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Chorus launches 'Dear Harvey'
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Bill would restore vet benefits
Random Dance
The
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Serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities since 1971
Day honors lives lost A
Vol. 41 • No. 46 • November 17-23, 2011
Queers hope for more presence at Occupy SF
by Seth Hemmelgarn
s the Bay Area gets ready to observe the 13th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance this weekend, a murdered East Bay transsexual woman will be among those who’ll be honored at the Oakland event. The Transgender Day of Remembrance typically memorializes those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. Sunday is the official Day of Remembrance, but the Oakland event marking the occasion will be from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., Friday, November 18, at Nile Hall in Preservation Park, 668 13th Street. Doors will open at 7 p.m. The event is free. One of the people who will be remembered in Oakland is James “Lucie” Parkin, who was killed September 20 at La Quinta Inn and Suites, 20777 Hesperian Boulevard in Hayward. Miguel Cardona Inostroz, 29, was arrested September 29 in connection with the incident. The Alameda County District Attorney’s office charged him October 13 with one count each of murder and assault with a firearm, and an enhancement for possession of a firearm by a felon. His next court date is December 16 to enter a plea. Tiffany Woods Tiffany Woods, the TransVision coordinator at the Fremont-based Tri-City Health Center, is planning the Day of Remembrance in Oakland. Woods said she never met Parkin. However, based on what she’s heard from clients who were friends with Parkin, Parkin owed Inostroz money, Woods said. She said Parkin identified as transsexual, rather than transgender, and was 36. It’s not clear whether Parkin’s death had anything to do with her gender identity. DA spokeswoman Rebecca Richardson said she couldn’t provide more details about the case. She said court records show Parkin’s legal name as James Parkin, also known as Lucy. A Facebook page apparently belonging to Parkin used the spelling Lucie. The page says Parkin lived in San Lorenzo. Lieutenant Roger Keener, a spokesman for the Hayward Police Department, said in an email that he couldn’t provide a copy of the police report or discuss the case because it’s See page 13 >>
It was a quiet evening of music and conversation Sunday at the Occupy San Francisco encampment, as a man played a banjo, left, and Alison McClintock, right, held a dog. Jane Philomen Cleland
by Tony K. LeTigre
I
n less than two months, the Occupy Wall Street movement has grown from an initial protest in Manhattan to a global phenomenon encompassing more than 1,000 cities, and some participants and supporters
locally see in its tactics a reflection of militant queer activism of the past. “Occupy Wall Street grew out of frustration that a lot of people have been feeling for years,” said Tommi Avicolli Mecca, 60, who helped found Queers for Economic Equality Now in late 2010 and has long been involved in
various queer activist groups. “The role queers can play is to question economic inequality,” Avicolli Mecca continued. “The queer perspective is all about questioning the status quo. Not just with big banks and Wall Street and the White House, See page 12 >>
Upscale amenities add to gay resort town’s country charms by Matthew S. Bajko
H
alfway up Guerneville’s Main Street a sign beckoned to passersby. “Bock! Bock! It’s Chicken Day at the Market.” A chicken potpie, green chile chicken soup, and a Sonoma chicken and arugula salad were the featured menu items one Saturday in midSeptember at the Big Bottom Market. The gourmet deli and grocery store’s name, which can be read as a gay play on words, is derived from a nickname given to the area in the 1860s due to its location in a flood zone. Inside locally produced cheeses and mustards line the shelves. Sweets from lesbianowned Poco Dolce Confections and canned vegetables by organic food purveyor Happy Girl Kitchen Company are also for sale. Among the wine selection are Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs by the gay-owned boutique vineyard Bjornstad Cellars. Opened this past July the market is one of several new upscale stores setting up shop in Sonoma County’s gay getaway resort town along the Russian River. The establishments are injecting a bit of city life into the tranquil country setting. “I’ve had this dream of opening up a
Kelly Pulieo Photography
Co-owner Michael Volpatt and a patron enjoy a glass of wine at the gay-owned Big Bottom Market.
place that is very focused on locally sourced products,” said Michael Volpatt, a partner in the market who also co-owns a PR firm named Larkin/Volpatt Communications with Kate Larkin. “I wanted a new project career-wise
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and I also wanted to be a part of what I am calling the Guerneville Renaissance.” Volpatt, who lives a short drive away from the market, teamed up with co-owner zCrista Luedtke to develop the deli’s menu. Luedtke and her life partner, Jill McCall, are the coowners of Boon Hotel and Spa, a 14-unit resort a half-mile from downtown Guerneville on Armstrong Woods Rood. The couple also operates Boon Eat and Drink, which is a few doors away from the Big Bottom Market and opened in 2009. Volpatt and others credit them with showing that more upscale businesses could survive in Guerneville. “Crista has revived the town. She is inspiring other people to do good work,” said Audrey Joseph, a San Francisco entertainment commissioner who owns a home in the area. “I see young couples walking in town, that is due to her work.” Joseph, a party promoter for the town’s Lazy Bear weekends for hirsute gay men, recalled that in years past they made sure attendees didn’t need to head into town. “Guerneville was dying a slow death. There was nothing to do here,” she said. “We did so many events during Lazy Bear they didn’t have See page 8 >>