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Vol. 44 • No. 36 • September 4-10, 2014
Drag star Meeting about Pink Saturday set Arthur Galster dies O by Seth Hemmelgarn
by Seth Hemmelgarn
A
beloved San Francisco drag star who had traveled the world and was known for his impeccable performances as Patsy Cline died August 25 after an altercation in Dolores Park. Cindy Goldfield Arthur Francis Galster, 55, known widely Arthur Francis as Arturo, passed away Galster at California Pacific Medical Center, Davies Campus, leaving behind generations of fans and friends. A public memorial is planned for 7:30 p.m., September 22 at the Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street. Marc Huestis, 59, who regularly produces shows at the Castro and worked with Mr. Galster numerous times, called him “a total theatrical chameleon.” “He was good at everything he did,” said Huestis, who knew Mr. Galster for more than 30 years. “You would tell him to do something and he would just do it.” The circumstances around Mr. Galster’s death aren’t totally clear. In a statement provided by a friend of Mr. Galster’s, a man who was with him the night he was injured said that he, Mr. Galster, and another man went to see the drag star Peaches Christ’s showing of Showgirls Saturday night, August 23. Afterward, early in the morning of Sunday, August 24, the three went to Dolores Park to “see the view,” and he and Mr. Galster went swinging at the playground, the man, who told the Bay Area Reporter he didn’t want his name published, said. A young man and woman were also there, the witness said. He indicated that Mr. Galster asked the woman to move so that the other man, a guest of his, could also swing, but she refused because “her grandmother died.” Mr. Galster “said something bad about her grandmother,” the witness said, and the man who was with her “got angry” and punched Mr. Galster, who fell and hit his head on the ground, he said. The witness said Mr. Galster declined to go to the hospital, and he and the other man carried him home, where Mr. Galster called the police. The witness described the man who hit Mr. Galster as in his 20s, wearing jeans, black shoes, a black hat, and a black shirt with white markings and a white, long-sleeve shirt underneath. In a brief phone call, the witness, who told the B.A.R. that he would respond to See page 10 >>
rganizers of the annual Pink Saturday street festival, officials associated with the pre-Pride fundraising party in the Castro, and community members are set to meet next week to discuss the future of the event, which has been marred by assaults and other violence in recent years. Members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, gay Supervisor Scott Wiener – whose District 8 includes the Castro – and police staff will be on hand at the meeting, which will start at 6 p.m. Wednesday, September 10 at Eureka Valley Recreation Center, 100 Collingwood Street. Among other issues, safety, costs, and “options for the evolution of the event should the Sisters plan to host the event in 2015,” will be explored, according to Wiener’s office. Expressing fatigue with the problems facing the party, some Sisters have raised the possibility of giving up control of the June event, which has been organized by the group for 16 years and raises thousands of dollars for charities. Sister Mora Lee D’Klined, whose real name is Kevin Roberts, is abbess and president of the Sisters. Roberts said the meeting is meant “to flesh out whether the Sisters even host Pink Saturday again. ... If the end result can-
Rick Gerharter
Crowds spilled into Market Street during Pink Saturday in 2009. In the background, the lighted pink triangle is visible on Twin Peaks.
not be a fun, queer-centric, safe event, then the Sisters most likely will not host the event again” and “we will turn it back over to the city. We don’t want to be responsible for people getting hurt or getting killed.” Concerns about safety have grown since
Stephen Powell, 19, was shot to death around the time the festival ended in 2010. This year, one of the Sisters was attacked in an apparent hate crime. See page 6 >>
Leather dust-up rankles Oakland Pride by Cynthia Laird
T
he first Oakland Pride parade almost went off without a hitch Sunday but organizers ended up doing damage control after a newspaper quoted one of them saying some San Francisco leather groups were told not to come so as to keep the event “family-friendly.” Pride organizers were forced to issue an apology Saturday night after a front-page San Francisco Chronicle story included a quote from spokesman Carlos Uribe that said, “We had some leather groups from San Francisco who wanted to come, and we politely declined. We want to keep this G-rated.” Some in the leather community took offense, and one person announced via Facebook plans for a protest at the parade. By late Saturday night, however, the protest was canceled after what Pride officials apologized for what they claimed was a “misquote.” What Uribe meant to say, he said Sunday, was that public nudity and sexually explicit material wouldn’t be allowed at the parade. And while the 43-contingent parade did put children and families front and center, later contingents included the drag characters from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and anti-circumcision “intactivists,” complete with inflatable penises. In a brief interview at the festival Sunday, August 31, Uribe said everyone was welcome at Oakland Pride.
Jane Philomen Cleland
The Tykes on Trikes led off Oakland’s first LGBT Pride parade Sunday, August 31.
“We apologize for that,” he said, referring to the Chronicle quote, adding that he blamed the “straight, white reporter” for the error. Carolyn Jones, the Chronicle reporter who wrote the story, told the Bay Area Reporter that Uribe’s original quote was accurate. But she apologized for any misunderstanding. In a phone interview Tuesday, she said that she was shocked that Uribe would assume her sexual orientation and ethnicity as a result of one phone conversation. “I don’t see what that has to do with any-
thing,” Jones said. “How does he know I’m straight and white?” Several members of the leather community, who were aware of the controversy, watched the parade and indicated that groups would like to participate next year. “I ran Albuquerque Pride and it was very family-friendly,” said Pat Baillie, who is board president of the International Ms. Leather Foundation, adding that leather groups were welcomed. See page 6 >>
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