May 25-31, 2017 www.ebar.com/arts
Naturally absurd by Richard Dodds
W
hen it comes to genres – well, it’s best to forget genres when talking about the plays of Jen Silverman. “Collective Rage: A Play in Five Boops” is populated with five wildly different variants on Betty Boop on a collision course with the contemporary world. “The Moors” starts out like a gothic potboiler, at least until a newly hired governess finds herself in a topsy-turvy Bronte world of women. And the kitchen-table setting of “The Roommate” is, in Silverman’s description, “like naturalism on speed.” See page 19 >>
Courtesy of Johansson Projects and the artist
Playwright Jen Silverman describes her play “The Roommate” as being “like naturalism on speed.” San Francisco Playhouse is giving the emerging queer playwright her first Bay Area production with the play about mismatched middle-aged roommates.
New Century Chamber Orchestra bid adieu to Music Director Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg.
Farewell to Nadja by Philip Campbell
N
ew Century Chamber Orchestra turned silver last week with a three-concert 25th Anniversary Festival, celebrating an amazing Bay Area legacy of quality performances, adventurous programming and enthusiastic public support. It also marked a bittersweet farewell to Music Director Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, making her final appearances after nine seasons enjoying (in her words) “a marriage that works.” See page 25 >>
May gallery walk “Cheer Pile with Preppy Boys” (2017) by Jennie Ottinger.
by Sura Wood
M
ay is the gateway to summer, and the following shows at galleries in San Francisco and Oakland are a harbinger of the footloose season to come. See page 26 >>
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<< Out There
18 • Bay Area Reporter • May 25-31, 2017
Best Wedding Photographer as voted by BAR readers
Venus de Market St. by Roberto Friedman
I
t will probably come as no surprise that Out There has definite opinions about public art. It’s about more than what we “like” or “don’t like.” It’s about we need art in the public sphere so it’s not just for the wealthy collector or museum. So there we were last week at the grand opening celebration of the newly christened Piazza Angelo at Trinity Place, sizing up the 92-foot stainless steel sculpture Venus by Denver-based artist Lawrence Argent. It’s the centerpiece of the so-called piazza tucked away off WINNER Best Wedding the city streets. Photographer Best Wedding Photographer as voted by BAR readers The Italian term is another name for the one-acre courtyard enclosed by the three, soon-to-be four giant 415 buildings towering at 8th & Mis370 sion Streets, a housing and office complex designed by the late Bay 7152 WEDDINGS, HEADSHOTS, PORTRAITS Area landlord Angelo Sangiacomo stevenunderhill.com · stevenunderhillphotos@gmail.com that presents itself as a set of giant 2print-BBB_BAR_051117.pdf 1 4/24/17 9:14 AM building blocks for the Mid-Market scene. To Sangiacomo’s posthumous Steven_2x5.indd 1 5/18/17 10:25 AM credit (he died before the project’s completion, at 91), the plaza is an inviting new space, and will be open to the public every day from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The new San Francisco “Venus” is truly a spectacular work of art, nearly the size of that eternal symbol the Statue of Liberty. It portends to be a popular new San Francisco landmark, albeit somewhat hidden in the mid-city block. Its form of course alludes to the
Steven Underhill
PHOTOGRAPHY
famous Venus de Milo ensconced in the Louvre, but its giant, whirling, reflective surfaces fluctuate between figurative and abstract, depending upon your vantage point. It absolutely vivifies the space, and it’s also reportedly pigeon-proof, the birds said to be scared off by their own reflections. Venus herself is merely the focal point of a small collection of public art installed in the piazza, including a 25-foot-long marble table, suitable we guess for lunching. At the grand opening for Piazza Angelo last week, with umbrellas unfurled against the blazing sun, a gathering of civic leaders cheered Sangiacomo’s vision with widow Yvonne and the whole boisterous Sangiacomo clan in attendance. A leader from the Miami-based Arquitectonica firm that designed the complex pointed out that the giant buildings serve to define an interior space, to “create an urban room.” Sculptor Argent talked about his inspiration and gave a shout-out to the hundreds of artisans and mechanics who made the shining steel behemoth possible. For a grand finale, beloved crooner Frankie Avalon sang his signature tune “Venus,” as well as that #1 hit on the Billboard charts of 1959 “You’re Nobody til Somebody Loves You.” Public art is also nothing until somebody loves it, but this new “Venus” seems destined to be the focal point of innumerable shiny
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Courtesy Trinity Place
The 92-foot stainless steel sculpture “Venus” by artist Lawrence Argent, sited in Trinity Place.
steel selfies. It joins such other successful San Francisco public artworks as Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen’s monumental “Cupid’s Span” on the waterfront, Henry Moore’s bronze “Large Four Piece Reclining Figure” in front of Davies Symphony Hall, and that crazy 70s hit the Vaillancourt Fountain in Justin Herman Plaza. Ha ha ha, just pulling your leg about that last one.t
Messing with Texas
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Lois Tema
Scott Cox (center), as the institutionalized Tammy Wynette impersonator Brother Boy, comes between his therapist (Melissa O’Keefe) and his rescuer (Robin Gabrielli) in NCTC’s production of “Sordid Lives.”
by Richard Dodds
I
t probably only seems like every gay man outside of North Korea has seen “Sordid Lives,” the kind of movie that first found its audience through friend-to-friend word of mouth. To finally see the play that begat the movie is a surprising combination of discovery and familiarity. Outside of some scenes added to open up the play, playwright Del Shores pretty much kept preserved all of the original script for the screenplay. The key difference is in how the material was rearranged for the screen, and to now experience the original formulation elicits a noticeably different emotional response: more serious at times, but without any loss of humor. “Sordid Lives,” the play, had its debut in 1996, but is only now receiving its San Francisco premiere at New Conservatory Theatre Center. A packed opening-night audience, with many primed to revisit material fondly remembered, may have been taken short by the abrupt shifts in tones, but it paid off with perhaps a newfound respect beyond the merry memories of the movie. Director Dennis Lickteig has wisely not upset our memories of the original performances, with the current
cast honoring the screen progenitors while bringing their own touches to the roles. The setting is a dusty Texas burg where everyone knows your name – and your business. A funeral that touches many residents in different ways must be planned while the circumstances of the deceased’s demise roils the town in anger, sorrow, gossip, revenge, and drag. The play is structured in four “chapters” in different locales, given their own full sets in Kuo-Hao Lo’s scenic design. While the movie intercuts among these chapters, they gather different emotional energies when played straight through. Each of the chapters starts with an appealing Luke Brady as Ty, a young actor in a New York therapist’s office, providing his own backstory of growing up gay in a Southern Baptist environment, and his revulsion at the notion of having to “butch it up” to attend his grandmother’s funeral back in Texas. Chapter One is a scene of deliciously comic exposition, as Sissy must deal with a stream of visitors while trying to get the house ready for a post-funeral reception for sister Peggy. Outside of a character we are to meet later, perhaps the most affectionately remembered performance from the movie was Beth
Grant as the saintly Sissy, given to popping Valiums, muttering “shit” between words of consolation, and snapping with increasing frequency a rubber band on her wrist to keep her from smoking a cigarette. In an author’s note in the script, Shores writes, “These people are real. Don’t play them as cartoons, please!” As Sissy, Michaela Greeley takes to heart the author’s note and draws big laughs by finding that sweet spot between where a performance finds the comedy in honest connection with the character. There are varying degrees of this quality in the performances of the various women who come a-callin’. Sissy’s not-much-younger niece Latrelle, daughter of the deceased, is all uptight propriety, saddened by her mother’s death but mortified by the compromising circumstances of her motel room fatality. Marie O’Donnell humorously captures the character’s keeping-up-appearances personality while also taking us into her heartache as the mother in denial of a gay son. Catherine Luedtke provides rich comic contrast as LaVonda, Latrelle’s more worldly if somewhat blowsy younger sister, who rankles her sibling with her live-and-let-live outlook. And Shannon Kate is a sobbing mess with a big appetite as the cheated-on Noletta, who comes outs gun-ablazin’ later in the play. For the second chapter, we move to Bubba’s Bar and a high-dosage testosterone as three regulars talk about manly things as various regrets come to the forefront. GW (Gary Giurbino) is filled with regret as a party to Peggy’s accidental death, barkeep Wardell (Robin Gabrielli) reveals his regret at a long-ago gay bashing with continuing ramifications, while his nitwit brother Odell (Nathan Tylutki) can’t shake visions of a pig’s death at a county fair. The dynamics are upended as LaVonda and GW’s aggrieved wife Noleta arSee page 19 >>
t <<
Theatre>>
The Roommate
From page 17
Silverman has been carrying the emerging-playwright label for several years, but “The Roommate” is providing her breakout moment. Since its heralded premiere at Louisville’s Humana Festival in 2015, it’s found its way to multiple regional theaters and is also the play that is now providing her introduction to Bay Area audiences at San Francisco Playhouse. “Part of my experiment with ‘The Roommate’ was to offer the audience an accessible invitation, and then once they accept that invitation to go into increasingly complicated waters,” Silverman said recently by phone. “I’m really drawn to characters who are transforming, who are in search of something a little bit out of reach. and are in a moment in their lives where something has to change.” The accessible setup finds an empty nester and recent divorcee renting a room to another middleaged woman to fill the emptiness of her spacious home. “Iowa, it specializes in corn – and space,” happy-homemaker Sharon tells the elusive Robyn, who has recently moved from New York and a past she is disinclined to share. While Sharon makes casseroles and belongs to a book club, Robyn is a pot-smoking vegan who calls herself a slam poet. “Because Robyn mentions that she was married, Sharon assumes that she left her husband, and Robyn corrects the assumption by saying, ‘No, I loved him and then it didn’t work out, and also I’m gay.’ Part of the discussion is how often language really doesn’t describe the truth of something,” Silverman said. “If you were to ask me her identity, I would say she is queer, but that’s not a word she uses.” “Queer” is a word Silverman uses to describe herself. “I’m currently in a long-term relationship with a cisgendered man, but many of my partners have been female or have been non-binary. Language is a tricky thing when it comes to identity. Part of what I like about ‘queer’ is its fluidity and malleability.” And many of her plays focus on queer and female characters who are more complicated than often found on stage. If you’re looking for complicated, check out the subtitle for the Betty Boop play “Collective Rage”: “In Essence a Queer and Occasionally Hazardous Exploration; Do You Remember When You Were in High School and Read about Shackleton and How he Explored the Arctic?; Imagine the Arctic as a Pussy
<<
Sordid Lives
From page 18
rive drunk, armed, and dressed like Thelma and Louise to symbolically emasculate the men. ∆20LaVonda mainly has Wardell in her sites for his role 20 years ago bashing LaVonda’s brother for being gay, which resulted in her brother being institutionalized. There’s some serious stuff going amid the comedy, with Gabrielli performance as Wardell bravely going into some dark places. And at last we arrive at the chapter that stars the movie’s most memorable character, Brother Boy, a role that Leslie Jordan made indelibly his own. A gay transvestite with an obsession for Tammy Wynette, Brother Boy is in an experimental de-homosexualization treatment with a half-mad therapist (Melissa O’Keefe) trying out her masturbation therapy on the
May 25-31, 2017 • Bay Area Reporter • 19
and It’s Sort of Like That.” But if you’re looking for a comingout play, move along, there’s nothing to see here. “I’ve seen so many plays where the entire vehicle is for the character to come out,” she said. “Self-loathing and blah-blah-blah, and I feel culturally we’re past that moment. I’m interested in characters that are doing what they’re doing in a story not necessarily structured around their queerness, but that is responding to their queerness.” Heterosexual males may seem to be the odd men out in Silverman’s cast of characters, but she disagrees. “I have written plays in which cisgendered male characters are as complicated and surprising as the queer and female characters, but what’s interesting is that when I do write about straight cis-gendered men, they’re just called plays, but when I write about women and queer characters, it becomes a queer feminist play.” Silverman experienced a lot of geographical fluidity growing up, as her family hopped around the world for her father’s work as a physicist. “To me as a kid, it just felt normal,” she said. “After the fact, of course, I see it as highly formative. When you’re growing up like that, the first thing you learn is not that everybody is the same, but everybody’s differences are interesting rather than threatening.” Her parents have been supportive, she said, of her explorations through sexual identity. “They’re also very honest when they don’t understand something,” Silverman said. “They’re scientists so they don’t have a lot of bias; they have questions. They were as happy to meet my girlfriends as my boyfriends, and when they met people with different pronouns, they needed that explained, but then they were very respectful about it.” Silverman has yet to write a transparently autobiographical play, but she doesn’t rule it out. “Right now, I locate myself within the characters even if the world they are in is a little bit askew,” she said. “Some people have called my work ‘absurdism,’ but I wouldn’t call it that because the characters have complicated, realistic inner lives. And I think we can all acknowledge that the world we’re living in now is what one might call an absurdist world, and yet it’s still real. So I think those boundaries are very fuzzy.”t “The Roommate” will run at San Francisco Playhouse through July 1. Call (415) 6779596 or go sfplayhouse.org.
highly resistant Brother Boy. Scott Cox seemed an unlikely choice to be playing Brother Boy. Cox started his career at NCTC playing sexy young things, but he has graduated nicely into this wildly drawn character role. He is clearly pulling from Jordan’s inflections, but he does so with aplomb. An engaging and slightly subversive Amy Meyers periodically turns up as an ex-con country singer to sing a country tune, gospel hymn, or the delightful title song that reminds us life’s a bitch but often unnecessarily judgmental. “The Lord’s too busy tryin’ to keep the world on its feet. He ain’t got time to give a shit bout what goes on between the sheets.”t “Sordid Lives” will run at New Conservatory Theatre Center through June 11. Tickets are $25-$50. Call (415) 861-8972 or go to nctcsf.org.
On the web
This week, find arts writer David-Elijah Nahmod’s review of Lifetime’s new biopic “Michael Jackson: Searching for Neverland” online at ebar.com.
<< Theatre
20 • Bay Area Reporter • May 25-31, 2017
CHANTICLEER
Stormy weather
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AN ORCHESTRA OF VOICES PRESENTS
Psalm Transcendent prayers of thanksgiving and consolation, psalms of happiness and paeans of praise with choral works by Dufay, Poulenc, Weelkes Victoria, Palestrina and a world premiere by Pulitzer Prize winner John Harbison.
June 3 - 11
Kevin Berne
Berkeley, Belvedere, Sacramento, San Francisco and Santa Clara
Newlyweds played by Kuhoo Verma and Michael Maliakel are dancing in the rain in a new musical based on the movie “Monsoon Wedding” having its world premiere at Berkeley Rep.
by Richard Dodds
T TICKETS AVAILABLE City Box Office: 415-392-4400 CHANTICLEER.ORG
he leading players of the romantic subplot in “Monsoon Wedding” get the final bows, and that’s appropriate for the interest they generate, but not quite right in terms of what should be stoking our involvement in the new musical based on the 2001 movie. The subjects of the titular wedding don’t generate much heat as a couple, a problem that evolves from both script and casting issues. Even so, while their arranged nuptials drives the plot, this is a big fat Indian wedding so
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itchen K y Ga S k in
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DR. TIMOTHY SEELIG, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
BIG, BUBBLIE WET, SOAPY DISH LIQUID
Special gu ests With
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Nourse Theater
Friday, June 16th - 8PM Saturday, June 17th - 2:30 + 8PM
TICKETS: SFGMC.ORG or (415) 392-4400
filled with relatives gathering for the union of families that the program has a flowchart to help sort out the characters. A weak truss, even in such a seemingly pivotal position, is not something that will topple this merry muddle of a musical. Celebrated Indian American film director Mira Nair, whose other credits include “Salaam Bombay!” and “Mississippi Masala,” began thinking about turning “Monsoon Wedding” into a stage musical not long after the film became a box-office hit. It was even announced that a Broadway run would commence in 2014, but it is only now coming to life at Berkeley Rep in one of the most massive productions in its history. It is certainly a spectacle, at least often enough, with Bollywood sensibilities combining with an array of Broadway conventions. Unfortunately, Sabrina Dhawan, in streamlining her screenplay for the stage, has sanded away the grittier aspects of New Delhi society and added easy-laugh cliches about both India and America. The groom and his family moved to America years ago, and are Westernized enough to feel superior to the customs and amenities back in the old world. And yet not so much that the notion of an arranged marriage isn’t appealing not only to his parents, but to the prospective groom himself. The bride’s family is sufficiently modernized not to force a marriage on Aditi; she’s willing to buy into the plan as an escape from a hopeless relationship with a slick television personality with a wife at home. There is a recurring parallel love story between the fast-talking low-budget wedding planner and the family maid, with class distinctions between the help and their employers moderated from the movie, and theirs is the relationship that creates the most sparks. Indian composer Vishal Bhardwaj and Broadway lyricist Susan Birkenhead have crafted a score that mixes both conventional musical theater sounds with percussive Indian numbers, with the two often overlapping. Not all of the moments that get a song necessarily need one, and a couple of the more powerful ballads don’t reach full potential because of undercooked endings. But overall, the music is an enjoyable part of the proceedings, abetted by a seven-piece band with an ability to deal with multiple musical styles. With several exceptions, with some of the deficiencies accelerated by how the characters are drawn,
the cast is able to sell the material. Though his singing voice strays offkey, Jaaved Jaaferi is a compelling presence as the overwrought father of the bride, with Mahira Kakkar bringing nattering warmth to his wife. For some reason, a feisty granny-type has been cast with a young actress (Palomi Ghosh) in unconvincing wig and makeup, killing much of what should be surefire humor in her dialogue and big song. Sharvari Deshpande brings convincing intensity in the role of the bride’s cousin with a dark family secret that is eventually revealed, and Rohan Gupta provides lively comic relief as the obviously gay but-not-quite-out son. Andrew Prashad doesn’t make much of an impression as the groom’s father, but Krystal Kiran as his mother doesn’t plump up a thinly drawn character of someone who has become an ugly American. And then there are the lovers, albeit with passions that must be laboriously achieved. Kuhoo Verma as the conflicted bride-to-be is both attractive and appealing, but Michael Maliakel has the visage of a beanpole and the delivery of a stick, but with a strong singing voice that provides partial compensation. Perhaps the most magnetic performance is provided by Anisha Nagarajan as the family’s overworked and underappreciated maid, who suddenly becomes a goddess in the eyes of the upwardly mobile but comically unreliable wedding planner given dimension by Namit Das. Nair’s direction, which often becomes one with Lorin Latarro’s choreography, delves into numerous stylistic territories that can be capriciously employed. But their unpredictability is itself a diversion, as reality gives way to stylized fantasies that have no relationship to anything else that has happened in the production. Big-league Broadway producer Margo Lion has been shepherding “Monsoon Wedding,” and Berkeley Rep took up her offer to give the new musical a first spin. Its desired ultimate destination is obvious, and the current production may provide the clues to achieving that goal. Many of the pieces are already there, and the work is now in getting them better to fit together.t “Monsoon Wedding” will run at Berkeley Rep through July 2. Tickets are $40-$125. Call (510) 647-2949 or go to berkeleyrep.org.
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Books>>
May 25-31, 2017 • Bay Area Reporter • 21
Brutality of bullying in the village by Tim Pfaff
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he problem with “The End of Eddy” is the beginning of “The End of Eddy” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). It has one of those portentous opening sentences – “From my childhood I have no happy memories.” – that you can try if you’re Tolstoy beginning “Anna Karenina” or Austen “Pride and Prejudice,” but usually get misremembered. Such as you, the unsuspecting reader, are in fact a stranger, and the book another stranger who sits down next to you on the train, it’s not a line that’s a conversation-starter.
There’s a chance that author Edouard Louis doesn’t like it either, because he backs off in the following sentence, by which time you’re definitely holding up your book, high, as he begins philosophizing. It’s regrettable that Louis, in his debut novel, is stood up by his editor like Eddy is by pretty much everyone who should have nurtured him. His far better second paragraph begins with a superb sentence, “Two boys appeared in the hallway,
the first tall with red hair, France’s second-favorite and the second short with a drink. Second-favorite is hunchback.” (This is, after the most anyone dares asall, a French novel, newly pire to here, the characters translated into English by in the hood as unsavory Michael Lucey.) It lights the and uncreative in their fuse on the gripping story ways of killing time, and you can piece together from the imagined love interwhat follows. I say piece ests at art college are cold. together because, while the The most anyone hopes narrative is linear, to a vexfor is “a little life.” ing degree this already short Neither Eddy nor his novel reads like Post-its creator is spared the yearning to stick to actual rampant, lacerating, compaper, sections dropped into munal self-pity, or the inchapters like recitatives and cessant self-perpetuating, arias driving a dramatically self-defeating rumination lurching opera. on it. Lapsed time and For those waking up from intellectual fashion alone a Rip Van Winkle cryonic have spared Louis the nap, our protagonist is bulphilosophical dilations lied, pretty much constantly, of Foucault and the sofor his effeminacy and what lipicism of Lacan, which it represents, and it fucks him would ruin this already up. More acutely, he sees that separated sauce. he has a part in it, and that it’s Where Louis finds his John Foley Opale Leemage more complicated than that voice – where he adds some part of him enjoys it, “The End of Eddy” author Edouard Louis. something to the already needs it, even plans it. He is, vast literature of homoif not unashamed, fully comphobic bullying – is in the salvaged TVs in every room play plicit. Yet you like him. his straightforward depicon undisturbed. It’s not that I don’t get Eddy, who tions of the brutality, its physical One hopes that this is a book that comes from a village (his in northimmediacy and its emotional afsaves lives by falling into the hands ern France and far bigger than mine tershocks. The blows and kicks the of younger readers who respond, in rural America was, but a village You too? That said, Eddy is not the nonetheless) where being gay is poster boy for It Gets Better. a matter raised only in slurs and Like Caesar’s Gaul, Eddy’s France where he un-athletically walks the is divided into three parts: home, balance beam between being seen hood and homohood (the last in as someone special, somehow better an art college in Amiens, not Paris), than his more uncouth fellow citiand they’re equally, if differently zens – and the more deplorable for horrors. The home is such a leaky it, putting on all the wrong airs. His wreck that Eddy’s upper bunk, basically loving parents are so overimprobably, crashes down onto his whelmed by their own self-loathing sister’s, repeatedly, and what does and revulsion at each other that they not reek of Gaulois reeks of pastis, swing like wrecking balls between a cheap, sweet booze known as accepting and rejecting him. Only
pair of thugs inflicts, “wrinkling” and “ageing” Eddy’s face, pale next to their foul, clinically described spittle, mostly running down his face but memorably landed on his jacket, from which he is forced to eat it. Their nonchalance toward him when, older, he encounters them is perplexing, if less so than the fact that Eddy’s routine pommeling at their hands earlier leaves no visible traces, even to the eagle eye of a father who immediately spots the yellow-purple circle around his daughter’s slugged eye. Still, I’ve yet to read anywhere a better account of the actual deeds of “out in the shed” group boy-sex, the trauma of its in-flagrante discovery by Eddy’s mother, and the cruelty of the two “straight” tops snitching on their paired buttboys in public – at school! – with shame sticking only to the bottoms. “Logically speaking [one of the tops] should have been called a faggot too,” Louis writes, stepping back out of the frame to interpret. “But the crime was not having done something, it was being something. And, especially, looking like one of them.” Those sentences have not left my mind since I read them, so perhaps they’re true.t
Pill-popping protection by Brian Bromberger
The PrEP Diaries: A Safe(r) Sex Memoir by Evan J. Peterson; Lethe Press, $18.
“I
love PrEP. I love it, love it, love it. It allows me to go into each new dating or sexual situation with absolutely no fears about HIV. I grew up terrified of AIDS. I grew up afraid that I’d get it from love, from rape, from a hasty blowjob between strangers. I grew into manhood terrified of AIDS. Now that I’m in my 30s and PrEP is real and pozundetectable status is real, I’m giddy to have all the friendly, informed, affectionate sex I missed out on as a younger man.” Evan Peterson’s new memoir reads like a born-again Christian’s testimony, only it isn’t the divine presence that has changed his life but Truvada. Known as PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis), since 2012 this drug in the form of a daily pill has been prescribed to prevent HIV infection in HIV-negative people, developed by the Bay Area pharmaceutical company Gilead. Peterson’s stories, mostly his but from a few others interviewed, show
how taking PrEP has been a source of sexual liberation. He was meeting sexy, intelligent poz guys, and the drug enabled him safely to date them. With all the zealousness of a new convert, Peterson aims to spread the gospel of Truvada, believing that we have an effective medicine to prevent HIV transmission. Out of 1,000s of people using the drug, there have been only two reported cases of people contracting HIV, rendering it 99.99% effective, a better statistic than birth control pills. The chief objection about PrEP has been its branding as the Slut Pill (or its users as Truvada Whores), that it invites promiscuity. Peterson observes this sex-shaming has been directed at gays by other gays. “I’ve seen countless gay men direct vicious verbal attacks at one another for wanting to enjoy condomless sex without a risk of HIV.” He points out that PrEP is also “for the health, peace of mind, and pleasure of HIV+ people (often marginalized in this discussion), dissolving much of the stigma and undoing three decades of fear, shame, and rejection.” Peterson is rightfully concerned that young queer men, because they haven’t experienced their friends dying of the disease, ignore AIDS and the possibility of seroconverting. For him, talking about PrEP “can be a great way to build a connection with someone. It’s personal enough to create some trust and disclosure, it’s a hot current topic that’s relevant to most gay guys, and since it leads directly into questions about safer sex practices, talking about it can be a form of verbal foreplay.” Peterson answers objections people might have about taking PrEP, but there are two caveats he doesn’t address. First are the longterm effects of taking a drug for an
illness one doesn’t have, potentially a lifetime of chemotherapy. We now know that HIV+ people taking the protease cocktail are aging faster and contract chronic conditions such as heart disease and cancer at least a decade earlier. Truvada hasn’t been around long enough to know how it will impact those who take it. Most doctors think the risk is low, but it still is an unknown variable, and Peterson should have alluded to that possibility. He does mention that people can go off the drug for long periods (i.e., if they are in a monogamous relationship with a negative partner), then resume usage later. Secondly, we learn everything about Peterson’s sex life, especially his fear of bottoming, so whenever he engages in anal sex, even as a top, he uses condoms. So there is very little discussion about condomless sex, certainly a concern of many PrEP users. Peterson is candid and witty, though there is a great deal of redundancy in the details. Still, this friendly-user manual about PrEP is much needed. Peterson is particularly effective in exposing the culture of judgment in the gay community about each other’s sexual decisions (and the critique of rampant promiscuity), a shaming that can prevent guys from talking with their doctors about starting on PrEP or even taking an HIV test for fear of facing the results. Peterson also makes an excellent point that while PrEP does not stop STDs, and STDs might be on the rise among PrEP users, people on PrEP are being tested for STDs more often. He also rightfully indicts physicians, nurses, and pharmacists for not being more familiar with PrEP. While hardly the final word on the pros and cons of PrEP, we can commend Peterson for his honesty and vulnerability in advancing the discussion.t
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S U P P O R T P R OV I D E D B Y : I T V S , C P B , P B S , T H E J O H N D .S AU N DP C AT PH O E RR I NT E T.P MR ACO A RV T HI UD R FE OU D N DAT B IY ON :, I T V S , C P B , P B S , T H E J O H N W Y N C O T E F O U N DAT I O N , A N D T H E N AT I O N A L E N D O W M E N T F O R T H W E AY R TN S . C O T E F O U N D AT I O N , A N D T H E N A
<< Out&About
22 • Bay Area Reporter • May 25-31, 2017
Twins @ Pianofight
Out &About
O&A
World premiere of Stuart Bousel’s darkly comic docudrama that combines Greek mythology with modern violence that often targets youth. $20-$40. Thu-Sat 7:30pm. Thru June 10. 144 Taylor St. www.pianofight.com
Fri 26 Altar Boyz @ Center Repertory, Walnut Creek
Thu 25 Gautam Tejas Ganeshan at the SF Int’l Arts Festival @ Fort Mason
Bloom by Jim Provenzano
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he arts in summer (June 1 is summerish enough for us) bloom in abundance. For nightlife events, see On the Tab listings.
Edited for space. Full listings at www.ebar.com
Thu 25 Alan Lessik @ Books Inc. Opera Plaza The author of the acclaimed debut novel The Troubleseeker reads from and discusses his work about a Cuban gay man’s life struggles, and various gods’ help and interference. 7pm. 601 Van Ness Ave. booksinc.net/SFOpera
Flyaway Productions @ UC Hastings College of Law Outdoor Wall The amazing acrobatic dance company performers Director Jo Krieter’s The Right to be Believed, a politically-focused work on women’s rights. Free. 8:30pm & 9:30pm. ThuSat Thru June 3. 333 Golden Gate Ave. www.flyawayproductions.com
Hello, Dolly! @ Berkeley Playhouse Can’t see Bette Midler’s production? How about an East Bay staging of the classic musical performed by children? $15-$18. Thru June 4. 2640 College Ave., Berkeley. berkeleyplayhouse.org
Literary Speakeasy @ Martuni’s Enjoy drinks and readings with Nicole Henares, Evan Morris, Tony Press, Cybele Zufolo, Larry Gallagher, and host James J. Siegel. 7pm. 4 Valencia St. www.facebook.com/LiterarySpeakeasy
New Strands Festival @ Strand Theater American Conservatory Theatre’s annual festival of new works in a variety of disciplines; performances, lectures, cocktail nights, staged readings and student day and evening productions. Thru May 21. 1127 Market St. www.act-sf.org
Rex Ray @ Gallery 16 Retrospecitve exhibit of works by the late gay artist, whose visual designs were known worldwide; Monograph Rex Ray: We Are All Made Of Light on sale. Thru June 30. 501 3rd St. www.gallery16.com
The Roommate @ SF Playhouse Jen Silverman’s darkly comic play about two Iowa women’s clashing and different lives. $35-$65. Tue-Thu 7pm, Fri & Sat 8pm. Sat 3pm, Sun 2pm. Thru July 1. 450 Post St. sfplayhouse.org
SF International Arts Festival @ Fort Mason Large array of local and visiting performing artists in theatre, dance and music from around the world; Brenda Wong Aoki, Brian Copeland, Eth-Noh-Tec, Rotimi Agbabiaka, Stereoptik and many more. Single tickets, festival passes $12-$70. Thru June 4. 2 Marina Blvd. www.sfiaf.org
Shifting Movements @ SOMArts Cultural Center Genevieve Erin O’Brien and Jess X Snow’ dual exhibit of works that explore queer, mixed race and Asian subjects; co-presented with the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center. Thru May 25. 934 Brannan St. www.aawaa.net www.somarts.org
This Is What I Want: Tender Nights @ CounterPulse Performance festival focusing on queer desire, youth under pressure and Tenderloin settings, with Krista DeNio, Jaime Cortez, Jose Abad, Sammay Dizon, Randy Reyes, Jaq Nguyen Victor, Tavi and Angeline. $20-$35. Thu-Sat 7:30pm. 80 Turk St. www.counterpulse.org
East Bay performance of the lighthearted musical about a faithbased boy band. $37-$72. Thru July 1. 1601 Civic Center Drive, Walnut Creek. www.centerrep.org
Les Enfants Terribles @ SF Conservatory of Music Opera Parallele’s new production of Philip Glass’ 1996 dance-opera based on the 1929 Jean Cocteau novel; choreography by Amy Siewert. $45$95. 7:30pm & 2:30pm. Fri-Sun. 50 Oak St. www.operaparallele.org
Mark I. Chester @ Strut Racial Portraits & Other Provocations, a new exhibit of photos by the veteran gay photographer of kink and alternative subcultures. Thru July. 470 Castro St. www.markichester.com www.strutsf.org
Monsoon Wedding @ Berkeley Repertory Mira Nair’s musical stage adaptation of her popular film about IndianAmerican and Indian fiancés and their families. $60-$120. Thru July 2. 2015 Addison St., Berkeley. www.berkeleyrep.org
The Roar of the Greasepaint, The Smell of the Crowd @ Exit Theatre Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley’s classic satirical musical about class warfare gets a new production. $20$40. Thru May 27. 156 Eddy St. www.landmarkmusicals.com
Roz Chast: Cartoon Memoirs @ Contemporary Jewish Museum New exhibit of the wry cartoons by the award-winning artist and author; thru Sept. 3. Weekly poets lunch/readings May 26, and Fridays 12:30pm thru June. Free (members)-$12. Fri-Tue 11am5pm, Thu 11am-8pm (closed Wed). 736 Mission St. 655-7800. www.thecjm.org
Sex Worker Film & Arts Festival @ Various Venues Panels, events, films about women strippers and burlesque performers, curated by Laure McElroy and Lady Monster; performances by Gina Gold, Max Madame, Jet Noir Akynos. $15$125. Thru May 28. At venues in SF and Oakland. www.sexworkerfest.com
Smuin @ YBCA The SF dance company performs works by Nicole Haskins, Trey McIntyre and Amy Seiwert. $57-$73. 8pm. Thru May 28. 701 Mission St. www.smuinballet.org
Sordid Lives @ NCTC Del Shores’ hit comedy, about three generations of an eccentric smalltown Texas family, gets a new local production. $20-$40. Previews; opens May 20. Wed-Sat 8pm. Sun 2pm. Thru June 11. 25 Van Ness Ave., lower level. www.nctcsf.org
Summer in Sanctuary @ The Marsh Berkeley
Common Grounds Arts Festival @ Intersection for the Arts Two-week festival of 105 performing and visual arts in various indoor and outdoor spaces; thru June 6; between Mission & Natoma streets, and 5th & Mary St. www.theintersection.org
Dynasty Handbag @ The Lab The wacky innovative and unique artist performs I, an Moron or Childless White Lesbian Coyote in Hollywood (A Star Spangled Banner). $15-$25. 8:30pm. 2948 16th St. www.thelab.org
Irene Tu: Triple Minority @ Bindlestiff Studio The SF-based lesbian Asian comic and actor performs her solo show, with special guest opening acts; part of the 20th Annual USAAF (United States of Asian America Festival). $10-$15. 8pm & 10pm. 185 6th St. www.irenetu.com
The Events @ Ashby Stage, Berkeley David Greig’s drama about people effected by tragedy and pushed to extreme reactions; with different Bay Area choruses perfoming live accompaniment. $25-$40. WedSun, thru June 4. 1901 Ashby Ave., Berkeley. www.shotgunplayers.org
Igor Josifov @ InSpace Artist’s multimedia installation of evocative singed fabric and other media; thru May 31. 218 Fillmore St. www.almyracommunications.com/ inspace/
Literary Pop! @ Faultline Studios Storytellers, writers and comedians (Marc Abrigo, Jason Leroy, Na’amen Tilahun, Mary Van Note and Aviva Siegel) share work about and inspired by their pop culture obsessions; hosted by Wonder Dave. $6-$10. 7:30pm. 1139 Howard St. www.eventbrite.com
Priscilla Queen of the Desert @ Eureka Theatre Theatre Rhinoceros’ production of the Broadway musical stage adaptation of the hit film about Australian drag queens on a road trip, with disco hits from the film. $15-$40. Wed-Sat 8pm. Sat & Sun 3pm. thru July 1. 215 Jackson St. www.TheRhino.org
Tiny Bubbles @ SFAC Gallery Group exhibition curated by Steven Wolf includes several works by the late Jerome Caja, and others with adult themes. Thru Aug. 19. SF Arts Commision Gallery, 401 Van Ness Ave. www.sfartscommission.org
Todd Grey @ Museum of the African Diaspora Todd Grey: My Life in the Bush With MJ & Iggy, an exhibit of art by Michael Jackson’s personal photographer through the 1980s, and his experience living and documenting the Los Angeles music industry. Also, The Ease of Fiction and Love or Confusion: Jimi Hendrix in 1967. Free/$10. Each thru Aug. 27. 685 Mission St. www.moadsf.org
Sun 28 Carlos Paz @ Castro Country Club The local illustrator’s exhibit, at the LGBT sober space. 4058 18th St. www.castrocountryclub.org
Al Letson (NPR host) performs his acclaimed solo show about being a creative writing teacher in a poor Florida neighborhood. $20-$100. Fri 8pm, Sat 8:30pm. Thru May 29. 2120 Allston Way, Berkeley. www.themarsh.org
Inappropriate in All the Right Ways @ The Marsh
Sat 27
LGBTQ Histories from the WWII Home Front @ Rosie the Riveter Visitor Education Center, Richmond
Arts Festival @ Yerba Buena Gardens The annual outdoor daytime array of music, dance and theatre performances; various days (usually Thu, Fri & Sat) thru Oct. 29. www.ybgfestival.org/events
Ann Randolph returns with her hit solo show about working in mental institutions, with Mel Brooks, OffBroadway and more. $20-$100. Sundays 2pm. Thru June 18. 1062 Valencia St. www.themarsh.org
Park indoor exhibit that showcases the lives of historic LGBT people. Open daily 10am-5pm. 1414 Harbour Way South, Suite 3000, Richmond. www.roseitheriveter.org
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Spring Home & Garden Tour @ Sonoma County Food for Thought’s 22nd annual fundraiser, featuring tours of wine country’s prettiest homes and gardens. $50 ($15 optional box lunch). 10am-5pm. (707) 887-1647. www.FFTfoodbank.org
Tomb Treasures @ Asian Art Museum New Discoveries from China’s Han Dynasty, thru May 28. Also, Saints and Kings: Arts, Culture and Legacy of the Sikhs, thru June 25. Free-$25. Tue-Sun 10am-5pm. 200 Larkin St. 581-3500. www.asianart.org
Mon 29 Various Exhibits @ GLBT History Museum Exhibits include Lavender-Tinted Glasses, a queer Summer of Love look curated by Joey Cain; Beartoonist of San Francisco, art works by Fran Frisch, and the overview main exhibit. 4127 18th St. www.glbthistory.org
Tue 30 Ten Percent @ Comcast David Perry’s online and cable interviews with notable local and visiting LGBT people, broadcast through the week. Wed 7pm, Thu-Tue 11:30am & 10:30pm. www.ComcastHometown.com
Various Artists @ NIAD Art Center, Richmond Exhibits of art made by developmentally disabled people. Mon-Fri 10am-4pm. 551 23rd St. Richmond. (510) 620-0290. www.niadart.org
Wed 31 Documentary Film Festival @ Various Cinemas Wide array of feature and shot films about Bay area punk music, surfers, prison therapy, and much more. Parties and panels too. Thru June 15. Roxie Theatre, Vogue Theater and Alamo Drafthouse New Mission. sfindie.com
The Mushroom Cure @ The Marsh Adam Strauss’ comic Off-Broadway hit solo show about his attempts to use hallucinogenic drugs for his OCD. $20$100. Wed & Fri 8pm, Sat 8:30pm. Thru June 3. 1062 Valencia St. www.themarsh.org
Thu 1 Radar Superstar @ SF Public Library Queer AF variety show, with ana Montenegro, Celement Goldberg, Javier Hurtado and Mari Naomi. 6pm. 100 Larkin St. radarproductions.org sfpl.org
Raphael Villet’s Anywhere Zines @ Tenderloin Museum Exhibition and performance with the artist whose five-month residency developed community-based zines, with Skywatchers, DotCom and other performers; refreshments. 5pm-7pm. 398 Eddy St. tenderloinmuseum.org
A Room (Of Our Own) @ Fort Mason San Francisco-based choreographer Raisa Punkki and her Finnish film director sister, Pauliina Punkki bring the third installment of a ten-year project, Roadmap 2015-2025 to the San Francisco International Arts Festival. $25. 8:30pm. June 3, 9:30pm. June 4, 2pm. 2 Marina Blvd. www.punkkico.com www.sfiaf.org
Talk Story: A Storytellers Festival @ Exit Theatre Solo and duo performers share mostly autobiographical stories of their lives. Thru June 17. 156 Eddy St. www.theexit.org
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Closing Ceremony • 6:00-8:00 pm • May 30 InSpace Curatorial, Pop Up 218 Fillmore Street • San Francisco Exhibit open daily noon to 8 pm • now through May 31 Winners of the #continuumcontest will be announced at the closing ceremony Continuum epitomizes my commitment to a process that constantly nurtures growth and inspires truth. Igor Josifov, Performance Artist The multi-media project, Continuum, explores a relationship between Josifov and fire. The artist uses fire as a mark-making tool on paper, linen, ceramic and glass. tny.im/almyra
<< Film
24 • Bay Area Reporter • May 25-31, 2017
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Scene from director Thomas Vinterberg’s “The Commune.”
by David Lamble
T Best Breakfast & Best Late-Night Restaurant Celebrating our 40th year!
he new Danish film The Commune is by no means a comedy, but I can barely get a sentence into this review without a giggle. Why? Director Thomas Vinterberg is by all appearances a serious artist – some might call him self-important – and he has a significant body of work. Readers are most likely to have encountered Vinterberg from his 2006 satire of America’s love affair with guns, “Dear Wendy.” In this underappreciated drama, a gaggle of pacifist adolescents and 20somethings calling themselves “The Dandies” gathers in a remote, played-out Old West town. Their leader (Jamie Bell from “Billy Elliot”) becomes enthralled with a small pistol, an
obsession with dire consequences for his band of youthful cutiepies. I mention this because anyone trying to appreciate “The Commune” should know going in that Vinterberg and his fellow travelers in the Danish-spawned Dogma film movement are deadly serious, at least artistically. With “The Commune,” Vinterberg is unlikely to encounter criticism that he’s attacking cherished American values (gun ownership) without having done us the courtesy of visiting these shores. The work of this serious Dane can be seen as an off-center brand of black humor. In one scene, a character rages over the presence in their house of a dishwasher. “Why let the machines take over?” But the film becomes a series of he-said, she-said
exchanges. The women seem to get the possibilities for freedom in the communal experience, while the men seem to fear a loss of control. “I’m buried in a hole in my own house trying to work. I have to deal with female problems all the time. Goddamn it! You don’t tell me how to live my life. This is my house.” “You gave this house to all of us. The difference between living together and not is that you can feel, see and hear each other. Or perhaps living in a small place makes you small-minded. We should live with stimulating people. We should live with fantastic people, shouldn’t we?” “I know what you’re up to, Anna, but I won’t live in a commune.” Watching these attractive Danes mud-wrestle about communal values, we know how differently these exchanges would play out in an American remake. Back in the freewheeling 70s, I composed an ABC Radio documentary about the post-Woodstock communal movement, complete with Joan Baez utopian ballads. These days younger Americans might envision an updated communal movement as a way of escaping the angst of Trump America. “The Commune,” written by Vinterberg and Tobias Lindholm based on the play “Kollehtivet” by Vinterberg and Magnus Ruhov, shows how tricky this idea is to pull off, even in a society consistently rated one of the happiest in the world. The 1970s-set drama, about a couple (Trine Dyrholm and Ulrich Thomsen) who launch an experiment in group living, offers a chance to examine this daring proposition with as low a risk as possible in these interesting times.t
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by Erin Blackwell
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urrent events sometimes provide Hollywood the fodder for films that can be promoted on the basis of their political relevance. Usually, by the time Hollywood’s through with them, current events have lost all their grit and significance, having been ground down to a fine paste and extruded through a genre with its own rules, track record, and budgetary constraints. So it is that the people risking their lives to cross the Mexican border illegally and the vigilantes with guns trying to stop them have inspired the flimsy Mexploitation mass-murder flick “Desierto” (2015), which plays the Roxie on Sunday, May 28. If the idea of a man with a highpowered rifle and scope picking off unarmed stragglers in the desert turns you on, this is your movie. You only have to wait about 25 minutes before the meticulously bearded and unconvincingly loco Jeffrey Dean Morgan starts blasting away at a line of wannabe immigrants with backpacks. Each death is nameless, meaningless, and delivers a juicy red-paint burst from the abdomen. Who this psycho is and why he’s hunting humans is never gone into. That would require actual script work. All the filmmaker wants you to know is that the innocent victims speak Mexican, and the evil marksman speaks American. The bitter white guy has his best friend, a German shepherd named Tracker, riding shotgun in his trusty, rusty truck. He drinks Jack Daniels from the bottle, smokes handrolled cigarettes, and knows how to shoot, skin, and roast a rabbit over a campfire. A handy guy to know, you might think, but not one you’d want on your tail when you’re trying to sneak into the USA undocumented. A small Confederate flag flies from
Gael García Bernal in a scene from director Jonás Cuarón’s “Desierto.”
his truck’s antenna, an inflammatory touch indicative of “Desierto”’s superficial rendering of a long, drawn-out political game. After picking off a dozen pilgrims, the Yanquí desperado meets his nemesis. Gael García Bernal is a cute, sinewy, goateed charmer quickly distinguished from his fellow trekkers by the teddy bear his son entrusted to him, his ability to diagnose a stalled truck in five seconds flat, and his unwavering compassion for those unfortunate enough to be female or fat. Our hero is as old as melodrama itself but headed back to Oakland, where he’d been intending to apply for a residential visa when he was pulled over for a broken light. That is as deep into the issue as the screenplay is willing to go. At 82 minutes, “Desierto” only achieves near-feature length by padding a thin concept with endless shots of actors scrambling for their lives around, through, and over rocks, dead trees, cactus, pebbles, scrub, and rattlesnakes, against
distant hills beneath a cloudless sky, accompanied by menacing chords and nerve-rattling percussion. The script is a handful of plot points, the set is wide-open desert and a barbed-wire fence, the cast mostly expendable extras. This is a twoman show with a young female third wheel thrown in to give the hero a weaker vessel to protect. “Desierto” was released two years ago, long before anyone knew Donald Trump and his wall were going to constitute a national nightmare. Director, co-writer, and producer Jonás Cuarón nonetheless concocted a thin sliver of agitprop every bit as nuanced as Trump’s ridiculously xenophobic grandstanding. They deserve each other. This film isn’t interested in the human condition, only stereotypes, festival screenings, and DVD sales. There’s no story here, only a one-sided shoot-em-up as callous as a video game. Hollywood has always been cynical, but “Desierto” distinguishes itself by its indifference to the dilemma it depicts.t
May 25-31, 2017 • Bay Area Reporter • 25
NCCO
From page 17
The happy partnership joined the conductorless ensemble in 2008 with Salerno-Sonnenberg’s electrifying lead from the concertmaster’s chair to create a rich blend of shimmering sound and an instantly recognizable brand name. Salerno-Sonnenberg’s established prominence as an internationally acclaimed violinist opened fresh opportunities for recording, touring, and very importantly, the commissioning of new works for string orchestra. The first concert in the Festival (all three presented in the beautifully restored Herbst Theatre) appropriately focused on writers who have contributed works to the Featured Composer program, inaugurated by the passionate new director soon after her appointment. Each successive season has featured a chosen composer’s works, including a commissioned premiere. Snippets from some of the noteworthy composers were performed with commentary from a panel formed of Salerno-Sonnenberg; NCCO Executive Director Philip Wilder; Alecia Lawyer, Founder & Artistic Director of Houston’s River Oaks Chamber Orchestra; and San Francisco Conservatory of Music Dean and Provost Kate Sheeran. It
lent a slightly academic air to while regretting missing the evening, but their lively Clarice Assad’s terrific arconversation added to the rangement of Gershwin’s “An enjoyment of the music, and American in Paris” Suite. Her helped underline the critical gorgeous setting sums up evneed for new repertoire. erything right about the nineSelections from Pulitzer year marriage. I got another Prize winners Ellen Taaffe chance to spend a night marZwilich and William Bolcom veling at the union with the took pride of place at the bemiddle concert of the Festival. ginning and end of the bill, “Farewell to Nadja” was and longtime collaborator split into two simpatico works, Clarice Assad (contributor Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” of many successful arrangeand Astor Piazzolla’s “Four ments for NCCO) took the Seasons of Buenos Aires.” spotlight with “Impressions,” Salerno-Sonnenberg has a a clever showcase for the five long association with the forsections of the Orchestra and mer piece, and has recorded the individual musicians. the latter with NCCO for NSS Jennifer Higdon is already Music. With her sometimes known to Northern Califorquirky and always fervent pernia from her work with the formance style, Nadja added San Francisco Symphony an astringent vitality to the (catch her lovely “Blue Ca“Four Seasons,” and even betthedral” on YouTube with ter, to Piazzolla’s tango-tinged Stephane Devane conducttour de force suite. ing). Strings from “Concerto When the concert ended, Kristin Loken Anstey for Orchestra” and “To the Nadja received a proclamaPoint” added some lively in- Members of the New Century Chamber Orchestra. tion presented from the terest to the program. Mayor’s office, naming May Mark O’Connor’s “Song 20, 2017 in her honor. The of the Liberty Bell” from audience gleefully joined in, showed New Century’s inclusive apSymphony “Memoria de la Luz” ofa PBS documentary and Derek shouting out “whereas” when cued peal to a broad audience. fered a beautifully wispy melody for Bermel’s easily listenable “Murat the top of each paragraph. We Michael Daugherty is more ina violin solo. Nadja’s warm, varied murations” (co-commissioned were feeling a little verklempt, but your-face with his aptly titled “Strut,” and tangy tone is ideal for so much by NCCO, River Oaks Chamber enormously grateful. The encore “I but Salerno-Sonnenberg noted it in the ensemble’s repertory. Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Left My Heart in San Francisco” said is fun to play, and it was definitely I skipped the final concert in the Orchestra and partner A Far Cry) it all – in music, of course.t fun to hear. Lera Auerbach’s String Festival for another commitment,
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26 • Bay Area Reporter • May 25-31, 2017
More summer movies to look out for M
ore reminders that summers are no longer a dead zone at the movies for adults. Baywatch Seth Gordon resurrects a TV series for the big screen, with Zac Efron, Dwayne Johnson and Alexandra Daddario. Berlin Syndrome Teresa Palmer is an Australian tourist who discovers to her horror that her new friend has taken her prisoner. Cate Shortland’s thriller got Sundance buzz for a projection glitch during its Park City debut. Black Butterfly This reboot of a French television movie finds a screenwriter (Antonio Banderas) playing host to a stray cat (Irish hottie Jonathan Rhys Meyers). His guest takes exception to his latest script, producing a meltdown that’s been compared to Misery. Buena Vista Social Club Adios Lucy Walker (Countdown to Zero) returns to the Cuban setting for Wim Wenders’ popular doc about a band of extraordinary Cuban musicians. Her film features Eliades Ochos and Omara Portuondo. Drone Western drone pilot (Sean Bean) becomes the target of a revenge-minded Pakistani man (Patrick Sabongut) who blames the pilot for the deaths of his wife and daughter. Hermia & Helena Argentine filmmaker Matias Pineiro returns with another Shakespeare-inspired drama. This time the Bard’s contribution is Midsummer Night’s Dream, mixed with Pineiro’s own bio to construct a tale of a theater director (Agustina Munoz) in New York. Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower The 13-year-old hero of Hong Kong’s protests against the brutal elimination of the former British colony’s self-rule gets his story told. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Javier Bardem is recruited for this beyond-camp big-
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May galleries
From page 17
Megan Reed and Jennie Ottinger are the troublemakers currently causing a ruckus in “Rabble-Rousers” at Johansson Projects. Reed’s goofy, anthropomorphic sculptures, the colors of fruit soda, cotton candy and Likamade, look like characters that played hooky from a children’s cartoon to watch the parade go by. Humorous, kind of sweet, mounted on spindly legs or going in several directions at once, they’re ungainly in an adorable way. Works such as “Whitewashed,” an extra-large-sized, bubble-gumcolored hand anchored in a pile of orange slabs, and either waving or giving someone the finger, and “P,” a queasy, flesh-toned thing with a long tongue sticking out from a hole in its center, among others, make a game audience for the sports spectacles conceived in the scintillating imagination of Jennie Ottinger. The San Francisco artist, whose paintings probe the underside of power, hierarchy and affiliation with wicked humor, continues her preoccupation with peppy, smiley-faced cheerleaders who are (mostly) the soft pink of rare beef. But don’t be fooled: beneath the clean-cut, All-American veneer, the rah-rah stadium rallies she depicts have a giddy, unwholesome fervor Leni Riefenstahl could love. It’s enough to make one stop and ponder how quickly a roaring crowd can turn into a torch-carrying mob. Ottinger is particularly interested in why people join clubs, and how they behave both towards each other and outsiders. Not well, I reckon. In “Cheer Party” and “Cheer Fight,” for instance, fisticuffs break out within or between squads while leering male
Zac Efron in a scene from director Seth Gordon’s Baywatch.
screen saga that again stars Johnny Depp as the over-the-top Captain Jack Sparrow. War Machine Aussie director David Michod, whose family crime saga Animal Kingdom was a nonstop thrill ride about a group of gunslinging psychos, adapts Michael Hastings’ book The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Story of America’s War in Afghanistan. Brad Pitt is a charismatic American general whose adventures become a story throughline. With Topher Grace, Anthony Michael Hall, Tilda Swinton, Ben Kingsley and Lakeith Stanfield. The Women’s Balcony This Israeli comedy concerns the cost of separating the sexes. A synagogue balcony used to divide women from men during a bar mitzvah ceremony collapses. All About the Money A Colombia-set drug comedy about a man (Eddie Griffin) who lures friends into vacationing in a drugsmuggling region, hoping to collect bounties for the arrest of drug deal-
onlookers, aroused by the conflict, stand idly by. My fave, though, is “Cheer Pile with Preppy Boys” (you gotta love that title), set on a green expanse in front of that bastion of upstanding behavior and reverence for women, a frat house. (May 27-July 22). johanssonprojects.com. Hosfelt Gallery’s “Garage Inventors” pays tribute to all those Silicon Valley geniuses who got their start puttering in the family garage by providing a showcase for artists with a scientific bent, an engineering degree or plain old ingenuity. Charles Lindsay, who constructs immersive environments, videos and sculptures fashioned from aerospace and bio-tech castoffs, started as a geologist before directing the artist-inresidence program at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute. Those pursuits are reflected in his very cool “Rocket Brain,” a transparent Pyrex rocket ship forged from a salvaged missile guidance system and mounted on a bullet-proof Plexiglas shelf and saw horses. Two MIT grads also contribute: Alan Rath, who creates electronic sculptures that have an eerie resemblance to human body parts; and Jim Campbell, whose light-box, “The Square Enters the Circle,” forms a single image from a series of color digital pictures of the Pantheon in Rome. Meanwhile, tinkerer extraordinaire Tim Hawkinson has transformed a bicycle into a whistle that plays notes triggered by the grooves in its rear-wheel tread. Done in conjunction with SpaceX, NASA and CERN, and integrating elements of astrophysics, biology, archaeology and a dash of Einstein’s relativism, Rachel Sussman’s “(Selected) History of the Spacetime Continuum” consists of a handwritten, 100-foot-
ers. Co-star Blake Freeman directs. Band Aid A hetero couple (Zoe Lister-Jones and Adam Pally) think they can calm their argument-prone relationship by forming a rock band. She writes, directs and shares credit for the lyrics. Fred Armisen co-stars. Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie An animated story: mischievous kids hypnotize their school’s principal, transforming him into a jockey briefs superhero and protagonist of their comic book. Based on Dav Pilkey’s series of children’s’ books, with voices by Kevin Hart, Ed Helms, Thomas Middleditch and Jordan Peele. Churchill Brian Cox is the embattled British leader during “their finest hour,” the dark days spent resisting Hitler’s minions. With Mad Men’s John Slattery as Supreme Allied Commander Dwight David Eisenhower, and Miranda Richardson as Winnie’s wife Clementine. The story tracks the path to the Allied invasion of Nazi-controlled Europe on D-Day. Dean Demetri Martin is the writer, director and star of this drama about a son who weathers his mom’s death while navigating a prickly bond with dad (Kevin Kline). A critical fave from the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival. With Mary Steenburgen and Gillian Jacobs. The Exception This Nazi-era tale arrives with nifty twists. A German soldier (Jai Courtney) whose task is to watch over the exiled Kaiser Wilhelm II (Christopher Plummer) begins an affair with a maid (Lily James) who is both a spy and Jewish. Veteran character actor Eddie Marsan appears as Nazi leader Himmler. Letters from Baghdad Werner Herzog presents this bio-doc about Gertrude Bell, an English adventuress who has come to be seen as a distaff Lawrence of Arabia. Tilda Swinton narrates; features centuryold WWI-era footage. Past Life Two Israeli sisters ex-
amine their father’s behavior in Holocaust-era Poland. Avi Nesher (The Matchmaker) directs. Vincent-N-Roxxy Emile Hirsch (Milk’s Cleve Jones) co-stars with Zoe Kravitz in this violence-laden romantic drama. Wonder Woman This originmyth feature provides a female superhero (Gal Gadot) in a Patty Jenkins-directed action movie. Chris Pine co-stars as love interest. Ascent This Dutch-directed photo-doc gives us Japan’s sacred mountain, Mt. Fuji, over a span of 150 years. Awakening the Zodiac A snoopy couple (Shane West and Leslie Bibb) stumble onto trouble when they unearth a film they believe was shot by California’s infamous Zodiac killer some 40 years back. Beatriz at Dunner Director Miguel Arteta and screenwriter Mike White attempt a Trumpmocking comedy. The premise is a meltdown, non-cute-meet between a massage therapist (Salma Hayek) and a pushy billionaire innkeeper (John Lithgow). With Connie Britton, David Warshofsky, Amy Landecker and Chloe Sevigny. Dawson City: Frozen Time The dangerous nitrate film stock of yore was disposed of in some hopefully safe way. An unexpected treasure of found-footage nitrate stock becomes the basis for Bill Morrison’s film, combining an essay on film history with a salute to the back pages of the one-time Gold Rush capital. 11:55 The classic 50s adult Western High Noon becomes a metaphor in the saga of the return home from battle of a possibly battlefieldtraumatized Marine. With Victor Almanzar, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Shirley Rumnierk, John Leguizamo and Julia Stiles. The Hero Fans of the Coen Brothers’ cult classic The Big Lebowski will recognize vet Sam Elliot.
Elliot reprises a stock character out of the Duke Wayne playbook: the old gunslinger who learns he’s dying from cancer. Bret Haley’s film features Nick Offerman, Laura Prepon and Krysten Ritter. It Comes at Night Trey Edward Shults’ second feature is a family horror melodrama. Papa bear (Aussie character star Joel Edgerton) tries to protect his family on a dark spooky night. What should he do when another family comes calling? With Riley Keough, Carmen Ejogo and Christopher Abbott. Megan Leavey This woman-atwar tale should appeal to animallovers as well. A female marine (Kate Mara) does two tours with her bomb-sniffing dog. When an explosion injures both, they face the challenge of coping together amongst clueless civilians. With Edie Falco, Ramon Rodriguez and Common. Moscow Never Sleeps Irishborn, Moscow-residing filmmaker Johnny O’Reilly shows us his much happier side of the Russian capital. With Leviathan cast member Aleksey Serebryakov. The Mummy Tom Cruise stars in this remake of a remake of a remake: the original goes back to 1932 and starred Boris Karloff. With Annabelle Wallis, Russell Crowe and Jake Johnson. My Cousin Rachel Director Roger Michell is the latest to base a film on the stories of Daphne du Maurier (The Birds, Don’t Look Now, Rebecca). The 1951 novel finds an Englishman suspecting foul play at the family castle. With Sam Claflin and Rachel Weisz. Night School Docmaker Andrew Cohn follows three working adults trying to earn high school diplomas. Random Tropical Paradise A reworking of that pop classic The Hangover finds a disgruntled groom taking revenge on his cheating bride-to-be. With Bryan Greenberg and Brooks Wheelan.t
John Janca, courtesy Rena Bransten Gallery
by David Lamble
t
Courtesy of Brian Gross Fine Art, Estate of Roy De Forest
Left: “Migrant Mother: Mealtime” (2016), oil on canvas by Hung Liu. Right: “Untitled” (2003), mixed media on paper with artist-designed frame by Roy De Forest.
long timeline mural that begins eons ago, before the Big Bang, and extends 100 billion years into the future. Talk about thinking ahead. (Through July 1.) hosfeltgallery.com. Rena Bransten Gallery: “Promised Land.” The salient feature of Hung Liu’s art is its humanity, which can be felt like an insistent, reassuring backbeat. Mourning, loss and displacement stalk Liu, who suffered hardships during the Cultural Revolution and emigrated to the U.S from China in 1984, bearing a life story that would have embittered and crushed the spirit of a lesser person. In her latest show of paintings and works on paper, Liu responds to searing images by Dorothea Lange, whose own capacity for empathy is on full display in a retrospective at OMCA. Both artists bear witness and understand the power of imagery to shape collective memory. But while Lange soberly documented the poverty and desperation of Dust Bowl migrants and the Depression, Liu casts her net wider,
beyond borders, looking at forced migration, economic deprivation and hunger as part of the human condition. She changes the white ethnicity of the maternal figure in Lange’s most iconic, widely reproduced picture, “Migrant Mother,” and puts a hungry baby in the poor woman’s arms (“Migrant Mother: Mealtime”); while the wary young African American boy of “Laborer: Farm Hand” seems defeated before his life has begun. Through a bright color palette and vigorous lines, she offers a sliver of hope in paintings such as “Westbound,” based on Lange’s “Oklahoma Family on the Road.” In Liu’s rendition, the parents and children hitchhiking on the side of a rural road are surrounded by wildflowers in a field of dreams, a pit stop on their way to that elusive “promised land.” (Through June 24.) renabranstengallery.com. The raucous moveable feast of canines, creatures and carnival characters that leapt from the teeming brain of Roy De Forest has
migrated to Brian Gross Fine Art, where the exhibition “Man of Our Times” features drawings from the last two decades of this highly original, Bay Area artist’s career. (50 of his color-charged paintings and sculptures are on view in a survey show at OMCA.) The drawings, which have a folksy, outsiderart gestalt, are complicated affairs with complex compositions, pop culture references and a cast of striding caballeros, demons, tribal deities and representatives from the animal kingdom. Fantastical scenarios play out in scribbled pastels and mixed media works, encased in the artist’s handcrafted frames adorned with carved animals and weird little heads of suspicious origin. But the drawings here are a Zen-like sea of calm compared to De Forest’s paintings, populated as they are with an overflow crowd of dogs – BFFs who, let’s face it, are better than most people we know. (Through July 1.) briangrossfineart.com.t
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Bare Chest Finals
Shining Stars Vol. 47 • No. 21 • May 25-31, 2017
www.ebar.com V www.bartabsf.com
The Mod Couple Mario Cantone and Jerry Dixon at Feinstein’s by Jim Gladstone
Jerry Dixon and Mario Cantone.
htlife is easy. ummer time and the nig queens and g dra Rock and electronica, are only ties par pot and kings, parades part of the party parcel.
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Listings begin on page 29 >>
Sat 27
On the Tab May 25June 1
Adrian Sky
Carnival San Francisco in the Mission
Courtesty Feinstein’s
J
une’s abloom with gaiety at Feinstein’s at the Nikko, where the calendar is studded with bookings for glamorous Pride Month nights on the town. Our town’s swankiest jewel box cabaret will welcome Ben Rimalower’s hit off-Broadway comedy, Patti Issues –about his obsession-turned-friendship with La Lupone– on June 9 and 10; Trump confidante Katya Smirnoff-Skyy on the 15th; sweet ‘n’ hunky formerMormon crooner Spencer Day on the 16th and 17th; lafftastic non-lipstick lesbian Marga Gomez on the 21st; and Lorna Luft –youngest daughter from the pack of Gumm– with tales of Mama Garland and songs of Prides past on the 23rd and 24th. But at the top of the marquee, kicking it all off on June 2 and 3 with How Long Has This Been Going On? –a singing, wisecracking celebration of coupledom– are the Stiller and Meara of modern marriage, the Steve and Eydie of the sodomite set: Mario Cantone and Jerry Dixon. See page 28 >>
Serving the LGBT communities since 1971
28 • Bay Area Reporter • May 25-31, 2017
Kevin Yatorola
Mario Cantone and Jerry Dixon performing at Lincoln Center.
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The Mod Couple
From page 27
Cantone –most firmly embedded in pop cultural memory for playing wedding planner Anthony Marentino in Sex and the City, and Dixon, a triple-threat New York actor (If/ Then, Once On This Island), director, and lyricist, have been together since 1990, and got married five years ago. Dixon has created original musical numbers for Cantone to sing while impersonating Liza Minelli, Bruce Springsteen and others in his one-man solo shows. Laugh Whore won a Tony nomination in 2005 and was later presented as a Showtime special. The couple acted together, under the direction of Cynthia Nixon, in the 2015 off-Broadway play Steve, which the New York Times said “holds up a clear compassionate mirror to anyone who’s been part of a postpassion long-term relationship.” But appearing onstage together as themselves is a new endeavor. “This is only going to be the third and fourth time we’ve done the show,” says Cantone of their Feinstein’s engagement, explaining that
We are the future of the LGBT community.
their act grew out of a one-time show that Cantone emceed in New York featuring duets by straight Broadway couples. “I was going to be up there hosting and I thought, ‘Well, what about me and my partner?’” “So we did a bit where I called out from my seat,” says Dixon, “and then came up on stage and we did a number.” That one-off was expanded into a full program, which the pair performed as part of Lincoln Center’s American Songbook program. There’s an affectionate comic repartee between the partners that’s as evident during a telephone interview from their apartment in New York as it is on stage. Cantone is the high strung Lucy to Dixon’s indefatigable Desi. “We didn’t want the show to be a chronology of our relationship,” says Cantone, assuring potential audiences that their act does not hew to the ‘My life in love and showbiz’ tropes trotted out by many young Broadway performers doing their first cabaret shows. “It’s more like having friends over and hanging out in our living room. We do talk about our first vacation together,” says Dixon. “Which is a big deal. It can make or break you as a couple–” “Shush! Shush!” Cantone interrupts. “I don’t want you to give it away.” “We don’t talk about our careers at all,” Dixon steers the conversation in another direction. “We don’t do songs from shows we’ve been in. It’s more like having friends over to our living room. You’ve seen how we interact.” The pair duets on American songbook classics, including “Can’t Help Lovin’ that Man of Mine,” “Hey Boy,” and “River in the Rain.” “Stop it!” shrieks Cantone as Dixon describes their set list. “Mario’s favorite sport is complaining,” says Dixon. You can practically hear his eyes rolling over the phone. Immediately after their Feinstein’s engagement, Dixon heads to Saint Louis for a lightning-paced month of rehearsal for The Little Mermaid (He plays King Triton) at St. Louis’ Muny, the country’s largest outdoor musical theater. “You’re lucky I didn’t get the role of Ursula the Sea Witch,” cackles
“The world still has its challenges but things are getting better. From the way we first met on line to marriage equality to our daughter’s upcoming Quinceañera our life together is more fulfilling every day. We keep up with events and entertainment on EDGE, because that’s where we see our future at its brightest.” The people depicted here are models. Their image is being used for illustrative purposes only.
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Cantone, before quietly admitting that he misses Dixon when he acts and directs out of town. “I have separation anxiety,” Cantone says. “I don’t like going away and I don’t like him going away.” “He doesn’t like when I go away,” Dixon emphasizes. “Thank you, Mister Echo!” “I have a relationship with the Village Theater in Washington State,” says Dixon, “So sometimes I’m out there for five weeks at a time.” “Do you know the TV show Investigation Discovery?” asks Cantone. “It’s the Pacific Northwest, where all those murders and disappearances happen.” “Every time I go out there, he’s like, Be careful!” notes Dixon. Both men are homebodies and try to spend the bulk of their time together in New York. “Did you know he makes me breakfast every morning?” asks Cantone, implying that this makes him perhaps the luckiest man in the world. “I like to sleep,” says Cantone. “I’ll stay in bed as long as I can. It’s how I stay young.” “It’s really brunch,” notes Dixon, who said that he slips out of bed and goes upstairs to a loft space to binge watch TV in the early mornings. “At 11:30 or 12 I’ll make him a frittata or something.” “Yesterday,” Cantone coos campily, “He made me a frog-in-a-hole.” “Mario…” “What?! I said you made me a frog-in-a-hole. You did!” “But you know where you were going with that…” The pair fondly recall working with Cantone’s Sex and the City castmate Cynthia Nixon on Steve. “We walked to and from the theater together every day,” says Dixon. “It was just fifteen minutes away. We called it ‘walking to school.’” “It was so much fun,” says Cantone. “Our characters were so much different than us. And the dialogue was really rapidfire.” “I liked going to rehearsal,” says Dixon, “Just to see Mario have to get up with his grumpy face at 9:30 in the morning. The character I played was a filthy, sexual pig–” “He was a whore! And the way the characters interacted was so nasty. In rehearsals, I was thinking, ‘Oh no, this is gonna be a stinkbomb.’” “Mario’s character was rather nurturing,” jabs Dixon, “Which is not really like him.” Beyond their cabaret act, are there any plays the couple would like to perform in together? “I think it would be fun to do Love Letters,” says Dixon. “Really?!” “You wouldn’t have to memorize it. You read on stage.” “Meh!” blurts Cantone. “Go call Debra Winger.”t Mario Cantone and Jerry Dixon perform ‘How Long Has This Been Going On?’ at Feinstein’s at the Nikko June 2 at 8pm, and June 3 at 7pm and 10pm. $45-$85. $20 food/drink min. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. www.feinsteinsatthenikko.com
Peter Lau
Jerry Dixon and Mario Cantone.
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On the Tab>>
May 25-31, 2017 • Bay Area Reporter • 29
Bear Happy Hour @ Midnight Sun Hairy men and their pals enjoy 2-for-1 drinks and no cover. 4067 18th St. 861-4186. www.midnightsunsf.com
DTF Fridays @ Port Bar, Oakland Various DJs play house music, and a few hotties gogo dance. 9pm-2am. 2023 Broadway. (510) 823-2099. www.portbaroakland.com
Gogo Fridays @ Toad Hall Hot dancers grind it at the Castro bar with a dance floor and patio. 4146 18th St. www.toadhallbar.com
Happy Friday @ Midnight Sun The popular video bar ends each work week with hot gogo guys (starting at 9pm) and drink specials. 4067 18th St. 861-4186. www.midnightsunsf.com
Hard Fridays @ Qbar
Sat 27
DH Haute Toddy’s weekly electro-pop night with hotty gogos. $3. 9pm-2am (happy hour 4pm-9pm). 456 Castro St. www.QbarSF.com
Sasha Velour at Mother @ Oasis
Thu 25 Burlesque and film event with The Incredible Edible Akynos, Jet Noir, and Madame Max; monthly, and part of the Sex Worker Fest. $ 7:30pm. 1349 Mission St. www.sexandculture.org
Thu 25
After Dark @ Exploratorium The hands-on science museum’s adult cocktail parties include drinks and music, a lovely Bay view. May 25: Sound experiments and demos. $15. 6:30-9:30pm. Embarcadero at Pier 15. www.exploratorium.edu
Liza Colby at Dirty Sweet Sound @ Night Light, Oakland
College Night @ Port Bar, Oakland
Drunk Drag Broadway @ Oasis
Queer Karaoke @ Club OMG
iCandy @ The Cafe
KJ Dana hosts the weekly singing night; unleash your inner American Idol ; 8pm. 43 6th St. clubomgsf.com
Gus Presents’ weekly dance night, with DJ Deft, cute gogos and $2 beer (before 10pm). RuPaul’s Drag Race viewings at 8pm. 2369 Market St. www.cafesf.com
Rice Rockettes @ Lookout
Drag and musical theatre show. $20. 8pm. May 26 & 27, 7pm. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com
Local and visiting Asian drag queens’ weekly show. $5. 10:30pm show. DJ Philip Grasso. 3600 16th St. www.lookoutsf.com
Gayface @ El Rio
Rock Fag @ Hole in the Wall
Queer weekly night out at the popular Mission bar. 9pm-2am. 3158 Mission St. www.elriosf.com
The Klipptones @ Top of the Mark The local jazz band performs weekly at the swanky hotel lounge bar. 7pm11pm. thru August. 999 California St. www.klipptones.com
Literary Speakeasy @ Martuni’s Enjoy drinks and readings with Nicole Henares, Evan Morris, Tony Press, Cybele Zufolo, singer/songwriter Larry Gallagher, and host James J. Siegel. 7pm. 4 Valencia St. www.facebook. com/LiterarySpeakeasy/
The Monster Show @ The Edge The weekly drag show with host Sue Casa, DJ MC2, themed nights and hilarious fun. $5. 9pm-2am. 4149 18th St. at Collingwood. www.edgesf.com
Nightlife @ California Academy of Sciences Stimulating festive and fun parties at the earth sciences museum return, with 21+ music, drinks, demos and exhibits. May 24: live show with Aria Rostami, DJ set by Roche. $12$15. Weekly 6pm-9pm. 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park. www.calacademy.org/nightlife
Picante @ The Cafe Lulu and DJ Marco’s Latin night with sexy gogo guys. 9pm-2am. 2369 Market St. www.cafesf.com
Resident DJs and guests spin at the mash-up DJ dance party, with four rooms of different sounds and eight DJs. The Monster Drag Show hosted by Sue Casa. My 27 is a Britney Spears mashup night. $10-$15 and up. 9:30pm-3am. 375 11th St. bootiesf.com dnalounge.com
Red Hots Burlesque @ The Stud The saucy women’s burlesque show hosted by Dottie Lux will titillate and tantalize. $10-$20. 8pm-9:30pm. 399 9th St. Also Sunday brunch shows at PianoFight Theatre.144 Taylor St. www.redhotsburlesque.com www.studsf.com
RuPaul’s Drag Race Viewings @ Various Bars Kick off Season 9 of the popular drag competition show. 8pm at Oasis, Beaux, Toad Hall, Midnight Sun, Port Bar Oakland and other venues. www.logotv.com
Shenanigans @ Oasis The monthly costume dance party returns, this time with a Whoroscope theme. $10. 10pm-2am. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com
Groove on wheels at the former Sacred Heart Church-turned disco roller skate party space, hosted by John D. Miles, the “Godfather of Skate.” 7pm-11pm. Also Wed, Thu, 7pm-10pm. Sat afternoon sessions 1pm-2:30pm and 3pm-5:30pm. $10. Kids 12 and under $5. Skate rentals $5. 554 Fillmore St. at Fell. www.churchof8wheels.com
Swagger Like Us @ F8 Hip hop with a queer edge at the SoMa club, with DJs DavO, Jasmine Infiniti, Val G and 8ulentina, plus a live set by Kittens. $10. 10pm-3am. 1192 Folsom St. www.feightsf.com
Vibe Fridays @ Club BnB, Oakland
Campus capers and drink specials w/ college ID. 9pm-2am. 2023 Broadway. (510) 823-2099. www.portbaroakland.com
Sweet Things, Liza Colby and Modern Kicks perform their old-school rock songs. $15. 9pm. 311 Broadway, Oakland. thenightlightoakland.com
Bootie SF @ DNA Lounge
Weekly drag shows at the last transgender-friendly bar in the Polk; with hosts Victoria Secret, Alexis Miranda and several performers. Also Saturdays. $10. 11pm. 1081 Polk St. www.divassf.com
Skate Night @ Church on 8 Wheels
The Cans @ Center for Sex and Culture
Dirty Sweet Sound @ Night Light, Oakland
Midnight Show @ Divas
Enjoy hard rock and punk music from DJ Don Baird at the wonderfully divey SoMa bar. Also Fridays. 7pm-2am. 1369 Folsom St. 431-4695. www.hitws.com
Thursday Night Live @ SF Eagle Music night with local and touring bands. $8. 9:30pm. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com
Tubesteak Connection @ Aunt Charlie’s Lounge Disco guru DJ Bus Station John spins grooves at the intimate retro music night. $5. 10pm-2am. 133 Turk St. at Taylor. www.auntcharlieslounge.com
Jean-Michel Jarre @ Greek Theatre, Berkeley The king of synth-electronic music performs at the scenic outdoor ampitheatre in his first-ever North American tour. $35-$125. 8pm. 2001 Gayly Road, UC Berkeley campus. www.jeanmicheljarre.com www.apeconcerts.com
Latin Explosion/Club Papi @ Club 21, Oakland The Latin dance night includes drag acts hosted by Lola and Dorys, with half a dozen gogo studs, and duo Los Horoscopos de Durango live. $10-$20. 9pm-3am. 2111 Franklin St., Oakland. www.club21oakland.com
Manimal @ Beaux Gogo-tastic dance night starts off your weekend. $5. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com
House music and cocktails, with DJs Shareef Raheim-Jihad and Ellis Lindsey. 9pm-2am. 2120 Broadway. (510) 759-7340. www.club-bnb.com
Sat 27 Asheq @ Slate Bar The Middle East North Africa queer dance party returns, with amazing grooves $10. 9pm-2am. 2925 16th St. www.slate-sf.com
Baseball, Food & Beer @ White Horse Bar, Oakland Celebration and fundraiser for the Rainbow Honor Walk plaque set to honor Oakland A’s and Gay Games baseball player, and the inventor of ‘the high five,’ the late Glenn Burke; with food, drinks, DJ Lifeline. $10. 3pm-6pm. 6551 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. rainbowhonorwalk.org http://whitehorsebar.com
La Bota Loca @ Club 21, Oakland Latin, hip hop and Electro music night. 9pm-4am. 2111 Franklin St., Oakland. www.club21oakland.com
Fri 26 Ain’t Mama’s Drag @ Balancoire Weekly drag queen and drag king show hosted by Cruzin d’Loo. 8pm10pm. No cover. 2565 Mission St. www.balancoiresf.com
Beach Blanket Babylon @ Club Fugazi The musical comedy revue celebrates its 43th year with an ever-changing lineup of political and pop culture icons, all in gigantic wigs, $25-$160. Beer/wine served; cash only; 21+, except where noted. Wed-Fri 8pm. Sat 6pm & 9pm. Sun 2pm & 5pm. 678 Beach Blanket Babylon Blvd. (Green St.). 421-4222. www.beachblanketbabylon.com
Sat 27 Baseball, Food & Beer @ White Horse Bar, Oakland
Bounce @ Lookout Dance music with a view at the Castro bar. 9pm-2am. 3600 16th St. www.lookoutsf.com
Carnival San Francisco @ Mission District Enjoy a parade, dancing, drumming, costumes, food and live music at the 39th annual Carnival festival and parade; delicious food and artistry from Brazil, Mexico, Bolivia, Colombia, Trinidad, Tobago, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Guatemala, Africa, Chile, Haiti and more. Sat & Sun 10am-6pm. Harrison St. from 16th to 24th. Parade Sunday 10am. www.carnivalsanfrancisco.org
Club Rimshot @ Club BNB, Oakland 22nd anniversary night of the popular weekly hip hop and R&B night, with Kash Doll perfomring live. $5-$15. 9pm to 4am. 2120 Broadway. (510) 759-7340. www.club-bnb.com
Drag Queens of Comedy @ Castro Theatre It’s an invasion of drag celebrities, with Alaska, Willam, Bob the Drag Queen, Sasha Soprano, Coco Peru, Lady Bunny, Jackie Beat, Peaches Christ and Heklina and Lady Red Couture. $45-$250 (VIP experience) 6pm & 10pm. 429 Castro St. www.dqoc.com castrotheatre.com
Fleetwood Mask @ Great American Music Hall The acclaimed Fleetwood Mac tribute band performs all the hits. $15-$18 ($40 with dinner). 8pm. 859 O’Farrell St. www.slimspresents.com
John Legend @ Greek Theatre, Berkeley The R&B/pop singer-composer performs with his band. $52-$132. 7:30pm. 2001 Gayly Road, UC Berkeley campus. www.apeconcerts.com
Lips and Lashes Brunch @ Lookout Weekly show with soul, funk and Motown grooves hosted by Carnie Asada, with DJs Becky Knox and Pumpkin Spice. The yummy brunch menu starts at 12pm, with the show at 1:30pm. 3600 16th St. lookoutsf.com
Megawoof America @ SF Eagle LA-based globe-trekking bear circuit party with DJ Glovibes, host Ivan Luna and beefy gogo bears. $10. 9pm-2am. 398 12th St. at Harrison. sf-eagle.com
Mother @ Oasis Heklina hosts the fun drag show with weekly themes. May 27 features RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant Sasha Velour. DJ MC2 spins dance grooves before and after the show. $10. 10pm3am (11:30pm show). 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com
See page 30 >>
<< On the Tab
30 • Bay Area Reporter • May 25-31, 2017
Karaoke Night @ The Stud
Tue 30 Bandit @ Lone Star Saloon Weekly queer event with resident DJ Justime; electro, soul, funk, house. No cover. 9pm-1am. 1354 Harrison St. www.facebook.com/BanditPartySF www.lonestarsf.com
Cock Shot @ Beaux Shot specials and adult Bingo games, with DJs Chad Bays and Riley Patrick, at the new weekly night. No cover. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com
Sat 27 Drag Queens of Comedy @ Castro Theatre
Nitty Gritty @ Beaux Weekly dance night with nearly naked gogo guys & gals; DJs Chad Bays, Ms. Jackson, Becky Know and Jorge T. $4. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com
Polylgamorous @ F8 The groovy DJ crew takes over the SoMa club for dancing fun and guest DJ Stanley Frank, Siobhan Aluvalot, Josette Melchor and Sub Space. $7-$12. 10pm-4am. 1192 Folsom St. www.eventbrite.com/o/ polyglamorous-11856137047 www.feightsf.com
Saturgay @ Qbar Stanley Frank spins house dance remixes at the intimate Castro dance bar. $3. 9pm-2am (weekly beer bust 2pm-9pm). 456 Castro St. www.QbarSF.com
Shake It Up @ Port Bar, Oakland
Disco Donuts @ The New Parish, Oakland Costume dance party (beach theme this time) with DJs NeonBunny, B Funky, Danny Weird and more. $5$10. 3pm-11pm. 1743 San Pablo Ave., Oakland. www.thenewparish.com
Domingo De Escandal @ Club OMG Weekly Latin night with drag shows hosted by Vicky Jimenez and DJ Carlitos. (Comedy Open Mic 5:30pm). 7pm-2am. 43 6th St. www.clubomgsf.com
Femme Brunch @ Balancoire Weekly live music shows with various acts, along with brunch buffet, bottomless Mimosas, champagne and more, at the stylish nightclub and restaurant, with live entertainment and DJ Shawn P. $15$20. 11am-3pm. After that, Femme T-Dance drag shows at 7pm, 10pm and 11pm. 2565 Mission St. at 21st. 920-0577. www.balancoiresf.com Pollo del Mar’s weekly drag show takes on different themes with a comic edge. 8:30-11:30pm. 2369 Market St. www.cafesf.com
Soul Party @ Elbo Room
Jock @ The Lookout
As If @ Club OMG Queer hip hop dance party. $10. 9pm2am. 43 6th St. www.clubomgsf.com
Sugar @ The Cafe Dance, drink, cruise at the Castro club. 9pm-2am. 2369 Market St. www.cafesf.com
Sun 28 Beer Bust @ SF Eagle The classic leather bar’s most popular Sunday daytime event in town draws the menfolk. Beer bust donations benefit local nonprofits. $10. 3pm6pm. Now also on Saturdays. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com
Big Top @ Beaux Enjoy an extra weekend night at the fun Castro nightclub, with Au Jus, plus hot local DJs and sexy gogo guys and gals. $8. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.Beauxsf.com
Blessed @ Port Bar, Oakland Carnie Asada’s fun drag night with Carnie’s Angels, plus DJ Ion. 2023 Broadway. www.portbaroakland.com
Chechnya Fundraiser @ Oasis Benefit for American Friends of the Rainbow Railroad, which help gays in Chechnya escape the fascist antigay government; with drag acts Scarlet Letters, Laundra Thyme and others. $10-$25. 2pm-8pm. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com
Dandy @ Oasis The drag king and variety show returns, with cohost Leigh Crow and Ruby Vixen, and performers Kit Tapata, Fontaine Blue, Meat Flap, Tyson Check’In, Dean Disaster, Fudge Frottage, Jay Mercury and Kitten on the Keys. $10-$20. 7pm. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com
The weekly LGBT video game enthusiast night includes big-screen games and signature beers, with a new remodeled layout, including an outdoor patio. No cover. 7pm-11pm. 2200 Market St. www.brewcadesf.com
Karaoke Night @ SF Eagle Sing along, with host Beth Bicoastal, prizes, and $2 draft beer. 8pm-12am. 398 12th St. www.sf-eagle.com
Game Night @ Midnight Sun
Stag @ Powerhouse Cruisy night for single and couples looking for a third. 10pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com
Video game fun, Wheel O’ Cocktails, and board games. 9pm-2am. 4067 18th St. 861-4186. www.midnightsunsf.com
Trivia Night @ Hi Tops Play the trivia game at the popular new sports bar. 9pm. 2247 Market St. 551-2500. www.HiTopsSF.com
Game Night @ SF Eagle Board games, card games and cheap beer. 4pm-2am. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com
Trivia Night @ Port Bar, Oakland
Hella Saucy @ Q Bar Queer dance party at the stylish intimate bar. 9pm-2am. 456 Castro St. www.QbarSF.com
Mister Sister @ Midnight Sun
High Fantasy @ Aunt Charlie’s Lounge
RuPaul’s Drag Race review night, with Honey Mahogany, Dulce de Leche and Carnie Asada. No cover. 10pm. 4067 18th St. 861-4186. www.midnightsunsf.com
Weekly drag and variety show, with live acts and lip-synching divas, plus DJed grooves. $5. Shows at 10:30pm & 12am. 133 Turk St. at Taylor. www.auntcharlieslounge.com
Mule Mondays @ Port Bar, Oakland
Hysteria @ Martuni’s
Enjoy frosty Moscow Mule cocktails in a brassy mug, specials before 8pm. 2023 Broadway, Oakland. www.portbaroakland.com
Irene Tu and Jessica Sele cohost the comedy open mic night for women and queers. No cover. 6pm-8:30pm. 4 Valencia St.
Groundswell Institute’s monthly fey fun fundraiser, with DJ Dakota Pendent, faerie dancers, Sisters, performers and groovy tunes. $10-$20. 7pm-11pm. 398 12th St. at Harrison. http://groundswell.institute/ www.sf-eagle.com
Sundance Saloon @ Space 550 The Country-Western line-dancing two-stepping dance events celebrates 18 years! Free, including lessons for newbies. 5pm-10:30pm. 550 Barneveld Ave. sundancesaloon.org
Sunday’s a Drag @ Starlight Room Donna Sachet often hosts the weekly fabulous brunch and drag show, now celebrating its tenth anniversary. $45. 11am, show at noon; 1:30pm, show at 2:30pm. 450 Powell St. in Union Square. 395-8595. www.starlightroomsf.com
Sunday Brunch @ Thee Parkside Bottomless Mimosas until 3pm at the fun rock-punk club. 1600 17th St. 2521330. www.theeparkside.com
Mon 29 Epic Karaoke @ White Horse, Oakland Mondays and Tuesdays popular weekly sing-along night. No cover. 8:30pm1am. 6551 Telegraph Ave, (510) 6523820. www.whitehorsebar.com
Una Noche @ Club BnB, Oakland
Underwear Night @ Club OMG Weekly underwear night includes free clothes check, and drink specials. $4. 10pm-2am. Preceded by Open Mic Comedy, 7pm, no cover. 43 6th St. www.clubomgsf.com
Wed 31 AlternativeFags @ Powerhouse Cruise lounge, gogos, alt grooves with DJ Steve Fabus. $5. 10pm-2am. 1347 Folsom St. www.powerhousebar.com
Bondage-a-Gogo @ The Cat Club The weekly gay/straight/whatever fetish-themed kinky dance night. $7$10. 9:30pm-2:30am. 1190 Folsom St. www.bondage-a-go-go.com
Queer Tango @ Finnish Hall, Berkeley
Revel @ SF Eagle
Cranny hosts a big gay trivia night at the new East Bay bar. 7:30pm. 2023 Broadway. www.portbaroakland.com
Vicky Jimenez’ drag show and contest; Latin music all night. 9pm-2am. 2120 Broadway. (510) 759-7340. www.club-bnb.com
Enjoy the weekly jock-ular fun, with DJed dance music at sports team fundraisers. 12pm-1am. NY DJ Sharon White from 3pm-6pm. 3600 16th St. www.lookoutsf.com
Same-sex partner tango dancing, including lessons for newbies, food and drinks. $5-$10. 3:30pm-6:30pm. 1970 Chestnut St, Berkeley. www.finnishhall.org
Strip down with the strippers at the clothing-optional night. $20. 9pm. 729 Bush St. at Powell. 397-6758. www.thenobhilltheatre.com Jim Hopkins plays classic pop oldies, with vintage music videos. 9pm-2am. 44 Castro St. www.the440.com
GlamaZone @ The Cafe
DJ Lady Char spins dance grooves; gogo studs, and drink specials, too. 9pm-2am. 2023 Broadway. (510) 8232099. www.portbaroakland.com DJs Lucky, Paul, and Phengren Osward spin 60s soul 45s. $5-$10 ($5 off in semi-formal attire). 10pm-2am. 647 Valencia St. 552-7788. www.elbo.com
Gaymer Meetup @ Brewcade
Naked Night @ Nob Hill Theatre
Bottoms Up Bingo @ Hi Tops
Sun 28
Play board games and win offbeat prizes at the popular sports bar. 9pm. 2247 Market St. 551-2500. www.HiTopsSF.com
Leigh Crow and Ruby Vixen cohost Dandy @ Oasis
Musical Mondays @ The Edge Sing along at the popular musical theatre night; also Wednesdays. 7pm2am. 2 for 1 cocktail, 5pm-closing. 4149 18th St. at Collingwood. www.edgesf.com
B.P.M. @ Club BnB, Oakland Olga T and Shugga Shay’s weekly queer women and men’s R&B hip hop and soul night, at the club’s new location. No cover. 8pm-2am. 2120 Broadway, Oakland. bench-and-bar.com
Sat 27 Asheq @ Slate
No No Bingo @ Virgil’s Sea Room Mica Sigourney and Tom Temprano cohost the wacky weekly game night at the cool Mission bar. 8pm. 3152 Mission St. www.virgilssf.com
Opulence @ Beaux Weekly dance night, with Jocques, DJs Tori, Twistmix and Andre. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com
Piano Bar 101 @ Martuni’s Sing-along night with talented locals, and charming accompanist Joe Wicht. 9pm. 4 Valencia St. at Market.
Spanglish @ Club OMG Spanish and English drag shows and dance music with DJ Carlitos. $5-$10. 9pm-2am. 43 6th St. clubomgsf.com
Underwear Night @ 440 Strip down to your skivvies at the popular men’s night. 9pm-2am. 440 Castro St. 621-8732. the440.com
Steven Underhill
On the Tab
From page 29
Sing Till It Hurts with hostess Sister Flora; 2 for 1 happy hour, no cover. 8pm-2am. 399 9th St. www.studsf.com
Retro Night @ 440 Castro
Amber Gregory
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On the Tab>>
May 25-31, 2017 • Bay Area Reporter • 31
Thu 1 Maureen McVerry @ Feinstein’s
Castro Karaoke @ Midnight Sun Sing out with host Bebe Sweetbriar; 2 for 1 well drinks. 8pm-2am. 4067 18th St. 861-4186. midnightsunsf.com
Comedy Showcase @ SF Eagle Kollin Holtz hosts the open mic comedy night. 5:30pm-8pm. 398 12th St. at Harrison. www.sf-eagle.com
Girl Scout @ Port Bar, Oakland The weekly women’s happy hour and dance night with DJ Becky Knox. 6pm10pm. 2023 Broadway. www.portbaroakland.com
Una Noche @ Club OMG Weekly Latin night with drag shows hosted by Vicky Jimenez. $5-$10. 9pm-2am. 43 6th St. clubomgsf.com
LGBT Pub Crawl @ Castro Weekly guided tour of bars. $10-$18. Meet at Harvey Milk Plaza, 7:45pm. Also morning historic tours on Mon, Wed, & Sat. www.wildsftours.com
Miss Kitty’s Trivia Night @ Wild Side West The weekly fun night at the Bernal Heights bar includes prizes, hosted by Kitty Tapata. No cover. 7pm-10pm. 424 Cortland St. 647-3099. www.wildsidewest.com
Mondo Drag @ Rickshaw Stop Not a drag show; the psychedelic rock band plays early Pink Floyd-inspired epics; Death Hymn Number 9 and Buffalo Tooth also play. $11-$13. 8pm. 155 Fell st. www.rickshawstop.com
Pan Dulce @ Beaux The hot weekly Latin dance night with sexy gogo guys, drag divas and more, returns to the Castro, with Club Papi’s Frisco Robbie and Fabian Torres. $5 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com
Kick It @ DNA Lounge Kandi Love, Northcore Collective and Plus Alliance’s weekly EDM, flow arts dance night, with DJs. $5-$10. 9pm2am. 375 11th St. dnalounge.com
Mary Go-Round @ Lookout Mercedez Munro and Holotta Tymes present saucy and unusual drag acts. $5. 10pm-2am. 3600 16th St. www.lookoutsf.com
Maureen McVerry @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko The vocalist and local musical theatre star performs her cabaret show, Love Will Kick Your Ass. $18-$40 ($20 food/drink min.).8pm. Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. www.maureenmcmucho.com www.feinsteinsatthenikko.com
My So-Called Night @ Beaux Carnie Asada hosts a weekly ‘90s-themed video, dancin’, drinkin’ night, with VJs Jorge Terez. Get down with your funky bunch, and enjoy 90cent drinks. ‘90s-themed attire and costume contest. No cover. 9pm-2am. 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com
Nap’s Karaoke @ Virgil’s Sea Room Sing out loud at the weekly least judgmental karaoke in town, hosted by the former owner of the bar. No cover. 9pm. 3152 Mission St. 8292233. www.virgilssf.com
Puff @ The Stud Pass the dutchie for live music and cannabis appreciation with Carletta Sue Kay, Maria Konner and Not From Jersey; DJs Sergio Fedasz and Dank, a kooky drag show and more. 7pm10pm (followed by Love, the drag show hosted by Mama Dora, Thee Pristine Condition and Ultra). 399 9th st. www.studsf.com
Sex and the City Live @ Oasis
Wrangler Wednesdays @ Rainbow Cattle Company, Guerneville
D’Arcy Drollinger, Sue Casa and crew return for the sixth year of the drag parody version of the hit HBO series. $25-$35. Thu 8pm. Fri & Sat 7pm. Thru July 1. 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.com
Wear your jeans and meet new folks at the Russian River gay bar. 16220 Main St., Guerneville. queersteer.com
Thump @ White Horse, Oakland
Thu 1
Weekly electro music night with DJ Matthew Baker and guests. 9pm-2am. 6551 Telegraph Ave, (510) 652-3820. www.whitehorsebar.com
Gym Class @ Hi Tops Enjoy whiskey shots from jockstrapped hotties and sexy sports videos. 10pm-2am. 2247 Market St. 551-2500. www.HiTopsSF.com
Want your nightlife event listed? Email events@ebar.com, at least two weeks before your event. Event photos welcome.
Thu 1 Maria Konner’s Not From Jersey at Puff @ The Stud
Serving the LGBT communities since 1971
32 • Bay Area Reporter • May 25-31, 2017
The maturation of kink Column shifts and changes, too
Kim Attica
Author, speaker and educator, Laura Antoniou.
Rich Stadtmiller
Brue (left) and Teagan won the community vote at the SF Eagle to be the 2017 San Francisco Pride Leather Marshals. They will lead the Leather contingent in this year’s Pride parade.
by Race Bannon
A
few days ago, I was sitting in my dentist’s office about to get my teeth cleaned. The hygienist jokingly asked me if I wanted to establish a safeword before he started. We chuckled. Earlier that same day I had a coffee shop conversation with a young gay man visiting San Francisco who appeared to be in his 20s. The tank top, Bermuda shorts and sandals
belied what turned out to be a quite kinky dude as he explained to me some of his edgier sex play interests. Yet, without prompting, he felt compelled to mention that he really doesn’t interact with the leather crowd much. Recently I had a chat with a pup friend and he had a moment of realization during our conversation that he doesn’t mix much with the rest of the leather and kink scene unless there’s something of specific interest
to his pup proclivities. Otherwise, he just hangs out with other pups. During a layover in an airport between plane transfers a few weeks ago, a woman struck up a conversation with me as we stood at the cell phone recharging stand together. I guess my leather jacket and boots tipped her off because she said, “Are you one of those kinky fellas?” As our phones charged, I mentioned I was heading to a leather event, explained what it was, and without missing a beat, she said something like, “Oh, my husband and I do that sort of stuff sometimes.” Oh, how times have changed. As I write this, I’m also packing for a trip next week to International Mr. Leather (IML) in Chicago. More than 30 years ago I attended my first IML. As I reflect on that former leather era and on the many conversations I’ve had lately, it’s hard to arrive at any conclusion than our scene has undergone some massive changes. Noticing changes in our scene isn’t necessarily a new thing. Author Laura Antoniou, in one of her famous keynote speeches from 2015 titled ‘Stealing Trash,’ offered these observations.
“Sometimes, it seems the larger BDSM communities have taken the wrong cultural aspects from the places they look to for inspiration. When I was a little pervert, going to the single digit LILs and IML and the big events of the day, I used to think one day we’d be huge. Kinksters of all stripes would take over a coliseum for a weekend of debauchery, fashion, shopping, classes, political and social events. We’d be like a comic book/media convention, where we could all come together in one place and all have something to do to satisfy our niche interests. “Instead, we’ve gone in the opposite direction. Oh, there are more of us than ever, sure. But we’re Balkanized; broken apart into tiny, discrete subcultures so everyone has their own treehouse and their own sashes and their own special titles and language and weekend events. Divided by activity - you can go to an all-rope-bondage event! - or by orientation - only gay men! - or by gender, or by orientation groupings, like straight dudes and their ladies, who, by the way, are generally encouraged to be bisexual, because ...straight dudes... You can go to a Master/slave weekend, and a rubber contest and no doubt pup and
t
pony events and shopping events and a political /community development event and for all I know, there are even still biker events out there. There’s a new fucking title every week, it seems and sometimes, I have to blink and wonder if what I just heard was real, or a title I made up for The Killer Wore Leather [one of Laura’s books].” Fast forward to just a couple of weeks ago when Patrick Mulcahey talked about the mainstreaming of leather and kink in his Northwest Leather Celebration keynote speech. In that speech, Mulcahey spoke to what he sees as the adoption of leather and kink tropes by the mainstream. Everyone knows what certain leather and kink iconography looks like. Dressed in dominant garb, Lois Griffin gives her husband Peter Griffin a safeword in the animated series Family Guy. Advertisers use BDSM and fetish imagery or innuendo to sell their wares. While the 50 Shades of Grey effect rankles some within the core BDSM constituency, its impact on the greater world must be acknowledged. Leather, BDSM, kink and fetish have absolutely gone mainstream in ways that we never would have imagined not that long ago. Another truth that’s become clear is that what styles of sexuality and relationships are considered a part of our scene are ever growing with no sign of abating. This begs the question of what’s kinky and what’s not, with the answer clearly falling on the side of it usually being in the eye of the beholder. So, we have an interesting perfect storm of a formerly mostly monolithic leather and kink scene splitting into countless self-functioning sub-camps while kink itself is also quickly mainstreaming. What we consider viable kinky pursuits and identities continue to encompass a wider swath of the sexual and erotic landscape. Phew. That’s a lot to take in. See page 33 >>
Leather Events
May 26 – June 9, 2017 Fri 26
Sun 28
Sober Kink Together @ Castro Country Club
ACLC Memorial Day Weekend Beer Bust @ SF Eagle
Officially a CMA meeting, but open to all Anonymous 12-step Fellowship members, 4058 18th St., 9:30pm. www.castrocountryclub.org
Gear Party @ 442 Natoma Gear play party (leather, rubber, harnesses, etc.) for gay men. 442 Natoma St., $15 (requires $5 membership), 10pm. www.442parties.com
Sat 27 Hell Hole SF @ SF Catalyst Fist party for men. $30. Students and military with ID, $10. Volunteers get in free. Doors open 8pm-12am, party ends 2am. 1060 Folsom St. http://hellholesf.com/
Code @ The Edge As Mr. San Francisco Leather 2017, Geoff Millard, goes off to Chicago to compete for International Mr. Leather, enjoy the night and wish him the best of luck. 4149 18th St., 9pm-2am. www.edgesf.com
Join the Alameda County Leather Corps for their beer bust. 398 12th St., 3-6pm. www.aclcweb.org
Mon 29 Ride Mondays @ Eros A motorcycle rider and leathermen night at Eros, bring your helmet, AMA card, MC club card or club colors and get $3 off entry or massage. 2051 Market St. www.erossf.com
Fri 2 Sober Kink Together @ Castro Country Club See Fri 26
Gear Party @ 442 Natoma
Tribe @ SF Eagle SF Eagle and BLUF presents Tribe (Leather Resurgence). DJ ‘s Tom Ass and Carlos Souffront. Leather/ Gear Swap Marketplace. BLUF dress code is not required, but full fetish gear is strongly encouraged. 398 12th St., 7pm-12am. https://bluf.com/e/1992
Sun 4 Scotty’s Cigar Social @ World Famous Turf Club There will be cigars, drinks (please support the bar), snacks, and fun, so please join these folks for a delightful afternoon with friends and leather family. 22519 Main St., Hayward, 12pm-4pm.
Mon 5 Ride Mondays @ Eros See Mon 29
See Fri 26
Fri 9
Sat 3
Sober Kink Together @ Castro Country Club
Woof! @ SF Eagle Romp, play and socialize at this monthly pups and Handler mosh event. There will be mats out to pup out on. After the mosh, you can head over to SoMa StrEat Food Park for food. $3, 398 12th St., 2-5pm. www.SFK9Unit.org
See Fri 26
Gear Party @ 442 Natoma See Fri 26
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May 25-31, 2017 • Bay Area Reporter • 33
“Nighttime”-themed Family Guy toys, sold online, take kink to its most comically mainstream.
Rich Stadtmiller
Geoff Millard. Mr. San Francisco Leather 2017, heads to Chicago this week to compete in International Mr. Leather.
<<
Leather
From page 32
That was a somewhat longwinded explanation of why going forward you may see the content in this column nudging past its usual borders. As the bucket into which we place what is “leather” and es-
pecially what is “kink” grows and expands, so must this column or it will become an anachronism and less relevant to its readers. From now on this column will sometimes embrace a more liberal definition of what is kink, that will undoubtedly upset some leather purists. Some future sexuality and relationship topics might appear to only tangentially belong under the leather and kink umbrella. I apologize in advance to those who might wish for time to stand still, but our sexual subcultures, interests and the social and intimate relationships in which they function are moving on, traditions and entrenchment be damned.
I write not just for the leatherman or woman of yesteryear, but also for the kinksters of today. I write not just for those who proudly identify as a member of some officially designated erotic community, but for those who might occasionally dip their toes into kinky sexuality or push the boundaries of how relationships might be defined and operate. I write not just for the seasoned pervert, but for those who might simply stumble upon this column that may usher in a burgeoning interest in heretofore unexplored areas of their sexuality and relationship lives. As a writer, I feel my duty is to inform, inspire and perhaps
Front row (left-right): Mr. October Ben Perez, Cover Man and the 400th Calendar Man, Mr. 400 Claude Milligan, Mr. May Jack Thompson, Mr. April TonyBear Hart, Mr. August Wayne Rash, Mr. September Chris Rice. Back row: Mr. November Manny Ojeda, Mr. June Cido Galvan, Mr. March Jeffrey Hodges, Mr. February Eric Press, Mr. January Scot Hammond, Mr. December Jawn Margues and Mr. July Dirk Nettles.
Bare Chest Men 2018 Calendar competitors strut their stuff photos by Rich Stadtmiller
T
he Bare Chest Calendar Team 2018 for the 34th edition of the calendar was chosen as finalists strutted their stuff at a ceremony held at DNA Lounge on May 20, cohosted by mrPam and Mark Paladini. The selection of a 13th calendar cover man coincided with the 400th participant since the event’s creation in 1985. Team 2018 has so far raised $52,000 for AIDS Emergency Fund and Positive Resource Center. Inked Kenny is the calendar photographer. Watch for the calendar’s launch at the Big Muscle Meet and Greet, held during Up Your Alley Street Fair Weekend on July 29 at DNA Lounge. www.barechest.org
Bare Chest Calendar finalists’ individual moments onstage shared First Nation pride, football fortitude and high-heeled glamour.
at times entertain my reader and to see my reader as potentially coming from any walk of LGBTQ life. Of course, we also know that people are increasingly exploring their sexualities and relationships across the orientation spectrum and my reader may not even relate to the LGBTQ moniker even as some of their sex and intimate arrangements do. In other words, I write for anyone who is sexual and curious. How might this column unfold in the future? I’m really not sure. It will probably still cover a lot of similar leather and kink ground,
but if you see it straying into unfamiliar territories, I hope you’ll go along with me for the ride. Broadening our views and insights about the entire world of sexuality and relationship options can only make us better “leatherfolk” and “kinksters,” however you happen to define those. Change is a good thing, and the only constant. Thus, it must be for this column.t Race Bannon is a local author, blogger and activist. You can reach him on his website, www.bannon.com
Serving the LGBT communities since 1971
34 • Bay Area Reporter • May 25-31, 2017
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Shining Stars Steven Underhill Photos by
Bay to Breakers H
undreds of thousands of participants in the 106th annual Bay to Breakers once again became a 12-kilometer human river of serious and silly runners who bisected the city from the piers to Ocean Beach, annoying commuters while raising funds for several charities. Kenyan male winner Philemon Cheboi won the race, timing at 34:48, and Ethiopian Buze Diriba won the female division at 39:48. While derisively called the ‘Drunk Straight Pride March’ by some, the event, full of costumes both grand and garish, remained peaceful and with fewer incidents of drunken sloppiness reported. www.baytobreakers.com More photo albums are on BARtab’s Facebook page, www. facebook.com/lgbtsf.nightlife. See more of Steven Underhill’s photos at www.StevenUnderhill.com.
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May 25-31, 2017 • Bay Area Reporter • 35
Shining Stars Steven Underhill Photos by
Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band @ Sir Francis Drake Hotel
S
potlight on Broadway, the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band’s fundraiser held at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel on May 20, included cohosts Donna Sachet and Leanne Borghesi, drinks, snacks, raffles and a live auction. The band played Broadway favorites, and guest vocalists Jesse Barrett and Frank Federico also performed, under the baton of Artistic Director Pete Nowlen. Sachet and company also led the patrons in some sing-along fun. www.sflgfb.townalive.com More photo albums are on BARtab’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/lgbtsf.nightlife. See more of Steven Underhill’s photos at www.StevenUnderhill.com.
Read more online at www.ebar.com
April 27-May 3, 2017 • Bay Area Reporter • 35
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For headshots, portraits or to arrange your wedding photos
call (415) 370-7152 or visit www.StevenUnderhill.com or email stevenunderhillphotos@gmail.com
Images: © AMNH/C. Chesek © AMNH 2014
A new, prehistoric exhibit | Now Open It’s amazing what a fossil can reveal. With massive, life-size models, an interactive flight simulator, real pterosaur fossils, and more—this new exhibit will leave a lasting impression. Fossilized forever, but only here for a limited time. Get tickets at calacademy.org Pterosaurs: Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs is organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York (amnh.org)
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