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The
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Since 1971, the newspaper of record for the San Francisco Bay Area LGBTQ community
Vol. 47 • No. 46 • November 16-22, 2017
Man still in hospital after boyfriend’s death
by Seth Hemmelgarn Academy Award-winning filmmaker Debra Chasnoff
Lois Tema
Filmmaker Debra Chasnoff dies by Sari Staver
D
ocumentary filmmaker Debra Chasnoff, who made history when she publicly thanked her female then-partner from the stage at the Academy Awards in 1992, died November 7 of metastatic breast cancer. She died at her home in Noe Valley, where she lived with her spouse, Nancy Otto. In addition to being a filmmaker, Ms. Chasnoff, 60, known as “Chas” to friends and family, was president and senior producer of Groundspark, which produces social justice See page 8 >>
T
he man accused of killing his boyfriend in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley remains in the hospital two weeks after his partner was found stabbed. Officials have shared little information about what happened between Othman Al-Muttalaby, 26, whose bail has been set at $10 million, and Keith Harris, 48, whose body was found November 2, two days after he’d last been seen. However, a friend of Harris’ who lives in Los Angeles and uses the name Abdullah Max on Facebook, said that Harris had told him that he wanted Al-Muttalaby to leave the apartment they shared at 340 Hayes Street. Even a couple of weeks before Al-Muttalaby moved into Harris’ apartment this fall, Harris had told Max, “Ali is spending way too much time here.” (Al-Muttalaby has also been known as Alkoraishie Ali and Ali Liam, and many who know him refer to him as “Ali.”) But when Harris would ask Al-Muttalaby when he was going to move out, Al-Muttalaby would start crying “and try to make Keith feel sorry for him,” said Max, who didn’t want his real name published because he’s not out to his family. “Keith wanted his space,” but “he couldn’t
Courtesy Facebook
Othman Al-Muttalaby, left, with Keith Harris
get rid of him. He just stayed there,” said Max. He thinks Harris was worried that AlMuttalaby “might do something to himself, and Keith would feel responsible.” Harris “always put other people’s feelings before his,” said Max. If Harris saw someone upset, “he would try his best to make them
happy, even if that was going to affect his life.” Max, 27, who said he and Harris had dated for several months and still talked frequently, said that he’d met Al-Muttalaby a couple times and thought he seemed “fake.” See page 10 >>
Clinton Housing focus of 1st D8 supe debate to speak at AIDS grove T by Matthew S. Bajko
by Cynthia Laird
F
ormer President Bill Clinton will deliver the keynote address at the National AIDS Memorial Grove on World AIDS Day, December 1. As first reported on the Bay Area Reporter’s blog last week, in 1996 Courtesy CBS News Clinton signed the leg- Former President islation spearheaded by Bill Clinton Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) that designated the grove as the country’s sole federally-designated national AIDS memorial. Clinton has never visited the grove, though he did send a video message when he was honored by the organization five years ago. John Cunningham, executive director of the grove, told the B.A.R. that now is a great time for a visit from the former president. “It was 26 years ago when the memorial was created, and I remember living in the Castro when he ran and won,” Cunningham said. See page 10 >>
he two gay candidates seeking the District 8 seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors differed over housing and homelessness at their first debate Monday night seven months before voters head to the polls. The city’s two LGBT Democratic political clubs, Alice B. Toklas and the more progressive Harvey Milk, co-hosted the November 13 discussion at the LGBT Community Center between appointed Supervisor Jeff Sheehy, a gay married father who is the first openly HIVpositive person to serve on the board, and attorney Rafael Mandelman, who serves on the board overseeing City College of San Francisco. Sheehy and Mandelman are expected to twice compete for the board seat next year. The first election will take place on the June primary ballot as they are seeking to serve out the remainder of gay moderate former Supervisor Scott Wiener’s term, as he resigned two years into his second term as supervisor after being elected to the state Senate last November. Mayor Ed Lee tapped Sheehy earlier this year to fill the board vacancy. No matter the outcome of the June race, Sheehy and Mandelman have both filed to run for a full four-year term on the November ballot next year. It is the second time Mandelman has sought the District 8 seat, having lost to Wiener in 2010. Throughout the course of the 90-minute debate Mandelman, seen as the more progressive
Rick Gerharter
District 8 supervisor candidate Rafael Mandelman, left, a City College of San Francisco trustee, and Supervisor Jeff Sheehy fielded questions from moderator Marisa Lagos and the audience during their first debate November 13 at the LGBT Community Center.
candidate in the race, repeatedly praised Wiener and applauded a number of policies and positions he championed at City Hall and in the state Legislature this year. At one point, in talking about improving the city’s public transit service, Mandelman said, “We need another Scott Wiener on the Board of Supervisors to
work relentlessly for Muni.” His remarks elicited boos and groans from his supporters in the room and a rebuke Tuesday in a post on the website Medium from Wiener, who has endorsed Sheehy in the race. See page 11 >>
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